Title: "The Bonding Qualities Of Cherry Pie"

Fandom: LOST

Author: Shinga

Rating: PG

Genre: General, Humor

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Kate was having one of those days. You know the type... where everything from the moment you wake up in the morning to the second you fall asleep is full of whatever the opposite of luck is.

It started out innocently enough. She'd been strolling the beach, her mind swimming with complications and memories. She hadn't even noticed Sun coming out from the jungle and thus promptly ran her over. The basket of clean clothes Sun had been holding toppled over onto the sand. Kate apologized repeatedly and Sun, ever polite, insisted it was a mistake and tried to dust the sand off, but it didn't work very well.

It had only gotten worse from there. In fact, it would probably be a few days or weeks before she could look Rose and Bernard in the face after walking in on their... bath.

And so it came down to the afternoon, when she was supposed to take over Locke's shift in the hatch. Ever since she had discovered that her day was unlucky, she'd been playing out scenarios in her head of accidentally knocking the computer terminal over. Or perhaps somehow not hearing the alarm and therefore not pushing the button. And God only knew what that would bring about.

The walk to the hatch was blissfully uneventful. Despite everything, it was a nice day. Not terribly balmy, so her clothes didn't cling to her in their usual annoying fashion. Not that she wouldn't be taking a shower in the hatch anyway. It was always the highlight of her shift.

Entering the hatch, she quite literally bumped into Jack.

"Kate," he said.

"Hey," Kate forced a smile and tucked a bit of loose hair behind her ear. Again she was painting a scenario in her mind of a mysterious coconut falling from the sky and hitting Jack in the head. And somehow this would be her fault.

"What are you doing here?"

"Relieving Locke."

Jack blinked, then nodded. "Ah," he said, and his condensation in regard to 'the button' was obvious. "That time already?"

Kate nodded and felt her head swimming a little. Though Jack smelled no different from anyone else on the island... dirty, musky... he always had a hint of something else. Something that reminded her of hospitals and medicine. It wasn't a good smell.

"Guess I'd better get to it," she said, again forcing a smile that she hoped look natural. Even if it didn't, she doubted Jack would notice. He seemed distracted.

"Right," he said, and smiled back in a manner that only proved to Kate that his mind was indeed elsewhere. "I'll see you later then, Kate."

He walked around her into the jungle, probably heading back to the beach. Maybe to see Ana Lucia. Kate tried to push that out of her brain, especially the small twinge of jealousy creeping into the back of her mind. It was a silly feeling, after all. What did she have to be jealous of?

She found Locke in route. The smile he gave her was as genuine as it ever was. "You have another one hundred and eight minutes to take a shower," he said in a slightly teasing tone. Kate couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Thanks, John," she said.

"It's not a problem," again he smiled as he walked past her and out of the hatch.

It was only as Locke left that Kate noticed something was different in the hatch. Instead of the scent of old metal and mildew, it actually smelled... good. A thick aroma wafted down the corridor. It smelled... very familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Whatever it was crept down into her stomach and made it growl hungrily.

Following the trail of scent led her to the kitchen where she found the source.

Standing over the counter and waving a towel was Hurley. Seeing Kate, he looked up and grinned, waving. Kate gave a small wave back.

"Hurley? What are you doing here?"

"Figured you could use the company," he said with another smile. "That and I was... you know, checking supplies." He avoided her gaze when he said this. Kate figured he'd been looking for a snack. She smiled. "Well, anyway. I was... checking supplies... and I found this stuff."

Kate furrowed her brow as she approached the kitchen island. When she saw what Hurley had been fanning she couldn't help but let out a disbelieving laugh. She looked up at Hurley. "Pie?"

"Cherry," Hurley grinned again. "I mean, I'm no chef, but... these Dharma people made it look pretty easy so I figured... why not give it a shot, you know? I think I did okay."

"It smells... amazing," Kate said, giving her first real smile of the day.

"It's still hot," said Hurley. "But we could have some in a few minutes, if you want. You don't have to. I mean, you might not like cherry. Locke said he didn't."

Kate gave another laugh, still wrapping her head around it all. "I... I love cherry."

"Awesome," Hurley said. He gave the pie a tentative poke, then pulled away and waved his hand with a wince. "It still needs some cooling off time."

"My mom used to make pie a lot," Kate said, speaking without even realizing what she was saying. Her eyes never left the dessert on the counter. "I remember when I was a kid... I woke up a lot of times to the smell of it in the morning. Cherry, apple, blackberry... pumpkin. That was my favorite."

"Oh," said Hurley, sounding a little guilty. "They don't have any pumpkin pie here."

"Don't worry about it... this here, this is perfect," Kate said, shaking her head with a smile. She hugged her arms and sighed slightly. "This brings back... some good memories."

"Not to... psychoanalyze or anything, but... you make it sound like there weren't a lot of those."

