Thomas was very nice to help me into bed, usually I can do those sorts of things for myself but tonight I was just too emotionally and physically drained. First my darling fiance believing I'd cheated on her, my heart shattered when she handed me the ring back and said it was over. And then standing there on the bow of that ship, while they played Nearer my God to Thee, I felt scared! But that seemed so absurd because, what was there to be afraid of? Nothing! I suppose I was afraid of my own thoughts, images of rushing water and people drowning flashing before my eyes. What a cruel thing it all was!
Oh but I did enjoy the ball afterwards! I taught my sweetheart how to dance like they do in my time. I remember when she taught Harry and I how to dance at that inn in Belfast. That was such a fun night, like nothing Harry or I had ever experienced before! Who would have thought I'd be engaged to that girl, anyone who knew me would have been so shocked. I never got to tell them the news though, I never will.
Tonight I find myself standing in blackness. It feels as though there's ground under my feet, but I can't see anything! I find that odd, I haven't had any dreams since being on this ship. I'm not much of a dreamer at all. But tonight I'm dreaming, at least I think I am! Suddenly a figure begins approaching me, in the far distance. I have to squint a little, but soon it all becomes clear. I know this figure, this person! It's Harold Bride!
He hasn't changed a bit! He still has his hair combed neatly under his Marconi cap, still has the youthful expression on his face, one filled with curiosity and excitement. He beams excitedly as he embraces me "Sparks! Dude is that really you? Oh my God man I can't even believe it!" he says. He was standing there when I died, he must wonder how it is I'm standing here, alive and well. Wait a minute, what happened to his voice? He's speaking kinda funny!
I can't help but smile as he shakes my hand excitedly. As I tell him about how I came to be alive he laughs "Daw, isn't that cute? Her bringing you back to life by wishin on a star?" he asks cheekily once I've finished. It does sound silly when he says it, especially with his new bizarre accent, but it is indeed true! Suddenly he becomes slightly more serious "I'm really happy for ya Jack, really. But dude, ya know I actually did come here for a reason, besides wanting to catch up to my favorite co-operator n stuff".
"You know how your fiance came to us in the first place, remember what she told us? About going through the ocean and stuff? Well I'm here to tell ya there's another portal dude, a door! You can come back in time again!" he tells me. Another way to get into the past? Now he has certainly peaked my interest! I ask him to elaborate and he tells me that there is a house in Belfast that is currently for sale. In one of the back rooms, there's a door that will let us right into 1912, and just as easily let us back to 2012.
Bride smiles slightly "Of course, nobody back then will know about the ship sinking. But if I were you man, I'd buy that house immediately after ya hook up with Gabby. Raise your family there dude, and if either of you ever feel the need to go back in time, well then you'll have the door. But, I gotta warn you dude, it should probably stay a secret. Imagine if everybody found out about the door man? You could have people going back and completely changing history! Which is totally not cool" he explains. I nod, I understand completely, I think! There's just one other thing I have to ask though "Hasn't anyone else figured out this door leads to the past?".
He chuckles "The door is locked, nobody has a key to open it" he tells me simply. I raise an eyebrow "Then how am I supposed to get in there?" I ask him. Suddenly he reaches into his uniform jacket and tosses me a large silver key with a rose engraved on the handle. "Consider it an early wedding present, from your bestest friend Harold Bride" he tells me, grinning widely.
For a little while we continue to talk about our lives. First he tells me about how he has been spending his time as a spirit, 'surfing' in Hawaii. When I point out his continuous use of the work 'dude' he corrects himself and reverts back to the way he used to speak in 1912. Now that I can understand him better, he tells me all about what became of him after Titanic, how he named one of his children after me. "Oh I could never forget you Jack, not a moment. It haunted me. But now I feel much better, knowing how happy you are. Now, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I must be off. Do send Mr. Andrews my regards alright?" he asks. I smile and nod "I will. Will I ever see you again?" I ask, he shrugs "Not sure, perhaps someday". With that he turns and walks off into the darkness, leaving me alone once again.
