AN: I am completely amazed and awestruck at your encouraging reviews, both for this story and for Eventide. Thank you all, every single one of you, for your support. It truly is an honor to write for such a fantastic fandom.

This one was rather difficult to write; I really didn't want to say goodbye to this universe. I adore this version of Jane and Lisbon. Perhaps, if the right story comes along, I'll revisit this series someday. But for now, I hope you like the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.

Epilogue: The Worthwhile Fight

Two months later

Jane's hands covered her eyes, and he guided her from the entryway of their home to the living room.

"Jane, I swear, if you've bought another horse for me…" Lisbon trailed off, any chance she had at delivering a stern tone obliterated by the giggles that bubbled up and escaped her lips.

"Technically," said Jane, his lips close to her ear, still leading her through the house, "it was a pony, not a horse." Lisbon rolled her eyes, and he felt the movement under his palms. "Watch yourself, woman, or I may decide to take the gift back."

He uncovered her eyes with a flourish. "Et voila!" he said, grinning from ear to ear, his arms gesturing wildly to something in front of them.

Lisbon's breath caught. Standing in the middle of their living room, just in front of the fireplace, was an ebony grand piano.

Without looking at him, he grabbed his hand and squeezed gently then walked slowly over to the piano, her footsteps echoing loudly around them. She touched her fingertips to the keyboard cover, and goosebumps exploded up her arm.

"It's Charlotte's piano," Lisbon breathed, and for a ludicrous second she was relieved he hadn't bought her another exorbitantly expensive gift. She turned to him. "You had it shipped from Malibu?"

Jane shrugged. "It wasn't getting any use there," he said. "And after you got accepted into Northwestern, I figured you deserved something to celebrate. And of course, to practice with."

Lisbon turned back to the piano, moisture suddenly building in her eyes. She sat down on the bench, and the memories of the last time she'd played this particular instrument came back to her.

A cold, sleepless night spent at Jane's Malibu home on the run from Red John. A secret song for Jane that hadn't remained secret for long. And after—their first night together.

"Remember that night?" she asked softly, and he was suddenly behind her. She felt him nod against her.

"Of course."

"You said you loved me. It was the first time you told me—I mean really told me."

Jane's arms twisted around her, and she leaned back into him. "I love you, Lisbon," he said softly, releasing her and coming to sit on the bench by her side. He pushed the keyboard cover up, and Lisbon watched, fascinated, as he began to play.

The notes were slightly staccato, and he didn't have the rhythm down quite right, but she recognized the song immediately.

It was the song she'd played for him that night, more than a year ago.

"How…" she asked, looking over with glossy eyes at him and a sappy smile on her face.

He missed a note as he answered her, but he caught on again quickly. "Two words, Lisbon: memory palace." He grinned. "That, and a lot of time at the local music shop to practice." She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he kissed her gently.

"Aren't you going to sing?" he asked. "I'd do it myself, but I think I'd ruin your song."

She looked over at him. "This is perfect, Jane. The song's even better this way. As a duet," she said, and he started over so she could sing along, her strong, sure voice blending with his slightly shaky but competent accompaniment.

When his hands played the last note, he turned towards her.

"That night," he said, "when you first played for me, I told you that I wished I could listen to you sing every day."

She smiled. "I remember."

Jane looked at her seriously. "Lisbon, I love falling asleep to your lullabies, and I love waking up to your voice. And I still mean what I said then. I want to hear you sing every day. I want to hear you sing every day for the rest of my life."

Lisbon couldn't think. Her mind was hopelessly and blissfully blank.

She could only feel.

Jane reached into the pocket on the front of his vest and pulled out a small, black, velvet box. He opened it, and she spared the ring one glance before setting her eyes on Jane's face.

"I can't imagine facing anything without you anymore," he continued, his voice cracking with emotion, and she reached out to grab his hands when they began to shake. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. "I know I've said this before, but you saved me, Teresa. Again and again. And I want to be there beside you for…for as long as we're alive—and I want to be the one who saves you. Not that you'll need saving," he added hastily, and she laughed out loud, remembering a conversation from a previous life. "But if for some reason you do, it would be my privilege. You've been my partner for a long time, Lisbon. I want you to always be my partner. I want you to be my wife."

One of Jane's hands touched her face tenderly, and she realized he was wiping away tears.

"Teresa, will you marry me?"

For once in her life, Lisbon didn't have to think.

"Yes," she said emphatically, laughing and crying at the same time. "Yes, of course! Yes."

He slid the ring onto her finger.

