I don't own Tsubasa!

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Ashura felt his heart stop as his body froze.

Fai had been in front of him seconds ago—the two of them had gone for a ride to get some exercise and fresh air. The little blonde had been ecstatic when he had suggested they spent the day together, just the two of them.

They had ventured out without any guards with a promise that they wouldn't wonder too far. The king could still see Luvel castle behind him if he turned around. The child had been riding ahead of him and Ashura had been distracted by a few deer that were just off the path. When he had turned around… Fai was gone.

How had Fai—

Was that—

Ice.

Panic struck. Ashura dismounted his horse and ran to where he had last seen his precious Fai and sure enough he felt the ice cracking under his feet. Water was seeping up through the hole the child's horse had created in the ice, and he didn't see Fai or the great beast.

The water was muddy and Ashura couldn't see more than a few inches. He could hardly focus his magic as he shrugged out of his heaviest layers and jumped into the icy water. The cold shocked his system but the adrenalin pumping though his veins kept him focused.

Why hadn't he though to teach the poor child how to swim? Or one of the many spells that extended the amount of time one could be under the water? Warming spells? Anything that may have helped that little blonde head pop up and call out that he was ok!

The visibility was poor but within a minute he had found the blonde. Neither he nor the animal had been riding were moving—floating motionless an alarming distance from where they had entered the water.

Ashura worked quickly to free Fai's foot from where it had been twisted in the stirrup. He was too panicked for a translocation but the king managed to get them both back to the only entrance of the frozen lake. It took all his strength to push the boy out of the water—the heavy layers of fur and wool sucked in the icy liquid and added an unimaginable amount of weight.

He got himself out of the water much more easily and was happy that the edges of the ice they were resting on supported there combined weight.

"Fai?" Ashura slapped the child's cheek hoping to rouse him. "Fai can you hear me?"

Taking a deep breath Ashura drew a few runes in the air and watched as they absorbed into the child's chest. He had to keep calm and focus… Carefully he pulled the spell back again, the water Fai had sucked down coming with it.

The child started coughing. His body started shivering and tears started pouring form his eyes.

Thank god.

Ashura's entire body sagged in relief as he listened to Fai's cries. His panic settled and he was able to focus enough to send a message for help to the head of the court mages. He cradled Fai's small body against his own and just breathed.

They were ok. They were going to be ok.

He didn't know if he was shaking because of the unforgiving cold wind beating against his water logged body, or if his nerves were shot.

Fai could have died. If he hadn't been there, Fai would have died.

It happened all the time in Celese—Children found a week patch of ice and were never heard from again. He could of lost his precious Fai…

The head of the court mages arrived with a full battalion of mages at his back.

Perhaps Ashura could have specified what had happened. Two or three men would have been more than enough to get them back the short distance to the castle.

Too late now.

"Stop right there—" The king called as the men started to approach all at once. All he needed was to end back up in the water. "Just one of you come here and help me carry Fai."

The cold had a way of zapping your strength and as the adrenalin wore off—Ashura doubted he would be able to wrestle with the heavy, water logged clothing.

The Ice creaked loudly as Tsubaki, a high ranked mage in his court approached slowly. As he came to the pair's side he kneeled down and lifted the sobbing boy in to his arms. "Allow me to take him straight to the castle you grace."

"Yes, be quick about it. We need to get him out of those wet cloths." Ashura huffed as he climbed to his feet. He waited until Tsubaki's magic swirled and he and his precious Fai were gone, before walking over to where he had dropped his over cotes.

He could feel the poor child panicked magic in Luvel. While falling into the lake had been scary—Ashura knew that Fai was going to be ok. He had every right to be upset right now.

He was compliant and allowed himself to be checked over before he too was transported back to his home via magic. The hot air of his chambers felt heavenly as he peeled off the wet cloths and adorned a fresh robe. A simple spell shoed away the last of the chills and he tied his hair up high on his head. Ashura wen straight it to his adoptive son's room.

He had refused to see a healer—a little cold water was no big deal. It wasn't the first time Ashura had gone swimming—though he would much rather do it for sport then to rescue his little Fai.

He couldn't hear the poor boy crying any longer, which was a good sign. A few of their best healers were rushing about the room—Fai had been changed into pajamas and settled into bed. No doubt the same spell that the king had cast moments ago and been used to heat the poor boy up and there was little they had to worry about.

As soon as he entered the room Fai shot into a sitting position. "I'm so sorry Ashura-ou!"

"Blame the horse child. Normally they are good at avoiding thin ice." The king crossed the room and sat on the side of Fai's bed. "That was awfully scary wasn't it?"

The blonde nodded quickly and scrubbed at his redden eyes with his palms. The king looked him over and frowned when he saw the boy's ankle. It was swollen and twisted in an unnatural way—they had raised it up on a pillow and the king could see the bruises forming.

"Snow ball didn't mean it…" Fai sounded so very sad as he leaned back against the pillows. "She's not coming home is she?"

