Our Love Will Go On

By Bribles

"Jack…" Rose's whispered voice was hoarse with disuse.

"Jack… Jack…There's a boat…Jack," Her voice still had some hope, but the light was slowly fading out of her eyes.

"Jack…Jack…Jack…JACK!" The last word came out a strangled cough.

"There's a boat, Jack! Jack…" The tears were freezing on her cheeks. Small sobs were escaping out of her. She didn't want to accept the truth, even though his frozen face was right in front of her. She was shaking his hand, the cuff still attached to his wrist jingling along with her. Laying her head down, she gave into the sobs, if only for a brief moment. Suddenly, she looked up.

"Come back," she whispered faintly. "Come back, come back."

She continued calling out for the boat, her voice getting a bit stronger, but not strong enough to reach the ears of the seamen. Looking around, and spotting the whistle sticking out of the mouth of the officer, she knew what she had to do.

Grabbing Jack's hand with her own, she pulls until she frees her other hand. Slowly, painstakingly, she lower's him into the water.

"I'll never let go, I promise," She whispers as the tears continue down her face. Kissing his hand, she watches as he slowly fades into the water. Rose allows herself to grieve for a short minute, and then sets her mind on the task ahead.

Rolling off the door, she propels herself in the direction of the frozen officer. Rose is only able to stay buoyant with the aid of the life vest. Grabbing the whistle from the officer's mouth, she blows, with all the strength left in her. Seeing that it wasn't enough, she tries again, and again, until she can see the boat turning around. A grim satisfaction settles over her, knowing that she was able to at least start keeping her promise to Jack alive.

As they pulled her onto the boat and wrapped a blanket around her, Rose's eyes were glued to the empty door that saved her life, and cost Jacks' his. She kept it in her sights as they started to row away.

Was that her mind playing tricks on her, or was the door moving? Rose leaned forward, trying to keep her eyes on it as the darkness consumed her vision.

There it was again! The door was definitely moving!

"Wait," she coughed out, trying to get the attention of the rower next to her. Tapping on his arm, she pointed to the spot where the door was barely visible.

"It's just the waves from the boat, miss," the officer told her gently.

"No!" she strangled out, not wanting to believe it. "There's someone there! He was next to me!"

"Miss, I promised, we searched the bodies next to you, and there were no living souls."

"Captain!" Rose called out. "There's a person moving out there!" She gestured towards the direction of the door, which could no longer be seen in the darkness.

"I told her it was the wake from the boat, sir," the officer stated. "But she didn't believe me."

"I saw the door-the piece of wood I was on- moving up and down in the water, Captain," Rose defied. "Even if I am just a woman, I can still tell the difference between the waves caused by the boat and the door moving because someone is thrashing around under it, trying to grab it maybe."

"Miss, I give you my word that we did all we could for all of the persons around you. None of them were alive," the captain said to her, trying to be gentle. "We searched all of them once we pulled you aboard, and not one of the bodies showed any signs of life. You were the only one in this area that we found alive. To be perfectly frank, miss, we weren't expecting to find anyone, though we keep watch hopefully."

"Is it worth risking one person's life not going back to double check, when we are still so close to them?" Rose demanded.

Thinking for a brief moment, the captain ordered his men into action.

"Turn about!"

The men responded immediately, careful and respectful of the bodies close to their boat.

She looked in the water, trying to see through the darkness, keeping an eye on where she could feel the door was still moving. But as they approached it, she felt her heart sink.

"I'm sorry, miss," the captain gently.

"I saw it!" Rose exclaimed. She knew that it wasn't the boat's waves causing the door to move.

"Miss, we must get back before we all freeze out here. Forward, men."

"NO!" Rose screamed hoarsely. "Look! There it is again! The boat is not moving, so what is that?"

The captain turned, and pointed his flashlight in the direction Rose gestured, trying to see past the darkness. Not believing his eyes, he watched as something moved under the water, trying to force its way to the surface. As if rising from the depths of the ocean floor, a man's head, followed quickly by his torso, shattered the surface of the water.

Sputtering, the man went under once more, before the shocked seamen were able to rush into action, pulling him out of the water, and onto the boat.

Almost falling overboard, Rose pushed her way through the men, trying to catch a glimpse of the man's face.

"Jack?"

"Sit down, miss!" The captain ordered Rose. She didn't respond, still trying to see if the man was her beloved Jack. The captain was a patient man, but he knew that if he could not get to the man to help revive him, there work and suffering in the cold would be for not.

"Miss, sit down! If we cannot help this man, he will not survive for you to see if you know him or not! Now I say once again; SIT DOWN!"

Rose sat, very reluctantly. In her heart, though, she knew the captain was right. If her being in the way caused the man to die, she would not be able to live with herself, especially if it was Jack.

