Disclaimer: Well, her's the next chapter. Sixteen pages according to word perfect, but not a whole lot of action. This is a mussy, romantic type. You've been warned. Once again, I've reach an awkward position in my wrighting. Obviously, in the last couple chapters the topic of sex has come up. Don't expect anything to descriptive if I do chose to include it, but I'd like to know if any one is completely apposed to the idea. The last thing I want is to lose a reader. So please, when you update let me know what you think. I'm going to have this repeated at the bottom of the page, so more people will read it.
FATE
Magic
Alatariel10: Sorry about your computer, mine dose that all the time. Sorry to keep you waiting.
A few months past, Ben started walking, Kate and Jack continued flirting. The island regained its
domestic feel. Little disturbed the survivors except for little things like clean cloths and being sick
of nothing but bore and fruit day after day. But besides that, things were fine.
Claire's eyes flickered open. She had been fast asleep only a moment ago. She lied still for a
moment, allowing her eyes to adjust as she slowly came to. Once awake, she realized exactly what
had woken her. From out side, loud moaning and yelling erupted once again from their
neighboring tent. Jack and Kate, at it again. And again. And again. She stared at the wall before
her for a moment, preparing her self for a long, long night without sleep. And the fact that she'd
have to spend it listening to the marvelous vocals of Jack and Kate didn't make the siltation any
better. She screeched a bit and slowly sat up. Letting out a huge yawn as she looked to her side
where Charlie normally slept. But there was no Charlie or Ben to be sceen. From outside, almost
inaudible beneath the groaning and wailing, she could hear the soft sound of a guitar. She pulled
herself to her feet and wondered over to the open tent flap, listening to Charlie play. He sat Indian
style on the sand before the fire, with the guitar in his lap, across from him, Shannon sat with her
legs curled up beside her, leaning her head agenst Sowyer, who seemed not to notice, as he was
watching Ben bouncing to the music happily infront of him. Beside Sowyer was Hurly, listening
quietly, and Boone to his right. Sayid was sitting at a slightly higher level behind the row, on top a
piece of wreckage listening as well. Off in the near distance, Michael sat outside his tent on top a
metal box, listening as he rest his hand on Walt, who remained asleep beside him beneath and air
line blanket, not phased by the vigorous activities occurring in Jack and Kate's tent. Farther back
from them, she noticed Sun standing outside her tent alone, watching with a faint smile. Jin was no
where to bee seen, probably some where inside. She stepped out from the door way and took a seat
beside Charlie. He looked up at her and smiled, continuing to play. She looked over, noticering
Locke at her side. She hadn't been able to see him from where he was standing before. Charlie
finished after a moment, and every one clapped, heven Ben, who yelled out "Da!" at the end. Ever
one laughed. Charlie grinned as he lay his guitar to the side and lifted Ben high over his head before
plopping him back down on his lap. "Alright, who's next?" he asked as Ben stood on his leg,
bouncing excitedly as he gripped a clump of Charlie's hair for support. No one responded. "Ho
come on! I know I'm not the only pour soul on this island who can play a sodding guitar" he
insisted, looking from person to person. "I would, but my ass is asleep" Sowyer announced with a
smirk. Every one laughed, including his enemy who sat directly behind him. "Well, you don't need
your ass to play" Charlie said jokenly as he handed him the guitar. Sowyer sighed modestly, and laid
it across his lap. Charlie slid his arm around Claire's back as they listened to a familiar song. She
laid her head agenst his as she placed her hand on Ben's little shoulder.
"That's all folks" Sowyer announced once he finished, laying the guitar down before him. He pulled
himself to his feet, brushing off his geans as he headed back to his tent. The others began to rise and
stir as well. No longer able to stay awake. Jack and Kate's gala continued as they spread of back to
their tents to try and block them out. "your really good" Claire said, turning to face Charlie with a
sweet smile. "Thanks" he shrugged modestly, blushing a little as she smiled. Charlie was a man who
rarely acted shy, so this was quite adorable. She leaned over and kissed him on his stubby cheek.
