Hey guys! So, since the whole disaster is over, I'll be trying to steer clear of writing this story in a day-to-day format as well as cutting out the specific timings that I provided earlier on in the story. There will be a lot of spaces in between events so that the story will flow better. Also, the reason I'm updating this story so early, will be revealed at the bottom of the chapter! Hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you guys at the bottom of the chapter!

"Grandmother?" Elizabeth called out, walking closer to the voice, leaving the warmth of Jim's arms. She looked around in the crowd until she saw her.

There her grandmother, Diana, was in all her elegance. She was tall and slim. Her hair was a shade of the most magnificent silver-white and her eyes were a midnight green. The woman's lips were small and tight, almost as if always in a frown. Her dress was eton blue. Her actions were graceful and each movement she made was poised. She had an intimidating air around her. A man Elizabeth hardly knew stood next to her, a black umbrella in his hands, shielding the older lady from the rain.

"Elizabeth! Dear God how are you?" The lady said in an insincere voice and frowned deeply when she realized that Elizabeth was wet. "Come along. We've got to get you home." The older woman turned and walked towards a black car, the man with the umbrella following her.

"Wait!" Elizabeth cried, turning back to look at Jim and the rest. "No time to waste! Come now." Her grandmother grabbed her wrist with an iron grip, pulling her.

"Liz!" Jim called out, following her. "Jim!" She held on tightly to his hand, not wanting to let go, but her grandmother was strong and did not loosen her grip. "I…I'll be at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel! Find me there!" Jim shouted over the noise.

Elizabeth nodded and was forced to let go of his hand when they finally reached the car. She was practically hauled inside and the car drove away the moment the door slammed shut in her face.

- Clara -

Clara had watched along the sidelines with Harry and the others as Jim and Elizabeth said their goodbyes. "Now what?" Herbert yelled from beside them. "We go into the hotel!" Harry shouted back. Now that they thought about it, the press was surrounding them, since they were the surviving officers of the disaster, especially Charles since he was the most senior of the surviving officers.

"Come on!" Joseph grabbed Jim's hand as the six remaining friends ran into the Waldorf-Astoria.

Charles went up to the counter. "Hello miss. We're survivors of the RMS Titanic sinking. Might you have a room for us?" He spoke. The young lady nodded curtly. "How many rooms?" She asked.

It took a while for him to answer but after looking around, he answered. "Two doubles and one single please." The woman cocked an eyebrow but did not say anything when she passed the keys to Charles.

"Thank you. Let's go." He said as he nodded towards the elevator.

- Elizabeth -

- 9.45 pm -

The automobile had long left the dock but Elizabeth continued to look out the window. Her grandmother who sat opposite her soon grew impatient and placed a hand over her granddaughter's.

"Elizabeth, what are you staring at?" She asked. "Nothing, grandmother." Elizabeth looked down at her fingers. "I know you've been through a lot but you'll be safe now. At home. Oh I do send you my condolences about your father's death." Elizabeth felt tears sting at her eyes when her grandmother mentioned her father, especially with such unfeelingness in her snobbish voice.

The rest of the journey was silent as they neared the home with every passing second.

- Clara -

- 10.00pm -

Clara never once let go of Harry's hand as they went into their single room, parting ways with the other officers. The room was grand, reminding them a little of the staterooms on Titanic. They sat down on the bed. "I do hope that Elizabeth is all right." She murmured.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Harry asked. "Well, for one, she was never exactly close to her grandmother. Her grandfather had two wives, Elizabeth's mother's mother being the second. The only reason her grandmother pretends to be kind to her is because her grandfather dotes on her a lot, her being his favorite grandchild or well, his only grandchild." Clara explained.

"Oh. Well, let's hope for the best for her and turn in for the night. You look extremely exhausted, dear." Harry stroked her cheek lovingly and she leaned into his gentle touch. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and took her coat off for her as he did the same with his own coat, tie and visor cap. After that, he laid down on the bed, hugging her petite frame to his body, drifting slowly off to sleep.

- Jim -

Jim couldn't stop thinking about Elizabeth as he went into the room he shared with Charles. The older man sat next to the junior officer on his bed as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't think about her too much. She said she'll come and she will. Relax, Jim. She's with her family." He comforted Jim.

Jim looked up at Charles and nodded in thanks, to which the second officer left to prepare for bed. Jim did the same, laying down on the bed, but unable to get the woman he loved out of his mind.

- Elizabeth -

- 10.40 pm -

The automobile pulled up outside the gigantic mansion, big and grand enough to be a palace. Elizabeth hadn't stepped into the house since she was six, making it more or less fourteen years since she had last seen her grandparents.

She stood outside the tall gates and didn't move an inch. "Well, dear girl, are you ever going to go in?" Diana glared down at Elizabeth and pushed past her to enter the house the moment the unrecognizable chauffer opened the gates.

Elizabeth sighed and followed after Diana. Everything was just as she remembered. The statues and art pieces untouched, the gold chandelier hanging in all its grandeur. She was silent for a while until she caught sight of the black grand piano under the chandelier off the high ceiling.

She sat there and ran her fingers along the keys, remembering how she and her granddad would play the piano together when she was younger.

Soon, music filled the air and bounced off the walls, echoing all throughout the huge manor.

