1 year after the Reichenbach fall

Sherlock's POV

I still can see John standing in front of my 'grave'. I still can hear him talking to 'me'.
It took all of my willpower that day at the graveyard to not just run up to him and tell him everything
But I couldn't. I couldn't risk him getting hurt… or worse.

Today is the day. Today, exactly one year later, I'm going to see him again. He will be very emotional, I think. Maybe start crying or something. But I can't really handle emotions, so there's a probability that I might be wrong.

But John isn't the only one I tricked. Lestrade, Miss Hudson,… I even managed to trick Mycroft!
I know I should feel bad about that, but I'm actually quite proud of myself that I managed to escape from his network.
I got Mycroft Holmes to show emotions. There has got to be a sort of award for that!

I already went to Miss Hudson and Lestrade. Miss Hudson dropped her teapot, yelled a little at me, hit me a couple of times (you would be surprised about her strength!) and then she started crying.
I hugged her, but didn't say a thing myself. I couldn't find the right words to explain what I did.
And more importantly, why I did it. So I just hugged her.
Then I went to Scotland Yard. The looks on their faces! Like they had seen a ghost or something…
Ok, bad choice of words.
When I nocked at Lestrade's office, he didn't reply at first. Probably was in a meeting. I smirked. Terrific! I walked into the room and indeed: Lestrade was sitting behind his desk. In front of him: Anderson and Donnovan. This day just got ten times better!
'What… the…' That was all Anderson said. I don't know how much of his brain cells it took him to come up with that.
Sally just stared. But I thought that she didn't was so pale when I left. Strange…
Lestrade stood up and walked over to me. When he was right in front of me, he stood still. He reached out to touch my shoulder. When he actually could touch it, he jumped back a little from surprise. I couldn't help but smile at this reaction.
Then, he did something I wouldn't have expected me to do.

He tackled me to the ground! And he pinned me down! At that point, both Anderson and Donnovan burst out in laughter. I tried to get loose, but Lestrade was a quiet strong man for his height. 'Lestrade', I managed to say 'It's me. Sherlock Holmes. Don't you remember me?' 'Oh, I remember you, already' Lestrade answered 'You were the guy that left us all of a sudden. And clearly, you faked that! So once again, we are the idiots and you the genius Congratulations' All of this was said with a voice filled with anger. I actually got scared. If this was Lestrade's reaction, what would John's be?!

After a couple of minutes, he stood back up and then pulled me up as well. When we were back on our feet, he sighed. 'I had always wanted to do that!' He said with a small smirk on his face. I also gave him a little smile.
He ordered Anderson and Donnovan to leave and asked me to sit down. 'So', he said 'how did John react? Did he punch you in the face?' He smiled at that last part. I kept quiet and looked at the carpet. Hmm, new colour… 'Oh no' Lestrade said a little scared 'Don't tell me you came here before you went to John?' When I didn't respond, he got his answer.
'Sherlock! He was devastated! Even after an entire year, he can't say your name properly without feeling guilty!' Now I was the one who was surprised. 'How so guilty' I asked. '… He blamed himself for your suicide' Lestrade answered. My eyes grew big. 'He said that he must me a terrible friend', Lestrade continued 'if you hadn't trusted him enough to let him in on how you were feeling. He moved out two weeks after the… incident. He wasn't able to live with all the memories. But Mycroft kept paying the rent. So at the moment, I think that your apartment is still empty'
Once again, I was dumbfounded. Mycroft didn't know I was still alive. So why did he keep paying the rent? Although money had never been a problem for him, he WAS the British government, he wouldn't give it away for no apparent reason.
Sentiment?
Could it be?
No, not his brother!
Not the man who practically could start a war with one text.
Not that guy!

Right?

Author's note: I know Sherlock's return had been done so many times before. But I still want to give it a shot. Let me know what you think! Review, send me a message,…
Already: thanks a lot for reading! :D