For Better, For Worse
Title: For Better, For Worse
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Kate, Hurley, Desmond, Libby, Eko, Ana Lucia, Michael, Sawyer, Charlie, Locke, Jack, Sun, Jin, Sayid, Claire, Shannon, Boone, Juliet, Ben.
Rating: G
Pairings: Slight Ben/Annie, Desmond/Penny, Sun/Jin.
Summary: A drabble on each of the above characters on the matter of weddings.
Author's Note: Although this is not intended as luau fic, it was inspired by the request for wedding related gifts a couple of weeks ago.
Kate hadn't wanted to be bridesmaid for Diane and Wayne. She hates the ridiculous dress they've made her wear because it makes her feel uncomfortable.
As she walks down the aisle behind Diane, she tries to ignore the sniggering coming from the pew where Tom Brennan sits. But she can't ignore the leer on Wayne's face as he slobbers "You look like a princess."
Sixteen years later, as Kate walks down the aisle to meet Kevin, it is still Wayne's face she sees.
Hurley's career as best man began when he was asked to do the honours for his brother Diego. As time went on he repeated this role for several of his friends. They knew he would always give the funniest speeches, without the risk of offending the bride's elderly relatives. What they didn't know was that he was secretly watching and wondering when it was going to be his turn.
Johnny looks awkward as he approaches Hurley. They'd always said they'd be each other's best man. But in the circumstances, Starla's not comfortable with the idea. He hopes Hurley will understand if he asks someone else.
But Hurley doesn't care. Since knowing Charlie and Libby, he's felt only indifference for them anyway.
When Desmond broke up with Penny in 1996, it was because he felt unable to give Penny what she deserved.
As they take their vows in 2006, in a small private ceremony with no friends or family present, Desmond is reminded of this once more.
Penny says she doesn't care. Since knowing what her father is, she doesn't want him there. As long as she has Desmond, nothing else matters.
Desmond wishes it hadn't taken him 10 years to learn that too.
Libby's husband presented her with the boat on their wedding day as a surprise. He announced to all their guests that he intended for them to sail the Mediterranean for their honeymoon.
They never did make that journey.
It was as David presented the boat that Libby was rushed to hospital, suffering an ectopic pregnancy.
It was in that boat that David was lost at sea, having gone overboard during an argument.
It was in that boat that Desmond washed up on the island, after having determined to win the sailing race for love.
It was that boat that Libby came to believe was jinxed.
Eko performed his first marriage ceremony in the days before Emeka fell, the last ceremony to be performed in that church before it was declared not sacred and boarded up.
Eko can no longer picture the bride and groom.
He cannot remember their names.
All he remembers is his overwhelming feeling of guilt that he is performing this ceremony in Yemi's place.
Ana Lucia goes to her closet on what would have been her wedding day, takes out the dress she bought from Carlyle Weddings and stares at it.
She doesn't need it now. There isn't going to be a wedding. Danny's gone, unable to forgive Ana for continuing to perform active duty when she knew she was pregnant.
Mostly, as she told Big Mike, she feels she is better off alone anyway.
But today, as well as the anger she feels towards the guy who shot her, she feels guilt because she knows that when she first found out she was pregnant, she wasn't sure she wanted the baby.
Michael has trouble understanding why Susan doesn't want to get married. She must know that it would provide more stability for Walt. God knows, Michael's art isn't proving lucrative and the construction job isn't steady work. If Susan would only say yes, he would be able to feel that she was committed to their relationship, instead of the way he feels now, that she could walk away at any time.
She won't say yes to Michael. But she will to Brian.
Her acceptance of Brian's proposal is a slap in the face for Michael.
It's the time of the evening when bride, groom and guests are all worse for wear. So it's easy for Sawyer to slip in unnoticed. No one will notice or care whether he was invited or not.
He's been researching his mark for weeks. That's her, the one with the big grin on her face as she catches the bouquet.
No one thinks anything of it as he sidles up to her.
"So, d'you think the old saying's true? You know the one about meeting your future spouse at a wedding."
When Liam and Karen exchange rings, Charlie is the only person to notice how his brother's hands are shaking.
Because he's the one who was stumbling round Manchester that morning with his pale, sweating brother looking for a fix.
"Gonna be the last time," Liam mutters. "Gonna be a family man now, baby brother. Giving it up."
Charlie says nothing. He's heard it all before.
Uncharacteristically, Liam hands half the heroin to Charlie.
"Here, you have this, baby brother. Gonna need it for your speech."
After the eighth time Helen has refused to take his calls, Locke hurls the engagement ring across the room.
