Day 7
"Providence"

Her eyes snapped open, and palm trees greeted her vision. The breeze was cool, and the sun was hot on her face. She stood, gazing around camp. But no one was to be found. Somehow, she took no heed, and was rather relieved, in fact. She liked it better when she was by herself, anyway.

But, the feel of a person behind her dashed those dreams. Hands held her shoulders tightly, lovingly, and she felt lips through her hair, kissing the back of her neck. She spun quickly, in confusion, to find Sawyer standing there. Her furrowed brow deepened.

"What're you doing?" She asked curiously.

"I just want to find paradise." Was his cryptic answer. He leaned down to kiss her lips before disappearing down the beach. She was too shocked for a moment. Her fingertips hovered over her lips, where his had rested moments before. They still tingled, were still warm from the touch of his soft kiss.

Her mind reeled. She turned slowly at the sound of her name from behind her.

"Cherry…" His tremulous voice called. Jack stood there.

"Jack. Where is everyone?"

"They're dead." He answered simply.

"What?"

"It's just me, now."

"But I just saw Sawyer."

"No. He was the first to die. He only wanted to save you. But once they took him, they knew everything. And one by one, all the rest disappeared. Ah, here they come for me, now. Please, don't try to stop them. You'll just get hurt. And right now all she needs is rest and plenty of water…" Jack's voice grew louder and louder, as he drifted further from her into the jungle, toward the darkness that had been brooding there.

Her eyes flew open. The brightness of the dim tent made her squeeze her eyes closed again, and bring a hand to her head. Her groan of agony brought Jack from his conversation with those others in the tent, and he leaned over her.

"Sam…hey, can you hear me?" He whispered.

"Yes. For the love of Pete, everyone in China can hear you, too. Lower your voice." She demanded softly, still shielding her face from reality.

"You gave us quite a scare." Came Sawyer's voice from somewhere above her. She tilted her head back to catch an upside down glimpse of him, smirking at her. Though his dimpled grin was less genuine. It held a darker edge to it. Still, the sight of him brought her relief. He wasn't dead. And Kate's voice reassured her that she wasn't either.

"How do you feel?" The woman asked.

"Like my brain's been shoved in a blender." She answered with a groan, eliciting a small chuckle from those around her. Jack apparently said some quiet words to the others, because the tent flap opened and closed, and there was one less voice mumbling incoherent words inside her head. A strong, warm hand touched her hair, the tent flap opened again, and there was only Jack.

"Look at me." He demanded. His voice less gentle than she knew he was. So, she complied, sitting up with much effort to still her pounding head. Jack knelt in the sand opposite her. "Do you have a condition I should know about?" He asked, knowing the answer. It was the only feasible explanation. She had to have something previously wrong with her that was making these things happen. Still, his breath was held baited, and he closed his eyes involuntarily in grief when she answered.

"Yes." Her eyes locked with his again, her resoluteness disturbing. "Cancer. A tumor in my brain. I beat it twice, already. Not that it didn't take something from me, just not my life. But, third time's the charm, as they say." She grinned humorlessly, but it faded under Jack's unrelenting stare, as he considered this information.

"How serious is it?"

"Pretty serious. I only felt it a week before I was diagnosed, and Dr. Jacobs said it had grown quite large. It's been a month since then. I can't imagine how much it's grown."

"I'm sorry." He said softly after a hesitant pause.

"Everyone's sorry." She replied just as soft, but with a contemptuous undertone.

She stood in dark red leaves up to her ankles. The autumn breeze ruffled her hair and invaded under her collar, causing her to shiver. Thorns from the red rose she held pressed into her palm, but she could barely feel it. So she squeezed onto it harder.

"It's your fault." She began, the sound of her voice feeling unnatural to her ears in the silence of the cemetery, amidst the rustling of leaves and whistling of wind through the near bare branches. "It's what you had. Look where you ended up. You're going to kill me."

Her voice was smooth and calm. She stared at the drab gray stone. She clenched her jaw, and felt a warm streak down her face. The wind cooled it immediately. Suddenly, she dropped to her knees, her determined cold face breaking down to show her pain, fear and frustration. She pounded the ground with her fists, leaning her forehead against the cool leaves on the ground.

