April 15th, 1912, 2:10 a.m.

The stern was well above the water by now, and the lights were flickering. Tommy and Emily clung to the railing on the starboard side of the ship, unable to make it all the way to the stern. Tommy's left arm waswrapped firmly around Emily's waist, and his right was gripping the railing. Emily was still shocked over their meeting with Edward, but the shock was dull, buried under the worry and stress of the situation.

"Emily, the ship is goin' to go under." Tommy was speaking low, his voice deep and soothing to Emily's ears. "When it does, try and stay at the surface. If ya get pulled under, kick as hard as ya can to get up. Don't let go o' my hand."

2:18 a.m.

Emily was crying openly now, the tears streaming down to stain her cheeks as she burrowed as close as she could to Tommy's shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice choking. "I love you."

"I love ya too," he whispered back, a fierce determination in his voice. "And I'll not let anythin' happen to ya, ya understand?"

Emily nodded stiffly, her teeth chattering with cold. The lights flickered once more, then went out, plunging them into darkness. The stern had risen further into the air, and Tommy and Emily were clutching the railing for dear life.

2:19 a.m.

There was a great creaking, filling the air eerily. The sound seemed to originate from somewhere about twenty yards to Emily's left. The creaking was soon joined by a loud popping and cracking, as if the ship was straining herself. The cracking became louder, and, to Emily's horror, began to split down the middle. Tommy cursed under his breath, and did his best to shimmy both of them as far from the growing fissure as possible.

The crack continued to widen, until the ship seemed to be held together by a thread, before cracking completely in two. The stern of the ship went down, crashing onto the waves, and jarring Emily's chattering teeth. Emily let out a strangled cry, which turned quickly into a sob as she watched, eyes wide, as the bow of the ship sank beneath the water. Screams and cries filled the air, tearing into Emily's heart. The stern began to rise again, quicker this time, as it was unburdened by the heavy front end.

"Emily," Tommy's voice was urgent, and she clung to it like a life preserver. "Emily we've got ta jump off now."

"W-w-what?" Her teeth were chattering so violently that she could barely stammer out the word.

"We've got ta jump. She'll pull us down if we don'." Emily nodded shakily, prying her stiff fingers from the freezing metal railing. "Ya ready?" Emily nodded, though she knew she was not. Of course, can one ever be ready for something like that? "Jump!" Tommy launched the both of them off of the railing, and they fell the several yards to the ocean, landing with a splash into the freezing water.

2:20 a.m.

Emily's first instinct, upon coming into contact with the frigid water, was to draw in a deep, ragged breath. She closed her mouth and nose quickly, however, when her head was swallowed by the waves. Emily kicked as hard as she could, panicking when she felt Tommy's arm slide from her waist. Her head broke the surface, and she gasped and sputtered, trying in vain to draw a significant amount of air into her frozen lungs. She searched frantically, treading water in circles, the screams, cries, and pleading of the passengers filling her ears. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned as quickly as the water and her stiff muscles would allow her, feeling a surge of relief when she saw that it was Tommy.

"We've g-g-got ta s-swim aw-w-way," he stammered, his teeth clacking together. Emily nodded, and Tommy grabbed her wrist, helping her to swim away from the sinking ship. The screams intensified, and Emily glanced behind her just in time to see the stern of the ship, which was now sticking straight up in the air, begin to sink lower and lower in the water. "K-k-keep swimmi-ing," Tommy instructed, and Emily obeyed, turning back around.

As they swam, Emily could not help but pick out faces among the terrified people. There was Anna O'Malley, the kind Irish woman that Emily had sat next to at dinner, looking completely terrifies; there was Meredith Blake, the young lady whose dress Emily was wearing, tears streaming down her face as she held the frozen body of her younger sister in her arms; there was Alec Galt, Tommy's roommate, floating face up in the ocean, his eyes glazed over in death. Emily could feel the tears that fell from her eyes quickly freeze on her cheeks, and she knew that her hair was frozen as well.

"Tommy," she whispered, her voice small and fading. "T-Tommy, I c-c-can't d-do it." Tommy stopped swimming and turned to face her.

"D-don't ya d-d-dare give u-up," he said fiercely. He grabbed her face in both of his hands and kissed her on the lips. Although normally a kiss such as this would have warmed Emily to the very tips of her toes, it did nothing against the brutal cold this time. Tommy turned around again, and swam them out to a less crowded space. They tread water for what seemed like eternity, listening to the screams gradually growing dimmer.

4:10 a.m.

It seemed to Emily that she would never be warm again. Tommy had found them a headboard to rest on, and both of them were now mostly out of the water, but they could not escape the cold that permeated their very bones.

"S-s-stay awake, L-l-love," Tommy whispered, sensing that she was drifting to sleep.

"B-b-but I'm so...so t-tired." Her lips were blue with cold, and she had difficulty talking.

"I kn-now, E-Emil-ly, b-but you m-must stay aw-wake. F-for m-me." Emily nodded shakily, prying her frozen eyelids open.

By now, all of the screams had died, leaving the night air eerily still. Emily had long since resigned herself to death, but she clung to the edges of life for Tommy's sake.

4:15 a.m.

The light shined bright through Emily's closed eyelids, and she winced away from it instinctively. She opened her eyes only when she felt Tommy frantically shaking her by the shoulder.