She doesn't want it, she tells him. Not knowing that it was bought with the dirty money from Cooper. And she knows that when it comes down to it, Locke would always put his father first.
Locke tries to argue. He doesn't want anything to do with Cooper any more. Helen's his priority now.
But she doesn't believe him. She can't accept Locke's word that she comes first in his life.
Locke thinks it's typical that it should have been his father who screwed everything up.
Jack doesn't know why he cut the clipping out of the paper.
Sarah's face grins out at him from the wedding announcement, standing next to a guy who turns out to be someone Jack doesn't know after all, someone who works at the same school.
In some ways he wonders if it was better when he didn't know who the man was.
He tries to remember if Sarah had looked this happy on their own wedding day.
Sun and her mother are busy planning her wedding to Jin.
The food, the flowers, not sitting that cousin next to that aunt, invitations sent out to everyone they know and some that they don't, business associates of Mr Paik's that he insists they must invite.
Sun looks forward to being married to Jin.
But as Jae Lee's American bride walks down the aisle to meet him, a part of Sun can't help but wonder what might have been.
Jin peeks out at the friends and family who are here to watch him and Sun marry today.
Sun's friends and family. Not his.
Jin would have loved to have had his people there. He knows they'd have been proud of him. But he's told the Paiks his father is dead, desperate to disguise his humble origins.
And Tai Soo, so concerned for his friend on hearing that his fiancee was a member of the powerful Paik family, well, he wouldn't have fitted in here either.
"I beg you to be careful," he had said on hearing Jin's news. And if he'd known what lay in store for Jin, he would feel he had been proved right.
Jin must leave his own world behind now and join Sun's. It is the only way he can succeed.
This is what Sayid has been waiting for for eight years. He's marrying his childhood sweetheart, Nadia. After all these years of separation, they can be together at last.
Yet despite the removal of the physical barrier, Sayid is constantly aware of the emotional barriers that will always remain. Because there is a part of his life now that he can never share with Nadia. She knows the official version of what happened to the survivors of flight 815. But she can never be told the real version.
Nadia's shared all of her life after they parted in Iraq in 1997. But Sayid can never share the guilt over those they left behind.
When Thomas left, Claire somehow wondered if he knew.
They hadn't talked marriage or anything. Certainly never planned the ceremony. But Claire remembers in her childhood, placing the tablecloth over her head and pretending it was a veil, to Carole's amusement. She remembers the conversations with her friends over who would be her bridesmaids.
The face of the groom changed constantly, depending on her taste at the time.
As she got older, she forgot all about it. But now she remembers again, the daydreams of the husband she would never have.
Eight year old Shannon glares at Boone as he fidgets during the ceremony. "You have to pay attention, idiot," she whispers.
He was going to be her brother now. Daddy said this as though it were something to be excited about. But Shannon liked things as they were, just her and Daddy. She doesn't need this kid coming in and messing everything up.
And she doesn't need this woman always glaring at her either.
As Sabrina Carlyle signs the register, Shannon wishes she could remember her own mother.
As Shannon walks down the aisle, Boone briefly wishes he'd made an excuse like Sabrina. But he couldn't really not show up to Shannon's wedding.
Nora flounces down the aisle behind her, wearing something clearly chosen by Shannon with the intention that the bridesmaid wouldn't outshine the bride. Boone doesn't know who she thought she had to kid. Nobody could outshine Shannon.
This is the first time Boone's actually met the groom. If he's honest, he thinks it all happened too fast, as though Shannon was clinging to anyone who came along after that asshole Boone paid off.
Knowing the bad choices Shannon makes, Boone appraises the groom when no one's looking. Doesn't like the look of him. Looks like another one of that type, a bit like that last one.
He tries to convince himself that this is the reason he's taken a dislike to Shannon's husband.
The only photos Juliet kept of her wedding day are the ones of Rachel.
She'd looked so happy and healthy in her bridesmaid's dress, still yet to be diagnosed with the cancer that had ravaged her womb. Juliet's favourite is one right after she caught the bouquet, totally natural because she didn't know the picture was being taken.
Juliet hopes that wherever Rachel is now, she's as happy and healthy as she was that day.
"Now we never have to be apart," Annie had said the day she gave the doll to Ben.
She said the same thing during what passed for a wedding ceremony in the Dharma Initiative, when Annie had known she was pregnant and had wanted to be married before anything happened.
Knowing the fate of pregnant women on the island, both had stumbled over "till death do us part".
When Annie died, Ben placed her doll of him into her folded hands before sending her body out to sea. He still has the one of her.
