Osaka's beach wasn't certainly anything to write home about, but on this particular day, everyone felt that it was certainly amazing. The sand was warm, but not too hot, the wind was minimal, save for a cool, occasional breeze, and the water was clear and glimmering in the sun.

"Everything seems to look in order." Crys said to her friends as she laid her towel out on a clean patch of sand. "I'll join you guys in a minute. I need to adjust to the heat."

Blue shrugged. "Fair enough. Don't get sand in your suit, Crys."

Crys laid down under her umbrella, feeling the shiftiness of the sand underneath her towel. The beach was not incredible populated today, save for a few people. The majority of them were her classmates, and she was quite pleased to see them having such a good time.

Crys sat for about an hour before she really started thinking about her surroundings. Yellow and Blue were playing in the shallow water, and the boys had all found a beachball to throw at each other. She caught sight of Gold, who threw the volleyball at Green, hitting him in the back of the head. Said young man responded by chasing after him.

Crys felt her cheeks heat up. God, he was so stupid! Such a prankster, so nonchalant about everything! He was such a…a turd! Perfect, Crys thought to herself. Definitely the best title for Gold.

Crys sighed. She was just avoiding what her feelings were telling her.

Nonetheless, the main reason she didn't want to immediately hop into the water and let loose was because Crys felt a bit unnerved at the most recent events. Between Yellow and Red having that…accident in the hot springs, and the tour guide at the castle who seemed to be able to read her mind, Crys felt a bit overwhelmed by the weekend's happenings. She could almost touch the tension between Red and Yellow, and she herself was feeling self-conscious in her swimsuit around Gold. While she was the president of the student council, she was also part of the swim team, and an influential member of the math club. She could safely say that she was well-known among the students at Masara, and her behavior and words reflected the school heavily-

"Hey."

Crys yelped in shock at the voice, only to realize that it was Silver, who stepped back slightly because of her outburst. "Oh, it's only you, Silver. Sorry!"

Silver shook his head. "It's fine." He sat down on the unoccupied part of her towel. "Why aren't you with the others? Are you feeling okay?"

Crys gave a laugh, trying desperately to not make it seem suspicious. "I'm fine, Silver! I'm just trying to adjust to the heat is all."

"Really, now?" Silver wasn't buying it. "It's only around 25 degrees out here. It's not terribly hot."

Crys scoffed. "Maybe for you, it isn't! I'm a girl, and maybe I'm more sensitive to heat than you."

Silver rolled his eyes. "Out with it, Crystal. What's the matter?"

There was no getting rid of Silver now, Crystal thought sadly. Once he was on a topic, there was not a single way to get him off of it. Crys sighed. "I feel like there's something wrong with me, Silver."

Silver's eyes narrowed. "I gathered that much from your suspicious laughter and dejected sigh. Crys, if it's about the whole bathhouse thing with Red and Yellow, you should just…"

Crys cut him off. "No, it's not that, really. It's…" She gulped, bracing to be made fun of. "It's that I don't understand these feelings I have right now."

"Feelings?" Silver replied, drawing swirls in the sand absentmindedly as he listened.

"That's what I just said!" Crys barked, but she immediately covered her mouth. "Silver…I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just on edge right now."

Silver nodded. "This isn't like you, Crys. Tell you what, if I can guess what's wrong with one guess, will you talk to me about it?"

Crys couldn't help but chuckle. "Fine. One guess."

Silver looked straight into her eyes, his gray meeting her aqua, and he smirked. "You like Gold." He said without a hint of doubt or hesitation.

Crys' eyes widened, and she felt her face heat up. She couldn't believe it, but then again, Silver was one of the top students in the class, so he wasn't slow. After a few seconds of dull staring and trying to pretend his answer was wrong, Crys gave up. She placed her hands over her eyes. "Yes, you're exactly right." She murmured.

"Why are you so embarrassed, Crys? You act like you just committed the ultimate sin or something." Silver couldn't seem to understand her woes.

"Gold is the biggest turd I think I've ever met, Silver. He's sarcastic, rude, nonchalant, and he just does what he wants! He's also a flirt and a skirt-chaser, too! He's always talking about some other girl in the class or that dumb idol he loves so much!" Crys grabbed her twin tails by the roots and growled loudly. "What's wrong with me?!"

"You mean Mary?" Silver queried. "He stopped listening to her about a year ago; claimed that she 'wasn't singing like she used to anymore'."

"I don't care!" Crys growled. "I just want to…not like him, okay? I don't know why I have to fall for that idiot!"

"Crys, look at me." She turned to him, a bit frightened by his sudden change in tone. "It isn't a crime to fall for someone. You obviously like Gold for some reason or another, so why don't you try and focus on the good things about him." Silver shrugged. "I can understand your frustrations with him…we all do." He looked towards the water, where Gold had managed to pick Emerald up and give him a wet willy while Ruby and Sapphire laughed. They both felt deadpan at the amber-eyed boy's behavior.

"Wouldn't you want someone else to do the same for you?"

Crys thought about if for a bit. Sure, she would like it more if someone complimented her rather than insulted her. She was studious, careful, respectful of her elders, hard-working…but she could also be bossy, domineering, and rather spiteful. She was also one to hold a grudge.

Crys suddenly sniffed. Silver's eyes widened in shock.

"Crys, are you crying?! I said to mull it over, not disparage yourself!"

