Heart of Palm

By M L Europe


Disclaimer: We've deduced that Lost and it's characters are not mine, but what about one fiery brunette? She is the proud character of the one, Phoenix-Talon! 'loud-sounding applause' (I, however, own a certain Arab's big, brown eyes…)


Previously on Lost:

"Shannon, if you would just slow down, rest, you'd realize that this isn't what you should be doing now."

"Sayid, I promised that kid that I'd take care of his damn dog, so I need to find the damn dog and take care of the damn dog!"

The rustling had come from a clearing, not far out of the woods. Reaching behind him, Sayid gripped Shannon's hand and held it tightly, inching closer, and closer, and closer. Finally, the rustling stopped. Arching his brow, Sayid stood, pulling Shannon with him, and walked quickly through the tall grass. Shannon gasped as something rose from the ground…

It was…

It was…

"What the…?" Sayid muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

"Dammit."


"Who's idiotic enough to leave the caves?" Shannon wondered out loud as Sayid knelt by the collapsed figure.He looked over his shoulder and shotShannon a withering glare. Shrugging, Shannon knelt beside him as he continued to check for a pulse. It was a girl, a teenager if Sayid was forced to be specific. Not much older than 16…

Shannon hadn't stopped talking; Sayid had just chosen to let her ramble. It was her way of calming down. And after her previous asthmatic attack, he didn't want to stress her anymore by telling her he was sure he'd never seen this girl before. "Well, I had a good excuse. The damn dog. What's she doing out in the middle of nowhere? And how did she slip by the guards? They wouldn't have let her out, she's barely old enough to drive, let alone wander in the forêt de mort by herself."

Glancing over, confusion lining his big, brown eyes, Shannon finally quieted. "Forest of Death." She explained. "Now…is she…OK?"

Sayid sighed and leaned on his back leg, surveying the area and the teenaged girl. "I believe so. No apparent wounds or signs of trauma…it seems like she's just…sleeping." Calmly looking over at Shannon, he was surprised to find her standing, glaring at the girl as if she could somehow convey her disagreementwiththe mysterious girl's actionswith the infamous 'Princess Glare'. Paying no attention to the fact that the girl wasn't even in a state of consciousness.

All it earned her was the silent sounds of the Island.

Finally, Shannon looked back at Sayid. "What?"

Sayid smiled to himself and shook his head. "Nothing, nothing…you just seem so..." his eyes softened and he tilted his head to look up at her, "worried."

They stared at each other for a minute, Shannon daring Sayid to follow up on his theory, and Sayid daring Shannon to dispute it. Finally, Shannon pulled away, and turned around, heading back in the direction of the caves. "Where are you going?" Sayid called. She was leaving? He stood and quickly followed, grabbing her elbow to stop her. Again, he asked, "Where are you going?"

Eyes darting from the girl, to Sayid, then back to the girl spoke volumes. But instead, Shannon responded by shrugging. "We're not gonna find the dog…so…we'd better get back before the Others…"

She was looking back at the girl again. Sayid followed her gaze and sighed. After a minute, he yielded. "Perhaps you are right." Striding back to the girl, he gently lifted her up into his arms and walked back to Shannon. "Let's proceed."

"But…but…" Shannon stuttered, her eyes drawn to the sleeping figure. She was small and fragile-looking. As if she could fall right through Sayid's strong arms and slip quietly into the ground. "What if…" Shannon's voice dropped to a whisper. "What if she's one of them…one of the Others." Sayid frowned; he hated Island gossip. It placed unneeded fear and discontent into the minds of the other survivors. Not that he wasn't afraid or discontented. It was just easier to be fearful and discontented without everyone else being fearful and discontented at the same time.

"Look Shannon. We're going to bring this girl back, we are going to let Jack examine her, and we are going to not worry about whoever else is on this Island. She obviously has no intent on killing us, especially not in her present condition." Shifting the girl in his arms, Sayid reached up and gently traced Shannon's jaw line reassuringly. "Trust me. I won't let any harm come to you."

Gripping Sayid's hand, Shannon closed her eyes. It was so hard to resist when those puppy dog eyes arose. "Fine." Sayid grinned and kissed her hand before heading off towards the caves. A few seconds later, Shannon started behind him, arms folded close to her chest. "But if I die, I'm coming back and haunting you!"

Sayid just laughed.


When Sayid and Shannon returned to the caves, they were greeted with slight pandemonium. Apparently Hurley had let slip that Jack had left with Locke and Kate, and when no one could find Sayid there had been a rift pass through all of the survivors. Now, Charlie was standing by the water, trying to get the fighting castaways' attention and Hurley was running around, trying to settle everyone's nerves. It wasn't helping.

Sayid frowned. Where had Jack gone? Then he realized. And smiled. Stupid question, any idiot knew where he'd gone. Best guess (only guess) was that Kate had gone on another foolhardy adventure. And the good ol' lovesick doctor had once again thrown caution to the wind to make sure she was safe. Glancing back at Shannon, who was leaning against the cave wall, a bored look on her face, Sayid couldn't say that he wouldn't have done the same.

