With Eyes Open She Was Dreaming - Lost - Claire/Juliet; Claire/Charlie
Title: With Eyes Open She Was Dreaming
Pairing: Claire/Juliet; Claire/Charlie
Word Count: 1111
Rating: PG-13
A/N: This was written for the wonderful lenina20's birthday, because she is the one that I have to blame for giving me this lovely pairing as an OTP. :) This goes AU post-S4.
Summary: When Claire returns from the world between life and death, she struggles to ground herself in reality again.
Her head rests in a pillow of leaves and the sky above her is purple. Juliet's mouth at the crease of her thigh is as gentle as an angel's wing but as teasing as the devil's smile.
Claire watches the clouds.
She thinks she's never been happier.
*
When Claire was alive and not dead and not in-between, her life was a list of worries hung heavily on her young shoulders. Grief tore at her heart in a way that no one ought to be forced to withstand and she'd began to believe that the world was designed to keep knocking her down.
Here - now - it is gentler.
There are soft hands to soothe her and murmured words to promise that everything will be okay.
Charlie plays the music and Juliet's hand strokes her hair as they listen.
This song is one that doesn't have to end.
*
"This isn't right, you know," Charlie says. His hands massage her feet, keeping her tired and blissful. "You're not supposed to be here."
She opens her eyes and the world flashes purple then bright, turquoise blue. Charlie isn't smiling as he sits at her feet like a servant before a queen.
She wriggles her toes. He doesn't look down.
"You have to go back," he says. "You have to save them."
His head lowers and her foot rises and he kisses her big toe.
"I don't want to leave," Claire says.
She thinks she'd cry, if she could.
*
Birth hurts.
Agony. Pain. Human words won't describe how it felt when nature yanked Aaron from the protection of the womb. Her whole body had betrayed her, an enemy.
Claire thinks, later, that rebirth is very much the same thing.
They find her in the jungle, cowering by the stream and trying to wash the blood from her skin. The water is cold. Her body hurts.
"Holy shit," Miles says, spinning around so as not to stare at her nude body.
She stays crouched on the ground. Daniel's face is flamed red with embarrassment while Sawyer's is blank with shock. She doesn't mind their staring.
Juliet creeps forward and crouches at the opposite bank of the stream. "Claire?"
"I saw Charlie," she says.
Nothing else will come.
*
They whisper around her and behind her back, thinking that she doesn't notice. Miles gives her his hoodie and, blushing, Daniel donates his trousers. He has to spend his time from that point on wandering around in his underwear. It makes Charlotte giggle.
The clothes don't fit well, but Claire is grateful for them nonetheless. She sits on a fallen tree while the others recover from the pain of the latest time-shifting flash. It doesn't hurt her - she doesn't know why.
She doesn't want to know why.
Eventually Juliet approaches her. "You should drink something," she says, brandishing a water bottle.
"You were there," Claire says without looking at her. "When I was with Charlie, you were there too. With me. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"
Juliet's lips press together into a tight, unreadable line. Her forehead creases. "Maybe this kind of thing isn't supposed to make sense."
This kind of thing.
If Claire's sense of humour hadn't shattered several traumas ago, she might have laughed. Instead she stares ahead, blankly, and wishes she knew what to do to make the world right again.
*
She knows it's him before she opens her eyes.
"Charlie?"
Sitting near her feet, he smiles at her. He looks different than she remembers. His hair is shorter. His clothes are new. He looks like the kind of boy she used to hang around with at school, but she knows he's no Thomas. He's much better than that.
"Charlie, is that you?"
"Sort of," he answers. "Just checking in on you. Don't worry about it."
She's sitting up now - she wants to hold him. "I wasn't worried."
"How are you?" he asks. "Any headaches? Nosebleeds?"
"I'm fine." She pauses. "Juliet's not."
He glances towards Juliet's sleeping body, his face set in a frown. "I'm working on it," he says without looking back at her. "We're going to fix this."
She doesn't need reassurance. She trusts him.
