Claire had been sleeping soundly when she was awoken by a bright light behind her lids. She frowned; she was sure she had shut all the curtains in the house before she had gone to sleep… where was that light coming from?

She opened her eyes, still half asleep, and frowned at the brightness. She couldn't see a thing other than the extremely white light; it was blinding. "Hello?" she called, sitting up. She frowned when she realized she wasn't in her bed. In fact, she couldn't even tell where she was. All she could see was that blasted light. "Hello?" she called again, becoming nervous. What was happening to her.

"Hello, Claire."

She squinted in the brightness, and noticed a figure coming toward her. The voice was so familiar, but in her dream like state, she just couldn't place it. It was clearly that of a man, and she noticed, as he came closer, that he was dressed in tight black jeans, a black suit jacket, and an old "The Who" band shirt. His dirty blonde hair was falling into his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of grey, and stubble ran across his cheeks and chin. Claire gasped when she honed in on who it was. "…Charlie?" she whispered in disbelief.

He grinned at her and came closer, offering her his hand. She grabbed it without hesitation, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "How are you here? Am I dreaming…?"

"Not exactly, Claire." He said, still clinging to her hand. Evidently, he didn't want to let go any more than she did.

She frowned. "If I'm not dreaming, then what's going on? Charlie… you died."

He bit his lip. "I know."

"Then how are you alive?"

"I'm not, Claire."

She didn't understand. "What…?"

"You're in between, Claire."

"I'm what…?"

"You're stuck between life, and the afterlife."

Her eyes widened. "I'm what? What are you talking about?"

"The house you were just sleeping in? In the Others' camp? A group of people from that blasted boat just blew it up. You're dead, Claire."

She stumbled back a step in shock, and Charlie caught her around the waist, keeping her from falling. She clutched his shoulders and looked into his eyes, shaking her head. "No. No, I can't be dead…"

"You might not be. That's what happens when you get stuck in between, Claire."

She shook her head. "I don't understand…"

"I know you don't. I was sent to explain it to you. But we only have a few moments to do it. Otherwise, someone is going to find you amongst the living, and who knows what they might do with your body…"

Claire still didn't understand. "What…?"

"Claire, you need to listen to me. Alright?"

Slowly, she nodded.

"Right now, you're between life, and the afterlife. That means you have a very important choice to make."

"Important how?"

Charlie tucked a curly strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "You have to choose between moving on, and leaving this place with me, or going back to that island and living. Before you decide, you have to remember the most important thing back there for you; Aaron needs you. He needs his mum. You have to decide whether or not you're going to go back there and be with him."

Claire was silent. "This can't be real… if I'm dead, I wouldn't get to choose whether or not I come back to life…!"

"You're right. Normally you wouldn't. Boone didn't. Neither did Shannon, or Ana Lucia, or Libby. Not even Mr. Eko got a choice. But you do, Claire. You get a choice because you're special, and because people still need you back home. The rest of the people who passed on that island have moved on, because they don't have anything to live for back on that island that desperately needs them…"

"What about you?" Claire suddenly snapped. "Did you get to choose? Because people still did need you, Charlie! I needed you! So did Aaron, and Hurley, and everyone else…!"

"Claire…" Charlie sighed. "I didn't get a choice. I didn't get a choice because I sacrificed myself. I knew I was going to die, which meant I already made my decision. You, on the other hand, had no idea that those men were going to…" he glared into the distance, "Blow up your bloody house…"

"Why would you sacrifice yourself? Why wouldn't you tell me…?"

Claire was starting to cry, and Charlie felt awful. "Claire… it had to be done. It was what it was going to take to get you and Aaron off of that island… but it backfired miserably. I'm sorry that I put you all in so much danger…"

Claire frowned. "Why didn't you tell me, Charlie?" she asked quietly.

He stroked her cheek. "You would have tried to stop me."

"Of course I would have! Charlie, I…" she trailed off, feeling ridiculous. There was no way this was really happening. She had to be dreaming…

But confessing to a dream Charlie was better than no Charlie at all. "I love you."

A tiny smile pulled at the corner of Charlie's lips. "And I love you. Which is why I did it. But, Claire… you need to choose. Fast. As we speak, Sawyer is looking for you in that wreckage. You need to have made your choice when he finds you."

Claire looked into his eyes. "If I go with you… I'll get to see everyone again."

Charlie nodded.

"And we can be together."

He nodded again.

Claire felt her heart sink. "But Aaron… Aaron needs me. I can't just leave him all alone…"

Charlie smiled knowingly. "I know, Claire. I think we both know what you need to choose."

She looked at him, a tear falling from her eye. "Will I ever see you again? If I go back?"