Kate said nothing, but her smile faltered.

"Sorry," Hurley rushed to say. "I don't mean..."

"It's okay," said Kate softly. She shook her head to clear her mind as she took a quick look around the counter. Spotting her goal, she reached out and took the knife from its sheath. "Well, I don't know about you," she said, giving Hurley a grin. "But I'm getting tired of waiting."

Licking her lips in anticipation, Kate leaned over and slowly cut out two pieces of the pie. The steam danced above the pie, fogging up the metal of the knife. Kate could easily ignore the waves of heat, for the aroma was even stronger. Hurley hurried over to a cabinet and pulled out two small plates without prompt, and dug out two forks.

As soon as he presented them to her, Kate quickly lifted a piece with the knife. "Quick, before it falls all over the place!" she said with a loud laugh as Hurley whipped the plate underneath the pie piece as it dribbled over the knife.

He helped her get the second piece onto the other plate, then gave her the piece. Kate took one of the forks and slowly dug into the pie. She felt like swooning from how good it smelled. She held up the bite on her fork to her nose and breathed it in slowly. Hurley chuckled and did the same. Kate blew on the bite, letting it cool for a second before she put it in her mouth.

It wasn't the best pie she'd ever have. It wasn't bland, but it was close. After what her mother cooked years ago, she doubted she'd ever find a pie to compare. But right now, after all her time on the island, it was the most wonderful taste in the world. Her senses danced joyously and her toes curled inside her shoes.

"Oh Hurley," she said. "This is great."

"Yeah it is," said Hurley, taking his second bite eagerly.

Kate gave a conspiratorial grin. "So, have you told anyone else but Locke about the pie?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Jack smelled it, but he didn't say anything," said Hurley, taking another bite. "How come?" he asked with his mouth full.

"We're here for another six hours..." Kate said. "Plenty of time to finish off a pie."

Hurley returned the grin. "Totally," he said.

For the next hour Kate was able to forget everything. The island, the losses, her bad day, Jack, Sawyer... she even found a way to forget everything before. Wayne, her mother, her father, Tom... all she remembered and thought about was happy.

They ate the pie and laughed over the antics of some of their fellow islanders. Kate even told Hurley about Rose and Bernard, then laughed over how red Hurley's face got at the story. They were even able to laugh at some of the memories of Shannon or Boone... or at least smile.

Their conversations turned to their childhoods. Hurley asked Kate to tell him more about her mother's pies. Kate described them in detail, even the one time when Kate had decided to help her mother cook a blackberry pie when she was about five years old. She had confused teaspoon with tablespoon and the result had been the worst tasting pie in history. But her mother had eaten it with a smile anyway.

Hurley recounted tales of his own mother's cooking, which he regarded almost religiously. Her food was a good deal different than Kate's mom's. He told her about her almond cookies, sopaipillas, and even pumpkin tamales. His mother, as he told it, wasn't very good at meals. That was his grandpa's job. But desserts... desserts were were she reigned in the kitchen as high queen.

So deep in the midst of their reminiscing, Kate almost didn't notice the beeping beckoning her to push the button. She excused herself, and hurried to punch in the now familiar numbers. When she returned, it was then that they both noticed the pie was almost gone, save for one piece.

"You can have it, dude," said Hurley with a smile. "I'm full."

Kate smiled appreciatively and begin to eat it straight from the pan. "Thanks for all this, Hurley," she said.

"The pie?"

"Not just that," she said, shaking her head. "Ever since I woke up this morning, I've had the worst luck. This right here... this is probably the highlight of my entire time here on the island. A time I didn't have to... remember the bad things, you know?" She looked up at him and smiled. "So... thanks."

"No problem," said Hurley. There was a bit of a pause before he spoke again. "So you had an unlucky day, huh?"

"Mm-hm," Kate said as she chewed.

Hurley suddenly grinned. "Well I guess I should thank you then."

Kate furrowed her brow, puzzled.

"Because today," he said. "Has actually been pretty good for me. I woke up and there was a candy bar in my tent that wasn't there before. Then I was helping Jin fish and I actually caught five of 'em. Then when I was heading back I ran into Libby and we took a walk and that was cool. Then I came here and found that pie. Seriously, dude? Today's been the first day in a long time that I've had... well... luck."

Kate stared at him for a long time, then promptly burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that her eyes watered. Hurley stared at her blankly.

"No, I mean it."

"I know, Hurley," Kate said, reaching up and putting a hand on his shoulder. Her laughing slowly subsided and her sides ached. "I know, I was just... thinking that I hope it isn't permanent."

Hurley blinked, then gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I guess that would suck for you."

"I wouldn't worry about anything though," she said. "I think on the island we all make our own luck. We'll both be fine, right?"

"Yeah," Hurley said as Kate took the last bite of pie. "Unless the next time you push the button the hatch implodes or something."

Kate stared at him.

"Kidding."

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