"Aww, it's not bloomed yet" twelve year old Rin Matsuoka complained sadly, as the five of them stood underneath the cherry blossom tree in their elementary school.

"Sorry, I tried to tell you, guys, it probably wouldn't be" Makoto replied apologetically.

"This was my last chance to see it before I have to leave..." Rin added, reminding everyone there that he would be leaving the next day, and Rosa a week after him "I was hoping it would've flowered by today"

"I have tons of pictures if you wanna see" Rosalya suggested "I know it's not the same as the real thing, but at least it's something"

"Thanks, Rosa" Rin said with a smile, making her smile as well.

"Rin" Haru spoke up, making the maroon-haired give him a curious look "Are you really gonna try to follow your dad's dream?"

"I'm not really sure what I'm gonna do" he replied, turning to look at the tree once again, as his head filled with thoughts of his new life in Australia. New school, new classmates...he hoped he'd be able to deal with everything well.

"Hey, look!" Nagisa called their attention, crouching down "Everyone's written stuff on the bricks!"

"Yeah, we bought this garden especially for graduation" Makoto replied, imitating his pose "Everyone picked a favourite phrase and wrote in on the bricks! This one's mine" he motioned to a brick with the phrase 'I swim' written in white chalk.

"This one has to be Haru's" Nagisa stated, gesturing to a brick that read 'Free' in blue chalk.

"Doesn't surprise me" Rosalya replied good-heartedly.

"Here's the one I wrote" Rin indicated, his brick read 'For the team' "It's what I'm all about, thanks to you four"

"Aww, aren't you a softy" Rosa teased, jumping on his back.

"Shut up" he replied with a smile, managing to hold her in time, as Nagisa and Mako chuckled slightly upon seeing that heartwarming scene "I bet yours is not any better"

"You can see it for yourself" she replied "It's the only one written in green in this side of the bricks"

"'Promise'" Nagisa read out loud.

"I'm a firm believer that promises are a serious vow" she began explaining, still on Rin's back "One that is not done to just anyone, and they can't be broken under any circumstances"

"And you said I was cheesy" it was Rin's time to mock her now, and it made everyone laugh.

"Why did you come back?" asked Rosalya softly, looking up at Rin, who had been staring to the right, at the parking lot, until then. She was under the suspicion that he was trying not to look directly into her eyes. Why, she didn't know.

When he heard the girl's words, he turned to look at her with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned, his tone still cold, which, even after a few weeks, still took Rosa by surprise.

"In the last letter you sent me..." she started calmly "You said that you were coming back to Iwatobi for holidays. And that's the last thing I heard from you" she added, as Rin kept staring at her, which made Rosalya a bit nervous, but she managed to keep talking with a firm tone "Something happened, which made you come back" she wasn't asking, she was certain "What happened?" Rin did his best to remain emotionless towards the girl's statement, but he was actually surprised that she had figured it out so quickly.

But should he? I mean, this was Rosa they were talking about here...She was very observant, and, sometimes, he even thought that Rosalya knew him better than he knew himself. It was amazing the number of times she could tell that something was wrong with him or that something was bothering him with just one glance.

Not that he cared, anyway. Rosa was a thing from the past, just as his teammates.

Or, at least, that's what he wanted to believe. Deep down, very deep down, he knew that with the girl, things were different. They had always been.

"Nothing happened" he replied coldly, looking away to avoid her gaze, but Rosa could read him like an open book.

"I don't believe that" she replied, crossing her arms and shaking her head in disagreement

"Something made you this way" she said bluntly, not bothering to be subtle "You weren't like this before"

"This is me" he stated firmly, gazing back at her "I was always like this" she shook her head once more.

"The Rin I know would never act like this" she replied, standing her ground. Rin was a cheerful and lively guy, who cared about his teammates as much as they cared about him. He wanted to swim a relay with his best friends at all cost, maybe making him seem a bit annoying sometimes, but that's because his convictions were very strong.

