At the end of practice, Leo stares at her paddle, which has drifted to the bottom of the pool, from the edge. If she jumps back in to retrieve it, then she will be the last person in the pool and therefore awarded the annoyance of collecting everyone's kick-boards. If she doesn't retrieve it, then she will spend the next three weeks in Admetos training with only one paddle.

She has to get it, wether she likes it or not.

But still, she could wait around until Aquarius has already picked up the kick-boards and then retrieve it. Sounds like a plan.

"Leo has boards!" Taurus announces and a defeated frown drops onto Leo's face.

"No Aquarius was last out the pool!" She counters, as if all her equipment is stuffed neatly in her mesh bag.

Taurus walks up next to her, a large grin scrawled on his face. He is still dripping with water and his brown hair sticks to his forehead.

"Sure, but I don't believe that is Aquarius's paddle at the bottom of the pool," he says.

"Well, it's not mine," Leo lies.

"It's got 'property of Leo' written across it in permanent marker," Taurus chuckles.

"Damn it," Leo mutters under her breath. She has been caught.

"So. . .are you gonna go get it?" Taurus asks.

"Yeah. . ." Leo stalls.

Taurus has become bored. And when he's bored, he has a tendency to be mischievous, which only enhances when Leo is involved. So resultantly, he shoves Leo and she uncontrollably tips towards the water. However, she doesn't go down easy, so she grabs Taurus's arm and drags him in with her.

Taurus could have stayed on the edge. But he didn't.

The two friends playfully wrestle each other. Leo tries to dunk him under water but Taurus just pulls her effortlessly onto his shoulders.

Virgo and Aries watch the whole ordeal from the just outside the girl's changing room entrance.

"He might as well put a ring on her finger. It's like watching a rom-com, except it's not funny and it's not romantic," Virgo exclaims.

"I've never seen two more oblivious people in my life," Aries says sourly as she wrings our her long pink hair.

Aries and Virgo are known for always being encapsulated in their own gossipy conversations. They are two peas in a pod—before practice, after practice, during practice. There is always so much to talk about and none of the others quite know what goes on in those conversations.

"He's a wimp. If the girl I like was that obviously into me, I'd tell her," Sagittarius interrupts. Aries rolls her eyes at him and Virgo raises an eyebrow.

"So you're admitting to liking a girl?" she asks.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Sagittarius leans against the changing room wall, raising an eyebrow that mirrors Virgo's, only his has a fresh cut through it.

"I take back my previous statement," Aries mutters under her breath and no one hears her. "Hey, Pastel Boy! You got any food on you?!" she calls for Pisces's attention, suddenly disinterested in the conversation.

Aries walks away, pestering the blonde boy she has always called Pastel Boy since before anyone can remember, about a granola bar she spotted in his bag earlier.

"Well. . ." Virgo drawls. "I didn't realize you were the type."

"To like girls?" Sagittarius chuckles, almost like there is something bitter stuck on his tongue.

"Of course you like girls. I mean, like like them," she corrected herself, fiddling slightly with the bungee straps of her goggles.

"I do whatever I damn well please," he elaborates.

"How could I forget? But if you tell me who it is, I might be able to help you out. You know, I do make a decent Cupid every once in a while," Virgo smiles, small dimples arising on her cheeks. Sagittarius sighs.

"No chance, Vir. Besides, I think she's got her head in another place," he explains. A meager frown tugs on Virgo's lips. She supposes that she will just have to settle for Leo and Taurus as her next charity project, although she would much rather help Sagittarius.

"Well, that sucks for you," she shrugs before sashaying into the changing room.

"Yeah. . ." Sag whispers as he pushes himself off the wall and heads in the opposite direction.

"Leo isn't really in love with Taurus, they're just going through a phase. Just like Leo went through a phase with that Cetus guy at school," Aquarius says to Sagittarius as they head towards the boys changing rooms.

"It's a phase called first love, ever heard of it, Aqua?" Sag replies. He has gotten a little bitter since his conversation with Virgo and he doesn't recognize the effect his words have. Not that anyone but Cancer would.

Aquarius frowns slightly.

The Zodiacs enjoy discussing Leo and Taurus, with the two being none the wiser. It's amusing. There is even a round of bets being played between Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Sagittarius, Pisces, Virgo and Libra.

"Come on dude, I know you haven't finished packing yet. You have to hurry the fuck up," Cancer places a hand on Aquarius's back, turning him in the direction of the changing room door, rather than where Leo and Taurus are still wrestling over a paddle in the pool.

"Yeah, Okay whatever," Aquarius mutters as he, Cancer and Sagittarius walk inside the changing room.

Aries is still nagging Pisces for his granola bar. There is a lot of persistence in that girl. Perhaps that is why she is so good at the 200 fly.

"For the last time, Aries, I'm hungry so I'm going to eat the granola bar that I bought," Pisces says as he picks up the lacrosse ball Cancer was using earlier so he can rid himself of the tightness in his shoulder.

"But you know I have the longest walk home and I'm going to get really hungry," Aries whines. Pisces just shakes his head.

"That's your own problem," he simply shrugs. Aries certainly does not like this. She hates being denied anything. Pisces almost shits his pants looking at the face she pulls.

"Fine, we'll split it then," she compromised. Pisces sandwiches the lacrosse ball between his shoulder blade and the office wall to begin the painful process of rolling out his rhombus.

"No, Aries, I'm eating it."

