"HELP! PLEASE, HELP! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

Rose Green had been in the tench before. And she was still herself. She hadn't changed. Matron hadn't broken her.

But this time was different.

Rose would normally consider herself above begging and screaming, but there she was, hands stinging from slamming them at the door, throat sore from how loud she was yelling.

But all of it was useless. No one was coming to save her.

She was losing in her fight against Matron.

And she had to get back on top.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

Rose was slumped against the wall, head ringing, hands numb, and throat in agony. She was sobbing, crying hard, and she couldn't help it.

She had no idea what to do.

She was cold, she was angry, and she was so, so alone. She knew that she wouldn't survive this time.

But she needed to.

She curled herself up on the ground, crying. She didn't think it could get this bad, when she started writing these letters to Matron.

But that was the problem. She didn't think. She didn't think at all.

"Rose? ROSE!"

Rose almost jumped at the loud sound, but relaxed more as soon as she realised who it was.

Will.

"Will?"

On the outside of the door, Will's heart broke at the sound of her voice. It was ragged and broken, and by the sound of it, so was she.

"Rose, I- I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner but I'm here now, I'm right here," Will said comfortingly. "A- are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you-"

"I'm changing," Rose said, still curled up in a ball on the ground. "I can feel it changing me. Tell Matron she's won."

"Rose..." Will said sadly. "Rose, please. I- I need you out of there. And I need you out and alive and quick and brave and beautiful and feisty and you. I... I need you back as you, Rose."

His words gradually inspired her. Rose slowly dragged herself so that she was sitting up, her legs turning round and her head rested against the door.

"I don't have much time," Will said. "The boys snuck me out, because I had to see you, but Matron's putting on this fancy art fair, and we have to be there for it-"

"So why come at all?" Rose asked. Even though she was so, so glad he came, she had to know why he had risked punishment, just to see her.

"Are you kidding, Rose?" Will asked, and Rose tried to picture the smile she knew was on his face. "I barely slept last night, knowing you were locked up in here! I wanted to come then, but Walter talked me out of it."

Rose tried to chuckle, but her mind didn't let her.

Instead, she felt the strange stomach sensation, and her cheeks going red, and she wanted to know why she felt that way.

So she took a leap of faith.

"Will..." she started. "Why do you care so much about me?"

Will took a second before asking her a question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do you always protect me? Why do you make me feel this weird thing in my stomach and make my cheeks go red? Why did you spend the whole night worrying about me? Why do you always help me if you can, and humour my idiotic ideas? Why did you risk getting into trouble with Cranbourne to try and stop them putting me in here?" Rose took a breath and then said. "And there's more, but those are the only ones I can think of. So... why?"

Will chuckled slightly. "Do you want me to say it?"

Rose nodded before realising he couldn't see her. "Yes."

Will took a deep breath. "The truth is..." he closed his eyes. "I am head over heels in love with you, Rose Green."

Rose couldn't breathe. She felt like someone had tucked the air out of her lungs.

"Wh- what?"

"I love you," Will said. "I've loved you ever since you climbed down into the records office and insulted me, and I've just fallen more and more in love with you since. I knew I was a goner ever since Ned pointed out that I was smiling just thinking of you. You- you're beautiful, and you're brave, and you're not afraid to speak your mind, and you don't want to be a maid, you want to be a writer, and I think all of that combined just makes me fall for you even more."

Rose was crying now, but this time, the tears were happy.

"I love you too," she said through the tears. "I've loved you for that long as well, and I-"

"I don't need a big declaration," Will told her. "I promise you, Rose, I don't. Your brains are probably scrambled from being in there, anyway, and right now, I just need to make sure you're safe."

"I am," Rose smiled slightly. "I... I feel the most safe when I'm with you, Will. Always."

Will grinned. "It's really nice to hear that, Rose. And it feels... amazing to finally admit how I feel about you."

"So... um..." Rose began unsurely. "When I, uh, get out of here, are you and I, um..?"

Will chuckled. "Wow, are you going to admit you love me and then not be my sweetheart, Rose?"

Rose smiles despite herself. "So I take it that's a yes?"

Will smiled warmly. "Count on it."

"Will!"

Gideon's voice resounded across the yard. Rose heard Will sigh, but she spoke before he could.

"Go," she said. "I don't want you getting in trouble."

"But all I want is to help you," Will told her honestly.

"And you have," Rose said. "I love you, Will. Now, get out there, because I don't want you thrown in here with me."

"I want that," Will smiled.

"Just go," Rose told him. "I love you."

Will smiled before running after Gideon. "I love you too, Rose."

𑁍𑁍𑁍

"

Rose? Rose, are you okay?"

