Who says I never finish my fics?! It's been...a year, I think? Two? Anyway I'm not dead! I experienced a pretty rotten knee injury this last year, went through a merger with my job, and had family move into town so it's been busy to say the least! My free time had been pretty limited so writing took an unfortunate very far backseat. But I never forgot about this fic and I've always been determined to finish it! I finally had enough free time to do so, so please enjoy!

Seijuro had a dream that night.

He was standing and in front of him was Gou. She was all wicked smiles and toothy grins, the same sort of expression her brother might wear after he had conquered a hard race. Against his forehead she smashed an egg, and then kissed him fiercely as the yolk dripped down his face.

Maybe Noro had been right, Seijuro would reflect later. Sometimes when trying to break an egg you really did have to smash it.

It was one of the best dreams he ever had.

With a grunt, Gou dragged the last of her luggage into the living room. Panting slightly, she stretched backwards, pressing her hands against the small of her back. Who knew packing would be so difficult! This is what I get for waiting till the last minute to do it. Yesterday she had been reluctant to put too much away as she was afraid she might need it for the dinner. Her plan had been to do the majority of her packing after they had returned but that hadn't happened. She had been far too busy with nursing Seijuro and then…other things. Packing had been the furthest thing from her mind then. Not to mention Seijuro and her had woken up late this morning after having stayed up way too late doing those…other things. And getting up too late after staying in bed too long doing more…other things.

Her cheeks burned slightly. She fanned herself, faintly glad Seijuro was outside so he wouldn't see her blushing like a fool. Then again if he did walk in she could always blame it on the heat and her exertion from dragging her luggage around she supposed.

At least this time when waking up in the same sleeping space as Seijuro she could remember exactly how she had gotten there and why. Waking up next to him and actually remembering doing so was actually quite…nice. In the future she hoped to do more of it.

"That everything?" Seijuro stepped back inside from where he had been dropping off her luggage by the curve.

"I think so!" She looked down at the last piece of flower covered baggage on the living room floor. Once this was gone the house would be back to its original state. There would be no evidence that the two of them had lived here for a good three months. All the evidence of what they had shared in that time here would be erased.

Well…except for the bed sheets that is…They hadn't had time to wash them. In the end they had chosen to throw them away. "W—we'll just tell them we lost them or something," Seijuro had said, cheeks colored slightly red as he had thrown them in the garbage. Gou had been more than happy to agree with him. She'd rather get scolded and pay for some extra sheets than leave those behind. She'd have died if someone else had come upon them.

"Good thing we made it, just in time too." Seijuro checked his phone. "The cab should be here any second now. I'll go wait out front."

"Okay!"

He moved to go back through the door then he seemed to think better of it, coming back to kiss her before departing.

It was amazing how much Gou found she liked kissing him and how often she wanted to. Like when he had gotten out of the shower, after he gave her coffee, after he had carried her luggage from the bedroom to the living room. Kissing him was something she felt like she would never tire of.

Maybe this is just what love is like. She smiled.

A lot had happened here. From her first night in this country when she had gotten drunkenly married to her last night when she knew she had truly found something worth keeping. More so than any swimming competition or cash prize, Gou felt like she had won something far more precious. Everyone else was sure to feel the same way too. From Amakata and Goro down to all of the Samezuka members. Including her brother.

In some ways this strange place with its archaic laws, morbid history, wacky tv shows, and crazy politics would always remain etched in her heart. Something she would look back on with amused fondness. Inside her bag she had packed their schedules alongside the marriage certificate, mementos to remember this place by. She didn't want to forget.

"Gou," Seijuro called her from outside. "The cab's pulling up."

"Coming!" Gou hefted the last piece of luggage. With one last glance at the now empty house, she turned to step through the doorway. Waiting for them was a plane ride back home. A mere hop, skip and a jump to the future.

Gou smiled once more. She was really looking forward to it.

All of Iwatobi and the debate team were waiting for them at the drop off area when their cab pulled up. The first voice that greeted Gou when she opened the cab door was Nagisa's. "You're late, Gou-chan!"

