"The Ship of Dreams, they called it. And it was. It really was…" Over five days, the lives of Kai Wen and Jinora Gyatso became irreversibly entwined. But their adventure was not the typical love story, for the ship they met on was the RMS Titanic. From the moment the ship set sail from the Earth Kingdom in 177 AG, it was destined for disaster. [Kai/Jinora] Titanic!AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Korra, or any of its trademarked characters. I also do not own the plot of the movie Titanic: that belongs to James Cameron and his associates. I only own the story that you see written, and hope that you enjoy my spin on things.

Those in Peril on the Sea by boasamishipper

Chapter Thirteen

177 AG

After twenty minutes of trying to get his hand free from the manacle chaining him to the pipe, all that Kai had to show for it was a bloody wrist and an aching back. Not only that but LingShi Zhang's precious valet Ransik had decided to punch him in the gut and in the face for daring to lay a hand on Jinora. He was pretty sure that his remark that their affair had been entirely consensual had earned him the second punch. And not only did he feel like shit, but water had begun to pour into the room from under the door, a freezing pool rapidly spreading and lapping against his ankles and then his knees. Maybe he'd get hypothermia before the Master at Arms came to his office and disposed of Kai for good.

He closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping in defeat, and thought of Jinora. She could hate him, spit in his face and scorn his name for the rest of her days and he'd still love her. Hell, he'd probably still love her if she threw a brick at his head.

Somehow, he could hear Jinora's voice, calling his name, and his blood nearly coagulated in his veins because no, that wasn't real, the cold and wishful thinking were making him hallucinate. But then her voice came again in a faraway shout, calling his name desperately. "Kai!"

"J-Jinora?" At first his voice was rough from disuse but then he coughed harshly, clearing his throat, and shouted her name again. "Jinora! In here, I'm here!" He clanged the metal cuff against the pipe and frantically splashed the water, trying to make enough noise so that she could find him. Raava, he really hoped this wasn't a hallucination. "Jinora!"

Just as he started to give up hope, Jinora burst in through the door and her sudden appearance created a wave, the water rocking throughout the office. Her hair was disheveled, her face was white, and her dress was torn but she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Jinora!"

"Kai—Kai!" She splashed over to Kai and threw her arms around him. She was real. Thank the Spirits, she was real. She was really real. He wasn't going to die alone down here. She was here. "Kai, Kai, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's okay; please don't beat yourself up over this, please." Spirits, he was so happy to see her that it was embarrassing. He was probably grinning like a lovesick puppy and didn't even care. "That guy—Ransik or whatever—LingShi made him put the necklace in my pocket."

"I know, I know," Jinora soothed, cupping his face in her hands while a wild grin formed on her face. Then, pulling back, her face fell as she got an eyeful of Kai's bloody nose and the bruise forming on his jaw. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," he assured her. It hurt like the dickens but she didn't need to know that. "I'm fine, Jin. I promise I'm okay."

Jinora's smile was laced with so much relief that he actually started to relax, but then her eyes widened as she saw Kai's handcuff, as though noticing his predicament for the first time. "Is—is there a key?"

Kai shook his head. He'd already tried looking for one in the water, but it'd been fruitless. "Not one that I can see," he admitted. "Ransik probably took it with him or tossed it into the water." He could feel disappointment and fear welling up inside of him once more. Jinora's presence had felt so much like salvation that he had nearly forgotten they weren't out of the woods yet.

Jinora, however, did not back down at the news. "Okay," she said with a firm nod. "Okay, that's—that's fine. I'll just go and get help."

Kai nodded, because that was really all they could do. As much as he wanted Jinora to stay with him, he knew that she had to go and get help lest they both freeze to death below decks on a sinking ship. "Go," he urged her. "And Jin?" She looked at him. "Listen to me, if you can't find anyone—"

"Don't talk like that," she snapped.

He pressed on. "No, Jinora, if they're already loading boats then I just want you to get out of here—"

"No, Kai." Jinora's voice was like a knife, cutting off the end of his sentence. There was something in her face that Kai had never seen before: a heated ferocity. "I already left you once. I'm not leaving you again. I will come back."

"Alright, Jin." It was a promise, not a mere statement: that he knew. She would come back. She was not going to leave him. Kai made a weak attempt at a smirk. "I'll see you soon."

She nodded, and he nodded back, and then she left just as quickly as she'd entered.

He looked back down at the swirling water beneath him, turning his legs numb. Please, he thought, don't let this be the end.

Jinora splashed down the hall to a stairwell going up to the next deck, absolutely terrified at what she had done. Not only had she abandoned her fiancé and mother and everything she'd ever known, but Kai was counting on her to find something to save him. Ignoring the voice in her head that told her she couldn't do it, she bounded up the stairs and found herself in a long corridor with a labyrinth of steerage hallways twisting before her.

