It's funny how one can just wake up and make a realization that would change their life forever, yet that was what happened one morning when Haruka opened her eyes and it hit her: she was living the wrong life.

Her arm reached out across the bed, half-hoping to find Rin's sleeping form next to her, and the other half knowing she wouldn't. Instead, her fingers curled around a soft piece of fabric, and she pulled back her arm to find Makoto's scarf in her grasp.

He left his scarf. She couldn't quite remember last night clearly, but she could still recall being half-led, half-carried by Makoto back to the apartment. She'd obligingly handed over her key once they reached the front door, and next thing she knew she was tucked up in bed, Makoto busying himself with pulling up the covers over her while his scarf dangled within her peripheral vision. She remembered her hand clutching it as it did now, then holding it to her face as she breathed in the warm smoky scent that always clung to him. He'd just smiled at her, then said goodnight and turned to leave, turning off the light before closing the door behind him.

I have to get this back to him. Another memory resurfaced in her mind: Makoto saying he'd he going back to Iwatobi later in the afternoon today. That was when they were still on their way to the bar (Haruka had cajoled him into going with her) so she was certain it wasn't just an alcohol-induced recollection. Call me if you want to come along, he'd said.

She hadn't been back to her hometown ever since she'd joined the national swim team and moved to Tokyo with Rin. Even when her parents moved back she didn't go to visit, for that was when she was preparing for the Olympics. The race had been swum, the medal won, the celebratory party (in which Rin had somehow persuaded her to do a striptease on the table while half-drunk) over and done with – and what was she left with? That had been almost two years ago. Things had changed. She and Rin had changed. They had reached a dead end.One door closes, another opens.

She retrieved her phone from the bedside table. Maybe a trip back would do her some good. And the scarf had to be returned after all.

…

When she emerged from the bedroom with her suitcase, she found Rin in the living room with a cigarette between her lips. The redhead blew out a puff of smoke before noticing her standing in the hallway. "Going somewhere?"

"Iwatobi. Makoto's going back to visit this afternoon. He'd invited me to come with him."

Rin shrugged. "Why not? You haven't been there in ages. And Makoto will be with you too."

"Yeah." Haruka paused. "You shouldn't be smoking, you know. It's bad for your health."

"Please. Having Sousuke tell me that every time we meet is already bad enough." Rin smiled ruefully, yet Haruka could detect a bit of wistfulness in her face as well. Four years of dating had taught her the meanings of nearly all her expressions, yet there were times she felt as if she didn't understand her girlfriend at all. Those times had been happening more often of late.

"Did you sleep in a hotel last night?"
"Nah, I crashed in Sousuke's place. The idiot was out on night patrol, but at least he left a spare key under the floor mat. Poor guy had to sleep on the sofa when he got back though." Rin laughed at the memory before falling silent again. "How long will you be away?"

"A few days I guess, though…" It had been nagging at the back of Haruka's mind ever since she'd started packing her clothes, but it wasn't until now that she realized she meant to do it. "Though I might stay a little longer."

"Stay as long as you want." She looked up to see Rin's eyes on her. "About time you got away from it all from a while. In fact, I think we both need to take a bit of a break. The swim season's over anyway, so it's not like we're needed around here or something."

"Rin…" Haruka hesitated, but she knew she needed to get the words out. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday."

Rin put out the cigarette in the ash tray on the coffee table. "It's fine. It's been coming for quite a while anyway." She sighed. "Sometimes, you need to know when to let go to be able to reach for something better."

"I already figured that out."

"What, did you just wake up and have an epiphany or something?"

"More or less."
Rin laughed again as she stood up and faced Haruka. "Haru, you've always been headstrong, not afraid to do what you want once you know what it is. It's one of the things that attracted me to you."

"And?"

"Abd… well, to be honest, that trait of yours was what made me feel like I had to try to keep things going between us – for your sake. At first I thought it was what you wanted, and then when it seemed like you didn't even know what that was any more, I grew even more wary of pulling away. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you."

"I know." Haruka had felt similarly; that if she tried to end things Rin would never recover. Rin was rather willful herself; it was what drew them to each other both as rivals and lovers.

"Rin, if I ever hurt you in any way - ""It's all in the past now," Rin interjected. "Nobody has to apologize for anything." A trace of her usual confident smirk played upon her face. "It was great while it lasted, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I might be out of the apartment often in the next few weeks, but feel free to come back anytime you want, to get your stuff or whatever. Unless if you'd rather have the place?"

"No, I prefer moving out myself."

"You moving in with Makoto?"

Haruka was taken aback. "What – no, I never said - "

"Calm down, I was only messing with you. Although frankly I wouldn't be surprised if you did either." Rin grinned. "Either way, enjoy yourself in Iwatobi."

