Note: Thank you for r&r, especially those who even reviewed twice or more. :D

Special thanks to tijynjsa for being the first ever to have put one of my stories on her favourites!

And you should really read the book ;) (and I should watch the film...)

About Roger: I'm afraid I took a lot of freedom in interpreting Roger's character. Nowhere in the book it is said that he has motives for his cruelty asides from being a natural sadist. Now I could have explored that further, could have invented difficult psychological issues in his childhood, and on, and on... but that would have distracted from the actual story and it'd have been mere speculation, too.

It is often said in interpretations of LOTF that Roger is the stereotype of a follower of a totalitarian regime. I tried to keep it that way, making him loyal to Jack – even though I myself am not sure on that. But in many stories it seems that Roger is just 'bad because he enjoys it'. I wanted to be a bit different, and I also have my own opinion on that.

10 World's weight

"Are you okay?" Jack asked when they both had calmed down a bit. They were still sitting in the darkness, arms wrapped tightly around each other. Ralph nodded.

"I.. I'm okay..." He felt like crying, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't give Roger the satisfaction of being weak like that, even if at the moment Roger was most surely unaware of his surroundings, if he was still alive at all.

Jack sneaked a hand under his chin and lifted the boy's face.

"Are you sure? Roger.. what was he up to? Why...?"

Ralph looked away, at the fallen youth's dark form. Why? Roger had had a lot of reasons.. but which were true? Which only made up to justify himself? He was quite sure he'd never understand this one's mind. What he had been up to... now of that he was quite sure.

"He wanted to kill me." Jack furrowed his brows in confusion. He shook his head and looked at Roger.

"I.. I mean I knew he liked to.. liked to bully other kids.. and he could be quite.. quite rough.. but why you? And why now of all times?"

"He wanted to do it all along. He said a lot of things. I was a danger to you, and so on. Jack... ." Ralph didn't know how to put it gently.

"Jack.. I think he did it out of loyalty to you. It's true, he was cruel and he liked to hurt others.. but he also thought he would do you a favour if he killed me."

"Oh," Jack breathed, totally baffled. Then he suddenly cupped Ralph face with both his hands and looked him straight into the eyes.

"How wrong he was. How wrong...," he said and smiled and leaned down to kiss Ralph gently on the lips. Ralph closed his eyes. He felt happy, happy to be alive, to be saved, to be loved even. But Roger hadn't totally been defeated. A small thorn of doubt had been driven into Ralph, distrust and shame spreading like venom. He knew very well that he had been mad, and that he hadn't had any intent to 'seduce' Jack to save his life. But at the back of his mind... deep down there was doubt, restless, nagging.

What if Jack really, maybe only unconsciously, had kept him alive for these reasons? What if he really craved for his body more than he actually liked him? What if he denied himself to Jack...? Ralph broke away from the kiss. He had to tell Jack. He had to tell him, to make this clear.

"Jack... there was more. More that Roger said."

"It doesn't matter now," Jack said breathlessly, trying to kiss him again. But Ralph shrank away from him, even if it hurt to see Jack's surprise and worry.

"No, Jack, please. Listen! He said things... about you and me.. about.. about why you kept me alive." This was so difficult.

"And?"

"He said it was all a trick.. it was me.. that I had.. that you had kept me because of.. because of this."

"This?"

"That you kept me because I gave you.. myself. My body." Now. There it was. Hanging between them, dirty, foul, the suggestion of the unspeakable.

Jack was shocked. Furious. He wanted to kill.

"That.. that dirty piece of...!"

"Jack!"

"For that I'll do him!"

"Jack. That won't change it now. So.. did you?"

"What?!"

Jack stared at the pale face that looked at him so determinedly, so very desperately. Slowly the meaning of Ralph question sunk into him. Suddenly he felt cold and sick. He, too, realised the truth that was in Roger's words. He did want Ralph, he couldn't deny it. He had kissed him even, just now. But...

"Stupid," he said and smacked Ralph on the head. The fair boy blinked.

"Some parts of your brain must still be snapped! Did you really believe that fool's words?" Jack snorted.

"But..."

"We were twelve! Twelve!! I didn't even have the idea of liking you! Really, sometimes I think every single person on this island goes batty at some point."

Ralph looked at him, dumbly. Then, gradually, his face lit up.

Just in that moments, Samneric nearly fell over the pair sitting in the dark.

"Chief? Is that you?" one of them shrieked.

"Samneric?" Jack got up, Ralph hastily pulled his rags back on and then stood next to him.

"What's up?" the Chief asked them resolutely.

"You.. were suddenly gone, and we thought we might look for you.."

"..and so we did.."

