Entranced

Summary:

—AU—To think that a poor homeless boy living in the streets and a rich, sheltered heiress could actually fall in love. But then again, stranger things have happened.

Notes to Keep in Mind:

-This is an AU story

-There is no bending whatsoever

-Toph has her eyesight

Author's Note:

Thank you for visiting my story. I really appreciate your interest. I've got this story totally planned out and I'll update at the very latest once every week. I would really love it if you could drop a small review when you finish reading. Not only does it let me know whether my writing is decent, but it also boosts morale.

Disclaimer:

Avatar: the Last Airbender is not mine. Not then, not now, and not ever.

OOO

Chapter 1

Accidental

OOO

There were very few instances where a street vendor had all of his defenses up all at once. Naturally, they were far too busy walking around the perimeter of their booth, coaxing unwilling patrons towards their delightful display of products, to keep an eye on everything. There was always a blind spot. Not because the street vendors were highly incompetent—although many people liked to agree that they were. It was simply, humanly impossible to keep an eye on the entirety of your stock. And that was how a blessing was bestowed upon Aang.

Hiding behind the splintering crates that lined the side of the building he was crouching in front of, Aang had expertly kept a close eye on the traveling merchant before him. The con-artist was pacing back and forth, waving around a multitude of mangos, melons, berries, and vegetables. He had baskets filled to the brim with various nuts and sugared sweets as well as containers filled with wine and water. In the corner, he kept a large wooden box that was decorated with a brass lock. That must have been where the old man kept his money. But what had easily caught the young boy's attention was what was sitting out in the open on a small table in the center of all of this mess, looking terribly lonely.

Aang quickly calculated inside his head. It had been exactly two weeks since he had last eaten an extremely decent serving of bakery bread. From the smell that was assaulting his nose he knew that the bread that was perched beautifully on the table next to the merchant was freshly baked. So, being hungry and having not eaten breakfast since he had awoken this morning, he was determined to have a nice loaf of bread to ease his hunger pains.

At that moment, a beautiful young woman had walked by the booth and had caught the attention of the dirty, old geezer. Determined to impress such a delicate and fine specimen, the old man turned his back to the young boy hiding behind him and focused his eyes on his next customer. He had quickly combed through his beard and leaned against the side of the display, casually flirting with the woman and kindly asking her "if she was interested in what he had to offer." No one could possibly be dumb enough to miss the double meaning behind the man's words.

Damn perverted merchants, Aang thought. They're all the same.

As the timid woman tried to slowly coax herself away from the man's insistent gaze, Aang took the opportunity to make a move. He thanked whatever deities that had bestowed him with such light feet as he soundlessly tip-toed towards the booth. The woman was starting to take a few steps to the left of the booth in an attempt to get away from the old man, but lonely merchants were persistent people. They'd be damned if they would let such a beautiful girl pass them by. So the vendor promptly walked behind the counter to keep up with the girl. Aang rolled his eyes as he quietly stepped over the ledge and behind the booth.

There, sitting upon a red tablecloth, was the sweet-smelling bread. If he had the time, Aang would've simply gorged on the bread right then and there. But he quickly reminded himself that he would have plenty of time to eat the bread afterwards. He ducked behind the table and looked up at his prize. Being as quiet as was humanly possible, he started to inch his arms upwards towards the basket of bread. He could hear the quiet refusals of the young girl in front of him as well as the disgusting chuckle from the old man. Aang's fingers brushed against the woven basket as he felt around for the handles of the basket. He grasped the handles with firm hands and slowly started to lift the basket off of the table.

Ha, ha, Aang chuckled inwardly. Dumb fool didn't even see a thing!

However, unbeknownst to Aang, the young woman happened to cast her glance away from the creepy, greasy man in front of her and placed her eyes on the small table in the back of the booth. It was a normal sight to see. A basket of bread on a table. There was nothing particularly breath-taking about that, was there? She was better off worrying about the man in front of her who seemed to be undressing her with his eyes, wasn't she? She should've promptly walked away, shouldn't she have?

Of course she would've liked to do all of those things. But what she saw instead caused her to scream out for the whole surrounding area to hear.

"L-L-Look! That basket! I-It's floating! Behind you sir! The basket!"

Aang's eyes widened as he heard the woman scream out. The vendor had turned around, comically thinking that the girl was just looking for a way to escape. He turned around to humor her in her attempt to flee, but instead saw exactly what the girl had said she saw: a basket floating in midair.

