So, apparently there's been some confusion about the kids. Which makes sense, because there are quite a few of them. I'm going to be a pretty big bully, though, and not tell you who the kids belong to until it comes up in the story. As a little helpful hint, though, so far we've got
Diane and Austin Ford - Kate and Sawyer's children
Candi and Apple - Hurley and Angela's children
Aaron, Liam, and Virgo - Claire's children
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H, and I - Rousseau's children
The unknown ones are Koko, Greg, and Mike. And, of course, some of the fathers are still unknown.
But that should be some help, yes? Anyway. . .on with the story!
"Angela, you've got to help me out today," Hurley pleaded with his wife. Angela, however, just laughed at him, and gave him a hug.
"I'm sure that you'll manage just fine," she encouraged him, pulling playfully on one of his braids. "Besides, you know that Ana needs my help."
"I need your help, too," Hurley pouted a little. The redhead laughed, gave him one last hug, and practically danced out of their home. Hurley sighed, and turned to look at Candi and Apple.
"All right, girls, what do you say that we run away together, and leave the other kids to themselves?"
"Greggy?" Candi asked.
"Virgo?" Apple asked.
"All right, fine, let's get to the cave," Hurley said, and lifted his two daughters onto his shoulder. "But we have to move fast, because we want to beat all those other little dudes."
"Horsey!" Both girls squealed in unison, pulling hard on their father's braids. Hurley winced, and once again considered whether it might be a good idea for him to cut it all off. Claire was becoming a decent barber. Anyway, it had to hurt less to lose the braids than have half of his hair pulled out.
He put his kids down in the middle of the cave, where they promptly began to play with a small tree frog. Hurley panicked for a moment, remembering a definite poison frog that Sawyer had squashed a few decades ago. He grinned, perhaps more malevolently than necessary, remembering how the conman's hand had swelled up. Karma, as Claire would like to point out.
He searched through the back cupboards for some kind of snack for the kids. Dharma Wheaties. . .no. . .Dharma Frosted Flakes. . .no. . .Dharma Faddaddles. . .Hurley had no idea what that was, but the box seemed intact—no mouse holes, anyway—so he decided that the kids might like it. He brought it down with him.
A moment later the troops arrived, Aaron in front, as usual, and the alphabetical and badly behaved Fords in line behind him, only to have Star bring up the rear. No Koko today, Hurley noticed. Maybe that was why Ana had needed extra help.
"Will we be doing crafts today, Mr. Reyes?" Star asked. Hurley sighed.
"Dude, how many times I got to tell you to call me Hurley?"
"I call you Hugo!" Austin announced proudly. Diane promptly hit him on the head.
"Mom told you not to call him that," she said. "He doesn't like it."
"Well, Dr. Jack calls him Hugo," Austin said, pouting a little. Hurley sighed.
"Guys, I don't care what you call me!"
"Can I call you buttface?" Austin asked. D,E,F,G,H, and Virgo giggled. Hurley felt about ready to choke himself on some of the Faddaddles.
"Maybe you should tell a story first," Aaron suggested, leaning over and whispering in Hurley's ear. "That usually calms them down."
"Follow it with a naptime," Star suggested. "Then some arts and crafts. Then a final story, if there's time."
"Do you guys want to do this?" Hurley asked. They both solemnly shook theirs heads no. "Okay then."
"I want a story about mangoes!" G yelled.
"I've already decided what this story will be about," Hurley said, and then hurried on before G could continue "and it includes mangoes. This story is called. . .Explode!"
"Cool!" Austin said, and said down. Hurley grinned. The one way to be certain that the little crazy kid would behave was to explode something.
"Once upon a time. . .
There was a scientist named Arzt.
Arzt means doctor in German, said Star.
Arzt means be quiet in Hurley language, said Hurley.
And Arzt liked to play with dynamite. But, here's the problem with dynamite. When it's too hot, it begins to ooze out nitroglycerin. One day, while Arzt was handling the nitroglycerin, it exploded in his hands, and he blew up. A chunk of him ended up on Dr. Jack.
Austin and Diane laughed.
But that's not the real story.
