A/N: I got a few questions about Zoe's injuries on FF, so I'm going to copy one of the answers I posted just to clarify. She didn't break anything, but she pulled the nail off her finger which they would have to push back in surgery and she also cut her arm on the corner of the bench on the way down, which needed stitches. She didn't cut any veins or arteries. I did say it was enough blood to drip to the floor, but it wasn't an excessive amount. Mike reacted the way he did because it was his daughter bleeding, which would have freaked him out a lot.

The fingernail thing happened to my brother when he was younger than Zoe, and he never had to stay in for observation, but he went the next day for them to check how it was going. He had his fingers bandaged and buddy-taped but he still found how to manage to suck his thumb.

As for the whole nausea after the general anesthetic, I'm basing a bit of that over how I felt after having one. I get that how I feel and how a child would feel would be different, but I also asked my mum a whole lot of questions about how Josh was after his GA, so I did try to be as thorough as I could.

Hope that helps you all out.

Now, on to the next (and final) chapter (minus the *tiny* epilogue). Enjoy :)

Chapter Fourteen

She kept her promise. She thought and thought about his question so much over the next few days that she found she was able to focus on little else. Each day she came to a different result, and the whole process confusing her so much that she was considering just tossing a coin to get it over with.

It was just dinner after all. Did it really matter?

The answer was yes. The answer was always yes. Of course it mattered. She could lie to everyone else but she couldn't lie to herself. It mattered. Mike mattered.

And if she was completely honest with herself, she knew she wanted to say yes.

But Mike was right, she couldn't let go of the past. Couldn't ignore the past eleven years and the hurt they had contained.

Even if she wanted to be happy.

"You need to go!" Lucy told her, throwing her hands up in the air. "How many more times do I have to say it?"

Kate rolled her eyes, turning to her boss. "Uh, excuse me, Luce! You were the one who didn't want me anywhere near Mike."

Lucy dismissed her comment with a wave of her hand. "I changed my mind. Constitutional right!"

"Luce, I just don't know." Kate protested, unpicking the hem of the dress on the bench.

"So go and find out!"

"I'll think about it." Kate told her.

Lucy rolled her eyes once again, and Kate had to resist mimicking her. "You have an hour until you have to give him an answer!" She shrieked, causing several of her customers to look up in alarm.

"I know." She hissed, keeping her voice quiet. "But hush. You're scaring the lovely people."

Lucy once again ignored her comment, and Kate wondered whether Lucy actually needed her for this conversation. "Katie, you're never going to be happy if you stay on the safe side all the time. Live a little. Have you even dated anyone since you came here?"

She had, briefly, but after she knew it would make no difference to Lucy if she said she had dated the whole local football team. So instead she merely shrugged. "I don't have time to date. You know, given that I was dead and all."

"Excuses." Lucy dismissed.

"Luce-"

"Don't you 'Luce' me! You've been revived, Lazarus. Go on Thursday and give him an answer. Do it!"

Thursday came around both all too soon and not soon enough for Mike as he stood outside Zoe's classroom waiting for her.

She was the last one out of her classroom like she so often was, but that never mattered to him. She hugged Rhys goodbye (Mike felt his stomach clench tighter as he remembered Kate's words about the young boy) before she finally ran up to him.

He felt a twinge of guilt as he saw her bandaged fingers, but he shook his head, knowing he couldn't change it.

All he could do was enjoy the afternoon with his daughter.

"Mummy!" Zoe ran out the door and into the front yard, reaching the car and opening the driver door before Kate even had the chance to undo her seatbelt.

"Hey Zozo!" Kate greeted as she stepped out of the car, kneeling to the ground and hugging her daughter tight. "What have you been doing with... Daddy?" The word was still new to her mouth, and felt out of place as she spoke it. But if Zoe noticed her hesitation, she never mentioned it.

"He helped me finish my homework and then we made cookies with Grandma."

"Did you, now?" The word Grandma stirred something in her too. Her mother, still alive, was most certainly not Grandmother material, and she was glad Zoe would now have at least one Grandmother to guide her. "Did you save some for me?"

