Hey everyone, I just wanted to take the time to welcome you to my first ever published FanFiction story, novella, whatever you want to call it. I am very grateful for the reviews/follows/favs/etc my story has received. I want to put out a couple of things that I hope everyone understands, blah blah blah. One, this is fanfiction, yes, I do know that some of the characters are indeed real, but I put some twists and whatnot into it because it is FANFICTION. It is supposed to off the beaten path. I do realize that I have made one character not really like his true self, again, that it why it is called FANFICTION. Fiction is supposed to be fake. That is why it is called that.

I am a huge Titanic fan, but I also have wrote stories for other titles which need to be tweeked and poked/prodded before I even think about posting. First Officer Murdoch has been my favorite character since the movie came out (I was nine if you want to age me), for a couple of reasons, One, he was my first crush as a girl (the next movie guy crush that followed was Jason Isaacs from The Patriot. Feel free to look him up), and because to me he was the hero, even though he was portrayed as a bribe receiving d-bag, which still makes me angry. Anyway, again, welcome to my fanfiction. Reviews are welcomed, I ain't one of these types that gets butt hurt over negative and/or constructive criticism. Being on a Navy ship and sleeping around 150+ females for seven straight months will make your skin thick. Trust me. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any characters from the 1997 movie, Titanic. Only my own. Peace.

CH 1

GOING HOME

"Come on Mandy, we don't have all day!" Yelled a frustrated man standing on the foot of the stairs. He kept looking at his watch and wondered what was taking his daughter so long.

Upstairs, an even more frustrated young woman was finishing up packing her numerous duffel bags and suitcases. Moving was not always something she was fond of, but this was one trip she was excited for. Amanda Spencer and her father, Commander Marcus Spencer were moving back to the states after a two year stint in Italy. Her father, a Naval Doctor, had retired from the Navy and she was excited to be finishing college with her friends back in Virginia. As she was finishing up with her last bag, she eyed a beat up looking doll. She smiled and picked it up and hugged it to herself. The doll, had important significance to her and it was something she would never give up, after 22 years.

"Love, we need to be at the airport in twenty minutes." A knock came at her door.

Amanda looked up at her father and immediately put her doll in her last bag and zipped it up.

"I'm done, sorry for taking too long. Kind of got a late start this morning."

Her father walked up to her and started to take some of her bags in his hands. She looked up at him and smiled as she did the same.

"You have had Lucy for so long now." He said.

His daughter sighed. "Well she is the last thing mom gave me."

"She loved you girl."

They began to walk downstairs to put the rest of her things in their van.

"You have her spirit, her eyes, and her heart." He continued.

Amanda smiled as shut the door and turned to her dad.

"Well I have some of your attributes too you know. Your patience and your wit."

Amanda's mother was of Cherokee descent and had met her father early in his Naval career. They married and soon after a baby girl was born in the month of March. That would be their only child; six years later, Amanda's mother had gotten hit by a drunk driver and perished in the crash. She had her brown eyes, sun-kissed brown skin, and her dark hair. Everything about her just about reminded her father of his late wife, Rachel.

They got into the van and took one last look of their neighborhood before starting the drive to the airport to go back home.

"You excited about Virginia Tech?"

Amanda would be starting her senior year as a History major. Her father always admired her interests in history, especially Naval history. She wanted to be a historian and possibly travel within the next couple of years.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see Carly and Tamara again." She replied happily.

Carly and Tamara were two of her best friends that she had grown up with and known since elementary school. Without Facebook or Skype, she wouldn't know what to do without talking to them.

Her father looked over at her and back at the narrow road.

"You need to be focusing on your studies love. It's a wonder you were able to squeak by this last term."

Amanda sighed and then looked out the window. She couldn't wait to be on her own and be able to do more of the things she liked. Even though she was no longer a teenager and grown, her dad had insisted she come with him and be under his watchful eye. Sometimes she felt like he treated her like one of his subordinates than as his daughter. She just wanted to be back in the states, at the beach and with her friends like the old days.

