Isolophobia

Author's Note: I'm not dead. Stop making that face. I've been a little tied up lately. This story takes place some time after ... oh what ep was it? Common Interest? The episode where Aelita's heart stops. It's old and has been chilling in my 'These Are Done!' folder. I hope it can hold you over until I get my rear in gear on my other projects. Thank you for your patience as always.

Dedication: To Jeni, for giving me the fear idea for the title and for making me write. To Kitty, welcome home! I missed your inappropriateness and wit. To Kat, for picking the title and being all positive lately. Adore you three.

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She knew it'd happen eventually. It had to happen. She would have to suck it up and get back in that blasted pool. I mean, it was just a pool. It was a cement lined hole filled with water in a school. There were thousands like it and yet… and yet this pool terrified her. With her knees drawn to her chest she sighed, staring down at the water. Without a doubt. She understood Ulrich's fear of heights- that is, now that she too was afraid of something.

It was irrational- to be afraid of water. The incident had nothing to even do with water. The incident, of course, being the day her heart stopped and she nearly drown to death. However, her heard did not stop because of this pool, or water, or anything of the sort. It just happened to be where she fell.

Footsteps echoed in the near empty room and she shifted uncomfortably on the cement, looking up in panic. She was met by a normally comforting gaze of her blonde companion, but today it struck a new wave of terror up in her, especially when she realized he had a towel slung hap hazardously over his shoulder, dressed only in his swim trucks and a t-shirt.

"I thought I'd find you here." He dropped the towel on the deck next to her.

"I was just leaving, actually." The lie came out several octaves higher than she had originally hoped it would, leaving her flustered and red faced.

"Really? That's a shame," the blonde said nonchalantly. "Guess I'll be swimming alone." She averted her gaze down to the half chipped polish on her toes.

"Uh huh," she squeaked.

"Sure you don't want to join me?" She glanced up through pink bangs as he pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it on top of his towel.

"No thank you." His glasses were added to the pile.

"Suit yourself." He stepped to the edge of the deck and dove into the water. She held her breath and waited for him to surface. Her fear of water, she had found, extended to her friends as well. She couldn't breathe until they could. When the boy finally surfaced she sighed in relief. "Water's fine!" he called to her. She forced a laugh. "Come on, Aelita." She stretched out one leg lazily.

"That's ok, really." He splashed at her a little, earning a distinct glare.

"Stop it, Jeremie."

"You're not scared are you?" he goaded. She turned strawberry red again.

"I just don't want to." He swam back the side of the pool, resting his arms on the deck.

"So you'll just leave me in here all alone?" Before he could answer he splashed her again. She let out a yelp of protest. "Come on, get in!"

"Jer! I just… I can't." her stomach dropped when she caught his eyes. She wrapped her arms around herself, covering the tiny red bikini she wished she'd left in the back of the drawer.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Aelita. I promise." He floated away from the wall, holding steady eye contact with the girl.

"I'm just not ready."

"I didn't let you drown last time, did I?" She eyed him wearily, remembering the story of how he pulled her from the bottom of the pool.

The bottom of the pool. That was so very far from the top.

Of course she could swim, she'd been swimming since she was a baby. But what if something else should happen? What if he was the one who nearly drown this time? She tugged at her bathing suit nervously.

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart." He drew a mock cross over his heart. "I took a life guarding class for gym credit last semester." She didn't know whether to laugh or take him seriously.

Hesitantly she neared the edge, scooting an inch at a time. She dipped her feet in warm water and drew a deep breath.

"Jer?"

"On three?" he offered. She nodded quickly, arms still wound tightly around her torso. "One, two, three." She slid off the edge into his waiting arms, a shriek echoing off the high ceilings. To her horror, she realized it was her own shriek when she was finally secured in Jeremie's arms. She wrapped both arms tightly around his neck, struggling for breath and control, feet kicking underneath her. "I've got you, I've got you," he said quietly. She tried to even her breathing, calming herself a miniscule amount. She was still clinging to him when she let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Oh, Jeremie I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. See? You're in." His arms wrapped loosely around her waist and his cheeks turned pink. She couldn't decide if it was from their current positions or the fact she was choking him. "Don't be afraid." She half expected her heart to stop the moment she hit the water, but now it only sped up.

"I'm not afraid," she squeaked. She felt him release her waist.

"Let's swim then."

"We are!" She tightened her grip and he pried her hands away. "No! You're swimming, I'm swimming…. We're just close!"

"You'll be fine." The girl stared into his eyes, face flush with fear and excitement, embarrassment and nervousness.

"Just… five feet." She let go of his hands she didn't know she had been gripping near his neck and let him back up.

"How's the heart?" he asked, treading water with ease. She laughed at her own will power.

"It was better with you closer, but it usually is." He grinned at her words, averting his eyes.

"Yeah?" She bit her lip, glancing down at the water.

"Can … I come back now?" He snapped his attention back to her.

"Are you ok?" He closed the gap quickly, wrapping his arms around her at once. She laughed, arms draped around his shoulders.

"I am now."