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Today was one of the rare days when Wuyang didn’t return hurt and covered in bruises.
Recent conflict with Talon only grew more dangerous and unpredictable with time. The recent change in their leadership left the world in much disarray, but also richer with the new and old heroes finally coming back. Overwatch was now more integrated than ever and Wuyang couldn’t be happier. Excluding the whole lingering threat of Talon behind their backs.
Currently they were busy gathering intelligence and planning not only their next steps, but also trying to predict plans of their enemies. Because of that Wuyang got himself a day off. Captain Sojourn firmly declined his offer to help, stating that right now his rest was more important than him just sitting with them in the conference room. And well, she was certainly right. He was giving his all on the battlefield, but in the strategy meetings his lack of experience was noticeable.
He agreed to just take a break and let Winston and other veterans take the lead.
After Talons raid at their base in Gibraltar, they’ve been slowly restoring what was destroyed. Some places were still in deplorable condition, but the repairs have been going smoothly. With a group that talented and experienced, restorations were just a matter of time.
A week ago, the training ground was restored. Wuyang caught himself going there everyday ever since. What took him by surprise was that the place even had an indoor swimming pool.
“I remember spending every free moment that I had here!” Tracer exclaimed while he was inspecting the pool. It was her who took care of cleaning it and running fresh water.
“Feel free to take a dip, anytime you want,” she laughed.
Right now, he was just curiously looking around the building. The pool itself wasn’t very big, but large enough to make a decent swimming workout. Water was glistening in the cool light of ceiling lamps and you could smell chlorine in the air. The only thing that bothered him was the silence. In his experience pools were always full of people: swimmers, trainers correcting their mistakes or even just kids playing. Here, he felt weirdly alone, anxious thoughts about their next and past battles already making its rounds to his head.
“Sorry I am late!” A high pitched voice broke the silence. A short woman in a navy swimsuit appeared in dim light.
“Juno, you…” Wuyang had to blink again., “What is… All of this?”
His colleague, or rather his friend, was surrounded by many colorful toys. There were swim rings, inflatable toys and even yellow rubber duckies. She also had a swim cap on and enormous goggles on her face.
“Well, I have asked around and brought necessities!”
“Necessities? All of this?” He couldn't hold his smile much longer.
“Well…yes. Sojourn said she always brings a swim ring with her. Oh! And Winston lent me his duckies! I am not sure what they are supposed to do but…”
Wuyang's smile only widened. Juno was also a new recruit of Overwatch. They got to know each other better on one of the missions, talked a bit and just found a connection. Juno was a pretty peculiar person, after all she was born on Mars. She had a few weird habits, especially about her space suit (thankfully Doctor Zigler gently talked her into functioning without it), but other than that she was just a very kind and curious person. He admired how excited she would get about mundane things and how much braver she was getting. That’s why he was pleasantly surprised when she asked him to teach her how to swim. After all, not long ago she was still scared of water. That’s why seeing her now, standing so confident, although a bit confused, was so heartwarming.
“Alright” Wuyang let out a soft chuckle and approached her. Then gently removed her big goggles and smiled, “For now you won’t be needing those. We will start slowly, okay?”
She nodded hesitantly and removed the oversized swim cap.
“Come on, first, let’s get you in the water.”
After hearing those words, her body suddenly stiffed. She approached the pool and frowned.
“It is… pretty deep, isn’t it?” She said, biting her lower lip.
“We will start in the shallow part. I’ll help you with every step, okay?”
She nodded again and approached the pool ladder. Wuyang headed in first, making a place for her.
“Just hold on the ladder and then switch to the edge of the pool, I’ll be right behind you.”
Slowly she started descending, her brows still in a worried manner. When the water reached to her stomach, she stopped to take a few breaths.
“It’s alright, just a few more steps.” He got closer to the ladder, offering his hand for support.
She took his hand and fully stepped into the pool, the water reaching her collarbone.
“So… How is it?” He smiled gently, still holding her hand.
“It’s… It’s nice.” She finally smiled.
After a while, she got used to the water enough that she could confidently stand alone. She made a few strokes, so the lukewarm waves gently flowed between her fingers.
