A/N: So to quote the great Michael Jackson, This is it. The final part of the story. Thank you to all my readers and especially to the ones that reviewed. It really means a lot to me. I'm happy that you all enjoyed the story and so I also hope that you like this ending.

Jess

Epilogue

Amused, Horatio watched Calleigh eating the last bites of her meal. Sometimes he wondered how she could eat so much, but stay so slim, but then again, he kind of knew why; he was after all the man who had to jog with her almost every evening. "So did you enjoy your first Irish Stew?" he asked and casually leaned back in his chair.

"I loved it," she replied cheerfully and grinned at her boyfriend. "I'm actually surprised by that."

"And why is that?" he asked intrigued and took a sip of his beer.

"Because I actually thought that it was with mint sauce and I'm not exactly a friend of that, you know?" she shrugged.

Horatio just smiled. "Ah. Well, no, the original Irish Stew isn't with mint sauce," he shook his head. "I know that they always say that in movies, but it's wrong. There is a dish with meat and mint, but that's no Irish Stew."

"Well I'm happy that you convinced me to try it; too bad it's too warm in Miami for such a dish."

"True, but I cooked it, once or twice for Alexx and her family."

"You can cook it?" she asked surprised. She knew that Horatio wasn't completely helpless in the kitchen, even though he didn't have to cook for himself, but a Stew? Now that was interesting.

"Of course I can," he chuckled. "My mother and grandmother were pretty good cooks and since I was the only kid, they showed me the one or other thing in the kitchen. Stobhach gaelach, as we call it, was my mother's favourite dish. When it was the time of the year, we had it…almost every week."

Calleigh pulled a face. "Every week?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Once Kathryn and I left Ireland, we didn't have Irish Stew for some years."

"I can completely understand that," she snickered as well. "So what else did your mother teach you?"

"My love for whiskey, ah no that was my father," he joked. "I don't know, nothing special I guess," he just shrugged. "Beef in Guinness? Our Irish version of Coq Au Vin, so to say."

Shaking her head at that, she just smiled. "I can really see that you're a true Irishman…whiskey, Guinness," she pulled his leg.

"Of course," he laughed. "That's tradition; we had long, cold winter and needed to stay warm and happy."

"You're a trip," she snorted and got up from her chair. "Excuse me for a minute?"

Getting up as well, he nodded. "Of course. Do you want something else? A dessert?"

"No thanks, I'm pretty full actually," she smiled and left their table.

"Okay, then," he said to himself and waved at the waitress.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal?" the young woman asked and started to clear up the dishes.

"Yes, thank you. "Foster's Irish Stew is always the best."

"So you're coming here often?" she asked, because she wasn't sure if she had seen him here before.

"Not as much as I want to, but I enjoyed it every time."

"Thank you, I'll tell the chef."

"Please," he smiled. "May I have the bill, please?"

"Of course, Sir."

Watching her go, he just smiled. It felt incredible good to be in Ireland again. A few months ago, his life had changed completely and now he was enjoying it to its fullest. The moment he had taken revenge on Gabriel, a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, a burden he hadn't even realised he had. In a way, he had made peace with his past and that made him able to live in the here and now and for the future. A future he was sharing with a wonderful woman, who was currently taking some time to come back again.

After he had left the warehouse, he had immediately made his way to the boys and Calleigh. She'd still been weak, but nothing life-threatening. The real wounds had been psychological ones actually. Gabriel had been a vampire after all, a vampire who'd hurt her and the fact that he, Horatio, was a vampire as well, hadn't been a perfect combination at first.

More than once she'd woken up in the middle of the night, distraught by nightmares and every time she had flinched at his touch, his heart had been broken into pieces. He had hated Gabriel at that very moment with a rage he'd never felt before, but the monster was dead for good. It had taken him a lot of patience and love to make her feel comfortable in his presence again and this vacation together was the wonderful outcome of his work.

