run through the grass, over the stones, down to the sea
Title: run through the grass, over the stones, down to the sea
Fandom: LOST
Characters: Aaron, Ji Yeon, Walt
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,194
Summary: No one ever asks if you want to go down the rabbit hole.
You are special.
They hear it time and time and time again. "It doesn't really mean anything," Aaron mumbles. Ji Yeon has stronger words to express the same. Walt breathes a weary sigh.
The guru leaves a stack of books; Aaron leaps from his chair to investigate. A scrap of paper falls from yellowed pages. "Okay, you guys, I'm freaked out now," Aaron says. Ji Yeon snatches it away, swears, and hands it to Walt.
Walt frowns at three names written in blotchy ink. Blocked memories click into place. Littleton, Kwon, Lloyd. He wishes he didn't get it.
"The three of us, man? We bleed green."
-
Ji Yeon rolls over for the fifth time. Names and dates and equations swirl through her head, denying her sleep. "Why are they keeping us here?"
Walt mumbles, "I don't know."
It's the lullaby they crank out every night, and Aaron dutifully sings the last line. "I hate secrets."
-
Walt envies the ignorant.
"I remember this place," Aaron confesses. He draws confused and angry images on snitched scraps of paper.
Charlie, all wide eyes and curly hair like a puppy, mutters, "Teacher's pets."
Walt and Aaron roll their eyes. What he means is I wish I were special.
-
Ji Yeon trades insults with Aaron, but it's not the same, he's not the same. She blames it on the island.
(he hasn't kissed her once)
She watches as he draws a stormy ocean scene. "Hey," she greets.
He squints and doesn't respond. Ji Yeon slips an arm around his waist. His body tenses.
-
Aaron escapes in the middle of the night, runs until he meets the line where the world melts into blue. He buries his feet in cool sand. "I hate you," he tells the island. It doesn't answer back.
A fish leaps from the water to laugh in his face. I'm free, you're not.
Aaron grabs a rock to hurl at it; the jagged edge cuts into his hand. He washes it off, palm burning as he drowns it in salt.
For some reason, he's surprised to find Walt is wrong.
He bleeds red.
-
"Not cool, man," Walt mutters when the natives drag Aaron back. "Next time, take us with you."
-
Aaron dreams of knives and rabbits and gasps for air.
Walt dreams of bullets and broken glass and doesn't even flinch.
Ji Yeon dreams of nothing and wakes up screaming.
-
Walt doodles hieroglyphs on the map. "You know," he says, "I don't really care where the island will be twenty years from now."
When they bring him back two days later, he's grey as a ghost. "If you ever feel like talking back," he warns Aaron and Ji Yeon, "don't."
-
Aaron slides fumbling fingers along soft green, tugs at a loose thread.
Ji Yeon slaps his hand. "You bought me this sweater."
He doesn't even remember, but decides he was incredibly stupid. He should have got her blue instead.
-
The courtyard is cold. "So, how are things?" Ji Yeon sighs.
"I hate everything," Walt informs them. A bird flying overhead drops into the grass.
Aaron swears until his face turns red.
(anything but green)
-
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"Seriously? You boys are just sad."
-
Aaron draws her portrait, Ji Yeon writes his name over and over as if it will make a difference.
It doesn't.
-
"Can I confide in you?" Aaron asks him.
It's almost insulting. "I can keep a secret."
He dangles his fingers in the pool. "I don't love her. Or maybe I do. It's just, this place... I think I'm going crazy."
Walt nods. Too much swirling green hypnotizes.
-
Aaron escapes again. This time he brings them along.
Later, he'll remember this was his first mistake.
-
Another curly-haired guru, another list.
This one has six names.
The first three glare at each other across the fire. The others might be special, but they're not green.
-
The not-dead bird squawks at a mangy dog.
Walt nearly faints.
-
"You don't honestly believe this garbage about saving the world," Ji Yeon scoffs.
Aaron's eyebrows furrow miserably, the most confused she's ever seen him. "Maybe it's why we're here."
She kisses him and he doesn't protest.
"I love you," he whispers in Korean, and she blinks in surprise.
-
The jungle converts to black and white to the sound of out-of-tune Chopin.
He wakes in a cold sweat to find her arm around his ribs. "You're too tense," Ji Yeon mumbles, pressing a kiss on his shoulder.
Aaron swallows. "I can't help it. I think someone's after me."
