The dismissal bell rung throughout Iwatobi High and students began to exit the building, some making their way to the subway to ride the train home. After picking up Catherine from school, Lucy found herself thinking back to what Haru and her discussed on the beach last night.

"You should come join the swim team, Lucy." Haru muttered as he slowly traced his finger on the sand, etching spirals onto the grainy surface. The woman turned to face him and let out a long sigh, the ocean breeze ruffling her hair while the moonlight illuminated her eyes.

"My brother told you to say that...am I right?" Lucy asked in a demanding tone and watched as the waves washed the designs Haru had drawn away, leaving behind a now blank surface. "No." he lied and got up from the ground, extending his hand to help Lucy up. They walked up the stairway and began the journey home. Cars whizzed by them as they walked, casting long shadows on the ground.

"I've already told you I can't join now, didn't I? There's no team for me to swim with and hardly any events to compete in."

"We'll work out something with Miss Amakata. Just join the team for now and we'll handle the rest." he replied and let out a sigh. "Fine then." the girl said as she walked past him, her shoulders bushing against his as they passed.

"What is it with Kyle forcing me into things I don't wanna do?" Lucy muttered as she slid the main door open, letting the familiar scent of home fill her nose. She spotted a pair of her older brother's loafers tucked neatly to the side as she began to hide her own pair and schooled her features into a forced smile. "Onii-samaa~! We're home!" Catherine called out and sprinted towards him when his head peered around the corner, his features lighting up at the sight of his younger siblings.

"Catherine! Lucy! You guys are home early!" Kyle exclaimed as he bent down to give his younger sibling a hug. "Nee-sama and I took the train home instead of walking today!" Catherine replied as she pulled out her books from her bag, often turning her head to glance at her older sister. Taking a seat at the dining table, Lucy took a string of her pale pink hair and stared at the individual locks with a bored expression.

Shifting her gaze to her other siblings, she realized that Catherine, Annalise, and Kyle bore striking resemblances to their parents. Born with a head full of golden blonde locks, anybody knew Catherine and Kyle had inherited it from their father. Any onlooker who glanced at Annalise would know that the young woman had inherited their mother's beauty and her graceful frame, even though it seemed as if Annalise were adopted. Though Catherine and Lucy were the only ones who inherited both Justin and Victoria's eye colors, everybody knew that all four children were related to one another.

Taking a look at herself in the camera of her phone, the woman saw that her hair and eyes were the only traits she had inherited from her parents. Her sharp eyes didn't come close to resembling her father's and were far too different from her mother's. Some people say that she had also inherited her mother's frame, but Lucy knew that Annalise was the one who inherited her mother's voluptuous curves. Another trait she had inherited was her parents' love for water.

Her mother was a well known marine biologist while her father was a professional swimmer turned coach. Those who have met them knew of the family's close relationship with water, which also helped in the process of both Justin and Victoria meeting one another. All four children shared a deep love for water and has led the three older siblings to follow in their parents' footsteps. Kyle followed in his mother's footsteps and became a marine biologist while his two sisters, Annalise and Lucy, followed in their father's.

They knew Catherine dreamed of becoming a professional diver and encouraged her to train with Lucy, who taught the youngster how to dive and how to hold her breath for so long. It was clear that the children would have a future where water was involved and nobody denied the fact, but Lucy began to question whether she really belonged in the water or not.

It was a nagging question that refused to go away and Lucy wanted to drown it in the deepest parts of her mind, but she just couldn't do it. "Kyle. I'm going out to meet with someone in the park." Lucy said as she went back to her room and began to pack a swimsuit and a towel into her small bag, hoping her brother wouldn't get suspicious. "All right then. Just be back before eight, alright?" Kyle called out and saw his sister clad in a hoodie and jeans, an outfit she'd never think about wearing in the summer.

