1: Never Forget
The sun cast dancing beams of light as she approached him. His back was turned to her, brooding his rejection.
"Hello Jack." He turned around, surprised.
"I changed my mind." She stated. He grinned widely. It was that ear-to-ear smile that she loved. The 'nothing to care about' smile. The smile she would never forget. Approaching him, she smiled too. The sun cast a colorful reflection on the water, making the water dance with fire.
"They said you might be-"
"Shh." He said, putting a finger to his mouth.
"Give me your hand." He said, holding out his own. She placed her hand in his, marveling at how perfect they fit together. She stared into his ice-blue eyes. There was something so alluring about him. She couldn't take my eyes off his angel face.
"Now close your eyes." She didn't want to close them. She wanted to look into his face forever, to search the icy depths of his eyes.
"Go on." He urged her. She closed them and smiled. He placed his hand on her waist and took her other hand softly in his.
"Step up." She did. She marveled at his clear, perfect voice. The clarity of an angel's voice.
"Now hold onto the railing. Keep your eyes closed, don't peek." He said, leaning over her shoulder.
"I'm not." she said, smiling.
"Step up onto the railing." He instructed. she did, with his help. she could feel the setting sun warm her face and she smiled again. He stepped up behind her. She slackened her grip, knowing he was behind to catch her if she fell.
"Hold on." He repeated. She tightened her grip on the railing.
"Hold on, keep your eyes closed." She could almost see him smiling. That made her smile too.
"Do you trust me?" What kind of question was that? Of course she trusted him!
"I trust you." He took her soft, delicate hands in his own rough ones and spread them out on each side. She smiled again, wondering what he was doing. He put a hand on her waist and leaned over her shoulder.
"All right, open your eyes." she opened them and gasped. The sun-lit water was rushing beneath her, and the wind blew in her face, whipping her hair and her scarf around.
"I'm flying, Jack!" He took both of her hands in his and leaned over her shoulder again.
"Come Josephine, in my flying machine, going up she goes, up she goes." We both chuckled at that, and he wound his fingers through my own again.
Slowly, he folded them in and looked at me. I was lost in his ice eyes again, searching in their depths for something, I don't know what. Everything I had, my whole life, was right in front of me, looking me in the eyes. My angel.
He leaned towards me and captured my mouth with his in a sensual kiss. His tongue explored my mouth with a desire, with a soft reassurance. I put my hand around his neck, pulling him closer to me. I smiled through his mouth.
The moment I would never forget.
Rose laid in bed, the painful memories coming back to her. It hurt to remember. But she could not forget what had been her life, what had saved her. He had saved her, and for that she would never forget him. The memories must not be forgotten, but stored in her brain for remembering.
She had promised him, and she had fulfilled her promises. Every single one of them. The memory crashed over her and she curled up in pain. She wrapped her arms around her chest, holding her heart together as it broke into a million pieces. She was engulfed in a flashback.
He had been right about the water. It hit her like a dozen knives all piercing her at once. He had been right; you couldn't think about anything other then the pain. But, there too, he had been wrong. The only other thing she could think about was he. Jack. Jack, willing to risk his life for her. Jack, loving her like no one had ever loved her. Jack, who had saved her from the hell that was her whole life. Jack.
They found a floating piece of wreckage from the ship and both tried to climb onto it. Not being able to handle weight, it toppled over, taking both him and her with it. .
"Stay on it, stay on Rose." He told her.
"Jack." She whispered. She shivered. The air was colder, making her shiver violently. It was so cold, their breath stood out clearly in the ice-cold air. He swam around the piece of wreckage so that they would be able to see each other's faces. A man swam up behind them. Jack turned around, looking at the man.
"It's just enough for this lady. You'll push it under." He told the man.
"Let my try at least, or I'll die soon." Pleaded the man. Jack held up a hand to stop the man.
"You'll die sooner if you come any closer." He warned the man.
"Yes, yes, I see. Good luck to you then" Jack nodded a silent thanks. "God bless." The man called over his shoulder. Jack turned back to her and started rubbing her arms to warm her with friction.
"Keep moving, Rose, keep moving." He said, looking over his shoulder again. Her heart went out for the poor old man. She wanted so bad to help him.
But she couldn't. She was helpless herself. They all were. From behind them an officer blew his whistle, trying to send a help signal.
"I love you Jack." She said.
"Don't you do that. Don't you say your goodbyes, not yet. Do you understand me?" He said.
"I'm so cold." She whispered.
"Listen, Rose, you're gonna get outta here, you're gonna go on and you're gonna make lots of babies and you're gonna watch 'em grow. You're gonna die an old…" A shiver rippled through him, breaking his speech.
"An old lady, warm in her bed, not here. Not this night. Not like this, do you understand me?" He stuttered.
"I can't feel my body." She whispered.
"Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me… it brought me to you, and I'm thankful for that, Rose, I'm thankful." He broke off as another shiver rippled through him.
"You must…" Another violet shiver broke through him. It was pain for her to watch him like this.
"You must… you must do me this honor. You must promise me that you'll survive. That you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how… hopeless…" The most violent shiver rippled through him.
"Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise." He pleaded.
"I promise." She said, meaning it with her heart.
"Never let go." He whispered.
"I'll never let go, Jack, I'll never let go." She whispered. He kissed her hand lightly and smiled. She must have fallen asleep, either that or was knocked unconscious, because when she woke she heard someone, something moving through the water.
"Jack. Jack. Jack! Jack? There's a boat, Jack." She shook his arm roughly.
"Jack? The tears that came to her eyes froze instantly as she realized what happened. He was gone. The boat passed them. Not being able to speak clearly, she laid her head on the plank, sobbing softly.
"Come back." She nearly whispered to the boat.
"Come back." She called to the boat, a little louder, but still too softly that they didn't hear her.
