We fall for forever.

We fall for no time at all.

We hit the water.

My hand is ripped from Phil’s instantly. The wool tying us together snaps. I manage one gulp of air as the swell forces me above the surface for a second, but then a wave crashes over me and I’m tumbling over and over, like I’m in a washing machine.

I panic. Any thought I might have had and any thought I’ve ever had goes straight out of my head. I’m alone in the middle of a vast ocean, and I’m drowning, and something brushes against my arm, and she’s here, he’s here, Jenny and Kel, they’re here, and there are monsters and it brushes my arm again and I’m screaming and the water fills my lungs and I’m choking and I’m drowning and –

His fingers close around my wrist.

I flop like a dying fish onto the deck of the ship, choking. There’s so much water in my throat that I’m still breathing it, and I’m going to be the first person ever to drown on dry land, and the prince is going to laugh, oh God the prince is going to laugh, and there’s a hand thumping me on the back, water spewing out of me, and I’m spluttering and wheezing and air, air, beautiful sweet air, apples and champagne.

And he’s pressing me to him, his arms like iron around me. ‘Pearl,’ Finn gasps into my hair. ‘Pearl.’