“So, what do we start with?” she asked.
Wuyang pursued his lips. Even though he could swim perfectly, he never actually taught anyone. When he was little, he used to go to those swimming lessons, but after a while he would just jump into the pool and do his own thing and well… It worked for him. Although he wasn’t sure that would work for Juno.
“How about we start with the legs then? Here-” He took both of her hands into his. “Now, lay on your stomach and just try kicking with your feet.”
“Lay on my stomach?” she repeated with her brows pushed together. “But I am gonna fall down!”
“Don’t worry, water will push you up and I’ll hold you real tight. Also you can see the bottom right? If it gets too hard just stand up and we can try again.”
She nodded slowly and shifted from one leg to another not sure how to start. Juno knew well how water worked, but her body was still hesitant to just float on its own. After a few quick breaths she complied and lied on her stomach.
“See? Nothing scary.” Wuyang started to move backwards, pulling her with him.
Gentle waves started forming around them and she had to admit it was very pleasant. When she first saw all the water on this planet the only thing she could feel was fear. Obviously, she knew that seventy percent of the Earth's surface was covered by water, but seeing it with her own eyes was unnerving. Back then the only things coming to her mind were wild tsunamis, floods and people drowning, she never expected that swimming could turn out to be this fun. She still would get anxious just seeing big open spaces filled with water but right now, her mind was at ease.
“Alright, shall we start kicking now?” Wuyang's gentle smile snapped her back to reality. She could see water reflect in his brown eyes and his dark hair sticking to his face. Juno had tried her best to stay focused on the lessons, but it was slowly getting more and more difficult.
“Yes…”
The next step turned out to be harder than she expected. Trying so much to keep her head up, while kicking her feet made her feel silly. Weird even. And that’s the last thing she wanted.
“Are you sure I am doing it right?” Juno muttered. Normally, thanks to her space boots, she didn’t have to use her legs so much, but also because of that, she could already feel sore and out of breath.
“Yeah, you’re doing great!” He laughed looking at her focused face.
After a while the exercise caught up to Juno. She could feel her head getting heavier, she wasn’t sure if it was from fatigue or the smell of chlorine in the air. Wuyang quickly caught the change in her attitude and paused.
“Tired already? No worries, I guess just going in circles like that can also get boring. Maybe we should switch it up a little? Let’s try just floating on our backs.”
Juno looked up at him trying to visualize how that was even supposed to work.
“Here, let me help you.” Wuyang cut the distance between them and put one hand on her back. “Oh, excuse me.”
He hesitated for a bit seeing Juno’s posture suddenly straightening under his touch. Her eyes were darting from his face to the water, then again to him. It didn’t occur to him just how much touching this swimming lesson would acquire.
“O-r we could do something else-”
“No, no! It is fine.” Panic appeared in her eyes for a second. “It is all just… Very new to me. But I will give it my best.”
Her bright smile could lighten up the whole room. Wuyang tried to keep his facial expression natural, but he felt the tips of his ears getting warmer.
“Well then…” He returned to his previous position and once again put his hand on her back.
Standing right behind her, he had to admit that he never truly noticed how small she was. On their group missions she would usually float somewhere above him, so he never paid attention to that. But right now? His hand covered almost all of her upper back, barely visible goosebumps forming on her milky white skin.
“This one’s easy.” He cleared his throat, while helping her get on her back. He switched his hands so one was still supporting her back, while the other lingered near her head. “See? Just try to relax. Oh and try to keep your back straight.”
She barely nodded, keeping her body tense and her sight focused on the ceiling, almost like if she looked anywhere else, she would immediately sink.
“You don’t look very relaxed.” A cheeky smile appeared on his face.
“Not at all, I feel very relaxed.”
“That’s great." He slowly withdrew his hands.“ Because you’re now floating on your own.”
“I am?!” panic appeared on Juno's face.
“Yes, remember, relax! I’m right next to you.” Wuyang smiled looking at her focused face.”So? Is it similar to floating in space?”
