A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I'm going to try to have another chapter up before New Years, but if not I hope you all have a great one! Thank you as always for sticking with me and continuously making me smile!

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. The characters used in this story are not mine.

Your Perseverance Made the Difference

"I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life; but in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human."

-C. JoyBell C.

November 8th, 2015

Castle whispers 'good morning' in Kate's ear a little before six. She hums but it takes a few seconds for her eyes to flutter open and focus on him. She smiles as he draws her in close, warms her with the heat of his body.

"Good morning," she whispers against the side of his neck where her face is buried.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Mm, yes. You told me the perfect bedtime story, how could I not have?"

His chuckle vibrates through her body and she kind of hates that they have to get ready for their flight because she'd love to roll him over and properly thank him for the story. But there will be plenty of time for that on their honeymoon. She could literally jump up and down with excitement; they're finally going on a real honeymoon.

Castle coaxes her out of the bed with coffee and the rich liquid tastes somehow sweeter this morning, as if it holds more meaning than ever before. In a way it does. They went through so much before they ever made it to the altar and now that they've been married almost a year they have so much to celebrate.

They manage to leave with enough time to have a quick breakfast at Remy's thanks to having packed their bags the night before. Kate tries her best to get Castle to tell her where they're going, but he only smirks and changes the subject.

He somehow manages to talk her into wearing headphones as they enter the Newark lobby, and she's so damn excited that she momentarily contemplates pausing the song on her iPod and listening as their flight is announced. But Castle loves to surprise her and she won't spoil that for him, after all, she has a surprise for him as well that she managed to slip into her bag without him seeing. Well, more than one surprise actually.

Once they're in the air Kate removes the headphones and leans her head against Castle's shoulder, twines their fingers together and rests them against his leg.

"How long should I expect to be on this plane?" she asks him after they've been in the air for about an hour.

"I'm afraid we're going to be on here for a while, but the wait will be worth it." He lifts his hand to her head and runs his fingers through her silky locks. "You can take a nap if you want."

Her eyes are already starting to flutter closed and she makes a point to snuggle closer to him before drifting off.

She wakes a few hours later just as their lunch is being served. Her first class burger is almost as good as the one she orders at Remy's, but it may just be because she's suddenly starving. She hums at the taste of her burger, enjoying her lunch almost as much as her breakfast this morning.

When they've finished their burgers and their plates have been taken away, Kate angles her body towards Castle and smiles at him. "Can I have a hint of where you're taking me?" she asks him with a bat of her eyelashes that she knows drives him crazy.

"I tell you what, I'll tell you where we're landing, but you have to wait for the rest."

She huffs half-heartedly, but nods in agreement.

"When we land we'll be in Colombo, Sri Lanka."

Her eyes widen when he reveals where they're going. Of all the places they had discussed going on their honeymoon, Sri Lanka had never come up.

"Have you ever been to this place we're staying at?" she asks him curiously.

"Actually, no. It came up in my Google search of 'romantic island get-a-ways'." He pauses when she smirks at him. "Don't laugh, Kate. I'm fairly certain you're going to love this place. Besides, I called around to see if anyone we knew had been there before, I got several good reports."

He wraps his arm around her shoulders when she smiles at him. "You deserve to be taken somewhere special, Kate."

She leans her head up to kiss his cheek before answering. "We both deserve this, babe. I love you."

"I love you too."

They spend the rest of the flight chatting about random things which include Castle's newest Nikki Heat ideas. Most of them have Kate smiling, but a few of them earn him a smack to the chest and by the time their plane lands in Colombo, they're both laughing.

They collect their bags and Castle leads Kate from the airport and towards a train station not far from where they are. Her eyes light up when she sees where they're headed and she grips his arm excitedly. "Castle, did you plan a train ride for us?"

"Well, when I started planning the trip I looked up our options for getting to the resort once we landed. We could take another flight and get there in half an hour and I know we just got off a twenty hour flight, but I thought you would enjoy this."

She uses their linked arms to stop him and then leans up to press her lips against his. When she pulls back she's smiling. "I love this so much, all of it. The surprise, the flight, riding on a train, I love it all because I get to do it with you."

They stand there, madly in love and staring at each other until the whistle blows and they have to practically sprint to make it on board in time. They find an empty car near the back of the train and stack their bags in one seat before sitting side by side on the other one. Kate stares out the window as they start to roll along and Castle watches as she takes in everything around them. He loves to watch her like this, observant and carefree.

