How to Teach a Mole to Swim.

Lesson Two: How to Start

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"I'm not going to let you drown Toph." Zuko stated his hands on his hips.

It was almost mid-day and he was knee deep in water... cold water and Toph hadn't even put a toe in yet.

"I've changed my mind! This was a bad idea!"

Zuko sighed; the morning had started out much better. They had woken up early and headed out trough the forest towards the small little beach that sat, unused, beside two large cliffs. They had gotten there quiet a while ago and Zuko could see the agitation on Tophs face. Something had told him... maybe it was his gut instinct… that told him this would prove to be a very, very difficult experience.

"Seriously! Bad Idea!" Toph shouted as she turned around and darted back for the trees.

Zuko clenched his fist trying to hold back his anger. He watched as Toph was almost halfway up the beach before he crouched down and punched out before waving his hand in a circle and letting a rope of fire block Tophs way.

Toph growled as she stopped just short of the flames. Bending her knees she pushed the air sending a wave of sand out to smother the fire. She was about to take off running again when she felt an arm wrap around her waist.

Zuko picked the struggling child up, off the ground and, watching out for her flailing limbs, carried her back to the water.

"I swear I'm going to kill you! Put me down this instant Sparky! Or I'm going to shove an Earth Spire so far up your as-Ahhh" Toph yelped as Zuko gave her a jostle pretending to drop her.

"You keep swinging your arms like that and I am going to drop you." Zuko muttered barely dodging Toph's leg. As if to prove his point, Zuko moved out into the deeper part of the water.

As soon as Toph felt the liquid on her foot she froze for a moment, before a mad scramble ensued and she ended up sitting on Zuko's shoulders her arms and legs wrapped around his head.

They stood like that for a moment before the fire prince took pity on the smaller girl and waded back into the shallow end. He held up his hands to hold her steady as he spoke. "When you asked me to teach you how to swim, did you even want to learn?" he asked looking up as Toph didn't move.

The girl nodded. "I just don't like not being able to see."

"You're blind you do realize?"

She elbowed him in the side of the head. "Shut up. I meant not having any vibrations at all." Toph's grip on his head loosened and Zuko reached up to pull her away from him. The firebender put her down and felt her twitch as her feet hit water for a moment before landing on the sand beneath it.

"See it's not that deep. How about we just get you used to the water first before you learn to swim?" Zuko offered.

Toph nodded but hugged his arm to her like a life raft. She didn't care how deep it was, she was not taking any chances and he never said anything about letting go of him.

Zuko raised an eyebrow looking down at her; she did the exact same thing as Azula had done when she was younger, hanging off of him when they went vacationing at Ember Island. He would let her grab his arm and Zuko would swing her around in the water their parents watching happily.

But those days had long past, and memories of when Azula wasn't trying to kill or undo him in some way, were hard to come by.

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"You know, this isn't too bad." Toph muttered as she walked slowly in a circle around Zuko whose arm she was still holding, causing him to spin in one spot.

"You still able to use the sand to see?" Zuko asked as he readjusted his footing to keep from falling over in the water.

Toph nodded kicking up some sand to prove her point, watching the ocean currents take it away before it landed further out to sea."It's more compact then the sand on the shore. It gives me vibrations better."

Zuko watched the brown cloud of sand before he raised an eyebrow an idea washing over him. The Earthbender attached to his arm looked up at him when she felt his feet move in the sand.

"What is it?" She asked looking up to him.

"Just a thought." he replied before looking down at her. "Time to learn how to float."

Toph stiffened a grimace on her face. "Do we have to?"

"Look at it this way. Even if you do chicken out on actually learning how to swim, you won't be totally useless if you fall into the water and you'll be able to float long enough for one of us to save you." The firebender smirked knowing just the right buttons to push.

The black haired girl growled and stood her ground. "So make me float!"

And that's exactly what he did. Kicking a foot out, he tripped the younger girl and placed his right hand on her back, before pushing her stomach upwards.

Toph yelped as what little sight she had in the water left her and her hand shot out to grab the front of the thing shirt Zuko wore into the water. "Hey, you could warn a person before you do something like that you know!" she shouted as she tried to put her feet back on ground.

"Just stop fidgeting and you'll be fine. I'm not going to let go of you." Yet. Zuko added in his head as he switched his right hand for his left on the spot on Tophs back. He felt like a servant carrying a tray. A noisy-twelve-year-old dish that liked to squirm when you tried to balance it.

"I can't see." Toph stated solemnly as a small wave crashed on her foot.

Zuko sighed. "That's because you're not touching he ground."

"I don't like it."

"Suffer."

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So I finished up the next chapter and I was going to wait to post it but I decided against it. I don't know how much of a plot this story is going to end up having but I'll try and make something interesting happen.

I'm glad for the reviews. I've heard they're like Jell-O, life-blood for writers. –smiles- Thank you everyone!