Chapter 116
They left the Foundation and headed into the jungle, Jack leading them to the clearing where Kate and Sawyer's bodies would be. He was in heaven; Kate and Sawyer were dead and Ana was his; the war was over. They had won and without too much of a struggle either. "Why does Walt want to see them?"
Hanso glanced at him before answering. "Because he wants to be sure."
"He won't just take your word for it?"
Laughing harshly Hanso said, "No. No, this is far too important for him to trust us."
Jack was confused; he slowed his pace and said, "Don't you control Walt? I thought you governed this place."
"I run the Foundation and our recovery efforts, and a myriad of other things, but Walt...well, I don't want to say he controls the Island, because neither one controls the other, they just sort of...co-exist. A team of sorts. He directs the Island as it steers him; they are a perfect symbiosis." He winked at Jack. "Another reason children are so much better at powering the Island than adults. Children are so easily led yet so stubbornly set; they mirror the Island and its partner. Two sides, eh?"
"So Walt is your boss?"
Hanso shook his head at Jack's black/white view of the world; one thing hadn't changed about him, he still didn't see the fine subtle grays. "Not my boss, per se," he said, "I'm more of a...silent partner."
Jack was quiet for a second as they walked, and he glanced at John; his eyes were rolling wildly in his head as if he were trying to watch something flying around his face but Jack didn't see anything. Hanso noticed too and chuckled at John. "He's adjusting. It really does take a while, to adapt to your new strengths. And to not have many weaknesses. He'll be a little out of it for a while." He glanced a little anxiously at Jack. "Are you sure Sawyer is dead?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. He blew his head off. Wasn't much left of it." He didn't show any kind of emotion at the memory and Hanso raised his eyebrows at Jack's coldness; it was a little unlike him to be so detatched, but he chalked it up to exhaustion and rollercoater emotions. "If he is dead, then the war is over, right? And we won?"
Hanso didn't answer for a second, then he said, "Didn't Locke already tell you that?"
Jack smiled. "Yeah, but John and I have some trust issues. I'd like to hear it from you."
Hanso nodded, smiling. "Yes," he said, softly, "If Sawyer is dead the war is over. For now." His smile turned a little sad as he added, "There will always be another."
Jack nodded, excitement gnawing at his gut; he and Ana would be free, free to be together, do as they pleased with no worries or cares except for the ones they made for themselves. He could already feel her skin under his hands and her lips under his and he shivered with excitement as they pushed farther into the jungle.
John stopped, suddenly, his eyes darting wildly into the bushes beside them; he looked almost like he was sniffing the air and Jack and Hanso stopped too, as he edged towards the undergrowth.
Hanso had seen this before, it was phantom smells and visions and noises, it would pass but they didn't have time to dawdle so he could sniff around for something that wasn't there. "Locke, come on. We need to go."
He shook his head violently. "But I feel something, it's not right."
Hanso snapped, "Well an hour ago you were smelling elderberries so I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that."
Glaring at him, Locke backed away from the bushes and joined the others, but he kept looking back until they had passed long out of its sight.
The sun was heating up and Jack was sweating; he longed for the cool courtyard and Ana's warm body; he still couldn't believe that she was really back, that he had really done it. Hanso spoke beside him. "If he really is dead, Jack, you'll be a hero. You will have ended the war without much loss of life." Jack beamed, imagining the feel of the adulation and respect, and Hanso added, "But you must become one of us."
He shrugged. What did it matter now? He had what he wanted and if his sacrifice was getting some stupid injection then that was fine. As long as he had her he was fine. "Whatever." He squinted at a part in the bushes ahaead, and he nodded. "That's it."
They pushed through the shrubbery, and Jack's heart beat excitedly as he glanced around for Kate and Sawyer. They were gone. Nothing, not a trace of them but for three separate puddles of dark ground where Kate, Sara and Sawyer had bled out. Hanso gazed anxiously around, then glared at Jack. "Where the hell are they?"
