Alright guys, so this is my first and most likely only Titanic fanfiction story. It could be split into chapters, but I decided just to make it a super long one-shot... I switch POVs a lot so pay attention to that. I felt inspired to write it after reading some other stories on this site, and I'd already been writing it in my head for a while anyway. It's not very original, and not particularly realistic; I based the backstory on a YouTube video I watched called Jack is Back. It's cheesy, but I like it, so please read it and let me know what you think! Btw, there is a lot of not so subtle lines from the movie stuck in there. It makes it very amusing! Enjoy!
JJ POV:
I rushed after Momma to catch the 7:00 am ferry going across Lake Erie to Detroit. We were coming from Pittsburg, where Momma had most recently been fired from her job as a munitionette in a factory for the war. This was not the first time she had lost her job. We moved around quite a lot, actually, scraping up money wherever we could. She had had the job for a whole two years, but because the war just ended, the men had started coming home from fighting and the women were no longer needed in the factories. As a single mother, she felt lucky to have had the job as long as she did.
Despite the hardships, I loved my life. It was just me and Momma, traveling the world together. At 6 years old, I had already seen New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburg. And now, for the most exciting journey of them all: We were heading west!
"Pardon me, sir," I heard Momma say to one of the sailors as we boarded, "could you please tell me how many lifeboats are on this ship?"
Momma always asked that before getting on a boat, no matter how short the ride was. For safety reasons, she always told me when I asked, just in case.
"No need to worry ma'am," the sailor said, "we have plenty for all of the passengers on board."
"Thank you," she smiled politely at him, and we carried our things below deck.
My bright blue eyes widened in excitement as I looked around the cabin. I loved boats! It was very crowded, and benches lined the inside. I ran to the window as the horn sounded to watch the boat leave the dock.
"JJ," Momma called, "let's go upstairs where you can get a better view."
"Okay!" I led the way upstairs to the main deck and turned back towards the steps. "Can I—"
"You can go exploring, yes," Momma said with a warm smile, knowing what I would ask. "I'm going to get situated and I'll come find you in a little while."
I smiled widely and ran towards the front of the boat. "JJ!" Momma called after me. I paused and turned back around. "Be careful," she said warningly. I nodded and continued towards the bow of the ship.
I raced through the crowd, pushing passed the other passengers on the deck. When I finally reached the bow, I stood up on the railing and leaned over the side, feeling the cold wind on my face. Suddenly, as the ship began to move, I jerked forward and lost my balance.
"Woah there kid," I heard a voice say behind me, and a pair of arms caught me before I could fall. "Careful! We don't want you falling off the ship, now do we? Then I'd have to jump in after you!"
I turned to see a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He smiled kindly at me. "Don't let go," he warned, and I wrapped my hands tighter around the railing.
"Sorry," I apoligized as the ship began to pick up speed. I was a little shaken from the scare.
The man laughed lightheartedly and leaned against the railing next to me. "Don't worry about it. I was just like you at your age." The man held out his hand to shake. "The name's Jack," he said.
"Really?" I exclaimed. "So is mine! But I go by JJ."
The man smiled and ruffled my strawberry blonde hair. I decided I liked this man. He was nice. "Well it's nice to meet you, JJ. How old are you?"
"I'm six!"
"Is your mom or dad around?"
"Just my mom." I frowned and looked away. "My dad's dead."
All Momma ever told me was that my daddy had died before I was born when a ship called Titanic sunk. Momma survived, but daddy didn't. She never liked to talk about it much. It made her sad. She named me after him, though.
"Where are you and your mom headed then?" Jack asked.
"We're going west!" I told him excitedly. "Momma said that if she can find a job in Wisconsin, we can go ice fishing! And then, if we keep going west, we could reach the Grand Canyon, and then we might go to California and learn to ride horses! And she said there's this big roller coaster—"
"Woah now! Slow down!" He smiled. "That's an aweful lot of things you'd like to do."
"I wanna do all of it!" I told him.
