A/N- here's an update for all u folks. hope you enjoy! let me know what you think (or not bc it's your choice and you ha ve agency in this but pls enjoy it anyway).
Hiromi stretched her arms as she woke up with the rising sun. She couldn't see it from her lantern-lit room, but the energy of the sun found its way into the room and snuck into her bones. For a brief moment, Hiromi felt her whole room grow warm with the heat the sun brought with it. After this moment passed, she exhaled and saw her breath in front of her, reminding her that she was in the south pole. She shivered and put on her jacket, pausing only to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.
She walked out onto the deck, greeting the few crew members who were out of their rooms as she watched the sun rise over the horizon. Hiromi missed the orange colors of the fire nation sunrise, but she had to admit that the beauty of the purple and green colors of the sky where she currently was were comparable to the sunrise of her home country. She looked over and saw Iroh performing his normal morning routine- playing a game while drinking Jasmine tea. Zuko was standing at the front of the ship, looking out at the horizon, which was surrounded by icebergs of all sizes.
"Good morning, Iroh." Hiromi bowed in his direction.
Iroh smiled and returned her greeting, quickly returning to his game.
Hiromi looked at Zuko, who was unaware of her presence. She began to tell him good morning, but decided against it. The two years they had spent at sea had changed everyone, but none so much as it had Zuko. While his drive to regain his honor hadn't dwindled, it eventually consumed him. All he cared about was finding the avatar, and Hiromi couldn't remember the last time she saw him smile. She remembered how eager he was when they had arrived at the Western air temple. She remembered how admirable the way the prince held himself and treated his peers was, even in exile. Even when he was faced with disappointment at the first of the temples, he didn't let it discourage him when searching the other three. While he didn't become discouraged- his eager attitude was soon used to fuel his determination. Zuko became a shell of himself, one that was only worried about finding the Avatar.
Hiromi walked over to Iroh and sat in front of him, pouring herself a cup of tea as she usually did in the mornings. Hiromi looked behind her at Zuko and wondered what he was thinking about. She remembered when they were younger and would talk about everything with one another. She was never as close to him as she was to Lu Ten, but he was definitely her next closest friend. Hiromi recalled a point in time where she didn't have to ask him what was on his mind because she already knew what was bothering him. The frigid wind that was settled between her and Zuko was more than physical. Zuko had pushed everyone away, even his uncle. The light inside of him that used to draw people closer to him was almost nonexistent, even though Hiromi and Iroh tried every day to bring that part of him back.
Hiromi poured a separate cup of tea and stood to bring it to Zuko, but just as she did this a large beam of light shot up into the sky. The entire ship stood quiet as everyone's attention was diverted to the overwhelmingly bright beacon that shone in the horizon. Zuko watched as the blue-white light shone for several seconds before he turned to speak to his uncle.
"Finally! Uncle, do you realize what this means?"
Iroh set down his cup of tea and looked up at his nephew. "I won't get to finish my game?"
Zuko stepped closer to Hiromi and Iroh, who was very focused on his game.
"It means my search is about to come to an end."
Zuko looked back at where the light came from and pointed in its direction.
"That light came from an incredibly powerful source." As he said this, the light dwindled for a few seconds before it eventually disappeared completely. "It has to be him."
Iroh continued to play his game, seeming to carry on the conversation with Zuko with great disinterest. "Or it's just the celestial lights. We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko."
Iroh took a moment to analyze the tiles in his hand before continuing, "I don't want you to get too excited over nothing."
Hiromi watched as he placed the a tile from his hand onto a tile depicting the fire nation symbol. She studied the game, trying to figure out the pattern Iroh was creating out of the tiles. As she studied his longest line of tiles, the idea came to her. "It's the avatar cycle!" Hiromi thought to herself, oblivious to the conversation Zuko and Iroh were holding around her.
After Hiromi came to her realization, she remembered that she had a cup of tea in her hand that she had made for Zuko.
"Please sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea?" she asked, gesturing to an empty space at the table.
Zuko's brow furrowed, "I don't need any calming tea!"
His sudden change of tone caused Hiromi to jump back, spilling a small amount of tea on her pants.
"I need to capture the Avatar! Helmsman, head a course for the light!" Zuko pointed in the direction of where the beacon had appeared and returned to his position at the front of the ship, his ponytail waving in the wind.
