A/N: Yeah, I thought of this. I might have rewritten it, but I wanted to get it out in time for Christmas, and, well, it is the 24th. So happy holidays everybody, no matter what you celebrate! Oh, and if you want an excellent Lost Christmas story, check out "The Grand Old Tradition" by mnemosyne23. It's great.
Three days until Christmas. Hurley pondered that as he wandered towards Sun's garden. Huh…No one on the island seemed to him to have much Christmas spirit. That might, he supposed, have something to do with the fact that the tail-end survivors had joined them a few months ago, Shannon was dead, and there were creepy bogey things in the jungle. But then again, that was no excuse for forgetting this all important holiday. Alright, maybe it was something of an excuse, but hey, whatever. The point was that someone needed to get this island into the Christmas spirit. Some major holiday cheer. And he was just the guy to do it.
"Hey Sun?" Hurley inquired, finding himself at Sun's garden.
"Yes?" Sun replied, turning from where she was squatting, planting some form of flora that Hurley probably couldn't identify even if his life depended on it - he wasn't much of a botanist.
"Uh, yeah. So I was wondering if you had any, like, mistletoe in that garden of yours?"
"Mistletoe?" Sun sounded bemused. "I do not think so… What for?"
"Oh a good cause." Hurley assured her. "But you don't have any huh?"
"No…" Sun paused, considering her garden. "But I might have something that would do just as well."
Hurley grinned to himself as he watched the survivors go about their business. Completely unaware that their fate had been decided. Completely unaware that they were walking to a destiny out of their control. Completely unaware that… Alright, so that was something of an exaggeration. But hey, whatever. He was over by the outskirts of the jungle, trying to look busy and innocent at the same time, when he heard it. A chorus of delighted "Oohs!" coming from some ways away. Barely able to contain a grin, Hurley followed his ears.
When he arrived, the sight was worth the walk. Charlie and Claire, looked around them with bewildered gazes, clearly wondering what was going on. It was Sun (bless that lady) who took it upon herself to point it out in her calm voice.
"You are standing under mistletoe."
A blush immediately sprang to Claire's cheeks as she looked up. Sure enough, a green plant was tied to a branch above them and hanging just above their heads. Hurley couldn't stop a satisfied smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Well dudes?" He called out challengingly.
"Where did anyone get mistletoe on this island?" Claire demanded, stalling.
"Don't you think you're avoiding the point?" Someone called from the crowd that surrounded the pair.
"Only if you lot - yeah, all of you! - turn around!" Charlie announced.
"Then how do we know you'll actually kiss?" Inquired the same voice.
"Ah, lay off dude." Hurley said. Somehow, he had utter faith in the ex-rocker and the Aussie. They'd come through. "They'll do it."
He hadn't enlisted this much help, but it was pretty clear that everyone on the island could use a little Christmas distraction. He rubbed his hands together. A few seconds later, Charlie's voice called out over the noise of a quietly laughing and talking crowd.
"Right, you can all disperse now. Nothing more to see here."
When Hurley turned again, he saw a uber-embarrassed (though not, he thought, entirely unhappy) Claire and a very happy Charlie. He shook his head and walked off.
In the next few weeks, that plant was everywhere, and Hurley or his growing crew of helpers was there to make sure just the right two people were under it. Once Charlie learned what had been done, instead of being unhappy he was all to ready and willing to help. He even suggested the next pair: Sawyer and Ana Lucia. The duo were furious, demanding to know who had the nerve to pull something like this. They were less than demure about it, strings of profanity erupting from their mouths. However, hemmed in by the intrigued group of spectators, they could do nothing but oblige and follow the age-old tradition of kissing under the "mistletoe." Hurley and Charlie collapsed into fits of silent hilarity and even Sun couldn't stop a little smile as Ana Lucia broke it off rubbing her wrist across her mouth and Sawyer spat into the sand.
"They're like third-graders!" Charlie choked out in between guffaws. "Bloody third-graders!"
Sawyer insisted that the next target should be Jack and Kate. He announced that if he was going to be humiliated (although Hurley noted that he and Ana Lucia were strangely missing at the same time lately) then "Jacko" had to be as well. Charlie and Hurley readily agreed. The mistletoe reign of terror continued as first Jack and Kate and then many others were caught under the mysterious plant.
Several days later, Hurley and Sun took a walk to Sun's garden where she fingered the last of the moss she'd carefully collected from the trees around the island.
"Maybe you could teach botany classes?" Hurley offered up, sounding quite serious. "I mean, who knew moss looked so much like mistletoe?"
Christmas spirit had definitely permeated the entire island, and all with the help of a plant-savvy Korean woman, an slightly overweight prankster, and a little moss.
A/N: Funny? Or at least okay? Tell me what you thought! And happy holidays!