A rush of wind assailed her face, goosebumps were rising along her arms. It felt like she could feel every heartbeat and yet she couldn’t process anything in the world around her.  There was a sea of blue that simultaneously didn’t seem to be moving yet going by in a flash.

Heart thump after heart thump pounded in her body. It felt slow yet fierce, she had no other life experience to compare this moment to. Then there was a sound she didn’t recognize, but it was like a sheet being snapped before going over the bed. With a sudden jerk her fall was slowed.  The parachute had deployed and their return to earth was slowed.  Now she was able to comprehend things again and she reached 3 conclusions. 1) Her heart rate that “felt” slow was probably more like 200kph. 2) That was one of the most intense experiences of her life and the adrenaline crash was going to be rough. 3) A part of her wanted to go again.

She looked down, the ground was still surprisingly far and moving closer a bit faster then looked comfortable. She looked up at the parachute and her eyes went wide realizing there was a tear. A swallow was all she could manage for a reaction.  She looked around and realized her companions were way above her in the sky. The tear was getting worse, now that she was looking she could also hear it. Never had a more awful ripping sound filled her ears.  

Did it take seconds? Minutes? Hours? She could not tell. All she knew is that she was falling and her body was trembling. At this moment everything was out of her control and fun had been traded for panic. Suddenly there was a reach around her, it crossed her stomach and pulled on her harness.  Her body was jerked up as the secondary parachute deployed.  Her fall was slowed and she was able to think again.  Heero had reached around and pulled the strap to deploy the backup after the main chute had failed.  The ground was still getting closer.

She heard him speak for the first time, at least that she could process his voice. “This is going to hurt, we are going to hit the ground and roll. Do not panic, go with the roll until we stop. Put your arms up over your face, keep focused. Don’t untuck until I tell you.”  Her breaths were quick and shallow as the ground came still closer, she braced herself and puller her arms up like he told her. “Don’t let fear win, focus on what you have to do…”