It was in great relief that James noted Miss Amberflaw seemed almost like her usual self, after taking a few hours of rest.

And upon dressing for work and downing half a kettle of Yorkshire tea in one go, with a shot of brandy for a chaser, Miss Emily seemed perfectly ready to go about her day and pretend none of yesterday had ever happened.

Running down her usual list of cat-butler duties for James as she hunted for her keys and wallet to hurry out the door.

"Oh, and don't forget, James, that Captain Wentworth won't take the Fancy Feast without the beef gravy-not chicken, by any means-"

"Of course, miss-"

"Steak and shrimp poured on top."

"As he would expect, miss."

"Twice a day at 8 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. Snacks at 12, 3, 5, and-"

"Seven," James finished for her, stealing away with her habitual parting phrase. "It's all I'll ever need the blender for, eh? And he's not to be left alone, under any circumstance. It's all duly noted, miss."

"All the best then."

"Godspeed."

She turned toward the door to go.

"Oh, and James," Emily stopped suddenly at the door, in afterthought, just as she was about to walk out of it on her way to work.

"Aye, yes, miss?" James had answered, catching the door for her just in time for her to step back into the apartment with him.

"About yesterday...I feel so bad about it," she said. "I didn't mean for my...'quirks'...to ruin our movie yesterday. I hope you don't hate me for it."

"Quite the contrary, Miss Emily," he told her. "You should know...Roommates, as we are...I've grown rather fond of you. And you will always be a dear friend to me. Ask me anything, that is, should you need it."

"There is one thing I wanted to ask you," Emily confessed, rather awkwardly. "Well, I mean...maybe more than one thing, actually...There's so many questions I have to ask you about yesterday, that I..."

But glancing again at the grandfather clock showing 5 minutes pass the 7th hour, she didn't get to finish that thought.

"Anyway, now's probably not exactly the best time for this," she realized. "Maybe some other time then?"

"How about this very evening?" James offered her. "I'd say, after yesterday, we both deserve a go over."

Emily smiled softly back at him.

"Is this a date?"

"If it is," James said to her. "I'd be honored to be your first. And I'll be waiting here for you to come back, so you can ask me anything you like. Oh, and try not to fret over a thing. I'll take care to handle everything that concerns the apartment while you're a-"

But James was cut off suddenly, when Emily stepped toward him on tip-toe and pecked him on the cheek.

Making the officer blush up madly as she smirked coyly and turned back toward the door.

"In a bit, mate!" she merrily walked out, stealing away with his habitual parting phrase.

.

And that was how the sailor, freshly struck down by a kiss, spent his afternoon alone.

Tidying up the apartment for Miss Millie to have a nice place to come home to, and taking care that Captain Wentworth minded his manners until then.

And it was during the vacuuming and airing out of the sitting room that James took up Miss Millie's throw blanket from last night, and began folding it neatly to pack it away in its proper place.

But upon trying to tuck the blanket in with the rest in the hallway closet, James found that a brown paper box kept hindering his efforts to stack the blanket neatly on top.

Fed up with trying to shove it in, James sighed and pulled out all the blankets, so he could get to the box hiding in the back.

"Gorblimey, what's in this bloody ol' thing?" he grunted as he dropped the weighty box into the hallway.

Noting the name Paxton written in black sharpie marker across one side of it.

Then, after proceeding to pack the blankets back onto the shelf first, James bent down to hoist the box back up the closet next.

Only to freeze in mid-step when the box flaps gave over from the bottom, and an avalanche of white paper fell into a mountainous pile at James's freshly polished dress shoes.

"Ah, nice," he sighed for the sad 'un that was himself. "Just bloody brilliant."

Crouching down to the floor to pick up each and every paper, James stilled, when by chance, he spotted his own name peek out at him from one of them.

The lettering across the page reading:

'Crisis Mental Health Assessment for "Jane Doe" 04/15/2021

'Patient is a 21 year old Caucasian female referred by law enforcement on a psychiatric 5150 hold for psychotic delusions. Law enforcement responded to Bitter Tears Cross after numerous callers reported seeing the patient wandering the shore and were concerned that she had intended to end her life, due to delirium and a significant amount of blood on her clothing. Patient was examined by EMS, and though she appeared to have no obvious signs of bleeding, she was at significant risk for hypothermia with a body temperature of 94.6 degrees.

'The patient presented as wet, disheveled, and wore a long black dress and white apron that was covered in sand and blood. She was trembling significantly with shifting eye contact, appearing jumpy when hearing loud noises or when others entered the room. Despite this, the patient initially presented as calm and cooperative during her assessment, and spoke with a British accent. She stated that her name was "Millicent", and that she was from Yorkshire, England. When asked for a specific phone number and address, she stated she mostly communicated through telegram, and requested that her family be reached at "Downton Abbey" to let them know she was alive. When asked if she was in any danger, she responded that she was "working as a stewardess on the Titanic when the ship foundered". Patient denied suicidal ideation and intention of self-harm. She appeared perplexed by being questioned about suicide ideation and stated she was not attempting to take her own life, but had been looking for a man she was with on the ship, and referred to him as the "6th officer". She could not answer how exactly she ended up at Bitter Tears. She kept asking repeatedly if "the 6th officer" had survived the sinking, and where she could go to locate him.

'The crisis worker informed the patient that the Titanic had sank over 100 years ago, and tried to explain that she appeared to be having delusions. She was notified that she was being placed on a psychiatric hold. The patient began trembling and shaking her head, becoming tearful and erratic as she attempted to escape custody. The staff reported that she was combative when they tried to restrain her, and had screamed, "James! How am I here, if he's gone down with the ship? He can't be dead! Please, dear God, I have to find James!"

'In an effort to subdue her, the patient was sedated and was not able to complete her assessment at this time. No information was found to identify her, and no relatives have been contacted. The patient appeared to be showing signs of an Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder, to rule out Delusional Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder with psychotic features. The recommended treatment is medication services and intensive therapy to reduce psychotic delusions, significant phobias such as aquaphobia and nyctophobia, and stablize depressive mood before referral to outpatient care.

'Updated Contact Note: 04/29/2021

'Release of Information forms signed for patient's brother, Paxton Amberflaw, who was a walk-in asking for information about his sister, Emily Amberflaw. He reported that on 04/15/2021 his sister had gone for a drive along Bitter Tears Cross, before she went missing. He was worried she might've been involved in an accident after not hearing from her. Paxton was able to provide the patient's driver's license and other identifying information. The patient has shown signs of stabilization, and denies any memory of her crisis incident. She will be released to her brother once her hold is exhausted. The case manager will follow-up by phone regarding ongoing outpatient treatment.'

And before James could make himself finish reading that last sentence, the document slid out of the Titanic officer's hands, which shook too bloody damn much to keep himself from dropping it.

The color in his face draining, as the realization came down on him.

Everything he'd sensed he knew in his heart about Miss Emily Amberflaw, leaving him breathless under the crushing evidence that lay before him.

It was her.

It'd always been her.

All this time, the woman he had been searching to find for over a century since he'd lost her at Downton Abbey, had been there all along with him in that apartment, from the very beginning.

And now James had irrefutable proof that Miss Millicent Crawley was actually Miss Emily Amberflaw, and-like him-had survived the Titanic and was alive and well, a century after theirs.

And realizing all at once that he had only just had Millicent not more than an hour ago, before letting her walk out the door again, Officer James Paul Moody couldn't grab his coat, gloves, and the cat carrier fast enough, as he stumbled his way out onto the porch to go after the woman he loved.