Two years later…

Ruth Dewitt Bukater shivered as she stepped outside. It was dark and she had just finished her shift at the factory where she worked as a seamstress. It had not been an easy life for Ruth after the Titanic disaster. As soon as they had reached New York, the Hockley's had cut her off and had refused to pay her debts. After all, the deal was that in order for her debts to be paid, there would be a daughter for Cal to marry. But since that daughter had perished, or so it had seemed, there was no need for Nathan to waste his money and time with Ruth any longer. So Ruth had been forced to sell all of her fine things, including the house that she had lived in since her marriage and take a job as a seamstress.

Now that her shift was over, she decided to treat herself and visit one of the high end cafes on the better part of town. Ever since her fall from grace, Ruth had made it a point to save up enough money so she could visit a high end cafe once a month and just treat herself. One hour of one day, pretending that she was still a first class lady living a first class life. True, afterwards, she'd return to her new life in the lower class, but just that one hour in the cafe was enough to make her feel like the woman she once was.

It was in that cafe where Ruth and Molly met each other again. Molly was in Philadelphia on business and had just finished up in a meeting and was just sitting down to a bit of dinner. She would normally eat in her room at the hotel, but that day, she felt like dining among other people. She had just gotten through looking over the menu, when Ruth entered. Molly couldn't believe her eyes! It's been years since she had seen Ruth and sometimes wondered what had became of the woman. She especially wondered if Ruth had ever seen Rose again.

Now was the perfect time to find out.

Raising her hand in a small wave, Molly called to her. "Ruth! Ruth Dewitt Bukater, darlin'! Over here!"

Ruth's eyes widened in shock to see Molly there. Molly Brown was the last person that Ruth had expected to see here, much less talk to. She was not really the kind of woman she would have deemed to lower herself to talk to back in her old life, with Molly being new money and all, but those days were gone. Now, it was Molly who was on a higher status than her and it was best to remember that. Putting on her most gracious smile, Ruth approached Molly's table."

"Hello, Mrs. Brown," Ruth kept her voice civil. Her greeting was not warm...but it wasn't cold either.

Molly's laugh was loud and friendly as she stood up to give Ruth a friendly hug. "How the hell are ya, Ruth? It's been ages!"

"It has been a long time," Ruth gave a dignified nod. In truth, she did not want to talk to Molly, or anyone else from her old life. Everyone knew what had happened to her and would just question her about how she was surviving now a days, now that she wasn't part of the upper crust anymore. That was why she came to this cafe, because none of her former friends had ever frequented there, so she could come and just pretend and not be reminded of her reality. But that was ruined now by Molly's presence. Surely the woman was going to be full of questions.

"Come! Sit! Let us catch up with each other," Molly chuckled, gripping Ruth's hand. "I will not take no for an answer."

There was no point in trying to resist. She had learned a long time ago that there was just no avoiding this woman. Oh well, maybe it won't be so awful. It'd be good to get caught up on the gossip anyway. Goodness knows, she's fallen behind.

Molly couldn't help but be excited at the appearance of Ruth Dewitt Bukater, the only connection she had to Rose, wherever she may be. It's been two years now, and there had been no word. Jack had of course kept in touch and he seemed to be moving on with his life now, throwing himself into taking care of his daughter and working as a newpaper artist in his hometown of Chippewa Falls. When she writes back, she always asked if there was any word from Rose, if she had ever shown up again, but sadly she hadn't. It was a mystery that haunted Molly and hoped that it would be solved by the appearance of Ruth, who she heard was not in the upper echlons of high society anymore, poor woman. Despite her problems with her husband, she was still grateful that he still saw fit to care for her and not leave her destitute like Ruth's husband had. Looking at the woman, she wondered if she even knew of Rose's survival, much less her whereabouts.

Somehow, she doubted it.

"So Ruth, how has life been treating ya?" Molly questioned as a waitress came up and handed Ruth a menu of her own.

Ruth sighed. So much for pretending that the last two years had never happened. "What do you want to know?"

"Why everything, darlin'. I did hear that Hockley had left you hanging, I want to know what you've been up to since then. Did you find a way to keep your head above water?"

What do you think, Ruth wanted to snap, resenting the fact that this vulgar, undeserving woman was now living the life she should be living...the life that Ruth had been born into. But it was Ruth out in the cold, living a rootless, meaningless existence while Molly lived in the lap of luxury! It wasn't fair and it made Ruth angry and resentful. Thankfully for Molly, Ruth's upbringing kept her from expressing that resentment.

