Just as Jane promised, Maura's presents remained wrapped and under the still decorated tree well into the New Year. The only change was, due to space, the tree made its way from the guest house to the main house, where it had been displayed every year prior. There it remained, permanently illuminated, as they waited for Maura to return.
On a particularly frigid day in mid-January, the hope for Maura's return was sparked.
Jane had stopped working the amount of overtime she had done when Maura first left and was just returning from a walk with Jo when she met a mail courier at her door.
"I have a letter that needs a signature from a Jane Rizzoli?"
"Yeah, that's me," Jane replied as she unclipped Jo from her leash and opened her front door to let the small dog warm up. She then used her free hands to take the clipboard and sign her name, receiving a thick cardboard envelope in return.
"Have a good one," the man said, though it fell on deaf ears as Jane recognized Maura's handwriting.
She immediately entered her apartment and locked the door before tearing the envelope open. She reached her hand inside and pulled out a smaller, plain white envelope. This was torn open as well to reveal a single piece of paper and a plane ticket.
I'm ready if you are.
Dated for that weekend and bound for Paris, Jane's heart soared at the welcome in the form of a plane ticket Maura was sending her.
Before she knew what was happening, Jane ran to her room and began to pack. She tossed her suitcase onto her bed and then ran back to the living room where she scooped all of Maura's presents up. She arranged them into the suitcase and began to add sweaters, jeans, and cold weather accessories in to keep them cushioned.
The next days passed in a blur as she wrapped up her open cases and handed over the ones that couldn't be wrapped up to her co-workers. Jo Friday once again was handed off to Angela and on a Friday morning in the middle of January before the sun was in the sky, Jane made her way back to Maura.
Once she cleared customs, Jane walked into the large terminal of Charles de Gaulle and searched the crowd for Maura.
"Hello, detective."
Jane spun around.
"I saw you try to hide it, but I saw your face fall."
"Sorry, Constance," Jane replied. "I guess I just expected Maura to be here. Do the whole cliché airport reunion and all. But it is good to see you."
"It's good to see you as well. And, if it is any consolation," Constance began as she ushered Jane out of the terminal and into a waiting car, "I am under strict orders to bring you straight to her."
The two women made small, idle chit chat about the holidays and Jane's flight as the car travelled through the snow Paris streets. Jane noticed as they slowed down and began to drive down a long winding driveway.
"This doesn't look like the Isles Estate," Jane pointed out as she looked out the window.
"Because it isn't."
"Where are we, then?"
"A treatment centre," Constance answered.
"Oh. Uh, has Maura been here this whole time?"
"That is my daughter's story to tell, not mine," Constance told Jane.
"Right, of course."
"I'll be right here to collect you when you've finished," the older woman said as the car pulled into a parking space.
"Okay. Do, uh, do I look okay? Like is this one of those fancy treatment centres that's gonna look at me like I'm crazy if I show up in jeans? Do I need to bring my ID in with me or-"
"Jane."
The detective immediately stopped talking.
"If I were you, I wouldn't keep her waiting."
Turning to look out the window where Constance had gestured, Jane watched as Maura appeared from inside the building and offered a tentative wave.
In moments, Jane re-lived her BPD tactical training exam and managed to exit Constance's car, slam the door, and make her way to Maura in a matter of moments. Maura let out a light, airy laugh when Jane's arms wrapped around her and lifted her clear off the group.
"Jane!" she laughed. "Put me down!"
"Sorry," Jane apologized as she gently set Maura back on her feet, her arms still around the doctor's waist.
"Don't be," the blonde reassured her as she took Jane's face in her hands. "I've missed you so much," she confessed.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you, too."
"Oh, no. Please don't cry!" Maura pleaded as she saw Jane's eyes well with tears.
"Ugh, I've become an ugly crier since you left," Jane laughed as she wiped the tears from her face.
"Hush," Maura chastised. "Come inside. I'll make us a coffee. You must be jet lagged."
Maura took Jane's hand in her own and, with fingers laced together, the two women made their way through the treatment centre. Jane observed a hallway filled with offices, large activity rooms, and inspirational posters in several languages on the walls.
They walked in silence until they reached a conservatory that overlooked a large garden. Though a blanket of snow covered where Jane was sure would be flowers and footpaths, the large pine trees were just as beautiful in the winter as she imagined they would be in the summer.