"It's all your fault!" She shrieked over and over. When her tears ran dry, she sat back onto her heels, holding the rose in her lap again. Her eyes traced the carved lines of the words on the tombstone. She tossed the bloody rose in front of her, and took no heed of the cuts on her palm.

"You're going to kill me, dad." She whispered again.

Samuel Whittaker
Beloved husband and father
Taken from us
Far too soon

Jack had been with her most of the day. Sawyer had planned to go in to see her when she was alone, but Jack came straight from the tent to where he and Kate sat, around a nearby fire, though it was still quite early in the morning.

"How is she?" Kate immediately asked, taking the words from Sawyer's lips.

"She's trying to be okay. She's trying to seem strong. But she's not. She has a brain tumor." He scoffed, "That was what made her see all those things. Not dehydration, not reading the island's wavelength. She was delirious and hallucinating." Jack thought he had the answer to the mystery that was Cherry. And it disappointed him. He was nearly convinced she, through some unexplained phenomenon, could in fact read thoughts not her own.

There was a stunned pause. Neither could believe it. She did everything the other castaways did. Picking up firewood, complaining about boar meat, scaling trees to find fruit. How could she have had a brain tumor all that time? And how could no one have known?

"Or maybe having the tumor made her able to read things." Kate offered softly, staring into the fire. The reason for the heat that sprung in her gut, and the intense need to defend the ill woman was unknown to her. Neither of the men said anything.

Sawyer stood. The silence had become grating. Jack had sat with Kate, and they were talking in hushed tones.

"Knock, knock. Hey, Cherry Pie, you decent?" He quipped, but when there was no answer, he pushed back the tent flap anyway, and entered. But a quick scan revealed that she was not there. The structure of the back wall of the tent was disrupted, and the sand displaced under the thin wall of blue tarp. She escaped out the back? Why? Sawyer stormed from the tent, shouting for Jack.

She strolled through the jungle, like a woman in the park, without a care in the world. The birds sang, the wind rustled the trees, and all else was utterly, beautifully silent. It was a perfect place to die.

Of course, she had known it for days. No one here could do anything for her, anyway, so why worry them with the knowledge? Though this place was beautiful, her only regret was that she wouldn't get to die at home, where she belonged, with her mother holding her hand.

Through the open places, through dense vegetation, she strolled. Reaching out to touch the bark of trees, and picking a pretty white flower to tuck behind her ear. She was peaceful.

But a sound from her mind jerked her from her reverie. It was Sawyer's voice, beseeching any higher power to let him find her. To bring her back safely to camp. To see her just once more, and get the chance to kiss her. Cherry crouched behind a tree when the real sounds of snapping twigs reached her ears. Sawyer emerged from the brush, panting like a dog, his face twisted in concentration and determination. She smiled, and turned her eyes to the sky for a moment before stepping out into the clearing. Sawyer's eyes snapped to her, and he made to rush for her, but slowed his steps.

"How the hell did you walk so far so fast? And why aren't you tired?" He asked incredulously.

"I didn't smoke half of my life."

Sawyer nodded, agreeing. And in an action that surprised both present, threw his arms around her and held her body to his gently. After a moment, she wrapped her arms around his torso, and held him when he would have released her.

"Why did you leave?" He asked, after pulling away, his breath finally returning to him.

"I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Like what?"

"Dying."

"If anything, dying has made you more beautiful. That deathly pallor brings out your eyes." He added, and Cherry grinned, turning her eyes from his bright blue ones for a moment. "Please come back with me."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." He demanded, taking another step closer, decreasing the already miniscule space between their bodies.

"If I go back there, I won't be there long anyway. I'd rather be here, alone in silence with the beauty of nature, part of where I belong. In silence I can imagine the other part, too."

"Where is that?"

"Home." She answered, her eyes gazing far away. "I know how they'll look at me. I know how they'll treat me. I want to live the last hours as a person, not a patient or a lab rat. I want to die with dignity."