"Bethany? The moment I heard the music, I immediately knew who had returned." An old voice asked from the top of the grand staircase, the foot of it being a little next to the grand piano. Elizabeth smiled. "It's Elizabeth, granddaddy." She corrected, looking up at him with a genuine smile on her face, which lit up almost immediately.

The frail old man named Georg was about to walk down the long staircase when Elizabeth got to her feet quickly. "It's okay granddaddy! I'll go up." She picked up her skirts and ran up three-quarter of the staircase before falling down onto her knees. She heard a chuckle.

"Clumsy as ever, isn't that right Bethany?" Georg laughed, walking down the remaining distance to help his granddaughter up. After she wiped her skirts and finished giggling, she hugged him.

"I missed you so much, granddaddy."

"And I, you. You've grown so much." He smiled at her and stroked her cheek lightly. "I'm so sorry about Thomas." He said quietly. Elizabeth frowned and looked away.

"Well, where's Clara?" He asked, remembering the maid that followed Elizabeth like a shadow since young, or rather the friend. At the time, Clara wasn't old enough to be a maid so she sufficed as a playmate for the lonely child. "She's staying at the hotel. We didn't have time to pick her up."

"Oh, then one of these days I'll have to go visit her. Nevertheless, make yourself at home here, Bethany. If you need me, you'll know where to find me." He walked away after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Elizabeth loved her grandfather very much. He loved calling her 'Bethany' as he used to tease her about it when she was younger. He was a warm gentleman and was easy-going but never really did venture anywhere else but his study, which housed his huge collection of novels and fictions, which played a monumental part in cultivating Clara's love for books since she was over a lot when they were younger, always having to follow Elizabeth wherever she went.

She shook her head and walked down the never-ending halls, before reaching the room she had always used as a child whenever she stayed over.

The room was big, like all the others. The sheets were in her favorite shade of blue and the curtains were a deep red, with golden sashes tying them together. She sat down on her bed and looked at the end table beside it. She smiled when she saw that her tin box of 'Tiddlywinks' remained untouched. She remembered all those times she'd 'force' granddad to play with her.

There was a knock at the door and she almost forgot to call the person in. The person who came in wore a maid uniform, not unlike Clara's.

"Good evening miss. My name is Victoria. I'm your maid who will help you with your needs during your stay here." The older short lady with red curly hair said with a gentle curtsey.

"Thank you Victoria. I don't need anything now but do you happen to know where my grandma, Bonnie, is?" Elizabeth asked. Victoria looked uneasy for a moment before regaining her composure. "I'm sorry miss, but I've been told to keep my mouth shut about issues concerning this matter." Victoria replied in her annoying voice.

"Did grandmother Diana tell you to keep it from me?" When the maid remained silent, Elizabeth told her to leave the room and she made it a point to herself that she would ask the next day. For now, missing Jim and her friends was wearing her out too much so she changed into one of her nightgowns in the wooden closet and went to bed, reminding herself to try and visit the others.

- The next day -

- Harry –

- 12.15 pm -

Harry awoke to the sound of constant knocking at the door. "Clary. Dear. Someone's at the door." He nudged her several times before she woke up. She stretched for a while beside him and put her hair up in a bun, throwing a robe over her body and tossing a shirt to Harry.

She opened the door and saw Jim there, dressed in his white shirt and pants, minus the visor cap. "Good morning Jim." She yawned. "Good morning Clara. Sorry to wake you but I wanted to speak to Harry." She moved to let him in.

"Morning sleepyhead." Jim hit Harry on the back of his head as Harry was buttoning up his shirt. "Sod off Jim." Harry waved him away. Jim chuckled. "Just came to tell you that the earliest date that we start our inquiry is on 24th April, next Wednesday."

"How do you know?" Harry asked. "There was a notice in the lobby when I followed Lights down to his first session." Jim answered. Harry nodded. "What're you planning to do today?"

Jim shrugged. "I'd probably stay here. If Liz comes, I'd want to be here waiting for her. How about you and Clara?"

"I'd probably take her out to get an engagement ring." He whispered in his ear, knowing that if Clara knew, she'd insist for him not to go to the trouble. "If you need the money, the desk in the lobby has some money up for collection, for the crew members. It should be more or less $100." Jim said and bid them farewell before going back into his own room.

Okay, so about the reason why I updated so early. I got 5 reviews for the last chapter! That's one of the highest I've ever gotten for a chapter and it made me so happy I just had to upload another chapter almost immediately!

Now to thank the amazing people who left reviews! Thank you to rebeccajoleneaumanwilson, Chloe, lilyp23, mikeysrevenge and Lora242 for your reviews!

rebeccajoleneaumanwilson : Thank you for your review! I'll be looking forward to 19 February *wink**wink*.

Chloe : Thank you for your review! Honestly, I feel that I could've done a better job with grammar :/ the occasional error still kills me on the inside. I'm grateful that you like the POVs that I do :) Haha, you really do seem to hate Jasper, don't you?

lilyp23 : Thank you for your review :D

mikeysrevenge : Thank you for your review :]

Lora242 : Thank you for your review! I had already written the whole plot of the story, but when I saw your '"i bet that voice was thomas andrews" I SERIOUSLY considered re-writing my whole story (dammit) But oh well. Were you disappointed?

Also, Diana would soon become an important character in this story, so I'd like to hear whatever feedback or feelings you have towards this new character! :)

To everyone else, I hope you all are enjoying the story as well! Have a nice day and review if you liked the chapter! :D