Well, here it is folks! The last chapter! I am very excited that it's come to a close! Thank you soooo much for coming along for the ride and for your wonderful, wonderful reviews! It's been a great experience and I look forward to reading what you think. Thanks again! See you 'round!

One and a half months later...

Brennan sat, in the glorious warmth of the morning sun on the stairs at the Reflecting Pool, uncharacteristically nervous. She knew it was merely a release of dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine coursing through the minute chemical pathways of her body. Recently, though, she had become trusting enough of herself and Booth to curb her fear and allow the emotion to develop.

The fact that Brennan understood the chemical process behind the feelings she experienced, was a logical enough basis for Booth to get her to admit love as a tangible, namable thing.

Granted - whilst the chemicals that had aided their initial attraction would fade (as she had always sermonize), with a little research on his part, he discovered evidence of the fact that chemicals designed to deepen their love and strengthen their bond would replace the others. Thus, providing her with a hypothesis; and a rather tempting challenge to prove its validity.

Respecting the necessity for Brennan to heal and process her thoughts, Booth mustered as much restraint as he could and just put it out there simply and factually. Without pushing her or overwhelming her with romantic notions of eternal love, he left it up to Brennan to be the one to initiate a relationship beyond their partnership. Booth had, most certainly learnt from his mistakes and was not about to gamble impulsively on their love again.

He had achieved what Brennan had thought to be the impossible – convinced her, through deductive rational analysis, that love would not be ephemeral with Seeley and Temperance, so long as they both committed 100%.

Brennan shifted on the step. She was craving a coffee but the thought of coffee breath put her off. With that prompt, she placed her colourful bouquet gently beside her and fished through her bag for a stick of gum.

This was to be their moment, no fight or flight, no self denial and no coffee breath. Just acceptance, trust and pleasure - a fresh start. One year to the day from when their lives careered off course, almost destroying the very thing that held it all together – the centre.

The last six weeks had slowly returned to normal - as normal as normal could be. Their case load had increased as had their efficiency. Their comfortable dining, takeout and 'end of case drinks' schedule had resumed and Booth and Brennan had all but physically established that their relationship had progressed substantially from the state that it was in immediately 'post Hannah'.

She hoped though, that he hadn't forgotten their pre-arranged rendezvous. Neither had mentioned it – each hoping the other had enough sentiment to remember their parting vow uttered in the tense airport goodbye.

In a feeling that couldn't be explained with scientific rationale; sensing Booth's proximity, she looked over her shoulder and a radiant smile graced her face as he scuffed down the stairs to sit beside her.

Needing the reassurance of her touch in, what he could tell was going to be an emotionally charged discussion; he wrapped her petite form tenderly in a one armed hug and squeezed affectionately.

Endeavouring to hide her blushing cheeks, she rested her head on his chest and her smile brightened with the sound of his rapidly beating heart.

So Booth, the King of hearts was nervous too!

"Hey" the warmth from his breath loitered teasingly in her hair.

"Hey. You remembered?" she was trying to hide the wild cardiac staccato from her voice but failed.

"I haven't stopped thinking about it from that moment a year ago, at the airport Bones" he admitted with a chuckle. The deep reverberating timbre of his voice struck her core.

"Whilst I am in no way inexperienced with men, I find myself, distractingly nervous." She raised her eyes to meet his – getting completely lost in their magnetic pull.

He smiled and, in a very rare show of vulnerability, looked down, nodding, "Yeah, me too"

"I hypothesize that it is due to the fact that I have no intention of ever doing this again and it is only natural, given that I am placing so much importance on getting my speech right, that I would feel somewhat apprehensive."

"You could never say the wrong thing, Temperance. I should have corrected you back then when you said you can't change because, the last thing I would ever want you to do is change. The things that come out of your mouth are uniquely you and I am sorry for making you doubt that I don't hang off every word you say."

She half smiled, tilted her head and briefly diverted her eyes to the right as if to try and analyse his comment. Coming up dry, she questioned, "I am not certain you could hang off my words, Booth," normally she would have left it at that, but she wasn't deliberately trying to be obtuse and desperately wanted this conversation to go well, "though, if I am missing a colloquial use of the term then perhaps you could clarify."

He expressed his wonderment with a headshake and a contented smile, "It means I adore you, Bones. Your take on life is refreshing yet it keeps me grounded. You're so," he fingered the lock of hair that had been sitting across her face like an excuse to touch her and delicately swathed her cheek in his palm, "You're so... you're beautiful, Bones."

Noticing the flicker of alarm in her eyes, he toned it down with an attempt at humour, "So, you prepared a speech, huh?"

"No, not literally, though I have a grasp on the general topics I wish to discuss with you."

"Ok, shoot"

She smiled impishly, continuing on with her version of comic relief, "I would. However, given the injury you sustained the last time I discharged a weapon in your presence, I think I will leave the shooting in you expert hands"

He cuddled into her warmly, laughing, "Yeah, well it could have been worse"

"I concur – the deflected bullet could, most certainly have made higher contact"

Oh, she wasn't clueless, that was a wicked grin if he'd ever seen one!

"That's a bit below the belt, Bones!"

She gave a throaty laugh, "I'm glad you follow the implication, Booth"

He squeezed in response as their amusement died down, "I'm also glad I didn't. Shoot you in the testicle that is. Though, I am sorry I shot you in the leg... albeit indirectly"

"At least we'll have good stories to tell our kids." He surprised himself with his uncensored comment and expected to see panic in her eyes but she simply raised her eyebrows and pointed at the air,

"Yes, how their Mother's skilful aim spared the possibility that they may have never had the chance to exist."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Yeah that. Or how their Dad' skilfully accurate knife throwing spared their Mom's beautiful face."

