Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with W.i.t.c.h at all, it's not mine, never has been and I doubt it ever will be. I apologise for anything I may do to them that is not approved of. Once again: I do not own them.

Note: This is set after the conclusion of Book 6, and written for a friend of mine, Lauren. I hope she enjoys it, as well as anyone else who may be reading.

Will stared down into the dark water barely inches from her feet. 'Traitor,' she muttered to the water, continuing to stare in silence.

The pool of Sheffield Swimming Centre had become somewhat of a refuge for Will since she had arrived in this new town only a short time ago, and with the rather fantastic twists her life had taken (becoming a member of W.i.t.ch and keeper of the Heart of Candracar wasn't something she'd imagined doing when she'd moved here) she needed somewhere like this to retreat to and work it all out. That is until Vera – or, rather, Elyon – had deceived her. Now, staring into the dark watery depths made her feel rather uncomfortable.

Creeeaaak.

Eyes widening, Will leaned back into the shadows, away from the pool, and the light from the streetlights outside. No one should be here this late, thought Will looking back down at her wristwatch. Even I'm not supposed to be here.

She leaned back further, backing into the wall as a shadowy figure was visible; a silhouette in the doorway.

Will let out a silent sigh of relief as the figure came closer and was recognisable as her friend, Irma, smile quirking at the corner of her mouth as she stood on the opposite side of the pool.

'Hey,' Irma offered as way of greeting, slipping out of her jacket and sliding gracefully into the pool, barely making a ripple. 'You come for an after-hours swim often?' She grinned cheekily up at her red-haired friend.

'I could ask you the same thing,' Will whispered her reply.

'And my answer would be 'yes'!' Cried Irma gleefully, tracing patterns of water, letting the waves swirl up to form images above the pool's regular water level. 'Only, not usually here'

'Why are you here, then?' Will asked, confused. Why would Irma come here of all places, when she didn't usually come here, and she obviously wasn't meant to be here.

'Same reason as you,' She replied, not looking up from creating lazy water patterns. 'Actually, to see you.'

'To see me?' It was really more to herself, than actually re-posing the question to her swimming friend.

'I thought you might want someone to talk to. Or just for a little company.' Irma said, giving Will a strangely serious smile. If smiles could be at all serious. 'I know we're all back to being friends again, but that doesn't change that all this happened. And you can't be feeling too good about the whole Vera/Elyon deal.'

Well, that was putting it bluntly, thought Will to herself. But, this is Irma.

Will continued to stare out across the water from her newly acquired position sitting by the pool edge (she couldn't bring herself to look directly down into her own watery image staring back at her), and Irma continued to create whatever-it-was she was forming with the water dancing around her fingertips.

Feeling a strange, wet presence on her shoes and socks, Will turned her head to look down in front of her to see Irma's inquisitive face resting on her elbows which were, of course, in a decidedly uncomfortable position atop Will's sneakers. They continued to simply stare at one another for some time, before Irma's face once again lit with a devious smile, that meant nothing good could possibly happen. But before Will could so much as open her mouth, she found another mouth (Irma's, actually) pressed firmly onto her own for a few moments before Irma's hands reached Will's shoulders and pulled Will down into the water with her.

Splashing wildly, Will broke to the surface of the water gasping for air, trying to stay afloat with her heavy, submerged clothing on. Opening her eyes she saw only the twinkling blue eyes of Irma, and her ears were soon filled with the jubilant voice of Irma shouting a cheery, 'SURPRISE!'

'What – Why – Irma!' She managed to gasp. 'What was that for!'

'Hey, you've been avoiding the water so long, I figured you needed to reacquaint yourself!' Came the giggling retort.

'I don't have a change of clothes! Why did you do that?'

'Come on! I've got a spare set you can borrow!' Irma grinned.

Sighing, Will managed to climb out of the pool with the aid of Irma, weighed down by her heavy, sodden attire, and began squelching her way across the room to Irma's backpack. Followed, of course, by the muffled giggles of obvious amusement that Irma didn't feel the need to even try to disguise.

Once Will had changed clothes, Irma packed the wet clothes into her backpack, promising to wash them for Will, seeing as how it was really her mess. Both girls headed outside together, and as they parted ways, Irma called back to Will, who was now almost to the end of the block, 'You just needed to know that that water isn't her; it hasn't done anything to you, okay?' Before pivoting on her heel and marching back towards her home.