Kate needed to get off the island. She had learned, over the months, that she didn't have to run. At least not all the time. But this was too much. Even without her past, even without the years spent as a fugitive, she couldn't stand the idea of being in one place for so long. The banana leaves were getting a little too familiar, she had considered naming the various grains of sand, and she could predict exactly how far each wave would travel up the beach.
Every book in the Hatch had been read, every record played, and every little passage explored. Locke, of course, wanted to continue exploring the island, but nobody else seemed to agree with him.
They were digging in. Making a new home, and a new life for themselves. Forgetting that there was a world of possibilities still existing just beyond the sea.
So Kate did what she always did when she got into one of these moods. She sat down along the shore, dug her toes into the sand, and waited for the tide to catch up to her.
"Hey."
That was the magical thing about Jack. You could always hear him before you saw him.
That is soooooo true, said Diane in her wisest voice.
Sometimes you can smell him first! Austin suggested.
Dr. Jack is a very hygienic man, Star said haughtily. He is a doctor, after all.
If anyone smells bad, it's Mr. Hugo, G said. All of the kids laughed at that. Hurley raised a fist menacingly, and they all quieted down.
"We could use your help over there," he said, sitting down beside her. Kate didn't say anything. She just closed her eyes, and allowed the wind to lift her hair and pull it gently away from her shoulders. Jack sighed, clearly recognizing that he wasn't going to receive the type of response he wanted to.
"Is this about Sawyer?" he asked. "It seemed like you two were getting along well again, but if not"
"No," Kate cut him off, opening her eyes and finally turning to face him. "He's fine. What do you need, Jack?"
He smiled a little, and looked down. She hated how he did that. How he avoided looking her in the eyes. It made her wonder, sometimes, what exactly he saw in her, that he hated so much. Or maybe he was just afraid.
"Well, what with Kelvin here, Desmond, John and I have been spending a lot of time with him. Trying to figure out what the Others really want. How many of them there really are. How much we've hurt them."
"You don't need my help," Kate said. She heard a loud clatter from down the beach, and turned to her left to look. Sawyer was loudly cursing, pointing accusingly at the rudder, which had somehow detached from the back of their raft. Jin was standing, arms crossed, laughing at the other man. Kate couldn't quite keep a smile from creeping across her own face.
"Not with Kelvin, no," Jack admitted, drawing her attention back. "But with the hospital. I'd really like to get it finished before monsoon season. But Charlie and Hurley can't finish it alone."
Kate laughed a little. Good old, dependable Jack. Always coming around when he needed help with something simple and material. Poor Jack. Kate almost pitied him. He couldn't ever see what he really needed.
She stood up, grabbing her shoes from where they'd been lying beside her. "I have my own construction project," she said, and began walking toward the raft.
"That's almost done," Jack pleaded. He didn't follow her. That was good. She stopped, looked longingly down at the raft. The doctor was right. The raft was almost complete. Jin and Sawyer would finish it by nightfall, even without her help.
"All right, Jack," she agreed, and turned to head back toward the hospital.
That wasn't much of a story, Liam complained. Aaron tells better stories.
Really? Aaron seemed surprised, and ruffled his brothers hair. Thanks, dude.
Liam stared up at him with something verging on hero worship. Hurley sighed.
Where was the explosion? Austin asked. You said there would be a 'splosion.
It's coming, it's coming, Hurley said. Dudes, I wasn't even done, yet. You gotta give the story time, let it ripen.
Like a mango? G asked.
Um. . .yeah. . .Hurley said. Like a mango.
Sun wasn't ordinarily a light sleeper. She had learned to fall asleep with one ear open after Star was born. Her maternal instinct had allowed her that much, at least. But as soon as the baby had started sleeping through the night, any ability she had to waken immediately had disappeared.
But she always, always woke up when Jin left her side.
"Wait. . ." she said, rolling over blearily. "Where are you going?"
He motioned with one hand for her to go back to sleep, even as he dashed out of the tent himself. Sun rose, buttoned her jacket more tightly around her, and grabbed Star out of her Locke-made cradle. She held the baby tightly against her chest as she ran after her husband.