-----
"Hello, Ana." She was dozing on the bench in the courtyard but his soft voice woke her; she didn't dare turn to look at him. "I see you have been keeping busy."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help, just like I always was." He sat next to her on the bench and she finally forced her head around in fear. "You and I used to be close. I always regretted that we drifted apart."
He looked just like his old self, big grin and burly black arms; he even had the Jesus Stick still in his belt. "Me too, Eko. And I think I've drifted a little too far." She didn't know what to do. She loved Jack but he wasn't the same person, something had shifted in him, and not for the better; guilt was eating her up over Kate, no matter how she tried to spin it. She had been the one trying to kill Kate in the first place, it was her fault. He was right and she was wrong so how could she pass judgement on his actions?
"It's never too far, Ana." He paused, letting the beautiful sun bathe his face as he continued, "Jesus used parables to illustrate his teachings, like fables, with morals, and his most famous is the Prodigal Son. You are familiar with the story?" She nodded, smiling slightly. "There was a man, who had two sons. One was responsible and dutiful, the other was a wastrel and extravagant. He demanded his inheritance from his father while he was still alive, and he lived wildly, spending until he was dry. He was forced to take on many menial taskes, including the dirtiest of all, a swineherd, and he bore up beneath his disgrace, for he was too proud to return home to his father, to tell him how wrong and sorry he was, how much he regretted that he had lost his way. Eventually pride lost out and he returned to his father, prepared to throw himself on his mercy, to take his punishment, but his father greeted him with open arms, forgiving him without the boy even asking for it." He paused and Ana smiled at him. "When the older, responsible son asked angrily why the wastrel should be welcomed home and forgiven so, the father replied, 'It is meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this, thy brother was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found.' So you see, Ana, any sin can be forgiven. It is forgiven, and all that is left for you to do is to get back on the right path."
"How do I do that? And can I save Jack too?" She paled a little at Eko's face. "It's too late for him, isn't it?"
Eko smiled kindly but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's never too late, Ana. But he has to want to be saved, and I don't think he does." He paused, considering his words. "He thinks he is happy, Ana, because he has never really known it, but he isn't. You're the closest thing to real happiness he has ever known, and he will do anything to keep you," he leaned close, whispering to her, "but he will never find it if he loses his soul to get it." He stood, putting his hand gently on Ana's shoulder. "Set things right, Ana. Only then do you and Jack have a chance."
"How do I do it, Eko? I don't know what to do."
She started crying softly and he said, "Someone is coming to help, Ana. Expect the unexpected." He cocked his head to the twittering birds and said, "And he is coming. Perhaps you should meet him outside? He'll need directions."
In a flash she was outside, on the lawn on the Foundation, but there was no one around; it was still and quiet and she glanced aside at a movement; a giraffe stalked out of the jungle and crossed between her and the Foundation, it's lithe, graceful body reflecting in the windows as it passed.
Someone shouted and she woke up with a start; she was standing outside of the Foundation, the manicured lawn empty for now, and she jumped a little as the bushes in front of her rattled; her heart froze in fear as he stumbled from the edge of the jungle, glaring at her with cold fury.
-----
Every step away from Kate drained more and more of his precious energy; she was dead and he had no life in him, his spark was gone and he couldn't even muster enough hatred or any other feeling to make his heart beat with a regular rhythm, it galloped then stopped, then trotted then bolted, slamming against his ribs and into his collarbone, leap-frogging to his throat before thudding againt his ribs again. Every thought in his head was her; her bloody, still-warm lips against his as he kissed her for the last time, the limp way her hands slid off of her stomach, leaving bloody streaks on her clothes, he couldn't even muster enough energy to think of a good memory, the only thing he could see was her dead, mangled body that he couldn't save, that he couldn't bring back. He was too late; it was his fault, all of it; he left her alone, how stupid could he be?
