Jack Dawson was holding carefully onto Rose DeWitt Bukater as the Titanic became vertical. Rose, a seventeen-year-old, redheaded first class passenger, looked to her left to see a mother and her young daughter. She looked to her right to see a frantic woman searching the ship.
"Cora! Cora!" she exclaimed. Jack looked at her.
"Excuse me. Are you Cora’s mother?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes, I am! My name is Lynette!" exclaimed the woman.
"Jack, this is where we first met," Rose whispered. Jack kissed her forehead.
"Rose, you're going to have to hold onto the railing. Stay on the ship as long as possible. The ship will suck you down. Actually, you and Lynette stay together. Find something to float on. The water is so cold, it could freeze you. I'll meet you in New York," Jack said, allowing Rose to grab onto the railing.
"Jack, no! Don't leave me!" Rose cried. It hurt Jack to do this.
"Rose, it hurts me a lot to do this, but it will be worth it," he said. He kissed her once more before climbing on top of the railing. "You and Lynette keep each other safe. In case I don't see you again, I love you, Rose." And with that said, he scurried off.
"Jack, no! Jack!" Rose cried, but it was too late. He was already gone. "Jack!"
"Cora!" cried Lynette.
"Is Cora your daughter?" Rose asked. Lynette nodded. Rose recalled Jack dancing with a little girl named Cora at the party he'd brought her to on the third class deck. Rose grabbed Lynette with her free arm. "We have to pull ourselves up on top of the ship!" Lynette nodded, and they swung themselves up to the top. The ship finally went down, and Lynette and Rose made sure to stay together. They found a door that Rose climbed on and a dresser that Lynette climbed on.
"Cora! Cora!" called Lynette.
"Jack! Jack, where are you?" Rose called. No answer came for either of them. As time passed, the crowd got quieter and quieter. "It's getting quiet." Lynette nodded in agreement. There were still some cries and pleas for help, but not many. As the time went on, they died down. And soon, not a noise could be heard. "Come Josephine, in my flying machine. Going up she goes, up she goes." Rose was singing quietly to herself. She wasn't even sure if Lynette was still alive.
"R-rose, are you st-still alive?" came a voice. Rose looked over at her.
"I'm s-s-so cold," whispered Rose. All of a sudden, a light was seen, and a voice called out.
"Is there anybody alive out there? Hello?" called a man's voice.
"There's a boat," said Rose. "Look, Lynette, there's a boat." Lynette must have been feeling stronger than Rose, since she sat up on her knees and waved her arms in the air, calling to it.
"We are here! We are here!" she called.
"Help us! Help us!" whispered Rose. That was as much help as she was. The boat came over to them and the crewmembers helped Lynette into the boat. They were unsure if Rose was still alive.
"Rose! Rose!" called a familiar voice. She didn't quite recognize it. Rose moved her head slightly, which was enough for them to pull her into the boat before she passed out.
*****
Before the ship had sunk, her fiancé, Cal, had shot her with a pistol. He was aiming for Jack, but he shot her in the side. The pain in her side was worse than it had been before, probably because before, it had been frozen. She still had no idea whose voice it was that had called her. It had been a man's voice. Was it Cal? She hoped not. Rose was on the deck of a ship named the Carpathia, covered by a blanket. Nearby was Lynette, stroking a child's hair. The child, Rose recognized, was Cora. Rose sat up, ignoring the striking pain in her side. She pulled the blanket over her head and sat there, watching Lynette stroke her daughter's hair. At least Lynette had someone to love in her life.
"Mommy, where's Daddy?" asked little Cora. Lynette didn't know what to say, so she looked behind her, where Rose was. Rose thought she was looking at her, so she shrugged.
"I wouldn't answer that question, Lynette," came a very familiar voice. It was the voice that made her heart melt, the same voice she'd heard on the lifeboat. Jack sat down beside her, a cup of tea in his hand. He handed it to her, and she took it. He kissed her forehead before taking a sip of his coffee. "How do you feel, Rose?" Rose shrugged. "You haven't spoken since you arrived on this ship."
"Tired," replied Rose quietly, leaning on Jack's shoulder. Jack wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders.
"You know why I left?" Jack asked her. Rose shrugged. "I went to go find Cora. She was almost drowning when I found her. I grabbed her and found a piece of the ship to float on. Part of the deck, I think it was. When the boat came around, I was furious to see that out of twenty lifeboats, only one came back. Only one damned boat! That wouldn't have helped us at all!" Rose pretty much zoned out of his story after that. "Rose?" He gave her a small shake and she looked up at him.
"Does my mother know?" Rose asked in a sleepy tone.
"Does your mother know what?" Jack asked.
"Does my mother know I'm alive?" Rose repeated, finishing her question.
"I assume she doesn't. I assume Cal doesn't, either," Jack replied.
"I don't give a damn about what that bastard thinks," Rose said, still leaning on his shoulder. "He wants to marry me for money and he thinks he can boss me around, that I work for him or something. I don't want anything to do with him or anything that relates to him."
"Whoa, Sweetpea! This is the most you've spoken in the past twenty-four hours!" Jack exclaimed.
"Every word is worth it," Rose muttered, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself. Jack took this as a sign that she was cold, so he wrapped both of his arms around her. Rose looked at his wrists to see that the cuffs were no longer there. "I see that the cuffs are off of your wrists."
"Yeah. I had someone cut them off for me," Jack said. Rose heard some crying nearby, and looked up to find a little boy all alone. He looked to be around three or four years old. She stood up and walked over to him, quickly followed by Jack.
"Hello, there, sweetheart. Where are your mommy and daddy?" she asked the little boy. He shrugged. "What is your name?"
"Joshua," replied the little boy. Rose assumed that his parents must have been Italian immigrants. She took the little boy into her arms and picked him up.
"It'll be all right, Joshua. Everything will be fine," she said, reassuring the little boy. Jack moved in front of Rose and wrapped his arms around both her and Joshua.
*****
A few days went by, and the Carpathia arrived in New York. Rose held Joshua in her arms and watched the Statue of Liberty pass. It was raining, but Rose didn't care. She kept Joshua dry, as if he were her own son. Jack walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"We made it," he said.
"I remember telling you a few nights ago, right before the iceberg struck, that I would get off of the ship with you," Rose told him.
"That was on the Titanic. This is the Carpathia. Is your word still the same?" Jack asked. Rose smiled at him.
"Always," she said. Jack wrapped his arms around her, keeping her warm and dry. Jack stuck his hands in the pocket of the jacket that Cal gave her and pulled something out. It was the Heart of the Ocean.
"What is this?" asked Jack. Rose looked at the necklace, than back at him.
"Let me see that," she said, and Jack handed her the necklace. Rose walked over to the railing and threw the necklace overboard. Jack walked up behind her again and stayed by her side. All of a sudden, a crewmember from the Titanic walked up to them.
"Name, please," he said.
"Jack Dawson," said Jack.
"Rose Dawson," said Rose. The man wrote them down.
"And the child?" asked the crewmember.
"Joshua Dawson," said Rose and Jack together. They looked at each other and smiled.
"Thank you," said the man, walking away.
"So, I guess that's it. We're officially a family," Jack said. Rose smiled.
"And married, too," she said.
"Yes, to America, at least," said Jack. Rose leaned her head on Jack's shoulder.
"That's enough for me," she said. And together, Joshua in arms, Jack and Rose looked out beyond the horizon.