But something had to be done. No one was safe if the whole cave was up in shambles. And Sayid wasn't thinking about the so-called 'Others'. He was more worried about someone accidentally trampling someone. Scanning the sea of faces, he zeroed in on one in particular and grinned. Perfect. Handing the sleeping girl (though he had no idea how she could sleep through this) to Shannon, he made his way through the crowd.

Yes, he did hear Shannon's shout of surprise and fury. Something about 'dumping the little tramp' onto her. Sayid just chose to ignore it.

A woman with chestnut hair stood among a group of people he recognized vaguely, all of them trying to calm things down while trying to get some answers themselves. Grinning, Sayid cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Jacey!"

The brunette woman looked up and smiled in relief, scurrying over to where Sayid stood. "Sayid! Thank God you're back, it's-"

Sayid nodded, politely interrupting, "Yes, I can see that. I need you to do something for me."


"Everyone SHUT UP!"

The walls vibrated and immediately the current occupants of the caves looked scornfully in the direction of Jacey's – loud – voice. They stopped themselves from any nasty comment however, when they caught sight of Sayid. He found it amusing how the people so often needed a leader of a situation. Sayid also found it amusing, yet comforting, that, unless Jack, Kate, Sawyer, or Locke were present, they could look up to the Arab man. Perhaps there was hope for his people after all…

Giving Jacey an appreciative smile, he took Jack's previous place from earlier in the evening and look out at the mass. "My friends," he began, his accent allowing his words to have a soothing effect over the group, "we can not fight amongst ourselves. To survive, we must band together, remembering whom our real enemy is. It is futile for us to fight separately, but if we pull together, we can defeat all odds…"


"…and know that we will do everything in our ability to assure the safety of everyone present." Sayid's speech had gone exceptionally well. It looked as though his fellow castaways were comprehending him, and mulling through his words. This was good. If he could calm them down, they would finally be convinced to attempt sleep. That was half the problem with all the irritability; no one was getting any sleep. Poor Claire looked like she hadn't slept a day on the island, and Trisha, Steve's – or was it Scott? – more-than-platonic friend, had bags under her eyes the rivaled no one. Currently, Claire and Trisha were being held up by their 'friends' (or more-than-friend friends…the island grape vine wasn't very specific; Charlie and Steve, respectfully). "Any questions?"

The peace was shattered. Immediately Sayid was bombarded with questions about Jack, Kate, Locke, the raft, the Others…apparently everyone had missed the point in his speech where he'd explained that he really had NO idea what was going on. Sighing, he winced as the line of questioning turned to the whereabouts of Shannon and him earlier. He'd conveniently left out that part of the speech, hoping no one would think to ask. Unfortunately, Sayid had been mistaken. "We – "

" – We found – "

"We found tracks that appeared to be Vincent's, but were mistaken." Sayid quickly shouted over Shannon, much to her annoyance. The answer pleased the rest of the crowd, it seemed, and soon enough, the crowd dispersed. The only face that didn't turn away didn't look too pleased with him.

"Shannon, let me explain – "

"No, Sayid, don't explain." Shannon's answer sounded oddly passive, compared to her current body language, which was sending Sayid anger vibes unlike any the soldiers in his unit could ever give him. Then again, he hadn't been seeing any of the soldiers in his unit as a potential courtship. "Sayid, don't try to explain, because you'd get it wrong. As hard as it is to believe, I wasn't going to rat out the little brat. I was going to try and save both our asses from the crazy mob."

No wonder she was angry with him. Sayid immediately felt a surge of regret. Especially when Shannon about-faced and walked back to where she had laid the girl. Running to catch up with her, he saw the look of surprise on Shannon's face even before she gasped. Following her gaze, he stopped dead in his tracks.

The sleeping girl.

She was waking up.


Only Memories: MY BUDDY! 'attacks with huggles'…Yeah, you're my first reviewer and this makes me happy. FEAR NOT, REVIEWER BUDDY! No harm shall befall our friends…yet…

Jordy583: I'm glad you liked it! Here's another chapter for ya!


Author's Notes: I feel so productive! Two chapters in a week! And this chappy is five pages long on Bill Gates' brainchild (Microsoft word)! So, feeling happy now, despite the events of my day! YAY! PLEASE review, my friends. I will have Sayid gaze lovingly at you, if you do! (Unless you're a guy…we'll work something out otherwise.) Oh, and I should explain, I'm such a geek/idiot/nerd. Those of you that read Phoenix's stories (or, in Phoenix's case, thee that writes them), I'm going to incorporate some of that into my story…

See, I know I'm crazy, but I love the idea of intertwining stories. Phoenix actually gave me the idea with her (awesome) stories interweaving the Lost episodes into her story. I think, since Lost is such a fantastically radical and unusual show, it deserves a sort of radical fanfiction following. Just my opinion…we'll see how it works out…