Disclaimer: I don't own KND! This is just a bit of a filler chapter? I guess...I kinda know where I'm going with all of this, but yeah!
Operation: S.W.I.M.
For the first time in a long time, the members of Sector V were at the beach after Wally's constant insistence. He had wanted to learn to swim ever since Abby had offered the other day. It was also the first time Wally willingly offered to go to the beach, so the others agreed. The beach was fun for them all, after all.
Except for Nigel, of course.
"Ugh, I don't understand why Numbuh 4 wanted to come to the beach of all places! It's the most boring place ever," he complained as soon as they arrived. Kuki hummed and shook her head, a small smile on her face as she plopped down onto the sand and immediately began to build her sandcastle.
"Come on, Numbuh 1, don't be a baby! The beach is fuuun!" she giggled when he shot her an annoyed look. "Do you want to help me build this castle? I'm the princess!"
"Uh," Nigel was reluctant. "Maybe some other time," he said, offhandedly.
"Do you want to come with me to get a hot dog, then?" Hoagie piped up, turning in the direction of the hot dog stand.
Nigel scratched at the back of his neck. "Sure, I guess," and then in a mumble, said, "Not that I have much else to do here."
As Nigel and Hoagie headed to get some food, Abby was lying on her back in the water, the soothing waves rippling over her body. She enjoyed the sun hitting down on her face and warming her body, in contrast to the ice cold water of the beach.
"So, are ya gonna teach me or not?" a voice yelled from afar.
She opened her eyes and stood up, the water up to her waist as she turned. Wally stood just a fair bit away from the sea, on the beach shore, watching her with his arms crossed.
His hair flopped in front of his eyes, as usual, so she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not.
Abby smiled widely. "Sure thing, baby, let's do this!" She walked up to him with a grin as she looked him over. Wally had his orange arm floaties on each arm as he looked at her.
His eyebrows were pulled down into a frown as she gestured for him to enter the water. He did so, but hesitantly and upon putting his toes in, Wally hissed at the feeling of the cold water.
"I ain't gonna let the stupid water win. I ain't, I ain't, I ain't," he kept muttering to himself, over and over as he walked closer to Abby.
She smiled at him encouragingly, and soon the water came up to his trunks.
"Alroight, there, I did it," Wally rushed out, a weak smile on his lips as he whipped around to race away. "I'm gonna go back now-AH!" He was yanked back by Abby, who placed her hands on his shoulders firmly.
"That wasn't even swimmin', boy! There's no way you're goin' back until you've learned how to properly swim!"
Wally ground his teeth and let out a sharp breath through his nose before finally nodding. She pulled him gently by the arm and the colour drained out of his face as he realised that Abby was taking him a little deeper into the water.
Wally tightened his grip on her arm, his eyes frantic as he looked around. His legs began flailing everywhere, causing the water to bubble around them.
"Calm down, Wally, Numbuh 5's got ya!"
"NOOO," he screamed, the sound resembling a girl's, "I'm gonna drown! I don't wanna die like this! No, no, don't let go of me, Abby-"
"Numbuh 5's not letting go of you anytime soon, baby. Don't worry, I'm here," she said, softly. Wally began to breathe exaggeratedly, his chest heaving up and down in large movements. After mumbling some encouraging words, he began to calm down a little, his panicked breathing now a little evener.
"Okay, let's get you relaxed in the water first, yeah?" Abby prodded, gently.
Seeing his reluctant nod, she turned towards the beach. Nigel and Hoagie were back from the hot dog stand and were sitting on the beach chairs, devouring their food.
"Numbuh 1, can ya pass Numbuh 5 the beach ball?" she yelled. He lazily got up and chucked the ball in their direction, and when she went to grab it, she was yanked back.
Wally looked frantically into Abby's eyes. "Ya said you weren't gonna leave!"