"I'm sure you will," he said. "I'm sure you will." His face suddenly became serious and he got a faraway look in his eyes. I wondered what he was thinking about.
I turned back to face forward on the railing. The frosty wind rushed over my face. This was why I loved boats so much! It just made me feel so alive! I looked out over the open waters where the sun reflected off the waves. In the distance, I could see a small strip of snow-covered land.
"Look! That must be Michigan!" I exclaimed, pointing. "I've never been there, have you?"
Jack eyed me and nodded. "I grew up near here actually. In a small town called Chippewa Falls."
"Wow that's so cool!" I said. "I wish I could go there."
"Nah, it's nothing special. But California— now that's a place worth seeing."
"Well—"
"Jack!" Momma's voice called. My eyes widened. "That's my Momma," I said. "I better go! Nice meeting you Big Jack!" I jumped off the railing and waved goodbye.
"See you around, kiddo!" He called back as I ran toward the sound of Momma's voice.
Jack POV:
There was something about that kid.
He seemed familiar, kinda like I was seeing a little piece of myself. And all I could think about was her.
Rose.
She had to be alive somewhere, she had to! Ever since that man on that ship had told me...
"Rose DeWitt Bukaters is dead."
"No!" I screamed as I felt the world crash down on me. "No she isn't! She can't be!" My mind went wild and I shivered from the cold.
The warship had found me on its way back from Europe, frozen solid in an ice cube that was floating in the pacific. The crew was curious enough to fish me out of the water, and when the ice thawed away they were shocked to find me still alive.
They told me it was the year 1918. A world war just ended in Europe. The Titanic had sunk six years ago and there was no Rose DeWitt Bukaters on the survivors list.
"I'm sorry Jack," the man said. "Even if she were alive I don't know how you would find her."
I refused to believe it, so once we reached land, I ran.
I went looking for her. I looked up every DeWitt Bukaters in the address book (found out her mother was alive and well in the richest part of New York), and every other rich name I could think of. I went to the library looking for old newspapers (found out Cal had committed suicide in 1913— he deserved it, that bastard!) and any information I could find about the RMS Titanic. There was nothing about a Rose DeWitt Bukaters.
After selling enough drawings to scrape up a few dollars, I headed towards my hometown in Wisconsin to see if I could figure out what to do. As much as I hated to admit it, I was beginning to believe that perhaps Rose hadn't made it out. The thought made me sick to my stomach.
So now I stood on the ferry heading across the Great Lakes towards Chippewa Falls. I'd just met that kid, who reminded me so much of myself; He reminded me so much of her... And when his mother called his name I could have sworn it was her...
Stop it! I scolded myself. She's dead, remember? She's dead...
And that's when the tears fell. I knew deep down that she hadn't made it. How could she have? I had to stop lying to myself. The lifeboat must have never come back.
But here I was— living, breathing, and moving— six years later when the sinking felt like yesterday.
How was I supposed to go on like this? It was supposed to be me who died, not her! I made her promise me not to let go! And yet she did... She did let go...
A sob wrenched out of my chest and I leaned on the railing to support myself. I wished I was only dreaming, that I'd wake up from this nightmare and still be on the Titanic with Rose... But the harsh December wind on my face proved otherwise. I was alive. This was the now. She was dead, and I wasn't.
JJ POV:
I sat in the cabin below deck with Momma eating the piece of bread we had bought earlier that morning for lunch. "— and I stood up on the railing, and Momma, it's so amazing you have to try it! It feels like you're flying!"
She continued to smile, but her eyes suddenly looked sad. "I know, JJ. I know," she said.
"You do? Have you done it?" I asked excitedly.
"Only once," she said. "But yes."
"You should do it again, Momma! It's so fun!"
"Not right now, sweetie. Finish your lunch and then you can go back to exploring the boat. But please, love, stay off the railings. I don't want you falling overboard."
I would have protested, but remembering the close call earlier, I stayed quiet. After stuffing the rest of the bread in my mouth, I ran back out to see if I could find my new friend.
