Hope Anew

Chapter 10: Depart

"Hey Peaches," Sawyer smiled as Hope entered the shelter the next morning.

"Hey Sawyer," Hope said, offering him a smile in return. "So, today's the day, huh?"

"Yup," he grinned, "The raft's all ready – we're just collecting the last of the supplies, then we're heading out."

"Wow," Hope said sadly.

Since Sawyer had been chosen as the final passenger on the raft Hope had felt a strange sadness. She and Sawyer had become good friends and she enjoyed his company; she would be sorry to see him leave.

"So, since I won't be around much longer," Sawyer said in a business-like way, "I've decided it's time to cash in a favour."

Hope looked at him with mistrust, answering slowly, "I don't owe you a favour."

"Now, I don't think that's entirely true, Peaches." Sawyer was enjoying himself immensely, making Hope's stomach twist. "See, I let you spend a day here without payment, but you've been hanging around for a hell of a long time now, and my generosity don't come cheap."

"You want me to give you something for being able to spend my time here?" Hope was outraged, "You said it was free of charge, no payment necessary – what happened to all that?"

"Decided it wasn't the way to go…" Sawyer grinned lazily and sat down in his chair, "Don't worry so much, Peaches – you'll like what I got planned."

Hope sincerely doubted this. She placed her hands on hips and glared, ready to defend her position. "What do you want?"

He paused dramatically and then swept an arm around the shelter, "I want you to take care of the place while I'm gone."

Hope was dumbfounded, "What?"

"Stay here and take care of the place while I'm out on the raft. I don't want anyone thinking they can go through my stuff just because I'm out on a boat-ride."

Hope looked around the shelter. It was the Shangri La of the island, especially compared to sleeping on the hard ground of the caves. She found it hard to believe that Sawyer would consider the debt repaid if she stayed there.

In need of reassurance and clarification, Hope asked, "You want me to stay here, and then you'll feel like I've paid you back for the inconvenience I've caused you by being here all the time?" Once again, she failed to understand the Sawyer-logic.

"Okay Peaches, let's cut the crap," Sawyer said briskly, standing up and walking towards her. He grinned his Cheshire Cat grin, "I know you want to stay here, you know you want to stay here – so just stay, and save us both the time spent arguing; I've got things to do."

Hope smiled with disbelief, happy with her temporary new home, "Whatever you want, Sawyer."

"You know, women used to say that to me all the damn time," he said, staring into space wistfully. He snapped his eyes back to Hope's and smirked to show his humour.

She laughed as he headed out of the shelter, but she couldn't ignore the strange feeling in her chest when his eyes had met hers without warning. She sighed deeply, pulling her notebook from her backpack to organise her thoughts.

"Letters, letters," Charlie called out as he walked around with a big glass bottle. The bottle was filled with pieces of paper – messages from the islanders that they hoped would reach their families. Hope and Shannon stood together, pulling their messages from their pockets.

"You're sure?" Shannon asked.

Hope nodded, saying slightly hopefully, "It might not even get to them, right?"

"But if it does, you'll always be a part of our family." Shannon laughed scornfully, "I mean, it's not much of a family, but you and I can take care of each other. I'll be the best Aunt..."

"Thanks, Shan." Hope smiled at her friend.

It was Shannon who had convinced her to write a letter at all. She couldn't write to her own family, so she wrote to Boone and Shannon's. She had written about Boone's endless bravery and helpfulness on the island; and about their baby. She wasn't sure how the news would be taken by Boone's wealthy relations, but she felt better knowing that her baby had the possibility of a family waiting for it.

Charlie came closer, offering them the bottle, "Letters, ladies?"

The women dropped their papers into the bottle, and thanked Charlie. He wandered away towards Hurley, who was guarding his letter carefully.

"Shannon?" A small voice addressed them, and they turned to see Walt beside them, holding tightly onto Vincent's leash.

"Yeah?" Shannon had never been close to the boy, and she wondered why he would seek her out.

Hope felt that this was a private moment, so she turned to smile at Walt, "I'll let you guys talk."

