Guess who's back? Miss me?

We are nearing the end. Thank you for those readers, new and old, who have waited for me. You are who I am writing this for.

Special shout-out to Tamara (aka DimpleCurlAeternaGirl) for all of your encouragement. You're a gem.

Sayid devised a plan to get the group to the sail boat Desmond left behind after the Swan hatch blew. He knew exactly which shore they had left it on. He would need something bigger than the canoe he, Sawyer and Juliet used to get to Hydra Island after all.

"What if it's not there anymore?" Charlie asked.

Sayid countered with, "Trust me, it's there. It'll be a little less than an hour trek, if that, to get to it."

Storm clouds rolled overhead, moving up Sayid's clock precipitously. He looked over at Juliet, who had just tied off the last stitch to Sawyer's now closed gunshot wound, with Bernard as her first assist.

Bernard readied gauze and medical tape to place over Sawyer's stitches, as he began to wake up from his chloroform dreams. He hoped he had been dreaming of something nice back home.

"Bernard?" Sawyer whispered, his voice scratchy, groggy.

"Welcome back, son." Bernard grinned as he secured the gauze over the wound as gingerly as he could.

He looked over at Juliet, who was already looking down at Sawyer, relief and love in her eyes. He backed away with a coy smile, letting the two lovebirds have their moment.

"Hi." Sawyer said softly, still dazed, but coherent enough to reach his right hand up to caress her face.

"Hi." Juliet said, touching her hand to the back of his as it travelled down to pinch her chin. "Are you in any pain?" She knew he was, but would he be vulnerable enough to tell her?

"I'm right as rain, darlin'." Sawyer said with a lazy smile, bringing their intertwined fingers to his mouth to kiss the back of her hand lovingly.

"Well, you might not be in a few hours, so take this." Juliet handed him a pill from a pill bottle. She watched him put it in his mouth. She then put the opening of her water bottle up to his parched lips, watching him intently as he took in enough water to swallow the pill and then some.

"Alright!" Sayid yelled, garnering the attention of the members of the small group. "From here, it'll take less than an hour to get to the sail boat that'll take us all to Hydra Island. Looks like there's going to be a storm overhead very soon. Hopefully by the time we get to the boat, and set sail the storm will have passed. We move out in ten minutes."

Sawyer looked up at Juliet, who had returned her attention back to him from Sayid.

"Wow. We're really gettin' out of here, Blondie." He honestly never thought he'd live to see the day. He almost didn't.

"Yeah." She smiled down at him. "Yeah, we are."

Bernard approached Rose, who was passing Aaron back to Claire, who eagerly awaited for her son to return to her arms. Claire walked over to Charlie, leaving the older couple alone.

Rose turned to help ready Claire and Aaron's things for the trip, effectively ignoring what she knew Bernard was about to ask.

"When are we going to tell them?" He whispered.

There it was.

Her voice was stern, unwavering. "Not until we get to the plane."

"You know that makes no sense. Why not do it now?"

He knew his wife well. She was stalling.

"We'll be on an entirely different island by then, you know." Bernard continued.

Bernard brought Rose in for a hug. He pulled back and brought his hands up to cup her face.

"I thought this was what you wanted."

She cupped her hands over his. "It is."

It was just….hard, she thought. The Island saved her life. Her cancer was ready to wreak havoc on every working organ system in her body, and then, nothing. The achy joints, the nausea, the sinking feeling of looming death, it was all gone.

Living on the Island was no picnic, but somehow, there was no other place she would rather spend the rest of her life.

She moved in and planted a sweet kiss to her husband's lips.

And no one else she would rather spend it with.

Alex sat off to the side, watching the group around her ready themselves for the great exodus. She wrapped her slender arms around her torso, her mind racing at a hare's pace. She thought about Locke and her father. Where were they? Were they alive? Then she thought about Karl, her love, and how Ben had actively kept them apart.

It was time to think about her future, without Karl and most likely, without Locke. She still believed Locke saved her life and cared for her much more than Ben ever did. She couldn't think about that anymore. She had followed Locke all that time ago to start over, to live with him and his people on the beach. But there was no more beach. These people were about to trek towards their freedom.

Should she leave the Island? Was she invited to? Most of these people were still reeling with shock. She felt it selfish to even ask.

Hurley seemed nice, but was quiet and pensive on their trek to the beach for the medical supplies.

Alex was jolted out of her thoughts when a rather rotund figure sat down next to her, the tree bark slipped, almost rocking her clear to the ground.

