Time for a new chapter. I was completely stuck (and still kind of am). But maybe the solution to that is to just keep going. Hope you enjoy it!

Reading bed time stories, going to the zoo, baking pan cakes and having family diners. That was all Jin talked about.

Proper super markets, highways (and actual cars – not those stupid hippy vans), laptops, cell phones and, well… women. That was all Miles talked about ("why am I stuck with only three chicks! And two of them are even off limits!" He then turned his head and winked at Kate).

Even Sawyer did his bit with the occasional brag about the trouble he would give Oceanic.

Juliet felt uncomfortable around so much optimism. More than six years on the island, and the possibility of going home seemed nothing more than a naïve kid's dream. She did not want to go there anymore. Not having any hope was always better than the sharp-edged pain of disappointment. She had willed herself to not look beyond the present moment, and she was actually pulling it off quite well until everyone around her seemed to have become infected with the bliss-of-rescue virus.

She and Sun were in the kitchen cleaning up dishes while Jack prepared himself a mango snack. It was boiling hot as usual and at least the kitchen was located in a shady spot.

Sawyer walked up to them, put his arms around Juliet's waist and started kissing her neck. Juliet, never a fan of public affection, let him, but continued washing dishes.

James, though not the 'dreamy' type (at all), had allowed himself to have a few good off-island fantasies (since he seemed to have a clean slate, why the hell not?). "You know what I am looking forward to?" He continued kissing her neck. She did not answer him which he took as a sign to keep on talking. "A king-size bed." He gently bit her earlobe, ignoring Sun and Jack. "A king-size bed, some champagne. Hell, you can choose the music." She moved her shoulders abruptly to get him to stop now and gave him a look.

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about the future."

"Why the hell not? I see only good things ahead. My Oceanic fortune, your Miami beaches …." She held his eyes with hers. "Come on Blondie. Chill out."

Another look. "Thought you'd be sick of beaches" she mumbled.

He sighed and shook his head lightly to move his hair out of his eyes. Three years with this woman and he had learned (mostly the hard way) when to just shut up. Message received. There's only here and now. Fear of more disappointment.

OK I get ya. Too bad though. He was getting kind of excited about the idea of leaving this place, with her.

He moved his hands up to her shoulders and pressed his thumbs gently into her tense muscles, massaging them slowly. She relaxed a bit under his hands.

Jack threw away the remaining mango skin and looked up at them. "It will be fine Juliet. We just need to be …"

"Need to be what?!" she flinched. Jack instantly swallowed the rest of his sentence and stared at her somewhat flabbergasted. Ouch. Sawyer stopped moving his hands as he felt her tense up again. Juliet shifted her head at Jack. He'd hit a nerve. "You've said that to me before remember? That didn't turn out fine for me." Ouch again. Now it was Sun's turn to look up, slightly surprised by such a bitchy comment from ever-calm Juliet.

James jumped in (even though he could still be amused by someone giving Jack a hard time). "OK, she-devil. Enough of this. I get that you don't want to talk about the future. Doesn't mean you have to give pour Jacko here a heart attack. " Juliet glanced at him over her shoulder and gave him a dirty look before staring down at her unfinished dishes. All this future-present talk was getting on her nerves.

Sawyer looked at Sun and rolled his eyes. Jack smiled sheepishly.

"If I ain't allowed to talk about the future, lemme make some adjustments to the present moment." He stroked the back of her neck with his fingers. No response.

"That's it Blondie. I've got a 50 percent say in this relationship and now I'm making it count. You're comin' with me. You mind Sun?" Sun smiled at that. The scene had swiftly moved from hostile to amusing. Yep, this was the the new James allright. Taking the edge off of things instead of adding fuel to the fire.

"You and me are going for a romantic stroll down the beach." Juliet shook her head, but couldn't help a little smile. Encouraged by that he turned his dimples full on. "What?! I can't fantasize about my king-size bed but I sure as hell can fantasize about us having sex on the beach."

"James!" She turned bright read in an instant. He threw his dimples at her again, feeling a little proud that he could still make her blush that easily (and Oh Yes, the sweet satisfaction of getting to say such things in front of the Doc made him feel even better). He masked his face with an all-serious look, nodded at Jack and took Juliet's hand. She gave in, but not without adding "You're insufferable."

"So are you." He grinned.

James was reading. Juliet had her head on his lap, doing nothing more than letting sand slide through her fingers, over and over again.

"James?"

"Mmm?"

"What if Rachel and I have nothing to say to each other?"

"I thought we weren't going to talk about the future?"

"I know." She sighed. He looked down at her and put his book aside, page down.

"Listen, I ain't one for pep talks. The thing is, you just don't know. And whatever you're thinking now is no more than that: a thought in your head. Just stick to what you know: you love your sister, she loves you. Take it from there."

