Jack sat at the edge of the playground with a cup of coffee in his hand as he watched toddlers roll and slide and bounce their way across the rubber and plastic tubes. He sighed into the wind and checked his watch, waiting patiently. When he felt the hand on his shoulder, he didn't have to turn to know it was her.
She stepped over a concrete barrier, planting her leather boots on the wooden bench next to him before slipping into the seat, a hand held out for the coffee cup he already had ready for her. Kate smiled at him before he let his arm drop on her shoulders. "It's done," she told him quietly.
He nodded. "Moments like this make me feel really strange."
"Averting possible disasters using memories we shouldn't have?"
Jack laughed. "Yeah."
With a quick chuckle, Kate agreed. "Gotta admit, I like this ending better."
"Sometimes I wonder whether we really changed anything," Jack admitted, squinting towards her.
She clasped her hands together in her lap before rubbing his left leg with her right hand. "I didn't blow up a house."
"I didn't marry the miracle patient."
They bowed their heads together in silent laughter. "We changed what we could," Kate told him, her eyes scanning the children. "I wish we could have changed more."
Jack bit his lower lip, letting it slide out slowly as she sat up and leaned forward, her hands outstretched at the small boy who rushed towards her with a loud high-pitched shout. "September 22nd 2004," Jack said, his eyes darting towards the newspaper at his side. "Only thing different is I'm not on a plane and my dad's in surgery right now. Probably yelling at some resident about how incompetent he is."
Kate sat the dark haired child in her lap and brushed sand off his knees. He played with the buttons on her blouse and poked at her cheek. She glared at him and he bowed his head, looking mischievous. She smiled, remembering Desmond's words. Noah looked just like Jack, but he was just like her.
"I'm sorry about…"
"You can't control cancer," Kate told him gently. "I'm just glad I could get Wayne out of her life. That we had a few years of peace." She looked up at him. "That she got to meet you and hold her grandson."
Jack nodded. He kissed her forehead as he picked the boy up and headed back towards the tubes with him, helping him climb up the monkey bars so he could hang and swing. When he looked back at Kate was lost in thought, her eyes glazed over like they'd been in his memory… staring away at the horizon. Only this one, he knew, was filled with hope.
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Finis
