Author's Note: Oh my. What a terrible person I am. I've written four chappies in this fic, and now I'm going to skip ahead to the most recent episode. (I don't know the name of it –could someone tell me?— but it's the one when Hurley finds the Frenchlady.) I know the idea seems stupid, but oh well. Too many things have happened since I last updated, so I'm going to go ahead and write the very updated chapter now. Oh, and Alice isn't related to Rousseau in any way, for those of you who were a tad confused 'bout that. -

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or any of the characters. If I did, Hurley's CD player would still be working and he'd be playing a Queen CD. And Charlie would be singing along.

Chapter Five: In The Air

Sun sighed. She felt so free, so open now, but not exposed. She was very nearly naked, standing in the shallow water in her little blue bikini, but it felt good. Naked was fine as long as no one was there to see. As long as Jin wasn't there.

Jin. He'd been occupying her thoughts a lot since he left her. Her heart was sore, truly enough, but she would recover. She'd known for a long time that their marriage was failing, and over that long time her anxiety had built up until she felt as though she would burst from the pressure of holding on to hope. But now that it was over, officially, she found that she was relieved.

Sun wriggled her toes deeper into the sand, hoping she wouldn't disturb some hermit crab from its burrow. The last thing she needed was for everyone on the island to hear her scream if it pinched her foot. The last thing she needed. Ha. She smiled at the irony of it. What did she need, really? Here on this island so many things she had once felt were necessities were lost to her now.

Like a good husband to take care of her. She didn't need him anymore; she was a new Sun, a reborn woman. She was capable, independent, intelligent— her stomach rumbled plaintively, interrupting her self-praise —and very hungry. She withdrew her toes from the sand and waded clumsily out of the water. Wrapping her towel around herself, she began to make her way down the beach to the camps, where she was sure to find food if she asked nicely enough. Sun was also relieved to have finally admitted that she could speak English. Some secrets are just too difficult to keep, she thought as she approached Hurley's campfire with a pleading smile on her face.

Hurley was freaked out. The Korean chick was smiling at him and he didn't know what to do. Everyone was feeling pretty uncomfortable around her lately, and Hurley was at a loss for words. For once. So he just sat there and stared expectantly. Finally she spoke.

"Do you have any food? It's been almost a day since I last ate," she said quickly. The smile was still on her face. A nervous smile, Hurley thought, or maybe an embarrassed one. She shifted her feet, waiting for a reply.

"Oh, oh yeah," Hurley stammered, dragging himself out of his reverie. Geez, he was spacey lately. Like he was on drugs or something, which he wasn't. At least, he didn't think he was. "I've got some bananas and coconuts and stuff if you want some. If you're not, like, tired of it yet. I am. I'd give my left arm for a cheeseburger."

Sun chuckled softly and sat down. Hurley smiled and handed her a banana. "Thank you. But why would you give your left arm?" she asked curiously. Usually she heard people say they'd give their right arm.

"Because I need my right arm to eat the cheeseburger with."

Sun laughed again and began to peel the banana. "Makes sense," she said.

Hurley nodded and leaned against the palm tree behind him. "So... are you and Jin all right now? I mean, I'm not trying to pry in your business or anything, but"

"It's okay. We've sort of... reached a silent agreement, you might say," she cut him off, tossing the banana peel over Hurley's head and into the bushes. Somehow Hurley guessed there was more to the story, but he didn't inquire any further for fear of being slapped. He'd seen Sun slap Michael before. That looked painful.

"Oh," he said brilliantly.

Sun nodded. "Well, thank you for the banana. I'm going to go see what the others are doing," she told him, standing up.

"Okay. Uh, see you later then," he called, watching her walk away, eating the banana. She waved back to him, smiling through her banana-stuffed mouth.

Charlie was noticing how pretty Claire looked when the sun glinted off her golden hair. He stared dumbly at her as she walked along beside him, chatting happily. They must have walked halfway around the island by now, Charlie thought, but he wasn't even remotely fatigued. However, Charlie realized with a jolt that perhaps Claire, being pregnant, might be.

"Claire, are you tired? We've been walking for a while now, haven't we?" he asked concernedly. She smiled gratefully and nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I suppose I am a little tired," she replied lightly, but she winced as Charlie helped her to sit down. Charlie sat down beside her in the sand and felt his muscles slowly contract and release their tension. Claire stretched out her legs and sighed contentedly. For some time they sat there in silence, watching the waves roll intensely to the beach and then rush back out to sea again, the seagulls diving and catching fish.

"It feels so nice out here, doesn't it?" Claire commented quietly after a while. Charlie looked at her strangely.

"What do you mean?" he asked slowly. "The beach?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. It feels wonderful."

Charlie was confused. To tell the truth, he was getting very tired of the beach. "But we've been living on the beach for weeks now. Why is this different?" His voice was very soft.

Claire smiled, her eyes still fixed on the horizon of the same shade of blue. "Out here, it's different somehow. With you." She turned her head and their eyes met. Locked.

The breeze lifted Claire's hair into the air to descend gracefully over her shoulder. All was silent, save for the rhythmic rush of the tide and the gentle swaying of the palm trees.

Then Charlie was suddenly aware of her hand, which was resting inside his own. They smiled and a blush conquered Claire's cheeks. Charlie's heart began to beat quickly, drumming madly against his rib cage. He felt butterflies in his stomach that he'd never felt before, more intense than anything he'd ever experienced before a concert. He thought he'd been in love before, many times, but never had he felt like this. Time seemed to stand still around them as Charlie leaned closer. His entire being was numb, tingling with anticipation and something else, perhaps fear. What if she turned away, left him sitting alone on the barren beach?

He had to put away that fear. Hide it on a shelf where it wouldn't keep him from doing what he felt was right. For he knew that, in this moment, in this place, beneath this pulsing midday sun, what he was about to do was right.

Claire's other smooth hand reached up to touch his sunburnt cheek. In one slow instant, Charlie kissed her. With the one motion he expressed his love, long-suppressed. He felt that his heart might break from the joy of it, and even as he released her and pulled away, he felt spasms of happiness coursing through him. For he had felt it. Her love was there, a light, innocently intoxicating presence that seemed to mingle with his own love for her in the air surrounding them.

The words didn't even need to be spoken. They hovered in the air, echoing through the trees, whispered in the constant tide of the ocean. Love.

Author: Wow... I'm being attacked by rabid fluffbunnies. Sorry this chapter was kind of strange. And Alice-less. I promise I'll bring her and some of the others back into the story soon. This time I just wanted to give Claire and Charlie something. And of course a little bit for Hurley and Sun, because they're cool, too. Ta!