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A deep huff escapes his lips as his steel grey eyes scan the water. Children are laughing loudly, high pitched squeals of delight escaping them as water spouts from the openings in the pebbled shallows of the kids pool. Excited whoops of delight can be heard from the older children as they slip down the water slides, rushing down and landing with a satisfying splash. Distantly he can hear the calls of swim instructors as they guide their students through the lessons.
Another summer, another stint working as a lifeguard at the local pool.
Nothing ever really happens and Aang supposes he should be grateful seeing as though his job as a lifeguard is to save people from drowning; but sometimes he wishes something would happen to break the awful monotony of just 'watching'.
A group of teenagers walk in, pushing and shoving each other jokingly as they dump their belongings at a free space on the benches lining one side of the pool lanes. Aang watches them with little interest, but maybe just a touch of jealousy. All of his friends have gone away for the summer, leaving him behind to work his holiday job and enjoy their adventures through the wonders of Snapchat. He wishes he could be like those teenagers, just enjoying his summer with his friends and not having to suffer through a boring job of watching other people have fun all day. The group of teenagers are making their way towards the water slides, laughing loudly and he notices one of the girls is unusually dressed still in her T-shirt, jeans and shoes, whilst the rest of her friends are in their swimwear.
"Hey Toph, think quick!" One of the taller guys shouts before abruptly shoving the girl forcefully with his shoulder against hers.
Her smaller stature yields under his weight as she feels herself falling to the side. Stepping with her left foot to right herself, she loses her balance as her shoes slide on the wet ground, and before she can react she's tripped over the raised edge surrounding the pool and fallen in with a resounding splash.
"What the fuck Jet!" The other girl in the group says, alarm in her voice. "She can't swim."
Her friends freeze like deer stuck in headlights but Aang has been watching the whole scene unfold and doesn't hesitate for a moment before throwing his radio to the side and diving into the pool. Of course the one pool that her friends had to push her into is the diving pool, the deepest pool out of all the possible pools at the centre.
His feet kick furiously behind him as he powers his arms through the water furiously, working his way towards the sinking figure. Almost in slow motion, he watches as her limbs begin to drag heavier through the water, her frantic motions turning sluggish. Wrapping his arms around her petite waist, he pushes off hard against the bottom of the pool feeling the extra weight of another person and her water soaked clothes slowing him down. If feels like too long before he resurfaces with her, inhaling deep lungfuls of air as he tows her limp body along with him towards the edge of the pool.
Her friends are waiting by the side anxiously, helping pull her out of the water as he climbs out. She lies there, eyes closed and completely still and Aang fears for a moment that he is too late. Her chest convulses, back arching deeply as she spasms for a moment before her eyes shoot open and she vomits up water onto the ground. His heart jumps in relief and he can’t help the relieved sigh that escapes him as he rubs soothingly at her back.
Once Aang is sure that she’s finished clearing all the water from her system, he radios someone to clean up the area as he takes the girl to the med bay. Her clothes are still sopping wet, so he digs through his locker to find a spare hoodie and pair of shorts for her to change into. After giving her several minutes to change out of the wet clothes, he re-enters the room and thinks that he should not find her as adorable as he does with her dressed in his far too big hoodie and shorts. The hoodie is practically a dress and the sleeves keep slipping over her hands despite her attempts to push them up, and he can see that she’s had to roll the waistband of the shorts several times just for them to stay on.
“Thanks for saving me,” she says breaking the silence between them as she swings her legs sitting on the sick bed.
For just the briefest of moments he is stunned and can’t help but notice how pretty her green eyes look with her dark rimmed glasses on.
“Don’t mention it,” he smiles, “I’m sorry I don’t have anything that fits you.”
She laughs off his comment though she sounds just a little hoarse and she coughs a few times, sipping from the cup of water he’d bought her.
“Make sure you do go to the hospital after this though,” he adds once the laughter has subsided, “I know you didn’t want us to call the paramedics but it is vital that you get yourself checked out just in case.”
She nods her head, waving her hand as she tells him that she’ll make a stop by the local hospital on her way home and a part of him wonders whether she actually will or not with her blasé attitude.
“You know your friend is a jerk,” he says with all seriousness and is surprised by the bark of laughter that escapes her.
“Don’t I know it,” she quips as if it hadn’t been made blindingly obvious by her sudden dip in the pool.
“I’m serious, he shouldn’t have been messing around like that near the water,” Aang says with a furrowed brow, concern in his eyes. “He could have seriously hurt you.”
The barest trace of pink colours her cheeks and she clears her throat several times before giving a half hearted shrug.
“He’s a bit of a dick sometimes.”
Aang shakes his head with a small smile as he lets out a huff from his nose, just the slightest bit amused at her relaxed reaction to her friend, quite literally endangering her life.
“So you gotta name Mr Lifesaver?” she asks him with a teasing smirk as she leans back on the sick bed to rest against the wall, legs still swinging over the edge.
“Aang,” he tells her, offering his hand as he hops up to sit next to her.
“Aang,” she smiles, taking his hand, “my hero!”
He laughs along with her and he likes the way her small hand feels in his own.
“You know I never caught your name,” he looks at her with grey eyes bright.
“Toph,” she answers, still holding his hand.
“Well it was my pleasure, saving your life Toph,” he tells her, sincerity in every word.
Toph swears that the blush that spread across her cheeks as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand was due to the summer heat and not his chaste kiss, but Aang always laughs and kisses her sloppily on the cheek making her blush whenever they tell other couples the story of how they first met.