A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they're awesome! I love you guys all to death. Enjoy!
Flashbacks and dreams are in Italics.
Time to Let Go:
Claire could sense that Charlie was leaving the tent the next morning. She extended her hand and blinked the sleep from her eyes. "Come here," she whispered.
Charlie came torward her and lay on the bed, on top of the covers. "Yes, darling?"
"I don't want you to leave," she groaned, stretching while she said it.
Charlie laughed softly. "It's already eleven o'clock, dear. But I guess I can stay if you really want me to." the wicked grin on his face simply hinted at what he knew others would think they were doing.
Claire giggled, and pulled him down on top of her, kissing him squarely on the mouth. She dipped her tongue between his lips and took control. Charlie and Claire had never kissed like this. When they kissed it was always apprehensive, shy, and neither of them knew when to stop. But not this time. In a sudden movement, she rolled on top of him and grasped his wrists tightly in her hands.
"I've got you now!" she exclaimed smugly, pulling away from him. "Now you are at my mercy."
Charlie rolled his eyes, knowing he didn't mind being in this position with Claire in the least, but played along. "Oh mighty Claire! I am your slave!"
Claire giggled and replied, "That you are. Now, my first command is that you give me a foot rub." she teased.
Charlie smiled widely and slid off the make-shift bed, grasping a foot in his hands. He glanced down and saw the angry red cuts across the smooth skin of her foot.
"Claire, what happened?" he asked with concern. Jack had said that she might try to harm herself, but this sure was an odd place to do so...
Claire rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. She found it adorable when Charlie was protective over her, just like she'd been protective over Aaron.
Her heart began to pound at the memory and she appeared lost in thought, a few tears cascading down her cheeks.
"Claire?" inquired Charlie, his worry over the top. "What happened?"
Brushing the tears away, Claire replied distractedly, "Oh, it's nothing. I've just gotten into the habit of walking without shoes on in the jungle, and my feet get cut each time."
Instead of massaging her feet, Charlie told Claire he'd be right back, and slipped out of the tent. He walked toward Jack's tent, and called to him.
Jack stood up and exited the tent. He was still slightly mad at Charlie for throwing the pills into the ocean, but answered him nonetheless.
"What do you need, Charlie?"
"I need some ointment, or Polysporin, if you've got any."
"What for?" asked Jack.
"Claire's hurt, I just don't want her to get an infection. We are on a tropical island after all..."
Jack sighed, but agreed and got the Polysporin.
"How is she hurt? Is it serious?" he demanded.
"It's not life threatening in the least, but like I said, I don't want her to get an infection."
Jack nodded and handed the small tube over, as Charlie returned to Claire's tent.
"Here you go," he said as he entered. He kneeled before her once again and gently applied the ointment.
Claire smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks Charlie, you're always taking care of me."
"No worries," he responded. "I like taking care of you, Claire."
Charlie's eyes started to tear up, so he looked down, trying to hide the fact that he was crying.
He bandaged Claire's injured feet and wiped his hands on a towel strewn across the ground.
"Charlie?" Claire was crying too, and she extended her arms out to him. "Come here, darling."
Charlie nestled himself comfortably in Claire's arms, his head resting in her lap. "Just cry," whispered Claire soothingly. She rubbed his chest in circles to calm the heartbreaking sobs that were ripping themselves from his throat. "It's okay, just cry. Just cry,"
Charlie cried for a long time. It did him good. He felt safe in Claire's arms, as if nothing in the world could hurt him.
Claire never tired of his crying. She murmured loving words in his ear and tapped out the pulse in his neck. "I love you, Charlie. You're a good man. I love you."
Slowly, Charlie's tears stopped flowing. "Are you all right now?" Claire gently wiped his tears away.
That's the way their relationship was; Charlie took care of Claire, and Claire took care of Charlie.
Charlie chortled sarcastically. "I think so. Thanks, Claire. Sorry I'm such a bother."
