"Because it has always made sense, so much sense." Maura Isles.

Epilogue – Sycharitiria*

Since Jane had presents for her relatives – starting with her mother – and that Jo Friday was still at Maura's place, she postponed a drive back to her own apartment and followed her partner instead to Beacon Hill.

Their flight had landed on time at Logan International. Angela had warned them that she was working and that nobody was actually available to pick them up so they had naturally decided to get a taxi instead.

It was a sunny day of May but the blue of the sky didn't match the blue of the Caldera. Everything looked darker, heavier. Her forehead leaned against the window of the taxi, Jane realized that it would be very hard to start her Bostonian life again. She wasn't ready for it.

Yet she didn't have much of a choice. Within two days, she would resume her work at the BPD.

As if nothing happened.

The taxi stopped in front of Maura's townhouse. Back to life. They paid the driver – retrieved their suitcases in the trunk – then walked to the door. Since they had been upgraded for their second flight - from Paris to Boston - they had been able to sleep a bit so they weren't too tired. Just in need of a shower, maybe.

They stepped in the lobby and dropped their bags by the door. It was strange to be back to a familiar place but under completely different circumstances. The last time they had been in this house, Jane and Maura were still friends and nothing else. Just friends. Now they were lovers; more or less secret ones.

"Jo?" Jane waited for the dog to start trotting towards her happily but nothing happened. Had her mother left her in the patio? Jane had been absent for two weeks. Jo Friday should have been ecstatic to see her back to Boston. Obviously the dog's absence indicated that the house was empty. "Where is she...?"

Maura shrugged and looked at the floor of the lobby. If only Bass could have a dog reaction at times. She wished nothing but him to walk towards her whenever she came back home. Sadly it rarely happened.

She was accustomed to the idea of going away for a week or so because of her work and at no moment had the tortoise been particularly thrilled to see her back at some point.

"I know it isn't a hot tub and the view doesn't equal the Caldera but how about we go and share a bath? You know..." Suddenly rather seductive, Maura turned around and walked to Jane. She let a finger slide along her lover's shirt until it reached the hem of the piece of clothing and she started playing with it. "Maybe we should just enjoy these last hours of freedom that we have before we get to see anyone..."

Maura's suggestion was anything but subtle. Jane couldn't help laughing. She passed her arms around her partner's neck to pull her closer to her body and tilted her head.

"Hmm... Tempting..."

She let Maura do. She let her push her a bit further in the living-room until the back of her legs hit Maura's desk and they began to give more intensity to the kiss that had been initiated in the lobby.

Maura's hand had just reached the button of Jane's jeans when a foreign sound made them freeze. Someone had just cleared his or her throat. Suddenly conscious that they weren't completely alone, Jane and Maura snapped their heads towards the noise in question and held their breath the moment they saw the dozen of people in the kitchen.

"... ... Surprise ... ...?"

A bit embarrassed, Angela nonetheless waved the little Greek flag that she was holding before the rest of the guests – Frankie, Tommy, Lydia and Jane and Maura's colleagues – did the same. Mortified, Jane still managed to look up above their heads. A 'welcome back' banner had been hung from one side of the kitchen to the other while American and Greek flags littered the counter along with some cakes and a salad bowl full of what looked like a giant Mojito.

Maura swallowed hard. So much for asking Jane to keep a low profile for a while.

...

Two Years Later

"Hey, Frost! Slow down on the Ouzo. This stuff is kinda sweet but it's still quite strong. Trust me."

Jane winked at her colleague before grabbing her own glass to bring a toast with him. He was sitting three seats away from her but the relative distance was not an issue. Frost nodded and raised his glass as well. They both gulped down their respective shot and burst out laughing.

"I refuse to carry you back home, Jane, so please... Slow down on the amount of alcohol that you are having. There are stairs to climb after this."

Jane rolled her eyes at Maura but didn't insist. After all, Maura was right. She had to admit it. This day was special for them and she didn't want to ruin it because she would have drunk a bit too much. It was ridiculous and she would have felt guilty for the rest of her life.