Rin wasn't what he was pretending to be now. He wasn't a cold, emotionless guy that didn't care about anyone but himself. Far from it, actually. Rin always cared about his friends, and he cared even more about Rosa, and both of them knew that. She wasn't buying this mask that he was putting on.

"Then maybe you don't know me at all" he stated coldly, and Rosa ignored the pain in her chest when she heard that. It wasn't true. Rosa was convinced that she knew the real Rin, and she was willing to do everything and anything to bring him back.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, until Rin picked up the conversation.

"What happened to you?" he asked this time, leaning against the wire fence, and making Rosa give him a curious glance as to what he was talking about "Why did you quit swimming? You loved it" Rosa felt touched because of Rin's question, even if he was just doing it for some competition or improvement thing; at least he was talking with her.

Granted, it was not the best topic, but it was a conversation.

"Luke died last year" she replied softly, and Rin opened his eyes wide upon hearing her words. He didn't know that "We were on holidays in LA, there was a storm and he...Well, he drowned"

"I'm...really sorry, Rosa" he said in the same tone "God, I'm so sorry" he knew how close her brother and her were. He had seen him a couple times when he went over to Rosa's house as kids, and he seemed like a very nice boy. He could understand a little bit of what she was feeling but, of course, he couldn't make any comparisons.

"It's fine" replied the girl, smiling slightly and wiping a tear off her eye "I'm just...trying to cope with it, I guess"

"Is that why you came back?" asked Rin, focusing back on the floor.

"Amongst other things" replied the girl with a nod "I wasn't expecting to see you here, so that was a plus" she added with a smile, but he didn't flinch "Look, it doesn't matter if you didn't miss me or if you don't care about me anymore, but...you need to know that seeing you again after five years made me really happy" she added with a smile "I gotta go, the guys are probably looking for me, but I'll see you around" she turned around and started to walk away, but Rin called out to her, stopping her.

"Rosa" he said, his gaze never leaving the floor. The girl turned to look at him curiously "I did"

God, he had missed her. She had no idea how much he had missed her.

Rosa smiled brightly because of that, before going back to her friends, a bit happier than earlier.

When she turned around the corner, she spotted Gou leaning suspiciously against the wall.

"Gou?" she questioned, and the girl bounced startled as she looked at her "What were you doing there?"

"N-nothing!" she replied hurriedly, shaking her head, but the black haired didn't believe that. She folded her arms and looked at the girl quizzically.

"Were you, by any chance, listening in on our conversation?" she asked sharply, and the girl hung her head in shame.

Bull's eye.

"I-I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have, but...I saw you guys going out and it just happened" she replied remorsefully, and Rosa shook her head with a small smile.

"If it's you, I'll let it slide" Gou's face brightened up upon hearing that.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully; she didn't want Rosa to be mad at her "And I knew you would get my brother to talk to you!" she added, making her smile slightly upon hearing that.

Rin's 'I did' would replay over and over in her head for at least a few more hours.

"Oh, there you are!" they heard Mako's voice, and they saw him and the other three at the door "Is everything okay?"

"Perfect!" replied Rosa, as the both of them approached them "Are you done shopping?"

"I will be able to swim, now that I found a swimsuit fitting for my body" Rei replied proudly, making Rosa chuckle.

"Let's go then"

"You know, from over here, he looks like a world-class swimmer" Makoto observed the next day at practice, as all of them sat by the pool staring at Rei with his new equipment.

"We'll see if the clothes make the man!" Nagisa exclaimed, as Rosa carefully observed Rei's position on the platform. It was good so far, but she had to see how he did the jump.

And he made a perfect angle.

The only problem was, he still sunk like an anchor.

"Why?!" Rei yelled as he rose back to the surface, much to everyone's disappointment. Rosa was starting to seriously doubt if he would be able to compete; the tournament was in only a couple of days and he still didn't even know how to kick. All the guys had done their best to teach him their strokes, but he couldn't learn them properly.