Claire stared at him deep in the eyes, scowling. "You are not a bother, Charlie. Don't ever think that."
Charlie smiled tentatively. "Thanks," he reached forward and kissed her cheek.
Claire decided that she wanted to go for a walk. It had only been four days since Aaron's death, and she was still completely broken up over it, but she knew the fresh air would do them good.
Hand in hand, Charlie and Claire walked down the beach. People stared, but neither of them minded.
Sawyer hesitantly came up behind them and tapped Claire on the shoulder. She turned to see his brow creased with sorrow.
"Hi, Sawyer. Can I help you?" her tone was flat. Besides Kate, Hurley, and Jack, hardly anyone had spoken to the pair, much less even glanced their way.
"No, umm...I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about what happened to Aaron. We all loved that little guy."
Claire nodded, forcing a small smile. "Thanks for trying, Sawyer."
Sawyer nodded and extended his arms to give her an awkward hug, and Charlie a comforting pat on the back.
"Yeah, well...take care." Sawyer shuffled away.
Charlie and Claire continued walking along, their fingers entertwined.
They continued walking, eventually ending up in the part of the beach were the graves were kept.
At the very end was the littlest grave of all.
"Claire, I'm sorry, but we have to start the ceremony now. Are you ready?" asked Jack from outside of her tent.
'Yesterday my life changed completely. My baby is gone. What do you think?' thought Claire, but she kept it to herself. Instead, she said, "Can I have just five more minutes?" her voice was full of pain.
"Yeah, sure. Just come out when you're ready, okay?"
Claire got up from the bed and quickly ran her fingers through her knotted blonde tresses, splashed some water on her face to make it appear she hadn't been crying, and smoothed the wrinkles in her shirt.
Timidly stepping out of her tent, her cut feet burning from the hot sand, she slowly walked toward the graveyard, where everyone stood.
All heads turned her way, and she could tell what everyone was thinking. She could see the pity in their eyes.
But she didn't want pity. She wanted everything to go back to the way they'd been before.
Standing before the large rectangle shaped hole in the sand, Charlie by her side, she opened her mouth to speak.
No words came. All she knew was that her heart hurt, and she wanted to die.
But that wasn't an option. Not with Jack watching her so closely, just dying to play hero again.
Everyone stared, waiting for her to say something, and she finally found her voice.
"Aaron, was a gift from heaven." her throat felt like it was coated with sand, impossibly dry, limiting her sense of speech.
"He..." she sighed a heartfelt sigh and restarted her sentence. "Nothing could have measured up to how much I loved Aaron. How much I still love him."
"And now he's...gone," her voice cracked and tears pooled in her eyes, illuminating their pale blue colour. "And I don't know what to think. Horrible isn't a bad enough word to describe how miserable and painful my life is going to be now, without him..." her voice broke again, and she collapsed into a fit of uncontrollable sobs.
Charlie reached out and pulled her against his chest, letting her cry into his shirt. "Aaron was a ray of sunshine; he was the definition of love. He was my family. I won't ever forget him and will always grieve for him."
Face bright red, Charlie wiped briskly at the corners of his eyes. "I love him."
A shushed amen was whispered by each survivor.
And with that, he bent down, grasping a handful of sand in the progress, and gently sprinkled it over the blanket covered bundle that was Aaron.
'Lord, bless Aaron. Take care of him. And take care of Claire,' he prayed, moving aside so that Claire could sprinkle some sand over the grave, tears streaming down her face.
The survivors lined up to do the same, and soon the funeral had ended.
But the grief that surrounded Charlie and Claire was just beginning.
Claire kneeled before her son's grave and blew a kiss at it. "Mommy loves you, Aaron. No matter what, mommy loves you."
A/N: Sorry for ending it like that, but I didn't have much else to write. I'll update soon, I promise.
Anyway, please review! Hopefully it wasn't too confusing.
xox Sacha