Chapter Text
Rose is still following Jack's lead, even though she stopped trusting him a long time ago. Jack still talks like they're all on the same side in this. He also walks like they're all the same, able-bodied men who can climb this mountain as easily as they'd walk to a friend's shelter on the beach. It's not easy keeping up with him – the island may have healed her sickness but it didn't make her young again. Rose isn't the only one sweating and aching, and she isn't the only woman weighed down by worry for the ones they left behind.
* * *
"Bernard may be a good shot," Rose tells her, "but he's a dentist, not a killer. Our husbands haven't seen war like Sayid has. They'll have no idea what to do if things turn ugly."
Sun nods and keeps walking rather than try to answer. Her suspicion that Jin has killed before isn't exactly reassuring, nor is it something she wants to share. She's too tired and irritable herself to try to reassure Rose that everything will be all right. If Jack's plan doesn't work, Jin will die today, and Sun and the baby will die before it's even born.
* * *
Claire feels sorry for Sun, remembering how tired she was when she was carrying her baby inside her. Not that it's much easier now, carrying him in her arms, but at least she can ask for help.
Except that the man she'd like to ask for help isn't here. Fucking men, they always run away. Whether they're plain old deadbeats like her father and Thomas or silly boys trying to be heroes like Charlie – not to mention Bernard and Jin – they never stick around for the real work, the long haul.
* * *
Kate offers to carry the baby for a stretch. As always, as soon as he's in her arms he starts pulling her hair. She just laughs.
Never mind the situation she's been in for the last three months or the last three years, some part of her has always wanted a baby, and some part of her still melts whenever she looks at Aaron's tiny hands.
She's tired, scared, and angry at Jack and Sawyer both, and the cramps that started aren't helping. But she's never in her life been more relieved to have her period than she is today.
* * *
Danielle likes Kate the most of all the ones from the plane. She doesn't know her story, but she feels they're similar, that they were both survivors before they ever got to the island.
By the end of the day they have more than survival – they have joy. Alex is with her again and rescue is on its way. Sun and Rose hug each other when they hear their husbands are safe.
But no one answers Claire when she asks for Charlie. She stands alone, hugging her baby tight. "No matter what happens," Danielle tells her, "never let him go."