Disclaimer: I still don't own Lost.

Chapter 2

Daniel hadn't traveled far before he sat down on a log. Even though he didn't want to be with anyone, he couldn't bear to leave Charlotte. Logically, he knew that it would eventually happen, but he wanted to have more time. He was shocked. Charlotte's death had pushed her revelation to the back of his mind, but talking about what happened brought it back. Somehow, he had a feeling. He had just known that Charlotte had been on the island before. It was why she had gotten a nosebleed before anyone else. He had no idea that she had spent the first few years of her life on the Island, though.

He had an urge to write it all down so he could make sense of it, but he had left his journal in his bag, which was still next to Charlotte. A rustling in the trees caught his attention, and Sawyer emerged carrying his bag.

"Hey Danny Boy, thought you might want this" he said, without his trademark smirk. "I figured if you were gonna go all Mr. Fix It on us, you'd need it"

"Thanks, Sawyer. But I'm not…leaving. Not right now. I - - I just need to sort through things for a bit" Dan said while reaching for his bag.

"Back up. You mean you're going to leave me, Mr. Miyagi, Genghis, and Juliet without your brain? You're the only one that knows what the hell is going on here! Son of a bitch!" Sawyer exclaimed. He dropped Daniel's bag, and then stormed off to where the rest of the group was waiting.

As soon as Sawyer was out of sight, Daniel dug out his journal, pen, and a flashlight and flipped to a semi-empty page. As soon as he switched on the flashlight, he began to write furiously, thoughts spilling straight to the page.

Charlotte lived here. Is that why she was affected by the jumps so soon? I tried to stop her from returning, she told me, but I didn't go see her. Is it true, then? No matter what I do, she's going to die? I won't let that happen. I don't care if it's against the rules. I promised her that nothing would happen, and I'm going to save her. She said I scared her. That's the last thing I ever want to do, that and hurt her. I'm going to have to talk to her, maybe this time she'll remember in time so she won't come back. That means I won't ever meet her, but I don't care. I'd rather have her alive without knowing me, than dead with me mourning her. Since I'm going to see Charlotte as a child, that means that at some point her and her parents will be on the island when I am. Maybe I can befriend her father, and convince him to give her something, maybe jewelry, before she leaves here. She said she never saw her dad after she left. She'd want to hang on to one of the last things he gave her. If I succeed, maybe the item her dad gives her could become her constant. That way, the jumps wouldn't affect her at all. How else can I save her? Maybe I can destroy the wheel in the Orchid, that way the Island will never be moved. Or I can find a way to render it inert. Maybe encase it in concrete, like with the hydrogen bomb? Or, maybe I can somehow contact Desmond. Even if I can't change things, he can. I could find him, and have him give this to my younger self. Of course, I'd need to write a letter explaining who Charlotte is, and why it's so important for me to save her.

He stared at what he had written, lost in his own thoughts. He had a semblance of a plan. The easiest one was befriending Charlotte's dad. The only flaw was that he didn't know what her dad looked like. He would try that one, first. If that didn't succeed, then he'd move on to the Orchid station. If that failed, then he'd find Desmond and recruit him. His mind feeling clearer than before, he put everything back in his bag and decided to return to the group. Maybe he could get one last glimpse of Charlotte before they moved on.

As he oriented himself, he realized that they had lit a fire, so he began to walk towards the flickering light. As he walked into the small clearing, everyone turned to look at him. Juliet, as normal, was the first to break the silence.

"Daniel, we decided to stay here for the night. We all need to rest and…" she trailed off, which caused Daniel to become suspicious.

"What else?" he questioned, still rather emotionlessly.

She looked away, and Miles broke in. "We decided to bury Charlotte". At his statement, Sawyer and Jin separated, revealing a hole that had been dug next to Charlotte's body.

Daniel nodded, the pain replacing the determination he felt while planning how to save her, and walked over to where Miles was sitting.

"You can communicate with people who have…have died…" he said softly, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"You want to know if I've talked to Charlotte" Miles replied, as if he had been expecting it.

"I - - I" Dan stuttered, then finally settled on "Yes"

"I heard a bit from her. Still as difficult as ever. She just wanted me to tell you something. She put something in your bag before she died. She wants you to find it, but she refused to tell me what it is."

Daniel began to dig through his bag, but before he could find it Juliet walked over. "We're ready to bury her. Would you like to say something?"

"What do you mean?" Daniel blinked and tilted his head, attempting to understand what Juliet meant.

"You knew her the best. I figured you'd like to speak, basically give the eulogy" Juliet responded gently.

"Oh. Ummm… ok, I guess" Juliet turned and walked towards the grave. Daniel followed her, and when they reached the area he knelt down by Charlotte's body.

Daniel looked up at everyone, and noticed they were watching him. "Can you give me a minute?"

Jin understood the pain in Daniel's voice, and he was the first to leave. The others followed. When they were on the opposite side of the fire, Daniel looked back at Charlotte. "Charlotte, I've said this before, but…I wanted to tell you again, in case I never get another chance. I - - I love you. So much. I tried…so hard to save you, and I'm not going to stop trying. The good thing about the time travel is that I have a chance to fix it. I will, I don't care how long it takes"

He stood up, and the four returned to his side. Sawyer, Miles, and Jin lifted Charlotte's body and placed it as gently as possible in the grave. Juliet nodded to Daniel, and he gulped before he began to speak.

"I'm not entirely sure what to say here. I - - I never thought she'd actually…die. She seemed too strong for that. A fighter. And she is…was. Out of everyone on the freighter, she was the only one who was nice to me. Everyone else steered clear from us. I was a…a nutcase. She was the bitch with a horrible attitude. I never saw her that way, though. She was nice and confident. Smart and…determined. Didn't care what anyone else thought. She's sarcastic, which I like…liked about her…instantly. When she realized I had…problems…with my memory, she began to work with me, trying to improve it. We were slowly making progress, before we came here. I…" and he stopped and walked away, tears streaming down his face.

Daniel walked straight to his bag, and began to search through it, trying to find what Charlotte had given him. After a few minutes, he found a small piece of paper, the edges torn as if it had been ripped off a larger sheet. Written there, in Charlotte's handwriting, were only a few sentences. He could almost hear Charlotte's voice, saying the words instead of just seeing them written

Daniel,

First, I want to apologize, so here it is. I'm sorry. You're asleep now. I don't blame you, I should be sleeping too. Right now, we're on our way to the Orchid. I know I don't have much time left. There are a lot of things I've never told you as of right now, and one of them I probably never will. That's why I'm writing this. I was shocked when you admitted how you felt about me, and ever since things keep interfering, preventing me from telling you. I want you to know. You deserve to know. Daniel, I love you. Remember that.

Charlotte

That night, Daniel fell asleep by the fire, clutching Charlotte's note in his hand.