I screamed.

I could feel the rawness of its power tearing apart my vocal cords as it clawed at my throat, like a desperate animal trying to seek escape. I was falling. Falling fast. I craned my neck over my shoulder and almost fainted at the sickly green scales slithering underneath the frothy surface of the sea.

I flailed my arms as the scenery rushed past me in a blur. A muffled yell tore from my lips as I twisted in the air, trying to get a better look at the Pegasus that hovered above me. The fall seemed to take forever; time did not seem to exist as the water rushed up to greet me, its mouth opening up to swallow me whole.

A crash. Cold water wrapped around and embraced me, its icy hug suffocating, sucking the air from my lungs. I whimpered. I wasn't a strong swimmer. Back and forth, I kicked my feet desperately as I sank like a rock, my eyes focused on breaking the surface. My hands shot up, searching for something to pull me out, and I opened my mouth to scream. Only bubbles came out.

A dark shadow loomed over me and I stared blankly above. My lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves. My body felt like I was running naked through a frozen tundra while on fire. Pain. It encloaked me. It embraced me, became familiar to me. Became me.

The dark shadow dove closer towards me, and I found myself getting lost in crystal blue sapphires. If this was what heaven was like, I'd go peaceably. Without a struggle. The edges around my vision grew darker and I drew a breath, reveling in the water that filled me, slowly. Agonizingly slow.

I glanced up, confused. I was sinking, but now I was soaring. Up, up. Closer towards life, and a step farther away from Death. The surface was rushing up towards me, the bright light growing dimmer. I opened my mouth once more and let out a piercing wail, which was lost in the thick waves.

I gulped down sweet air as I held on tightly to Peter. I vomited a couple times, but he didn't seem to mind much. In fact, he was pretty calm about it, though his eyes blazed with concern.

My dear, heroic Peter. He was beside me, his hands entwined with mine, his arms wrapped around my waist. His face was buried in my sodden brown hair, his eyes closed as he held my body to his. I wanted to melt into him, become one with him. Maybe it was because of my close brush with Death that made me suddenly so aware of his warmth, his presence, his overall smell.

I wanted to kiss him.

It was a burning ache inside my heart, like a wildfire that started in my soul and was slowly burning away at the rest of me. My eyes strayed to Peter's wet lips and I silently marveled at how perfect they were. I wanted, needed, desired him.

Maybe even loved him.

I leaned forward, pressed myself against him and left little space between us, as I buried my nose into his neck and inhaled his sweet scent.

Peter grabbed my cheeks, his icy cold fingers sending shivers through my spine, and he stared into my eyes. I stared back. A small reflection of me stared back from Peter's eyes, her eyes accusatory for the recent predicament we were in.

"Stupid girl." He let out a shaky laugh before pressing his warm lips against my forehead. "You stupid, reckless girl. You should not have dove at the sea serpent like that. You could have DIED." Peter sighed before giving me a stern look, the warmth leaving his eyes and being replaced with an icy glare. I couldn't help but smile back. "You ever pull a stunt like that, Sasha, and you can forget about coming out to the field again."

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from Peter, a frown plastered on my face. Leave it to him to ruin the fun and kill the moment at the same time.

"I was doing fine without your help," I snapped as I ripped my arm away from Peter reluctantly. I shook the water from my hair and scowled at Peter's look of concern. "Let's just get back to the Base. We lost it anyways."

I started to swim towards the shore, towards the black Pegasus whinnying about me almost dying. I ignored the sad look on Peter's face, not wanting to face him or the truth. Maybe I was just imagining those previous feelings I thought I was feeling. Maybe it was the fact that I could have died that made me think I wanted to kiss Peter.

As I repeated those lies to myself, I waited for that burning, tingling ache inside of me to frost over; I wanted to be numb to the feeling of love again.