William's funeral was held a few days after his death in the small church of the town he lived in. It appeared that he was very well known and, of course, Sara, Grissom and Carrie had been hard at work to find every single one of his fostered and adopted children, those that were still alive. There were over two hundred as William had continued fostering up until he had gotten sick. It was a beautiful ceremony and several of the 'family' said readings and poems that reminded them all of William. Sara herself read the extract of 'The Raven' that she had heard in her dream. William had requested that when he died he would be cremated and so Sara respected his wishes and after the funeral mostly everyone convened around the boardwalk behind his house to spread his ashes into the sea.
Sara sat, that evening, on the edge of the boardwalk, staring out into the horizon with her feet dangling in the water, her shoes laying next to her. She heard a pair of boots getting closer to her, gently thumping on the wooden planks, but she didn't turn around to greet them. She knew who it was.
"You ok out here?" Grissom's voice came from above her.
"I'm fine." She whispered.
"You sure? Do you need anything?" he asked.
"Stay with me." She said. For the second time, he couldn't say no to her. He slipped off his shoes and socks and sitting next to her.
They stayed silent for a while, just gazing at the sunset, before Sara spoke. "Grissom?"
"Mmm?" he mumbled as a sign he was listening but not looking at her.
"I never got a chance to apologise…what I mean is…I'm sorry I snapped at you." She rushed.
"Sara," Grissom took her hand and looked at her. "there is absolutely no need for you to apologise, ok? A lot happened to you in an obscenely small amount of time and you needed a release."
"But I still had no excuse to blame you for William's death. I mean, I love you and how do I shoe it? By yelling at you for helping me. God, I'm awful."
"No you're not." Grissom said forcefully. He squeezed her hand tighter and stroked his thumb over the back of her knuckles. "You are the most incredible, intelligent, caring woman I have ever had the fortune to meet and…" he looked at her. "you love me?"
Sara smiled and leant forwards to brush her lips against his. "I never stopped Gil." She rested her head on his shoulder and he brought his arm around her shoulders.
"So, what happens now?" Grissom said after a while.
"What d'you mean?" Sara mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I mean what happens now? I have to go back to Vegas in a few days. You inherited William's house so you could stay here or…"
"Or what Griss?" she smirked and lifted her head to look at him.
Grissom smiled at her and kissed her softly. "Come with me."
She smiled. "I assume Carrie told you I quit my job here then?"
"Why would you assume that?" he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well," Sara patted his knee. "Carrie is the only person I told and you haven't commented on anything work related while you've been here, not that I'm complaining." Sara kissed him. "But ok."
"You sure?" he rubbed has hand up and down Sara's arm.
"I'm sure. I want to be with you." She said. "And I made a promise to William that I'd go with you if you asked me and to be happy and I am, so this is me, being happy with you." And she kissed him long and slow.
"Mmm." he mumbled. "If this is the effect being happy makes you I have to remember to cheer you up more often." He leaned forwards to snatch another kiss but she dodged him and stood up.
"It's getting late, we should be getting to bed." She said while walking towards the house.
Grissom stood up and jogged to her. "But I'm not tired."
She looked at him over her shoulder. "Neither am I." and she winked at him.
I apologise for the shortness of this chapter but it's kind of the doorway between 'Manic Depression Land' and 'Fluffytopia'. Also, my muse had gone walkies so this was a bit of a struggle. I wanna take this opportunity to thank everyone for the fantastic reviews I've had so far for this fic! I was so proud and happy when y'all got past 100! Thanky! Oh, by the way, had my prom on the 5th and it ROCKED!!! Had a hummer limo and lots of champagne! T'was very fun! Last thing, for those of you who are going "what the hell is a boardwalk?" it's a pier but a small one for little boats and I'm sure there's another name for it but I couldn't think of it so they shall henceforth be named boardwalks! Unless that's what they're called already, in which case I've just wasted your time by mentioning it...and will someone please shoot me to stop my rambling?