"My god, do they ever stop?" she gowned after a moment, looking in the direction of the tent
across from them. "No, I think they might be robots" he answered jokenly. "Even robots need to
charge up every once and a while" Claire continued the joke. Charlie laughed. "Oh well, let them
fuck. Get it out of their system for a bit" He said casual, with a hint of a smile. "Charlie" Claire
scolded, giving him a playful slap on the arm. "What?" he asked, not understanding what he did.
She gave him a look, indicating to Ben who sat in his own little world, completely out of their
conversation. He still didn't seem to catch on. "You just said the...f word" Claire explained, trying
not to attract any attention from the four month old on his lap. Charlie couldn't help but laugh.
"The f word?" he teased with a huge grin. "Shut up" she replied, shaking her head. "So what, you
don't use the 'f word'?" he asked jokenly, obviously amusing himself. "Not around my son" she
replied smartly. "Why not? Its not a bad thing. People do it all the time. People are doing it right
now! And if he can hear that, then he can surely hear the word that describes it!" Charlie protested,
giving a few wild gestures, as he did when ever he got excited. "I know..."Claire replied, he still
wasn't getting it. "Well then what's the problem?" He asked. "Well...nothing, I guess" she
answered after a moment. He had made a good argument. "Come on, I want to here you say it" He
said, shifting to turn to her. "Say what?" she asked, pretending to be confused. "The f word" he
replied teasingly. "No" she declined, looking away. "Come on" he insisted, leaning closer to her.
"No" she repeated playfully, beginning to blush. "Please" he begged, fakeing a pout. Claire sighed
in surrender. "fine" she grumbled. He stared at her impatiently, leaning in very close. "Fuck" she s
said finally, with a look of accomplishment. "See? If you act like it's a normal word, he won't want
to say it so much" Charlie explained in a whisper. Ben began giggling at something, turning both
their attention's to him. A little butterfly happened to be floating about a few feet before them.
Claire's smile returned, her eyes lit up just like a kids. It was a dark, majestic blue with lighter blue
and black swirls whirling across its wings. "Wow," Claire sighed, leaning back agenst Charlie's
shoulder as she watched it fly to the next tent. "There really is beauty on this island." Charlie looked
at her and smiled, feeling completely in love with her. "No kidding."
The next morning, Kate found her self walking across the sand with Ben in her arms. He had been
crying when she woke up. Charlie was awake, trying to calm him down when she staggered to the
tent to see what was going on. Her legs remained sore, as did everything else after her nights
activities. Because Charlie appeared helpless and excused as he made week attempts at rocking him
or trying to make him laugh, Kate decided to take him to get some food, and let poor Charlie get
some rest. She Got some bananas from their storage tent where they'd kept all the food, far from
any of the fires so it would stay cool. Ben ate for a while and then calmed down. Returning to his
usual, simple fascination. Claire saw Sayid sitting on the rocks near the watter as she headed back
to the tents and decided to join him, curious of what he was working on now. "Hey" She said,
brushing her loose strands back behind her ear as she slowly lowered herself onto the rocks. Ben
clung to the sleeves of her shirt, able to hang on in just about any situation. Sayid glanced up and
gave a some what suggestive smile. "Good morning" he said slyly after a moment. Kate rolled her
eyes as she began to blush. "What's all this?" she asked, quickly changing the subject as she noticed
the little device he seemed to be working on. "You'll see" he replied secretively. Kate gave him a
playfully skeptical look, then shrugged and shifted Ben on her lap. He reached out and grabbed at
the little mechanic in Sayid's hand. He smiled over at him and allowed him to play with it, so it
apparently wasn't anything dangerous. Ben examined it for a moment, and decided he was pleased.
