Title: Sand In My Shoes
Author: tornado88o
Rating: PG...some references to character deaths and mild language
Summary: A little story, interwoven in Dido's "Sand In My Shoes", telling about Kate and Jack after the rescue...(Jack/Kate pairing)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, save my own mind...and sometimes, I'm not even sure about that.

Two weeks away feels like the whole world should have changed
But I'm home now, and things still look the same
I think I'll leave it ‘til tomorrow to unpack, try to forget for one more night
That I'm back in my flat
On the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can't watch the sun set,
I don't have time, I don't have time

I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to
I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused
But I want to see you again

The door shut with a small click, and Jack jumped. The sound’s familiarity, taken for granted by everyone else in Jack’s old life, was one he hadn’t heard for what seemed like forever. It was one he’d thought he might never hear again.

Jack dropped his keys on his kitchen counter and glanced at his answering machine. A red number 99 blinked back at him - the maximum number of messages the machine would hold. With a small sigh, he pressed the Play button and let it run. The first few were nothing special - messages from co-workers and the dentist, reminding Jack of appointments he never was able to attend. Then, the worried calls inquiring as to if Jack was home safely began. He listened to a few, and then Jack paused the machine and let out a hollow laugh. This was a waste of his time; he wasn’t even concentrating on any of the messages’ contents. They sounded foreign to him. They didn’t matter to Jack anymore.

He closed his eyes. A beach materialized in his mind; the beach that had turned from a prison to a paradise. He saw Charlie, who had struggled with his drug addition and his crush on Claire throughout the duration of their stay on the island. He had won both, and Charlie had taken Claire and her new son, Jack, back home with him to England. He next thought of Sayid, whose plethora of technological ideas and unstoppable determination got the survivors off of the island quickly. He then remembered Locke and Jin, two men who had lost their lives defending the island’s remaining inhabitants, and of Sun, Michael and Walt, who were starting their new life in the real world as a family. The images played in his mind, like a colorful, silent movie.

Then, the one inevitable image he had been trying to hide from his mind popped in without warning, and he could already feel tears forming behind his eyes.

Tomorrow's back to work and down to sanitation
Run a bath and then clear up the mess I made before I left here
Try to remind myself that I was happy here before I knew that I could get
On a plane and fly away
From the road where the cars never stop going through the night
To a life where I can watch the sun set,
And take my time, take all our time

I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to
I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused
But I want to see you again

"Damn it!"

Slender, strong, sexy Kate grasped the dresser to keep her balance as tears streamed down her face. It wasn’t like her to be so emotional. Maybe it was now, but she didn’t think it was before...she couldn’t really remember her old life. Was it even worth remembrance?

She was starting to think that it wasn’t.
She was a criminal, right? But the only people who chased her now were reporters and paparazzi. To the disgust of all of the survivors (except maybe Charlie, who could use the publicity for his next album), every newspaper, radio station and late-night talk show wanted an exclusive interview with as many of the survivors as possible. Talks of a made-for-TV movie had begun. Kate just wanted to sleep.

Or see Jack again.

She was acting like a teenager heartbroken from the first break-up. But "heartbroken" didn’t even begin to describe how Kate felt. She felt so confused - that horrifying plane crash was the best thing that ever happened to her.

Take it back - Jack was the best thing that ever happened to her.

She smiled as she remembered their first meeting, where the tables were turned - she had been the doctor. She felt an aftershock of panic ripple through her body remembering when Jack and Charlie had been trapped in the caves. A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the first kiss she had shared with Jack - first slow and soft, then becoming more and more loving and passionate. Jack had helped Kate, as well as the others, through the difficult period of time after the accident that had happened just before their rescue. She remembered the comforting words he had whispered as he held her; Jack knew that Kate still had feelings for Sawyer at the time of his death. Kate had quickly discovered that she had lusted for Sawyer, but lusted for and loved Jack.

And now, he was gone.

Two weeks away, all it takes, to change and turn me around, I've fallen

He had no idea where she was. They hadn’t had time to exchange phone numbers, or hometowns, or email addresses. The rescue had been chaotic, and somehow Jack and Kate had ended up at separate hospitals. The next thing Jack knew, he was back in his apartment. He had been hiding from the press and had refused any means of protection save a lock on his door and windows covered by dark curtains.

If he couldn’t find her, he sure as hell hoped that she’d come to him.

I walked away, and never said, that I wanted to see you again

She had an idea as to where he was. It hadn’t been hard at all to talk a few people with the airline into divulging his personal information - celebrities really do get perks, she thought with a chuckle. Now, she stared at the white index card with Jack’s home address and phone number until her eyes began to blur. She had to make a decision, and she knew which one she’d have to do to enjoy the rest of her life.

Shaking, she picked up the phone and began to dial.

It rang once, and then she heard his voice.

I've still got sand in my shoes and I can't shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you, but why would I want to
I know we said goodbye, anything else would have been confused
But I want to see you again



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