A/N: Thanks to FanofbellaandEdward for being my much loved beta!

Epilogue

One Year Later

September was still suffocating in the way it heated everything from the air breathed to the bleached planks that made up the decking of the pier. The sea was warm enough to paddle in but Rin was more interested in sprawling out on the deck with his towel as a buffer between his back and the splinters and soaking up some rays. It had been a tiring last few months due to all the studying he had to do and he was glad that he had the summer to do absolutely nothing but worry about not getting burned whilst sleeping out in the sun.

It happened far too often for his liking.

The one thing Rin could definitely say about the last year was that no one ever truly warned you about just how exhausting university life was. He was just thankful he hadn't opted to go out of town like Makoto had. He preferred staying as local as possible to help his mum out and make sure his sister was doing okay.

Then there was Haru.

Despite the way time had lapsed since then, Rin could still remember that day so clearly; he had taken Haru home, pinching himself the entire time, and had to surrender his socks to the smaller man as he had no shoes and the hot pavements weren't going to be kind to his fresh little feet. They'd walked along mostly in silence just soaking up the weight of the matter at hand. Rin had been a mixture of emotions; he was elated that Haru was back, anxious about what his mum would really think when face-to-face with his love-interest, bracing himself for Gou's gushing and most of all, how Haru would handle it all.

He had been practically humming as he led a stiff-legged Haru to his front door, slipped his key in the lock and nudged him inside. They'd been at the beach far longer than expected, so everyone was up and organising lunch when they had entered the house. Gou's face and exploded into a smile but Rin gave her a warning look to calm down before she gave Haru a heart attack. His mum was more understanding; she shook Haru's hand, smiled in that knowing way and then went about setting another place at the kitchen table.

That evening she had come back from the shops with a small bathroom caddie and had taken Haru to one side and explained what it was. It had a toothbrush in it, a flannel, a small bottle of mouthwash and a new hairbrush. Rin had been shocked when Haru had come into his room later that evening carrying the caddie. His face had been a mixture of emotions as he fiddled with the drawstrings. He'd ended up breaking down against Rin's chest and sobbing for a few minutes at having been so readily welcomed into the family. Rin had looked down at him, cupping his smooth face in his hands and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I told you she'd love you," he'd said before wiping the spot of toothpaste from the corner of Haru's mouth.

It had been strange, after that day, to essentially 'move' Haru into his house considering that Haru didn't actually have any stuff to bring in with him. Surprisingly enough, his mum didn't seem to mind the idea. As long as Haru was 'cleaner than you' she was completely on board. The next day Gou had woken them up and tugged the covers off their heads -thankfully they had been wearing clothes for a change -and demanded that they got dressed. They needed to go on a shopping trip and she wanted to help.

There had been no argument -mainly because Haru couldn't wear Rin's clothes forever.

Haru had his own style, Rin noticed; it was plain, clean cut yet at the same time had a bit of an edge. It was alternative enough to not be 'hipster' or 'punk' but not bargain basement dregs either. As long as he was comfortable, Rin didn't mind. The hard part had been convincing Haru that, yes, he did in fact need to learn to buy and wear shoes.

Flippers didn't count.

As the sun baked Rin's skin, he absently thought that he needed another douse of sun-cream to keep from burning brighter than his hair. A light breeze cooled the sweat bubbling on his chest. The coolness from the sea was almost too enticing; maybe going for a swim wouldn't be so bad. Readjusting the earbuds in his ear, he scrolled through his iPod before selecting a song and letting it drown out the rest of the world for a moment.

Something clacked on the planks beside him.

Frowning he turned to the sound of the noise; a wet pebble rested further up from his head, glossy in the sunlight. Turning his gaze back to the sea he sat up and stretched his arms. He was over-come by a dizziness that only sleeping in the sun could bring on. He groaned and rubbed his temples, forcing his sunglasses up in his hair.

"Rin!" Haru's voice called out from the waves. "Throw it back!"

Shaking his head, Rin scooted back and picked the pebble up. This was a silly game they had; Haru would dive into the sea and feel 'at home' again for hours on end. He'd pester Rin to skip pebbles out so he could catch them. It had to be said, he was a good catch. He was even getting better at skimming them back so that Rin could catch them. It was like the strangest game of catch ever.

