B.R.T. 16.06 - Tears in a Stream. *** A note of regret, and then the voice was gone. Gone, warmth instantly vanished into the chilly air as it streamed upwards, blasting mingled tears and blood from ruined eyes. Gone - and terribly silent. He had been so close. She should have felt his breath as it whispered in her ear...he should have reached out, taken her hand, held her hands again, her hands that felt so heavy, so strangely cold, so strangely cold and... Wet! Cold, wet, sudden, painful, shock! No wind...not blood...water. A hard landing, a landing in shallow water. Dark, unseen, but it was the ground. Tsugaru collapsed to her knees, searching for sounds, searching for bearings. She was blind now...but alive, whatever that meant here. But blindness would not matter for a while, if she could hear...if she could find...if she could feel... Again she cried out his name... The only response was the drop, drop, dropping, into the cold, dark water... ***