"Aren't you gonna be hot in that sweater?" the young man asked and narrowed his eyes when he noticed the faint scabs on her hand. "No." the woman replied blankly and turned to leave the room, but the firm grip on her arm stopped her from taking another step and the hiss that left her lips made his sharp green eyes narrow in concern.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked in a demanding tone and Lucy turned away to avoid his sharp eyes, only to meet with Catherine's own. She could tell that the little girl was going to tell the truth about what had happened and she shot her younger sister a deadly glare that could burn through anything. Catherine took this as a warning and quickly slipped out of the room, leaving behind the tense atmosphere.

"Lucy, what happened?"

"It's just some small scrapes. Don't get so worked up about it." Lucy muttered as she tried to break away from her brother's string grip. "Just tell me the truth dammit!" he yelled and felt a hand strike him across the cheek, causing him to stagger a step back and place a hand on his cheek.

Lucy didn't feel guilty for slapping her brother across the face and the scowl on her face took the older one by surprise. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she turned to look at her bewildered brother with a look of pure disgust.

"Just because Annalise isn't here, doesn't mean you have the right to act like her and remind us of her absence."

"That wasn't-" Kyle protested and raised his voice slightly, but sealed his lips shut when Lucy slammed her fist against the wall, taking the older boy by surprise. Known for being collective and calm most of the time, only a handful of people knew about Lucy's hidden, deadly temper. But, Kyle was the only one who took the hard way of knowing that it took only one sentence or action to light the fuse.

"You know what Kyle? Do me a big favor and save your pity for someone other than your sister." she demanded and slammed the door behind her, extending the gap between both siblings and straining their relationship even further.

Arriving at the school pool, Lucy was greeted by the familiar faces of the school's swim team. "Lucy-kun! You made it!" Nagisa exclaimed as he ran up to the young woman and gave her a friendly hug. "Hi, Lucy! How's your shoulder doing? Heard it got scraped badly yesterday." Coach Sasabe recalled as the group stared at her, waiting for her to make a move. Placing a hand over her shoulder, she smiled sweetly and thanked everyone for their concerns, easing their worries and making them breath a sigh of relief.

All except for Haru.

'She refuses to hold back on the truth, but chooses to lie whenever she's given a chance. Who really is this woman?' Haru wondered as he climbed up the pool ladder and watched as she emerged from the change rooms. Her black and gold swimsuit hugged her frame tightly while her long, pink hair was tied together in a ponytail. He could feel his heart skip a beat as he stared at her with awestruck eyes.

"Haru-chan? You okay?" Makoto asked as he caught Haru staring at something and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, breaking the trance the dark haired man was in.

"How old is Lucy?"

"Sixteen, but she's turning seventeen. She's just a few days older than you. Why do you ask, Haru?" the older boy wondered and settled his gaze on Lucy, who slowly slid into the pool. Her face contorted into an expression of pain when the water splashed against her wounds, the chlorine seeping into some of her opened wounds. After a few seconds of clutching her shoulder in pain, Lucy began to swim in her lane and the team watched as she sped up near the halfway mark.

"I'm here!"

"Zaki-chan!" Makoto exclaimed and rushed to hug his friend, who eagerly returned the gesture. "Makoto-senpai! It's been forever since I saw you guys!" Aki exclaimed as she pulled away and gave the others a friendly hug. "When'd you move back to Iwatobi?" Nagisa asked and the girl thought to herself before flashing everyone a bright smile. "Just last week actually! I got bored of the city and wanted to see you guys again!" she replied and scratched the back of her head sheepishly, a laugh escaping her lips as they chatted amongst themselves for a couple of minutes.

Lucy decided to take a short break from swimming and lifted her head when she heard a voice that she could recognize easily. "Lucy-senpai!" the brunette exclaimed and rushed to give her longtime friend a big hug. "Yazaki-san!" Lucy said as she let out a laugh as the two friends embraced each other after three years of separation.

"I see you've grown, Yazaki-san."

"Very much! I heard Hachiro won tons of gold medals at the meet two weeks ago!"