Working fast, the men started trying to save the life of their newest passenger. One man performed CPR while another fetched blankets to wrap the poor soul in. All of this was done within the tight confines of the boat, and knowing that one wrong move would send everyone overboard and to their deaths.

After about a minute and a half, the man started struggling for breath. Helped into a sitting position, the man coughed up the sea water that was trapped in his lungs. Finally able to breath, the seamen laid him back down, wrapping him securely in blankets, trying to stave off the bitter cold.

Seeing that no more could be done for the man, the captain started to take command again.

"Right men, we have to get back to the ship quickly. The lives of the living are depending on us. Move out!"

No one noticed the newest passenger slipping back into the darkness.

The sun was shining bright into his eyes. Groaning, he sat up, but a bit too quickly. Just as fast, he laid back down. His movements did not go unnoticed.

"Finally up, are we?" the nurse said cheerfully. "Good. I can check you over properly. Don't look at me like that. When I'm done, there is a woman outside waiting to hear news of your well being. I would be more grateful to her. The Captain said that it was she who is responsible for you being alive under my tender mercies right now."

"Who is she?" the man croaked.

"You'll just have to see for yourself, won't you? Bit improper, it is, for a woman to be visiting a man that isn't her husband. Even if she did save your life. What is the world coming to now? Be that as it may, I have no reason to turn her away. Even soaked as she was that dress tells me she is someone of high society. Can't refuse someone of that standing anything they want, now can you?"

The nurse was just mumbling to herself, while she bustled around the man, taking his temperature, checking his pulse, and doing the mysterious things nurses do to make patients well.

"Alright miss, you may come in now. But, mind you, don't get too noisy. I won't have you bothering my other patients who are trying to rest."

Stepping around the curtain was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. Looking at her, he could see her eyes welling up in tears, before she threw herself at him.

"Oh Jack!" Rose sobbed into his chest. "I thought I had lost you forever! I thought you had left me. I love you! Jack, I love you!"

Here, Rose's declarations gave into her tears, and she just collapsed against newly revived Jack Dawson.

"Shh, Rose. I'm here now. I would never leave you. You jump, I jump remember? Shh, it's all right. If you don't quiet down, the nurse will kick you out. And I couldn't stand to see you go. Not now. Not when I just found you again."

Jack was trying to sooth Rose. He could see the nurse eying them. Once Rose's sobs dissolved into hiccups, she looked over at the nurse too, and promptly burst into unladylike laughter.

"What are we going to do, Jack?" Rose asked later that day. While not fully recovered, there were so many others that were waiting to be seen by the nurses that Jack was released to explore the rest of the ship. He and Rose were currently with the rest of the steerage passengers, trying to keep a low profile.

They had already had a couple of close calls. Cal was seen entering the hospital wing not five seconds after Rose and Jack had left. He had come down to steerage a couple of times, but his suit and tie and superior air were so out of place, it made avoiding him all the easier.

Jack allowed himself a second to think, before he responded to Rose.

"I don't know what we are going to do," he replied truthfully. At the panicked look on Rose's face, he hurriedly continued his train of thought. "I believe that we will make it. I love you Rose. I would do anything for you. I want to give you the life that you deserve, but I'm also not delusional. I cannot give you the finer things in life. And we will probably lack a lot in our life. We will go through rough times. But I know that we can survive it. We will make it through everything that life throws at us. We will be able to conquer life because you love me and I love you. Our love will keep us going, long after our brains and bodies have given up. But I love you with all my heart, and I know that it is that love that will be able to overcome everything."

Rose had tears in her eyes. None fell however, when she responded to Jack. She didn't think, she just said the things that were in her heart.

"Jack, I don't care about the finer things in life. I don't care about being comfortable. I care about being with you. Without you, I don't see a future worth living. If I can't be with you, I don't want to be living at all. I love you with every fiber of my being, and high society be damned, I will not leave your side. I don't care if we live in gutters. As long as we are together, wherever we live will seem like the royal palace to me. I love you with everything I have, and nothing will ever tear us apart. Whatever we face in life will be nothing as long as we are able to face it together."

Rose looked into Jacks eyes, trying to look into his soul. Trying to see if his words were true. As she said what her heart was feeling, she could sense that he was doing the same.

As if it was rehearsed, Jack and Rose leaned in and shared a kiss, just as the rest of the steerage passengers were looking towards the small bump on the horizon. The small bump would soon reveal itself to be the Statue of Liberty. Rose and Jack felt in that one kiss the promise of a thousand years. A promise of a life filled with love. They knew that they would face whatever life threw at them, and they would face it together.

A/N: This is what my head has been spinning around for a few days. Another one-shot I know, but that's all I am capable of at this moment. I don't have enough time to devote to a multi-chapter story, so I am just doing one-shots as they pop up in my head.

I do not own any of the characters. They are all the property of the owners of the movie Titanic.

I hope my story has inspired you to leave a review.