A/N: Still on cloud 9 after this amazing finale and of course partly sad it was in fact the final finale. I just hope the awesome writers on here will continue writing Jisbon's future (I do have someting in mind for that myself), or AU's about them meeting, whatever, this will be the way to keep the Show alive, at least, for us.

[For all those who have any sort of medical knowledge, I ask you to just wipe your mind of it for this particular chapter, lol...let's just say, if James Bond can jump down from a building several feet high and not even his hair is affected in the slightest, Lisbon can do that to ;P ]

*Chapter 15*: Beneath The Willow Tree

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Never give up on someone. Sometimes the answers you are looking for are the same answers another person is looking for. Two people searching together are always better than one person alone." ― Shannon L. Alder

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When she blinked her eyes open, darkness encircled her.

That was a depressing revelation. For some reason she had always believed heaven would be blindingly bright.

Of course, perhaps she wasn't in heaven.

Did she even deserve to go there? She had sinned after all; more than once.

An odd sound then made her hold her breath. It soundes almost like sawing...

But who would saw anything at night? And why would they even need to in... Her thought process was momentarily stopped when the sound became clearer, and revealed itself to be, in fact, a snore; or more like heavy snoring.

Lifting her head―to see where the snoring came from―turned out to be a rather bad idea, for the movement made pain shoot through her body as if she'd been hit by lightning; starting somewhere in her abdomen. Sinking back on the soft ground she was lying on, she frowned.

She was lying in a bed. A perfectly normal, every day bed, as one can find in every house.

House. Yeah, the bed was obviously inside the bedroom of a house, now that she took a closer look and her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the blackness surrounding her.

Connecting the dots in her mind, she had to admit that apparently she wasn't dead after all. If so, then where was she?

Stretching out a hand in direction from which the snoring was still disturbing the otherwise perfect tranquility of her abode, Lisbon hadn't expected the source of the sound to be that close, and so the palm of her hand connected rather firmly with a smooth surface.

"Oww," yelped a very familiar voice instantly, and a second later, a mop of blond hair appeared in her line of sight.

Another second later, the lamp on the bedside table illuminated a portion of the room, and she saw Jane patting his cheek delicately. "Geesh. Careful, woman."

Since her brain still refused to work with her, she decided to wait for Jane to speak up and fill her in. And she needn't have to wait long, for as once Jane was awake enough to process what was going on, his face morphed into a splendid imitation of the sun; his hundred-watt smile lighting up the room considerably.

"Hey. Good evening, sleeping beauty," he said gently. "You have no idea how good it is to see you open your eyes for real."

"Uh," she croaked—her throat thick. Jane immediately grabbed a glass of water with a straw in it which was waiting on the nightstand, and held it up to her mouth. "Thanks," she said, after taking a few sips.

Standing up without further explanation, Jane then walked out of her sight. Confused, Lisbon was about to ask where he was going, but then the low glow of a different light touched the room.

Coming back to her side, Jane sat back down in the comfy armchair that sat next to the bed, and explained, "Sorry, the fire must have went out when I fell asleep." Then he frowned, wondering, "Are you cold? Should I get you a blanket? Or is it too warm? Shall I put the fire out again?"

"Huh? No, Jane, no, it's good. Perfect," she smiled, a bit overwhelmed by her current situation. And before Jane knew it, Lisbon started drilling him with questions. "What did you mean, 'For real'?"

He brushed a hand through his untamed locks, and sighed. "You.. You've been in and out of consciousness for some time. Your eyes would flicker open for mere seconds, but I don't think you even realized it, and then you fell back to sleep right away."

"Ah," Lisbon nodded, though it still didn't make a lot of sense to her. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Jane asked carefully, wanting to make sure he wouldn't cause her any discomposure, if she'd forgotten specific things.

"Um, I-I wanted to get to you...when you and Liam were fighting, and then...then I remember a loud bang―the shot," she paused, her forehead crinkled, "I thought I would die... It was so cold."