I could've left Vincent, he thought, I could've run faster without him. If only I'd killed Frank right away instead of waiting...if only, if only. He hated himself and the only thing that kept him from throwing himself from a cliff was the thought that it could be fixed, he could still save her. Like she had saved him so many times. He owed her that, at least, he owed it to her to try.
He wasn't even sure where he was going; his feet were carrying him without his attention because his eyes only saw Kate, his ears only heard her voice; all of his senses were filled with her.
Something rustled ahead of him and he jerked out of his stupor, sliding silently into the deep bushes and squatting behind a tree; a few seconds later Jack, Locke and the Bearded Man walked by, so close he could almost smell them.
"...Sawyer is dead the war is over. For now. There will always be another." Sawyer's heart stopped dead as Locke suddenly turned wild eyes in his direction, sniffing the air like an animal; he came closer, still snuffling and Sawyer prepared to leap out on him if he had to. The lethargy he had been feeling earlier vanished as he realized that this was a threat to Kate, if they stopped him now he could never fix it; his powers were gone with her and he had no weapon; he would have to fight them with just bare hands, and while he had confidence in himself as a brawler, he couldn't beat a gun with his fists. The bearded man's harsh voice said, "Locke, come on. We need to go."
He was still advancing on Sawyer, sniffing suspiciosly as he said, "But I feel something, it's not right."
His eyes pierced the leaves as he watched the Bearded Man roll his eyes and say, dryly, "Well an hour ago you were smelling elderberries so I don't think I'd put too much stock in that."
Locke gave one more suspicious sniff and turned, following Jack and the Other until they were out of sight.
Sawyer allowed himself to breathe and he sagged a little before he found the strength to pull himself together; he guessed they were going to find the bodies, only they'd be a little surprised at what they found, wouldn't they? A blazing, judgemental angel with a broken heart; he wished he was going to be there to see it. He was a little worried but as he stood in the bushes, quiet, not moving he began to hear things, whispers in the trees. It wasn't like the Other's whipers, he could understand these, faint though they were and they sounded like singing.
Then it wasn't just the trees, it was the animals too; the insects buzzed and swarmed in a strange rhythm with the wind and leaves and he could hear the birds singing in sweet harmony with every other creature and the waves from the ocean reached his ears, too, as he closed his eyes, absorbing in the music of the Island; the sweet jungle melodies. As he let it into him he felt something stir because he could hear Kate too; she was singing with them and it made the music so sweet and soothing because he suddenly knew she was there, somewhere where he could find her and her sweet voice sang as one with the birds and the wind and water; he felt her, physically, slide into him, become him and he was complete.
He opened his eyes to the jungle and Kate was standing before him, shimmering like a phantom in the sunlight and she smiled, so dazzlingly that he nearly fell to his knees but her voice held him in place, rooted to the ground as she said, "Hey baby."
He was struck breathless, his heart stopped in mid beat, lodged against his ribs as he let out something between a sigh and a gasp. "Hey Freckles." He could barely finish her name before his throat closed and choked off his air; she was there, before him and he could almost touch her but he didn't dare because this was just a dream, if he reached out she would disappear and he didn't want to be alone. Not again. "Are you real?" It was half-sobbed, but his tears were bittersweet; she was so beautiful, so entrancing that he couldn't believe she loved him and he knew he was the luckiest man on the planet, in the universe because he had her to himself, she belonged to him even if it was for so brief a time.
"Yes," she shimmered, smiling. "I am real, somewhere. You have to bring me back, James, if you want me to be your reality." A shimmery tear fell down her cheek and Sawyer reached for it automatically but his hand slid through her like mist. He burst into tears at his disappointment and she smiled sweetly. "I love you, James. I need you."
"Oh, Kate," he groaned, his fingers aching for her so badly they were curled into claws, "Please tell me what to do, please. I can't do this alone, we were supposed to do it together!"