"Not 'til after dinner, Mum." Zoe chastised, emphasising the state with a pointed finger.

"Why not?" She whined, poking Zoe lightly on her good arm.

"Because… because… because I said so!" Zoe frowned. "You're being silly." She declared, giggling as Kate poked her tongue out at her.

"Am I being silly?" She asked, catching Zoe by the waist and picking her up. She flipped Zoe upside-down, laughing as Zoe giggled madly.

She caught sight of Mike leaning in the doorway and put Zoe right-way-up on the path again, waving lamely.

"I'm going to get my bag!" Zoe skipped to the front door, stopping in front of Mike. "She's being silly today," she declared, before slipping inside.

"Hey." Mike greeted as Kate walked up the front path. "I hear you're being silly."

"Zoe said I couldn't have any cookies until after dinner. So I flipped her upside-down. You know, the usual."

Mike laughed. "She's probably just parroting mum. She was always on about the 'no eating after four-thirty' rule." He paused for a moment. "How was work?"

She shrugged. "The work was fun…" She shrugged, "but Lucy was on my case today."

Mike frowned. "About what?"

She rolled her eyes pointedly. "About whether I should be going out with you on Saturday."

"And... did you make a decision?" He asked tentatively.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, I did. Sort of."

"And...?" He pressed, just as Zoe ran back out, hair trailing behind her. It had grown longer in the last few months, but not long enough to satisfy the determined young girl.

"Are we going Mummy?" She asked, tugging on Kate's hand.

"Just a moment." She told her, turning to Mike.

"Saturday sounds… nice."

"But…" Mike sighed.

"No buts. Not anymore." She told him, eyes burning. "I'll see you Saturday."

"What am I supposed to wear, Luce?" Kate whined. She'd never been one to agonise over hair or clothes or make-up, but now she was regretting it. Maybe then she'd have something in her wardrobe.

"We sell clothes for a living. You've never bought anything for yourself?" Lucy clicked her tongue over the phone.

"Nothing that looks right. Besides, I don't even know where we're going."

"Alright." If there was anyone that could get her out of a clothing emergency, it was Lucy, and as much as she complained, Kate knew she loved it. "Alright." Lucy repeated, and Kate could practically see her sit up straighter. "This is an emergency, so I'll be over in ten minutes with some clothes and chocolate. And if I hear so much as a whimper of protest at anything I pick then... then you're on bin duty for a year."

"I never got the chance to say before… what with Mum and Zoe…" Mike began as they slid into his car that Saturday afternoon.

"Yeah?" She prompted, busying herself with her seatbelt.

"Yeah, but you look nice. Actually, you look amazing."

She turned to him, eyes wide as she cursed the blush now rising to her cheeks. "Thanks." She mumbled hesitantly as she fiddled with her necklace. "You too."

Mike did look nice too, all dressed up in a white button-up shirt and dark jeans. Lucy had forced Kate into wearing a ruffled dark teal dress with her favourite black boots. All in all it was nothing Kate would hate to wear, but she had to whine to keep up appearances.

Mike grinned at her compliment as he reversed the car out of the driveway and began driving down the roads, counting silently in his head as an idea crossed his mind.

He had just got counted to one hundred when she spoke.

"So, where are we going?" She asked, turning to look at him. He smirked.

"Not even two minutes." He laughed. "I've been counting. You always were impatient." She scowled and he smiled at her. "It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises." She muttered.

He shook his head. "No, you hate not being in control. There is a difference." Her nose furrowed slightly as he spoke, and he knew that he had hit the nail right on the head.

"Okay, then how much longer?" She asked, unable to keep the whine out of her voice as she resigned herself to the fact that she could dispute him no longer.

"Just be patient." He told her, his voice slow and clear as if he was talking to a child. "How was your week?"

She frowned at him again, knowing that he was trying to distract her before deciding it didn't really matter. "Busy." She began. "We got a huge donation of clothes on Wednesday so Lucy and I have been sorting through them. A few needed patching up so I've been unpicking hems and resewing them. Then we've been pricing them and everything... yeah. Long week."

