Missing Dimples

Hello! I've just got into LOST, and now I am totally and helplessly obsessed with it, and a certain Southerner with the cutest dimples in the world. Anyway, I have only seen the 1st series, but I know basically what happened, so please forgive me if it is slightly different, although this is AU.

I have an idea for this story, but for it to work, it has to be AU, 'cause what happens with the raft is different. And, he is a bit nicer to the characters. I'm sorry, but I love Sawyer and Sayid friendship fics! Sawyer doesn't really show up until much later in the fic, though I mention him quite a lot. I usually don't like Jack, but he isn't put in a bad light in this or anything. If I didn't hate him so much for being Sawyer's arch nemesis rival, I might think he was an okay kind of guy! I really like this story, even though it is angsty and sad. It gives me chills, and a giddy laugh to think about it!

This will be a Skate (Sawyer and Kate) fic, though Kate will be jealous. It will seem Sana (Sawyer and Ana), but it will end up being Skate. There has to be some Jate (Kate and Jack), but it won't last. There is the slightest mention of ConMama (Sawyer and Claire), though if you blink, you may miss it.

SUMMARY: Kate muses on the effect Sawyer's absence on the island has on the different people. When he comes back, she finds out that he has moved on, and she feels jealous. Kate's POV, though in 3rd person. Details on how the raft went wrong...SKATE!

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST, 'cause if I did, I would do what pretty much every fan wants to do. Bring Ana back to life, and my personal pic, bring back Boone and tone down Sawyer being an ass. I don't know much about medical stuff, so if any of my info is wrong, please forgive me, and take it as creative license to add suspense to the story.

I hope you enjoy this, and what my twisted mind has to say about, "What if the raft...?"

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Kate sat on the beach, watching rays of golden sunlight filter across the calm blue waters as the sun sank down. The raft had left hours ago, but she couldn't help but watch their hope sail away. She hadn't made it to say goodbye to the survivors going on the raft, tell them good luck and all of that mush. From what she learned, most people hadn't really said goodbye, fearing they would jinx the trip, or never see the person again. And as much as the people denied it, they would miss each other if they ever got off the island. They would miss the petty fights, and even the comebacks Sawyer spit out.

Her mind wandered back to Sawyer, as she sat with her legs drawn up to her chest. For some reason, his absence made her feel cold inside. No one to lightly flirt with to take away the tension. Jack was busy helping calm everyone else down about the coming of The Others. They had gone to the ship to get dynamite, only to have it blow up the ship, nearly losing their lives in the process. People were starting to panic, having nowhere to go now that the Hatch idea was scratched. The survivors voted to go back to the beach, away from the trees and The Others' territory. So now, people were settling into their makeshift beds, trying to sleep, while most of them kept a wary watch on the jungle.

She started thinking about Sawyer's flirtatious behavior, how he always had a cute nickname for her at the ready. How if she flirted back, his smile would deepen, his dimples standing out on his gruff face.

Along the shore line, Aaron's cries pierced the otherwise quiet evening. Glancing over, Kate saw Claire hopelessly holding her baby, trying everything in her power to shut him up. Even from the distance, Kate could tell Claire was crying from exhaustion and frustration. The cloud of black smoke from deep in the jungle only made Claire look out to the ocean, wishing for the voice of the only person to calm the baby. The southern drawl that women cooed over, and the only person who could make the baby stop crying, even laugh and fall asleep. Even when he was the only one on the island who insulted him. He had been willing, though, to read to the baby. After the first time Charlie had made him read, whenever Claire had problems with the baby, Sawyer would come over to help, or Claire would seek him out herself, with the ever-present Charlie in tow.

