*There's a sequel to the story that has been published already. You can find it in my profile


"I'm leaving next week"

The announcement of the twelve year old black haired girl under the cherry blossom tree took everyone by surprise.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" questioned Nagisa Hazuki, an eleven year old, looking at her with surprise "You can't just leave!"

"Where are you going, Rosa?" questioned Makoto Tachibana, a brown haired boy.

"England" the girl, Rosalya Tawaraya, replied "More specifically, Brighton. There's a swimming school I'm planning on going to. I'm already enrolled. I didn't tell you guys sooner because of the relay. I didn't want you to worry about anything else but that"

"First Rin and now you" Makoto spoke up in a soft tone, before smiling at his friend "You're really moving up, huh?" Rosalya smiled slightly.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that" she was very happy about attending a swimming school, but it was also a bit sad to leave her friends behind. It wasn't a total goodbye, though, since she would still contact them as much as she could.

"Will we ever see you again?" questioned Nagisa with sad eyes, while Haru stood quietly to the side, listening to their every phrase. He was never a boy of many words .

"I don't know, but I'll definitely make sure to keep in touch with you, guys" replied the girl, trying to make them feel better, and it seemed like it was working, since they smiled brightly "It's not like you will never hear of me again. We are friends, aren't we?"

"Of course" Mako nodded in agreement with her words.


Rosalya smiled a bit upon relieving that memory again. She still remembered the day she left Iwatobi; she even had a picture her mother had taken of the guys and her hugging tightly and crying. And another one of them actually looking at the camera, but crying still.

It was hard to capture a smile that day.

Now, here she was, standing again at an airport, leaving yet another life behind, but she needed this.

She needed this, after her brother passed away; she needed to see her friends again, and have fun just like they used to.

Her younger brother, Luke, had died a year ago, and Rosalya had been struggling for that entire year to cope with him being gone. It was hard, it was very hard. She stopped talking to people for a while, she stopped eating, and she stopped swimming. She recovered from the first two, but the third one was still a work in progress. She hadn't gotten into a pool ever since that day, and she stopped attending Laguna Creek Middle School, the swimming school which was the very reason why she moved to England in the first place.

After some time, she decided that talking with her friends through skype wasn't enough. Makoto Tachibana, Haruka Nanase, Nagisa Hazuki and Rin Matsuoka were her closest friends, and she needed them. That's why she was moving back to Iwatobi.

She hadn't heard anything from Rin for four years now, though, and she was at a loss as to why.

Did she do something?

Did something happen to him?

She had a lot of questions, but no answer to either one of them. She had no idea what had been of Rin, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't worried. She didn't know if she would even find him in Iwatobi, the last time they talked he was in Australia.

"I can't believe you're leaving!" exclaimed her best friend, Joy Lance, shaking her head, and pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Don't worry, Joy!" Rosalya assured with a smile "I'll keep in touch!"

"You better" said the girl sharply, pointing at her with an accusatory finger "Or I'll haunt your dreams" her friend chuckled upon hearing that.

Joy and Rosalya had met during Rosa's first year in Laguna Creek Middle School. As it was a boarding school, they were roommates, and instantly clicked. They shared the same passion and the same dream; both of them wanted to become competitive swimmers.

Rosa still held hope for that dream, but she hadn't touched the water in a year, and she didn't know if she would ever do it again. It didn't feel right doing it if Luke was gone, since he was the reason why she became a swimmer in the first place.

"Are you sure about this, Rosa?" asked her mother, Eileen, doubtful of her daughter's decision "You don't know how much you're staying, do you even have enough clothes?"

"Mom, I'll be fine" replied the girl with a smile "I can always buy more"

"You can still change your mind" added her dad, Akio.

"Even so, I can't turn back" said the girl logically, but still smiling "I already bought the ticket, and the boarding call is starting soon" she added, looking at the gate behind her, that would lead her to a new adventure "I promise I'll be fine" her parents smiled at her. They believed her words and were fully aware that Rosalya could handle herself perfectly well, but saying goodbye to their precious little girl was hard.

"If she says it, she means it" Joy assured, looking at Akio and Eileen. They both knew that she was right; Rosa always kept her promises.

"We know" said the woman with a smile "It's just hard to watch you leave, honey" Rosa smiled in understanding.

