Felix Learns to Swim
By MrMikul, member of the Fellowship of the Sand!
Here's a silly AU Sandshipping story where Felix is taught how to swim. I came up with this idea after reading what two friends of mine said about Felix having troubles with water and swimming. They mentioned that Sheba says in GS2 that Felix 'tried' to save her from drowning and didn't succeed in saving Sheba. That implies that Sheba would have had to do the swimming for the two of them. So here Sheba finally teaches Felix how to swim. Its set two years after GS: The Lost Age. So Sheba is 16 and Felix is 20. Hope it entertains you!
--
It
was a hot and sunny day in Vale, two years after the lighting of the
beacons, and the whole town was preparing for the yearly Swimming
Carnival to celebrate the rise of the Golden Sun. Food stands were
set up and everyone was looking forward to the event. Two of our
heroes were discussing the finals of the swimming competition that
was being held.
"This is going to be an incredible day Felix! I can't wait to show everyone that I'm the best swimmer of the group!" Sheba said with a devious smile. Felix suppressed a bit of laughter, and simply said;
"…You really want to win this, don't you?"
"Of course I do Felix!" Sheba said, sparing a glance at Felix. "I was always a good swimmer back in Lalivero, and I won a lot of trophies because I was so good at it."
"Well, keep an eye out for Piers; he is a Lemurian after all, and he's likely to leave you in the dust." Felix said; again resisting the urge to let out the laughter he felt. Sheba promptly smacked him on the shoulder because of his teasing.
"Hey! I thought that you were supposed to cheer me on!" Sheba said, pretending to be angry with Felix. But Felix saw right through this, and gave Sheba a warm smile.
"Of course I'm going to cheer you on Sheba. Why wouldn't I want you to win?" Felix said, daring her to say why. Sheba broke into laughter.
"I don't know, maybe because you want to be Vale's swimming champion?" Sheba said with a devious grin on her face. Felix however paled slightly at the mention of swimming.
"I-I don't think so. Swimming… just isn't something I'm comfortable with Sheba." Felix said. Sheba looked to Felix in concern. His hands were shaking ever so slightly.
"Is it… because of the bad experiences you've had with almost drowning Felix?" Sheba asked. Felix nodded uneasily as they started walking towards the swimming pool.
"Felix, why didn't you tell me you were afraid of water? I could have helped you with your fear of it." Sheba said. "I still can help you if you'll let me."
"I appreciate it Sheba, but I'm not getting any closer to water than I have to." Felix said, an 'end-of-story' look spreading across his face. Sheba however wasn't ready to accept defeat so easily.
"You can't just hide away from your fears Felix!" Sheba cried out as she grabbed Felix's arm. "You jumped off of Venus Lighthouse so you could save my life, even though you have a fear of water and you couldn't swim very well. I had to do most of the swimming for us if you remember. But ever since then, I've always wanted to do something to say thank you for saving my life."
"Sheba…" Felix said softly.
"So please Felix… let me help you get over your fear of water… It would mean so much to me if I can help you… with this one little thing." Sheba said, giving Felix a pleading look.
"…Oh, ok. I give up." Felix said with a defeated smile on his face. "You can teach me how to swim in two days, and help me get over my fear of water." Sheba's eyes light up at this, and she gave him a fierce hug which he returned.
"Oh thank you Felix! I really appreciate it!" Sheba chirped, giving Felix a huge smile. "Come on, we better hurry to the pool, there's no way I'm losing to Piers today!" Felix laughed at this as they continued walking to the swimming pool.
'Why can't I just say no to that look she gives me… every time she does that, I can't stop myself from doing whatever Sheba wants me to…' Felix thought while shaking his head.
--
A
minute later, Felix and Sheba had arrived at the swimming pool, and
their friends were there waiting for them. Isaac stepped forward to
speak to them.
"It's about time you got here Felix; we've all been waiting for you two." Isaac said, with an open smile. "What's kept you from being here earlier?"
"I've just had a little talk with Felix, and I'm going to be teaching him how to swim in a couple of days!" Sheba said with an eager smile. Jenna started laughing at this.