As a long groan echoed along the hallway, she realized just how alone she was.

"Hello?" she called, cupping her hands over her mouth. There had to be someone still here. Anyone. "Somebody help me!"

She turned a corner and ran along another corridor, still shouting for help in a voice that grew steadily shakier by the minute. The hall sloped down into water which reflecting the dim light of the electric lamps all around her. Just as she was going to shout for help again, a young man appeared, and to her shock, she recognized him. It was the man who'd spilled beer on her dress last night at the party. He had looked strong and confident then, but now he looked alone and frightened, just like her.

He ran through the water, sending up geysers of spray. He carried a small bag with him, probably filled with clothing or money. He pelted past her without slowing, his eyes crazed, and she remembered how to speak. "Help me! I need help!"

He didn't look back. The hull gonged with a terrifying rumble, and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, the lights flickered and went out, leaving her alone in utter darkness.

She found herself hyperventilating. This was easily the most scared she'd ever been—it was as if she was trapped in a horrible nightmare with no end. Unable to think of what else to do, she started to pray. "Please, Raava," she begged. "Please, turn the lights on again. Please, please help me."

A beat passed, and just when she was debating to give up then and there, the lights flickered back on with a grumble and a groan. She nearly collapsed with relief, and as she turned around she saw a glass case with an axe in it.

That would do.

Not wasting another moment, she broke the glass with a battered suitcase that was lying discarded nearby, and seized the axe, running back the way she came. At the stairwell, she looked down and gasped because holy shit, the water had already flooded the bottom five steps in the few minutes that she had left. Jinora plunged into the water, which was up to her waist, and powered forward, holding the axe above her head with both hands. She grimaced, literally in pain from the freezing water. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing her all at once, but she pushed through.

When she came in, she saw that Kai had climbed up on the bench, hugging the pipe he was attached to. Sheepishly, she held the axe above her head. "Will this do?"

"It'll do," Kai said with a grin, obviously impressed. His smile warmed her up a bit more. "Nice work, Jin."

Without a second to lose, he positioned the chain connecting his wrist to the pipe, stretching it taut. There were barely two inches between his wrist and the pipe, and that terrified her. What if she missed?

"It's okay, Jinora," Kai said, bringing her back into the present. "I know that you can do it."

She bit her lip. He might sound flippant but what if she cut off his hand and he bled to death because of her? She wouldn't be able to live with herself if he was hurt because of her incompetence.

"Jin." He sounded so steady and sure. "I trust you."

Her muscles tightened and with a heavy swing the axe came down. Somewhere during the arc Jinora had squeezed her eyes shut, and the sound of metal on metal was horrible, so horrible. But when she opened her eyes again, Kai's hand was no longer chained to the pipe. And he was smiling.

Jinora dropped the axe, all the strength going out of her. "I did it."

"I knew you could," he said with another grin, stepping into the water beside her. Instantly his face scrunched up into an expression of immense disgust. "Fucking hell, this is cold! Nothing should be this cold!"

Jinora had already gotten used to the water, but she had to agree. She took Kai's hand in hers and lead the way to the stairs she'd used to get down here earlier. The water was nearly past the gate of the stairwell, but they would just have to grin and bear it and move forward. If they stayed down here, then they would surely drown.

Kai went first, the water splashing his face and making him shiver even more. Jinora was right behind him, and just as she eased under the gate another groan went through the walls of the ship. The pipes were probably bursting from the pressure, she thought, and told Kai so. "Which way from here?" she asked, her voice nearly unintelligible from the shivers racking her thin frame.

Kai looked around and she felt relief swelling up inside of her when he confidently nodded down the hallway. "That way," he said. "Follow me."

They meandered through four more hallways, each one eerily abandoned. Finally they arrived at a wide passage along E-Deck, and right away she could hear the buzz of more people, and it comforted her more than a warm blanket or a hug ever could. Crowds of steerage passengers straggled along like refugees. Mothers soothed their children. Men argued with their friends. Someone was playing a halfhearted tune on their guitar. A baby wailed in the distance. People were taking turns taking swigs out of a bottle of whiskey to stay warm.

She shivered despite her best intentions not to.

"Kai!"

Both of their heads shot up at the call of his name, and a wide grin blossomed on Kai's lips as he saw who had called. Skoochy and Tahno were pushing through the crowd, ignoring the angry voices of the steerage folks around them. Kai released Jinora's hand for a split second as he practically leapt on top of his best friend, hugging Skoochy like a brother. Tahno hugged Jinora, and while Jinora was surprised at his gesture considering she'd only known him for a day, she wasn't eager to break the hug.

"Where's Jaya?" Kai asked once the reunion had ended, clearly noticing that one person was missing from their group.

"With her family," Tahno answered. "They're all waiting." In an undertone, he said to Jinora, "She wouldn't leave without them. Skoochy left her behind."