Standing out, stark against the night sky, was the brilliant orange of a bright fire.
"Dude, not again," Hurley said. He tightly clutched Walt's hand. Walt stared, open-mouthed, surprised at the inferno before them.
"It wasn't my fault this time!" he told Sun earnestly. "It wasn't!"
Jack, Desmond, Charlie, Ana, and Locke had formed a human conveyer belt, moving water in buckets quickly from the ocean up to the front of the line. Sawyer, Kate, and Jin ran frantically from the bucket-carriers to the burning raft, struggling desperately to put out the flames before the entire ship was consumed.
You already told this story, Aaron complained. This is old. Before I was born even.
This is a different raft, Hurley shushed the kids. Now be quiet.
A loud crackling filled the air, and bits of burning metal flew off as wood collapsed. Sawyer pushed Kate out of the way, the words of his yelling lost in the acrid smoke and loud confusion of the fire. Sun inched forward, her eyes scanning anxiously for her husband.
"Get back!" Jack started yelling, pushing his little conveyer belt into the ocean. "Get back, get back. It's too late!"
"No way, doc!" Sawyer yelled back. "I worked too long on this son of a bitch to lose it! Get back, Kate, dammit!"
The woman finally listened, allowing Jack to drag her back with him.
"Jin!" Sun yelled. "Jin!"
There was no response. She handed Star to Hurley, who looked down at the baby as though he didn't know what to do with one. She started forward toward the raft, pulling her cardigan over her nose and mouth for protection against the smoke.
"Sun, no, what are you doing?" Claire asked. She stayed safely back, trying desperately to keep hold on a squirming Aaron.
But Sun wasn't paying attention to any of them. Her husband was in there, somewhere. And they'd been struggling, but now they'd finally found a sort of happiness, Star had brought them happiness, and she couldn't stand to lose him.
But another crackle, and the mast collapsed. Sun screamed. In the ocean, she could see Jack, desperately holding onto Kate, preventing her from heading back toward the raft. She clawed at him, struggled, whipped brown hair around until it obscured the vision of both of them, but he wouldn't let her go.
Sun stopped moving. The crackling seemed to die down, the flames slowly began to disappear. Two figures appeared, limping away from the wreckage of the raft.
"Jin!" she yelled again, and ran forward, at the same time that Kate finally escaped from the doctor and ran up as well.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Sawyer said impatiently. His face was coated in soot and ash, and his hair had been painted gray. He stood, coughing, with one of Jin's arms slung across his shoulder. "I think Chewie here could use some help, though."
Sun trembled as she walked toward her husband. His shirt was a charred mess, hanging from his chest in tattered rags, and one eye was closed, the skin around it grey and dead, or blood red. He hissed as Sawyer lowered him carefully to the ground.
"Out of my way," Jack said. He fell to his knees beside the man, sparing only one glance toward the smoldering remains of the raft. "Finish putting out that fire," he ordered Kate. With one last lingering glance toward Sawyer, she nodded her head and ran back to the ocean.
Carefully, Sun pulled apart the remains of her husband's shirt. His chest was a mass of blisters, and he closed his one good eye in pain as the cool night wind blew across it.
"Will he be all right?" Sun asked Jack anxiously. He looked back at her, his eyes wide and worried.
"We'll see," he said.
"Wow," Virgo said solemnly. She stuck one finger in her mouth, and began furiously sucking at it. Star had tears in her eyes, which she gently brushed away with one finger. Aaron gave her a quick hug.
"It's a lot harder once you're in the story, isn't it?" he asked her. She nodded solemnly.
"Well, I think that's enough for one day," Hurley said brightly. The kids all stared at him, most a little sadly. The stories always did this to them. They loved to hear the stories about their parents, but for some of them, it was difficult. They were hearing stories about people they'd hardly known.
"Nap time!"
"I don't want to take a nap," Austin said, folding his arms over his thin little chest. "I want to play army men."
Hurley sighed. Here came the hard part. He looked desperately over at Star and Aaron, who both smiled back at him, before beginning to round up the children for their nap.