She watches the scenery for a while before turning to find Castle watching her and she can't stop herself from doing her signature Beckett eye-roll. "How many times have we had the 'staring is creep' conversation, Castle?"

"I thought that was only when we're at the precinct? Is it really that big of a deal for me to watch my wife when she's happy?"

She rolls her eyes again but rewards him with a kiss to the cheek. "I suppose since you're the reason for my happiness, it's only fair that I let you stare."

She's quiet for a few seconds before curiosity gets the best of her again. "How long until we reach our final destination?"

"A little over two hours," he answers.

"Hmm, any ideas on what we could do to pass the time?" she asks, and Castle catches her tone immediately.

"Well, we do have this roomy train cart all to ourselves."

"Mhmm…" She trails her finger down the front of his shirt and lets her hand rest just above the top of his pants.

"I was thinking…" he whispers in her ear. She shivers when his breath coasts across her skin, arousal laced with the husky tone of his voice.

"Yes?"

But just as quickly as he ignited the sexual tension, he extinguishes it. "Now would be the perfect time to tell you the next part of our story."

She can't huff like she wants to, can't cross her arms and pout, because as much as she wants him to ease the ache between her legs and fog up every window, she wants to hear the next part of their story just as much. She focuses on the fact that their anniversary is only two days away, lets that knowledge calm the flames of arousal.

"You okay over there," he asks her with a laugh.

Damn him for knowing exactly how to work her up.

"I'm fine. Tell me the story?" she answers in a normal tone, but Castle sees right through her efforts of ignoring how bad she wants him. He wants her just as bad, but if he lets her see that he knows he'll give in. They can make it two more days and it will be well worth the wait.

"Will telling you the story make up for working you up and not doing anything about it?" he asks.

"Year six was filled with wonderful memories, triumphs and wedding planning, but the end of it was the hardest thing that we've ever been through together. I know you're going to find a way to make something beautiful out of it so, yes."

When she has faith in him like that, how could he not turn it into something beautiful?

The start of our sixth year together was beautiful. I remember waking up next to you the morning after I proposed to you at the park. The sun was shining through the window at just the right angle and it illuminated the diamond on your left hand. I couldn't stop smiling that day. Being engaged to you was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I think we spent every minute that we weren't packing your stuff in bed together. I embraced your decision to take the D.C. job, but it was much harder than I expected it to be. I said goodbye to you at the airport expecting to see you that weekend. But then one week turned into two and suddenly it had been six weeks since we'd seen each other.

That day you called to tell me that you weren't able to fly in for the weekend I knew there was no way I could go another week without seeing you. Before I really thought about what I was doing I was on a plane to D.C. and the next thing I knew I was waiting for you in the darkness of your apartment. You looked so miserable when you came home that night; I hated It because I was just as miserable. I watched you as you started to undress, the crease in your brow deeper than I ever remembered it being. I couldn't stand it anymore; it had been way to long since I had touched you.

Ever the detective, you whipped around with your gun just as I started to step towards you. You tried to be angry at me for coming, but everything about your body screamed 'touch me now'. I asked if you wanted me to leave, you answered me with the press of your body. We only made it as far as the wall of the hallway for round one. By the time we fell onto your bed I'd lost count of what round we were on. We spent the entire night making up for those six long, lonely weeks apart.

I tried not to get involved with your case, but you dropped your picture on the floor and curiosity got the best of me. I just wanted to help you solve the case faster so that we could spend more time together. I never expected to get kidnapped by Bronson and infected by a deadly poison.

You handled everything with so much grace, even when I knew you were just as scared as I was. I couldn't imagine leaving you alone, but I knew that if it came to that you were strong enough to persevere. You were so strong, Kate.

I fought to hold on for you, focused on your hand in mine as we raced to get the antidote. I never would have made it that long without you beside me. Your touch was my saving grace. Even when I lost the fight with consciousness, I could still feel your touch, hear your voice. I held onto that.

I woke to the sound of your voice in the hospital. You looked so relieved and yet so burdened at the same time. You told me that things weren't supposed to be that hard, but I heard your silent whispers, you didn't think you were worth the trouble. You were always worth the trouble, Kate. Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Always remember that.