"Oops, erm, sorry." Hurley chuckled, righting himself, then reached out to right her. Luckily she was quick on her feet.

"It's okay." Alex said with a small smile.

An awkward beat passed. Then another, and another as they both stared straight ahead.

He must have drawn the short stick, Alex thought. Here it comes.

'Thanks for your help, but we think it's time for you to go.'

She was a shake from rising, deftly able to take the hint on her own. She was ready to wish them all well.

"I'm not really a fan of B-O-D-Y-S, so….thanks for helping me with the medical supplies back on the beach."

It took Alex a second to figure out what she was trying to spell. "You mean, B-O-D-I-E-S?"

"Yeah, yes." Hurley nodded, embarrassed. He was never going to get that spelling right.

Alex shrugged, "It was nothing."

Once again, silence fell between them as they stared ahead. Alex looked at the gentle giant out of the corner of her eye, watching as his eyes flitted up to the treetops overhead.

"Would you like to come with us?" Hurley blurted out. "To…you know, off the Island?"

The tension in her shoulders and calves relaxed at his words. Only then did he turn to face her. "Claire and I were talking and—"

"Yes!" Alex erupted, elated tears flowing. "Yes, thank you."

Hurley's shoulders relaxed at the sight of her smile. "No thank you. Not just for your help back on the beach. Also for what you did for Claire. You know, when she was…Before she…"

"When you helped her escape."

Alex blushed, but couldn't help but look around to find Claire. She found the young mother staring back at her, with gratitude in her eyes. She remembered. She didn't think she had. She found herself pretty invisible, especially to her father.

Claire perceptibly nodded at her, and Alex returned it in kind.

Sayid stood up from his kneel to tie his boots. He watched as the group reached the tail end of prepping for the trek ahead. With his pack strapped over his shoulders, his hands on his hips, he was poised to address everyone when Bernard beat him to it.

"Do you mind if we say something?" Bernard asked.

Sayid gave a solid nod. Rose and Bernard stepped into the center of the clearing, their family peppered along the periphery.

Rose was the first to speak, "To say we've been through hell on this Island is a bit of understatement, especially in light of what just happened."

"But in spite of all of that…" She looked to her husband then, gathering strength from the conviction and love in his eyes.

"Bernard and I believe this is where we're meant to be."

Bernard smiled, his eyes glued to Rose. "Which is why we've decided to stay."

Murmurs grew from the group, catching a fever pitch.

"Here? What in the bloody hell for?" Charlie squeaked.

Rose stepped up to him, took his hands and clocked his worried expression.

"We don't expect any of you to understand."

"The beach has been destroyed. Where will you live?" Sun asked.

Bernard sighed, the weight of telling them lifted. "We don't know yet."

Sayid understood, more than he ever thought possible. He would live in the rubble and war of his homeland all over again if it meant Nadia was beside him.

"We could stay right here on this grass and it'd be home." Rose said with unbridled conviction. "We don't care as long as we're together."

Rose and Bernard waited a beat longer to let their decision, all of its rationale, or lack thereof as it were, sink in.

"We love you all so much." Rose said, her voice cracked, emotion welling over the brim.

"We love you too." Sayid said with a sad, somber smile.

It was as if those words allowed everyone to accept what was happening. It was his form of goodbye, so it would be theirs as well.

Everyone gathered to hug and pepper the elder couple with well wishes.

The storm let way overhead, raindrops falling over their outpouring of love and support.

Ben stood behind the barrel of the gun he'd just fired. The kickback from the weapon was almost enough to send him over the edge. His boots somehow held to the slippery bedrock.

His eyes were wild, licked with rage and satisfaction at the sight before him.

Searing pain spread through Locke's body. The bullets tore through his flesh. One bullet wound in his upper abdomen oozed slowly, while the other in his shoulder ran like a faucet.

One bullet barely missed him, but it had. Ben quickly tried to fire again, his aim averted by Locke charging him to the ground. The gun fell nearby, out of reach.

They were dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, wrestling for the advantage, and attempting to push the other the rest of the way while preventing the fall to their own death at the same time.

The storm grew louder, the waves below sending winds that grazed the clouds above.

Locke had his hands gripped around Ben's neck, applying as much pressure as he could. The men grunted. Locke tried to harness the last drops of his strength to end Ben for good.

Ben was close to blacking out from asphyxia. His face was blanched maroon then pale as pearl. A hue of light blue tinged his lips. His eyes rounded with worry and desperation. He reached up to push at Locke's arms and face, at any part of him that would save his life. He made every feeble attempt, but came up short each time.