Sawyer's brow stitched in sorrow. How was she so strong in the face of all this? It seemed like it was hurting him even more than her. He breathed, looking at his feet, to gather himself before looking back up to her.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll leave you alone. And, Cherry…" He said, after taking a step away from her.

"Yes, Sawyer?" She answered into his blue eyes.

"I'll miss you."

She had been peaceful. He shattered her heart, as he turned his sad eyes away.

"Wait." She whispered, and he turned around once again, watching her walk to him. "I think if you stayed with me, it would be better. If you don't mind, that is."

He smiled, and took her hands, which were folded in front of her, and kissed both of them. So, they walked through the jungle together, fingers intertwined, in companionable silence. She smiled at the things he thought. It seemed big bad Sawyer really did have a heart.

But Sawyer's thoughts soon became garbled in her mind. Others were near. And she felt their evil. She stopped cold.

"What is it?"

"Don't you hear them?"

"Hear who?"

"They're whispering." She said softly, and turned her head, closing her eyes, as if to hear more clearly. Her jaw dropped in horror, and her brow furrowed before she snapped her lids open. "We need to get out of here."

He didn't ask why. He just drug her behind him, and ran. They stormed and crashed through the jungle, batting leaves from their faces and dodging branches. Until they came to a dead end. Completely enclosed by sheer cliffs. But for one small aperture to the left. Cherry ducked through it, and Sawyer followed. It opened up on the other side to a narrow ledge, leading out beside a crashing waterfall. She vaguely recognized the unique sound of the tall drop and the reverberations from the stone walls.

The wall beneath them dropped into abyss, and the waterfall that shot from the sheer wall five feet to their right cast a mist of water vapor into the air so thick, the bottom of the drop could not be seen. Sawyer pressed himself against the wall, looking warily at the intense fall. A wrong move and he could be sent plummeting to his death.

She crouched there, and Sawyer followed suit. They watched the aperture in the rock, and the jungle on the other side of them. Maybe they would pass by. Their malice grew nearer, and for the horror of it, Cherry cried out, clamping her hands over her ears, and squeezing her eyes shut, rocking gently in a comforting motion. Sawyer held her, and said into her ear,

"Stay right here. I'm going to see."

Cherry latched onto his arm before he could get out of her reach. "No! They'll kill you!"

"I'll lead them away from you." He turned again, but she jerked him down. He couldn't die. Jack had told her he would, and she couldn't let that happen. Because then all the others would die, too. She'd failed to save the man who collapsed in the caves, and she would not let that happen again. She knew what would happen, and so, she knew how to save him. This was the time Eva told her about. The time to use her knowledge to help. Everything suddenly clicked into place.

"Do you trust me?" She asked suddenly, bringing his gaze from the edge of the jungle, where the branches were seen rustling.

"What?"

"James! Do you?" She repeated, demanding.

"Yes."

She took his face in her hands and kissed his lips before grabbing his shoulders and throwing him from the cliff ledge. She watched his arms flail helplessly, face frozen in a contorted expression of terror and betrayal as he disappeared into the mist and roar of the waterfall. She looked scornfully to the aperture in the rock, where the whispers had become shouts, and where shadows had begun flickering on the walls.

"Go to hell." She snarled as she stood, and then leapt off the cliff edge as well.

Her heart lurched into her throat as she plummeted to an unknown fate. She was afraid, yet she was not. The feeling was naturally terrifying, yet, her mind knew that somehow it would be okay.

Her arm caught on the tree branch just above the bottom of the drop, and she swung there painfully, before Sawyer's hands pulled her onto the thick bough. They crawled down it, and gratefully set their feet on the earth. When Sawyer landed beside her, he immediately turned her forcefully to face him and held her close, catching her mouth under his. She kissed him back, long and deep. His life had been saved, and hers would end soon.

"Oh no." She breathed, when they pulled away. The fog that curled from her moist lips turned Sawyer's blood cold. "He's thinking of me again." She whispered, before collapsing into his arms.

