William had walked Anastasia back to her room not long ago, a little after midnight. He had then related the entire evening to Nanny and was now lying happily on the bed, too giddy to sleep.

"Being in love is such a wonderful thing," he sighed.

"Master William," said Nanny, looking through the porthole. "I think something's wrong."

"I'll see to it that she has no cares after this," he continued, getting off of the bed to have a look. "She'll be happy, just like me. The two of us, happy forever -"

He was cut off suddenly by a great crash. Caught off-balance, William fell to the ground. Nanny stayed up only by clinging to the dresser.

As soon as the shaking had subsided, the two returned to look out of the porthole. All that they could see was ice. Vast amounts of ice.

"Good heavens, did we just hit that?" asked Nanny.

"I have no idea," said William. He headed for the door. "I'll find an officer to ask." He paused and turned back to his Nanny. "And…put your life vest on. You'd better get ready for an emergency."

Inside the cargo hold, the animals slept soundly, exhausted from their party. From his bed, Fivel sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Something seemed wrong, but he couldn't tell what. There was a hissing sound. Was it that stupid cat? No, there was something else. Then he realized that there was water on the floor. Was the ship leaking?

"Mama! Papa! Fritz! Wake up!" he called.

"What is it boy?" Mr. Mouskewitz asked.

"What's wrong?" asked Fritz.

By now, the other animals were waking up as well. They too sensed that something was wrong.

"What's that sound?"

"Why's the floor so wet?"

"The ship is moving differently"

Then there was a crash. Then the rushing of water.

"Everyone on a crate!" shouted Fritz. "The ship's been hit! She's going under! We need to get out while we still can!"

"Fivel, come quickly!" called Mrs. Mouskewitz as her husband pulled her onto the nearest crate. The little mouse was helped up by his father, but Mr. Mouskewitz realized that he himself couldn't climb up alone.

"Dearest!" shouted Mrs. Mouskewitz.

"Forget me! I'm a goner!" he called back. Then, "Ack!"

Flopsy had just caught Mr. Mouskewitz in his mouth and leapt up onto the mouse crate. "I don't reckon I could stand seeing your hearts break like that," he explained.

All around, the animals called for one another, looking for friends or family or shelter. Pongo helped Perdita onto a large crate before following her up. Hector caught the squirrel in his claws and carried him onto a crate before going back for Macintosh and the Parisian sewer rat. There were shouts and squawks and cries all around.

"Is everyone on a crate?" called Fritz. "We need to set out together!"

"No wait!" shouted Fivel. "Those two in the cages! They'll be drowned!"

Of course. In the confusion, they had forgotten about Azreal and Tiger. The cage was almost entirely underwater by now and the two could just be made scrambling for air.

"I'll get them," said one of the geese, bravely swimming out.

"Abigail, do be careful!" one of her friends called as the other honked anxiously.

Abigail's mission was a success however. With a quick snap of her beak, she undid the latch and the two prisoners came swimming out, desperate to find a crate. They caught the closest one, joining Hector, the rat, the squirrel, and Macintosh.

"Abigail!" shouted the other geese. Their friend looked exhausted, having spent all of her strength swimming against the current. As she drifted past, she was gently caught in Pongo's jaws and pulled to safety.

"Is that everyone now?" called Fritz. "It's time for us to move out! The emergency exit I constructed should still work. Follow my lead and keep together!"

Though the water had yet to reach the upper levels, even the humans began to be concerned about the state of things. People were now warned to put on their life vests and gather on the deck where, whispered rumor had it, the lifeboats were being lowered.

The commotion was so much that even Jasper and Horace started to wonder if something was going on. "Perhaps there's a second party on the deck?" Horace suggested.

"Don't know. But it doesn't matter," said Jasper. "Let's just get the jewelry you got to Cruella so she'll stop seething at us."

They knocked on her door and then entered.

"Well?" she asked expectantly. She held out her hand and took the chocker that they handed to her. With professional skills, she felt the pearls, examined the gems, and weighed it in her hands. Then she turned to her henchmen.

