Open Waters

Epilogue

Two Weeks Later

The water is alive. As soon as you dive in, it will bare it's fangs and attack. But there's nothing to fear. Don't resist the water. Thrust you fingers into the surface and carve an opening. Then you slide your body through that opening. Moving your arms, your head, your chest... 

With one last kick, Hana brought herself to the wall of the pool, slamming her hand against it. She breathed in heavily, ripping off her newly-bought swim cap and goggles as she recovered her breath.

In the past few weeks, she'd extended her swim from just fifty metres to one hundred. It was more tiring than before but she stuck at it, training after school every day. Even if they no longer had any hopes of reaching nationals, the swim team still practiced their swimming so they wouldn't go out of shape for next year. Hana had been joining in every day, even on days like today when the boys just decided to have a break, which had only happened once so far. During that time, she'd been taught, mostly by Haru, how to properly turn and made further amendments to her technique. And each day, she could feel herself getting used to the water, and each swim became a little easier and she became a little faster.

A hand was offered down to her. Hana glanced up, and smiled as she saw Haru waiting for her. "Nice swim, Hana."

"Thanks, Haru." Hana grabbed his outstretched hand as he assisted her from the pool, then handed her her towel. She smiled and wrapped it around her body to protect herself from the slight wind that was blowing, but didn't completely dry off. She knew she'd be diving back in soon.

In the two weeks since they'd kissed, exploring what it meant to be in a relationship had been, interesting, to say the least. Haru was like a fish out of water, and Hana's only experience with relationships came from what she'd seen in movies and read in books. It was uncharted waters, and they were often teased by Makoto, Rin, Rei, Nagisa and Gou, but Hana didn't mind.

She didn't mind what others thought; she just wanted to be with Haru.

"You've improved since you first started," Haru noted as they stood by the edge of the pool, little distance between them.

Hana smiled. Coming from Haru, that was high praise. "Thanks."

They were silent for a moment. Hana bit her lip. Do I tell him now? It's something I've been mulling over for a while... now or later?

Now. I'll tell him now.

Hana cleared her throat. "You know..." she began in a quiet voice. "I'm thinking of joining the swim club next year... as an actual swimmer."

Whatever she'd been about to say next, Haru hadn't expected her to say that. "Hana?" he murmured.

She chuckled, running a hand through her wet hair,"Yeah. Who'd have thought, right? But... I'm really enjoying it. So I figured... maybe I should just, go ahead and join. Train for competitions. I'll be with you guys, it'll be fun."

"Hana..." It was almost as though Haru was was unable to comprehend what he was hearing.

"Oh, come on, stop it." Hana rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully, but ended up just resting her head on his bare shoulder. "Do you want to come down to my place later?" she murmured. It sounded out of the blue, but she'd been planning on asking him all day. "Mum and Dad are out tonight, we'll have the place to ourselves."

"Of course." He squeezed her hand. "You want to get back in the water?"

Her eyes lit up. It was strange to think that when she first arrived at Iwatobi, she'd been absolutely terrified of the water. But now, she smiled and was excited when the idea of swimming was put forth, and she loved getting in the water. "Oh, yes."

Hana threw her towel back and, with a smile sent Haru's way, they both put on their goggles and dived into the water.

*          *          *

When she got home, the first thing Hana did was get in and have a quick shower. There were shower facilities by the pool, but Hana still preferred her own shower. Her parents were out, having planned a night out with just the two of them. Mae had told her daughter that she could invite anyone over; she'd given Hana a pointed look that made her flush. Her parents had met Haru not long ago, and Hana was relieved that they had taken a quick liking to him.

After she finished in the shower, smelling like her favourite floral-scented soap, Hana dried her hair as fast as she could and tied it back in a ponytail and ran to her room. After considering what she would wear, she eventually decided on a pair of jeans and a light, red blouse. After checking her appearance and slipping his bracelet onto her wrist, Hana grabbed a notebook from her room and placed it in the back pocket of her jeans, and headed downstairs. When she reached the kitchen, she grabbed the ingredients she needed to cook with and started her prep.

