Spoilers through Do No Harm! Please read and review people:D
Shannon hadn't been the same after Boone's death, it took three days for her to even eat.
But Sayid was there, always there watching out for her, telling he'd always be there.
"Shannon… I love you"
Those were the last words he'd ever said to her, she'd been sitting at the caves, learning a few Korean words with sun, when he'd approached her.
He told her he was going to be gone for a few days, and would be back as soon as he could.
He didn't tell her where he was going, or why. She didn't ask, just kissed him and held him close telling him to come back soon.
He didn't.
Four days passed and each day Shannon's hope faded.
Sun tried to occupy her, telling her he would be back soon.
But soon even Sun stopped believing it.
It was two weeks before they found him.
Face down in the jungle, two bullet wounds, one in his head, the other his chest.
Shannon had been laughing when they brought his body back to camp, teaching Sun a small dance step.
Jack hadn't wanted her to see him, but it was to late.
Just another person to lie to her.
And when she sobbed so hard she started to have another attack, Jack helped her through it, tears in his eyes.
She kissedSayid good bye and that was the last time the others saw her.
The funeral came and went, still no sign of Shannon.
Jack was worried. He knew what kind of impact this would have on her. It wasn't fair and he wanted to take away all her pain.
He wanted to hold her and tell her it would be all right. But how could he tell her that when he knew it wasn't true.
Kate turned to Sawyer for comfort, the two no longer pretended to not be seeing each other.
It hurt, deeper then Jack would admit, it felt as if he'd been stabbed.
In his pain Jack had run blindly into the jungle, he needed to get away.
He stumbled across Shannon.
She was asleep. Lying against a tree, her golden hair falling across her face.
She was wasting away, and she seemed troubled even in her sleep.
Jack sat down beside her, checking her temperature, and her pulse, just to make sure.
He took the bottle of water from his bag and brought it to her lips, pouring the water down her throat.
She woke then, her eyes fluttering as she tried to piece together who she was. "Jack?" She mumbled falling forward.
Jack caught her and helped her to stable herself. She drank the water then, and took the apple from his hands when he offered it.
She wasn't hungry but something in Jacks eyes told her to eat it anyway.
They sat there in silence, not having anything to say.
Shannon started laughing suddenly, and it surprised Jack.
She looked at him opening her eyes wider "Jack…Why did he go…He said he would never leave me, he said he would always be there for me. He said.." She broke down crying.
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, then took her in a hug.
"Kate.." He mumbled.
Shannon smiled through her tears, and she pulled back to look at him "Jack?"
Jack stared out into the jungle sightlessly "She chose him. It's her choice I know but.."
It was Shannon's turn to reassure him "Jack…it's ok….It hurts. Kate's stupid, if she's going to pass you up."
Jack smiled and they both sat there in silence again.
For the next few days Jack would come out and talk to her, five minutes everyday, sometimes they didn't even talk, just sat in comfortable silence.
He brought food and water and didn't question her or ask her to come back.
Shannon was thankful for that, she wasn't ready to go back and Jack understood.
They were each others strength and neither of them knew.
Jack was slowly getting over Kate, bit by bit, Seeing her kissing Sawyer was hard, but it got easier every time.
Jackwas happy and as long as Sawyer took care of her, he would be ok.
It was the day she moved into his tent that was the hardest.
He'd spent the whole afternoon with Shannon that day.
Life at the caves returned to normal, as it did at the beach. Charlie and Claire named the boy Luke and seemed to be doing alright.
Sun and Jin had reconciled, both of them moving into the same cave.
Sun was teaching him English and he'd sure understood the day Jack informed them that they were going to be parents.
Jin had broken into a grin then, and the two had never seemed happier.
Hurley was beginning to loose weight...though he complained about the walks he had to take each day.
All of this news he relayed onto Shannon at their daily meetings.
Each time he went to her something was different.
Shannon had now collected firewood and had her own small fire, Pretty soon a small cover was set up by the tree and she was learning pretty quickly to dress in shorts.