He can't see her in the dark, but he imagines she rolls her eyes. "I'll take care of you, big baby."
-
"You have to go back to the temple," the guru says.
Five no's bounce against the walls, and the dog barks in agreement.
They all look at him expectantly. He bites his lip, and her nails dig into his arm.
"Yes," Aaron decides.
(this is his second mistake)
-
No one celebrates their return.
-
Inside a locked room, Walt fidgets. "Do you think he's alright?"
"They wouldn't kill him," Ji Yeon insists too loud.
"No!" Walt taps a finger against his head. "I mean up here."
She fiddles with the loose thread of her sweater and gives an excuse, "This place is crazy."
"He was born here, you know."
No, he wasn't. "Be quiet, Walt."
-
Familiar blue eyes glare at Aaron as the rocky wall of the pit digs into his back. "Who are you?" he demands.
His twin never blinks. "Who are you?"
This is the part where he should wake up screaming.
He doesn't.
-
And then suddenly-
they pull him out and lead him to water. It darkens in his hands but he doesn't care. The old guru watches from the other side of the room. Fire glows in his hand.
Aaron tastes ash.
-
His friends escape the temple.
Aaron shivers in his clean clothes and doesn't follow.
(this mistake is the last)
-
They don't come back and they don't come back and they don't come back.
Numbers swim before his eyes. He turns a page.
-
Aaron decides he doesn't care about forbidden this or that.
But then, he doesn't really care about anything anymore.
-
The natives bar the door behind him and he demands an answer.
"Jacob."
(as if that solves anything)
-
He runs. No one follows.
-
The sky falls and the piano smashes and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Ji Yeon together again.
-
Walt is wrong again, and a green sweater is soaked with red. Aaron presses his hands against her stomach and it's too late, he was never good at fixing things anyway.
He wants to cry, he needs to cry, but he can't cry so he bites his lip until blood runs down his own face.
That's just sad, she laughs bitterly.
-
He goes back. Smoke and fur follow.
-
It's a lifetime before he finds Walt on the jungle floor.
Red stains brown. "I give up."
Aaron forces him to survive.
-
Aaron lives and Walt lives and Ji Yeon lives.
For a while.
The dreams get them in the end.
-
The island finally answers.
I hate you too.
Fandom: LOST
Characters: Aaron, Ji Yeon, Walt
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,194
Summary: No one ever asks if you want to go down the rabbit hole.
You are special.
They hear it time and time and time again. "It doesn't really mean anything," Aaron mumbles. Ji Yeon has stronger words to express the same. Walt breathes a weary sigh.
The guru leaves a stack of books; Aaron leaps from his chair to investigate. A scrap of paper falls from yellowed pages. "Okay, you guys, I'm freaked out now," Aaron says. Ji Yeon snatches it away, swears, and hands it to Walt.
Walt frowns at three names written in blotchy ink. Blocked memories click into place. Littleton, Kwon, Lloyd. He wishes he didn't get it.
"The three of us, man? We bleed green."
-
Ji Yeon rolls over for the fifth time. Names and dates and equations swirl through her head, denying her sleep. "Why are they keeping us here?"
Walt mumbles, "I don't know."
It's the lullaby they crank out every night, and Aaron dutifully sings the last line. "I hate secrets."
-
Walt envies the ignorant.
"I remember this place," Aaron confesses. He draws confused and angry images on snitched scraps of paper.
Charlie, all wide eyes and curly hair like a puppy, mutters, "Teacher's pets."
Walt and Aaron roll their eyes. What he means is I wish I were special.
-
Ji Yeon trades insults with Aaron, but it's not the same, he's not the same. She blames it on the island.
(he hasn't kissed her once)
She watches as he draws a stormy ocean scene. "Hey," she greets.
He squints and doesn't respond. Ji Yeon slips an arm around his waist. His body tenses.
-
Aaron escapes in the middle of the night, runs until he meets the line where the world melts into blue. He buries his feet in cool sand. "I hate you," he tells the island. It doesn't answer back.
A fish leaps from the water to laugh in his face. I'm free, you're not.
Aaron grabs a rock to hurl at it; the jagged edge cuts into his hand. He washes it off, palm burning as he drowns it in salt.
For some reason, he's surprised to find Walt is wrong.
He bleeds red.
-
"Not cool, man," Walt mutters when the natives drag Aaron back. "Next time, take us with you."