Jack POV:
I sat on the top deck, leaning my back against one of the masts with my sketchbook in my lap. I let the memories from that night flood my thoughts as I absentmindedly moved my pencil along the page.
"Come, Josephine, in my flying machine," I hummed quietly as while I worked. "Going up, she goes up, up she goes..."
"Woah!" Someone said from behind me. "That's so cool!" I turned to see that same kid from earlier— JJ, I remembered—looking at my sketchbook in awe. "Did you draw that?"
I grinned at the kid's amazed expression. "Yeah. I'm just doodling." For some reason, I felt the urge to cover up my work like it was private; meant for my eyes only.
"Who is that woman?" JJ asked. "She looks just like my Momma!"
I froze.
"W- what?"
"That woman in the drawing," he said pointing at the sketchbook. "Who is it?"
I stared blankly at him for a moment, my mouth agap. But he couldn't... She was...
"Uh..." I tried to speak. I shook my head to snap myself out of it. Stop it! Not possible! I told myself. I forced myself to act casual. "She's just a girl I knew a few years ago," I answered. Six years ago. How old did he say he was? Six. What if...?
"Do you have other drawings?" The boy asked.
Forget it, Jack, you're making it up. It's just a coincidence. "Yeah. Here look," I opened his sketchbook to another page, to some of the sketches I'd done while in New York. "That was a young couple I saw in Central Park," I said pointing. "See how gently he touches her face? Like she's the most precious jewel..."
I turned the page to a man with a beard. "That old man was selling out roses to people on the street. His eyes sparkled every time someone bought one." I smiled to myself at the memory.
"Wow," JJ said, wide-eyed. "Could you draw me?" He asked eagerly.
I laughed again when I saw the kid's hopeful expression. He had blue eyes. Just like me, my brain reminded me. Coincidence! I yelled back in my head.
"Sure, kiddo, I'll draw you," I said. "Go stand over by the railing." JJ ran over to the railing and hung on one of the bars with a huge smile on his face. "Is this good?" He asked.
"Perfect," I said. "Stay just like that."
I began to work quietly, so all I heard was the sound of the pencil scratching the paper. I studied the six year old's features— heart-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes, small elegant nose—It wasn't until I had the outline done that I paused, staring dumbstruck at the sketch.
This was accurate, wasn't it? It wasn't my mind playing tricks with me? I had drawn so many sketches of her, and there was absolutely no doubt about it: He looked just like her.
"Are you okay?" JJ asked. JJ...Jack Jr...
Stop! Iwas getting my hopes up. There was a simple way to figure out if he was hers. All I had to do was ask.
"JJ," I said carefully. I took a deep breath. "What—what's your last name?"
Please be her last name, I prayed in my head. I held my breath, hoping he'd say the one name I needed to hear.
"Dawson."
I dropped my sketchbook and my jaw fell open.
Or that one. That one worked too.
JJ POV:
Jack was staring at me with a shocked expression, and his face had gone white as a ghost.
"Uh... Jack?" I asked hesitantly. I jumped down from the railing. "What's wrong?"
The question at least got that weird look off his face. Instead, he pressed his fingers against his eyes and began mumbling to himself. "Jack Dawson...Six years... Titanic..."
"Titanic?" I asked. His head whipped up at the comment.
"You... know about that?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yes. Well, just that that's the name of the ship my daddy died on."
His facial expression suddenly changed and his eyes became glassy.
"No," Jack whispered. His voice sounded distant.
I didn't know how to respond to that. What did that mean, no? No what? No he didn't die? Momma said he died! I was extremely confused. What was going on?
Jack picked up his sketchbook and turned to the sketch he had been working on earlier of the woman. "C'mere JJ," he said softly. I slowly made my way over to him, suddenly nervous. He was just acting so strangely...
He wrote something on the drawing and ripped it out of the book. "Hey," he said kindly. "Look at me, JJ."
I looked up at him. He was giving me an extremely intense, yet calm look. It was comforting to see that he was no longer acting crazy. "I need you to do me an extremely important favor, JJ."
