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As the icy ocean waves lapped against them, Jack’s grip on Rose tightened. He could feel the life draining from his limbs, the bitter cold seeping deeper into his bones, but he clung to her, determination burning through the numbness. Their eyes met, and Jack saw a fierce resolve in Rose’s gaze, mingled with exhaustion and an unspoken farewell.
“Rose…” His voice was barely more than a whisper. “You have to go on. You have to live… for both of us.”
She shook her head, her chattering teeth and trembling lips turning her refusal into a fragile whisper. “No, Jack. Not without you. I can’t… I won’t.”
Desperation flared in him as he searched her face, willing her to understand. “You’re strong, Rose. Stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. You have a life waiting for you—a life you can build. Please… promise me you’ll survive this.”
But Rose only tightened her hold on him, bringing their faces close enough that he could see the glistening ice crystals clinging to her lashes. “If you’re gone, Jack, then it’s a life I don’t want,” she murmured, her voice soft but resolute. “I don’t want to face a world without you in it.”
Jack swallowed, his chest tightening with a mixture of grief and love. He wished he could stay for her, wished he could hold on just a little longer. “Rose… don’t throw everything away. You have so much to give… a fire that no one can put out.”
But she shook her head again, pressing her forehead to his, her breaths shallow but steady. “That fire was yours too, Jack. You’re part of me. If you leave… I leave too.”
The sea seemed to embrace them, pulling them gently downward. Jack’s protests faded, lost to the quiet acceptance in her gaze. He felt a pang of helplessness, a sorrow he couldn’t name, but Rose’s arms around him were a balm against the cold—a tether to something pure and eternal.
As the freezing water drew them closer to its depths, Jack’s last words came as a faint murmur, barely discernible over the ocean’s whisper. “Then together,” he breathed, his voice laced with both heartbreak and peace. “If this is the end, we go together.”
And as they sank deeper into the silent blue, Rose nestled against him, her last thoughts filled with love and the comfort of knowing she would never be alone. In the frozen abyss, they drifted together, bound eternally by a promise they both kept, their souls entwined forever beneath the waves.