"Well boys, you've really done it," she said. "THEY'RE FAKES! YOU IDIOTS!"

"Well we thought…" stammered Horace.

"Somehow I seriously doubt that," snarled Cruella. "Go out and steal something else!"

"Right," said Jasper. "But don't you think we should go on deck and check out what's going on up there? After all, everyone's leaving their rooms to see something."

"So much the better for you to steal from," she laughed. "Get back to the thieving boys. I'll check whatever's so wonderful on deck for you.

"Excuse me!" called William to an engineer running past. "What was that crash? Is something wrong with the machinery?"

"No sir!" said the engineer in a panic. "We've 'it an iceberg. She's not going to stay up for much longer. Captain's ordering everyone to get off of the ship quick as we can."

Oh God… thought William. "What's the quickest way to third class from here?" he asked aloud.

"Down those stairs, then take a right," said the engineer. "Mind you, it's probably closed off by now," he called as William ran off.

"Everyone's going up on the deck. We'd better get the children up," said Anastasia. She had gone to bed in very high spirits and, after returning the dress to Victoria, had fallen asleep almost immediately. She dreamt that she was flying through the air, which meant that her sudden awakening from the mysterious crash had been quite jarring.

Now she saw that everyone was in a panic and heading out. Victoria woke her grandchildren as quickly as she could and helped them get dressed. Anastasia found the life vests and helped everyone into theirs. What was happening? Was the ship sinking? Would everything end, once her world finally seemed to be in order?

Just as the engineer had predicted, the stairway to third class was barred with an iron gate. The entire area behind the gate was full of angry third class passengers with pleas to let them out, or at least let the women and children out.

"What's going on here?" asked William angrily. "Why won't you let these people go?"

"There's enough first class people on deck as it is," said one of the officers standing guard. "If we let any of this lot out, we'll be overrun."

"So you'll leave them to die because they're in a lower class?" William furiously scanned the crowd. Was Anastasia there?

"William!"

Yes! There she was! He could just see her, holding a young boy in her arms and standing with the elderly lady from the deck and a little girl. "Anastasia!" he called. "Hold on, I'll get you out!"

"Leave them be!" snapped the guard. "Don't make me use force!"

The third class passengers were rattling on the gate has hard as they could. Will could see the lock on it. If he could only find something strong enough to break it… there! An axe was hung on the wall for emergencies. Probably for a fire, but this certainly fit the bill.

"Look out!" the guard shouted to his colleges as Will ran madly towards the gate, axe at hand.

"Stand back!" William shouted, striking at the lock as hard as he could. One swing…two…three… the lock was broken! The third class passengers streamed out, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Anastasia!" he shouted. There! He ran to her and threw his arms around her.

"William, we need to get to the deck," said Anastasia. "Something happened!"

"We've hit an iceberg," he said. "The Titanic will soon be at the bottom of the ocean. We must go while there are still lifeboats empty."

Pandemonium had struck on the deck. Families sobbed. Children clung to their parents. People screamed. Officers called out to one another.

So that's what happened, thought Cruella, noting the large pieces of ice littering the area. Curses. Looks like she'd profit less from the trip than she had anticipated…

"You're next Mrs. Vanderplank. Quickly now!"

…Or not. Mrs. Vanderplank was now seated safely in the lifeboat with her two children and her box of jewels! And there was still room in that particular lifeboat. How convenient!

Cruella carefully wedged her way forward until she was towards the front of the crowd. The officer in charge of loading passengers was pulling all women and children within reach into the boat. Just as she had hoped, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her in. She grinned wickedly in the dark. Perfect.

"Ma'am please, get in the boat!" said one of the officers urgently.

Winnie shook her head. "I'll get in the next one," she said stubbornly, holding tightly onto Jeremy's arm.

"Winnie no! Don't sacrifice yourself for me!" the banker cried out. "I…I'm a failure Winnie. I can't offer you any future - if there will be a future. My bank's failed and I was going abroad to find someone to bail me out!"

