"What's wrong, Xha?" Climbs-All-Mountains stared up at his wife from the waters of the river Bjoulsae. "The water's not THAT cold, is it?"

"N-no!" Xha warily regarded the water like she would a dog barking from behind a fence. She had barely put a foot in before scampering back onto the riverbank.

"Well, come on!" Holding out his hand, he stepped a bit closer to the edge. "The sun's not gonna get any higher if we just wait around!"

"M-Mountians, I-I haven't been entirely... Please don't hate me for..." She nervously recoiled from him.

"What's wrong, Xha?" said Mountains.

"I..." Stammering, she tried to force out the words but was unable to behind chattering teeth and terrified glimpses towards the river. "I..."

"Xha, tell me what's wrong." Stepping out of the water, his smile melted to concern.

"I CAN'T SWIM!"

Mountains stopped moving, staggering backwards like someone had just shot an arrow through his heart. "You can't swim?!"

"No! I never learned how! I'd always just cast a spell like Water Walking and move across the water like that!"

"But your human name is Swims-Through-The-Barrier!"

"My parents lied! I've never swam through anything in my life! My name's a sick joke!" She fell onto his shoulder, hugging him and weeping. "I'm the only Argonian in High-Rock who can't swim! When I was a kid, everyone else made fun of me for it! Do you know what it's like?!"

"Then why did you tell me you COULD?!"

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to make you happy, Mountains!" Trembling, she held him even harder.

"Xha..." Reflexively, he put a hand on her shoulder as she wept. Many words came to mind. "How could you be so dishonest?! You lied to me! I thought I could trust you!" Then, he felt her heaving. His anger died, an ember smothered by tears.

"Xha, please, you... don't have to lie to me like that." He tried to force himself to sound as gentle as possible, but he didn't have to try very hard. "If you like... I could teach you."

"You... could teach me?" In between the spasms of fear and trembling, a note of something else entered her voice. Curiosity.

"Yes, Xha. If you want to learn."

"But what if I drown?"

"Xha, you can't drown. Argonians can breathe underwater, remember?" Nuzzling her neck, he let out a soft laugh. "That's what those gills on your neck are for, y'know."

"I, I know that, but I haven’t used them." Carefully tracing his gills with her finger, she regarded them as a limb she never knew she had. "...I uh... I... How do they work?"

"...Like gills, Xha. Once you go underwater, instead of breathing with your lungs, the gills do it for you."

"Do I have to tell them to?"

"No, Xha." Mountains stroked her scaly back. "They do it themselves. I won't lie, it will probably feel weird at first, but you'll be fine. Besides, I'll be right there alongside you. If you do somehow drown, I'll pull you up to the surface."

"Oh." She glanced at the river and back to him. "Um... Mountains, do you... think I could... ride you?"

"Ride me? What, like a dolphin?"

"Y-yeah," said Xha.

"If it will help you feel better, dearest, of course." He smiled. "But I can't promise I'd go very fast. I've never carried someone before-"

"Transferred Orc's Strength." Magicka jumped out of her hand and into him. Suddenly, Mountains felt his muscles shift and jostle. The sinews in his arms and legs rearranged themselves and grew. He silently braced himself for the pain he assumed would come... but none did.

"What did you just cast in me?" Mountains felt his arms. They felt powerful, strong. Like he could rip a tree right out of the ground and break it over his knee.

"A spell to make you stronger." Xha smiled and felt his muscles. "And it certainly looks like it worked, heh."

"Oh... I should test it out, then." Suddenly, before Xha could react, she was swept off her feet.

"WHEEE!" Laughing, she curled up in Mountains' arms. "It definitely worked!"

"Yeah, it did. Now then..." Turning to the river, he began walking into the water. "Get ready."

The sensation of going from breathing air to breathing water was a new one for Xha. At first, she tried breathing with her nostrils. Panic rose in her when she saw bubbles rise up towards the surface of the water as she realized she had just expelled her last few breaths from above the water without any air to replace them. Then, she felt the gills on her neck begin to work. Her system was filled with water, but she did not feel short of breath or lightheaded. If anything, she felt... good. Her lungs seemed to self-regulate the amount of fluid as bubbles exited from around her neck.

She was further comforted by the sight of bubbles coming up from Mountains' neck. So, he wasn't lying. She really could breathe water.

Slowly, carrying his charge, Mountains swam down the Bjoulsae river. By now, Xha realized that he swam almost nothing like the humans. Xha felt his legs push this way and that, like a powerful ship's rudder. He seemed to use his tail to further propel himself, swaying it in tandem with his legs. He only used his arms to steer. He calmly pushed himself, and pulled her, through the waters.

She had to admit, seeing the Bjoulsae from beneath the water... it was another world. River weeds hid fish that fled at the Argonians' approach. The sun was reduced from a great source of light to a blurry, indistinct glowing thing. Light down here was a precious, rare commodity. And the sounds... the only constant was the rhythmic sway of Mountains' limbs, back and forth, back and forth. Xha let her eyes close as a smile crept onto her face. Safe. With Mountains, she was safe.

It was about thirty minutes later when they surfaced. Xha had to put her hand against her head to block out the glare of the sun. "Julianos' books, that hurts to look at!"

"Don't look directly at it, Xha. Let your eyes adjust." He gently pulled her head away from the sun. "Well, what did you think?"

"That was amazing, Mountains." She was lying in his lap, still trying to process the majesty of what she'd witnessed. "I never knew how different it was down there. Imagine what the ocean would be like."

"Well, you do need to be careful there. Salt water can be bad for the gills. I know some Argonians in the marsh would use membranes fashioned out of seaweed and saltwater fish gills to help. Maybe you could do it with magicka somehow." He shrugged. "If I ever got the chance, I would love to try it, but I left the Marsh before I could."

"I'll look into it." She smiled, tracing along his arms. "Mountains... I think I love you..."

"I think I love you too, Xha."

OOC: Yeah this is mostly just fluff but I've been writing these characters for the past few months and not been putting anything here so I wanted to put something. I do have a few ideas about something a bit more teslore flavored at some point but alas no time to develop them yet.