Chapter One: Free

Rose sat quietly in Carpathia's sunbathed deck, mournfully trying to figure out how she was going to live up to her promise with Jack. How could she possibly live without him now? Sure, she had only met him for three days, but she knew that he was the one—her true love. But why had fate been so cruel to her and Jack?

It was just unfair. Jack should be sitting beside her, sipping hot coffee and admiring the sky that was just like his eyes, not turning into a block of ice in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean! He should be with her. Hadn't they promised to get off the ship together, ride roller coasters, drink cheap beer and ride horses in the beach? Where were those things now? Gone!

The air blew and she shivered. Last night was the best and worst time of her life. She found the love of her life but lost him instantly. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Tears threatened to fall. In her heart, she would never forget. She will never forget Jack if she ever tried, that was for sure.

"I don't think you will find any of your people here sir, these are all steerage." Rose heard a crew member say. She hoped that it was not Cal. God forbid that she should see him again!

Heavy, arrogant footsteps fell upon the deck. She knew that it was a first class person by the way he walked. The sound of those footfalls irritated her. The owner of the arrogant footfalls did not speak, just walked around. Rose dared to turn her head and look at the person. She gasped. It was Cal, and he was looking for her!

Was that pain etched on his face?

Rose tugged at the blanket to hide her flame red hair. If he ever caught sight of her hair, by god, he'd find her and drag her back to hell. No, she was never going back to that place where everything was bound by rules and friendships depended on finance and influence. That was not her world. It had never been. She was a free spirit and she was going to be just like Jack—a free spirits, just heading to the horizon whenever he chooses to.

Cal's footsteps grew louder. He was right behind her now. Rose's heart pounded fast. No, don't let him find me, please. "You, have you seen a lady with flame red hair and porcelain skin? She's 17 and she could be with a blonde lad." he boomed at her.

Rose shook her head and pretended to weep to drive him away. Cal hated drama.

It worked. Cal scoffed and walked away.

She sneaked a look at his retreating figure. She felt glad. She was completely free now that she had gotten away with fooling her devil of a fiancée! Rose smiled.

Her smile was short lived, however. She was free… without Jack beside her. Tears escaped her eyes and she did not wipe them away.

So… what was she going to do with her newfound freedom now?

Well, she couldn't ride the roller coaster alone, drink cheap beer alone and ride a horse alone! And… she couldn't find it in her heart to think about looking for another man in her life, or going back to Cal. That was definitely out of the question! She could try her hand at drawing, just like Jack… or even try acting, she was pretty good at that, wasn't she?

Carpathia docked in New York that evening. It was raining, freezing—but it was no match for the bitter cold in the Atlantic nor could it ever match the coldness that Rose felt. But, the rain gave her hope. Jack was surely in heaven, watching over her. The thought of Jack made her want to jump into the bay and drown.

What the hell are you thinking? Are you going back on your promise to him? Have you no shame? He died for you! A voice hissed in her head. Oh, so now, she was hearing voices? Was she insane now, too? Rose continued to gaze at the Statue of Liberty. She felt… she didn't know what she felt. Happy, sad, hopeful, frightened?

"Can I take your name please, love?" a steward asked.

"Dawson. Rose Dawson." she said.

"Thank you, love." The steward moved on to another survivor.

She dug her hands in Cal's coat pockets. Something rock hard hit her hand. She frowned and collected the offending item. Rose gasped. It was the Heart of the Ocean! She thrust it back in her pocket, fearing that somebody from the first class might see it and identify her.

Rose DeWitt Bukater is dead. She died in Titanic. She is history.

Rose Dawson lives today and tomorrow… until she is an old woman.

And so, Rose Dawson made her way in the busy streets of New York, away from the mayhem in the deck. Inching away from the past… the tragedy of Rose DeWitt Bukater.

Finding free accommodation was easy. White Star Lines had arranged for free accommodations in nearby hotels for all 700 survivors. Of course, the survivors were accommodated according to class. Third class survivors were given free rooms in cheap motels. Rose was not complaining. At least, she was sure that she was very far away from Cal and her mother.

She found herself sharing a room with a widow named Beth. The old woman did not speak much and it annoyed Rose that Beth cried for her husband and children every night. "Oh, Beth, we need to be strong." she told Beth one night. "I lost the man I love in Titanic too."

Beth looked at her like she had said something offending. "That's easy for you to say…you're young, miss. You will find another man. But I am old and I will die alone! We should have never boarded that wretched ship after all! It took everything I had." Beth sobbed.

Rose sighed. "Titanic set me free. I was engaged to a cruel man but then I met Jack when I tried to jump from the back of the ship. Jack was everything to me, Beth. He died holding my hand." She felt the beginnings of a sob coming as well.

The old lady shook her head at Rose. "Young people are so naïve! You cannot fall in love in just two, three days! You're foolish to think that he was really the one meant for you. He wasn't! That's why he was taken away from you, little girl!"

Rose swallowed and chewed her lip. "Then I guess that your husband and children were not for you as well, seeing that they were also taken away from you!"

They no longer spoke to each other after that exchange. Beth had stopped screaming for her family in the middle of the night now. Rose felt bad for saying such things to Beth, but it was Beth who had started it. How dare she say that Jack wasn't the one for her!

However, Beth's words kept Rose up at night.

Meanwhile, Caledon Hockley sat in his suite, brandy in hand, contemplating…

Author's Note:

Hello! Thank you for reading.

I just watched Titanic again for the nth time and decided to write a fic about it. To clarify things, I will not be magically bringing Jack back to life in my story, sorry to disappoint you. See, the reason why I wrote this fic is because I'm a Cal Hockley gal. I'm evil, tee hee. But, who could resist such sauve hotness? I've been looking for a fic where Cal and Rose actually end up together, but couldn't find one that could satisfy my craving. I will do my very best to keep everybody in character here, but I will be bringing in some minor changes in personalities. Hmm.

(hey I support Jack too, in a way, but I support bad boys more)

Don't forget to leave me a review, sweet pea. :)

Oh, and I update every week.

-Victoria Chrystallis