The sun was sinking. She hadn't opened her eyes, but she could tell. She was in the tent, and Sawyer was holding her hand. Jack stood at the foot of the makeshift cot, and Kate hung back in the corner. All this, she could tell by the placement of their breaths, and the manner of their thoughts. They were idle. Restless. They all cared about her, and they were helpless in her situation. To know she caused this pain in them, a tear drizzled from the corner of her eye into her hair.

"There's a reason, you know." She began suddenly, and all present started, and rushed to her side. She smiled up at their faces above her, and ignored the doctor's questions.

"There's always a reason, even for the bad things. You might not like it or agree with it, but we're all here for a purpose. Mine's fulfilled, now. I feel good. No one else will die. As long as you're careful. Never go far into the jungle, and keep away from the cliffs." She scolded mysteriously with a smirk. "Oh, and one more thing. Jack, you need to believe. I know it's hard, and it goes against everything you've ever been taught, and everything you promised yourself you wouldn't do, but you need to let go of logic, and just believe." She smiled up at them, and sighed, before closing her eyes. The last image her strikingly green eyes perceived was the look of those concerned faces. Sawyer's beautiful eyes. In her last breath, she whispered then, "Believe."

Jack felt her pulse, and hung his head. Kate clasped her hand over her mouth to muffle her cry and stepped back into the corner of the tent to sit and stare at the body of such a formerly vivacious woman.

Sawyer sat for a long time, there. Holding her hand. How could she be gone just like that? It happened so fast. Sawyer gently drew her hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss there.

He wandered from the tent. Everyone knew by now. It seemed eerily silent, but for the waves and the breeze. Sawyer sat, leaning against a tree, staring at the horizon. He didn't move for a long time.

Down the beach, up in the firm sand, a deep hole was dug. Hurley and Larry wiped tears from their eyes as they shoveled. Cherry was carried on a makeshift stretcher, wrapped tightly in a blanket. Sayid, Jack, Locke and Charlie carried her away. Sawyer followed slowly after, painful understanding evidently written on his expression. It was the first time he showed any signs of life after her passing.

Cherry leaned against a tree, smiling, watching them lay her to rest. There were no voices in her head but her own, now. She smiled sadly at their stricken faces as she milled through the crowd to the front, and her body was lowered into the grave. She crouched and tossed in the first handful of dirt.

Eva set a hand on Sawyer's arm. He didn't start, just looked wearily to her, his blue eyes devoid of the sparkle they once held.

"She loved you." The old woman offered. Sawyer furrowed his brow gently.

"Is that what she said?"

Eva shook her head with a knowing smile, "She didn't say it, she told me."

Sawyer's brow furrowed deeper, until he realized what she meant, and his gratitude was written in his eyes. Cherry didn't have to say it, everything about her told Eva that she was a woman in love.

The somber atmosphere darkened his heart further. No sun shone that day, through the gray clouds that darkened the sky into an everlasting twilight. There were no tears shed, but for an old woman named Eva, whose face was calm, yet wet with salty sadness. Sayid looked curiously into her grave as she was covered in earth. Sawyer studied their faces, paled with grief. Hadn't enough sadness befallen them? Why take her from them? Everything would've been perfect, if only she'd have stayed.

The stars had risen, and he sat midway between the camp and where her grave was dug, as if he was not quite sure if he wanted to be with the others, or with her. His face was turned toward her grave.

"Sawyer." Cherry called him from behind, and he started, scrambling to his feet. He watched her walk slowly to him.

"Cherry? I don't understand." He asked, completely flabbergasted.

"You don't have to. Not right now. Don't think. I'm here now, for you. Tell me what you need to say." She was smiling sweetly, and her skin glowed unnaturally. Her clothes were clean and intact, her hair washed and gleaming. Sawyer felt compelled to speak, and words slipped from his mouth unintentionally.

"I wish you would've stayed here. You knew me without having to explain. That's the hardest part, and you just took it away. I could've…I did love you. I do."

Cherry slid a hand around the back of his neck, stepping into his embrace as she pulled him to her lips. He kissed her slowly, taking in every bit of her that he could before she drew back. "And I love you. But you have to let me go. This place will be your paradise. You've just got to open your heart and your mind, and let go of the pain that has held you for so long. You get a second chance, here. You get to start over."

