Well hello! It's date time readers! So first and foremost, this idea comes to us from at least a couple of prompts. I very much thank Sherlockedinseattle and Bucky5 for requesting a Sherlolly date. Sherlockedinseattle specifically mentioned the setting for the date which I thought was brilliant! And one of the lovely romantic activities on the date was Bucky5's idea. :)

Just a note, the location of their date is real. I found it online and it's amazing! I wish I could say I've been there myself, but I must confess that I describe the setting only based on maps and websites that google searches provided me with. So if there's any readers who are lucky enough to have visited personally, I hope I didn't mess anything up too much! Ok everyone, enjoy! ;)


By about a week later, Sherlock felt plenty ready to execute his plan for taking Molly on a date. And it was far from dinner and a film. He was pleased with himself though, that he'd managed to come up with a location that would hold appeal for both Molly and himself. Though he wasn't opposed to occasionally doing something purely for her benefit, he knew he'd be less than the best company if he was stuck doing something that didn't interest him at all.

Molly rolled over that Friday morning and saw that Sherlock was up and sitting in bed using his mobile phone.

"Looks like it'll be a lovely day outside." he announced.

"Mmm, good." she muttered in a still scratchy morning voice. She scooted over and leaned her head on Sherlock's chest, unwilling to get up right away.

"Fancy a bit of an outing today?"

Her head shot up and looked at him in question.

"Outing? What do you mean, outing? You're not taking cases today?"

"No, I'm not. I mean perhaps we could go out and do something together... for fun." and he gave her a sideways glance before looking back to his phone.

Molly blinked, and stayed frozen looking up at him. So he continued.

"If you'd rather not-"

"No! No, I mean, yes I'd like to. I'd like to go somewhere for fun with you. Of course I'd like that. May I ask what brought this on?" and Molly had to smirk a little.

"Does it...matter?"

"No, not really. But I think I know why you're doing it." and her smile widened.

Sherlock rolled his eyes slightly and sighed. Molly laughed and shifted herself a bit so she sat up with him, then she planted kisses on his cheek and neck.

"I don't care if Mary told you to take me on a date. As long as you're happy to do it. I'm not here to change you Sherlock Holmes, I hope you still remember that." and her chin came to rest on his shoulder.

He turned his head to look at her and his nose almost touched hers. "I remember." he said softly. And then he put his mobile down beside the bed and wrapped arms around her, pulling her into a kiss. Molly hummed against his lips and pulled him down by the shoulders so that he fell on top of her.

"I like it here." she whispered when Sherlock finally broke away from her mouth. "Does this date have to involve leaving the bed?"

Sherlock let out a low slow rumble of a laugh that made her wish even more to stay exactly where they were. Then he pressed one more pleasantly firm kiss on the side of her neck before rolling off of her and exiting the bed. Molly groaned in protest and slowly sat up while pouting a little.

"It so happens that we are going to one of my favorite places in London." he announced happily, as he pulled on some trousers. "But I believe that you will also enjoy it. I think it holds an appeal for us both. We both, in different ways, find fascination in a rather unusual topic."

"Well, you've got me interested I suppose." and she dragged her own body up and began to rummage for clothes.

While Molly was busy getting herself ready in the bathroom, Sherlock took the time to fill a backpack with some fruit and other snacks he knew Molly liked, and a couple bottles of water. He didn't plan to come back to Baker street until much later. And where they were going, there wouldn't exactly be a menu.

About half past nine they climbed into the cab Sherlock had flagged down and he gave Molly a half smile.

"I suppose I can't completely surprise you. Have to actually tell the driver where we're going don't I?... Highgate cemetery please."

"Oh!" Molly's eyes lit up. "I've been there too. Lovely place!"

He smiled, pleased that he'd been right. Though he already knew he would be. "I knew you'd like it."

"What's in the bag?" Molly motioned to the backpack at Sherlock's feet.

"Some refreshments. We will be needing them."

"Why? Are we camping in the cemetery?" she laughed.

"Ah, if only we could Molly, but I'll already be taking liberties today which aren't allowed to the general public. You'll see... But anyway, I'm sure you'll be hungry while we're still there, so I brought provisions."

"Taking liberties eh? What did you do? Get the groundskeeper off on a murder charge?"

Sherlock gave her a devious look. "Perhaps I helped him bury the body."

Molly smiled at him sweetly causing her nose scrunch to up, and he laughed inwardly that there weren't many women that would find such joking endearing.

They arrived at the entrance of the cemetery within twenty minutes and made their way to the entrance.

