“I’m regretting this. I’m pretty sure I lost feeling in my toes already.”
I laughed. “You’re already half in, just do it.”
She stayed still for a moment longer before finally diving down. I watched her hair float up, and five seconds later she popped back up. She gasped for air, her eyes wide as she spoke. “Holy shit, it’s cold! Oh my god, it’s worse than last time.”
I laughed as I watched her. “I did warn you.”
“I forgot how cold it was,” she said as she moved closer, still shivering. Her hands were shaking as she tried to calm her breathing.
“Alright, I’ll move to the other side of the lake, and I want you to aim at me.”
She frowned, her eyes widening at my words. “I’m not doing that.”
“No, you are.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hit you.”
“You won’t.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Don’t let your ego get in the way of this, Westley. I don’t want to accidentally hit you while you’re underwater. I can’t drag you out of the water if I do.”
I laughed. “I’m not. You are going to have to push against the water, and your magic is going to move slowly. I will move before it can hit me. This will be good practice because when you get back in the air, your magic will move quickly.”
She shivered. “Okay, fine. But I’m only agreeing because the sooner we get going, the sooner I get out of this.”
I moved to the side of the lake and dove under. I stared over the water, watching as Gabriella dove under as well. She stared at me, pulling her hand up, and tried to push her magic out. I watched bubbles form, but nothing moved out of her hands. I could see the frustration cross her face as she tried again. This time, a light came out of her, but it only moved a few inches from her hand under the water.
She popped back up for air, and I slowly moved up. I broke over the water, hearing her cursing. “God damn it.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle watching her. “You okay over there?”
“No,” she snapped. “I’m frustrated.” She ran her hands over her face, anger flashing over it. “This is impossible to do!”
“Gabriella. This is going to take practice. It’s not just going to happen overnight. Just like everything else you’ve been doing. Small steps.”
She looked at me.
“Just getting your magic to go a few feet is still good. You’re not in the air, you’re in the water. It has to move through more than just particles. It takes more strength. You knew this was going to be hard.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. It’s like I’m pushing against a wall.”
“Take a deep breath, and try again.”
She nodded, took a deep breath, and dove under. We did this a few times, her magic hardly moving from her fingertips. I was watching, waiting patiently. I could see she was really trying, putting her mind into it. And suddenly, I watched her magic come shooting at me. It was sloppy, slowly descending as it came toward me before stopping just a few inches from me. I stared at the bubble trail it left behind.
I smiled as I moved back toward the surface. She popped up her eyes wide. “Did you see that!”
I swam toward Gabriella. “Gabriella, that was amazing!!
I pulled her into my arms and spun her. “That was great! You almost hit me!”
She looked at me, a little embarrassed. “You think? It was still really sloppy, and it didn’t even get to you.”
“This is day one of you doing this. You’ve been struggling to get it out, and you managed to almost get it to me under the water. That was a lot of improvement for one day.”
She blushed, and her fingers rested on my shoulder. She felt warm, even though I could tell she was shaking from being cold.
“We should celebrate,” I said, pulling her closer.