"Don't say goodbye." He pled in a strangled voice, uninvited tears welling in his eyes.

"I have to." She cooed, and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" He exclaimed, reaching out, not ready to let her go.

"Home." She whispered with a smile. With that, the leaves of the jungle swallowed her up. She disappeared, to her home, where she belonged. Sawyer watched the path she'd disappeared. She was gone. Really gone. Despite the depth of sorrow he felt piercing his heart, he was strangely happy. Yes he loved her, andhe let her go. There was no need to be sad, Cherry was where she wanted to be. She was happy now. And for that, he dried his tears.

"She told me to believe."

"I heard." Kate smiled faintly and approached him the rest of the way from behind and sat next to him.

"Doesn't it strike you as odd?" He asked, turning to her.

"Why would it?"

"What is there for me to possibly believe in? We're stranded on an island. No one's coming to get us, Kate. That's why." Jack explained fervently frustrated.

"She also said to let go of logic. I know it's hard to believe that there may be a reason that we're all here. But unless you believe, you will not understand."

"Oh, so you quote now." He smirked.

"What makes you think that wasn't an original?" Kate bantered.

"It was Saint Augustine."

"And a wise Saint he was." Kate smiled, but quickly grew somber. "I know I haven't exactly made things easy for you here, but I want you to know that without you, none of us could survive. Without you, I couldn't survive."

"You're wrong. Every time I see your face, things get easier." Jack breathed a chuckle at his intimacy and looked away. But when he saw her move nearer to him, he lifted his gaze to her again. She crouched close to him for a moment, just looking at him with a smile, and lazily watched her finger run up and down his jaw line. Then, flattening her palm against the side of his neck, she drew closer. But she hesitated for a moment. Jack's breath was baited, hitched in his throat. He wanted so bad to close the small gap between their lips and kiss her like he'd wanted to for weeks. But he was frozen. All he could do was watch her hesitantly draw closer and closer, until she pressed her mouth over his.

It was a chaste kiss, and she pulled back an inch. But Jack wore an expression she'd never seen on him before, and he pulled her by her hips quickly back to him. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and she held his chin up to allow access to his lips. He held her tight, and pulled her so she sat in his lap, legs wrapped around him.

It was exactly how he'd dreamt it would be. If not a little bit better.

Kate was tired. Tired of caring, tired of the sorrow. When she kissed him, she was wonderfully numb. She could be herself, let the consequences that may come, she could deal with it now, because she had him. She was strong with him. Her fingertips tingled. All she felt was warm. And perfectly at home. It was paradise.

R.I.P Samantha "Cherry" Parker

So, it's over. Only 7 chapters, but this was a pretty long one, hey? I apologize for the incredibly corny 'Cherry comes backso Sawyer can tell her he loves her and be rid of his guilt' thing.It seemed like a good idea at the time.
So you all get that her dad had died of a brain tumor, too, right? I hope I explained that well enough. I'm never sure about that sort of thing.
Thiswas very much a one issue story, not like those great 30 chapter fanfiction novels I love. So this is your last chance to review. It won't take long and I promise it won't hurt, and it would do me a world of good to hear that you guys actually read it and followed me through to the end. Thanks for your encouragement. Kisses to you all.

Well, I didn't expect to get as much success from this one, it was more of a get-an-idea-off-my-mind story. So, I'm happy to get the reviews that I did.

Moon's Tear – I kind of hate killing off characters, but it made the story poignant in a way, you know? Anyway, tell me what you think about how I wrapped it all up.

Dark Angel 206 – I know, I've thought a lot of times how bad I wished I could read people's thoughts. But when I wrote this story I kinda realized it'd pretty much suck if you couldn't control it. Sometimes it's better to know people from a distance than to get into their heads.

Eclypse – Be honest, and tell me what you thought of it. If it was rushed, if it…sucked, I want to know. (Who gets up at 530 in the morning anyway?...crazy….)

A Wandering Minstrel – Sadly, you have good instincts. Cherry is gone but not forgotten.

Austin B.