A/N: This is just a missing scene toward the end of the episode, a little bit of Jane's stream of consciousness (and mine). It's very brief, I know, but I'm reserving my options for writing a longer post-finale fic at a later date, to help fill the long hiatus. This episode was amazing, literally a dream come true. It was funny, angsty, heartwarming, and deeply romantic. So much credit goes to the stellar acting of Simon and Robin. What more could we ask for, eh, Mentalistas?

Episode Tag: Blue Bird, 6x22

Jane sat in the TSA holding area and waited for the guilt to flood through him. But It didn't come. Instead, he felt a heady relief on par with when he'd ended Red John. There had been the rush of adrenalin as he'd limped to the plane. The pain as he'd forced the words from his throat. The relief when he'd finally unburdened himself to her. The calm when the enormity of what he'd done had registered.

He could hardly believe he'd said it out loud. It had been surreal.

He'd told another woman who wasn't his wife that he loved her, and he wasn't taking it back this time. Of course, he'd known what was in his heart for some time, ever since he'd accidentally blurted it out to Lisbon nearly four years before. It had taken them both completely by surprise back then, but while Red John was still in the world, he'd been unprepared to own up to it. It wouldn't have been fair to Teresa, knowing that he was prepared to lose his life in the pursuit of a murderer. Besides that, he just hadn't been ready, though it had been ten years since his wife and daughter had died.

With the possibility of losing someone else he loved, he couldn't keep quiet any longer. He'd been both physically and emotionally compelled to do it. Lisbon had backed him into a corner of his own making. He could fight or he could curl up into a ball, and Patrick Jane had never been one to give up. And ultimately, he wasn't that selfless. So he'd made a fool of himself, got thrown in airplane jail, yet he felt freer than he ever had before.

Even though he had likely lost Teresa forever, telling her the truth of his feelings had been an important turning point in his life. He could love again. He could take the risk. He could live again. Without Teresa, he didn't quite know how he was going to do that, but he'd survived Red John and his personal quest for revenge; he could find a way to survive this. As long as she knew he loved her, that was enough. That was everything.

He sat with his sprained foot propped on a chair, emotionally exhausted, wondering what Lisbon was thinking at that moment. He absently tapped his bottom lip. Was she regretting her decision to leave? Was she counting the minutes until she was with Pike? Did she pity him? He couldn't bear it if that were the case.

Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of green fabric brought him out of his daze.

Lisbon.

His heart stilled in his chest.

She was really here.

She'd come back.

To bail him out, or for him?

He didn't dare hope.

He saw in a glance how tired she was, how her eyes were red from crying-over him. If she'd come back for him, he swore to himself he'd do his level best never to be the cause of one more of her tears. They'd both had enough crying to last a lifetime.

Then she spoke, and he knew it had all been worth it. The twelve years of loss and longing, fear and death, interspersed with brief moments of exhilaration had led them both to this inevitable moment.

"This is another fine pickle you've gotten yourself in, huh?" she said in amusement.

Oh, yes, he thought, his heart near bursting. In more ways than one.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Look for an update soon of "Eyes Like the Sea," and chapter 2 of my new AU, "The Psychic Next Door."