I watched him solomnly, understanding that this must be really serious. "Okay," I said.
He handed me the drawing. "I need you to go give this to your mother. Can you do that for me?"
I took the drawing and smiled. "Of course!" I said happily. "She'll love it!"
Without a second thought, I ran off with the drawing to go find Momma.
Rose POV:
I sat below deck with the other passengers, reading a local newspaper to see if there were any job openings in town— A teaching opening at the elementary school, a servant job in an upperclass home, a seamstress job in a textile factory...
After making a note of the possible job opportunities, I flipped to the front page and an article caught my eye: Titanic survivor found six years later—frozen.
I'm not sure why I hesitated. It was over. It was in the past now, right? I shouldn't hope, I told myself, and yet I couldn't stop the flutter in my stomach as I began to read the article.
Five days ago, the Warship USS Arizona discovered a large block of ice in the Pacific Ocean, on it's way home from France.
"It did not look like a regular piece of ice," the captain said, when interviewed by the Washington Post. "We thought it could be a bombshell, actually."
Believing it was some sort of threat to the warship, the Arizona crew lifted the block out of the water. They were shocked to find that what they thought was a weapon was actually a human, frozen into the ice.
"We didn't know what to do," one of the crew members of the USS Arizona confessed. "So we just put it into the storage room and kept going."
What they discovered, however, was that when the ice thawed, the man inside the ice was actually alive.
After being treated by the ship's medical doctor, the man in the ice cube was thoroughly interrogated. It was found that he was in fact on board the famous RMS Titanic that sunk on April 15, 1912, a third-class passenger by the name of—
"Momma! Momma!"
I looked up from the article to see my six year old son sprinting over to me with a piece of paper in hand. I couldn't help but smile. He looks so much like him, I thought to myself sadly. I shook away the thought.
"What do you have there, sweetie?" I asked curiously, gesturing to the paper.
"Momma I met this really nice artist man, and he drew this for you!" He handed me the paper and the smile dropped from my face. I felt my heart stop.
It wasn't just a drawing. It was the drawing. It was his drawing.
"Momma?" I heard my son ask. I couldn't respond. My voice wouldn't work.
How was this possible? I slowly reached out to touch the sketch that I had engrained in my memory. It couldn't be the same one. That one went down with the ship.
But there was only one person that had witnessed that moment who could have produced that image. And until now, I could have sworn he had gone down with the ship as well.
That's when I saw the writing scribbled on the side.
Make it count. Meet me at the back of the ship.
My breathing sped up. I suddenly felt dizzy.
"Jack," I whispered. Even I didn't know which one I was referring to.
"Momma are you okay?" JJ asked. He sounded worried. "What's wrong?"
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly very dry. I had to be dreaming.
I closed my eyes and counted to five. I opened them again. The drawing was still there.
I tried to clear my head. "JJ, love," I said turning to my son. I put my hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Nothing is wrong, I promise. I just need you to stay here for a moment, okay?"
He looked up at me with those big blue eyes. His eyes. "Okay," he said.
I got up and carefully made my way up to the deck. My eyes darted around the ship. He's on this ship. For all I knew he could have been no more than 50 feet away from me.
I maneuvered around the people on the boat towards the rear. When I reached the back I stopped, staring at the back of a blonde head I didn't dare hope was real.
He was leaning against the railing, looking out at the vast lake behind us. The afternoon sun reflected brightly on the water, and the crisp winter breeze blew gently from behind me. I could feel my entire body shivering and it certainly wasn't from the cold.
"Jack," I heard my voice whisper shakily. I could barely choke the word out, but he heard it.
He turned around, and I stared unbelieving at the face I never thought I'd see again.
"Rose," he said. Relief filled his voice as he spoke. He smiled broadly, his eyes never leaving my face. "Rose."
I wanted so desperately to believe this was real. I wanted to believe I wasn't dreaming. But this just seemed too good to be true. He died, Rose! You saw him die!
You saw him freeze, my mind reminded me.