Jane took her right hand in both of his, stroking her knuckles gingerly with his thumbs. He slowly filled her in on all that had happened after she had passed out.

How Kenny had killed Liam and wanted to take another shot at her, but that he must have heard the cops coming and vanished instead. About the surgery. About Perez being the mole. All this he told her. His eyes flickering with compassion, pain, anguish, and an emotion that took her breath away for how clear she was able to read it on him.

It was, though, when she asked where they were that Jane averted his look, and Lisbon knew something was wrong.

"Jane?" Jane's ministrations stopped briefly, and she saw that he was thinking intently.

She hated that he seemed to be measuring what or how much to tell her. "Jane, just tell me! Dammit!"

"Look, maybe you should try and get more sleep. I'll tell you tomorrow, this must be exhausting. You still need to-"

"Sleep? I slept for..." She threw him a questioning look.

"A week."

Lisbon drew her hand away, and with much effort―and a pang from her protesting body―propped herself up, declining Jane's help who sat down again, looking at her with his puppy-dog expression that could usually melt ice.

Crossing her arms over her chest for good measure, she said, "A week. So don't give me that. What is going on? Where am I?" she demanded to know.

Not wanting her blood pressure to rise―albeit sure it would either way―he succumbed to the death glare he was receiving; deciding not to beat around the bush for once...well, not completely anyway.

"Uh, Ireland," he answered with a bright smile, stretching his arms out in a 'Ta-da'-gesture, hoping to be able to tone down her ire a bit.

It took Lisbon a moment, not sure she trusted her ears, then she repeated slow and incredulously, "Ireland? As in the country? In Europe?" The thought was so absurd that a strangled laugh escaped her throat, and she winced as the muscles in her abdomen contracted painfully.

"Don't freak out, all right?" Jane pleaded, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Promise me you'll let me finish the story before yelling at me!"

Lisbon almost laughed again at the genuine fear in his eyes, but thought better of it. "Well? Shoot." The brief flinch that crossed his face made her instantly contrite. "Sorry, that wasn't... that pun wasn't intentional."

A curt twitch of his lips told her that is was okay, and he rubbed his now sweaty hands on his pants. "R-ight, uh, where to start... you see, after about two hours of surgery, your doctor told Abbott that it didn't look so bad as previously assumed. In fact, he was able to remove the bullet rather easily... Anyway, he also told him that you've been extraordinarily lucky that the bullet hadn't entered mere inches farther to the left. The biggest danger emitted the blood loss, but once they had it under control, he was certain that you would have a speedy recovery; thanks to your level of fitness amongst other things. You'd just need a lot of rest.

"After Abbott talked to him, he took me aside and filled me in on your condition. But, he...he was worried that if the...wrong people learned that you'd be all right―given the circumstances―they might try to finish you off for good. Even with Brady dead, there are still enough of his guys on the loose, let alone the Irish mob itself. Although they might have been at odds with Brady, they would be after you just to take revenge. To re-establish the honor of the family, so to speak. You destroyed more than just his business by getting him arrested.

"So Abbott arranged this plan. Right after the doctor gave him a go, he contacted Agent Cox who could get you out of the country without having too many people involved. Long story short, since Abbott deemed it as too dangerous to let you recover in America, he made the decision to get you into WITSEC, at least, for a while."

"Witness Protection? I don't unders-"

"Eh, eh, let me finish," Jane cut her off. "Abbott and Cox marshaled this, I don't know the specifics and they don't really matter, but they made it a point by saying that you have to stay ensconced until Kenny was apprehended―at the very least."

"O-okay," Lisbon interrupted him again. Jane let her, since he really wasn't looking forward to the next part. "Okay, I think I get that...but how, I mean, what about the others?"

Jane breathed out, shakily. "Well, here comes the part you probably won't like very much. To make sure whoever would think about going after you would not, we...uh, Abbott and I that is, we...uh," Jane rubbed his neck, hoping she would remember her injury and not do anything she might regret. The next words left his lips at a brisk pace, "Wefakedyourdeath."

