Disclaimer: I still don't own Lost. Idea for this story comes from Diornicole! Italics is thoughts, bold is memories of Christmas.


"Ana?" Sayid asked, not really shocked at this point. He'd just spent the last few hours (Or years, was it? He wasn't sure any more) with his dead wife leading him through the scenes of their childhood romance, after all.

"Or the Ghost of Christmas Present. Take your pick," she replied, voice and eyes as hard as ever. Not even death could take away her tough demeanor. "You're not surprised to see me. I take it Nadia's already been through, right?"

"Yes, she just left… wait. How do you know Nadia?" Sayid was certain he'd never mentioned his wife around Ana Lucia. In the short time they'd been acquainted, the grief he felt over the loss of Shannon had far outweighed any thought of Nadia.

"Quality time in purgatory, Sayid. We may have died, but that doesn't mean Jacob's allowed our spirits to leave the island yet. And he certainly has no qualms about bringing other spirits to the island as well. Everyone has a mission. Charlie speaks to Hurley. Eko, Libby, that boy Boone, some guy… Scott or Steve or something. They're all there. Everyone has a purpose in the afterlife, Sayid. Saving your dumb, ungrateful ass happens to be mine."

The island holds a purgatory for the dead? But then what of the living? Why were we there? And if all those who died on the island are there…

"Ana ,what of Sha—"

She interrupted him impatiently. "Are we going to get on with this whole Christmas Present thing or not? We have places to go, 'celebrations' to see. We're wasting time. The night's nearly over, and if I don't get back in time to harass that annoying know-it-all teacher, I'll be sorely disappointed."

Now Sayid was shocked. "Did you just make a joke?"

"I'm dead. No way I can change the things I fucked up in life, right? Okay, maybe not so true. I am here saving your soul. But seriously, I'm dead and stuck in purgatory, and I need something to keep me from losing my mind. Besides, Artzs is friggen' annoying. Hand."

It wasn't a question, it was a command. Sayid grabbed Ana Lucia's hand, feeling the familiar tug of the spirit's teleportation.

o O o

The pine wreath on the door fell of as Kate slammed it backwards, the bells attached clanging as it hit the ground.

"God damn you, Jack Shepherd! You disappear for three weeks and show up at my door high as a fucking kite! And on Christmas, of all nights. How dare you!" Kate's angry shouts resonated through her spacious home long before Sayid could see her, hardly welcoming Ana Lucia and him as they settled onto the living room couch. He could not help but notice the pile of overdue heat and electric bills sitting on the table, as well as the receipt from a Utah rehabilitation center with a hefty price tag. Secretly, Sayid wondered how long she would be able to keep her home.

"Happy Christmas 2007. Also known as tomorrow," Ana Lucia muttered, sinking into the worn, stained couch cushions, her feet resting on the coffee table.

"Ana, what am I—"

"Just pay attention," she commanded. Sayid knew better than to question.

"Where the hell have you been Jack?" Kate demanded, slamming the door closed.

"Thailand," he heard the doctor slur in response.

Jack mentioned on the island that his father was an alcoholic. Perhaps the doctor has vices other than a hero complex…

"You know, Kate. Visiting an old friend. Hoping the plane would crash."

"Too bad it didn't," Kate snapped back. "How many pills you pop while you were at it, Jack? You get them from your Bangkok whore?"

She emerged from the doorway, coming into Sayid's line of sight for the first time. The bags under her eyes were evident, even though she had only just hit thirty. Dark circles encapsulated the bags- it was clear she hadn't slept in weeks. Her collar bones jutted out from under her skin, and Sayid was grateful to remember that the woman was planning to go to dinner on Penny's boat. It would likely be her first decent meal in weeks.

Jack stalked out of the hallways behind her, swaying and stumbling over his feet. He'd gained weight, no doubt about it, but not from overeating. He had a definitive beer belly. Jack's beard was unkempt, his hair long and scraggly. Had Sayid been in desperate need of surgery and Jack was his surgeon, he would have picked his sorry, sick ass up out of the hospital bed and walked out.

"What did you say Kate?" Jack asked, grabbing her by the arm and turning her around roughly.

"I said it was too bad that plane didn't crash while you were on it. You'd be gone, and we could all move on. You'd be dead, Jack, and I could rest a little easier tonight knowing your pathetic ass won't come stumbling to my door at God knows what hour looking for a place to detox!"

"You don't mean that! You love me! You know you love me Kate!" Jack was shaking Kate hard, the woman's head wobbling like a bobble-head doll. Sayid watched in disbelief. It had always been obvious on the island that, though Kate may have harbored a crush on Jack, her true feelings were for Sawyer. Even though he could barely tolerate the Southern man, together, he was almost a different person when Kate was around. Almost.

Kate slapped Jack hard across the face. "Don't you dare go there Jack. You've lost that right."

Out of nowhere, Jack shoved Kate backwards, sending her sprawling across the coffee table. She landed on Sayid and Ana's laps, though she obviously did not know this.