It was never removed.

Chicago in June was breathtaking. Spring had finally been chased away, and summer took over, bringing with it bright green leaves and aromatic flowers to decorate the suburbs.

From a window in the master bedroom of their lakeside home, Lisbon looked out over her backyard. It had been transformed for the day with roses and silky pastel fabric, and her closest friends were talking, laughing, and smiling below her. Everyone was seated in rows of chairs, divided into two groups by an aisle down the middle. Lisbon looked down to the end of the aisle, and her breath caught.

Jane was staring up at her, looking exceedingly gorgeous in a pristine, blue-gray suit. He smiled at her.

"All set?" came a voice behind her.

Lisbon turned around, and Virgil Minelli reached up to pull her veil down over her eyes.

"You're still sure you want to marry him?" said Minelli, smiling widely.

"There's never been a doubt," responded Lisbon, chucking.

Minelli offered her his arm, and she took it. "If you would have told me all those years ago when Jane first showed up at our doorstep—looking like a homeless man, no less—that you were going to marry him, I probably would have told you that you were as crazy as he seemed to be."

They walked forward, out of the bedroom and down the hall. Minelli held tight to Lisbon's arm as they descended the stairs.

"Time can change a lot of things, can't it?" she responded.

They stopped just inside the house.

"You look lovely, Teresa," said Minelli, glancing at Lisbon's simple yet stunning wedding gown. "I hope Jane knows how lucky he is. I bet he does—he was always a smart man. A pain in the ass, sure, but a smart man."

"Thank you," Lisbon said, stopping herself from calling him 'sir' at the last second. Old habits die hard, she thought, leaning forward to wrap her arms around him. "And thank you for being here today. I can't tell you what it means to me."

"I wouldn't have missed it," said Minelli, returning her embrace. "It's not every day a man sees his daughter get married."

Lisbon's eyes teared up.

She and Jane certainly didn't have a conventional family. But it was their family, and she wouldn't change it for anything.

Minelli pulled back and offered her his arm again, and they walked out of the house and into the backyard.

Lisbon took a second to glance over at the other members of her family, seated to either side of the aisle she was about to walk down. Wylie and Vega waved at her from their place to her left, and her brothers—along with Stan's wife and kids—seemed speechless for once as they looked at her with grins on their faces. Even Jane's carnie friends, Sam and Pete, were present. Lisbon's gaze moved upwards, towards Van Pelt, her maid of honor and now noticeably pregnant, and Rigsby and Cho stood on the other side of the aisle, both of them fulfilling the position of Jane's best man.

Finally her eyes landed on Jane, and there was nothing else. Just Jane, in his new suit and tie, his smile wider than she'd ever seen it.

Just Jane.

When they reached the front of the aisle, Minelli gave Lisbon's hand to Jane. He smiled at the younger man.

"This woman is the best thing that will ever happen to you," said Minelli softly.

Jane pulled Lisbon's hands towards him and kissed her knuckles. "I know," he said, looking straight at her. "Believe me, I know."

Minelli grinned and clapped Jane on the shoulder. But Jane didn't spare him another glance.

He had eyes solely for Lisbon.

It was spectacular, she thought, the difference a year and a half had made in him. Though he was still her Jane, he was transformed—he was free.

Free to smile, free to laugh.

And free to love.

The priest had been speaking as they gazed at each other. "Your vows, Mr. Jane," said the priest loudly for the second time, bringing them back to the ceremony, and they both smiled a little sheepishly.

Jane swallowed, and when he began speaking, his voice was quiet but confident and sure.

"I was so broken," he said, holding her eyes with an intense stare. "When we first met, I was so broken. I wasn't capable of acting like a normal human being; I had forgotten what it was like to matter to someone—what it was like to be loved." He blinked several times, and Lisbon saw the moisture build in his eyes. "And the last thing I ever expected was to find you. I didn't think it was possible for someone to love me again. But you did. And you did more than just love me—you mended me as well, Lisbon. I was so broken, but you made me whole. My life was so dark before you entered it. But the day we met—the moment we shook hands—a light appeared. You're my light, Lisbon, and you're my partner, and…you're my everything. I love you, and it makes me so happy to be able to say I have the rest of my life to prove that to you."

Lisbon's body began to shake, and Jane tightened his grip on her trembling hands. She wiped her eyes and smiled at him as he placed a platinum wedding band on her left hand.