Oh Spirits. Jinora could picture just how that went. Poor Jaya. Poor Skoochy.

"The boats are all leaving, man," Skoochy said, barely heard over the noise. "We need to get past there 'else we'll all drown down here!"

'There', apparently, referred to the steel gate that blocked the head of the passage. The crew of the White Star Line were not letting anyone through, much to the anger and dismay of the crowd. Jinora was about to ask why no one was doing anything about it when she noticed the stewards holding fire axes and small revolvers. Of course no one was making a ruckus. They didn't want their families to get hurt.

Her heart skipped a beat as she caught a glimpse of Qin and her parents, who were arguing with the stewards to let them through. Qin was sobbing onto her mother's shoulder about how she didn't want to die, and Jinora nearly started to sob along with the poor girl.

Apparently Kai noticed Qin too. His fists were clenched at his sides, and before Jinora could try to calm him down, he turned to them with a look on his face that meant danger. "We need to get through."

He grabbed one end of a bench bolted to the floor on the landing, pulling on it with all of his strength. Skoochy and Tahno pitched in until the bolts sheared and it broke free with a momentous screech. Moving quickly, Jinora cleared a path up the stairs between the waiting people.

"Move aside!" she yelled. "Everyone, hurry! Move, move, move!"

Sensing her urgent tone, the crowd moved aside. Kai and Tahno ran up the steps, using the bench as a battering ram as they smashed it into the gate with all of their strength. The gate instantly broke apart and fell outward, nearly crushing a steward. The crowd surged through, led by Kai and Jinora.

One steward still had some confidence in him. "Look here, gentlemen," he said with a sneer in Jinora's direction. "A street mouse and her group of men are standing up to us. What're you going to do, street mouse? Squeak at me?"

"Street mouse?" Jinora's eyes blazed, her posture straightened, and suddenly she was every inch the angry noblewoman. "I am Lady Jinora Gyatso, heir consort to the Ayre Corporation and the fiancé of LingShi Zhang, heir to the Zhang Corporation. I am worth more than you will ever be in your lifetime." The steward's face paled dramatically. "And if you have any intention of keeping your pathetic job with the White Star Line, I suggest you escort everyone in this room to the boat deck. Now."

Mouth gaping, the steward dumbly motioned for the crowd to follow him.

Jinora, Kai, Skoochy, Tahno and the others all burst out onto the boat deck from the crew stairs just as a salvo of fireworks was shot up into the air as a makeshift SOS signal. If anything, there were more people up here than below decks. Class seemed to have been forgotten as women were loaning their fur coats to steerage children and men exchanged whiskey with one another. Incredibly, the band was still playing a happy tune. Even more incredibly, some people had taken the time to request songs. She could hear a man arguing for them to play the theme from the latest Ginger Zhang movie while a woman requested more classical music.

"Classy music on a sinking ship," Skoochy mused. "Now I know I'm in first class."

"Jinora!"

Now it was Jinora's turn to whirl around, and she beamed as she threw her arms around Lin and Suyin Beifong. She didn't even question why they were still on deck and not on the boats; she was just so happy to see a friendly face. "Lin, Suyin," she said, pulling away, "it's so good to see you."

Lin looked at her as though she had taken leave of her senses. "Jinora, what the hell are you doing here? Last I heard you just ditched LingShi and—" Her eyes fell upon Kai, who smiled awkwardly at them. Jinora took his hand in a show of solidarity. "Oh." Lin's voice was calmer now as she took in the behemoth crowd of people standing behind Jinora and Kai. "I see."

Jinora and Kai exchanged glances. "Miss Beifong…and Miss Beifong," Kai began, obviously nervous, "are there still boats? They—we need to get these people into boats. The stewards were just going to let them drown down there."

Suyin's face hardened like a slab of metal. "Those sons of bitches," she swore. Jinora couldn't believe that she'd just heard the normally complacent, bubbly Suyin swear, but then again, this entire day had contained a series of unbelievable things. "They moved the boats to the other side of the ship. Women and children are boarding now. Men too, if they have enough money."

"We'll take you there," Lin said grimly. "Like hell we're going to let these people die."

Lin and Suyin escorted everyone to the other side of the ship, where there were still seven boats left—each one filling rapidly with women and children. Thankfully, Jinora thought, they were now sending boats down with at least fifty people in them instead of the meager twenty or thirty she'd seen earlier. Families began to disperse and got in line to board the boats.

"I heard that they're letting men board on a higher level," Tahno said. "Skoochy and I said that we would give it a shot."

Kai swallowed. "Good luck," he said, a sentiment quickly followed by Jinora.

"We'll see you on the other side, brother," Skoochy promised, bringing Kai into a tight hug. Kai clung to the back of Skoochy's shirt for a moment before both of them pulled away. Tahno shook Kai's hand, then Jinora's. "Good luck, you two."

