The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. The three of them had spent what was left of the night guiding the boat back on track.

Even with her bad vision, Jesse had to help turn the sail, since Lukas could only use his one arm. The other one was in a make-shift sling, made with what was left of his black leather jacket. Upon closer inspection, it seemed his arm was badly sprained, if not actually fractured.

"Day break." Petra announced bluntly, glancing in the direction of the rising sun as she shivered slightly.

She had gotten changed into dry clothes – thankfully Olivia had left them some - but was still fairly chilled, even her hair still wet. She had insisted to keep helping steer the boat, instead of keeping warm below deck.

"This might not be a pleasant subject to bring up." Jesse said as she helped Lukas turn the sale again. "But what if another phantom spawns tonight?"

"Over my dead body." Petra snapped, turning around. "You're going to sleep today."

"Petra's right." Lukas said. "We can't risk having a repeat of yesterday night. We might not be as lucky next time."

Jesse's face fell, and she looked down. Lukas and Petra exchanged glances. Lukas was the first to turn back to Jesse, a slightly more sympathetic expression on his face.

"Jesse, why haven't you been sleeping at night?" He asked her. "You must be beyond exhausted by now."

Jesse didn't say anything, biting her lip as she looked down at the deck below her feet.

"It's nightmares... isn't it?" Petra asked softly, walking up closer as well. "Three days ago... I remember waking you up at night because you were tossing and turning..." Realisation seemed to dawn on Petra as she spoke those words.

"Were you too afraid to sleep after that?" Lukas asked, immediately putting two and two together.

"Maybe." Jesse whispered softly, not looking up.

"Why didn't you tell us, Jesse?" Petra asked, shivering again lightly.

"Because..." Jesse started, taking a deep breath. "Because you've already been doing so much for me, and I haven't done anything to repay you. I've been pushing you away, the more you help me!"

"We understand, Jesse." Lukas said. "You lost... a lot. You're understandably grieving, we don't expect you to be all smiling and happy."

"Exactly, what he said." Petra agreed.

"Still." Jesse said softly, blinking back fresh tears. "You both went through so much for me, and I have done nothing to repay you."

"You're our friend." Petra replied. "We don't expect you to repay us."

"The only repayment we want is for you to be happy." Lukas added gently. "Please, Jesse, if something is wrong you have to tell us."

Jesse gave a faint nod. Lukas reached out his good hand, pulling her closer so the three of them fell into a hug, Jesse in the middle.

"And we're starting with you, getting some sleep." He said firmly. "What can we do to help?"

"I don't know." Jesse said softly. "Is there really anything you can do about nightmares other than just... waiting them out?"

"What about if one of us stayed with you?" Petra offered. "We can wake you if you're having one."

"You guys need to manage the sail, you can't." Jesse argued.

"I can handle the sail fine while Lukas stays with you." Petra said, before smirking. "After all, I still have both my hands here."

"The wind's calm right now." Lukas replied. "I'll manage the sail, you stay with Jesse. You need to get out of the cold and warm up, Petra."

"Oh, please." Petra began, looking annoyed.

"While the wind's calm, I'll do it. When the sea gets rougher, you can take over." Lukas said gently. "Right now, I'd feel a lot more reassured if Jesse got some sleep and you got some warmth."

"Worrywart." Petra mumbled under her breath, making Jesse weakly chuckle.

"Come on." she said, gently tugging on Petra's jacket sleeve. "Lukas is right. He'll come get one of us if the wind gets worse and he needs assistance."

Petra reluctantly gave in, following Jesse down below deck again, and leaving Lukas alone above deck. He smiled in satisfaction, checking his compass as he calmly turned the sale with his good hand.

"I really wish you told me sooner." Petra said, planting herself at the foot of the bed Jesse was getting in. "You know I wouldn't have let you gone sleep deprived."

"Which is exactly why I kept my mouth shut." Jesse pointed out softly, giving Petra as much of a reassuring smile as she could.

"I'm not even going to try and understand you." Petra said softly.

Jesse lay down on the bed, staring up at the wooden deck above her. Her eyes were starting to feel really droopy, turning her head so she could face Petra.

"Why don't you get some rest as well?" Jesse suggested. "You and Lukas can sleep in shifts to work. Neither of you slept yesterday night, because of my phantom..."

"Are you sure you're not just saying this because your too scared to sleep without me?" Petra asked jokingly as she reluctantly lay down beside Jesse.

"Ha, ha." Jesse replied sarcastically, closing her eyes as she exhaled slowly.

"Jesse?" She heard Petra say uncertainly.

"Hmm?"

"For the record." Petra said softly. "It's good to hear you talking to us again."

Jesse thought for a second. Petra was right. She hadn't even realised that she's been more open for the past few hours.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I-"

"Shush, I'm getting out of this bed if you get sappy on me." Petra scolded, before her face softened. "I'm just saying, I missed the old you."

"I missed the old me too." Jesse admitted softly. Those were the last words she spoke, until she drifted off.

--------------------

Jesse wasn't sure for how long she and Petra slept. However long it was, it was a dreamless sleep, the presence of her friend warding off any nightmares.

Jesse woke up, hearing nothing but the sound of the calm ocean waves lapping against the side of the boat. It was nice and warm from the rays of sunlight that shown in through the few round windows, a wonderful contrast to the cold they felt the previous night.

Petra was asleep on the other side of the bed, snoring softly as she slept. Jesse wondered how late it was, considering Lukas haven't come to wake Petra for her shift with the sail yet.

I should probably go check everything's still good with him. Jesse sleepily thought. Maybe he simply felt bad waking us...

But Jesse's tiredness overcame her thoughts, and she simply turned around on the bed, closing her eyes again. Her movement made Petra stir too, but she didn't wake up, only adjusting her position in her sleep.