"Sorry!" She stumbled out of the cab, blurrily rubbed an eye. She had dozed off against Seijuro's shoulder on the car ride over. If she was lucky she'd be so tired she'd actually be able to sleep on the long place ride regardless of Ama-chan trying to plant her hand in her face.

"Sei-chan!" Nagisa continued on to the other occupant of the cab. "Your face doesn't look too bad at all!"

"Of course not!" Seijuro raised his arms in a flex. "Matsuoka doesn't hit hard at all!"

"See, I told you, Rei-chan! Rin-chan could never hurt Sei-chan! Sei-chan's way too tough for that!"

"That's what I said!" Seijuro almost looked to be preening.

"P—perhaps we should have that conversation later." Makoto's smile was strained, as if believing Rin might be nearby and come rampaging over to prove them wrong. "Though I am glad you look so well. Much better than I thought!"

"Oh, that's because Gou administrated some really good first aid last night that fixed me right up! Didn't you, Gou?!"

Gou let out a cough like she had gotten elbowed in the stomach. She knew Seijuro probably wasn't referring to…that but the way he had said it…

Nagisa let out a giggle at her reddening face. "Wow, Gou-chan, you really do know how to take care of your husband-chan, don't you!"

"Sh—shut up!" If her face got any hotter her skin was going to literally melt off.

Seijuro scratched his head. "Husband-chan?"

Out of nowhere Haru stepped over to them. He extended a hand to help with their luggage. "Sorry," he said lowly, "for all the trouble."

Gou nearly stumbled at the words. Was Haru…was Haru actually apologizing for her brother? She almost couldn't believe it. Did he feel guilty somehow about last night? He was the other half of the equation of hostility that had been going on with her brother after all.

"You shouldn't be apologizing," said Gou with emphasis. "We were the ones who created that mess in the first place. If anything we should be the ones apologizing to you. All of you have helped us so much these past few months after we created such a troublesome situation. There's no way we could ever repay that."

"Gou's right!" Seijuro instantly followed her statement. "That was bound to happen sooner or later with Matsuoka considering the troublesome situation we ended up creating. We brought that on ourselves by not clearing the air sooner." He smiled at Gou in an expression of shared camaraderie. "But despite all that and the mess we created, everyone here has helped us so much this entire summer without ever asking for anything in return. As Gou said we could never thank you enough for that, but—" He bowed deeply to them. "Thank you very much!"

"Seijuro…" Inside her chest Gou's heart swelled painfully. She waved her hand at her face to dispel the rising tears. What a wonderful man I have!

"S—sei-chan…" Nagisa sounded like he was in the same boat as she was.

Goro sniffed loudly. He wiped an arm across his eyes. "He's my favorite!" he decreed, almost sounding like a wail.

"You're not supposed to pick favorites, Goro-chan!"

"I meant outside of you guys!"

In front of Seijuro, Haru shifted on his feet. His face was turned away, a faint dusting of red on his cheeks. He seemed completely unprepared on how to deal with such a situation, which meant of course Makoto would come save him.

"N—now, now, there's no need for that." Makoto moved forward waving his hands. "I mean, after all, if you two hadn't done what you did who knows how things would have turned out. We may never have gotten to meet all the wonderful people we did, or reconnect with old ones."

"That's right!" Nagisa chimed in. "We may never have gotten to swim with Rin-chan again!"

"Or gotten to eat that delicious meal last night," said Rei thoughtfully.

"Or swam so much," muttered Haru.

"Or drink so much beer!" said Goro, raising a can that had come from God knows where.

"Or gotten to watch por—" Gou nearly dive bombed onto Hana, covering the other girl's mouth hastily before she could finish her sentence.

"Well…" Amakata's eyes were unusually bright. She wiped at the corner of her eye. "As the famous Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'there is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed'. Perhaps it was fate that we were all meant to come together here like this."

For a moment everyone was silent.

"Wow, Ama-chan-sensei!" Nagisa exclaimed. "That quote actually made a lot of sense this time!"

"Yes, it was quite befitting!" Rei agreed.

"Th—thank you." Amakata wiped away a stray tear, now looking almost like she was accepting a reward.

"Well, if that's the case then." Seijuro raised his fist into the air. "Let's have many more great adventures like this summer!"

