The Making of Titanic- the untold story

"Kate, I hope I haven't given my cold." Leo sounded concerned.

"Oh, I don't think so," she replied, not sure if it was a lie or not. "I think it's just the sunlight-- it makes me sneeze sometimes."

Almost as if on cue, Leonardo burst forth with another fit of sneezes. "HAAA-CHOO! HAAA-CHMMM! HEHHHCHOO!" Kate was not pleased.

"You really don't look well, Leo."

"I really don't feel well," he admitted, trying to smile and make a joke.

"Perhaps this was not a good idea, bringing you out here like this."

"No, Kate, this was wonderful. Thank you." Taking both her hands into his own, there was a moment where he thought a kiss might occur, but it was broken by another harsh, resounding sneeze from Leo, followed by a groan of discomfort and frustration.

"C'mon. It's time to get you back." Kate smiled, tired herself, and helped Leo down from the back of the truck and into the cab, where he hoped to promptly fall asleep for the short ride back to the set.

Kate smiled sheepishly. She could feel a second sneeze comming on, but she didn't want to sneeze in front of Leo. She didn't like getting colds, and she didn't want Leo to start feeling guilty if she started sneezing in front of him. Leo was about to commentate on her sneeze, "Kate I... I... ahhh... HACHOO!!! HACHII!!! HACHMMPH!!!" He turned his head when he sneezed which gave Kate the perfect oppertunity to sneeze softly into her sleeve without him noticing.

"I've got to go do something Leo," she said quickly, "I'll see you later." She ran from the truck, holding back her sneezes until she was a safe distance away. "ahhh... AHHHH... ACHOO!!! HACHII!!! HEACHOOO!!!"

The force of her sneezes doubled her over. She tried to tell herself that it was just the dust, but the tickle in her nose didn't feel like any ordinary dust tickle. One of the stage hands walked by, "Kate, are you okay?", "Yeah, I'm... ahhh... fi... fine, " she lied, trying desperately to hold back another sneeze, "Why do you ahhh.. ask?". She quickly put her finger under her nose, trying to make it look like a natural move. Before the stagehand could reply, he was called away by his manager to do some work. Kate really had to sneeze now, but she didn't want anybody else around hearing, she quickly plugged her nose and gave a muffled "Ha-mmp!", swallowing the huge sneeze. She kept her nose pinched as she ran to the washroom. Luckily there was nobody in there. She unplugged her nose to reach for a paper towel, but she didn't make it, the sneezes came out too fast. It was all she could do to get her hands over her mouth, "haCHOOO!, HEACHAA!! HACHII!!! YEACHOOO!!!".

What a dilemma, Kate sighed to herself. How was she going to get back to the truck without letting on to Leo that she was sick? She massaged her temples, trying to rub away the dull headache. The tickling in her nose had subsided, so she took the opportunity to fetch Leo before another sneeze attack hit.

Stepping out into the early morning air, Kate walked briskly back to the dew-covered truck. Leo faced east while he sat on the truck bed, wrapped in a blanket and hugging his knees to his chest.

"Where'd you go?" Leo looked up with inquiring eyes, his damp hair falling over his forehead. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Kate replied hastily, "But we'd better get back before everyone misses us." Her voice quickly switched from professional partner to older sister. "You need to rest, after all."

They climbed into the truck and drove back to the trailers. Kate stole a glimpse her partner, who looked pale and haggard. Poor guy, she thought, he's been working entirely too much. Leo was already half-asleep and looked helpless, wrapped in the blanket.

She heard a weak groan from him. "When do you have to go to work, Kate?" He mustered the strength to sit up in his seat.

She took his wrist and glanced at his watch. "Oh, I have time. Don't worry." Then she felt the tickle building in the back of her nose. Kate fought the urge down as hard as she could, finally managing to think it away for awhile. For about ten minutes of no conversation, she continuously battled the sneezy sensation only to have it resurface soon after.

The truck pulled up to Leo's trailer. "Um, I need to drop you off here. I have to return this truck before I go to the set." Kate spoke quickly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hold back the sneezes much longer. Her voice grew breathy as her sentence trailed off. Her beautiful, large eyes filled with tears as the urge to sneeze fought fiercely.

"Sure thing." Leo opened the door to go, but paused and turned back. With his heart-melting grin, he clasped her hand and whispered, "Thanks."