Lisbon spoke. "When we first met," she said, "I immediately felt fiercely protective of you. I didn't understand what I was feeling at the time, but now I think I do—Jane, I fell in love with you the moment I helped you up off of that floor, bloody nose and all. And I keep falling in love with you with every passing day. What we have, it's love at first sight. It's love at last sight. It's love at every sight." A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and it rolled down her cheek to rest at the corner of her mouth. "You've brought such joy to my life," Lisbon said, her voice breaking. "I don't think I knew what it felt like to be truly happy until I met you. Because you make me so happy, Jane—you have to know that. You are the best thing in my life, and I am so unbelievably thankful that we found each other. Thank you for upending my life all those years ago—it was the best thing that could have happened to me." She looked at him through watery eyes. "I love you, Jane. I always have, and I always will."

Her hands were trembling so violently she barely got the ring onto his finger.

"Patrick, do you take Teresa to be your lawful, wedded wife, to have and to hold in sickness and health, for better or for worse, until death do you part?"

His grin was radiant. "I sure do."

"And, you, Teresa, do you take Patrick to be your lawful, wedded husband, to have and to hold in sickness and health, for better or for worse, until death do you part?"

Lisbon's words were almost a whisper, but she'd never been more sure of anything. "I do."

"Then by the power granted me by the state of Illinois, I declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Now Lisbon was the steady one—Jane's hands shook as he raised her veil.

His kiss was especially sweet that day under the summer sky.

"Dance with me, Mrs. Jane?"

Lisbon allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and led out onto the dance floor. "You know, I like the sound of that far more than I expected to," she said. "Maybe I will change my name after all."

Jane's eyes sparkled down at her. "You need to keep 'Lisbon' in there somewhere," he said playfully. "There can't be two Janes running around at crime scenes together—and I admit, I'm very partial to your current last name."

"Teresa Lisbon Jane?" she wondered out loud as they approached the center of the dance floor. "I could keep 'Lisbon' as my middle name."

Jane's arms wrapped around her. "It's lovely. It's perfect." He shook his head in disbelief. "I would be so honored if you took my name," he said, pulling her in close, and the music started.

An expression of confusion crossed Jane's face. "This isn't the song we chose for our first dance," he said, curious.

"No, it's the song I just finished writing for you," she said. "Listen."

Her soft vocals echoed around them accompanied by a quiet guitar, and Jane swayed them to the honest and heartfelt lyrics.

Van Pelt had helped her record it using some computer software that was completely beyond Lisbon's comprehension. But the song had turned out exactly like she'd hoped it would—simple yet powerful.

Lisbon rested her head against his chest, listening to his heart, his breaths. Jane's arms twisted around her waist and pulled her flush against him. "I love you," he said. "I love you so much."

She kissed his chest and tucked her head under his chin. "I know," she whispered, and after few minutes, the song ended. Another guitar-driven song began to play.

She could feel Jane's smile against her hair. "You used to love this song," he said teasingly.

"I seem to have grown even more attached to it after crashing a high school reunion that wasn't ours," she quipped.

Jane burst out laughing.

A minute later, he murmured in her ear. "Are you sure I can't convince you to take an extended honeymoon?" he asked. "We could head back down to Venezuela—visit our island."

"I don't have time for a long honeymoon, Jane," she said.

"I know, I know, new job and everything."

Lisbon swatted his arm. "Well, mostly. But I don't want to ask for too much time off right now because I'm going to need to take a major leave in February." She said the words in a rush, unable to contain her excitement.

Her hand dropped instinctively to rest on her lower abdomen.

Jane's jaw just dropped.

"Really?" he said, and his expression was everything. His eyes lit up, and his smile suddenly became brighter than the fairy lights sprinkled around them across the lawn.

She giggled and nodded, and he crushed her to him before picking her up carefully and swinging her around.

"You are?" said Jane, as if he needed her to tell him again.

She felt his fingers brush against her stomach.

"I am," she said.

He leaned his forehead down to rest against her shoulder. "I never thought…I never dared to hope I'd get a happy ending."

She framed his face between her hands, lifting it up so she could see his eyes. "Not an ending," she corrected, and her hands dropped to his chest.

He smiled.

"You're right," he said. "It's our beginning."

AN: And like Jane and Lisbon's story here, I am only just beginning to write for this fandom. So no worries! I'll be around for a long time. In fact, if you have any prompts, send them my way. I want to write as much as possible before school starts again for me this fall!

Songs used in this series: "Into the Blue" by Sara Jackson-Holman, "When I Fall" by Lizz Wright, and "State of Grace (Acoustic)" by Taylor Swift

Thank you all once again.

~Hope