"I've booked this room out for us, so we won't be interrupted," the doctor explained. "I'll just go grab the coffee cart."
Jane didn't let Maura's hand go.
"What is this place, Maura? And why are we meeting here?"
"It's a treatment centre," Maura stated as she abandoned her quest for coffee and sat on a small couch and beckoned Jane to join her. "I've been here since a few days after my arrival in December. When I arrived, my parents set up an appointment with a specialist that same day. He came to the conclusion that the psychiatrist in Boston was wrong—it wasn't dysthymic disorder. He diagnosed me with major depressive disorder and made a medication adjustment. That next morning my mother came into my room to see me staring the half dozen pill bottles that represented prescriptions I started, adjusted, added to my regimen, stopped, et cetera."
"Oh my god," Jane gasped as she realized what Maura was saying.
"I didn't attempt," the blonde soothed as she nervously wrung her hands together. "My father drove me here that afternoon and I was here as an inpatient until Christmas. Once we were satisfied with my progress, I transitioned to their day program. It's the same high intensity therapeutic treatment, but I only stay during the days and get to spend my evenings and the majority of my weekends at home with my parents."
"Has it helped?"
"Immensely," Maura replied.
Jane looked at her best friend and finally took stock. Her hair had grown longer in the time they had been apart, and it suited Maura well. Jane could see that Maura's face was free from makeup and she looked refreshed, a vast change from the exhaustion that had been etched onto her face just a few months prior. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a loose fitting black turtleneck jumper. Plain sneakers finished the outfit that was decidedly casual for her.
"You look good," was all Jane could think to say.
"I feel good," Maura replied. "It's taken a lot of really hard work, but my good days are finally more common than my bad days."
"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."
"To answer your second question," Maura continued, kicking her shoes off and bringing her legs into a criss cross position in front of her, "you've always been an integral part of my treatment. Throughout this entire process, you've been here with me. And as my treatment here winds down, it seemed only fitting to have you here."
"I'm honoured you're sharing this with me, Maura," Jane smiled as she took Maura's hand in hers and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "I'll be honest—I wish I had been with you physically throughout the whole process. But I'll take being here now."
"It was a rough journey. I wasn't myself for a lot of those first few weeks," the blonde explained. "The clinicians here didn't let me hide from anything—not from them or my fears or insecurities or anger. I was either a zombie, lashing out, or crying. I nearly gave up and signed myself out so many times. After one particularly rough day, one of the other residents gave me this."
Lifting her sleeve, Maura revealed a technicolour bracelet made of strands of yarn braided together, with a plastic bead in the middle with the letter J on it.
"'J for Jane'" Maura said, repeating what the other resident said to her. "So I always remember who I'm fighting to get better for."
"That's cute," Jane said softly. "But, Maura. Sweetheart. I want you to get better for you, not just for me."
"I know," Maura smiled as she scooted close enough to Jane to lay her head on the brunette's shoulder. "And I have. Or, well, I am still getting better for myself. But at the start I needed more motivation than that. And you provided that motivation."
"Like Newton's First Law."
"Hmm?"
"Isn't that the one that says an object at rest will stay at rest unless a force great enough acts upon it?"
"Yes," Maura confirmed.
"So, in this case, you were an object at rest. And you needed a force to help get you better. Except your force wasn't enough, so I stepped in to help."
"That is actually a brilliant way of putting it," the doctor laughed. "And once I had enough force to get me in motion, I was able to really start healing for myself, for you, and for us."
Smiling, Jane wrapped her arm around Maura's shoulders and placed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you."
"So how much longer are you here? You mentioned you were sort of winding down your treatment?" Jane asked.
"My bags are packed and I can leave as soon as the paperwork is signed."
"Really?!" Jane asked, pulling away to look down at Maura's face.
"Yes. I need to attend a follow up appointment in the community as part of my ongoing treatment plan, but-"
"But nothing. Lets go!"
"Your Christmas presents are in my suitcase."
"Hmm?"
Jane lifted her head from the pillows of Maura's bed to look at Maura who was emerging from the ensuite and gathering her hair into a ponytail.
"Your Christmas gifts. I made sure to pack them."
