Hello so here it is, THE FINAL CHAPTER! I want to thank you all so much for your continued support of this story and in my original story Some Kind Of Tomorrow which is the prequal to this. This was never intended to be the labour of love that it turned out to be but Tommy and Isabella have been my dearest friends over the course of the last year and a half and it has been a pleasure writing their story for you.

I will include a glossary with names of children and grandchildren at the end of this story if any of you are wondering who is who.

I tried to give everyone the happy ending that I felt that they desrved both the fictoinal and the non-fictional. Please bare in mind that Bruce Ismay in this story is based on the magnificant portrayl given by Jonathan Hyde in the film.

I do not know when or if I will come back to this wonderful fandom but I wish you all the best.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review.


Drifting Back

Chapter 15-A Life To Remember

THE FINAL CHAPTER-It's the 1990s and old ghosts are drudged up and diamonds thrown overboard and a certain explorer has got some news to tell. We finally learn what has happened to Tommy, Isabella, Fabrizio, Helga, Rose and Cora since they survived the Night to Remember and the past was reunited with the present.


April 1996


Brock Lovett hated that he had to be the one to do this. When Lizzy had suggested that he should come with her he had wanted to run a mile but Lizzy had looked at him all blue eyes and wicked smile and here he outside a really nice house in Virginia in the middle of April.

It was all over. His search for the diamond, his search for the truth. It had ended with a diamond overboard, a cigar following it and a story that he couldn't shake. That had been one hell of a love story. Hell everyone had been unable to work for the rest of the day and when they had gone to get Jack and Rose up the next day and they had seen…well…that had been the end of it.

Lizzy her eyes wet with tears had pointed out her grandparents were in their hundreds and dying was natural to them. They had told their story, seen the wreck of the ship and the picture of Rose that had sent them both cackling like teenagers and then they had given the diamond back to the ocean. Had the story not significantly fucked up his life even a cynic like him would have been enchanted by it.

"This was the one thing she told me to do if she went before this woman did" Lizzy said quietly. "She's the last one left you see"

Brock didn't know what that meant and he wasn't sure that he wanted to but he followed her out the car.

The house had been done up, it was one of the new builds but Lizzy had told him that just before it there had been a turn in the road that had led to Patterson House which was so iconic in these parts that it would stand the test of time for the next generation.

She slipped out of the car and knocked on the door and an older man opened it. He couldn't have been more than Lizzy's age and he grinned when he saw her.

"Hey Liz"

"Hey Antony. Is she up for guests"

Just as the man was about to answer a cry came out from the kitchen.

"Course I am Elizabeth! I'm not dead yet am I"

Lizzy grinned and prodded Brock through the door.

There was in the centre of the room a woman the same age as what Rose would have been. It was clearly some family gathering with each and everyone of them talking over tea and there had to be at least four older children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and God only knows what else. Brock thought this was a family occasion and a half but the piercing dark eyes looked at him and he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew who this woman was.

When he had done his research into the Titanic he had copiously studied each and every person. Bruce Ismay who had died in disgrace in Ireland had, had a niece, Isabella. Everyone had assumed she had died on the ship until the day after Bruce Ismay had died when Isabella's son Jacob had written an op-ped for the New York times with the love the story of Thomas and Isabella.

"Hello Aunty Isabella"

"Lizzy"

"Aunty I have some news—"

"I know" the woman said shortly. "I…I know"

"You do?"

"That Jack and Rose are both dead. Yes I figured. Rose's heart and Jack's pleurisy I didn't think it would be long. Besides…they both lived long enough to see that ship. I take it this is the Captain?"

Christ she was sharp.

"Yes Ma'am. Brock Lovett Ma'am"

"Chucked the diamond in the ocean did she?"

"Yes"

"Good" Isabella Ismay said putting down her teacup and leaning back against the couch cushions as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. "It was…it was about time that returned to where it belonged. I am sorry Mr Lovett, I imagine this doesn't help you"

"No it bloody well doesn't" Brock muttered before he could stop himself and he was rewarded with a sharp smile.