"What? You managed to get Felix to let you help him with his fear of swimming? I thought that you were more stubborn than that, brother!" Jenna giggled amid her laughter. "Sheba, you must tell me how you turned him into such a submissive guy!" Felix flushed slightly in embarrassment as Sheba joined in on the laughter.
"Of course I'll tell you! It's rather easy too." Sheba said with a sly smile. "But not before I win the swimming competition!" Everyone laughed upon seeing how determined she was.
"You've got some stiff competition to beat though Sheba." Ivan said. "You'll be going up against Isaac, Piers and Mia. By the way the winner gets a week's worth of cookies made by Felix's mother."
"You're kidding! If only I could actually swim." Garet moaned. "I haven't had some of her cookies in weeks! Mia, you'd better share some of them with me if you win." Jenna promptly smacked Garet on the back of his head.
"You greedy pig Garet! I can't believe that you said that! Where are your manners? Don't mind him Mia; I'll sort him out later." Jenna said while glaring at Garet. Mia just laughed at Garet and said;
"Don't worry about it Jenna; I'd be happy to share those cookies with him." More laughter came from the adepts.
"I suppose though that we should be getting ready for the finals then." Isaac said, anticipation showing on his face. "It's a two lap swimming race and don't forget, no using Psynergy or Djinn to turn the odds in your favour!" And with that they went off to prepare for the swimming race.
Twenty minutes later, the four competing adepts were ready to have their race, with each adept representing their home town. Isaac, Vale's Hero was looking lithe and limber, ready to show the town what he could do. Piers, Man of Lemuria was happy to be in his element. He was flexing and stretching, and it showed on his well built body. Kay in particular was enjoying the sight.
Mia, Angel of Imil was ready to go, looking graceful and beautiful as ever in her two piece swimsuit. Garet had a lot of trouble trying to keep his eyes away from her figure. Last of all Sheba, Dove of Lalivero was all revved up and ready to go. She turned to Felix and waved at him. Felix smiled back at Sheba and cheered for her.
'She's grown up a fair bit since we journeyed around Weyard. She… looks surprisingly good too. I just know that she can win.' Felix thought as Sheba waited for the race to start. Most of the town was there to watch the event, and everyone there was eager to see who would win. Kraden had volunteered to be the marshal for the event, and he was ready to start the race. He yelled out;
"Are you ready, Adepts of Weyard?" They all nodded to Kraden, who then straightened up.
With a smile he yelled out;
"On your marks, get set… GO!" And they the race had begun, with the whole town cheering them on. Isaac had made a good start, powering through the water as he left Mia behind. Mia had only recently picked up swimming a week ago. Piers and Sheba however were thriving in the water and neither of them wanted to lose. As such they were neck and neck for the first lap.
"Come on Mia, you can win! I want some cookies!" Garet called out, before being slapped by Kay.
Isaac was pretty close behind Piers and Sheba, while Mia was doing her hardest to catch up. Halfway on the second lap however Piers started to edge away. Sheba realised that she was running out of steam, but she heard something that she didn't expect to hear.
"YOU CAN DO THIS SHEBA! YOU'RE THE BEST SWIMMER IN ALL OF WEYARD!" Felix yelled out over everyone. Sheba felt her heart lighten, knowing that Felix was supporting her. She poured her heart into winning the race; and she was soon swimming past a surprised Piers. Sheba and Piers were neck and neck for the last moments of the race, but Sheba just pulled ahead to emerge victorious.
"We have a WINNER!" Kraden yelled out excitedly. "Sheba of Lalivero is our Champion!" As the adepts got out of the pool, Sheba felt her face go warm from all the attention that she was receiving. The town was applauding and cheering for her.
"Congrats for winning Sheba!" Jenna said with a beaming smile, hugging the obviously embarrassed Wind Adept.
"Thank you Jenna…" Sheba said, still having a hard time believing that she had actually won. "I-I was rather… lucky that won."
"That's not true, Sheba my friend." Piers calmly said as he walked up to Sheba. "You gave it your all, and you got what you gave out. Well done." Isaac also walked up to Sheba.
"I'm surprised that you were such a good swimmer Sheba, but next time I won't underestimate you!" Isaac commented with a friendly smile. Sheba's blush grew greater from all the praise that she was getting. She didn't notice that Felix too was walking towards her, a rare grin on his face.
