Jane and her partner had been called out to Target at the local shopping centre where their bag checker had decided it was a good idea to punch the perpetrator in the nose in order to detain them.

As they made their way through the mall, Jane had already begun observing those around her.

"You're paranoid, Rizzoli," her partner joked, never understanding why or how she was always so on edge and alert.

"Shut-up, Crocker," she nudged. She knew there was little chance of needing to be so hyper-aware in these circumstances, but she'd spent so long training herself to observe that she found it hard to turn it off. "Who punches someone in the nose over a t-shirt anyway?"

"It wasn't just the t-shirt. According to the staff member at the door, it was also a DVD."

Jane looked quite stunned, "That's like thirty bucks, maybe forty… Then again, people have done stupider things."

"Yeah, no arguments there," he laughed.

•••

As they walked out of the store, Crocker asked, "Now, is it just me, or was each worker there dumber than the last?"

Jane smiled, "oh no, that definitely wasn't just you," she shook her head. "And can you believe the customer didn't wanna press charges?!"

"I know, right? If some dude punched me for no reason, I'd be pretty p-o'ed."

There was genuine astonishment in both their voices.

"Tell me about it. I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that he didn't want to press charges or the fact that that worker didn't get fired for punching a guy who didn't even still anything." Glancing around as she spoke, she could have sworn that someone she'd passed looked familiar. Unable to immediately identify them though, she kept walking on with her colleague.

A few moments later she mumbled quite emphatically, "Holy shit!" She spun around on the spot to see if the person was still visible.

"I'm sorry, what?" Crocker joked, unsure of what just happened.

Jane didn't say. Instead she just said, "hang on," before practically running toward the golden haired figure who was currently walking in the opposite direction.

Crocker just shook his head as he watched her before deciding that he didn't know what just happened and wasn't entirely sure he cared. So he turned to the nearest shop window to peruse for a little while as he waited for his partner.

Without alerting her, Jane slowed to a stop just behind Miss Isles before using her 'cop voice' and saying, "Excuse ma'am, I'm going to need you to turn around." The smile on her face was huge as she watched a slightly startled woman cautiously turn towards her.

As soon as Miss Isles so whose face was in front of her, there was a wave of relief that washed over her. "Jane," she choked out with a smile, "you frightened me," she said lightly.

By the end of Jane's final year of school, their friendship, or 'morally and legally appropriate teacher-student relationship', had grown to be quite comfortable for the two of them and they both seemed to appreciate it. Bumping into each other some years later, then, was a very welcomed occurrence. It seemed that a friendship outside of school, were it permitted, was something that would have been well-received; certainly for Jane at least, but she had her suspicions that Miss Isles felt similarly.

"Sorry, I'll try again." So, excited, she said, "Hey Miss! How are you?"

Playing along Miss Isles said with a smile, "Jane! Oh my goodness. How are you?" She reached in for a hug which Jane happily reciprocated.

Letting go as she stood back she said, "I'm good, I'm good. You?" Her hands gesturing towards her teacher as if 'you' could mean something else.

Miss Isles just smiled at Jane's perfectly in character response. Even after many years, the sight of Jane's comfort in her personality made her quite happy. "I am rather well, thank you." She took a moment to comprehend Jane's clothes. "You're a police officer!" She exclaimed with pride.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Graduated a couple of years ago now," she said, still nodding in awe of the situation. "Wow, so the last time I saw you was the day after high school graduation."

"Yes, I suppose that is true," she says, her words a little surprised by how much time had passed.

"Hey," she said as she watched Miss Isles drift into her memories a little, "would you like to grab a coffee some time?"

"That would be lovely," she said kindly but with hesitation.

"It's not illegal or anything is it? I know that teacher-student relationships are frowned on and all, but I'm not your student anymore, right?" Her voice rose a little at the end hopefully as she became a little happy that this was, in fact, the case.

Miss Isles smiled pensively and took a deep breath before repeating, "That would be lovely." She kept her eyes focused on Jane's, still finding that she was unable to pinpoint what was going on inside her head.

"Cool," she said with a grin. "Here's my card…" she looked back to where she'd left her partner, "I've actually got to go, but I get off at five. Text me or something."

"I will most certainly do so." Miss Isles was really quite happy to have bumped into Jane. She had often wondered what had become of her, and today as she found out she was not at all disappointed.

"Bye Miss," she said contentedly before heading back to her partner.
"Sorry, we can go," she said to Crocker.

"About time," he jabbed. "Who was that anyway? Old school friend?"

Jane paused before saying, "yeah."

"What? Was she a couple of grades above you?"

"Yeah," she said again. "Something like that."

Crocker knew there was probably more to her words, but their shifts were nearly over and he was tired. Instead, he just said, "Uh-huh…" with a subtle shake of the head.