"I guess that makes you the only one left" Izzy said softly as all the adults in the room turned to look at the woman in the chair who was looking wan and tired and…well…Brock didn't have to explain about generations that were dying out before they got a chance to tell their story. He had heard one already and—

"What did she tell you? Rose?"

"Everything" he answered her truthfully. "Her and Jack and you and your husband a little bit. She saw what we saw of the ship. I have it on film for you if you'd like—"

But the old woman was already shaking her head. "No" she said quietly. "I don't need to see what that ship became. To me it was a lifeline and a noose all at once. I prefer to remember it how it was"

"That's not all Aunty" Izzy interrupted. "We…Brock's team found somethings, they have permission to bring stuff up to the surface and Granny took one look at this and told me that under no uncertain terms were you supposed to see it. That's why it took us so long to come and see you"

One eyebrow raised.

Izzy took the plastic bag and passed it to the old woman.

It had faded over time, it had become torn and damaged and all but grey, the golden sparkle lost with it's watery grave but there it was. The golden dress that had been on the floor of Isabella's bedroom the night she had chosen her own destiny.

For a second the older woman stared at it and she ran her feeble, aged marked hands over the plastic her eyes closed as if she could remember the memories through touch alone. Everyone was silent watching her as the sharp eyes that had dulled and faded with age remembered the seventeen year old girl who had taken a chance on love and who had repaired her family.

"What do you want to know Mr Lovett?"

"Everything" Brock said truthfully. "Rose said you would be the best to fill in what happened afterwards"

"Ma" said one of the older men, "Ma you don't have to—"

"Shush Jacob" she said raising one hand and he caught it in her own. "Get Eduardo and Alessandro will you and Hedwig and Beatrice and Camilla and Brigitte. Everyone knows what happened next but I suppose it wouldn't hurt for them to hear the story again"

And suddenly Brock was perched onto an armchair arm, Lizzy half in his lap as hundreds of family members from seventy downwards to the age of seven sat and listened to the story. The old woman her dress on her lap looked at him and her expression never wavered.

"I suppose I should begin with my family but I imagine thanks to Jacob here you know what happened between my mother and Theo Patterson, you know that we went to find him, you know that we were happy. After Jacob Gabriel I had two more boys, Thomas Ryan Jr and Samuel Theodore. You know then I had my daughter, my last child, my darling girl Maud Olivia. I broke my rule you see" she said suddenly with a smile. "I named my girl after my two mothers. The mother who gave birth to me and the mother who raised me. We have six grandchildren, Sophia, Marina, Hugh, Rufus, Laura and Emily. I never saw Bruce Ismay again. He wrote to me twice I think, once when I was pregnant with Maud and the other just before he died but I never…there was nothing else to say between us. I like to think that he understood at the end what he had done. I think he grasped the moral implications of his actions. Certainly I know he was concerned with his immortal soul at the end. But like my grandfather once told me we must all seek God's judgement at the end of our days and money and riches mean nothing"

She shifted a little as she carried on with her story.

"Rose and Jack did raise Cora. She died bless her last year of cancer but they raised and loved her as their own for all their lives. Cora married in 1929 the same year Cal Hockney put a pistol in his mouth. His name was Robin, they had two children—" here she indicated two children at the end of the room with a cluster of red haired curly grandchildren watching them. "Julian and Patricia. Cora's family died on that ship, she should have died too but they live on in her grandchildren, Burt, Sarah, Martin, Richard and Rachel. She moved to Rhode Island when she was young and she taught there. She was happy, they were happy. Everything was happy. Rose and Jack had three more children Daniel, Amy and Celeste. They had grandchildren too, God knows more than I did which was saying something—" here she shot a fond look towards each of her boys and her daughter and Brock thought the love in this room was infectious because Lizzy's hand was on his and he never wanted her to let go.