Then, as always, Ben had a plan. The advantage was lost when he violently probed his finger into the bullet wound at Locke's shoulder, his hand now covered in his blood. Locked roared in agony, released Ben and toppled over.

Ben coughed his way back to life. He eventually stood and lorded over Locke, who was passed out. He took in a few more gulps of air before he slapped at Locke's face, urging him to stay awake. He wanted his face to be the last thing he saw before he hurled his lifeless body over the edge.

Ben pulled at the top of Locke's shirt as his eyes slit open sluggishly.

He was on the brink already. He knew it. Ben throwing him over was only the insult to injury.

"I want you to know!" Ben started, breathlessly, as he continued to pull at his shirt. He now angled it towards the edge of the cliff, taking Locke with it.

"That you died for nothing!"

Ben had positioned himself to maneuver the final tug of the soaked material that would lead to Locke's end, when—

"Stop!"

He turned, watching two silhouettes, one much taller and broader than the other, shadowed by the downpour step into view.

Jack, in the flesh, breathless from his sprint through the jungle, with Kate at his side. She held to her rifle, aimed and ready. She fanned out from his side with exacting precision to cover ground, to protect him. She kicked Ben's abandoned handgun back behind her.

"Ben, stop this!" Jack pleaded, taking a step forward.

"Stay back or he goes over!" Ben yelled.

"Okay!" Jack yelled back, taking a calculated step back with his hands up. Kate mirrored him, stepping back, but keeping a stiff aim on the rifle in her hands.

"This is the end of the line, Ben!" Jack tried to reason with him.

He didn't make a step forward like he wanted to, but instead, let his hands fall to his sides, and signaled his defeat. He silently hoped Ben would do the same. He knew he wouldn't.

"You know what, Jack?!" Ben challenged. "No! I don't think it is!"

"What happened, happened! Killing Locke won't change that!"

"I've lived on this Island for 35 years of my life, and I've devoted every second of it to him, dropped everything for him and he just threw me away!"

It took Jack a second to figure out who Ben was unleashing his anger out on in that moment. Jacob, the man who laid bloody and lifeless at the bedrock of the very terrain they stood on. Killing him wasn't enough, Jack knew. Ben needed more. Killing Locke could fit that bill for him, but he couldn't let him do it.

Ben then released his grip on Locke's shirt. "That plane literally drops out of the sky and it's all yours?! What is fair about that Jack? What is decent about that?!"

"You think this is what I wanted?! You think it's what I asked for?!" Jack fought back.

"But as much as you hate Locke for stopping you, for getting in your way, I hated him just as much for the same reason. Killing him won't give you what you want!"

"I guess that's the difference isn't it, Jack?!" Ben asked, ignoring his pleas to spare Locke's life. "You've done nothing for the Island! You've done nothing but want to leave, and I gave you that! Me! What about what I want?!"

"What about me?!" Ben roared.

Jack split his focus between Ben and Kate during the entire exchange. He watched Kate inch closer and closer as Ben's words grew more venomous and threatening. Her rifle never trained itself away from its target and he could literally feel her finger applying more pressure to the trigger.

"You can have it, Ben! Okay?!" Jack bargained. "You can have the Island, and everything that comes with it, but you have to let Locke go!"

"I'm sorry Jack!" Ben refused to entertain. "If I let him live another sec—"

Before Ben could finish, a gunshot blew out from behind where Jack and Kate stood. Then another, and another. The bullets pierced through Ben's chest with enough force to drive him over the edge of the cliff.

Jack and Kate turned, shocked at who held and fired the gun Kate kicked out of Ben's reach moments before.

Once Ben fell over the cliff to sudden, certain death, Richard lowered the gun and allowed it to slip out of his hands.

He watched in a daze while Jack and Kate ran to the cliff's edge. They didn't bother to look over to see Ben's dead body broken over a smaller cliff below. They used what strength and time they had left to pull Locke to safety.

Richard was frozen in place. Distraught, but resolved in his actions.

After he escaped the carnage at the cabin, he ran to a remote, secluded DHARMA telecom station nearby, using the emergency communication system to alert the community at the barracks of what was happening. He ordered them to activate the emergency evacuation plan he insisted Ben institute to get everyone to the submarines and off the Island as soon as possible in case of life-threatening, imminent danger that posed a formidable threat to their livelihood.

