It was odd. It was just a plain puzzle piece sitting atop a little table in the corner of the St. Bart's lab that Sherlock had pretty much claimed to be his own. Molly Hooper studied the puzzle piece that was about the size of her palm. It was a corner piece judging by the way that is was straight on two sides and then cut in the needed shape to fit with the other pieces in the puzzle.

"Curiouser and curiouser… Why would there be a puzzle piece? There was no sign of any other pieces to accompany it and she was pretty sure that it was sort of a rule to have all the other pieces put in place to say that the image was complete.

"The door to the lab swung open and revealed Sherlock. He removed his coat and scarf as he talked. "'Morning, Molly…"

"Good morning Sherlock…" she replied.

"What are you looking at?" he asked as he placed his coat and scarf on the coat rack by the door and made his way to his lab table.

"Sherlock, darling… Did you leave this puzzle piece here last night?"

Sherlock nodded as he pulled out his notes and arranged the microscope. "Yes. Before I left. I have noticed how I truly enjoy putting together puzzles but I have no time in my day to sit down. So, I decided why not take it to work with me. Each day I add a few pieces."

Molly pulled her eyes away from the cardboard to look at him. "Isn't this puzzle a little… Easy?"

"Of course not… I am refusing to use the picture on the box and I have mixed in other pieces. So, I am determining the needed pieces by memory each day before I leave my flat. So, it it just as challenging as if I were assembling a jig-saw with the picture to refer to," he informed her.

Molly pushed herself away from the table and walked to her boyfriend (they had been going steady for a year and a half, she noted) and gave him a quick kiss on the head.

"I'll see you at lunch…"

The next day, Molly returned to the small table where Sherlock had begun his work on the puzzle. Three pieces… She noted that three pieces had been added on both sides of the original corner piece.

She had always known that it was a good strategy to start with the frame of the puzzle before you fill in the center. That was the logical way to do it. However, it was a lot easier to create the frame of a puzzle with the picture.

She smiled to herself. Sherlock, no matter how brilliant he was, was going to find that building a frame of a puzzle completely by the shape of the pieces that are hidden within other pieces that aren't even relevant to the image was going to take him some time. He had shown her one evening when she was over how he would have John flip over the pieces so the brown of the cardboard was facing him. The pieces all the same size… He had to choose by the shape. The shape in reverse when remembering that the piece was going to be attached right side up.

Three weeks... She told herself. Three weeks and she would see if he even got the frame.

Four days… It took him four days to complete the frame.

And as if he were aware of Molly's unspoken doubt… He even added in a center piece to the top left corner.

Oh that ridiculous man…

_
The body of the puzzle was one piece shy of completion within a week after he had completed the frame. A 56 piece puzzle was almost completed by memory without reference in… Just under 13 days was it?

Molly sighed to herself as she left the small table and joined Sherlock at his seat at the counter. He was jotting down some final notes from whatever was beneath the microscope.

"Almost ready to leave?" Molly asked him.

"Almost…" he replied without looking away from his experiment. "Oh, but I need you to do something for me…" He reached into his pocket as he wrote and pulled out a puzzle piece. Molly rolled her eyes as she took it from him grip. "Could you please put this piece into the puzzle for me?"

"Why?"

"Save you some time. You won't have to wait on me," he told her quickly. "Thank you dear…"

"Anytime…" she breathed as she turned on her heel (her long pony tail hitting his face in the process- totally on purpose) and made her way to the puzzle.

When she reached the puzzle, she looked down on the image. It truly was a beautiful picture. Healthy green grass painted on a canvas with ease. The blue sky contrasted with the dark mountains. A lovely scene.

She grinned at it. Sherlock still amazed her… He had created this by memory. And it was exquisite! She lowered the piece down to fit it into the single blank space. She quickly found that the piece was not going to fit…

"Sherlock. Your piece won't go in."

"Turn it…" he waved his hand dismissively.

You really think I couldn't think of that on my own?" she huffed. "It won't fit…

Sherlock looked over to her and removed himself from his things before crossing the room to her. When he joined her, he looked down at her with no words. She held up the puzzle piece dramatically which he took simply. Holding up the piece in front of his face, his eyes narrowed as he studied the shape.

"Forgive me…" he spoke as he placed the dud puzzle piece back into his trouser pockets. "Seems I must have handed you the wrong one. Let's see if this one does the trick…" He removed his hand from his pocket, his hand closed around the other piece. She watched his hand as he moved it to the open space; flattening it out and removing it.

What he revealed was not a completed puzzle… Instead, there was a beautiful, shimmering diamond mounted on a gold band.

Molly's hand flew to her mouth to stifle any sounds that might come out. Her free hand slowly reaching for the ring. She held it between her and Sherlock, completely speechless. Sherlock only smirked…

"Sherlock Holmes… Is this- Are you…" she stammered when she finally felt that she could get out a sound. Sherlock chuckled in response to how adorable she was when she was speechless.

He took the ring from her and got down on his knee. Molly knew that she was not going to keep her eyes dry now. Sherlock Holmes was getting down on one knee… Holding a beautiful diamond ring. He was holding her left hand as he looked up at her with his beautiful eyes.

"Molly Hooper…" he began softly. "You are the only piece that can complete my puzzle of a life. I have pieces of me that have been torn through the years. Pieces of me that can't be repaired in full. But you, however, waited for me. You learned how to fit perfectly in my life. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her heart burst the moment he spoke the question. Was it humanly possible for one to feel so many emotions at once? Excitement. Joy. Relief. So many more.

She nodded as she wiped some tears from her eyes, watching him as he beamed up at her and slipped the ring onto her finger. She studied it as he got up… It was perfect. He was perfect… Maybe not in the eyes of many, but in her eyes. He was.

She looked into his eyes once more before pressing her lips to his tenderly. Lingering a bit and smiling into their lips embrace. When she pulled away, she glanced down once again as if making sure that she was awake.

His hand took hers and he led her to the door. "Come on… Let's go show Mrs. Hudson and the Watson's."

"Wait… They didn't know you were planning this?"

Sherlock froze and turned to face her. A smirk on his face. "Now, I know that they're our best friends. However, in this situation, they are going to be just as surprised as you are."

God, the man was brilliant...

A/N: If you are reading this right now, I am sorry for the strange coding-glitch thing. I should have it all taken care of before noon tomorrow. I am sorry for the incovenience.

-Ellie