"I am too Sheba, I knew that you had what it took to win the race. I'm so happy for you." Felix said, still grinning. "I now know that I've got a brilliant teacher when it comes to swimming."
"Ye-yes. I'll do my best for you Felix… It was because of you that I was able to win, so thank you very much Felix…" Sheba said, her face looking like the crimson roses that Kay was so fond of.
Soon after, Felix handed over the prize for winning the swimming competition, the week's supply of cookies made by Felix's mother. Sheba thanked everyone there for giving her the support that helped her win the finals, and shared a few cookies around. Garet was happy that he got some cookies in the end, despite both Kay and Jenna slapping him in the back of the head a few times.
--
Two days later, Sheba was walking to Felix's house, looking forward to helping Felix conquer his fear of water. He had done so much for her, and now she could help him now. Sheba knocked on the front door, nervousness and eagerness fighting for dominance inside of her stomach. Jenna answered the door.
"Oh hi Sheba! Good to see that you've arrived. Felix has been waiting for you. Good luck helping him get over his fear of water." Jenna said. "But don't forget, you still have to show me how you got him to be so submissive!" Sheba laughed at this, and simply said;
"All I do is look at him like he's the only thing that can make me feel better, and then he always does what I ask of him." Upon hearing this Jenna started laughing and she quickly fell over from laughing too much. She struggled to get up and had to lean on the doorway to keep herself from falling again.
"Jenna, are you ok?" A confused Sheba asked.
"No WAY! He does that because you act all 'puppy eyed' on him? And it always works? This is priceless!" Jenna said amid her relentless laughter. Jenna stopped laughing for a moment, and turned an 'innocent' gaze towards Sheba. "Sheba, does he like you or something? I mean, he never does anything to upset you and-"
"JENNA! He does NOT like me! NOT IN THAT WAY!" Sheba screamed out, before spacing out. "He-he's always been so kind and gentle, looking after me and taking care of me through all that we've went through. I really appreciate what he's done for me but he couldn't… not like that…" Jenna gave Sheba a mischievous look.
"I see. So you and my brother aren't, you know… An Item? Are you sure that YOU don't have a thing for him?" Jenna chirped. The growing blush on Sheba's face gave it away though. Sheba started playing with her forefingers and she looked down in embarrassment.
"I-I… Y-es. I do like him, b-but only a little bit." Sheba said. Jenna couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing again.
"Wow, you've really grown up Sheba." Jenna teased. "You're finally ready to start dating! And you've chosen my brother! Sheba's a-courting, Sheba's a-courting!" Jenna sang mockingly.
"That's not fair!" Sheba said. Her face was really burning up now.
"But you have the perfect opportunity here! You're going with Felix, alone to teach him how to swim. Couldn't you, do something to get together with him?" Jenna said. Sheba felt like fainting from embarrassment. Jenna had used the same words that Sheba used to tease Jenna about Isaac. Thankfully Felix had just turned up. He had a packed bag on his back, and he was wearing a green shirt and brown shorts.
"What's going on here?" Felix asked. Jenna turned to Felix and winked at him.
"It's Sheba, she's so excited today Felix! She said that she's really looking forward to helping you get over your fear of water. I'm sure that the two of you will have a lovely time together." Jenna said. Felix smiled and said;
"I think so to, let's go Sheba." He put a companionable arm around Sheba, who stiffened slightly, but didn't move away from Felix.
"See you two later! Have a fun time!" Jenna said as they left.
It wasn't long before they got to the swimming pool again. While the pool was usually crowded, it wasn't very busy, and only a few people were there.
"It's strange that there are so few people here today. It's a perfect day for a dip in the water." Sheba said, looking towards Felix. "It's also a good time to get you to learn to swim." Felix nodded his head in agreement with this.
"We'll meet back here in a minute, once we're both changed for swimming, okay?" Sheba said, before walking off to enter said change rooms. Soon enough, Sheba had walked out, wearing her best set of swim-wear. She hoped that Felix would like it.
"Felix! Where are you?" Sheba called out. A moment later, Felix spoke back.
"I'm coming Sheba, don't be too hasty now." Felix said as he walked out of the change room and towards Sheba. Sheba gasped at what she saw.
