A Final Hello

Charlotte knew she was dying. She no longer had the strength to even stand, and everyone had left her besides Daniel. They knew she was a lost cause, but he refused to accept it. He kept pleading with her to stay with him, that it'd be over soon. She knew he was right, but not in the way he wanted to be. With every time her mind jumped, she was becoming more disoriented. She was reliving things in her childhood that she could barely remember. 'Talk about your life flashing before your eyes when you're dying' she thought sarcastically. She opened her eyes to see Daniel's worried face, and another jump overcame her.

Looking down at her body, she discovered she was reliving another moment in her childhood. She glanced around, and she recognized the houses as belonging to the Dharma Initiative. Excitement filled her body, despite her circumstances. Maybe she could see her father once more before she died.

She was standing alone, and a table caught her attention. Sitting at it were Juliet, Jin, Miles, and Daniel. Daniel was sitting facing away from everyone else, and he looked completely destroyed. Charlotte knew that to them, she was dead. At that moment, she wanted to run over and reassure him that she was still there, still alive. All she wanted was to see him happy again. Seeing him devastated and broken like that caused her heart to break.

"Darling, what are you doing here?" A British voice came from behind her, and Charlotte turned to see her mother. Sadness filled her, knowing that with her mother around there was no way she'd be able to talk to Daniel. "Let's go home" her mom smiled and Charlotte's lack of a response. She walked away, but Charlotte hesitated and looked at Daniel once more.

"Mum, where's dad?" Charlotte asked as she ran to catch up. Even though she couldn't talk to Daniel, she still wanted to see her father.

"Come on, love" Her mother urged her along, and Charlotte ran ahead.

Suddenly, an idea gripped Charlotte. She could still pass along a message, even though he may not understand it immediately. She turned, smiled, and waved happily to Daniel. He was staring at her as if mesmerized by her movements, and she knew that some part of him understood that although he was looking at her as a child, the Charlotte he knew was in her at that moment. As she turned back to her mother, she felt the sensation of her mind jumping pulling at her, and she was quickly brought back to the present.

Daniel stared down at her with unshed tears in her eyes, and Charlotte tried to smile. She knew that this wasn't goodbye, not for him. He would still get one final hello from her.