MAGIC MORNING
Chapter Twelve

The quiet noises of the night rocked Rose back to sleep. Something had made her sit up in bed and wonder if someone was in the room. She had almost feared that it was Cal, or someone else that could hurt her.

This happened a few times every week and she couldn't help but wish that her memories would just disappear. That she could just go on with her life as if nothing had happened. But the sinking played vividly in her mind. After two months…it was still as real as ever.

She had met and lost the love of her life, the only man whom she could ever feel anything for. She had left her old life, escaped her old life, but she had had nothing for it. If only Jack had lived…if only she had made her decision sooner…

The wind picked up a branch from the tree outside the window and Rose sat up in bed again, her eyes wide. The branch appeared to be knocking on the window and she squeezed the pillow in her hands tightly. She was awake again and her thoughts were clearer now. The wind seemed to have whirled up the leaves from last year's fall along with her heartaches.

She stood up and walked over to the window. The night was brighter than she had expected, but the wind produced frightening sounds as it flew through the trees and grass. She let out a sigh of sleepiness and then sat down on the windowsill.

Maybe she wasn't strong enough to do this? Be on her own, have no one but herself…maybe she should have stayed with her mother, married some new Cal…but that thought made her wince and jump down from the comfortable seat. She shook her head and rubbed her arms quickly, as if trying to make those thoughts leave not only her soul, but her body too.

She was going to make it on her own and she was going to make her life worth something. Jack…Jack would have wanted her to do that. She closed her eyes and imagined him standing next to her, him touching her, kissing her, those wonderful hands of his touching her body.

She almost giggled at the thought, but another knock on the window by the cruel wind made her jump and she crawled back under the covers, breathing hard.

"You have to sleep now. You have to. Tomorrow is a long day…the first performance when I'm actually on stage." She paused her calming whispers and looked at the bedside table where the advertisement for the play she had a minor part in stood, leaned on the photo of her on the horse…right in the surf.

She smiled at her own image, knowing that Rose in the photo was smiling back. She looked so relaxed, so happy, sitting on the beautiful horse. That had been the morning she had arrived in Santa Monica, ready to try her luck as an actress.

A few weeks had passed since and it was the red June sun that greeted her every morning. Eventually, Rose fell asleep again, having forgotten about the fears that someone would intrude in her world, that someone would destroy her little dream.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed since she had fallen asleep when the light made its way through to her eyes and she opened them. Morning again…another day to face.

Along with the sunlight, a knock on the door and a familiar voice made her look up. "Rose, are you in here? There's a man looking for you. Come on, open the door!" And this time, it wasn't the wind knocking on the window.

*****

Jack jumped down from the train and landed in the huge crowd of laughing, talking, moving people. He looked back up at the train, waiting for Fabrizio to follow. Helga's face appeared right after Fabrizio's and Jack laughed as he watched his new friend help his fiancée down.

"Let her do something on her own there, Fab," he said and smiled at Helga, who was rolling her eyes at poor Fabrizio. His expression was serious and he wouldn't stop frowning at Jack, who just laughed.

"Let's see what you do when you found this Rose girl," he retorted and Jack just smiled. Rose…would he ever find her again? He had been searching for her for almost two months now, in New York, in Philadelphia, where he had had a very unpleasant confrontation with her mother.

"No, I will not let you know where she is when she writes to me, Mr. Dawson. You're a bad influence and I will not have her know that you survived," Ruth had told him sternly, her mouth a thin line and her eyes as icy as ever.

Jack had been ready to use force to get inside the house and find one of Rose's letters, if there were any. But Molly Brown, who had been helping Ruth to get all the furniture and other things ready to ship off to an auction, had saved him.

"Hey, Ruth, Jack's as good as the next guy and it'll probably be better if she has him than some ruffian." This had made Ruth frown and unwillingly admit that this was true.

After that, Jack had found out that Rose had still not written any letters and no one knew of her whereabouts anyway.

That had been a sunny Friday in the beginning of May. It was June now and it had taken Jack, Fabrizio and Helga weeks to get to the other side of the country. The three of them had decided to travel together when Jack had been able to leave the hospital.

Fabrizio had loved the idea of "heading out for the horizon" just as much as Jack had and to his relief, Helga had agreed happily. In her own country she hadn't had the opportunities to do that, or so she had believed. Maybe she had just seen this when she had met Fabrizio at a steerage dance on Titanic?

She had been thrilled when Fabrizio had introduced her to Jack and had explained with gestures and the few English words she had managed to learn that he had been the man who had saved her life.

Jack smiled as they walked along the sunny street that Thursday in Santa Monica. He remembered how Fabrizio had hugged him tightly, even kissed his cheek in gratitude to the man who had saved his girlfriend's life.

Fate sure knew more than they did, Jack concluded and somehow he knew that if he hadn't saved Helga, none of them would be alive today. Helga would have died, he wouldn't have had Fabrizio to save him, and who knew what could have happened to Fabrizio?

"Hey, look at this!" Jack suddenly exclaimed after seeing a sign that said, "Furnished rooms for rent". He opened the door to reveal an older man sitting down behind a counter, playing solitaire it seemed.

"Come on, you guys," he said to Fabrizio and Helga, who had stayed in the doorway for a few moments longer and were approaching him uncertainly, holding hands.