"How's Aaron?" she asks. She misses her baby. It feels like her heart isn't beating.
"He's fine. Kate's got him."
And Claire trusts Kate - she really does - but when she wakes up there are tears on her face and even the cool calm of Juliet's comfort can't make this better again.
*
Charlotte dies. Claire doesn't cry over the body. "She's in a better place, Daniel," she says with a comforting hand on his shoulder. She knows this.
She's been there.
And maybe, just maybe, there's a quiet part of her that thinks, Lucky bitch.
*
Juliet's hair flows in the wind, as flexible as the woman herself is stubborn. She sits beside Claire on the shore and looks out at the skyline. It looks a lifetime away.
Claire does not break the silence. She has nothing left to say.
But eventually, when she is ready, Juliet looks at her and says, "I see him too, Claire."
"Who?"
She already knows, but Juliet is supposed to say it.
"Charlie."
She kisses her then, Juliet's lips wind-chapped beneath her own. She tastes like jungle fruit.
This feels like the right thing to do. This feels right.
*
She is dreaming.
That's okay.
She lies on her back and stares at the sky above them. It is light purple, a lilac colour. Pretty.
"Juliet sees you too," Claire states.
Charlie lies beside her, unstirring. Grinning. "Jealous?"
Claire snorts. Jealousy is unrequired. She loves Charlie. She could love Juliet. It feels right for the past and the future to confer, to mingle.
"Is she alright?" She frowns. Above them, the stars twinkle in the muted sky. "Is she going to be like me?"
"Nah, Jacob doesn't need her. I was checking her. Had to make sure she was going to take care of you, didn't I?"
He nudges her ribs and she laughs - because she can, and because she thinks that this is drawing to an end.
*
"I'm not going to see you any more, am I?"
The sand tickles beneath her feet and the waves keep lapping over her toes. Her arms hug her stomach. It isn't comforting.
"They're coming back tomorrow. You don't need me any more, Claire."
That isn't true.
That could never be true.
"I miss you," she says.
But when she wakes up, Juliet is already at her side, warm and brave and comforting - and Claire knows that her future awaits.
Pairing: Claire/Juliet; Claire/Charlie
Word Count: 1111
Rating: PG-13
A/N: This was written for the wonderful lenina20's birthday, because she is the one that I have to blame for giving me this lovely pairing as an OTP. :) This goes AU post-S4.
Summary: When Claire returns from the world between life and death, she struggles to ground herself in reality again.
Her head rests in a pillow of leaves and the sky above her is purple. Juliet's mouth at the crease of her thigh is as gentle as an angel's wing but as teasing as the devil's smile.
Claire watches the clouds.
She thinks she's never been happier.
*
When Claire was alive and not dead and not in-between, her life was a list of worries hung heavily on her young shoulders. Grief tore at her heart in a way that no one ought to be forced to withstand and she'd began to believe that the world was designed to keep knocking her down.
Here - now - it is gentler.
There are soft hands to soothe her and murmured words to promise that everything will be okay.
Charlie plays the music and Juliet's hand strokes her hair as they listen.
This song is one that doesn't have to end.
*
"This isn't right, you know," Charlie says. His hands massage her feet, keeping her tired and blissful. "You're not supposed to be here."
She opens her eyes and the world flashes purple then bright, turquoise blue. Charlie isn't smiling as he sits at her feet like a servant before a queen.
She wriggles her toes. He doesn't look down.
"You have to go back," he says. "You have to save them."
His head lowers and her foot rises and he kisses her big toe.
"I don't want to leave," Claire says.
She thinks she'd cry, if she could.
*
Birth hurts.
Agony. Pain. Human words won't describe how it felt when nature yanked Aaron from the protection of the womb. Her whole body had betrayed her, an enemy.
Claire thinks, later, that rebirth is very much the same thing.
They find her in the jungle, cowering by the stream and trying to wash the blood from her skin. The water is cold. Her body hurts.
"Holy shit," Miles says, spinning around so as not to stare at her nude body.
