Chapter 21 - Home


At Richard's request, Locke led the small group of Oceanic survivors from the temple to a calm and quiet inlet, one well hidden from the interior and from offshore. It was far from Ben's little settlement, far beyond the protective pylons. No place he'd ever seen or sent anyone.

The modest blue-water sailboat moored there looked like it hadn't been used in years, but it was still in good condition and they were able to get it sailing quickly.

Richard remained at the Temple, and he'd instructed John to sail the rest of them to the other side of the island. From there they could return to Jonestown by a shorter route. At the rate they were going they'd be back there just before sundown.

Juliet sat at the bow, her arm looped around one of the handrails so she didn't have to think about keeping her balance. She just wanted to watch the waves as the boat sliced through the water. She wanted to know they were moving forward.

She needed to see something, anything, other than the dead body they'd left in the Temple courtyard. She didn't know where Dogen's people took it. She hadn't asked what they planned to do before the small group left.

"Are you going to stay with us now?" Cindy had asked, wearing the same innocent, empty-eyed look with which she'd greeted them. As if there wasn't a bled-out corpse lying ten feet away from their doorstep.

Ana Lucia had shaken her head and mumbled something about taking the kids home. The man named Lennon seemed to be in favor of that plan, and he made sure the children were emotionally ready to return to Ana Lucia's care.

Cindy and friends didn't stop them, but they didn't join them either. Now Sayid and Ana Lucia sat below deck with Emma and Zack. Not one of the other tail section survivors had elected to leave the Temple.

James was below deck too, taking a nap or getting something to eat. Giving Juliet space. She had a blurry memory of James gently guiding her away from Ben's body, getting her somewhere she could clear her head so they could discuss with Richard what was going to happen next. She'd watched Richard's mouth move but she couldn't concentrate on the directions or the boat specs.

"Why did you help him?"

Richard stopped mid-sentence when she spoke, and he looked at her for a long time.

"I believed in him," he said. "We all did."

It was difficult to give up on something he'd invested so much in. Juliet could understand that, but she could not reconcile how that led him to mislead her, lie to her, and drug her to get her there.

"He was a broken little boy when we first met him. We thought we could help him..."

They'd tried to mold him into a leader. A replacement of some sort. Juliet tuned out the rest of the explanation. It had nothing to do with her. When the conversation paused again, Juliet asked her final question.

"What will happen to Danielle and Alex?"

There was no easy answer. After three years, Juliet wasn't sure there was even a place left for herself in the real world. She couldn't imagine what it would be like for Danielle to return home, or for Alex to be transplanted anywhere else after the trauma she'd experienced.

Juliet's thoughts trailed back to the body in the courtyard. She hadn't pulled the trigger, but her decisions, her plan, had led them all to the Temple, to a place where Danielle could find and surprise him.

She didn't notice the tears until they rolled off her cheeks. She swiped them away, and they were quickly replaced. Bravely, she glanced toward the coast of the island she was so desperate to escape.

There was still more journey ahead. Gathering up their friends, sailing to the nearest port, getting everyone home again…

She'd never expected to get this far. What difference would another few days make?


When James emerged from below deck he took a moment to gaze out at the open ocean. There was nothing out there but horizon. Then he glanced over his shoulder to see how far they'd come. The island seemed so much smaller from this distance.

"Could you lend me a hand with this, James?" Locke called out.

James turned and saw Locke gesturing casually to one of the ropes attached to the sails.

"I can try." James called back.

He stumbled a bit as gentle waves rocked the ship, but he reached John's side just fine.

"It's easy." Locke assured him with an easy smile. "Just hold on 'til I say let go."

James grabbed the rope where Locke pointed, and cranked the winch when he was told. Then he sat back and watched while Locke took care of the rest, ready to step back in if needed.

"Where'd you pick all this up?" James asked.

Locke's brow furrowed quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I know you were in a chair before this," James said bluntly. "On the plane, even."

"I wasn't always." Locke said after a pause. "I could've picked it up before that part of my life."

James' look grew harder the longer he stared at John.

"I read a file about you." he said. "Didn't mention any yachts."

James emphasized the last word, making it clear this boat was a luxury neither of them had experienced up to that point.

Locke smiled to himself, and he finished tying before he replied.

"I've read a lot of books, James."

"Yeah?" James said doubtfully. "So have I."

"Is that where you learned how to manipulate people?"

Locke looked up with another smile and a bit of hardness in his eyes.