He grinned and his eye lighting up brightly to show it. "He has his mother's eyes"
Sayid noted, looking back at the big, icy blue ones stareing back at him. "Yeah" Kate agreed,
leaning over to look at him. Ben had a look of all on his face. He was so easily amused. His grin
widened and his head titled to the side, as he continued to study the new device. "But when he has
that expression, he looks just like Charlie" Kate laughed, brushing back his duck-fluff hair. "How
are they doing?" Sayid asked, giving a glance over at their tent. "Sleeping." Kate confirmed, "poor
kids." Sayid sat the device down on the rock. "Why's that?" he asked curiously. "Nothing.." Kate
stopped herself before she started spreading their business. "They haven't done it yet" Shannon did
the favor for them as she approached them from behind. "Hi Ben" she said joyful, smiling down.
"Sho" he grinned, reaching out his arms for her to pick him up. "Soh. Well, were half way there"
she teased, lifting him up into her arms. "Really?" Sayid questioned, looking once again back at the
tent. "I know" Kate sighed, stareing back in the same direction."What is wrong with them?"
Shannon was bouncing Ben on her hip as a smile crossed her face. "Yeah. You seem to have no
problem with it" She teased evil. "Very funny" Kate sighed with embarrassment. "Well. I think im
going to go find some food" Sayid announced as he stood, gathering up all the little gadgets. "By"
ben cooed as he walked away. Sayid glanced back with a smile, and continued walking. Shannon
climbed onto the rock and threw her bare legs over the other side. "So, what are we going to do
about this?" she asked conspicuously. "About what?" Kate questioned, rasing an eye brow at her.
"Charlie and Claire" she answered through her teeth, so Ben did not catch on. "I don't think theres
much we can do" Kate replied. "Well we have to do something. I mean, come on. We've been here
for five months and all they've done is stand around all lovely dovey. That is, when their not getting
their selves killed. Don't you think its time they should, you know. Kick it up a notch?" Shannon
ranted passionately. Kate gave her an amused look. "Well yeah, but its not our choice. Maybe their
just not ready" Kate suggested with a shrug, looking out at the ocean. "Not ready? Bull shit! Five
months, Kate. Five whole months of flirting, and kissing and sleeping side by side. How could they
not be ready?" Shannon was determined, and she was trying her best to bring Kate into her
insanity."you have a point" Kate sighed in agreement. "Yeah. So what do we do about it?" Shannon
insisted. "I don't know" Kate shrugged. They both sat for a moment, thinking. "What if we set
something up?" Shannon suggested. "Like what?" Kate asked in return. She thought for another
moment. "What's going on?" Sun asked, standing behind them. Taking some time off while her
husband slept. For a while she was free. "Trying to figure out how to set up Charlie and Claire"
Shannon answered, scooting over so she could sit down. "Like a...date?" Sun asked, thinking for a
moment so she could remember the word. "Yeah." Shannon nodded, "they really need to get laid."
Sun laughed, that was a word Shannon had taught her early on. "This is hard" Kate sighed, leaning
back on the palms of her hands as they rested agenst the rocks. She remembered Sayid for a
moment, and the devices he had been working on. Then she remembered when she was in high
school, and her and one of her ex's had watched fire works. Suddenly, it hit her. "Sayid!" she
yelled, calling out for him. He was a good distance away, but still managed to hear her. "What are
you doing?" Shannon questioned, as he turned and began to make his way back. "I think I have an
idea" Kate explained conspicuously. Sayid stopped infront of the three. "Are those fire works" Kate
asked promptly. "...perhaps" Sayid smiled. They were. "Good" Kate said with a sly little grin,
turning back to the girls. "What are you thinking?" Shannon asked, trying hard to hide her
excitement.