Smoothing his thumb over the pebble Rin lifted his arm back and called, "Here it comes!" before flicking his wrist and watching the stone skip out across the green and gold waves.

To no surprise, Haru caught it in his palm having lifted himself out of the water and snatched it from the air.

Rin grinned as he watched from the pier. Getting Haru a job had been difficult but, luckily, Makoto had been there to help save the day. On weekends he had been helping teach young children to swim to earn some extra money. However, now that he was away at University most of the year it made the job impossible for him. They needed someone more full time anyway. That's when Haru had come to mind; he practically lived and breathed water, was one of the strongest swimmers out there now that his health had improved, and he had nothing else to do all day.

"Besides," Makoto had reasoned when Rin had initially been unsure on the idea. "He won't have anything to do all day when your mum is at work and you and Gou are off studying all day."

Rin had still been unsure on the whole idea. Their way of life was still new to Haru. What if he wasn't able to cope with it all?

Makoto, as ever, had been the voice of reason. "Rin, relax! This is the perfect first timer job for him. We can help him train and study. He'll get a certificate once he does a few courses and then boom! Job guaranteed. I'll even put a good word in for him. The coach respects my opinion."

It had been decided.

Haru had been a little tougher to convince, though.

"Why do I need a job?" he'd asked when they'd talked to him about it later that night. They'd been sitting out on the porch and chatting before finally broaching the subject. Rin could remember how a little stray cat had come up and sniffed at Haru before curling around his ankles. Maybe, on a feline level, he still smelled of fish.

"So you can help pay for food and afford to go out places," Makoto had said, trying to explain to Haru just how much money was a 'must have' on land.

"I don't eat that much," he'd argued. He had twisted his mouth into a frown. "Rin?" he'd finally said, asking for confirmation.

"Well wouldn't you like to maybe go on holidays? Travel more? Go out in the evenings."

"... Yes."

"Then you'll need money. I can't afford everything now that I'll be going to Uni."

After that, it had taken about a week and half by the time Haru was completely convinced to give the idea a go. At least he would study and take the courses given to him. He didn't think that he would pass, but Rin and Makoto were determined to make him succeed. It was literally the perfect job for him and opportunities like that were hard to come by so late in the year.

Studying with Haru was literally just a number of naming exercises. He knew a lot of what to do, he just needed to associate the correct terminology to the tasks at hand as well as the moves and positions he was supposed to take whilst rescuing someone. The CPR experience was enough to make both men and Gou blush so hard when Haru still got confused about why he needed to kiss so many people.

The memories of those sometimes long nights never failed to make Rin grin like an idiot.

Holding his hand up to shield his face from the sun he caught sight of Haru's stark white face bobbing about the waves and called out for him to come back. "COME ON!" he yelled out, "WE NEED TO GET GOING! MAKOTO AND SOUSUKE WILL BE WAITING FOR US!"

"FIVE MORE MINUTES!" Haru called back.

Rin rolled his eyes and leaned back on his hands. It was always 'five more minutes' with this man. He could never get enough of the sea, which Rin wouldn't usually begrudge if Haru hadn't insisted they do the night-time New Year dip the previous winter. He had been so cold he was sure his genitals had crawled back up inside his body just to get some idea of warmth. Glancing down at his watch he bit down on his lip. They would be cutting it close -again. He was sure that the two of them now had a reputation for being ten minutes late.

As he watched Haru glide and dive about the waves he did feel a bead of guilt niggling at the back of his mind. Haru deserved to come to the beach as much as he liked. He had, after all, been banished. Rin found himself stroking the scars in the dead of night as Haru slept on peacefully. A part of him wanted to know exactly what Haru had experienced and another part of him didn't want the image burned into his brain forever. Haru was safe now and that was all that mattered.

His watch bleeped for 1PM.

Grabbing his towel from under him, Rin got to his feet and rubbed his legs dry. Turning to look out across the waves he yelled, "COME ON OUT, FISH BOY, OR NO MACKEREL FOR YOU!"

