[Content warning for sexual assault mention]

Richard didn't know what to do. Aqua had gone numb, and she was not talking or eating or sleeping properly; she just sat on the sand, looking without seeing, and she didn't cry once. He was worried that not crying would hurt her even more, but what could he do about it? She didn't look at him when he approached her, she tensed up when he tried to touch her, and she wouldn't take more than one bite of the food he brought her.

In the middle of the night, he had heard her screaming and tearing the journal apart, tossing the pages she had ripped off into the fire. Richard took the journal from her hands, for the information in it could be useful for his people; when he tried to comfort Aqua, she pushed him away and lay down far from the fire, breathing heavily. That was the only outburst of emotion she displayed in two days.

Richard started getting frustrated when he heard the metallic noise of the monster not far from their location, and Aqua didn't even flinch. He knew she was broken, but he couldn't understand her non-responsiveness.

The angry blue-eyed boy, Charles, and a small search party found them the second morning, worried because he hadn't come back in almost two weeks. Richard took out his frustration on him, chastising him for doing something so unnecessary and sending him back to camp.

"The bomb is buried and safe, by the way," Charles grumbled. Richard didn't answer him with words but with a nod and a grunt. The boy was upset that he had come all the way to find him and keep him informed only to be received so coldly, and he was sure Richard acted in such a manner because of the intruder. "When are you coming back, then?" he asked him harshly, looking over his shoulder at the little nudnik on the sand.

"I don't know yet," Richard answered bitterly, forcing the boy to avert his eyes from Aqua. "But that's none of your business, Widmore. Now turn around and go back where you came from." He used his authoritative voice, looking Charles and the other two men in the eye.

"Yes, sir," the boy answered sharply and left without another word. Richard sighed loudly when Widmore and the others were out of earshot; he truly didn't know when he and Aqua would be getting back to his people. He was, nonetheless, willing to stay by Aqua's side for as long as she needed him.

On the third morning of silence, Richard went for a walk. Aqua was still asleep; she had spent most of the night fighting with the beach, throwing rocks and branches around and kicking the sand, groaning furiously. She must be so tired, Richard thought; this was the longest she had slept for since finding out the truth.

Walking through the jungle, not far from Aqua, Richard tried to clear his head. How could he help her? Offering his support, that was all. Until she opened up to him, all he could do was to keep her company and silently let her know she was not alone. Yes, that would do.

"She'll feel better soon enough," a voice nearby said. Richard froze, surprised by the unexpected visitor.

"Will she?" Richard asked Jacob.

"She will. You'd be surprised by her inner strength. That's the reason why I chose to bring her to the Island," Jacob explained calmly. Like everyone else who came to the Island, she was handpicked by Jacob, of course. She seemed to have had such a happy life, though, that Richard wondered what exactly made her a candidate. "She won't tell you if you ask her," Jacob continued as if he had read Richard's mind. "She keeps her secrets to herself. It would take you years to bring even one of them to the surface."

"Why are you telling me this?" Richard asked him. He thought it was reasonable that Aqua wouldn't want to talk about the painful past.

"I want you to understand her better, so you can help her heal. Do you want to know why I brought her here?" Jacob asked. It was tempting, but Richard knew it meant breaking her trust. He looked toward Aqua's general direction where she probably still slept, still suffered and his heart ached from the knowledge that he couldn't help her.

"Fine," he said after deliberating it for a few minutes. "But I don't want to know too much. If she ever wants to tell me herself, I'll let her go into details."

Jacob smiled.

"She had this one bully when she was a child," Jacob started. "He was older than her, and he mocked her constantly. She tried to speak to her parents and teachers about him but was told that that's what boys do. The harassing continued for years because she never dared telling anyone else about it out of fear that she'd be ridiculed even more." Richard frowned. "When she was twelve, his bully was fourteen. At school one day, he cornered her behind the dumpsters in the yard, with two of his friends and… Well, I'll let her get into details," Jacob said. A million scenarios played in Richard's mind, each worse than the other, infuriating him. "She had two abortions in the four years that the abuse lasted." Richard felt sick, and he didn't want to hear more, but he kept quiet. "She never said anything to anyone, and it isolated her completely, making her an even easier target. She fell behind in school. It wasn't until her… rapist targeted her little sister that she decided to act."

"Kay?" Richard interrupted Jacob. He remembered the chubby girl the monster had pretended to be, and how fiercely Aqua had tried to defend her from him.

"Yes, Kay. She went to Aqua, crying, and told her what he had done to her. So the next day during lunch, Aqua marched towards him, hands in fists, and without uttering a single word, she knocked him to the ground and punched him with all her strength. She did so much damage to him; he wore spectacles, and he's now partially blind from the glass pieces that tore his corneas." He paused, letting Richard imagine the scene. "He dared press charges against her. But she counterattacked, unwilling to be ridiculed once more. It turned out that there were more victims to his acts. The charges against Aqua were dropped, and that monster is serving ten years in a federal prison," Jacob concluded.

Richard was speechless. He was angry at the monster, proud of her for her strength, and sad that she had to carry such a weight on her thin shoulders. He remained in silence while he thought over Aqua's story, conscious that Jacob had revealed too much despite his petition.

"There's something I don't understand, though," he said, visualizing Aqua's broken expression when she realized her family was dead in the future. "Why did you bring her to the past? She's not from this time; why is she here?"

"Because that meant she would meet you," Jacob answered warmly. Once again, Richard looked in Aqua's direction longingly. When he turned back, Jacob was gone.

Back in their cove, Richard was surprised to see Aqua awake and gutting the biggest fish she had caught so far. She pulled the gills with too much strength, with anger almost. He watched her from afar as she scaled the fish, not wanting to interrupt her ritual.

It was as if he were seeing her for the first time. A new, brilliant light shone over her, revealing her inner strength and beauty. She was no longer the scared, lost girl who had sassed him that first day. Under this new light, she turned into a strong, resilient young woman who, despite everything, was full of love. Richard could see that massive, growing weight Aqua carried on her shoulders, but he knew now that it was not enough to crush her down.

Aqua turned her beautiful face towards Richard, giving him the faintest smile. Something stirred inside him, and he smiled back, ready to carry her burden with her. He approached her slowly, her eyes sparkling as her smiled widened. He kissed Aqua's forehead, and for the first time in so long, Richard was ready to fall in love again.