"Emily," he was pleading desperately. "Emily, p-please w-wake up. There's a l-lifeboat, L-love. Th-they're c-comin' ta g-get u-us." Emily opened her eyes slowly to see Tommy frantically waving his arm in the air. He was silhouetted briefly as the light, which she now figured out was coming from a flashlight, passed over him. There was a distant shout, and a soft lapping of water, and Tommy looked down at her again. "H-here th-they come, Em." His voice was soft and relieved when he saw her eyes were open.

The lifeboat reached them a good five minutes later, and the men aboard helped them in. Blankets were quickly thrown around Emily's shoulders, but it did nothing against the bitter, biting cold that had permanently lodged itself in her body. Emily sank against Tommy's side, and he wrapped his arms around her blanket-clad shoulders, pulling her tight against his body.

"I thought I had lost you," he whispered.

"I l-l-love you," she murmured back.

"I love ya too. I don' know what I would've done had ya...had ya..." he was unable to finish, but Emily knew what he was trying to say.

"I love you," she whispered one more time, before falling asleep as Tommy hummed their lullaby gently in her ear.

8:20 a.m.

"Emily, wake up." Tommy was shaking her again, but this time, his voice was more excited than panicked. "There's a ship, Em. It's come to get us." Emily stirred and opened her eyes sleepily. Above them loomed a grey, metal hull of a ship, the word R.M.S Carpathia stenciled there. People were leaning over the railing to point down at them, and, soon, a white ladder was lowered down. Two of the four officers on the lifeboat clambered up the ladder, while one of them helped Tommy get Emily up. When Emily set foot on the stable deck of the ship, she was immediately accosted by two elderly women bearing blankets and steaming cups of coffee.

"There you are dear." The woman's voice was kind as she wrapped Emily in the warm woolen blankets and placed a cup of coffee in her hands. The woman tried to pull Emily away from the railing, but Emily protested, not wanting to be parted from Tommy. Tommy gently wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulders, giving the elderly woman a grateful smile. The woman nodded knowing, then turned and walked away. Emily took a sip of her coffee, shivering as the warmth of it seared her frozen throat.

"Are ya all right?" Tommy's voice was concerned as he led Emily to a nearby deck chair.

"Yes," Emily whispered. Tommy sat down, then pulled Emily gently down onto his lap. She snuggled into his chest, and once again fell asleep to the soothing sound of their lullaby.

Thursday, April 18th, 1912. 9:45

"We're hear Love." Tommy's voice was whispered very close to her ear. She nodded, sinking into his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I can't believe we made it." She knew that they were lucky to be alive, and the shock of their close encounter with death had yet to wear. Emily was sure that she would never forget it, even if she lived to be a thousand. "What are we going to do, Tommy?" Her voice carried a note of desperation to it.

"We'll figure somethin' out, Love." Emily turned her eyes to New York harbor, which was quickly approaching. As she watched New York draw closer, she could not help but think over the events that had happened since they had boarded Carpathia.

Shortly after they were rescued, Emily and Tommy were sitting on deck, looking out at the sea. Emily turned her head a fraction of an inch to look at a movement that she detected out of the corner of her eye. It was Edward, walking along the deck with Madam Mason. Emily watched them surreptitiously, making no move to either avoid or confront them. As they passed the chair that Emily and Tommy were sitting on, Edward happened to glance over in their direction. His eyes widened infinitesimally, but he made no other indication that he had seen them at all. Emily was pleased to note that his nose was crooked.

Two days after their rescue, Emily was reunited with Rose. The young woman had lost some of her spark, but she still greeted Emily with enthusiasm. When Emily had asked after Jack, Rose had broken down into tears, recounting the whole tragic tale while Emily held her, stroking her hair and trying her best to reassure the older girl that it was going to be alright. She could not help but shudder at how close she had come to losing that man that she loved.

The ship docked with not even the tiniest bump. Emily and Tommy walked down the ramp that led to the pier, pushing their way through waves of reporters. When they had made it to the other side, Tommy and Emily wandered, hand in hand, through the streets of New York.

"Tommy?" Emily asked quietly. Everything she had said in the last three days had been quiet. "Can we go to Central Park? I read about it when I found out I was going to New York, and it sounds lovely."

"O' course," Tommy agreed, and they made their way through the confusing maze of streets, coming out, finally, in Central Park. It was like a whole other world, an oasis of green in the hustle and bustle of the busy city. Emily and Tommy walked around the length of the Park, going slowly, enjoying the scenery. "Emily?" Tommy asked as they sat down on a park bench near the man-made lake. "Can I ask ya somethin'?"

"Of course." Tommy smiled, then, to Emily's surprise, slid off the bench to kneel on one knee on the ground. "Emily," he began, and she caught her breath at the obvious love written on his handsome, rugged face. "I know that we only met a week ago, but I feel like I've known ya all me life. I can' see meself with anybody bu' you." He took both of her hands in both of his, looking up into her face earnestly. "Emily, will ya marry me?"

Emily could feel tears gather in her eyes as she nodded, smiling for the first time in days. "Yes," she whispered, drawing him up from his knees to meet his lips.

"Ya mean it?" His eyes were hopeful as he drew back. Emily laughed, and Tommy thrilled at the lovely sound. Emily nodded once more, and Tommy, grinning from ear to ear, caught her up by the waist, stood up, and spun around. Emily laughed again, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.

"I love you Tommy Ryan."