The deadpan look he got made him snort. If there was one sure way to get Haru to do something, you just needed to threaten his love of that damned fish and he was faster than the Road-Runner with a rocket up its backside. Rin was just tugging on a green t-shirt when two pale hands, shiny with sea water, curled around the edge of the pier. Haru glared up at him petulantly, before hauling himself up onto his own towel. He sat there, cross-legged, and dried himself off. Rin used his own towel to ruffle the dark blue hair, laughing when Haru made a noise of protest.

"There all clean and dry," Rin smirked as he packed their things into his rucksack and hauled it over his shoulder.

Haru stuck his tongue out before pulling on a plain t-shirt and hurrying to catch up, his feet clapping noisily in his newest pair of vans. He still wasn't entirely used to them but vans being what they were, they were the easiest type of shoe that he could manage.

Once they'd mounted the concrete steps they walked about half a mile before reaching the car park, which was nothing more than a fenced off area over-looking the bay of moored boats and the pier. The floor was covered in white, chalky gravel that stained Rin's tyres with white dust. It meant he had to get his truck washed more regularly than just once a month otherwise all the chalk chips would wedge inside the wheels. Haru put their towels and Rin's rucksack into the backseat before climbing into the passenger side. They buckled up and were on the road in seconds flat.

Winding down the windows, Rin handed a spare pair of sunglasses over to Haru, pulled the sunshades down and steered into town where they were meeting Sousuke and Makoto for an early dinner and then a movie. It was weird, this whole double-dating thing, but Rin had to admit the gooey, romantic side of him was in Heaven. He had never pegged Sousuke to be one for so many dates, but the older man had explained to him, one evening, how Makoto had a lot to cope with, helping to take care of his younger siblings, helping his family where he could as well as working and studying. Besides, on top of all that, he also went to Sousuke's therapy sessions with him. The dark-haired man figured it was the least he could do, treating Makoto to some intimate one-on-one time away from all the havoc of his daily life.

Now the dating was a regular thing and Rin had to admit, when he and Haru tagged along, it was lovely and calming. The better evenings, however, were when he took Haru out on a date on their own, especially to the new fish restaurant that opened up on the North side of town. They'd gotten all dressed up and Rin had made a reservation. It was all very high-class.

It had been the anniversary of the day they'd met.

When they stopped at a traffic light, Rin glanced over at Haru just in time to see him fiddle with a black chord tied around his neck. It was a small token that Rin had bought him the first week he'd been back.

It was a slender Hei Matau more commonly known as a Jade hook.

He hadn't had to explain to Haru the important of the stone. As soon as those dark blue orbs had stared up at him, he knew that Haru knew.

In one simply token Rin had expression everything he could about the two of them; love, the capturing of his heart, continued wishing for good health and, if this was a dream and Haru turned into a merman at a drop of salt water, he would forever have safe passage across the sea and find his way home to Rin.

Since that day he'd never taken it off.

The lights turned green and Rin drove the car forward, being careful not to get too excited and just flooring it through the endless granny drivers that came out in daylight hours. Haru fiddled with the radio until a soft song came on and filled the car. Rin let him do it, he was more content to glance sideways and watch Haru cock his arm on the windowsill of the car, fingers pressed to his lips and turning ever so slightly to watch the sea front melt away from behind his amber sunglasses as the sun caught on his skin.

Rin smiled to himself and refocused his attention on driving. Life was scary and you didn't exactly know what it was going to churn up and drop into your lap. It was a roller coaster ride and sure, even now that Haru was human, it wasn't perfect. Rin had his tantrums over silly little things, especially with no sleep, and Haru got offended sometimes and would silent treatment the redhead into the ground for days on end.

However, the happy days outweighed the bad by miles, and that was all that mattered to him. Besides, Haru was human now, what more did he really need when he had the love of his life to wake up to every morning?

God, he really was an idiot in love. He had fallen for Haru hook, line and sinker. And he'd never been happier.

~ Fin~

A/N: Did you like how I ended it? T'was Punny, no? :P I hope you guys have loved this story as well as the ending. I love all of you reviewers whether you be the gushiest of gushers, or the classic "UPDATE MORE"'s I have loved all the support to spur me to finish this. Please R&R, let me know what you think, and please, have a wonderful rest-of-summer!

All my love,

Belle xox