Hey, this is my first Lost fic. I'm not sure if all the facts are right in it, because Lost has only just started airing here in the Uk, so I've only seen episodes up to Sun and Jin's past. (Hurley's is screening on Wednesday). I will try to post up future chapters as often as I can, but with so many stories to update at once, it might be hard, but I will try. I've just started college as well, so maybe I'll get a chance to draft a few chapters inmy free periods. By the way, if anyone could let me know the name of Claire's son, I would be really grateful.
Please read and review, I love getting reviews and they help me to write.
Thanx
Sam.
Xx

A year and four days passed before they were rescued. A passing ship had gone by and picked them up, telling them that a plane had gone over and seen the fire that they kept burning every night on the shore. All that Kate remembered of that frantic morning, was being shaken awake by Jack, who had previously been her substitute for a pillow, and then quickly dressing fully and gathering her few remaining belongings. Tom's plane, the rest of her salvaged clothing, and her other possessions from the plane wreck were all that were still with her, unlike the others who had more to collect.

She stood at the side of the ship, watching as the island that had been their home for a year disappeared slowly towards the horizon. Or was it they who were fading into the line that seperated the sky from the sea? She couldn't tell. All that she knew, was that the biggest change in her life was drifting away, and she almost, almost, missed it.

She didn't miss the occassional water shortages, or lack of food. She didn't miss the freak storms, which would wake them in the middle of the night, dripping through small cracks in the cave, and hammering loudly against the tarpaulin of the tents on the beack. She didn't miss the aching feeling that something could go wrong at any moment. And most of all, she didn't miss the monsters that lay concealed, waiting, in the jungle.

She did, however, miss the more friendly moments. She missed sitting with Sun and Claire in Sun's garden, playing with Claire's infant son, who longed to play with the butterflies and birds that flew around him. She missed watching the relationships on the island intensify with every day spent their; husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, brother and sister, father and son, mother and son, they were all their, and somehow, they were stronger...because of the island. Most of all though, she missed Jack.

Four months into their adventure on the island, she had got together with Jack. She could remember the day clearly in her mind.

"It's just some fruit, Jack. We need it." She told him as she packed some water bottles into her tattered rucksack.

"We can wait a few more hours." He told her stubbornly.

"You know damn well we can't." She countered.

"At least wait for Locke...or Charlie...or Michael...or anyone, just please don't go out ther alone, Kate!" He protested, following her every move across the room with his pleading eyes.

"Jack, I've been out there many times on my own before, nothing is going to happen." She assured him.

"You don't know that." He said softly. She had been aware of the changes between them for a few days now. Jack was more protective of her than any of the others, and the thought of something happening to her was torturing him from the inside out. So, naturally, when she volunteered to go and get the food they needed to survive until Locke came back from his hunting trip with Michael, he had tried straight away to un-volunteer her.

She lifted the bag onto her shoulder. "I'll be back in a few hours." She said quietly as she left the cave. She heard him sigh as she walked passed him, and he grabbed hold of her arm, forcing her around to face him. There was a silence in between them where they gazed into each others eyes. She had always thought that his eyes were wonderful to look at, no, into. When their eyes connected, it was like the island's worries vanished, and it was simply her and Jack standing together, anywhere. She was first to look away though, and he whispered softly to her.

"Just be careful, Kate." He said to her. "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you." He added, admitting what had been playing on his mind since the first time she had gone out alone. He had never had those protective feelings with anyone before, and that scared him a bit, to know that he cared for someone so much even though, in a way, he barely knew her at all.

"Don't worry." She said, with her usual air of confidence. "I can take care of myself." But for how long? Jack wondered as she disappered into the jungle.

She had only been walking for about half an hour when she found a perfect tree, which not only had a very good supply of fruit at the top, but also had perfect branches for climbing. Not that it would have been a problem if it didn't, she mused, as she goot a good footing and began her easy climb. Once she was up among the fruit, she began to pack it into her rucksack, and having collected enough to last them until dinner, she did the bag up, and slung it back onto her shoulders. She was about halfway down the tree when...

A sound below her disturbed her, and she recognised it as the familiar growl of a wild boar. She almost didn't want to look down, but she did anyway, and came face to face with not one, but three boars. There was no hope of them not seeing her, for they were already fixed on her, growling up at her, waiting for her. She gulped. What should she do?

They started to claw at the tree, and try to get high enough to get her, but luckily, she was too high up for them. She decided that the best thing to do was wait it out, until they got bored, or distracted, and left. This seemed like a perfect plan, until she realised that the boar were getting angrier with each passing moment, and the terrible sound of creaking and cracking reached her ears. Glancing to her side, she could see the branch that she had stopped on was groaning, where it was thinner than the others. She held her breath, knowing that any more pressure would snap it for sure, including trying to raise or lower herself onto another branch.