"Numbuh 5 knows what she said. Ya can hold onto me while I get the beach ball," Abby said, trying to ease his nerves. She felt sorry for Wally and his fear of the water. She wondered what it was like for him to be in the water despite being super afraid of it.
As she grabbed the beach ball, she swam back out where they were before, slowly, of course, to make sure Wally was okay with it and looked at him with a gentle smile.
"You know," she started, and Wally's alarmed eyes blinked up at her. "Numbuh 5's proud of ya for doin' this. Facin' your fears takes a lot of courage, and not everyone can do that."
Wally stared the alarm in his expression slowly fading away. "Thanks, Abs-I mean Abby." He shot her a crooked smile.
She was shocked. Abby had never ever been called anything other than Numbuh 5 by Wally. But now, things were changing suddenly: he was calling her Abby, and now...he wanted to call her Abs.
"It's okay, Wally. You can call me Abs," she said, awkwardly. "If ya want to."
He nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. To him at the moment, Abby was like an angel that had appeared to him.
Ugh, that sounds so cruddy weird, he shuddered. But, Abby was the only one willing to teach him how to swim and to get over his fears - no one ever bothered with it.
She's more amazin' than I thought, he mulled absentmindedly, staring up into her dark eyes that seemed to look more attractive as time went by.
Abby blinked at the look he was giving her. "Uh, Wally?"
Wally shook his head, and his whole body jerked in alarm. His thoughts ashamed him as the tips of his ears turned red. "W-what?! Is there a shark or somethin' 'ere?!"
A lightbulb went off in her head and she snickered, going along with the idea. "Yup, don't move, baby!" Even before she could finish, Wally let out a particularly girlish shriek and leapt on top of her.
"NOOO, I DON'T WANNA DIE YET!"
When Abby burst out laughing and shook her head, Wally looked around, only to realise there was no shark. His shoulders deflated in relief but as he got off her, he shot a menacing glare at her.
"Funny, reaaal cruddy funny," he stated, bitterly.
"Numbuh 5's sorry, but" she snickered to herself, "it was too funny!" Wiping a tear that escaped, she sighed, "Anyway, back to the task at hand. Numbuh 5's gonna teach you to relax." Abby grabbed the beach ball and stepped away from Wally a little but as soon as she let go, he visibly panicked.
"You'll be alright, you've got your floaties on."
He nodded and clenched his jaw, looking at her straight on, trying to be tough. Abby admired him for it.
"Let's toss the beach ball back and forth?" she offered.
He nodded once again. Wally didn't rely on his tongue to say anything since he was sure he would scream in fear if he opened his mouth now. Abby tossed him the ball, and he hit it back, a tad bit rougher than usual. Soon enough, his body had relaxed and gotten used to the feeling of the water around him.
"Alroight," he said, his voice a tad bit shaky. "I can breathe a little, now."
"Yeah? Do you want to just lie back on the water and relax, for now?"
"I-I, uh, sure?" he said, sounding completely unsure. Wally didn't really know what to do. He was relaxed playing with the beach ball, but he also wanted to do as many things as possible in the water so he could get rid of the fear.
Abby helped him lie on his back, but he was breathing heavily, his chest going up and down in a rapid manner. She placed a hand on his chest to help calm him down.
"Take a deep breath and let it out slowly; c'mon, do it with Numbuh 5." They both took deep breaths in and let it out in a long, slow whoosh, together. Wally was feeling much better as he laid still, unmoving against the rapidly moving waves.
"This ain't helpin'," he squeaked out.
Abby rolled her eyes. "That's cos you ain't movin'."
"I am!"
"Then loosen up your body, fool, it's all tense!" She could feel the stiffness of his body as she held onto him, helping him stay afloat. "Let your arms caress the water a little."
Wally robotically moved his arms, laughing hysterically to avoid thinking about the situation. A few seconds ticked by and even he had to admit; lying down on the water actually felt good. His eyes were focused on Abby's face only, mostly because he knew if he looked anywhere else, he'd freak out.