He never imagined Ben would be that threat he would need to protect their people from.

By the time Richard could repeat the order, the sky erupted in blinding purple light and a noise he'd never heard before drowned out the voice on the other end of the call. After everything went back to normal, Richard screamed into the phone.

There was no one on the other end.

After he did all he could to save innocent lives from the hell Ben had brought upon the Island, he knew he had to go to Jacob. He knew he wouldn't find him alive. He needed to see it for himself before going off to kill Ben.

Ben's menacing words echoed in his head.

'You and Jacob are going to die together, just like I always planned.'

The recesses of Richard's memory came back to the present. He watched as Kate came up behind Jack, who was kneeled over Locke, desperately trying to bring him out of unconsciousness.

His large hands applied pressure to his wounds while he tried to wake him up, but Locke didn't budge.

Kate closed her eyes, a single tear falling down her face.

She recalled the puddles of blood in the jungle that allowed them a trail to Jacob. Locke's blood. Clocking the blood that was scattered all over the cliffs from the fresh gunshot wounds, she knew that he had lost too much to survive. She knew that Jack knew the same, but he still tried. He would always try.

"Locke?! Locke!" Jack yelled, gripping his hands over every gaping wound he could find. There were too many, so many.

He finally took in the totality of Locke's broken, bruised body. He had truly been through hell.

On the verge of tears, devastated and inconsolable, Jack choked out, "Damnit, Locke! Hold on!"

He applied more pressure, but the blood kept coming, seeping under his palms and between his fingers.

Kate couldn't take it anymore. To watch the man she loved struggle and fight, it was ripping her apart. She wiped at her face and cleared her throat of the lump that was forming. She had to be strong for him.

"Jack. He's gone."

It was that simple, but he ignored her, his mind reeling at all the ways he had failed.

Unrelenting guilt churned in his stomach.

She kneeled down behind him, and wrapped her arms around his neck and torso, cradling him into her chest. She didn't say another word, silently encouraging him to stop, to grieve, to remember and let go.

"No." Jack said, instinctively registering the waves of sorrow and pain in Kate's touch, his stubborn streak evident in his voice.

"No, he—" Jack shook his head defiantly, but there was nothing left in his tone but sadness and regret, an emptiness he had never felt before.

He was letting go.

The tears came then, falling silently down his face, like a salute to his captain.

Kate closed her eyes, her tears meeting at her chin. She felt the ropes of tension in the muscles of Jack's back, arms and torso give way, and the breath he'd been holding finally seep from his heaving chest.

"It's okay." She whispered into his neck. She repeated it over and over again, wrapping her love around him like a cocoon, tight and neverending.

Richard continued to look on, watching as Jack removed his blood-streaked hands from Locke's wounds, with Kate at the ready to break his fall.

Sawyer opened his eyes, his brain fuzzy and confused. The pain in his shoulder was dull, but growing. It was slightly dark where he lay, teeming with mystery. A sliver of light poured in from above his head. He could make out stairs below what appeared to be a small door. He shifted, and realized that he was wrapped up in a heavy blanket and cramped into a small chaise. He could feel the room slightly sway under his weight.

It made sense now. He vaguely recalled Juliet begging him to get more rest once they made it to their destination.

He was in the cabin of the sailboat.

The trek to the boat was unkind. Rain poured over the group in buckets, chilling them all to the bone. He remembered the rainstorm had let up at the tail-end of the trek, as if allowing the group to catch wind that would help dry their soaked clothing. He wasn't sure how long he was asleep.

He heard movement from nearby. The small stream of light from the seams in the overhead door and the sway of the cabin allowed him to make out Claire, who sat in the opposite chaise with Aaron in her arms, his tiny mouth feeding at her breast.

"Sorry. We didn't mean to wake you." Claire apologized in a whisper. She covered herself while juggling her son in her arms.

Sawyer looked away to give her privacy, unfurled himself from the blanket, and shrugged. "You didn't wake me at all. How's Baby Huey doin'?"

Aaron began to fuss, but his mother knew just how to calm him. She began to hum a song, one that she remembered her father singing to her when she needed it most.

"He's great. How are you feeling?"

Sawyer rubbed at his eyes. "Just peachy."

Before he could attempt to stand, the cabin door opened slightly. Charlie whispered to Claire without looking. "Is he still asleep?"

"Aaron or Sawyer?" Claire teased.

Charlie took a moment to consider his answer. "Uh, both?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Would you just get down here already?" Sawyer groaned, unamused.