After hearing that her face slowly changed to this calm, dreamy look, almost like remembering her time on Mars has suddenly taken her back in time.
“Yes.”
The answer was simple and short. She closed her eyes listening to all the sounds surrounding her. The waves murmuring in her ears, the lights flickering above them, the pool filters working in the background. Water gently surrounding her from every side, she was sure she could fall asleep like that in no time. Wuyang was right. It was relaxing. She felt all the tiredness leaving her body, her mind getting lighter with each passing second.
After opening her eyes the first thing she saw was Wuyang's gentle smile.
“It is really nice.”
“Right?”
As the water shifted around them, he joined her with a satisfied sign.
“I can’t remember the last time I went swimming like that,” he almost whispered, as his sore muscles started to loosen up.
“Mmm…” she murmured with her eyes still half lidded.
She wondered how his everyday life looked before… all of this. Wuyang usually looked pretty excited and content every time they went on a mission, almost like he was born to be in the center of battle. She smiled as she remembered when she first saw him in action. Wuyang and Anran speeding towards the battle, her zooming around surrounded by flames and him just as quick, splashing water frantically trying to keep his sister safe. It was their first meeting actually, here, in Gibraltar.
“Do you miss your time in Water College?”
“Mm?” He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Well…Maybe.”
He pondered for a second. Memories of his studies filled him with nostalgia, it all seemed so distant, even though it hasn’t been that long since he left. After all, he was still in his first year. He didn’t really give it much thought with how everything has been so busy with Overwatch. He was thriving on the battlefield, the feeling of adrenaline, of being needed, of finally making a change.
He peeked at Juno, just floating and looking at the ceiling.
“Listen, maybe…” he started slowly. “Maybe after all this will quiet down, I could show you around Wuxing University?”
“Really?” She suddenly perked up, at the same time losing balance and just disappearing under water.
“Juno!” He quickly got to his feet and pulled her out. She started coughing viciously, holding onto him tightly, still kicking with her feet. “Are you alright?!”
He brushed back her wet, dark hair from her face, holding her firmly, so she could calm down.
“Are you alright?” he repeated more softly now. She only nodded slowly, still startled.
“Thank you,” she said weakly after a few deep breaths, finally meeting his eyes.
It suddenly felt like time had stopped. She felt his toned muscles under her palms, one of his hands on her back, while the other set on her hip, securing her in place. His warm, brown eyes staring deeply into her soul with that hint of worry inside of them. Hot crimson spilled across her face and shoulders leaving her once again out of breath. Oh how she wished her space suit was still on her, regulating her sudden rapid breath and her hammering pulse.
Wuyang wasn’t doing any better. The comfortable silence they were sharing just a moment ago, replaced by this tense, almost suffocating feeling left him speechless. He felt his heart banging in his chest, his own pulse drumming in his ears, depriving him of any logical thoughts. Her gaze was full of bewilderment, her plump lips parted just a little, leaving him unable to look away for even just a moment. He felt his ears turning red first, trailing down until his whole expression shifted.
“I-” sudden screech of a nearby door broke the silence, before he could. They jumped away from each other almost like something sent them ablaze.
“I’m so sorry, I-I didn't mean to,” he started stammering.
“No, no! It is my fault, if only I-” She backed off a bit more, heading towards the ladder.”It was… I think I should go now. Thank you for the lesson, it was most helpful. I have to… I need to work on my space suit.”
She said it quickly and almost sprinted out, leaving him all alone. The silence weighed on him for a second, before he got out of the pool himself.
“Yeah, sure, see you around.”
Wuyang wasn’t sure how long he stood like that, just staring at the door behind which she just disappeared. After a while he cleared his throat and looked around, almost embarrassed. What exactly was going on with him? Why was he so nervous, Juno was really easy to be around, so where did that weird gut feeling come from? It was just a swimming lesson. You know, the type of a lesson where you and your colleague constantly touch and look deeply into each other's eyes. Right?
“So,” a familiar voice snapped him right back to reality. “mingling with Miss Sunshine, are we?”
“Anran!” Wuyang felt his cheeks getting hotter. “We were just… Swimming.”
“Sure you were.”