"I know" she said with a nod "But I'll talk to you often!" she assured, and her parents nodded.

"You have to board" reminded Joy. Rosa looked at the gate once more, before turning to look at her loved ones.

She hugged Joy first, tightly, and she hugged back with just as much strength.

"Take care, Rosa" she said in her neck "I'll miss you"

"I'll miss you, too"

"And if you see my brother, tell him I said 'hi'" she added, and Rosa nodded. Joy's twin brother, Nathan, was studying in Japan, and attending Samezuka Academy, which was the school with the best swimming team in Iwatobi.

What? Surprised that he's a swimmer too?

Well, they are twins.

"I will" she nodded, and then proceeded to hug her parents, who were crying "I love you both" she said "And I'll be okay, you'll see"

"We love you too, honey" said her mother "Let us know when you arrive there"

"I will" she nodded, wiping some tears on the corner of her eyes with a smile.

"Good luck, kiddo" said her father.

"I love you all" said the girl, looking at the three of them, before disappearing behind the gate.

For the rest of the flight, her thoughts were occupied with seeing the guys again. She had kept in touch with all of them despite the years, but seeing them in person was another thing. When she let them know that she was coming back, they were thrilled, and even offered to pick her up from the airport. Nagisa had let her know that he wouldn't be able to make it, but Mako and Haru were going to be there. And she was very excited to see them again. She wondered how tall they were, and what they looked like after five years. It's true that she knew the look on their faces because of skype calls, but nothing else, and she was curious.

After what felt like forever, the plane finally landed in the familiar Iwatobi Airport.

Once inside the building and with her luggage in hand, she looked through the crowded place, in search of the guys. The building was full, so it was hard to distinguish anyone, but a familiar olive hair caught her attention. She couldn't contain her excitement as she walked closer, and tears immediately welled up her eyes when she finally saw her friends standing there after so long.

"Mako! Haru!" she called for them, receiving a few disapproving glances from people around her due to her loud behaviour, but she didn't care. All she cared about was seeing them again.

"Rosa! It's good to see you" said Mako with a smile, and Rosa immediately hugged him, as some tears fell from her eyes "Are-are you crying?" he stuttered, and she let out a watery laugh.

"It's nothing" she said, wiping the tears away "I'm just so glad to see you" her gaze then stood on Haru, who hadn't said a word ever since she arrived. Rosa couldn't say that she was surprised, he never talked much back when they were kids, and he didn't talk much now, but that didn't stop her from hugging him. Haru didn't say or do anything, but he was actually happy to see his friend, even if he didn't show it.

"How was the flight?" asked Mako, as the three of them made their way out of the airport. The olive-haired offered to carry one of her bags to make things easier for the girl.

"It felt like I was inside for ages" she admitted, with a backpack hanging from her back, and a suitcase on one of her hands "I wanted to land already" he chuckled softly.

"I can understand that" he replied, making her smile "And how are you? Are you okay?" Rosa's expression faltered a bit.

"I'm not 100% alright, but I'm getting there" she replied kindly, looking at Mako "It'll take time, of course, but I'll be fine" the boy nodded in understanding. Rosa was always an optimistic girl and she was always smiling, so her words didn't come as a surprise to him. Every single one of them adored her personality, she always gave them a boost of energy when they needed it, and made sure that nobody was feeling down, which is why they got along with her perfectly well. She was very friendly and made everyone feel comfortable without much effort.

"How are you guys?" she asked, smiling once again "Ready to start school?"

"Yeah" replied Mako "The assembly is in a couple of days" he informed, making her nod. Getting used to education in Japan once again after five years would be hard for her, but she would try her best to do it.

The three of them got a cab, and told the driver to take them to the street where Rosa's aunt, Delaney Clint, lived. The girl was staying with her as long as she wanted to stay, words of Delaney, and she was very grateful for that.

A small smile appeared on the girl's face as she saw the familiar landmarks passing by, and it grew even wider when the car came to a stop in front of the old house. It hadn't changed much in the past few years.

She turned around to face the guys, who were approaching her with her luggage in hand.

"Thanks for picking me up" she said with a smile "I can take it from here" she had already taken up a lot of their time, and they probably had things to do.

"Are you sure?" asked Mako.

