Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.
AN: To Ada23mon. Sawyer can't let anyone know that he is nice, so he had to just tell Claire; lest people know the truth. As always I love my readers and reviewers. Also Quarks, your review stumbled on one of the subplots that will be big soon. I don't think I'll tell you which one though.
Rose Nadler sat quietly drinking her coffee in the lobby of the Merchant Hotel. She looked around her at the people getting up to go to work and the families beginning and ending their vacations. It was sights like these, simple scenes from life, that made her glad to be home. Some of the other survivors may want fame, fortune and excitement; but not her. Rose was happy to leave the fight for survival, which they had all gotten used to, back on the Island. She had retired just before finding out that she had cancer. Now that they were home, and with the checks from Oceanic, her and Bernard could enjoy their golden years in peace and quiet.
"I see I am not the only member of our group who is an early riser" Eko said walking over from the front desk.
"Good morning, Eko. Where are you off to so early?" Rose asked, noting the bag at his side.
"I am taking an early flight back to my church." Eko said. While having begun his career as a priest under false pretenses, Eko had long since come to realize that it was his purpose in life. As soon as he had arrived in LA he had made arrangements to return to the church he had left.
"I see you're not saying goodbye to anyone." Rose said.
"I am saying goodbye to you, now." He said with a smile. "Hurley's gathering the other night seemed an appropriate place to end things." He looked up at a clock on the wall and then back to Rose. "My cab will be arriving soon." Rose repeated her goodbye and Eko turned to walk away. Before he had gotten very far he turned back to Rose and added "I hope that you and your husband find the peace that you were always wishing for." Rose thanked him and watched as he walked away. Rose looked into the dining room where she could see Michael and Walt eating breakfast. They had said their goodbyes the night before and would soon be on their way to New York. Everyone was going their separate ways; people were regaining their lives. First Kate and Sawyer, now Eko, Michael and Walt; pretty soon everyone would have gone on with their lives. These people had been her family for the past three years and now there was a good chance that she would never see some of them again. She watched as Michael and Walt got up to leave; it was bittersweet to say the least. They were all moving on; Rose saw Bernard coming out of the elevator with their luggage and she let out a sigh. It was time for them to move on too.
4-8-15-16-23-42
Charlie was packing up their luggage while Claire chased Aaron around the room trying to get him to put his shoes on. After a lifetime of bare feet Aaron couldn't stand to wear shoes. "You can take them off as soon as we're on the plane, I promise." Claire said as she dived at her son with a sneaker.
"No, I don't like them." Aaron repeated before Claire finally managed to corner him behind the couch. As she wrestled to get his shoes on Charlie looked at all the things that he and Claire had bought the day before and was thankful that she had thought to ship most of it ahead as opposed to trying to get it on the plane. As he finished sorting the things that they would be taking with them he noticed a large box that he hadn't noticed the night.
"Claire, what is this?" He asked picking up the large box and being surprised at how heavy it was. Claire looked over and smiled.
"I forgot about that. It's for you." She said.
"What do you mean you forgot; it's huge?" He asked bringing the big box over to the couch.
"I was going to give it to you last night, but then someone gave me this gorgeous ring and I kind of forgot everything." She smiled and waited for him to open it. Charlie saw how eager she was and decided to tease her a little.
"Hurley told me that you were only allowed to spend his money on shallow things for yourself. I don't know if I can accept this."
"I did use Hurley's money for my things. This I bought with the money I saved; but if you don't want it I can take it back." Claire said pulling the box away. Charlie put up his hand.
"I guess if you went through all that trouble I could at least open it. I can always exchange it for something better." Claire didn't say anything; she just smiled as Charlie opened the box and saw a guitar case. He quickly threw it open and saw a base guitar. Charlie had maintained his guitar on the Island for as long as he could but the tropical climate eventually made it completely unplayable. The day that Charlie had realized that he might never play an instrument again was one of the saddest days he had had on the Island.
"Is it the right kind?" Claire asked. "I tried to get the same one you had before. The salesman thought I was nuts asking so many questions when I told him I couldn't even play, but I wanted to get it right. Do you like it?" Charlie was speechless. How could he tell Claire what a gift like this meant to him? Finally he was able to squeak out the words.
"It's perfect." Claire looked relieved.
"I'm glad. Oh, and Charlie, make sure you take it on the plane with you this afternoon."
"Why?"
"Because if something goes wrong, and we end up crashing on a crazy Island, I'd really like it if you could play lullabies to our kids."
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They had only been back for a few days and already Boone was sick of Shannon. All of the growing up that she had done on the Island seemed to have disappeared. Ever since they had gotten back to LA all Shannon had done was call up old friends, shop, flirt with strangers, shop and talk about all of the parties she was going to throw. Boone was so fed up he didn't even want to be in the same building with her. When she was on the phone he took advantage of the chance and left the room.