Jane shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable outburst. But none came. Instead a hysterical laugh erupted form the bed. "Lisbon?"

Lisbon patted the hand he had placed on her upper arm, patronizingly. "That was a good one. And I probably deserve it. But now―honestly―what did you do?"

When Jane sheepishly looked around the room, Lisbon's breathing became more rapid and deeper by the second, and Jane worried she might hyperventilate. Then she asked, realizing that he was telling the truth, "Tell me... who knows that I am not, in fact, dead?"

"Well, we had to be convin-"

"Jane!"

"Except me and Abbott? ... No one?" He wasn't sure why he turned his answer into a question, but it seemed the safer option. "Oh, but I think Cho knows! He looked like he wanted to beat me and Abbott up badly after the funeral. Guess I shouldn't be surprised he was the only one getting my well concealed message, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Trust me."

The brunette woman covered her face with her hands and murmured repeatedly, "Oh god, oh god, oh god."

"Teresa, Abbott has a point. You know as well as I do he would have never come up with something like this otherwise," Jane tried to reason with her, taking her hands in his again to hold them tightly.

"What... what about my brothers?"

"They are still in witness protection too, Teresa, but they know you're alive. I made Abbott promise me they would be told the truth." He was relieved not having to lie about this.

"They do?" When Jane gave her an asserting smile, her body visibly relaxed.

Jane had to admit, he was a little surprised how well she took this, but was aware that she might not really grasp anything yet.

"What about you, Jane? Shouldn't you be in Austin?"

He shook his head, stifling an incredulous laugh at her question. "I am where I'm supposed to be, where I'm needed. Besides, no one would believe I would function even remotely if you had died. Abbott told the higher ups that I needed some time to myself. Abbott loads up casefiles that need my assistance on a secure F.B.I. browser; this way I'm still providing what they hired me for."

"I see." Lisbon stared blankly at the ceiling.

For a long time none of them spoke, until she whispered, "What...what about Marcus?"

Jane gave her an understanding smile. "He believes you're dead. But, um, he came to me at the graveside and told me that...," Jane paused, fixing his eyes on her hand in his that he had managed to reclaim, and shook his head. "You know what, I think you've had enough excitement for one day. Let me tell you that another time, all right?"

Lisbon nodded, frowning at him. "I just want to know if he's...if he's okay. I never meant to get him into this mess, or to hurt him."

"I know. But like I said, let's wait. It's nothing bad, I assure you, but I don't want you to occupy your mind with this now. You still need to recover."

Again, Lisbon nodded, and she felt the tiredness return as if a hammer had dropped on her head. As tired as she was though, she was also afraid to close her eyes; afraid of what her mind might throw at her. "I'm terribly tired," she said quietly, not looking at him. Her hands gripped the bedspread.

"Oh... yes, sure," Jane replied, a little disappointed at being dismissed. But this was a lot to take in, so he guessed he couldn't begrudge her some alone time.

"Woud you... could you hold me?" Her voice was so small that Jane was reminded of all the times Charlotte had asked him to stay until she fell asleep when she'd been afraid of the monsters under the bed. And he realized that it wasn't the monsters beneath the bed Lisbon was scared of, but the real ones; lurking about in her mind.

She hadn't had any nightmares during the last days, partly because she'd been wiped out by the meds she had been given. He knew this since he hadn't left her side but for his appearance at the fake-funeral. Staying out of sight of the team in the private hospital room Abbott had arranged, before the two of them had finally been flown out of the country three days ago.

Without hesitation, Jane got up and discarded his shoes. Then walked around the bed to crawl under the covers and sheets to spoon her carefully, as she maneuvered onto her uninjured side.

"Can you tell me something nice?" she asked softly, and Jane's heart broke from the tears he could hear in her voice that she was trying so hard to hold back.

Reaching over her, he flicked off the lamp. Leaving the flames in the open-hearth fireplace as the only source of light in the room; the crackling of the wood a comforting sound in their ears.