"Daphne, Eva, Ida, Phillip, Walter, Lucy, Edgar, Isaac Lizzy as you know. And the cocky so and so's beat me on my first great grandchild. They had Nathanial and Maria before…well…and I suppose she didn't tell you about Ruth?"

"No"

"She got back in touch with her eventually" Isabella said with a smile. "Margaret Brown helped. I think…Ruth understood in the end. She was reunited with her daughter just before she died. And I think in those years that they were together they were as happy as they could be. The relationship between a mother and daughter can be complicated but the love never fades. God knows it never did for me"

Brock nodded. Damn he wished he had brought his notebook.

She eyed him for a second and then she continued.

"Fabrizio and Helga had their children. Twins Alessandro and Eduardo, Hedwig a year later though I often did wonder if she was high of the drugs they gave you back then if you needed a C-Section and they had their granddaughters Beatrice, Camilla and Brigitte. Helga took with pneumonia in 1989 and Fabrizio went six months later. Many, myself included believe he died of a broken heart."

"And your family? The ones that owned this mountain?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Alive. All of them. John went to war in 1917 and Charlie a year later. Charlie was wounded out and nearly lost his leg. John did lose a finger if I remember rightly but they were still the same, my brothers until the end. I lost both of them in 1990 though Charlie drew his pictures and John wrote his stories and they both lived long and happy lives in peace. Rosalie and Eugenie, made happy marriages and had families and realised that all the diamonds in the world don't make up for an unhappy marriage. I lost my little sister Rosalie this past spring, Eugenie's still around I think, James went to flight school and then flew planes in the war he's still there I think, Admiral last time I checked. Andrew died in 1978 in a car wreck but he was an engineer. I never asked why he never married and shared a one bedroom apartment with a man but I knew. David became a good friend of mine. He died in 1988. Charlotte-Anne became a teacher. She divorced a couple of times if I remember rightly but then she met a man called Mark and it all seemed to come together for her. Lilibet…sweet…sweet firebrand Lilibet became a lawyer. She married too Dragan; he survived the Holocaust. He was younger than she was and I think she liked that. They live somewhere in the LA Coast. As for Rosemary, George, Olivia and my father…they lived long and happy lives in peace and their deaths when they came were natural and He came as a friend. For a family as large as ours and two World Wars we were extremely lucky. Only lost two boys in the Second World War. One of Charlotte-Anne's and one of John's."

"And Tommy?"

The old face, weathered and worn and battered by time became illuminated from within and Brock looked at this woman who had survived the Night to Remember and had gone on to have a life that was so ordinary it was the perfect kind of life to remember and he knew that for Isabella there had only ever been Tommy. Even now.

"Tommy and I were happy" was all she said. "He died eighteen months ago. He went holding my hand."

And that Brock understood was all that she would say on the matter. She looked down at the dress for a long second and then when she looked up Brock could see the girl that she had once been and he thought to himself how much of a stunner that she must have been. Even now she had a magic to her that made him think of gold. He could not blame Tommy Ryan for falling head over heals in love with her back then.

Lizzy tightened her grip on his hand.

"Thank you for bringing me my dress Mr Lovett" was all she said.

"Thank you for sharing your happy ending Mrs Ryan" was all he could say back. The withered hand came out and she took his and he knelt down before her and she looked at him and then she winked.

"Take the advice of an old lady Mr Lovett?"

"Give it to me darlin"

She laughed at that and he laughed with her and this woman who time had aged but who had let love define her smiled at him.

"Life is too precious, love is even more so, if you have it you have it and you scream it from the hilltops, I've seen first-hand that it can all be taken away in a moment. Do an old woman a favour and don't waste a single fucking second of it"

"Ma!"

"Grandma!"

But Brock smiled and he kissed that old hand and Isabella Ismay looked at him and knew that he had understood.