"Hey!" the old man yelled, sauntering over to the bread in attempt to grab it back. The old man knew better. Baskets didn't float. Any self respecting person knew that. There were no such things as ghosts. So that couldn't be the cause of it either. So that meant there was only one other option…

The man lunged forward to snatch the basket away, but instead wound up snatching air. He looked up to see a young teenage boy, holding his property in his arms, quickly jumping over the booth and running to the left. Enraged, the old man hobbled his way over the ledge and started running through the crowded city streets in an attempt to catch the boy who stole from his store.

Aang cursed under his breath as he weaved through the people that were littering the roads. If there was one thing about the city of Gaoling that Aang could assure, it was that it had far too many people. There was a certain formula that came with an over-crowded city. The most obvious portion of it was that newcomers rarely had any place they could stay. There was no room in the inns, all of the houses were bought, and there was not enough land for a handyman and his family to build a new one. So what were they forced to do? Live on the streets.

This often led to a lot of sick people littering street corners, begging for food, money, clothes…really anything that a passerby could spare. As Aang leaped through the sea of people, he managed to get a glimpse of a few children standing on the street corner with tin cans in their hands, asking for a small copper coin. But passersby's weren't very kind and generous. And the people begging for a break rarely got anything. So, when begging didn't work, desperate times called for desperate measures. If no one would give you food and you had no money to buy it, there was really only one thing you could do to survive.

Steal.

And in Gaoling, there was a lot of stealing.

Aang prided himself in his ability to slink away without being noticed. He wasn't heavy-footed like most seventeen year-old boys would be. In fact, his late father often said that he would make an adept male dancer. Aang never found that to be funny. What also helped in his rather impressive escape tactics was his knowledge of the layout of the city. After living in the alleys of Gaoling since he was a little boy, he knew exactly what dingy streets led to where and exactly which abandoned buildings were run down enough to get his pursuers lost. All in all, he considered himself an elitist in the art of deception and escape.

Granted most thought that this was a rather shady résumé, but as long as he didn't starve, Aang really didn't care.

He had to admit though; this old man was pretty fast for his age. Aang had already ran out of the busiest part of the market and began running towards the houses where people were dangling out of their windows, hanging wet clothes out on clotheslines, dumping out dirty bath water, and simply enjoying the scenery. Aang slipped by a group of women who were carrying loads of laundry and smirked as he heard the curses they yelled back at him. He heard the old man barge through the same group of women and again heard the colorful vocabulary slipping from their supposedly cultured and sophisticated lips.

Aang turned a corner and started running in between two houses through a very narrow pathway. Aang knew exactly where he was going. If he was going to lose the man behind him and get away with his breakfast, he had to try something quick and effective.

The old man was huffing and puffing as he tried to keep up with the young, homeless boy. He kept screaming strings of curses, warnings, and threats saying that he would chop the boy's hand off for even thinking that he would be able to get away from him. He may have been old, but the man had been in the business for years. Running after thieves was a very tedious but highly necessary requirement for a merchant. A traveling merchant at that. Everyone wanted some valuable pastry or wine from a foreign land. He had gotten the recipe for that particular loaf of bread from a close friend. And it wasn't cheap either. He wasn't about to let some stupid boy get away with it.

He saw the lanky teenager run down a thin alleyway. The man tried to shove his not-so-skinny body through the very narrow space that the boy had easily slipped through. As the old man began to make his way to the end of the alleyway, he saw the boy stop at a stone wall. The merchant smirked.

Nowhere for the poor rat to go, the man snickered to himself.

The man carefully made his way towards Aang as said young boy eyed the old man carefully.

"Come on now, you little brat," the old man shouted out with a self-satisfied smile on his face. The bastard thought that he had already won. "Just give me back the bread before I do something I'm going to regret."

Aang laughed out loud and shook his head. The merchant raised an eyebrow and stared at the youth in confusion. "What the hell are you laughing about?" He tilted his head to the side. "Are you retarded or something?"

Aang smirked as he backed up against the stone wall. He tucked the basket under one arm and held the other hand in a defensive manner. "Look I don't want to cause any trouble. I just wanted something to eat. Is that so bad?" he asked innocently. Maybe too innocently. It did sound like he was mocking the man a little bit.

