Chapter 1

The sea was agitated. The waves furiously crashed against the rocks. Far away, it could be seen Lock's boat. Sawyer and Kate looked at the horizon, analyzing how they would get there. Kate was in shock. She simply couldn't understand the fact that she had already said goodbye to the love of her life. Since she met him, most of her decisions were made based on what Jack had planned. And this time, it was happening again. His last wish was to ask her to leave, taking Claire to the plane. But Kate knew that this wasn't his only intention.

Actually, he really cared about her purpose in reunite Claire and Aaron; besides, he had brought up Aaron along with Kate and he knew she considered the boy as her son. Indeed, all he wanted was to save her. Nevertheless, maybe Jack couldn't imagine that, for Kate, leaving the island without him would be like dying inside. It was exactly what Kate was feeling at this moment; she felt that her life had ended when she kissed Jack for the last time at the cliff. The pain of seeing him turning around towards his fatal destiny was so intense that her mind seemed to blockade that memory.

Therefore, without thinking, Kate dived into the sea, jumping from the heights without worrying if her body would hit against the rocks or if the water had a cold temperature. Sawyer was flabbergasted as he watched her completely carelessness attitude, but when he noticed that nothing wrong had happened to her, he decided to do the same. They had no time, soon Lapidus would take off.

After swimming through some stretch, struggling against the aggressive sea, they reached the boat and walked immediately towards the beach. When they arrived there, Claire was sat on the sand. In a hurry, Kate approached; she got on her knees in front of the blond to argue with her in a labored breathing:

-Claire, are you ok?

-Come on, we gotta go, come on! – Sawyer said in a hush.

-Claire, come on, please!

-I can't!

-Why?

-Look at me! This island made me crazy. I don't…I don't Aaron to see me like this. I don't, I don't even know how to be a mother anymore.

-Listen to me, none of us does, at least, not at first but you're not alone. Let me help you. Now, come on. Let's go.

When they heard the engine of the plane, they ran towards it, waving their arms to sign Lapidus their presence. In a good luck, they had been seen and the doorway of the plane was open. Claire was the first to climb; the next one would be Kate. Then, in a split second, Kate had an insight. Richard and Miles were stretching their arms to help her to climb but all that Kate did was to say to Claire:

-Aaron is waiting for you along with your mother. You can do it!

And then, she looked at Sawyer and quickly said:

-42 Panorama Crest. That's my address. Aaron and Mrs. Littleton are waiting. Take Claire there.

-Kate! What...

-Goodbye Sawyer.

Richard and Miles helped James to enter, but when he stretched his arms to take Kate at any cost, the freckles had given some steps back, intentionally pulling away.

-Kate! Come back here!

The men hold a vexed Sawyer and closed the cabin door. The blond man couldn't conform at that craziness she had done.

-Lapidus, hey, don't take off, we have to take Kate! Wait!

-Chief, didn't you understand yet? – Miles shout – She didn't want to be saved!

While she heard the noise of the plane becoming more distant, Kate sank her feet in the sand, walking in a hurry. She seemed aloof at her insane act. However, she wasn't lost; her mind was following her willing to look for Jack, wherever he was. How could he think she would be able to leave that island without him? He asked her to get Claire on that plane so she accomplished her promise. With God's help, they would arrive in safe somewhere and soon Claire would finally meet Aaron again. Indeed, Sawyer would take her to her mother and son, after all, when Kate left the island years ago, she did him a favor, now it would be his turn, he owed her this. Despite Claire wasn't psychologically well, Carole would help her daughter to raise her grandchild.

Although she was concerned about Aaron, maybe the best thing to do was letting the situation resolves in family. She would be an intruder there and due to the fact that she had brought up Aaron as her son, he would have problems to accept her real mother if Kate were around. It would be the right thing to do.

Kate went back to the boat and she was doing the same path towards the rocks. She approached the beach and set ashore. She was going to trace Jack's steps. It took few minutes until she found some trails. The three pairs of footmarks on the earth were certainly Ben's, Hurley's and Jack's. Kate was quickly walking; she was tired, her legs was running and almost trembling, but she didn't want to stop. Jack was bleeding; from time to time, she noticed some red drops through some leaves around and it made her even more terrified. The trail ended at the lakeside, where she could see just a small cave at the horizon.

She was crestfallen and looking at the ground, trying to figure out what she had seen. Footmarks of three people were going to the left side of the river but one pair of them didn't match to the ones which she had followed through the path and it were exactly Jack's. Kate was puzzled, were Ben and Hurley accompanied by another third person who probably wasn't Jack? How? That didn't make any sense!

Kate remembered all people who were in the island and when she mentally counted, she realized the footmarks were Desmond's. She frowned in desperate, trying to find out what had happened to Jack, why didn't he leave that place with his friends? She watched the lake and it didn't have sign of any corpse. She turned around, looking at all directions, trying to pay attention in tiny details. She heard the noise of the plane over her head, in the heights. She felt relived because she noticed that her friends had left, but at the same time her face became completely tense when she thought about the possibility of Jack's death and the three men taking him to another place or letting him.

Tears unwillingly streamed down her face while some desperate filled her. She was alone, without clues and she missed the chance to be saved because the love she was feeling was so strong that prevented her to think in a reasonable manner. The exhaustion made a desolate Kate sit down among the river rocks, with her elbows leaned on her knees and with her head buried between her hands, burst in tears.

Minutes later, Kate lifted her face, trying to lean her hand on the rock as she felt some twinge in her recent sewn shoulder. When she moved, she saw some blood drops on the rough surface of the rock. In a hush, she stood up and walked towards the shore, on the right. She barely left the water and she could see some fresh footmarks on the ground. Kate hopefully whispered; they were his! Kate looked like a tracker dog, she walked through the trail in a persistent manner; her breathe was labored but she didn't want to stop unless she fainted.

Kate reached the bamboos field and then she saw an outstretched body on the ground. Her heart accelerated when she saw his blue T-shirt, jeans and black hair.

-Jack!

She ran towards the place, despite she was stumbling around the branches, which were making her path difficult. Kate got down on her knees next to him and realized he was lifeless.

-Jack!

Kate shook his shoulder, trying to awake him, but he didn't move.

-Jack, please, said anything! Jack!

Her voice failed due to her cry, which didn't stop. Kate was softly caressing Jack's hair while she was holding his head in her lap. Maybe it was too late, he didn't answer.