And with that, Skoochy and Tahno vanished into the night.

Lin cleared her throat, startling Jinora, who had forgotten that the Beifong sisters had been there at all. "They'll be fine, kid," she said gruffly.

Suyin nodded beside her. "Don't worry, Jinora. Just get onto the boat. I'm sure you'll see them on the rescue ship."

The rescue ship. Jinora had nearly forgotten about the rescue ship headed their way—the Carpathia, she believed Varrick had called it. Oh no. Varrick and Zhu Li. Had they made it onto a boat by now? Or were they still conducting first and second class people to board boats? Either way, Jinora hoped that both of them would come out alright.

An officer tapped Jinora on the shoulder just as Suyin boarded the boat—Lin had decided to wait for the next one. "Miss, please board the boat. There are only two spots left." Kai took Jinora's hand and stepped forward, but the officer cut them off. "Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid this boat is reserved for women and children only, and you're neither of the two."

Jinora's temper escalated so quickly, it was as though someone had lit a match under her. "That is bullshit!" she snarled at the officer. "Let both of us through or none at all."

"Jinora," Kai hissed at her, "don't argue with him. Just get on the boat."

"You heard him, Jinora," said a voice from behind Jinora, making her wonder just how this nightmare had possibly gotten worse, "get onto the boat."

Although part of her was shocked to see LingShi, another part of her wasn't surprised. She should have known that he would have been able to track her and Kai down. Especially with Ransik's help—the valet was more bloodhound than man. She stepped instinctively to Kai, feeling much braver at his side.

LingShi's smile was as smarmy as ever. "Spirits, Jinora, look at you." He took off his coat and held it out to her. "Here."

Jinora wasn't stupid: she knew that he was doing it to look benevolent and modest in front of the officer, not because he actually cared about her. Nevertheless, she took it, shrugging into it. She hated the fact that she actually needed it; if it weren't so cold then she would have thrown it back in his face.

"Quickly, Miss," the officer urged. "Step into the boat. Hurry, please!"

Just as she was about to vehemently refuse again, Kai spoke up. "It's okay, Jin. I'll get on the next one."

"No, Kai. Not without you!" She didn't even care that LingShi was standing so close to her, able to hear every word. She was not going to leave the sinking ship without Kai, not at gunpoint.

"Jinora, listen to me." He cupped her face in his hands, smiling reassuringly at her. "Please, I promise I'll be alright. There are other boats for men; LingShi and I will get on it. Hurry up and get on your boat—I'll meet you on that rescue ship the Beifongs were talking about."

"Get in," LingShi snarled at her. "Hurry up, it's almost full."

Before she could protest again, Kai released her face. The officer grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the boat, away from Kai. She reached out for him and her fingers brushed his for a moment, sending sparks of warmth up and down her body. It was all a rush and a blur, and the next moment she found herself sitting dumbly in the boat next to Suyin, who looked all alone and frightened in her fur coat.

Everything felt like a blur to me in that one moment. In that little boat, women and children were either sobbing or stoic, accepting their fate as survivors while their husbands or boyfriends or elder sons were forced to stay aboard the sinking ship. Lin had forced Suyin to go into the boat to save her life, knowing that Suyin had had so much more to live for than she had. Both of them saved twenty lives each that night, Miza. You should be proud.

As for me…I felt as though I had been struck dumb. Here I was, going to be saved, and yet I had been torn away from Kai again. If LingShi had his way, then he could get Kai arrested and killed on the spot via firing squad. But what could I do? The boat was already descending.

I thought that I was never going to see Kai again, and it hurt me so much that I couldn't see or think straight. It was unbearable. But my pain gave me the courage to do the unthinkable; to make my way across the boat and jump back onto the tragically doomed Titanic.

Alone with LingShi Zhang and Lin Beifong was definitely not how Kai had intended to spend his evening. Although to be fair, he hadn't expected the ship to sink either, nor did he think that Skoochy and Tahno would abandon him for a chance to board a boat. But this took the cake.

LingShi spoke first, not taking his eyes off Jinora in the boat. "You're a rotten liar, Mr. Wen."

"Almost as good as you, Mr. Zhang," Kai replied.

"Will you both stop?" Lin snapped. "You're grown men, for fuck's sake. What's important is that Jinora and Su are safe."

Before LingShi could reply with a sneer or a snide comment, Kai's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he saw Jinora stand up in the boat, holding onto Suyin's shoulder for support. His unspoken question was quickly answered as she gave herself a jogging start and hurled herself out of the boat, grabbing onto the rail of the A-Deck promenade. His heart almost pounded straight through his ribs as the boat kept descending and Jinora dangled from the railing, kicking her legs frantically.

"Hang on Jinora!" The words tumbled out of his throat before he could stop them. "Hang on, I'm coming!"