Hiromi looked back at Iroh, who had just placed another tile with the air nation symbol on top of the one he had previously placed down. "Okay, maybe it isn't the Avatar cycle." She thought disappointedly.
Just as he moved his hand back from the table, a gust of wind washed over the tiles, causing them to shake briefly.
"A little windy today." Hiromi chuckled uncomfortably, looking at Iroh for reassurance.
Iroh smiled slightly and sipped his tea before looking at his nephew, who was still standing at the front of the ship looking intently at the horizon.
Hiromi stood up and went to talk to the chef to see if he needed any help preparing breakfast.
Iroh got up once Hiromi left and went to stand by his nephew. They didn't exchange so much as a sideways glance for the first few minutes, but Zuko eventually broke the silence.
"Uncle, what are you thinking about?"
Iroh took a deep breath before speaking, "I'm thinking about you, Prince Zuko."
"What about me?"
Iroh ran his fingers over his beard several times as he spoke, "About how young you were when this all started."
Zuko thought about his uncle's words before responding. How young I was? What did that have to do with anything? It's only been two years, and I feel like I'm still the same age.
"Wh-" Zuko began, but was cut off by Iroh, who seemed to have been reading his mind.
"I know you may not realize it, my nephew, but you've changed since this all began. You have changed, and you have changed other people."
Zuko looked around to see if Iroh was referring to anyone around them, but saw that the deck of the ship was empty.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, frustration in his voice.
Iroh frowned and looked away from Zuko and out at the horizon, "No one on this ship is the same, Zuko. You may not see it, but a lot of it has to do with you. You are the leader of the men on this ship," he paused, wondering if Zuko noticed that Iroh had just referred to Hiromi as a man. "Not including Hiromi, that is. But you're leading her as well. She came with us because she had no one else back in the fire nation. Do you realize that she probably feels as if us, the only people in this world she knows as family, are no longer the same people she stepped onto this ship with?"
Zuko stood, dumbfounded. What was his uncle even talking about? Zuko hadn't changed, it was Hiromi that had changed. She didn't talk to him like she used to, it seemed to him that she pretty much ignored him every day. Then again, he also didn't pay much attention to it because he was so focused on returning to the fire nation.
This brought Zuko back to reality, "If anyone on this ship has a problem with the way I run it, including Hiromi, they can talk to me about it." Zuko laughed quietly, "It's not like they'll be on it much longer. I'll have the Avatar soon enough."
Iroh saw this as the end of the conversation and left to finish his game and his tea, which was probably cold by now.
That afternoon, Iroh watched as Zuko and Hiromi sparred on deck. It had been months since he had seen the young girl bend, and had almost forgotten how skilled she was. He watched as she easily dodged all of his nephew's attacks and countered them expertly.
Many crew members were gathered around, watching as the teenagers fought one another.
Zuko was breathing heavily, trying to quickly regain his energy before he was faced with another one of Hiromi's well-timed attacks. Just as he had caught his breath, Hiromi kicked a stream of white fire in his direction. He rolled to the side and, as her leg was coming down from her attack, kicked Hiromi's feet out from under her. She felt to the ground with a loud thud and, when she looked up, she saw the young prince's fist ready to strike above her face.
Hiromi got up and smiled, embarrassed. "Excellent fight, Zuko."
They bowed to one another and Hiromi quickly made her way to her room so that she could regain her composure.
"I really need to spar more often." Hiromi said as she fell onto her cot. She thought of the way Zuko had been fighting her, it feeling odd to her for some reason.
She tried to recall specific details from their fight that had been a red flag to her, but none stood out so much as the look in his eyes.
She nodded her head as the vision came to mind. It had to be his eyes- the look in them anyway. Even the look he had in his eyes when Iroh suggested the two of them practice fighting had been enough to throw Hiromi off her game, not taking into account her lack of practice recently.
Hiromi sighed as she looked up at her ceiling, her heartbeat finally slowing down and her breathing becoming evenly spaced, the last thing that flashed through her mind before she fell asleep were the prince's cold, distant eyes.
"Again!" Iroh shouted at his nephew, who had been sparring with two soldiers that were on deck.
