Being released from the Other's camp had brought an extraordinary change to Sawyer, Jack and Kate. For one, they appreciated their not-so-perfect lives that they lived on the island. Although it wasn't their ideal setting, it was home, and they had friends that cared for them. For Kate and Sawyer, it was something they hadn't experienced in a long time.

Jack had come back with a soon-to-be revealed secret. Claire was his baby sister. Of course, they'd both been shocked, but after she had stood before him repeating the word "Seriously?" about a thousand times, she had embraced the idea of Jack being her elder brother.

With no other interfearance from the Others, and a lack of people being sick or injured, Jack found himself suddenly at a loss of things to do. There was simply nothing that needed done, and even finding something to do was proving useless at passing the time. He wished that, like Kate, he could simply go off for a walk in the jungle, but knowing his luck, he'd only get two metres before someone got hurt. The idea was tempting, for something to do, but as a doctor, he couldn't enfore the risk of someones safety just because he was bored.

As he trailed along the beach, dragging his feet slightly in hopes that his walk would take even the extra second longer, he scanned the beach in hopes of curing his boredom. Everyone seemed to be perfectly happy with themselves, without his presence, but when he saw a particular person walking along in the opposite direction to what he was, he had to meander slightly so that their courses could clash.

Kate was holding the eleven-week-old baby Aaron against her chest, walking down the beach with her eyes only on him. As she trudged along on the uneven sand, she was bringing herself unknowingly closer to Jack.

As he got closer, Jack realised that she was genuinely happy. Sure, he had seen her with a grin on her face so often since they had returned, but this time, with Aaron in her arms, there was a satisfaction in her smile. She talked away to the baby, who made happy gargling sounds back at her, watching her face intently as he propped himself up with is arms on her shoulder. At eleven weeks old, he was already proving to be a charmer, happy to take any attention that the females of the island would lavish onto him. Jack laughed, as he realised that Aaron's gargling responses to Kate's ramblings seemed almost to form a conversation.

"Hey." He said with a smile, when she stopped right in front of him.

It wasn't until she was two feet away from him that she'd actually realised he was there, so her bright smile was, on impulse, shining even more so with the surprise laced into it. "Hey." She replied, before turning her face back down to Aaron. "Look, Aaron, it's Uncle Jack."

Jack put his hand on the top of Aaron's head, causing the little boy to look around. He grinned down at his nephew, who seemed to recognise him and smile even more, gargling at him as he had done at Kate. "Hey, little man." He smiled, returning his attention back to Kate. "How are you, Kate?"

"I'm great." She nodded.

"Good to hear." He smiled politely.

She looked at him curiously. "So, what brings you here?" She asked. "You look like you don't know what to do with yourself." She joked.

He shrugged, almost amused that she'd noticed the difference of him not having anything to do. "Bored." He said simply with a sigh. He hoped that she'd have some kind of relief for his boredom, it was driving him crazy.

The look of clear shock braced her face as she looked up at him. "You mean, you're not busy?" She asked carefully, looking around as she did so to make sure that she wasn't jinxing the situation and someone would ruin it as soon as she spoke.

He smiled. "Not at all."

She laughed, satisfied that there was no one to break the fact that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'm busy and you're not."

Jack smirked at her. "You're hardly 'busy', Kate." He pointed out to her, notioning to where his nephew was sitting in her arms, more than happy with himself listening to them speak.

She gave him a very proud look, hoisting Aaron further up on her hip. "Babysitting is a very hard, yet fulfilling job." She said firmly to him.

He laughed. "Because carrying a baby around all day, fussing over him and making him smile is such hard work." He teased her.

She broke her seriousness, and smirked back at him. "I never said it wasn't a fun job."

"Besides," He added, looking at her curiously. "Is there a reason why he's with Auntie Kate instead of Uncle Jack?" He asked. Even when he was busy, he loved to spend time with his nephew.

"Because Auntie Kate got there first." She grinned teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him when he gave her an unfair look. She walked away from him to find a spot to sit in the sand, and turned on her back as she did so. "Well, seeing as you're bored, you can help me keep him happy until Claire comes back." She offered, sitting herself down where she stood on the sand and patting the sand beside her.

He gratefully took up her offer, glad that he had found something to do and that it had been with his nephew and Kate. "Where is she?" He asked casually.

"Her and Charlie went for a 'walk'." Kate said, raising her eyebrows on the last work.

"A 'walk'?" Jack repeated curiously.

Kate nodded. "I didn't believe her either."

Rather than jump to being protective of his little sister going off for walks in the jungle with Charlie, he smiled. "I think it's sweet that those two have found love here...of all places." He commented.

"They both deserve it." Kate agreed, moving Aaron so that he was sitting in her lap, rather that still on her hip. "Who knows, Aaron might have a good daddy after all."

Jack nodded, and winced. "I take it you heard about Thomas too."

Kate nodded, and he saw a flash of the angry Kate behind her eyes. "Yeah...jerk." Jack smirked, knowing that this was the moment where all women agreed on the same thing. "What kind of self-respecting man deserts his baby and it's mother?" She asked aloud, but didn't wait for an answer. "If a guy ever did that to me I'd make him suffer sooooo much." She said maliciously.

