Hey everyone! This is an idea I got after read LotF for school. I was supposed to be writing about quotes, and when I got to the one about Ralph losing his innocence and Piggy, I had to keep myself from writing this. So I did, and now you get to read it! Thank you FC, for always betaing my fics and helping me with ideas.

Please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I really hope I don't have to say it!

What He Would Have Wanted

Ralph stood on the beach, a mix of emotions screaming at his brain as he looked at the Captain. Joy. Hate. Anger. Confusion. Happiness. Grief. So many things trying to tell him how to react; but not knowing which to appease. So he just stood there, only knowing that the others wouldn't dare touch him now. Not with grown ups here.

Then reality suddenly hit him like a heavy stone. A ship. Here. They were being rescued! But what about those that hadn't made it? What about Piggy? And Simon? What was he to do now? How could he live, knowing what the others had done; what he had done?

Looking back toward Castle Rock, and then up at the Captain, Ralph felt something trickle down his check. Lifting his hand to his face, he realized that it was a tear. And then the rest followed; everything that he had held back since the beginning. It was all coming out. Falling to his knees in the sand, he sat there, his body shaking with sorrow and relief. He could go home! He would see his family again; and his friends. But Piggy wouldn't. He never would.

Ralph hung his head and closed his eyes, feeling guilty. Guilty that he had survived and Piggy hadn't. It was his fault. He shouldn't have let him come. If he had made Piggy stay, the boy would still be alive. His friend would still be here.

No; not friend. Best friend.

During the time they had been stuck on this island, Ralph had come to know and understand Piggy. He was they one person he could relate to; the only one who hadn't forgotten about the Outside.

Sniffing, he opened his eyes only to discover that the Captain was no longer in front of him. He had wandered farther along the beach, though not to close to anything that could be caught in the fire. He was currently talking to Samneric; both of which, unsurprisingly, seemed to be finishing each others sentences. Wiping his tears away with the heel of his hand and smiling a little, he watched the Captain become even more confused as he listened to Samneric's sketchy outline of what had happened.

Standing up, Ralph looked across the beach to where the forest was burning; cleansing the darkness harbored here. Turning around to look at the ship, Ralph sniffed again and lifted his head high. He was ready. He would face whatever was coming.

Piggy would have wanted it.