Title: There Is A Light
Author: Violet Scarlet Lily
Summary: There is a light that never goes out - a thread that connects stories over time. Two stories will entwine until they collide. The woman and the man will learn to live again, and the girl and the boy will search for the people who made them who they are.
Pairings: Sawyer/Kate
Note: This fic tells two stories that will connect and get closer as the fic goes on. Sawyer and Kate's story begins on the Ajira flight home, as seen in The End. The other story (I'm not going to spoil anything yet :) ) takes place about fifteen years after Sawyer and Kate's.
Rating: PG-13 for mild language, intense thematic material, and implied suggestive content.
The funny thing is that they're on a plane again. Not sitting together. At least, not at first.
She sits with Claire, and he watches her, how she waits until Claire falls asleep, how she holds her hand. He pretends he's not watching her.
When Claire falls asleep, she comes and sits next to him.
No words. They never really needed them anyways. She puts her hand on top of his. Doesn't even look at him. She can't. He knows how it is, how he couldn't look at her when Juliet died. She's losing Jack. So he doesn't look at her either. But he turns his hand so the palm is facing up, and entwines his fingers with hers.
When she falls asleep, he pulls her on to his lap. Wraps his arms around her like he used to.
And he's surprised when he realizes the scent of her is just as intoxicating as it was three years ago.
She hasn't changed much - but at the same time she's changed completely. She's less of a girl and more of a woman. Her edges are softer. There's a little furrow between her eyebrows, even when she's sleeping. He wants to kiss it away - he pushes that thought away. Tries to think of Juliet instead.
But he runs his fingers down Kate's arm. Strokes her hair. Holds her so close. Maybe if he can hold her right enough, he can keep her.
Maybe she's done with running.
But then he thinks of what Jack said - "I had her and I lost her."
He almost laughs when he realizes what a fool he is for thinking someone like Jack could tame her.
He wonders what kind of future she has waiting for her, and he almost lets himself wonder if he could have a part in it.
Eventually he falls asleep too, but not before pressing a few soft kisses on her temple.
She wakes up before he does, surprised by a feeling of safety she hasn't felt in three years. It takes a while for her to register his arms around her. But she doesn't lift her head from his shoulder. She's afraid that if she moves he'll disappear - that everything will shatter in the way they always shattered for them. That if she moves the slightest bit, everything will fade away. Maybe they'll land in LAX and pretend this moment never happened - and then it will be like it never happened. If he pretends, the memory will be gone for her too.
Don't leave me here alone.
The best kind of "I love you" she can offer.
The young blonde woman is sitting in her car, staring at the envelope with a plane ticket in it. There's a rumor that he ended up in Montreal, and she's finally going to look for him.
She's waited her whole life for this. She's waited to find him.
A trip to the airport bar wouldn't do her any harm though – a little something to calm her nerves. She doesn't know why, but she's never been a good flyer.
She sits down, orders a gin and tonic. There's a man on the other side of the bar, staring at her. She flashes him a dimpled smile, flips her wavy hair over her shoulder.
It only takes a few minutes for him to move so that he's sitting next to her.
"Hey," he says, smiling a little.
His smile is oddly comforting – steady blue eyes, a certain slowness about his smile. Almost uncanny in the way that it grows on his face, taking so long to develop.
"Hey," she says, sipping her drink.
"You look lonely."
"I can take care of myself," she snaps.
"Never said you couldn't. Just saying you look like you could use some company. You arriving or departing?"
"Departing," she says.
"Me too. Where are you going?"
"Canada. Montreal."
He stares at her.
"Really?"
"No. I'm flying to Bali, actually," she says sarcastically, "Yes, I'm going to Montreal."
"That's a coincidence," the man says.
"Why?"
"I'm going to Montreal too. Why are you going?"
"Looking for somebody."
"Me too."
"In Montreal?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. A woman."
"Too bad," she says, smirking.
"Oh, no. Not like that."
"Sure," she says, rolling her eyes.
"She'd be too old for me anyways. Who are you looking for?"
"A man."
"Your boyfriend?"
She laughs, and shakes her head.
"No. My father."
Silence falls over them for a few minutes, and then there comes an announcement that it's time for their flight to board. They stand.
"Wait," he says, grabbing her arm.
"What?"
"What's your name?"
"Clementine. Clementine Phillips."
Please leave a review and tell me what you think! And who do you think the man talking to Clementine is?