A/N: Hopefully you'll guys like it. Jate, as always. :) And, you know it's going to be all romantic, because A, I have had a really hard week, B, I seriously need to write some Jate fluff, and C, I'm listening to Mothersbaugh's Canon (a classical music piece from the movie The Royal Tennebaums), and it's making me feel all like 'I need to write something right now', because isn't that what classical music does to you?

Disclaimer: Don't own Lost, though I do own the fireflies that helped to inspire me to write this. They're in a cool cup, with lots of grass and stuff to help them out.

Fireflies
Chapter 1
Truth

"I hope this lasts forever, the Island does." Kate spoke, causing Jack to look up from sorting through an old suitcase. She really meant it too. Kate had no intentions of ever heading back to the real world; she knew it'd just be too hard to live without him, without the Island and all it's survivors. Secretly, locked away in her mysterious mind, she had wishes stored away, some new, some old, and this was one of them.

Jack paused for a minute, looking into her fierce green eyes, and knew that she has told him the truth. And that had meant a lot to him. It showed that she was letting go of her guarded mind, quietly and slowly, but it was a start. And what was really surprising was that he agreed with her, and this he said, ever so quietly, "Me too."

Both knew that it had been a moment there, though none wanted to speak and break the silence that shrouded it. Their eyes locked with intense passion, and as they moved closer, waiting for the first move from each other, a sound broke the barrier. As if waking from a dream, they both stepped back, and quickly looked around, to see if anyone noticed what they had been about to do.

Later that night, when the sun had set, sending the sky into many intricate blues woven in and out of each other, Kate had lain down upon the sand, letting the water glide over her feet. Her eyes traveled up over the stars, taking in each one as if it was a precious artifact from long ago, the moonlight shining down across her body.

Jack was packing up; ready to head back to the caves any minute now, when a familiar sight crossed his vision. He smiled, something rare with that man, and watched the woman that was so independent, so reliable, her chest moving up and down with each breath she took. Suddenly, his feet had a mind beyond his, and started to walk over, while his brain told him over and over again that this was a bad idea, that she wanted to be left alone for a reason. Yet, something with the way she looked also told him that Kate needed someone to be there for her.

Stopping right by her, he looked down, and found her eyes glassed over, her body in one world, her mind in the next. Her eyelids blinked every couple seconds, telling Jack she was still alive, but unavailable to him. But Jack didn't want that. He wanted Kate to be there, all of her. Feeling a bit guilty, he broke her from her world of peace, "Kate…?"

Kate shook her head, the grains of sand falling back on the ground, as she stared up at him. "Yeah?" Her voice was hoarse and gruff, telling Jack that she had forced up old memories, possibly ones that she didn't want to remember. Blinking back tears, she quickly wiped her eyes, and masked over her previous face, hoping Jack would think everything was okay with her. Even when it wasn't, even when her whole world was crashing down upon her, crushing her inside.

Jack didn't buy it. "…Are you okay?" He spoke with so much sincerity in his voice that Kate found it hard not to tell the truth. For once in her life, she was scared, honestly scared, and this was why. When Jack was around, she always felt that she had to tell all of her story to him, even if he didn't want to know. It was something about the way he spoke, the tone of his voice calming her, a calm she hadn't felt in years.

Kate bit down on her lip. Jack didn't need to worry over her, she was fine the way she was. "I-I'm fine." She managed to force out, giving him a small smile. He already had too much on his mind, and she was sure that he only considered her a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's what really troubled her, before; she had always had her way with men, getting them to do the impossible. But with Jack, something was different. Somehow, he fought the charm, and now to get to him, she really had to work hard.

"…You're sure?" Jack wished that he could already know the answer to this, but he didn't. Her face was unreadable, as always, and she had once again closed herself off to him. He knew that after her secret had gotten out around the Island, she had put up even more barriers, more setbacks, and was harder to speak to, harder to catch at a good point. With Kate, something was always going on, it was whether she cared enough about you to let you know.

But this time, it was different. She had gotten herself so worked up, that she couldn't show her emotions; they were way past that point. She was winning the battle, but losing the war with herself, and it killed Jack to know that for once, he couldn't help out. The night that Sawyer spoke up about her, her previous life, she was the same way as right now, but the next day, she pretended nothing was wrong, and went on with life. That had really surprised Jack, and yet it worried him. Because if she got her mind to work that fast, there could be a whole lot more to this particular woman then he could ever imagine.

"Ye- No." She started to lie, to pretend, but her mind took over, and made her speak the truth once again. "Dammit, Jack, you always have to do this!" She sighed, and avoided his eyes.

"Do what?" Jack was confused. What had he ever done to her that bothered her? Was that he hung around her too much, asked too much of her, or maybe even said something was wrong.

"Do this." She threw her hands up in the air, as if she was tired of him, like when a little girl got tired with a particular doll, and wanted to give it away. "Somehow, you always manage to weave the truth out of me, even if you don't want it. And I hate that you can do that sometimes. Some things in my life are just meant to be kept away, where only I can know about them, but with you, I always have to tell you. Why do I do this, you ask me, why? Because it could be that I might just love you!" She spoke with such passion in her voice, and her green eyes blinked at what she just said.

Jack was stunned beyond belief. He had always sat around, waiting for this moment to come. He had everything planned out, every word known to him, but it would have been him who said this, not her. And now that this time had come, he couldn't speak, for his mind had gone blank, and his memory erased the past thoughts of this. "I… err…" His brain raced for words, but none were accessible.

Kate looked down, her face blushing red for the very first time. She hadn't meant to say that part, but somehow it came out as she poured the rest of her thoughts from the pitcher of her mind. "Jack… I didn't mean it like that…" She tried to fix it; she thought that he didn't love her back. She bit her lip down hard, "Wow, I'm really sorry. I-I seriously didn't mean to say that…"

"Kate…" Jack said, stepping closer to her. There was so much he wanted to say to her right now, the problem was trying to pick out what first to speak of. He didn't want her to pretend like this was all nothing tomorrow, because then Jack would know that he had lost his chance with her.

"I really, really have to go." Kate said, looking into his amber eyes one last time. "I'm sorry if I ever caused you trouble." She got up, the clumps of sand dropping from the many folds of her already too big shirt. She had lost some weight over the last past month, and Jack had constantly been bugging her to eat more at dinners. She had always replied with 'Look who's talking, Mr. Conservation.', which had made Jack smile inwardly then.

"Kate, wait." He spoke; his voice ragged from all the pressure. He hadn't expected it to be this hard, and he knew exactly what to say now, but he couldn't get the words on his tongue.

Kate turned around, her eyes shining with tears waiting to be let go in the confines of her tent. Wishing she could go back in time, so she wouldn't have to lose her best friend on the Island, her eyes locked on his, and she spoke with hollowness in her voice. "Nothing you say can make this go away, Jack. We both know this." Her voice tore away at the sentence, showing Jack that her mind was already working, already making it disappear.

A single firefly wavered overhead the couple, but no one noticed it.

-LOST-

A/N: So, what'd you guys think of it? Lots of fluff, a little cliffanger there on the end.An update tonight, or tomorrow, depending on how it goes.Hopefully you guys will take to it. Please R&R!