Dave hands lingered in his pockets as he walked up the path towards the cottage. He hadn't planned to come to see Sapphire today, but a smirk brighten his somewhat tanned face, even in the autumn it's darker colour stood out from most peoples, his blond hair did nothing for that either, pulled into messy spikes with a thick gel that morning. Something told him something was wrong with her, the way she acted and her moods changed, her distraction. It was normal for a boyfriend to pick up on his girlfriend's moods like that. He knew her parents weren't home either and he had only really made his mind this morning, though she hadn't answer the phone when he rang once he was on his way… maybe she was still sleeping. No that was unlikely; she had probably taken Sadie out for a walk.

That though disappeared though once he knocked on the cottage door, it wasn't normally locked, people round here didn't tend to steal from each other. Too nice. Yet, when he knocked on the door all he heard was Sadie's desperate barking behind the door. It had taken a while to get here, he presumed sapphire would have come back by now but still; she didn't normally leave Sadie inside. He pushed the door open and was almost pushed right over by the nervous dog, but as she smelt him he figured she stopped. Sadie had never liked him much. She backed up slightly and whimpers though instead of the usual growl.

"Sapphire! Saph!" His voiced seemed to echo too much in the empty cottage. He frowned when no one answered. "Where' she go…" he muttered and took a step into the house. It seemed odder empty. It was normally warm and comforting with Saph's mother and Rodger inside. Sadie, despite her usual dislike followed at a small distance, head low, whimpering as if lost… or grieving. Dave didn't realise why that word came into his head and he glanced down at the dogs soft brown eyes and was only reassured by the look. The smirked that had light up his face quickly turned into a frown of worry that buried deeply on it. he looked over the kitchen and grabbed the leather lead for Sadie, though he doubted sapphire ever used it for her it was better to be safe. It wasn't so much of a struggle as it normally would be to get close and clip the lead onto her collar, but she wasn't excited as she should be. As sapphire had always told him she was when they went or even mentioned the word walk.

"Come on girl." He murmured heading out the door. "Let go find her."

The icy chill of the Atlantic vanished as oxygen and life breathed through into my skin and for the second time in my life I remembered how much I'd missed Ingo, how much I'd missed this. Every time the velvet of the water lapped around me I remembered and I forgot all my troubles, then again, that was what Ingo did, it pushed away your troubles and it filled you will happiness. Like the current, when I came back from the deep. All I wanted to do was sleep on a bed of sea moss and that's all I wanted to do now, I sawn around the cove rediscovering everything I'd forgotten down there.

My smiled stretched so far across my face I almost though it might split and I finally settled myself above a rock pool, like me and Connor used to do. I wanted to be patience like him, despite all my years of getting older, year that you would think made me not care as much about what he though or what people though about me, I still wanted to be like him in ways I wasn't. Patience was still something I was working on as I floated, trying not to make the slightest ripple in the water as I watched the anemones sway from side to side, and catching particles of food. Then something tightened in my chest, a flicker of a memory I would rather forget. I shook my head and shut it out. Leaning back flipping so I was sitting upright. I had rediscovered my underwater cove… but that had seemed like hours and time moved differently in Ingo than it did in the air. I wondered how long I had been here for them, I hoped it wasn't too log or mum and Rodger would be back and worrying. And Sadie, what about her? I'd left her all alone locked In the house, my poor Sadie. The sudden eruption of air thoughts forced me to kick up wards.

I suddenly needed air.

Why was it so hard now? I never used to have air though before, now it was all to easy for them to slip and take over my mind. Why? Why did they always come when I was just getting reacquainted with my world? They always came when I was comfortable, when I started to see things the way I used to.

I gasped, the cold air rushing down into my lungs, burning only slightly as I started to breath again. The sudden cold sent shivers throughout my whole body and I still couldn't clear the earth thoughts from my head, Ingo seemed like a dim paradise now. I had the sudden awareness of the weight of my clothing and as I looked toward the shore I saw how far away it was and gulped. All the times I'd been out to Ingo I'd never had to worry about the things I had been taught before I came in. ripe tides and currents, I was still in the cove, but it would be a struggle to swim that far to the shore… my head suddenly spun with tiredness but I shook my self awake. Slowly moving my arms and kicking my legs, swirling the water around me and moving forward, every so slowly to the shore.

Each stroke was more painfully slow than the next and the distant shore didn't seem to be getting any closer either, after a while edge stroke merged with the next, the numbing feeling of cold water let my thoughts drift. I was back in the current, gently rocking from side to side in it's warm waters. My bed of sea moss was below me, and the warm waters where full of salt and life, fish trickled in and out of the dappled light, the water swirled around me in tiny whirlpools like a Jacuzzi in a spa. The peace was so real, so lovely, I started to forget, memories drifted out in wisps of turquoise current, happy memories swirled around me like the fish, feeding me with happy feelings and joy. I never wanted to leave, the memories started to fade though, I reached out to touch them stop them, I wanted to hold them, even though they where fuzzy and unclear. The waters picked up, swirling again, more, lifting me of and around my little bed. The current grew stronger and tighter and the water around me darkened. Black coils of icy blackness surrounding me, pressing down on my chest, my bed disappeared as all sides rushed me, squeezing me. the dark water and images, memories flashed in my mind, jumbled piece of a puzzle that I couldn't put together to make anything relevant.