He spun from the rail, running for the nearest way down to A-Deck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin smirking and LingShi's expression of pure, unadulterated rage, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He pushed aside stewards and made his way down the staircase to the A-Deck foyer, where Jinora slammed into him like a bullet, nearly causing him to fall over.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Kai," she kept saying over and over again, holding onto him as tight as she could. "I couldn't just leave you, I couldn't—"

"You're such an idiot," he growled, but that didn't stop him from kissing her, feeling sparks shoot up his spine. Spirits. How could he have thought that he could have lived forever without her kiss? "Jin, how could you just—you gave up everything. You could have been saved, damn it! Why did you come back?"

"I couldn't do it without you," she whispered.

Oh.

His anger completely gone, he enveloped her in a tight hug. "Together or not at all, yeah?"

"Together or not at all," she echoed.

With that, he pulled Jinora into a fierce kiss, feeling as though a herd of bumbleflies had taken root in the pit of his stomach. She tasted of mint and something alcoholic, and it warmed him up to his very core. Kissing her always felt like it was the first time.

Suddenly Jinora's entire expression changed, and she shoved him to the side. In the next second a gunshot split open the air around them, one of the carved wooden cherubs at the foot of the stairs exploding less than three feet away. At the top of the stairs stood LingShi Zhang, a near comical expression of rage and fury on his face. Ransik was holding a gun in his shaking right hand as he pointed it at them. Shit.

Jinora took his hand. "Run," she mouthed, and without a second of hesitation they ran. Sprinting, more like, away from LingShi Zhang and his valet. Somehow they made it to the dining room, which looked much less elegant now that it was half submerged in water. Two silver carts were rolling every which way, spilling soggy food and silverware into the water. One table was still set, waiting for first class diners that would never come.

Before Kai could even think of which way to go, he felt someone grab the back of his shirt and Jinora's coat, yanking them into a separate room. To his surprise—when would he stop feeling surprised tonight?—it was the same woman from last night, the one who was having an affair with the ship builder. Ms. Moon, Zhu Li Moon. Her glasses were askew on her face, she wore a life vest and tears were streaming down her face. "Mr. Wen, Miss Gyatso, thank Raava you're here!" she said, closing the door behind them. It was clear that she believed they were her saviors. "Please, you have to help me."

Kai and Jinora exchanged glances. "Ms. Moon," Jinora said hesitantly, "why are you still down here?"

Tearfully, Zhu Li pointed to Varrick, who neither of them had noticed, he'd been so quiet. He was standing in front of the fireplace, staring dumbly at a large painting above the mantle. The fire was still flickering in the fireplace. An ashtray rested haphazardly on an adjoining coffee table, and his life vest was off, resting on the floor.

"He won't leave," Zhu Li whispered. "He said that he wanted to die here."

"I'm sorry for not building you a stronger ship, Jinora." Varrick's voice was soft, even softer than Zhu Li's. "This is my fault."

Jinora bit her lip, not denying his claim. "Aren't you going to try to make a run for it, Varrick?"

"No, Jinora. It's over for me." Varrick crossed the room and placed a hand on Zhu Li's shoulder. "Zhu Li, please. One last favor for me. Leave me. Get on a boat and get to safety. Please. Raise our baby. Name him after me, if it's a boy. J-just promise me that you'll live. Please, promise me that."

Zhu Li sniffled, wiping tears out of her eyes. "I will, Iknik. I promise."

He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, and Kai and Jinora watched Zhu Li walk away from Varrick like every step physically pained her. At the door, she took one last look at all three of them, bit her lip, and ran.

Varrick picked up his life vest and handed it to Jinora, who took it slowly. "Go, Jinora," he urged. "Good luck to both of you."

Jinora embraced the shipbuilder in a tight hug. "And to you, Varrick," she whispered, pulling away. "Good luck."

Kai pulled her away from him, and they ran through the revolving door.

Once they were back up on the decks, Kai pushed his way through a dense crowd of people and made it to the rail, taking a look at the state of the ship and not liking what he saw. The bridge was underwater and chaos was running rampant on deck. People were streaming around them, mostly men and some women and children, all shouting and pushing, trying to stay above the water level. It was like those games that he'd played in the orphanage with the other kids, 'Don't Touch the Lava', where they had to avoid touching the floor for risk of dying. It was just like that now, he mused, although with a much higher mortality rate.

"We need to keep moving aft." That surprised him—he figured they were going to try and find another boat. Jinora continued, tying on her life vest as she did so. "We have to stay on the ship as long as possible."

"Good plan." Kai had to shout to be heard over the panicking crowd. "I'll lead the way."