Walt nodded, and Hope could tell that he was still a little afraid of Shannon. Hope walked away from the unusual pair, and headed towards Michael.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be," Michael smiled brightly, but Hope could sense his nerves.

"You're going to save us all," Hope said with quiet conviction. "Good luck!"

Michael leant down and hugged Hope tightly. She heard his whisper in her ear, "Thanks for taking care of my boy – he thinks the world of you."

Hope smiled into his shoulder, "He's special, Michael. Take care of him for me, okay?"

They pulled apart, and a group of others approached Michael to wish him well. Hope disappeared into the crowd, looking for someone in particular. She saw him standing alone by the tree line, watching the group as they said goodbye to the sailors.

"Sawyer," Hope walked up to him, but he avoided her eyes. "Why aren't you with the group?"

"Forget it, Peaches," he said angrily, "who's going to want to wish me a tearful farewell?"

Hope watched in confusion as he walked away from her, towards his shelter.

"Hey Hope!" Walt was running towards her; and she noticed Shannon standing near the water holding Vincent on his leash and looking solemn.

"Hey, Walt," she smiled at the boy, missing him already.

"We're almost ready to leave," he said with a small frown.

"I know," Hope said calmly, "Are you ready?"

Walt paused, and then spoke quietly, "I'm kind of scared."

Hope smiled at the boy, "That's allowed. But you've got your dad to take care of you, as well as Jin and Sawyer. Nothing's going to happen to you."

Walt smiled sadly and nodded, "I'm going to miss you."

Hope hugged him warmly, "I'll miss you, too."

"Walt!" Michael was calling from his place on the raft.

"I better go," Walt said slowly.

"Okay," Hope tried to smile encouragingly. "I'll be there to see you off."

Walt ran off towards his father, and Hope looked around for Sawyer. She saw him leaving his shelter, walking fast towards the raft. She took off at a run to intercept him.

"Sawyer!"

He looked pained to see her, but he stopped to let her catch up to him.

"Sawyer," she said quietly, "I want to tell you something."

"What is it, Peaches?" he asked quietly, and she could hear the bitterness in his voice.

Hope could see the sadness on his face as she continued, "I know you think that no-one will care that you're gone; but you're wrong. I'll care."

She felt the strange feeling in her chest again as he raised his eyes to look at her.

Hope felt tears forming as she whispered, "I'll think of you every day; I'll pray that you're safe – and when you get back I'll even consider returning your shelter," she joked.

Sawyer laughed a little, and Hope felt a small victory.

"You've always been a good friend to me," Hope went on, "I'll miss you a lot. Come back safe, okay?"

The first of the tears ran down Hope's cheek, and Sawyer wiped it away gently with his thumb. He leant down and wrapped Hope in his arms, holding her tightly.

"Thanks, Peaches," he said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

She clung to him, never wanting to let go, when she realised that they were being watched. She released him and turned around – the raft crew had boarded, and the whole group were waiting for Sawyer so that they could launch it into the water.

Hope looked at Sawyer guiltily. "You better go," she sniffed.

Sawyer ignored her, placing his hand on her cheek with as much confidence as he could muster. He leaned in to kiss her lightly on the mouth, and Hope felt her heart ache with the knowledge that she was about to be left again.

He pulled away regretfully, and Hope caught a glance of his self-assured smile before he pulled her into another quick hug.

"Well, you've really killed my image now," he whispered with a chuckle.

Hope smiled at him through tears as they pulled away; and watched him walk confidently towards the raft. Michael helped him up onto the vessel and the group on the sand took their places at the sides to begin pushing them into the water.

Hope let out a subconsciously held breath as the raft was submerged in the sea, floating without any trouble at all. A great cheer went up from the crowd, and she felt herself smiling along.

The group dispersed slowly as the raft moved further and further out to see; but Hope stayed long after it had disappeared from sight. As the sun dipped below the horizon, she brushed the sand from her clothes and silently joined the end of the line of people walking to the caves for story time.