Well, everyone but...

In that moment, she heard a splash in the pool, and when she looked at it, she saw Haru was swimming towards Rei.

"Haru teaching someone how to swim?" Makoto breathed out surprised.

"With Haru on the job, Rei can't fail!" Nagisa exclaimed hopeful, and Rosa nodded in agreement.

"If there's someone who can get Rei to swim, it's him" she added, sitting beside Makoto by the pool, and observing intently what was about to happen.

It was late afternoon when the lessons finally finished.

"You have everything you need to pull this off" Haru indicated, as the sunset dyed the water orange, and reflected in everyone's faces "It's up to you how you use it. Just believe in yourself"

"Right!" Rei exclaimed firmly, before lowering his goggles and placing his feet against the wall to gain momentum.

Rosa clenched at the fabric of her hoodie as he got ready to swim.

This was it, if he couldn't swim with Haru's teaching then it was all over. Goodbye tournament.

The other three were nervous as well, they were thinking the same as their coach.

Rei kicked the wall, and swam forward.

But alas, he was still the same.

"What is wrong with me?!" he roared, standing up.

Rosa sighed. What was there left to do now? There was no one else that could teach him how to swim.

"A genius is made of 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" Miss Amakata said from the chair. Everyone turned to look at her curiously, it was the first time in several days that they heard one of her famous sayings.

"That's Addison, isn't it?" Makoto questioned, and the girl was not surprised that he knew that. He had always been one of the most intelligent people she knew.

"So, basically, work always trumps natural talent?" Gou wondered.

"Looks like we're in for forty eight hours of hardcore training" said Nagisa tiredly, as Makoto beside him sighed. Rosa looked at them sympathetically, but in agreement. They needed to train more, but she didn't know what to do about Rei.

"Not exactly" Miss A replied "I interpret it as all the hard work in the world means nothing without inspiration"

"That is not very inspirational!" replied the young Matsuoka in exasperation.

"What should we do then?" Mako questioned "There's no one else we can go to now to train Rei"

"Well...There's someone" Nagisa spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him curiously, including a frustrated Rei in the pool "Rosa" he added, glancing at the girl who opened her eyes wide.

"She said that she can't, you shouldn't push her" Mako replied, which the girl appreciated.

"But she was and still is the best swimmer amongst all of us!" the boy kept insisting, approaching the girl "Please, Rosalya. You're our last hope" the girl bit her lip, as she stared at all her friends and Miss A, who were looking right back at her.

"I-I need a minute" she announced, before walking away from the pool. Almost escaping as she reached the street. She was breathing heavily as she scanned the area, to find no one thankfully. She didn't want people to see her like that, she was probably a mess.

She knew that, even though no one had said anything, everyone was relying on her, even Haru. She had taught a few kids back in England to swim, but that was over a year ago and she hadn't touched the water to swim for so long...

...and then there was still Luke. She had tried to get back into swimming a couple times, but she never could. The image of her little brother always blocked her mind, he was crying at her 'why did you leave me?' 'this is your fault' 'you couldn't save me', and, suddenly, her limbs would not move. She was frozen in place, paralyzed by the guilt. It drowned her, swallowed her, until there was nothing left of her to save.

"Rosalya?" a voice pulled her out of her dark thoughts, and she looked up to find Nathan staring at her with concern "Are you okay? You seem a bit off"

"I-I'm fine" she replied, trying to sound firm but failing at it.

"I might know you for a couple days, but even I can tell that's a lie" he replied, and Rosa just sighed. She was never a good liar anyway, Joy always pointed that out.

"I'm at a crossroads" she finally admitted, and the boy nodded in understanding.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"If you're willing to hear" she replied. She didn't entirely know why she was going to talk to a guy she barely knew about her struggles when it took her an awful lot to even mention Luke to her friends, but here she was. Perhaps it was because Nathan seemed trustworthy, or precisely because he barely knew her.