"Has anyone else noticed that we're away?" Ralph asked, to Jack's surprise. Although his face was obscured by shadows, his voice had gained a new strength, and had lost the weakness he had become so used to.

"We don't think so.."

"Let's go back, then," Ralph suggested.

Jack nodded. Then he grinned, grim but still a grin, and said:

"Samneric, get Roger and carry him to the fire. Bind him, too."

Samneric startled.

"Roger?" they said with disbelief and turned to where their leader had gestured. The twins stared at the black hump that was Roger. The dark boy had been to them the kind of boy you fear throughout your whole childhood, the one that bullies you whenever you meet him in the schoolyard, the one that terrorises you to no end. But Roger had been even worse, by far darker than such childhood quarrels could ever have been. Both twins well remembered their darkest moment on the island: in Castle Rock, when Roger had made them give away Ralph's hideout.

Now the boy was nothing but a beaten body, motionless, harmless. Something like a satisfied smile spread over the twin's faces. They hadn't quite understood what had happened, yet, but Roger was obviously defeated, their greatest fear gone.

"Yes, chief!" they shouted and began dragging the unconscious back to where they had come from, Ralph and Jack following him.

Deep in thought, Jack sighed. Ralph looked at the boy who was walking next to him in brooding silence. Had Jack changed so much, or had he only not seen that side to him before? Maybe it was age, that had brought that calmness and thoughtfulness, but maybe it was also leadership. Ralph remembered himself, how much he had grown up in the time of his leadership. It forced you to think, to decide, to be responsible.

When they reached the edge of the forest, they both hesitated for a short moment. The boys were sitting around the fire, laughing, eating, and the gorgeous smell of freshly roasted meat greeted them. In front of them, Samneric were hauling Roger down the beach.

"What shall I do?" Jack asked.

"You can't kill him," Ralph answered, silently understanding what the other one meant.

"But if I don't kill him, he'll try to kill you, again, until he succeeds."

"But you can't kill him," Ralph insisted.

"You can't just kill those who are against you. If you do that, you'll truly be a savage. And how would you kill him, anyway? Could you just execute him, coldly, just like that?"

Jack shivered. "No," he admitted between his teeth. Angrily he kicked the sand with his bare feet.

"But what shall I do about him, then? We can't risk to have him running free, but can we keep him a captive forever?"

Ralph tried to smile at him.

"Jack. You are not the one to decide this. You don't have to decide everything by yourself."

"Yes I do!"

Ralph sighed. He knew very well how Jack must feel. It was so very difficult, when you had to decide things that could mean life or death, and nobody could help or advise you, when nobody even cared.

"That's wrong. I thought so, once, too. It was wrong. We have to decide together, everyone on this island. They'll never grow up if they don't learn to decide. Imagine someone like Roger would become chief."

"He'll never!"

"But imagine it. They'd be like wet earth in his hands, ready to be formed after his will, twisted.. they have to learn to have their own opinion, to be able to decide by themselves. Or else everything will always depend on you."

Ralph watched Jack, waiting for a response. The sandy boy was torn. Ralph was right, stunningly right, disturbingly right. But what he demanded would mean major changes. He would have to give the boys the freedom to decide, hoping that they would decide wisely, and that would mean giving up a lot of his power. If they could decide by themselves, they could also decide against him. Ralph had failed that way, somehow. What if they decided against him? Would he have to accept their decision?

"What if they decide that Roger should be killed?" he asked.

Ralph had waited for this question. Now his time had come. For a long time he had tried to sort out why he had failed, and that had brought him to one conclusion.

"Then you have to put up rules before you let them decide. Rules that state that nobody on this island, for whatever reason, should be killed by us." Jack was just about to ask another question, to argue back once more, but then he let it slip and just sighed, deeply.

"Well then." He stared at the darkness that was the horizon, at the endless vast space beyond his vision.

"Tomorrow... tomorrow we'll call an assembly."

Ralph smiled at Jack's broad back, and hugged him gently from behind. He nuzzled against the wild sandy hair, whispering soft words of comfort, words that came from deep inside him, from places and memories long forgotten. And he felt the body in his arms relax, leaning into the touch.

So they stood silently on the beach, listening to the sounds of happy children and paradise. Both felt a kind of comfort that neither had felt for all the time on the island : the comfort of not being alone, of not having to carry the world's weight on only one's own shoulders.

And when everyone had left for their sleeping quarters or just slept right where they were, they still lay in the sand, snuggled close to each other, oblivious of the world, of the star's wide tent above their small figures, of the moon rising and descending, of the small waves grazing the shore at their feet. Sometimes they would kiss, but very tenderly only, and by far too much at ease with themselves to let them feel anything but love.