"They did! Lucy-kun was so fast nobody could catch up to her! She was like a missile in the water!" Nagisa added and Aki let out a giggle when she caught Lucy blushing at Nagisa's praise.

"Hey Zaki-chan. Would you be interested in forming a female swim team?" Haru asked and he could see her light brown eyes twinkle with excitement at the mentioning of a swim team. "Of course I would! Not only do I get to swim with my friends, but I get to swim next to my idol!" she replied and gave her friend another strong hug, but a deep voice interrupted the group and caused them to turn their heads.

"Rin? What are you doing here?" Haru asked as he watched the older swimmer stood next to his younger sister and gave her hair a playful ruffle. "Rin! I told you to stop doing that to me!" Gou whined and swatted his hand away, earning a laugh from her older brother. Rin's eyes landed on Lucy and he could feel one of them twitch at the sight of the young woman. Lucy could feel someone staring at her and turned to see Rin Matsuoka glaring back at her.

'You!'

After watching the others leave the pool, Rin had asked Haru to join him on a walk in the town. The sun was just setting and the two men watched as the sky darkened above them, shades of orange and yellow staining the once blue sky. "So, how's Iwatobi doing?" Rin asked as they climbed the stairs and reached a spot where anyone could have a great view of the town.

"Who was that girl at the pool? The one Yazaki-san called her idol." the Samezuka swimmer wondered as he rested his arms on the railings while keeping his eyes on Haruka. "Her name's Lucy." Haru answered as he copied his friends's actions, but decided to shift his gaze onto the town instead. "Is she a Hinukajin?" Rin wondered and stood up, folding his arms against his chest as he watched Haruka's eyes narrow, a clouded expression appearing on his face as silence hung over them.

"Yes. The second youngest to be exact."

"Hmph. Just as I expected." the older boy muttered as he let out a long sigh, the wind rustling his flaming red hair as he held his chin with his fingers as if he were deep in thought.

"Why? You got a grudge against her or something?"

"No, Haru."

"Then, what do you have against her?"

Letting out a short sigh, Rin stared at Haru with his crimson eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Before I left for Australia, I saw Lucy walking with her sister. It was raining and I couldn't see much, but I knew it was Annalise since I often chatted with her if I was given the chance."

"Go on." Haru muttered as his eyebrows raised with interest. "They were yelling at one another and you could easily tell who was angrier out of the two of them. I didn't hear much since I had to go inside a store and when I got back outside, there was an ambulance and police cars everywhere." Rin said as he thought back to that day.

"When did this happen?"

"Like a year ago probably, but have any of you heard the rumor that's going around Iwatobi?"

"Not really. I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff."

"I see but has anyone ever brought it up?"

"No, but I did overhear someone talking about Lucy a few days ago. What even is the rumor?" the dark haired boy asked as he watched Rin lean back against the railing, tilting his head up so he could stare up at the sky.

"They say Annalise disappeared because she felt guilty about pissing Lucy off and decided to move away to some unknown country so their relationship could stay intact."

"What does this even have to do with Lucy?"

"These rumors only started popping up at the same time Lucy moved here. Not only are the rumors popping up in Iwatobi, but some are circulating around Samezuka too."

"Lucy doesn't even have anything to do with Samezuka." Haru retorted, surprising Rin with his sudden choice to defend the girl he barely even knew about.

"Annalise went to Katsumi High, an all girls school, and often visited me on the weekends at Samezuka. She told me that she transferred from Iwatobi to Katsumi so that Lucy would be given the chance to develop her own person, but I got the feeling that she transferred just so she could get away from Lucy's hatred and hoped that it would salvage their friendship."

"Was it true?" the younger swimmer wondered as he raised his blue eyes so he could look at Rin, whose lips had curved into a small smile. "It was. I found out when I caught her watching the swim team at practice and decided to talk for a bit." Rin continued and watched as a leaf blew past him, curling a bit as the wind carried it to a new location.