James smirked. Finally, the zen master forced to snap back. It was good to know Locke could still be provoked.

"Some things just come naturally," Locke continued, with that air of wisdom he affected so well.

James stared at him. Having read the file, and knowing what happened with Boone out in the jungle, all James could see when he looked at Locke was Benjamin Linus 2.0.

"So where are you headed after all of this?" James asked. "Is it back home to Tustin, now that the timeshare fell through?"

"No," said Locke. He grabbed hold of the nearest steel railing, and adjusted his crouch so he could gaze lovingly at the emerald island they sailed alongside. "I don't plan on ever leaving this place."

"You like it here that much?"

"You don't?"

"Seemed like a prison, the more I learned about it."

"It gave me my legs back," Locke reminded him. "That's freedom to me."

"You drink that Kool-Aid at the Temple?"

Locke smiled to himself again. "No. That hasn't been offered to me yet."

James loosed one sardonic chuckle. "I've been joking about Kool-Aid since I met Linus. Didn't realize there'd actually be a magic water fountain."

"I can wait," said Locke. He looked again at his new home, and breathed the salty air around him. "Feels like I've been searching for this place my whole life."

"Congratulations, then." James said, sarcasm hiding the darker thoughts within. He was certain someone like Shannon Rutherford would never look at this island as a paradise. Danielle Rousseau probably thought it was hell.

Locke's next look was kind, and he regarded the younger man by his side with an almost parental concern.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, James."

It was a trite platitude, coming from Locke. But the words found their target despite their source.

The string on James' heart tugged, and his eyes searched for her on the deck.

James hadn't been looking for what he found. It wasn't a place he could stay, or an item he could keep. It was understanding. It was a safe place, inside of another human being. It was a release from the mental prison he'd put himself in at the age of seven, with the words he'd penned and carried in his pocket for twenty-seven years.

He'd lost the letter when they'd kidnapped him. He no longer needed it. He didn't want to carry it anymore. He couldn't recall the exact moment he'd let it go, but as he watched Juliet sit there he wondered, with no small amount of guilt, why it had to be a woman's suffering that got him there.


Juliet heard a pair of boots clomp their way unevenly toward the bow. She quickly wiped her cheeks against the shoulders of her shirt.

"If these are calm waters," said James. "I'm not sure I wanna be on this thing when it storms."

He crouched beside her and held on to the nearest railing. Juliet smiled, but she did not turn to look at him.

"Have you really never been on a boat before?"

"I've paddled a canoe in my day," James defended himself. "Maybe took a row boat across a pond. But I never sailed on the ocean."

"Well," she said. "You're doing great."

"You sure this is normal? I thought you said the tides are strange out here."

"This is normal," Juliet reported patiently. "For the ocean."

James gazed at her profile. She'd tied her hair back, to keep the wind from whipping it across her face. He could see the remnants of tears in the corner of her eye.

"Did they teach you how to sail?" he asked.

Juliet shook her head. Sailing - giving her any real means of escape - had not been part of her training.

"Too bad." James said lightly. "I'd feel a lot better with you behind the wheel."

Juliet turned to him, finally. His eyes were so warm for her, so full of concern it made her heart ache. She was too numb to feel anything else but that ache and a hollow fear that none of it had really happened.

"I probably don't have to tell you," James continued carefully. "This boat isn't big enough for everyone to fit in one go."

Juliet nodded and looked out at the water again.

"I'll make sure you're on the first trip -"

"No." Juliet interrupted him, soft and firm. "Claire and Sun need to leave this place as soon as possible. That means Jin, and Charlie, if Claire wants him to go with her. Ana Lucia needs to get Zack and Emma home. Same for Michael and Walt."

That was more than a full boat on its own. James should have known she would have thought it through already. It would have been the same story with the submarine.

"That's if Arzt doesn't demand a lottery to make it fair." Juliet added.

"Don't you worry about Bill Nye the science guy. I'll tie him to the swing set in your back yard if I have to."

And he meant it. James got another small, sad smile for that remark.

The heartache was mutual. He felt helpless, fumbling with sarcastic affirmations while she floated through the aftermath of what they'd done.

She'd just saved fifty people from a cult. Now she had to walk back into their village, face the rest of that cult, and wait weeks there for a third, fourth or fifth trip because she insisted on making sure everyone else was home safe before her.

"Maybe they'll have the sub fixed by then." James said.

"Maybe." Juliet agreed, with no conviction behind the word.

