1Author's Note: The next two chapters take place after episodes 2x10: The 23rd Psalm and 2x11: The Hunting Party

Chapter Seven

The moon admired its reflection in the violet mirror below. It cast it's glow on a lone figure tracing waves with her mearky eyes. She sat between a rock and a hard place, a leather journal her only companion. She dragged her knees to her chest, her arms encircled them, while her closed eyes moved towards the starlit sky. She became her former five-year-old self, nostrils filled with the stench of white walls, sanitized linen, and alcohol, seated in a burnt orange chair. Her father lay in hospital bed, beeping and hissing machines surrounding him, replacing failing organs. His oxygen mask hung from his neck as he stroked away his daughter's tears, and breathlessly whispered his final words. His words floated on the breeze swirling around her, bringing her a moment of peace, tranquility, comfort, and protection.

...Ana Lucia Cortez. My Ana Lucia...mija...you are my ocean. Beautiful, mysterious, unpredictable, untamable, wild, powerful...

She cast her watery eyes to the darken ocean. She had become the darken ocean, violent, dangerous, deadly. She was still mysterious, but not in the way her father meant. She was a darken ocean of deadly secrets and haunting memories.

"Build an army. Build an army. How can I help him build an army if no one trust me. Like they're going to let me have a gun."Ana remarked to her mute companion. "I need a sign,"she pleaded to the sky. "Something, just...anything that will...I can't lose Daniella and you. Please, I just need a sign, help me. I don't know how long I can keep going." Tears slide down her cheeks, and watched the waves, they seemed to be playing out her life.

Flashback–

He saw her the moment her entered the apartment, he knew this day would come, he had been expecting it. They had been together for months, a one night stand that transform itself into a relationship. He stood behind her, trying to memorize every curve.

"Leaving me already, Hot Lips?" he boomed.

"Got a job, going to be some guy's bodyguard," she replied. He wanted her to face him. "I'm going to Australia."

"Were you going to inform me of your decision?"

"I left a note on your pillow."

He glanced towards the unmade bed and there rested a while envelope on a jungle green pillow. He saw the perfectly positioned letters: J-A-M-E-S. He loved the way his name sounded as it slipped from her luscus lips. "Thanks."

"We were never going to work, you said so yourself."

"We are working."

He didn't remember becoming so involved. He didn't remember falling in love, it was suppose to be a fling, it wasn't destined to work. She appeared at his door one night and that had been the beginning. The ex-cop and expert con man, the odds were against them, but here they were, the one place he never expected them to be. The one place he never hoped to be.

"I've got to go, plane leaves in a couple hours."

"Ana..."

"Please, don't make this any harder."

"Ana..."

"Sarah."

"Ana, I love you."

She faced him one last time, stroked his cheek as their forehead rest against one another. "I'll always love you, James." Then why are you leaving me, he wondered. Instead het let her give him one last kiss, collect her bags, and walk to the door. He didn't move, he didn't run after her, he just stare. She stood there and turned to face him.

"Why did you fall in love with me?"

"I'll find you Sarah."

The door closed and he didn't move, he stood there, replaying what had just happened. Finally, his hand picked up the letter. Her smell lingered, he took a deep breath ans rest his head against the headboard. His eyes scanned the apartment, she was everywhere, little things here and there. Two weeks later, he left for Australia, the apartment no long had her smell. He didn't find Sarah, he ended up in bar after bar, looking for another tequila and tonic drinker at the bottom of a shot glass.

End Flashback–

"Goddamn girl of my dreams," Sawyer muttered. He'd been having the same reoccurring dream since Ana walked out the door. "At least I get some peace and quiet," he remarked as the button alarm began its countdown.

Ana followed Eko's directions, she figured it would be best if she went at night, while the camp slept. Once inside her police instincts would kick in and she'd be out before anyone realized she was there. She didn't have time to waste, she knew exactly what she was looking for and where to find it. The luggage lay open in front of her, there just had to be something in there that reminded her of Daniella. She shuffled through sunglasses, socks, towels, and shorts until she found herself staring at her father. The glass had cracked, but her father continued to smile, unfazed by his new surroundings. Her lasting memories of her father didn't resemble the photograph, he had been skin and bones with machines keeping his sleeping form alive, and an IV numbing the pain. She had been his ocean, her sister his star. She wrapped the photograph in a towel and rested it on the journal. She continued her search until she came across a jewelry box decorated with stars, suns, and moons. It played "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", her heart ache, and she slammed it shut.

Sawyer heard a noise, muffled, but it was there. His feet were on the ground before his common sense could kick in. He heard shuffling in the laundry room and took a detour through the kitchen to grab a pot.

"Well, what do we have here? I guess I'm not the only expert on breaking and entering. So, let's see we have murder, assault and battery, breaking and entering, and grand thief. Now, how many years is that officer?" Sawyer's remarked. The smirk on his face soon found itself on the wrong side of a pot. He fell face first onto the tile floor.

"Idiot," Ana mumbled tucking her fines underneath her arm. She stepped over Sawyer's unconscious form, leaving two aspirins on the washing machine.