Lost Video Island

[The_Phantom_CC]

TITLE: Claire's Song
AUTHOR: Jessie, The Princess of Purple
RATING: G
TIMELINE: Sometime after Fire + Water.
SUMMARY: Charlie wrote Claire a song which she happens to overhear
DISCLAIMERS: Charlie, Claire and LOST belong to ABC. The song is "Learning To Breathe" by Switchfoot
FEEDBACK: Yes please? I need it to live!
DEDICATION: For those of you who are waiting on the next part of What You Want. I'm experiencing writer's block when it comes to that fic. Patience in a virtue Hopefully this will quell your fic thrist for the time being.

Claire walked along the beach, her feet sinking in the wark sand with each step. She walked without thinking about where she was headed. Her head was too full of other things. She stared out to the horizon, where the blue sea met the blue sky, as she slowly made her way further down the shore. Suddenly, a familiar but as of late unwelcome sound brought her back to earth, away from her heavy thoughts. The strains of guitar chords close by sent her walking swiftly in the direction from which she'd come, her mind now filled with thoughts of the one person she was working hard to avoid. He made her life twice as complicated, which was already ten times more complex than she needed.

She sighed as she spared a glance over her shoulder back in his direction. She could see him clearly in the bright afternoon sun. He was alone, sitting on a boulder with his shiny red guitar in his lap. He looked the same- mostly. There was a tired and melacholy way about him now that she didn't recognize. He was clearly as deep in thought as she herself had been moments before, absent mindedly strumming his guitar. She got the impression from other island castaways that he often sat on the beach by himself. This puzzled Claire. He wasn't the type to isolate himself. He was naturally sociable. That's part of why he had been so desperate for fame.

*But then again, what do I know.* she thought, shaking her head as though she was trying to rid it of him.

She didn't register that sometime during her internal monologue, she had stopped walking and turned to face him, studying him intently. He had an exercise book out now and every now and then he'd take his pen and scribble something down. Claire was unaware that she was smiling as she was reminded of the haircut she had given him one day while he wrote a song. He had the same excited demeanor now as he had then. He put the pen back between his teeth and brushed his long blonde hair out of his eyes. When he leaned back over his guitar, however, it just fell right back in place. He seemed oblivious as he picked out more chords.

After a few minutes, Claire finally realized exactly what she was doing and once again shook her head. The memories of the night he had stolen baby were still fresh in her mind causing a scowl to replace her pretty smile. She couldn't trust him, whether she wanted to or not. He had just lied and betrayedher trust one too many times. As she replyed the events of that fateful night in her head for the millionth time, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Thinking of that usually made her feel angry and hurt, but not today.

She recalled his tears and the pain that had twisted his usually light-hearted features. It was like a punch in the stomach for Claire. To see Charlie, her symbol for jokes and laughter on the island weeping and beggin for her to baptise Aaron. He was always cracking jokes to make her laugh, or at least try. As mad as she was at him, it still pained her to see him suffer. Her heart had broken as she watched Locke beat his already broken body down but she knew it was right. Still, remembering the sheerly desperate tone of his voice suddenly caused her to cringe. Even the next day, after he had done the unthinkable and stolen Aaron, she couldn't help but take his words into consideration. She couldn't bring herself to believe he was crazy even though that idea would have made more sense.

As she turned, for the third time to move back up the beach, she heard his voice. It was soft and low but it was there. At first she thought he was talking to her but when she whirled around in surprise to face him she saw that he was in fact singing. She guessed he was singing the lyrics of the song he was writing, strumming comfortably along.

The melody was slow and almost sad. Charlie swayed slightly and tapped his foot in time to the music, his eyes fixed on a spot in the sand. His voice was pleasant as it floated on the humid air towards Claire. Against her will she paused to listen.

Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way that I'm

Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way that I say I love You
This is the way that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way

Claire was spellbound. The only songs she had ever known Charlie to write were ones that were meant to be humorous like "Monster Eats The Pilot". The song she had just heard was a beautiful work of art. It was then that she realized she'd been holding her breath. She exhaled as she watched Charlie shake his head with distaste, pick up his pen and write something else down.

He paused when the sound of breaking twigs came from the surrounding jungle.

*What now?* Claire thought in exasperation. She let out yet another bated breath and a barely audible chuckle when Vincent's shiny gold head appeared from the underbrush. Charlie grinned and adjusted his guitar in his lap so he could pet the panting creature. Claire let slip another forbidden smile as she continued her voyeurism. She had to stop herself as she almost giggled when Charlie began to talk to the golden retriever, her past baggage momentarily forgotten.

"Hey there boy," she heard him say in his thick accent,"You miss Walt don't ya? Well, don't worry. I'm sure our two local 'heros' will bring him back soon."

Claire heard the way he pointedly used the word "hero". She knew he still wasn't too hot on Locke at the moment. Her sunny smile was once again washed away by the storm of her crazy past.

"Did you like my song Vince? How many plaitnums do you think I'll manage with that little number?" Charlie continued to grin as he tousled Vincent's silky ears.

Then, he turned serious.

"Truth be told boy, I don't care if 'Claire's Song' reaches number one. I just wish she'd speak to me again. I wish I *deserved* to have her speak to me again,"he paused to sigh mournfully,"Do you ever wish you could go back in time and take it all back... of course you don't. You're a sodding dog."

Claire felt a rush of conflicting emotions. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she couldn't lie to herself. She did miss hers and Charlie's friendship. She couldn't forget the things he'd done for her and his sweet gestures. The situation they were in was definately a complex, strange one but he had still tried to make her happy. She thought about the things that had floated to the surface after her trip to the hatch where she had been hald captive by Ethan. She had remembered their first meeting, him helping her with laundry, and the "averted birthing emergency" among other things. Charlie was a genuinely nice guy with a kind heart. He made mistakes and apparently, he knew it. Claire just hoped he learned from them. It was evident from the song that he cared for her and knew that he had done her wrong. She appreciated that he accepted the fact that she needed some space. It seemed as though he believed he was a better man because of her. It made her wonder if he had been telling the truth about not using again. It gave her even more to think about.

She finally turned away for good and started to head back towards the camp. She looked over her shoulder just once more at Charlie. She knew that one day, when she was ready, she would have to forgive him. She smiled to herself and began to sing under her breath...

And I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that you
and you alone can break my fall
I'm living again
Awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies.

FINI!

AN: This wasn't betaed and it was typed up at around 3am so it's possible there are many mistakes. Sorry! [img][/img][img][/img]

[-x- Angelic -x-]

Awwww that was so sweet! Its cute to see how Claire really feels after the whole baby snatching sinareo. She so needs to tell him!

"of course you don't. You're a sodding dog." LMAO that was typical of charlie!

This is really good! Keep it up!
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