Going to Ireland had actually been Calleigh's idea, but Horatio hadn't even hesitated for a moment. Talking about his family and Kathryn in particular had made him realise that he was missing his old home and having the opportunity to show it to Calleigh had been too good to ignore.

And here they were in a restaurant, which was actually older than himself and eating his favourite meal. Could life get any better than this?

When Calleigh walked back to their table, she couldn't help but let her eyes roam over the interior of the restaurant. It was old, no question about it, but also very warm and welcome. Horatio had told her that it hadn't changed at all over the last 200 years and so she had a small glimpse of what houses must have looked like in the old world. It wasn't fancy or glamorous, it was plain and simple and she liked it.

Passing the bar, she noticed that a woman was watching their table and Horatio in particular. Now this was interesting. She was almost used to women staring at her man, who was always so oblivious to that. She couldn't blame them of course, with his red hair, husky voice and handsome face it was almost impossible to ignore him. Maybe she was a bit biased in that, but she didn't care.

Seeing her wide grin, Horatio couldn't help but wonder what has gotten into her. "What happened?" he asked and was expecting the worse, whatever this 'worse' might be.

"Nothing," she chirped and sat down again.

Raising his brows at that, he shook his head at her. "Sure," he replied and handed the waitress his credit card.

"Really," she drawled when the woman had left again. "Okay, maybe…well…you're being watched.

"By whom?" he furrowed his brows.

"A woman at the bar," she replied and nudged his leg with her foot when he turned around to have a better look at the bar. "Don't be so obvious," she groaned at him.

"I'm not obvious," he exclaimed and rubbed his shin. "Are you wearing metal boots?"

Calleigh just rolled her eyes at him. "Next time I will," she threatened.

Poking out his tongue, he took another glance, a little less obvious this time. "Hmm."

"Do you know her?" Calleigh asked curiously.

Horatio turned around again. "It's been years that I was here for the last time," he pointed out. "But no, I've never seen her before. She reminds me of someone though; I just can't put my finger on it."

"Oh well, she's probably one of your fans."

"My fans?" he asked confused.

"Don't think about it, Handsome," Cal just smiled. "So what's next on the schedule?"

Still confused, he needed a moment to reply. "Well if you don't mind, the cemetery isn't far away and.."

Knowing what he wanted to say, Cal couldn't help but interrupt him. "Of course we can go there." Over the last few months, she had made her peace with his late wife. She knew that Horatio would always have a place in his heart for Kathryn and this was okay for her. In actual fact, she enjoyed it when he was talking about the old times.

"Wonderful, thank you," he smiled shyly and didn't have to say anything else, because the waitress was back again.

"I hope you're having a nice stay. Maybe we'll see you again in Foster's," she smiled at the couple.

"There's a good chance for that, thank you," Calleigh replied and together they left the restaurant. "So lead the way, Handsome."

"It's a good thing that things haven't changed a lot here," he reached for her hand. "So we won't get lost," he joked. Sometimes he wondered if his hometown had changed at all. It was still the small, friendly town he remembered.

"Well we're tourists, we have the right to get lost," Calleigh entwined their fingers.

"That's true," he laughed and started to walk. They had barely made it around the first corner, when they heard a female voice behind them.

"Ah excuse me, ma'am, sir?"

They both stopped and turned around in perfect unison. It was the lady from the restaurant who'd watched Horatio. "How can we help you?" Horatio asked.

"I know this sounds probably weird, maybe even crazy, " the young woman answered and looked at her feet.

Looking at each other, Horatio and Cal just shrugged. "Okay?"

"Well you see, I know this sounds hardly believable, but you," she was looking at Horatio, "you're looking just like my great granduncle. Or...maybe a few more grands actually," she said sheepishly.

Horatio didn't know what to say. This sounded really crazy on the one hand, but on the other, it was entirely possible. "I do?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm really sorry to interrupt you and watching you in the restaurant, but when I saw you I just had to think of him. Because, well yeah, you really look like him."

"What's your name?" Horatio asked intrigued.

"Lisa Swanson," she replied truthfully and Horatio felt his jaw drop.