-
Aaron dreams of knives and rabbits and gasps for air.
Walt dreams of bullets and broken glass and doesn't even flinch.
Ji Yeon dreams of nothing and wakes up screaming.
-
Walt doodles hieroglyphs on the map. "You know," he says, "I don't really care where the island will be twenty years from now."
When they bring him back two days later, he's grey as a ghost. "If you ever feel like talking back," he warns Aaron and Ji Yeon, "don't."
-
Aaron slides fumbling fingers along soft green, tugs at a loose thread.
Ji Yeon slaps his hand. "You bought me this sweater."
He doesn't even remember, but decides he was incredibly stupid. He should have got her blue instead.
-
The courtyard is cold. "So, how are things?" Ji Yeon sighs.
"I hate everything," Walt informs them. A bird flying overhead drops into the grass.
Aaron swears until his face turns red.
(anything but green)
-
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
"Seriously? You boys are just sad."
-
Aaron draws her portrait, Ji Yeon writes his name over and over as if it will make a difference.
It doesn't.
-
"Can I confide in you?" Aaron asks him.
It's almost insulting. "I can keep a secret."
He dangles his fingers in the pool. "I don't love her. Or maybe I do. It's just, this place... I think I'm going crazy."
Walt nods. Too much swirling green hypnotizes.
-
Aaron escapes again. This time he brings them along.
Later, he'll remember this was his first mistake.
-
Another curly-haired guru, another list.
This one has six names.
The first three glare at each other across the fire. The others might be special, but they're not green.
-
The not-dead bird squawks at a mangy dog.
Walt nearly faints.
-
"You don't honestly believe this garbage about saving the world," Ji Yeon scoffs.
Aaron's eyebrows furrow miserably, the most confused she's ever seen him. "Maybe it's why we're here."
She kisses him and he doesn't protest.
"I love you," he whispers in Korean, and she blinks in surprise.
-
The jungle converts to black and white to the sound of out-of-tune Chopin.
He wakes in a cold sweat to find her arm around his ribs. "You're too tense," Ji Yeon mumbles, pressing a kiss on his shoulder.
Aaron swallows. "I can't help it. I think someone's after me."
He can't see her in the dark, but he imagines she rolls her eyes. "I'll take care of you, big baby."
-
"You have to go back to the temple," the guru says.
Five no's bounce against the walls, and the dog barks in agreement.
They all look at him expectantly. He bites his lip, and her nails dig into his arm.
"Yes," Aaron decides.
(this is his second mistake)
-
No one celebrates their return.
-
Inside a locked room, Walt fidgets. "Do you think he's alright?"
"They wouldn't kill him," Ji Yeon insists too loud.
"No!" Walt taps a finger against his head. "I mean up here."
She fiddles with the loose thread of her sweater and gives an excuse, "This place is crazy."
"He was born here, you know."
No, he wasn't. "Be quiet, Walt."
-
Familiar blue eyes glare at Aaron as the rocky wall of the pit digs into his back. "Who are you?" he demands.
His twin never blinks. "Who are you?"
This is the part where he should wake up screaming.
He doesn't.
-
And then suddenly-
they pull him out and lead him to water. It darkens in his hands but he doesn't care. The old guru watches from the other side of the room. Fire glows in his hand.
Aaron tastes ash.
-
His friends escape the temple.
Aaron shivers in his clean clothes and doesn't follow.
(this mistake is the last)
-
They don't come back and they don't come back and they don't come back.
Numbers swim before his eyes. He turns a page.
-
Aaron decides he doesn't care about forbidden this or that.
But then, he doesn't really care about anything anymore.
-
The natives bar the door behind him and he demands an answer.
"Jacob."
(as if that solves anything)
-
He runs. No one follows.
-
The sky falls and the piano smashes and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Ji Yeon together again.
-
Walt is wrong again, and a green sweater is soaked with red. Aaron presses his hands against her stomach and it's too late, he was never good at fixing things anyway.
He wants to cry, he needs to cry, but he can't cry so he bites his lip until blood runs down his own face.
That's just sad, she laughs bitterly.
-
He goes back. Smoke and fur follow.
-
It's a lifetime before he finds Walt on the jungle floor.
Red stains brown. "I give up."
Aaron forces him to survive.
-
Aaron lives and Walt lives and Ji Yeon lives.
For a while.
The dreams get them in the end.
-
The island finally answers.
I hate you too.