Sayid sprang up off the couch, outraged. "How dare he! What right does he have to touch Kate like that?" Sayid screamed in rage, charging towards Jack. Bracing himself, he attempted to tackle Jack, hitting him hard with his shoulder. He fell right through Jack's body, landing on the ground, never touching the doctor. "Damn it Ana, let me kill him. Right here. I'll give him what he deserves, taking the woman he loves for granted like that."

Ana laughed dryly, bitterly. "Oh yes, let you fight him. Are you getting self-righteous on me now? Weren't you the one who said that Jack was Kate's problem now? What were the words you said this afternoon? Ah yes, 'You chose this life. No one chose it for you.' Didn't you say that Sayid?"

He froze, the words running through his head. He knew they were his own; he could remember saying them, shouting them over the phone. Ana stood and offered a hand to help him up. "I know you Sayid. The Sayid who spared me on the island would never have allowed Kate's call to go unanswered. What changed?"

The entire game has changed, Ana. Ben and Widmore changed the game.

From upstairs, a toddler's piercing wail erupted. "Oh my God, Kate…" Jack whispered, suddenly sobered up, if not physically, then most definitely mentally.

"My baby is sick, Jack. You know I can't bring him to the doctor. You know what'll happen if they do a blood test. We depend on you for one damn thing. To take care of Aaron. Where the hell have you been?"

"Kate, I can fix this…"

"Get the hell out Jack."

Sayid stared, shoulders slumped, at the scene before him. I could have changed this. I could have stopped Jack, could have made sure Aaron got help.

"You get it now Sayid?" Ana asked softly. "Time to move on to our next Christmas."

o O o

The humidity was the first thing that hit him when the landed. There was nothing like that in LA. The palm trees swayed gently. The beach was white, clean, with the exception of the remnants of a fuselage and a small community that once existed there.

"Where are they Ana?" Sayid asked softly.

"They can't stay in the open anymore. The Hostiles, you see, and the Dharma Initiative. They're up against a lot here. The two forces hate each other, but both see those you left behind as a threat. The situation's been pretty bad."

Sayid felt his eyebrow raise. "Dharma Initiative? Those were those movies we watched in the hatch. They were from the seventies."

"Nineteen seventy-three, to be exact. Nadia and I argued over who was actually going to take charge of this Christmas. You know, it's 2007 now. But for everyone left on the island, it's not. When Ben moved the island, it didn't move physically. It moved in time. I told Nadia that, but she insisted that it was my responsibility to cover Christmas 1973 on Craphole Island. Follow me!"

Ana led him along the familiar trek to the caves. The path was overgrown now; the distinguishing markers left by Hurley and Charlie to ensure no one got lost were long gone, either in the rain or by animals. He thought they would stop at the caves, but those were bypassed as well, abandoned.

"Just a little farther," Ana reassured him. A little soon translated into a twenty minute journey, then forty minutes. They passed the site where Shannon, Charlie, Boone and the others had once stood listening to Danielle's distress call. In the distance he saw something dark rise up.

"That's our destination. I don't know that you ever traveled out here, but some of the others may have spoken of it…"

The ship looked incredibly out of place in the center of the island. Molding and decaying, he knew it had to have been from the colonial era, or maybe even older. And it was here he saw the first signs of life.

Familiar long, blonde hair came into view, sitting in the grass with a gun in hand. She was watching, waiting. Suddenly she stood. "Stop there!" Juliet cried, aiming the gun at Sayid and Ana.

Sayid stopped. How did she see us?

"Oh my God, Jin!" Juliet sprinted out of the grass, embracing the Korean man. His face was grim. "We thought you were all dead."

"They… they kill Bernard," Jin said, stumbling slightly over his English, but all-in-all speaking much more fluidly than Sayid had ever heard him.

Not that he was very concerned about how well Jin was speaking English. Jin was alive. He hadn't been blown up in the freighter explosion, he'd somehow managed to survive. "You must bring me home now!" Sayid demanded of Ana. "I must tell Sun. Jin's death devastated her. She had a little girl, she's been raising her alone. Ji-Yeon has a father and has no idea."

"How you gonna do that, Sayid? You didn't even bother to listen to Sun's message on the answering machine all the way through. Did you even bother to write down her number before you erased the message?"

Once again he felt himself overcome with shame at his action.

"How the hell are we going to tell Rose?" Juliet asked softly.

"I will… I will find a way," Jin replied. He moved toward the entrance of the ship, leaving Juliet to continue to keep guard.

"Follow him," Ana directed.

Jin entered the boat up the rotting gangplank. Opposite the entrance, a grinning skeleton smiled a toothless grin, hanging from shackles that had rusted eons ago. He looked around him, observing those people he saw. Charlotte and Daniel, the two from the freighter, were huddled together, looking worse for wear. Daniel's arm was wrapped protectively around the woman, though both he and Sayid knew that in a fight, the fiery red-haired archaeologist would be slightly more dependable than the physicist would ever be. Miles was not far away, grumbling and whining.