"You're not getting anywhere with that. Here, I'll grab a roller stick and do it for you," Aries nods at Pisces's shoulder then jogs into the office for a moment. The blonde boy sighs. He knows he doesn't have a say in the matter.

Aries returns with a roller stick and Pisces lets the lacrosse ball drop to the floor.

"Bend over," Aries exclaims. She knows how forward it sounds, but it doesn't occur to Pisces. He knows the drill.

Pisces does as she instructed, pulling on his left arm so all the muscles on that side of his upper back contract. Aries gets to work harshly grinding the roller stick over his shoulder muscles. She finds his rhomboid and rolls as hard as she can. She knows this hurts under normal circumstances, but when she is annoyed, she inflicts something more like agony.

"Not so hard," Pisces groans. Aries does not let up any pressure, in fact, she tries to press harder. "Ugh, fine, we can split the granola bar!"

"Thanks, Pastel Boy," she grins and stops assaulting Pisces's rhomboid. Excitedly, she jogs into the boy's changing rooms to find the granola bar. The blonde boy shakes his head as an eruption of protests sound from inside the changing room: Libra, Sagittarius, Cancer and Aquarius complaining as Aries marches her way to his bag.

"Oh shut up, I've seen dicks before," he hears her say just before she appears again, grinning as she holds out the granola bar.

Aries rips open the package, splits it not-so-in-half, and gives Pisces the smaller piece. All he can do is shake his head at her for the millionth time and watch as she digs into her snack.

Meanwhile, in the office Scorpio and Capricorn are talking. Scorpio has an ice pack strapped to her shoulder while Capricorn leans on coach Ophiuchus's desk, sipping a protein shake.

"Have you seen the room assignments yet?" Scorpio asks, watching as Capricorn ever so slightly chews on her metal straw. Capri shakes her head gently.

"No, but. . ." She leans forward to take a peak out the window, to see where coach Ophiuchus is stacking up some weights for his daily workout at the other end of the pool deck. "Coach Ophiuchus won't notice if we take a peak on his laptop."

Scorpio bites her lip and grins as she pulls her black hair behind her ear.

Capricorn taps at the laptop's keyboard until the screen lights up, showing a menu page where a password has to be entered. She already knows what it is and types it in. Scorpio crans her neck to see what the redhead is doing.

Capricorn brings up a document with all the details of their upcoming trip to Admetos. She scrolls through the itinerary, passport details and meet entries until she finds the room assignments.

"Ah! Here, okay, so room 1 is Libra and Pisces, room 2 is Leo and Gemini, room 3 is Aquarius and Cancer, room 4 is Aries and Virgo, room 5 is Taurus and Sagittarius and lastly, room 6 is us!" Capri exclaims and Scorpio smiles.

"I hope you're planning on bringing a shit ton of snacks," Scorpio says.

"They take up half my suitcase," Capricorn responds. "But you already knew that."

Gemini stands by the westward pathway tapping her foot impatiently. Everyone is finishing up. Aquarius and Cancer are the first ones out of the changing rooms, chatting as they plug earbuds in.

Virgo and Aries walk out of the girls changing room having another of their top secret conversations about god knows what, just as Scorpio and Capricorn leave the office. Taurus decided to help Leo put away all the kick boards and they are pretty much finished now. Even Sagittarius emerges from the changing room with headphones securely on his head.

And Libra is still taking his damn time.

"Zodiacs! Remember, be at the airport by 12 o'clock latest!" Coach Ophiuchus yells across the pool, which re-lights the excitement in everyone for a moment.

Gemini almost doesn't mind waiting a few extra seconds for Libra to hurry his ass up.

Aquarius walks passed her, head down as he listens to music. Him and Cancer live on opposite sides of Celestial's capital. Cancer walks out onto the eastward pathway while chatting to Virgo, who has parted with Aries.

Sagittarius walks passed Gemini and so does Scorpio and Pisces, while Capricorn leaves via the eastward pathway. Eventually the only ones on pool deck are Gemini, Leo, Taurus and. . .Libra.

Gem and Libra always walk home together, because they are neighbors and have been since they were five years old. Libra is the boy next door. She can see through his bedroom window from hers, if he opens the blinds, that is.

"Libra, I swear!" Gemini starts yelling. Libra steps out of the changing room, shaking the last droplets of water out of his tight curls.

"Yes, Gem, I'm coming. Calm down," he says as he approaches her, a half smile on his face.

"Took you long enough," she grumbles as they head off on the suspended pathway. Below them, Celestial's capital is just about waking up. The first commuters are packing up the roads and lower walkways. There is a slight chill rolling in the wind this morning, and Gemini pulls her hood over her head.

"So, have you packed yet?" Gem asks, although she doesn't need to.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Libra scratches the back of his neck.

"You've put three pairs of underwear in a suitcase," Gem answers for him.

"You were watching me last night? Stalker," Libra accuses, only teasing, but he is so good at acting.

"No—I wasn't. Your blinds were open and from my closet I can see. . .it wasn't intensional—"

"I'm just pulling your leg Gem," Libra chuckles and Gemini scowls.

"Dick," she mutters and playfully punches his arm.

A small silence settles over them, but it is not uncomfortable. Not until there is something on the tip of Gemini's tongue but she cannot quite bring herself to say it. Libra notices and catches her eyes, egging her to speak up. She never normally has trouble voicing anything.

"How is your mom, you know, with all this?" She asks.

"She doesn't like it. She doesn't want me to go," Libra replies with melancholy. He understands why she was so hesitant.

"It's only three weeks," Gemini swallows. "She can't keep you here for forever."

"But she will."