A/N: At last, the final installment. I have been lacking inspiration, so the plot bunnies are going into a semi-hibernation after this. I'll see you around at DLchem dot net. Notifications don't appear to be working, so I hadn't realized anyone reviewed the last chapter, lol. Thank you for reading!

Epilogue - Lights of Every Color

Lindsay and Danny were naked.

Entangled in each others limbs, covered with a fleece blanket, lying under the Christmas tree in her apartment. It was late in the evening on Christmas day, their very first holiday spent together, and their list was officially finished. The last items - numbers eighteen through twenty-two - included watching the archaic animation of Rudolph, calling up family members, sharing stories of their best and worst gifts ever, attending midnight mass, and building a snowman. In truth, there wasn't sufficient snow to build a snowman, so they settled and used cotton balls. All that remained was number twenty-three.

Now, Lindsay smiled as she watched the reflection of the colored lights dance across Danny's chiseled chest. Their glow was nothing, however, compared to the brilliant flush on his cheeks. For a moment, she considered inquiring about his health. One day, they were going to injure themselves this way.

"You alright?" she asked lightly, reaching over to smooth back his damp hair.

He murmured something inaudible, then shifted to look at her. "Was that on the list?" he asked, referring to their sub-arboreal passion.

Lindsay laughed. "I suppose it could pass for twenty-three," she admitted. "I wrote 'make our own unique holiday tradition'."

Danny nodded thoughtfully. "So we'll just change it to, 'make it under the Christmas tree'."

"You can consider it your Christmas gift, too… unless you want to return to sender," she joked.

"Actually, I was hoping it's one of those gifts that 'keeps on giving'." He placed a series of soft kisses just behind her ear. "All year long… over and over."

He stopped suddenly, however, his arm fumbling under the tree for a package that was hidden behind the lower branches. Danny produced a small, long box wrapped in red paper and garnished with a glittering gold bow, which he handed to her.

Lindsay shook her head, frowning stubbornly. "Danny, we agreed – no gifts."

"Just open it already," he prodded. "It's nothing big."

Lindsay conceded with a sigh, carefully and tentatively unwrapping the box and opening the lid as Danny watched impatiently.

"What the…?" She glanced at a bundle of five gray sticks, tied together with a ribbon. "Uh. graphite pencils?" she asked curiously. "But I'm not an artist."

"Graphite. In other words, carbon!" Danny announced proudly. When Lindsay stared blankly back at him, he continued to explain. "The closest to a diamond you can get. Only one allotrope… remember? So technically, I'm giving you a diamond. Almost."

Lindsay grinned and rolled her eyes. Well, he is creative, she thought.

"There's one more thing," he told her. She noticed a piece of folded crème-colored paper beneath the pencils. As she opened it up, she instantly recognized Danny's neat, tech-geek handwriting.

"I made a list of my own. My own twenty-three things," he said softly, as she began to read:

Gifts You've Given Me

A taste for insects

Putting up with me

More sexiness than a Suicide Girl. In green stiletto boots. Coated in cherry syrup.

A breath of country air in the city smog

A liking for jazz music

Belief – in me

A ride home that led to so much more

Sentimental crap

Tears, both happy and sad

New uses for icing

A lift. Oh wait, that was you who needed a "lift".

Games of touch football

A lesson in patience

How cute you look in my shirts

Your smile (even if it cost me fifty bucks to stare at two horses' asses for an hour)

A reason to be a better person

Inappropriate looks and thoughts at work

Appreciation for wheat fields. Even if I've never seen them.

Letting me leave a toothbrush at your place

Sap. Lots of it.

Distraction at crime scenes

New holiday traditions

More colors than all the Christmas lights in the world

Lindsay's eyes misted over as she realized that the list in her hand was the best possible thing anyone could ever give her. Who wanted diamonds, anyway?

"You… This is... I... Did you... Wow." She was too breathless, too speechless, to voice her appreciation and the mutual feelings welling within her. Her eyes alternated between the man beside her, and the paper in her hand. Danny pulled her close, rubbing his thumb up and down over her inner forearm in a smooth, comforting rhythm.

"You know, Lindsay," he murmured softly. "I can't change what happened to you before, but I can promise to make your future a hell of a lot better."

Such a vow was everything that she wanted; exactly what she needed. In that moment, with the spirit of giving and love and warmth surrounding them, the flickering glow of the tree above them, only two words could come to her.

"Merry Christmas."

And a happy new year to all D/L shippers out there - may 2007 be filled with wonderful moments!