-1A/N- I hope that you enjoy this because I enjoyed writing it. Basically, there are no Tommy Ryan stories and that really bummed me out causing this! Hurray!

Disclaimer: I do not own Titanic. The only thing I own are original ideas and characters.

Prologue: Breakable

Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.

Not a sound could be heard except for the rhythmic pounding of a young woman's feet against the Irish country side. Kathleen Martin's small feet were carrying her as fast as she would make herself move. It seemed that she had been running for nearly an eternity, but she refused to stop. Her legs burned and every muscle of ached as she took another step forward. She tried to take a deep breathe, and even though it was near impossible, she would not allow herself to stop..

She sighed in relief as she saw small familiar house only feet away. As she reached the house she stopped running and collapsed on the ground. Never in her life had she managed to run that far. With each breathe in her lungs burned, and her eyes had started to water.

She wasn't sure if her eyes where watering from the lack of oxygen or the emotional state that had caused her to run. The latter seemed to fit better, but thinking of it only caused the hysterics to grow. Finally, she was able to breathe normally and slowly stood up as she made her way towards the simple house.

Knocking on the door lightly she sighed waiting for the door to open. On the other side she heard loud voices and than saw the door swing open. A plump woman with light curly hair was standing there with a simple frock on her frame. "Kathleen, what brings you here?"

"Where's Tommy?" Kathleen managed to choke out.

"Out back, love." The plump woman smiled motherly at Kathleen before gently closing the door.

Silently Kathleen wandered towards the back of the house. She noticed how calm everything looked around in comparison to the chaos she was feeling. The birds were happily chirping in one of the closet trees and a light breeze came across Kathleen's face. She brushed away strands of her dark hair tucking them behind her ear.

Turning her head slightly she noticed Tommy sitting in the grass. He was resting, leaning against one arm and the other was holding a cigarette to his mouth. In that instance he looked peaceful as he looked out in front of him inhaling from his cigarette. Kathleen felt her heart flutter as she took another step towards him.

At the sound of her footsteps Tommy turned his head noticing Kathleen approaching. A smile crept across his face as he put of his cigarette. "Kat!"

Kathleen smiled sadly as she sat down next to Tommy. Without a word she rested her head against Tommy's chest and felt his arm wrap around her waist.

"What brings you here?" Tommy asked looking down at Kathleen.

Kathleen bit her lip unsure of what to say. The words could not come to her mind in a coherent way as she looked towards Tommy.

"I had to say goodbye," Kathleen told him simply.

Tommy looked over at her curiously. "Goodbye?"

"We're going back home," Kathleen said. The two month trip to Ireland had been cut short by three weeks. Her father had decided that they had spent enough time in her mother's native land, and it was time to go home.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and placed her head on his chest. Every now and than she could hear his heartbeat, and that comforted her beyond any words that he could have mustered up.

"You're leaving? When?" Tommy asked frantically.

Kathleen avoided Tommy's eyes as she looked forward to the country side. "Tomorrow."

"Bloody hell, Kat, tomorrow?" Tommy asked turning towards her. Kathleen bit her tongue as she looked away from Tommy. This had turned out to be more painful than she originally believed it would be.

"The moment that I found out I ran here," Kathleen told him with her voice wavering slightly. Her emotions were starting to rise as she finally looked up into his eyes.

Tommy smiled down at her and tightly squeezed her hand in a reassuring way. He looked down at her distraught, but than broke into a radiant smile. He let out a small laugh before grabbing her other hand. Kathleen felt her heart flutter as Tommy's rough hands held hers tightly. "Marry me."

"What?" Kathleen spat out. That had been the last thing that she had expected to her uttered from his mouth at that moment. She had known him for all of six weeks, and she loved him more than words could describe, but wasn't expecting marriage.

Tommy could barely contain his smile any more. "Kathleen Martin, marry me. That way you won't have to leave."

Kathleen felt her heart break as Tommy placed his hand on her cheek. Closing her eyes she tried to keep back the tears that were burning her eyes at that moment. "We can't do that, and you know it."

"Why not? We love each other, and that should be enough," Tommy whispered. Before Kathleen could even manage to utter out a word she felt Tommy's lips collide with hers. As much as it killed her she pulled away from his embrace and glanced into his confused face.

"It's not though," Kathleen whispered back to him. There was so many reasons that she couldn't marry him. Her family would never speak to her again if she married a third class man. "I can't just leave my family."

Tommy shook his head as he stood up from the ground. "But you can leave me?"

The hurt was easily heard in his voice, and she could barely stand it. She wanted to stay with him for as long as she possibly could. There didn't seem to be anyway that she could leave her family behind in this time. Kathleen stood looking up pleadingly into Tommy's eyes. "Please, don't do this."

"You can't just leave, Kat," Tommy whispered stepping towards her.

"Love, please don't make it harder," Kathleen cried out. She felt the hot tears starting burn her eyes and for the water to drip down her delicate face. Relief flooded her body when she felt Tommy's hand brush away the tears cascading down her face.

Kathleen quickly wrapped her arms tightly around Tommy and felt lightly point her face upwards.

"Don't cry over me, Kat. I'll love you no matter where you live," Tommy told her with certainty in his voice.

Kathleen smiled slightly at him before she felt his lips brush against hers for the last time. Wrapping her hands tightly around his neck, she felt him lift her off the ground slightly as his hands held her waist tightly. The passion in that kiss was unlike Kathleen had ever remembered having, and she wished that it would never end. When the two finally broke apart Kathleen had no idea how much time had passed, for all she knew it was years in heaven.

"I'll always love you," Kathleen told him softly.

"I'll find you again, I promise," Tommy told her as he kissed the tip of her nose softly. Kathleen smiled as she grabbed Tommy's hand and the two watched the sunset over the Irish countryside. A sudden peace came over her as she rested her head on his shoulder. Even though her heart was breaking, somehow Kathleen tried to keep faith that this would not be the end.

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