He smiled. "Of course you will, Claire. Whatever happens to you, I'll be waiting on the other side when it does. But, right now, Aaron needs you more than I do."

She sniffled. "I know. I know he does…"

Charlie wiped a stray tear away. "Hey…" he whispered, and she looked back up at him. "I love you. Don't you forget that, alright? Whether we're together or not, I'll always love you, I'll always be with you. Whenever the wind blows softly around you, whenever something strangely appears when you haven't been able to find it," he grinned. "Whenever Drive Shaft spontaneously comes on the radio, it's me, telling you how much I love you."

"Oh, Charlie…" she whimpered, throwing herself into his arms and crying into his chest. "I miss you so much… it's so hard doing everything alone… I need you."

"I know, Claire… I know. But everything is going to be okay. It will all work out in the end. I promise you."

He gave her one more squeeze before holding her away a bit. "It's time, Claire. Are you ready to go back?"

Sniffling, she nodded. "He needs me."

Charlie smiled. "You're a good mum, Claire; don't ever think otherwise."

She smiled softly and nodded.

Charlie leaned over and kissed her forehead. "You'll tell Aaron I love him, won't you?"

She looked up and nodded, smiling. "Of course I will."

He took a step back. "Be safe, Claire."

She nodded. "We'll see each other soon."

He grinned. "Hopefully not too soon."

She giggled and nodded. She then grew serious. "I love you, Charlie."

"I love you, too."

Claire could see the light around the fading, taking Charlie with it.

"Goodbye, Claire…" his voice faded away, and soon Claire was overcome by blackness.

"…Claire…Claire…Claire, wake up…!"

Slowly, her lids heavy, Claire opened her eyes. "Charlie…?" she whispered, unsure what was going on around her. Slowly, the world came into focus. Sawyer was hovering over her, looking worried. He heaved a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes.

"Come on, sweetheart…" he said, picking her up and carrying her toward Locke's house. A few seconds later, she lost consciousness again.

Claire awoke again to find herself lying in bed. For a second, she thought maybe the entire thing really had only been a dream. Then she noticed Hurley sitting across the room, holding Aaron.

"Hurley…?"

"Oh, good! You're awake. Sawyer said you were okay, but I was starting to worry…"

"What happened?" Claire asked, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"The guys from the boat ambushed us. They were shooting everyone, and then they sort of blew up your house…"

Claire's eyes widened. "What did you just say?"

"The guys from the boat? They… blew up your house while you were sleeping. Sawyer thought you were dead…"

The house you were just sleeping in? In the Others' camp? A group of people from that blasted boat just blew it up.

Claire's eyes widened. She really had died. She had actually been in between, and…

Charlie had really been there. It wasn't just some crazy, lucid dream!

"Oh, my God…" Claire whispered.

"Yeah, I know. It was all crazy…"

Claire looked up at Hurley again. Obviously, she thought she had been referring to her house been blown up by the people who were supposed to be there to rescue them.

A part of her wanted to tell him that she had seen Charlie. After all, they had been close, too. But another part of her, a much louder part, wanted her to keep it to herself. To lock the memory of him away, to treasure forever. Her own special little moment with Charlie.

"Um… do you mind if I take Aaron? Alone? Just for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, sure. Here…" Hurley said, getting up and walking over, handing her the baby. "You're sure you're okay?"

Claire nodded. "Fine. Thanks, Hurley."

He smiled and nodded, walking out of the room and shutting the door.

Claire smiled down at Aaron. "Hey, sweetheart. Did Mummy make you worry? Oh, I'm sorry…" she leaned down and kissed his tiny forehead. "Mummy loves you." She said, and a tear trailed down her cheek. "Daddy loves you, too."

There was a flash of light across the room, and Claire looked up in confusion. There was something sitting on the dresser, glinting in the beam of sunlight that was streaming through the partially open curtain. Confused, Claire stood up and walked over to see what it was.

She froze when she saw it. "Oh, my God…"

Rushed foreward to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, she grabbed the small, silver object. She turned it in her hands a few times, making sure it was real. "Oh, my God…" she repeated, and more tears started to stream down her cheeks as she realized that it was, in dead, there.

In the palm of her hand, cool silver against her skin, was Charlie's Drive Shaft ring. The ring she had been sure she would never see, ever again.

…Whenever something strangely appears when you haven't been able to find it…

Claire looked up and smiled. "I love you." She whispered, and beamed, more tears falling when a soft, warm breeze blew around her. She walked over to the window.

It was shut tightly.

"I love you so much, Charlie…" she said, holding Aaron closer and clutching the ring tightly in her hand.

From his peaceful spot in the afterlife with all of the others from the crash, Charlie smiled. "I love you, Claire. Never forget that."