"It is bad," the man spat out. "When you don't pay for something I broke my bones trying to get, it becomes a major problem. Either you pay for that loaf of bread or I'll dangle you off of the roof until the money falls out of your pockets!"

Aang quickly stared behind him. All he had to do was time his movements correctly and he would be able to get away. He looked at the man walk closer and closer to him, starting to trap Aang in the alleyway. The man had an enraged look in his eyes as he got closer to grabbing the food from Aang's hands. He was halfway through the alleyway at this point. Just a little closer…

The merchant had enough of the hesitation and started a full-on charge towards Aang. Aang smirked as he bent his knees a little bit. Once the man was at least eight feet away from Aang, the boy quickly jumped on top of a pile of boxes filled with rotten vegetables and jumped towards one of the walls of the alley. He pushed off of the wall with his foot and propelled himself further up to the opposite wall. Again, he pushed his foot out and lifted himself further up the alley walls until he was able to land on top of the stone wall that had originally been behind him. The merchant had watched the boy half in awe and half in utter anger. He ran towards the wall and began clawing his nails into the hard stone. He tried to hoist himself up the wall to go and regain what was his from the shop, but his age and his weight prevented him from going any higher than two feet up the wall. Aang laughed out loud at the old man's useless and pathetic attempts to try and capture his newly found bane-of-existence. Getting bored with the man's struggling, Aang hopped down the wall on the other side, leaving the merchant to curse, struggle, complain, punch, kick, scream, and a whole barrage of other useless actions.

Needless to say, Aang had won once again.

He carefully landed on the ground quietly as he cradled his breakfast in his arms. As far as he could tell from looking around, there were no other vagabonds that could possibly threaten him for some food. Getting sustenance was only half of the job. The other half included watching your back for any other homeless and hungry people that might try and steal what you just risked your life to get. With great caution, Aang continued down the alley that had continued in front of him until he exited toward another street. To the right was the market place. He decided it would be best to wait awhile before going back there. He didn't want to have to run into the merchant again. Too many problems would arise, plus Aang just wasn't in the mood to deal with his stupidity. So, trying his best to seem inconspicuous with a basket of sweet smelling bread in his arms, he turned left on the street.

Once you entered the city, the first thing you were able to walk through was the streets that contained the houses of the incredibly wealthy. Aang liked to think that most of them were stuck up, brown-nosed, people. Whenever they happened through the city, they would promptly ignore anyone and everyone that had less money than they did. It was a matter of status. People of high nobility would never be caught dead conversing with commoners. It was considered uncultured, degrading, and just plain wrong. Aang almost never made his way over to that part of Gaoling. He would never be allowed near the expensive estates anyway. And even if he was, he had no desire to walk alongside such selfish people.

After you got passed the rich part of the city, there was the market place. It was the epicenter of thievery, deception, scamming, purchasing, and finagling. Humorous and interesting things happened there every day. Aang laughed at the memory of a clothing merchant getting mugged by five twelve-year-old boys who were eyeing the neatly sewed pants that the man had on display. What made the event so memorable was that all five of the boys had sacks filled with tiny stones that were being thrown at the old man. Two of the boys were in charge of biting the old man to distract him so that the other three could grab as many slacks as they could.

After that were the regular houses filled with decent people who were neither dirt poor nor filthy rich. The nobles called them common folk. Aang thought they were just human beings, which was more than he could say for half of the other residents of Gaoling. He walked through that part of town now, still seeing the same hanging clothes and bustling people he saw when he was running through the streets not a few minutes ago. A few abandoned buildings littered the roads here and there as well as a few storage houses that served as shelter for many homeless individuals. Aang walked further past the barrage of people and buildings as he spotted his destination.

Ahead of him was a crumbling, wooden house that probably belonged to a family of about five from before. It had two floors, no furniture, no residents, and no appeal to the common passerby. But to Aang, this was the place that he had called home.