Lightly, Jane pressed a kiss into Lisbon's hair. "Sure, anything specific you want me to tell you?"

The shake of her head, made her hair tickle his nose. "As you wish... Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She had long, dark, wavy hair, was cute as a button and could wield a sword like no other. Unfortunately, she was also rather on the short side-" Lisbon swatted the hand that was placed on her hip, but chuckled nonetheless.

"She was an angry little princess too, because the jester―her father King Virgil had hired―liked to tease her and turn her life into a chaos whenever he could, regardless of the fact that he often made her laugh. What the princess didn't know, however, was that the jester was truly, madly and deeply in love with the beautiful princess. He merely tried to hide his feelings from the woman who he thought deserved to marry a real prince one day, not some common trickster..."

Jane kept telling his story, even as he noticed Lisbon's leveled breathing. His heart rejoicing at the soft smile that graced her sleeping face.

Before long, he too fell asleep. His face buried in the nape of his princess' neck.

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The next morning, Jane introduced Lisbon to the housemaid Mary O'Callahan whose rich Irish breakfast quickly turned her into one of Lisbon's favorite people. Jane also couldn't shake the feeling that the old lady reminded the petite agent of someone, but the almost melancholy look in her eyes refrained him from prodding―for now.

They were sitting in the bedroom, Lisbon in bed and Jane on his chair right next to it, when Lisbon looked up from Agatha Christie's 'Partners in Crime' that he had brought for her. "Whose house is this?"

"Hm? Oh, it belongs to a friend of Agent Cox, it's his families summer house. We can stay here until then...if we need to that is."

"Ah." She looked back at the open page in her lap, but just as quickly out of the balcony window that happened to be right on her left side. "You said we're in Ireland. Where exactly?"

Jane followed her view, closing the book he himself had taken to read. "County Kerry...not far from Caragh Lake, it's just down the street actually. This house stands on the 'Hill of Fairies'," Jane winked at her, but her eyes were still cast outside.

"My mom's from Cork," she replied, absently.

"We can go there, once you're better. It's not nearly two hours from here."

"I'd like that," she said, obviously lost in memories of her mother.

"Then we will."

Though Lisbon tried her best to hide it from him, the whole faking-her-death business was still heavy on her mind. Even now.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jane asked cautiously. "About... about the funeral."

First it seemed she hadn't heard him, but then she answered, "There's nothing to talk about. For the third time in my life I had to fake my death," she said, thinking also about the time Red John had asked for her head and Jane thought it was a good idea to fake her and Rigsby's death. "Three times lucky, I guess," she laughed without humor. "I really don't want to do that ever agai, Jane. Still, there's nothing I can change about this situation now. I messed up long before that, so-"

"Please, Teresa, don't do that to yourself. It's not your fault!"

"You're a hypocrite you know that? How often did I tell you that? Did you ever listen?"

His eyes found the floor. "No," he admitted, sheepishly.

"Exactly. Then don't tell me how to feel."

"Yes, I will. Because I didn't listen, and wasted so much time by that. 'Cause you were right. All I'm asking is don't make the same mistake I did! You feel guilty? Fine, everyone that was involved in this carries some of the blame. But in the end it won't make a difference. It won't change what happened.

"Teresa... when you left, I was sick with worry. Then I found out about your history with Brady, and I was angry, wrongfully so, but I was. Later, I realized that I had no right to be. But no matter what my feelings were, the moment I was with you again, none of it mattered. All that did was you were alive. And that's when I understood that my guilt and fear cost us so much time. It could have been too late, Teresa, too late. So please, all I'm asking is give yourself the chance to move on from this and don't waste it on negative feelings. Hell, I know they won't just go away, but please, don't focus on them. If you feel bad, give me the chance to take your mind off of it. Don't shut me out, please. Can you do this, not for me, but for yourself?"

