Elphaba had been ducking and weaving through the school halls, intent upon getting to her next class, when a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She jumped in surprise, but the person responsible didn't even seem to notice her fright.

"Hey Elphie, wanna go swim after school?" it was Glinda, ridiculously pink and sparkly backpack over her shoulder and smile on her face.

"Uhh, what?" Elphaba asked in monotone, recovering first from Glinda's unintentional jumpscare and then trying to process what she'd asked.

"Do you want to go to swim practice with me after school today?" Glinda repeated, slower and more composed.

"You're on the swim team?" was all Elphaba could think of to say in reply, to which Glinda laughed.

"Yes. Just come to practice after school and I'll show you around proper. It meets right at this school's pool as soon as the last bell rings, ok?" and before Elphaba could respond, Glinda seemed to have taken Elphaba's silence as an agreement because she smiled, patted Elphaba on the back, and then went skipping away. Meanwhile, Elphaba could only stare. What had she just agreed to again? And where had this offer even come from?

A couple hours later, Elphaba was standing in the overheated and overchlorinated swimming pool room. She hated how sticky and moist everything was! But Glinda seemed totally immune to it, boldly dragging Elphaba through every room in the facility, blabbing on endlessly about every facet of it, heedless of the heat and humidity.

"And that's the diving well!" Glinda pointed excitedly to the board standing 10 feet over a 20-foot pool. Right at the moment, a handsome young man was about to do a flip off of it. While Glinda watched with wide and amazed eyes, Elphaba flinched and looked away, cringing again as she heard his body hit the water. But Glinda seemed quite excited. "What a perfect swan dive!" she cried. "Did you see that, Elphie?!" and the green girl didn't have the heart to do more than nod weakly and reluctantly allow Glinda to drag her along again.

At the eventual sound of a shrill whistle, however, Glinda was forced to let Elphaba go.

"That would be our swim coach!" she said excitedly. "That means we have five minutes to change and get in the water..."

"Wait. We?" Elphaba's voice cracked.

"Well, not you," Glinda replied. "Or, not yet at least."

"Not yet?" Elphaba's voice cracked again.

"Yeah," Glinda suddenly looked very sheepish. "You see, for some reason, our team is smaller this year than ever before, so coach has been pushing us all to invite some friends to join, so I invited you. Please say you'll do it?" Glinda made her big blue eyes even bigger as she tried to use her puppy face to win Elphaba over but, for once in their lives, it didn't work.

"No, Glinda, I can't," Elphaba insisted, finally stepping back for the first time since Glinda had dragged her through those steamy doors.

"Oh, what? What do you mean you can't?" Glinda teased, pretending to despair, but Elphaba took her question seriously.

"I have really severe hydrophobia," she confessed. For a moment, she bit back a cringe as she feared that Glinda would tease her for a such a seemingly silly fear, but no, instead, Glinda gave her a look of genuine sympathy.

"That's why you seemed tense!" she murmured. "I'm so sorry Elphie, you should've told me!" Glinda shook her head, silently berating herself. She had indeed noticed how stiff and reluctant Elphaba had seemed during their whole tour of the swimming pool, but Glinda had chalked it up to Elphaba's usual "I don't want to go anywhere except home, school and library" attitude. She hadn't realized that it had been a bit more serious than just that. Now she felt bad for having tried to pressure the green girl into such an activity.

"You, uhh, you can go home now, if you like," Glinda offered meekly. "And I'm sorry, again, for having dragged you into this instead of asking you first if you'd be ok with this. I really wasn't thinking," Glinda scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed.

"No, no, I can at least stay. I mean, I might as well. You know, maybe I could just offer up moral support? Or maybe watching might help me get over my phobia? Because it's certainly something I'd like to not have to deal with for the rest of my life," Elphaba replied. Part of her still really didn't want to be here, but part of her felt bad for having let Glinda down by declining to join the team, though that had not been her fault at all. For that, the offer to at least stay and watch, the green girl hoped, would act as something of an apology for denying Glinda's request.

"Are you sure?" Glinda asked, nothing but concern in her voice. Unlike Elphaba, she didn't think that Elphaba's support here was needed as an apology. The way she saw it, Elphaba didn't have anything to apologize for at all. She shouldn't have felt guilted into staying and watching if she didn't feel comfortable here. Unlike Elphaba, Glinda was more concerned about Elphaba's health as opposed to her honor. That concern grew more apparent the loner her blue eyes searched the green girl's face for any hint of a lie. That kind of caring and genuinely worried look alone gave Elphaba strength and when she nodded again, she was being serious. Glinda's face split into a smile. Sure, it wasn't as good as having Elphaba on the team, but it was enough to just have the green girl willing to be there and watch, especially given her intense hydrophobia.