Felix was simply wearing a worn pair of boardshorts, and nothing else. His chest was well-toned and lean, while his arms were full of muscle.
'I can't believe that he's got so much muscle on him. H-he's so handsome.' Sheba thought as she tried not go drool at the sight.
"What? Are you staring at my chest?" Felix asked, snapping Sheba out of her daydream. Sheba shook her head, hoping that Felix wouldn't see the blush on her face. He laughed at Sheba's attempt to hide the truth.
"This is the result of three hard years of Adept-training with Saturos and Menardi. It was certainly worth the blood sweat and tears it took to get this fit. Are you going to help me with my fear of water now Sheba?" Felix said with an amused smile on his face.
"O-of course... L-let's go" Sheba stuttered. "But we will start at the kids pool ok?"
"Ok. I suppose that it will be something like a bath then, not that I have many of them." Felix joked. Sheba giggled and said;
"Sort of, but you will be doing a bit of floating and going under the water as well."
"Floating? And going under the water? Why?" Felix asked.
"Because I want you to become used to the feel of the water, as well as getting used to submerging yourself in the pool, before we start to get you swimming." Sheba replied. "If you freak out when you go under water, even for a moment, you won't be able to learn to swim."
"I understand. I feel a bit uncomfortable with this, I just hope that this works." Felix said. Sheba smiled at him.
"Don't worry Felix. I'll make sure that you'll be ok." Sheba said.
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Felix said with a smile. "Let's get into it!"
Sheba led Felix to the Kid's pool and started giving him instructions on how to get over his fear of water.
--
"First
of all, I want you to sit down and get used to the water. There is
nothing to fear here because the water is calm, warm and relaxing."
Sheba said soothingly.
"Ok. I have to admit… I-it feels rather comfortable." Felix said as his fears were slowly melting away. Sheba giggled slightly and said;
"Exactly! If you're ready now, I'd like you to lean back and try floating on the water, before we move to having you sink underneath the surface." Sheba put a hand on Felix's back and another hand on the back of his neck and helped him lean back. Felix enjoyed having Sheba look after him. "Don't forget, no matter what happens; I'm here to keep you safe." Felix nodded in thanks and leaned back towards the water. Sheba held him there for a couple of minutes before saying;
"Now that you've calmed down and you're looking peaceful, I'm going to let go of you and I want you to let yourself sink under the water. Don't forget to hold your breath either." Sheba let go of Felix, and he hesitated for a few moments before letting himself go under the water.
'I haven't been underwater like this since I almost drowned during the storm, five years ago. But I'm barely nervous about what could happen to me.' Felix thought as he held his breath underwater. 'I didn't think that Sheba would have such a calming influence on me. Thanks to her I might be getting over my fear of water. And I might just tell her today.' A smile appeared on his face as he got up out of the water.
"It worked. I'm ready to learn how to swim now, Sheba." Felix said.
"Then let's go!" Sheba said with a sigh of relief, before helping Felix get out of the kids pool. They got to the main pool, and they started by walking in the shallow side of the pool.
"Now Felix, there's many ways to swim, so I'm going to teach you two for now. The first is the backstroke. To do the backstroke, you have to use your arms to propel you as you scissor kick the water." Sheba said before moving her arms and legs as if she was doing the backstroke. Felix nodded and he practiced the backstroke for a little while. It wasn't long before he was mastering the technique.
"Good work Felix!" Sheba said, clearly proud of her pupil's progress. She took a breath before speaking again. "The other swimming style we have is the 'Laliverian Crawl'. To do this, you have to be face down in the water. You stretch one arm out, and pull your body forward with it while your other arm gets ready to do the same thing. This style twists your body slightly too either side, and between strokes, you can breathe in and out while your head is out of the water. In addition you do a smaller scissor kick here, but that's just to keep yourself stable." Felix, was dumbfounded because of the Kraden-like lecture, and his jaw was hanging down slightly.
"What did you say?" Felix asked. Sheba groaned in annoyance.
"Just watch me swim for a moment, and pay attention to how I'm swimming!" Sheba said. She then swam the 'Laliverian Crawl' for a lap. Felix paid careful attention to the way Sheba was swimming before trying it out himself. While his efforts were sloppy at first, he did pick up the pace after some 30 minutes. Sheba simply nodded and then she led Felix to the top of a small dive tower.
