This is going to be the end. 3 It's also going to be bittersweet and a challenge for me as writer. One of my favorite things to see at a wedding is the groom's face when he sees his bride… But what if he can't see her? That is what I tried to capture.

The sand underneath Derek's bare feet was warm, but not too hot as it had been cooled by the evening air. He listened to the waves as they crashed behind them, then the sound of stringed instruments started. Derek couldn't see Natalie as she traipsed through the sand in a dress of coral lace, carrying a pomander ball of white roses, but he could hear her footsteps in the sand and her soft giggles as she grew closer to him and the end of the aisle. He felt her arms around him as she threw himself against his waist, and he smiled and hugged her back. Derek rested a hand on top of her head and felt the crown of flowers that was perched there.

A clap on his back came from Richard, who stood in the best man spot. Mark and Weiss stood behind Richard. Callie walked down the aisle next, the swell of her six months pregnant belly obvious beneath the chiffon of her short coral dress. Mark smiled at her as she got closer, thinking that she had never looked so beautiful as she did when she was pregnant with their son. Savvy followed her down the aisle, smiling at Weiss as she took her place by Callie. Naomi came down the aisle last, standing in the position of the maid of honor.

Derek knew Addison was walking down the aisle as the quartet changed the song to "Here Comes the Bride." She wore the dress that he had bought her to wear to their secret, private wedding that had occurred before what everyone thought was their real one. When she mentioned to him that she still had it, he was surprised that she'd held onto it all of those years. She told him she wanted to wear it and get married on the beach again so that he would be able to picture what she looked like.

He imagined her with short, wavy hair that had grown back after her brain surgery and that he had been running his fingers through each night. He remembered the white flowing chiffon that glided across the sand, held up by beaded spaghetti straps. He knew her well enough to picture the exact smile that she had on her face. When she was close enough, he could smell the bouquet of lilies and roses as their scent mixed with the salty sea air. Derek could smell Archer's signature cologne, too, as Archer removed Addison's arm from his own and placed her hand in Derek's. Derek placed his thumb on top of her hand and squeezed it tightly.

Archer took a deep breath, trying to find peace within himself in returning his sister to this man who had once broken her heart. Derek heard the soft sound of a kiss that Archer gave Addison's cheek, then heard his footprints in the sand as he went back to sit down next to Anila in the front row. Anila gave Archer's hand a reassuring squeeze, and the engagement ring that he'd put on her finger a month before sparkled in the light of the sunset.

It had been more than a year since the accident. Derek had moved back to New York permanently, taking a part-time professor position at Columbia. He'd lost his vision completely not long before, but found that it didn't affect his ability to be a great teacher and mentor as much as he'd thought it would. It had been a rough adjustment for their him and for their family, but Natalie's eagerness to help made it easier.

Addison had taken an extended leave of absence from her job and had opted not to return as the head of the department, instead consulting only on difficult and high-profile cases and spending more time at home while working on her first book. Derek and Addison were finally making their family a priority over their careers, and they were living happily as a family with Natalie.

Because they couldn't look into each other's eyes as they spoke their vows, they cradled each other's faces as they said them. When they promised to love each other in sickness and in health, they knew that they already had, and that they always would.

When it was time, Richard took one of Derek's hands and pressed Addison's diamond-encrusted wedding ring into it, closing his fingers around it so that Derek wouldn't accidentally drop it into the sand. Derek fumbled with it a little, working it up until it was between his fingertips to slide onto Addison's hand. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. A few moments later, he felt metal circle of his own ring, warm from being clasped in Naomi's hand then Addison's, slide onto his left ring finger when Addison placed it there.

When Derek kissed Addison's familiar lips and felt the warmth of her body pressed against his in their embrace after they were officially declared husband and wife again, Natalie shrieked with joy, nearly knocking them both over into the sand as she hugged them. Their friends and family members in the audience chuckled. With Natalie skipping happily just ahead of them, Addison and Derek walked back down the aisle, hand and hand, to the cheers of the people who loved them most.

When they reached the end of the aisle, Addison pulled him back into another kiss, tangling her hands through his graying waves. He ran his hands up and down the smooth fabric of her dress as he kissed her back.

"I love you, Derek Shepherd."

"I love you, Addison Shepherd."

That time, it was forever.

THANK YOU so much for reading this story. Thank you even more for reviewing it. I especially thank you if you were one of the readers who waited years(!) for me to get off of my ass and finish it. I hope that I have written the ending that it deserved. 3

Also, I can't remember if I ever mentioned this before, but the title was picked from the song "Blessed" by Elton John. Check it out. :)