"Great!" the blond said, then she squeezed Elphaba's hand once before darting away to the locker rooms.

Five minutes later, she and the rest of the team had emerged and Elphaba suddenly had another reason to stay and watch Glinda swim. As perhaps vulgar as it was to say, Elphaba liked very much to see Glinda in a suit. Sure, maybe its bright pinkness (which was only accented by a pink cap and goggles) was a bit nauseating, but Elphaba was paying far more heed to all the skin Glinda was showing. The suit was actually quite modest, but as with all swim gear, there was a lot of arm and leg, both of which Elphaba realized that she appreciated quite highly, even if that blasted water kept getting in the way of her viewing it.

Though, seeing Glinda's body on dry land was probably far worse for that same reason: no water to obscure everything. Glinda had left her clothing with Elphaba for the duration of practice and, when practice was done, Elphaba had made the mistake of trying to come into the locker room to deliver the clothing to her, bringing it right into her changing spot. When Glinda dropped her towel and extended an arm for her clothes, Elphaba was sure that her face had been very, very dark.

The next couple of weeks passed the same way, with Elphaba coming to watch Glinda swim after school every day. She watched with the same attraction as always and felt herself wanting Glinda a little bit more each day. But fear of rejection kept Elphaba silent. Even when Glinda outright asked if she had conquered her fear enough to join the team, Elphaba could not tell the truth about why she was really still here. It was just too embarrassing and there was far too much at stake.

"I, uhhh, am getting more comfortable around the water," Elphaba was lying through her teeth. "But you guys swim so fast that I was thinking maybe I should start smaller, first?" she gave her best smile, hoping Glinda wouldn't see how her eyes were darting all over her wet form.

"Ah! Swimming lessons! A great idea!" Glinda was totally oblivious, congratulating Elphaba sincerely. "And I actually know a guy who gives lessons for cheap! He's a great teacher and I think I might be able to get him to teach you while I'm at practice. That way, you can actually practice swimming instead of just having to watch us!" she continued happily. "You needn't only watch anymore!"

"Well now, I never said I wanted that!" protested Elphaba, without even meaning to. Her intensity surprised Glinda so much that she was suddenly scrambling for words, trying to explain her way out of such a vehement insistence that she continue to only watch Glinda swim. "I mean, I'd like to keep watching just for a little bit longer, if that's ok. I don't think I'm quite ready yet to get into the water," she confessed and Glinda only shrugged in reply. She didn't ask why Elphaba sounded like she was lying.

But Elphaba's "not ready for the water" shtick ended up being put to the test only three days later. It had been a normal practice, except the coach left early on an emergency meeting which prompted some of the less motivated swimmers to do likewise and run. Glinda, however, was one of the few that stayed. Elphaba continued to watch her, but near the middle of the practice, the sight of Glinda panting with a heaving chest made Elphaba a little too flustered, so she turned to a book. She had reached a pretty good chapter when suddenly...

"Ahhh-!" Elphaba heard a shriek cut off in mid-yelp. Her head shot up to see Glinda falling, seemingly in slow motion, into the deeper end of the pool. Glinda had tried to climb out but lost her balance and fell in. Panic struck Elphaba. It was only her and Glinda (the other swimmers having also gone home) and Glinda wasn't coming up. Elphaba ran over to the pool to see a pink figure thrashing violently around in the water, but it was making no progress upward. Only downward. Elphaba began to pace the side of the pool, half of her head telling her to run and grab help while the other could only think of one other thing to do in a time like this. Eventually, the green girl stripped down completely and dove in.

Feeling the cold water smother her, Elphaba fought the urge to panic and inhale. Instead, she tried to imagine what the swimmers and high-divers looked like and what they did when their heads were submerged. She imagined herself as once of them, remaining totally still until she got used to the feeling of the water surrounding her on all sides. Then, once she felt ready, she managed to angle herself down towards Glinda. It was in that moment that the green girl would be forever grateful for the fact that Glinda only owned bright pink and sparkly swim suits. As silly as they looked, they were so bright that one could see them even without the aid of goggles, which was a very useful thing at the moment. The chlorine stung Elphaba's eyes, but not as terribly as she thought, so she forced them to remain open as she continued to move towards the bright pink color of Glinda's suit.

By the time she reached Glinda, the blond's thrashing had decreased severely, the only motion being the occasional twitch or feeble final attempt at moving. This was both frightening and relieving because, on the one hand, it signaled that Glinda could be drowning right then and there, but on the other, Elphaba would not have to fight to get Glinda up to the surface. With Glinda motionless, all Elphaba had to do was grab an arm and then swim in the opposite direction she felt herself and Glinda being pulled, and so she did.