"Yeah!" Nagisa and Hana cheered along with him.

"P—please no." Makoto's face was starting to turn that weird shade of blue. "I don't think I could take another summer like this." He placed his hand over his heart like he was having palpations.

Goro laughed uproariously. He clamped a hand onto the boy's shoulder. "We need to toughen you up, Makoto! Like I said before, we're going shark hunting as soon as we get back to Japan!"

"No, please…"

"Don't worry, Haru can come too! Wouldn't want to break up a new couple!" said Goro, ignoring Makoto's pleas completely. "You like eating shark, don't you, Haru?!"

"Mackerel," said Haru.

"Let us come too, Goro-chan! Rei-chan loves shark hunting!"

"I do not!" Rei spluttered. "I've never been and if it's anything like that horrid saw grass ride with the crocodiles I will never go!"

"Don't be like that, Rei-chan!"

They began to move off into the airport to drop off their luggage, Nagisa compelling Seijuo to join them on this supposed shark hunting trip (and Seijuro readily agreeing), Haru busily quizzing Goro about mackerel they could catch, and Makoto turning various shades of blue.

Gou followed behind, hiding a giggle behind her hand. Maybe Amakata's quote had been right. Maybe it had been fate that had sent them on this crazy wayward adventure this whole summer. A crazy wayward adventure that had all started because of one silly accident.

Or maybe not accident. Maybe it really had been fate at play.

She smiled. Fate or accident, she was glad to be here regardless.

"Did you get it?" Gou was nearly dancing in place as they stood at the luggage counter.

"Of course I did!" Hana dug into her bag. "You're lucky we lived so close to the market! I was able to swing by this morning. I know your mother will love this!"

"Oh thank god, thank you so much, Hana-chan." Gou let out a sigh of relief. In the end she had decided to keep the pearl ring. Too much had happened for her to bear parting with it now. It was a symbol of all that she and Seijuro had been through these past few months, and it reminded her of her mother besides. She couldn't imagine having any other ring than that as a wedding ring. But keeping the ring had meant she had to get something else for her mother. With such a lack of time for shopping she had been forced to beg Hana to pick something up for her.

"I swear I'll pay you back later!"

"Don't worry about it! Just set me up on a date with Mikoshiba-san's brother when we get back and we'll call it even." Hana winked at her.

"M—maybe." Gou had no idea what Seijuro's brother was like but maybe he would like Hana. If he's anything like Seijuro then he'll like…She mentally shook her head. No, no that would never happen. They couldn't be that alike could they?

"Here you go!" Hana held out something to Gou.

"Oh, thank you so mu—" Gou's words halted as her eyes fell on the thing. Staring back at her was none other than one of those creepy dolls Gou had seen when shopping with Hana previously. This is what I'm going to give my mother?! She struggled to keep a happy look. Hana had gone out of her way to help her after all. "T—thank you," she managed.

Well, maybe her mother would find it cute somehow? In a really creepy sinister kind of way. If she had time maybe she could have it resewn to look a little less creepy when they got to Japan.

Stuffing it into her bag, she pushed the oversized luggage over to the boys loading it all into check in. "Here's the last of it!"

"Thank goodness!" Makoto lugged the huge thing onto the counter. Finishing up there, they moved away into the main entry. "Alright, now that that's done we should head to our gate. Does anyone know which one it is?"

Amakata tilted her head. On her face was a sort of strange, strained smile. "Oh, did you not hear?" Her voice was even more strained. "Due to the airport not being that big they ran out of gates to place the planes, you see. We'll be boarding our plane directly outside at the tarmac."

"Outside?!" gasped Gou and Hana.

"Oh yeah," said Seijuro, as if suddenly recalling something. "They did mention something about that earlier, didn't they? Since so many countries are leaving on the same day they might run out of gates. I forgot about that."

"You forgot about it?!" Gou hissed.

"Don't worry, Samezuka is going to be boarding from the tarmac as well!"

"That doesn't make me feel better!"

"One last weird thing for this country to do," muttered Makoto. "I should have guessed they would. Isn't going down to the tarmac to board your flight dangerous?!"