The life that flowed from Ingo's waters was no longer flowing into me, no, now it was like it was being sucked out of me, like being drained. Instead of floating I felt myself being pulled in deeper and deeper until only darkness was pushing down around me, a faint memory was stirring in the back of my mind, but it didn't have pictures with it, only feelings.

Sapphire…

A voice pierced the cold water surrounding me, floating around pushing the pressure of the darkness of my chest, but I still tried to breath and only ended with choking and coughing.

Sapphire… Sapphire!

The voice was familiar and urgent pulling at me, yanking me upwards as I choked on the water, yet something there wanted me to stay in that place, that memory was only on the surface only a little longer and I would remember it. the voice calling me wouldn't let me go through and between the moving toward it and the choking water burning and filling my lungs my vision blurred. I tried to reach out, hold on to something anything, then everything was gone.

"Sapphire!" The blurred image in front of me looked familiar, yet I couldn't make it out fully.

"Sapphire!" this wasn't the same voice that I had heard before though either… or maybe it was… they seemed to blur together in my mind.

Sapphire, "Sapphire." I blinked suddenly, two voices. Both so familiar yet right now so far away. I struggled to sit up and my world seemed to move around me, it was till I coughed up the salty water that had been in my lungs did I realise that the world wasn't moving but it was me shaking.

"Oh god sapphire, what where you doing? You're soaked, come here, take my jacket." I felt something wrapped round my shoulders. A Jacket, then I recognised the smell, not the salt that covered my body but a sweet earthy smell.

"Dave." I murmured but my voice sounded horse it felt liked it'd been rubbed all over with sandpaper. Then there was barking, loud barking that I couldn't not mistake. "Sadie!" that jolted me awake.

"Shh, shh. It's ok, she at the top of the path, she wouldn't come down Saph, she was scared. Come on." I felt him move putting his warm arms under me and lifting me to my feet, the shivers hadn't subsided, but the weight of my wet clothing was greater now I was out of the water. I pushed myself into daves warmth. His scent and smell was such a comfort now and I felt him wrapped his arms tighter round me in response. We slowly started back towards the cottage, not in silence, Dave talked to be all the way, not of anything important, but to keep me awake. I knew that, falling asleep would be bad now and answered his constant questions as he climbed behind me up the rocks to where Sadie was. She bounded up to me licking my face and rubbing her warmth against me, happy to see me. all of this though, it kept my thoughts away from the important things. The things like how I got to shore when I was at the mouth of the cove, like what those black memory where that I was so close to getting at and more importantly, whose voice was calling me…

I shook my head, Dave was still asking questions and now we where at the cottage. It wasn't to dark, but more the sun was just starting to set as we got there. Mum and Rodger still weren't home and I was glade about that but as soon as we got in Dave rushed up stairs and started filling the bath.

In the moments I realised why I loved him, he waited for me to get into the bath and made me tea, he talked to me, sitting just outside the bathroom door encase I needed him. He talked or would stay silent, anything I wanted. He took my thoughts of everything else. He let me relax. He let me be me. I sighed closing my eye's.

Sapphire

I jolted upright in the bath, eyes wide open and awake.

"Saph? You ok in there?" I heard Dave ask from outside and calmed slightly but the voice, that voice, was so, so real like it was right there.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I answered finally getting out of the bath. It was just a dream. I'd fallen asleep for a moment, that was all. Simple dream moment. I grabbed the towel and rubbed it roughly over my skin before dressing in the clothes Dave had brought down for me, he'd even put my wet clothing in the wash. I dressed and wrapped my hair up in the towel before stepping out smiling. He grinned, sitting on the floor Sadie other the other side got up when she saw me, her happiness and relief showed clearly in her beautiful golden face. Dave slowly got up and before I could say anything his arms where wrapped tightly around me.

"Don't do something like that again." He muttered in my ears and I blinked, surprised. "When I saw you… I was so worried." He muttered and I couldn't help but smile. "I though I'd lost you." And my heart twisted in it's place, like, those vines that climb up walls, it was like vines had crawled up my heart and where now crushing it. because I knew what that felt like. To loose someone you loved. I knew too well.

"I won't." I promised. "I won't."

a/n, there you go… more… one thing… I know faro and sapphire are my favourite pairing… yet, this isn't simply a story where the main character has another boy friend and dumps him easily for their true love or they abuse them. She really does feel love for Dave, so I'd try to get that across here… but now, I have to break one of their hearts. Gah, and how… this could be interesting.

and yay, longest chap yet... i think