Chapter 10- The Good and the Bad
Hello again! I am here with another way overdue update, but hopefully it is worth the wait. You guys know I suck at quick updates, but I'm here now. I would recommend reading last chapter, so you know what is going on. I don't want you to get lost or confused. This chapter should be a lot of fun, so sit back and enjoy!
The women still sat side by side in the sand in the darkness, looking out at the dark blue water meeting the dark blue sky. Kate sat next to Sun, whom was to her left. To Sun's left was Rose, then Claire, Aaron in his crib, and Shannon finishing the final line of her song.
Jin, Michael, and Bernard continued their search for Rose, after that Jin would be off to find his own wife. They continued their walk down the beach, until they saw five women sitting side by side and a small baby in between two of them. Bernard's eyes weld up with tears, falling freely down his red cheeks. He tried to speak, but was at a loss for words. There was an unspoken connection between them, as Rose turned around to find her husband standing behind her.
"Bernard?" She asked standing up slowly.
"Rose." He said walking to her, taking her in a hug.
The women smiled and stood as they watched the happy reunion between the now again happy couple.
"Sun." A voice called, seeming to be nervous in some way.
"Jin." She said laughing and crying at the same time as she ran to him and clasping her arms tightly around his neck. She pulled back and then pushed her lips onto his. The world wasn't there; it was just them, back together again.
Kate scrambled to her feet seeing the stretcher being walked out of the jungle in the hands of Locke and a Michael. Walking along side of them was Jack, Charlie, Sayid, and three survivors from the other group, one man and two women. She bolted over to the group, immediately realizing who the wounded survivor was.
"What happened?" She asked glancing between an unconscious Sawyer and Jack.
"He was shot." He explained trying to get her away from the group.
"How? Is he alright?"
"I don't know, but we're taking him to the hatch, all my supplies are there."
"Ok, let's go." She said leaving Claire's side to lead Jack, and Locke, and Michael into the jungle, Michael and Locke still carrying Sawyer.
"Claire, have you seen Shannon?" Sayid asked with his strong accent.
"Yes I have, she's over right over there." Claire said pointing her out. "Would you do me a favor?"
"What do you need?" He asked politely.
"Could you keep Aaron for awhile?" Her eyes were pleading with him.
"Of course." He said touching her shoulder for just a second and then turning to begin his walk over to his tall blond angel.
"Thank you." She called after him with a small smile; she could see how anxious he was to see Shannon.
Claire turned her attention back to the group of people looking for that one face that always made her heart feel whole. And there he was, emerging from the group of people, breaking a smile at the sight of Claire.
"Welcome back." She said giving him a hug. "I missed you."
"Luv, I was only gone for a few hours." He replied kissing her temple.
"A few hours too long." She retorted, pulling away to look into his amazingly grey eyes.
"I must agree." He said creeping closer to her lips, finally touching them, savoring the gentle touch. After pulling away Charlie saw the group standing nearby, looking upon the two of them. "Oh Claire, these people here are…"
"…the tail end survivors." She finished with a small smile. "Hello."
"Nice to meet you." A tall black man said walking to her, offering his hand. "I am Eko."
"Claire." She said taking his hand with a smile.
"And I we didn't get introduced, I'm Charlie." He said offering his hand which was taken by Eko as well.
"Nice to meet you also, Charlie." Eko looked back at the two ladies behind him. "This is Ana-Lucia and Libby."
"Nice to meet both of you." Claire said as Charlie reached for her hand hanging to her side, lacing his fingers with hers.
"You too." Libby said emerging from behind Eko to stand at his side. "I heard you mention an Aaron to that man, Sayid, mind if I ask…"
"He's my son; I had him on the island."
"And he hasn't gotten taken yet?" Ana-Lucia said bringing everyone to realize she was still behind Eko.
"What… I… he's fine. He was taken from me once, Danielle took him."
"Danielle?" Eko questioned in the same polite tone as always.
"The French lady." Charlie said jumping in. "She's been on the island for sixteen years, turned her bloody insane I might add."
"Is she one of them?" Eko asked sounding intrigued.
"The others, no." Charlie answered shaking his head. All three of their faces seemed somewhat relieved now and even a little disappointed. Charlie and Claire noticed the change in their faces and were quick to leave them to their thoughts.
"Charlie, we should go relieve Sayid and Shannon of babysitting duty." Claire said walking back a few steps, giving the hand she was holding a few tugs. Charlie allowed himself to be pulled away from the group, giving no effort to stay and chat.
