A/N: Sorry for the delay. Writer's block again. Lol.

Here in Heaven Part 3

We've got him back. He's going to be fine. Ok, come on, Bristow. Hang in there…

I could feel it. She was coming next.

And as quickly as he had gone, she came. She saw me. Her hazel eyes fell on me and she gasped, unsure.

I smiled at her and nodded once. Yes, I'm here.

"...Danny?"

"It's me."

She stepped forward and reached out to touch my hand, to be sure I was real.

Her eyes glittered with tears. "Danny."

"Missed you, Syd."

There was too much that needed to be said and so little time.

"I missed you, too. Oh, God, Danny. I love you so much." She brushed her hand against my cheek.

"I love you too, Syd. But I need you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"I need you to move on. Please, don't feel guilty about me. Don't think you're betraying me by allowing someone else to make you happy."

She searched my eyes, confused. "I…"

"No, Syd. Please. You're not betraying me. And I know you won't forget me or let anyone replace me. But all I want now is for you to be happy. And I know that you are with Michael."

"Mi… Vaughn? He… did you… did you talk to him?"

I nodded. "He's a wonderful person, Sydney. You deserve each other."

"We can't… we can't," she stated flatly, eyes still clouded, voice still full of wonder.

"I won't accept that. I know you, Sydney Amber Bristow. I know that if you really want something, nothing stands in your way."

"Well this is… different."

"How so?"

"It just… is," she responded weakly.

I sighed. "Syd…"

"Danny, I wish it could work like that. I wish I could just be in love like everyone else. But my life just isn't that simple," she quietly said.

"Isn't it?"

She sadly laughed. "You of all people should know that. I loved you so much that I couldn't bear to keep anything from you. I was so selfish and now you're gone. And it's true, I… I have feelings for Vaughn. I finally meet someone, and it's the one person I can't have. Let's also not forget Noah. My life just isn't a fairy tale. I'll lose everyone I love and it'll be my fault when I never see them again."

"How can you say that, Syd?" I questioned. "How can you stand here with me, your dead fiancé, and say that nothing in your life works out and you'll lose everyone you love forever? I know you can't truly believe that after all this. There's something else."

"It's been three years and you still know me as well as you know yourself."

"What is it?" I restated.

"It's just…" she began. "I know it sounds stupid, but ever since you died I've had this… this naive hope. I knew you were gone. I knew you weren't coming back. But there was a part of me that wanted to believe it anyway. If I… if I move on with Vaughn, or anyone, I'll know it's completely over. That'll be it. No more dreams of Sydney Hecht."

"No, but there'll be dreams of Sydney Vaughn instead," I reminded here.

"And that's what you want?" she whispered.

"I want you to stop feeling guilty about me and I want you to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Let yourself be in love and find reasons to enjoy living. Because, Syd, life's just too short, and to experience it alone makes it pretty damn empty too."

She smiled though her tears and said again, "I love you so much, you know that? Nothing will ever change that."

"I know. And I love you too…. By the way, the agents at Badenweiler and Noah- neither of them blame you. They said to stop thinking it was your fault."

Sydney's eyes widened, but she remained silent.

"Yes, Noah's here too. He could've killed you with that knife but he hesitated and let himself die instead. Life sacrifice for another brings you here. Both he and those agents want you to stop blaming yourself. You did what you had to do," I told her.

She nodded. "Thank you."

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice from behind us. "And if it's not too much trouble, tell Michael that I love him and miss him. Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't be there when he… visited."

"Oh, there you are!" I said to him. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"Well," he said, "I wanted to earlier… given who was here. But I couldn't talk to him. I had to… give the doctors a little help. As much as I love him, he has more to do before he stays here permanently."

At this point, Sydney looked extremely confused but when her eyes locked onto his emerald green ones, her face changed into an expression of understanding.

He stepped closer to her. "And for the record, you are nothing like her. I would have loved to have had you as a daughter."

She smiled wider, a silent thanks.

 "She's coming back to normal. Just a few more minutes and we'll have her back…"

"Syd, it's almost time for you to go back."

Her smile disappeared and a film of tears formed again. "I… I don't…"

"You have to go back."

"I know. But I don't want to lose you again."

I pulled her into my arms. "Oh, Sydney. Don't you see now? You're not going to lose me. I'm watching you and protecting you every day. You'll never lose me."

"I love you," she murmured again through her crying.

"I love you too. Please don't cry," I wiped away her tears. Softly, I began to sing into her hair. "Why do you build me up, buttercup baby just to bring me down… and mess me around. And then worst of all, you never call baby when you say you will… but I love you still…"

"Danny…"

"I need you… more than anyone darling, you know that I have from the start. So build me up, buttercup. Don't break my heart…."

I took her hands and held her out at arms length. "It'll be okay, Syd."

I gave her a last kiss, soft and full of love.

"Bye, Danny."

"Goodbye, Sydney."

And then she was gone.

 "Hey," he said softly as her eyes fluttered open.

           

"Hi."

"How are you?" he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I… I think I'm okay now. You?"

"I think I'm alright too. We've been here for three days, you know. They just told me I was allowed to get out of my bed and walk around," he told her.

"Good…"

She sat up and their eyes locked, and they fell silent. At the same moment, they began to talk. "Syd, there's something I…"

"Vaughn, something happened…"

She nodded towards him and smiled. "You can go first."

"Ok… but don't think I'm crazy. I… I think I saw him… Danny. I might have been dreaming. But it felt so real," he laughed softly. "I'm insane."

"No, you're not," she took his hand. "The same thing… it happened to me, too."

"It… it did?"

She nodded. "And I think I saw… I mean, right before I came back… he told me to tell you he misses you. And he loves you. He had to protect you from… from dying, so he couldn't see you…"

His eyes glittered with tears and he was struck speechless. "He… thank you."

And without caring who was watching, he reached over and gently touched her cheek. "Syd, there's something else. When I was talking to Danny, he said…"

She held a hand up. "Me too."

"And it made me realize… I don't want to waste any more of this life."

"It's just too short…" she agreed, remembering his words.

"Sydney…" he took her hand again. "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, and leaned forward.

Right there, in the hospital, they shared their first kiss. It was sweet and perfect and filled with promise.

And the doubt and fears and guilt and darkness could all melt away, off into some unseen oblivion, and they could finally live their lives to the fullest. They knew that they'd always be protected and safe, that the people they loved were watching over them.

They broke apart and like some invisible force was guiding them, they looked up at the sky and smiled, knowing that there would always be someone smiling back down.

I grinned widely as I watched the scene before me, incredibly glad that it had worked out just like I wanted it to.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and looked up, seeing the green eyes smiling down at me.

"You did a good job, Daniel," he told me honestly. "It's wonderful knowing that the people we love are happy now."

"Yeah, William, it is."

And we walked off, giving one last smile down at them, watching them share another kiss. They smiled at each other and walked off as well, hand and hand, into their future.

Mission accomplished.

*FIN*

A/N: Ok, I know how incredibly corny that was. Whoa, I didn't know I couldn't even write anything with that corniness capacity. Lol. But oh well. Please review! :-)