Chapter One: Flashes

"Come on Rose, shoot it! I haven't got all day!" Violet taunted as she shimmied from side to side in the wide net. She kept her eyes open and her peripheral clear as she stared down her opponent, who was quickly kicking the soccer ball up field. Violet kept her focus, God it was hard to see anything in this soccer field at night. With the school's low budget, Violet wasn't surprised they couldn't afford field lights. It was no wonder most of their games were played in the afternoons.

"You really think you're going to be able to stop me, don't you Deville?" Violet's friend, Rose shouted as she performed fancy footwork with the soccer ball, closing in on Violet. Violet only smiled, never losing her concentration, as the ball rapidly made its way closer and closer.

And then Violet couldn't hear Rose's taunting anymore. All she could see was the ball. All she could think about was stopping it. This was her passion, her focus.

The ball came spiraling toward her at a rapid speed. Violet threw her entire body weight up toward the ball that would have gone right over her head. Reaching her arms up as high as they would go, she bounced up off her legs and felt the soccer ball collide with her hands. Then she collapsed on the ground, hugging the ball to her chest. She exhaled. She didn't even realize she'd been holding her breath that whole time.

As she came back to reality, she heard Rose's grumbling as Violet stood up, trying to rub the grass stains off her knees.

"Damn, Vi, I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever gonna be able to get one past you. Coach is right. Keep this up and you'll end up player of the year." Rose said as she yanked the ball away from Violet. Violet shrugged, grabbing her water bottle nearby.

"I don't play to get recognized." She said quietly, chugging back her water. Rose shook her head.

"Could've fooled me. Everyone's seen you play. You should go to college on an athletic scholarship." She added. Violet shook her head.

"Nah, I've been wanting to go to med school my whole life. That's where I want to be." She replied, collapsing to the ground, leaning her back up against the net's goalpost. Rose joined her.

"Think we should call it a night?" Rose asked. Violet looked up at the sky. The stars had been out for hours now. How long had they been playing anyway? She didn't even know what time it was. Violet wanted to keep playing, but Rose just wasn't as obsessed as Violet was. Violet had to understand that. Everybody played for different reasons. Violet doubted she'd ever find another human being who understood just what soccer did for her.

"I guess we should. Your mom might freak if I keep you out too late." Violet said, removing her cleats and shoving them in her gym bag. Rose laughed.

"She wouldn't exactly freak, but she sets a curfew for a reason. Besides, it is a school night. Don't you still have homework to do?" She asked. Violet shrugged. Rose had to giggle.

"Honestly Vi, if you put as much energy into schoolwork as you did into soccer, you'd be on the top of the Honors List too." She paused. "I thought you wanted to go to med school."

"I do!" Violet snapped.

"I think you need to up your grades for that. Why do you want med school so bad, Vi? You've never told me. For someone who's so good at soccer, why would you just ignore that, and want to go to med school?" Rose asked.

Violet paused, ignoring Rose's question as she removed her shinguards slowly. She thought of Katie.

"Come to think about it, Violet, you don't tell me anything. I know you've been through some stuff, and I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but-"

"You're right, Rose, I don't want to talk about it. So can we just leave it alone?" Violet snapped. Rose stared at her with hurt eyes, and Violet immediately felt guilty.

"Look, sorry, okay? I have my reasons for wanting to go to med school, and I have my reasons for keeping things to myself." Violet finally stood. "Let's get out of here."

Rose only lived a few blocks over from where Violet lived, but Violet's house came first. Rose waved goodbye, and said she'd see her tomorrow. Violet dreaded thinking about the next day. She knew there would be no way in hell she'd have her biology assignment done before her third period class tomorrow. She wondered how Mr. Hooper would react.

Violet finally checked her watch, and her stomach sank. Rose's curfew was much later than Violet's, and now Violet was past it. Violet had argued against her curfew so many times, but it was a lost cause. After everything that had happened, maybe it was just paranoia, but Violet wasn't allowed out past ten.

Violet noticed all the lights in the house were off. Maybe she's in bed. She hoped to herself, as she quietly slid her key into the doorway. She opened the door slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak, like it normally did. Silence. Violet breathed out slowly as she closed the door behind her, locking it up. Violet listened, and heard nothing. She smiled to herself in sweet satisfaction.

She carefully took the stairs up, still hearing nothing. If she could just get to her bedroom without waking anybody up, she'd be home free. But she had to pass her room to get there. And that was when she heard the voice break through the silence.