"Do you..." Mike began, then shook his head. "Don't worry."

"No. What?" She pressed, shaking her head.

"Do you miss the Navy?" He glanced at her anxiously before flicking his eyes back to the road.

She considered his question, flicking her head to one side. "Yes and no I suppose." She shuffled in her seat. "I know I wouldn't be able to serve again, psychologically speaking. I wouldn't be able to cope. I don't miss the constant fear. The knowing that you could die any day. I don't miss it in that regard." She shifted in her seat. "But I miss... I miss the crew and how good it felt when we helped someone. Knowing that what we were doing was helping people... lots of people. That we were saving lives. I miss that." She paused for a moment, then nodded like she agreed she'd said the right thing.

A small smile adorned her face as she recalled something. "A few months after Zoe was born I was walking along the docks when a sailor walked by me all dressed in his whites. He was a Commander and automatically I snapped a salute at him with one hand on the pram. The guy looked at me like I was a total idiot. But it was just instinctual. I still use 24 hour time accidentally too. It drives Lucy mad." She paused. "Do you miss the Hammersley?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. I miss the crew, and the boat. I miss just sitting on the bridge and taking in the surroundings. But it was the right time to leave. I know that, and I don't regret it."

"That's good. For you I mean." She turned to look out the window, and the pair fell into silence for a few moments.

"Have you always been in Perth?" Mike asked.

"I was about five months pregnant when I was moved to Perth. After... after the shooting, I was stabilised in a hospital under guard before I was transferred to Melbourne. That... that sucked. Paige, my Witness Protection Officer, she came with me... and she was great. But I was just so lonely all the time. I was in physical therapy and I was always in a lot of pain. They didn't move me to Perth until they were sure I could function properly. Paige stayed with me in the house for a few days, but after that I was on my own. Or as alone as you can be with a kid inside you. I was scared a lot, but I got used to it. And then after Zoe was born it was like a new kind of terror. Paul Turner and SIDs and crazies and everything else under the sun."

"It would have been tough." Mike mused.

She nodded in agreement. "But it was worth it."

"Yeah."

They fell into silence for a few moments more, Kate staring out the window as the world went by. "So, your Mum said you have a sister?"

"Em. She's thirty-six. She's a preschool teacher, running her own centre. She's engaged at the moment, getting married in November. She's got a twelve year old daughter too, Jordan. Her first husband died about an hour after Jordan was born. But she's so strong, and stubborn, and raised Jordie all on her own."

"She sounds like a great person."

"She is."

Kate nodded, falling into silence again. As the minutes ticked on Kate gave a sideways glance at Mike before pulling out her phone and opening a maps application.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked, the movement catching his peripheral vision.

"Trying to figure out where we're going." Kate murmured, smiling as the map located their position.

"You're ruining my surprise." Mike protested, trying to one-handedly snatch the phone off her.

"Well then, how much longer?" She whined, dropping the phone back into her bag.

"About fifteen minutes."

"Alright." She sighed, huffing. "So, Em's your only sibling?"

"Yep. Why are you asking about her?"

"I'm trying to pass the time." She reasoned, like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Are you not enjoying my company Miss McGregor?" Mike smirked.

"Patience isn't one of my strongest virtues." She quipped back.

"I've noticed." Mike spoke wryly. "So, why the jewellery shop? How'd you come to work there?"

"Um... I used to shop there. She'd sell all these herbal remedies, to help you sleep and to cure headaches and stuff like that. I wasn't able to take much medication when I was pregnant, so I used to see Lucy. After Zoe was born she came to visit me in hospital and we became good friends. I used to help her out in the store and eventually she just offered me a part-time job. When Zoe started at preschool I went to full-time and... I love it."

"And... did you ever meet anyone?" The question came out of nowhere, and Mike mentally kicked himself at asking such a stupid question. But to his surprise she didn't clam up like he'd expected.

"I met a guy. Tom. He was a single father. His son went to the same preschool Zoe did. They were friends so we saw them a lot. We dated for... seven-ish months. But... it wasn't the right time... for either of us." She paused for a moment. "What about you?"