Charlie descended the small set of stairs, every step met with a creak from the old, rotting wood under his weight. He sat down next to Claire and laid a kiss to Aaron's forehead. Blinding sunlight beamed through the door, catching the young couple and their son in its rays.

"We're here."

Those words were met with a relieved smile from Claire. Charlie took Aaron from her arms and helped her stand. They ascended the stairs, leaving Sawyer alone to catch his bearings.

They made it, he thought. The storm was literally, and figuratively, over. Soon, he would be home.

He wondered if Juliet was up for the adventure that awaited them. He knew better than to think beyond the moment, but she made him feel and think about things he had long buried hope of ever experiencing. He wondered what to ask and how to ask it.

Cutting through his internal battle, he heard the creaking from the staircase again, turning to find the object of his very thoughts boring a hole through his soul with her eyes.

"Hey." She said, standing in the stream of sunlight like a dream.

Damnit, even the sound of her voice made him uncontrollably happy.

He was a goner.

"Hey." He shifted to stand, but she insisted he stay seated. She sat down in the opposite chaise, drinking him in.

"So, I hear we made it." Sawyer smirked.

"Yeah. We made it." Juliet said. "How is your shoulder?"

"It stings like a bitch, but I'll survive."

He could tell that she was trying to hide the awkwardness she felt. They never really talked about anything beyond this point. The focus was always survival, making it out alive, come hell or high water. They were closer to getting off this Island than they had ever been and it was time to discuss the future he found himself desperately wanting with her.

The silence lurked, staining the moment with more awkwardness. Juliet cleared her throat, unable to take it anymore.

"We should head up. I can get you another pill for the pain." Juliet stood, taking a step towards the staircase.

"Blondie, wait." Sawyer reached out, catching her tiny wrist in his large hand. The ache that the quick reflex caused in his shoulder barely registered as the woman he wanted seemed to ache for something from him in that moment that he greatly wanted to give her.

It was time for him to stand in the light again, and he wanted that with her. With only her.

Juliet turned, staring down at this mystery of a man, hoping she had not given her heart to him, only for him to break it.

Sawyer stood, keeping his eyes trained on her beautiful face, basking in the sunlight. He took both of her hands into his, fueled by the warmth of her touch.

He remembered the last moment they shared alone before they were separated by another mission with the directive to save them all. They were in the jungle, stricken by sadness for the lives lost at the hands of the Monster. Displaced and rattled, they held to each other for comfort and understanding. His last words to her before the moment was broken ringed in his mind.

'I have somethin', someone, I'm afraid to lose, Juliet.'

He was afraid of losing her, but had he earned the right to keep her?

Juliet waited for his next words with bated breath. The flecks of gold in his eyes and dirty blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight. His striking features still so handsome to her.

He sucked in a breath before he spoke. "I don't know what happens next," he paused, considering his next words carefully. Then he made the decision to stop playing this safe. He loved this woman. He had always been a betting man, throwing the dice with abandon for money, power and respect. He needed to do it for love.

"But I do know that I want you by my side. Always."

With those words, Juliet smiled, tears welling in her ocean blue eyes. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Before he could say more, Juliet wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a warm, passionate, soul-stealing kiss. Sawyer's arms banded around her waist, and he deepened the kiss with pleasure. His shoulder had enough. The pain struck through the cloud nine he found himself living on in that moment.

"Oww." He groaned into her mouth, only to press his lips to hers again in response.

She pulled away, concerned. "Are you okay?"

He played it off. "I'm right as rain, Blondie."

He pulled at the bottom helm of her shirt. "Now come back here, I'm not done yet." He pressed his lips back to hers, sealing the deal.

He was hers and she was his.

Standing in the sunlight, with this woman, was better than any darkness he had ever allowed himself to be consumed by.

They eventually tore their wanting lips away long enough to ascend the stairs. Sawyer felt like he was drowning in the light by the time he made it to the deck, with Juliet leading the way. He looked out and over, watching as Sayid busied himself with anchoring and securing the boat to the dock, while Jin worked on reeling down the sails for storage.

When his eyes adjusted, he looked out to the dock that pointed towards the nearby jungle.

The others were gathering themselves further down the dock, peppering onto the sand of the adjourning beach. His eyes angled upwards as Juliet folded the fingers of her hand between his.

The tailfin of the plane, seated a few miles inland, peeked through the abundant mix of tall, canopy and palm trees.

I had to give some hope and happiness in the ending. :)

RIP John Locke. :(