•••

Jane sat waiting in one of the booths at the Dirty Robber. To an outsider, she'd have seemed calm, aloof even. Inside though, the anxiety was running pretty high. Thankfully, it was less than a minute before Miss Isles arrived and an immovable grin appeared on her face.

She stood up to greet her with a friendly hug with the slightest squeeze at the end. It was her way of saying thank you, or I appreciate you. Although she'd never admit it, it might have even been an 'I'm happy you're here' hug.

"Have you eaten?" Jane said a little awkwardly.

Miss Isles smiled kindly and said, "No, I haven't yet. I thought perhaps we could get something here?"

Jane nodded. The cool façade she was previously bearing was starting to deteriorate a little as she realised she wasn't actually sure what to say. As she glanced around the room trying to find the right topic, she caught a glimpse of Miss Isles whose gaze was fixed on her. "Sorry," she said a little shyly. "Guess I don't really know what I was expecting to say." There was plenty she wanted to say, she just didn't think it was appropriate, at least not right now.

"Not at all," she said pleasantly. "Actually," she revealed, "I was quite happy to have bumped into you."

The words made Jane feel a little special momentarily.

"I love seeing my students out in the world, and you are no different," she smiled honestly. "You had so much potential, and it seems that you are certainly on your way to fulfilling it." Her voice was a little more professional in nature this time.

Jane wasn't the only one having a little trouble putting their guard down and allowing things to flow. She smiled, before asking, "So are you still at Santa Sabina?"

"I was until recently, actually," she smiled naturally. "I began teaching at St. Joseph's College earlier this year."

"Oh cool. Are you liking it?" Jane asked attentively.

"Yes, I do," she smiled. "Boys are certainly challenging, but I believe I'm up for it," she remarked playfully.

Jane had no doubt that Miss Isles would have risen to the occasion. "Please! If you're half as good a teacher as you were with m- my class, they're still going to end up the smartest and most well-behaved boys in the world." She acted casually, hoping that her stutter went unnoticed.

She smiled shyly, embarrassed by the flattery.

"So… high school graduation," she posed. "I remember, the day after I came to visit you, I still hadn't opened my results yet."

She smiled at the contrast of characters that Jane truly was. Whilst the tough on the outside, soft on the inside concept was nothing new or special, Jane presented it in such a remarkable way as to always be a little surprising. "Yes," she paused, "and as I recall you had no reason to be nervous," she raised an eye brow perceptively as if to say 'I often know best'.

"Yeah…" she said in a quiet sense of contentedness. "I guess not."

There was a slight lull in the conversation for a few moments, before Jane said very honestly, "Thank you…"

Miss Isles tilted her head a little, not quite sure what the gratitude was in aide of. "For what, Jane?"

She shrugged a little before saying, "for being so nice to me in high school."

Miss Isles once again smiled with a knowing look in her eyes. "Jane," she assured, "You were a such a capable and clever student. As a teacher it is my job to nourish that spirit and to encourage you." Her words, whilst true, denied the admittance of the fact that she was in fact rather special and that there was actually a lot of herself she saw in young Jane.

"Still, thanks, Miss" she smiled quite peacefully. She was genuinely thankful whether Miss Isles would take the compliment or not.

"Please, call me Maura," she smiled kindly. "I am no longer your teacher, after all."

"That's your first name?" she remarked quite surprised and impressed. It's so pretty.
"Anyway, so how's life been treating you?" She redirected quickly. "Any men in your life?" She added in a low, seductive tone, raising an eye brow playfully. Subconsciously, the question had to be asked. Besides, she reasoned, what else are we going to talk about?

Maura blushed a little, and then played it down with smile as if to laugh it off. "Life has been rather kind to me, thank you." She decided not to go into further details at this point, but continued on, "And you? Any suitors in your life?" She jabbed playfully.

Jane let out a short laugh, surprised that she would feel embarrassed by a question which she herself had just asked. "Nah, not really. There've been a couple guys along the way, but nothing serious," she smiled.

Maura simply nodded with a small smile. "I am certain the right man will come along soon enough," she smiled reassuringly.

Jane gave a nod and a shrug of her shoulders before saying, "Not soon enough according to my ma," she joked.

Maura let out a small laugh, "Parents often have such different expectations for their kids." She paused in thought before glancing back up and saying, "Well, I hope you find happiness… wherever that may lie for you."

There was that familiar person again, she thought. Someone who truly just wanted what was best for her. "Yeah, I hope you do too," she said honestly. "I'm sure your 'Prince Charming' will come out of the pipes sometime soon," she added with a little sarcasm.

Thank you kindly for reading.

Hope you enjoyed the story.

More so, I hope you're happy and well.