Epilogue: Samsara

In the end, it was only Krish that would be cremated on the island, as he had requested. At dawn, Hurley and Ben had gone to the beach to help Kyra move the body and prepare its nest of jungle flowers. The other traditions would be left aside; the island wind would take care of the scattering of ashes. In quiet tones, they made arrangements for a small gathering for the island's little knot of friends later at dusk. Save for Renee Kircher, the others hadn't known of Krish's decision to finally rest until Hurley broke the news to them.

Hanso's ship had since left, hauling its defused cargo to Korea to be examined discreetly by international authorities and added to charges against Paik. Penelope and her family had gone with them, though Richard stayed behind on the island. Temporarily, he claimed. Just to visit. Hurley had an idea that he'd found a few more things to make peace with – or people, judging by Ben's wary, wry looks at the previous advisor.

After dusk, Renee, Tsuchi, and Ellis stayed by Kyra in the light of a small campfire near the cabins. Hurley had given her a big hug and gone off into the jungle for some private reason. Renee did her best to keep things light by bringing up particularly strange or embarrassing tidbits from anthropology or her own archaeological work – a rude discussion of classical erotic netsuke pieces turned Tsuchi bright red for most of an hour. It was a good time even if bittersweet, and Kyra's laughter was genuine.

It felt like last call before the bar closed. Renee brought up, a bit hesitantly, her plans to leave the island soon to work on getting access to some pre-Assyrian rarities and compare them with her notes. Tsuchi followed up by saying he wanted to visit his family and work on translating his abilities to something that would draw him out of the house more frequently.

"Let me know how comfortable you are with that," Kyra said. "I've got a lot of company contacts that love a competent translator."

"You'll still work with them?" Ellis asked her. "You seemed pretty tired of what you do."

"Well." She shrugged, then looked sheepish. "Actually, Ben's offered me a chance to stay on through Mittelos as a security consultant." She'd been surprised by the offer. She surprised herself further by accepting almost immediately. "I'll still do a lot of travel. Probably going to visit my family before I hunker down with that... Krish's too." Nobody commented on the thick swallow that accompanied that, though Renee patted her knee by instinct. "And we'll probably always have some work for a translator ourselves, too." She grinned and slung an arm around Tsuchi's shoulder, giving it a friendly thump with her loose fist. "How about you, Doc?"

"Mittelos pays the bills, now and next, hallelujah and amen." He grinned, ran dark fingers through his salt and pepper hair. "I got a few ideas for some projects."

Renee looked from face to face. "We're all gonna keep in touch, right? No weird Breakfast Club shit."

They agreed, laughing – no Breakfast Club shit.

. . .

Hurley didn't need to be alone in the jungle for long. Close to midnight, a small flock of frightened jungle birds took to the air with a collective discordant squawk, insulted by the sharp cracking noise that broke the sky. He bit his lip for a moment, then looked towards the direction of the gunshot.

If he chose, he could find Mittelwerk's body easily or let someone help him take care of it. Or, his other choice, let the body decay rapidly into the island, forgotten as much as Krish would be remembered by his friends. He thought about Dr. Kircher's ideas about the island, about the cycle of life and death, and about his friends and the danger they had come so close to. He stood thinking for a long while, long enough for the insulted wildlife to settle back into place and resume their evening chorus. Then, he shoved his hands into his pockets and went back to the cabins to wait for Ben.

. . .

Ben didn't keep him waiting long. He'd parted company with Richard with a great deal to mull over, mostly concepts of redemption and karma. Richard would leave with the others in the next couple of days, and he made a note to make arrangements with Lapidus in the morning. On asking about Richard's next move, the ex-advisor had laughed. "Someone gave me the idea once to buy a vineyard. I'm seriously considering it."

Ben shrugged the thoughts away as he saw Hurley's silhouette on his porch. A big hand raised in greeting and he lifted his head in response. He picked up his pace. "Something on your mind, Hugo?"

"Still got a few loose ends knocking around my skull, dude." He poked the side of his head self-deprecatingly. "I know, I know. That's life, there's always gonna be a buttload of those. But I'm thinkin' about a couple more immediate things."

Ben clasped his hands together and leaned against a tall porch support beam. "I'm listening."

"I think Hanso should help us shut down those last few DHARMA doohickeys, because seriously, if I see another box of DHARMA chex mix get dropped on the island, I'm gonna barf."

Ben laughed silently. "Easy enough."

"And... I think we need to go get Walt."

He arched an eyebrow at that. "He's grown now; I'm to understand he's not well."

"...Yeah. He's kinda like where I was when we went back." Hurley shifted his weight. "I really want to fix that. I think he's important to this place." He didn't say the rest of what he thought, which was that there were times he felt his role was more temporary than Ben was ready to hear. More than anything else, he wanted the option to see his ma more than he really could under his current role. "I think we owe him a few things."

Ben looked away. "Likely."

"So, you know. Like I told Hanso. It doesn't ever really end, but I got a lot of ideas about making the next spin better."

Ben looked back, then reached out and squeezed Hurley's arm. "Good. I have faith in you, Hugo." He smiled, tired but earnest. "Let's go do what we can."

. . .

Mendocino, Northern California

There are four women and four children playing in a park during a beautiful light summer day. Claire Littleton holds her growing, feisty son Aaron who is reaching past her grip to his adoptive sister, Ji Yeon Kwon. Ji Yeon can't stop giggling at the faces the bright-haired little boy makes, squirming away from Kate to crawl to him across jade green grass.

Charlie is tottering near his own mother, fingers in his mouth as he watches the two play the face game, but he turns occasionally to catch the shy eye of Clementine, who has only met Aaron before today. She has a stuffed bear clutched in her arms, a bear with a corny Texas kerchief tied at its throat. It was a gift from her daddy, given sheepishly, and it was her favorite thing in the entire world. Cassidy encourages her to go meet the two new faces and with more than a little hesitation, she does so. Aaron immediately burbles happily and pulls her in with a tubby child's hand to touch Ji Yeon's smooth, dark hair. Charlie begins to giggle and plops on his butt. Together, the children begin to talk in their private language that only other young children can decipher.

Close by, on a park bench, two men are having a rambling discussion about beer, baseball, golf, and the kids. They are collectively aware of their own cliché nature at this moment, and accept it with a set of wry grins. It beats the stress of the last few years. Desmond and James fall into a companionable silence, aware that there will be many beers over the next few years, as families find an excuse to visit each other.

Perhaps in time, the children will learn about the island. But meanwhile, it is certain they have learned about love.

~Fin

"Curving back within myself I create again and again."

~ The Bhagavad Gita

6/10-5/13. Namaste!