"Are we taking a tour?" Molly asked.

"We are not. We don't need to take a tour to explore Highgate East." he said as he went about paying for their entrance.

"Oh, well I do know that. I've been to the East cemetery before actually. But I know that you can't get into the West cemetery without a tour."

Sherlock peered over at her with a half smile as they entered the grounds. "That's not exactly going to be the case today."

"Ah! I see what you mean now about taking liberties! Figures that you'd have your run of the cemetery. You seem to manage to have your run of any place that houses corpses! Is there a silly woman who works here somewhere that falls all over herself every time you visit?" and she hooked her arm into his.

"You've found me out Molly." and he smiled down at her.

They spent almost two hours wandering around the East cemetery. It was rather crowded, although it was certainly beautiful and enjoyable to walk around. Molly enjoyed simply reading the sections of grave stones that belonged to particular families. It was like a little family album to read who was related to who and who died when. Sherlock enjoyed making deductions based on what they could read as well.

"He loved her most of all." Sherlock stated in a more solemn tone than was typical for him. He gestured to the headstone of a woman who died at the age of twenty two and was buried with her baby. They had both died the same day.

"You notice that this man didn't have any other children with this woman. They were clearly married for a short time. She died in childbirth, leaving him with no other children. He would have been only twenty five at the time. And yet according to the ages of his subsequent children with his second wife, he didn't marry again till he was in his early thirties. This second wife dies some years later as well. He clearly didn't hold as much deep affection for her seeing as he married and fathered two more children with wife number three beginning in the very next year. The third wife outlived him, but was married to him by far the longest. And yet, look." and Sherlock gestured to the placement of the headstones.

Molly felt a lump in her throat as she saw what Sherlock meant. "He was buried next to his first wife." she said quietly.

"Defying logic and the connection of living children, this man who died at the age of seventy chose to be buried beside the woman he spend likely only a couple short years with. And it was a whole forty five years before his death. The inscription under her name reads... Gone but never forgotten."

"My God, how beautiful." Molly murmured and grasped Sherlock's hand. She reached up and wiped a tear that had managed to work it's way down her cheek.

"Forgive me Molly... Is this perhaps the wrong atmosphere for a good date?" and he looked concerned as he noticed her emotion.

"No! Sherlock, this is perfect. It's lovely. Just because it's emotional doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it. I love all this stuff, you know that."

"Oh good. I can just imagine Mary practically strangling me if she knew I took you to a cemetery for a date and made you cry. Probably not exactly what she had in mind."

"Oh who cares what Mary thinks! This is what you wanted to do with me, and that's what matters. And as I said, I do love it." Molly gave his hand a squeeze as they continued to move along.

Soon they came to the gravesite of an Austrian sculptor named Anna Mahler. Molly stopped short as she looked at the simply designed slim statue of a woman that adorned the grave stone. The figure held her stone hands perfectly over her face.

Molly gasped and grabbed Sherlock's arm.

"What? What is it Molly?"

"Sherlock!" she whispered. "Don't blink!"

Sherlock gave her a confused sideways glance and looked back and forth between the statue and his girlfriend who was staring at it. "Sorry, what? Why exactly wouldn't I blink?"

Molly frowned at Sherlock, then her eyes widened in shock. "Oh Sherlock don't tell me you haven't seen- Well, actually that's no surprise at all is it? That does it, I know what we're watching tonight whether you like it or not."

Sherlock shrugged as they continued on. "Whatever you say Molly. I suppose it's only fair you get to pick an activity today as well."

They had explored most of the East section of Highgate, and then made their way to the entrance of the West which was next to the chapels. There was a guard standing there who looked rather stern.

"It's mid week." he said as Sherlock and Molly approached. "You have to schedule a tour in advance. And there's no tours on schedule for today."

"Actually, we won't be requiring a tour." then Sherlock produced a note that the man read. And he also shoved his identification at him.

"Ah. I see... Well then, I suppose you're taken care of. Enjoy the sights Mr. Holmes." and then the guard unlocked the entrance and let them by.

They went in and the gate was locked behind them. Molly picked up the pace and caught up to Sherlock who was quick to get beyond the entrance. She dropped her voice as she spoke to him.

"Well that was impressive! What in the world did you do to get such unlimited access to the most exclusive area of the cemetery?"

"Some years back I actually solved a case for the Friends of Highgate Cemetery. They are the group responsible now for the upkeep and funding to keep this place alive... pardon the humor everyone." and Sherlock glanced around him. "They were dealing with a rather difficult bunch of grave robbers. They had a number of instances where damage was done and even a couple people's remains were stolen. It was clear that those who were involved were professionals. So they were extremely difficult to catch. I caught them of course." and he grinned.