Once their two heads had broken the surface, the next question was how to pull Glinda out. Elphaba realized that she'd left her clothing right at the edge of the pool and she didn't even think twice before tying her long black dress around Glinda's arm, climbing up and then slowly pulling Glinda up and out with her. Once half of Glinda's body was up, Elphaba abandoned her dress-rope-thing and simply put her arms around Glinda and lifted. At last, they were both on dry land once more, except Glinda still wasn't moving. Panic set in again. Elphaba knew she needed to perform CPR and fast, and she knew how to, but the idea of touching Glinda like that made her shudder...

"Grow up Elphaba!" Elphaba snapped at herself, mentally kicking herself for thinking about Glinda in such a vulgar way during such a serious moment. This was a life or death thing, after all! So the green girl only steeled her nerves, kneeling over Glinda and exhaling a breath from her lungs into Glinda's before pumping her chest powerfully, steadily. Then in the back of her mind, she could see Glinda's body, swimming easily through the pool, every compression Elphaba performed going in tandem with every stroke that the Glinda in her mind took.

"Aaack! What?!" Glinda called as she shot awake, then she turned onto her knees, puking water.

"Glinda! Thank Oz you're ok!" Elphaba cried in a relieved voice as Glinda continued to retch for a few seconds more. At last, however, Glinda's coughing ceased and she managed to sit back on her knees and look Elphaba in the eye. It was also then when she realized that Elphaba was totally naked, no swim suit or even undergarments on. Just green skin for as long as the eye could see...

"Ummmm Elphie? Uhhh, why are you... naked?" Glinda asked, blushing. Elphaba tore her dress from Glinda's arm in response to that question and covered up at once, face growing very dark once again.

"Sorry, uh, I uh, just had to..." Elphaba sputtered while Glinda pieced the story together in her mind.

"Sweet Oz Elphie! You risked your life for me?" Glinda asked, touched.

"Well, it wasn't quite that dramatic-" Elphaba tried to brush it off, still blushing violently, but Glinda wouldn't let her.

"Yes it was! Elphie! You have a fear of water, and yet you still tried to save me! Now, I do admit that it would've been smarter to get some help, but I certainly am not going to criticize you for pretty much saving my life!" the blond cried, then she tackled Elphaba in a hug even though the green girl was still totally naked, only her soaking black dress covering her torso from Glinda at this point.

As the hug continued, it occurred to Elphaba just how weird the past few minutes had been (or maybe it was the adrenaline and her nerves combining, making everything a bit loopy at the moment), but either way, Elphaba suddenly felt the strong compulsion to do one more thing.

"Well, you know, I couldn't just let you..." Elphaba began slowly, then she mentally cussed at her own mind before throwing all caution to the wind and saying what she really wanted to say. "I... love you," she admitted, and a nervous laugh filled her mind.

"I love you too!" Glinda gushed in reply, hugging Elphaba tighter.

"No, I mean, not in just that way," Elphaba replied. "I mean that I love, love you. Does that make sense?" she asked, voice shockingly calm and quiet, but again, she attributed it to the stress she'd just gone through. Glinda, meanwhile, seemed a little shell-shocked herself.

"Oh. You are?" she asked, and her tone might've been laughable had both of them been a bit more sane in the brain at the moment.

"Yeah, I am," Elphaba replied, then she gave a slightly unhinged laugh. "I guess you could say that I'm hydrophobic but Glinda-philic!" she added, and then both of them broke down into nervous laughter again. It had been a very odd day.

But the next day was far better, Glinda having since convinced Elphaba to actually join the team. The green girl still intended upon taking proper lessons first, but she decided to indulge Glinda just this once and give an actual practice a try, just to see how it felt. Now, the time to test herself was drawing near and although Elphaba was nervous, she couldn't help but laugh as she remembered what Glinda had said to her on the night she agreed to give the team a go.

"I can't wait to see how you look in a suit!" and Elphaba found herself silently agreeing with that statement. In the distance, the school bell rang.

AN: Don't ask. Stupid Gelphie fluff. Leave me and my gay ship alone. *Sits in corner, stroking this crap fic possessively*. LOL

Also, I used to be on my high school swim team, so this fic was somewhat inspired off of that (which means that, in this case, the two are high schoolers, not college students), though I had no such luck as Elphaba or Glinda during my year on the team. I was just all around bad. I can swim well, but I'm very slow. Not a good thing while on a competitive team, amirite? (I never won a single race. Sadface.)