Just as they began to move, the stray cables along the top of one of the funnels snapped, and they lashed like steel whips down into the water. Horrified, Kai couldn't help but stare as the funnel toppled from its mounts, slamming into the water with a tremendous splash. The few people swimming underneath it disappeared in an instant. Thousands of tons of water poured down through the hole in the ship where the funnel once stood, thundering down into the very heart of the ship. Anyone still down there surely had to be dead now, Kai thought, like Ransik and Sir Varrick and Zhu Li, if she hadn't gotten out already. The few people who hadn't been crushed by the funnel were now getting sucked down into the whirlpool in the ocean where it had fallen, like in the nursery rhyme about the tiger-spider going down a drain.

"Kai!" Jinora's hand on his brought him back to the present. "Come on, let's go!"

Without another word, he clambered over the aft rail. Then, using all his strength, he grabbed her hand and pulled her over the rail and toward the deck below, holding on with one hand. She jumped down, Kai immediately behind her.

They joined a mass of people literally scratching and climbing over each other to get up the stairs and onto the well deck. Some of them were praying, others sobbing. Some were jumping into the water in the hopes that they would be rescued from there. Kai had to push Jinora out of the way to avoid a man drunkenly throwing up all over the deck.

The ship groaned and shuddered, and they kept climbing. Eventually they made it up the stairs to the main deck, where there are at least three hundred people. For a second Kai thought there were too many people on the deck and that was why it was tilting, but then he realized that losing the funnel must have thrown the entire ship off balance. Sure enough, as the bow of the ship went down, the stern rose. The propellers—the ones that Jinora had claimed to want to see two days ago—rose out of the water.

Jumping to reach the stern rail, Kai grabbed it, pulling Jinora up to grab it with all of his strength. He received the shock of his life when he saw Jaya and her family sitting near the Raavanist monk standing nearby and delivering a final sermon, their eyes infinitely sad. Qin's father was there too, as was the entire band that had played at the steerage party last night. Kai even recognized Mako and Bolin, whose wives had made it off the ship but they hadn't. And looking around at the faces of the damned, Kai prayed for the first time in years. He prayed that Qin and her mother were safe. He prayed that Jaya and her family would make it out of this alive. He prayed for Mako and Bolin's safety, as well as for Korra and Asami's. He prayed for the safety of Skoochy, of Tahno, of anyone that he'd interacted with over the last few days.

For a split second, he wondered if Lin Beifong had made it. If the only Beifong left alive was Suyin, alone on the boat that Jinora should have been on. Unfortunately, that was probably likely.

And then, just as Kai wondered if it could possibly get worse, the lights went out all over the ship.

Children began to scream, as did many of their parents. Men sobbed, begging from help from above, from their mothers, from a combination of the two. The Raavanist monk did not halt his sermon, but many more people came to listen. Jinora clung tighter to him, and he clung tighter to her. They could do nothing but watch as the deck near the third funnel split directly down the middle with a thundering, eardrum-popping screech. People falling into the widening gap looked almost like dolls, their limbs twisting grotesquely as they hit stray cables and other heavy machinery on the way down.

Then, for no feasible explanation, the stern of the ship fell back toward the water. Those holding onto the stern rail or clinging to the deck all released a wordless scream as they all plummeted downward.

Kai struggled to hold onto the stern rail, feeling the ship right itself underneath his feet. Several people began to cheer, thinking that that was it; they had all been saved through divine intervention.

"We're not saved yet, are we?"

He could tell that Jinora already knew the answer, and he grimly shook his head. "No," he said, "we aren't."

Just as quickly as it had plummeted, the stern began to tilt up rapidly again. The shrieks of happiness instantly turned into shrieks of help, and everyone began to cling to benches, railings, anything to keep from sliding down as the stern lifted. Qin's father jumped and clung to the stern rail for dear life, dangling only a few feet from Jinora and Kai. But despite their best efforts, people started to fall, screaming and flailing and trying their best to grab onto something. It was like a chain reaction: those who fell began to wrench other people loose and pull them down as well. Jaya's family began to fall down, one by one, and although Kai wanted nothing more than to help them, he couldn't for fear of letting go of Jinora.

"We have to move!" Kai didn't even know he'd spoken until Jinora looked over at him, terrified. Shaking, he climbed over the stern rail and reached back for Jinora, grabbing her hand. "Trust me. Climb over, I've got you."

With Kai's help, Jinora pulled herself over the rail just as the railing went horizontal and the deck went vertical. People near them who didn't climb over hung from the railing, their legs dangling over the long drop. Inevitably, each person fell, plummeting down the deck, some of them bouncing horribly off deck benches and railings before splashing into the ocean. Qin's father fell with a shout, hit his head on a ventilator and moved no more.

Soon they were going to go into the ocean too. It was inevitable.

"Listen to me, Jinora." Kai knew he was talking quickly but they were running out of time. "We're gonna hit the water soon. You have to take a deep breath and hold it right before we go in. The ship's gonna suck us down so you're going to have to kick for the surface and don't stop until you get there. Don't let go of my hand either, okay?" The last one was more of a plea on his behalf. "We're gonna make it, Jin. We're going to get through this. Trust me."

