Dinner was over and everyone had gone to their separate corners. Max went up to read his favorite novel. Olivia was working on a poem she had started just that morning. Jacob went out for a walk, probably back to that general store. Rose suspected that he was sweet on the pretty clerk that worked there, and Rose stood on the back porch, watching the sunset, unable to stop her mind from traveling back to another sunset, where she had recieved a heart stopping kiss.

Rose gripped her shoulders and closed her eyes, allowing the memory to wash over her, for just a minute. She had been so young and full of optimism and hope. At the time, she had never felt so free before. It was like the future was hers to command and control. All she had to do was make up her mind where she had wanted to go. She had no idea that in a few short hours, both her and Jack would have to fight for their lives and a long separation awaited them.

"Brings back memories, huh?"

Startled, Rose turned to see Jack standing in the doorway, leading back into the house. His smile was wistful and sad. He looked so different now. Gone was the young man with the hopeful blue eyes and optimistic smile, who was happy with the air in his lungs and a few blank sheets of paper. In his place was this grown man who has seen and been through more than anyone had the right to go through...yet..she still saw hints of that twenty year old who had stolen her heart and had given her a son to love and raise.

"Yes. A very happy memory. I had always loved sunsets after that...even though, that one was the most beautiful..."

"Not as beautiful as the girl," Jack chuckled, walking up to her, feeling unsure of himself. What did one say to the love of one's life after being separated for so long?

Rose simply blushed and turned her attention back to the setting sun. "The young man was quite beautiful himself."

"I didn't know that men could be beautiful," Jack simply laughed, standing next to her, his eyes on the sunset as well.

"Only a few can be. You were one of those few."

"So I'm not beautiful anymore?" His tone was teasing. Rose could almost picture the twinkle in his eyes without even looking.

"I never said that. In fact, I stil find you rather breathtaking."

"I...I wish that I had found you on the Carpathia, Rose. I can't help but wonder how things would be different if I had."

Rose sighed, hearing the regret in his voice and unable to help a twinge of regret in her heart as well. How would things have been different? Would she really have changed anything? After all, if Jack had lived, she would never have gone back to Cal. Cal would never have met Jacob and saw that he didn't need to be the hard man she had known before and during Titanic. Max and Olivia would never have been born...or if they had been they would have had blond hair and blue eyes instead. Despite how things had ended with Cal, he had been a marvelous father and all because Jacob had came into his life. Despite the small sense of regret, she still wouldn't have changed anything. She was glad that Cal had been given the chance to be a man remembered kindly, instead of the man he could have ended up being.

"Things would have been different...but I don't think I would have changed anything. As much as I had loved you...I loved him too...the man he became and it would have been a shame if that man had never existed...or had continued to be repressed. Jacob had set Cal free, just like you had helped me gain my freedom. I can't regret that."

"I understand," Jack nodded, his own mind churning with all that he had gone through during their long separation. "He became someone that you could love. He became someone that his children can remember fondly. I wouldn't want to change that either. Besides, I had to go off to war and...if we had been together...we would have been separated again and I don't want to even think of you at home, waiting for me, wondering if I'll ever come back..."

Rose shuddered, remembering how relieved she had been when it was clear that Cal wouldn't have to go to war. That had definitely been an experience that she didn't want.

"So what do we do now? I mean...I still love you Jack. I look at you and I see the young man that had pulled me over the railing..the man that had made me promise to keep living, no matter how hard things got...but I can also see a different man. A man that still has some of the same qaulities...but is different. I want to get to know those differences..."

Jack turned to face her, a small smile on his lips. "Well, what's stopping you? Ask me anything. I'm an open book for you, Rose."

She couldn't help but snort in disbelief.

"What?" He laughed.

"I can't believe that you don't have any secrets that you don't want me to find out. I bet you had a love affair while you were over there in Europe. Or perhaps when you came home...maybe you had met a cute little nurse who fell for your charms just as hard as I had."

Jack just shook his head. "I'm not going to say that there was no women who were flirts...and I won't say that I didn't respond to their efforts once in a while. I am still a man, after all...but...I had never allowed myself to get as involved as I had with you. I...I just couldn't risk my heart like that again. It had hurt so much to have lost you...I wouldn't have survived it again."

"Oh Jack...I..."

"What?"

"It's just the thought of you being alone. Not having anyone to spend your life with...on one hand...I'm thankful because you're free now...but...still...it had to have been lonly. Even before I returned home, I had Jacob...but you didn't have anyone."

Jack simply shrugged, returning his gaze to the sunset. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want her to feel sad for him. He didn't feel sad for himself. He was glad that he had kept his heart free, so when she returned, there were no obstacles. "I don't regre it, Rose. I just felt like I could never love anyone the way I had you and it wouldn't be fair, so I decided it was best to not make any committments. Not to make any promises. That decision..it had served we well up to this point."

"So you don't regret not moving on?"

"Not in the least. It is what it is. I do have a regret though. Despite how well it turned out for Hockley, I'll always regret not being around for my son...and for you. It should have been me protecting you from the aunt and uncle I barely knew, not Hockley. Instead, I was off only god knew where while you were afraid of losing our son. Instead of being able to turn to me for protection...you were forced to turn to him. Thankfully, he became a better man because of it...but it still hurts that I missed so much...that it's him Jacob sees as his real father..."

Rose couldn't blame Jack for feeling regret over the way things had turned out. After all, if they hadn't been separated, he would have been there through it all and it would be him that his son would see as his father. She bet Jack would have been a brilliant father too. Just observing him with Max and Olivia and even Jacob told her that he would have been a good dad if he had been given the chance.

"Jack...I don't know what to say. I wish that you and Jacob had a real father and son relationship. I will always feel bad that you had been cheated of that..."

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Don't feel bad. It was just the way things ended up. Maybe it was for the best. Like you said, everything happens for a reason. Perhaps I just wasn't ready for fatherhood back then...but Cal was. He was what Jacob needed as well. Perhaps I wasn't. We'll never know."

He would have been ready, though. Rose was pretty sure that he would have been. Besides, to be honest, who was ever ready for parenthood?

"He wants to know you, Jack. He may not see you the way he sees Cal...but he still wants a relationship with you."

"I know...and it's enough. I love him already, though. I look at him and I see...me at that age and I can't help but laugh and see so much of how I used to be as a young man. It's quite interesting."

Rose chuckled and nodded. "He's the reason I had fought so hard to survive out there for so long. When I had lost you...I wanted to die, but Jacob wouldn't let me. He kept me going."

"So...is there anything else about me that you want to know?"

Rose gave a small smile. "Of course there is, but for now that's enough. I just wanted to know if you had any secret love affairs. You can tell me some more tomorrow."

"I'd like that," Jack smiled, taking her hand. "Do you want to go back in now? It gets a little chilly at night..."

"Lead the way," Rose smiled, feeling at peace and looking forward to finding more out about this man that had once meant so much to her.