Last Voyages

Chapter 18

"The fallen will rise." -Harry

Isabella's POV:

I held on to Harry's hand tightly as we sailed out to sea, not sure why I was so upset or nervous about this whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to try to start over to see if we could even click the way we used to...but there's just something that isn't sitting right with me.

It's still odd that Harry was so willing to do this even though just a few days he was eager to just up and leave. Maybe that's why it feels weird. I'm not sure though.

Glancing down at our hands, a strange feeling fills my stomach. I immediately recognized it as nostalgia, knowing that this was something that I used to be so accustomed to a long time ago. How strange it is how things have changed, and how foreign someone's touch could be after the absence of it.

"We'll go to an island to the North of here. It shouldn't be too much trouble but it'll definitely try our ability to get along." Harry says to me and my grip tightens on his hand for a moment before I look away from them, staring up at the sea and taking in a deep breath.

"Sounds good." I say, closing my eyes and stepping forward, letting Harry's hand go as I walk forward, the odd heat vanishing from my hand and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away from him, the feeling sending chills down my spine.

Almost out of habit I walked towards the railing of the ship, leaning against it as I felt the sea breeze drifting through my hair, blowing it out of my face as the smell of salt water hit my nose. The fresh, moist air that fanned my face made me feel a peace I hadn't felt in such a long time that I nearly forgot everything that was going on at that moment.

Right then I was back to where I was almost seven years ago, before our ordeal with Spain and France, before Harry's father called us out, before the rogues killed King Edward and framed Harry's dad for it...

Before everything.

The memories flooded my mind so quickly that it was immobilizing. I took in a sharp breath, thinking of all the good times on this ship. They definitely outweighed the bad. It was just that the bad was so harsh that we forgot the good.

My eyes snapped open when I felt a hand on my shoulder, not even realizing that they had closed. I turn to the side, seeing Shayla looking at me with concern on her face.

"Are you okay? You just completely zoned out on me." she says and I nod. "I'm fine...everything just kind of came rushing back. All the memories...all the good." I whisper and a sad smile comes to her face. 

"I know this is hard for you Bella, but you need to give yourself more credit. Most people wouldn't have even given him a second chance. Hell, not just a second chance. A second life, in a way. You've given both of you a chance for a new start. I don't know what all happened when you talked to him in that jail cell, or what Phillipa said...but it hit him. I can tell." she says, looking over her shoulder, me following her gaze as we saw Harry yelling out some orders before just crossing his arms, staring out blankly at the sea.

"You think?" I ask and she looks back at me with a smile.

"I know. He's changing, Bella. He's getting back to the old Harry. It's small changes, but I can see the leaps and bounds he's taking. The anger is still there, no doubt, but there's also something there that I haven't seen in a long time." she says and I raise an eyebrow confused, watching as she gives me a bright smile.

"Hope. Love. They're back in his eyes. I didn't think I'd ever see that in him again." she says and my heart tightens in my chest and I feel my eyes mist slightly.