A/N: Sadly, I don't own anything, and now that the story is finished I guess I'll have to stop borrowing too.
A/N2: Thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed both here and at DLC, some of you commenting both places. And now, on with the final chapter.
WATER
Rain. It fell from the heavens making gentle pitter-pat sounds among the umbrellas being held by mourners around the open grave. It plopped and rolled along the roof and sides of the canopy on the other side and attempted to drown out the words of Father Patrick as he stood at the head of the deep hole in the ground.
The funeral was well attended. The man had known it would be, he'd even told the woman as much. In one hand he held his own umbrella, his other arm draped across the shoulders of the petite brunette at his side, her head buried in his chest. He could feel her small shoulders shaking with suppressed emotion. As usual she wasn't letting the world see her pain.
Danny stood a little away from the crowd, surreptitiously glancing at the two of them. They were standing at the very front of the group, her beautiful face was buried in the chest of the taller, slightly younger man. He wished she'd look his way, he'd dearly love to see her features again. His gaze moved from her soft brown hair to study the man at her side. He was tall with light colored hair and brown eyes. He was handsome of face, his body was fit and very tense as he turned his eyes in Danny's direction. Danny briefly met his gaze before turning it back to the casket in front of them all.
Danny couldn't believe he was standing here watching them together. When he'd left a few months ago he'd never dreamed they'd be meeting like this again so soon. He knew they silently blamed him for this death. He could feel it emanating from them, across the short distance to where he stood. He could also plainly see the pain and anguish etched onto their faces; his as he continually shot glances toward where Danny stood and hers just before she buried her face in the man's chest a short while ago.
He knew they hadn't expected him to be there. No one else seemed to care though; in fact nobody else even looked in his direction.
Danny stood there patiently as Father Patrick finished the prayers and the crowd slowly filed past the man and woman, offering condolences and prayers. He would be the last to pay his respects; his Montana would want it that way. After the last mourner had left and the only two remaining were the man and the woman, Danny slowly approached.
Neither of them acknowledged his presence but he felt the need to speak anyway. He shuffled his feet in the damp, downtrodden grass, stuffed his hands in his pockets and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry," he began. "I know it's not worth much to hear it and I understand if you don't except it, but I need to say it. I never meant for this to happen and I apologize. I love you," he ended on a sob as a breath of wind carried his words away.
Neither of them spared a word for him as they turned their backs and walked away toward the family car.
Danny sighed and stayed a while longer. He stayed so long in fact that the groundskeepers came and lowered the casket into the ground. He stood in the rain without protection; the wetness running through his hair and down his face mixing with the tears that fell from his eyes. He had removed his glasses a while ago and rubbed tiredly at his bright, blue eyes. He stayed to watch as the ground was returned to the hole it was removed from causing a small mound to form at the fresh grave. And still he stayed.
His mind wondered over the past and as usual returned to the beautiful woman he had married. He thought about how they had met that first day and his instant longing to make it memorable for her. He grinned through his tears at the trick he'd played on her. He thought about all the cases they'd worked together and smiled with the memory of all the firsts he'd had with her by his side. Memories assailed him as he stood there in the rain. The birth of his daughter, Faith Aiden Messer, she was so much like her mother it was scary, then the birth of his son, Daniel, Jr., now there was a boy a father could be proud of.
Before long he felt a hand in his and startled out of his reverie he turned and there she was. Beautiful brown curls, huge chocolate eyes, and a smile on her face.
He quickly turned and engulfed her in a huge hug as fresh tears mingled with the raindrops to roll down his face and into her curls.
"Why, Lindsay? Please, tell me. This is not how I wanted it to be. This is not how I wanted it to end," he sobbed.
"Because, my love," she responded pulling back to look into his eyes, her hand came up to cup his stubbled cheek that she loved so much. "You were my life, my light, my heart and my soul. I tried Danny, I tried so hard but without you I just couldn't do it. We'd had a long and happy life, forty-three years of marriage, two beautiful children, five grandchildren and hundreds of beautiful memories. I thought I could manage without you but everyday just got harder and harder," she ended with a squeak.
Danny was still sobbing, he'd only left them three months ago. He had fought hard against the cancer eating at his lungs for as long as he could but his previous years of smoking had taken a toll and he'd passed away at the age of seventy-seven.
After controlling her emotions she spoke again, "I guess when they say people can die of a broken heart it's really true. I love you, Danny." She leaned her now youthful face up towards his and kissed his finely chiseled lips, as she hadn't for a long time. The fire immediately ignited and flared between the two of them. His perfectly sculpted, muscled arms came around her locking her to his now strong body just like they had the first time they kissed all those years ago in Montana. Meanwhile the rain continued to fall gently around them, streaming over their spirits to fall to the grass at their feet and soak back into the earth from whence it came.
A/N3: Special thanks to Mrs.LindsayMesser. She insisted it better not be Danny OR Lindsay that die, so I changed the story. Hope both of them being together forever is ok.
A/N 4: In case you were wondering, the man and woman mentioned in the beginning of this chapter are a fully grown Faith and Daniel, Jr.