It had been over half a year since the incident on the roof, since Moriarty had died and finally left John and Sherlock to live in peace.

Well, John reflects, when have our lives ever been peaceful?

In fact, their lives had been far from peaceful, but John preferred it this way. He'd much rather live a life full of unexpected twists and turns than sit there and do nothing. The unknown and spontaneity of life is pretty much what every human being on the planet signed up for every time they made an effort to get up in the mornings. Life is literally walking into the unknown, the unpredictable on a daily basis.

It was that or waste away, succumb to boredom and stagnation.

John supposed he had every right to do so after everything he'd been through. His best friend had (albeit temporarily) forgotten his existence, he'd watched his wife struggle through a brutal fight with cancer only to lose her at the end, and their lives had once again been poisoned with the presence of the infamous consulting criminal, whom John was quite happy to see die at the hand of the same best friend who'd suffered amnesia but after an encounter with Moriarty and a short stay in hospital, regained his memories.

If there was anyone in the world who was entitled to a week off to catch their breath and reflect on recent events, surely there was no better candidate than John Watson.

But he was a soldier. He refused to sit still.

Of course, there were times when the past would catch up with him, when he would be overwhelmed with emotions that everything on Baker Street seemed to stand still, the world stopped spinning on it's axis as John tried not to fall apart with the flood of feeling.

Grief for his wife. His perfect, beautiful wife who's time had come far too soon. Anger at Moriarty, for instigating Sherlock's near downfall as he struggled against his own mind. And relief. Glorious, blessed relief that it was all over – that there was no more pain for Mary, that the world was rid of Moriarty, and that John still had Sherlock.

Of course, John stayed in Baker Street. It was illogical for him to be in any other place – as Sherlock pointed out to him on more than one occasion. There were arguments, nights where tempers had risen so high that both men saw red and something nearly always got broken. But a unrequested cup of tea, or a newspaper cut-out of a particularly interesting looking case in each other's direction the following morning usually put things right.

Sherlock still took cases, still ran into the line of danger every now and again, but now he seemed more reserved, and he never did anything overly dangerous unless John was in close proximity. They were a team after all, and apparently the recent events had had at least some affect on the Consulting Detective.

John continued to visit Mary's grave. It was still hard for him to accept that she was gone. He spoke aloud to the gravestone sometimes – it helped him cope, and if he looked mad for doing so, well, John didn't care.

Occasionally, John would be wrenched from sleep by dreams of a very different ending to the rooftop scene from months ago. But Sherlock would always be there, be it to provide a source of comfort, or to sooth John back to sleep by playing the gentlest and most beautiful melodies on his violin.

The past would always haunt John, he knew and accepted that. But that's exactly what it was – the past, a mere shadow on John's existence. For now, John needed to look to the future, and that future was here, in Baker Street, with Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock had gone through just as much as John had, if not more, and yet Sherlock had supported John the entire time.

No, a more accurate description would be that they supported each other, as they always had since the Sherlock had asked 'Afghanistan or Iraq'. And, as they say, some things never change.

Because with Sherlock Holmes, there would always be John Watson – best friends, colleagues, the Detective and his Blogger, whatever you will. And that's the way John intended it to stay.

Well guys, that's it! The end! Wow... I'm actually feeling quite emotional...

This has been my most read fic, my most liked fic, and I've had such an overwhelming response to it.

Thank you guys for supporting this story so much! Really, if it hadn't been for you guys I probably would have given up this fic long ago, so thank you for that!

Special shoutout to my friend Jennie! You rock Jennie!

I hope the ending has lived up to the rest of the story, and that you guys felt like it's a suitable ending for John and Sherlock's journey!

Thank you for following this guys, I truly love you all from the bottom of my heart!

Scarlett xx