And now they never have to be apart.
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Kate, Hurley, Desmond, Libby, Eko, Ana Lucia, Michael, Sawyer, Charlie, Locke, Jack, Sun, Jin, Sayid, Claire, Shannon, Boone, Juliet, Ben.
Rating: G
Pairings: Slight Ben/Annie, Desmond/Penny, Sun/Jin.
Summary: A drabble on each of the above characters on the matter of weddings.
Author's Note: Although this is not intended as luau fic, it was inspired by the request for wedding related gifts a couple of weeks ago.
Kate hadn't wanted to be bridesmaid for Diane and Wayne. She hates the ridiculous dress they've made her wear because it makes her feel uncomfortable.
As she walks down the aisle behind Diane, she tries to ignore the sniggering coming from the pew where Tom Brennan sits. But she can't ignore the leer on Wayne's face as he slobbers "You look like a princess."
Sixteen years later, as Kate walks down the aisle to meet Kevin, it is still Wayne's face she sees.
Hurley's career as best man began when he was asked to do the honours for his brother Diego. As time went on he repeated this role for several of his friends. They knew he would always give the funniest speeches, without the risk of offending the bride's elderly relatives. What they didn't know was that he was secretly watching and wondering when it was going to be his turn.
Johnny looks awkward as he approaches Hurley. They'd always said they'd be each other's best man. But in the circumstances, Starla's not comfortable with the idea. He hopes Hurley will understand if he asks someone else.
But Hurley doesn't care. Since knowing Charlie and Libby, he's felt only indifference for them anyway.
When Desmond broke up with Penny in 1996, it was because he felt unable to give Penny what she deserved.
As they take their vows in 2006, in a small private ceremony with no friends or family present, Desmond is reminded of this once more.
Penny says she doesn't care. Since knowing what her father is, she doesn't want him there. As long as she has Desmond, nothing else matters.
Desmond wishes it hadn't taken him 10 years to learn that too.
Libby's husband presented her with the boat on their wedding day as a surprise. He announced to all their guests that he intended for them to sail the Mediterranean for their honeymoon.
They never did make that journey.
It was as David presented the boat that Libby was rushed to hospital, suffering an ectopic pregnancy.
It was in that boat that David was lost at sea, having gone overboard during an argument.
It was in that boat that Desmond washed up on the island, after having determined to win the sailing race for love.
It was that boat that Libby came to believe was jinxed.
Eko performed his first marriage ceremony in the days before Emeka fell, the last ceremony to be performed in that church before it was declared not sacred and boarded up.
Eko can no longer picture the bride and groom.
He cannot remember their names.
All he remembers is his overwhelming feeling of guilt that he is performing this ceremony in Yemi's place.
Ana Lucia goes to her closet on what would have been her wedding day, takes out the dress she bought from Carlyle Weddings and stares at it.
She doesn't need it now. There isn't going to be a wedding. Danny's gone, unable to forgive Ana for continuing to perform active duty when she knew she was pregnant.
Mostly, as she told Big Mike, she feels she is better off alone anyway.
But today, as well as the anger she feels towards the guy who shot her, she feels guilt because she knows that when she first found out she was pregnant, she wasn't sure she wanted the baby.
Michael has trouble understanding why Susan doesn't want to get married. She must know that it would provide more stability for Walt. God knows, Michael's art isn't proving lucrative and the construction job isn't steady work. If Susan would only say yes, he would be able to feel that she was committed to their relationship, instead of the way he feels now, that she could walk away at any time.
She won't say yes to Michael. But she will to Brian.
Her acceptance of Brian's proposal is a slap in the face for Michael.
It's the time of the evening when bride, groom and guests are all worse for wear. So it's easy for Sawyer to slip in unnoticed. No one will notice or care whether he was invited or not.
He's been researching his mark for weeks. That's her, the one with the big grin on her face as she catches the bouquet.
No one thinks anything of it as he sidles up to her.
"So, d'you think the old saying's true? You know the one about meeting your future spouse at a wedding."
When Liam and Karen exchange rings, Charlie is the only person to notice how his brother's hands are shaking.
Because he's the one who was stumbling round Manchester that morning with his pale, sweating brother looking for a fix.
"Gonna be the last time," Liam mutters. "Gonna be a family man now, baby brother. Giving it up."
Charlie says nothing. He's heard it all before.
Uncharacteristically, Liam hands half the heroin to Charlie.
"Here, you have this, baby brother. Gonna need it for your speech."
After the eighth time Helen has refused to take his calls, Locke hurls the engagement ring across the room.