And maybe Glinda the good witch will give us a hot air balloon and tell us to click our heels, James thought, disgusted by his own optimism.

Beyond feeling helpless, he felt guilty, because he was actually excited to keep playing house with Juliet. For James, it would be a reprieve from what came after.

He would wait with her, for as long as it would take. Every day would be a gift for him, and he'd do everything in his power make the wait as painless as possible for her. Because when it was their turn to leave, wherever the boat ended up taking them, James was going back to Australia to turn himself in for the murder of Frank Duckett.

Until then he'd ride as long as she needed him, and be there for her in every way he could.


The devastation at Jonestown was a shock for the returning group. When Juliet, James, Sayid, and Ana Lucia arrived, they saw most of their friends piling tree branches and broken fence posts in the courtyard. Sections of roof had blown off some of the houses, and one house had half a tree trunk through its living room window.

"They're back!" Walt shouted, getting the attention of Michael and Shannon.

Shannon broke from clean-up duty and jogged to Sayid, hugging him tightly with unabashed relief.

Libby clutched Eko's arm, and she covered her mouth when she saw Ana Lucia with Emma and Zack in tow. Libby started crying, and it took her a while to notice that no one else from their tail section had come back.

The rest of them reunited and shared hugs with those that offered them.

"What happened here?" Juliet asked Rose.

"Honey, I was hoping you could tell us." Rose replied worriedly.

James looked around, and only saw people from the plane.

"I'm really sorry to tell you this," Bernard said. "But most of your friends are gone."

"My friends?" Juliet echoed.

Rose and Bernard shared a worried look.

"Most of the people that lived here with you," said Bernard. "They just…well, they sort of disappeared overnight."

Gravity stopped working on Juliet's body. She felt light-headed, and like her stomach wanted to void its scant contents.

"If what Jack told us was true," Bernard said gently. "It might be for the better."

Rose put a hand on his forearm, letting him know that now was not the time.

Juliet looked around at the damaged houses. Had she caused this? Is this what getting her way was supposed to feel like?

She slowly became aware of Jack explaining how they'd had to widen their circle of trust in order to protect the rest of the survivors. When Eko and Libby went to Jack and Kate, sharing what Ana Lucia had already hinted at, Michael and Sun were brought into the plan too. Now they all knew, even if they didn't understand the how's or why's.

"It was the right call," James said to Jack, distracted by Juliet's lack of outward reaction.

"They're in Ben's house now." said Kate.

Juliet looked at her.

"The ones that tried to take Walt and Aaron. We've been watching them."


Juliet went to see them; Tom, Luke and Harper. The would-be kidnappers, spared from the island's wrath by being in the wrong houses at the right time.

They were no longer tied up. A truce had been established, once it became clear their orders from Ben were no longer valid, and that the balance of power had shifted in the Oceanic passengers' favor. They didn't even know yet what had happened at the Temple.

The trio sat now on the couch and chairs in Ben's living room. They looked up when Juliet walked in. Neal was on watch duty, and he waved at Juliet as if she'd arrived for a friendly game of cards.

"What the hell did you do?" Harper seethed.

The venom in Harper's eyes would have killed her outright, if Juliet's veins hadn't already run cold. Juliet ignored the loaded question and asked her own.

"Where did everyone else go?"

Harper looked insane. Luke was scared. Juliet directed her attention toward Tom, ever the rational one. He stared back at her, trying to read the truth in her eyes.

"Nobody saw or heard anything?" said Juliet.

"What did you do?" Harper repeated.

"Are they at the outpost?" Juliet asked Tom.

"Where is Ben?" Harper interrupted again, demanding her attention.

Juliet turned abruptly and looked Harper in the eye.

"Ben is dead."

"What the fuck-?!" Luke stammered.

Tom's brow furrowed with increased concern. "You know that for a fact?"

"He was shot twice," Juliet reported clinically. "Once in the chest and once through the skull, by a woman named Danielle Rousseau. Alex's mother."

"Her mother died-" Luke tried to say.

"Her mother is alive." Juliet cut him off with authority. "And they are both going to choose for themselves whether they stay here or leave this island."

"You're not leaving." said Harper, shaking her head.

Juliet looked at Harper, and searched inside herself for any reaction at all. She then realized she didn't owe Harper an explanation. She didn't owe any of them anything. These three just needed to be watched until Richard could deal with them. If he even bothered. Maybe that black smoke would return to finish what it started.


