Disclaimer: The character's aren't mine, except of course for the OC and any other OC's that may pop up to move the story along. Canon characters belong to Akira Amano

There was a certain peace to be found in drowning, of that I could surely attest to. My body felt weightless in the water, instead of sinking I felt as if I were floating, lost in the large expanse of sea. Those lucky enough to have never experienced this would assume panic and fear to be in the forefront of my mind, except it wasn't; hadn't been since those first few tense moments. Those earlier moments had been filled with terrified screams and helpless pleads for rescue, filled with loud hacking coughs as my limbs tried in vain to keep me afloat against the vicious tide.

But that had been the first moments only.

Now there was no panic or fear, my limbs had long since given up the desperate fight for survival and now fell limply to my sides. I knew with absolute certainty, that I would not be saved in time, that I was dying.

I hadn't wanted to die.

I was only in my early twenties, there had still been so much I wanted to see, so much I wanted to do. It's odd, that in these final moments how the most mundane of thoughts would enter my mind. I had forgotten to lock my door this morning, having already been rushing about my home when the loud honk of a horn alerted me to the fact that my friends had arrived. I hadn't called my mother when I arrived here, having forgotten in the earlier excitement. My father was to pick me up in an hour, as I had promised him I would visit home after being gone for a month. At that thought a pang a grief broke through my eerie calm, as I came to realize that by the time my father arrived, he would be greeted to a corpse instead of his daughter.

How I wished I could spare him from that horror.

A part of me wanted to fight still, though it grew fainter with every passing moment. I didn't want to make my parents suffer, I didn't want to be the cause of their tears… but my arms felt so heavy, even the very thought of moving them proved to be too much. One of my arms were stretched out before me, the waves the only thing capable of moving my limp body now. My fingers appeared deathly white under dark blue of the water, my skin already taking on a deathly pallor the closer I came to death. I stared with waning focus as my fingers twitched ever so slightly, the only movement I found myself still capable of.

A common misconception was that I would feel each painful intake of salt water. Yet it amazed me to discover that besides the first few moments, I didn't even notice the fact that instead of much needed oxygen, my lungs were filling themselves up with water.

That's not to say that I was ignorant of what was happening to me. I knew I was breathing in water, that with every lungful of liquid instead of the air I needed that my life was slowly draining away, yet my body held no notice of this. For that I suppose I was thankful; at the very least, my death would be peaceful and without pain. Using the last spurts of energy I still possessed I tilted my head upwards, staring up at the sky above me. It was late noon, at least it had been when I first fell, and my father would already be on his way to meet me. The bright yellow haze from earlier had now taken on a brilliant orange hue. The ocean laid illuminated before me, and out of the corner of my eyes I could see small schools of fish looking towards me in curiosity before scurrying away. I took in another lungful of water, the action comforting regardless of how fatal it was.

I only had a few breaths left to me after all, might as well make the most of it while I still could.

Idly my thoughts flitted back to the sky, even here, beneath the endless ocean, the bright orange hue still fought ferociously against the endless blue, shining it's might down upon it. In a sense, it was almost awe inspiring, and so I decided, if I had to die…

Then I'm happy the last thing I saw was something so beautiful.

Faintly I realized that the water was being disturbed, and that someone had grabbed hold of my waist. Yet instead of feeling hope, I felt peace. I could hear my heart, once beating so frantically in my chest now slowing to an almost halt. My vision was blurring, and the dark spots I had been trying in vain to ignore now seemed to encompass all that I saw. And yet I kept looking up at the sky as my body was brought ever closer to it. I was stubborn and the last thing I wished to see, was that beautiful hue. And so, as my heart came to a stop, and my eyes finally closed, the last image to be burned into my mind was of a blinding orange light.

It was a rather peaceful end, all things considered, and in hindsight, it was almost a gift.

For the next time my eyes opened, peace would be nothing but a fond dream.

A/N: So this is me testing the waters so to speak. Many of the SI stories feature an OC who's pretty awesome, powerful and a bad ass. But for the most part, mines won't be like that. Not to say they'll be weak, but they won't be the strongest either, I wanted to take a different approach to this genre, so I hope you guys like it. Warning again that this will be slash later on though. Enjoy and please review if you like this story!

Also in case anyone's curious, Grim Fact #1: I have actually almost fatally drowned twice in my life, and both times I remember after the starting panic feeling a sense of peace and not even realizing that I was no longer breathing air. So I decided to based my OC's death on this since that's the only near death i'm actually familiar with. Though granted I didn't have so much time to think over so many things like my character did, take that instead as artistic license. Chapter 1 will be uploaded soon for anyone curious, and will be our first view into the KHR world! Hope you've enjoyed and please leave a review if you did!