"What are we going to do now?" Jesse asked softly.

She was still standing against Lukas, resting her head on his chest, his good arm wrapped around her back.

"What do you mean?" He asked, tearing his gaze away from the ocean to look down at her.

"You can't continue manning the sail on your own." Jesse pointed out. "You need rest and sleep too. Not to mention you have a possibly-broken arm, you shouldn't even be doing any labour in the first place.

Petra can't help you out, not if she's sick. We still don't even know how serious whatever she got is. And me..." Jesse's voice trailed off slightly.

"You have a point." Lukas said. "Even if it's just the flu, Petra isn't going to be working with the sail. She can fight me all she wants, but she's going to keep resting."

"Maybe we made a mistake." Jesse whispered. "We should never have gotten on this boat in the first place... we're too far out to turn back now."

"No, no." Lukas said, pulling away from Jesse and looking her in the eye. "We're not giving up this easily, you hear me?

I can still work that sail with one hand. And so can you, with one eye."

"I don't even know how with both my eyes." Jesse pointed out.

"Neither did Petra." Lukas said matter-of-factly, taking Jesse's hand and leading her over to the sail. "I taught her within a few hours, I can teach you too."

He let go on Jesse's hand, taking out his compass. A smile tugged at his lips, his blue eyes lighting up.

"Perfect, we're changing direction right now."

"Lukas, I'm just going to screw this up." Jesse said softly, as he placed the rope in her hand.

"Nonsense." Lukas said, placing his hand on Jesse's, and guided her movement. "You got to learn to work with that eye at some point."

"I can't even walk properly." Jesse pointed out softly. "I can't read, I can't use my sword, I can't even pour water."

"You weren't always able to lead either." Lukas said. "But even till this day, even after what happened, people still look up to you to guide them.

Everything takes practise. Things you used to do flawlessly, are essentially new skills now. Which means you have to start somewhere."

Jesse bit her lip as she tried to do with the sail what Lukas was demonstrating. He stood behind her, carefully guiding her arm with his.

"Where did you learn this?" Jesse asked Lukas.

"When I was young-" Lukas explained, leaning forward to correct Jesse's position, before stepping back a bit. "-my family used to go out on the water every holiday. It was great fun... I too had quite the adventurous spirit when I was younger. Kind of faded when I discovered my love for building and writing."

He reached over, taking the rope as well and helping Jesse guide the sail in the right direction. Immediately it bulged out in the wind, and the boat steadily began changing direction. Jesse watched as Lukas knotted the rope back up for her. She fingered a string of hair back behind her ear, looking down at the deck.

"Axel and Olivia still have their towns." She said softly. "Radar has a job he still loves, Olivia has given him a place in Redstonia. Petra's always wanted to adventure, so in a way she got what she wanted." Jesse looked up at Lukas. "But what about you? I screwed everything over for you.."

"I chose to come with you and Petra." Lukas said, taking Jesse's hand in his. "I would never be able to go on with my life, knowing the two of you are fighting for yours out there, with basically the entire world turned against you."

"You chose your friends, but at the cost of so much." Jesse whispered.

She felt Lukas's hand on her face, carefully lifting her chin so she had to look at him. His expression was sympathetic, his blue eyes caring. Smiling at her with so much reassurance and confidence, but also kindness.

"Being with you and Petra for the rest of my life, is worth anything I lost." He said softly. "I made the mistake of going off on my own once, Jesse, I'm not doing it again. I'm going to be there for you, for Petra, for the rest of my days and I couldn't be happier with that.

Besides, who says I can no longer write? I can write my heart out on that island, it doesn't make a difference that nobody will really read it."

"I wish I had the optimism you and Petra did." Jesse said softly, blinking back tears. "I wish I could get over this as easily as you."

"You lost the most." Lukas said gently, wiping away the tear that had started running down Jesse's face. "You were the one who got framed, you're the one who lost everything here. And quite frankly you deserved none of it. You've done so much for this world, the last thing you ever deserved was to be exiled."

Jesse sniffed slightly, her gaze falling away from Lukas. She reached up, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Then she looked back up and smiled weakly.

"I want to fix this." She said softly. "I want to get back up, learn to adapt to my one sided vision. I want to be me again, I want to be the same person I was. I don't want to push you away any more."

"And we'll do that." Lukas said, breaking into a warm smile. "It's going to take time, but the old Jesse is still in there. And we're going to get her back out, no matter what it takes."

"Thank you." Jesse said softly, stepping forward and allowing Lukas to tightly hug her.

