She leans out, her arms straighting... looking down hypnotized, into the vortex below her. Her dress and hair are lifted by the wind of the ship's movement. The only sound, above the rush of the water below, is the flutter and snap of the big Union Jack right above her.

JACK
Don't do it

She whips her head around at the sound of his voice. It takes a second for her eyes to focus.

ROSE
Stay back! Don't come any closer!

Jack sees the tear tracks on her cheeks in the faint glow from the stern running lights.

JACK
Take my hand. I'll put you back in.

ROSE
No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go.

JACK
No you won't ROSE
What do you mean no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me.

JACK
You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hand.

Rose is confused now. She can't see him very well through the tears, so she wipes them away with one hand, almost losing her balence.

ROSE
You're distancting me. Go away.

JACK
I can't. I'm involved now. If you let go I have to jump in after you.

ROSE
Don't be absurd. You'll be killed.

He takes off his jacket.

JACK
I'm a good swimmer.

He starts unlacing his left shoe.

ROSE
The fall alone would kill you.

JACK
It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest I'm a lot more conserned about the water being so cold.

She looks down. The reality factor of what she is doing is sinking in.

ROSE
How cold?

JACK (taking off his left shoe)
Freezing, maybe a couple degrees over.

He starts unlacing his right shoe.

Ever been to Wisconson?

ROSE (perplexed)
No.

JACK
Well they have some of the coldest winters around, and I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. Once when I was a kid me and my father were ice-fishing out on Lake Wissota... ice-fishing's where you chop a hold in the--

ROSE
I know what ice fishing is!

JACK
Sorry. Just... you look kind of like an indoor girl. Anyway, I went right through some thin ice and I tellin' ya, water that cold... like right down there.... it hits you like a thousand knives all over your body. You can't breath, you can't think.... at least not about anything but the pain.

(he takes off his other shoe)

Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you. But like I said, I don't see a choice. I guess I'm kinda hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here.

ROSE
You're crazy.

JACK
That's what everybody says. But with all due respect, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship. He slids one step closer, like moving up on a spooked horse. Come on. You don't want to do this. Give me your hand.

Rose stares at this madman for a long time. She looks at his eyes and they somehow suddenly seem to fill her universe.

ROSE
Alright. She unfastens one hand from the rail and reaches it around toward him. He reaches out to take it, firmly.

JACK
I'm Jack Dawson. ROSE (voice quavering)
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dawson.

Rose starts to turn. Now that she has desided to live, the height is terrifying. She is overcome by the vertigo as she shifts her footing, turing to face the ship. As she starts to climb, her dress gets in the way, and one foot slips off the edge of the deck.

She plunges, letting out a piercing SHRIEK. Jack, gripping her hand, is jerked toward the rail. Rose barely grabs a lower rail with her free hand.

QUARTERMASTER ROWE, up on the docking bridge hears the scream and heads for the ladder.

ROSE
HELP! HELP!!

JACK
I've got you. I won't let go.

Jack holds her hand with all his stength, bracing himself on the railing with his other hand. Rose tries to get some kind of foothold on the smooth hull. Jack tries to lift her body over the railing. She can't get any footing in her dress and evening shoes, and she slips back. Rose SCREAMS agian. Jack, awkwardly clutching Rose by whatever he can get a grip on as she flails, gets her over the railing. They fall together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinging in such a way that Jack winds up slightly on top of her.