"Hey, Charlie" Kate called from the doorway. Charlie's eye slowly flickered open. He squinted up
at her sleepily. "Morning" she grinned, "come here." He closed his eyes back shut, not yet adjusted
to the bright light she was letting in through the door. He pulled himself up slowly, hair tossed
wildly about his head and walked over to her. He followed her out side as she walked in some
random direction. "Where are we going" he groaned softly, still extremely tired. His eyes were
barley opened and he walked extremely slow. "Ben's crying. I think he wants you" She replied,
pulling the idea straight from her ass. Shannon sat at the extinguished fire at her tent beside sun,
Holding ben across her lap. He wasn't crying at all, instead he grinned up when he was Charlie s
standing before him. "See" Kate said, indicating to his grin. "Stops crying soon as you get over
here." Charlie lifted him up into his arms and held him to one side. "You know" Shannon sayid, as
she stood, "he looks a lot like you." Charlie looked at her from beneath heavy eye lids. "Hows
that?" he asked, knowing that Ben had none of his inherent features. "Just the way his hair sits and
the faces he makes" She replied, brushing back Ben's fluffily bold strands that hung over his face to
one side. "Even his hair looks like yours" She added with a smile, glaceing up at him. Charlie gave
her a questioning look. Oh, so my hair looks like a four month olds that stands straight up and flies
all over the place? Thanks! Shannon sighed, trying to think of something else to say, anything to
keep his attention. "So, Charlie. Your pretty good with the whole guitar thing" She complemented,
smiling as sweetly as possible. It didn't work for her, she looked a little crazy. "Yeah, well. I was in
a band" He replied shyly, brushing his hair down. "Really?" She asked, showing interest. Pretending
that she hadn't already known. "What band?" she asked, crossing her arms over her stomach.
"Drive shaft" he answered modestly, secretly wondering why she was so interested. "Wow" she
said, nodding, maintaining her smile. "Were you guys famous?" she continued to question. "Mildly"
he replied with a bit of a shrug. Ben was begging to wiggle, he wanted down. Charlie kneaded
down and let him crawl about on the sand. Shannon sat back on a log that lined their tent. "I've
herd of them" Kate chimed in, sitting down beside her. "You guys were great" She complimented
with a little smile. "Thanks" Charlie replied, watching Ben move about across the sand. Thinking
about the band brought up bad memories. He wished they'd change the subject. "So, hows
everything going with Claire?" Kate asked. "She's sleeping" he replied, shooting a look at Kate,
who was the cause of both keeping Claire up all last night, and waking him up this morning. "I
mean, relationship wise" She replied, ignoring his little threat glare. "Fine" He answered shortly,
eying her strangely. Why dose she want to know? "Just fine?" She continued. What the hell is going
on? He thought as he continued to look at her with confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked
slowly, giving a glance at Shannon who was listening with full alertness. "Well you just said fine. I
wanted to make sure nothing was wrong." She explained. "Nothings wrong" he replied, completely
bewildered. Women are weird, but not this weird. "You sure?" Shannon asked, mimicking Kate's
expression. "Positive" he confirmed, now giving them both a strange look. "What's with the
integration? Did Claire say something?" He began to worry. If Claire was have doubts about them,
they'd be the ones she'd tell. "No, not at all" Shannon said quickly, so he didn't panic. He gave a
little sigh of relief. Thank god. But then, why are they asking all these questions. "So what's with
the interrogation?" He questioned, trying not to sound defensive. "No reason, really. We're just
curious. Claire doesn't talk about the whole couple thing, we were hoping we could get some info
from you" Kate explained, telling that Shannon was stumped for words. "Like what?" he asked,
allowing Ben to crawl into his lap. "Nothing in particular. Just wondering where your at in the
relationship" Kate explained, waiting patently for his response. What in the sam hell is she going
on about? "I don't get it" he admitted, aimlessly confused. "Sexually" she said shortly, cutting to
the point. Charlie blinked, taken away by the statement. "I don't think that's any of your business"
He replied sharply. Kate sighed, and looked over at Shannon. This would be harder than she
thought. She turned back to him then and gave a gentle smile, hoping the boys were makeing better
progress.
