June 29, 1912

Rose looked at herself in the mirror and wondered not for the first time how she had gotten there? How had she allowed this to happen? She had been so close to escaping this life of endless polo matches, galas, and cotillions…so close to her dreams and to love. Then Titanic had hit that damn iceberg and that was when everything spiraled out of control and landed her in the exact same position that she had been trying so hard to escape from.

She had tried to follow her impulse to jump back onto Titanic after Jack had put her on the lifeboat. Going down, looking up at him, she had seen all the love and heartache in those eyes, an ache that was mirrored in her soul. She couldn't leave him. She wouldn't. She had moved to jump back on the deck of the ship, but the other passengers must have sensed what she planned because hands pulled her back and kept her from making the leap. She was only released when it was clear that there was no getting back on that ship. All she could do was sit and shiver in the cold and cry over Jack, praying that he would survive somehow. But her hope disappeared as she watched the ship break in two and disappear into the sea. It would have taken a miracle for Jack to have survived that. Of course, Cal had promised to get Jack onto a boat, but she didn't trust Cal to do that. After all, he had framed Jack and had him lock down below decks when the ship was just beginning to sink. He had called Jack a gutter-rat when Rose had tried to go free him. Why would he make any arrangement to benefit Jack when it would mean losing her? No, if Jack survived, it wouldn't be because of any help from Caledon Hockley.

On the Carpathia, Rose had tried to slip down to steerage in hopes of hiding from her mother and Cal, but that hope was dashed when Ruth had spotted her boarding the Carpathia. Her mother had ran up crying and hugging her, telling her that everything would be okay now. That they had survived and surely Cal would forgive Rose's dalliance with that boy from steerage and the wedding would go on as planned. Cal showed up hours later and confirmed Ruth's hopes. The wedding will go on. He did of course pull Rose to the side and informed her that Jack gave his seat up to a little girl named Emma and that was the last he had seen of Jack. That most likely Jack had perished on the ship.

Of course, Rose hadn't believed him. There had been no arrangement and Cal was an unimaginable bastard for lying to her.

Even though things looked bleak, Rose still didn't give up hope on Jack. Jack was a survivor. He had survived years on the streets. He knew how to take care of himself and make it through, so in her mind, there was still a chance that Jack had survived the sinking. As soon as the lists of survivors were posted, Rose began checking them, looking for Jack's name among the living. Sadly she didn't find him. It was like he had never existed. When the officer came up and asked for her name, she couldn't say what had gotten into her, why she did it. She just knew that she wanted a piece of the man she loved with her and the only way she could think of gaining that was telling the man that her name was Rose Dawson.

Of course her mother and Cal had a fit when they found out, but they had left it alone. What mattered to them was that they had won.

Rose was back where she belonged doing what her mother wanted her to do like a well brought up girl ought to be doing. There would be no more rebellion. Titanic was the last of it. They both made sure of that. When they got Rose back to Philadelphia, her mother had all of her books removed from her room and all of her music and art as well. Anything that was considered a bad influence was removed from Rose's possession. No more outside influences. It was over. Rose was to do as she was told when she was told and there was no getting out of it. Not that Rose had even the desire to try. The news of Jack's apparent death had sucked the spirit right out of her. Her desire for freedom was dead, because what was the use of freedom without Jack? What was the use of having hopes and dreams when the man she shared them with was gone forever? All of those dreams and hopes…they had all revolved around Jack. If he wasn't there to share them, well there was no point in doing them. So she'll do what her mother wanted. She'll marry Cal. She'll be a good little trophy wife until it was time for her to go join Jack in heaven. She just didn't have the strength to put up a fight anymore.

Or so she had thought.

Looking in that mirror, about to slip on her wedding dress, her make-up and hair already in place, she felt something stir inside her. Something that she hadn't felt for a very long time. That fire that Jack had so passionately talked about in the Gymnasium that felt like one thousand years ago...it had somehow reignited. Rose didn't know why or how, but it had. She had this burning desire to yell and destroy and burst out of these golden chains that they had surrounding her. She didn't want this! She hated this! She hated them for doing this to her and most of all, Jack didn't want this for her! He had already broken the lock on her golden cage once and she had almost flown away. Now it was all up to her. She had to get free on her own. There was no Jack to help her this time.