"We'll see you later." He said turning his back toward them and taking removing his hand from Claire's grasp to place it on her lower back. Claire looked up at him, breaking into a smile, Charlie returned it.
Charlie and Claire found Shannon and Sayid quite easily considering Aaron's cries were drowning out all other sound. Shannon looked upset and Sayid seemed to be trying his best to get her to relax.
Claire knew what it was like to be helpless when Aaron cried, except it was ten times as worse since Aaron was her own son. She walked rather quickly over to Shannon, giving her an apologetic smile as she scooped Aaron from her arms. "Sorry Shannon, sometimes he just gets fussy."
"So sometimes he cries just to be crying?" She asked studying Claire like she had just said 'pigs could indeed fly'.
"Well no, it's just sometimes they need to feel comforted, protected." Claire said feeling quite proud of what she'd learned about her baby.
"Something only a mum can give." Charlie said smiling as he noticed Aaron's cries had stopped and his breathing was even as he slept.
"I better get him to his cradle so he can sleep." She said beginning to walk to her and Charlie's shelter. "Thanks again."
"No trouble, really." Shannon said with a reassuring smile. Charlie gave a thankful nod to the two of them, which was returned by a knowing nod from Sayid. He walked away from them with his head looking down at the sand. He smiled as he came to notice Claire's footprints. They were unmistakable, small and barely noticeable. Most people walked heavily, their feet creating deep holes in the sand, but Claire was different. She walked lightly, gracefully. "Like an angel." Charlie thought out loud.
"Did you say something Charlie?" Hurley asked replacing the lid on his water bottle.
"What?" He asked shooting his head up in surprise. Upon seeing Hurley he gathered his thoughts. "Oh… no Hurley, just thinking out loud I guess." Charlie said feeling slightly embarrassed. "Where you headed?"
"Oh… around, I thought I would go welcome the newcomers and say a few 'welcome backs' to Jin, Michael, and Sawyer." Hurley looked around. "Where is Sawyer anyway… and Walt?"
"Sawyer is with Jack, Kate, and Locke being treated for a bullet wound."
"Dude, that sucks… what happened?"
"The others took Walt and destroyed the raft, seems Sawyer got caught in the crossfire."
"A hero wound… Sawyer?"
"Seems so." Charlie said with a bit of a chuckle.
"Is he going to be ok?"
"I don't know, you'd have to ask Jack about that." Charlie said furrowing his eyebrows. He looked beyond Hurley to see Claire waving him over.
Hurley turned to look what was holding Charlie's attention and turned back to face him. "Dude, I think she needs you."
"Yeah, I guess she does, hope nothing's wrong." He said as if he were thinking out loud again.
"Well you should go check, see you later Dude." Hurley said giving a small wave before trekking down the beach in the direction from which Charlie had just come.
"Yeah, bye Hurl." Charlie replied beginning to jog over to where Claire was standing. "Everything alright, luv?"
"Are there anymore clean nappies?"
"In my bag."
"You're amazing." She said kissing his cheek before pulling a clean nappy from Charlie's bag.
"Just figuring this out know, are we luv?"
"Oh no, I've known this for quite some time." Claire said with a grin placing Aaron in his crib.
"How long then?"
"Well, the old Claire would say 'the imaginary peanut butter did the trick,' but the new Claire standing before you says, 'when you got her son back.'
"You're still the Claire that I brought imaginary peanut butter to." Charlie said knowingly.
"Technically, but I'm not that Claire until I remember everything." She replied shaking her head.
"You're close luv, what's still missing?" He asked taking her into his arms.
"I still don't remember what happened while I was with Ethan and how I escaped." She said as Charlie pulled her closer. "Why is that? Why are those memories unreachable."
"They won't be for long, you'll remember." Charlie encouraged.
"You don't know the future Charlie." She said pulling away and rolling her eyes.
"Maybe not, but I know you… and how strong you are. You can do anything you set your mind to, you can remember." He said brushing his thumb across her cheek.
She leaned in and kissed him and whispered the only thing that mattered to her in that moment into his ear. "I'm just glad to have remembered you." She kissed him again.
I hope you all loved it! It's been so long, but at least it is a bit longer than usual. Thanks for reading and the lovely reviews that I got, you guys are the greatest! Hopefully I'll be back soon with another update, I'll do my best to make it quick. Review if you love my story!