"Come back." She repeated.
"Come back!" This time she said it a little bit louder. No answer. Thy still didn't hear her.
"Come back, Come back!"
"Helllloooo?" Yelled one of the people on the boat. "Can anyone hear me?"
"There's nothing here, Sir." Said another man.
"Come back!" Cried Rose again. "Come back." She pried Jack's frozen fingers from her's
"I'll never let go, I promise." She said. And with that, she kissed his hand and let him fall into the water, down into the deep. It would be his watery grave forever. The tears came back to her as she watched him fall. She wished she could have died too; she would at least be able to see him again.
She would never for get the man she loved.
Getting lost in memories and remembering them are too different things, Rose decided. Getting lost in memories is when you are too caught up with what you remember to dwell on the present. Remembering was… well, remembering the memories. And she had done that; she had done exactly what Jack had asked her to. She had fulfilled his promises. Every single last one of them.
Another flashback of memories hit her like a thousand bricks.
"I worked on a squid boat in Monte Re." The sun cast a warm glow across their faces as they talked.
"Then I went down to Las Angeles to the pier in Santa Monica and started doing portraits there for ten cents apiece." She looked away.
"Why can't I be like you Jack? Just head off into the horizon whenever I feel like it." She waved a hand towards the setting sun to illustrate her point.
"Say we'll go there sometime, to that pier, even if we only ever just talk about it." She said. He shook his head.
"No, we'll do it. We'll drink cheap beer. We'll ride on the roller coaster 'till we throw up." He joked. She laughed.
"Then we'll ride horses on the beach, right in the turf." He looked away. "Now, but you'll have to do it like a real cowboy. None of that sidesaddle stuff."
"You mean… one-one leg on each side?" She said as if she could hardly believe it.
"Yeah."
"Can you show me?" She asked him.
"Sure, if you'd like." He said, smiling. She looked away and smiled.
"Teach me to ride like a man."
"And chew tobacco like a man." He said, laying on a thick southern accent. She laughed.
"And spit like a man." She said, imitating his accent and laughing.
"What, they didn't teach you that in finishing school?" He joked.
"No!" She laughed.
The promise she would never forget
The moment she had never forgotten, the man she had never forgotten, and the promise she had never forgotten. She had done all those things. She had drunk cheap beer. She had ridden on the roller coaster until she threw up. Then she had ridden on a horse in the surf with one leg on each side. Just like they promised they would do. That was the one thing she regretted. They had never been able to do the things they had promised they would do.
She opened up her suitcase and took out the overcoat that Cal had given her on that fateful night. She reached into the right pocket and drew it out. It was a beautiful silver chain with intricate designs, and at the end was a blue diamond. The heart of the ocean. It was cut in the exact shape of a heart. A blue heart.
She smiled and slowly took it out of the overcoat further. Time to return it where it should be.
She got up out of bed and hobbled outside. She put her hand on the railing and stepped up. Slowly she held it out, over the water.
"One final gift, Jack." One final gift until she would be with him forever. She gasped as the necklace fell. Fell into the deep depths of the blue ocean. Fell down to the murky bottom of the Atlantic, where it's watery grave should have been on that fateful night in 1912.
She hobbled back to her bed. She could feel it coming, the time would be soon. Had she ever felt this tired before? When she reached her room she collapsed onto her bed in tiredness. She got between the covers. She sent a silent prayer to Heaven, where he was waiting.
"I've kept your promise, Jack, now be with me just a little bit longer." She took one last look at her pictures and then dozed off. Somewhere while she was asleep a bright light formed ahead of her. Knowing it would be impossible to resist the light, she followed it, for one cannot defeat the embracing arms of death.
The angel lead her out of her room, out to the deck of the boat, and down into the watery depths of the ocean. It was not long before she could see the shape of the ghost ship in the distance, and it was even a lesser amount of time that they reached it. At last she would be at home.
They entered the boat, the hallways eroded from the water. Suddenly everything started to reconstruct itself. Now she knew where she was. She followed the light up the hallway to a door. She realized that her hand had been closed. She opened it. She was surprised to see the note from so long ago. Make it count, meet me at the clock!
She entered the grand staircase. There were hundreds of people in the room. All, she knew, had perished along with the ship. There was Tommy, Fabrizio, Cora, the little girl that Jack had danced with at the Irish party. How could she ever forget that night? She couldn't, she knew. It would be engraved in her memory forever. She was astonished to see that she was in the body of her seventeen year old self. To her left stood Captain Smith, and beside him stood Mr. John Jacob Astor. Up, standing beside the staircase was Mr. Andrews. She wanted to greet him, but something else distracted her.
He was there, up by the clock, waiting for her, like he had so many years ago, Jack. She rushed up to him and embraced him. Leaning in, she kissed him passionately. She could feel him smile through her lips and it made her heart race. Everyone was applauding they're little get-together. They're meeting at last. The heat rushed to her cheeks as she thought of this.
"Jack, I did everything you wanted me to do. I rode on a horse in the surf with one leg on each side, I even rode an airplane! I had kids with the man who loved me for who I was, and not for what I could be. I-" He cut her off, putting a finger up to her lips.
"I know you did. I was there with you the whole entire time. You made me the proudest man in Heaven for what you did. I was with you the whole time." He wound her fingers through his again and again.
"I was there when your first child was born, holding your hand, and worrying like a father should. I was there at your wedding day, holding your hand through it all. I was there with you, Rose, I was there." He flashed his beautiful grin at her. She couldn't help smiling back.
"You made each day count, Rose, and for that I'm proud of you. The proudest man in Heaven." He kissed her again and she responded passionately.
It was the memories of him that she would never forget, and she had never forgotten them. Now that she was reunited with him they would watch over her children like a couple should.
She could never forget him.