She stared, horrified, at the water coming up at them, and just as he was about to repeat himself, a look of determination came over her face and she gripped his hand harder. "Okay," she said. "I trust you."

Then the water came up to meet them, and everything went dark.

The coldness of the water nearly shocked Jinora out of her wits—it felt as though a thousand knives were stabbing her all at once. The few cuts that she had sustained over the last few hours opened up and the saltwater against them felt like a new type of torture. She wanted to scream in pain but all she could do was kick to the surface because she wasn't going to give in, she was going to make it, she was going to get through this—Kai had promised her, damn it.

When she finally popped up above the surface of the water, she took a long, deep breath, relishing the taste of air after what felt like years without it, the cold hit her all at once. She and Kai—who was alive, thank Raava and Vaatu, he'd made it off the ship too, he hadn't let go of her hand—were not the only ones in the water. There were several hundred people screaming and thrashing and sobbing in the water, some with life vests and some without. It was so dark out that she couldn't tell where the sky ended and the sea began.

A short distance away, a man was desperately trying to climb on top of Kai, like he was just another piece of debris floating around. He was fighting, but the man was wearing a life vest and Kai wasn't and with his added strength he managed to push Kai underwater. Swimming for dear life, Jinora made it over to the man and drove the side of her fist repeatedly onto the man's nose, neck, head, screaming at him to get off. Kai popped up out of the water, pushing the man off him with all of the strength his shivering body possessed.

Kai grabbed her hand and together they swam out of the throng of people thrashing around in the water, both of them looking desperately around for some debris to grab onto.

"J-Jin," Kai shuddered, "d-do you see that?"

At first she didn't, but then she saw it—a wooden door, intricately carved and floating aimlessly in the water. "I s-see it."

Without a moment of hesitation, they swam for it together. Once they reached the debris, Jinora slithered onto the door belly down, shivering madly despite being free from the water. She supposed that hypothermia was inevitable, even after spending so little time in the water. Kai attempted to get onto the door as well, but when he tried to push himself up the door tilted and submerged, nearly dumping her back into the water. Clearly it was only big enough to support one person.

"We can take t-turns," Jinora suggested, her words coming in short gasps of air. "F-five minutes each."

Kai's laugh was more of a loud shudder. "We don't need to, I'm f-fine. There's—there's another ship on its way…it's been coming since we first got hit, r-remember?" Suyin's words seemed like they were from a lifetime ago. "Jin. Jin, hey. Look at me." Kai took her hands in his, trying to warm them up as best he could. She didn't bother telling him that it was the equivalent of rubbing ice cubes together and expecting a fire. "Jin, say something so I know you're awake."

She opened her eyes, not realizing that they'd been closed at all. Kai was blurry, but she could see his smile of relief as clear as day. All around them, the damned cried for help, for mercy. Someone near them was blowing a whistle, and the shriek of it was so loud she wondered why she hadn't heard it earlier. "S'cold, Kai."

"I know, I k-know, Jin. The boats will come back s-soon. They h-had to row away for the suction. They'll come back soon. Just hold on, okay? Hold on until then."

She nodded, his words helping her remain awake. She was shivering uncontrollably, her lips blue and her teeth chattering against each other. She'd never been this cold in her life, ever. She couldn't feel her toes or her fingers. Everything was slowly going numb. "O-okay."

Time passed. She wasn't sure if it was hours or minutes, but she could tell that time was passing. The screams of the damned had slowly faded to the occasional moan. The officer near them had stopped blowing his whistle—he'd died of exposure quickly.

Kai's face was chalk white, a stark contrast to his normally dark skin, but he kept smiling reassuringly at her, kept talking about how the boats would come, about how they could both demand their money back and receive enough yuans to travel around the world together. Jinora wasn't stupid, though. She knew the truth. The boats weren't coming. They would have come by now, wouldn't they?

"Lost my drawings on the ship." His voice was a quiet rasp, nearly drowned out by the wind. "You're g-gonna have to…to pose for them a-again, y'know."

Her laugh sounded like a gasp of fear. "Mmkay."

"And…and we can g-go to Ba Sing Se together." Kai's voice grew a little stronger. "I'll sh-show you the s-shops and stuff. We can eat g-good food, J-Jin. And no m-more ocean. Promise."

More time passed. Kai continued to promise things that Jinora knew they wouldn't be able to do. Jinora's coat and life vest started to freeze to the door, as did her hair. Kai's lips grew white and chalky. She began to feel drained, as though she had run a marathon. She wanted nothing more than to sleep.

"I love you."

She didn't even know that she'd spoken until he took her hand. "I love you too," he whispered. "But Jin, don't give up. Don't do it. Don't say your goodbyes to me yet, okay—th-that would be a shitty way to say goodbye after everything."

