A/N: Yes, I'm very much aware of the fact that Unforgivable hasn't been updated in a long time. I'm working on it. On the plus side, I've got a new beta! Yay! TY Lysh! You'll see her awesome beta powers at work in my next fic. This I couldn't wait to post. I've been at it for over a week, unsatisfied with what I came up with the first few times. This was actually quite an emotional piece for me as the subject that I tackle is very close to my heart. I'm still not entirely sure about it, but I know that if I don't post it now, it'll never get posted period. So, here it is. More Lisbon-centric this time around. As always, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Here we are again, another birthday come and gone and I have not been given a new car or the rights to any of my favourite TV shows. I guess I'll just have to take comfort in the fact that Season 2 of the Mentalist airs in precisely 50 days.

First Ray of Sunlight

It was another warm spring morning, the sun still asleep just beyond the horizon, that Teresa Lisbon found herself at a very familiar place. She had made the trip numerous times before and it had become almost a monotonous ritual. Like clockwork, she would visit her mother on the anniversary of her death, before the break of dawn, a bouquet of cream primroses and magnolias in hand. She would sit by her grave and mourn the loss of the beautiful vibrant woman who gave Lisbon her green eyes, who taught her how to love and be loved. The pain always felt more raw, more intense, on that day. Only, with the passing of time, Lisbon could feel the memories of her mother, her laugh, her touch were unwillingly beginning to fade. Each year, Lisbon would desperately try to recall every detail of her face and each year, she would feel a tiny part of her mother slip beyond her grasp.

That was until Patrick Jane came crashing into her life. Single-handedly, he managed to turn her entire world upside down. He wreaked havoc on her career and was most likely responsible for the ulcers that she'd developed from working constant damage control. She had never met anyone quite so infuriating, arrogant and childish. Yet at the same time, they had fast become the most unlikely of friends. If someone had told her six years ago that she would be solving crimes alongside a former psychic, who would somehow manage to weasel his way into her heart, she would have promptly called the men in white coats. And here she was, sitting by her mother's grave, rambling on about Jane's latest escapade. Because of him, Lisbon hardly ever visited on her mother's anniversary anymore. She had instead made it a point to see her mother whenever she felt the need to share news about her life. Because of him, there were less tears and more laughter and for some inexplicable reason, in that laughter, her mother's face suddenly became clearer in her mind. It was strange for Lisbon to think about, how Jane had changed her, how he had brought so much joy back into her life.

And it wasn't just her life that was affected. Lisbon had also noticed that Jane too was a different man. It had been a long journey for him, still is. He had finally seemed to have begun healing from the guilt of losing his family. She recalled a conversation she had with him, a couple weeks ago. He had shared a story about the day his little girl accidentally hypnotised her first grade teacher and called him in tears, begging him to help her. Grinning at the memory of Jane's face lighting up, Lisbon realised that prior to that, she couldn't remember a time he had ever smiled quite so brightly. She felt a sense of pride that Jane had begun opening up to her, about his wife and his daughter, about the life he had before she had met him. She'd often wondered what a younger, happier Patrick Jane would have been like and whether or not she would have become friends with that version of him. Shaking her head, she smiled. Lisbon caught herself thinking about Jane a lot more often as of late. They had spent the last few nights at work together, staying much later than anyone else, poring over notes and countless of files. It had been an unusual case of mistaken identity. The body of a woman was incorrectly indentified, which meant their victim was missing and another family had to be informed that their daughter, sister, wife was not coming home. Thankfully, they found the young woman, a little worse for wear, but alive. Once again, Jane's crazy elaborate schemes led them straight to where she had been kidnapped. Although he may not believe in them, Lisbon knew God made miracles happened. It wasn't an often occurrence in her line of work, a fact Lisbon knew all too well. She had witnessed enough senseless murders to last many lifetimes. So she was grateful for those small victories, even more grateful that she got to share them with Jane, with her team and most importantly, with her mother.

"It's been a good week, Mom," Lisbon spoke aloud. "We saved a life."

Reaching out, she gently ran a hand along the cool surface of the simple granite gravestone, her fingers finding the lyrics engraved below her mother's name. T'was grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us home. It had been her mother's favourite song. One that Jane had recently started humming whenever he had the chance, much to the chagrin of Cho and Rigsby. The two of them have had to endure one too many driving trips with Amazing Grace on constant repeat care of their consultant. Lisbon laughed softly. The rest of the team didn't know she could just pretend to be annoyed.

Glancing down at her watch, Lisbon realized it was time for her to leave. Slowly getting to her feet, Lisbon dusted off the loose grass from her pants. The first ray of light was barely peeking out from the edge of the sky. It was then she suddenly noticed a lone figure standing in the distance. Dressed in a simple three piece suit, he had his hands casually stuffed in his pockets. She caught his gaze, if only for a brief moment. Smiles were exchanged and nothing more. The early sun illuminated his golden curls, casting a gentle halo-like glow above his head. Lisbon smirked as she tilted her face slightly towards the heavens. Growing up, she was always told by her mother that the best quality in a man was his sense of humour. Jane definitely wasn't lacking in that department. He may have the uncanny ability to drive her up the wall but he also made her laugh as though nobody was watching her. She was beginning to think that it was her mother that brought Jane into her life as another smile took hold of her. A mother's gift to her only daughter, her own personal guardian angel.

Fin for now, Jello forever