"If ever get my hands on that guy..." Jack added visciously as he thought about what his hands might 'accidently' do were he to ever meet Thomas.

Kate suddenly lost her anger, and laughed at him again. "Oh, protective big brother." She said teasingly.

"I'd do it for anyone." He told her defensively. "No girl deserves that kind of treatment."

"Even for me?" She asked curiously.

He looked at her, giving her a genuine smile. "Kate, you know I would." He told her, speaking softly so that she knew that he meant it.

Kate smiled, turning her attention back to Aaron and grabbing his hand in her own, letting him play with her fingers so that he would stop attempting to put his sand-covered fingers back into his mouth. Feeling Jack's eyes on her, she turned to him again.

"What?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing." He said quickly. "I just...nothing."

Jack smiled. "Ever since we got back from the other side of the island, you've just been really happy, and it's good to see you that way."

She smiled at him. He was right, she had been a lot happier since they'd returned. It was something of a miracle that they'd all survived three gruelling weeks on the other side of the island, let alone that they'd all come back in a reasonable condition. A few cuts and bruises aside, they'd been absolutely fine.

Of course, there were other reasons she was happy, and they involved the companionship and care of the doctor sitting beside her. Only, she couldn't tell him that.

"Maybe I'm just happy to be alive." She shrugged happily.

"Ah, see I'd agree with you," He said playfully, "but there have been some other signs as well."

"Signs, huh?" She asked curiously, playing along with whatever game he'd decided to play with her.

"Well, as a doctor, I notice these things." He said, bragging slightly about his medical capability, but it was all in the spirit of laughter.

"What things?" She asked, inwardly spreading with a warmth that came from knowing he had been thinking about her.

"Well, there's the walking along along the shore singing to yourself, when you think nobody can hear." He started, watching her blush as he caught her out on the first one. "And then singing in the shower when you think the door is soundproof." If possible, she blushed even harder. "Not to mention that smile I always see you with, and the fact that you're more content to stay here on the beach rather than go off proving yourself in the jungle. Oh, and don't forget you're not outcasting yourself anymore." He added, feeling he should make that one very clear to her. "And then Claire mentioned to me that you were having a rather good time eating guavas yesterday."

He raised his eyebrows at her on the last one, remembering the time that he had given her the guava seeds as an apology, and inwardly hoped that this sudden fascination with her food had come from his introduction to it.

She fought down her blushes, and composed herself from where she had been smiling as she bit her lip. "And what's your diagnosis, doctor?" She asked casually.

He locked eyes with her, making sure that he had whatever power he had over her, before declaring simply. "You're in love."

She looked slightly shocked, and for a moment, he noticed that she seemed to want to cover something up, and knew that he had caught her out. Still though, he continued to play the game.

"You think I'm in love?" She asked incredulously after a moment.

"No." He said, shaking his head. "I KNOW you're in love." He grinned.

Kate raised an eyebrow at him. "And who am I in love with, good doctor?"

Jack screwed up his face, faking the expression of thinking hard. She didn't think he needed to though, he always seemed to be thinking of something. "See, thats where it gets a bit hazy." He teased. "I have my suspicions, though."

It wasn't until this moment that either of them realised how they had been inching closer and closer together. Any closer, and they'd be able to feel each others breath on their cheeks. In fact, had they not been so mesmerised by each other, they might have noticed Hurley, and now-returned, Charlie and Claire, watching them intently.

"You're in love with me." Jack revealed.

Kate gave him a smile, trying not to give away that he had come to exactly the right conclusion. She was in love with him.

"You?" She questioned.

"Me." Jack nodded, their noses touching briefly, brushing against each other. "You're in love with me. Madly in love."

"That's an interesting theory." She said, slightly more breathlessly than she'd hoped it would come out.

"If you like the theory, you'll love the prescription." He teased her.

"Oh, so there's a cure?" She asked curiously.

He seemed to 'umm' and 'aah' about this one. "Not so much a cure, but a way to ease the pain."

She smirked at him, knowing that his eyes were darting down to her lips every few seconds. "Who says there's any pain?" She asked him playfully.

"I know there's pain." He said with a grin. "Because you're hovering about an inch from my lips, just begging to kiss me, but you're too proud to give in to what you really want."

With that, Kate leaned in, at the same time as Jack pulled back, teasing her, and then got to his feet.

"Hey!" She protested, realising that he'd been teasing her the whole time to find out whether she loved him.

"It's been a great afternoon, Kate, but I've got to go see the froghurt guy and..."

"Oh no, you don't, Jack Shephard!" She said hotly, slightly annoyed at him. "You sit your ass down right this second and kiss me, damnit!"

He laughed at her angry expression, but still kneeled down where he had been standing previously, and cupped her face in his hands. They became so lost in the kiss that they didn't hear the whoops and cheers from behind him.

When they pulled away, Kate opened her eyes and looked quite satisdied. "Good, much better." She nodded. "You can go see the froghurt guy now." She said, dismissing Jack as she turned her head to watch Aaron instead.

This time, it was Jack's turn to look like the world hated him. "Are you kidding?" He half laughed. "I'm not going anywhere."