Moonlight
Summary: Sawyer stumbles upon a magical event that changes his perspective on time travel forever.
Spoilers: for 5x4 "The Little Prince"
Pairing: Sawyer/Kate (takes place in Sawyer's head)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 461
Disclaimer: I own nothing...pretty much sums it up.
How was this happening?
This question was the only thought that ran through Sawyer's mind, as he stood camouflaged by the bushes and watched a miracle unfold. He didn’t believe in miracles; yet, there was Kate, and Claire, and Claire was about to give birth to Aaron…which simply could not be possible, because this had already occurred, and Kate Austin was dead.
He didn’t believe in ghosts---and yet, there she was---flesh and blood, screaming for Claire to push.
Then again, Sawyer didn’t believe in time travel either (and apparently, he’d been wrong about that one, too).
Now, he had to believe that time travel could exist…because Time had opened a doorway, and if he so wished, he could step right on through, run right over to Kate and---and---
---and what?
For perhaps the first time in his life, he could not plan ahead; his mind was everywhere, and nowhere. His heart was beating a hundred times a second.
He stood and watched as Claire hooked her feet into the ground and screamed, and Kate screamed along with her, urging her on with a strength that he didn’t even realize she had.
God, she was so beautiful…. he moonlight glistened on her sweat-glazed forehead, and her eyes twinkled with excitement for what was about to take place: the birth of a baby from one of their own…filling him with such excitement that he almost ran out and joined them.
Except…he could not; the reason being something he would never fully understand. He recalled Dr. Faraday mentioning how there were “rules”, how you couldn’t change certain things once they had occurred; he couldn’t help but think how this concept was eerily similar to his own motto for whenever something didn’t happen as he wished it could have: “What’s done is done”. Later, when Juliet would ask why he didn’t go and get her, he would use that as his only response; however, he could tell that she knew there was much more left unsaid.
Partly he didn’t answer because the words wouldn’t come, even to himself; the feelings so strong, there were no words. (And it was all her damn fault.) Even now, his mind had lost all reason. Her face was like that of an angel; all her freckles seemed to have plum just up and dissappeared. She had that motherly look of unconditional love already prepared for Aarron’s arrival, and her eyes nearly brimmed with tears of joy and compassion, and for a minute or so, he wondered if he was in love.
And then, just as he heard the tinny wail of a baby starting to cry, there was the mind-numbing hum and the light that accompanied the strange sound that filled his ears with dread…
…and the moment was gone,
…and he was alone,
…left to wonder forever what he might have done (or said), had he in fact taken that chance and acted...and perhaps, even longer to wonder what it could possibly mean.