A/N (do people still do these?)

I love Free! I love Gou. And I had a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the first season, so I wrote this. Maybe season 2 will delve into this topic? Well, anyway, I'm thinking this will be multichapter, but I should be notorious for not finishing stories by now.

I wrote this on my tablet, so there are probably some misspelled words and such. Forgive me.

Reviews? (:

Sunlight shone on the still water of the pool at Iwatobi High. Gou sat alone next to it, a bento in her lap. Her stomach growled to remind her that it was lunch time, but she stared hard at her phone's screen, ignoring it. Fingers moved quickly over the keypad. She re-read the message, then deleted everything she had typed. Lately, she didn't know how to approach her brother. Rin hardly replied and Gou hated being ignored.

"Gou chan?" Nagisa stood over her, curiously looking down at the swim club's manager.

She smiled. "What's up?" His muscles weren't as awesome as Makoto's or even Rei's, but she didn't mind having them in front of her, and so close.

"Why are you out here by yourself? You're wearing a bikini, so does that mean you're going for a swim? Come to think of it, I've never seen you swim before, Gou chan." he put a finger up to his chin thoughtfully.

"I suppose that's true," her face seemed to turn as red as her hair, "I just don't have the time like you and the other guys, you know!"

Her defensive tone seemed odd, but he ignored it. "Well, you do stay busy with the club. Anyway, have you seen Haru chan? I came looking for him here because he's almost always near the water when he has some spare time."

"No, haven't seen him today." Gou snapped her phone closed and put it on the seat next to her. Now, she would finally give some attention to her lunch.

"I see. Thanks anyway, manager!" He waved and ran off before she could even split her chop sticks.

Later, when the food was long gone and the sun had sunk lower in the sky, she decided to go home. Her relaxing poolside day of tanning was over as soon as the skin darkening source dipped below the trees. Gou gathered her empty bento and put her towel around her swimsuit, closing the gate to the pool behind her as she left. The familiar creak and slam brought up an old memory of Rin and their father.

"But I can't." She protested with tears in her eyes. The day was hot, so their father had taken them to an outdoor pool for some fun and relief from the mid-summer weather.

Rin grabbed her hand, "It's easy! I'll show you how to do it." Slowly, he lead his sister into the cold water of the shallow end from where she'd been standing on the top concrete step. Her thumb was firmly stuck in her mouth to keep herself from crying. She admired Rin, swimming like a shark who had targeted some prey in the distance as he dipped under the surface. That looked easy enough, but when she took a deep breath and tried to go under, she panicked and shot back up. What had a calming effect on him, seemed to scare her more than anything.

"It's alright." She looked up at the big man pulling her out of the pool, "you'll learn not to be afraid one day, Gou." He pat her on the top of her head. She layed against his shoulder as he called for Rin.

"I'm not ready to go." He complained, but dried off anyway and followed them. The gate's latch clicked and she decided that next time, she would swim.

There wasn't a next time. She sighed, looking again at the water. Gou wiped away a tear that threatened to spill down her face. Missing her father after so many years felt silly, but that hole in a family couldn't be fixed and with a distant mother, her brother acting like a stranger, what did that leave her with?

It was dark, but instead of going right down the sidewalk to her empty house, she took off to the left. If nothing else, there was one thing she could try to fix.

Samezuka Academy seemed close to her school during daylight hours, so she ran. Her mind was all over the place at once, her main thought being what to say to him when she got there, but when she stood, panting in front of the expensive building, it all disappeared. The double glass doors were locked, so she walked around to the pool. Maybe he would be inside, training late.

Sure enough, she saw him through the glass, splashing hastily down the length of the pool. The lights were off. She supposed he didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he swam alone at night, which probably broke a couple of school rules. After watching a moment, she went in, biting her lip to still the nervous butterflies in her stomach.

Rin stopped when he saw her, pulling himself up on the concrete ledge. "What are you doing here, Gou?" He didn't look at her as he took off his goggles and cap. She examined the usual furrowed brow and frown that stayed on his face.

"I just wanted to talk. It's important." She put down her things and let go of the towel that was wrapped around her body.

"About what?" He looked at her, then away, suddenly kind of embarassed. How long had it been since he'd seen her whole figure like that? Not since it was stick like, that's for sure.

Her face flushed and she stared at her feet, the toenails painted orange. Nervously, she answered, "I want to swim too." She nearly choked on the words as she imagined choking on the water. Her brother was the only person in the world that knew about her deep fear of drowning. It only got worse since their father's death. When he went down in the storm, she couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like. How the constricting pain in his oxygen deprived lungs would've left him panicked. Now, she could only stare at the liquid in a pool, never touch it, even with a single toe. She never even got close to the ocean.

Rin pushed back his hair, uncomfortably looking at her again. "You sure?" Swimming was different from talking. Gou could easily talk all day, though at the moment, she was speechless. He sighed at her, then turned around to face the pool again.

"Will you teach me?" This came out as an almost whisper, but it echoed in the large room. Stars pinpointed the sky overhead, and she felt as if this would be the perfect time for learning something new and pushing past her fears with the help of someone she trusted.

"Tomorrow." He placed a hand on her shoulder as he passed her to leave. The sound of the door closing was loud and she shivered. It was chilly, even inside, with only her bikini on. She was surprised that Rin agreed so easily. Maybe now, they could begin to get closer. That is, if she would be able to get in the water at all.