That night she was helped to bed and she looked at the dress on the hanger over her wardrobe door. She had hugged all her boys and her girl tonight. She had kissed all her grandchildren, Marina was pregnant now and she had gotten a promise to name the boy Ryan if he was a boy. Tommy would laugh if he could hear her but she wanted his name, his legacy of love (the only thing the self-admitted poor man could give her—even though he had given her so much more) to be passed on through the future generations. She wanted it, it was the right thing. Especially now.

She looked at that dress as she felt sleep come to her. She felt something else too. She had known that this was coming since Tommy had died and she was happy for it. Death was coming to her as a friend and she was happy for him to find her at last. She had lived a good, long, full life with the man that she loved, a testament to the many men, woman and children who had been on the Ship of Dreams and who had not been given that opportunity. It had been a night to remember. They'd had a life to remember though. And she took that as a victory. A hard earned, wonderful victory.

And she wouldn't change a damn thing.

She was ready for what came next.

Water had damaged it, age had destroyed it, the jewels and the gems and the cape and everything that had made it magical but as Isabella closed her eyes she thought that it was pretty ironic that finally that dress had been reunited with it's owner despite her owner being unable to wear it. Somewhere in her attic there was a blue dress that she had worn too.

Her last thought was of her husband.

And when death came, he came as a friend.


She could smell the fresh paint and the lights were gleaming and as she walked down the corridor she could hear the sounds of the party going on below, laughter and love and light and somewhere down there, Jack and Rose were with Cora and Fabrizio and Helga Olav, Sven, Burt, Sarah, Helga's mother and father. Thomas Andrews, William Murdoch, E.J Smith, Mary, little Daniel, little Bridget, Trudy, the family that had perished because they had been looking for directions in their dictionary because they couldn't speak English. The old couple on the bed, the living definition of till death do us part. The band that had played on and on until the end and finally the man waiting for her at the end of the corridor.

"Mr Astor"

"Mrs Ryan" JJ Astor said with a smile. "He's in there for you"

"Thank you"

And then he was gone and she pushed open the door to her cabin in her golden dress with it's cape and it's jewels and her hair loose down her back and there he was.

It was like they had never left. Steam was still coming out of the bathroom the scent of a warm bath in the air, the sheets were rumpled, her earrings on the dresser and the sheet of paper where she had written the words that had given her command of her own destiny.

And there he was.

Tommy.

He was dressed the way she remembered him in her dreams. Young and fresh with his curly hair and his accent and his charm. Trousers with darned knees, his white shirt and his braces. His hat somewhere by the side of the bed.

Here she was the rich toff in the golden dress and there he was the poor boy in the darned trousers and she smiled as he took her hand and pulled her close to him every bone in her body sighing with relief as their young selves were reunited, here in the room where it all began on the Ship of Dreams.

"Isabella"

"Tommy"

"Love"

There was nothing else to say as he swirled her around a little.

They were together, forever and ever and ever.

And below them, the band played on and on and on.


And there you go! Thank you all SO, SO MUCH for your continued support across this wonderful fandom and these two stories. It can never be put into words how much it is appreciated.

For those of you wanting to know the family trees are as thus.

Tommy and Isabella

-Jacob Gabriel Ryan

-Thomas Ryan JR

-Samuel Theodore Ryan

-Maud Olivia Ryan

Grandchildren-Sophia, Marina, Hugh, Rufus, Laura and Emily

Great-Grandchildren-Ryan

xxxxx

Jack and Rose

-Daniel Dawson

-Amy Dawson

-Celeste Dawson

Grandchildren-Daphne, Eva, Ida, Phillip, Walter, Lucy, Edgar, Isaac, Lizzy

Great-Grandchildren-Nathanial and Maria

Adoptive Daughter-Cora Cartmel (married Robin)-two children Julian and Patricia

Grandson-Carter

xxxxxxxx

Fabrizio and Helga

Eduardo De Rossi

Alessandro De Rossi

Hedwig De Rossi

Grandchildren-Beatrice, Birgitte, Camilla

And so therefore they all lived, happily ever after.

Again a MASSIVE THANK YOU! I wish you all the best.