She had her eyes fixed on his during his speech. And Jane was proud and alarmed at once by the determination he saw in those emerald eyes staring back at him. It was a testament to her strength, but also to her stubbornness, and he hoped the first would prevail.

After what seemed like an eternity she finally broke their staring contest and lowered her head. "Fine, I...I promise I will try."

He heaved himself out of the chair and bent toward her, giving her a thankful kiss on the cheek.

Lisbon blushed, and was at once reminded of their kiss in the cellar. Feeling a bit of guilt sweeping back into her conscience, Lisbon decided to take Jane by his word and let him take her mind off it.

Turning her head just the slightest fraction, her lips touched his in a feather-light kiss.

As Jane's smile grew, so did hers.

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A week later, Lisbon was finally able to move around the house a bit, without arrows of pain shooting through her body. Since her return to the living, the normally active woman had started to fidget. For Lisbon, being tied to a bed was the equivalent to a tiger being caged.

On the first tentative steps that led her along the second floor, Jane had hovered so close that he could have passed as some sort of life jacket, but Lisbon being Lisbon had told him in no uncertain terms that she could walk alone. She had no broken legs after all. Now Jane was beside her with an appropriate space between them, though his hand involuntarily landed more than often at the small of her back.

Jane had chuckled at her indignation, but was inwardly relieved that her outburst meant she wasn't just physically healing, but also emotionally. He wasn't fooling himself into thinking that she would only need a few more weeks and everything would be all right again, but Lisbon was a fighter. Hardwired to pick herself up from the ground once she had fallen, and this time, he was there to help her up. She had not once given up on him in all these years, and now it was his time to support her through whatever nightmares and depressions she would inevitably face.

Promptly, during the third week in Ireland, Lisbon's mood hit a new low. She had barely nibbled at her breakfast, and sipped rather half-heartedly on her beloved coffee, which alone was a dead give away of her bad mood. Instead she had wrapped herself in the blankets, doing her best impression of a mule. Only her messy dark hair sticking out beneath the covers.

Jane sat beside the bed all morning, watching her mood swings with concern. Although he had his book open on his lap, he hadn't read one line in it but kept staring at the hidden lump in the bed instead.

He knew that part of her depression was the fact that she was grasping at every leaf of guilt she could find. Thinking she didn't deserve to be feeling all right.

Guilt had been what kept him going for ten years; had led him down the road of obsession. And he didn't need to wonder where he'd be if it wasn't for the woman facing a similar state of mind at the moment. Unlike him, of course, Lisbon wouldn't start a crusade now, even more so since she didn't really blame anyone else but herself.

The crux of the matter, however, was the same: Not being able to let go, holding on to things they couldn't change anymore.

His eyes left the bundle on the bed and fell unasked to his wedding band. When a ray of light hit through the window on the surface of the ring, making him blink his eyes in succession, Jane was suddenly seized by a memory and jumped out of his chair.

Placing the book on the nightstand, he left the room for the first time this day, eager to prepare what he hoped would help Lisbon to move on.

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An hour later, Jane returned, shaking Lisbon's shoulder gently to awake her, which only earned him a muffled and displeased grunt.

"Come on, sleepyhead. Time to leave bed for a change." Jane grinned when all he heard was another huff of protest.

Without hesitation Jane lifted the covers off of Lisbon, and though the room was warmed by the fireplace it was chillier than underneath the bedspread. Lisbon drew her legs up, wincing when the quick movement pinched at her scar. Jane instantly grasped her shoulders to hold her up.

"I'm sorry, Teresa," he apologized, cursing himself for not thinking about her injury. "You okay?"

Lisbon nodded. "Y-eah," she croaked, relieved once the pain went away and then swatted his arm. "What the hell?"

"You need to get out of bed."

"I'm just fine in bed," she said assertively, but Jane was having none of it.

"No you weren't. You're wallowing in self-inflicted misery-"

"Look who's talking," she inserted, sarcastically, but Jane ignored her.

"-and I won't let you. Come on. Let's go and get some fresh air."