Suddenly there's a loud beeping everywhere and I blink to find myself lying in my bed, with my alarm clock going off next to me. I reach over to turn it off when I realize there's something in my hand. I sit up in bed, holding the object up to my face. It's so early, maybe I'm just imagining it. But I'm pretty sure that I hold that key in my hands! The key Harold gave me in my dream! But it was all a dream, wasn't it? I swipe the alarm off and get out of bed. I suppose I'll just mull over that key until we get to New York. Then I'll decide what to do!
I quickly change into some modern clothes and step out into the sitting room. Thomas is nowhere in sight, I check his bedroom and he's not there either. Perhaps he went out to see that girl again, I'll tell him about Harold later then. Killian paws at my pant leg and I bend over to stroke him "Alright, I'll call the steward" I tell him. He licks my hand happily and I stand, pressing the button for the steward and then going over to the couch.
Once Killian is gone for his walk, I decide to feet Thomas the cat, check on Ramin the canary, and then head up to the deck to see if there's anything interesting going on today. As much as I'm tempted to just sit and watch television all day, I figure I can do that plenty when we get to New York City, or when we return to England.
Just as I reach the boat deck one of the officers bumps into me. He dips his hat, flustered "Sorry Mr. Phillips" he says. Before he can continue on his way I stop him "Wait a moment. Are you fifth officer Harold Lowe?" I ask. I swear on my first life, this man looks just like him. He chuckles slightly and shakes his head "Sorry, I'm third officer Tyler Brown. Why? Do you think I look like him?" he asks. When I nod he smiles brightly "Well I'm sorry I'm not Officer Lowe, really I am. I heard he was a great man! I very much aspire to be like him you know! Anyway, I have to be going, got a few errands to run. It was nice meeting you though!" he says. I smile "Nice meeting you too" I say. With that he's off heading in the opposite direction.
I continue my stroll, but there's not really anything of interest up here. Except the fact that, well, there are no lifeboats on the boat deck! Where are they? Not even the davits are here? Suddenly I catch sight of my fiance cleaning up after some people who'd taken breakfast on deck and I race to her, grabbing her by the arm "Gabby where are the lifeboats?" I ask, almost in a panic. She smiles at me and gives me a peck on the cheek "Oh don't worry darling, there are a ton of lifeboats!" she assures me. Yes that's nice but WHERE ARE THEY? Anyone can say there are lifeboats on the ship, but that doesn't mean anything to me unless I see for myself! They said there were plenty of lifeboats on the original Titanic didn't they? Guess who froze to death?
She sighs "I suppose I have a minute to show you. Come on" she says, taking my hand and bringing me inside. She takes me down two flights of stairs and then through a door that says 'emergency only'. When she opens the door I'm greeted by stacks upon stacks of bright orange lifeboats! There are far too many to count, she smiles "I'm surprised Thomas hasn't complained about this yet seeing as it makes the Titanic not exactly like the original one, but they added another level to Titanic II. They've called the 'safety level'. It's got nothing but lifeboats! In the event of an iceburg, we can load everybody on these boats and be safely away" she explains.
They changed things on the Titanic? That's so odd "Is there anything else not identical?" I ask her. She thinks for a moment "Well I'm sure you've seen the inner changes. Obviously the cabins have slightly different modern things, there's no marconi room, third class is a bit better, and a lot of the paneling that looks like wood, is actually made of a different fire retardant material. I think the only outside change to the ship is a slightly wider bow, and bigger propellers and a bigger rudder. Of course, most of these things you can't even see outside. So aside from these ugly orange things and the altered bow, on the outside she looks exactly the same. And of course other things, any rooms that originally had carpet, have the exact same carpet, right down to the weave. And the chandeliers, the walls and ceilings. Most everything that can be just like the old one is, just like the old one" she explains.
