Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist of any of its characters. You know the story.

Authors Note: I've got bits and pieces of Jisbon fanfiction that I've started and not finished, because I'm not sure if I can get the characters right, but I've got to try. I feel their intensity, and I feel the need to explore it further. Reviews are welcome. - Trinityblade

A warm gaze falls on her, and she can feel him. A hand almost as warm as his gaze rests on her bare shoulder. She slowly, as if in a dream, turns her head from the glass she was staring at, to look up into those infinite eyes.

No hint of a smile on his face, no trace of a laugh, this is not a joke. Not anymore. He takes her breath away.

"Dance with me, Teresa."

Not really a request and not a command. A statement. He knows she will. This is a moment totally separate from all others, and she prays that she can stay isolated here, tonight, where nothing is complicated, and he's just a man, a dear precious man, asking to hold her, here in this moment, tight in his arms.

He offers her the hand that isn't resting on her shoulder, and she blushes lightly, taking his offering. As if she ever really had a choice. She didn't need one. There was only one choice. Him, he was her choice. She chose him, and he chose life, and here they were.

Slowly she rises, and with her hand wrapped securely in his, walks out with him onto the dance floor, with the ethereal blue overhead lights shining down, making everything glow with the beauty of this night. He leads her to a spot somewhat away from the other couples on the floor.

Still holding her gaze, He gently wraps his right arm securely around her small satin covered waste, her breath hitches slightly, and then takes her other hand, that still rests in his own and pulls it in tightly between their bodies to rest on his chest, and they are home. Finally, both are where they know they belong.

Her remaining free hand curves gracefully around his neck, and he rests his forehead against hers, as the words of the song playing gently around them settle between them, and as they move begin to move, green eyes remain captivated by blue, and at that moment there are no words needed. They are the only ones there, and there is nothing else more important to either one of them than the one that they hold in their arms.

He looks into the eyes of the one who refused to give up, who wouldn't leave him in his misery, who knew him in his darkest hour, and loved him quietly through it all. He is at peace with the past, and the intensity that he had once reserved wholly for revenge on the man that he thought had taken away his life, is now directed where it belongs. Where he hopes it will be allowed to remain for the rest of his life. It rests now on his reason for living, his attention and devotion rests on her.

She is the one real thing in a world full of nightmares. This is the first time he has held her, the first time either has let down their guard fully, and it is more sacred than the sincerest of vows.

"Oh how could I face the faceless days if I should lose you now, we're so close to reaching that famous happy ending, almost believing, this ones not pretend…" she sings lightly along with the melody playing around them.

He smiles and moves to nuzzle his nose up against hers, and she is so soft, and her small hands move up to comb through his curls. They smile together, and begin to sway a little more rhythmically to the new tune that has come over the speakers.

He whispers quietly in her ear, "Ah, exactly what I was thinking.", and then begins singing softly in his low baritone voice along with the music. She didn't know he could sing, but she shouldn't really be surprised. She smiles again, and holds him tighter as he sings his heart to her, where only she can bear witness to his healing, to his joy, to his salvation. His face is now pulled back far enough away from her own that she can see his eyes, and feel his lips moving softly, feel the breath of the words he sings to her on her own. She is captivated.

Someday when I'm awfully low, and the world is cold

I will feel a glow just thinking of you

And the way you look tonight

You're lovely with your smile so warm

And your cheeks so soft there is nothing for me but to love you

And the way you look tonight

She looks up from underneath her long lashes, and watches mesmerized as he sings those words, "Nothing for me but to love you". He sings them without any hesitation and she knows he is confessing himself to her. A tear falls from her sparkling eyes and traces softly down her porcelain cheek only to be silenced in its journey by his warm lips on the corner of her mouth. She cannot breathe, and wonders absently if this is what heaven is like.

When his lips have finished kissing away her tear, he pulls his hand up to cradle her face, like it is the most precious and fragile of flowers, and smiles gently. She hesitates no longer and reaches up just the tiniest bit to kiss his lips. It is soft, and gentle, and slow, but so tender and full of promise and longing that both feel they must be making love. He pulls back, and gives her a smile brighter than any she has ever seen before, and when she mirrors it, he asks quietly,

"Will you come with me tonight?" Of course she will. There is no physically possible way for her to go anywhere else, and somehow she knows, that she will never be apart from him again.

So hand in hand they leave the dance floor, and walk silently out of the hotel ball room, and down the stairs into the lobby, afraid to say anything to break the spell hanging over them. He retrieves his coat from the doorman and wraps it around her shoulders before they head out into the cool star filled night.

A/N: This is just the first chapter, of I hope, many. Let me know what you think. I was there in the room with them as I wrote it, and now I need to try to fall out of love with them and return to my real life. Hopefully I'll be able to continue with them in this story, but only if you want me to.