"Have you had anything to eat today?" He asked her. "You've been sleeping for the most part."

Jesse simply shook her head. But then she took a deep breath and decided to use her words instead. "No, not yet..."

"Why don't you go have lunch, and then we can continue practising to steer the boat." Lukas suggested. "Maybe just check up on Petra as well."

"Yeah." Jesse said, smiling faintly. "I'll go do that."

Lukas gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, before checking his compass again as Jesse started to walk away. She carefully felt her way down the steps as she retreated below deck. It was slightly cooler below deck than above, but still incredibly cosy. Jesse almost immediately felt the desire to clamber back in bed and sleep.

Petra seemed to be waking up at that moment, still lying on the bed and rubbing her eyes. She looked up when she saw Jesse, blinking a few times.

"I was wondering where you went." Petra muttered sleepily.

"I was up there with Lukas." Jesse said with a shurg, walking over to the bed. "Are you feeling okay? It felt like you had a bit of a temperature earlier, coughing too."

"Fine." Petra replied bluntly, causing Jesse to raise her eyebrows slightly.

Petra sighed in defeat, letting her head drop back onto the pillow. "Okay, fine. Yeah, I can feel I'm not okay, not entirely."

"Well how do you feel?" Jesse asked as she bent down, taking a carrot out of the supply bag to eat. "Like complete and utter crap, or just a bit off?"

"Somewhere in the middle." Petra replied grumpily, looking annoyed. "Were you able to sleep okay?" She asked as Jesse walked over, sitting down on the end of the bed to eat her carrot.

"Really well." Jesse replied. She shrugged lightly. "It really helps when I'm not alone."

"I mean, if you weren't so darn stubborn, you could have just asked for my help sooner." Petra replied, propping herself up on her elbows, and shaking a string of red hair from her face.

"Guess you temporarily rubbed off on me." Jesse pointed out, making Petra roll her eyes and chuckle.

"What time is it?" She asked. "I should get up there to help Lukas with the sail."

"I'm helping Lukas with the sail." Jesse quickly said. "You need to rest."

"Oh good grief, not this again." Petra said with a groan. "I hate it when you come to me with those words."

"I don't want you to get any sicker." Jesse pointed out. "Lukas is teaching me how to steer the boat, so I can take over later when he needs to rest."

"By yourself?" Petra asked, sounding horrified. "Jesse, I have what feels like a cold! I'm very capable of at least helping you!"

"Petra, you can argue with me all day about this." Jesse said, popping the last bit of carrot in her mouth. "At least just give it a day or two. If you don't get any worse, you can come help us. But just in case this is the start of something serious, take it slow."

Petra let out a long, dragged out groan as she fell back onto the pillow.

"I'm going back up." Jesse said as she turned around to head back above deck. "Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, my legs work perfectly fine thank you very much." Petra muttered.

Jesse rolled her eyes and chuckled. "And don't sulk over it!" She called back to Petra, not needing to look to know the redhead was glaring at her. "Try and get some more sleep if you can."

Jesse could hear Petra cursing softly as she started her way up the steps, followed by a few light coughs. For as stubborn as Petra was, Jesse was glad she convinced her friend not to go do anything crazy.

----------------

A few more hours passed, in which it felt like Jesse's hands were getting raw from the ropes they used to turn the sail with. At first Lukas would stand behind her, guiding her hands with his, and keeping his hand on her arm as she moved the sail. After she got the basics, he would stand and watch her do it, pointing out where she needs to change anything. And by sundown, Jesse was able to do it on her own.

"Good." Lukas said as Jesse tied the rope back down, the sail bulging slightly in the wind. "You're a natural at this."

"You think?" Jesse asked, fanning her sore hands as she leaned against the railing of the boat.

Lukas chuckled lightly. "You'll get used to it. If you want I could get you some gloves? I think I saw some among the clothes Olivia sent."

"Nah, it's okay." Jesse said, flexing her fingers a few times. "Save those gloves for when it's cold and we really need them."

"Do you think you'll be okay for a bit?" Lukas asked Jesse. "I won't leave you to do this all night, I just want a few hours of sleep."

"I'll be fine." Jesse said, giving Lukas a reassuring smile. "You go get some rest."

Lukas gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder, before turning around and leaving, soon disappearing through the hatch to below deck.

Jesse sighed softly, checking that the wind hasn't changed direction and that they were still heading west. There were no strong wind gusts like the previous evening, the ocean's waves calm.

