April 16, 1914
Exactly two years and a day after that fateful night in April, at the Santa Monica pier, Jack Dawson walked along the boarded structure, still depressed by his loss in 1912. He shook his head and told himself to stop thinking about her.
"You have her memory. That's all you need," he whispered.
But, no, he couldn't do that. These two years, one in New York and one in California, had been horrible. He didn't dare go back to Chippewa Falls, and after visiting her grave in Philadelphia, which did not have a body since they could not find it, he promised her there that he'd love no other woman.
How could fate be so incredibly harsh and cruel? To let love and hearts be broken like that is so unfair. But--has it ever been fair? Yes, only once, when I won the ticket and met my lover, Jack thought. But why did she have to die? Why couldn't I take her place?
He sat down on a bench and waited for dawn to try and refresh him, as he wanted it to, like it used to. He hadn't even been able to do what he used to love doing. Selling portraits for ten cents apiece. His love was gone. All of it. He had to make himself come here every day. It reminded him of Rose, even though she'd never seen the beauty it possessed. He couldn't believe he could actually look at the ocean and not curse it for taking his lover. Actually, the Pacific was rather different, warmer, of course, but oddly it gave him peace that he could not understand.
He couldn't bring himself to even wade in it. The closest he'd gotten to the water was the pier! As dawn's sun peeked over the horizon it greeted him with a certain sense of happiness that he hadn't known in two years. Had dawn finally refreshed him on the day after the anniversary of his beloved's death?
How can that be? That's impossible! Jack thought, thinking that perhaps he should leave the pier for today. He decided against it. The only thing he enjoyed now was his time alone at the pier. But, he thought miserably, I'm usually always alone. Except for his best friend Helga, Fabrizio's love interest on the Titanic.
Dear Fabrizio had also perished with Rose. Jack heard a female laugh softly, and he sighed, must everything remind him of Rose? His darling Rose...he put his head in his hands, fingers splayed against his face, to where he could see. Then, he saw a flash of red run by and he took his hands away quickly. No...
"Wait!" a man's voice called after the woman, who was running to the end of the pier. Jack followed her.
*****
"Jack loved it here," Rose told Fabrizio, as he walked up behind her. "He told me he'd take me here."
"Rose, it's okay..." he said, hearing the tears in her voice.
Rose shook her head furiously. "No, it's not. It hasn't been. Ever since...I can't believe it's been two years, Fabri. I can't. I miss him..." She turned around and fell into welcoming arms and she cried into her best friend's shirt.
"I know, Rose, I miss him too," Fabrizio whispered, holding her as she sobbed.
"Why'd he have to go? Him? He was the best of all people I've ever known. He didn't deserve to die! Neither did our baby...."
Jack stared at the two people he'd long since known were dead. This must be an illusion. He shook his head, closing his eyes and when he opened them, the two were still there, both crying over his supposed death. His throat tightened and he was not able to form words. Hell, his mind couldn't think of any words, anyway.
"You--you didn't let go..." he was finally able to mutter.
Rose looked up and Fabrizio turned around. The look on Rose's face was pure shock and disbelief. A sob escaped her lips and she cried harder.
"J-Jack...no, it can't be. Fabrizio, do you see him, too?" she asked, not taking her eyes from her one time lover.
"Yes, I do..." he said, brows formed together in confusion.
"I'm real...I'm here. Though I believe you are the mirage," Jack said.
Rose unsteadily walked the few feet between them and touched his cheek, his lips, his eyelids and nose. "Jack...you're really here..." she whispered. It was more a sentence than a question. "How?"
"I've suddenly lost all remembrance of anything but you," Jack told her. "I don't understand..."
"Neither do I. I guess we don't have to." Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"God, I love you, Rose," he vowed in her ear. "I'm so sorry."
"I love you, Jack, more than anything. But I don't understand how you lived...your name wasn't on the survivor list."
"Neither was yours," he replied.
"You didn't see it? My name is, after all, Rose Dawson, if that's okay with you, of course." She smiled through her tears.
He finally smiled a true smile and he hugged her tightly. "You don't know how much that means to me!" Then, he kissed her as passionately as ever. She welcomed the kiss and kissed him back. The tingles they'd experienced in 1912 had come rushing back and they sobbed as their tongues made love.
Fabrizio came up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but...you look like an old friend of mine."