"When Annalise disappeared, so did Lucy. I called their family and asked them where either sister went, but they were just as heartbroken and confused as I was. I will admit that I had a tiny crush on Annalise, but we stayed as good friends when she was still around. When they went missing, I felt like I had just lost someone important."

"Rin..."

"The family organized a search party a few hours later. Do you remember that?"

Haru suddenly remembered when Rin and the Iwatobi swim team banged on his door and asked him to join a search party for two local girls. The team and the entire town searched for hours in nearby areas and towns, but nobody even found a clue that could lead to where both went. After searching for nearly four hours, the party was disbanded and everyone else went home with heavy hearts. He remembered seeing Makoto and the others calming down the girls' parents, but he would never forget how heartbroken the family sounded as they pleaded with the police to find their daughters.

"Makoto was also crushed to hear that both girls had disappeared. Those two were like a part of his family." he added and Haru swore that he thought Rin would cry right at this moment. "Is that why you're so mad at her?" Haru wondered and he saw Rin nod, but the tear that rolled down his eye caught him off guard.

"That's how it stayed for an entire year. The police trying to find both girls, the family hoping that they would come home, everyone unsure about the girls' safety, Makoto trying everything he could that would help find them. It was a nightmare."

The sun had vanished and the moon had taken its place with stars dotting the sky like a painting. The moonlight cast shadows on the ground where both men stood and another heavy silence settled upon them.

"I remember seeing something about their disappearance on the news once. What did you do when you heard Lucy came back, Rin?"

"Me? Well, the first thing I did was call her and ask where Annalise was, but she kept avoiding the question repeatedly. I began to yell at her for making the entire town worried sick for an entire year and the fact that she ran away for that long. Then, she hung up and ignored her phone every time I called."

"I'd never think Lucy would have the heart to do that..." Haru muttered and felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up to see Rin looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face and his eyes widened unexpected action. "Lucy can hurt you and leave behind terrible scars that probably won't heal. So please...be careful, Haru. She may look innocent, but she is capable of hurting you and others." Rin warned before descending down the steps and leaving Haru alone to think about the warning Rin had told him.

Taking one last look before ascending the hill, Lucy took in the view of the entire town and let out a soft sigh. She pulled the hood of her sweater over her face and trudged up the hill. She carried a small bouquet of white roses in her arms and a hair clip. Taking a turn, she spotted a lone grave on the top and slowly sped up as she neared it.

"Hey. I'm back." Lucy whispered gently as she got on her knees and set her offerings down on the grave. "It's been forever since I last paid you a visit, huh?" she continued and smiled as she arranged the bouquet so that it leaned against the headstone. The soft breeze rustled her hair gently and she could feel tears fall down her cheeks as she gazed at the headstone sadly.

"You might be wondering if I joined the swim team yet and I did. Well, Kyle wanted me to anyways."

Silence.

"I joined Iwatobi's team. Mako seemed happy to see me again, even though I disappeared for quite a long time. Kyle said you'd be proud of me if I joined, but I wasn't so sure about that...so I came to ask you instead."

Letting out a small chuckle, Lucy rested her hand against the grave and felt the cold surface press against her warm skin. "Are you proud of me? For joining the swim team?" she wondered and closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the grass rustling with the wind fill her ears. "I would say that's a yes from you, but there's no way for me to find out." she murmured and rested her forehead against the stone.

"I miss you so much, but I can't do anything to bring you back. I know you must be glaring at me from above or trash talking about me to some of your buddies, but I'm okay with that...because it's my punishment for all those things I did to you."

"I know you'll hate me for all of eternity, but I want to ask for your forgiveness. I just want this burden off my shoulders." she sobbed and slowly sunk to the ground as guilt overrode her mind.

Rising from the ground, she wiped her tears away and gently touched the grave one last time before pulling her hood up and beginning the journey home. In the soft moonlight, the grave read:

Annalise Nanami Hinukajin

January 23, 1996 - June 30, 2016

Loved for all of eternity