Author's Note: Writing in bold is writing in Hope's notebook. Italics are still dreams. This will apply for the rest of the story. I think it's fairly straightforward – please write and let me know if you think otherwise. Enjoy! Gitania

Hope Anew

Chapter 8: The Final Four

"What a way to start the day," Jack joked as Hope emerged from the undergrowth.

She shot him an unimpressed look as she washed her mouth out with water.

She had slept fitfully, even under the watch of her Doctor, and woke before the rest of the group. She was sure that waking up to the sound of vomiting was not a highlight for Jack, but her morning sickness was doing nothing to improve Hope's mood either.

"I'm going to get out of here before everyone wakes up," Hope said in a whisper, trying not to wake anyone else. "I'd rather avoid all the questions about last night."

"Sure," Jack nodded. "Where are you headed?"

"To the beach to start off," Hope said. "Maybe I'll go for a walk from there – I'm not really sure yet."

"No problem," Jack said; handing her the water bottles he had filled while she was indisposed.

Hope packed the water bottles into a backpack and added her notebook and tin of writing materials. She gave Jack a warm hug and headed off towards the beach path, tiptoeing over sleeping bodies as she went.

The rising sun was casting faint morning shadows over the sand as Hope reached the beach. She cast her eyes over the scene before her – the raft at one end of the camp, and makeshift shelters dotted all over the coastline. She listened to the waves on the shore, realising how much more peaceful it was here than at the caves.

"Hey there, Peaches," Sawyer greeted her as she passed his shelter while walking along the beach.

"Hey Sawyer," she smiled in a tired way and he noticed the dark circles beginning to form under her eyes. "You're up early."

"I'm always up early, Peaches," he said, stretching as he snuggled deeper into the warming sand. "The damn baby starts up around sunrise and it's tough to go back to sleep after you've been woken up by screaming, you know?"

Hope felt a surge of guilt as she thought of the group that shared the caves. Waking up to her screams was surely worse than waking up to her morning sickness.

"So," Sawyer said lazily, inviting her to sit down, "How's things?"

Hope sighed and gave a tired smile, implying hard times. She put her backpack down and sat heavily next to Sawyer on the sand.

"That great, huh?" He gave a small smile and said conversationally, "I hear the 'possible addition' is a definite."

"Word gets around fast in this place," Hope remarked.

"Not really," Sawyer replied. "It was actually a guess; but it's nice to know the real news right from the source."

Hope laughed, "So, you haven't heard it around?"

"Not yet, Peaches." Sawyer smirked, "Besides, who'd tell me anyway? I don't exactly go around inviting folks over for tea and chit-chat."

"You have your sources." She shrugged, "You knew anyway – you were the first to know."

"Yeah," Sawyer said with a teasing look of exaggerated pride. "So, what brings you so far from home so early in the day?"

Hope paused before saying softly, "I just had to get away for a while."

"Needing some alone time, huh?" Sawyer asked in an understanding tone. Hope was often surprised by his depth of perception, but then she supposed that she wasn't exactly difficult to read at the moment.

"You can use this place," Sawyer said lightly, gesturing around them to his shelter.

"What?"

"The shelter," Sawyer said, drawing out the words as though she were slow. "God knows you cave people got no privacy, and I don't need the place today – we're getting back to work on the raft as soon as everyone's up; no more rest for the wicked," he grinned.

"You'd let me borrow your shelter?" Hope asked sceptically. "What do you want for it?"

"Damn, Peaches – you still got that spunk!" Sawyer said with a laugh of true amusement. He thought for a minute, but no flash of evil brilliance hit him, "Maybe you can owe me?"

"No way, Sawyer. How can we make a deal if you can make up your own twisted terms whenever it suits you?"

Hope knew she was over tired, but she wasn't completely stupid – she knew that no matter how nice he seemed, Sawyer was still Sawyer. He was deviously smart, and she wouldn't be beaten for something as simple as a day of privacy.

"Okay, fine," Sawyer said, a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to collect whatever he wanted on this debt at a later date. He stood up as the pair noticed movement outside – people were awake and starting to head towards the raft. "Forget deals, Peaches; just take the place for the day. I don't need anything for it – Christ, I'll be on a damn boat soon enough; I won't need hardly anything at all!"

"You'll be on a boat?" Hope asked, standing up next to him, "You're going on the raft?"

Sawyer grinned proudly, "Got picked for the final four yesterday. I would've told you, but you were busy reading the story last night. Good choice with 'Peter Pan', by the way – I always liked that one. You gotta love a story with pirates."