As he left the hotel he saw Charlie loading suitcases into a taxi and getting ready to go to the airport. Boone knew that Charlie and Claire were eager to start their new life in Australia, but the idea of getting on a plane again, and so soon, made Boone's stomach cringe. He kept walking and soon found a coffee shop and decided to stop for breakfast. He was sitting at a table drinking an espresso when someone sat down in the chair beside him. "Glad to see you're all adjusting nicely." Boone looked at the woman who had just sat down. She was tall and had dark auburn hair; Boone thought she looked familiar but he couldn't place her. "So are you fleeing LA, or are you one of the few who's sticking around for a while?" She asked.
"I'll be in L… Who exactly are you?" Boone asked.
"Rebecca Norris." She said smiling and holding out her hand. "I was one of the nurses who checked you out the day you all came back."
"Oh, nice to see you again." He said awkwardly. She seemed to notice his tone and began laughing.
"I didn't follow you here. I come here every morning. You lucked into the shop with the best doughnuts on the planet."
"I guess I probably shouldn't be disappointed that you're not a stalker." Boone said smiling. She smiled back.
"I could always follow you back to your hotel if it will make you feel better." She said. Boone smiled back at her. He was suddenly very glad that he had gone out for coffee.
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While Claire and Charlie had to use all their nerve to get onto the plane going to Sydney Aaron was thrilled. He watched out the window through take off and asked a million questions about how planes worked. Claire smiled at Aaron's enthusiasm, but even that couldn't completely relieve the fear that she felt about getting on a plane again. Charlie clearly felt the same way and was gripping the arm rests so tightly that his hands were turning white. "Relax." She whispered into Charlie's ear. He loosened his grip a little, but that was all. Claire knew how he felt. However her biggest worry wasn't another plane crash, but what she was going to do if they landed.
Claire had told Charlie about the problems that she had had with her mother before she got on 815, but she had never told him the whole story. Claire looked down at Aaron and thought about how much she loved him. She also thought about how much it would hurt to have him say that he didn't love her back. That was exactly what Claire had done when she was seventeen. She had been going through a rebellion for months and her mother had been trying in vain to get her to focus on the important things in her life again. Things like school and her future. She had picked Claire up from school but Claire had insisted on driving. Almost immediately they got into a fight about Claire's job at a tattoo parlor. Her mother thought that Claire was meeting the wrong kind of people and Claire thought that her mother should just butt out of her life. The fight escalated until they were both bringing up every failure the other had ever done. That was when Claire told her mother that she hated her. A semi-truck had forced them off the road and their fight ended with Claire realizing that her mother was no longer in the car.
Her mother had been in a coma for months and the doctors had repeatedly told Claire that there wasn't much hope for her. They were wrong though; she did wake up. Claire was in the room when her mother regained consciousness and they both hugged and told each other that they were sorry and that they loved each other. If it had ended there things might have even turned out all right. Sadly though, while her mother's mind was intact, her body had been extremely damaged in the crash and she was in rehab longer than she was in a coma. She never said anything but, every time she went through a painful physical therapy session, she would give Claire a look that said it all. "You did this to me. This is your fault."
The accident changed Claire's life and after almost losing her mother she swore she was going to be a better person. She worked hard at this goal and even harder to repair her relationship with her mother. For a while it even seemed like they might have been able to fix things; but then Thomas entered the picture. Claire had dated all through high school but she had never met anyone like Thomas. She met him at an art fair her friend Rachel had taken her to and had been impressed with the passion he had for his paintings. She fell for him almost immediately and her mother couldn't have been more discouraging. She constantly reminded Claire about Thomas's inability to keep a 'real' job and his tendency to forget important events. But Claire overlooked all of his many faults and just enjoyed the feeling of being in love for the first time. When she and Thomas got pregnant her mother had been furious. Disgusted that Claire would make the same mistakes she had made. She told Claire that Thomas was a dead beat and that he would abandon her. Claire stopped speaking to her mother after that.
Of course her mother had been right and Thomas did leave. From the moment Claire told her mother about Thomas walking out, her mother had pushed her to give her baby up for adoption. She insisted that Claire could not raise the baby on her own. She practically kicked Claire out when she canceled her plans to let a couple adopt, at the insistence of Richard Malkin, and had all but pushed her on the plane when he told Claire that there was a better couple. She hadn't wanted Claire to have her baby. How was she going to act when she saw that Claire had Aaron and was pregnant again? Claire was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the stewardess passing out lunch until Charlie tapped her on the shoulder. She took her meal but couldn't eat. Charlie, noticing her mood, put his arm around her. "Everything is going to be alright. You'll see." Charlie lowered his voice a little. "Your mom is going to be so happy to have you and her grandson that she will forget everything else." Claire smiled and hoped that Charlie was right.
AN: Sorry about the massive exposition at the end, but I am changing a lot of Claire's back story and I need to get it all in before she meets up with her mom. Did anyone enjoy it or should I go sit in a corner for forced reflections? Keep reviewing!