Zuko turned and opened his arms to his opponents, attempting to cover them with flames. Despite his efforts, the soldiers easily block his attack and one sends a blast of fire in his direction. Zuko ducks under this attack just as the other firebender jumps towards him and sends another fireblast towards his feet. The prince propels himself out of the way and twists around in mid-air and directs another fire blast with his hand to the firebender that retaliated first, and another with his foot to the firebender that aimed for his feet. Both soldiers jump out of the way of Zuko's flames. Zuko lands and stretches his fists out toward his adversaries, ready to face another attack.
Iroh stood up, sighing. "No!"
Zuko turned around, surprised by his uncle's display of frustration.
"Power in firebending comes from the breath," Iroh paused as he emphasized a breathing motion in front of him, "not the muscles."
Iroh mimicked a firebending form, acting as if he were sending a fire blast.
"The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire!" he said as he sent a perfectly aimed blast of fire right towards Zuko. "Get it right this time."
Zuko became instantly frustrated, "Enough! I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set! I'm more than ready!"
"No, you are impatient." Iroh said as he sat down. "You have yet to master your basics. I'm surprised you survived fighting someone as skilled as Hiromi."
"Drill it again!" Iroh yelled.
Zuko ignored the uncomfortable amount of irritation in his uncle's voice and turned around, violently kicking a blast of fire at one of the soldiers and knocking him down.
"The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender." Zuko began angrily, again ignoring the displeased countenance of his uncle. "He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements! I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him."
Zuko paused, catching his breath. "You will teach me the advanced set!" he yelled.
"Very well." Iroh said hesitantly, his facial expression changing from angry to excited. "But first, I just finish my roast duck!"
Zuko rolled his eyes and walked to the edge of the ship, waiting to see some sign of the Avatar beyond the icebergs.
Hiromi woke up with a start, the sound of shouting from various crew members waking her up.
Hiromi ran onto the deck, looking around for Iroh and Zuko. "What's going on?" she mumbled to herself.
She looked up to see Zuko peering through a telescope. She followed the telescope's line of vision to a flare being shot up from an old fire navy ship that was surrounded by jagged pieces of ice. Hiromi walked closer to the edge of the ship to get a closer look, the cold wind biting at her face.
Zuko watched as a bald man carried a girl from the ship that had given away their location, jumping incredibly high.
"The last airbender! Quite agile for his old age."
Zuko turned around to speak to a man standing behind him. "Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar."
Zuko looked back through the telescope to confirm his sighting once more. He notices that the two people are now running and follows the direction they're going. He almost overlooked a small village, one he assumed must be where the two were headed.
"As well as his hiding place."
Hiromi ran to where Zuko stood, still looking through the telescope.
"Was it him?" She said, startling him.
Zuko quickly turned around, smiling. "It was, Hiromi."
Zuko reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close to him. While this initially threw her off, she soon returned the prince's hug and closed her eyes.
"Does that mean we'll be going home?" Hiromi asked, looking up at him.
He put his hands on her shoulders, "We'll go home soon."
With that, he turned back to the telescope and watched as the ship approached the small village the boy and girl had been running to.
Hiromi looked out and noted that the telescope was no longer essential to being able to see the village, as they were quickly approaching it. Hiromi looked back at Zuko and remembered how happy he was when he told her it was the Avatar. She smiled, wondering how long he had been hiding in this small village that was surrounded by ice.
She dwelled on this thought for a moment, then stopped when something dawned on her.
Hiromi ran below deck to find Iroh, who was sleeping in his room.
"Psst, Iroh." She whispered to the large, bearded man as she shook his shoulder.
He didn't budge.
"Iroh, wake up." she said in her normal voice, hoping to receive some sort of confirmation that he was waking up.
He still didn't budge.
Hiromi sighed angrily then put her hands on top of her head and began pacing.
"Iroh please wake up, I need to talk to you!" she said to herself, feeling her hands grow hot from frustration.
Using it as a last resort, Hiromi grabbed Iroh's shoulder with her hot hand, hoping to wake him with the sudden contact. Almost instantaneously, Iroh shot up out of bed, hands flailing about and grasping for the shoulder Hiromi had grabbed. Hiromi jumped back, making sure to stand clear of his catawampus demeanor. Shortly after his outburst, Hiromi sat on the end of his cot.
"Iroh, I have a question."
