Jack was not sure how much time passed in the moments that he held Juliet. Her sobs had softened into gentle tears, he felt her body relaxing against his. Jack's own body seemed quite comfortable against hers.
With his arms tight around her, he began to wonder why exactly he felt so much for her. After all he'd been through, all he'd been put through by these unfathomable people and their torturous ways, why wasn't he still angry?
He did feel a little angry. He felt frustrated and tried. Those hard emotions would never leave him. The nagging, uncontrollable question still, still caught him in the stomach like a rock. Not being in control was the hardest circumstance that he'd ever been put in.
He was tired. Tired of everything, of all of it. So when Jack had taken Juliet into his arms so easily, like he had done so a thousand times before, it surprised him somewhat. Out of all people, why should he want to hold her?
Somehow, through all those tempered pulses, he knew that Juliet was for him. She was for him, amidst all the other deceit and lies. Like an instinct, he knew this. And it allowed him, quietly, to find his hope in her presence. Hope… was something inevitable. Or until lately, it had been. To be with hope, with Juliet, gave Jack comfort.
He saw it in her smile, that smile that seemed to give everything color. It was rare, her smile. Rare like the glimpses of sunshine Jack hardly ever saw anymore.
In her voice. She spoke to him with sincerity, with calm. She spoke to him as if he were actually human, as if he actually had an opinion…
Time had already given Jack opportunities to think about his purpose here, his life… When everything else had left him, why should he give up on the only warm ray of hope he could still feel?
Juliet lifted her head from Jack's chest, her face still very close to his. As she stared softly into his eyes, a strange feeling of quietness, of silence, passed over Jack… Was this peace?
"Thank you, Jack," she said quietly, her voice still quivering. There was nothing but truth in her eyes. "…for holding me…"
There.
He could feel it stronger inside him now. Understanding? No. No words could measure this feeling. Funny how he had never felt it before. It was growing like a storm…
"Juliet, I…" He paused, trying to find his words. Everything his heart was telling him, all that he felt and had been feeling, he couldn't speak. It was clear and sure inside him, but for some reason… words would not come.
As if Juliet read his mind, she gave a small, sad nod. Her seablue eyes read him without fault.
"You don't have to say anything… I, too, am trapped, Jack."