Being back in her yellow house felt strange. Showering and changing into clean clothes felt strange. Brushing her teeth felt strange. But she chose a soft t-shirt and brushed her teeth anyway, and she got into her untouched bed, in her untouched house, in a settlement that had otherwise been destroyed while she was gone.

Her comfort was waiting for her when she got into bed. He offered his arms and she took her place in them, where she could concentrate on his breathing and slow her own.

James pushed the frontmost locks of her freshly washed hair behind her ear. He kept thinking about how relieved and grateful he was that she'd come out of this alive. He hoped she felt the same way.


The next day, the last three Others were gone. There was no visible damage to Ben's house. If they'd joined Danny and Ryan back at the Temple, or got swept away by a cloud of ticking electricity, no one had any way of knowing.

Another day later, the boat left with its first round of rescues. The kids were first, along with their guardians, legal or otherwise. Arzt complained, but they got through it.

Weeks went by peacefully. The Dharma Initiative crates still dropped right on time. Nobody got hurt, and there were plenty of books to read. Juliet and James found other ways to pass the time, and the more time that passed, the more Juliet seemed to come back to herself. It was the self she'd already been when James met her, but at least this Juliet smiled every once in a while.

When Locke returned with the boat, rescue finally felt real. It was that much more difficult to choose who got to leave next. After the volunteers who were willing to stay stepped forward, Arzt got his lottery. They made sure to give Arzt a spot for being so reasonable about the first trip, and a few more people volunteered to stay once it was established he'd be on the boat this time.

Juliet had a panic attack when the second group left. Libby talked her through it, and Juliet realized she had not yet seen the worst of her recovery.

"You're better at this than Harper," Juliet joked, once she'd regained control.

"Low bar," Libby said with a knowing smile. "But I'll take it."


Routine helped. Those that remained continued cleaning up old Dharmaville, even knowing the rest of its inhabitants would soon be gone for a third time in its short history.

Richard arrived during the fifth week of waiting, with Danielle and Alex along with him. It was decided quickly that Danielle and Alex would each have a guaranteed spot on the next ocean voyage, if they wanted it. There was family in France, Richard confirmed, from research conducted before the comms went out.

Ahead of the next round, Hurley volunteered to stay behind, afraid of the water and afraid of being without Libby. Jack also volunteered to stay, offering Kate the last spot on trip number three. She insisted Jack take it instead. He had family to get home to, and Kate had a very big decision to make.

"You're welcome to stay here." Richard told her.

It was either stay hidden on the island, turn herself in, or continue to run. All three were tempting. But she needed more time to decide.

Hurley was there to say goodbye, just as he'd been the first two times the boat departed. He smiled as Jack leaned in to give Kate a goodbye kiss.

"It's about time." Hurley called out, embarrassing them both.

Jack got on the boat, and Kate watched him leave with tears in her eyes.

Juliet did not go to the beach to wave at the departures. The irony was not lost on her that her yellow house had once again become her safe haven. It almost felt like a home, sharing it with someone she actually trusted.

James was freshly shaved, freshly showered, making her dinner, kissing her cheek and neck and everywhere else she let him, every extra night they had. It was too sweet, and she liked it too much. It was breaking her heart how sweet he was, how much she enjoyed it. She was supposed to be dead, and James was supposed to be free. What if the boat broke down, or sank, or got blown out of the water? What if James got stuck there with her? She was frightened, because it was starting to feel like it would be okay if they got stuck there together, after everything they'd done to get away. It became more and more difficult to release him from her tight embrace every night. They had so much more time together, alone but together, and the more time they spent together the harder it was to imagine being apart.

Richard provided funds for all of them, contacts and passports and ways to get home without revealing where they'd been. There was a stray thought that occurred to most of them as they discussed Richard's requests.

Won't Arzt tell everyone he knows?

Juliet realized she had no way of knowing who actually got home, unless she tracked them down to prove it for herself. What if Locke was taking them out on the ocean, killing them and dumping them overboard?

Richard's offer to Kate echoed for all of them.

You're welcome to stay…

By the time the boat returned a third time, even Kate had decided to leave. She knew she didn't belong there. And Juliet knew James wouldn't let either of them remain there, not for him and not for a fear of someone else preventing it. Kate's decision to get on the boat helped Juliet make her own decision, and she joined them, overcoming the intrusive thoughts that told her there was no way out, no way to win, that it was all a strange dream she would wake up from soon, finding herself back in bed in her yellow house in a time before a plane fell from the sky and changed everything.