Kate returned the gesture with a small but sweet smile and a gentle squeeze of her hand, knowing that anything more would trigger the impending sneezing fit.

As Leo opened the door to his trailer, he looked back to see the truck pulling away. Inside, he noticed Kate with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand over her mouth, covering her quaint but forceful sneezes. Sighing guiltily, he shook his head before stepping inside.

* * * * *

Kate watched as he tossed and turned in his bed. Leo's fever was still precariously high, and Cameron agreed to let him have the day off.

"Kate," Leo croaked, "Is that you?" He was dressed in loose white tank top and comfortable navy boxers, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Shhh, it's OK. Here, drink some water." She propped him up with some pillows and handed him the glass. Her hand brushed his cheek, which was flushed and hot to the touch.

"Thanks, Mom." Leo managed a weak smile, still keeping his sense of humor even though he felt awful. A coughing fit seized him, and his lean torso shook from the force. Leo winced at the painful rasping in his chest. The room filled with sunlight as Kate opened one of the shutters. Leo squinted at the sudden brightness.

"Oh no," he thought as he felt the familiar tickle in his nose. He tried to sniff it away, since his nose was already red and sore. Finally he had to succumb to the urge to sneeze. His bright blue eyes filled with tears, and his facial muscles slackened. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. His chest heaved and he brought a hand up to his face. "Ha...huh...HUPCHSSSH!" He hunched over as head bobbed forward, flinging strands of blonde hair over his eyes.

"Bless you!" exclaimed Kate. Leo smiled weakly in response. "Can I get you anything?" Her soothing, sympathetic voice and gentle English accent was music to his ears.

"No, I'll be OK. Why don't you walk around outside? I know you'll get sick if you hang around here. Tell James I need to be put in quarantine." Leo chuckled, and regretted it as it triggered a deep, rasping cough. When the fit subsided, he put one hand over his chest and tried to calm his labored breathing.

Kate refilled his water. "All right, get some rest. Just send for me if you need anything, Leo." She disappeared from his trailer and closed the door gently behind her.

* * * * *

Leo slept fitfully. He awoke several times, never sure what time of day or night it was. He was vaguely aware of Kate's comforting presence nearby, and heard her voice soothing him back to sleep when fits of coughing racked his aching body. He finally awoke to find a beautiful sunset casting its golden hues across the interior of the trailer.

"Kate?" His voice was hoarse from coughing, and deeper than usually because of the cold, and it sounded strange even to him. A cheerful red head peeked around the corner, and Kate smiled when she saw him sitting up in bed.

"Feeling better?" She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed first his forehead then his cheek with her palm. "You're still a bit warm, but I think your fever's gone down. Here, sip this." She held a cup of water to his lips and helped him slowly sip some of the cool liquid. The water felt wonderful on his hot dry lips, and feeling incredibly grateful for her presence, he let her hold the cup for him like she would for a little child.

"Did I sleep all day?"

"Yes. James wants to continue with the night scenes tonight, if you think you can."

"Mmm, I could do with some fresh air. I think my little vacation's gone on long enough, don't you?"

"I'd hardly call it a vacation, tossing and turning with a fever like you did all day." Leo realized Kate had been up all day taking care of him while she should have been catching up on her own sleep. And now they had to film all night? He didn't know how to express his gratitude to her.

"Kate, I don't know how to thank you. There's nothing worse than being all alone when you're sick, and, well, I'm really glad you were here. When I was little, my mom would sit by my bed when I was sick, faithfully, until I got better. I guess I'm still a little boy at heart." He smiled, and pushing back the blankets, stood on wobbly legs to go get dressed.

"Glad I could help, Leo. Remember, I jump back on a sinking ship for you-- what's a little cold between soulmates?" Kate picked up her coat off the chair, intending to go back to her trailer to change for that evening's scenes. She was suddenly hit with the overwhelming urge to sneeze. Inhaling deeply, she swallowed the force of the sneeze, releasing a barely audible "MMPSH".

"Was that a sneeze, Kate?"

"No," she lied, stepping lightly down the steps of the trailer. "Glad you're feeling better. See you in a while." Knowing the sneeze would soon be followed by several more, she retreated to the relative safety of her cabin.

