Written by Amanda Brown
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.

Rose stood on the deck of the Carpathia at four in the morning, an hour after she had been rescued. The Carpathia had been kind enough to come and save the Titanic survivors. She had a blanket wrapped around her body, covering her head. She was mourning. She had lost her love, her one true love, Jack Dawson. He had frozen to death while they waited for a rescue boat.

"Excuse me, miss," said a crewman. "May I get your name? We need it for the survivors’ list."

"Yes. Rose...Rose Dawson," said Rose, smiling slightly at the sound of her new name.

"Well, Miss Dawson, if I can get you anything, anything at all, just come find me," said the crewman, walking off.

"Can you get me Jack?" asked Rose, watching as the crewman walked off out of earshot. She needed him in her life and she didn't know how she would live without him. Maybe...maybe if I could've gotten him up on the piece of wreckage with me, he wouldn't have frozen, he would still...still be here with me now, thought Rose, feeling tears well up in her eyes as she thought back to the most tragic moment of her entire life.

*****

I heard faint shouting in the distance. It sounded like a glob of sounds at first. I just thought someone was dying. Then the words became more understandable.

"Hello! Is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?" called a male voice in the distance. I felt a light hit my face. I jerked up, my toes numb and frozen. I knew I was frostbitten and was surprised that I could still move. I saw the lifeboat, and got excited, thinking that Jack and I could finally make it to safety. I turned over on my stomach, looking at a sleeping Jack resting against the edge of the wreckage, for both of us had almost tipped it.

"Jack…" I whispered, gently shaking Jack's arm. "Jack…" I whispered again after getting no response. I shook him a little harder. "Jack..." I said in a normal voice, still not getting a response from my love. I shook him, his hand still in mine. His hand was freezing, but I thought nothing of it. We were in the middle of the North Atlantic in mid-April, stranded after our ship hit an iceberg, at around three o’clock in the morning. "Jack!" I shouted. I shook him and looked at his face. He looked very much at peace. A sudden thought crossed my mind, but I refused to believe it. What if Jack was dead? No! No, he can't be dead! Jack is a survivor! He said so himself! No, I refuse to believe that Jack is dead! I thought to myself. He fell through ice while ice fishing. He lived in Paris with barely any money and very little food. "Jack!" I shouted. "Jack!" I cried. I ran my hand over his hands, his handcuffed wrists, and his face, caressing it. "No…no...no! Jack! Jack! You can't leave me! I need you!" I cried, checking his pulse...I felt none. "Jack! Jack! Jack, I love you," I sobbed.

I took him by the hands, gently kissing his forehead, then let go of him. Jack drifted down into the black ocean. The last thing I saw were Jack's handcuffed wrists. I would have gone down with him in an instant so we could be together always, but then I remembered my promise to Jack. I refused to break the little connection to Jack that I had left.

*****

Rose couldn't stand it anymore. She burst into loud sobs. She was shaking violently, and other people would have thought she was having a seizure. But only three people on the entire ship would know what she was going through. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and immediately, a tiny thread of hope she had been holding onto that Jack was alive came back. But then she realized that it didn't have the spark that Jack normally sent through her. She was afraid it was Cal, her abusive ex, who had tried to kill Jack. Neither Cal nor Jack knew that Rose had heard everything they had said about her when she was being lowered in the lifeboat.

*****

"Rose, you have to get in a lifeboat. I won't let you stay here. Please, Rose," pleaded Jack to Rose, holding her forearms. He didn't want to let go of her, and she didn't want to let go of him...neither of them knew whether they would ever see each other again.

"No, Jack! I don't want to leave you!" said Rose, holding onto Jack. She saw Cal out of the corner of her eye, rolling his eyes and smirking.

"Please, Rose. Just get in the boat for me. I'll get the next one, and then we'll meet up on the rescue ship," pleaded Jack.

"I have an arrangement on the other side of the ship. Jack and I will get in a lifeboat there...both of us," said Cal. Even though Rose wanted to believe him, she didn't. She looked into Jack's eyes and saw that there was knowing and sadness in them.

"You see, Rose? I'm going to be fine. I'll meet you on the rescue ship," said Jack as convincingly as he could. He was so convincing that Rose believed him.

"All Right. But I will see you in the boat," said Rose as she was helped into the lifeboat by Jack. They held each other's hands until they couldn't stretch any longer. Rose longed to feel Jack touching her, holding her. She strained to hear his voice once more.

"You're a good liar," said Cal menacingly.

"Almost as good as you," retorted Jack. Boat 6, the one Rose was on, was having problems going down, so Rose strained, listening to the conversation. "There…are no arrangements, are there?" asked Jack, even though he already knew the answer.

"Oh, there are. Not that you'll benefit from them," said Cal. Jack saw the slight glimmer of the gun in Cal's pocket. Rose gasped, while Jack just accepted it. Cal was going to kill him. "You see, Mr. Dawson, I always win," said Cal, smiling evilly.

Jack felt the worst feeling in his stomach ever. Worse than seasickness, worse than anything. He felt remorse. He knew that he would never see Rose again. He looked down at her and smiled an I love you smile. He hadn't said it to her yet, but he knew that he did. He knew he had found his soulmate on the unsinkable Titanic. Rose and Jack's eyes connected, and Rose felt tears well up in her eyes, knowing that Jack was going to get shot by Cal. Then, anger rose above the sadness that had swept over her. She wasn't about to leave Jack to be murdered. Rose gathered all of her strength and threw herself onto the railing on D-Deck.

