Cold.
Amara was cold.
She whimpered a little and tried to roll over. There was a dull ache in her ankle but she grumbled and ignored it. Huh. Why wouldn't she warm up? When she reached down for her blanket, her hand dug into wet soil and a flash of plain flashed through her finger.
"Gah!" Amara screeched. She jumped up to clutch her hand. Other than her finger being in agony, her hands felt painfully numb. Actually, her whole body felt painfully numb. The cold felt like it seeped into her bones and froze them. Her head hurt so bad she checked for blood. If there was any, the rain must have washed it all away.
She squinted upwards, raindrops fell heavily into her eyes and made it hard to see. She could make out the opening of the ditch she had fallen into. Amara fought a sob. It was deep, as well as steep. Even without her sore finger, she'd never be able to make it out of here. She tried to stand, forcing her frozen muscles to stretch, only to scream and fall back down again.
Sore finger and ankle, it would seem. Amara breathed in short, shallow gasps as she reached down the grasp her ankle. She squeezed her eyes such in agony.
"M-m-mama, Papa," she bawled, barely able to make her frozen lips move. The rain just seemed to be getting colder, and harder. It hurt. Her white hair clung to her cheeks and forehead and her coat was so soaked it was useless. She looked back up to the entrance of the hole hopelessly, fear enveloping her like a sudden wave a sickness.
"N-n-no one with e-e-ever f-find me!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around around her legs to bury her head between her knees. Sobs wracked her small body. Her head hurt and her throat ached. She was so cold it hurt. It was actually hurting.
It could have been hours or minutes later, but suddenly, the pain was beginning to fade, and Amara felt her eyes drooping. But the pain disappearing only made her that much more fearful. She fought to keep her eyes open and tried desperately to cling to the pain she was praying to end. But she couldn't. It was too strong. Eventually, she slumped in the bottom of the soaking ditch, as the rain continued to thunder down on top of her.
"Amara! Amara, baby!"
"Mara? Mara!"
"C'mon kid, where are ya?"
Maka bit her lip to swallow a sob. They'd been searching for over three hours now and to no avail. They couldn't even track her with the storm. They'd split into each part of the city and looked everywhere they could think to find her, but it was as if she'd disappeared.
Maka turned her head to check on her partner. Soul's face was like stone as he shouted relentlessly for his daughter, stopping every now and then to try and hear a response. Maka's heart broke just to look at him.
"Guys, I really think we should check the outskirts," Blackstar suggested for the millionth time. "She could have easily found her self in the desert and fallen-"
"She would not have fallen," Soul growled. Maka squeezed her eyes shut. "Them things can go down thirty feet. Now, I'm not going out there to find my daughter broken at the bottom of one of those-"
"Soul. Soul," Maka interrupted, her voice tired. "What if he's right?"
Soul looked at her like she'd grown another head. Maka sighed.
"I know we don't want to believe it, and if it has happened, it would be horrendous, but what if our little girl is lost in the desert or injured? We need to save her."
Soul didn't reply. Instead, he offered a curt nod and headed off to his bike as Maka followed.
"Soul, can you drive in this?" Kid asked quietly, his voice hardly even audible in the pouring rain.
"Meet us in the desert," Soul answered instead. "We can cover more ground with everybody. Hurry."
And then they sped away.
So there they were. Trudging around in the soggy, freezing desert in search of their daughter. It made Maka sick every time she had to peek down into any ditch them came across, the image of her daughter sprawled, broken at the bottom invaded her mind every time.
It felt like all hope was lost when Blackstar yelped and jumped into a ditch.
"Blackstar!"
"Blake!"
The entire group threw them selves onto their stomach to look down into the ditch. Maka felt bile rise her her throat at the sight.
Amara was whiter than her hair. Maka had never seen anyone so pale in her life. Her porcelain skin was nearly translucent and her lips were a sickening shade of blue. Blackstar was cradling her carefully, his large hands inspecting her neck and back for any injuries.
"Minor sprain on the left ankle," He shouted over the rain. "Broken pinky finger on her left hand too, and – Oh Death,"
"What?" Soul snapped. It was only then Maka noticed Kid and Liz were stopping her boyfriend from leaping in himself. She turn her attention to Tsubaki, who was eyeing Maka warily.
"Don't even think about it," Tsubaki yelled over the rain. "We don't need any more injuries. Just let Star bring her up."
Tears flooded her eyes but Maka nodded. She turned her head to Blackstar in time to hear his response.
"She has a pretty nasty head injury," Star reported in a taut voice. "She's breathing, b-but barely. Oh Death, oh Death,"
"Get her up here!" Soul roared as a sense of urgency flashed into Maka.
"She needs shelter if we want her to stand a chance," Maka could barely raise her voice over the thunder. "Let's go. Now!"
Blackstar nodded and scaled the wall of the ditch with ease, her little girl hung loosely in his arms. Maka choked back a sob. Not now, she thought angrily, she cannot lose it now.
Soul seemed to have similar thoughts. He squeezed Maka's shoulder and pulled Star up over the edge and took his daughter.
"Maka and I will take her on the bike," his voice sounded unlike Maka had ever heard it. "We'll meet you all at Steins. Is he ready?" Tsubaki nodded.
"He was aware of the situation. He should be prepared."
Soul wasn't even listening as the nod was enough. His girlfriend and he ran to the bike, their limb daughter hanging in his arms.
