The whole world seemed to freeze completely as her feet left the ship. Her eyes were focused on the darkness they were plunging towards, and a sudden drop in her stomach made her feel as though sue was gong to be sick. Throughout the whole journey on board the Titanic, the water had been a great unknown power that the ship had protected them from. They'd peered over the railing at it, considering it from behind a glass screen like a beast in a zoo. And now they were flying towards it, head on. They were riding into battle against the great Atlantic beast with only their freezing hands and feet, their beating hearts and their hope of survival in their arsenal. The great Atlantic beast which had tackled mans biggest machine and was, at this moment, swallowing it down into its belly.

The shock of the sudden impact with the water was the most terrible feeling Sarah O'Brien had ever felt. A thousand daggers of ice struck her, piercing every inch of skin and paralysing her bones. She was in complete darkness, and her eyes felt as though they'd completely frozen over. It was as though she'd slipped from the very surface of the earth, slipping down the icy road to the underworld.

She could feel her grip on Cora's hand loosen as her body failed to overcome the shock, but Cora's hand tightened around their slipping fingers, scratching at her knuckles. She felt Cora pull at her in desperation, her kicking legs scraping against O'Briens shins. Her nerves come alive at the pain, and her brain commanded her to fight for her survival. She robotically kicked her legs, and with the help of the lifejacket, she felt the sting of air slashing at her face as she broke the surface.

Every gasp for air felt agonising in her throat, and she felt her body spasm in terror. She was floating, immobile, her whole body in survival mode. She couldn't keep the panic from her gasps as she started to roll in the water, her brain utterly swamped in fear. And the Cora's voice came searing through, slashing away at the fogginess that had frozen her to the core.

"O'Brien! O'BRIEN!" She felt one of Cora's hands pulling at her cheek, and she felt herself being pulled steady. She breathed deeply, her eyes locking onto Cora's face. "O'Brien..." She tried to gather her mind, but the freezing water slowed everything down, and she couldn't think beyond the cold. Her eyes flickered beyond Cora's terrified face. Her brain was so shocked that she could do nothing but shake Cora, causing her to spin around.

The ship was in the air, rising and rising, higher and higher miles above them. They both stared upwards at the sight before them. There were screams in the air, and O'Brien saw someone... Something... Falling, crashing into the water with a terrible crunch.

"Swim, swim, swim!" She screamed, her frozen legs kicking desperately away from the unrecognisable ship. She kept tight hold of Cora's hand, she could feel the countess crying out beside her. "Quick, swim, swim!" She pushed for her life, half dragging Cora through the water. They swam and swam, stopping only when the screams from the ship sounded faint in the air. They turned to see the ship standing vertically, bobbing in the water pathetically. They watched from afar, frozen in complete horror as the sea slowly began to claim its prey. She felt Cora move closer to her, resting her head on O'Briens shoulder. O'Brien tightened her hold on Cora, their frozen breaths mingling and rising into to night air. They watched as the ship become less and less, and finally, it was swallowed below the surface, gone forever.

Even from their position, they could hear the increase in volume of the screams and cries from the water. In the distance, O'Brien could see the thousands of white lifejackets floating and splashing about. She glanced at Cora, whose eyes where wide and fearful. She met O'Briens gaze, and then two women simply stared at each other. Cora's lips where darkening with cold already.

"Sh... Should we s-swim out to the l-lifeboats?" Cora whispered, her hand trembling against O'Briens. She nodded shakily, squinting through there darkness. Their sense of direction seemed to have gone down with the ship. There was not a single sign of a lifeboat, and without the light, she couldn't see through the wall of complete darkness. She glanced at Cora again, who was looking to her for an answer. A sudden wave of guilt seared through her. This woman, this Countess, was relying on her, waiting for a plan to get them out of this danger, and she was clueless. The plan was to swim out to the lifeboats, but without the light from the ship, how was she to know where to swim?

There was a sudden sloshing noise behind them, and both women turned. A body bobbed in the water, floating because of the lifejacket. Other than the water, her fear of the dangers of other panicked people was one of the biggest concerns to her. She was only small, and although Cora was tall, neither women would be able to fight off a full grown man should one, in desperation, decide to use them to keep his head above water. She pulled Cora closer, her eyes raking over the shape. As it came closer though, her fear of it died, replaced instead by a sickness in her stomach. She was right in thinking it was a man, but his frozen, dead face told her he would be no danger to them. A sob escaped from Cora's mouth, and she turned her head into O'Briens neck.

"C-come on." She rested her cheek against Cora's for a second before she kicked again. If they stayed here, they were definitely going to die. If they swam out, blindly of course, they had a slight chance of coming across a returning lifeboat. She felt Cora swim beside her, and then two women moved in silence, gasping for air as the waters lapped at their faces.

With every stroke, O'Brien could feel her muscles slowing down, her brain freezing up. She could hear Cora's gasps, but after a while, the Countess began to sag behind. She fought to pull her along, determined that a boat would come into view any second. It didn't.

Her whole body felt as though it was seizing up. Her energy drained, and the strokes ceased. Cora had more or less stopped, and a tiny tug of her hand caused O'Brien to slowly turn to face her mistress. Cora's lips were black and quivering. Ice particles had formed in her usually beautiful hair and around her eyes. There was still a faint trail of the dried blood down her cheek from her head wound. O'Brien used her last ounce of strength to pull the two women together, their foreheads joining.

"Sarah..." Cora murmured through frozen lips, her eyes closing.

"I-I'm sorry, m-m'lady..." O'Brien felt her lips crack, the cut from earlier opening again. "I-I tried to keep you s-safe and I-I f-failed..."

"Shhh... Sarah," Cora's eyes flickered open, and the two women simply stared at each other, their heads still joined. "It's q-quite unfortunate th-that this should h-happen before you g-got t-to see N-new York." The tremble of her voice sent a small tear rolling down O'Briens cheek.

"I m-must say th-though... If I a-am to die b-beside a-anyone, I a-am glad it i-is with y-you." It was her turn for tears. O'Brien could feel them on her own cheek. Cora leant in, joining both pairs of trembling lips. Had they not of been so numb, and they weren't about to die in the Atlantic ocean, she would probably have appreciated Cora's gesture a whole lot more. "Thank you, S-Sarah, f-for e-every thing." Cora's eyes closed, and O'Brien could feel her own sight darkening, her body closing down.

"G-goodbye, m'l-lady." She took one last look at Cora's face, and then that was it... She was gone.

Thanks for reading up to now! I'll have the last chapter up as soon as I can! :)

Lxx