"That's the most Zen thing I ever heard you say"

He grinned. "Yep. I'm all about living in the moment these days." He picked up his book again to continue reading. A few minutes later: a loud long sigh coming from his lap. He took of his glasses and looked at her.

"Will you just stop that woman!"

"What, I..."

He raised his eyebrows as a warning

"Live in the moment huh?" she asked rhetorically.

"Name of the game darlin'. And if I can add a little personal note here, I think this moment is pretty damn good. And you're the luckiest girl alive."

She laughed. "Oh really, why's that?"

"Jeez, should I feel offended now? You have the hottest boyfriend on this beach for one."

"That's stating the obvious."

"And the best kisser."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't kissed everyone on this beach." Juliet was enjoying herself now.

"Crossin' the line sweetheart." He leant over to kiss her, then bit her bottom lip a bit.

"Ouch! Stop that."

"That's just a mild punishment. Consider yourself warned."

She smiled up at him. Then blew him a little kiss.

And so the days passed by and not much happened. No sign of rescue, no dangerous adventures. No sign of Richard or any other people or strange scary island mysteries. They were all settling into a routine that they agreed upon. Being good spirited and all, there was surprising little disagreement or irritation. Division of labour, discipline and structure, like a mini version of normal life. Jin was in charge of fishing, with Hurley as his regular companion. Jack and Kate picked up most minor camp repairs. Juliet and Sun continued bonding while collecting fruits. Sawyer, unluckily, ended up being in charge of latrine digging. But … oh well, that job would just be temporary anyway so he disciplined himself and refrained from nasty comments. They all had rotating shifts fetching water from the stream.

Miles was up and about again, using the stick Jin had found him to support himself. He and Hurley were spending a lot of time together. At first because Miles had felt like the fifth wheel with Juliet and Sawyer being all over each other (at least compared to their usual 'let's keep it civilized in public' routine). And Jin… well. He was a goner now that Sun was back. Later on though, he and Hurley were having honest to god fun conversations. The guy was surprisingly smart and, if Miles was honest, it was a relief to meet someone who wasn't freaked out by his' 'gift'. They shared the craziest 'encounters' they had ever had and at some point Miles even felt jealous because Hurley seemed to actually see the dead whereas Miles could only hear them. And Hurley having been in the nut house? Oh well… if they ever did get rescued (how long had they been waiting now? Ten days? Longer?), good chance he would end up there if he would ever tell the truth about where he'd been the last couple of years.

Even Kate seemed to relax in their strange 'happy family' setting. After returning from Hydra island she had wanted to search for Claire. Jack had joined her. Twice. But where to look? They had hiked to the radio tower and back the first time and all the way to the Black Rock the second. They searched for tracks, old fires, eaten fruits, trampled grass. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was not just no sign of Claire, but no sign of anyone. Not of Richard, not of Rose, Bernard, 'Others'. And even if there were people around, the rains pretty much washed away all signs of life. So they returned back to their camp both times empty handed. And after a few days, Jack convinced Kate to let it go for now. It wasn't wise to leave camp for long periods of time. Rescue could happen any day now. She agreed, but only to avoid unnecessary discussion. Finding Claire was her mission, not Jack's. And success or failure, she needed to keep the idea alive. Why else had she given up on Aaron?

One night, Juliet broke the silent agreement she and Sawyer had made about 'not talking about rescue'. They were lying in bed, and with reading being off limits since it was too dark (and kind of boring, considering they were re-reading, having already read every book in their camp), their options on what to do didn't stretch beyond sleeping, talking or having sex. Since Juliet was having her period and they weren't tired (just inside because of another heavy rain shower), the 'talking' option remained.

"Do you think we should find Richard?"

Sawyer stopped stroking her back. "What for?" he asked.

"How long have you been back now…" she was thinking out loud. "Three weeks? Four?"

"22 days." Sawyer kept record of their beach 'calendar'.

She continued. "How long does it take for anyone to get here? Locate the island, get a boat."

"Don't forget convincing Daniel's mummy. If he takes after her in the weirdness category, we might be in trouble." He continued stroking her back again.

"I think we should look for Richard."

"What can he do? I think that guy's over-rated in the power department. B'sides, no clue where he's at."

"But you think he's still on the island, right?"

"The guy's been here forever, as we both know. Don't see why he would want to leave."

"Thought so."

Sawyer shifted a bit so he could face her. "What's going on in that head of yours Blondie?"

"We can't live on this beach forever James. We don't have any supplies, no weapons, nothing. We need to do something."

"You sayin' we can talk about the future now?"

She squeezed his upper arm. "I'm saying we can't stay passive like this forever. The least we can do is find out for sure if we're the only ones here or not."

That's my girl. Taking matters into her own hands. "Allrighty then." He leaned in and kissed her.

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