"Lovely! And so now you practically own the place. It's good for you they don't know how much you enjoy taking body parts for your own experimental use. If so, they may be more worried about your access to the place rather than any random grave robbers!"

"You certainly may be right. But yes, thankfully they feel nothing but a deep gratitude to me for my help. I saved them a considerable amount of money by preventing future damage. It's expensive enough to deal with the regular upkeep of the place."

They had passed under the colonnade and continued on the White Eagle path to the left. The winding wooded paths that housed the largely ivy covered older graves on either side of them was partially sunlit through the trees, and it was to Molly, one of the most beautiful and serene places she'd ever had the pleasure of visiting. Eventually they made their way to Egypt avenue with it's impressive gate and stonework which echoed the fascination with Egyptian culture and architecture at the time of it's building.

Molly's breath caught when they came upon the impressive Circle of Lebanon. The below ground circle of tombs created a base for the massive and beautiful cedar tree above. They descended the stairs that led down and took their time examining the tombs. There were tomb doors on either side of them as they walked around the circle, and it almost felt to Molly as though they were in the hallway of a hotel rather than a cemetery. Though she realized that this was one hotel you don't get to check out of.

When they'd seen enough they came back up the stairs and found a bench not far away. They could still enjoy the sight of the majestic cedar from where they sat. Molly then broke into the backpack Sherlock had been carrying and was grateful he'd brought some snacks and water. She had an apple and some nuts and felt refreshed. Sherlock had a bit as well, and then they sat in contented silence as they enjoyed the breeze that blew through the trees.

"This has been lots of fun Sherlock. This is even better than the fake dating." she said leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I hope that most anything I chose would have been a bit above my only pretending to have feelings for you."

"Yes of course." she laughed. "But I appreciate that you really put some thought into this. You could have just taken me to dinner at Angelo's or something. That's about all I was expecting when Mary told me she was going to talk to you."

Sherlock's eyes narrowed and he looked a little unsure for a moment. "So then... are you saying that dinner at Angelo's would be...unappealing?"

Molly giggled then. "Oh! Was that going to be our next stop?"

Sherlock smirked a little.

"Oh no! Sorry! I didn't mean I wouldn't like it. You know I'd be happy to eat there... I just didn't think you'd do anything unusual, that's all. I couldn't imagine you taking me on some sort of sight seeing like this or dancing or anything like that."

He tipped his head, peering at her. "Why do you think I wouldn't dance with you?"

"Well, I don't think you wouldn't exactly. It's just that... I don't know. We've never done that, so I guess it just seemed unlikely."

"You saw me dance at John's wedding."

"Well yes, and you were good too. But I saw you do a lot of things at John's wedding that could all easily have been because he's your best friend and you wanted to do everything you could to be a proper best man."

"I suppose we're still learning about each other... It so happens Molly, that I enjoy dancing." and he smiled at her.

"Do you now?" she said in a surprised tone as her own smile spread.

Suddenly he got up from where he sat and began working quickly on his phone. A moment later, Molly heard a simple tune coming from the device and Sherlock increased the volume, making it a bit louder. He sat it on the bench where he had been. Then he removed his coat and scarf, laying it down as well, and extended his hand to Molly.

"Come on, we can dance right here."

Molly laughed a little. "What? Right here? In the cemetery?"

"Sure, why not? If I giggle at crime scenes, I may as well dance in a cemetery as well. Besides, I'm sure these folks haven't had much in the way of entertainment lately."

Molly glanced around, as if she should check to make sure nobody was watching. Then she slowly got up and removed her own coat before walking closer to move into the arms Sherlock held out. He positioned them very properly with his hand around her back and hers anchored on his shoulder.

"Do you know how to waltz Molly?" he questioned as they began to move, but she kept tripping over her own feet.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes detective, I know how. But it has been a while. It's not exactly something I do every day. And even when I dance at parties it usually ends up being fast dancing or perhaps some of the more modern style of slow dancing that involves little or no skill."

"We'll have to make you practice more often then, wont we?" and he grinned smugly. Molly gave him a little whack on the shoulder.

