He sits there. But he doesn't believe it. He doesn't believe they really are doing this. All these years they dreamed about escaping. He dreamed about being far away from this Island. But here he is, sitting in a plane and waiting for something. They'll crash or run out of fuel or those flashes will carry them back again or something else will happen that he can't even imagine now. He is ready to believe in many different events except one, escaping. But their flight keeps going without surprises. He can see cities down there. And he has dared to start believing and hoping.

There is no reason to stay here. He said that once on the beach. And that was true. But he didn't say that there was no place in the whole world where it'd be worth it for him to stay. There was no place then and there is no place now. The Island became for him both heaven and hell. Here he found friends, family, and love. But it was also here where he has lost it all. Those words became true again. There is no reason to stay here.

So he is flying somewhere; he doesn't know where. It isn't important. All that he needs to know is that he is flying away from the Island. Down there he didn't think he just kept moving, fighting, saving. He did all of is because it was necessary, not only for his friends but mainly for himself. It kept him busy. It kept him from thinking, feeling and remembering because otherwise he'd stop. And if he stopped he could never start acting again.

Why does he do this? Why doesn't he stop? Why does he try to survive again? He doesn't know the answer. Probably no one from them knows the right answer. All of them are people beaten by fate, people who have lost all, but again people who keep struggling for survival. And they sit here and try to realize what the hell happened with them and how should they live further.

…

"Ladies and gentlemen, our plain is going to land. Please fasten your seatbelts." Those words belong to the pilot. And he chuckles wistfully. These words are so ordinary and may be he even doesn't give pay attention to them in that previous life but now they are almost absurd in their normalcy. And he very well knows that this feeling isn't going to go away soon. Now he so deeply understands what Hanks' character should be feeling, with this entire life flowing past you so normally so quietly and so ignorant of your problems and wounds. The only difference is that he isn't alone. His friends are with him. They feel the same way. So he can be himself with them. He can live without lie and secrets. He can talk …

Richard. The man whose whole life was about the Island has to adapt to a new world and begin again.

Kate and Clair. Two women so desperately holding onto each other, friend for friend, because of their fear of the future. Nevertheless he is sure they are ready to accept it. And he envies them because even with all they have lost they have a goal. It is their light at the end of the tunnel. Aaron. And he envies them.

Miles. His friend who was with him all these years is very much like him. They both lied and stole money. They both had no place to call home. They both were left on the Island. They both traveled in time. They both got their first legitimate job in Dharmaville. And finally they both lost their family, except Miles lost his father, instead of a wife. So Miles is able to understand him better than others. And may be the only one he'd be willing to see in the near future.

…

They leave the plane. Now is the beginning of their new life. One more beginning and again it starts with a huge lie. They have to lie about themselves and about friends left behind and about the place where they spent 3 years, the happiest 3 years of his life. And main problem is that all of his new beginnings had started like this.

When they crashed on island he called himself Sawyer, predator without morality who tried his best to be killed. Only a few people were interested enough to see through his mask, to know the real him and to show him what kind of man he could be.

When he became a Dharma member he called himself LaFleur, brave ship Captain who was ready to risk his life for friends' sake. Only a few people knew the truth. And they not only lived in this lie but they made it real.

Now, the man who left the plane was James Ford, not some mask, just him, for real. Unfortunately he knows that it can be only for today. Tomorrow he will be somebody else. Tomorrow their lie will be born Tomorrow they will pretend to be happy.

But that will happen only tomorrow and today he can think about his life and about people who aren't here anymore to transform lie in a real life.

…

"We are working on your papers and you can yet rest in your rooms if you want. Don't worry. This nightmare is going to be over. Soon you will be home." What a nasty trick it is. This life is a nightmare. Friends' deaths are a nightmare. But that life definitely wasn't a nightmare. It was fate's gift to him. And he is ready to give all that he can to get it back. Unfortunately it's impossible and there are no documents or money to change it.

Tomorrow he will pretend to be all right basically to support the women. But today he is going to drink and hope that wine will be enough to forget what happened. He doesn't know when Miles joins him with another bottle. They don't talk; they don't even look at each other; they just sit there and drink. And he can nearly imagine that they are home and within few seconds Jin and Juliet will return from the kitchen with plates full of fish. And they will be together again. And then everything will be alright.