"It's okay, Mako-chan!" said Nagisa. "It's their way of saying good bye to us! Their final send off!"

"Phrasing it that way almost sounds like they're planning on killing us," observed Haru. Next to him Makoto's face was turning blue again.

"With this country's history I'm not entirely surprised if that were what they were planning," said Rei.

They made their way down to the tarmac they would be boarding from. Thankfully there appeared to be a number of people doing the same and they were able to follow the crowd without much confusion. The crowd of people made Gou feel a little better about their situation. They were definitely not the only ones who would have to be boarding in such a fashion. If there were this many people it had to be safe!

"Looks like this one's ours." They came to a stop in near the side of a large aircraft. A set of large stairs had been rolled up next to the door, though they would not be boarding for some time yet.

"Looks like Samezuka is the next one over." Nagisa pointed.

Indeed they were. The other plane was close enough they could see each other well enough, but too far for them to associate easily. There was a fair crowd of Samezuka members already gathered there, though Rin was nowhere to be seen nor Nitori. They must not have arrived yet. She had no idea what time her brother had gotten back to his own lodge to sleep. He may have gotten even less sleep than she had after the bomb she had dropped on him at the restaurant.

"Yep, that one's mine!" said Seijuro. He hefted his bag more firmly onto his shoulder. "I should get going, looks most of my team is already here." He stepped closer to Gou.

"I'll see you in a few hours."

Oh yeah. He was right. She'd likely see him again in the airport after they landed. That was more than a few hours away but at least there was that certainty she would see him one more time before ultimately parting. After that…well, there was no telling. It may be days or weeks before she got to see him again. They had their lives to return to after all. Not to mention their families…But that was in the future. And whatever happened she was sure they could see it through. "Okay!"

Seijuro bent down to kiss her. It was a brief kiss, discrete, but that didn't stop Nagisa from 'Ooooooh'ing nor Hana from making kissing noises. Gou shot them a withering glare.

"I'll see you all later!" Seijuro waved to the others, turning to depart.

"Make sure to call!" Goro looked like he might cry again.

"Sei-chan, we love you!" Nagisa might cry too.

That's my line! Gou huffed. So much for their romantic parting! Everyone else had ruined it. Though I guess we made up for it last night. Her cheeks flamed at the thought.

But now with Seijuro walking away, she could focus her attention on her embarrassing best friend. "Ha-na-chan!"

Behind him Seijuro could hear the two girls yelling at each other.

"I'm going to rip your face off, Hana-chan!"

"Does that mean you want to kiss me too," came the cheeky response.

"Ugh! Don't say such gross things!"

Seijuro fought the smile from appearing on his face. He was relieved his back was to them. If Gou caught him smiling at her embarrassment he might be in trouble.

"Good morning!" he greeted his swim team jubilantly at his approach, though it wasn't long before they began acquiring about his face.

"Captain, your face!"

"Did you get in a fight?!"

"Of course not, of course not!" Seijuro hoped his laugh wasn't too plastic. He was the captain after all; he couldn't very well admit he was going around getting into fights. And with his own swim team member no less! Even if said swim team member's anger had been well warranted, for both their sakes it was better to keep this quiet. "I just got too drunk and smacked into a door!"

That excuse was greeted with a wave of laughter. "But you told us not to get too drunk!" someone protested laughingly.

"Sorry, sorry! I just couldn't control myself!"

In more ways than one. A goofy smile crossed his face. It was admittedly a bit hard to keep his hands off of Gou now that she had given that push into that frontier. Not that she seemed to be complaining about it at all. Which made him like it all the more. He really liked when she was forceful actually. Yeah, yeah, I really, really like it!

But there were other things that he really liked about her as well. Reasons that were much more significant.

Like when he had told her last night about why he had left his family home.

He told her the whole truth, the whole unflowery truth. How he liked being in charge and not answering to someone else. How he valued his independence to the point he was willing to leave his family to obtain it. Saying all those things aloud had made even him feel like he was a complete jerk. They were pretty ugly facets of his personality he had always felt.