"I was there when you called my mother on Christmas Eve," Maura confessed as she pulled the half dozen wrapped gifts from Jane's suitcase. "Did you really leave them under the Christmas tree until now?"
"I'm a woman of my word," Jane replied as she forced herself to sit up and recline against the headboard. Maura sat next to her, mirroring the pose. "Go on. I think there's some good stuff in there," she added with a yawn.
"I wanted so badly to talk to you that day," Maura admitted. "I'd listened to your voicemail countless times but it didn't compare to hearing your voice in real time. I should have reached out sooner."
"I would have liked that," Jane admitted. "But," she continued, stifling a yawn, "it's in the past. We're moving on. Moment by moment we're moving forward."
Maura just smiled as she watched Jane's eyes futter closed.
"You're exhausted, Jane. Between travel, jet lag, and seeing each other again I think it's safe to say you're in need of a good night's sleep," Maura said. "I can open my presents another time. Let's just go to sleep."
"Okay," Jane signed sleepily. "But you have to open this one," she said as she rolled off the bed and pulled a gift bag from a small compartment of her suitcase and handed it to Maura, pulling the other gifts off the bed and onto a chair.
"Is this from you?"
"Mmhmm," Jane confirmed as she crawled back into bed. "Go on," she encouraged.
Gently, Maura pulled a jewellery box out from the bag and popped the lid open to reveal a delicate opal ring. She gasped as the diamond pave band shimmered in the light.
"It's not one of those rings," Jane reassured as she took the box from Maura's hands, frozen in mid-air, and slid the ring onto Maura's right ring finger. "After you left and after my ma knocked some sense into me, I knew I wanted to get you something special for when you came back to me."
"Jane, it's beautiful," Maura breathed.
"I got a chain, too. So if you need to take it off for autopsies and stuff, you can wear it around your neck so it doesn't accidentally get tossed out with the stomach contents."
Maura laughed at the comment.
"It must have cost you a fortune, Jane. I don't know if I can ac-"
"You absolutely can accept it," Jane quickly interrupted. "Right after you left, I was a mess. I refused to take care of myself. I was working 110, 120 hours a week. Jo had to move in with my ma because there were times I wouldn't leave the station for days at a time."
"Jane," Maura whispered as she looked at Jane, noticing the pain on the detective's tired face. Setting the gift bag and box on her side table, Maura laid down and Jane joined her, the women laying face to face.
"Don't be sad. I got a lot of overtime pay. I could probably afford a mortgage in Beacon Hill if I really wanted," she laughed. "Cav forced me to take Christmas Eve and Day off, and between talking to my ma and your mother I knew I had to come to my senses and stop working myself to death."
"I'm so sorry I did that to you."
"No. No, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm going to start charging you every time you apologize for putting your health first—except instead of owing me money you'll owe me a doughnut or something," the detective laughed. "You did what you had to do. Your life was what you were fighting for, and I am so glad you took control and got better," Jane insisted. "I would work 100 hour weeks for the rest of my life if it meant you were safe and in my life."
"I love you so much," Maura whispered as she placed a hand on Jane's hip. "You'll never need to worry about affording a house in Beacon Hill because mine will always be open to you."
"Thank you."
A comfortable silence settled between the women as they laid just inches from each other, allowing the newfound peace to course through their veins.
"Last time we were in bed together, you kissed me," Maura whispered after several minutes had passed.
"You trying to tell me something?" Jane asked, peeking one eye open and smirking at the blonde.
"No," Maura laughed. "Just letting you know it's my turn."
With that, Maura closed the remaining gap between the two women and kissed Jane deeply. She slid her hand underneath Jane's Red Sox jersey and pulled the detective flush against her as Jane's hand tugged her silk scrunchie from her hair and tangled long fingers in the doctor's blonde hair.
Though she waited for the tsunami to return to her mind, Maura's mind stayed firmly on dry land. She gasped as she felt Jane's tongue slip into her own mouth and nearly cried at the ease with which her breathing came.
"I can breathe," She murmured in between kissed.
"You can't breathe?" Jane asked, worrying freezing her movements in place.
"No," Maura laughed as the euphoria radiated through her. "I can breathe, Jane. I'm not drowning anymore."
The two women kissed, their teeth clashing as they both smiled at the revelation, and unlike their first kiss, they didn't stop.