Title: Remembering
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Jack gets back to the island in S5, he can't remember the past three years. The last memory he has is getting on Flight 815. Now he has a chance to start over and how will he react? Who will help him along the way? One guess. ;)
A/N: This is for everyone who wanted a Jate reset fic. There aren't very many out there and I know this isn't exactly the same kind of reset, but I hope it works. :) Spoilers for "316" and most season 5 episodes after that.

I got the idea for this story while waiting for season 5 to come out on DVD. I hadn't watched the new season yet and before I could, I read some spoilers (I couldn't help myself). When I learned that the people who stayed on the Island went back to the Dharma age, I assumed they had lost their memories of the present (or future, for the people of 1974). Of course, that didn't really happen, but I still thought it was a cool idea. So instead, I made a story about it, except now Jack is the one who forgets.

I'm really sorry I took such a long time to upload this, since I've been talking about it for so long, but the first chapter was really difficult to write. Hopefully it will get easier, but I can't promise that I'll have the next chapter up right away. Also, I'm not sure if this was what everyone was expecting - I hope you like it even if it isn't what you originally thought. And if you'd like me to write another chapter, please review and let me know. I'm going to try a poll at the end of this chapter, so tell me what you'd like to see happen. Thanks. :)

Chapter 1: Arrival

All the things you said to me
And every lie that I believed,
I can't erase the memory.
I remember.
~ Shiloh, I Remember

The first thing Jack saw when he opened his eyes was green. At first he thought someone was playing a trick on him, because what he was seeing didn't make sense. Then, as his eyes slowly began to adjust, his mouth fell open at the sight in front of him.

Trees, high above his head, were swaying in the slight breeze. He could hear the sound of birds in the distance and he thought he smelled the ocean.

A strong feeling of confusion engulfed him and he stood up in panic. He noticed he was clutching something in his hand and saw it was a scrap of paper. The words that were written on it didn't make any sense, but before he could puzzle over it any longer, he heard a familiar sound. Someone was calling for help.

The doctor in him took over and in an instant he was on his feet, running through the jungle. Almost as if it was second nature to him.

As Jack ran, the piece of paper fluttered to the ground. The words I wish clearly visible on it, along with his name.

Pushing through the dense foliage, he followed the shouts until he reached a clearing. A stream was running through it and he paused for a moment to listen.

The cry for help came again and he could tell it was coming from downstream. He followed the river until it came to a cliff. Peering down past the flow of water, he could see someone floating in the pool at the bottom.

"Help!" the person, a male, shouted once more. Jack didn't hesitate. He jumped down the waterfall, landing headfirst in the murky lake. He sank deeper, then began swimming towards the surface and soon his head was above the water.

Finally, when Jack was close enough to see who had been calling for help, he almost swam straight into a guitar case. Quickly angling out of the way, he saw a large man with curly brown hair who was struggling to stay afloat.

He reached out and grabbed onto the man, trying to keep his head from slipping underwater. "It's okay. You're okay. Relax." Years of working with patients had taught Jack to act reassuring and calm, even when he didn't feel that way himself. Tuning out the man's panicked exclamations, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Then he felt his feet connect with something underneath him and he realized that the lake was much shallower than it appeared. "We can stand."

"What?" The other man looked at Jack with a shocked expression.

"We can stand," he repeated.

The man seemed skeptical, but he kicked down anyway and Jack knew he was relieved when he felt solid ground beneath him. "Oh. Oh, my god. It really happened," he said.

"What?" Jack didn't know what he meant. Suddenly the big man stared past Jack and his face fell. "What?" Jack demanded as he turned around to see what the man was looking at. He saw a woman with long brown hair lying on a pile of rocks, and she appeared to be unconscious.

He began wading through the water, feeling inexplicably drawn towards her. "Are you okay?" he asked, climbing onto the stones so that he could reach the woman. She didn't answer, but he hadn't been expecting her to. She continued to lie, unmoving, on the rocks.

Just as he bent down to begin performing CPR, she gasped and sat up, knocking her head against his. "Ah!" she exclaimed in a voice that was capable of sounding soft and caring, or hardened and defensive at the same time. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he had the feeling that he'd met her before.

In fact, when she looked at him with her deep brown eyes, he knew that she was not a stranger to him. But then she blinked and the familiarity was gone.

"Are you okay?" he asked to distract himself, his own head beginning to throb. She rubbed her forehead and grimaced, then she seemed to realize for the first time where they were.

"Are we..." she trailed off, waiting for him to finish the sentence. But he wasn't sure what she wanted him to say.

"I don't know where we are. I just woke up in the jungle here." Her eyes squinted in confusion and he was unnerved by the way she was staring at him.

"We're on the Island, aren't we?" she asked.