He expected revulsion or apprehension from Gou, but when she opened her mouth to respond she stopped. Her face was frozen with eyes slightly wide as if struck by a sudden realization. Then she did something Seijuro would never have expected. She started laughing.

"You're laughing?"

"S—sorry, I don't mean to, it's just—" She twittered some more. On her face was something Seijuro was unable to identify. Relief maybe?

"It just reminded me of my brother is all."

"Your brother?" He had no idea what she meant by that. Right at this very moment he didn't really care to know either. "But don't you think it's bad?" he had prodded.

"Huh? Oh, no, not at all." She waved a hand. "My brother is the same way," she said. "The exact same way."

He smiled. His worry and wishy washing had all been for nothing after all. Gou understood him better than anyone else likely could. Maybe it had been destiny that he fall for Matsuoka's sister of all people. She was the perfect piece to fit into his puzzle.

"You're smiling awfully hugely," came a disapproving tone, "for someone with such a bruised condition." Seijuro turned to face said disapproving person. "Good morning, Nakagawa!"

"Good morning," Nakagawa answered dryly. Next to him was Noro. The other boy was worrying his hands. For some reason he looked like he might cry?

"Captain." Nakagawa pressed the space between his eyes as if fighting off a headache. "I would like to ask you about some…things. Mostly in relation to the…incident from last night."

Seijuro didn't have to ask what he was referring to. He had anticipated something like this happening. Nakagawa was way too assiduous to let something like last night go.

"Noro has also informed me about a separate incident," Nakagawa continued. "One that occurred in the men's locker during the final swim team competition apparently—"

"I'm sorry, captain!" Noro burst. "I had to tell him! I didn't know what else to do! I mean after what happened in that locker room and what you said and everything and the dinner! I…I don't know what to think anymore!"

Oh, no wonder he looked like he was about to cry. Seijuro might have felt a little bad except the delight of knowing he was getting Noro back for interrupting his pool date with Gou was a little too satisfying.

He tried to fight the wide grin forming across his face. He shouldn't be so happy revealing this secret. But then again he had been waiting a long time hadn't he? He didn't have to hide it anymore. Now he could tell the world.

"Boys!" He flung his arms around both of their shoulders. "Do I have a story for you!"

Gou stood in the shadow of her own plane, watching the Samezuka captain walking jovially off with a very confused looking Nakagawa and a close to tears Noro. She wondered what the heck that weird looking threesome were up to, when it struck her that Nakagawa and Noro had been present at separate times when their marriage had been brought up. It was no wonder they were questioning Seijuro now. After hearing such a shocking thing it was no wonder they would want to know what was going on. Although why Noro was crying about it she hadn't the faintest idea.

Would Seijuro tell them the whole truth? Then again why wouldn't he? There was no reason to hide it anymore, was there? None at all. In fact she was even looking forward to him telling them. Then they could be a real married couple in front of them without fear or worry.

A shadow fell across her and the feeling of a presence approaching made her look up. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. She had expected Makoto or Rei or maybe even Haru. Certainly not the person standing before her now.

"Brother."

Rin rubbed the back of his head. His gaze was elsewhere than on her and his shoulders were hunched. "Hey," he said after a moment.

"Hey." She had a pretty fair idea of what he was here for. To talk about the marriage. And likely demand she get a divorce. She had hoped to have the conversation after they landed but Rin was the sort of person who couldn't let things go easily. He'd likely break down the airplane door then allow it to take off without getting things off his chest first.

Beyond him she glanced Nitori hovering in the background. The way his presence was so obvious made Gou believe her brother had asked him to come along rather than the smaller boy just following him. If it were the latter he likely would have been waiting over by Samezuka's plane rather than so close.

Rin shuffled on his feet. "I'd like to talk to you, if you have a moment."

She fought the grimace from appearing on her face. Might as well get it over with. Perhaps telling him now would be better anyway. By the time they landed in Japan he'd hopefully have run out of steam to continue yelling like a madman.

"Alright."

They moved off a bit away from the others for some privacy. She didn't miss the worrying glance Hana sent her way and Gou waved a hand back to indicate she was alright. No longer would she hide behind everyone else. This problem was hers to face alone.