"Fabrizio! God, have I missed you!" Jack then hugged him and Rose looked at their reunion with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to find love, lose it, but then find it again. Of course, she'd be luckier if they'd been able to stay together, but somehow, she knew it would be better this way.
The three went to Jack's apartment. "Trust me, you'll love this surprise," Jack had told them, holding Rose's hand as they walked down the pier's length and onto the solid ground. Once there, Jack instructed them to stay in the living room as he went into one of the back rooms. He came back about five minutes later, holding a baby that was about a year old, if Rose was correct. Then he stepped out of the way, revealing a beautiful blonde and Rose immediately felt her heart break. Until...
"Helga!" Fabrizio exclaimed. "My God! I thought you'd died!" He hugged the woman he hadn't seen in two years.
Helga was taken aback at seeing him and she looked as if in a trance as tears flowed freely down her beautifully shaped face. Jack walked over to Rose, the sleeping baby still in his arms.
"What's wrong?" he asked, whispering.
"Nothing, now...but when I saw her, I didn't recognize her..." Rose's voice drifted off and Jack guessed the rest.
"I couldn't love any woman but you, Rose. And I'm sorry for never telling you that in person," he said, gently.
"I don't understand your last sentence," she said.
"I went to your makeshift grave a year ago. I was so depressed, even today before I saw you, I was depressed...I never told you how much you meant to me when we were together and the realization the morning of the sinking ate at me. I love you, Rose and I'm going to make sure we'll never lose each other again," he promised. "I'm so glad you didn't let go...I'm so glad..."
Tears welled up in Rose's eyes, making them burn. "We have each other now, Jack. Forever."
Fabrizio took his son, Julian, from Jack, and he and Helga went to her room, leaving Jack and Rose alone. Jack sat down on the couch and Rose followed him.
"I finally feel whole again. Like I did when I met you. There's been this void place in my life since--since it happened. And I feel wonderful now."
"So do I, Rose, so do I," Jack said. "I heard you say our baby...I didn't hear the whole conversation. Please, explain."
"I was pregnant, Jack...The--the baby was a stillborn..."
Jack pulled her into his warm embrace and they cried together. "Oh, Rose, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm so sorry..."
"He'd be a year old right now," Rose muttered, voice shaken and muffled. "I'm sorry, Jack...so sorry...I should have been a better mother and...and..."
"Hush, now, Rose," Jack gently scolded. "...it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault."
"But...but...I could have done better. I was just so distraught about your supposed death that I was like a zombie walking around. Fabrizio helped me so much. Got me on my feet and let me move in with him...he's a saint, I assure you," Rose vaguely explained, looking into the light blue pools that belonged to the man she loved adoringly.
"Rose...were you homeless?" he asked, already knowing the answer by her last sentence. She tried to avert her gaze but he stopped the attempt by cupping her chin with his hand, not harshly at all, but gently.
"Yes, but I didn't have money, Jack...only--only the diamond. I didn't want to give that up. That was my only reminder, except for our child, of course..."
"How long?" he simply asked.
"A few months...but--"
"Why didn't you go back to your mother, or something?" he asked, furious that he'd let her be on the streets that long, and alone.
"Jack, I...I didn't want to see my mother. After all, she did try to have us separated. She wouldn't have allowed me in her house knowing I was pregnant and unwed," Rose told him, worried that he was mad at her for being so careless when she was, in fact, very careful about every move she made. Well, almost every move. She wouldn't forgive him if he brought up Cal's name, so he bit his tongue.
"I'm not angry with you," he said, seeing the worried expression on her face and in her eyes. "I just regret putting you through that."
"Jack!" Rose exclaimed. "You didn't put me through that! It was something that no one could have fault for."
"Rose, I got you pregnant, for heaven's sake..." he sighed. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been on the damned streets at all!"
"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now!" she retorted. "Neither of us would be." Without hesitation, he leaned over and quickly placed claim on her mouth with his. His tongue, tempting and seducing, mated with hers in fiery restlessness. When he pulled back, with reluctance, she was breathless. "Put your hands on me, Jack..."
"Only if you promise to spend the rest of your life with me. To bear my children and love me as I love you," he whispered.
"I promise..."
"Never let go of that promise."
"I'll never let go, Jack...I'll never let go."
The End.