Leo sighed and lay back on his bed as he watched Kate exit his trailer. He wondered how long it'd take before she admitted she was sick. 'Well, let's see', he thought, 'it took me, what, 45 sneezes? I'll give her until her 57th'. He smiled as he thought of how she'd taken care of him. He looked forward to doing the same for her. His nose tickled suddenly, breaking through his thoughts, and he gathered his breath. "Ah...AHCHOOOSH!!" he sneezed. 'Looks like I'm not out of the woods yet', he thought with a sniffle. He sighed and closed his eyes, wanting to get some rest before the night scenes. 'Kate and I sick, at the same time....this is going to be interesting...'he mumbled quietly, then slowly fell asleep.

In the meantime, Kate was far from resting. "AHCHOOO!!! AHCHIISH!!! ARCHEOOOO!!" she sneezed endlessly, while trying to get dressed for her night scenes. She blew her nose and groaned. "This can't possibly get any worse."

A sudden knocking at her trailer door caught her attention. "Kate? Kate, are you in there?" A familiar voice called. It was Jim Cameron.

"It's worse," Kate moaned. She rubbed her aching nose and called back as lightly as possible. "Yes, I'm here." She opened the door and smiled, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

"Great. I just wanted to go over he script with you once more. Since Leo's finally ready to act again, we want this to go smoothly to make up for the lost time."

Kate smiled and nodded, all the while dreading that feeling in the back of her nose.

"Okay, now this is where you're on the deck, you don't want to leave but Leo is begging you to get into the....Kate, are you okay?"

Kate had ever so discreetly began to rub her nose. She had to sneeze, but was trying with all her might to hold it back from Jim. This was the last thing he needed. "Yes, I'm fine, it's just a habit I have when I get nervous." She smiled convincingly.

Jim eyed her suspiciously. "Okayy..anyway, you two are on the deck and..."

"HA-Mmmmp!" Kate sneezed, pinching her nose shut.

"Bless you." Jim said, looking slightly upset.

"Thanks. Sorry, it's just dusty in here." She tried her smile again.

"Mmm-hmm." Jim hadn't seen a trailer this spotless in his life. 'I'd probably find a two-headed rhinocerous in here before I found a speck of dust.' he thought. But he said nothing, and continued."Soooo, you get into the boat and..."

Kate nodded, trying to pay attention, but her nose wouldn't let her. 'Please, just let him hurry up and get out of here before I sneeze!' she thought desperately.

"Then you say...."

'Please hurry,' she thought, her nose bothering her more each second.

"Then he says..."

'Pleeeease hurry!,'She shut her eyes, hoping to stop the itch.

"Then I say..."

WILL YOU JUST GET OUT OF HERE!! she wanted to scream. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "Ha-Mmmph!! Ha-Gmmmmp! HA-MMMMP!!" She suppressed them at first, but after looking at Jim's face, she knew he wasn't going to be fooled anymore. She sneezed fully, relieved to let them out. "HA-CHOOO!!!! HACHOOOOSH!!! HAAACHIII!! HAAACHOOO!!"

Jim sighed. "Bless you. I guess we'll have to call off tonight's filming too."

Kate shook her head as she blew her nose. "No, I think I can do it. I'll just need a lot of tissue. Besides, I don't want to hold this up any longer."

"Longer than I have?" said a voice from the doorway. Kate glanced that way and saw Leo. She groaned. "How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Long enough to know you're sick." He replied sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Kate."

She smiled at him. "It's not your fault Leo. I'll be.....AHCHEOOOO!!!....alright." she sniffled.

"Well, don't worry, because I'll....I'll....AHCHOOOOOSH!!...take care of you." Leo sniffled too.

Jim put his head in his hands. "Well, this has got to be the worst possible thing that could have happened."

Leo and Kate stared at him.

"Alright, sorry, you're right, at least the ship model didn't sink. But this is definitely the SECOND worst possible thing that could have happened. Anyway, at least we're ready to film again. Are you two ready to do this?"

Kate and Leo nodded emphatically.

"Alright then, let's get dressed and ready."

Leo and Kate walked together to the set. Every so often, Leo would cough or Kate would sniffle. "Hurry it up, guys. Every minute is thousands wasted." James Cameron brushed by them and hurried over to his crew.

Leo rolled his eyes behind James' back, which made Kate laugh. "He does get awfully uptight, doesn't he? I think the man runs on figures and statistics," Kate joked.

On the set, they quickly donned their professional attitudes and began working seriously.

