Night had come quickly, with the mourning of many but the excitement of reaching New York in only a couple of hours. She stood at the railing alone and looked down at the water and around her. Rain began to fall softly but finding shelter was not a concern of Rose. She began to daydream but it was quickly interrupted by an officer with an umbrella asking for her name. She noticed it was for the survivors list and without hesitation she said almost with pride"Dawson..Rose Dawson." Rose Dewitt Bukater had gone down with the damned ship. She never wanted to be that girl ever again. The officer wrote her name on the list under the previous survivor then while skimming it he saw another name and looked at her and asked" Excuse me..but your husband has been asking for you since he got on here." Rose froze "Cal.." she had thought. "Cal knows I'm here...and is telling everyone I'm already his wife." Tears began to fill her eyes when she looked at him and asked "My husband is here?" The office nodded "Yes ma'am a Mr. Jack Dawson has been asking for you. Said you long red hair and and green eyes. You're Mrs. Rose Dawson are you not?". Those emerald green eyes of her grew wide and her heart began to race, not with fear but excitement. Jack was alive! Here on the ship..and was asking for her. She nodded and asked him where Jack was last scene and practically ran in that direction. Running as fast as she did when she jumped from the first lifeboat she was forced to get on to be with Jack she ran right into a man in pajamas, his face red from crying. She jumped back and quickly apologized. "No that's alright miss, it's my fault I was not paying attention to where I was going. Forgive me." Rose took in a sharp breath, she could recognize that voice in any crowd. She looked up "Jack...Jack is that you?" His eyes grew wide just like hers had done earlier and looked at her "ROSE!" he stared at her in disbelief then hugged her tightly in shock of seeing her again, after thinking she was gone. "Jack!" she hugged him just as tight and she began to cry right there in the hallway. "I thought I'd lost you forever" she said through the tears. "I thought you were gone Rose! I checked the list, there was no Rose DeWitt Bukater.". After a few sniffels she looked into his eyes, "Of course there is no Rose DeWitt Bukater, there is only a Rose Dawson."she started to give a smile then stopped, and thoughts flooded her mind "Should I have done that? Should I have said 'Dawson'? What if he is angry with me and turns into another Cal?" The thoughts stopped when seeing the grin on Jack's face. "Dawson? You mean you.." he hugged her even tighter as excitement ran through both of their bodies.
They found a place for both of them to have privacy and talked for a while, still holding on to one another, never wanting to be apart. Then they sat there in silence, almost knowing what the other person was thinking. Their own personal way of communicating and it was just between them, no one else. "Rose..." Jack had broken the silence as she stared into those peircing blue eyes of his. "Rose..I love you" he looked into her eyes, as he said those words. Rose smiled with a nod, "I love you too Jack". He returned the smile and ran his fingers through the curls of her red hair, and they just stayed their in silence until it was time to debark from the ship and into the city of New York.
Rose stood with Jacks arm around her as they began to leave the ship. She looked around at the reporters asking questions to Titanic survivors, and the photographers taking picture after picture. She began to grow nervous till Jack looked at her and smiled. "You don't have to talk to them Rose, just walk past them but never look down. Let them take a picture of you, not just a passenger of Titanic, but a gir..woman who survived such an event." A smile quickly appeared on her face and nodded "I will Jack...I will". They got off the ramp and onto firm, sturdy land. Journalists began to ask questions and flashes were in their face. It all began to get confusing and almost frightening. The comossion brought her back to the ship when everyone was trying to save themselves. Jack noticed that she was beginning to pale and forced his way out of the pack of people, holding her closely to him and away from all the noise and movements. They were soon on a street with people that had no idea they were just on a ship. Just people heading to work or school not even noticing them. Jack found a bench and sat down and placed Rose in his lap. She looked at him with tears in her eyes "I thought I was back on the ship again Jack" her voice cracking as frightened tears began to fall. "I thought I was back without any hope all over again!" He looked at her sympathetically and hugged her close and tried to sooth her as best he could. " You're fine now Rose, it's all okay. We're here, safe on land. No more screaming, no more death no more of any of it. You and I are here..together sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head and began to rock her and she stayed crying. This was something she couldn't just forget in a day. Jack was scared as well, but refused to let Rose see it. Yes he knew he would have flashbacks, who wouldn't after a tragedy like that? But now he was here with the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but with out any money, food or shelter. What was he going to do?