"Yeah" replied Rosa with a smile "Thanks again. I'll see you at school" he nodded with a smile, and both, he and Haru, went off.

The girl carried the last of her luggage to the front door, and rang the bell. She waited patiently for her aunt to open up, which could take some minutes because the house was surprisingly big, so she could be anywhere.

After some time, she heard rapid footsteps, and the door opened up, to reveal her aunt, a woman in her mid-thirties with brown hair and brown eyes; her face completely lit up when she saw her niece.

"Rosa!" she exclaimed, and immediately wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug "It's so good to see you! Did you make it here safely?" she added, breaking apart.

"Yeah" replied the girl with a smile "Mako and Haru picked me up from the airport like we agreed"

"They left already?" she questioned, looking over her niece's shoulder, to find that, indeed, the street was empty. She clicked her tongue "That's a shame, I would have liked to see them. It's been a long time"

"I'm sure you'll get more chances" Rosalya stated. Now that she was there, she would hang out with them as much as she could.

"For sure" she nodded with a smile.

Loud barks were then heard from inside the house, and when Delaney moved out of the way, a Golden Retriever came running towards the girl.

"Hi, Toby!" she greeted, crouching down and petting him. The dog swung his tail happily at this gesture "It's good to see you!"

"Well, come in!" indicated Delaney "Let me help you with that!" she grabbed one of her suitcases, and all three of them got inside the house. The girl smiled as she inhaled the sweet fragrance of roses, her aunt's favourite scent. As long as she could remember, her house always smelled of flowers. Rosa loved it.

Her old room was the same as she had left it five years ago. The bed made up, the floor cleared…She had always been a very organized person.

Looking around the room, she saw that some of the trophies she had won in competitions when she was a kid and even a couple medals were still there. She smiled nostalgically.

Her aunt's house was big, and she always insisted for her family to make themselves at home whenever they came over, so everyone had a room of their own, and they could decorate it however they wanted. 'My house is your house' the woman constantly said.

When they made the decision to move to Brighton, the Tawarayas sold their old house, and everything they couldn't take with them they left at Delaney's house. Rosa's room especially was full of her things.

Because she was going to have a roommate at Laguna Creek, she couldn't just sparse her things everywhere, and since she was going to spend so little time in her family house in England, she didn't make a lot of effort to decorate her room there either.

"As you can see, everything is exactly how you left it" commented her aunt, upon seeing her niece scanning her room "I didn't have the courage to throw anything away, not even your trophies" she added, knowing that Rosa didn't swim anymore.

"Thanks" said the girl, giving her aunt a smile "To be honest, I don't want to get rid of them either" they were memories, old memories that she really treasured.

"Did you let your parents know you arrived?" asked Delaney, and Rosa suddenly remembered that she hadn't. With the excitement of seeing the guys again, she had completely forgotten about her parents, and her aunt noticed this in her expression "You better tell them. They must be wondering about you"

"I will"

"Well then, I leave you to it" announced her aunt "I'm gonna cook dinner. You must be hungry"

"A little bit, yeah" said the girl "Thanks" her aunt smiled and went off, leaving her alone in her room.

She hadn't realized how tired the flight made her until her legs instinctively fell on the bed, and it was only then that she could finally begin processing what happened that day.

She had moved from England back to Japan, she wasn't sure for how long she was staying, but she wasn't worried. She had returned to the place where she lived most of her childhood, despite being born in the United States. She created lots of memories in Iwatobi. She was glad she had the opportunity to return, she was sure that it would help her a lot.

She hoped it would, at least.


So it's finally here, some of the people reading this might already know I was working on a new fanfic because of previous stories, and here you have it! This story has been in my drafts for about...Three years now, I think. Woah. When Free! Dive To The Future came out last year along with those three movies in 2017, I got the inspiration I needed to work on it again. This is not the first draft, it's the second and final which I've been working on for the past two months before finally deciding it was ready to be published.

So this first chapter is just an introduction to Rosalya and her character, the second chapter is where the action begins. I'm proud of how this story turned out, and I hope you guys enjoy it as well!

See you next time!

Update: December 18th, 2020

I'm republishing some of the season 1 chapters with slight modifications in descriptions and stuff, nothing major, there's not changes in the story itself, I've just been revising some of these chapters in preparation for season 2 :) (no promises that it'll get published soon though!)