Rose timidly walked to the edge of the ship. Her hair softly blew around her in the little wind that was playing on the ocean waters. It had been much too long since she had remembered the Titanic…remembered Jack. She had been so caught up in life that she hardly ever took the time to remember those two most important things in her world. Until today, that is.
Finally, she reached the edge of the ship. She looked down into the silent waves, seeming innocent. Rose wasn’t fooled, as she knew how angry and cruel those very same waves could be. She closed her eyes and ran her thumb over a startlingly blue diamond necklace, the Heart of the Ocean. Rose laughed quietly as she remembered when she found it.
Rose looked up at the Statue of Liberty with a sense of awe. She was here. In New York. She had survived. Shivering from the cold of the rain above her, she put her hands in the pockets of the rather fine jacket Cal had put on her. Suddenly, she felt something hard next to her hand. Curiously, she pulled out whatever it was and her eyes got a little bigger. It was the blue diamond.
“May I take your name, miss?” a crew member of the Carpathia asked. Rose stared at the diamond for a moment longer before saying slowly, “Dawson. Rose Dawson.”
Rose had known she could have cashed in the diamond and once more lived the life of luxury. But that had been the exact thing she had been trying to get away from. She hadn’t needed the money, or Cal, for that matter.
With a deep breath, she tried to make up her mind. Half of her told her to throw the diamond in the ocean…it would soon all be over. But the other half told her not to be selfish and to hand it over to her granddaughter, Lizzy. At that moment, Lizzy herself walked up.
“Grandma? What are you doing out here?” she asked concernedly. In a split second, Rose made up her mind.
“Thinking about this diamond,” Rose said unperturbedly. Lizzy looked from her grandmother’s face to the thing in her hand.
“The Heart of the Ocean…you still have it!” Lizzy whispered in awe.
Rose shrugged. “Yes, I still have it,” she said. “Would you like to keep it?”
Lizzy laughed. “I couldn’t take that from you!” she said in disbelief.
Rose shrugged again and looked like she was about to drop it into the ocean. “Either you keep it, or it goes back to the depths of the Titanic.” Rose smiled. Shaking slightly, Lizzy stretched out her hand for it. Rose closed her granddaughter’s hand around the large, blue diamond and softly said, “I’m going to bed, dear.”
With quiet, dainty steps, Rose made her way into the room Brock Lovett had given her. Brock…he should be happy that Lizzy had the diamond now. He would finally get to see it and hold it or whatever he wanted to do. Rose sighed comfortably and wrapped herself in the warm covers. Somehow, she knew it was time to finish up her promise to Jack. Once again, she found herself traveling back to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
“I love you, Jack,” Rose whispered. Each word was hard to say…it was so cold.
Jack gripped her hand tighter. “Don’t you do that. Don’t you say your good-byes,” he said firmly.
Rose hardly registered what he was saying. “I’m so cold,” she muttered.
Jack rubbed his hands with hers and said, “Listen, Rose. You're gonna get out of here. You're gonna go on and you’re gonna make lots of babies, and you're gonna watch them grow. You're gonna die an old...an old lady, warm in your bed. Not here. Not this night. Not like this. Do you understand me?”
He was shaking and his lips were blue, but Rose could still see his love for her in his eyes. Yet still, she couldn’t reply to that. “I can’t feel my body…”
“Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me...it brought me to you. And I'm thankful, Rose. I'm thankful. You must do me this honor. You must promise that you'll survive, that you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise.”
Rose blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes. “I promise,” she whispered.
“And never let go of that promise.”
“I’ll never let go, Jack.”
Rose smiled happily in her sleep. Somehow, she knew that soon she would be with Jack again, and that finally everything would be as it should.
The End.