"So," Rin dragged the word out, ending it with a cough, once they were far enough away from the others. "Haru and the others explained the whole situation to me."

"Oh," said Gou. She had expected this. "Good, then you know about the marriage and everything else then?"

She didn't miss the flash of those razor teeth clenching. She waited for the ensuing explosion she was sure to follow, the yelling about why she had done such a thing and the demand she get a divorce as soon as they land. But what she got was something she had not anticipated.

"Yes," he gritted out. Then, "That asshole better not have deflowered you."

Gou almost choked on her own tongue. That! That was the first thing he wanted to know about?!She fanned her face. Out of all the things and that was the utmost thing on his mind! Unbelievable. And he calls me the pervert!

"N—no," she struggled to get the words out. "No, no, not at all."

She dare not mention what her and Seijuro had done last night. Or this morning. If Rin knew he might be temped to haul off and sock Seijuro in the face again.

"Good," he said. "I'd have to kill him if he had."

"Oh, I'm sure you would have." Her guffaw was dry.

Then again, now that she thought about it…if Rin hadn't punched Seijuro last night none of that might have happened. If Rin hadn't punched him, he and Gou might have returned to the house and just gone straight to bed due to the early flight the next morning. Amusingly enough it may have been Rin's own actions that had triggered what had occurred later on that night.

Not that I can ever, ever tell him that. Rin would want to die if he ever heard an inkling of that. Or kill Seijuro. Yes, likely that.

"You…you're not going to get a divorce, are you?"

She took in a breath. Here it was. The ultimate question she knew he was waiting to ask. And the answer she had been waiting to give.

"No." Her gaze did not waver from his when she said the word. "We're not. Not right away at least. We're going to wait and see how it goes."

She waited again for the explosion she was sure to follow. There was no way he was going to accept that without some sort of rebuff. Not in a million years would he agree to such a thing.

But only silence greeted her confirmation. Rin wasn't even looking at her. He was looking down at his shoes, hands in his pockets. "I see."

The only words spoken and they were soft, almost docile.

Gou narrowed her eyes. This wasn't normal. Even the Rin who had not yet left for Australia wouldn't have reacted this complacently. Even that Rin would have protested at such a suggestion as her staying married. So what was going on?

A moment later she thought she had it. "You…you talked to Makoto, didn't you?"

The scowl brought to Rin's face was unmistakable. It was the scowl he wore when confronted about something he was guilty of. "Maybe," he snapped. "What's it to you?"

Gou had to fight off a smirk. Seeing him more like this was a bit of a relief. That overly accommodating Rin had been freaking her out too much. He had always been a bit of a stubborn jackass, even as far back as when they were kids. That was just who her brother was. She was glad to see that again.

"I just…" He looked away again. "I just wanted to think of your happiness first is all."

Gou stared. She was so stunned she wasn't sure how to react. Was this something Makoto had coached him to say? No, it didn't feel that way. The words felt genuine, not practiced or rehearsed. If anything this was something from the heart, like with most anything that Rin did.

"I know Makoto's been there for you this entire time," he continued when she remained silent. "He's been helping you this entire time with what you were going through and I…I didn't. You needed help and I wasn't there. I was too wrapped up in my own nonsense to pay any attention to anything else that was going on, not even what you were going through. I wasn't there at all. Not even that time in the ocean; that jackass had to save you instead." His teeth clenched. His throat worked. "That dumb jackass had to save you and now I can't even hate him like I'd like to." The words were almost choked.

Gou waited with baited breath. Was that a tear in his eye or the reflection of the sun?

"But I guess all that that means is that that idiot Mikoshiba has been there for you too," he said after a moment. "Despite having put you in such a shitty situation. And Makoto's been a much better big brother to you this whole time than I've been. So that's why…that's why I was asking him last night how I could be better big brother too."

Gou's eyes crinkled. "Brother…"

"But before that, I wanted to say sorry. For everything. What I said before, that night at the play, I didn't mean any of it. Even before that. I said some really hurtful, awful things to you and I just…I'm sorry. I've been a really horrible person these past few months and I just—wanted to—" His words came to a staggering halt. He ducked his head, his hair falling forward as if to shield him. There came a loud sniffle and Gou's jaw almost dropped. Rin had always been a bit on the overemotional side and a crier frankly, but she never would have expected for him to cry about this!