"The answer is yes."
Hiromi arched one eyebrow, "But I haven't asked you yet."
"If the question was asking if that hurt me, the answer is yes."
Hiromi looked down apologetically, "I'm sorry, you're just such a heavy sleeper and I really need to ask you something."
Iroh chuckled and stopped rubbing his stinging shoulder, "It's okay Hiromi, I'll be fine. What is it you need to talk to me about?"
"It's about Zuko."
Iroh turned his entire body to face Hiromi, suddenly more intrigued by the conversation. "What about him?"
"It's just, well, is this going to work?"
"Is what going to work?"
"Zuko capturing the Avatar."
"Well, we don't know for sure that the Avatar is even in the South Pole."
"Yes we do."
"What?"
"Zuko saw him airbending and running towards a nearby village, one that could have easily been overlooked."
"Oh, how far are we from this village?"
"We're almost there."
Iroh thought for a moment, "What's your question again?"
Hiromi considered her word choice for a moment before speaking, "Does he stand a chance against someone who has had so long to prepare for a fight like this?"
Iroh wanted to say yes, he wanted to give Hiromi the reassurance she needed to feel at ease for the time being. He wanted to tell her that Zuko would be able to capture the Avatar without a hitch. Granted, there weren't any waterbenders in the south pole for him to have learned from that he knew of- and Zuko has an entire crew at his defense.
But this was the avatar, not just any person. Zuko could hardly fight two amateur firebenders just earlier, and only barely beat Hiromi.
Iroh wanted to tell her a lie, and he wanted to believe it.
Instead, Iroh looked away from Hiromi. He looked at a dark corner of the room before he even opened his mouth to respond.
"Well, what do you think Uncle?"
Hiromi and Iroh both turned to face Zuko, who had been standing by the doorway for who knows how long.
Iroh stood and faced his nephew, walking in front of Hiromi. "I only wish you had more time to prepare for this day."
Zuko scoffed and furrowed his brows, "I've spent years preparing for this, Uncle. The least you could do is have some confidence in me."
Zuko paused, then looked past Iroh at Hiromi. "I can't believe that you of all people would doubt me, Hiromi."
Hiromi tried to string a sentence together, but struggled to begin without stumbling over her words.
"I don't want any excuses, or your apologies. I knew that there were people who thought I'd never be able to do it, even people in my family. But another thing I always knew is that I'd prove all of them wrong, and now my dreams are finally coming back to life."
With that, Zuko walked away, leaving Iroh and Hiromi to reflect over what he said. Zuko thought of Hiromi, and the way she looked up at him when he had hugged her earlier. He thought of the way her eyes sparkled and the way her smile shined brighter than the sun.
The happy images were soon replaced with the betrayed look she had on her face when Zuko had said his dreams were finally coming to life. Zuko thought of what he had said, and realized that his dreams would never be complete without Hiromi and his uncle by his side. Zuko stopped walking, "Should I go back?" He thought, contemplating his actions.
Zuko shook his head, going back would show him as weak. He had already lost his honor, and he had no plans for losing any more of his dignity. He began walking again, thinking of Hiromi as he stepped out onto the deck and into the cold air, his thoughts quickly turning to the Avatar. Zuko took a deep breath, feeling the last rays of sunlight soak into his skin. The sun would be setting soon, but by the time the sky transformed from a burnt orange color to a deep blue he would have the Avatar in his grasp, and no one was going to stop him.
As Zuko stepped onto the deck of the ship, he saw that the village was well within 300 yards of the vessel. Zuko put on the helmet he had been carrying in his hands and assembled several guards to walk off of the ship with him.
It wasn't until Zuko noticed a boy on top of a snow wall surrounding the village that he began having flashbacks of his father.
Zuko smirked, knowing that his ticket back into the fire nation was right in front of him, and he would do anything to make sure it didn't leave his grasp.
Hiromi stood up and began walking out of the room, only to be knocked down as the ship made contact with something large and mostly solid.
Once she regained her balance, she ran onto the deck of the ship, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso so that she could stay warm in the biting of the cold wind.
She desperately searched for Zuko, wanting to apologize and wish him luck before he left the ship, but saw that the bow of the ship was already laid down. Hiromi ran back into her quarters and slipped on a jacket before running out to the village.
