Title: Unconditional
Rating: PG
Summary: She hides all of this, all of her flaws and her damage, from everyone, hoping they won’t get close enough to see it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: Used for philosophy_20, prompt #5: syzygy.



Kate will screw up. She knows this. Because she’s human and she’s flawed and she’s damaged – possibly, she thinks, beyond repair. She hides all of this, all of her flaws and her damage, from everyone, hoping they won’t get close enough to see it.

They do, though. They see, and more often than not, they turn around and walk away. Maybe she built them up, showed them an illusion, someone that wasn’t her. Maybe she sets people up to be disappointed by her.

But she still hopes that someone will come along, see her flaws, and not let themselves be scared away. Tom was. Jack was. Even Sawyer, in the end, walked away from her when it became clear to him that she really couldn’t give him what he needed. And maybe that’s fine, maybe she even understands.

She’s still disappointed, though, her hopes dashed, when they walk away one by one, tired and defeated, scared away. Her head hangs, stays that way, so that the one who stayed remains undiscovered for the longest time.

It’s undeniable, though, when Kate stops to think about it. It’s something, someone, that she should have noticed a long time ago. Because, while Jack has moved on, and Sawyer has pulled away, there has always been Sun. Her friend. The one who has seen her flaws, knows what she is capable of, and remains at her side, remains her friend.

Unconditional love has always been what Kate is looking for; someone to stand by her side, to keep caring for and believing in her, even when she screws up. Especially when she screws up. But unconditional love has always been something that she’s had. She’s just been looking for it in the wrong place.