"Do you know what time it is?" She heard that familiar voice ask. Violet rolled her eyes. God, how many times had she been caught coming in past curfew? But everytime, the question was the same. Of course Violet knew what time it was. Why else would she have been tiptoeing?Violet stopped, waiting for the lecture, waiting for the disappointment, whatever. She just stared ahead as she heard the footsteps coming out of her bedroom, and standing behind her. Violet could just picture what she looked like, standing there. Arms crossed, thin lips, waiting for some kind of explanation.

"I set a curfew at ten for a reason, Violet. That means I expect you back home at ten, not closer to eleven!"

Violet rolled her eyes, never turning around.

"I was with Rose, okay? I was safe, nothing was going to happen. We were just at the school." She replied.

"I don't care if you were having dinner with the President. I ask you to be home for ten. These rules are set for a reason, Violet."

Violet laughed to herself a little. This just wouldn't get old.

She turned around to face her. Yes, her arms were crossed, just like she imagined, and she did not look happy, especially with Violet's sarcastic smile spread across her face.

"You know you aren't my mother, right?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Violet knew that was the wrong chord to strike. She had played that hand so many times, even before they left.

The woman stepped forward and looked straight at Violet.

"This isn't like being on the island anymore, Violet." Kate said with a certain authority in her voice. "Those times are over, Violet! 17 years old or not, now that I have legal custody of you, I expect you to listen."

"Hello?" Jack said into the phone.

"Hello, who is this?" The other voice asked again. Violet stared at Jack's face, it was full of hope, and tears were in his eyes, and his body was trembling. Violet shook her head as she watched in terrifying anticipation.

"My name is Jack Shepherd." He swallowed, as he paused. "I'm one of the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. Can you get a fix on our location?"

A pause.

"Hell yeah we can, you sit tight, we'll be right there." The guy on the other end said eagerly.

An uproar of cheers and tears passed through the survivors, as they hugged, and cried together, and praised God, and clapped. In the midst of the happiness around her, Violet fell to her knees with tears in her eyes. They had been found. Rescue was coming. There truly was no going back now.

Sun was beside her in seconds, hand on her back, as Violet rocked back and forth on the spot, shaking her head. Of course, Sun had no idea what had gotten her so upset. This couldn't be happening. This could not be happening.

Violet looked up and saw that Kate was gone. Where had she gone? Violet felt like she couldn't breath. Was this an anxiety attack? She didn't know, and she didn't really care either. Those guys on Naomi's boat were coming. They were here to rescue them. In less than an hour, she would be on a boat on her way back to the real world, where no family of hers existed. In less than 24 hours, she would be ripped away from all of these people who had become her close friends these past few months and taken to social services. Who knew what would happen then? Would she even see these people again?

Violet suddenly felt a rough hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she looked up to see Jack looking at her.

"You okay?" He asked. She just stared at him. She couldn't find any words to say. What could she honestly say anyway? That she was fine? Why lie? She wasn't fine, and anybody who knew anything about her would know this.

"Violet, maybe you should drink something, you look a little pale." Jack said, handing her a half emptied bottle of water. Violet just stared at it, concentrating on breathing through her nostrils. He finally gave up, left the water bottle on the ground with her and walked away to join the survivors who were a little more excited about their news. Nobody paid any attention to the girl who was freaking out by herself.

Violet glanced over at Ben, still tied to the tree. He was the only other one who appeared to be freaking out about the whole thing. Although for obvious different reasons. Ben kept going on about how those people on the boat were dangerous. Violet didn't care. She just didn't want to leave this island. She knew the only other person on this entire island who didn't want to leave had just chucked a machete into Naomi's back. That didn't help Violet feel any better. She stopped thinking about Locke, and tried to concentrate on what was happening, here and now.

Violet tried to picture in her mind what it would be like when their rescuers showed up. She imagined a large white boat pulling up near their beach, and sending men wearing navy blue uniforms in life rafts to begin shuttling the survivors to the boat.

She imagined Kate and Jack having to collectively force her into the raft, because now that this was really happening, she doubted she'd be able to go willingly.

She imagined someone on the boat with the plane's manifest. She imagined him checking off the living, crossing out the dead. She imagined him asking her who would be back home waiting for her.

She couldn't imagine what she would say.

Violet felt herself struggle to catch her breath. Could this actually be real? She couldn't be sure anymore.