Author's note: And so we come to the final chapter! Though there is an epilogue to follow.

I'll save my gushing for that, and for now just thank you all once again for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting.

Chapter 35 – A Perfect Union

The sun shone brightly through the skylight windows, prompting Sasha's eyes to open. She rolled onto her side, her gaze drawn immediately to the dress hanging on the front of the closet, swathed in protective plastic. A beautiful vintage wedding dress, formed of silk and beading and a little bit of lace, altered to fit her perfectly. Then she turned onto her other side and looked at the groom, his face buried in the pillow against the daylight, one arm curled around his head. She smiled, joy bubbling up in her chest.

They'd finally moved into the farmhouse four weeks ago, over a month behind schedule, and Jed's new house had still been a construction site, so he'd been living with them in the main house right up until a week ago. Even so, the place already felt like home, and thankfully Ash and Sam had fallen in love with it just as quickly.

And now, finally, it was their wedding day. She looked at her sleeping fiancé and fought the urge to wake him. As soon as she did, she knew the schedule would kick in and the flurry of setting up and organising would start. Instead, she wanted to savour these few moments, the calm before the storm… Except it would be so much better if Tom could share it with her. She leaned over and kissed him softly, then as his eyes opened, she placed her finger over his mouth.

"Ten minutes?" She asked, "Before you go into CO mode?"

He nodded, and pulled her close, kissing her hair, and she relaxed into his embrace.

"You do it too." He pointed out quietly, and she laughed.

"I admit it. We both like to be in charge."

"Keeps it interesting." He kissed her hair again. "We do have a lot to do this morning though."

"I know. But the schedule is perfect, and we've got plenty of help." She raised her head and grinned at him, drinking in the handsome face and that special Tom smile. "So we can afford ten minutes." She dipped her face down to his and kissed him slowly, and he took the hint, taking hold of her waist firmly.

"Ten minutes?"

"It's a challenge, sailor. You up to it?"

By three o'clock that afternoon, everything was ready. Rows of chairs on the lawn were filled with family and friends; there was a lavish buffet laid out in the large white tent by Bernie Cowley and his team - who were excused from their duties at the White House for the day by virtue of the President being here at the wedding - and Tom was standing beside Mike in front of the lectern that had been found for the officiating chaplain, both men in spotless dress whites.

Sasha smoothed down her dress one more time, the glowing white fabric sitting perfectly over her hips and slinking down to her ankles, showcasing the pale pink heels borrowed from Rachel. She took a deep breath and Rachel smiled at her.

"It's going to be fine. Just keep your eyes on Tom." Her focus changed to Ash and Lissy, in the simple dark pink dresses they'd picked out. "Ready, you two?"

"Yes." Ash rolled her eyes, "It's just walking."

"Enough of that." Jed said firmly, offering his arm to Sasha. "Shall we do this?"

Sasha nodded, and Rachel leaned in to kiss her cheek before darting out onto the lawn to take her seat next to Mike.

Despite her friend's advice, Sasha didn't only look at Tom as Jed walked her down the grassy aisle. She did, of course, and the look on his face made her eyes prickle, but she couldn't help looking around at their guests too, faces from the Nathan James, from military HQ and the White House, and even a couple from the National Intelligence Service. Her gaze lingered on Mike and Rachel for a moment, on Tex and Nina, and on Sam's beaming face as he sat beside Kat, but then her eyes were drawn back to Tom, and this time she left them there.

Two sets of blue eyes, locked together, belonging to two people who had seen and suffered so much, and somehow found their way back to each other. During the opening words, the vows, the exchange of rings, and right through to the kiss at the end, their gaze never wavered from each other. It was only when Tom took hold of Sasha's hand to lead her back up the aisle that the spell was finally broken, with wide smiles and a sudden peal of laughter from the bride as the groom swept her into his arms and carried her across the lawn.

Sasha was reminded of Mike and Rachel's wedding as the afternoon turned to evening, the way the guests mingled and the champagne flowed, and the food disappeared, except that that day she'd still felt like something of an outsider, and she'd had to expend so much effort keeping up a front of total confidence. Now she felt relaxed, surrounded by genuine friends, her best friends most of all - Rachel and Nina, sat together laughing, Nina's hands cupped around her prominent belly, wincing at kicks.

Tom wrapped his arm around her, following her gaze to Nina.

"That'll be you soon enough." He promised, and she smiled up at him as he bent his head to kiss her.

"I'm not going to give up work though, you know." She warned, and he laughed.

"Never thought you would. In fact, since Mike's taken a step back, I wouldn't mind a conversation about a couple of different Navy roles that you might be interested in, if the NIS isn't working out for you."

"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not right now, but once I'm back behind my desk."

"Honeymoon first." She said firmly.

"Definitely. Speaking of which, when do you think we can get started with that?"

"Any time you like." She gave him a deliberately wicked smile. "But probably best to wait until at least the majority of our friends aren't here to watch?"