"I had to sell everything, including my home. I now work as a seamstress and reside in a small, cheap apartment. It's not much, but I'm surviving I suppose."

"I can see that, darlin. You look good Ruth, all considering. I wouldn't be able to tell your situation by the look of you."

"I manage to save for a once a month luxury. Tea at an upscale cafe. It helps me remember better times," Ruth sighed, staring out the window at the other side of the room. She frowned as she saw someone, a red head woman walk up to a nearby bench and take a seat...as if someone of her station belonged there. The girl wasn't part of high society...that was clear. Yet, there was something almost familiar about her…

On Molly's part, she was happy to run into Ruth. She had been going back and forth on looking the woman up and informing her of Rose's survival. After how the girl had left Jack, she wasn't too keen on keeping secret her survival from her mother. It was bad enough that Jack had been destroyed, but there was no reason for Ruth to hurt as well. Not when Rose hadn't even cared to stay with the man she had claimed to be in love with.

To be honest, Molly was rather angry with Rose. She's been angry with the girl for two years now. Sharing that anger would feel good and Ruth was just the person to share it with.

"Speaking of better times...I am glad to have ran into you today, darlin. There is something I need to talk to you about. Something you should know," Molly frowned, realizing that Ruth wasn't paying attention to her. She was staring out side the window, a gloved hand on her throat, her eyes wide in disbelief. But she'll keep talking. Ruth won't be ignoring her for long. "It's about..."

"Rose?" Ruth frowned, standing up from her chair, clear disbelief in her voice.

"Well, yes, it is about Rose...she's..."

Before Molly could finish, Ruth, her face as pale as a ghost, looking as if she had just seen one, ran out the door.

"Ruth? Hold up darlin'!" Molly stood up from her chair, not sure what was going on now. She followed Ruth outside, who was slowly approaching a bench, where a young woman wearing an overcoat and a large hat that barely hid her red hair was sitting. Frowning, she followed Ruth, who stepped right in front of the young woman.

"Rose, my god it is you!" Ruth gasped in shock.

Molly almost pushed Ruth aside and gasped herself. Sitting on that bench, no sign of recognition at all in her eyes, was Rose Dewitt Bukater Dawson. Jack's long lost wife, mother to Cora! Found at last!

"Rose? Where in the hell have you been all this time?!" Molly placed her hands on her hips, forgetting that this was the first time Ruth was finding out about her daughter's survival. The older redhead turned and angrily glared at Molly.

"You knew?! You knew she was alive and you never contacted me?!"

Molly winced. This was not how she had planned for Ruth to find out about Rose's survival. Of course, she couldn't blame the woman for being angry, just like one couldn't blame her for being angry at Rose on Jack's account. That poor boy had been through hell and back thanks to this girl and now here she was, as if she had not a care in the world! Like she hadn't abandoned her husband and baby and had been gone for two years! Ruth felt betrayed? The woman had no idea!

"I was going to tell you in there, but you had ran off, darlin'. Rose is alive and well and she has a lot of explaining to do, I'm afraid."

Rose looked at the two women confused. Of course, the red haired woman looked familiar, but who was the heavy set woman and how did they know her?

"Pardon me, but...how do I know either of you? I've never seen you before."

Both Molly and Ruth froze and stared at Rose, who looked up at them with curious eyes. Just by looking at her, they could tell that she didn't recognize them. Molly carefully stepped forward, feeling as if she should be the go between here. Ruth looked as if she was going to explode.

"Rose, don't you recognize us? Your mother Ruth and your friend Molly Brown?" Molly questioned.

Rose shook her head, frowning herself. For the past two years, she had been wandering the streets of Philadelphia, looking for the house where she must have lived...even though she couldn't even remember where that was. She just knew that she was from this city.

"I am sorry, but I do not know you...either of you."

"My lord," Molly gasped, a hand clasping over her mouth. She sat down next to the girl. "Rose...two years ago...you were in Santa Monica..."

"Oh I remember that. I was in some house...but I don't know how I had gotten there or why. So I left. I knew I was from here and that my name is Rose, but that's it. So I found my way here to see if I can find where I'm suppose to be….but I never found it...not really," Rose bowed her head.

