Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, but I am obsessed!

Author's Note: This chapter was originally written for Ya'aburnee, but I like it better here. Enjoy.

Chapter Nine: Saudade

Saudade: Portuguese – One of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word "refers to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost." Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to saudade.

"Angela, where's Bones? I wanted to take her to lunch."

Angela looked up from her monitor and took in the sight of the tall FBI agent. He was out of his suit, wearing a familiar leather jacket and looking as handsome as ever. She didn't know how Brennan could only be partners with a man as good-looking as Booth. Angela sighed, it wasn't just the nice face and the strong body, it was the man inside that was equally attractive. The artist couldn't understand how after all of this time, Brennan could still resist his charms. Angela shook her head sadly at the waiting agent.

"Sorry, Booth. She isn't here."

"Where is she? She usually tells me when she has a meeting with her publisher or her anthropology nerds."

Angela turned back to the monitor, she suddenly wanted to avoid his gaze. "Don't you know what day it is?" Booth's eyebrow raised in confusion. He wracked his brain, but came up with nothing. Angela took pity on the man, "It's her mother's birthday."

Booth gulped, he should have known. Brennan had been distant the past week. He had tried to needle the reason out of her, but she had just withdrawn farther into her shell. She was becoming a bit impervious again, and he wasn't sure how to help her. Finally deciding that he had had enough, he had taken a rare day off from work and had come to the lab to whisk Brennan away for lunch and an afternoon of distraction. But now, he felt awful that he hadn't been able to put together the pieces of the complex puzzle that was his partner's life.

Angela's voice broke him out of his reverie. "Booth, she doesn't really tell people about stuff like that. You know that. Don't worry about it. When she's ready to talk, she'll talk."

Booth grunted an acceptance of what Angela was saying, but said nothing else. He merely slipped out the office door. Angela looked up from her monitor when she heard it shut behind him. She sighed again and turned back to her work, those two were going to be the death of her.

Brennan stood at her mother's grave, a bundle of locally grown flowers in her hand. She felt silly standing there, holding the fragrant bouquet and letting her mind read the words inscribed on the headstone over and over again. She continued staring at the headstone while she gathered her courage to speak.

A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds. Although Brennan did not believe in signs, she took it as her cue to start speaking. "Hi, Mom." She inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Happy Birthday. I know it's silly to be here, you can't hear me. You are dead. But, umm, these are for you. I'm told that it is the polite thing to do." She hastily set the flowers against her mother's headstone and stood back up.

"Hey, Sweetheart. I thought I'd find you here today. Hoped, anyway."

Brennan turned her head and faced her father. "Hi, Dad."

Max Keenan placed a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder before leaning over his wife's headstone and placing a small sculpted glass dolphin at the base of the memorial. Max's hand now swept over the top of the stone. "I miss you everyday, Baby. I love you. Happy Birthday." He pressed his fingers to his lips and then quickly brushed them over the script of his wife's name. Then the man straightened up and stepped back to his daughter.

Brennan surprised her father by stepping to his side and resting her head against his shoulder. "How do you do it, Dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Go on everyday without her?" Brennan gestured at the grave in front of her.

Max sighed before speaking, unwilling to give his usual flippant response. "I won't lie to you, it's very hard. It's as if my heart has a hole in it, a space that she used to fill, and when she died, that hole was what was left. It gets a little smaller every day, but it's always there. But life moves on, and she wants me to enjoy it. I have you and Russ and his girls, that's all I really need now."

"I just don't know how you do it. How do you go on without the woman that you... the person that you..." She couldn't finish her sentence, but her father knew her well.

"The person that I love?"

Her voice was practically a whisper, "Yes."

"Oh, honey. You really love him, don't you?"

They both knew who the him was. She just nodded. She wiped a few stray tears out of her eyes. "I had to live without him for two weeks, once, did you know that? He stepped in front of a bullet meant for me."

"Honey, you have to know that you are the woman that he loves, his partner, of course he would step in front of a bullet for you. I tried to do the same thing for your mother. I tried to protect her."

"I know, Dad. You would have saved her if you could have." She fell silent, but Max knew that she had more to say. He nudged her side, encouraging her to go on. "Booth had brain surgery, did you know that as well? He had an adverse reaction to his anesthesia and was in a coma for several days. I thought that he wasn't going to wake up."

"But he did wake up."

Brennan lifted her head off of her father's shoulder and stared off into the distance, appearing pensive. "We have dangerous jobs, what if I lose him again, permanently this time? I don't think that I could handle it."

"Yes, you could. You are the strongest person I know."

"What if he wakes up one day and decides that he doesn't love me anymore?"

"That is impossible. Anyone who really knows you, anyone who knows my Temperance, they love you. And trust me, once someone loves you, they can't stop."

Brennan thought ruefully of Hannah, and Max didn't miss the expression, even if he couldn't translate it. He tried a different tactic. "How long have you been friends with Angel?"

"Do you mean Angela? For over seven years."

"And has she ever stopped being your friend?"

"We did have a fight once, but we made up."

"See, there you go, Tempe. You have your friends, your family. We aren't going to leave you."

Brennan considered for a moment. "I'm just not strong enough, Dad. To do what you do everyday, to live without Mom. It's better for us to stay just partners. It's as far as I can let him in."

"It's your life, Tempe. But, I think that you are making a mistake. You love him, he loves you. Be honest with him. He knows you, he understands you. He will understand your fears, I'm sure he has his own. You're partners, you'll be there for each other."

Brennan continued to stand silently. Finally, she spoke, "I don't know how to talk to him, Dad. I don't know what to say."

Max unleashed his most charming smile. "Well, kiddo. I don't think that you will have to say much." Max pointed behind his daughter where Booth was leaning against a tree, holding a bouquet of daisies, looking unsure of himself.

Booth acknowledged the duo when Max waved him over and walked toward the headstone. He gently placed the flowers beside Brennan's and placed his own hand briefly on the carved stone. He backed up to his partner and stood quietly. She slowly leaned into him and he placed an arm around her waist.

"Thanks for coming, Booth."

"I'm always here for you, Temperance."

"I know that. I really do." Booth pulled her a bit tighter and Brennan rested her head on his shoulder.

They stood there, quietly until Brennan lifted her head to address her father, only to find that he had disappeared. She smiled to herself. He really was a wily old man.

Brennan slipped out of Booth's embrace and looked at his confused expression. Brennan reached for his hand. "Would you like to go somewhere and talk?"

Booth interlaced their fingers. "Sure, you hungry at all?"

"I could eat."

She stepped forward, keeping her hand interlocked with Booth's. She took her turn to trace her fingers over the top of the headstone. "Bye, Mom. I'll be back soon." Then she turned back to her partner and stepped close to him, their hands still connected.

Booth smiled as the sun continued to shine through the clouds in the sky, "It's a beautiful day out."

The smile was returned, "Yes, it is."