She smiled and laughed at all he had to tell, and Jack was glad to see her smile.
It was exactly two months to the day of Sayid's death, and Jack couldn't help but wonder when she would return to the other survivors.
Shannon heard Jack approaching and jumped up "Jack!" She smiled handing him a water bottle "Late as always" she said throwing a piece of wood into her small fire.
Jack laughed "Got caught up."
Shannon motioned for him to sit down "Jin gotten any better at English" She questioned, scratching at a bite on her arm.
Jack smiled "He's learned a lot in such a short time. He's opened up a lot more….him and Michael seem to be working things out"
Shannon smiled "I will never forget it when Jin tried to drown him that day. He's come a long way. When's the baby due?"
"Seven and a half months…She's hoping for a girl."
Shannon smiled and they slipped into a familiar silence.
Jack watched the flames flicker, and then felt goose bumps rising on his skin, a cool nighttime breeze passing through
Shannon saw this and passed him a blanket, Jack had brought her clothes and other things to make her more comfortable.
"Shannon, When are you coming back to the caves?"
Shannon looked up a little shocked by his questions "Two months and you ask now huh" She said smirking.
Jack tried to smile "You never did tell me why you were out here"
Shannon sighed "I don't know. I just… needed to get away… to prove to myself I wouldn't die if Sayi…" she felt a familiar pang of pain go through her "if Sayid wasn't here to protect me. If Boone wasn't here to protect me"
She paused for a moment, surprised she hadn't broken into tears yet.
"I needed to know if I could do it."
"Can you?" Jack asked softly
Shannon beamed "Jack I'm not dead… I've not been eaten by the monster, or polar bears or god knows what else is out there, I built this…" She gestured towards her little camp "And I moved on"
Jack smiled, slipping his hand into hers.
She squeezed his hand "Thanks Jack… for not making me go back, or asking questions, or judging me… Thank you for trying to save Boone…Sun told me what you did… You risked your own life for him."
She hugged him tightly.
Jack smiled and then stood up "I'll be looking out for you Shan"
Shannon stood up and returned the smile "It's getting dark…better head back before it's to dark to see"
Jack turned to go, but then stopped.
He took Shannon's hand in his again "Shannon come back with me now, You don't have to talk to any body yet, but They've been worried. They care about you Shannon. Claire asks about you every day, and Sun makes sure that I don't forget to bring you water."
Shannon laughed a little at this "Just come back with me" He pleaded
Shannon looked up to the sky "Should I go?"
Jack didn't need to take a guess at who she was asking.
Shannon laughed again and took a step towards him "What are we waiting for?"
A huge smile spread across Jacks face and the two of them made it through the jungle together.
As they walked Shannon couldn't help but feel safe, but feel loved it. It was nice to know the others missed her, but it was even nicer to know that Jack wanted her to come back.
She'd tried not too, but she had become dependent on him. She anxiously waited for him to come each day, and he never ever forgot.
Once he'd come when she was pretending to be asleep. But he didn't leave, he just took her hand and stayed with her for a whole hour. And eventually Shannon had fallen asleep.
She smiled, recalling all the times they'd shared together.
Jack pushed aside another branch, revealing the caves.
Immediately she spotted Jin, his hand on Shannon's stomach and he said loudly in English "She kicks!"
Claire was at the caves, and it was odd to see her back to her thin form, moving with ease, filling up water bottles.
Hurley had indeed lostweight, his clothes hung a little looser on his frame as he talked to Walt.
Shannon broke into a grin, then those at the caves noticed she was standing that, hanging on to Jacks arm.
And they smiled.
She looked up at Jack who was still smiling at her too.
Suddenly everything she'd been feeling burst into her head like a rainbow of colours, the sadness, the darkness, the light, and Jack.
She reached up and kissed him, in front of everyone, not caring who saw.
It was a simple kiss, and Jack didn't pull away. Instead he placed his hands on her back, holding her closer.
When she pulled back Jack was still there, that same old grin on his face.
The grin that reassured her that he wasn't going anywhere.
And Neither was she.