Crys shook her head. "It's not you, Silver, it's me." She spoke tearily, rubbing her eyes. "I just realized that it's a bit unfair for me to judge Gold for his faults when I can be a complete and total…bitch, sometimes."

"You're not a bitch, Crys. You're a really cool person, and being friends with you and Gold is a great time, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Blue, Sapphire, and Yellow all like you, too." Silver smiled. "Keep your head high, and act on your feelings when you deem it right. If they fade, they were never meant to be, anyway."

Crys nodded as she stood up. "Thanks, Silver. I feel a lot better. You're really wise, you should be a counselor or something."

Silver couldn't help but laugh. "I read a lot, that and I've been friends with you guys for a while, now. I'm going to go meet up with the guys, so go have fun. I'll catch you later."

With that, Silver ran off. With a new understanding, Crys felt like enjoying herself once again. Natsu's words still rang in her head, but she knew she meant well. Gold had also apologized for the hot springs incident, so she had to forgive him, too.

"Yellow, Blue! I'm coming!"

With her confidence restored, Crys now felt fit to meet up with the other girls. Blue and Yellow were busy looking at all the shells near the tide line, and Sapph was actually swimming. Go figure.

"Hey, Crys!" Blue beckoned her over. "Finally got bored of sitting by yourself?"

Crys gave a nervous titter. "Y-yeah, you could say that. What are you guys doing?"

"We're just poking around, looking at all the wildlife." Yellow picked up a handful of sand. "There's weird shells and a bunch of other weird stuff in here. It's really cool!"

"I've done a bit of work on marine biology back at Masara, and it's a really cool concept." Crys stated, picking through the sand herself. "It's amazing what the sea can cough up."

"We've found quite a few big shells already." Yellow chirped. "Some of them had actual living things inside, though, so we threw them back."

Crys wasn't listening. Instead, she was looking in the opposite direction, towards the open sea. She was focusing on what she thought was a person in the water, and he/she appeared to be struggling.

"Guys, do you see that guy over there?" Crys pointed in the direction of the individual. "I think something's wrong."

Blue put her hand over her eyes and squinted. "It's a guy, I can say that for sure." Blue was silent for a second before gasping. "I think that's Gold!"

Yellow could see it, too. The black haired boy was struggling against what appeared to be a rip current. He was trying to swim back to shore, but was just getting pulled farther and farther out. Finally, he disappeared beneath the surface.

"He's drowning!" Crys turned back Blue and Yellow. "That idiot tried to swim by himself! Yellow, Blue, go get a lifeguard, I'm going to go check and see if I can get him!" She began to run towards the water before finally jumping in.

"Crys, no! You'll get caught in it!" Yellow cried.

"I'm on the swim team, I know how these things work!" Crys smirked before diving in.

The water was not warm, but not cold, either. Crys was really thankful that she remembered to bring her goggles, and she was able to see underneath the blue-green seawater after putting them on. She decided to check the area by surfacing. She had swam about thirty feet off shore, and there was no sign of Gold. She went under again, and after a few seconds of swimming, she felt a strange feeling in the water. The water had been a bit calmer, and the waves were seemingly nonexistent in this area. It began to pull her out towards the open ocean. Yep, it was definitely a rip current.

"Gold!" She shouted. "Where are you?!"

She dove under again, and sure enough, about twenty feet away, Gold floated in the deep water. It was almost whimsical, as there was very little sound underneath the current. It was like watching one of those silent movies, Crystal thought, except her friend's life was in danger.

She frantically began to swim towards him and reached him in a matter of seconds, due to her moving with the current. She grabbed him and tried to surface, but Gold wasn't exactly light. She could barely hold him while simultaneously surfacing.

"Damn it, Gold…you're too…heavy…" She thought sluggishly. She managed to force herself and him above the surface again, only to be met with a small wave. they were away from the current, but had moved out about 20 yards from the shore. The waves were coming in strong, and Crys didn't have any time to react before she was smacked in the face by a wave, and a large amount of water found itself in her mouth.

"Come on! Almost there!" She tried to swim back to shore, but Gold was still a cumbersome load to drag, and they moved very slowly. After a few seconds, Crys was smacked by another wave, this one much more forceful.

"So…tired…" Crys' muscles were fatiguing rapidly. She had never swam this much in her life, even in the swim club, or so it felt. By herself, she would be fine, but because she was dragging Gold's body and trying to keep it above water, it was like she was at least twice as heavy, and had to work much harder to stay afloat.

"I can't…" Crys exhaled under the water, feeling the curse of the fatigue settled in. She had swallowed a lot of water, and some of it had made itself into her goggles, stinging her eyes.

She could barely see, but she knew that she was below the water. This is where I die, she thought. Not just her, though. Gold too, would die. If he wasn't already dead, that is.

"I'm a terrible friend…you were wrong, Silver. I'm so sorry, Gold…"

To be continued…

I'm so bad, aren't I? Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays or whatever you celebrate. Don't forget to submit a review! I really like your guys' feedback, whether praise or criticism (I don't appreciate trolls or hateful comments, though.) Keep it up, guys! To be honest, I've actually gotten a few reviews for Yellow's Plight recently, with people asking for me to continue it. I'm brainstorming the next few parts right now, and I should have something up by the end of the week, hopefully.

Anyways, thanks again for reading! I'm not gonna spoil anything, but...Goldilocks and Cryssy may be in a spot of trouble, here. Stay tuned to see what happens!