Chapter Twenty Five

"Okay, let's go over this again," I said. "We're laying low until the sinking, you'll sneak on and place the object on the boat, we'll grab Helga, and we'll go back."

"Sounds good," said Fabrizio. "Unless, you wanted to go on the ship and see yourself and Rose."

I was tempted, that's for sure. I wanted to watch how we met, how we fell in love, but it was too risky. "That's okay."

"I'll give you the suit," Fabrizio offered. So, not only had Fabrizio made a literal time machine, he also made an invisibility suit so we could sneak onto the boat, and a sort of medication that lets a person forget interacting with us, just in case.

It was tempting, I couldn't lie. But I promised Rose I would stay safe and not do anything stupid, and I intended to keep that promise.

"You know you want to," Fabrizio said in a singsongy voice.

"Why are you encouraging me to do this?" I asked.

Fabrizio sighed. "I'm really grateful that you came with me, and I want to make it up to you."

I paused. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Then we can go back and fix it," Fabrizio told me. "Go find Rose."

I smiled and put on the suit, going onto the ship. I looked at the date and time and figured out that Rose and past Jack were just leaving the steerage party. I stood on the deck and waited. Finally, Rose and past Jack came to the deck, just like I knew they would. "Come Josephine in my flying machine, and it's up she goes! Up she goes! In the air she goes. Where? There she goes!" They sang so off-key, but it didn't matter. It was such a beautiful memory, the night I realized Rose wanted me too.

Rose grabbed a davit and leaned back, looking at the stars. "Isn't it magnificent? So grand and endless?" She looked back at past Jack. "They're such small people, Jack… my crowd. They think they're giants on the earth, but they're not even dust in God's eye. They live inside this tiny champagne bubble… and someday the bubble's going to burst."

I remembered how I leaned against the rail next to her, and how our hands touched, sending electricity up and down my spine.

"You're not one of them," said past Jack. "There's been a mistake."

"A mistake?"

"Uh huh," he said. "You got mailed to the wrong address."

"I did, didn't I?" Rose laughed. She pointed. "Look, a shooting star."

"That was a long one," he smiled. "My father used to say that whenever you saw one, it was a soul going to heaven."

"I like that," Rose smiled. It was a genuine smile, one I missed seeing.

"What would you wish for?" Jack asked.

Rose looked at him. "Something I can't have."

Actually, you can, I thought to myself. I smiled, loving what I was watching.

Then, tragedy struck. I felt a sneeze starting to arise, and I desperately tried to stop it. I held my nose, scrunched my eyes, but nothing worked.

"Hachoo!"

Both Rose and past Jack looked at me. "What was that?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," said past Jack.

I had to say something or do something now. The timeline was already thrown off; Rose was distracted and wouldn't have the same feelings when she went back to her room.

I sighed and took off the suit.

Rose gasped once she saw the two Jack's. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," said past Jack. "What is this?"

I didn't even know where to begin. "So, I'm from the future. I came back to do something important."

Rose started to laugh. "Is this some kind of joke?"

I looked over at past Jack, who obviously already knew that time travel was possible. "What happened?" He asked.

"Helga didn't make it back," I explained. "Fabrizio and I came back to try to save her."

He nodded sadly. Meanwhile, Rose looked back and forth between us. "Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"You want to do it?" I asked.

Past Jack nodded. "I time traveled back here. I really live in the year 2020."

Rose took some time to let the news sink in. "So, why are there two of you?" She asked.

I looked at Rose and it took all of my power not to grab her and kiss her. "Fabrizio, Helga, and I came back here to get an ingredient, but Helga died in the process. So, Fabrizio and I figured out a way to get her back. So, here we are." I smiled, waiting for a reaction. "I wanted to find you and my past self for a little… nostalgia."

Rose nodded. "So how did Helga die?"

Past Jack and I looked at each other. "Rose," the other Jack began. "Titanic is going to sink."

She panicked. "What? It is?"

We both nodded. "But I promise you, everything turns out okay," I assured her.

Rose started to calm down. "So, where are we in the future?" Jack asked.

"Rose and I are married," I smiled.

"We are?" Rose asked. "What about Cal?"

"You left him," I explained. "You will leave him tomorrow night."

"Thank god," Rose said under her breath. She looked up at me. "So… we live in the future, and we're married."

I smiled and nodded. "Yes."

"Are we happy?" Rose asked nervously.

"It's a little complicated," I explained. I didn't want to lie to Rose, even a past Rose who would have no memory of this. "We're really close and we love each other, but things are tough."

"What's going on?" Past Jack asked.

"I don't know if I should tell you specifics," I said. Even if I cleared her memories, I wasn't sure how well it would work. "But you've been sick. You're okay, but you've been uncomfortable."

"That was my next question," past Jack began. "Surely, you've messed up the timeline now. How are you going to fix it?"

"There's this medicine that erases these memories of me and will implant the memories that you've missed the last few minutes," I explained. "You both need to drink it."

"Absolutely not," Rose shook her head. Past Jack and I both looked at her in confusion. "No offense, but how do I even know that this is real? I mean, for all I know you're about to poison us."

I took Rose's hand and squeezed it. "You know this is real, Rose. I know you don't think we know each other that well, but I would never do anything to hurt you."

She looked at me for a minute, trying to figure me out. "I'm sorry, I still don't think I can trust you."

Past Jack came to my defense. "Everything he's said so far was right."

"You're pregnant," I said suddenly, and past Jack and Rose both looked at me. "If you don't drink this, you might mess up the conception of our baby. You have to drink it, Rose. Please."

Rose looked at me for a moment. She was starting to believe, I could tell.

Rose nodded as she looked at past Jack. "Rose," I began, and she turned to look at me. "I love you. You don't have to say it back, but I do."

Rose smiled at me. They both took a sip, as I snuck away.

Just as planned, Rose went back through the first class entrance. I sighed in relief as everything went back to normal.