"Hey, Claire. Can I talk to you for a second" Jack said, calling to Claire from his tent. She had
woken up only a moment ago. Charlie and Ben both gone. She had gone out to find them, but was
drawn off corse by Jack's call. "Sure" she said, walking over to him. "I know I gave Ben a check up
some time ago to make sure every thing was alright, but I never really talked with you" he
explained. She noticed, once she got over there that he was not alone. To his left, sat Sayid, to his
right was Sowyer, trying to hide a devious smirk. "I'm fine" She assured brightly, though feeling a
bit uncomfortable. "Are you sure? You haven't felt dizzy, or sick?" he questioned in his medical
tone. "No" she answered, shaking her head. "Alright. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't neglecting
the mother" Jack said with a smile. Claire smiled back, and wondered if she was being dismissed.
"How is Charlie healing?" he asked, just as she were about to get up. Nope, not yet, she thought as
she sat right back down. "Good, I think" She answered, maintaining her friendly smile. "You
think?" Jack questioned. "Well, I haven't really checked" she explained freely. The three gave each
other a few glances before turning back to her. "Why not?" Sowyer asked promptly. Both Jack and
Sayid shot him a threatening look. Claire looked a bit confused. "I'm sorry?" she said, not really
understanding what he meant. "Well I mean, normally when I have sex I tent to look at people" He
explained casually. Jack put his head in his hands, looking terribly stressed. Claire's mouth hung
open, not knowing what to say. "You've been talking to Kate haven't you?" she accused, shaking
her head. "Well..." Jack said nervously. "This is unbelievable" she muttered, shaking her head.
"Look, Claire. Where just trying to help" Jack tried to explain. But it was to late, Claire had already
gotten up and began walking away.
"Claire" Charlie said, looking up at the women standing before him. He sat on the rocks near the
edge of the water looking out at the ocean as the sun began to set. He smiled, and scooted over so
that she could sit down. She sat beside him with her legs curled to the side. "So what are you
doing?" She asked, after getting situated. "Thinking" he replied, continuing to look out at the sky.
"About?" she questioned brightly. "Well, you see, theres this girl a met not to long ago" He began
jokenly. Claire laughed as he went on. "She's really nice, very sweet, not to mention bloody
gorgeous" He flashed a smile at her. "Go on" she instructed, trying to hold back her own smile.
"Well, we've spent the best and worst of the last five months together. And even though I've gotten
hurt numerous times, and I have to spend each day in tremendous heat surrounded by sand fleas, its
been the best few months of my life" he explained, the joking tone of his voice fadded as he stared
back at her, looking her straight in the eye. He was now being completely serious, but maintained a
faint smile. Claire blushed, and had to look away for a moment to escape the intensity of his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure I'm in love with her" the joking came back as he leaned back on the palm of his
hands, smiling at her. Claire laughed a little, still blushing and extremely embarrassed. "Ok, now
your turn" he said playfully, sitting up straight. "What about this Charlie guy I've been hearing
about?" he continued teasingly. "Well...."Claire said slowly, trying to think. "He's veery...sweet"
she said finally, acting as if she couldn't think of any nice things. "I said that one!" he acted as if he
were offended, then shook his head sarcastically. "Go on." Claire grinned, satisfied with her
approach. "He's also very funny, brave," she listed, looking up at the sky as she spoke. "Not to
mention a nice piece of ass" Charlie added conceitedly. Claire broke into laughter. Suddenly, before
Claire could continued, a loud whistling sound shot out from over by the tents. Both looked over as
the little rocket set off into the sky and disappeared for a silent moment, the burst into a thousand
little sparks. "Well, I guess its about that time of the year" Charlie shrugged, once the sparks
fadded. "What time of the year?" Claire asked, having no idea what he was talking about. "Forth of
July" he answered, assuming that would explain it. But Claire still looked confused. "Its an
American thing" he explained with a shrug, after he remembered she was Australian. "Oh..." she
nodded, pretending to understand. Another whistle sounded and more fire works erupted through
the sky. "It's a holiday, something about the first day when Spain took over I think. I don't know.
But every year a bunch of people get drunk, go to a beach of a cook out or something and watch
fire works and set of bottle rockets and shit." He explained. Claire giggled. "Only America would
celebrate the founding of their country by blowing up a small part of it" she stated, looking up at
the blaze of red sparks fading agenst the dark sky. "Hippie" he muttered. Claire nudged him
playfully. Another one went of, this one had more of a blueish color to it. "Well, Ben seems to like
them" She noted, looking over at where him and Shannon sat. He had a huge grin on his face.