Lisbon perked up. "Can we go down to the lake?"

"Yes, dear, if you wish," he said, pleased that part one of his plan was already working. He'd been afraid she might not want to leave the house, which would have defeated his plan right away.

A short while later, Lisbon was dressed and Jane helped her into the coat Mary had provided. Ireland's climate was so mild that even now in December it felt more like early fall than winter, but he didn't want to take a chance, since most of the time Lisbon had spent here was in an overheated bedroom.

Once they were outside Jane and Lisbon took a slow walk around the small garden she had taken a liking to the first time they had went outside. They paused at times to sit down on one of the many benches, so Lisbon could take a closer look at the flowers that were still blooming, and Jane was delighted to see her taking pleasure in it. That she wasn't dismissing the beauty the world still held, just like he did when he stared happily at her.

Now, sitting down beside her on a bench by the lake, their view led down a small path at which end stood a massive willow tree, its branches encasing the entire field it was placed on.

Carefully, Jane took Lisbon's hand in his, threading their fingers together, but his eyes didn't leave the tree.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked. "These kinds of trees always fascinated me."

Lisbon turned to look at Jane and saw how his eyes were fixed on the huge willow. She was sure that a few memories were passing through his mind, probably of Angela and Charlotte. She couldn't help but hope that one day he might share some of them with her, for the soft smile on his lips told her they were good ones.

It hit her like a fist to the stomach. Jane was thinking about his family and it didn't make him sad. Her head dropped, and she wished that maybe one day she could look back on her life, and the choices she'd made, and get there too. It might have taken him twelve years, but Jane finally had.

All of a sudden Jane started speaking again, her wish apparently granted already.

"When I was seven, the carnival made a stop at some place in Michigan. There were some hidden paths and one led me to one of those trees. I had never seen a tree as huge as this before. I don't know how long I stayed, but it was nightfall when I got back to our trailer. From then on I spent every minute by that tree, every single time we would stop there," Jane reminisced, "When I got older, I wondered why these willow trees fascinated me so much...and, I guess, it's those wide branches that no other tree comes close to. They seem so strong, so unyielding, even in the worst of storms. When I sat down on those roots it was like the tree embraced me, kept me hidden, so no one could find me." Jane's face darkened at that, and Lisbon squeezed his hand.

"From your dad?" she whispered, and he gave an almost imperceptive nod.

"The tree kinda became my best friend," he laughed, bitterly. "Many years later I brought Angela there too. She was the only one I ever showed that place to," he paused, lost in another memory before continuing. "A week before we ran away, we went to the willow again. We knew we would never return and so Angela had this idea that we could leave something there."

"Leave something?" Lisbon asked curiously, her brows furrowed.

"Yes, leave something there from our past. At first, I didn't understand what she meant, what good that would do. She said that it was about burying a symbol of our past beneath the tree, to help us to leave the darkness of it behind. To make us move on, and start our new life without holding on to old grudges. She said the willow would protect it, and at the same time keep the darkness from us. That while we could never run from our past, we could leave it at a place we felt safe."

"I like that thought," Lisbon whispered, and was silent for a moment, then asked, "Did it help?"

"Well, I'd say so. We were happy...most of the time. Without thinking of the life we left behind too much. Although, looking back, I probably should have buried more than I did," Jane said with a self-deprecating smile. Then he sobered and looked at Lisbon with a warmth that took her breath away. "Actually, I had an ulterior motive for bringing you here."

Lisbon frowned, wondering what it could be. As she thought, her view once again came to rest on the willow in the distance, and with sudden understanding her eyes went wide.

"Yes," Jane affirmed her thoughts. "I thought about this for a while today, and I think we both need to do this. It's not magic, and won't make anything disappear, but it might be a start."

Lisbon didn't look enthused. "I don't know, Jane...even if I wanted to, what in God's name would I bury there anyway?... Unless myself?"

"No jokes about burying you, okay?" Jane's voice was as earnest as she had ever heard him.

