Can I just say, I love love love writing for Mr. Eko! It is so much fun! Enjoy!

Sayid has been digging Shannon's grave all morning. He refused to let me help and I understand why. I dug Boone's grave.

I'm sitting by a small fire, poking it with a stick when a shadow covers the sun from overhead. "May I sit?" It's Mr. Eko. I shrug my shoulders and keep poking the fire. "I do not know your name," he says to me.

"Tia," I tell him.

"It is nice to meet you Tia. I'm sorry we could not meet in better circumstances. I want to thank you for letting us into you camp."

"Yeah, well, welcome to the beach."

"Thank you." He pauses for a few seconds, then continues, "The girl, Shannon? She was not your sister?"

"No, um, her brother—well actually her step-brother. He and I…we were…"

"You were married?"

"No, we met after the crash. He and I…He died a week ago, today."

"I am truly sorry for your loss," Eko says.

"Thank you."

"I have a question, if you don't mind?"

"Please,"

"Ana Lucia, the woman who killed your Shannon. She is in great distress. I was wondering if you could forgive her."

"I still don't know why she did it."

"For forty-eight days, my friends and I were tormented on our side of the Island by a group of ruthless people. These people attacked us and kidnapped our friends. We heard whispers in the jungle; the sound they make before they attack. Ana Lucia fired the gun because she thought she was in danger. She did not know who was behind the trees."

"These people—,"

"I have heard you call them the Others."

"Yes, the Others. Do you know why they attacked you?"

"No, I do not."

"And you and your people. Ana Lucia. You all have no intention of hurting me or my friends?"

"Absolutely not. I am one on a righteous path."

"Then I forgive her."

Mr. Eko bows his head. "Could you please tell her that? I would like for her to stop suffering. She has been through much this last month."

I nod my head "yes" and Mr. Eko rises and leaves me at my fire.

"You're Ana Lucia?" I ask, approaching the Hispanic woman from yesterday. She has claimed a spot on the edge of the camp to make her shelter.

"Yeah, that's me," she says, standing up to face me. "You came to get the girl yesterday."

"Yes. That was me. I'm Tia." I hold out my hand and she shakes it.

"So you're Tia, the girl's sister?" she asks.

"I think Shannon would be really annoyed at everyone if she heard them referring to her as 'Tia's sister'. We were close, but she wasn't my sister. Her brother and I were sort of a thing."

"I didn't know she had a brother."

"You wouldn't. He died a week ago."

She looks very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. For him and the girl."

I nod my head. "I understand why you did it. You thought you were in danger. It was an honest mistake and I forgive you." She nods her head and it seems she can't get words out of her mouth any more. "I brought this for you," I say, dropping my spare pack. "It's a pair of jeans, a small tarp, and a blanket. I hope it helps."

"Thank you," she says, picking up the pack. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything."

Later I stand by Shannon's covered body. She's deep in the hole Sayid dug for her. Pretty much everyone has come to pay their respects. Ana Lucia seems to have passed and I don't see Kate. I assume she's at the hatch taking care of Sawyer.

Sayid starts to speak, barley able to get words out. "Shannon and I were strangers. We never would have met if... We wouldn't even have spoken if... But we did meet and we did speak. At least... I loved her," he finishes and walks away, carrying a necklace of Shannon's. I can't bring myself to move and follow him. I can't bring myself to say anything.

Jack walks up to the edge of the grave. "May she rest in peace," he says, bending down to grab a handful of sand and dropping it down on her body. Everyone follows suit, dropping their own handful. I wait until everyone has gone and I drop mine last.

"I guess I owe you an apology," a woman says to me.

I look up at a familiar face. "You," I say with surprise.

"Yeah, it's me. Libby."

"You were in the tail section?" I ask surprised.

"And you're wearing my shirt," she says pointing.

"Oh, I didn't realize—,"

"Don't worry about it," Libby says. I remember her well. She gave me two thousand dollars at the airport to buy the ticket on Flight 815. "How about we call it even? My money got you on an Island, now you definitely don't have to pay me back."

"I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to," I say.

"I'm sorry about your friend," Libby says. "It was a very nice funeral."

"Thank you."

"Well, I don't want to keep you," she says, and walks away.

I received news from the hatch that Sawyer is awake and recovering from his gunshot wound. I've met all of our new campers, Rose having introduced me to her husband Bernard earlier. Turns out he was alive after all.

I wish I could have as much faith as Rose. After today, losing Shannon to gain four strangers, I'm ready to just go to sleep for a long, long time.