Ashura had gifted Fai a beautiful white mare when he had first started to learn how to ride, and no doubt the child had grown quite attached to it. He practiced with her nearly every day, though today was the first time he had been allowed to take her outside of the garrison.

"No Fai." The king sighed and rubbed his temples. Such a sweet sweet boy he had. "Is you ankle broken or sprained?"

Ashura should have been more careful.

"Broken." Fai closed his eyes and sighed. No doubt the healers had given him something strong to relax him—the blonde was nowhere near as jumpy as he would expect after such an incident. It looks painful.

He should have been paying attention—he should not have let the boy ride ahead. He should have prepared him in case he ever encountered thin ice. Magic was rarely used to mend bone… it would be a while before the poor child was back to normal.

"This is my fault Fai. I hope you can forgive me."

"No its not. I Saw something funny in the snow… I didn't know that that was water…" The child looked guilty and was fighting with the hem of the blanket.

He looked so very distraught.

"There is a bright side to all of this Child." Ashura smiled as tired blue eyes perked up. He did not want his poor Fai to be sad anymore. Accidents happened…

"What?"

"We will have to visit my sister in the south this summer and teach you how to swim. I'm sure your ankle will be as good as new by then." Ashura had not had the opportunity to take Fai to see the ocean yet. He was sure the child would enjoy the warm sea air.

"You have a sister?" That little blonde head was cocked to the side and the king chuckled.

"She's having children like they're going out of style so she doesn't visit often."

0o0o0

Ashura signed as he looked over the latest letter from his dear older sister. Of course, a simple visit was out the questions for her—always one for drama.

Summer had only a few good weeks left and that didn't leave much time to plan a royal visit… And all he wanted to do was take his sweet Fai to the ocean.

The little blonde had been cooped up in Luvel since there little adventures to the depths of a hidden lake. His ankle had been out of the cast for a few weeks now and he was itching to learn how to swim.

Said little boy was now sitting in the chair across from his desk watching him work. Apparently, there was not a single thing in the entire castle that he could do to amuse himself any longer. Fai also had a flair for drama…

"Pleaaaaaaaaasee?" Fai stuck out his bottom lip and watched Ashura carefully.

"It's not that I don't want to go child. We have to plan this though—we can just translocate down there and pretend to be one of the locals." Heavens knows how well their last little trip into the unknown had gone, and they had been in there back yard.

"We can take some of the court mages with us! We don't have to tell anyone else and so we won't have to plan anything! Can't we just go for the afternoon?" Ashura felt his heart melt.

He was so glad that the little blonde wasn't afraid.

"I'll tell you what…" Fai perked up and the king smirked. "If you can talk Taishukuten into going with us—"

"Ok!" Fai shot to his feet.

"—and he can keep it a secret—"

"Ok! Ok!" the tiny blonde ran to the door.

"—then we can go."

Fai nodded his head quickly and was bouncing from foot to foot. "do you know where he is?"

"I would guess a meeting—he is very busy you know." Ashura shook his head slowly. No way Taishukuten would let the king and his ward wonder about the country unattended so far from home. He was the head of the king's guard and the king normally had to sneak out when he was on duty if he wanted to leave the castle without at least 30 armed guards.

He was one of the few people in the Kingdome that got to tell Ashura what to do—and he was also one of the only people who could withstand Fai's puppy dog eyes.

Ashura went back to the many letter that he would have to reply to, or delegate out to his advisors. He had made hardly any headway in his work before a very pleased little boy bounded back into his office followed by an amused looking head of the king's guard.

"You want to go to the beach Sire?" Taishukuten leaned his armored body against the door frame of the king's office and smirked. "To teach the little lord how to swim?"

Ashura smiled back at him and shook his head slowly.

How had Fai done it?

"And you want to go incognito?" Taishukuten raised an eye brow and Fai ran around the desk to stand next to the king.

"You said if Lord Taishukuten would go we could go! Remember Ashura-ou?" There were those puppy eyes again…

"And will lord Taishukuten supervise our outing so as not to offend any of the southern lords?" The king set his papers aside. So much for getting anything done…

"I am flattered that you requested my service." A formal bow was offered and Ashura stood.

He supposed that Fai would be quite good at getting his own way when he was an adult. That or the head of the king's guard had been just as board as the little blonde, cooped up in the nice weather.

"We might as well pack a picnic and have the maids find us proper cloths…"

Within the hour Ashura was drawing the runes to take them to the southernmost reaches of Celese. Taishukuten had agreed to bring along only two guards and the king would have no problem getting them all there himself.

Fai clung to his cloths as his magic swallowed them up and the next thing they knew the warm sea air was hitting their face.

Ashura at once looked to his adoptive son and smiled at how wide his eyes were.

"Whoa— does it go on forever?" The tiny mage ran forward onto the white sand and down to the water's edge.