That article I was reading before popped into my head. Five days ago... A Titanic survivor frozen into a block of ice... Was it possible...?
"Rose it's me, I swear," he said. The smile had left his face now, and he was looking at me cautiously. "Rose..."
"Jack," I said more loudly this time, as if saying his name would make him real. I slowly walked towards him, not daring to blink.
"Rose, I don't know what you're thinking right now, but I'm alive, I promise, I—"
"Shh," I hushed him. "Just... let me..."
I carefully lifted my hand and reached towards him. This was the moment of truth.
When my fingers touched the soft warm skin of his cheek, I had to force myself not to cry. If this wasn't real, I didn't know what was.
He reached up and took my hand in his. I gasped at the contact and my eyes fluttered closed. I made myself breathe as I took in the feeling of his rough hand on mine. Jack's hands.
Slowly and gently, he brushed his fingers over mine and I opened my eyes. I watched him lift my hand and softly press his lips to my knuckles. My heart was beating so loudly in my ears I could have sworn he heard it. When he looked up at me, he gave me that same boyish grin that he had given me that night six years ago on the Titanic.
I let out a sob of relief and suddenly my arms were around his neck and he was holding me; I ran my hands through his hair and dug my face deep into his neck. He rubbed his hands over my back and all I could think was how so very real this was.
"It's okay," he whispered comfortingly to me. "Everything is okay. I'm right here."
"I didn't let go, Jack," I managed to say through my tears. "I didn't let go."
"I know," he said softly.
"I love you so much."
"I love you, Rose."
I don't know how long we stayed like that. I would have let that moment go on forever and ever. When I finally let my arms release him, he held my face with his hands and pressed his forehead against mine. I soaked him in— his scent, his breath, his touch, his warmth— before he closed the gap between us.
Jack POV:
I was in America, going to my hometown, holding the love of my life in my arms and no one was going to stop me.
This had to be the happiest moment of my life.
Suddenly Rose tensed. "Jack!" She yelled harshly. I pulled away from her, confused. Then I realized she wasn't talking to me. She was looking behind me. "Jack Dawson, get down from there! Now!" She sprinted away from me and I whipped my head around to see JJ standing on the very top of the railing, and he wasn't holding on.
I saw him fall before the kid even realized what was happening. Rose was still too far away to catch him. I ran after her.
"JJ!" Rose screamed. She reached the railing and before I could react, she jumped.
"Rose!" I yelled. I reached the railing and saw empty water below the boat. "Shit!" I quickly took of my jacket. "God damn it Rose," I said. "You're so stupid! Why did you do that, huh?" I removed my shoes and rolled up my sleeves. "You jump, I jump, right?" I said, more to myself than anyone, and I threw myself overboard.
Rose POV:
The cold water hit me like a thousand knives stabbing me all over my body. I couldn't help but feel the déjà vu of this situation.
I was surrounded by darkness as the icy water swirled around me. I forced myself to concentrate, and opened my eyes to search for my child. There was nothing but blurriness until I spotted a splotch of color a little ways away from me. I kicked my legs in the direction of the figure.
I heard a the boat's engine whirring behind me, but I ignored it as I reached out for my child. It wasn't until I grabbed him that the whirring became louder and the waves became stronger. I tried to kick upwards, but I couldn't tell which way was the surface. I could feel myself running out of air and I gripped my son tightly to my chest. The boat's engine became deafeningly loud.
I struggled fiercely against the waves, until I suddenly I felt a hand grip my arm and pull me upwards. My head broke the surface and I gasped for air. That's when I realized I was no longer holding my son.
"JJ!" I gasped, opening my eyes. I desperately struggled against the hand that still gripped tightly onto my arm, and I looked frantically for the little boy.
"Rose!" I heard a someone say. The voice made me pause and I turned to see Jack— my Jack— holding on to me. In his other arm, he held an unconscious, smaller version of himself.
"Rose, I need you to swim!" Jack said to me. Despite the cold, I forced my body to oblige.
We pushed through the water, and I began to hear more voices coming from above us.