As she prepped and cooked, Hana's thoughts wandered back to the swim team, and how she'd made the decision to start swimming with them. She wondered how they'd take it. They'd probably be enthusiastic and excited to have them on board with them. Ever since the regional tournament, Hana felt as though, by sharing her history with them, they'd all become closer. She didn't tell just anyone her history, and Makoto and Haru knew just how close she was to Rei and Nagisa, and how she at least trusted and got along well with Rin to tell them all, especially considering she and Rin had only just started getting along.

Of course, they didn't just spend all day at school or in the pool. They saw Rin a fair few times after school had finished, and Hana really enjoyed hanging out with him. It was as though Rin was a completely different person now, a person Hana loved to hang out with, just like Makoto, Nagisa and Rei. He fit back in with the others easily.

The minutes ticked by, and Hana constantly glance up at the clock, wondering when Haru was going to arrive. She had chosen a relatively quick dinner to cook, it only took about half an hour, and hoped it wouldn't drive too much before or too late so it went cold.

Fortunately, the doorbell rang when everything was just about ready. Hana smiled, smoothing over her top and jeans before she ran up to the door and opened it, revealing Haru standing there, dressed casually but looking nice in jeans and a white shirt.

"Hi, Hana," he greeted.

"Hey, Haru." Hana smiled and stepped aside. "Come in. I've just about finished cooking."

He stepped inside, and they walked the rest of the way to the kitchen together. Haru knew what she was cooking before they reached the kitchen, no fight from the heavy smell in the air. "Mackerel?"

Hana grinned. "Thought you might like it."

"I didn't know you cooked."

"I don't, not really. But Mum's been teaching me how to cook... I insisted on learning how to mackerel and fish first. And chocolate cake."

"You're not going to get over your love for chocolate, are you?"

"Nope, and neither am I going to get over you." Hana stood on tiptoe and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

When she got back, she realised the food was ready. With a little help from Haru, she plated up the food. That would be dinner. If they wanted it, she had a chocolate cake cooked by Mae in the pantry.

Before they sat down at the table, Hana glanced up at Haru and said, "Want to eat in the lounge, put a movie on?"

He nodded. "Sure."

They walked across the hall into the lounge room. Hana placed her plate down on the couch and wandered over to the DVD drawer, then paused. "Do you want to choose?" she asked, looking back at Haru. "I chose last time for my birthday."

"No. You choose," he insisted with the usual soft smile he reserved for her.

"Okay. I'll choose." Hana hummed as she ran her fingers over the numerous titles she had in her drawer. In the end, she selected another Studio Ghibli film, Howl's Moving Castle, placed it in the DVD player and hopped back on the couch, sitting as close to Haru as she could while her plate was on her lap.

They ate in silence, just enjoying the company of the other and eating. Hana was surprised euthanasia how well her cooking had turned out

"I- I've been working on a little something." Hana felt around her back pocket, her fingers grasping the small notebook she'd placed in there before. With a small, embarrassed smile, Hana produced the notebook and handed it out to Haru. "Read it," she said, with a small blush.

Hana felt a little self-conscious as Haru took the notebook. For in it were things Hana had written about him; thoughts and feelings she'd turned into words and linked together on paper. Ever since her teacher's recommendation to write and keep practicing, Hana had taken that advice, but only wrote about what she wanted to.

And the thing she tended to write about most was Haru, and the way she loved spending time with him. By the time he finished reading, Hana had progressed from a light blush to a furious fiery red, and Haru's ocean blue eyes were filled with shock and surprise, but he looked touched at the same time.

"Hana..." Haru was speechless.

Hana felt as though her cheeks and her neck were flushed and coloured beet red. "He wants me to practice writing," she murmured. "But I didn't do this just for practice. I did it for you."

Haru smiled. "Thank you, Hana."

"You're welcome, Haru."

Hana smiled, and reached down and slipped her fingers through his. She placed her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him as much as she could. She felt Haru squeeze her hand a little, and her smile became wider as they watched the movie continue.

And in that moment, with Haru... for Hana, it felt like all the waters were open to her... to the both of them.

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so, that's the end of open waters... but is it the end of haru and hana? read the author's note next chapter to find out...