"Yeah, he had that same look last week when he saw a frog on a leaf" Charlie explained jokenly.
Claire tried not to laugh. "Yeah, he's a little bit of hell since you got him walking" Claire agreed,
giving Charlie a little glare. "Excuse me, you're the one he was walking to" Charlie reminded
defensively. Claire laughed. "So tell me, what dose fire works have to do with the "founding of
America?" She asked, stareing up at the sparks shooting across the sky. "Nothing really. Red necks
and yanks enjoy watching things blow up, so that might have something to do with it" He explained
sarchasticly. "And you know this because-?" Claire questioned, turning her attention back to him.
"My family lived in New York for two years when I was younger. We were only there for one
summer, but I saw a lot of red necks and they seemed to enjoy it a hell of a lot" he explained. Claire
couldn't help but laugh. "And did you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "Nah, not really. I'm
not much of a summer person. To hot. I prefer winter" He answered casually, talking to the space
infront of him. "Why's that?" Claire questioned as she changed her position. she now faced him,
with her knees pulled up to her chest, exposing her bare calves from underneath the think whit
broom skirt she was wearing. Charlie noticed this and for a moment, for got what he was saying.
He shook his head and it returned to him. "Well that's around Christmas I guess. You know,
presents, trees, reindeers, my birthday, so even more presents" He listed, stopping when ever Claire laughed.
"Sagittarius" she muttered, stareing her head in the same fashion he did when calling her a hippie.
Charlie laughed, and went on. "And of chorse, the best part. Snow." she smiled when he said it,
remembering how much he missed being in a cold atmosphere. "I'd prefer frost bite over sun burn
any day" he added. "I've never seen snow" Claire explained, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"You haven't?" he asked, a slight look of amazement on his face. "Nope," She shook her head, "I
grew up in Sydney. Instead of snow, we have sand. Instead of a Christmas tree, we have palm trees
and the closet thing we have to a reindeer is a kangaroo" She explained with a bit of a laugh.
"Wow, that's awful" Charlie sympathized, looking rather thoughtful. "But you still get presents
right?" Claire laughed, and nodded yes. He smiled. "Good, atleast its not a total loss. When we get
off this rock, I'll take you to England, show you a real Christmas" He offered, smiling dreamily.
"Sounds like a plan" Claire agreed. Charlie thought for a moment. "You know what? Scratch the
snow crap. The best part about Christmas is the food" he exclaimed out of know where. "Oh good,
don't start that again!" She teased, laying her head across her arms. To late, his mind was on food.
"Turkey, Chicken, ham, mash potatoes, corn bread, biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, hot coco,
peanut butter fudge-" he found a weak spot. "Mmm, peanut butter" Claire moaned, remembering
the taste. She felt her stomach growl. "You ok?" he asked, eying her strangely as she stared down
at her stomach. "Yeah, just hungry. Thanks to you" She said a little resentfully. "Well, in that case I
suppose it'll be my job to go get you some food" he suggested, slowly pushing off the rock. Damn
straight" She replied playfully.
Charlie made his way over to where a couple of the guys sat around the fire where the boar was
being cooked. "Hey, Charlie!" Jack announced cheerfully when he saw him approach. He staggered
to his feet and gave him a great big hug. Charlie stood still, caught of gard my Jack's sudden
friendliness. Locke, Sayid and Michael all laughed. "Hey...Jack" Charlie said uncomfortably, trying
to wiggle his way out of the hug. Jack let go and plopped back in his place. "So, how's the food
coming along?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. "Almost ready" Locke answered, continuing
to medal with the meal. "Well then...I'll just go, uh" Charlie babbled, trying to find an escape. "No!
Come on! Sit down, have a drink" Jack slurred, holding his own plastic cup high. "Uh...no thanks.
