AN: Ingo belongs to Helen Dunmore. I borrow her awesomeness. The Crossing of Ingo, starting page 179, with Sapphire's encounter with the Nanuq. Oh yeah! And in my story Sapphire's father died in the flood in the Tide Knot. Yeah that's probably something to make you all think 'whaaaaaaaa?' yeah. I know. Kinda strange and AU, but... you see I kinda forgot that her dad was still alive while they made the crossing. So I'm not gonna rewrite everything. We'll just say that's when he died. Sorry guys. Just play along please.

"What is it, Faro?"

"Nanuq," he relies.

It is a polar bear, swimming on the surface, its yellowish coat distinct against the rich blue-black water. It's doing breast-stroke so powerfully that in a few minutes it will catch up with us. I stare at it, hypnotized. It head dips below the water with its next stroke, and it sees us down below.

"Dive!" says Faro. "Dive, Sapphire!" But a shelf of ice has glided beneath us. It juts out underwater from a passing berg. We can't dive out of the bear's reach. Not in time. The bear plunges, diving for us. There's nowhere to go. Faro throws his arm around me as we face the bear. Its muzzle is heading straight for us. I see its eyes, its mouth.

"Know that we are Mer, Nanuq." Says Faro. He speaks full Mer, which every creature in Ingo understands. "If you smell human blood, know that you cannot spill a drop of it without spilling Mer blood too. Our people have never harmed your people."

The vast shaggy belly of the polar bear glides overhead so close I could touch it. With unnerving speed and grace, the bear turns in a tight circle until it faces us again, front paws open wide, although the bear's claws remained sheathed. They close around me, squishing me but only uncomfortably, holding me in a tight cage of bear flesh. The next second, Nanuq and I are shooting up to the surface.

We come up in an explosion of foam into a whiteness that almost blinds me. The bear tosses me onto an iceberg, climbing over me. I can smell its breath. The fur is a dirty, sodden cream. In a moment it will unsheathe its claws and kill me. Perhaps that's better than dealing with the agony in my chest of being torn through the surface so suddenly. I hear Faro's voice over my gasping, "NO! Don't hurt her! She is one of us!"

Nanuq will kill me, and Faro will see my blood in the water and rush forward to attack the bear, and then Faro will be killed too. Desperately, I reach out for him in my thoughts trying to prevent him.

Go north, Faro! Quickly! At least one of us will escape.

But Faro is rising to the surface. His voice cracks as he cries out, "Nanuq! Hear me! Hear that she is of Mer blood!"

I move my head a little in the direction of Faro's voice. I can just see his face. His lips are drawn back, his teeth bared. He is getting ready to fight the bear. He mustn't, she'll kill us both! I'm about to reach into Faro's thoughts to tell him to run, when I see the bear's claws extend, one massive paw raised above my head.

This is the end. I'm glad I've come with Faro. As long as he is okay, I will be okay. But right before the bear's claws sink into my neck and heart, something jerks the bear sideways, throwing off her swing. It still cuts deep into my side, wrist and thigh, but at least I wasn't dead.

Whatever set off the bear had her growling, snarling as she turned back to me with dark hungry eyes. Again the bear jerks backward, and with an angry cry, she slides back into the water to deal with Faro, who had been trying to protect me.

All I can think about though is the searing pain in my side. I try to take my mind off everything by gazing up at the stars. They're so beautiful and bright… Millions of diamonds scattered on indigo velvet…

Looking over, I catch a glimpse of what I shouldn't have seen. The water diluted with blood. Faro. Faro! "FARO!" I meant to yell, but it came out as a whisper. I tried again, barely a cry. I drag myself over to the water's edge, leaving a long smear of red behind me. Oh please let Faro be okay…

It seemed like hours but I'm sure it was at most a few minutes before the water began to ripple. I nearly jump in the air when a figure bursts through the surface. I relax a bit, seeing Faro's familiar dark eyes as they adjusted to the Air. He has a long scratch along his chest, but it doesn't look too bad.

"Faro!"

His head jerks towards me, and soon he was swimming faster than I'd ever seen him over to my iceberg. He lays a hand on my cheek, scanning my body for injuries. His face pales when he sees the red smeared behind me, blotting my shirt and soaking into the ice beneath me. " Little sister, you're injured…"

"Faro, go north. You can do this. Where is the Nanuq?" I ask, nervously glancing around.

His face darkens, and for a moment, I am scared. "Don't worry, it can't hurt you anymore."

Normally I would have pressed the topic, but right at that moment, my body adjusts to the Air. I let out a cry as the ice beneath me burns into my flesh, and my body shakes violently, trying to regain any heat. "Sapphy, what's wrong?"

"It's so-o-ooo-oo-ooo co-oo-ld," I whisper. My body stills, and suddenly I am very tired. I might just quickly take a nap before Conor and Elvira get here… "No, Sapphire! Stay awake!" Without notice, Faro grabs my good arm and drags me into the water. At first I'm sure the cold will kill me before my injuries could, then Ingo envelops me in warmth, and my teeth begin to slow their chattering.

But Ingo steals away my blood faster, and my world gets dizzy FAST. It's all I can do to keep my eyes on Faro's face simply because it's moving around so much. I can concentrate enough to recognize the growing cloud of red blooming from around my side. Were it not blood, it might have been kind of fascinating. A gentle hand lifts my chin, tearing my eyes away from the swirls of red. My gaze locks on dark eyes filled with so much emotion, though I can't decide if they're angry or sad. Faro is cursing in Mer under his breath. "I'm so sorry, little sister. I'm not my sister; I am not healer! Be strong, Sapphire, stay with me!"

I feel his fingers lace through my long hair. I wasn't sure it was possible to cry underwater. Tears would seem kind of redundant in salt water, but here I saw through blurry, swirling vision Faro making tearless gasps, which I guess were the Mer equivalent of crying. "Faro-" I start. I was going to tell him that it was okay, to swim North, and to thank him for all he'd done for me, but I was cut off, and very surprised by, his lips on mine.

As if I wasn't already dizzy! The blood loss coupled with the sheer shock and joy of the moment blurred the last of my clear vision together into black. I smile as I close my eyes.

Oh I'm glad I am in Ingo…