He walked around to the back of the decrepit building, still looking around for the old merchant and other desperate people that might have wanted his food. He located the door in the back of the house that had a brass doorknob and was hanging off of the hinges. He carefully pushed the door open and let it bang the inside wall at an angle. As soon as he was safely inside, he placed the door back into its original place. He strode across the first floor as he passed boxes filled with books, scrolls, blankets, and extra clothes—all of which he stole. Even though he was without a decent place to live, he was educated. His father had made sure of that. He loved reading, writing, and learning. He acknowledged the fact that embracing literature was difficult seeing his situation, but he made the best of it however he could. He held the bread in one arm and sifted through one of the boxes filled with dusty, old books. His finger traced the spine of one particularly thick volume and he picked it up in his hands. He flipped the book over in his hands and quickly glanced at the cover. He nodded in approval and tucked the book neatly under his other arm.

The wooden stairs that gradually led up to the second floor were splintered, old, and worn, and they creaked with every step that he took. Step by step he ascended into the low ceiling floor that served as a bedroom-of-sorts for Aang. There wasn't much that was particularly interesting about it. There was a large, comfortable looking pile of blankets against the furthest wall. The pile of blankets was directly underneath a large window which was covered by a make-shift curtain. Since it was the summer time, the blankets were thin and the window served as a way to let in a nice breeze throughout the night. There was a table to the left of the room with a stool for Aang to eat his meals. On the right, there were even more boxes of books and scrolls along with a few empty baskets that had previously held food.

Aang placed his basket of bread on the wooden table to his left and placed the book he picked from downstairs on the ledge of the window. Sitting down on his knees on top of his "bed", he carefully pushed aside the tattered curtain that kept the window covered and peered outside.

Aang's bedroom window had the most beautiful view.

The sun was high up in the sky and cast down a glowing, golden hue upon the rooftops of Gaoling. The market place was visible from his window and he saw all of the jewelry that one man was selling glitter and shine when it caught the light. Aang smirked when he saw a young girl ogling the shimmering jewelry. From where Aang was sitting, it didn't even look all that expensive. But, the morning sun always had a way of making even the most old and worn out things beautiful.

He felt that applied even more to the city as a whole. When people had complimented Gaoling, they always referred to the rich part of the city where all of the nobles lived. No one much cared for how the slums looked and whether or not they were even mentioned in a conversation. But in Aang's opinion, the entire city right now looked dazzling. It was amazing how even all of the abandoned buildings that lay out in an unarranged pattern before him had a sort of hidden charm to them when the sun was shining down on them like it was right now.

Aang sighed as he got up and walked back to sit down at the table, leaving the curtain open. He ripped off a small piece of the bread and started eating it morsel by morsel. As he let his taste buds dance in delight and his stomach growl in anticipation for the food that was long overdue, Aang kept his gaze on the scenery before him. It was times like these where he almost didn't mind that he had nowhere to live. Sure, he missed his father dearly. If there was a way for Aang to bring him back, or maybe even just get to have one last conversation with him, Aang wouldn't hesitate. But his father always taught him to embrace what you have, no matter how meager it might have been. Aang always followed his father's advice. He savored the life that he had and made the best of it however he could. And he was happy.

But, that didn't mean that there wasn't something that seemed to be vacant in his life. At least when he was a boy in the streets, he had his father there to lead him through each day, to tell him that all of his troubles would be worth it in the end, and simply to keep his spirits up when waves of loneliness and sadness overcame him. He smiled at the memory of his father's warm smile, his wrinkled yet kind facial features, and his hearty laugh. Aang sighed. He wasn't about to get nostalgic. It had taken him years to get over his father's death and he didn't want to experience the painful aches in his chest he used to get whenever he thought of his father. He was over that chapter in his life, no matter how much he missed and loved the only person he had in his life.

But now he had no one beside him, no one to say hello to him in the morning, and no one to comfort him when the pressures of staying alive became too much for him to bear. Going through that by yourself for so long took a toll on your spirit. Aang always appeared spirited and energetic around the rest of the homeless children he knew. But there was no denying the dismal sense of anxiety that pulsed through his being on a daily basis.

What he wouldn't give to have someone take that away from him.

Suddenly, for the first time in a very long time, Aang had lost his appetite. He turned the remainder of the bread in his hands as he stared blankly at the floor in front of him. He didn't mean to become depressed over something that he never used to think so much about. It bothered him that he would even think of dwelling over such troublesome thoughts. He had no need to look down at his life so much. He found it highly selfish to be complaining when he should be grateful that he even had a meal on his table at the moment. Even with this running through his mind, he couldn't find the urge to finish the bread. He placed the left over bread in the basket and covered it with the red cloth so as to keep it fresh for as long as possible. He rubbed his face and sighed in exhaustion.