She doesn't want it, she tells him. Not knowing that it was bought with the dirty money from Cooper. And she knows that when it comes down to it, Locke would always put his father first.
Locke tries to argue. He doesn't want anything to do with Cooper any more. Helen's his priority now.
But she doesn't believe him. She can't accept Locke's word that she comes first in his life.
Locke thinks it's typical that it should have been his father who screwed everything up.
Jack doesn't know why he cut the clipping out of the paper.
Sarah's face grins out at him from the wedding announcement, standing next to a guy who turns out to be someone Jack doesn't know after all, someone who works at the same school.
In some ways he wonders if it was better when he didn't know who the man was.
He tries to remember if Sarah had looked this happy on their own wedding day.
Sun and her mother are busy planning her wedding to Jin.
The food, the flowers, not sitting that cousin next to that aunt, invitations sent out to everyone they know and some that they don't, business associates of Mr Paik's that he insists they must invite.
Sun looks forward to being married to Jin.
But as Jae Lee's American bride walks down the aisle to meet him, a part of Sun can't help but wonder what might have been.
Jin peeks out at the friends and family who are here to watch him and Sun marry today.
Sun's friends and family. Not his.
Jin would have loved to have had his people there. He knows they'd have been proud of him. But he's told the Paiks his father is dead, desperate to disguise his humble origins.
And Tai Soo, so concerned for his friend on hearing that his fiancee was a member of the powerful Paik family, well, he wouldn't have fitted in here either.
"I beg you to be careful," he had said on hearing Jin's news. And if he'd known what lay in store for Jin, he would feel he had been proved right.
Jin must leave his own world behind now and join Sun's. It is the only way he can succeed.
This is what Sayid has been waiting for for eight years. He's marrying his childhood sweetheart, Nadia. After all these years of separation, they can be together at last.
Yet despite the removal of the physical barrier, Sayid is constantly aware of the emotional barriers that will always remain. Because there is a part of his life now that he can never share with Nadia. She knows the official version of what happened to the survivors of flight 815. But she can never be told the real version.
Nadia's shared all of her life after they parted in Iraq in 1997. But Sayid can never share the guilt over those they left behind.
When Thomas left, Claire somehow wondered if he knew.
They hadn't talked marriage or anything. Certainly never planned the ceremony. But Claire remembers in her childhood, placing the tablecloth over her head and pretending it was a veil, to Carole's amusement. She remembers the conversations with her friends over who would be her bridesmaids.
The face of the groom changed constantly, depending on her taste at the time.
As she got older, she forgot all about it. But now she remembers again, the daydreams of the husband she would never have.
Eight year old Shannon glares at Boone as he fidgets during the ceremony. "You have to pay attention, idiot," she whispers.
He was going to be her brother now. Daddy said this as though it were something to be excited about. But Shannon liked things as they were, just her and Daddy. She doesn't need this kid coming in and messing everything up.
And she doesn't need this woman always glaring at her either.
As Sabrina Carlyle signs the register, Shannon wishes she could remember her own mother.
As Shannon walks down the aisle, Boone briefly wishes he'd made an excuse like Sabrina. But he couldn't really not show up to Shannon's wedding.
Nora flounces down the aisle behind her, wearing something clearly chosen by Shannon with the intention that the bridesmaid wouldn't outshine the bride. Boone doesn't know who she thought she had to kid. Nobody could outshine Shannon.
This is the first time Boone's actually met the groom. If he's honest, he thinks it all happened too fast, as though Shannon was clinging to anyone who came along after that asshole Boone paid off.
Knowing the bad choices Shannon makes, Boone appraises the groom when no one's looking. Doesn't like the look of him. Looks like another one of that type, a bit like that last one.
He tries to convince himself that this is the reason he's taken a dislike to Shannon's husband.
The only photos Juliet kept of her wedding day are the ones of Rachel.
She'd looked so happy and healthy in her bridesmaid's dress, still yet to be diagnosed with the cancer that had ravaged her womb. Juliet's favourite is one right after she caught the bouquet, totally natural because she didn't know the picture was being taken.
Juliet hopes that wherever Rachel is now, she's as happy and healthy as she was that day.
"Now we never have to be apart," Annie had said the day she gave the doll to Ben.
She said the same thing during what passed for a wedding ceremony in the Dharma Initiative, when Annie had known she was pregnant and had wanted to be married before anything happened.
Knowing the fate of pregnant women on the island, both had stumbled over "till death do us part".
When Annie died, Ben placed her doll of him into her folded hands before sending her body out to sea. He still has the one of her.
And now they never have to be apart.