1920
Thirteen-year old Cora walked down the quiet street in the fading sun. Suddenly, she stumbled, and she looked down to see a man unconscious on the ground in front of her. Cora knelt down beside the man and she started back when she saw his face. "Uncle Jack?"
He didn't wake up and she stood up, running as fast as she could towards home. "Rose!" She called. Rose stepped out of their house, her face crinkled in worry. "Cora? What's wrong?"
Cora waited a moment to catch her breath "I found Uncle Jack!" Rose's heart stopped. "W-what?" She stammered. Cora nodded "He's unconscious down the road!" She pointed in the direction she had come from. Shock was pounding through Rose's veins, but she moved forward. Cora ran down the road, Rose close on her heels. She stopped beside Jack, who lay oblivious of everything that was happening. Rose shook his shoulders gently before she noticed the empty bottle of whiskey in his hands. "He's been drinking. I think we're going to have to carry him." She grabbed his shoulders and Cora helped her drag Jack to their house and onto the couch.
Rose soaked a cloth and softly cleaned the dirt off his face. He clearly hadn't washed in a while. She didn't think she should bath him, though, if she was even strong enough to get him into the tub. Rose stroked his face gently, unwilling to leave his side, waiting for him to wake up. Cora left the room, knowing that they would want some time to themselves when Jack woke up. She could talk to Uncle Jack later.
After about an hour, he began to stir, rolling onto his side and letting out a low moan. He opened his eyes, looking around him in confusion. Then his eyes fell on Rose and she held her breath as the ocean blue eyes she had missed so much stared straight at her. "Hello Jack." She gave him a little smile. He sat up, "Rose…" He whispered in astonishment. He reached out his hand and caressed her cheek "You're real!"
Rose placed her hand over his "So are you." Jack pulled her into a hug, sobbing into her hair. "I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you, Rose, and I've hated myself every damn day for the last eight years for not telling you when I had the chance."
Rose looked deep into Jack's tear-filled eyes, tears streaming down her own cheeks, "I love you too." Jack leaned down and kissed her for the first time in eight years. His arms wrapped closely around her waist and hers curled around his shoulders. Their passion for each other hadn't changed in eight years. It was as if they had never been apart.
Rose curled up in Jack's arms. "I don't understand…. How can I have missed your name on the survivors list? There was no Rose Dewitt Bukater."
"There was a Rose Dawson, though, wasn't there?" Jack's mouth dropped open and his shock was almost comical, making Rose giggle. He looked so adorable.
"If only I'd seen Rose Dawson before I checked the Dewitt Bukaters, I might have realised… But I'd already seen that there was no Rose Dewitt Bukater, and I- I thought you were dead, and I couldn't think of anything except the pain… I saw Rose Dawson and I thought how cruel it was that there was a Rose Dawson, a name that could've been yours but would never be…" He trailed off, the painful memories overwhelming him for a moment
"Oh Jack, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
"It's not your fault." Jack reassured her.
"It is though. And I didn't even check the survivors list. You- you wouldn't wake up! I thought you were dead!" Rose wept. "I'm so sorry. It still doesn't make it your fault though, Rose. Why would you check for my name on the survivors list when you thought I was dead?" Jack murmured, hating that he'd caused her so much pain. Rose shook her head, not convinced. "How are you alive?"
"I woke up under the water, and I was rescued by the second lifeboat that came back. I searched the whole ship lookin for you but I couldn't find you."
"I was hiding from Cal."
"That musta been why. And then I saw the survivors list and I thought you weren't on it and my whole world crashed down." He clutched her to his chest, breathing in her scent, reminding himself that the pain was over, Rose was alive. " Where did you go after the ship docked? Did you stay in New York?"
"I found Cora-"
"Cora survived?" Jack interrupted, relief flooding through him. His best girl had lived.
"Yes, but she was all alone, her parents didn't. So I took her with me, and we stayed in New York for about a month before we left, and we travelled until we got here four years ago. I've been working as a moving-pictures actress, just like I said I would. Where have you been?"
"I left New York two days after the ship docked, I couldn't stay in the place where we were supposed to start our lives together, and I came here about six years ago, and then the war happened and I enlisted, hoping I would be killed so that I could be with you, but I survived and I came back here. you're so much stronger than me, Rose, you've been here makin' each day count and I've been falling further and further into a bottle for the last eight years." Almost as if on cue, a flash of sunlight came through the window making Jack wince from the sudden light.
"I'm no stronger than you are Jack. The only reason I haven't fallen into a bottle is because I have Cora to look after and even then she's come down in the morning more than once to find me collapsed with an empty bottle next to me." Jack held her in his arms, rocking her gently. "But we'll be alright now, if you want me to stay that is." He wanted to stay with her so badly, more than anything in the world but if she didn't want him, after he'd spent the last eight years drinking away the pain, he'd understand. It would wreck him, but all he wanted was to make her happy.
"Of course I want you to stay." Jack grinned and kissed her. They heard footsteps moving hurriedly away. Rose looked up to see Cora, walking away from the door. "Cora, come here!" She laughed. Cora walked timidly towards them. "Uncle Jack!"
"My best girl!" Jack held out his arm to her and she flung her arms around his neck. "We thought you were dead!"
"I know, I'm so sorry."
"Are you gonna stay with us now?"
"I'm never gonna leave." They stayed there, huddled up together, reunited at last.
Author's Note: Yeah… I've started another story. This was meant to be a oneshot, but I have ideas for this story so….yeah. Tell me what you think, please!