Is this real?
Author's note: Wow..you guys rock! 19 alerts for this story and 10 reviews. I was finally able to finish this chapter. Hopefully, I didn't rush the end too much, I am just really excited for the next part. Thanks so much for all the love and support, you guys keep me motivated. Okay, this is the last chapter that covers the finale. After this chapter it will be my story. I don't own Lost or any of the characters. Most of the quotes are from the finale, but I did add some of my own.
Jack could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness as he was being lowered into the heart of the island. He figured he must be getting closer to death, and that thought alone scared him. The only thing that was worse than death was the thought of not ever seeing Kate again.
He knew he couldn't let the fear take over, so he decided to count to five.
One…
Two…
Three…
Four…
Five…
As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, everything went black…
Jack had been having a really off day, he was remembering things that had never really happened, strangers were talking to him as if they knew him, and now he was late for the concert. Nothing was making any since today. He knew he had to shake it off.
When he finally arrived at the concert, he noticed the crowd was leaving. He hoped that David was still at the concert and they could at least spend a little time together before it was time to go home.
Flipping out his phone, Jack dialed his son's number, hoping that he would pick up. After five rings it immediately went to voicemail.
"Hey, this is David, leave a message and I will call you back soon."
He knew his son was mad at him. Who could really blame him? He had every right to be mad at Jack. Jack had never been the perfect father; he had made many mistakes with David.
He had never had the best role model, when it came to dads. Christian Shephard was not much on family moments. Most of the time he would come home long after Jack had gone to bed. If he did come home early, his time was spent doing paperwork and drinking.
When Jack found out that he was going to have a son, he made a promise to himself that he was going to be the best father he could be. For the first four years of David's life, Jack was there for almost everything, he was the best father that they boy could have ever asked for. It was after the divorce that Jack started pouring himself into his work. The divorce had been hard on everyone, but Jack took it especially hard. To him it had been another moment in his life where he felt like he had failed. He had failed Juliet, he had failed David, and he had failed his father.
Every time he felt this way he poured his heart and soul into work. It was the one thing he could do without failing. Sure there were times that he had lost patients, or the procedure hadn't gone as planned, but he knew going into the surgeries that there were risks. He knew it wasn't his fault, that he had done everything he could. Sometimes, that was life, and Jack knew that.
Lately, Jack had found himself reconnecting with David. It had been hard, but slowly his was making progress. This latest incident, however, would probably set them back. Jack knew that he would have t work even harder to gain David's trust again.
"It's over," a young woman said, snapping Jack out of his thoughts.
"Excuse me?"
There was something familiar about her. It was almost like he had met this woman before, but he could quite figure out where he knew her from.
"The concert-it's over," the woman stated again. "You looking for someone?"
"Yeah…my son, I was suppose to bring him here tonight, and then I couldn't come and-"
He couldn't take it anymore. He knew that he had met this woman before. Her eyes looked so familiar, almost as if he had looked into them millions of times.
"I'm sorry…where do I remember you from?" Jack asked her, he just couldn't put his finger on it, but maybe she could help him.
"I stole your pen," she told him as her face lit up with a smile.
"What?"
She stole his pen. That wasn't the answer he had been hoping for; he knew there was something else.
"Oceanic 815…from Sydney, I bumped into you coming out of the bathroom, and I stole your pen."
"And that's how I know you?"
"No… that's not how you know me."
She began to make her way towards Jack. All he could do was stand there and look at her, wondering what she was going to do next.
Her hands touched his face and at that moment visions flashed in his head.
Her face flashed through his head, and then he saw them kiss. This couldn't be real, it had never happened. If it had he would have remembered it before now.
"I've missed you so much."
This was all too much for him to handle. He never really believed in the supernatural and he had never been big on the spiritual side of things. He was stubborn when it came to believing in stuff like this. How was it that he saw them kissing, but, yet he had never kissed her? This was crazy. He figured that it must be a hallucination, after all he had only been getting a few hours of sleep lately.
"Are you okay?" The woman asked him as he began to walk away from her.
"What's happening to me?" He said out loud, although it was really meant for him. "Who are you? I don't-"
"I know you don't understand, Jack." She said cutting him off. "But if you come with me…you will."
After taking a few minutes to process what was going on Jack decided to go with the woman and try and figure out what in the world was going on. It couldn't hurt. Surely, this was all a dream, it couldn't possibly be real.
Jack help the woman into his car, and then made his way to the driver's seat. They only drove for ten minutes, but it seemed like hours for Jack. They arrived at a church. This was not just any church; this was the church that Jack was going to have his father's funeral at.
"Do you know where we are?" The woman asked him.
"This is the church where I was going to have my father's funeral." He informed her, still wondering why she had brought him here.
"Why did you bring me here?"
"Because this is where you were going to have your father's funeral," She told him, as if she had known this information all along.
"You can go in around back," she told him as she began to step out of the car.
"Wait…where are you going?"