Kate could tell she wasn't the only one missing Sawyer. Sayid had been unusually quiet, even for him, probably because his sparring partner had sailed away. Jack and Locke didn't seem fazed, although you could never tell with those enigmas. Many of the people here were enigmas in their own way. Sawyer had abandoned them at the same time rescuing them. Ironic twist, of a man that had only cared for himself most of his life. But the people here had started seeing past his act, into the 'real Sawyer', or whatever his name really was. They couldn't think why Sawyer wanted to be hated and hurt, and only Kate had the slightest clue as to why, even though she was hazy with the facts. They started seeing he did care. The talks he had with Claire, or the casual walks with Sayid. Sure, he would insult them at times, but it always seemed to be light and teasing, instead of trying to be mean. Kate couldn't think how Sawyer could go from hating the man who had tortured him, to talking and walking with him on the beach. People started seeing he did care, and maybe he didn't go on the raft for only selfish reasons.

The baby finally stopped crying, and Kate started to drift asleep with the comforting knowledge that Sayid, Jack, Locke, Hurley, and even if less comforting, Charlie were keeping watch. Her eyelids drooped, when she heard a far away explosion. Her eyes snapped open, scanning the ocean that she thought it had come from. On the horizon, a blaze of red and yellow fire tickled the night sky. She cocked her head to her side, her mind racing. What was that? Had that been the raft? She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong. She glanced over her shoulder, but the patrols and sleeping people had not seen or heard it. A cool wind suddenly picked up from out of the woods, and she heard the infamous whispers Sayid had said he had heard. It seemed like many people were whispering at once, but one clear voice echoed over the rest. 'We have taken him. The baby boy was not what we seek...'

Her head snapped around, but no one had seemed to hear that. She turned back to the water, but the fire on the horizon wasn't there anymore, leaving her feeling as if she was hallucinating. Either that or she was dreaming.

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Kate's knees were banged with something hard, as she was jolted awake. She had rolled over to sleep on her side sometime in the night, her arms still grasping her knees. She woke up, fully alert, and took in the sight.

The air smelt of burnt wood, though the trees were not on fire, and no fires were made. At the shoreline of the beach, there was wooden debris everywhere. Bits and pieces were floating in with the tide, a large piece laying on her long, slender legs. In the corner of her eye, she saw other survivors getting up and looking at the mess. Her heart did a back flip as she saw a long pole, that could not be mistaken for anything but the 'mast' thingy from the raft. She heard everyone whispering, wondering what happened.

There was no sign of the people who had set sail on it, and she had a gut feeling that yesterday's late night 'vision' was real, and not a dream. People didn't know what to do or think, not even Jack. None of The Others had come in the night yesterday, and Aaron was fine and sleeping. They went about their daily lives on the island, always watching the ocean out of the corners' of their eyes. They didn't stray too far from the beach, though no one knew why. Maybe there was hope that this was all a big mistake, and this just happened to be unrelated junk floating by. Those hopes were dashed when the bottle of messages washed up on shore. The cork was loosened, and the salt water had seeped in, ruining the writing. No one could deny it wasn't from the raft.

Nothing else happened that day, although a creature not even Locke could name, was trying to dig up Boone's grave. She decided to sleep on the edge of the tree line, where she could keep an eye on the waves and the survivors, and also on the calm forest of trees that held dark secrets no one knew. Kate had a strong feeling of foreboding.

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I am very interested in all of the ships Sawyer can be in. At first, I was a deep Skater fan. But I hated how she always was in-between him and Jack, and it drove me crazy. So one day, I said screw this, he deserves better. Then, I found fans of ConMama. I thought it was cute, how the wallet scene in the 1st series, how he sort of stuttered and stuff. And how his voice is what the baby responds to. Then, I heard about Sana. Sawyer and Ana, and their 'relationship', of pain/pleasure captured my imagination. Sawyer thinks he deserves it for what he did, and Ana gives it to him. He seems to work his way through the ladies. Anyway, I have a story in my mind of Skate, and another one with ConMama. And I'm in the mood right now for Sana, so here it is.

I hope you like it so far! I know, sort of, where I'm going with this story, because it was going to be a one-shot, but it became way too long.

FantasySci5-She holds her breath hoping you like it...