"Grab the ladder! Over here!"
Jack led me to the ladder and I grabbed onto the bar. A man on the boat helped me up and someone put a towel around me. I was shivering like crazy.
"Are you alright, ma'am? Come inside, now, we'll get you warmed up."
"Jack," I said, my voice hoarse. "Where's Jack?"
"He's inside already, ma'am. Everything is just fine, now."
I allowed the man to lead me through the commotion, down to the lower deck. I saw Jack sitting with a towel around him, and my son— our son— was lying asleep against his chest.
I sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around my waist. I leaned my head against his shoulder. He was still shivering, but by God, he was breathing! I sighed from relief that we were safe— all of us were safe. And for the first time in years, I couldn't have been any happier.
JJ POV:
When I woke up I was wet and cold, but I could feel the warm sun on my back. I remembered falling off the railing of the ferry and hitting the water, but then I blacked out.
Now, I kept my eyes closed, but I could feel Momma's arms around me as I lied against her chest. She was speaking softly to someone.
"...hardly knows anything about what happened. I was planning on explaining it eventually but I didn't think he was ready yet. This is going to confuse him to no end."
"Do you think he'll like me?" A male voice asked. I recognized it, but I couldn't place who it was.
"Of course he'll like you!" Momma said. "He's the one who found you!"
I opened my eyes, curious. We were outside somewhere on a bench, and there were snow-covered trees around us. We must have reached Detroit. Sitting next to us was my friend from the boat, Jack.
"Momma!" I said, sitting up in her lap. "That's the nice artist man who made you that drawing!"
She smiled at me and then looked at Jack. "I know, sweetie. He saved us both when you fell into the water."
I looked away guiltily, remembering what happened. "I'm sorry, Momma! It was an accident!" I said, feeling tears sting my eyes. I didn't want her to get mad at me!
"Luckily we're okay now," she said. "But that was very irresponsible of you and you scared me very badly."
"I'm sorry," I whispered again.
She wiped some of the tears from my cheek that had escaped. "It's okay love. Just be more careful next time."
I nodded and then looked over at Jack. He smiled at me and I gave him a big smile back. "Hello, Big Jack!" I said. "Are you going to finish drawing me?"
He laughed. I loved his laugh. "I will at some point kiddo, but maybe we should wait until you dry off a little, yeah?"
"Okay," I agreed. He looked at Momma and they exchanged looks. I didn't know what they meant.
"JJ," Momma said seriously. "Do you remember what I told you about your daddy?"
I nodded, my eyes widening. Was she going to tell me what happened?
"Well, it turns out your daddy didn't actually die when the Titanic sunk, like I'd thought."
"Daddy's alive?" I asked excitedly. I still had a daddy! "Where is he?"
Momma glanced back up at Jack. "He's right here," she said smiling at him.
My eyes widened even more. Jack was my daddy? "You're my daddy?" I asked Jack hopefully.
He grinned. "I am," he said nodding.
I smiled hugely at him and launched myself into his lap. "Yes!" I cheered. "Does that mean you'll take me to see Chippewa Falls? And will you teach me to ice fish and ride horses and go on that really big roller coaster? Will you come with us pleeeaase?"
"I'd love to do all that with you, JJ," he said, ruffling my hair. "And I promise you I'm not going anywhere without you and your mother."
"This is so cool!" I exclaimed. I leapt up and started jumping up and down. "Momma! Daddy is alive! I have a daddy! Why did you think he was dead?"
"That is a very long story," she said.
"What happened, Momma?" I asked.
She smirked. "Why don't you ask your father?"
"Daddy!" I said, leaping back onto his lap eagerly. He smiled broadly at me. "What happened?"
"Well," he said dramatically. He put his arms around me. "It began six years ago, when I won a ticket onto the RMS Titanic. And I can tell you, winning that ticket was the best thing that ever happened to me.
"How come?" I asked, already hooked into the story.
"Because," he answered, "it brought me to your mother."
I settled into his lap, listening intently. This was going to be the best story ever!