I'm staying sober" Charlie replied as politely as possible. "Aw, who cares? Sit anyways" he insisted.
Charlie sighed and plopped down. "So, how's the misses?" Sowyer asked, acting a little under the
influence himself. "She's...fine" he answered, wondering why every one was so interested in him and
Claire all of a sudden. "No kidding!" Sowyer hollered. Him and Jack clinked their glaces together.
Charlie thought for a moment, then realized what he was insinuating. If he were sober, Charlie might
have wanted to kick his ass, but since he was some how drunk, he decided to let it slide. Atleast for
now. "Seriously, though. You're a lucky man. You and Jack both, for being able to find someone on
this island" Michael said kindly. He held a glass in his hand, but didn't look or sound at all intoxicated.
" Thank you" Charlie said appreciatively. "Is the food ready yet?" he asked again, looking hopefully
over at Locke. "Not yet" he chuckled. Charlie frowned. "Man, I thought I was hungry" Hurly said
from over in his corner. He two was holding a little plastic glass with the brownish liquid. "Its not for
me, its for Claire. Her stomach was growling so she sent me over here to get food" Charlie explained,
looking back over at the rocks where Claire sat. "oh. She's not...Pregnet again, is she?" Hurly said,
looking a little worried. "She better not be" Charlie replied. The guys had a little laugh. "Well, it
should only be a few more minuets" Locke assured. Charlie smiled, satisfied with that responses. He
sat quietly for a moment, the silence makeing him uncomfortable as usual. He began tapping on his leg
with both hands. "Speaking of relationships, hows Kate?" Sowyer said, giving an unfocused look
towards Jack. "Good" Jack replied loudly. He looked over at her. Kate, Shannon and Sun all sat
around a little fire outside of Shannon's tent dressed in shorts and bikini tops. Expect Sun, who wore a
tank over hers so that her over protective husband wouldn't complain. All three of therm gave glance over at Jack, then burst into laughter. "Think they're talking about you, man" Boone said, giving Jack
a little nudge on the arm. He was sitting a little behind Jack and Hurly on a piece of wreckage. Jack
laughed to hide his embarrassment. He gave another look over at Kate and they made eye contact.
"Well, I know we won't bet getting much sleep tonight" Sowyer announced to the boys with a laugh,
giving Jack a slap on the back. "Here you go, Charlie" Locke said, passing him a reused paper plate
with a large sliver of pork on it, accompanied by an apple and some white grapes, witch explained the
whine that they were all drunk off of. "Alright. Well, I guess I'll be going" Charlie announced, Slowly
rising to his feet. "Aw!" the two drunks slurred in protest. Charlie shook his head and continued
walking. He was about half way their when a little voice called out. "Daddy!" Ben Called from beside
Shannon, and began running towards him. He tripped on his way over, but got up no problem. Charlie
picked him up and held him on the side of his hip. "Hey, kid. How's it going?" He asked, giving him a
little kiss on the forehead. "He's good. Spending some time with cool Aunt Kate" Kate said, smiling
up at him. "And his favorite Aunt Shannon" Shannon added playfully. Charlie laughed, and let him
back down. "Hey Ben, why don't you go get some food?" he suggested, turning him in the right
direction. Ben ran over to the guys. Charlie smiled as he watched him go, then turned to go meet
Claire. He almost got away when..."Hey, Charlie!"
Claire sat back at the rocks in the same position as before, examining her toes. She had borrowed
some nail polish from Shannon, who had a huge abundance of it in one of her hundred bags. She had
chosen a light blue, witch was now beginning to chip away. Her stomach rumbled again and she
looked back over at the tents where Charlie stood infront of the fire, talking to the girls. She still
managed to feel the heat from the fire all the way over where she sat. She shifted so that she was now
kneeling on the rocks and pulled the little rubber band off her wrist. She was in the middle of pulling
up her hair when something soft and furry landed in her lap. "Hi, Vincent" she smiled, looking down at
the furry paw that rested on her leg. He made a strange little noise as his tail began to wag. She
finished putting up her hair and gave him a little scranch behind the ears. "Vincent!" Walt called,
running up towards them. "Sorry, he's just begging for food" he apologized, trying to convinced the
dog to leave her alone. "Oh, I don't mind" she assured, as Vincent layied down infront of her, resting
his head on his lap. "Ok" Walt shrugged, and hopped up on the rocks. "Where's Charlie?" he asked,
petting Vincent on the head. "Over there, getting food" she explained. The dog's ears perked up when
he herd the word food, then laid back down. "And Ben?" Walt asked, full of questions. "Spending time
with the girls" she said, petting the starving dog as well. Walt made a little face at the word 'girls'.