Rose began to calm down and had removed her coat and put it around him. Jack refused to take it from her. It was spring but still not warm enough to go without covering. He began to put it back around her but she didn't allow him to do so. He sighed "Rose you'll get sick." She shook her head "I'm fine Jack...really". He looked at her, remembering when she had last said that in the gym onboard the ship. Rose wasn't fine and he knew it, even then. He put it around her and when she started to say something he put his finger over her red lips to silence her. She hated to give in but was to exhausted to argue. After a while she took it off once warming up and placed it over Jack who was now fast asleep. She sat beside him and placed her head in his lap but quickly sat up when not feeling the softness she had anticipated. She looked at the pocket and noticed it was not empty. Not wanting to wake Jack she quietly put her hand in and almost jumped when feeling something cold. She grabbed it and took it out. She gasped when seeing the shimmering necklace Cal had given to her in her stateroom. She quickly put it back in the pocket before anyone had a chance to see it. She checked the other pocket and smiled when seeing a mulitued of money folded up with a rubberband around it. She contimplated on whether or not to wake Jack and tell him, but decided against it and layed her head back down gently and soon drifted to sleep.
She was awoken by the humming of Jack's voice. She smiled and began to sing "Come Josephene on my flying machine, going up she goes, up she goes." Jack looked down and smiled at her. "Sleep well?" he asked. Rose nodded then remember the necklace and money, and quickly sat up. "Jack.." she began, "check the coat pockets." He gave her a questioning look but did it anyway and gazed at amazement when he pulled out the jewel and the money. "We'll be alright Jack!" she smiled when a look of relief quickly shown on his face. "Yes we will Rose, yes we will" he smiled and kissed her passionantly. He was alive, in love, and had enough money to get by for quite a while. Life was better than he had ever dreamt it would be. They got up and went to look for a hotel to stay in till they could find a place to live, and then to go find a place to have breakfast. It'd been a while since either had had any real food in their bodies.
They found a cafe a block away from their hotel. There they sat and drank coffee and had pastries while talking of what they'll do the next couple of days. "I'm going to start looking for a job first thing tomorrow morning, hopefully someplace is paying well." Rose looked at him "Jack you can always sale your draw..." she stopped remembering they had gone down with the ship. As he looked down with a saddened look apon his face, she placed her soft hand on top his."There will be more drawings Jack, so much more. You're very gifted. I know you'll be able to sale future ones." she smiled at him as he looked up with her listening to every word she said. His confidence was begining to build again. "Thank you Rose, that means alot" he leaned over and kissed her gently. She kissed him back then quickly blushed as seeing stares from a few other customers. "Jack..." she started to say as he looked at her."I'll look for a job myself, to help out." Jack quickly shook his head. "No Rose, I want you to stay home and take care of things around the house. That's the most help you could ever do for me." he smiled at her. Extra money would be nice, but no woman of his would have to bring income into his home. She reluctantly nodded and finished a half-eaten pastry.
After breakfast they walked around New York and bought some clothes since they only had what was on their backs. Jack had never owned anything but a few shirts and trousers. Rose had helped him pick out quite a nice wardrobe for a man of his age during that time. Rose kept her word on wanting to live a simple life but Jack insisted she get a couple of dresses, like what she had worn when his eyes first met hers the day the ship had set sail to New York. Later that afternoon they sold the necklace and with the money Jack gave her half and told her to go out and buy paintings which he knew she admired so much. When she was gone he went to a jewlers and searched for the perfect ring for Rose. After all she did give his last name to be put on the survivors list. Maybe, just maybe she would be his wife. After he had purchased the ring he headed back to the hotel. Rose was still out shopping so he hid the box before taking a shower.
When Rose returned, Jack was sitting reading a newspaper. The New York Times had already gotten a hold of what had happened. She walked up behind him and wrapped her delicate arms around him. He smiled and closed the paper and faced her. "Find anything?" he asked, curious to see if she had found any good painting for their new home, which they had yet to find. She nodded "A few things, but you know I'm more of an admirer of Jack Dawson's line of work." she smiled and sat in his lap and they began to chat away. Before they knew it, it was time for dinner. They both dressed and headed out to find a place to eat.