Amanda put her jacket in the overhead bin then took a seat. Her father had opened his new book and was intensely interested in what he was reading. She reached into her pocket, and took out her ear buds and phone. She had started to watch Titanic the night before and was content on finishing it. She had last seen it when she was a little girl and had the biggest crush on Cal Hockley. However, now that she had grown more and been studying up on Titanic for the last few months or so, she developed a huge interest in the officers of the vessel, especially the Titanic's First Officer.

Earlier in the year, she had written a thesis for college about William Murdoch and how much of a mystery his death really was. She had come to find out that the family of the man who was depicted of killing himself in the movie, was outraged that he was portrayed so negatively. It was at that moment that she became real interested in finding out about the man. The scene of him being on the bridge watching Rose and Jack kiss made her smile softly. She thought the man who portrayed Murdoch was really handsome and fit the part to a tee.

"At this time, please shut all electronic devices off, put your trays in the upright position and remain seated with your seat belts on." A smooth voice announced.

Amanda sighed then took her ear buds out and paused the movie. She looked out the window and noticed the sun coming up through the trees. She closed her eyes briefly and thought of her friends back home and the beach that she had envisioned being on for far too long. The one thing she hated the most was flying; it was on of her fears along with water. She not only had to endure the flights she was going to ride through before getting back home to Virginia, but also having to fly over large, vast water.

Her father put his book down then rested his hand on her knee. "You okay sweetie?"

"You have to ask?" Amanda looked at him.

"Just think about this as a hurdle to get home and back to your old stomping grounds." Her father said with a light chuckle.

"It's the taking off and landing part that scares me."

"Your mother was deathly afraid of flying too. She always said some prayer in Cherokee whenever she would have to fly."

Whenever Amanda heard her dad compare her to her mother, she always smiled inside because it was true, it seemed like anything she said or did was just like her. She closed the window shade and sat back and closed her eyes. The plane began to move and she tried to focus her thoughts more on being home than let her anxiety take over. She wanted nothing more to just fall asleep and sleep through it all. The shaking and constant buzzing noise was getting to her and that was when she whipped her headphones back out and looked through her music. With her hoodie over her head, it would disguise the ear buds.

It was not long until they first landed in Spain to fuel back up and then be back in the air again. The flight was now more boring than scary with Amanda being more anxious to get back to the states. Not long after they took back off, she had overheard a couple talking about a storm that was over the Atlantic and about how it was turning for the worst. She had thought nothing of it since it was easy for the pilots to fly around it if it was as bad as the couple behind her had said it was. After popping her ears, she sat back and closed her eyes and turned her music back on. She started listening to one of her favorite slow songs ever; it was one of those romantic, sexy songs she had always wanted to make out with a guy with it playing in the background.

"THUMP..."

Amanda's eyes snapped open and she looked over at her father. He bent over and picked his book up from the floor. Suddenly she felt another bump. This time it wasn't from her father's book falling to the floor.

"Daddy..what's going on?"

He looked over at her and cleared his throat. "There is some turbulence coming baby, calm down and just remember this is normal."

"Well you're the doctor, my stomach is now wanting to heave." Amanda said as she reached into her bag for more Dramamine.

Her father sighed then leaned over to her. "You know you can't have any more than you took back in Naples."

The next sound that was made was the voice of the Captain being heard overhead

"Ladies and Gentleman, this is your Captain speaking, we are experiencing a some heavy turbulence at this time. Please remain seated at this time with your seat belts on."

"Wonderful." Amanda quipped.

The plane had now shifted itself sharply and one woman let out a loud shriek. One of the aircrewman ran up the aisle and he fastened into his seat. Amanda lifted the window visor and saw that there was nothing but gray and black in the sky.

"The pilot has flown us right through the storm! The moron!" Amanda turned back to her father who too was looking out the window.

That was when Amanda's stomach dropped and the oxygen masks burst out from their compartments above the passengers. She huddled herself in a ball on her seat and started to pray and cry. She couldn't believe of all the rare times a plane could crash, this was one of those times. Her mind raced and she started to think of all the good times she had, graduating high school, starting college, traveling and meeting new people. Then suddenly her mind went blank. She felt like she wasn't getting enough air and reached up to grab her oxygen mask, she couldn't move her arms. Her arms and legs started to feel like jello and her sensory was starting to dull. The constant jerking of the plane and the screams of the other passengers started to soften. The world around her started to fade.

"Mama.."