She stays crouched on the ground. Daniel's face is flamed red with embarrassment while Sawyer's is blank with shock. She doesn't mind their staring.
Juliet creeps forward and crouches at the opposite bank of the stream. "Claire?"
"I saw Charlie," she says.
Nothing else will come.
*
They whisper around her and behind her back, thinking that she doesn't notice. Miles gives her his hoodie and, blushing, Daniel donates his trousers. He has to spend his time from that point on wandering around in his underwear. It makes Charlotte giggle.
The clothes don't fit well, but Claire is grateful for them nonetheless. She sits on a fallen tree while the others recover from the pain of the latest time-shifting flash. It doesn't hurt her - she doesn't know why.
She doesn't want to know why.
Eventually Juliet approaches her. "You should drink something," she says, brandishing a water bottle.
"You were there," Claire says without looking at her. "When I was with Charlie, you were there too. With me. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"
Juliet's lips press together into a tight, unreadable line. Her forehead creases. "Maybe this kind of thing isn't supposed to make sense."
This kind of thing.
If Claire's sense of humour hadn't shattered several traumas ago, she might have laughed. Instead she stares ahead, blankly, and wishes she knew what to do to make the world right again.
*
She knows it's him before she opens her eyes.
"Charlie?"
Sitting near her feet, he smiles at her. He looks different than she remembers. His hair is shorter. His clothes are new. He looks like the kind of boy she used to hang around with at school, but she knows he's no Thomas. He's much better than that.
"Charlie, is that you?"
"Sort of," he answers. "Just checking in on you. Don't worry about it."
She's sitting up now - she wants to hold him. "I wasn't worried."
"How are you?" he asks. "Any headaches? Nosebleeds?"
"I'm fine." She pauses. "Juliet's not."
He glances towards Juliet's sleeping body, his face set in a frown. "I'm working on it," he says without looking back at her. "We're going to fix this."
She doesn't need reassurance. She trusts him.
"How's Aaron?" she asks. She misses her baby. It feels like her heart isn't beating.
"He's fine. Kate's got him."
And Claire trusts Kate - she really does - but when she wakes up there are tears on her face and even the cool calm of Juliet's comfort can't make this better again.
*
Charlotte dies. Claire doesn't cry over the body. "She's in a better place, Daniel," she says with a comforting hand on his shoulder. She knows this.
She's been there.
And maybe, just maybe, there's a quiet part of her that thinks, Lucky bitch.
*
Juliet's hair flows in the wind, as flexible as the woman herself is stubborn. She sits beside Claire on the shore and looks out at the skyline. It looks a lifetime away.
Claire does not break the silence. She has nothing left to say.
But eventually, when she is ready, Juliet looks at her and says, "I see him too, Claire."
"Who?"
She already knows, but Juliet is supposed to say it.
"Charlie."
She kisses her then, Juliet's lips wind-chapped beneath her own. She tastes like jungle fruit.
This feels like the right thing to do. This feels right.
*
She is dreaming.
That's okay.
She lies on her back and stares at the sky above them. It is light purple, a lilac colour. Pretty.
"Juliet sees you too," Claire states.
Charlie lies beside her, unstirring. Grinning. "Jealous?"
Claire snorts. Jealousy is unrequired. She loves Charlie. She could love Juliet. It feels right for the past and the future to confer, to mingle.
"Is she alright?" She frowns. Above them, the stars twinkle in the muted sky. "Is she going to be like me?"
"Nah, Jacob doesn't need her. I was checking her. Had to make sure she was going to take care of you, didn't I?"
He nudges her ribs and she laughs - because she can, and because she thinks that this is drawing to an end.
*
"I'm not going to see you any more, am I?"
The sand tickles beneath her feet and the waves keep lapping over her toes. Her arms hug her stomach. It isn't comforting.
"They're coming back tomorrow. You don't need me any more, Claire."
That isn't true.
That could never be true.
"I miss you," she says.
But when she wakes up, Juliet is already at her side, warm and brave and comforting - and Claire knows that her future awaits.