I ain't gonna drown. I ain't gonna drown, I ain't gonna let the water eat me, not today, sucka, he recited in his head. Wally quickly tore his gaze away from Abby as soon as she looked at him with an encouraging smile.
"Ya doing good, Wally!" she said, her eyes as bright as the sun. Her hair was out of the usual plait she wore and was wet; he couldn't help but stare with his mouth open. Even the look on her face made him gulp nervously.
As he had no other choice but to look away and up at the bright blue sky, he couldn't help but replay the smile she shot him, the way her dark, wet hair glistened in the sunlight and the way her eyes twinkled as she looked at him.
W-what's...why am I thinkin' about Abby?! He thought, frustrated. Nah, it's just cos I'm scared, and she's helpin' me. Course I'll be thinkin' about her. I wonder what Kuki's doin'...
With that thought in mind, all his tense muscles loosened all of a sudden, and he shut his eyes, relaxed.
-.-.-.-.-.
Wally had forgotten what it was like to be around Kuki again. They had apologised but there was still a thought that had been bugging him - a misunderstanding that still hadn't been clarified.
Even still, he spent more time with Kuki than with Abby even though, before, it was the latter he spent time with. Now they barely talked. It was weird because he was starting to like her presence around him.
But now, Kuki was back in his thoughts. She was cheerful, bubbly and... adorable. Not that Wally would ever admit that, though.
Not in a gajabillion years would I tell 'er that! He snorted to himself.
"Oi, Kooks, could I talk to ya for a sec?" Wally paused the game that they were playing and Kuki frowned.
"Aw, I was beating your butt, though!"
Wally scowled. "You were not," he mumbled like a grumpy five-year-old. It reminded him of when he and Abby binge-played video games the other day, though, and he found himself missing it. In all the years they'd known each other, they had never spent one on one time together, and she had never played video games with him.
And it was surprisingly fun.
Wally quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of unwanted thoughts when he was with Kuki, his bangs flopping from side to side. "I, uh, I actually wanted to ask ya somethin'."
Kuki turned to face him with those big eyes of hers that he'd admired for years. Wally stuttered, "Uh...do ya...ya know, like Numbuh 1? Or somethin'?"
The anticipation left her eyes and surprise took over as her eyes widened. "Like, like-like?"
Wally hummed, looking away. "Yeah, like-like."
Kuki snorted and slapped Wally's shoulder, playfully. "Of course not, silly! Why would I like Numbuh 1?!"
The sense of relief wasn't as immense as he had hoped or imagined, but still, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "N-no reason! Just wonderin' ya know? So, um, what did he want with ya? Said he wanted to teach ya or show ya somethin'?"
"I told him I wanted to lead a mission one day and so he was teaching me how to be a leader!"
Wally choked on his own saliva. "You?! Leadin' a mission?" Oh crud, no! he screamed in his mind.
"Well, not anytime soon, silly! But soon!"
"Uh...roight. Numbuh 1's gone mad."
"Hey!" Kuki protested but Wally ignored her, turning back to the TV.
"Anyway, let's play; I'm so close to winnin'."
She eyed him with a giggle. "You're so weird, Wally! We both know that I'm the one that's gonna win!" she said, her Japanese accent making everything she said seem childish.
He scoffed in reply, grumbling under his breath. He was glad that the thing that he had been bothered about the most had been clarified, and all this time, he just needed to talk to her like Abby had suggested to him from the very start.
During their conversation, however, Wally hadn't notice Abby joining the others in the room, plopping onto the couch next to theirs, reading her magazine.
Things had gone back to normal very quickly and Abby was comfortable with how things were. Their time together seemed to be very short-lived, but she was glad she got to spend time with Wally even if it was just a little.
But still, there was a feeling of regret pooling within her stomach. She glanced up at Kuki and Wally bickering and laughing with each other and she involuntarily let out a resigned sigh.