They can't hurt you if you're already broken [ 1/? ]
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Kate had long since abandoned the menial task of collecting fruit, chalking it up to it just being too damn hot and humid to exert herself over such an unimportant chore. Nevertheless, it did give her an excuse to escape, to meander into the deeper, less explored portions of the vast and bizarre island. To run away.
Not to mention it also brought about the opportunity to avoid awkward personal conflicts and uncomfortable situations transpiring amongst her fellow castaways; Sawyer was pissed off [to say the least] after their most recent turn of events at the compound, things with Jack just hadn’t been the same since their return from imprisonment. Things were changing, she felt him drifting from her, particularly since he had been constantly doting on her…
Her.
Kate paused.
She just couldn’t figure her out. Juliet. Subdued, sweet exterior, hay-colored hair and radiant eyes, an extreme polarity to the stern demeanor and air about her. From all outward appearances and first impressions she came across as a cold-hearted Other. But it was that voice, that voice that was most unsettling. She could be telling you the sky was falling and you wouldn’t give a shit because of that voice.
Everything about her was cryptic, unreadable.
Almost everything.
There were instances, glimpses of genuine nature. The susceptible, dare she say, damaged soul locked away behind those unrelenting icy eyes. Kate couldn’t help feel the austerity was merely a convenient façade, hiding the fact she wasn’t really that strong. Wasn’t really that detached. That she was just as scared and fragile as everyone else.
Kate wanted to hate her, wanted to feel nothing but contempt towards the mystifying woman, nothing but jealousy and bitterness that she was slowly pilfering Jack from her grasp. The pressure to feel this way was unimaginable, people expected this of her, expected the spitfire brunette to feel nothing but malevolence towards the Other who assisted in her captivity.
She just couldn’t do it. Couldn’t hate her.
What was it about the woman she felt a strange attraction to? No… Attraction was a forbidden term in Kate’s eyes, Juliet was off limits. Dangerous. A liar. Cold.
But still…
There was something unsettling in her eyes, something weak and vulnerable which made Kate want to abandon this hateful pretense. She recognized something in those eyes, something she had seen several times in herself.
Fear.
Inner turmoil aside, she continued her slow trek through the vast labyrinth of vegetation, the sun mercilessly beating down on her causing her shirt to cling to her like a second skin. She absent-mindedly chewed on her nail, eyes fixed on some non-existent object, finding her thoughts continuously returning to Juliet. She was proving to be quite a pesky distraction when a distant sound found it’s way to her ears and gave her mind the diversion she secretly wished for. Soft and subtle but unmistakable, bringing a foolish grin to her lips. Distractions long since forgotten, Kate picked up her pace eager to find the source of the pleasing sound.
Where is it?
She stopped after running a considerable distance, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart dropped a little. “Uh…” she looked around her at purely new and unknown territories surrounding her. Panic crept in with its icy fingers. Where the hell am I? In her preoccupied state she had failed to keep track of where she was exactly in relation to the beach and how long she had been traversing, this was completely unfamiliar territory. Deep breath… she forced herself to calm down, steely resolve setting in when she realized she could just follow her own tracks back to more familiar terrain.
Unless it rained.
She looked up at the vast canopy of trees rising above her, light filtered through and dappled her skin with sundrenched kisses. It was oddly comforting. Despite her complete cluelessness as to her whereabouts, standing there in the light’s rays feeling the breeze gently sift through her hair and the sound of the wilderness around her sent a wave of calm washing over her. She was free. She didn’t have to run, didn’t have to fabricate names or identities. She was Kate. Like Locke said so many times, everyone was given a second chance at life, and this was it. Head tilted up, chin to the sky, she closed her eyes slowly and let the tranquility settle in her, realization that she didn’t have to run anymore, didn’t have to hide.
That was when she heard it again and undoubtedly knew from which direction the soothing sound came from. Her eyes snapped open and she broke into a sprint, eager to reach her destination and it was to her surprise when she suddenly reached the edge of the jungle, breaking through the thick brush out into an immense clearing.
Her eyes gleamed with what she found.
A wondrous sigh escaped her lips as she took in the sight before her; water. Lots of water. A towering waterfall so high she had to crane her neck and squint against the glaring afternoon sky just to see the top where water thundered down, crashing onto dark volcanic rocks. Everything was alive. The falls coursed down, dousing moss-covered rocks, ferns, and tropical flowers that sprouted from almost every crack and crevice. Droplets of water clung to their leaves, catching light and reflecting it back like diamonds, gnarled tree limbs wove themselves into one another, twirling and intertwining giving the semblance of a vast intricate lush web.
It really was paradise.
Standing at the tree-line, Kate took in everything around her in wonder till her line of sight was drawn to the lagoon.
And an unexpected guest.
Her eyes widened briefly and a timid gasp escaped her throat, startled, she crouched quickly to the ground trying [and miserably failing] to attempt to conceal herself. She mentally stumbled, her thoughts and logic thrown completely askew. Granted the unsuspecting individual was facing away from her, but she knew instantly. There was no mistaking that ivory skin and golden hair.
Juliet?