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[sallyslingshot]

Alex had never seen snow before. For that matter, she'd never really even experienced cold weather before, at least not by most people's definition; there had been chilly evenings, days that seemed cooler than the rest, but she knew full well that it could have been much, much more than that. Having spent all her life in a climate so similar to

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[agirlnamedchuck]

The facts were these: it had been slow going for Charlotte Charles the past few weeks and the sudden appearance of snow did not make it any easier. It was not to say that she did not enjoy it, for she did. The snow reminded her of when she had first arrived here and of snow men and hot chocolate and other various things. It also reminded her of several sad things, but she wasn't going to dwell on that.

Stopping on the path to catch her breath as another minor stretch of pain hit her stomach. They were normal and nothing to fret about though worry was natural the closer she got. Even pretend contractions were alarming when realising they led to the real thing.

Smiling as she saw Alex, she waved with one hand still on her abdomen. "Having fun?"

[sallyslingshot]

For a split second, Alex felt nothing but self-conscious upon realizing that she had been seen. While this was the first time she had ever seen snow in person, the same wasn't true for the girl she was pretending to be, the one who had been born and raised in Portland, and easily though it came to her, she didn't always like lying, at least not to someone like Chuck. There had been a moment of letting her guard down. At least, she thought, she could cover without a problem.

Besides, it was simple enough to shift her focus. Still grinning, she walked closer to Chuck's side, the tip of her nose turned pink from the cold. "I missed this," she explained, which wasn't entirely true, but came close enough. "How are you?"

[agirlnamedchuck]

The girl named Chuck smiled a bit brighter as Alex came nearer. She liked the girl who reminded her a bit of herself. There was just something about her, maybe the sudden disappearance of her father that made Chuck want to reach out. There was a sense of kindred spirits.

"I'm good. We're good. Just tired, but the snow is nice isn't it?" She liked it, enjoying the fluffy whiteness and the strange quiet it brought to everything.

[sallyslingshot]

"It's beautiful," Alex agreed, nodding, with some combination of enthusiasm and reverence, more of both than was wholly necessary. Her guard was lowered, though, and it was the first time in a long time that she didn't mind it quite so much. For the moment, at least, it didn't matter. "Are you heading up to the Compound? God, I wonder what it looks like, if the huts are all different."

[agirlnamedchuck]

"I am." Extending a gloved hand, she bobbed her head in the direction of the Compound. It had been quite a surprise to wake up in a house that was different even from the way that it had looked last winter. She liked that. Every winter was new. It was exciting.

"Want to come have a look with me? It'll be fun and we can get cocoa or something afterward."

[sallyslingshot]

"Yeah, I'd love to," Alex replied eagerly, taking Chuck's offered hand without a second thought about it. Quite frankly, it sounded kind of perfect, like the sort of ideal that most people got to experience, and that she had never known she wanted before she was presented with it here. There had been plenty of women on the island where she'd lived before, and the people were nice, most of the time, but there was something maternal about Chuck's presence that was entirely new to her, enough to make her miss what she had never really known. Teeth pressing to her lower lip through a grin, she gestured with her head down the pathway, towards the Compound. "That sounds great."

[agirlnamedchuck]

Like any expectant mothers, Chuck often felt a bit uncertain about how well she would do her new role once it came time to grasp it with both hands. Fortunately the girl named Chuck had had experience mothering two grown women during her formative years. It could be said that thanks to that, she would turn out quite fine.

"Excellent. Some warmth, some cocoa, maybe make some bread. You know, fun seasonal things," she said, swinging their interlocked hands.

[sallyslingshot]

Sometimes, Alex had to wonder if this was what most people had their whole lives, if she had been missing out. Until shortly before her death, before she'd arrived on this island, she had never questioned anything that had been presented to her, and even when she had, it had only just begun to extend circumstantially, rather than just rebelling against her father. The life she'd had was the only one she had wanted, but at times like this, she was left to reconsider just how true that was

[agirlnamedchuck]

When the girl named Chuck had been a child, her father had been her entire world. Of course there had been Ned who had and still was her best friend, but there was something different about the bond between a girl and her father. He encouraged her to want to find adventure. Sure, the one adventure that she had set off to take had taken her life, but she couldn't fault him for that.

Walking was slow going not, just because of the snow and the slickness of the path but because of the weight that she was carrying around. Listening to the words that Alex was saying, Chuck nodded. "I never knew my mother. Well, I did. I just never knew that she was my mother. I can't help you meet them, but I can teach you other things."

[sallyslingshot]

"I'd like that," Alex said with a small smile. She'd already started turning to Chuck for that sort of thing, but there was something to be said for having it out in the open, too, something new. God knew Ben Linus wasn't the sort of person to be up front about his feelings, and had stopped being openly affectionate with her when she'd been young; even doing better here, the two hadn't done much talking on a sentimental level. "To, to have that."

[agirlnamedchuck]

It was, Chuck liked to think, good practice for when her baby was born. As if he knew that she was thinking about him, she felt a sharp kick in her abdomen. It her wince, for despite the fact that she supposed she should be used to it by now it still was uncomfortable.

"We're celebrating Hanukkah tonight, you should join us. You can help me light the candles," she said as the idea occurred to her. "And I have bread I have to finish making. If you'd like to help me with that."

[sallyslingshot]

"Sure," Alex agreed, eager despite the fact that she knew little about the holiday. It didn't matter; that, like the snow, could be something new. Besides, she liked the idea of being part of something like that, even if it wouldn't have the same religious significance to her. "I'd love to. I've never celebrated Hanukkah before."

[agirlnamedchuck]

"Oh you'll love it." Chuck wanted to believe that things such as enthusiasm could be contagious. Thus far in her albeit strange life, it had not been that wrong of a belief.

"It's not one of the high holidays, but it's pretty. Plus it goes with the winter theme. Candles, food, nice things."