Was she really going to leave without giving him answers? He knew that this was all a dream now. A beautiful woman claiming that she missed him, asking him to come with her, it was all just a dream.
"Inside…I'll be waiting for you there, once you're ready."
What was she talking about? Ready…ready for what? He was ready for her to stop playing head games with him, that's what he was ready for. He couldn't believe this, here was a beautiful woman who was taking interest in him and she turns out to be a complete nutcase.
"Ready for what?" He asked knowing that she wasn't going to give him an answer that would actually make sense.
"To leave." She said with a smile as she stepped out of the vehicle and walk toward the church door.
So that was it that was the only answer he was going to get. Ready to leave…he was ready to leave alright, ready to leave this bizarre dream. The people in this dream were completely insane. First it was the patient from the hospital, and now this mystery woman who seems to have missed him. He had to wake up from this nightmare, he just had to.
Jack decided to close his eyes, when he woke up things would be different; he would be back in the real world.
Jack opened his eyes, he had made it, and he was now in the center of the island. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but it must have only been around five minutes or so. He knew what he had to do know, he had to find Desmond and turn the light back on.
When he finally found Desmond, he was lying face down. Jack wasn't even sure that he was alive.
"Desmond? Desmond, can you hear me?" Jack said as he turned his helpless body over.
It took a few seconds, but all of Jack's efforts paid off, Desmond slowly began to open his eyes.
"The light…I put it out. It didn't work. I thought I'd leave this place." Desmond told him as he tried to sit up.
Jack looked around; he had to figure out how to turn the light back on. It was only a matter of time before the Island was completely underwater. He looked at the huge stone that Desmond had pulled out of the hole. He knew exactly what he had to do, he had to put the stone back it the hole in order for the light to come back on.
"I got you, come on. Come on." Jack told Desmond as he helped him stand to his feet.
"I'm still here. You were right, Jack." Desmond told him, as the two made their way over to the waterfall.
"Well, there is a first time for everything."
Jack had to laugh. Of all the times he had to be right, it just had to be the last time he would be right about something.
"I have to put it back." Desmond said as he realized what Jack intended to do.
"No, Desmond, you've done enough," Jack told him as he began to tie the rope around Desmond's waist.
"It will kill you, Jack," Desmond said as he began to untie the rope, "It has to be me."
"You want to do something, go home and be with your wife and son," Jack told him as he finished tying the rope around Desmond.
"But what about you, Jack?" Desmond asked him with a sad look. He already knew the answer to his question, but he was hoping that he was wrong.
"I'll see you in another life, brother."
Jack used the famous words that Desmond had told him so many times. He figured it had to be true, they would see each other again. Every time Desmond had said those words to Jack, they had somehow found a way to be reunited. Maybe, they would see each other in this other place that Desmond had spoke of before he had turned off the light. If such a place existed then he would see all of his friends again, one day.
The ground beneath them began to shake, rumbling like an earthquake. He knew it was time; he couldn't avoid it any longer. This was the reason he was here, his destiny.
He laughed inside of himself. "If only Locke could see him now," he thought.
In the past three years he had come so far. First he was a leader, a man of science. Science was the only thing he had ever known, but then again what did he expect after years of medical school. Once he had gotten off the Island, he was a broken man. The time off the Island had been the lowest part of his life, he had messed up everything. His relationship with Kate, the most important thing in his life, he had messed it up. Throughout that whole time, the Island seemed to be calling him back. After arriving on the Island, he had become more of a man of faith. He was still a leader, but he didn't seem to mind taking a backseat sometimes. His friends had noticed the difference, especially Kate.
"Do you know who you sound like?"
Of course he knew, but he didn't have anything left to lose at that point. He was broken, but the Island seemed to be the place where he could redeem himself.
Now was his chance, it was time to finish what he had started.
Once Jack made sure that Desmond was on his way back up the waterfall, he made his was back towards the stone. With all the strength that he had left in him, he picked it up and began to set it back in the hole.
As soon as the stone was back in place the light started flashing and it began to shake Jack. The pain was so real; it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. After a few seconds, Jack fell to the ground. Water began to flow from the waterfall again. He had done it, he had saved the Island. He could feel himself losing consciousness again. His world was spinning and suddenly everything went black.
Jack opened his eyes. It didn't work; he was still in this nightmare. He figured if he was going to be stuck here, he might as well go into the church and try to figure out what was going on. He stepped out of the car and began to walk towards the back of the church.
He had to be going crazy. None of this was real, nothing was real anymore.
He wondered why the woman had told him to go around back. It would seem that if they were going to leave, they would all want to do it together, right? Once he had made it inside, he realized why she wanted him to go through the back. His father's coffin. It was now sitting right in front of him. The airlines had called him earlier that day and told him that it had finally arrived, but he still couldn't believe that it was here now.
He felt a wave of emotions hit him as he made his way over to it. He placed his hand on top of the coffin, but when he did, the flashes came to him again.