Her mother was in her own room getting dressed. The new maid was busy with her and would be with Rose as soon as she finished, which didn't leave much time for Rose to do what she had to do to escape. Moving as fast as she could, she pulled out the simplest dress she owned, or rather the first simplest dress she came to, a lavender dress that resembled the one she wore on Titanic when she had walked the decks with Jack. She smiled at the memory and thought how appropriate. A color her mother detested and a dress that brought up memories of Jack. There was no time to savor the memory though. She had to keep moving or her chance of escape would be lost. She slipped on the dress, not even worrying about the corset that was laying on the bed waiting for her. She then took out shoes that were good for walking and then grabbed a handbag and raided her jewelry box. She could pawn these for money. She certainly was going to need to if she was going to get some train tickets.

Dressed and packed with everything she thought she would need without loading herself down, Rose stuck her head out into the hall and sighed in relief to see her mother's door still tightly shut and to hear her mother yelling at the new maid about not lacing her up right and how she was going to have to do it again, making Rose herself run late. Good. The longer the maid took the better.

She slipped out of her room as quiet as could be, made her way down the stairs. The servants must have all been busy somewhere, because no one was in sight. Nervously biting her lip and moving as fast as she dared without making noise, Rose made her way downstairs and out the door. Only when she was outside did she feel safe enough to run until he reached the gates that usually blocked off her way to freedom. But since this was her wedding day and a car was expected to pull up to pick her and her mother up, the gates were wide open. Unable to keep her laughter in, Rose darted out of the gates and down the street, not daring to stop for anything.

She didn't know how long she ran, but eventually she had to stop and catch her breath. Doing so, she took in her surroundings and was relieved to find that she wasn't in the wealthy area of town anymore. She was in the more industrialized part of Philadelphia. This time she walked instead of ran as she made her way down the sidewalk, looking out for any sign of a pawn shop. She was in luck. At the end of the block, she had found one and was able to pawn all of her jewelry off for a pretty penny. It was enough to get her a train ticket and maybe a room for a good while. At least until she found a job to support herself.

Her feet now sore and feeling an urgent need to get out of town, Rose hailed a car to take her to the train station. Surely her mother and Cal knew she was gone by now and were looking for her. She needed to be on a train as soon as possible.

Five minutes later, she was at the train station looking at the destinations and schedules. She had no idea where she wanted to go. Every city in the US was listed. So many choices and she didn't know which to choose…that was until she spied the list of Wisconsin cities and spotted the town of Chippewa Falls.

"Have you ever been to Wisconsin? They have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls…"

Yes! Of course! Chippewa Falls, Jack's hometown! It was like his spirit was with her, guiding her! And it was perfect! Her mother and Cal knew nothing of where Jack was from and didn't care to know anything about Wisconsin! To them it would be so random. They wouldn't even guess that she would go there! And the train was leaving in ten minutes. She had to hurry. Thankfully she was next in line to be waited on.

"One ticket to Chippewa Falls Wisconsin, please," she thrust her money at the clerk.

The man just laughed. "Sure thing, sweetheart. But you'll have to hurry. The train leaves in five minutes."

Grabbing her ticket, she darted to the gate where the train was loading. They were just about to close the door when she arrived.

"Wait! Wait I have a ticket!" She cried out and was relieved when the steward opened the door and took the ticket. "Hurry Miss. Take a seat. We'll be pulling off soon."

Five minutes later, Rose was seated and watching the train station fall off into the distance. She was leaving her old life at last, fleeing off into a new one that she had no real clue about. She just knew that this was her last ditch effort and it had to be successful. She had to make her life count in honor of the man that had lost his on Titanic and what better way to start than to visit his hometown and learn more about him…and maybe…just maybe find herself as well and realize her own potential.

(A/N: Thank you to the guest who pointed out the typo of he instead of she. It's been corrected now:))