Screams filled the night air. She gripped the railings tightly, glancing once at Jack on her right and then down into a frightened pair of blue eyes. She recognized the girl as Jack's friend's girlfriend. She remembered how Fabrizio had begged her to come with him, yet the blond had refused, choosing to stay with her family. Now she was hanging from the railing, staring up at Rose with wide frightened eyes. Rose froze in shock and fear, certain that they were all going to die. She couldn't have moved to save the girl. All the fight had fled from her, the moment that the ship had begun to break apart.

Suddenly, the girl screamed as her fingers gave and she fell into the churning crowd below, leaving Rose to stare at the space she had been in horrified shock. She looked to the left, where a man in a baker's uniform was taking a swig from a flask. Couldn't he have saved her?

"Hell of a night," was all he could say for himself.

..

Hannah couldn't say what had woken her up. Lisa was sound asleep in her bed and the house as a whole was quiet. Maybe it was waking up in a strange place. Maybe some water or a glass of milk would make her relax some. Being sure not to make noise, Hannah slipped out of bed and out of the room just to find Rose standing just outside the closed door of Jack's room. Surprised, Hannah watched as the pale as a ghost Rose shook her head, sobbed, and turned away from the door and went downstairs.

Now, what was that about? Clearly, Rose had just been about to go into Jack's room but had changed her mind. She was clearly upset about something. Staying quiet, she followed the redhead down the stairs and found Rose on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chin, sobbing.

"Rose?" Hannah came the rest of the way down, compassion for a fellow woman taking her over. She walked over to the couch and sat down next to her rival. "Rose? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Rose found it hard to answer as she struggled with the memory that had accosted her. She couldn't help but feel like a horrible person as she remembered terrified eyes looking up into her own, begging for help that she had been too frozen with terror to give.

"Is it a memory?" Hannah again questioned, wondering if she should go wake Jack after all.

Rose nodded, squeezing her eyes shut against the memory of screams for help and the freezing cold of the North Atlantic. "It's so cold….and the screams..."

Sensing that Rose was caught in the past somehow, Hannah wrapped a warm hand around her shivering one, hoping to pull the redhead back into the present. "It's okay. It's over now. You're in warm Wisconsin now. You're safe."

"It's so awful…," Rose sniffed, beginning to calm down.

"Do you want me to get Jack?"

Rose quickly shook her head no. "No, no. I don't want to bother him. He seems to be well over this and I don't want to remind him of any more than I already had. I especially don't want him to remember Helga..." She winced. She hadn't meant to say her name, but she had and now it's out there.

"Who's Helga?"

"Fabrizio, Jack's best friend, I think she was his girlfriend. They seemed to be close anyway. She was so pretty. She was Norwegian and had this gorgeous blond hair and a pretty smile. She was coming to America with her family. It was so funny because Fabrizio barely spoke English and did not know Norwegian and Helga didn't speak English and didn't know Italian. I don't know how they managed...but somehow they did. They would have been a lovely couple. If only that stupid iceberg hadn't happened...but it did...and they're both gone."

Hannah also felt sad. Jack had told her all about Fabrizio, but the way Rose had described Helga and how she and Fabrizio had managed a relationship despite the language barrier, it made her even sadder for not only them but for Jack and Rose as well. Jack had never forgiven himself for Fabrizio's death and from what Hannah could see, Rose was blaming herself for Helga.

"What happened to Helga, Rose?"

Rose didn't say anything for a few minutes. If she said it, it'd make it real. The memory wouldn't be just a dream, but something that had actually happened, but to not talk about it...to keep it to herself...she felt like it was going to drive her mad once again and she couldn't have that. She couldn't afford to miss another two years of Cora's life. She had to tell someone, even if it was this girl she had only just met. She took a deep breath and kept her eyes on the carpeted floor.

"Titanic had just broken in two. After the split, Jack climbed to the other side and helped me over. God, I was so scared, I could barely move...but Jack insisted. He kept saying that he had me and he wouldn't let go...and he didn't. He was...he was so heroic...so brave. I don't know how he kept it together like he did. Anyway...he helped me over to the other side and we clung to the rails for dear life as the stern stood straight up in the water. I looked down and there was Helga. She was on the opposite side, dangling from the rails, looking up at me with wide frightened eyes. I...I wanted to reach for her and pull her over like what Jack had done for me...but...I couldn't move. I was frozen. I couldn't reach for her...she held on for as long as she could, just staring at me and then…," Another sob broke free and Rose shook her head and pressed her face against her knees once again.

"What happened Rose? Tell me. You'll feel better if you just let it out. What happened next?"

"She...she couldn't hold on...she fell...I can still hear her scream as if it had just happened. She fell to her death because I failed to help her!"