I have to admit that I was more excited then I should have been when your D.C. team took over the case I was working with the boys. It meant that I got to see you more even if we weren't supposed to discuss the case. I saw the toll that job was taking on you. You wanted to do more and because of that you took a chance and jeopardized your job when you gave me that flash drive.

That night we had a serious talk. The long distance thing just wasn't working. I needed to see you more than once every six weeks. You seemed scared that I was going to walk away from you and I hated that. Walking away from you was no longer an option, Kate. You were my life. I presented you with the key to our new apartment because being with you was more important than anything else at the time. But right before I could drag you to our room to celebrate, McCord showed up at my door. You lost your job for the choice you made, but to this day I still believe things happened the way they were supposed to.

You struggled with not having a job and as much as I wanted you take some time for yourself I understood where you were coming from. All your life you'd been independent, it was hard for you to wake up without something to do. When Gates called me about the hostage situation I knew that you hated being on the outside. I was so thankful that she let you work that case. You always knew how to put on a brave face, but I felt the tension, the worry that seeped from your body. I never would have gone in there if I didn't think I would be coming back to you. I also never expected to get shot. I think that was one of the first times you were truly grateful for the vest I had purchased. I was thankful for it too because despite the pain of the impact, it saved my life.

You got your job at the precinct back at the end of that case and I knew instantly that you were back where you belonged. You thought taking the job in D.C. would allow you to do more, but the truth is you were always doing more, always making a difference. You might not have planned to be a homicide detective from the beginning, but I have no doubt that you ended up right where you were meant to be.

Not long after that we met a time traveler named Simon Doyle. During his time with us he informed us that we would have three kids. At the time you thought he was crazy, but based on where we are now, I think we still have a chance at that future.

Dr. Neiman was one of the creepiest people I think we ever met while working a case. I knew that she was involved with Tyson almost immediately. You were a little more skeptical to believe, but I knew that he was never dead when I shot him off that bridge. When all of the files on Tyson came up missing I think you finally started to believe that it could be him. Neiman disappeared not long after that, but she left a present for us. When I put that flash drive into my computer and the song came through the speakers we both froze because it was a message for us. I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Tyson or Neiman, but we have each other and we'll be ready for them.

Then I got to see you with a baby for the first time. You were hesitant and unsure at first, but Kate, you're going to make an amazing mother. And when you promised me that you wouldn't let me take care of our baby alone, it didn't matter that we were digging through a dumpster, I wanted to kiss you for all of the happiness you brought to my life.

Probably one of the scariest cases of that year was when Ryan and Espo were trapped in that burning building. You blamed yourself for sending them into it, but you never could have known what was going to happen. All that matters is that they made it through. You helped Jenny while she was in labor and you helped bring her husband back to her. Even then, after six years of knowing you, you still managed to amaze me daily.

The media was something that I'd been dealing with for years, but I always tried to keep you out of it. When they started publishing things about me that weren't true you put a stop to it immediately. When Ryan and Espo handed me the paper at the precinct I was prepared to apologize for whoever had given them the information about us. I never expected it to be you. You pulled my arms around you in the middle of the precinct and told me that if they were going to write things about us you wanted it to be the truth. And I don't know how it was possible, but I loved you even more after that.

Our next case brought us into the world of Matilda King. To my surprise she already knew exactly who you were. You'd mention modeling to me before, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about that time in your life. During one of your meetings with her she requested that you model a wedding dress for her. While you were still in the dress I called to tell you about the beautiful venue I had found for our wedding, but you turned down the idea. Later that night you came through the door of the loft with the weight of the world on your shoulders and told me that we needed to talk.

You'd had a very real, vulnerable moment of missing your mom. You thought I was going to be mad at you for turning down the venue, but I only ever wanted the best for you, Kate. I would have given anything for your mom to be a part of our wedding. Matilda gave you the dress you'd tried on for her and it brought us another step closer to our wedding.

I never really regretted missing my prom. I tried to live my life without many regrets at all, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take your hand and dance with you at the high school prom at the end of one of our cases that year. It was perfect and in that perfect moment we agreed on the song for our first dance at our wedding. I'm so thankful for all of the moments in my life that lead me to you.

The morning that we attempted to pick a font for our wedding invitations started like any other. You were prepared to persuade me into liking the font you wanted when your phone rang. I let you leave thinking that you'd be back in a few hours to continue our day of planning and being together. I had no idea how close I would come to losing you forever. After most of the day had passed without any contact from you I knew something was wrong. When I made it to the precinct my heart sunk. I sat in my chair beside your desk, staring at your empty one and praying for some way to help you.