Later, Tom stood with Mike, watching Sasha enthusiastically participating in a display of terrible dancing with some of the younger guests, including Lissy, Aaron and Kat, and both of his children. Sam kept trying to teach Sasha hip hop move, and Tom was pretty sure she kept getting wrong on purpose, just to make his son laugh.

"You know," Mike commented, "Seems like just yesterday I was giving you a kick up the ass at my wedding, to go get your girl."

"I never did thank you, did I?" Tom suddenly realised.

Mike waved it away, "You don't have to. The free booze is thanks enough."

Tom laughed, taking a gulp of his champagne. "You okay?" He asked his friend.

"I'm great. Getting it right at last." Mike gestured towards Rachel, who was chatting animatedly with Tex and Nina. "Best thing that ever happened to me."

"I know what you mean." Tom agreed with feeling. He looked at Mike, and a smile came over his face. "Hey, remember at your wedding you made me say the goodbyes for you, so you and Rachel could sneak off home?"

Mike gave an exaggerated sigh. "I wondered when that was coming. And I was so happy to get away with not having to give a speech."

"Come on buddy, you knew there'd be at least one uncomfortable best man duty."

"I did," Mike said, setting down his glass and surprising Tom with a brief hug. The men clapped each other's backs and separated, smiling. "Go take care of your wife." Mike said, "I'll handle the rest."

Tom tried to carry Sasha all the way to their bedroom, but the narrow flight of stairs to the third floor proved his undoing, and he had to follow her instead, finding her stood still at the threshold of their bedroom, her eyes wide.

"Did you do this?"

He looked around at the candles, rose petals, and bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and shook his head. "No, not me."

Sasha turned to him with tears in her eyes. "Then who-"

But he'd already spotted the note tucked under the ice bucket, and began to read it aloud.

"Dear Mr and Mrs Chandler, enjoy your wedding night, you deserve it. Love from all of us." He set it down slowly. "It's Rachel's handwriting."

"Of course it is." Sasha stepped close, laying her hand on his shoulder. "We're so lucky, Tom."

"We are." He agreed, turning to face her.

"Now how about we get lucky, sailor?" She asked, laughing, and he pulled her into his arms.

"You just want to get me out of this uniform."

"So true." She smiled wickedly, "And you just want to see what's under this dress."

"So true." He echoed.

Sasha took a step back, and turned around. "Undo me?"

As he started to unlace the satin ribbons holding her dress together, he paused to kiss down her spine as he uncovered her skin, noting with growing desire that she wasn't wearing a bra, the tight bodice of the dress doing that particular job admirably. When he finally reached the base of her back and loosened the dress to fall in a pool to the floor, he could only gasp at the sight of the tiny scrap of lace that was all she wore beneath.

"Your turn," She murmured, starting to unfasten his uniform with a practised hand. After a second he managed to stop gaping and help, and as soon as he was undressed, he lifted Sasha onto the bed and kissed her, his hands running over her body as he joined her.

"You looked beautiful today." He told her, "But I prefer you like this."

"Oh really?" She laughed a little, and he pretended to think about it.

"Yeah. Actually, no." He corrected himself, "You're still wearing one garment too many." He ran a finger under the incredibly thin ribbon strap over her hip, tracing across the anchor tattoo that matched his own. "If I'd thought about it, I would have figured you'd got this lasered off long ago."

She shook her head as he eased her panties down. "Thought the same about yours. I was so glad to see it again." She was smiling, but there was something vulnerable in her eyes.

"I never forgot you, Sash, and I never regretted us. Not for one moment." He told her softly.

"There was never anyone else quite like you, Thomas Chandler." She touched his face, and then pulled his head down for a kiss, as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"You're one of a kind, Sasha Chandler." He murmured into her ear, before kissing her again.

She whimpered slightly, at his words as much as his kiss, her legs wrapping around him as tightly as her arms. He'd planned a slow, loving seduction, but feeling her already hot and ready, her slick core pressing against his hardness, he surrendered to the inevitable and pushed inside of her slowly, groaning at the sensation.

Sasha gasped as he filled her, her fingers digging into his back and her heels digging into the firm muscle of his rear. "I love you," She gasped, feeling overwhelmed and somehow almost on the verge of tears. There had been many times like this since she and Tom had found each other again, moments of disbelief and joy, but always tinged with the fear that it might all vanish again. Now, she realised the fear was gone, and the tears that escaped and slid into her hair were of pure happiness.

"I love you," Tom murmured back, fighting tears of his own as he rocked slowly into her, "Always, Sash, always."

She trembled in his arms, clinging to him so tightly, and then he heard her gasp and felt her arch as she climaxed, and he buried his face in her neck and did the same, letting those rogue tears be lost in her hair.

Tom rolled onto his back, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Sasha so that she stayed curled into him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Look," He said, nodding towards the skylight windows, "The stars are out."

"It's funny," She said slowly, "I used to see the stars as a reason to keep moving – a navigation tool. But now I don't want to go anywhere at all." She reached up and laid her hand on his cheek, guiding his eyes to hers. "I'm home, Tom."

"Yes, you are," He kissed her gently, "Yes, you are."