Kate tried to control the blush creeping into her cheeks, knowing it was no use. No matter what she said, Claire was never going to let up on her prying questions.

"But you obviously still trust him. You fell asleep with him by the fire!"

"You know about that?"

"Hurley told Charlie told Jamie told Steve—or Scott—told Rose told Bernard told Libby told me."

Kate sighed. "And I thought high school was bad."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"You can't tell me that doesn't imply a certain amount of comfort."

"We're friends."

"Very close ones."

"In fact, we're more like cousins than friends. The kind that don't see each other very often, but know about each other and when they do meet up they act like they've seen each other a lot more than they actually have."

"Kissing cousins."

"We're not kissing!" Kate hissed. "We're not doing anything!"

"You've kissed. I know you have. And you are doing something "

"What are we doing then?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone really does. But it's certainly something."

Kate shook her head. "Claire, Sawyer and I…we're already so messed up. We just don't fit. We'll always be at odds over something no matter how well we understand each other. And…he still doesn't trust me. He conned me. He couldn't just tell me he didn't like the way things were going with Jack and Locke. He used me. As much as I'd like to, I can't just get over that."

Claire and Kate stared at each other for a long time after that, the silence saying what words couldn't.

As Kate played with Aaron, she caught Sun walking towards Claire's tent, an odd look on her face that gave Kate an ominous feeling in her stomach.

By the time Sun reached the tent, Kate felt like her feet might just gain minds of their own and take her far, far away, just so that she could avoid this particular confrontation. But instead of looking confrontational, Sun merely smiled at Kate and Claire in turn. "Hello." She let a hand reach for Aaron's head, and stroked the soft hair there. "May I join you?"

Claire nodded, smiling. "Of course. I don't know what company we'll be, though. We've already covered the basics. Charlie troubles, Jack troubles, Sawyer troubles, Island troubles, trouble in general…"

Sun shook her head, half in amusement, half sadness.

Kate chuckled. "You know you're not in the best place when you recognize someone by their scream."

The three women nodded, thinking silently of everything that had happened to make recognition by scream possible. Then, as if Aaron caught the mood, he began to screech, waving his arms toward Claire, his face bright red.

Claire sighed, picking Aaron up and cradling him to her. "I'll be right back. Kate, is it okay if I use your tent?"

Kate nodded, and Claire moved off quickly, rocking Aaron as he continued to cry into her shoulder. After a moment of silence, she turned to Sun. "Sun…"

Sun simply smiled at her. "I knew you were using me Kate. But I wanted to keep Jin with me so badly, I was actually grateful for your opinion of my vulnerability."

Kate gave her a smile half-smile, one corner of her lips upturned. "I'm still sorry."

"Do not be. It was my choice to poison Jin. I do not regret trying."

They smiled at each other, and Kate gave a sigh of relief, glad that the friendship they had would not be upset because of what she'd done. She'd had so few friends in the past, and she considered Sun a very good one. To loose the companionship they had would be a hard loss to bear.

The brush off to the side rustled, and both Kate and Sun jerked their heads toward it. A twig cracked, the tall grass shuddered, and a moment later Danielle emerged, gun hoisted over her back, hair looking as wild as usual. She started directly for Kate and Sun, and they both stood, watching her warily.

"Where is the mother?" Danielle asked without preamble. "I need to speak to her."