Kate and Sawyer didn't return to camp that night; after they made love Kate led him into the tiny stream and gently bathed him, washing away the dirt and the leaves and the pain and hurt of the day with her cool, gentle fingers. She touched the scars on his back from the whip; they had healed well but there were long crisscrossong stripes of scar tissue and Kate traced her fingers along them, remembering what Sawyer had done for her.

"Some scars never fade, Freckles," he said as she ran her fingers along his spine, giving him goosebumps. "I guess I'll always have those."

She hugged him from behind, her skin warm against his wet body; Her arms went around his waist and he grabbed her hands, holding them to his chest as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "I hope you do, Tex. They mean something to me."

He smiled and squeezed her hands; she drew away and resumed washing the dirt from him. He hesitated, then said, "Kate, it was Walt." He felt her hands stop as they were drizzling water over his shoulders and she drew her breath in sharply, and he continued, "He was possessing her. But it wasn't IWalt/I, you know?"

Kate didn't, really, but she said, "Yeah, I think."

"Liar." He was quiet for a minute and Kate smiled silently to herself; he knew her too well. "He's stronger than me, and he can do all of the things I can. You saw the red light, when...Cass," he choked on her name a little, "was shootin' the birds away. And this," he waved his hand and lifted a small stone from the bank of the stream, "he can do this, too." He turned to her, pressing his body against hers and snaking his arms around her waist; she gazed up at him, her eyes somber as he frowned. "And he can heal. It was him- he healed the bullet wound in my shoulder."

Kate was still a little stunned by the fact that this was all Walt, and now Sawyer was piling more on. "He healed the bullet wound so they could half beat you to death?" She shook her head. "You know, I didn't totally believe you," he looked hurt and she grinned, "but that sounds like kid logic all the way."

He put his hands on her shoulders and held her at arm's length, staring into her eyes with an intensity that frightened her a little; he saw the fear and he relaxed a tiny bit, speaking gently. "Listen, Kate. There are two sides to everything, right? You, you have a light side and a dark side, I have them, you and I, we're two sides of the same coin, right? Light and dark, black and white...me and Walt."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head slowly. "What? What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Walt said he Iis/I the island, that he creates and controls the power of the island. I do too, Kate. I control the power, and together you and I create the power; you feel it, don't you? The surges when you touch me or when I touch you? That's my power, and it's Igood/I, it's love. Get it?" She nodded. "The Island had two sides, Kate, light and dark. And that is what this...war is about." He gripped her arms hard. "This place has made us whole, Kate, but I believe, deep in my heart that you and I were always meant to be together, that somewhere, somehow we would've found each other. We don't Ineed/I this place to be happy, to be together." He glanced at Cassidy's grave and swallowed hard. "This Island is bad, Kate. You see what it does? It uses people to Iexist/I, just like me. Just like you. If we...destroy this Island, if we wipe out that badness, that evil, then maybe it will be gone from us too."

She stared at him, hard, for a few seconds. She felt it too, that they would have found each other eventually; they were meant to. But they were here now and she was afraid to upset that; she was happy, so happy, and it had been so long since she had known that feeling. She was afraid to lose it. "I-I don't want to go anywhere else, James. You know what I have to go back to. And what if destroying the Island just kills us all?"

"Then we'll die together, Freckles. But that ain't what's gonna happen." He drew her close again and whispered, "Remember what I saw in the Cloud? Don't you want that, Kate?"

He could feel her answer before she said it, breathlessly, "Yes."

He smiled against her neck. "Then this is what we have to do." Sighing a little, he said, "This is the sacrifice we have to make to get what we're asking for. Okay?"

"Okay." their lips met sweetly and they stood there together a long time, savoring the possibilities that lay before them as dusk fell, casting them into deep gray shadows.

-----

Eko and Vincent had disappeared again, leaving Ana, Jack and Locke alone in the clearing; Jack had calmed down a little, watching Sawyer carry Cassidy's body away, but he was still freaked out by the log thing. It wasn't possible; while he was knocked out they must have rigged up some kind of trick or something. As he was thinking it, though, Jack knew it was stupid, Sawyer could never rig up something so complicated. His mind just refused to wrap itself around the fact that Sawyer had thrown a Ilog/I across the clearing by waving his hand; it was like he had been dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Well, Jack thought, it's been like that a while now, though, hasn't it?

He hadn't really realized it before now; the division, the split between them and how complete and wide it was; and he also hadn't realized how much of that split was because of him moving away from Kate. The thought of her made him feel a liitle sick for some reason, but he couldn't think of a reason why. He just felt...Iguilty/I when she crossed his mind, like he had done something wrong. What had happened when they were out? And how the hell had they been frozen anyway?