"Hi, Kate. Just have a seat and I'll be with you in a sec." Linda, her makeup artist, bustled around her as Kate smoothed out her gorgeous costume. Looking in the mirror, she realized that Linda had a difficult job ahead of her; her reddish nose and her watery eyes had to be minimized for the filming.

"Kate, I brought you some water. I thought tha... ahh.. haCHUSSH!" Leo turned away as he sneezed into a tissue. A look of annoyance flitted across his brilliant eyes. "Ugh, why won't this stop? I hate having to sneeze or cough every two seconds."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Thanks for the water, Leo. Why don't you go ahead to the set; Linda's running a little late." She watched as he nodded in agreement and hurried off.

Finally Linda came back, rushing to get her client ready for filming. She got a little careless at one point and knocked over a box of loose powder, making them both go into sneezing fits. Kate's soft, drawn-out, gentle ones were interspersed between Linda's short, dry, rapid sneezes. After the intensity of the fits had faded, they brushed off powder from Kate's dress. People chuckled and blessed them both, although they were too busy sneezing to notice.

"Sorry, about that, Ka.. aCCHew! Kate," Linda said apolegetically. "I shouldn't have been sooah..haCCH! so hasty."

"It's all right, it was just... ah..heh...hehSHEO! an accident. Ah.. ha.. aCHEo!" Kate smiled sweetly before succumbing to another sneeze.

As she walked onto the set, the megaphone squawked obnoxiously. "Let's do a couple of low-key scenes tonight," Cameron said. "We've got a full night of filming ahead of us."

Kate wasn't paying attention; something else was occupying her thoughts. Linda had just finished re-applying her impeccable eye makeup, and she just *had* to hold off the sneeze to keep her eyes from watering. Her face scrunched up, and she lightly rubbed her nose without smearing her flawless makeup.

Leo looked over at her, sympathizing with her troubles. "Oh, try and hold it off, Kate. Just for one scene." He scrutinized her situation: eyes wide open and blinking back tears, lush lips slightly parted, chest heaving with deep breaths.

What could she do? Her breath was fluttering in her chest, and she could never deliver her lines this way. Finally she succumbed. "*Gasp*..ha...heh.." Nothing. "Oooh, that's so annoying." Frustration spread across her beautiful face, and she furrowed her brows.

Leo laughed, which triggered some light coughing. "Come on, honey, let's get this over with." He stretched out his hand and flashed his charming, boyish grin. She smiled back, steadying herself against him as she climbed into the rowboat.

* * * * *

The small but powerful heater continously added to the opaque film of moisture on the glass, broken only by a smeared handprint. The set was as quiet as possible, the entire crew focused on the imtimacy being created in front of them. Kate, oblivious to them all, smiled inwardly as she felt his warm, wet, body nestle closer to hers. "mmmm", she thought, "this is much better than the rowboat scenes". Leo agreed. The warm, moist air necessary for creating the right "mood" had relieved their colds somewhat and each was able to concentrate on one of the tenderest scenes in the script. They could hear James' constant mumbling, endlessly directing them in their movements; but they were hardly listening. They were operating on their own; each aware of the subtle shifts of the other and responding accordingly. Kate slowly slid her right foot up his leg, felt his calf contract in response and scrunched her toes slightly. Leo moved his hand lower, tracing small patterns on her lower back before bringing his hand up and cupping her jaw.

He smiled at her, the smoldering look in his eyes causing light trembling in her belly. As he gazed at her , he saw the look of passion change slightly, to one of alarm. Her nose twitched. Once. Twice. He groaned inwardly, "uh oh, here it comes". He watched as she valiantly continued the scene, struggling hard against the sensation welling up in her sinuses. Her eyelids quivered, her nostrils flared, and he knew she would not win the battle...as she pursed her lips and took in three small, quick gasps, her knew he had to do something. The scene was flowing perfectly, to cut and reshoot would take hours, something he knew neither of them had the strength for. As her full lips parted, eyelids slowly closed, and felt her chest rose as she surrendered to the sneeze, he moved in even closer and kissed her deeply, cupping her chin gently yet firmly with one hand, while holding tightly around the waist with the other. He kissed her harder than he knew he should, pressing his nose and cheek against her nose. He felt her chest rise and pause as she held her breath, and she twitched her nose once beneath his. Tears squeezed from beneath her closed lids with the need to sneeze, but she did not. he held her in the embrace for what seemed like hours, until he heard the word he was hoping for..."CUT!"....

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THE TAROT OF SNEEZING