"Lisa Swanson," he repeated quietly. That had been Kathryn sister's name. "Well nice to meet you Ms. Swanson. This is Calleigh Duquesne and my name is Horatio-"

"Caine?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," he chuckled.

"Then it's true? Did your ancestors go to the US?"

"Yeah, my namesake and his wife, Kathryn," Horatio replied even though it wasn't the ultimate truth. He couldn't tell her though that he was indeed the Horatio Caine who'd left Ireland almost 200 years ago.

"This is amazing," the girl clapped her hands. "Oh my god. Are you here on vacation?"

"Yes, we are," he smiled at Calleigh, who was rather amused by the situation.

"Such a coincidence. My side of the family never knew if Horatio and Kathryn had any children, but seeing you here answers the question," she grinned. "I can't wait to tell the others. Oh I know something better; you have to come over tonight."

Calleigh couldn't help but smile at the hyper girl in front of them. "Yeah, why not?" she said, which surprised Horatio.

"Are you sure?"

"Why not? I'm sure that you'd like to meet your family," she smiled at him. It was his family after all and she knew that family meant a lot to him.

"Oh yes you have to come, the others will never believe me," Lisa chimed in. "Pretty please?"

The way she was looking at him, reminded him of Kathryn. She always knew her way around him and what her pleading eyes would do to him. "I think…I think this could be interesting."

"Yes!" Lisa exclaimed. "We still live in the Swanson estate. I'm not sure if you've heard about it?"

"I have, don't worry about it. So much that I'd find it in complete darkness."

Calleigh just smiled inwardly at his comment.

"Wonderful, how about seven p.m.? We'll have a wonderful family meal, like in the old times. There's so much to discus."

"Oh yes, there is," Horatio nodded, a little overwhelmed.

"Then I'll leave you two alone now. If you can't find the estate, just get a cab, they'll know."

"Sure thing," Calleigh replied for her boyfriend. "See you later," she smiled and sighed when Lisa was out of ear shot. "Wow, this side of the family is quite hyper, huh?"

"She's like Kathryn's sister. Her brother and Kathryn weren't like that. But now I know why she reminded me of someone," he said wistfully.

"Hey," she rubbed his back. "Are you okay? Don't you want to meet them?"

"Oh, no, it's not like that. I really want to meet them. I've always wondered what happened to the rest of the family and this is a great way to find out."

"So why do I have the impression that you're still not happy?"

Horatio just shrugged. "For one thing, because I have to act like someone else in a way, but most of all, because I'm not sure if I want to recall all the memories once we enter the house."

Smiling at him, she kissed his cheek. "I think it'll be worth it, Horatio. Granted, it might be a sad feeling at first, but meeting all those people, your family, will make it worth. You'll remember the happy times you had there."

"Do you think so?"

"Oh absolutely," she nodded.

"Thank you," he wrapped his arms around her. "For being so open and supportive about this."

"I know how important family is to you, Horatio. And this part of the family is a direct link to Kathryn, and I know how important she is to you. Of course I'm open to this, I'm really looking forward meeting them and have a real Irish family dinner."

"Oh this will be quite an experience, believe me," he laughed. "Especially with this family."

"Can't wait then," she smirked. "And now stop thinking. We have a place to be and then we need to get ready for the evening," she took matters in her hands.

"You're right," he kissed her lightly. "I'm happy that you're here with me. Coming home was one of the best decisions ever."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Smiling at that, he entwined their hands again and continued his way to the cemetery. He would say hello to the old part of his family there and later that evening, he'd say hello to a very new part.

Getting his revenge all those months back had really changed his life and he was incredibly happy about it. Sometimes he still felt a bit bitter about it, because he'd wanted to take his revenge much earlier. But then again, he might have never met Calleigh then and this was something he didn't want to think about.

His revenge had been bittersweet, but he wouldn't want to have it any other way.

In the end he'd gotten his revenge and this was all that mattered; this and having found peace after so many years.

The End