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Something started burning inside, wounded her with every heartbeat. It clouded her senses so badly everything else was locked out. She could feel binds on her wrists, ankles… she could hear voices far away in the distance, the soft whisper of ghosts of other worlds… it was as if her limbs had strings attached to them from the way her body started being swept away. Movement she was barely aware of… burning inside. She hadn't tried to open her eyes yet, comforted in a way by being blindfolded, she didn't want to see her broken body, floating away like a rag doll.

Something was pressed against her chest, weighting her down, suffocating her, she couldn't feel the air on her lungs, she couldn't feel anything, it was as if fire had melted her insides. Fire escaped from her insides, like liquid through her pores, it felt different now, solid. She stopped floating, landing with a soft thud into something wet. Only now was she aware of the voices, not being able to concentrate long enough on them to figure out what they were saying.

He found her broken inside a cave, her white body lying limp in an unnatural position, he reached for her without thinking. Her body's temperature was all wrong, much too cold… her lips were a strange shade of blue, black circles under her eyes…

"She's not breathing…"

Aline wasn't sure where she was, or how long she'd been there, she couldn't find her body in the pool of numbness, barely aware of the pressure on the center of her body, something touched her face, caressed her hair… defeated, she wanted to open her eyes, but her eye lids were much too heavy…

That voice, that touch stirred something inside her, bringing back some of the meaning life had ceased to have. She knew she had to do something, say something, anything, but her body was still lost and she couldn't find her voice.

Deidara was knelt beside her, his right hand securing her face firmly, his head buried in her neck, careful not to place any of his weight over her, he couldn't hear her heartbeat, he couldn't feel her breath, but she couldn't be dead. He knew that deep in the core of his bones. Because if she was dead his heart would stop beating, because life would have no meaning unless she was alive.

He locked his fingers on hers with his free hand, breathing the scent of her neck, his lips were close enough to kiss her delicate skin. He felt the slightest of pressure in his hand, something burst inside of him and he let go a sight realizing he had stopped breathing for a moment, his head felt light but she was alive, and nothing else mattered.

"Aline?"

He knew he could hear her, why didn't she say anything?

"Aline, love?"

Adrenaline started pumping in his blood, she was alive but it was wrong, he'd never seen her so fragile, so broken, so cold…