"Felix, you've done very well today. There's only one more thing I'd like you to do and then you should be over your fear of water. I'd like you to dive off of the tower into the pool, and confront the moment when you were knocked into the river by the boulder of Mount Aleph." Felix smiled at Sheba before speaking.
"I will. Thank you for helping me Sheba. I really appreciate it." Felix said, before bringing Sheba into a hug. Sheba blushed at being so close to his bare chest. She hoped that she wouldn't do anything stupid.
"It's my pleasure, Felix." Sheba said shyly. She took one of Felix's hands and wrapped hers in it. "You have no idea how happy I am that could help you out today…I've always wanted be there for you like you've been there for me, and I-I… really l-like you Felix." Felix gave Sheba a knowing look and said;
"I know. I've been waiting all day for you to tell me already." Sheba gasped upon hearing the confession. The blush on her face was replaced by a look of outrage and embarrassment.
"...WHAT? How dare you put me through this! I thought that you were a kind and caring person; not an insensitive prick! And how did you find out?" Sheba shouted before she started pounding her fists against Felix's chest. Felix laughed as he grabbed her hands and held them in his. He gave Sheba an amused look.
"It wasn't that hard. I saw felt how tense you were when I put my arm around you this morning… You were practically drooling when you saw me topless Sheba." Felix said. Sheba was embarrassed, but had managed to keep herself from blushing. "Not only that, but you're trembling slightly now that I'm so close to you. Finally, I heard what you said to Jenna before we came here. You were pretty loud when you were talking to Jenna." Sheba said nothing; but she saw how clearly she had been giving him signals, whether she wanted to or not.
"And Sheba… While I could have told you straight away that I liked you and saved you the effort of telling me how you feel, I wanted you to find the courage to tell me that you liked me… Just like how you helped me find the courage to get over my fear of water today. I've always said that you're stronger than you think you are Sheba. And you proved me right by winning the swimming competition... That's why I like you so much." Felix said; his face slightly pink. Sheba's face turned red again.
"Felix, you like me? ...why don't we…!" Sheba said before Felix silenced her by picking her up in his arms bridal style and giving her a playful kiss. Sheba's heart fluttered and the blush on her face turned crimson. Felix had a sly look on his face.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that, Sheba. Now let's go take that dive you wanted me to do!" Felix teased before he ran towards the springboard.
"But Felix this is supposed to be something that you were supposed to do and I don't want to- eeyahh!" Sheba screamed as Felix jumped off the springboard recklessly with a frightened Sheba in his arms. A minute later, Felix got out of the pool laughing like he never had before. Sheba jumped out of the pool with a look of mock-outrage on her face.
"You are a prick!" Sheba yelled, despite the laughter that could be seen in her eyes. "But, it was fun. I'll forgive you, this time." Felix laughed at this.
"This time? You make you want to be taken by surprise like that." Felix said, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I want you to take me by surprise, no matter what happens, you'll be there to keep me safe." Sheba said adoringly as she brought Felix in and kissed him. Felix wrapped his arms round Sheba and deepened the kiss, but he gasped in surprise as Sheba pulled Felix into the pool with her. Both Felix and Sheba came out of the water laughing. They then spent the rest of the day swimming and playing in the pool.
--
Finally Felix and Sheba had turned up at Felix's house. They were comfortably close to each other, the smiles on their faces showed how happy they both were that the day had turned out as it had.
"…You really bring out the bright side in me Sheba." Felix said. "It's another thing I like about you." Sheba giggled at the flattery.
"And you make me act bravely and recklessly." Sheba teased. "I've had a wonderful day, thank you so much for coming with me." Felix gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Anytime, and thank you for helping me conquer my fear of water. We'll go swimming again in a week then?" Felix asked.
"Definitely." Sheba said grinning. "But I'm going to take you out for the weekend. I'll have something special planned just for the two of us."
"I like the sound of that. I'll see you in a few days Sheba." Felix said, before giving Sheba a farewell kiss, which she joyfully returned. Sheba then walked off to her own place in Vale, while Felix walked into his house, each of them thinking warm thoughts of the other.
Fin
There we go, a humorous fic based on what two people said about Felix's troubles with swimming and water. Read and review!