She giggled, yes, giggled, "If I remember accurately, Booth, and in case you hadn't noticed – I have a very accurate memory; your antics that day did actually hurt my face."

"Aw Bones, spare a guy wouldya! I said I was sorry!" His puppy-eyed expression made her laugh more.

For the fifth time since he'd sat down beside her, Booth eyed the bouquet of colour – individual posies of flowers tied up with little pink ribbons and bound together with an inch wide ribbon of the same colour, "So ahhh... who got you the flowers, Bones?"

"Oh... I bought them."

"They're beautiful, they're... unique, but I thought you liked Daffodils?"

"Daffodils would not have been appropriate for the intended symbolism of this arrangement"

He smiled, "Oh?"

"Well not entirely anyway."

"Why, Bones." He was genuinely curious at what her amazing mind had come up with.

"Because they are said to mean unrequited love..." His smile brightened. "...symbolically, daffodils are also said to mean chivalry, sunshine, respect and "the sun shines when I'm with you."

"The sun will always shine – regardless of the presence of another though, you are chivalrous and I have a great deal of respect for you, I feel that the general meaning of the flower did not suit the message I was trying to convey."

"Aw, Bones, you bought me flowers?"

She blushed and took the bouquet from beside her, holding it in her lap; she untied the wide ribbon that was holding the posies together. "My intention was not to insult your heterosexuality, but to romanticise my feelings as I am well aware of your dependence on such sentimentality within a relationship and I want to do my best to support that, Booth. Whilst, at times unnecessary, I find that part of you to be quite endearing." The last sentence was spoken with a childlike innocence that made his heart swell with love and pride.

With the intention of hiding his brimming eyes, he leaned over her and pointed to a purple daisy-like flower with a yellow centre, "So,ahh, Daisy?"

She handed him the little spray of purple flowers, "Aster alpines. The Aster flower represents patience and is also indicative of a love of variety. I took this to be fitting as you have been more than patient with me over the duration of our partnership. As much as I possess above average intelligence, my social skills and pop culture understanding can be somewhat lacking. I am conscious of the fact that it would require patience on your part and this is an expression of my appreciation for such."

Before he found his voice she handed him a second posy – bright yellow and cheerful, "Ranuculus" she smiled bashfully and looked him in the eyes, "They say, "I am dazzled by your charms""

Booth rewarded her with his trademark charm smile and looked down at the blooming layers of yellow petals.

He received the weeping purple and yellow sprig of flowers from her, "Bittersweet flower means truth. I vow to tell you the truth and promise to do my best at vocalising my feelings... even if they are merely chemical reactions designed for the survival of the species. I recognise they hold value to you and I politely request that you reciprocate the expression of truth."

Not trusting his voice, Booth nodded, expressing his sincerity through his chocolate eyes. She understood his silent answer and a single, beautiful passionflower was handed to him.

"Passionflower represents my faith in you. Faith that has kept me hopeful despite the dire circumstances I have, at times, found myself in and faith that keeps me optimistic with the thought of our impending romance..." she smiled and averted her gaze to the flowers in her lap, "... not to mention pleasantly aroused."

He laughed and lowered his hand from her shoulders to her waist – giving her a gentle nudge.

Finally, with trepidation, she gave him a handful of delicately hued pink petals, "This, I feel is the most appropriate in representing how I feel. The Azalea is said to mean three things, firstly, it means take care of yourself for me."

She shook her bowed head, "I've always worried about you, Booth, when I went to Maluku I was..." her constricting throat deepened her voice a little and he held her tighter as silent encouragement, "I left DC because the worry I felt for you was overwhelming. Not surprisingly, when reviewed in retrospect, it was worse on the island."

Needing to continue to prevent the topic from dissolving into tears, she went on, "It also means fragile passion. I am a strong woman, Booth but, these feelings I have for you – they metaphorically strip me of strength in a very frightening way. As much as I enjoy this new aspect of our relationship – it carries with it a vulnerability that I may struggle with from time to time."

"Temperance..."

"The third meaning for this flower is Temperance. I have never understood nor agreed with the concept of the giving of oneself to another though, now... I believe it to be the only appropriate gesture of my complete feelings toward you."

After avoiding his eyes so that she could get through what she had to say without crying, she lifted her brimming eyes to his – seeing nothing but complete adoration.

"I love you, Seeley Booth, I am certain of nothing else."

With that, her lips were on his, chastely at first to express her sincerity, with her hand cupping his face gently. Then, slowly working her hands to grip the hair at the back of his neck, she intensified their osculation to a tantric level, raising their heartbeats to dangerous levels.

Plucking his mouth from hers and with heavy breaths, he spoke, gripping her shoulders with passionate intensity, "Bones... Temperance, God I love you!" he laughed, looking to the sky.

She let out a shocked laugh, "Booth, as much as I appreciate the significance of you moniker, I think you should simply stick with Bones... or Temperance. Despite my inital anoyance with the term, I have grown quite fond of Bones over the last 6 years." She smiled sweetly.

He gave a guttural, throaty laugh and pulled them to their feet into a fierce hug. Lifting his hands to frame her face, he smiled a most glorious smile, "Never change, Temperance, never change"

And... there you go! Tis all. Please hit review on you way out and thank you for flying with etakkate!