"hey, you think when he's a little older I could teach him how to play catch or something?" He
suggested. "I think that's a great idea" Claire answered, smiling friendly. Another fire work went of
and the three looked up at the sky. This one was a gold color. Vincent gave a confused bark up at the
sky, then hopped up. He continued to bark upward as he ran across the beach. Claire laughed. "Well, I
better go get him" Walt said, climbing off the rocks. "By Claire" he added before running after the
crazed dog. "By" she said, giving a little wave. Vincent meet Charlie on his way over, spotted the
food in his hand and nearly nocked him over. "Vincent, no!" Walt scolded, pulling him away. Charlie
laughed as Walt tried his best to drag the dog away by the caller. He made his way over to the rocks
and sat down infront of Claire. "Dinner is severed" he announce, handing her one of the plates. She
smiled, and rested the plate in her lap. "How are the girls doing?" she asked, picking up a square of
meet with her plastic spoork. "Nosey" he grumbled, poking at his own slab of meet. She laughed.
"And the boys?" she asked, after taking the first bite. "drunk" was the answer. "And Ben?" she
questioned, looking up at him as she took another bite. "Nosey and drunk" he joked. "Ah, the best of
both worlds" she laughed. "How's the food?" he asked, looking down sickly at his own plate. "Well its
not peanut butter" She sighed. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked, looking at his untouched face.
"Nah. I'm kind of sick of boar and apples" he explained, putting his plate to the side. "Sute yourself"
She shrugged and took another bite off her fork. He watched her as she swallowed the food, looking
out at the Ocean. Her hair up in a sloppy bun, lose strands flying about her face, eyes sparkling. The
dark and light blue striped shirt she had stolen from him hanging off her shoulder on one side, and
covering most of her hands. The skirt folded up so that it only covered a small part of her legs, the
access material billowed in the wind. She was beautiful. "What?" she asked, reading the euphoric
expression on his face. "Nothing" he replied, snapping out of his daze. Looked out at the ocean.
"What?" she repeated, playful smacking his arm. He took her hand before she could pull it back and
held it in his own. He looked up at her, a spark flashed in his eye. She shook her head, showing that
she was still waiting for a response. "Dance with me" he suggested, rubbing his thumb over the top of
her hand. "There's no music" she made an excuse. "So?" he asked, hopping off the rock. "no thank
you" she said modestly. "Come on" he insisted, pulling her up by his hand. "Charlie!" she gasped,
acting shocked as he pulled her into his arms. A smile grew across his face as he pulled his arms
around her waist and began to sway. She tried not to laugh and forced herself to look away from him.
That is, until he pressed his forehead agenst hers and looked her in the eye with the same look he had
earlier when he was telling her how happy she made him and how much he loved her. Her knees went
week. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as he leaned in to kiss her. They swayed back
and forth slowly, holding each other as another rand of fire works went off in the distance. Charlie
hadn't understood what Locke meant when they first got on the island. He'd told him he looked into
the eye of the island and saw a miracle. But now he understood perfectly. This had to be magic.
(writer's note: I've reach an awkward position in my wrighting. Obviously, in the last couple chapters the topic of sex has come up. Don't expect anything to descriptive if I do chose to include it, but I'd like to know if any one is completely apposed to the idea. The last thing I want is to lose a reader. So please, when you update let me know what you think. Thanks!)