"I got you," James would say when she expressed her fears.

Juliet wondered what she was supposed to do when he was no longer around to say it.


It was late when they arrived in Australia. Late enough that an overnight stay was advisable.

James didn't want to turn himself in at night. He wouldn't be able to make a confession before the day crew arrived anyhow. Fate had given him one more night with Juliet, and cuddling up with her in a hotel bed would be a hell of a lot more comfortable than being alone in a jail cell.

They splurged on toiletries and snacks for their room, not familiar with the Australian brands but excited for any label that wasn't black and white.

Coexistence felt natural. They fell into what had become their night time routine. They sat beside each other in bed and watched the local news on television. The anchors looked so happy, laughing at a light-hearted human interest story.

He still hadn't told her about his plan. Part of him thought she already knew. She hadn't asked him where he'd go once it was all over. He hadn't asked her either, and it occurred to him now, she hadn't made any attempt to contact her family when they'd landed.

The anchors promised that weather was up next as they transitioned to a bright commercial.

"Do you know how you're getting back to Miami?" he asked.

Juliet remained quiet. James stroked her shoulder with his thumb. She didn't owe him an answer. He just needed to know so he could imagine what she was doing every step of the way. Getting on the plane, staring out the window, hugging her sister. He could see it all in his mind. It was all he wanted for her. To be happy.

"Not yet."

It was the first thing she'd said for a while. She'd laid her head on his chest, cuddled up close and stared at the TV with unfocused eyes, not comprehending a single pixel. It was too surreal to take in.

His arm around her shoulders pulled her closer.

"If you need me gone before you call your sister…"

Juliet sat up. She shook her head gently. That wasn't it. She didn't know how to articulate what 'it' was.

She no longer felt real; she didn't feel like a person, and if she wasn't a person then she didn't have a sister. She didn't have a family or a home to return to.

If she was real, if James was real, that meant their paths were about to diverge.

"I don't want you to leave," said Juliet.

The look on his face made it seem like he didn't believe her, or didn't understand why she'd still want him around. His eyes darted to her lips. He leaned in slowly, to thank her for saying something so sweet when he should be the last thing on her mind.

The relief she felt in his kiss filled her up, and she didn't feel lost anymore. It was tender, and she kissed him back just as tenderly.

Juliet climbed into his lap, straddling his legs so she could kiss him at a more comfortable angle. There was one more thing in their night time routine. No reason to leave it out this time. But even though his kisses stayed sweet, she soon tasted salt on her lips.

Juliet had become used to crying without realizing it, but when she pulled away and used her thumb to wipe the tears from James' lips, she saw a trail down each of his cheeks. The tears were his.

James watched her eyebrows knot with concern. She stroked his face with one hand, and she saw the guilty look in his eyes.

"I'll stay with you tonight," James promised. "Tomorrow, once you're gone…I'm gonna turn myself in."

Juliet's heart thudded in her chest. No. They'd both made it off the island. Not for this.

James could see the question in her eyes before she asked it.

"It's the right thing to do," he said.

She searched his eyes for the child that needed permission to do the right thing, but that child was no longer present. The man that looked back at her was resolute. She searched her own mind for any other way out of this, to make it all okay without making it okay. And she knew then, when she saw the determination in his eyes, that she was really only searching for herself.

She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to do once they got to this point. Whatever it was she wasn't ready for it, not yet.

"What if I asked you not to?" she said, aware of how selfish and pathetic it sounded, and asking it anyway.

James closed his eyes to make the blue intensity of hers go away. She was begging him. Please don't leave me. What was he supposed to do when she asked him like that? He breathed in, and tried to hold on to the moral strength she'd taught him.

"You saw my file." he said, lids lifting from downcast eyes, avoiding that look. Another pair of teardrops spilled over his thick lashes and ran down his face unchecked.

"That was paper." said Juliet.

"It's the truth," James countered. "You know what I've done."

"You had to-"

"It wasn't even the right guy." James interrupted, challenging her compassion with one last confession as he looked her in the eye. "The paper tell you that? I don't know who Frank Duckett was. He might've had family."

He waited for the compassion to turn to contempt, but all his confession did was add to her sorrow.

"The real Sawyer's still out there," said James, licking the salt from his lips. "All I did was fuck up. That's all I know how to do. Fuck shit up."

"You helped me."

"That was the island. We're in the real world now. Back in civilization. Back here, I'm bad news."