"I'm no better off than you are," said Winifred sadly. "I set my trap and caught you, sure enough. And once I had you, I was happier than I'd ever been in my life." She paused and closed her eyes, as if to hold back tears. "Now I've got nothing, not even Flopsy. So now, you're it!"

"Winnie…" said Jeremy weakly. The two leaned forward and held each other tightly.

"Mummy!" wailed Hortense. "I forgot my jewels! Let me go and get them!"

"No time," said her mother sternly. "Get in the lifeboat. Now!"

"I told you something was going on up here!" said Horace.

The two thieves had been rummaging through all the first-class rooms still open. After finding a box of jewelry though, even they had started to suspect that something was terribly wrong. It really was hard to miss all of the water building up on the floor. So, prize at hand, they opted to ignore Cruella's instructions and escape to the deck.

"I wish we didn't have to wear these disguises though," Horace continued. "I feel like a fool."

"Don't complain," said Jasper. The two of them were wrapped in bed sheets stolen from the closest room. "You know full well it's women and children first. If we don't wear this, we very well might not make it."

"There's something wrong with disguising myself as a lady, that's all I'm saying," Horace grumbled as they pushed their way to the nearest lifeboat.

"Does that lifeboat have a steersman?" asked First Officer William Murdoch. "We need a steersman for this lifeboat!"

"Excuse me," came an annoying familiar voice. "I believe I may be of some assistance, yes?"

It was the Frenchman. Murdoch tried not to groan. "Are you a steersman?" he asked as patiently as he could.

"I am a yachtsman!" insisted the Frenchman.

Murdoch doubted this very much, but there wasn't much left to be done. "Get in," he growled, pushing the Frenchman towards the lifeboat. "Who's next?" he called to the crowd in general.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the musicians setting up their stands and instruments. For a moment, he wondered what they were doing. Then he realized: It looked almost certain that they would not survive. They were planning to go down with the ship, playing their swan songs.

"Alright boys, let's play the one from lunch today." Murdoch gasped and turned. Yes, it was Molly, waiting with the musicians.

"Molly! What on earth are you doing?" called Murdoch, making his way to her. "You need to get in a lifeboat quickly! They're filling up!"

"No," she said and her eyes seemed to flash. "I know I'm not going to make it sir. You said so yourself: The boats are filling quickly."

"But you have to try," he insisted.

"No," she repeated. "This was my best performance ever, singing on the Titanic. If I must die, I will do it with my final song."

He looked at her pretty face, strong and determined, and knew she would not change her mind. "Very well then," he conceded. "Sing Molly, sing while I get the other passengers to safety. I want your beautiful voice in my ears before they fill with water."

"William hurry! We must get a lifeboat," cried Anastasia. She was holding William's arm with one hand and carrying Ernest with the other. Victoria followed behind, leading Catherine.

"Hurry you lot. Get in!" called the Second Officer, Charles Lightoller. He waited as the grandchildren, Victoria, and Anastasia stepped in, but stopped William. "Women and children first sir," he said.

"No!" cried Anastasia.

"I'll wait," said William.

"I won't leave without you," she insisted.

"Go on," he said gently. "I'll find you again. I promise"

"You're next ma'am, please get in the boat," said the Second Officer.

"Not another ship in sight," murmured Nanny as she allowed herself to be led onto the lifeboat. She had gone straight up to the deck after William had gone off. She hadn't seen him since. Where could he have gone?

In the water, the cast off lifeboats floated in the freezing water. On their crates, the animals watched and wept. The pets mourned for their owners, not knowing if they lived or died. The owners mourned for their pets, with no idea where they were or if they would have any chance of escape.

The last lifeboat had been launched. The lucky few passengers to be on board watched from the ocean. The lights on the ship of dreams flickered and then went out. As she filled with water, she began to sink nose first into the endless sea. In a short while, the RMS Titanic would be at the bottom of the ocean, with all those still on board.