They did fall into a better rhythm though. As they kept moving and Molly felt more comfortable being led by Sherlock, she didn't stumble so much. And there was something that felt especially meaningful about dancing with him here, where it was beautiful and peaceful. It was also a place full of tragedy. Every single spot that held someone's body many feet below had also been a place of tears and pain and loss. People still living had stood in those very places and wished to be anywhere but there. Wished for their loved one to be anywhere but below them. So somehow it was hauntingly beautiful to dance here, and feel so happy here. It felt good to put a little happiness back into a place that housed so many tears from years past. And she felt like it was appropriate that it should be them, together, waltzing here. Because death was such an important part of life for the two of them. And they felt a deep respect for each and every person who was laid to rest beneath their feet...

"I wonder how many people here were murdered?" Sherlock asked himself aloud with a little excited gleam in his eyes.

Well, Molly thought with an inward laugh, at least she felt a deep respect.

They only danced for as long as the one song was that Sherlock played on his phone. It was getting to be later afternoon by then and they still needed to make their way back through the cemetery. They looped around passing through the terrace catacombs and then coming back through Highgate West on the path they hadn't taken on the way in.

The guard that had let them in earlier was still there and opened the gate for them to return to the East area of the cemetery. They made their way back through that section as well till they were back at the main entrance.

"So you enjoyed it?" he asked as they stopped by the road to wait for a cab.

"Very much. It's beautiful. And I'd always wanted to take a tour of the West cemetery, but had never got the chance. I suppose I'm glad I didn't though. It was so much better to experience it like this."

"I'm glad... And perhaps this will keep Mary off my back for a little while."

Molly then clapped her hands together happily as a cab stopped by the curb. "Oh that's right! Now we can watch Lizzie while Mary and John have a night out! I can't wait!"

"Should it trouble me that you are this excited at the prospect of watching a small person who drools, cries, and doesn't use a toilet."

"I'm a woman. It's pretty much how we're made. It's a lovely prospect to most of us. So no, it shouldn't worry you. Besides, you love her just as much as I do, don't try to deny it!"

"I would never deny my love for the child... My desire to clean up after her various bodily functions on the other hand, mmm not so much."

As the cab began to drive after Sherlock had given the address of Angelo's, Molly began texting Mary.

GUESS WHO TOOK ME ON A DATE TODAY? -MH

I CERTAINLY HOPE THE ANSWER IS SHERLOCK... -MW

IT WAS LOVELY. HE WAS VERY SWEET. WE WENT TO HIGHGATE CEMETERY. :) -MH

... OK -MW

I WAS SO GLAD, BECAUSE I LOVE CEMETERIES! SO BEAUTIFUL, AND PEACEFUL, AND EMOTIONAL. IT WAS THE PERFECT DAY! -MH

WELL JOHN IS RIGHT, YOU TWO REALLY ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER! -MW

NOW WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO ANGELO'S. -MH

AH... GETTING BETTER ;) -MW

SO YOU'D BETTER GET PLANNING A DATE MRS. WATSON! BECAUSE WE ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR BABYSITTING BUSINESS! :) -MH

PLEASE! I'VE BEEN PLANNING FOR THE PAST WEEK! I'LL BE IN TOUCH SOON AND WE'LL PICK A DAY... GLAD SHERLOCK MADE AN EFFORT. ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR EVENING, AND TELL HIM I SUPPOSE HE'S SAFE FOR NOW. -MW

Molly showed Sherlock the text feed and he sighed heavily. "Well, it seems I've dodged a bullet this time... perhaps literally."

"Yes, perhaps!... Now, let's go have a nice quiet dinner. Then, as I promised, we're going back to Baker Street to watch the best episode of Dr. Who ever!"

Sherlock rolled his eyes a bit. "Oh fine. If you insist... I confess I am a bit intrigued based on what I've heard of the show's writer. Strikes me as the type that has repressed psychopathic tendencies. Perhaps he creates emotionally troubling and addictive programs that are designed to ensnare people's minds, in an effort to keep himself on the straight and narrow. He could probably be a dangerous criminal if he doesn't keep himself properly occupied!"

Molly giggled at the deduction.

"It's a valid theory..." he stated simply while staring out the window of the cab. "Perhaps Moriarty should have tried writing for television."


Not gonna lie guys, I'm proud of my reference right there hehehe!... Are you listening Moffat? Huh huh?! That's right! You're one step away from a criminal mastermind based on the way you toy with people's FEELS lol!

Also... I wanted to make one more mention. So, my lovely reader Sherlockedinseattle has now also turned WRITER! She's begun a story called I Need A Favor. It's a Mycroft and Anthea pairing that stemmed from her wonderful ideas after my meet the Holmes parents chapter. It's set in the Winds of Change and Window into Change ficverse and I couldn't be more pleased that she's doing it! If you haven't checked it out yet, please go do so now! It's so good! ;D