"Dear lord," Molly again gasped, her mind in turmoil, all anger she had felt towards the girl gone. It was obvious that her disappearance had not been by choice after all. She took Ruth's arm and pulled her to the side, sensing that the woman was about to explode, not that she could blame her, but exploding would do more harm than good and right now a whole lot of good needed to be done for poor Rose. "We have to talk."

Ruth glared at Molly, angry that the woman was getting in the way of her saying what she needed to say to her wayward daughter, who she had thought dead up to now! She was so full of hurt and anger, she could barely think straight.

"What in the world do we have to talk about, Mrs. Brown? You behave like anything having to do with me and my daughter is your business. Let me assure you..."

"Let me assure you that I know more about what's going on here than you do, and exploding at the girl will do a whole lot more harm than good! Goodness sake, Ruth! Look at her! She doesn't even recognize us! That alone should tell you something!" Molly hissed, giving Ruth's arm a little shake.

Frowning, Ruth looked at Rose, who was watching them curiously. There was no sign of recognition in her eyes at all. In fact, it looked as if everything that had made Rose...Rose was absent. Perhaps Molly was right after all.

"What is wrong with my daughter?" Ruth turned back to Molly, discarding any idea of yelling at Rose and cluing her in to the sad state of her life, thanks to her actions on board Titanic.

"I don't know, but something is definitely wrong and has been wrong for quite some time. She needs to be under a doctor's care, Ruth."

"And how am I supposed to pay for a doctor? Thanks to her faking her death, I can barely afford to take care of myself these days," Ruth shook her head, not knowing what to do.

"Let's not worry about that now. Right now, we need to get her off the street. Where do you live?"

"On the west side...in a room barely enough for one person much less two."

"Well then it's a good thing that I have plenty of room at my suite. It's not too far from here," Molly shrugged. "Just let me get a car and we'll be on our way."

"Molly, no. We couldn't possibly take advantage,"Ruth weakly protested. It was a protest that she had to force herself to make. It's been so long since she stayed anywhere first class. The opportunity was so tempting.

"I am not taking no for an answer, Ruth. There are some things about Rose that you both need to know...plus the sooner we get her to a doctor the better. Something's not right here. She doesn't seem to know either one of us."

Something in Ruth's mind was refusing to accept that something was wrong with her daughter. The girl must be faking. After all, she had faked her death. What better way to excuse her actions? The girl wasn't even acting like she's been caught!

Turning away from Ruth, Molly carefully approached Rose and sat beside her. "Darlin, do you have any idea on who we are? Any at all?" Molly kept her voice gentle and placed a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder, not wanting to frighten the young woman.

Rose shook her head, feeling regret. "I am sorry, but no I don't. I have never seen either of you before in my life...at least, I don't remember if I had."

"Okay, well, let me introduce ourselves. My name is Molly Brown. An old friend. This woman here is your mother Ruth. We've been looking for you, darlin'."

Rose's eyes widened, shocked by the discovery. "I...I don't understand. How did I get to Santa Monica and she is here all along? Why haven't I found her before now?"

"I don't know. I am full of questions myself. How did you lose your memory, Rose? Did you bump your head? Did you fall?" Molly questioned.

"No...I just...I don't know what happened. I just couldn't remember anything….except for my first name, Rose, that I'm from Philadelphia, and the date. It was April 14th at the time."

"How have you supported yourself all this time?" Ruth spoke up.

"I found a job as a waitress. It doesn't pay much, but it's enough to keep me alive."

"Goodness gracious," Molly tsked. "Rose, there is so much to tell you. Back in Santa Monica...you walked away from your whole life. You left some people pretty devastated."

Ruth frowned, getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had an idea on who Molly was talking about and she was not keen to hear it, but knowing Molly, she had no choice in the matter.

Rose frowned as well, remembering that day when she found herself in a strange house, so far from home. "I did?"

"It's a lot to explain and I rather do that somewhere more comfortable. How about the three of us go to my hotel suite. You can take a nice hot bath and have a good meal if you like while I explain everything to both you and your mother Ruth here."

Rose wasn't sure if she should go with these two women. She really had never seen them before. True, the red haired woman could pass for her mother...but the heavy set one, she wasn't so sure about. But what did she have to lose? This woman...Molly...she was offering some answers to the questions that's been plaguing her for the past two years. What did she have to lose?

Nodding her head, Rose got to her feet, hoping to indeed find the answers to the questions that have been plaguing her for the past two years.