"Oh, please, don't do that!" Her laugh was like a halfway sob. "I mean what you said it wasn't that horrible…Um, okay, it was pretty rude honestly, but its fine! I mean think about some of the things I've said to you! Like remember when I told you I hated you because you drank my milk? That was pretty awful! And how I used to tell mom you were pinching me just to get you in trouble? That was pretty rude too! We've both done hurtful things to each other; that's just what happens when you have a sibling. Sometimes we say and do mean things in anger or spite, sometimes we take each other for granted, but then we apologize and we move on! We're family, that's what we do. Nothing could ever break that."

Rin peered at her from between his bangs. His face still looked a bit like a wadded, crumpled up napkin but maybe not quite as soggy as before.

"Besides," added Gou. "I'm sure there will come a time in the future when I'll say something just as mean to you. I can be just as much as a pain in the ass as you can be after all. Once the right opportunity comes up I'm really going to let you have it!"

Rin sniffled. He swiped at his eyes. "You promise?"

Gou smiled the biggest smile she could. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "I promise!"

Rin sniffled once more. Wiping away the last of his tears, he gave her a wobbly smile. "Thanks, Gou." He squeezed her hand back.

"It's not like my own situation wasn't my own making to begin with anyway," she continued with a slight laugh. "I was honestly hoping to fix it without ever having to tell you about it. I didn't want you knowing about what a silly thing I had done my first night here."

"Yeah, well." He grimaced slightly. "I don't blame you for hiding it."

Gou shook her head. "No, that was wrong. I should have told you from the very beginning. Rei was right about that."

The name made him look up. "Rei?"

"Yeah. He told me I should tell you about it right from the very start."

"He did?" asked Rin. Then before she could reply, "I like him a lot. He's a good person, a really good person. If he hadn't– at the competition then I wouldn't have…" He didn't finish that. Couldn't or wouldn't Gou wasn't sure. "I owe him a lot," he said instead.

Gou smiled. No longer did Rin view Rei as his replacement. Rei had become just as equal in Rin's eyes as the others of Iwatobi, if not more so. Rei had enabled that race that had returned Rin back to his former self. No. It had turned him into the person he should have been. The person he was meant to be.

"You better make sure you repay him then!"

Rin smiled back. A full smile this time. "I will." He suddenly brightened. "Maybe I could tutor him. I know that whimsical idiot Mikoshiba has been already but I bet I could do better than him. I'd actually take Rei into the water for one."

Gou let out a light laugh. Well…at least Seijuro had gone from jackass back to whimsical idiot. That was a bit of an improvement she supposed. There was time yet. She was sure they would come to like and appreciate each other. They were family now after all.

Rin's hand was still clutched her own. She squeezed it once again, fighting the gleeful tears that arose when he squeezed back. At long last he had come back to grasp her hand. Just like that day they had come to learn of their father's passing and he had held her hand as they walked together in that funeral procession, an anchor to keep her from drifting.

But there was Seijuro too now, wasn't there? She glanced over where she could see his tall back facing her. He was there as well to grasp onto her hand to keep her from drifting out to sea, wasn't he?

But that was alright. God had granted her two hands after all, right? She could grasp onto both them.

"Speaking of which," Rin spoke suddenly from beside her. "Why did you get married, anyway?"

Gou closed her eyes, another smile creasing her face. That age old question. How many times had she been asked that question, she wondered, and the only answer she had been able to give was she didn't know why she had gotten married?

But now…now she finally knew the answer.

"Because," she said. "I love him."

Yay! *throws confetti* I had forgotten how much I enjoyed writing this fic! But I am glad it's finally finished!

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this fic for how ungodly long it has taken to finish! Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, or followed. All your support is what truly kept me from completely forgetting about this fic and drove me to complete it after so long! Your support really means the world to me. Thank you so much!

On a last note, I will be marking this fic as complete, however I do plan to add a bonus chapter and maybe an epilogue later on. Hopefully that won't take another year to write out! Thank you all again so much!