"I'm so c-cold."

Kai was speaking again. "…winning that poker g-game was…it was the luckiest th-thing to ever h-happen to me, Jin. I g-got to meet you, got to know you. Got to love you, a-all of you. And I—I know y-you're gonna do b-big things once you g-get out of this mess. You just have to s-survive, never g-give up. Promise me, J-Jin."

"Yes." Her voice was shaking more than her body, a feat she hadn't imagined possible. "I p-promise."

"You're going to live, Jinora Gyatso." Kai pressed cold, cracked lips onto her knuckles. It felt like another reason to go on. "Y-you hear me? You're going to live."

She was going to live.

Jinora lost track of how long they had drifted. It could have been minutes, hours, days, but it felt like years. Like an eternity.

The air had grown eerily silent. Kai had stopped talking. So had she. Even the moaning from the people in the water had stopped.

She was so cold, so numb that she didn't even have the strength to shiver anymore. Her eyelids were heavy, as if there were lead weights attached to them, but she knew she couldn't fall asleep.

She was too young to die and she knew it. But if she had never met Kai, or if she had gotten on the boat with Suyin and the other first class ladies, she could have lived several decades but not lived half that.

"…it's a long…l-long way…" Her voice was a mere rasp, drowned out by the breeze. She felt as though her entire body had been injected with cold medicine, like she was floating in a dream. "…to B-Ba Sing Se…"

There was a noise in the distance, foggy and distorted, like it was coming through a staticky radio, but she didn't care, she couldn't care, and caring was too much effort when all she could do was blink and breathe and stay alive—

"—alive out there? Hellloooooo? Is anyone alive out there?"

She was alive.

Jinora opened her eyes, focusing now with all of the concentration left in her body and she saw a lifeboat creeping slowly across the water, like it was afraid to wake anyone up.

A boat was there to save them, just like Kai had said.

"Kai." She was barely audible. He didn't move, but she'd spoken so quietly that she couldn't blame him. She swallowed several times, clearing her throat. "Th-there's a boat, Kai." She touched his shoulder gently, but he still didn't respond. His face was rimmed with frost. "Kai?"

But he didn't reply.

Or move.

Or breathe.

"Kai." Tears blurred her vision, warming her for a single second. "Kai, please, no. No…"

The chunk of her heart that he had inhabited and made his own withered as the realization went through her.

He was dead.

He had died and left her alone.

She looked back at the boat, further away now. The people in the boat were still calling for survivors, pleading with the dead to open their eyes. The voices were getting softer and softer. They were leaving her too.

She closed her eyes, tears pricking them like tiny needles. Why bother anymore?

"You just have to s-survive, never g-give up. Promise me, J-Jin."

Her eyes snapped open.

She had promised him that she would live. That she would survive, that she would never give up.

She couldn't break her promise to him.

Not now.

I'm going to live.

She raised her head and called out, but her voice was so weak that she could barely hear herself.

The boat was nearly invisible now, the people in it a thousand miles away.

She gently unclasped her hand from Kai's, feeling emptier but more awake. She had to get to that officer's body several feet away. He had had a whistle. If she got the whistle, then she could get their attention. And if not…she had someone waiting for her in the beyond.

"I will survive," she murmured, pressing a final kiss to Kai's face. She took in every detail of it, memorizing every nook and cranny and scar and eyelash. She would never forget him. "I promise."

Before she lost her nerve, she returned to the ocean, her limbs stiff and barely functional. Her breaths came in short, clouded gasps, and every second that she paddled she wanted nothing more than to just give up, but she didn't. She made her way over to the officer after what felt like years, like several eternities, and took the whistle from the man's lifeless mouth. With all the strength left in her lungs, she blew into it, the sound splashing across the still water.

Like she was in a dream, the boat sped toward her, and the officer on board took the whistle from her mouth and pulled her into the boat with the help of several other men. They laid her down on the floor of the boat, wedged between benches, and people were piling blankets on her and offering tea or whiskey to warm her up.

The officer was asking her something. She made an effort to listen although she wanted nothing more than to sleep. "What's your name, dear?" he asked.

Jinora Gyatso, the heir consort to the Ayre Corporation, fiancé of LingShi Zhang, dutiful daughter and upper class girl, had died on the Titanic. Thankfully, Jinora Zhang would never exist.

"Jinora," she whispered. She needed a new identity, one that would keep her safe from her mother and LingShi, if they were still alive and looking for her. She would use Kai's name, the only thing she had left of him. "Jinora Wen."

The officer marked it down in his ledger, and the other people in the boat kept saying that it was alright, that she was safe now.

But the only thing that would make her safe and alright was Kai.

When she fell into unconsciousness, she dreamed of a better world.

To be continued…