Stein was ready when they arrived. Soul ushered her through the doors and growled when he found that the air was not much warmer than outside.
"You couldn't turn the heat up a little," he bit as Stein lay Amara onto the hospital bed. Stein shook his head, his attention never wavering from Amara.
"She's freezing," he said matter-of-factly. "If she was exposed to heat, her body wouldn't be able to handle it and she'd die. I need to warm up her centre and head first, so that her vital organs are out of danger. Then the arms and legs, and then I'll tend her injures. But the heating needs to happen gradually. So her body doesn't go into shock."
Soul couldn't even respond. The seriousness of the situation finally hitting him. A short gasp at his side told him Maka let the dam break too. Her emerald eyes filled up with tears and her lips turned down in a cry of pure anguish.
"Oh, my baby," she was barely coherent as she fell to her knees. "Oh, my little girl."
Soul fell down with her and let his tears fall. He buried his face in his girlfriend's hair and just cried. The doors swung open and Soul faintly heard Stein ask whoever had entered to get them out of there. Soul and Maka's heads snapped up.
"What? No – no, I'm not leaving her." Soul snapped over Maka's splutters of outrage.
"You'll only distract me and get in my way," Stein said bluntly. "Look at your daughter."
Souls eyes fell onto Amara. Her face was so white it sent another shock of agony through him. He was sliced through the chest and he had never looked so pale. He's seen corpses with more colour.
"She needs my absolute, full attention if you want her to stand a chance." He said in a softer tone. Slowly, Maka stood to press a kiss to her daughters forehead. She had to fight another wave of tears at how cold her lips suddenly felt. Soul followed suit and brushed his girl's hair back.
"You'll be fine, my little fighter," he muttered. He felt hands on his shoulders, pulling him back.
"C'mon, buddy," He heard Star mutter, his voice gruff.
"We'll wait it out with you," Kid told Maka. Soul gave his little girl one last look before the doors swung shut.
"Soul. Maka."
Soul blinked open his eyes in confusion. He wasn't in bed and his back was killing him. He was about to groan when his eyes focused on Stein.
He jumped to his feet to find Maka already standing, her eyes staring unwavering at Stein.
"She's stable," Stein wasted no time. Maka and Soul closed their eyes in relief. Soul felt Star patting his back in comfort and swore he saw a tear in his toughest friend's eyes.
"Can we see her?" Maka asked immediately. Stein narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, but remember, I said she's stable. But that doesn't mean she isn't still very unwell. Her pinky had a nasty break and she's lucky her ankle is only sprained. Her head isn't as awful as I thought. She'll just have a really bad headache when she wakes. She was very lucky."
"She isn't awake yet?" Soul asked, frowning. Stein shuck his head.
"No, but that's good. People need sleep to heal so she'll need a lot of it. You're very lucky you found her when you did. Any longer – "
"Yeah, we understand," Maka held her hand up. "Can we see her?"
"Yes. Just, quiet please. Let her wake on her own."
The couple nodded and Stein led them to the room he treated her daughter. Souls eyes stung with tears the moment he saw his baby girl.
Amara was just as pale as before. Her face looked a little more relaxed and her breathing seemed a little deeper. That was comforting. He gently took her tiny hand in his. It was still cold, but no where near as cold as before.
"We knew you could do it," Maka whispered as she took the seat beside her partner. Soul followed suit, his eyes never leaving Amara's face.
"You're so strong, Mara. We're so proud of you," Soul murmured gently, his voice cracking. Maka gave him a small smile before her eyes found her daughters face once more.
"Now you just keep resting, you hear?" Soul patted her hand gently. "We'll be right here when you wake up."
He saw Maka nod in agreement and lean back as well. He let a small smile grace his face before shutting his eyes, finally able to relax…
Amara's first thought was: Warmth. She was warm. Her head hurt, but not nearly as bad as before. She could hardly feel her ankle and finger injury. She had to fight a cry of pure relief. They found her.
She was found.
Slowly, she blinked open her eyes to take in her surroundings. It wasn't a dark, cold ditch, that was for sure. The room was white and smelled funny, like a hospital. Three blankets were tucked around her, and there were wires stuck to her body. She continued to look around until she found the faces of her parents.
They were both on chairs, pushed as close to the bed as it could allow, and asleep. Their eyes were red and damp. Like they'd been crying. Mara's throat constricted with guilt. Tentatively, she pulled at her fathers sleeve.
"Papa," she croaked, unable to even sit up. "Mama."
Slowly, Soul's eyes blinked open along with Maka's. Their eyes found her face at the same time and they lit up in sync.
"Amara!"
Amara sobbed along with her parents, who both burst into tears. There was a faint, flush of colour in her cheeks, they observed. She didn't look in pain, just tired. Soul released a long sigh of relief.
"Mama, Papa… I-I'm so – "
Soul just took her tiny hand and pressed a kiss to it. Amara cried louder.
"We know, Mara." He whispered. "And we can talk about it in the morning. I'm sure you need more sleep." Maka nodded and pressed a kiss to her other hand.
"Yes, back to sleep baby," she murmured, her smile so wide Mara's chest felt tight with joy. "We'll be right here when you wake up."
"You promise?"
"We promise."
Amara smiled as she allowed exhaustion to overlap her once more. The smiling, tear-streaked faces were the last thing she'd seen before she drifted back off too sleep.
