Author's Name: Becky (Funkywiccan on LJ, Z Carson on The Dog, a Shelter, Apologies and Moonlight on a River's Surface.
Pairing: Shannon/Sayid
Timeline/Spoilers: Takes place after the end of Exodus pt.2, right after Sayid and Charlie returned with baby Aaron.
Summary: Sayid and Shannon renew their bond. Not sure if this is a drabble or anything, lol. It's probably too long to be considered as such, but, whatever, lol.
Note: If anyone has any suggestions to a shorter title, feel free to suggest, heehee. Also, this is my very first Lost fic, so, any comments, criticism and such will be rewarded with cookies, lol.
Shannon walked around the caves, seeing the newcomers settling into the area. She wrapped the flaps of her sweatshirt around herself as she watched people helping each other. She looked off to the side and saw Charlie and Claire sitting together. Claire was holding her baby securely in her arms, as if to tell all that no one was taking her son away from her ever again. Shannon stopped and watched the three of them for a second and smiled softly as she saw Claire turn to Charlie and look at his cut. Shannon wouldn't be surprised if for a while, the only person Claire would trust enough to hold her baby would be Charlie. Shannon also wouldn't be surprised if the two become something more than friends.
Claire must've felt Shannon's eyes on her because she turned towards the fellow blonde. Claire gave her a bright smile, giving her baby a gentle squeeze in her arms as if to say Look! Shannon returned the smile, if just on the outside, and nodded. Shannon turned around and walked back to where her things were. She was beginning to feel a little tired, so she decided to just go to bed right away.
As she approached where she had left her belongings, she saw Sayid tying something to a tree. She paused as she realized it was her white tarp. The one she used for her shelter back on the beach. Sayid turned to her.
"I thought I'd help with your new shelter." He said, figuring she was wondering what he was doing. Shannon simply nodded. Sayid turned around and continued working. Shannon watched him carefully for a while before a bark tore her away from the reverie. She blinked and saw Vincent going to her. Shannon kneeled down and held the dog's face in her hands, scratching the lab behind the ears. The dog stared up at her, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. Shannon gave him a brief smile. "I see you have a new friend." Came Sayid's voice. Shannon looked up to see him standing by her and Vincent, looking down at her with a warm expression on his face.
"I guess." Shannon said. "Walt loaned him to me." She said. Sayid nodded.
"For someone so young, he certainly is conscious of other's needs." Shannon looked at him.
"What, I needed a dog?" She asked, a tad incredulous.
"No, not necessarily. But Walt did see that you needed some type of companionship." He said. Shannon didn't know how to reply to that so she just looked back at Vincent. After he had come back with Charlie and the baby, Shannon, relieved that he was all right, had run to him and hugged him tightly, but after a while, she awkwardly stepped away from him and walked off, which was what led her to observing Claire and Charlie before. And now, she knew he was going to ask what happened before, but she honestly didn't know how to respond. She knew why she hugged him—she had been so scared that he wouldn't be returning. Shannon was scared that Sayid was gone, just like Boone. And so when she saw him standing by the stream, she ran to him and held him, happy that she hadn't lost another person she cared about.
Shannon raked her fingers through Vincent's fur as the dog wandered off. Shannon stood up, wrapping her arms around herself. She cast a tentative look towards Sayid before lowering her eyes to the ground.
"So, do you think Michael and them are all right, you know, on the raft?" She asked. Sayid peered at her, tilting his head a bit. Shannon was usually so confident. Only recently had he and the others been witnessed to the cracks in her façade. And now, watching her avoid his gaze like some bashful high schooler, he was more enamored by her than ever.
"I hope so." He said, answering her question. "And I'm sure Jack, Kate, Hurley and Locke are all right as well." He said. Shannon gave a mean snort at the mention of Locke.
"Yeah." She said. She walked past him and went to her newly erected shelter. Sayid sighed a bit to himself and simply stood there, unsure what to do. He had dropped his things on the way to the caves when Charlie came and told him that Danielle was on the beach. Sayid wondered for a moment who had helped Shannon with her things in his absence. He decided that whoever it was probably received a thank you from Shannon and left it at that.
Sayid looked towards Shannon's shelter. He saw she was sitting behind the tarp, and every so often a soft breeze would blow the tarp and he saw her sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, deep in thought. It was like a game of peak-a-boo, the wind would blow the tarp to the side and he could see her for a moment before the tarp fell back in place and she was hidden. At one point, the tarp shifted to the side and he saw her chin was tightened and tears were sliding down her cheeks. Sayid's insides churned. Even though they had spent little time together, seeing her sad like that did effect him. Without thought, Sayid walked to the shelter and pushed the tarp aside as he walked in. Shannon looked up briefly, purely out of curiosity of who dared to enter her "home". Once she saw it was Sayid, she looked down. Sayid knew that if it had been someone else, her icy nature would reappear and she would have torn that person a new one. Sayid slowly went and sat next to her. He watched her as the gently breeze blew through her blonde locks around her face but didn't say a word. He simply sat there, silently telling her he was there for her, even if all she needed was someone to sit with her. Minutes passed and neither said a word.
"I'm sorry." She finally said, sniffling a bit. Sayid figured it was because of how she had been cold to him the past few days, but he wasn't sure.
"For what?" He asked. Shannon looked up at him.
"Do you remember, at the airport, you asked someone to watch your bag?" She asked. "And, I'm sure, when you came back, the person was gone but security was there? That was me." She said. "I was the one you asked to watch your bag, and when Boone came over, I just got up and left. Afterwards, Boone and I were talking," she gave a brief shrug and shook her head as more tears collected in her eyes at the thought of her deceased stepbrother. "I don't remember what we were talking about, but I went to a security man and said that some guy left his bag by me and walked away." She blew out a breath. "I……I just remembered that a little earlier." She explained. Sayid gave her a soft half smile. He couldn't help it as a gentle chuckle escaped his lips. Shannon gave him a questioning look. "Why are you laughing?" She asked. "It's my fault that security probably tried to blow up your bag or something. I was a horrible racist stuck up girl." She said, berating herself.
"Shannon, after all the things we've all been through on this island, believe me, security assuming I was a terrorist is the furthest thing on my mind. I honestly forgot about it."
"But, you asked me to watch your bag and I didn't." She said. Sayid saw that she was desperately trying to get him mad at her. She wanted him to lash out at her for some reason. Sayid simply got closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. Shannon sank into his arms, resting her head against his chest; she put one of her hands by the one on her shoulder, clasping his fingers tightly. Sayid put his other arm across her torso and hugged her to him as sobs escaped her.
"Shh." He whispered gently in her hair. "It's all right." He said.
"Don't leave me, please." She pleaded through her tears. Sayid tightened his hold on her.
"That is the furthest thing from my mind." He replied as he held her as she cried. Shannon lifted her face up. Sayid looked at her; her eyes were shinning like moonlight on a river's surface. She shifted closer to him and embraced his lips in hers, kissing him desperately. Sayid lifted the arm that was across her torso and gently touched her face with his fingers, responding to the kiss. It had been days since she had spoken to him, and having her in his arms, feeling her lips, was like walking through a never-ending dessert and feeling the first few drops of sweet rain.
After the kiss ended, Shannon nestled her head in the crook of his neck, the smell of sweat and dirt filling her nostrils. In any other situation, the scent would've made her recoil in disgust, but at that moment, it was the best cologne she had ever had the fortune of smelling. Sayid's hand fell away from her shoulder as he rubbed her back.
"I love you." She whispered against his skin. Sayid turned and kissed the side of her forehead.
"I love you." He replied.
THE END