"No child. Some day we will visit the lands that lie south when you are older." The king toed off his shoes and slowly walked forward as well. The warmth was refreshing—further north in Luvel the snow never melted.

Here though crops could grow and the seas could be fished. Summer was short but beautiful here. The king felt a sudden sense of pride—what a wonderful thing to leave Fai.

"Look!" the child was now standing in the shallow water and pointing at something. "Is that a fish?"

Slowly the king made his way to where Fai was and examined the little crab that was crawling away from the boy. "Give me your shoes child."

"look there's another one!" Fai splashed in the shallow water as he tried to balance on one foot while removing a single shoe. The water, even though it was the hottest point of summer, was still chilly. It was still much warmer then the frozen lake however.

The king handed both of Fai's wet shoes to one of the guards and smiled as the blonde tried to grab one of the crabs to show the king more closely. "What is it?"

"Come now Fai you must have eaten hundreds of these by now." Fai was looking at the little crab with the type of wonder only a child could possess.

"We eat these cute little guys?" The blonde was holding it between his thumb and index finger, the crab's legs and pinchers wiggling wildly. It couldn't be more than a few inches and would grow much bigger before being harvested in the deep waters of the saltless sea.

"We certainly do." Fai let the poor creature go back into the water before finding something else that peeked his interest.

"Look! It's a shell!" the blonde presented this curiosity to the king as well and Ashura chuckled.

"We can keep finding interesting things in the sand all day—we only have a short while if you want to learn how to swim." No doubt Fai could be amused here for hours but the king wanted to get to the main event of the day.

Fai needed to learn how to swim if he the king was ever going to allow him to venture out on his own. They had already learned warming spells and spells to help him hold his breath for longer while his ankle had been healing.

"Right." The little blonde set the shell back in the water and regarded the king with anticipation.

They had dressed light but shed their shirts before stepping deeper into the chilly water. Fai had grown a few inches since he had come to Celese—but Ashura still towered over him.

Taking both of the boy's hands he led him out into the deeper water. When it came to the king's waist, little Fai had to stand on his tippy toes to keep his head above the water.

"So, what do I do?" For nearly drowning a few months ago the blonde was rather fearless to be in open water.

"Just relax. Let's teach you how to float first." The king let go of one of the child's hands. "Tip your head back and relax your entire body."

Ashura felt the grip on his hand tighten and he smiled as Fai attempted to follow his instructions. "That's good. Don't worry I'm right here." Ashura leaned down and used his free hand snake under the child's knees helping him lean back into the water completely so that his feet were now floating in the water.

Blue eyes were squeezed shut in concentration and Ashura found himself chuckling again. Slowly—he let go of Fai's legs and he stayed just where he was.

"You're doing it—"

"Really?" Those cerulean eyes shot open and Fai was smiling, doing his best to remain relaxed.

"I'm going to let go of your hand but I'm right here to catch you ok?" As soon as the words left his mouth the child squeezed his eyes shut again.

"Ok…"

Slowly the king let go of Fai's hand as well and took a step back. He stayed floating—bobbing with the ins and outs of his breaths.

"Well you got that quickly." Fai kept his eyes closed but smiled.

"This isn't so hard." The child sunk a bit when his spoke but didn't seem to mind

"Alright now try moving your arms a little bit—just gently back and forth." Fai did as he was told and drifted a little bit in the water. "Open your eyes and do it again child."

"Wha! Look Ashura-ou! I'm moving!"

"Yes, you are." Ashura let him be for a few moments as he tried to move about the water. After a minute or so Fai shot up and balanced back on his tippy toes.

"What's next? I wanna swim like you did your majesty. Under the water." The king offered a hand to the child and pulled him into the slightly deeper water.

Ashura was now chest deep, his feet still firmly settled in the sand. "Try slowly kicking your feet and waiving your arms—make sure to relax."

Letting go of the blonde's hand he was happy to see his ward get it on the first try. Quite the little fish he was. The rest of their lesson progressed similarly.

As the day went on and the sun started to set Fai had gotten the gist of swimming. He could float, tread water. Do the front stroke, back stroke, and the doggy paddle of course. The king was confident that should he fall into any more lakes he would be able to save himself at the very least.

As the sun was setting he and Ashura were collecting shells in the shallower waters. To the king's amusement—every time Fai would find a pretty one he would run out of the water and hand it to one of the guards to hold onto.

By the time they decided to go home all three of their attendant's hands were over flowing with tiny little shells.

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Did you miss me? Its been a while hm?

So a short recap of all the things that have kept me away from you all~ my job…. That's it… I work between 40-50 hours a week at a call center so the last thing I wanna do is type when I get home! Anyways, I'm actually moving across the US soon.

I currently live in Michigan and I'm going to Washington State at the end of the July 2018 and guess who won't be working full time! My fiancé got a lovely job and I can focus on school and the things I love: D

I have the first chapters of a few fanfictions for Tsubasa written and I will be posting as well so keep an eyes out!