It wasn't even noon and he was already tired.

Who knew that he would have to run across the entirety of the city just to get a bite to eat?

Aang flung himself backwards until he landed in the pile of quilts he placed by the window. He realized that he would soon have to move the quilts towards the middle of the room and make sure that the window stayed closed at all times since the cold weather would be coming soon. He looked around the room and surveyed the boxes that he kept around. He was pretty sure that he still had a few long sleeve tunics and some warm cloaks that he could get away with wearing. But they were all probably worn out and filled with holes. He would have to see what he could do about getting more tomorrow. He had enough dealing with merchants and store owners today. That bread would last him for the next two days. There was plenty of it, or at least he felt that it was plenty. He had long gotten used to his inevitably small portions of food over the years.

As soon as he comfortable became accustomed to the cushioned expanse of worn out fabric that kept him warm at night, he heard a loud commotion coming from the streets below him. Aang hoisted himself up and placed his chin on the windowsill, looking out into the maze of streets and alleyways that made up Gaoling. He searched through the bleak streets and skipped over all of the haggard, worn down people that were littering the streets in front of him. He was pretty sure that he heard a crowd of people just now. It was very faint, but his surrounding 'neighborhood' was pretty quiet. No one came around here much so he was able to easily hear anything strange outside. It made watching his back for any shady characters a lot easier.

In the distance, he was able to see the edge of the market place. Sure enough, there was a large wave of people, talking excitedly and fanning themselves from the view that they were looking at. Aang couldn't very well see much because of all of the people blocking his way, but whatever it was, it certainly had people excited. Streamers were flying into the sky, people were waving and shouting, small coins were being thrown in the middle of the crowd, and children were quickly pushing through the massive adult bodies so that they may get a better view of the commotion.

Probably just some noble walking through town, he thought to himself.

Although he really had no desire to go see some spoiled nobles walking through the streets as if they were the ones that owned them, he figured he might as well have a little bit of excitement before he turned in for the day. Besides, it looked as if a hell of a lot of people were throwing in coins towards the noble procession. If he was fast enough and sneaky enough, he could probably swipe a few coins and trade them in for some winter clothing. He could've probably gotten away with swiping some long sleeved articles without buying them, but he figured that since it was getting cold rather quickly, a lot of other people would be thinking of trying the same thing. That would mean the shop clerks would increase security.

"Looks like I'm going to have to find some money," he said out loud to himself.

So without any further hesitation, Aang quickly ran out of the room, down the crumbling staircase, through his crooked door, and into the dusty streets of the slums. He was a quick runner, so getting to the procession in time would be no problem. Besides, there were a lot of coins that were being thrown that the servants probably would miss. He'd have plenty of time to pick up four or five. That should give him about two shirts, which was more than enough for the winter.

He saw that the procession was heading east, so he turned right and started running down the streets, hoping to cut off the large crowd and get a front row seat. That way swiping some money would prove to be a lot easier. He ran through alleys, pathways, streets, roads, and buildings. He intently kept his eyes on the streamers that were still being thrown in the air, making sure that he was running in the right direction. As he got closer, the shouts that were ringing in his ears started to form into coherent words.

"Lady Bei Fong, over here!"

"Master Bei Fong, a pleasure to see you!"

"Blessings upon the Bei Fong's!"

"May you prosper always!"

Aang rolled his eyes. It was as if they were talking to kings. It wasn't as if they had to actually like these people. He sure as hell didn't. But then again, look at him. A street rat with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Maybe he shouldn't have been talking. But, he was almost positive that he had a brilliant point. All of these townspeople didn't owe these nobles a cent, yet here they were throwing coins in the street for them.

He didn't understand what they saw in nobles. But then again, maybe he never would.

He finally turned a final corner and saw the backs of a multitude of people. He quickly made his way to the edge of the crowd and place himself on the edge of the road, trying not to get pushed by the multitude of people that were pressing against him next to him, trying to get a better view as well. It wasn't everyday that you saw a noble running through these parts of Gaoling. They usually kept to themselves in their stuffy, rich houses. They usually didn't care to show their faces around common folk, though it was sometimes necessary when they came back from trips outside the city.

Aang looked to his left and saw three palanquins being led down the road. Aang scoffed. Leave it to them to show up here in style. Of course, with rich people there really was no other way.

