Bonus points for whoever gets the obscure Sawyer nickname!

We were on the downward slope of the hill leading back to the beach and I picked up speed as I nearly rolled out of the bushes and into Sayid who was chopping wood with a formidable looking axe.

"It's about time. I am dying of thirst." I threw him a small water bottle and continued my way to the others, knowing everyone else was probably thirsty too and that Jack and Kate would want to talk to him about the caves.

I made a beeline for Claire, handing her the first bottle before handing some out to the small crowd gathering around me. When they dispersed I plopped into the sand next to her. "There's caves up there. By the water."

She looked at me curiously. "Oh yeah?"

I nodded. "Jack wants to move up there. It's a pretty sweet spot for island life."

She leaned back on her elbows. "But what about a rescue?"

"That's sort of the problem. I guess in theory we could have people man the signal fire, have them call when help comes." I knew the problem with trying to convince Claire to come was going to come down to the rescue vs. survival issue.

"I want to be here when we get rescued." She insisted.

I sighed. "Okay. Just think about it okay?"

She nodded. "Are you going to go?" She asked quietly.

I looked at her. "You trying to get rid of me?" I laughed. "Sure I'd like to, it's a nice place, cool, protected, but I'm just as fine here. And the beach has one thing the caves don't."

She looked curious. "Sand fleas?" she mocked.

"My best friend." I replied seriously. Her eyes teared up. "Oh no, don't cry! We just got you rehydrated!" I giggled.

She wiped the corners of her eyes. "It's the hormones," she mumbled. "I hardly ever used to cry."

"You pregnant women and your excuses." I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed.

"It's true, I promise!"

I noticed Jack making his way from passenger to passenger on a course towards Claire and me. For some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on I didn't want to be there when he tried talking Claire into moving so I grabbed a few water bottles and wandered along the beach. I spotted Boone and Shannon splitting a water bottle. It was more like Boone giving Shannon his water bottle and hoping she'd save some for him. It didn't look like that was going to happen so I tapped him on the shoulder with a bottle and gave him one of mine, ignoring her glare. It looked like everyone had some water so I moved a little further down the beach and sat with my chin on my knees, a bottle on each side of me figuring if someone wanted some they could come grab it.

"Why the long face Tinkerbelle? Upset that the doc's chattin up your friend instead of you?" Sawyer crouched in front of me, grabbing one of my bottles.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm devastated. Take your water and go."

"You're too easy sugar pie." He sat next to me and took a long drink. "'Sides, everybody knows he and Freckles are goin' steady."

"Yeah, if they ever manage to get past- oh what did Charlie call it? Verbally copulating."

He tilted his head back and laughed. "You got a thing for the limey munchkin too?"

I rolled my eyes again. "Absolutely. I've gone crazy with sex-deprivation and now have a thing for every man on this island."

He leaned towards me. "I could help with that." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "All ya had to do was ask Tinkerbelle."

I placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him away. "Thanks for the offer but I'm good." I muttered.

"Where is Davey Crockett and the Lollipop guild anyway?"

"They're back at the caves." He tilted his head. "The water is right inside a bunch of small caves. Jack wants us to move up there tonight." He turned to look at me. "That's why he's talking to Claire. He's trying to convince her to come."

He studied me. "That gonna work?"

I shrugged. "Probably not. She wants to be here when we get rescued."

"You gonna pass up snuggling with the doc to stay with her?" He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought we established it was Kate that was doing this snuggling." I replied. "Although she didn't sound too excited about holing up in caves." Of course that may have something to do with the fact that she thought Jack was checking her out when he wasn't.

"Course not, then Prince Ali couldn't rub her magic bottle anymore."

"Sawyer!" I squealed, shoving him but laughing anyway. "I'd go if Claire did. It's a good place, plenty of water, shade, almost like a set of dorms as far as the setup goes."

"Except for the vines I'm sure it's just peachy." He took another swig of water.

I laughed. "Why do you always have to be so cynical?"

"Somebody's got to keep your wide-eyed optimism in check." He grinned and pushed some hair behind my ear. "Ya know kid, if you got rid of the Mowglina look, advertised the merchandise a little, you could give Freckles a run for her money."

I swatted his hand away. "Thanks for the advice."

He drained the last of the water and left it next to me as he stood. "Thanks for the brew squirt." He said and simply walked away.

I shook my head and sipped at my bottle. "Anytime Jim Bob." I muttered. I lay on my back; knees bent and considered the sky for a few minutes. The sun was still high and I felt my skin start to heat up uncomfortably.

"Hey Claire?" I shaded my eyes to look at her. "Think I'm going to go picking. Wanna come?"

She rolled herself into a standing position. "Sure!" she said excitedly. "Should I bring a bag?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I was just going to get a little bit, mostly to get out of the sun. You can bring the book though."

She nodded, holding her belly. "The all important book." She joked, holding it in front of her a-la Rafiki from the Lion King.

I nodded solemnly. "Feel special." I led her along an easier path slowly, mindful of her waddling, and came upon a little area with a variety of fruits and vegetables surrounding a large log. "Now you sit," I said, dropping my bag next to her, "and I'll pick."

"It's really beautiful here." She commented, looking up at the tree canopy. "Much cooler too."

I bounced on my toes trying to reach a pea pod. "Isn't it? Jack was saying it's the canopy that keeps the heat down around the caves."

She flipped open the book to a random page. "He mentioned that."

"And the fresh water."

She avoided my gaze, hiding behind the pages. "Mm-hmm."

I dropped my handful of peas into my bag and sat next to her. "I just want you to really think about it. If you go into labor, odds are you won't be able to walk to the infirmary."

"And if I'm not on the beach when the rescue arrives I could miss it." She lowered her book and stared at me seriously.

"Do you really think Kate and Sayid wouldn't come back to tell the rest of us?" I placed a hand on her wrist and brushed some hair out of her face. "And if it were a plane or helicopter we'd hear it even if they didn't."

She sighed and nodded. "I just don't want to miss it. I know it's silly, but I'm afraid if I'm not there they'll leave me."

I nudged her shoulder. "And miss out on the publicity? Pretty Australian pregnant girls look great on the cover of newspapers! You could start a career from all the pictures they'll take of you. Heck, after the baby they'll be begging you to do Playboy!" I laughed.

"Yeah, the pair of us, wearing Shannon's bathing suits." She joined in my laughter, almost falling off the log.

I stood and began scavenging the fruits and vegetables around the log. There wasn't a lot of any one thing but there was a relatively wide variety of produce so before picking more than a couple I picked one for me and one for Claire, to see if we'd like it. We returned to the beach near sundown with full stomachs and a very full bag which after grabbing enough produce to hold us until breakfast we decided to hand over to the people headed to the caves. Claire thought it would be a gesture that we weren't completely against moving there and that we wouldn't forget the people who did. I thought it might encourage those bringing the water to the beach to make us their first stop on the delivery route. I zipped up the bag and asked Doug, who had been sorting through IDs with us the other day to bring it to Charlie, hoping Charlie would share.

As the sun went down I started to get nervous since neither Claire nor I had built a fire yet, but we all ended up just sitting around the signal fire staring at each other. Overnight we'd lost half our group, and I felt so tiny and vulnerable lying out on the beach that night. It seemed so lonely and solemn in the firelight, and I think everyone felt a little bit betrayed at being abandoned for a nicer living arrangement.

When Claire and I made our way sleepily to our tube we curled up back to back as if to protect ourselves from the world that seemed to have gotten a little more menacing.