"Thanks." Haruka looked at the shark-toothed swimmer and knew no matter what, they would remain close for the rest of their lives. She nodded and smiled, then picked up her suitcase and walked towards the front door.

…

"… and Ran's considering studying for a degree in hospitality after leaving school, she says she wants to open her own restaurant someday." Makoto turned left into the exit and left the highway. The roadside sign said Iwatobi was 10 kilometres away.

Haruka looked away from the scnery outside. "Really? I didn;'t know she had aspirations in that direction."

"She said she was inspired by all those times you came over and cooked for us at our house. She and Ran are very excited to hear that you'd be coming back, tough they were a bit disappointed that Rin wasn't coming as well. They want to come visit you two in Tokyo in the future."

"Actually, I won't be living with Rin for much longer. I'm moving out of the apartment."

"Huh?!" Makoto hastily stopped the car on the side of the road. "Haru, you and Rin - "

"We're fine. We just decided we'd be better as friends. I think we both knew that already before, but it wasn't until today that we settled everything."

"Today?"

Haruka shrugged. "I just woke up this morning and had a sudden insight. Oh, and I also realized I hadn't returned your scarf." She produced it from her coat pocket and made to hand it back to Makoto, then paused. She then tired the scarf around Makoto's neck herself, while he sat as still as if he'd been tuned to stone.

"There." She tucked the end of the scarf in the folds around his beck, only to brush against his Adam's apple. Her eyes slowly followed an invisible line up past his chin to his slightly parted lips, and without thinking she leaned in.

When they broke apart, there was silence in the car for a while. Then Makoto's mouth moved, but all he got out was "What?"

"Call it another sudden insight. Now are you going to drive or not?"

"Oh – yeah." But before he started the ignition again, he held her face to his and kissed her back. "My own sudden insight," he explained as he pulled away, but not before she saw what was probably the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen on him.

…

Apparently sudden insights were contagious, for six months later Rin had her own eureka moment and popped the question to Sousuke. Yes, she proposed to him, as Nagisa had to be reminded constantly.

"Did he get you pregnant or something? Ow, Rin-chan!"

"Can't I marry a guy simply because I want to and not because I need him to take responsibility for his spawn in my belly?!" Rin demanded of the blonde, who was massaging the spot on the back of her head where she'd been cuffed.

"Seriously though, you must be really anxious to get hitched if you went so far as to propose to him yourself. It' not Leap Year, is it?"

Rin shrugged. "Who cares? I don't see how an extra day in a year makes it any more suitable for a girl to propose than any other time. Besides, if it were left up to him I'd never wear a wedding ring until I hit forty, and that's if I get him drunk enough." She turned to Haruka. "You'll be my bridesmaid, right?"

"Me?" Haruka supposed it wasn't too surprising, since she was probably Rin's oldest friend of the same gender, but considering their past together she never thought Rin would be so quick to ask her. They'd broken up barely half a year ago, after all.

"Yes, you. It's thanks to you I'm becoming Mrs. Yamazaki anyway, so the least you can do is hold my bridal train on the big day."

"So only Haru-chan gets to be a bridesmaid?" Nagisa pouted.

"Of course not I'm enlisting you and Ai as well."

"Alright! I haven't seen Ai-chan in ages! D'you think she'll bring Momo-kun as her plus-one?"

"Hmm, seems pretty likely. You're bringing Rei of course, aren't you?"

"Yup! Hey Rin-chan, be sure to throw your bouquet in my direction, yeah? Then Rei-chan'll have to propose to me before I turn forty too!"

But Rin had other ideas, for on the big day itself, after what Nagisa liked to call 'Rin-chan and Sou-chan sucking each other's faces off', she marched directly towards where Haruka stood with the other two bridesmaids and deposited her bouquet in the other's arms. "There. Now get a move on," she said, gesturing to Makoto in the second aisle among the audience wih a shake of her head.

As Nagisa groaned in mock disappointment, Haruka blinked in confusion. "Rin…"

"Hey, it was your sudden insight that got us to where we are now. Think of this as going full circle." Rin leaned in and pecked Haruka on the cheek. "I wish you happiness in your new life."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

The bride grinned. "I already received plenty of those sentiments today to spare a few for you. You gotta act fast though, Nagisa's still waiting her turn to get hitched." She then turned and accepted Sousuke's hand as they took their first few steps together as husband and wife.

Nagisa eyed the flowers in Haruka's hands. "Well, I suppose I could do another stint as a bridesmaid. This time though, you have to throw the bouquet to me."

"No, I'll march into the audience and deliver it directly to Rei. That better?"

"Yeah!" As Nagisa laughed, Haruka looked up and caught Makoto's eye, and they smiled at each other. She then walked up the aisle after the new couple, knowing she'd be walking down it herself soon.