She walked over, resting with her elbows on the boat's railing. In a way it felt really good to get back on her own feet, no longer needing her friends to do everything for her. It made Jesse glad that Lukas needed her help with the sail, she no longer felt so useless.

Jesse leaned her head on her hands, her eyes trailing the dark horizon. It felt bad, learning some skills from scratch again, starting over completely. But she knew there was no other way.

Jesse sunk down against the railing so she was sitting flat on the wooden deck. She pulled up her knees, folding her arms on top of them and resting her head down as she thought about her other friends.

She missed Axel and Olivia... not to mention Radar! Jesse wondered how he was doing. She knew Olivia gave him a job at her lab, and knowing Radar; he was all over it. But Jesse wondered if he was still... the same. Had he changed, like she did? Was he as nervous and anxious all the time as he used to be? Was he still so eager to help out wherever he can, to a point where he nearly gets in the way?

Jesse hoped he hadn't changed... Honestly, she felt like she's took her intern for granted for so many years. Only now she was regretting not saying thank you any more than she did...

Jesse closed her eyes, feeling them burned by tears. Why was it so easy for one thought to just bring everything back down on her?

--------------------

The feeling of something wet on her face immediately woke Jesse. She blinked her eyes open, finding herself staring up at a clouded over night-sky. Another raindrop landed right on her forehead, causing Jesse to slightly shake her head, her mind waking up properly.

She heaved herself up into a sitting position, looking around her. She was on the wooden deck, in the dark...

"No, no, no!" Jesse gasped, pushing herself upright.

She had fallen asleep! How had she managed to fall asleep? How long has she even been asleep for? They could be miles off course by then!

Jesse ran up to the sail, grabbing the compass and checking the direction. They were no longer heading in the right direction, so she quickly grabbed the ropes, turning the sail again.

Jesse checked the compass, relieved as the boat slowly got back on course. She reached both hands up, grasping at strands of her chestnut hair. She was properly panicking.

What was she going to tell Lukas? What if they've gone so far in the wrong direction, that simply turning the boat wasn't going to take them to the island any more? What if they never arrived there, and it ended up being all her fault?

Had she just cost them their only chance at a better life?

Jesse didn't even realise she was getting pelted with tiny raindrops, ice cold bullets on her skin.

"Jesse!"

Jesse turned around with a slight gasp, hearing her name. Lukas was getting out of the wooden hatch, letting it fall closed again. He was dressed in a raincoat that Olivia must have packed in for them, carrying another one for Jesse.

"Put this on before you get too wet." He said as Jesse quickly took the raincoat, putting it on and pulling the hood over her head. Droplets splashing off of it's waterproof surface.

"How long has it been raining for?" Lukas asked Jesse. "I just woke up a bit ago and heard it pelting down above us."

"N-not long." Jesse quickly said, a strong instinct keeping her from telling Lukas the truth. "It just started."

"That's good." Lukas said, leaning over to check the compass before pulling back to look at Jesse again. "Everything okay? You're looking a little tense..." He said, gently placing his good hand on her back.

"Fine, just worried about everything." Jesse quickly brushed it off. "How um... how's Petra doing?"

"Not so good actually." Lukas said, reaching up and pulling his hand through his hair. "She's not feeling well, even if she is trying to hide it. Her fever is showing no sign of going away either."

"Crap." Jesse muttered to herself. "We're out in the middle of nowhere right now, what if it's something serious?"

"We just have to hope." Lukas said, wrapping his arm back around Jesse. "Hope that she'll be okay, hope that we're close."

Jesse bit her lip, the urge to tell Lukas on the tip of her tongue. But even if he was one of her best friends, she felt too... scared.

But if she had in fact gotten them too far off course, putting all their lives in danger, then he needed to know.

"Lukas?" Jesse said softly, looking up at the blonde.

"Hmm?" He asked, gaze kind of locked on the stormy horizon

She took a deep break. "There's something-"

Jesse voice was all of a sudden cut of by a sudden thud against the side of the boat.

___

Mwahaha, cliffhanger

So a lot is happening in this chapter. With limited people to work on steering their boat, Jesse's had to learn to do it herself, blind eye and all. (Yep, this is where the cover stems from.)

But one small mistake, and they could potentially be miles out in the wrong direction. And before Jesse could tell her friends, there was little interruption.

Things are definitely leaning over the to the darker side here - what's your theories on how this will go? And what to do you think is about to go wrong next?

Also oh boy, short stories. Can you believe we're past the halfway mark and slowly heading towards the ending? Me neither.

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to leave any theories you may have, and I'll see all again with the next chapter in five days!