"No, you're not."

James looked at her. It broke his heart, having to be the one to tell her. But if she didn't know by now, she was gonna. It was the truth he confronted every time he looked in the mirror and allowed the farce to continue for one more day.

"I'm trash, Blondie." James said, voice strained from trying not to cry. "You deserve better than trash."

Juliet covered her mouth with her hand and squeezed her eyes shut. In that instant she was no longer numb. She felt all of her pain, and all of his too.

James put his arms around her as quickly as she started crying. When she felt his arms wrapping around her, she reciprocated. He squeezed, and she squeezed harder.

"You're not," said Juliet, as soon as her voice returned. "You're not trash. And I don't care what you did."

James squeezed her tighter. He wished he could dive into her heart and stay there, surrounded by the acceptance she offered so freely. It was why he loved her. It was also why he couldn't stay.

"If I don't do what's right," said James. "It'll eat away at me 'til I do something worse."

It hurt more when he said it, not in spite of her acceptance but because of it. The understanding that connected them was now tearing them apart. She knew what he needed, and he trusted her enough to share it all. They would never allow themselves to become the villain in each other's lives.

"I don't deserve you right now," he said. "If I do this…maybe someday I will."

They held each other tightly. James explained as best he could, that her going on with her life would help him more than anything. He just needed to know she got home okay, and that she wouldn't be tied to the dead weight of the toxic relationships she'd left behind. As sweetly as she asked him to stay with her, he asked her to finish what they'd started and get herself home.

James asked if she understood his reasons. He felt her nod against his shoulder.

She didn't stop crying or holding on to him. She understood, but she didn't have to like it.


Juliet woke the next morning when James ran the backs of his fingers gently across her cheek. He was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. He was up and dressed, and pleased to see her open her eyes.

After a good cry and a good night's sleep, they were both at peace with their decisions. Juliet was willing to let him go, for now. But she was going to miss seeing his face.

"Thank you for not leaving without saying goodbye." she said quietly.

It had been her only request. She didn't want to wake up alone.

"I tried," James confessed. He smiled softly. "You just looked so sweet sleeping there. I needed one more look at you."

He looked over her face, committing every detail to memory. It would have to last him a while.

"Is this how you'll remember me?" Juliet joked lightly, running her hand through hair she assumed was a mess, and blinking with eyelids that still felt puffy.

James smirked and glanced briefly at the curves of her sheet-covered body.

"Not quite…" he said.

Once the tears had stopped, they'd had a good last time together. They both smiled at the recent memories, glad to be able to end things on a lighter note.

James leaned down, Juliet lifted her head up to meet him, and they shared a soft kiss. They let it linger, savoring every second of contact. James ran his fingertips along her bottom lip, sealing away one more snapshot of her softness.

He knew with certainty he'd never meet someone who would know him so well and still care so unconditionally. And he was about to walk away.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said, casual and full of meaning.

"It might not seem like it right now," he said. "But you saved my life, too."

Juliet leaned back in and kissed him, harder than before but there was still a sweetness in it. Her gratitude flowed into him like sunshine. Her spirit made everything okay.

The reality of another prison sentence would hit him later, but in that moment James felt whole.

It was time for him to go. With one last tender touch, James stroked her cheek with his thumb, and then he stood up and grabbed the few things he'd been given for travel.

"I'll see you around the way, Blondie." he said, glancing back one more time as he opened the door.

"You better," Juliet warned. She pulled her knees up and hugged them as she watched him go.

The door closed, and Juliet was alone again. There was only one thing left to do. She gave herself a minute to prepare, and then with trembling hand she reached for the corded phone on the bedside table. It took her a minute to get an outgoing call connected, and she prayed silently it would get picked up on the first try. She would feel so fucking stupid leaving a voicemail for this.

The ringtone stopped, and the other end of the line opened up. Juliet's heart nearly burst from her chest, it was beating so fast.

"Hello?" Rachel said, sounding confused, guarded, hopeful about the unfamiliar number.

The realization that she was really on the phone with her sister, after everything she'd gone through to get there, hit Juliet like an ocean wave. It took her a moment to find her voice.

"Rachel?" she asked, because she still didn't quite believe it and she had to be sure.

There was a similar pause on the other end.

"...Juliet?" Rachel asked.

Juliet hung her head in one hand, and she began crying again the instant she heard her own name. Her grief still remained, but this particular cry was one hundred percent relief.

She wasn't home yet. But she was on her way.