Once she was on the walkway, she looked to her right and noticed a boy with his head stuck in the snow. She began to hop down and help him, but before she could begin working her way towards him, he jumped out and ran to grab a club which had been laying on the other side of the walkway. As he picked it up, he let out a battle cry and began running towards Zuko, who was yelling at several of the villagers. Just as Hiromi took note of the fact that the village was almost entirely women and children, with the exception of the young man who was attempting to strike Zuko, the fire nation prince turned to face the charging boy and ducked under his attack, sending the boy flying forward.
The warrior slid in the snow in front of him, losing his weapon. Zuko shot a blast of fire at the enemy, who defended himself by quickly sliding out of the way and tossing a boomerang towards the prince and missed Zuko's head by a fraction of an inch. A small child that was in the crowd tossed a weapon towards the older water tribe boy, shouting words of encouragement that Hiromi couldn't quite make out. The older boy caught the weapon and charged at Zuko another time. Zuko responded by snapping the weapon into several pieces. After he did so, Zuko took the end of the club and knocked the warrior in the head a few times before he broke the remains of the spear in half and tossed them to his side as the water tribe boy fell to the ground.
As the boy who Zuko had defended himself against sat in the snow, rubbing his head. A glint of light in the distance caught Hiromi's eye, and she recognized it as the boomerang the boy had thrown earlier- only this time it was heading straight for the back of Zuko's head.
Hiromi ran towards the end of the walkway, somersaulting in the air and kicking the projectile out of the way, which met her boot with a soft cling before landing in the snow far from the villagers. Zuko turned around, albeit surprised, and silently thanked Hiromi by nodding his head in her direction. Asserting his dominance, Zuko readied two dagger-like flames in his hands in case he needed to defend himself from the water tribe boy's attacks again.
Sokka watched as the girl kicked his boomerang away from the armor-clad fire nation boy's head. As she landed, her hair fell out of whatever had been binding it up and fell into loose waves down her back. The cold wind blew thick tendrils of her light-colored hair around her shoulders, the sun reflecting off of her hair in the most mesmerizing way. There weren't many women his age at the south pole, much less women with hair the color of the sun.
He probably would have stared at the fire nation girl for hours had Aang not distracted him by sliding into the battle scene on a penguin, knocking the leader of the fire nation troops into the snow.
Hiromi couldn't help but laugh to herself as Zuko's helmet flew off his head and landed on his tail end as he fell into the snow. She began to help him up, but he soon jumped out of the embarrassing position he had landed in and prepared himself in a fighting stance.
Hiromi recognized the person who had knocked Zuko down as the bald boy from earlier, who Zuko had assumed was the Avatar.
"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka." the bald boy said to the warrior and a young girl who was amongst the villagers.
"Hi Aang. Thanks for coming." the boy said, moodily.
Hiromi sensed a bit of tension between the two, but didn't dwell on it as she became distracted by the realization that the water tribe boy from earlier had a pony tail, not much unlike Zuko's
The boy turned to look at Zuko, mimicking his fighting stance. "Looking for me?"
Zuko appeared shocked, "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?"
Hiromi let out a sigh of relief, "This boy has hardly had time to learn how to tie his shoes, much less master all of the elements." she thought to herself.
The villagers he had addressed earlier appeared shocked, as if they hadn't already known this.
"I've spent years training for this encounter." Zuko began as they circled one another. "Training, meditating. And you're just a child!" he spat angrily.
The Avatar tilted his head, confused. "Well, you don't look too old yourself."
Zuko responded by blasting a series of fireballs at the boy, who avoided his attacks by twirling a staff he had been carrying in his hands to dissipate the flames.
The two boys repeated this attack and defense, only this time the flames were blown towards the villagers.
Hiromi watched as the Avatar looked back at the villagers, a look of horror crossing his face.
He stopped twirling his staff and held it in front of him, "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"
Hiromi admired the Avatar's sympathetic nature, which struck her as wise. The young boy reminded her of Iroh, and she immediately felt guilty for underestimating him earlier.
After a period of brief hesitation, Zuko nodded his head and accepted the Avatar's offer. The soldiers surrounding him quickly seized him and boarded him onto the ship.
"No Aang! Don't do this!" the girl yelled at the Avatar.