Jesse's mind all of a sudden woke up properly, when Petra unexpectedly coughed. She sat slightly up, looking over at the redhead. Petra was still asleep, her back turned to Jesse.

Jesse put her hand on her friend's shoulder, gently rolling Petra onto her back. Petra mumbled something inaudible, as she remained asleep. Then she coughed again.

Jesse bit her lip worriedly. It was dreadfully cold the previous night, and Petra did get soaked. Hesitating, Jesse put her hand out onto Petra's forehead, immediately feeling a worrying amount of warmth beneath her palm.

Jesse reached up, raking her hands through her hair. What should she do? Should she wake Petra? Should she go tell Lukas? Should she go back to sleep and leave them to find out on their own? No, that was a stupid thought!

Jesse turned around, carefully slipping her legs off the bed and getting up. She decided to tell Lukas of her concerns. After all, she wanted to know how he was doing anyway, manning the sail with an injured arm.

Jesse kept her hand on the wall as she carefully felt for the steps with her feet. She carefully heaved herself up onto the deck, turning her head to look around.

Lukas was there, back turned to her. He was leaning on the boat's railing, looking out over the waves while eating an apple. Jesse walked up to him, silently leaning down on the railing beside him. He turned his head upon noticing her, and smiled.

"I was wondering when one of you would wake up." He said. "I went down to grab this apple ten minutes ago, and you were both still out cold."

"How's things going up here?" Jesse asked. "Your arm okay?"

"It's a bit sore." Lukas said with a shrug. "But it feels better than it did yesterday night. When the wind's this gentle, it's really not that hard to occasionally turn the sail, even with one hand.

I am starting to get a little beat though. It's about midday now, I'm thinking maybe Petra and I can swap out for a while."

"About that." Jesse said, taking a deep breath. "She's still asleep, but I think she might be sick, Lukas."

"Sick?" Lukas asked in surprise, turning his head back to Jesse and frowning.

"I woke up a short while ago, and I heard her cough." Jesse explained. "I checked her temperature and it feels like she's got a bit of a fever."

"Damnit." Lukas muttered under his breath, tossing his apple core into the ocean in frustration. "This is what she gets for being so darn stubborn, and staying out in the cold all night after getting wet."

"Did Olivia provide us with any medicine or anything?" Jesse asked. "Maybe even stuff for potions?"

"No." Lukas said, rubbing his neck. "Just food and the bit of clothes... I think there's some melon, but we'd need gold and other ingredients to brew them into healing potions."

"Can you brew anything with a dead phantom?" Jesse asked, chuckling slightly at how stupid her question was.

"Actually, their membrane can be used for some sort of potion." Lukas said. "But not a healing one."

"There could be resources at the island we're heading to?" Jesse suggested hopefully. "How many days do you think it'll take us to get there?"

"Depending n the state of the ocean, it could take a while." Lukas pointed out. "Petra might have completely healed on her own by the time we get there."

"Point taken." Jesse said, leaning back down on the railing and biting her lip again. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Depends what she came down with." Lukas said, sounding concerned. "Hopefully it isn't any more than just a case of the flu or something..."

They were quiet for a moment, both just staring out to sea. Lukas looked down at his free hand, chewing over his next words.

"How are you doing?" He finally asked Jesse. "Coping with all this? Yesterday you looked... a lot more broken than today."

"I don't know." Jesse admitted. "Everything's just really... numb. Ever since I lost my eye, all I've really felt was pain... hatred, regret, anger and straight up heartbreak. Emotionally, everything hurt."

Lukas looked a bit surprise, it being the first time in weeks Jesse actually admitted her feelings towards her eye sight.

"In all honesty, I didn't want to live anymore." Jesse said softly. "I barely spoke, I pushed you and Petra aside whenever you tried to help me. I was just in so much pain, I... I didn't even know what to do.

Today, I'm not sure what changed. I still can't walk properly, I still need to turn my head completely to look at things. I still miss Beacontown, and even thinking about Axel, Olivia and Radar hurts.

But it's almost as if... These feelings are there, but they just can't get to me."

She looked over at Lukas, her right eye gleaming as her left remained lifeless.

"I don't know if it's a good sign, or if it's a warning or what. Have I endured so much that I'm finally just losing the ability to feel any proper emotions?"

Lukas wrapped his good arm around Jesse, pulling her closer. He didn't say anything, seeming to realise that words wasn't what Jesse needed at that very moment.

Feeling his arm firmly wrapped around her, her own arms holding him tightly, her face buried in Lukas's shirt – something inside Jesse flipped.

The numbness all of a sudden faded away, and she felt the familiar, stabbing pain in her heart. But instead of pulling away from Lukas, instead of turning her back and focussing her mind on something else,

Jesse began to cry.

Clutching her friend like he was the only thing she could hold on to above a void of endless torment. Softly sobbing into his chest, feeling him rub her back gently.

And something about felt good.

Allowing all the pain that was bottled up inside her to finally come out, finally expressing the feelings she's forced down for long. Jesse felt some sort of relief.

"I don't think you have to worry." Lukas said softly, hugging Jesse tightly. "You still have your emotions. You've just been trying to protect yourself too much."

___

Yay for emotional drama?

So, aftermath the phantom attack, not too bright and sunny! Figuratively, that is, I believe Jesse mentioned the sun rays at some point

Things can only get better or worse from here. Which path do you think the story will take? As always, I'm all ears for theories!

I actually don't have a ton else to say here, so I think I'll just disappear off! Sorry for the late chapter guys, for once the five days had flown by :'D

But hey, I'll see you all with the next chapter in four days from now!