"I... I ended up going out with Ursula. But... she left just before you left town. And she was right to. It wasn't right for us either."

"We're hopeless." Kate mused.

"Yep."

They fell into silence again as they turned off the main road and began a series of turns so quick in succession Kate lost all sense of direction at once.

"Okay, now I swear we're just going in circles."

"I can't have you finding out where we're going before we get there, now can I?"

"Mike, I can say without a trace of dishonesty that I have no idea where we're going."

Mike smirked. "Good. 'Cause we're here." He pulled the car into a small parking lot, turning the engine off. "Wait here." He ordered, undoing his seatbelt and leaping from his seat so quickly she had no time to react.

"Mike... wait... what?" She threw her own seatbelt off as he shut the car door behind him, turning to watch him walk behind the car door. And then he was beside her car door as he opened it for her. She eyes him suspiciously but he shrugged it off. "I'm being polite."

"I don't need you to open the door for me." She told him.

"But I wanted to." He offered her a hand, which she ignored, stepping out of the car to take in her surroundings.

"I thought... well, when we first met, we stayed up all night so we could watch the sun rise over the water. Now, seeing as we're on the other side of the country, I thought... well, I thought we could watch the sunset."

"I'd like that." She murmured, looking out at the water and the sun getting lower and lower in the sky.

"I'm no chef, but I made sandwiches and brought chocolate. You always said restaurants made you nervous."

"You remembered that?"

"Of course." He frowned. "Is this a totally terrible idea?"

"No! This sounds great, Mike."

They ate on the sand in relative silence as they watched the sky turn to gold, throwing a warm glow over both of them that seemed to stay long after the sun had set.

"Are you cold?" Mike asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm okay." Kate smiled, before allowing herself to fall backwards so she was lying on the sand. Mike mimicked her position and the two of them stared up at the stars. Her hair tickled his face, and he had to restrain himself from pulling her close to him.

"I used to write to you. I used to write letters." Her words took him by surprise, and it was several moments before he'd processed what she said.

"You wrote to me?"

"I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you everything. I'd stamp the letters but I could never send them."

"I wish you had." Mike turned to look at her. "I would have come to find you. I would have gone with you."

"If things had have been different..."

"The 'what if's' will get you every time, Kate."

"Zoe would have grown up with you. She would have had her father there."

"She has me now." He assured her, reaching for her hand and squeezing it lightly. "It's not too late."

"I know. But it doesn't stop me wishing things were different."

"I wish I'd never sent you on that boarding." The words tumbled from his mouth so quickly he barely had time to comprehend them.

"Don't." She whispered. "Don't blame yourself."

"It's true. I sent you on the boarding. I called the shots."

"Come on, Mike. You know as well as I do that if you had have tried to take the boarding away from me I would have argued until you relented." She squeezed his hand. "I'm just too stubborn."

"I sent you like a lamb to the slaughter-"

"You didn't shoot me." She punctuated each word with a poke to the arm.

"I wish things were different." He repeated her words from before. "But I think that's half the problem."

"What is?" She questioned.

"That we're so hung up on what could have been we can't see what could be."

She nodded, not caring that he couldn't see. "I think you're right."

Mike thought she must have fallen asleep on the trip back as the silence dragged on. Her head rested against the glass as the headlights of the passing cars flew by.

I love her.

The thought flew into his head so fast it dazed him. It wasn't the first time he'd thought it. Hell, it wasn't even the first time he'd said it. But this time it was different.

Tonight, there'd been no fighting. They hadn't gotten defensive or angry or scared. They'd been honest and accepting. Was this the start? They'd started again so many times over the words barely made sense anymore.

But he knew none of it mattered. He loved her and she loved him, even if she wasn't ready to admit it yet. He'd follow her into the dark.

"Pull over." The words startled him, but he did as he was told, stopping the car before he turned to look at her. She turned to face him too, shuffling in her seat so that she was looking directly at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, flicking the overhead light on so that he could get a better look at her.

"Nothing's wrong." She murmured. "I... I had fun."

"And?" He pressed, unsure what was to come.

She smiled. "And our next date better have choc-chip ice cream."