PART FIVE

"I want to do it. Putting that ring on you is my job."

"I agree." Barney handed the ring over. "Too bad I don't have a ring for you. First thing in the morning, I'm calling my ring guy."

Robin shook her head and dashed away tears with the back of her hand. "You do _not_ have a ring guy in Paris. Hold this, but do not put it on." She dropped the ring in Barney's hand as she fumbled with the clasp of the small sequined purse that hung from a chain over her shoulder. She fished inside, the purse hanging open enough for Barney to spy her shaking fingers skipping over a small mother of pearl handled pistol, a can of mace and tube of lipstick to extract a very familiar gold band, the mate to Barney's own. She held it up in the glow of the fairy lights. "Me too. Keeps the hot foreign dudes away."

"Smart," was the only word Barney could manage, too bathed in the glow of _her_ to give voice to anything else. She extended the ring to him, between thumb and forefinger, her other hand outstretched to receive his ring again. The rest of the world faded away. There was no crowd anymore, only the two of them, in a world all their own, one that only existed when they are together. One that he knew would never vanish again as long as they both would live

"Barney Stinson, will you marry me again?"

"Robin Sherbatsky, yes, I will," he announced, his voice ringing clear and true in the night. They both slid their rings home, where they had always belonged.

Applause exploded around them as the band struck up a waltz and Barney took his ex-ex-wife into his arms. She fit there, her head resting on his shoulder, all of her moving along with him as though they had never been apart.

"Does this mean we have to plan another wedding?" Her words, her breath, caressed his ear.

Barney's hand settled in the small of Robin's back. Daddy's home. "I would love to have a hundred weddings with you," he answered. "No, a thousand, a million, even, but it's not necessary."

Robin made a small sound of pure contentment. "This is enough."

"It is," Barney replied, "but we don't have to get remarried, because we're not divorced. Technically."

Robin stopped in mid-step. Her head snapped up, blue eyes wide with astonishment. "What?"

"Next time you look at our divorce papers, you'll see they're signed by Lorenzo Von Matterhorn. Are you mad?"

She landed a soft punch on his shoulder before she grasped him by the lapels and drew him back to her. "I left off the 'Junior' when I signed."

"So, technically, Lorenzo Von Matterhorn is divorced from your dad?"

"Looks that way."

Barney let out a long, low whistle. "Sucks to be them. If those two crazy kids couldn't make it work, who can?"

"Us," Robin answered, her voice strong, sure and intimate. "We can."

"We can," Barney echoed. This was real. This was true. This was love, and he would never allow either of them to forget it again. Not for a minute, and not for a lifetime. "So, what do we do now?"

A devious, playful smile tugged at Robin's lips. "What do you say we go back to New York, keep these rings on our fingers and see how long it takes everyone to notice?"

"Awesome," Barney said, and it always was, from that day forward.