She started to fade away. "We are together, James, always." Her lips curled into a grin and she said softly, "I have a word of advice. Don't interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake...don't interrupt them." Her eyes met his with a piercing gaze and he nodded; she started to fade even more.
He started yelling as she became fainter and fainter, "No, Kate, No! Please stay, PLEASE!" He fell to his knees, clutching at her fading feet, his heart shattering like glass, cutting him inside and bleeding him dry.
She smiled sweetly and placed her hand over her belly as she said, "Bring us back, James. We need you." Her last words echoed away and she was gone; suddenly the jungle sprang to life but there was no music, no melody, just the empty, busy buzz of the Island.
He stayed on his knees for a while, holding the ground where she had been , or had she? She hadn't left him, not completely; there was a faint Kate residue on his soul and it was enough to give him life and purpose, and he stood, brushing his jeans off, and with determination instead of despair he started anew on his journey, alone, but never alone.
-----
Kate's head was growing cold in her lap and she touched the side of her face, gently, brushing her hair back from her forehead and...waiting. The sun was rising higher and though it was light it was lonely in the glade, with no Vincent, no Sawyer, only cold, empty Kate to keep her company; she wasn't scared, not at all; not much had changed about her since she...transformed, her feelings and wants were the same but underneath her earthly surface there was a sublime, tranquil Sara who knew all and could see all, though she didn't choose to do it. She didn't want to know.
She was relieved to hear fluttering wings and metallic hoots and Kotori flew by, dropping wearily onto her hand before he noticed Kate. His little bronze wings wilted and his eyes opened wide and he let out a long, low, sad whistle, before turning back to Sara and hooting urgently; she nodded and said, "How far?" he chirped a few more times and she set him down, carefully, before laying Kate's head aside with the same care as she stood. "We should probably leave. Have any ideas?"
Jack and the others were coming, for the bodies, most likely, and she didn't think it would be a good idea for them to notice that Sawyer's was gone; it was better for them to suspect he was dead, it would lull them into complacecny and security. Not to mention she wasn't going to let them put their filthy murdering hands on Kate if she could help it, and it didn't seem wise to reveal herself as anything other than Sara. So they would run; she smiled wanly, Kate would have appreciated the irony.
But how to move them? She was an angel but again, showing herself to have any kind of power was proabaly a bad idea, and she thought for a minute before Kotori chirped excitedly and flew away. "Thanks for your help," she called after him, shaking her head at the little owl. She stood for a few minutes, trying to gather her thoughts.
She jumped as the bushes rattled ominously, it sounded like something big; Kotori came zipping out, hooting happily and Sara gasped as a giant black horse trotted gracefully out of the jungle, bowing its head and approaching Kate's still form. It nosed her gently, then snuffled her; suddenly it reared up, snorting and shaking its head in anger; it pawed the ground and threw its head up and down, it's mane whipping around like a black curtain.
Sara just gazed at it for a minute; it was magnificent and proud but as she reached out to stroke its neck it was as docile as a lamb; she kissed its velvety nose and said, "You know her?"
The horse whinnied, bobbing his head gently and she nodded. "Okay, then. Can you carry all three of us?"
He gave her a disgusted look and shook his mane and flicked his tail; Sara chuckled a little and bent down to Kate, hating the feel of her cold skin. She gently hefted her and managed to manuever her up onto the horse's back, it stood perfectly still, though it's nostrils dilated dangerously as the scent of Kate's blood reached them; a quiet black fire blazed in its eyes and it whinnied and snorted viciously as Sara hefted Vincent's limp, ripped body on his back too.
"My turn," she said, and the horse walked slowly and carefully to a large rock, being sure not to disturb the bodies draped across his back. Sara climbed up on the rock and gingerly slid across the horse's broad, smooth back, trying not to dislodge Kate or Vincent; finally she was situated and the horse took off at a fast walk, taking them deeper into the jungle and closer to their fates.