Hannah's heart went out to Rose as she heard the clear self-blame in that statement. What could she say to this? True, Rose could have reached for the woman, but what would have happened if she had? It could have been worse! "Rose, you were in a horrible situation! You were in the middle of a catastrophe and it took a lot just to get to where you guys were. No wonder you froze. No wonder fear got the best of you, it would have gotten the best of me the moment I realized that the ship was going to sink. I wouldn't have been able to do an inch of what you had done to free Jack, to be honest. You were brave when you could be, but you are also human. It's human for fear and self-preservation to freeze us in place. It doesn't make you a horrible person. Besides, if you had reached and grabbed her, who is to say you would have been able to pull her up? You would have been dealing with gravity. Remember how you met Jack? How he had grabbed hold of you and almost had gone overboard himself? It would have been worse than that for you, Rose. She would have pulled you over as well and maybe even Jack because he would have tried to grab you as well. All three of you would have died a result! So maybe it was a good thing that you weren't able to grab her. It saved both you and Jack."

"You really think so?" Rose looked at Hannah, unsure if she should agree or hang on to the guilt that was consuming her.

"I really do think so. I know I sound horrible, but I rather you be here and alive to be Cora's mother than at the bottom of the North Atlantic. I know you're a good person, Rose. Jack wouldn't love you if you weren't and anyone who could help make a sweet sweet girl like Cora has to be an awesome person as well. If you could have saved this Helga, you would have, but you couldn't and that's okay. Her death is not on your hands. It's on the hands of the white star line and all those people who claimed that ship to be unsinkable. "

"If I'm such a good person, then why do I feel so wretched?" Rose began to sob again.

"Because you are a good person. Only good people would feel responsible for something that they had no control over," Hannah wrapped her arms around Rose, holding her as she sobbed. "It'll be okay, Rose. It's all just a memory. The pain of it will fade and you'll be okay again. I promise."

At that moment, Rose did feel comforted and more able to deal with the memory of Helga and her fate. She felt like a child by doing so, but she couldn't help but lean into the other girl's embrace and just cry it all out. Hannah was patient and calm, just sitting there hugging the sobbing Rose. Finally, the tears were gone and all Rose could feel exhaustion.

"All better?" Hannah asked as Rose's sobs faded away.

Rose simply nodded as she sat up. She wiped away her tears and managed a smile. "Thank you. You didn't have to help me, but you did."

"I wanted to. No one should have to go through what you're going through alone."

"Rose? Hannah? What are you two doing?" Jack asked, coming down the stairs. He had thought that he had heard someone crying and had come down to check it out.

Hannah looked at Rose and then at Jack, not knowing what to say or not to say. When Rose came down here, she hadn't wanted Jack to know. But now here Jack was and Hannah didn't want to out Rose, yet didn't want to lie to Jack either.

"I had a bad memory," Rose simply stated, not seeing the point of lying.

"What? Why didn't you come to get me?" Jack frowned, coming the rest of the way down the stairs.

"I didn't want to bother you with it. I just feel like you've already dealt with Titanic and shouldn't have to be dragged through it again."

"Rose, I told you. I want to help you. Trust me, I'm fine with the memories, I can handle it..."

"I know what you said...I just couldn't come to you at the moment, Jack. It was something I had to handle without you," Rose sighed, feeling bad, yet resolute. "It's okay. Really. Hannah helped me."

Jack blinked and turned to Hannah, feeling that he should be surprised that the girl he was supposed to be engaged to was there to willingly help Rose, but then again he wasn't. Hannah was a kind, compassionate woman that would give her greatest enemy the clothes off of her back. It was one of the reasons he had fallen for her. "You helped her?"

"Yes. I was mainly a listening ear."

"Well, thank you."

Hannah simply smiled and got to her feet, kissing Jack's cheek as she walked pass. "I better head back to Lisa's room before she wakes up and thinks I had abandoned her. I'm sure that you can handle things from here."

"Good night, Hannah," Jack smiled, watching her disappear up the stairs. Once she was gone, he turned back to Rose, who still looked a bit shaken from the dream. "Are you going to be okay? Do you still need to talk?"

"I'm fine, Jack. I am sorry. I didn't mean to wake anyone."

"I'm glad that you did. Even if it wasn't me. It was good that you had someone to talk to."

"She's a good person, Jack. I see why you love her...why it's such a hard decision for you. She's kind and compassionate and...she's good for you. You can trust her."

"Rose..."

"I better get back to Cora. Her fever had gone down, but one can never be too careful," Rose got to her feet, her mind mulling over something that a part of her wished it wouldn't, but she couldn't help it."

"Rose, she's asleep. You don't have to..."

"It's for the best if I do," Her smile was sad. She wanted so much to kiss him, but she didn't dare...she didn't deserve to. "Good night, Jack."

Jack relented, knowing that there was no use in trying to get her to talk to him. "Good night, Rose."