He glanced at Ana; she still seemed to be in shock, her eyes were staring at the chunks of log that were scattered over the clearing. He noticed that the trunks of the trees where the log had struck had brown streaks ground into the bark and he winced at how much force it took to do that. "You okay, Ana?"

She nodded, swallowing as she turned to him. "You saw him do that too, right? It wasn't just me?"

Jack laughed, but it was humorless and dry. "Yeah. I saw it." He chuckled again and it was a little warmer as Ana put her hand on his knee, smiling in relief. "I don't know what bothers me more; that someone can actually do that, you know, telekinesis, or that it's ISawyer/I, of all people who can do it." He rolled his eyes and Ana laughed as Old Jack fell away and New Jack was back; whatever. Go with the flow. He kissed Ana lightly, and she stopped laughing, her hands going to his face as she returned it.

"Well," she said, breathlessly as she broke away, "It's a little disturbing that talking about Sawyer brought that on, but I'll take it." Jack laughed and reclined on his elbows, looking up at the canopy.

"Well, he Iis/I sexy." Ana made a face and Jack laughed, amazed at how easy it was to let go and just Ibe/I and though he hated it, he had Locke to thank for it.

"Ugh," Ana said, scooting closer to Jack and reclining next to him so that their legs and hips and shoulders touched, "If you like the long hair, greasy, criminal look." She brushed her hand over Jack's burr of hair and smiled. "I like 'em more clean cut." Looking askance at him, she said, "Exactly how do you keep it so short, anyway? My hair has grown, like two inches since we've been here. Yours isn't even an inch long. So?"

He ducked his head, smiling. "When I was in residency I was so busy, I worked so much that I didn't have time to get haircuts- Imean I never left the hospital if I could help it."

She smiled, imagining him as a young, driven doctor, trying to prove himself even then. "I'll bet you didn't," she laughed, rubbing her palm against the bristling thatch of his hair; it tickled a little.

"So, I learmed how to cut it myself with surgical scissors." He pointed to his pack, lying a few feet away. "I didn't have those, but I had some manicure scissors in my checked bag, which I found." Grinning sheepishly, he said, "So, now you know my secret."

"Jack Shepard, doctor by day, renegade barber by night." She laughed; he loved the deep throatiness of it and it made him shiver a little as he kissed her, softly.

Locke watched them from across the glade, smiling. The island was whispering in his head, telling him to move, to go where he needed to. He rose and went to Jack and Ana. "We have to go."

They broke apart and Locke laughed to himself at the scowl on Jack's face. "Wait a while, John. Kate and Sawyer aren't back yet."

Locke squinted up at the canopy and rubbed his forehead. "They're not coming back, Jack. We have to move on. Let's go."

He shouldered his pack and glanced at them as they slowly rose, looking a little unsure. "Why aren't they coming back?"

Locke smiled but it was different; it was cool and detatched. "That doesn't concern you. We have our purpose, they have theirs. Let's go."

He disappeared into the trees as Jack and Ana hefted their packs and started after him. Locke was right, Jack thought; it didn't concern him. Kate and Sawyer were on their own.

He took Ana's hand as they melted into the jungle, following John.

-----

They were curled up together next to the fire; the stream trickled softly behind them and Sawyer rested his head on her shoulder, kissing her neck softly as she leaned back into him. The knowledge of what lay before them gave them confidence and purpose; they had a common goal, now, and though it was unspoken between them, they had a new reason for living.

But there was the obstacle before them; the reason Sawyer had been brought to the Island. To destroy it. How did they do that? Kate suddenly wished they'd paid a little more attention to what was going on around them; she was sure they'd missed a few important things along the line.

A soft warbling hoot floated by them and the little bronze owl flittered to a stop on Kate's hand; she smiled and lifted it to her face, kissing it softly on the head as it hooted happily, fluttering it's little bronze wings. Sawyer smiled and held out his hand and the owl hopped up onto it, chittering away as Sawyer listened intently, his eyes clouding over. "What?" He pushed at Kate impatiently as he tried to get up; she leapt away and he said, "They're coming, Kate." He grabbed her arms and spun her close. "They're coming for you."

His heart dropped as she paled and shook a little. "W-why me?"

"You know why, Kate. Because I love you. You're my weakness. We have to move. INow/I."

The owl fluttered to her shoulder, clamping down with his little claws; it pinched a little but as he settled they relaxed and she kind of liked the little bird there. It was like having an angel on her shoulder. "Okay, James." She didn't move, though, and he could feel the terror radiating from her as he pulled her close. "I'm scared."

He kissed her head, stroking her hair. "I know you are baby. I will never let anything happen to you. I'll die first."

She tensed and he felt his shirt dampen from her tears. "That's what I'm scared of, James."