Chapter 1:

Makoto's soft woolen white socks bearly making a sound on the wooden floor as he walks down the narrow hallway. He opened the door to Haru's bedroom, only to find his luggage that was already packed sitting stationary, but there is no sign of Haru, Makoto instantly laughed to himself as he could easily take a guess where he could be..

Knock-knock-knock..Makoto gently taps on the wooden door of the bathroom..

"Haru, I'm coming in.." Makoto grabs and twists the metal handle. "You haven't changed a bit Haru.." Makoto mentions and gives out a sigh and enters the bathroom to find Haru soaking in the bath with his swimsuit, yet again.

"Come on Haru-chan, we're going to be late!" Makoto lends out a hand to help Haru out of the bathtub.

"I told you not to call me-" Haru is interrupted once he takes Makoto's strong, yet gentle hand.

"You know I can't help it." Makoto says smiling as he turns to retrieve a dry towel for Haru to use. "Let's go, we don't want to miss our flight." He adds tossing the towel onto Haru's head.

It's only been a year since Haru and Makoto moved to Sydney, Australia together. Haru was scouted and accepted to join the same swimming college as Rin. Makoto and Haru became roomates while Makoto chose to start training and working as a part-time firefighter near Sydney. They've never been closer.

...

"Mannn! A year sure passes by fast!" Makoto says while he started grabbing their luggage from the trunk of the taxi cab.

"It sure does." Haru adds while taking a few bags and turning to walk to the entrance of the airport.

"Oiii!" A familiar voice shouts across the crowded terminal. Makoto and Haru turn to see Rin running towards them "I thought.. I might of.. missed you guys!" Rin says inbetween breaths as he catches up to his friends.

"Hey." Haru says gently.

"I wanted to see you guys before you left.." Rin says as he smiles from ear to ear, showing his sharp pointy teeth "..tell the others I said "hey" for me too, okay?"

"Ok." Haru replies.
"Sure thing." Makoto adds.

"Oh! Wait, I almost forgot.. please take this with you.." Rin digs through his pocket and takes out a small red and yellow letter box, handing it to Haru "..but don't open it until the end of your trip, got it?" They both curiously nodded O.K. as a response.

Rin smiles again and puts one of his arms around Haru and the other around Makoto as they respond with a big group hug. "Have a great trip!" Rin says. He waved goodbye to Makoto and Haru as they walked over to the escalators and disappeared around the corner.

...

Haru loved to fly almost as much as he loved swimming. He was sitting by the window and staring over at the wing of the plane, watching the smooth metal slice through the air, feeling the weightlessness gliding reminded him a lot about swimming through the water.. about being Free!

Makoto on the other hand.. was extremely anxious and each time there was the slightest bit of turbulance, that caused the airplane to slightly shake, he was almost certain that they were going to crash.

Haru knew too well about Makoto's anxiety of flying from when they both flew to Australia a year before. He placed his hand on top of Makoto's, which was glued to the sturdy armrest of his chair. Makoto could sense the warm touch of Haru's hand as he looked over at him and their eyes connected with each others, they both smiled and blushed almost turning completely red. He felt more secure and was able to relax knowing Haru was there next time him.

Many hours have passed, yet it felt like no time at all. The rubber on the wheels loudly squeal as the aircraft touches down at a small airport near Japan and taxies its way to it's terminal.

"We're back!" Makoto sighs in relief after being able to set foot on solid ground again.

Haru was looking around curiously with a dull expression on his face "Everything looks the same." he says, sounding almost disappointed.

"Well its only been a year." Makoto responds as they both made their way to the luggage terminal, while still holding hands.

Shortly after finding their belongings, they made their way through the airport but something caught Haru's eye as he stops dead in his tracks.

"Haru?" Makoto looks back at Haru as he was staring off into the distance.

Makoto looked in the same direction as Haru. Then he noticed the red glasses, dark blue hair, the pink eyes, and the bright blonde hair. Makoto and Haru both lit up with excitement as they quickly made their way over to meet their friends! "Haru-chan! Mako-chan" "Haru-Senpai! Mako-Senpai" Nagisa and Rei shout out, spotting them as well.

They're all back together.. Haru was stuck in the middle of the large group hug, his life slowly being squeezed out of him.

"It feels like its been centuries!" Rei says trying to fight back tears.

"It's so good to see you guys again! We've missed you so much!" Nagisa says as he didn't even try holding back his emotions, letting the tears stream down his face like waterfalls of pure happiness.

"Nagisa you've finally gotten a little bit taller huh?" Makoto noticed that he's almost as tall as Haru now.

"No! It's just because you haven't been here to see me gro-" Nagisa replies but was interrupted by a very loud sound.

GR-GROWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Everyone froze for a second, looking at Haru and then started to break out in laughter. Haru stood there, completely embarrased after his empty stomach growled so loud, just now realizing how hungry he was.

"Ha-ha-ha! Alright what do you guys say about a bite to eat then?" Nagisa suggested as he takes a bag from Makoto to help him carry out his luggage.

"That's right! There's a new resturaunt that just opened down the road." Rei adds, grabbing one of Haru's bags and they both started towards the exit, Makoto and Haru not far behind them.

Once outside, Makoto looked up to the sky and completely stopped in his tracks now realizing how late it wasbut the darkened sky was filled with millions of bright stars and the beautiful shallow glow of the moon.

Back in Sydney all of the bright street lights and all the illuminated signs on the buildings that flooded the night away, you could never see any stars, but here, you can see them for miles it feels like you've been shot into outer space. Just as a shooting star traveled clear across the sky Makoto smiled and looked further down the side walk where Nagisa, Rei and Haru were loading up the cab. Makoto runs to catch up as he places the rest of his luggage in the trunk.

-Chapter 2 is up-

Note: Hello everyone I really hope you are enjoying this as much as I enjoyed writing it, make sure to check back for a new chapter, I will update very often! I DO NOT OWN FREE! IWATOBI SWIM CLUB. I really enjoyed watching both series and the OVA's so I thought about making a little bit of a story. I really hope you guys like it! Follow me, favorite, and review please, I really appreciate it!