Written by Rose DiVerona
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.
There it was. The Statue of
Liberty. A sign of freedom and hope to all who lay eyes on the giant structure.
Rose DeWitt Bukater, standing on the deck of the Carpathia, felt a bundle of
mixed emotions rage through her as she gazed upwards at it through the
drizzling rain.
Sadness. That was easy to place.
The Titanic had sunk just three nights ago, and Rose’s very existence still
seemed a living nightmare with the knowledge that Jack lay at the bottom of the
ocean, along with so many other innocent souls. Jack couldn’t wait to get to
America, Rose remembered. He’d talked about his home in Wisconsin as if it were
a palace. He’d discussed riding horses along the beach in California, and
riding roller coasters until they threw up. Now he would never get to do any of
those things.
Regret, too, wasn’t hard to
figure out. Regret for the life she and Jack could have had together. They’d
never talked about a married life after disembarking the ship–they had only
dreamed about being together.
If only I had stayed in that
lifeboat, then Jack could have had the scrap of wood I survived on, Rose thought. We could have found each
other. But Rose realized that was stupid to think–had she remained on the
lifeboat, she would have been reunited with her mother and Cal, and would be a
slave once again.
But joy…that feeling was not
something she expected to feel right now. Yet it was there, welling up inside
her.
"Why?" Rose whispered
to herself. "Why am I able to feel happy when Jack is dead? When I could
have saved him…"
And then it hit her. A memory of
Jack in the water three nights ago came to her mind.
"Winning that ticket was
the best thing that ever happened to me, Rose. It brought me to you."
A tear trickled down Rose’s
cheek. Jack had known he wasn’t going to make it. But he was still happy that
he had boarded the ship, because he’d met Rose. And Rose suddenly discovered
that she, too, did not regret sticking with Jack in the end. She had been with
him when he died, a blessing that would be the best gift she could receive from
the underestimated third class man.
You jump, I jump. In a way, they’d saved each other. He had
saved her from suicide and an unhappy life, and she had saved him by showing
him love. That was the joy Rose felt. The joy that came from knowing she’d met
the man of her dreams, and neither of them regretted having that, for however
short a time.
"Miss?" An officer from
the Carpathia approached her. "May I take your name?"
Rose didn’t even have to think
about it. "Dawson. Rose Dawson," she said. Her eyes turned upward to
Lady Liberty once more. The freedom that she knew awaited her in America was
reflected in the flame.
I’ll never let go.
The End.