She averted her eyes abashedly, remembering that he had sort of done that not too long ago. "Sorry. But still, I don't have anything symbolic to bury."

Jane's hand vanished inside his coat pocket and he took out a small plastic bag, laying it in her free hand and closing her other over it. "Yes, you do."

When he released his hold on her, she lifted one hand and stared down at the content of the bag.

A ring. Liam's ring.

Choking, Lisbon looked back at Jane. "How'd you... ?"

"We found it at your home. I asked Abbott to give it back to me before we left for Ireland. I don't really know why I did, but maybe it was heavenly intervention." He winked.

Lisbon took the ring out and placed it in her palm. "I never...it's...am I messed up for having had feelings for him back then?"

Jane smiled softly at her, and wrapped one arm around her back. "No, you're not. You are a good person with an unbelievably good heart. And you always find that goodness in other people, even when they themselves can't see it. Personally speaking, I'm very glad you do. Brady...Liam was human, and he wasn't born the way he ended up."

"That doesn't change who he was though. I knew that."

"No and yes. But, Teresa, I saw the way he looked at you. Whatever you believe, believe that the woman you are did worm her way inside his heart, and brought out the man he once was, and maybe could have been, if times had been different. It was never in your hands."

"It's just...I-I feel guilty for, for being glad he's dead, but at the same time I hate myself thinking that way when back then all I wanted was to get him out, so maybe we could have-," she snorted, "-have a future together. It's so confusing. I-I don't know what to feel anymore," she sobbed, tears now falling down her cheeks, getting soaked in the fabric of Jane's coat as he held her close.

"Ssh. It's all right. There's no need to fight your emotions. They can co-exist. It's okay if you grieve and are mad at him at the same time," he assured her, stroking her hair the way he had done the few nights he'd been holding her lately. "But this is why I think you need to do this. You need to let him go; let him rest. Let the past go."

Lisbon wiped her face dry on Jane's coat, which made him grin. "That's a new coat, you know," he teased.

A dimple showed on her face, and she loosened the tight grip she had on the claddagh ring, breathing out heavily. "Okay. Who knows. Maybe-maybe it's a start." She gave Jane a tired smile, and he squeezed her shoulder in encouragement.

"Good, then let's do this, " he said, helping her up.

"Jane, I...don't get me wrong, but I-I think I need to do this alone," she said under her breath, and he almost didn't hear, but then smiled at her knowingly.

"I know, as should I."

"What do you mean?" Lisbon asked, puzzled.

"Woman, you're not the only one having to finally let someone go and give them the rest they deserve," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Lisbon just looked more confused.

With an exaggerated sigh, he lifted his left hand and wiggled his fingers at her, and Lisbon's eyes went wide as saucers.

"I admit, first I only thought about what I could do for you. What might help you. But then, when I remembered Angela's story, I-I suddenly knew that this was what I had waited for...that sign, if you want to call it that. She would have loved the idea that part of her would be... safe underneath a willow."

Lisbon had no idea what to say to that and so kept her mouth shut. She was certain she was just nodding dumbly, though her mind had a hard time wrapping around the idea of Jane without his wedding band. She hoped he wasn't doing this because of their talk in the F.B.I. supply closet, when she'd rather harshly told him he was still stuck in neutral and had pointed out the ring.

"Jane, you don't have to-"

"I know, and I would be lying if I said it wasn't partly because of...of my feelings for you, but I'm doing this mostly for Angela and myself. Okay? No need for any silly guilty thoughts on your part, got it?"

"Y-yeah," she said, self-consciously and the two made their way to the tree.

Each of them went around the tree―protected from view by its ground-sweeping branches―until they couldn't see the other anymore, and without knowing it, they both sunk simultaneously to the ground and stared at the earth below them.

