Chapter 15: Endgame
Rose entered Jack's house. She found him in the living room leant over a sketch book. She stood and watched him for a moment, until he looked up and smiled, as if her watching him was the most natural thing in the world.
"I've been waiting for you." Jack said. He meant waiting for her to come home from the lawyers, but everything he had waited and hoped for for nine lost years, everything he had thought to be impossible, was told in this one short sentence.
"What are you drawing?" She asked. "More French belles?"
He laughed and brought the book over and handed it to her. The first was a drawing of Titanic, marked with gentle yellows and pinks like the sunrise. The second page was a female neck, wearing the a heavy blue diamond. She smiled at the memory. "The Heart of the Ocean." She confirmed.
"It's a diamond. A very rare diamond." Jack imitated her refined Philadelphia accent. Rose ran her fingers over the artwork. The diamond was composed of drawings of various birds, sparrows and jackdaws and larks.
"Balance yourself like a bird of a beam..." Jack murmured the familiar song. She smiled and let the music take her into her memory. Back to the time she was flying at the front of the ship, with nothing but ocean ahead of them. That was how she saw her future in that moment, forever moving forward, full of endless adventure and possibility, and Jack beside her.
"I love you, Jack." She whispered.
"I love you, Rose." That was the first time she'd heard him say it. She turned and kissed him, like she was still a teenager on the bow of the ship. "This is it now, Rose." Jack promised her. "This is it."