First he saw his eye open and he was staring at the bamboo trees.
After this he pulled his hand away from the coffin, completely confused. Why was this happening to him? Why did that seem so familiar?
He was running, running through a jungle. Now he was on the beach, trying to save people who had been in a plane crash. He was in his doctor mode, helping people on an island.
Then he saw her. Kate. The first time they had met. They were getting off the island in the helicopter. Their last kiss they had shared before he had gone to save the Island.
He suddenly remembered. It was all real, it had all really happened to him.
Jack decided to open the coffin, he had to see his father, he had to know if this nightmare was real. When he opened the coffin, he found nothing; his father's body was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, kiddo." He heard a familiar voice behind him say.
He knew it was his father. Christian had always called him Kiddo, even after he was grown.
Jack started to turn around slowly; he didn't know what was happening now. His eyes met his fathers and a wave of terror hit him.
"Dad?"
He couldn't believe his eyes, his dead father was standing right in front of him, talking to him. This was all too much for him.
"Hello, Jack." Christian said as a sad smile formed on his face.
"I don't understand…you died." Jack said his words were full of confusion, and he face full of concern.
"Yeah. Yes, I did." Christian replied with a slight laugh, it was a sad laugh, but still a laugh.
"Then how are you here right now?" Jack asked his father, not sure he really wanted to know the answer.
"How are you here?" Christian asked back, knowing that this would trigger some memories.
"I died, too." Jack said as the tears began to roll down his face.
He remembered it now. After he put the stone in the hole and the light came back on, he had passed out and somehow ended up back in the river. It took him a few minutes to realize where he was out, but when he finally did he slowly stood to his feet. He knew he was close to the bamboo forest he had woken up to in the very beginning. He also knew that he was close to dying, that soon the Island would be done with him. He decided that he should die in the spot where it had all started. Clutching his side he made his way through the bamboo forest, passing a white shoe that had been on his father's dead body. He was there, he remembered this exact spot.
"It's okay…it's okay." Christian told him trying to comfort his son.
"It's okay, son." Christian said as he embraced Jack in a big hug.
"Are you…are you real?" Jack asked him as he pulled away. Tears where now streaming down his face, he knew that this wasn't just a dream, it was all real.
"I sure hope so." Christian laughed again, this time it was a happy laugh, he had his son back.
"Yeah.. I'm real, you're real. Everything that has ever happened to you is real. All the people in the church, they're all real too."
"They're all dead?" Jack asked him, he was confused he thought that he had saved Kate, but she was here in this new world with him.
He remembered the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes for the last time. The plane was in the air, he had saved her, he had saved Kate.
"Everyone dies sometime. Some of them before you, some of them long after you." Christian told him, trying his best to explain what was going on.
"Where are we now?" Jack asked his father, wondering if this was some form of heaven.
"This is a place that you all made together so you could find one another. The most important time of your life was when you were with these people. That's why you are all here. No one does it alone Jack. You needed all of them and they needed you."
"For what?" He asked, what on earth would they need him for now.
"To remember and to let go." He father said with a smile.
"Kate, she said we were leaving," Jack told him, his voice gave away that he was still completely confused.
"Not leaving, no, moving on." Christian replied, he was hoping that Jack was finally accepting all of this.
"Where are we going?" Jack asked him, wondering what happens after death.
"Let's go find out." Christian told him as he made his way towards the door.
Once they had opened the door, Jack could see all of his friends gathered in the church. The scene looked like a family reunion. People were hugging, crying, laughing, kissing, and talking. Jack began to make his way into the crowd; he was greeted by his friends.
"We've been waiting for you," Locke told him as he shook his hand.
They had been waiting for him. He was always the last one to accept things, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that he was the last one here.
After seeing many familiar faces, and receive many hugs, he spotted her. She looked the same as she had back on the cliff, she had nice clothes on this time, but she could still take his breath away. She made her way through the crowd and reached out to take his hand. He gladly took her hand and they walked towards the bench. He finally had everything he had ever wanted…her. He finally had Kate, they were together, and nothing was ever going to separate them.
Christian made his was down the aisle, this was it they were all moving on. As he opened the door a great light filled the church. Jack just sat there in complete awe.
His mind flashed back to when he had died. Vincent had found him on the ground and had stayed with him in his last few moments. The dog kept him company for his last few seconds of life. Jack closed his eyes, he knew it was over, but he had to see her face one more time. As he took his last breath, he saw her. She was beautiful. He saw her helping Claire with Aaron. She was always such a good mother to Aaron. He saw her with another man, and she was happy. He saw her life that she had without him, and although it made him sad, he was happy that she was going to have a long and happy life. The last thing he saw before he died was her face and that was more than enough for him.
Author's note: This is the longest chapter I have ever written! I really hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. I would also love to hear what you guys think is going to happen in the next chapter. Sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter, I am not perfect just human. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up over the weekend.