"What island? What do you mean?" Jack was beginning to wonder if this woman was crazy. She obviously expected him to understand what was happening, except he felt nothing but confusion. Who was this woman, and the man standing in the water behind them? What island was she talking about? And why did he feel such a strange sense of déjà vu?

"You're the one who convinced me to come back here, Jack. So don't start playing games with me now," the woman snapped at him. He reeled back in shock. How did she know his name? "Jack? Why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong?"

"Who are you?" he shouted, frustration filling his voice. "And how do you know who I am?"

She glared at him, eyes narrowed in anger. They sat that way for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes, until she realized that he was serious. Then her face fell and all the anger drained away.

"You really don't know who I am, do you?" She sounded so defeated that his heart nearly broke, but he didn't want to lie to this woman. For some reason, he knew it would be a bad idea.

He paused, taking a moment to study her carefully. Wearing a purple jacket and black pants, he could almost picture her in a dirty white shirt and faded jeans - it didn't seem right for her to be wearing such fancy clothes. She seemed so familiar, but at the same time he was sure he'd never met her before.

"No. I have no idea who you are."

Kate's heart sunk when Jack continued to look at her, perplexed but trying not to show it. He was acting so polite, as if they were strangers meeting for the first time, and she didn't understand what was going on.

Does Jack really not remember me? she asked herself. Judging by his reaction when she'd used his name, the answer was no. She wasn't sure how it had happened, didn't even think it was possible, but it was clear that Jack thought they'd never met before.

Okay, so what am I supposed to do about that? Her first thought was to play along, but it was a little too late for that. Why did this have to happen to me? He finally convinces me to come back and this is what I get?

But Kate wasn't about to let herself sink into misery. This wasn't about her. If I'm upset, think about how Jack must be feeling right now, she realized. She knew what it felt like to be confused and left out, and no matter how bad things had gotten between them off the Island, Kate didn't want Jack to feel like she once had. Then she got an idea.

This was her chance to start again with Jack. Every bad thing from their relationship appeared to be erased from his mind, so she could finally change things. And although it wasn't perfect, she hoped that a second chance would be just what they both needed. But before they could start any kind of relationship, Jack needed to know who she was.

"Well, I'm Kate," she told him kindly, sticking out her hand and expecting him to shake it. Instead, he just stared at her like she was nuts.

"Okay...Kate. How is it that you know my name, but I don't know you? And where exactly are we?" She knew that he was getting frustrated – he didn't like it when he couldn't understand something.

"I know your name, Jack, because I've known you for the past three years of my life." Kate realized that she was being very blunt, but before she could say another word, Jack jumped up.

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't know you, but you know me? Have you been stalking me or something?"

It hurt Kate to know that Jack would accuse her of something like that, but he wasn't himself at the moment, so she let it slide.

Of course, Hurley chose that moment to interrupt their conversation. "What are you guys doing? It's great that you're back together and everything, but shouldn't we be looking for the rest of the people from the plane?"

Kate nearly groaned in frustration. She'd been hoping to ease into the topic of the plane crash, and hopefully avoid talking about her relationship with Jack until he had a better idea of what was going on. But now that plan wasn't going to work either.

She could already see Jack getting worked up again. The first thing to do was calm him down. "Wha – " he began, but Kate cut him off.

"This is Hurley, Jack," she explained quickly. "You don't remember, but he's your friend too." That did nothing to ease Jack's confusion, however.

"What does he mean 'back together'? We're not in a relationship. There's no way I would date a woman who's stalking me! And what was that about a plane?"

Hurley was now staring at Kate blankly as well, obviously frightened by the actions of their friend. He mouthed the word 'stalking' at her, and she shrugged her shoulders. She didn't need to explain this to Hurley now too. There would be time to fill him in later, but Kate was beginning to worry that Jack would storm off into the jungle if she didn't clear some things up soon.

She opened her mouth, attempting to explain about the first plane crash, when suddenly she heard music coming from the jungle. All three of them turned their heads in that direction, just in time to see a new-looking Dharma van driving past the trees.

"Dude..." Hurley whispered.

As the driver stepped out, wearing a Dharma jumpsuit, Kate wondered how she could possibly explain this to Jack. Then the driver pointed his gun at the three of them, pausing only when Hurley said the one word that would make things much more confusing for everyone.

"Jin?"

Well, there you go. I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. So what should I do for the next one?

a) Jack demands an explanation before he allows Jin to take them anywhere.

b) Jin drags Jack, Kate and Hurley off to meet Sawyer.

c) Kate attempts to clarify some things for Jack, but he reacts badly and stomps off.

d) Jack finds a bottle of pills in his pocket and wonders what happened to him in the past three years.

Please review and tell me your opinion. I'd love to hear about any comments or criticisms. Thanks. :)