1996

Anna Marie stood on the stern of the research vessel, looking out over the water that held the final resting place of so many people on that fated night.
"You're a pretty compelling storyteller, Grandma." Ruth came up next to her.

She chuckled. "Well, most of what ah told them is true."

"Except the technicality that Grandpa lived. A long, happy life."

"Yes, well, that's a family secret. Your grandfather made certain that no one would ever think that Max Eisenhardt and Erik Darkholme were the same person."
"And that the Heart of the Ocean was in his possession all along."
Anna Marie glanced down at a beautiful ring on her left hand, a blue diamond surrounded by smaller white diamonds. The wedding ring that Erik had fashioned for her.
"And now it is in the possession of all the Darkholme women, yourself included."
Ruth smiled, a ring of similar color she wore on her right hand, a gift from her grandparents on her 25th birthday.
"He did all that, forsaking who he used to be, to spend his life with you."
"Your grandfather was a one of a kind man, a man who loved me and all of you with his whole heart. Ah miss him everyday."
"It's been 20 years, yet it feels like yesterday sometimes."
"Ah agree. Ah long for the day when ah am reunited with him again. He will certainly be the first person ah see when ah go."
Her grandmother had gone off to bed, and Ruth reflected on the revised story of how her grandparents had met, in these very waters. Her grandfather, so enamored and entranced by her grandmother, had faked his own death and changed his name, just to spend the rest of his life with her. It was so romantic, the type of thing that people write books about.
"Been a long time, Ruth."
She turned as she heard the voice, and the man standing there was one of the explorers, the one she couldn't figure out where she had seen them before.
And then it dawned on her.
"David? David Haller?"
He nodded, a smile as he came up to stand next to her at the railing.
"Been a long time."
"Didn't take you for a treasure hunter."
He grinned. "The paycheck sounded nice, so here I am."
She shook her head as she smiled.
"Well, I'm sorry it didn't pan out the way you all had hoped."
He shrugged. "You and I know what really happened, and I'm not plannin' on ratting you out to Brock and the rest of them."
She raised a brow. "You put the pieces together."
"I remember the story you told of your grandparents…how they met on the Titanic, and how your grandpa came from money. When I was listening to your grandmother today, it all started to make sense. The ring you're wearing….it's part of it, isn't it?"
She nodded. "I appreciate you letting it be a family secret."
He smiled. "I've made quite a few mistakes in my life. I'd like to at least keep your trust in me somewhat intact."
He was greeted with a warm smile.
"David?"
"Yeah?"
"When you're done here, would you like to have dinner with me?"
"Like I could resist an offer like that from you, Ruth."
Anna Marie went to sleep that night, her long hair, now fully white, resting on the pillows as she was surrounded by photographs, pictures that depicted her life after the Titanic. In many of the photos, she was standing with a man with short white hair and blue eyes, and their body language spoke of two people madly in love. There was their wedding, him in a nice suit and her in a beautiful white gown and veil. They learned how to fly a plane, and he sat in the cockpit as she struck a pose next to the plane. There were anniversaries, family photos with each of their children, photos with their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. There were photos of them at Yellowstone, at the Grand Canyon, at Mount Rushmore. There was the last photo they had together, at their 60th wedding anniversary party. His eyes were still blue, but they had both aged, and his smile was of a man who had lived a long, happy life with the woman he loved so dearly.
Take me home, Max. Ah'm ready for you.
She dreamed of the Titanic that night, of walking into the foyer on B Deck, surrounded by all their friends who had gone before her. Kurt and Ororo were holding hands, and so many wonderful people, all who had lost their lives on the Titanic, were smiling and waiting for her.
As she climbed the stairs, she noticed one person in particular who was standing at the clock, and he turned around, those brilliant blue eyes and that smile that she loved so much.
Max.
She came up the stairs, and he took her hand, and she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him as they were reunited once more, the claps and joyous noise from the passengers drowned out by the feeling of being with her husband again, forever.
OBITUARY

Anna Marie D'Ancanto Darkholme passed from this life on October 25, 1996 in her sleep. She was born in Mississippi in 1893, and moved to Ireland as a child in 1901. A survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, she married fellow Titanic survivor Erik Darkholme in June of 1912. They were happily married for 61 years, and enjoyed traveling all across the country. Anna Marie is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, Owen and Priscilla D'Ancanto, her husband Erik Darkholme, her brother-in-law Kurt Darkholme, and her sister-in-law, Ororo Munroe Darkholme.