Most of those things make sense to me, except one thing, the wood. Some of the wooden paneling isn't wood? Does that mean the grand staircase isn't made of wood at all? When I ask her she laughs "I think there were a few battles about that. I believe the first set of stairs is actual wood. You know, the staircase directly under the glass dome? But the rest is probably made of that other stuff. There are really strict rules about how much wood is allowed to be used on the ship. And rules about the boats too, they can't be a certain height above the water" she taps one of the boats with her hand "That's why they're down a few levels lower".
Before I can ask more questions she leads me out of the room and begins leading me back upstairs, right back on deck where she'd been cleaning up "I'm sorry I can't explain more to you, but I have work to do!" she tells me. I kiss her gently, then remember I wanted to tell her about that dream I had last night! I'll have to tell her later though "Meet me at my stateroom when you get off work?" I ask. She laughs "Of course, don't I always meet you there?" she asks. Well, yes I suppose she does. But it doesn't hurt to make sure does it?
With that she picks up the dishes and silverware before disappearing into the ship. I'm alone again! There must be something to do on this ship though! Sighing, I turn and begin once again heading down the deck. I wonder if Mr. Andrews is having a more eventful day than I'm having! I certainly hope so!
Short, not really funny chapter. Why? Well the main reason is I'm just exhausted! Going on Vacation made me more tired believe it or not! Got up earlier, and went to bed later, and did a LOT more during the day than I usually do! So now that I'm back, I'm going to take just another day or so to rest and then I promise I shall be back to posting chapters frequently.
I suppose while I'm doing announcements I might as well share this. I am going back to school in 2 weeks time. My goal is to have this fic completed by then, or at least soon after. Once it is done, I will only be doing one-shots and stuff for Titanic because well, I need to focus on my school work for once! Also, I think I've basically written all I can write here. I'm gonna head over to a different fandom (War Horse). Now I mention this other fandom because I am considering 1 final big project for this year. Now mind you it would be a very slow project, probably only updated on weekends and stuff! But it is worth considering.
So, if you remember the epilogue from The Grand Misadventure, you know that Gabby joined the British cavalry in WW1, an action that was inspired by the movie War Horse. My 'project' would be writing of Gabby's WW1 adventures in that fandom. Of course, it will be set in the War Horse fandom, with characters from there. But there is actually quite a bit of freedom with it, as it is another historically based movie like Titanic. Jack and Thomas will not be there (Though they will most likely be mentioned often), which means the POVS will have to be from Gabby's perspective. Which, could be an interesting little venture. But I leave it up to you guys. Would you want to see that fic? Cause if you aren't interested, I ain't gonna bother writing it! I'll just write other stuff for War Horse ;)
No gift shop today, because I left you with the thingy to consider above. Ok, I'm going to bed now! I think I've just about said everything there is to say! OH wait, one more thing! I'm just answering the Titanic II questions right now. Anything I've said about the Titanic II's plans before this chapter, are NOT REAL! You know, the Casino and all that stuff. I don't have the plans to that ship, and it hasn't been announced. All that has been announced it that the ship will be 'modernized'. So, I did my own take on 'modernizing' it. However, since I've put in so much guesswork on it, I put it a lot of FACTUAL stuff about Titanic II in this chapter. The bow, the lifeboats, the 'safety level' have all been announced. Only thing that hasn't been announced is the woodwork, but there is a fire prevention law stating that they can't have a high amount of wood used on interiors (It was one of the things that prevented a replica in 2006 to be built) so that means they'll have to change something! Anyway, this was the 'fact' chapter, anything else concerning Titanic II's interiors, disregard. Who knows, maybe I'll rewrite this fic in 2016 when we have the info about the ship's layout and interiors!
THANKS FOR READING! And thanks for your patience and support and reviews! You guys are all amazing! thank you Thank You THANK YOU!