April 10, 1912
Southampton, England
Rose frowned as bright light filtered through her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes confused. She could have sworn that she had closed the curtain over her window before she had gone to sleep the night before. Her frown deepened as she heard footsteps in the room, walking back and forth and the sound of clothes being removed from her closet. What was this? Was she being robbed? At this time in the morning? What was she going to do? Should she call the police? Should she just lay there and pretend to be asleep and wait for the intruder to go away?
That last option sounded like the best one. What would they do to her if they knew that she was awake? She could always buy new clothes.
"Miss. Rose, are you awake? I must insist that you get up now, Miss. We have a ship to catch and your mother and Mr. Hockley are downstairs with breakfast waiting.
Rose's eyes popped open. That voice...it belonged to only one woman...a woman that she hadn't seen in a year...a woman that she was pretty sure was dead. "T-Trudy?"
"Yes Miss. Raise and shine!" The voice was now cheerful.
Now Rose was scared. There was no way that this could be happening. Trudy was dead. For her to be here in her apartment, she had to be a ghost. But why would the ghost of Trudy come to her and not the ghost of her beloved Jack? It didn't make any sense.
Pushing aside her fear, she opened her eyes, thinking that she must have been imagining it. She gasped again when she opened her eyes and found that she was no longer in the dingy bedroom of her small apartment in Santa Monica. No, this was a lavish bedroom of the hotel that she had stayed in with her mother and Cal before they had set sail on Titanic.
But how could that be? How did she get from LA to Southampton?
"Are you getting up, Miss? Shall I get you some water?" Trudy asked, closing the closet door. "Hurry Miss. I can lace you up real quick."
Rose was still confused. Her brain was screaming that this was all wrong. Trudy shouldn't be here! Hell, she shouldn't be here! Where was her apartment? Her clothes? Her job?!
"Trudy...did you say that we had a ship to catch?" She managed to ask, knowing that she would have to talk to this woman that looked like her supposed to be deceased lady's maid, if she was going to get any answers.
"Why yes, Miss. Don't you remember? We are heading back home on the grandest ship in the world. Titanic! It's her maiden voyage, Miss."
Rose blinked, shocked by this revelation. "Is it 1913, still?"
Trudy gave Rose a strange look, probably wondering why her young mistress was behaving so strangely and asking her about the date. "Why no, Miss. Today is April 10, 1912. Do you not remember? Are you not feeling well? Should I call for your mother? You do look awfully pale..."
That was because she was pale. All of her blood drained from her as she heard the date. 1912. How in the world did she go to sleep in 1913 just to wake up in 1912? This shouldn't be happening!
In a near panic, she thought back to the might before and what she had been doing. She remembered...sitting on the pier in Santa Monica, staring up at the stars, and making one seemingly impossible wish. She had wanted to go back to 1912 and stop Jack from boarding Titanic. She had wanted to save him! From what Trudy had just told her, it seemed that her wish had came true! She had somehow been sent through time to save Jack! But that was impossible! Wishes on stars don't really come true! That was just a silly story that people told themselves to make falling stars seem more romantic, right?
But if that was true, how was it that she was again in 1912, on the day of their departure on Titanic? If she had really been sent here to save Jack, wouldn't it be on the ship, when she had met him? Goodness, she didn't even know where Jack was before he had boarded the ship.
Maybe that was the mission. To stop Jack from boarding Titanic at all. But how could she do that when she didn't even know where he was before he had even boarded the ship? She did know that he had won the tickets in a game of poker, but where did men play poker? The docks? Restaurants? Bars...or rather pubs in England! Maybe Jack and Fabrizio were in one of those! But how was she going to find out which one? There had to be hundreds of pubs to choose from in Southampton and how was she to get away from her mother and Cal in order to do so?
This was crazy...this had to be a dream. Her mind was playing with the wish that she had made. This couldn't possibly be happening. She should wake up now. Maybe if she pinched herself…
"Ouch," She yelped in pain as she gave herself a sharp pinch. That had hurt! Which meant...this had to be real. Somehow her wish had been granted!
"Miss. Rose, are you alright?" Trudy frowned, wondering why her mistress was acting so strangely. She knew that she didn't want to marry Caledon Hockley, but this behavior was even more unusual than usual!
"I am fine, Trudy. In fact, I'm better than I've been in a long time," Rose got to her feet, a bright smile on her face. She couldn't help feeling happy. Jack was alive! He was alive and somewhere in this city! She just didn't know where...but just the fact that he was alive in this world and she could see him again, it filled her with a joy she hadn't felt in over a year.
"Miss, your mother and Mr. Hockley are awaiting you for breakfast. May I help you dress?"
Rose blinked, processing the question. It's been a year since anyone had helped her dress. It was strange to hear it requested now. Knowing that Trudy would find it strange if she refused help, she just nodded and slipped out of bed. "Of course, Trudy..."
It took a good hour for Trudy to lace up the corset, another item that Rose hadn't worn ever since the sinking, and helped her dress in the pen-stripped suit that she had worn to board Titanic the first time around. Then it was another thirty minutes to do her hair. Finally, Rose was ready for breakfast.
Ruth was waiting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of tea. Rose didn't go in right away, though. It had been quite a while since she had set eyes on her mother. Seeing her now brought up all kinds of feelings. Love. Anger. Guilt. She wondered what her mother's reaction had been when she hadn't turned up after the sinking. Did she grieve? Did Cal take care of her or did he kick her out? Rose hadn't bothered to find out in her year of working in California. She hadn't been ready to face her mother then.
"Are you coming in, Rose or are you just going to stand there staring at me as if you have all day? I suggest that you come in and eat your breakfast and hurry. We will be leaving shortly," Ruth addressed her with out looking her way.
Rose sighed, wondering how she was going to handle her mother after a year of having nothing to do with her at all. In fact, how was she going to get out of the hotel to go search for Jack? She had to find him if she was going to keep him from boarding the ship and she couldn't do that here.
"Yes mother," Rose nodded, entering the kitchen, trying to keep up the facade of being the well brought up girl that she had once been. She had to pretend that she had never lived a year away from first class life, which was going to be hard. Sitting at that table, sitting ramrod straight and sipping tea, Rose couldn't wait until she found Jack. At least then she could relax a little.
One hour later, Rose sat in the back of the car with her mother, watching the scenery go by, on the way to Titanic. She could not think of a way to get away from her mother and Cal. She was forced to get into the car with them and make the trip to the docks. She was staring unhappily out of the car window, almost to their destination, when she spotted them. Jack and Fabrizio, entering a pub, their knapsacks slung carelessly over their shoulders.
Rose felt hope spring up inside her once again! Somehow, she had found him! She found Jack and he was a sight for sore eyes! Now all she had to do was somehow reach him and make sure that he never boarded the Titanic. How she would do that, she did not know, but she would think of something. She had to. She was here on a mission and she was going to make sure that she completed it. Nothing was going to stop her. Not her mother. Not Cal. And especially not Titanic itself.