"Of course" he nodded, and Rosa smiled as they sat on a nearby bench "What's going on?"

"Remember Rei?" she questioned, and Nate nodded, his mind going back to when they boy sunk in the pool "The tournament is soon, and he still can't swim" she admitted, as he listened quietly "We've tried everything. He even bought a new swimsuit, and the guys have tried to teach him their strokes, but it hasn't worked" she took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing speaking "Now, they want me to teach him, since there's no one else left, but...I don't think I'm ready to get back into the water" she added, aware that Nathan knew she was taking a break, since he had found out like everyone else at practice.

Silence reigned for a few minutes as Rosa finished telling her problem. The sun was setting low in the distance, and a soft breeze was blowing.

"I have a question" Nathan finally spoke up, making the girl turn to look at him curiously "Do you want to get back to swimming?"

"I..." she began "I don't know, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it, but..."

"That's all I needed" he replied, shaking his head, earning him another curious glance "I personally have never seen you swim, but I've heard from Joy that you're one of the best swimmers she has ever seen"

Joy and him often called one another, and back when Rosa had very recently moved to England, his sister was always telling him about what an amazing person her roommate was, and about her beautiful swimming. She was very fast and talented, she had only very recently joined the team but she already set a record. And she was only twelve. Joy couldn't even begin to imagine what she would be like when she grew up. Talent like that could only be seen once every few years.

Rosalya smiled slightly upon hearing that, the image of her best friend flashing through her mind. She missed her a lot.

"And I'm sure she's not the only one who thinks it" he added "If you took up swimming again, I think you would make a bunch of people very happy" he had seen the way Rosa and the Iwatobi team interacted, and it was very clear that she was a very important person to them, and vice versa. They seemed like very good friends "But I also think that you should take all the time you need to figure it out" she nodded in understanding "And hey, if you're not sure whether you want to get back into it or not, all you have to do is test the waters" Rosa chuckled slightly upon hearing his awful pun; the fact that it was so terrible was what made it funny "Teaching someone what you know might be a good start. You don't even have to swim if you don't want to, just give Rei some guidance"

Rosa stayed quiet, pondering his words.

What Nate said made a lot of sense. If she wanted to see whether swimming was her thing or not, she would need to let go of the fear and just do it, step by step. It had been a year, which was more than enough time. And hey, if she didn't like it, there would always be other alternatives. It wasn't the end of the world.

With a smile, she decided that she was ready to take a leap of faith.

"You're right, I will do that" she finally said, nodding at Nate who smiled back "Thank you so much!" she added, pulling him into a hug. He was surprised at first, but eagerly hugged back.

Rosa then realized what she was doing, and quickly pulled back.

"I'm sorry" she said with a small chuckle "I couldn't help it" Nate chuckled back.

"It's fine" he said, shaking his head.

"Alright then!" she stood up "I'm going back in, wish me good luck!"

"You don't need that" Nate replied, making her smile once more, before going back inside.

When she reached the pool, the guys immediately approached her, but before any of them could say anything, she spoke up.

"Two things" she stated, raising two fingers up, and looking directly at Rei "The first one, if you want to master swimming, stop trying to act all sure of yourself and let us help you" she said sternly, as the boys looked very confused as to why she was saying that.

What was she trying to get at?

"The second one, the only stroke you haven't tried is the butterfly. And lucky for you, that is my specialty" Nagisa and Mako exchanged eager and knowing smiles "Now, just to warn you, we only have so much time left before the tournament, so I'm going to have to throw sympathy out the window, and you will have to do exactly as I say. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good, now get back into the pool"

Two important things to take out from this chapter! (I feel like a teacher) Rosa's convictions about promises which will be of a lot of importance throughout the story, and her teaching Rei how to swim, which is important for her own development.