"Rose!" yelled Jack, watching her climb back onto the sinking ship. Rose and Jack ran, trying to find each other. They finally met on the Grand Staircase. Jack immediately pressed his lips against hers, happy that he got to see her again. "You're so stupid, Rose..." mumbled Jack every time he parted even a millimeter from her. They stood there, kissing each other, for five minutes.

*****

Rose turned back, relieved that it wasn't Cal behind her. It was one of her true friends on the ship, Margaret Brown.

"Hey, sweetie," said Molly softly.

Rose didn't respond.

"I'm sorry about Jack…and I wish that I could bring him back for you," said Molly. Rose felt tears well up in her eyes once again. "Is there anything I can do for you, honey?" asked Molly.

"One thing, Molly," said Rose, finally facing the woman.

"Anything."

"Did you ever get the jacket that Jack wore back?" asked Rose, shaking off Cal's coat.

"Yes. He was the first to wear it," said Molly.

"Molly, if you could be so kind, could you give it to me? It's one of the few things that can remind me of Jack," said Rose, tears beginning to roll down her face.

"Of course, honey. Come with me to my quarters to get it," said Molly.

"No! I can't let my mother and Cal see me," said Rose, pulling back. "I'll wait here."

"Suit yourself," said Molly, hurrying to her quarters. Rose stood looking at the horizon. That's where Jack and I should be, she thought.

"Honey," said Molly, giving Rose the jacket. She put it on and was immediately comforted by Jack's scent, still on the jacket. She felt the tears becoming heavier on her face.

"Thank you so much, Molly. I think I'm going to go to my room in steerage and lie down. Thank you," said Rose, her voice shaking.

"Oh, it's nothing, Rose. Now, if you ever need me, I'm in room 47A in first class," said Molly. Rose nodded and walked to her room in steerage. She lay down, holding the jacket close to her, along with the blanket. She began to sob.

"Jack! Jack! Jack, I love you!" sobbed Rose, crying into her blanket.

She knew that Jack wasn't coming back. She knew that he would never come back, except in her dreams. Rose's hair was loose and messy. She didn't care, though. She had cuts and bruises on her face, and her skin was very pale, with red, puffy eyes. She suddenly felt anger enter into her system, along with sadness. She was angry. Very angry that the ship she had seen on the horizon while on the Titanic had not come to their rescue. She blamed them for Jack dying. Not the White Star Line, not the iceberg, only herself and the ship, which she knew was the Californian.

"I hate you! You killed him! You killed Jack!" sobbed Rose freely, as she did not have a roommate. "Jack..." sobbed Rose, eventually falling into a deep, nightmarish sleep.

Rose woke from her sleep to a knock on the door. She had her face towards the wall, barely opening her eyes.

"Miss Dawson!" called a steward.

"Hmm?" called Rose.

"Can we come in?" asked the steward.

"Mmm-hmm," said Rose, not turning from the wall, for she still had tears streaking down her face from the terrible nightmare she had had about Jack dying in the Atlantic. Wait. That wasn't a dream, Rose told herself. She began to sob as the steward came in with someone at his side.

"Miss, we have found another survivor of the horrible tragedy floating in the ocean. We have no more rooms in steerage, so can I request him staying here?" asked the steward.

Rose felt a twinge of hope that it would be Jack. No. I watched Jack die, thought Rose. The tears kept coming.

"Mmm-hmm," mumbled Rose again, still not even bothering to stop her tears.

"I'll leave you two to get situated," said the steward, closing the steerage door.

"So...I heard that you lost your love in the sinking...I'm sorry…I did, too, so I know how you feel," said a husky voice. Rose began to shake violently. She began flat out bawling. She felt the tears run down her cheeks, into her hair, and onto the jacket. One of the few things that she had, other than her name and her promise, to remember Jack by. "I know it's horrible, and it must be really hard on you," said the husky voice again.

"He froze...I watched him..." cried Rose, her voice shaking. She sounded croaky.

"Please. Maybe if you talk to me, it'll help," said the voice. Rose, fearing that she was hallucinating, thought that the voice sounded like someone she knew. She slowly turned, her body facing the man, her eyes still shut tight as her tears cascaded down her face. Her face, covered in dirt, made her unrecognizable. She knew that this man would think she was pathetic, but she honestly didn't care. She thought that his voice was husky from the emotional stress and the freezing cold.

"I loved him," Rose whispered. She slowly opened her eyes. The room was a blur. The head of blond hair with ice in it looked at her. "I made him...I made him a promise...that I wouldn't die in the Atlantic...one of three things to remember him by..." Rose whispered, her vision starting to clear. She finally was able to see the room and then look at the man. Rose's eyes widened and her heart stopped beating. She felt like the world around her had stopped. The man just looked at her in confusion.

"Miss? Miss, are you all right?" he asked.

"Jack..." breathed Rose, as if to see if it was really him. She felt her heart quicken. Her breathing did also. The Jack look-alike studied her closely. "Jack..." repeated Rose.

"Rose?" questioned Jack. Rose sat up, the blanket falling from her head. "Rose!" cried Jack, picking her up and twirling her around. Tears streamed from her eyes, but this time, they were tears of happiness.

"Jack!" Rose shouted, burying her face in his neck, taking in his strong arms around her again. Jack put her down, looking lovingly into her eyes. Rose looked at Jack seriously, then began to move her hand along his jaw line and around his face…through his hair, onto his chest and shoulders. "You're really here. Jack, you're not a dream," said Rose, smiling. Jack smiled back, leaning down and kissing Rose as passionately as he ever had, Rose returning the passion.

"I love you so much, Rose," said Jack, looking into the eyes of his one true love.

The End.

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