Thanks for the reviews. In answer to the question a lot of you seem to be asking, I'm not sure if I'll put Sawyer in it again. I hadn't planned on another appearance, but I will bring him back if it fits and that's what people want. In answer to the question about Jack and Kevin, you'll have to wait and see. ;) Jack does have some potentially devestating information about him, but I'm waiting for the right moment to reveal it...

Chapter 5. Secrets

When Kate found her own bag just before sunset, the first thing she did was head further up the beach to a secluded cove where she could change and wash the blood out of her hair. Jack was off talking to Sayid about their respective missions; there was no one else around, so she stripped down to her underwear, letting the waves lap over her, washing away the stresses of the past twenty-four hours. She still wasn't any closer to finding Kevin, but closing her eyes, switching off her thoughts, she felt almost human again, the pain in her heart fading to a dull ache.

There was blood on her shirt from the wound on her scalp, staining the water red, so she tossed into onto the shore with her dry clothes, figuring that Jack could use it for gauze or bandages or something. The hem of her skirt was in tatters from her trek through the jungle, the side slit higher than she would have preferred, so she balled it up and used it as a washcloth, scrubbing the grime from her skin.

When her fingers began to prune, she waded out of the ocean, pulling a clean pair of jeans, her underwear leaving damp patches across the back. Fastening the zip, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that someone was watching her; afraid that Jack, or one of the other guys, like that redneck from the fuselage, had stumbled across her in her state of undress, she looked up to see the Asian woman standing a few yards away.

"Hey," she called, wondering if her bathing in public was somehow offensive to her, "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

When the other woman didn't say anything, averting her eyes, she finished with her jeans and yanked on the old t-shirt she'd dug out the bottom of her suitcase, tucking her hair into a loose ponytail. After months of trying to look like a real girl for Kevin, it was almost a relief to be back in what she considered her own clothes, though the circumstances prevented her from enjoying it as much as she would on an ordinary day.

She ignored the other woman as she crept closer, timid, like a small child, gathering her discarded clothes. When she looked up at her again, she was standing right in front of her, her dark eyes wide and nervous.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," she said in heavily accented English, surprising Kate with her fluency, "but I heard someone say that your husband was in the back of the plane."

Unsure what to say, Kate nodded, afraid that she was going to have to endure another expression of sympathy. She seemed to be the only one who believed that there could be other survivors; even though Jack had sided with her earlier, she knew he still had his doubts. He was a scientist, after all, and there was no evidence to support it.

"You're very brave," the Asian woman continued with a rueful smile. "If it was my husband who was missing, I think I would be falling apart."

Thinking back, Kate remembered seeing her with a man who must have been her husband; he was yelling at her, and she was just standing there staring at the sand, taking it. She was obviously very devoted. If she could fall apart over someone who treated her like that, Kate wondered what it said about her that she was coping without Kevin. Not just coping, but calm.

"If you'd asked me yesterday, I would have said the same thing," she told her sadly, wishing she could believe that it was courage and not cowardice that was keeping her from losing it at the prospect of Kevin's death.

"You must love him very much to go into the jungle to find him," her companion added, and Kate wondered if this were true. She loved Kevin, but it wasn't love that was motivating her quest to find him, it was guilt: guilt for getting involved with him when she knew that she shouldn't, for lying to him and jeopardizing his career, for setting him up for heartbreak when all he wanted was a family and a happy ending. As much as she hated the idea of his life being snuffed out two weeks into their marriage, it was almost a relief when she considered the alternative.

She didn't know how to respond, so she said the one thing that she knew was undoubtedly true. "He's a good man. He'd do the same for me."

This obviously wasn't the answer the other woman was expecting; she looked at her curiously, her eyes free of judgement at what was as good as an admission that she didn't love Kevin the same way he loved her. Her empathy was unnerving, so much so that Kate wanted out of the conversation, so she said, "Is that what you came here to talk about? Kevin?" It was hard to think of a reason why the other woman would be so interested.

She stared down at the sand, embarrassed. "No. I came here to tell you that I saw some smoke yesterday, on the other side of the island. I'm not very good with directions, but I think it was north west."

Kate's breath caught in her throat, and it was all she could do to keep herself from hugging this strange woman. "How sure are you about that?" she asked, trying not to get too excited at the prospect of having something concrete to tell Jack. She doubted he'd be willing to set out this close to dark, but they could still leave as early as first light tomorrow.

"Pretty sure."

Kate broke into a grin on hearing these words, relieved that she wouldn't have to spend another day worrying on the beach. "You have no idea what this means to me," she said, feeling her eyes begin to tear up with relief. "Thank you so much…?"

"Sun," the other woman supplied.

"…Sun," Kate finished, rewarding her with a warm smile. "I'm Kate."

Sun offered her a small smile in return, growing nervous again as she added, "Please don't tell anyone I told you. My husband… he doesn't know I speak English. He would be very angry if he found out I have not been honest with him."

Kate didn't hesitate in reassuring her that she would keep her secret. After all, she wasn't the only one who had been less than honest with her husband.

It was a few hours before Kate saw Jack again, night falling over the campsite without any sign of him, Sayid or the British man, whose name, Claire told her, was Charlie. She seemed quite smitten with him; it was cute, especially when she didn't appear to have had much luck with guys in the past.

Kate was sitting at one of the fires, using Tom's plane and Sun's tip to react the crash when Jack came up the beach, catching her off guard.

"What's that?" he asked when he saw the tiny silver object in her hand; it was too late to hide it, so she opened her palm, feeling more exposed than she would have if he'd come across her bathing when he picked it up and studied it curiously. She'd never shown it to anyone, not even Kevin, not since Tom's death, and here was Jack, a near stranger, handling it, trying to guess at its meaning.

"It's nothing," she told him sharply when he handed it back to her, slipping it into the backpack she'd packed for tomorrow's trek, but she could tell that he didn't believe her.

"Okay," he agreed, looking miffed as he sat down in the sand beside her, but he backed off, changing the subject. "We think we've figured out where the cockpit landed," he said, staring out at the dark waves. "Sayid and Charlie are going to check it out first thing tomorrow morning. I took a couple of flying lessons a while ago, so I was thinking of going with them in case they need help with the transceiver."

"You can't," Kate told him quickly, snapping out the funk she'd slipped into on having one of her most painful memories treated so casually.

When he looked back at her, surprised, she added, remembering the promise she'd made to Sun, "Su…omeone told me they saw smoke on the other side of the island, north west of here. You said the cockpit wasn't far, so it had to've been coming from the tail."

Jack nodded, considering this. "We'll need to ask around, see if anyone has a compass, but that should be enough to go on for now," he said seriously, still deep in thought. "It's too late to do anything about it tonight, but if you still want to do this, we'll get some supplies and leave with Sayid at first light."

He flashed her a warm smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's going to be okay, Kate. We're going to find him – all of them."

Next chapter: the adventure really begins...