"Sycharitiria*..." Oula appeared from nowhere in Jane's back – startling her slightly – and put her hands on her bare and tanned shoulders. "I knew the moment we met for the first time that you'd come back to Santorini. And more than once. Yet I hadn't imagined that you would choose Oia to celebrate your wedding. I am beyond happy."

Jane and Maura turned around to properly look at the young woman. They were both grinning, the shade of the sun that had reddened their cheeks now lighting up their eyes delightfully.

"It couldn't go any other way. Everything started here." Maura grabbed Jane's hand to hold it tightly and bit her lower lip. "You, Manuela... All of this is thanks to you, to everyone. Who knows where we would be now if Jane and I had not come to Santorini two years ago. All the things we would have missed... Our whole life, actually! I do not like thinking about it because... Because our couple is an evidence. Because it has always made sense, so much sense."

Alright. Perhaps she had drunk a bit too much herself. Then it would explain the latent lyricism of her speech but she had just got married to Jane. If there was an emotional day in Maura's life then it had to be the one she was living now. For once, she didn't have to feel guilty to be on the verge of crying.

Two years had passed by. Already. And so many things had happened since they had won this trip to Santorini.

Michael and Kostos were now the parents of a beautiful little girl named Lilah and were happily married for a year and a half. As for Jane and Maura...

They had moved in together within a month after their return to Boston. Anyway, the context was such that they hadn't been able to keep a low profile so they had decided instead to embrace their relationship fully.

They had not planned it but since everyone who had a minimum of importance into their life had somehow walked in on them the day of the secret party in Maura's kitchen, they had had to adapt to the unexpected situation.

By the end of the first year, they had bought a little house in Oia. It was small but traditional and quiet; exactly what they had been dreaming about for at least six months. And then one day, Maura had come back home from work with a platinum engagement ring and had proposed to Jane.

They hadn't talked about marriage. As a matter of fact, apart from their house in the Cyclades they barely alluded to the future. They had found the perfect balance in the idea of letting life carry them through its path and it had worked out so far. It really had had. But how could Jane say no to Maura's proposal? It wouldn't have made sense at all.

They had got a civil wedding in Boston and had immediately decided to organize a more personal ceremony in Greece. After all, it was where everything had started. The symbol was strong and very sweet.

With the help of Oula, Manuela, Kostos and Michael, they had managed to organize exactly the same kind of wedding that they had attended during their first visit on the archipelago. Oula's cousin wedding. Nobody knew that it was the evening when everything had started for them but it made so much sense to recreate it and make it theirs.

With everyone.

Their relatives, friends and close colleagues had immediately accepted to come to Greece to celebrate the wedding and within a few months, everything had been ready.

And there they were, now. Back on this small square of Oia. By a warm summer night. Tourists stopped by from time to time, intrigued. A local band was playing traditional music. Jane had even managed to convince Maura to serve chicken gyro along with other Greek dishes.

A Greek wedding. Their Greek wedding.

"So since you got married in Heaven, I'm gonna assume that there won't be any honeymoon, right? I mean, how could you get a more romantic setting than Santorini?"

Korsak's question made them smile. They had preferred one single long table to several small ones. Since it was a small wedding in spite of all, they found it a lot more friendly. Maura slightly leaned over the table to look at him and nodded.

"We are going to the Sporades; Northern Greek islands... Although we haven't settled on a date yet."

But it was just fine. They had all the time in the world to think about that. For the moment, all they wanted to do was to focus on the sweetness of the evening and the delicate sensation to have made the right choice when getting married.

Who knew what the future held in store for them?

But together, they were certain that it couldn't but be the best. Only the best.

The End

...

Sycharitiria: Congratulations

Author's note: Thank you everyone for all the messages and reviews you posted during this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

"To Life" will be the next fic but it won't start before June, 12th or something because I am about to work for 20 days in a row without a day off for the French Open of tennis and I will have a schedule that won't allow me to post daily updates as I like to do.

So I prefer to wait and make sure I am available again before posting it. However and since I still have a few days left before the French Open, I may post a few one shots in the meantime (starting on Tuesday or Wednesday).