For a moment, Jack felt a cold hand grab his heart. He wanted someone to hold hands with too. Someone to talk to, someone to love. But not just someone…Rose. He had to find her soon.

They took two rooms, one for Jack and Fabrizio and one for Helga. If they found Rose, she could share a room with Helga, Jack thought more than once during the rest of the day as he walked around, trying to find something that could tell him where she was.

They had talked about Santa Monica, about drawing pictures there for ten cents apiece. They had talked about riding horses in the surf, about being free. But where was she doing all this? Here in Santa Monica? Or on the other side of the world?

He sat down in a chair in one of the many cafes, ordered a beer, cheap beer, he noted and smiled, remembering their conversation again. But his smile soon faded. He was starting to give up and he hated that feeling.

Just as he was paying, he saw a young boy, about ten years old, walk past him on the street. He was wearing one of those ads that cover the whole body and Jack almost dropped the coins he was holding when he saw the names on it. Rose Dawson…play…

Jack hurried after the boy, grabbing him by the arm.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the boy asked, offended. But Jack just read the ad again to make sure and then headed down the street again, running fast now, the gloomy expression forgotten.

*****

The clock hadn't even struck six the next morning when Jack knocked on the door to the apartment building. A woman in her sixties answered, her gray hair hanging over her shoulder in a long braid and her eyes barely open.

"Do you know what time it is?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but…I need to speak to one of your tenants. Rose Dawson. Please, it's very important. I do apologize for coming by so early."

The woman seemed conciliated by this and nodded.

"Wait here. I'll go get her and then I'll go back to sleep. Never heard of such nonsense. Waking me up on a Friday…" she said and Jack heard her continue muttering as she disappeared upstairs.

He took a deep breath and leaned on the rail of the porch, staring out over the street.

Helga had told him to come later in the day and Fabrizio had called him pazzo; crazy, but Jack had refused to listen. Rose wouldn't care about him coming so early…she would just be happy to see him again. Wouldn't she? He clutched the wooden rail tightly, hoping that she would be happy. That she still felt the same way about him.

*****

Rose sat up, shook her head and reached for the light green robe she had bought a few days ago at a second hand shop. Who could be looking for her? Cal? Cal…he was dead, wasn't he? Or maybe he wasn't, maybe he had tracked her down here and was ready to take her back, hurt her again…

She froze and held on to the bedpost tightly as she stepped into her shoes. A quick glance of herself in the mirror made her close her eyes and she reached up to make her curls fall more naturally and then she splashed her face with cold water. She thought that that would make her think more clearly.

"Who is it?" she asked when she had opened the door and was staring at her grumpy landlady. "A young man. Says he has to see you right away. Miss Dawson, this is really not appropriate, but since you've never caused me any problems, you go on down there and talk to him. I'm going back to bed."

Rose nodded, feeling utterly confused now. Who was he? Could it…no, he had died. He was gone.

"Thank you, Mrs. Patterson. I'm sorry he woke you up." The woman just nodded and Rose walked down the first steps of the stairs carefully, still trying to make herself look like she hadn't been asleep a few minutes ago.

"Hello," she said uncertainly in the doorway when she saw the figure standing on the porch. He turned around and smiled at her. He looked so familiar…blond hair shining in the light, blue eyes staring at her…the beautifully heart-shaped face…Jack?

"Hello Rose," he replied and she took a few shaky steps closer to him.

"Jack? Oh my goodness…it is you." Her voice was barely above a whisper and she felt like the world was whirling round and round. The only thing she could see clearly was his face. That feeling disappeared after just a few seconds and she walked up to him, smiling shyly.

"Jack…I thought you died," she whispered and closed her eyes when she felt his hand over her hair.

"I know. I've been looking for you since April. I saw the ad for your play yesterday and I couldn't sleep, so I had to go here and see you…I…I've been trying to find you in every possible corner of this place." He had more explaining to do and she could see it in his eyes, but she just put her finger over his mouth gently.

"Shh, don't speak. Let's just…savor this moment. I…I've been wishing that you would come back since I left you there…I've been wishing that you would touch me and hold me again. I…"

He grinned and brought his arms closer around her.

"Didn't you just tell me to be quiet?"

She smiled back, blushing slightly.

"Oh Jack, I must look horrible to you. I just woke up and…I…" He shook his head gently and his hand came over her cheek, touching her ever so softly, making her shiver.

"You look like a princess."

"I do?" she whispered, confused, but when she saw his expression, she just smiled again.

"You have no idea how I've longed for you…" she breathed softly and stepped closer to him, feeling his embrace tighten.

"I wanted you to kiss me that day on Titanic, but…you…know why I couldn't. Cal and…he…" She stopped speaking quickly, not knowing how much he knew and whether she even wanted to tell him.

"I know," he whispered. Those two words just summed up everything, made it all stay in the past, for now at least…and that was where Rose wanted it to stay.

Instead of talking about the past, regrets, or pain, she felt his lips brush hers, softly at first, as to be careful with her, but then she just hugged him and leaned even closer. The kiss deepened and they stood in each other's arms for what seemed like eternity, as the sun rose above the horizon and splashed its beams over them.

Morning had finally come, the magic morning they had dreamed about for so long.

Epilogue
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