Vulcan Simmons tortured you in ways that I never want to think about. He did things to you that I would have killed him for had I received the opportunity. You never should have been in that position. When we found you I nearly lost it. You were battered, bruised and barely conscious and I held your limp body against mine for hours. I wanted to take you home, but you had to give your statement first so I sat beside you at the precinct while you recounted exactly what you had been through. It took everything in me not to explode.

When we were finally given a moment alone I made a comment to you that I never should have left you alone. You promised me that I had been with you all along and that you held on to me when you wanted to give up. I'd never been so thankful for your strength and perseverance.

After six years of following you around, we finally got to work a case that involved ninjas. The morning we got the case you were dreading going to dinner with your friend Carly, but I reminded you that she didn't have a famous author basing books on her. You asked me to call you at a certain time so that I could rescue you from your dinner, but I failed to do so because I was working a lead on the case. You were mad when you got home that night, but I managed to get you to forgive me. I promised you that we would never be boring and I think I've done a pretty good job of keeping that promise so far. I can't imagine life with you ever being boring, Kate.

We worked your mother's case carefully after that, slowly worked our way towards taking Bracken down. But then the guy we'd been watching was murdered and everything went to hell. Vulcan Simmons was found murdered right after that and I knew that there was no way you could have killed him, but the evidence spoke otherwise. It was the second time that we'd gone on the run together. I left you for only a few minutes in a sketchy hotel room so that I could secure a car for us. Bracken found you and tried to take you out. I'm so glad that you were trained for situations like that. You managed to get away from them, but a head wound caused you to pass out in the hallway. When I found you my heart was racing, I was so worried that I was going to lose you.

You came to in the car and told me to turn around. You knew that there was evidence to bring Bracken down somewhere in your mother's things. We tried our best to find it before we were caught, but we ended up in cuffs in the middle of the precinct waiting for our punishment. You never stopped trying to figure things out, never gave up on showing everyone the truth and with only seconds to spare you found the tape that brought everything to light.

I've never been as proud of you as I was the moment you exited the building with Bracken in handcuffs. You finally did what you'd set out to do the moment you became a cop. Your perseverance made the difference. You turned to me as they took him away and I saw the weight lift off your shoulders. I saw years of sorrow and pain float away, leaving the strong, amazing woman that I loved. I told you that she was proud of you and you told me that you never could have solved it without me. We held on to each other and in that moment you were free.

The days leading up to our wedding we encountered several setbacks. Finding out you had been married before was a shock to both of us, but we figured things out just like we always do. I remember driving to the Hamptons thinking about how everything we'd been through would be worth it the moment I slid that ring onto your finger and kissed you as my wife. I never imagined that I would never make it to you. The last thing we said to each other was 'I love you' and that's pretty much the last thing I remember about that day. I so wanted to see you in your mother's dress, to marry you. I wanted it more than I'd ever wanted anything in my life.

For two months I was away from you. I remember nothing about those months other than I missed you. You may think there's no way I could know that without remembering anything else, but missing someone you love is more than just a memory. It's a feeling. I felt the distance from you even when I had no idea where I was. I missed you so much that I have no doubt it was what kept me going.

I still don't know what happened to me, I still don't know what I did or said while I was missing. But I know what I felt. You. You gave me the strength to survive when I knew nothing else. You persevered and believed in me even when the evidence said otherwise.

Our original wedding day was taken from us. Whoever took me thought that they had won. They thought they broke us, but they didn't, Kate. They only made us stronger. And that's the beauty of it, that even through one of the worst of times; we turned the ashes into something beautiful.

He pauses when he's finished his last sentence to take in the beauty of his wife. Her eyes are soft, full of emotion and watching him with such reverence.

"I'm going to stop right there because the rest of the story goes with year seven."

She drapes herself across his lap, wraps her arms around his neck and holds on to him for the rest of the train ride. The only words that pass between them are whispers of 'I love you' and promises of forever.

At last the train pulls into the station and Castle lifts her from his lap, but never loses contact with her body. "Are you ready to finally go on a real honeymoon, Mrs. Castle?"

"I've never been more ready." She smiles at her husband as they walk hand in hand towards the start of many new memories.

Chapter six, complete.

Would love to hear your thoughts! xo