A rustling in the bushes caught her off guard and there was a fleeting moment where she faltered, and the branch completely gave way. She gave a small scream as she fell, and landed hard against the ground on her side. Her hip ached, and she guessed that it was probably bruised, and the end of the branch had fallen onto her head, making her dizzy. Dizzy enough to forget the boars for a second.

A growl reawaked her mind, and she lay still on her side, hearing them coming closer and closer. Maybe her best chance was to run for it. Slowly, she raised herself to her feet, but as she did, one of them lunged at her and caught her arm, gashing it with its tusk. She cried out, as blood began to leak slowly from the wound and down her arm. Holding it up instinctively, another one lunged at her, but even as it ran straight towards her, it only caught her stomach as it had done her arm, because someone had wrapped their arms around her waist and pulled her out of it's path before it was caught in a net with the other two.

Kate looked around as the person released her, and looked into the familiar face of Michael. Further along the path, Locke emerged by the boars. "You okay?" Michael asked her, looking at her arm.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch." She said bravely. God, Jack's going to have a field day with this.

"It's more than a scratch." Locke said coming over. "Or you've got a bigger wound somewhere else." She looked down to where Locke was pointing at her stomach, and saw blood seeping over her white t-shirt. Pulling it up slightly, she saw the wound, alike the one on her arm, but deeper. Grimacing, she pulled the top back down.

"Shit." She mumbled.

"Mike, take her back to Jack." Locke said when he saw the wounds. "He needs to take a look at that and fast."

"What about you?" Michael asked him.

"I'll finish up with these and bring them back, you just take Kate back." He ordered. Michael wrapped one of Kate's arms around his shoulders, and helped her walk back, which was quite painful because of her bruised hip. They went back by a different route, so it took only half the time to get back, but just before they got there she felt her head spin again, and touched her hand to the back of her head. A lump was forming there, probably from the branch, and she swayed against Michael.

"Hey," He said stopping for a moment.

"I can't Michael." She said, trying to sit down but he held her upright. "I have to rest for a minute."

He knew that this wasn't like Kate at all. She was usually strong, but now she wanted to sit down and rest? "Come on Kate." He encouraged. "We're nearly there."

He started walking again, knowing they were almost back to the camp, but she crumbled against him, still conscious. "Kate!" He lifted her into his arms, and ran into the camp. "Jack? JACK!"

Jack came running out of a cave and saw the blood covered Kate in Michael's arms and swore, rushing over to them. "Kate!" He cried out as he got over to them. "What happened?" He asked Michael.

"She fell out of a tree and got attacked by a boar." He explained as Jack made him follow him into the cave where Jack's medical supplies were. Michael laid her down on Jack's makeshift bed and Jack began to examine her.

"Kate, Kate, can you hear me?" Jack asked her, as she was conscious. She groaned in response. "Kate, listen to me, did you hit your head?"

"Tree branch...fell." She murmered tiredly.

"Did it hit your head, Kate?" He asked her clearly.

"Yeah...tired..." She said, closing her eyes, but Jack righted her head with his hand and forced her to look at him.

"Kate, no you can't sleep. Not yet." He told her, not wanting her to sleep with a concussion if she had one, knowing that the effects could be dangerous. She opened her eyes again and gazed at him weakly as he peeled up the bottom of her t-shirt, which was now soaked with blood. He stitched it, and it pained him to hear her moans of pain as he was without an anesthetic of any kind. Afterwards, he sealed and bandaged the wound on her stomach, and also covered the deep graze on her arm. He checked the lump on the back of her head, just above her neck, and then checked herbody for any other injuries, luckily finding none except minor scrapes.

Sitting back, he looked down at his hands, now completely covered in blood...Kate's blood...and wiped them off. He let out a breath that he hadn't realised that he had been holding, and put his hand on the side of her face again. "Kate?"

"Mmm..."

"Kate, talk to me."

"Yeah, Jack."

He was glad that she was responding well. "I know it's hard, but I need for you to stay awake for a while." He spoke to her like she was any regular patient, but that was only to cover up how much he was worried for her in his heart. The sight of her covered in blood was enough to turn his blood icy.

"No," She argued. "I'm too tired, Jack."

"No, Kate." He said strongly. "I don't want you to fall into a coma, or worse. Just for a few hours, Ok?" He said.

"Please, don't leave me." She whispered, so quietly that if Jack hadn't seen her lips moving, he would have thought he imagined it.