"So his name is Aang." Hiromi thought, taking note of this detail.
"Don't worry Katara, it'll be okay." the boy responded before he was shoved onto the walkway. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!"
Hiromi's eyes widened in horror, what if Appa was the boy's grandfather- the real Avatar? She looked around and saw no other older man or woman who resembled the boy and shook the thoughts from her mind.
"Head a course for the fire nation, we're going home." Zuko said as he followed behind the soldiers who were escorting Aang.
Hiromi looked back at the villagers before the bow of the ship was raised back up and the vessel departed from the small village where the Avatar had been hiding.
She watched from a distance as Zuko observed Aang's staff before handing Iroh, who hands it to a nearby guard.
Zuko walked to where Hiromi stood at the end of the ship, where she had been observing the passing icebergs.
"You did it." Hiromi said, smiling at the prince.
Her hair hadn't been bothered with since it fell from its loose ponytail earlier, and it still hung messily around her shoulders. Zuko noticed that her hair had gotten much longer since he had last seen it down, and had to resist the urge to run his fingers through it. He felt his heart soften as she smiled up at him, and he couldn't help but smile back.
Zuko placed his hands on the side of the ship, where he supported his weight. "And to think, you thought I wouldn't be able to fight him." He said jokingly.
Hiromi rolled her eyes and continued to smile, "Well I did save you from a boomerang. If I hadn't have done that it could have been anyone's fight."
In her mind she wondered what the boy was capable of. He had obviously been restricting himself in the village in order to protect the people around him. His lack of offensive techniques left Hiromi in awe of his sense of self-control.
Zuko laughed and looked down at the girl next to him. Hadn't she always been this beautiful? Why did he feel as if he had been oblivious of this the past two years?
"You loo-" he began, but was interrupted by a guard yelling from farther down the ship.
"The Avatar has escaped!"
Hiromi watched as Zuko ran towards the firebender, wondering what it was he was going to say to her.
"What an odd thing to be wondering right now." she thought as she raced to help Zuko.
She explored the ship, jumping over various unconscious bodies as she looked for the prince and young air bender. She passed Iroh's room, where she noticed he was still sound asleep on his cot.
She heard a loud thud on the deck of the ship and ran back outside, relieved to find Zuko and the Avatar both on the lower deck. The boy's staff, which now appeared to have wings projecting out of its sides, was far out of reach of Aang. Hiromi began to run to Zuko's aid, but was interrupted by a growling noise in the distance.
"Appa!" Aang yelled, looking up into the sky.
Hiromi stared in awe as what appeared to be a flying buffalo soared towards the ship. Or maybe it was a bison, Hiromi wasn't entirely sure what the difference was. However, she was fairly certain that neither animal was normally capable of flying. She then felt foolish for thinking that Appa had been the name of the boy's grandfather.
Hiromi looked back at Zuko and Aang just as the firebender sent a stream of flames at the Avatar, who deflected them by grabbing his glider and using the same spinning technique as he had while in the village.
Aang propelled himself backwards and landed, unsteadily on the edge of the ship. After sending several fire blasts in his direction, Zuko caused Aang to accidentally lose control of his glider, which slid several feet away. Zuko sent an additional fire blast towards him and knocked Aang off the side of the ship, landing in the cold water surrounding them.
Hiromi ran to the side of the ship, watching as a whirlpool began developing where the boy had landed.
"What in the-"
Hiromi was at a loss for words when Aang rocketed out of the water riding a large spinning water vortex, his eyes and tattoos glowing a white-blue color.
Aang lowered himself onto the ship, summoning a large wave of water that he used to sweep the deck of the ship clear of any firebenders. She watched as all of the soldiers surrounding her were swept overboard, including Zuko. A second wave from the Avatar caught Hiromi off guard and she fell victim to the attack, hitting her head several times before falling off of the side of the ship.
The initial shock of the water was electrifying to her senses. The ice cold water quickly caused her to feel numbness in her fingertips and feet. The tingling sensation it caused soon spread throughout her entire body as she drifted off, unable to move.
As she sank deeper into the cold water, the world grew dark around her. She could no longer feel her body or the throbbing sensation in her head. The only thing she seemed to see was the blood around her, which she could just barely see and could only assume was from the blows her head had taken as she had fallen.
Then, everything was black.