"He hasn't been able to speak to the dead since the island moved. It's nigh on three years now; needless to say, he's a bit peeved. Apparently he can't tolerate real people He's gotta harass the dead," Ana explained.

"Rose!" Jin called. From above, there was a clamoring, and she appeared climbing down the ladder. The two shared a look, and no words had to be said. She knew that the worst had occurred when Bernard did not stand at his side. Jin had returned alone. Rose's shoulders shuddered, tears filling her eyes. Charlotte rose, gently pushing Dan's arm off her shoulder. Though Sayid remembered her as being tough, and able to conceal her emotions, he watched as the young archaeologist pulled Rose into a tight embrace, holding the older woman as she sobbed.

Sayid felt nothing but pity and sorrow. Rose was a good, sweet woman. She was kind, looked out for the others on the island like a mother. Through his grief over Shannon, he'd watched as she was reunited with Bernard, a joyous, momentous occasion despite the grief felt amidst the mid-section survivors. Bernard- there was a good man as well. Determined to get off the island, to live in peace with his wife. It seemed cruel that they should be separated now.

"There is so few of us left here on the island," Ana said softly. "Bernard was one of the best. Do you see it Sayid? They're not even trying to survive anymore. It's more a game of waiting for death." She paused. "There's more to see." With a nod of her head, she indicated that he should climb to the next deck.

Still inside the berth of the ship, the second floor was much darker. Only candles and sunlight that streamed through the dusty porthole windows provided any light to the room. A woman sat on the bed, staring aimlessly into space. Blonde, petite, young- she looked as if she had seen a world of pain in her few short years of life.

"Mamacita, I got lunch for you!" a forced cheerful, heavily accented voice called down from above. Clomping down the stairs, Sawyer's face appeared. He no longer carried the look of disdain and contempt he'd thrown at Jack, Sayid, and even Kate. Sawyer was the leader now.

"Thanks Sawyer," Claire whispered quietly, her Australian lilt still evident.

He placed the plate of fruit down in front of her on the bed, and she stared at it. "You gonna eat it, Barbie?"

"Maybe," she replied, looking around the cabin aimlessly. "Not really that hungry today."

"You ain't been hungry the past couple days. What is this Mamacita, you on one of those crash course diets like Kate Moss?"

Sayid watched as a smile spread across Claire's face, which in turn made Sawyer smile. The southerner indicated that she should move over, and he moved to sit next to her on the bed. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

"Now there's a change," Sayid said.

"A reluctant one," Ana added. "Sawyer never wanted to take over control. Leadership was forced on him, but he's stepped up. So many have died since you left, it's taken a toll on him. He's a different man. I think we all change when we realize that there's no hope."

"It's his third Christmas, Sawyer. His third sodding Christmas without his mother. What does he think of me? That I abandoned him? That I didn't want him?"

"Claire…"

"I want my baby back Sawyer!" she sobbed. "I want all the lost time. I want to celebrate Christmas, I want to hide Easter eggs for him to find. It's not bloody fair. I want Aaron back."

Sawyer pulled Claire into his arms, letting her sob into his chest. He looked up at the roof, as if looking for God to give him some divine inspiration- something to say, something to do, something to save them from their imminent demise on this island.

"Ana, is Claire ever going to see Aaron again?" Sayid asked solemnly. "Is there no way to rescue those we left behind?"

He turned to receive her response, and saw her chewing on her lips, hesitant. "I can't tell you for certain. I'm the present, not the future. But if the course of history is not changed, Claire will not live to see her son again."

"Can we not change it?" he asked, a hint of desperation edging into his voice.

"That's up to you Sayid. We can't force you to change." She held out her hand. "Ready to go home?"

He nodded, taking her hand. Sayid landed on his back, the soft mattress buckling gently under his weight.A new sense of determination overcme him. I can change this. I will change this. There's still hope, this can all be fixed. Tomorrow morning, I will go see Kate and Jack. I will go to Penny and Desmonds. There has to be a way to get back to the island, to save the others before it is too late. We will not abandon them.

Sayid slid off his bed, standing to fix the blankets so he could finally sleep. He had to prepare for tomorrow, to fix the wrongs of the past three years. To his surprise, he came face-to-face with a black, hooded creature. There was no face. No visible signs of humanity. Just a long, floating, black shroud enveloping air.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come had arrived.

So this chapter is rather gloomy. The begining of the next will be as well (don't hate me!). But things are going to get better. Sayid knows what he has to do! All he has to do is get through one more ghost! Easy... right?

Thanks so much to all those of you who have taken the time to read this, and especially to those who have left a review: Diornicole and revenge is a bitch! Your words and encouragement make me so happy!

Please feel free to leave a review! Constructive criticism is enjoyed, and used when writing! Best wishes!