"So, you'll be going away," Hope said, surprised at how disappointed the thought made her.

"Yup," he nodded, ready to leave the shelter. "So do you want the place or not, Peaches?"

"Sure," Hope smiled, looking around her. Sawyer's shelter was probably the most comfortable abode on the island – he was definitely a fortunate friend to have. "I'd love to borrow it – thanks Sawyer."

"No problem, kid – just don't go snooping through my stuff."

Hope smiled, and watched as Sawyer ambled outside, joining a small crowd heading towards the raft.

Hope sighed and surveyed her surroundings once she was sure that Sawyer had gone. She felt safe in the shelter; it was shady and cool, and she could hear the ocean outside. It was nice to have her own space – she was alone but not lonely. The sounds of people working with wood reached her ears and she curled up in a big chair from Business Class that Sawyer had taken for his own.

She retrieved her notebook from her discarded backpack, and snuggled deeper into the plush chair. She tapped a pen absentmindedly against the chair arm as she listened to the sounds from outside. Remembering Jack's advice that writing anything was better than nothing; she opened the notebook and put the pen to paper.

Sawyer has leant me his shelter for the day. He says that I don't owe him anything for it, but I'm still not so sure… He's going away on the raft, along with Michael, Walt and Jin. Shannon has cut her foot; but she seems to be well enough to use it as an excuse to be carried around by Sayid. Aaron is growing bigger every day and Claire is handling him like a pro. Jack works hard, as usual, though he seems to be getting tired lately.

I know how trivial these things may seem – writing about the others seems so much easier than writing about myself. Writing about myself is hard…

Hope sighed deeply, feeling the near-sleepless night before hit her hard. She closed her eyes gently, leaning into the soft chair beneath her. She listened to the sounds of the raft group giving each other instructions and talking as they worked; and all the time the waves kept crashing…

Hope's cheek stung and the blood filled her mouth as she lay on the ground. Her body ached from the impact and she could sense him looming above her, even with her eyes closed. She opened them slowly, focussing as he entered her field of vision. Angry tears ran down her cheeks and his empty eyes searched her own. He turned on his heel and left her sight…

"…please." Hope woke with a start; her eyes struggling to adjust to the afternoon light that filled the shelter. The anger that she felt in her dream still coursed through her body, and she sat upright to begin writing.

As Hope wrote down the details from memory she felt the anger turning to determination – she had to figure out this dream like she had the last time. She quickly marked down the dream from the night before as well, watching the words forming on the page in a detached way. As she came to the end of the dream, Hope could picture the man in her mind; walking away from her as she lay on the ground in pain. She turned to a new page in her notebook.

I'm being haunted by dreams again. I'm so tired, but afraid to fall asleep. Maybe I'll move to the beach – it's so much more relaxed here. I feel better since waking from this last dream. It's a different one from the last few nights – the others have all been essentially the same. I have a new piece of the puzzle to work with. I have to figure this out. I think I have to talk to Boone, but it scares me. Strange, how the one person that used to bring me the most comfort now brings me nothing but apprehension.

Hope put her pen down and closed the notebook as she heard someone approaching the shelter.

"Come on," Sawyer said as he entered; turning directly around and exiting again.

Hope stayed in the chair with a bemused expression on her face.

Sawyer appeared in the doorway again, "I don't like to repeat myself, Peaches; now come on."

She stood up quickly and followed Sawyer out of the shelter, leaving her notebook on the chair. As she stepped outside Hope could see that everyone that lived on the beach were in the ocean, swimming together as the sun hung low in the sky.

"What's everyone doing?" Hope asked.

"Relaxing after work," Sawyer said. "We don't all spend our days sitting around, you know."

Hope looked closely at Sawyer, realising that he was covered in sweat from a hard day's labour.

"Well come on, Peaches," Sawyer grabbed her tattooed wrist and pulled her towards the water.

The pair removed their shoes and outer clothing, and walked into the sea with the others. Claire and Aaron were wading near the shore, and Hope could see Shannon and Sayid laughing together as he helped her into deeper water. The ocean felt clean and crisp. Hope dove under the water, enjoying the silence that pressed against her ears. She swam out deep with Sawyer and joined the group of body surfers who were waiting for a decent wave.

"So," Hope smiled at Sawyer, gesturing to the water that surrounded them, "Are you ready to spend an unspecified period of time living on this stuff, sailor?"

Sawyer grinned genuinely, "Absolutely."

A fast-moving wave rolled in behind them and Hope laughed as the group caught it together, all the way back to shore.