I swear. Rich people make me want to bash my brains in, he thought bitterly.

In the distance, he saw two palanquins walking side by side and then a smaller one following close behind. He had heard of the Bei Fong's once or twice. Apparently, Master Bei Fong had a beautiful wife and one daughter, just about the same age as him. He had no interest in this last piece of information. She was probably some stuck up bitch that didn't care about anything but the new gown that was being tailored for her today. The last thing he wanted to do was put his forehead to the ground for such people. But he bit his tongue. He badly wanted to curse them out and see what they would do. But he needed money.

The palanquins were opened so that the citizens could see their faces. Sitting cross-legged in the two palanquins that were in front were none other than Master Bei Fong and his wife, Lady Bei Fong. They were both decent looking people and couldn't be older than their early thirties. That was another thing. All of these nobles were so young. It's as if they get married at the age of twelve and pop out kids the minute they get into their hotel rooms.

Alright, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but he was trying to make a point.

Aang really didn't pay much attention to the features of the man and wife that were traveling through the streets. Not only did he not care, but he was too busty discreetly stuffing in gold and silver coins into the pockets of his worn pants. Nobody seemed to notice either because they were too busy worshipping the bastards that were walking by in their stupid little palanquins or they were acting like him and were trying to swipe as much money as they could. The two nobles walked by him without noticing his little thievery, leaving Aang completely satisfied and his pockets full.

Aang smirked. Sure his pockets weren't all that large, but with the coins he did have, he'd be able to actually buy food and clothes for at least four more days. And with the bread that he still had at home, he'd be set for a while.

This would be a good week.

Aang was about to push his way back out of the crowd and back to his house to turn in for the evening, but he forgot about the last, smaller palanquin coming through the crowd again. Curiosity got the better of him as he turned back around and waited for the palanquin to pass by. He'd only get a quick little look at whoever was inside. After all, he'd only even heard about the Bei Fong's through gossip. He wasn't quite sure what it was that they did that made them so rich and he didn't know what they looked like until now. Might as well get a look at their precious little daughter.

Aang poked his head out of the crowd and into the street so that he could gaze straight into the palanquin. Squinting and looking past the silk covers that were covering the opening, Aang was able to finally catch a glimpse of the person inside of the palanquin as it passed buy him.

He took in a sharp breath.

The girl that was inside the palanquin was sitting cross-legged, similar to that of her parents. She had her hands placed delicately in her lap as the golden bangles she was wearing jingled with each step of the bearers underneath her. He saw the embroidered, silk pants that she was wearing as well as the beautifully embroidered emerald jacket that wrapped around her shoulders. Her feet were tucked neatly underneath her legs and she sat up perfectly straight, back tall and firm. From what he could tell, she was very pale. Her alabaster skin practically shimmered whenever the sun above her managed to shine through the opening of her palanquin. But this isn't what caught the brunt of Aang's attention.

Her eyes were the brightest shade of green that he had even seen. They reminded him of what the leaves on a tree in the summer would look like: vibrant, bold, and gorgeous. Her nose was neither too pointed nor too flat and stood at a pleasing angle in the middle of her face. Right below them was a pair of soft, pink, full lips. Her eyes were downcast and her lips were pulled into a frown. But that didn't mar her features in the slightest. She had jet, black hair that was neatly pulled into a bun that was being held up by two wooden sticks that were strategically placed through her bun. A few glossy strands of hair hung in front of her face and contrasted perfectly with the white, flawless surface that was her face.

The one thing he could say about her was that she looked sad. Like she didn't want to be there, stuck in that ridiculous box with so many people doting on her. That was why she never looked up at anyone, that was why she didn't smile back at the people that were calling for her attention, and that was why she stared at her folded hands in her lap, like she was patiently waiting for this ridiculous show to be over.

He certainly wasn't expecting that.

As her palanquin passed by the people in the crowd, they slowly began to dissipate the farther and farther away she got, determined on following her and her family all the way to the gates of their house. Slowly, but surely, Aang was left standing alone in the middle of the street, colorful gifts, streamers, and other useless celebratory items piled at his feet. He continued to stare at the girl's palanquin until he could no longer see anything. It was quiet around him and nothing could be heard but his uneven and nervous breathing. He continued to stare into the distance for a few more minutes. He could only say one thing in his slight state of stupor.

"So beautiful."