After a minute, Jane slid the ring from his finger, and rolled it between his pointer and thumb. Then he dug a littel hole close to the tree, kissed the ring and lay it inside the hole. On a whim, he plugged out a little yellow flower and laid it beside the golden wedding band. Thoughts of Angela and Charlotte crossed his mind again, and he smiled at the memories. Ten minutes later he filled the hole with earth and lay his palm flat on top of it.

Goodbye Ange... I guess, it's time, huh? You'd have been the first to kick my ass half across the country years ago, I know that. So I have no doubt that you've been waiting for this moment. Jane paused in his thoughts. I think you would like Teresa. I know she is the only reason I'm still alive today―and not in prison. So, you don't have to worry, all right? She will keep an eye on me, whether I like it or not...if she takes me on that is. Uh... anyway, I-I hope you like it here. Another pause, then he tucked on. But in case you don't, could you abstain from getting me punched in the nose anyway?

Thank you. And thank you for choosing me when you did. I know it wasn't always easy and you deserved better than me, but for what it's worth...I loved you. Always will. And...um, give Charlotte a kiss, will you? Scratch that, of course, you will.

I-I think I gotta go now, but I promise I'll come back. And when I do, I promise you will see that I live again. Truly live.

At the same time, on the other side of the tree, Lisbon had done just the same, burying the ring in a small hole and filling it afterward. Unlike him though, she didn't know what to say.

Okay, so... uh... "This can't be so hard, can it?" she whispered harshly to herself and folded her hands in her lap.

Well, goodbye Liam...I'm sure you'd be happy to be 'home' again...

"Oh Jesus."

All right, quite honestly, I don't know what to say, um think, and I'm not sure there is anything that would be right. But I mean it, I hope you're glad to be home, on Irish soil.

A faint memory of something he'd said before she'd passed out crossed her mind then.

Um, I'm sorry too, you know, that you couldn't be that man. That we met the way we did. You being you, and me being me. That I couldn't save you, that it was too late for that. I guess we just weren't meant to be... Anyway, Jane is right, I shouldn't regret what happened. If anything our son wouldn't have been born otherwise. And though I don't know him, I can't ever regret him. I'm certain Sam made sure that he came into a loving family. So, whatever your feelings regarding me are, I hope you believe that.

I-I will pray for your soul, and hope you too will find some peace. And maybe...just maybe you will get a second chance. If you do, do me a favor...take it.

She waited another minute, gnawing on her lower lip, contemplating if there was anything else to say. When her mind stayed blank, she got up cautiously, and walked back to the little bench where Jane was already waiting for her. He smiled at her with that beatific smile of his that instantly enveloped her in a warm cocoon.

"Ready?" he asked, and Lisbon couldn't help but wonder if it meant more than what it sounded like.

She looked at him-really looked at him-and noticed that he seemed lighter. Some of the wrinkles around his eyes were gone.

And it was in this moment that she knew the answer. "Yes," she told him with conviction. "Yes, I am."

As clichéd as it had sounded, the symbolic act had untied a knot around her heart. For the first time in weeks, she felt able to breathe freely again. Thank you Angela, Lisbon thought, looking heavenward for a second.

"Good," Jane grinned, and stood up to cradle her head in his hands.

Without waiting for a another sign, he placed a lingering kiss on her lips that soon grew deeper. Reluctantly they parted, but their smiles said all there was to say.

"Mary told me this morning she baked one of her famous chocolate cakes," Jane started. "What do you say, should we try a piece?"

"Chocolate? Sure, I'm game."

"Well then, milady," Jane said, and held out his arm. "Let me lead you to the sanctified place of this house...Mary's kitchen."

Lisbon hooked her arm around his, and Jane's heart soared with happiness at the sound of her laughter. Thank you Ange, he thought, unbeknownst to Lisbon's earlier sentiment.

xxxxx

"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward."
― Steve Maraboli

xxxxx

A/N: I know this could very well serve as an ending, but I don't intend it to be. There's still some stuff to be dealt with, but the good news is, since I'm rather slow with the updates, from now on everything's gonna be fluffy, or at least going in this direction. So, I guess the waiting will be easier from now on.