"Try not to move around much either," He continued, "You need your stomach to heal nicely, you're lucky that you didn't loose too much blood." He told her, not wanting to fail her like he had failed Boone.

"Jack, please." She said louder, but weakly. "Just stay with me a while. Keep me awake, or I'll fall asleep." She said.

Jack looked around, Michael had disappeared a while ago, after Jack told him that there wasn't any more he could do, but thanked him for bringing her back so quickly. No one was around the entrance to the cave, most were either down at the beach or outside under the foliage. He looked down at Kate, who's half-closed eyes watched him, and he nodded. "Okay." He said, moving so that he was sitting with her to his side.

"Jack?" She said softly.

"Yeah, Kate."

"Thank you, for this." She said.

"All part of my job." He told her.

"No, for staying with me." She corrected.

He grinned, unable to supress it. "If it helps you, I'll do anything." He informed.

Now that she was out of danger, he felt much more relieved. When Michael had come over to him carrying her, he feared she was dead at first. If she was dead, how would he cope on this island, without her?

"It'll take more than a couple of hungry animals to get rid of me." She said stubbornly.

Jack laughed, causing her to laugh weakly along with him. "I should hope so." He said. "I don't know what I'd do without you here to keep me sane."

She shook her head. "I think that's the other way around."

"I don't. You help me more than you think, Kate." He said softly. "All I do on this island, it felt like I wasn't getting any reward for it, when others were. Well, I guess that's what you expect being a doctor." He shrugged. "But then you were around, and I never felt so close to anyone before." He admitted. He took up her hand in his. "I really care for you, Kate. Really. I..I think I love you."

She turned her head and looked at him. Her heart thumped a thousand miles an hour when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her like he had wanted to since the minute he first saw her in the forest.

Since she had been injured that day, Jack had given her the same knee-melting kisses everyday. Another eight months passed, and they were still going strong together, right up until the day the boat came to get them. She was scared now, though, that things would drift back into reality. The island had passed them into a new life, would going back to their old lives change things? She had already heard from her lawyers on the boat that her case had been cleared, and that her time on the island had seemed to be more of a sentance than she deserved, so she was free to go anywhere she liked. But would Jack continue to love her, when he had his old life back?

As if on cue, a pair of strong arms embraced her from behind, and she felt someone nuzzling against her hair, which was freshly washed, thicker and curlier than ever. She placed her hands over the ones which had settled on her waist, and leaned back against the man she knew was there. "Hey." She whispered. "I thought you were going to get some sleep."

"I'd rather wait for you." Jack replied quietly. He saw that she was looking at the island, now seeming the size of a coin in the distance. "You miss it, don't you?" He commented.

"Jack, quit reading me like a book it's getting freaky." She said with a small laugh. But she supposed that it even if it wasn't written all over her face, that Jack could read it on her anyway. He could always get inside her head, tell what she was thinking, what she was feeling. When you spend so much time with a person, it must grown on you so much that you can see right into their mind through their eyes.

"Stop avoiding the question." He laughed back.

She leaned her head back to where it fit perfectly against his shoulder. He was only a little taller than her, but was tall enough so that when she leaned, she could rest her head perfect on his shoulder, or on his chest. "Yeah, in a strange sort of way."

"Me too." He admitted. "Although I never thought that I'd actually miss that place."

"We wouldn't have found each other, without it." She reminded him, and he kissed her temple.

"That's why I'll miss it." He said.

She sighed.

"What's the matter?" He asked her.

"Nothing." She said, looking at the sea before her, crystal clear, but she could no longer see the waves washing against the golden shore as she loved to watch them so much.

"Kate, I can tell something's wrong." He said.

She was silent for a moment, but then replied with what was really on her mind. "Jack, what happens now?" She asked him.

"You're free to go wherever you like. After all, you're not a wanted criminal anymore."

"No, I mean, with us." She said.

Jack nuzzled at her again. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't intend on running away at all." He told her.

"Can we survive in a normal world together?" She asked him.

"Kate, we've spent the past year on a deserted island, living on the beach, and in caves, with people we didn't know at all at first, living off of fish, wild boar, and fruit. We survived that together, we can survive anything together."

The word 'together' eased her mind. "Promise me something?"

He wrapped his arms tighter over her mid-section. "Anything."

"No matter what comes now, we'll be together." She said.

"I promise." He said.

Silently, they watched as the island that had homed not only themselves, but their blossoming relationship, faded into a line on the horizon, into a speck on the skyline, and finally, it was gone. She felt tears well in her eyes, but blinked them away. She would not cry over it, after all, it was a new beginning.