Rose didn't know how much time passed in between Will leaving and Ida arriving, but she did know that soon enough, the kitchen maid was in front of the door.

"Ida?" Rose asked wearily. Will's declaration had saved her a bit, but not enough.

"Rose, are you okay?" Ida repeated.

"No," Rose replied. She was lying on the ground again.

"Now come on, this isn't the little helper I know," Ida said. "I brought you these."

Under the door she slid a few jam tarts.

"They won't miss a few and it'll give you strength. You'll be out soon enough, I know you will."

Rose took the tarts and asked weakly. "What happened to Harriet?"

"She was sent away to Lady Asquith's this morning."

No-

Rose shook her head. "Harriet's... gone?"

"Well, it's what she wanted, isn't it?" Ida sighed. "She's a good maid and you, you're a good, strong girl. You can get through this. Just imagine, yeah? You're not here, you're someplace else."

"Imagination's gone," Rose looked down. "Matron took all that away."

"No, she didn't!" Ida persisted. "Listen, let me help you. We'll do it together, shall we?"

Rose pressed her lips together.

"Where have you always wanted to go, Rose?"

"Anywhere but here," the girl replied sombrely.

"So, let's see," Ida smiled. "How about, fishing boats? All different colours. Bobbing up and down in the harbour. And whitewashed fishermen's cottages glowing in the sun. And just a pebble's throw away, there's the beach. And the blue sea stretching out beyond. How about that?"

All at once, Rose wasn't in the tench anymore. She wasn't lying on the rough, dirty gound and her head wasn't up against the wall.

"I've never seen the sea," she told Ida honestly.

"Oh, you'd love it, Rose," Ida smiled. "Boots off. Walking in the sand."

"How does it feel? The sand? Is it warm?"

"It's warm on some days, wet and a bit smelly on others," shrugged Ida. "But... my favourite is collecting seashells. Some are small and pretty like a little fingernail. But the best are them that you hold up to your ear. And if you listen... you can hear the sea."

Rose closed her eyes. "I can hear it... and I can feel the waves lapping at my feet."

"Go on, Rose," smiled Ida. "Have a little paddle. No one's looking, lift your dress a little."

Rose's eyes snapped open. "The fish, are they biting my feet, Ida?"

"Well, let's leave the fish to the fishermen, shall we?" Ida smiled. "If we walk to the harbour, they'll be back with their catch by now. We'll have herrings for tea. I'll put them the fire, and we'll eat them, watching the sun go down."

Rose smiled warmly. "Have you been here before?"

"I used to live there as a little girl," Ida told her.

"Before you came to London?"

"Before, yeah," Ida said sadly.

"It sounds prefect," Rose was in awe.

"Come on, lads! Bring the carriages round-"

The sound of Ida scrambling to her feet was what filled Rose's ears next.

"I have to go, Rose."

"What? No!" Rose shouted. "No! No, please don't leave me alone, please!"

"Just picture our special place!" Ida implored. "You're not here, you're by the sea, remember? And- and I'm with you."

"But what if she leaves me here overnight?!" Rose was panicking now. "What-? No! Please tell me another story, Ida, please!"

"One day... I will tell you everything," Ida said. "But if I don't go now-"

"So what do I do when I hear the rats?"

"Just think 'I can get through this, I'm Rose Green, it won't always be like this'!"

"You really mean that?" Rose shouted.

"I know it!" Ida was crying now. "Honest, I do."

"But how?!"

"You're my girl, Rose, my very own girl! You always have been. I just- I have to go."

Rose felt like her heart was everywhere as Ida rushed off. It was in her fingertips and her head and her feet and her legs and her-

"No wait! Wait! Ida! My own girl-? IDA!"

She was in shock.

Did that mean- like, really- like-

I found my mother.

Oh my-

Will and Ida.

Two confessions in one day.

Rose Green had changed in the tench.

But for better.

Not for worse.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

Rose was released that evening, jumping away from the tench door as Matron opened it. She apologised on the way up to the dorm but Matron didn't accept it.

As she was dragged into the dorm, Rose came to realise how much she stuck out. She didn't have Harriet, her bonnet and dress and face were filthy, and she felt like she had a sign saying IDA IS MY MOTHER on her head.

As she walked to her bed and Matron left the dorm, Sheila called out. "What happened? Lost your tongue in there, Green?"

"The tench has sent her loopy," Elizabeth pitched in.

"She's always been loopy," Sheila rolled her eyes.

Rose just continued to walk slowly up the aisle in the dorm to her bed, reaching it and collapsing onto it.

She didn't care what Sheila had said.

Nothing what she said could touch her.

Nothing.

After years and years and years of searching she had finally found her.

Her mother.

And she knew exactly what she was going to do about it.