17 watched the whole tragic scene unfold before his eyes in slow motion. He was too stunned to move when he heard the ice crack and break apart under Bra's horse. The princess's ear piercing screams of terror would hunt his dreams. Unbeknown to him, 17 would live with the guilt that the princess almost died because of him. The bounty hunter remained paralyzed as Bra's horse sank into the ice water taking the princess with him. 

            Snapping back into reality 17 ran unto the ice without any fear of his own safety. At that very moment the only thing important in the world was to get Bra out of the water before she drowned or froze to death. In a heart beat 17 was out in the middle of the frozen river looking over the edge at the cold unforgiving water. It didn't take long for the bounty hunters trained eyes to find Bra at the bottom of the riverbank.

"Damnit!" 17 cursed. The princess was too far for him to reach. He couldn't simply grab her and pull her out. It appeared the only way to save her was to dive in and swim her out. 17 was strong, but even his body could not survive the below freezing temperature of the river. There was a slim possibility he could dive in, grab the princess, and swim her out before the affects of the ice water numbed his body and claimed his life too.

17 was about to jump into the water, because for every second he hesitated trying to think of a plan was a second Princess Bra's life held in the balance when he noticed a nearby fallen tree and a full proof plan came to him.

In a hurry 17 took out the rope he had been using to tie up Bra and tied the end of it into a loop making a lasso. With the skill of an old western cowboy 17 swung the lasso over his head and tossed it over the branch of the fallen tree in one try. He pulled at the rope with all his strength to make sure the branch would not snap leaving him trapped under water costing both their lives.

With the rope secure 17 wasted no time diving in to save the princess. He swam to the bottom of the river where the unconscious princess awaited her long hair flowing all around her making her look like a mermaid. 17 quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. The unlikely hero wrapped his arm around Bra's waist and began the difficult task of getting to the surface.

The ice cold water didn't take long to cast its spell of numbness on 17, making it extremely hard to hold on to the rope let alone pull himself and the princess up to the surface. It took all his inner strength, but 17 finally made it to the surface with Bra.

"Ah!" 17 gasped for air kneeling down near the edge with the princess laying before him out cold. It was clear she wasn't breathing but 17 leaned over and put his ear to her chest to check for a heartbeat.

"She's still alive." 17 sighed in relief hearing a very faint and weak heartbeat. There was no telling how much water the princess had swallowed or how long she had gone without breathing. Before noticing the princess was starting to come around 17 leaned over her to administer mouth to mouth.

"Huh?" Bra thought as she slowly opened her eyes and say a blurry figure over her face. Once her vision came into focus Bra recognized the person who seemed to her about to kiss her.

"AH!" Bra screamed slapping 17 hard.

"I was going to give you CPR!" 17 defended holding his burning cheek. (hehehe total Sango Miroku moment ^-~ )

"Yea right." Bra coughed weakly trying to get up. As 17 picked Bra up in his arms the princess slipped out of conscious again. 17 could tell her body was completely drained of energy and if he didn't get her warmed up right away she could catch ammonia.

Authors Note- sorry for the delay I accidentally saved over my fic and lost 2 chapters. I hope this is better than the original one.