This is set in season six. Ben and Kate have a conversation about their experiences on the island. I own nothing just having some fun and getting some random ideas out of my head. Please review.

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Kate sat on the beach that was her home for a time and stared out into the water. Even after three years it still held that same blue color. Being back here after three years back home was difficult for her and she missed Aaron a lot but knew that giving him to Claire's mom was the best decision she could make. Even if her arm was bent through Ben's manipulations.

She heard footsteps in the sand coming closer to her. His shadow was unmistakable as he approached. "Have a seat Ben." Kate offered when he stood there for a minute.

"Thank you."

"Strange being back here again."

Ben wasn't used to being spoken to in such a friendly way by those of the camp. "I wouldn't know. I've lived here most of my life."

"I know. I knew you as a kid. Briefly mind you. Most of us were in the past with the Dharma crowd." She drew circles in the sand with her fingers.

He had many questions for her but only one kept coming into his head. "How did Juliet do back then? I don't remember her."

Kate looked up and let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "She was fine." Her voice was quiet and tears began to form.

"Then why are you crying?"

"So was Sawyer." She whispered it and he didn't have to ask why she mentioned him.

It pained him that Juliet was with another man again but he realized that if he didn't try to hold onto her so obsessively then she may still be alive. "It's my fault Juliet and Alex are dead."

Kate would have been angry if he was trying to get sympathy but he was stating a fact and wanted someone else to hear his remorse. He sounded defeated. "No it wasn't. Charles Widmore's man killed your daughter and Juliet sacrificed her life to save the rest of us. That monster that has been stealing faces had manipulated and scared all of us at one point or another. Some longer than others."

Ben looked at Kate in surprise. "I'm sorry I put everyone through so much hell."

If she heard him say that three years ago she would have tried to kill him. But she knew that he had been through just as much as anyone else if not more. His whole life was a lie and now he had nothing. "From the look of your face it seems you've been through worse than that."

"I've earned it."

They sat there in silence for about ten minutes before Kate spoke again. "There's something you need to know. When everyone was in your past working with the Dharma crowd we saw you and believe me didn't know what to think. You were this quiet little boy so emotionally beaten up by your father. It was hard to imagine that was you.

"You helped someone, Sayid, escape and asked him to take him to the hostiles because you hated living with the Dharma people. He shot you in an attempt to kill you. To change the future. We helped you. Juliet was by your side the whole time keeping you alive. Jack wouldn't help you for a second time so we took you to the Hostiles. Richard took you and that was the last we saw of you."

Ben stared out straight, his mouth partly opened trying to take everything she said in. "I don't remember any of that."

"Richard said you wouldn't remember a thing." She looked down at the circles she made and began to form squares. "I am so sorry Ben. If we were not there your life may have been very different."

"No one is to blame for anything it seems. Jacob and the monster have been playing with everyone on this island for years. We're just too damaged to see the strings attached to our arms and legs as they made us dance." Ben stood up and dusted the sand from his pants. He walked away leaving Kate with her thoughts.

After he left she looked out to the water again. "And they still are."