At this moment—
Diana believed Jack and Rose would both be saved.
The conditions were entirely possible. Not far away were several lifeboats carrying aristocrats that were not yet full. They had clearly spotted Jack and Rose in the water.
If they rowed together—just ten short seconds toward the drifting piece of debris—
They could pull both of them aboard.
There would even be room to save more.
But—
Diana was destined to be disappointed.
The complexity of human nature was not something she yet understood.
"There's still room on this boat!"
Only a single plump, well-dressed noblewoman spoke up in favor of rescuing Jack and Rose. The rest of the aristocrats stared at her coldly.
The implication needed no explanation.
One baron even sneered:
"If you don't shut that mouth of yours, this boat's going to have one fewer passenger."
The moment those words fell—
The gazes around her turned even colder, even harsher.
Alone and outnumbered, the noblewoman had no choice but to sit down in silence, swallowing her anger to preserve her own life.
"How can they do that?!"
Diana's mood plummeted. Tears welled in her eyes.
She could not understand how, in the face of such mortal danger, humans could still be so selfish—knowing they had the ability to save others, yet choosing indifference.
Were these the humans Zeus had entrusted the Amazons to watch over?
For the first time—
Diana questioned her mission.
Questioned Zeus himself.
"Diana, this is human nature."
"And you would have been the only 'noble' who spoke up on that boat."
Leon spoke the cruel truth, gently brushing away the tears still clinging to her cheeks.
"Jack and Rose will both be saved… right?"
Diana looked at Leon almost pleadingly, searching his eyes, his tone, his expression for even the faintest reassurance.
Leon only smiled faintly.
And gestured for her to keep watching.
Seeing that the lifeboats were close—yet making no move to return—
Jack, hardened by life in steerage and already acquainted with the uglier sides of humanity, understood immediately.
They had been abandoned.
Without hesitation, Jack hoisted Rose onto the floating wooden panel they clung to. The icy sea gnawed relentlessly at their strength.
When Jack tried to climb up as well—
The board nearly flipped.
He stopped at once, letting it settle.
Smiling at Rose, who clung to the makeshift raft in shock, Jack knew—
His journey ended here.
Yet he showed no panic.
Instead, he comforted her. Encouraged her.
The rescue boat would come back.
It had to.
"Mm…"
The tears in Rose's eyes froze into crystals before they could fall.
In the distance, the aristocrats' lifeboats slowly drifted away.
Colder than the sea itself.
Second by second—
The survivors around them, most half-submerged like Jack, were claimed one after another by the freezing water.
When Second Officer Lightoller finally returned—leading a lifeboat of survivors he had steadied and saved through calm command—
They rowed into the icy graveyard, searching for signs of life.
Rose, nearly frozen atop the wooden panel, turned her head with difficulty when the rescue lantern illuminated them.
"Jack, there's a boat!"
"Jack?"
"..."
She shook his hand.
No response.
In the lantern's light, she saw a thin layer of frost coating his nose.
So thin.
Yet it separated them completely.
A barrier humanity would never break.
"Jack…"
Until death parted them—
Jack had guarded her to the very end.
The spark of hope on Rose's face was swallowed instantly by boundless grief.
As her tears fell again—
Diana's heart finally broke.
"N-no… it shouldn't have ended like this…"
"They could have been saved…"
A separation by life and death hurt more than if both had perished together.
Diana could no longer hold back.
She wept openly in Leon's arms—
Disappointed in humanity.
Mourning a love cut short.
The version of Titanic Leon played differed slightly from the original.
He omitted the elderly Rose from the beginning and ending.
So the story froze—
At the most dramatic moment possible.
Rose saved.
And utterly devastated.
"Isn't there any way to change it?"
After calming somewhat, Diana looked at Leon hopefully.
She was asking about humanity's uncertain future.
And about Jack and Rose's already-sealed fate.
"Change?"
Leon rose and stepped to the prow, gazing into the endless dark.
"Humanity has always been changing. So have their stories."
"Diana… do you still have hope for them?"
"They're not beyond redemption. Someone will always stand up."
Diana stood beside him.
Even if the process was painful—
She would uphold her belief.
"Perhaps…"
"When the stars of humanity shine, the radiance of heroic souls will endure forever."
Leon sighed softly, recalling another life in which he had "held back the tide and steadied a collapsing world."
"Leon…"
Diana stared at him.
Standing at the bow with his hands clasped behind his back, he seemed taller than the highest peak of Themyscira.
In truth—
Leon's legs had just gone numb from lying down too long.
He stood up to change position.
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