A/N: I know this is not a long chapter, but I had to stop it here. There may be a tissue warning… otherwise I would really like to ask you to review. This is highly appreciated.

Chapter 3

The weather was beautiful today. The sun was shining, there were no clouds and a slight breeze was enough to prevent a stuffy air. It seemed like heaven was giving its best on this sad day, to guide her soul into the right direction.

Horatio was standing in the shadow of a tree, far enough of not to be seen, but near enough to hear the priests words. He was dressed all in black, his prominent sunglasses neatly in their usual place and his hands held two long stemmed roses – a white and a red one. Together they meant unity, alone they meant love and faithfulness; three things that he had promised Marisol just a year ago and now it was over.

The priest was talking about the life Marisol had, how beautiful it had been, even though she had been ill. He talked about the second chance she had received and how she had embraced it fully. He talked about the person Marisol Delko Caine had been, how caring she was, always thinking about others. About her dreams, her wishes, her goals of life. He mentioned the wonderful gift she had given the world before her death and that she was now looking down at all of them, without fear, without pain but full of love. Death wasn't the end, but only a new beginning of a different life.

Horatio took a deep breath and unnoticed by him, a lonely tear rolled down his cheek. She didn't deserve to lie there. If one of them deserved it, then it was him and only him. She was still so young, full of life and now she was gone. Forever. She'd never come back. Ever again. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that everyone he loved was taken away from him. It wasn't fair that they couldn't spend their lives together. It wasn't fair that the phrase 'till death do us part' had come far too early for both of them. She had deserved more. So much more.

When the speech ended, a small orchestra started to play her favorite song 'Nearer my God to Thee' and it broke Horatio's heart all over again. She had loved the song in the movie Titanic, one of her favorite movies and Horatio couldn't count how often they had watched it and every time when this song was being played at the end of the movie, Marisol had cried. He had asked her once why she still watched this movie, when it made her so sad and her answer had struck him. 'It's because of this love story, Horatio. Two people barely knowing each other fell in love, giving their lives for each other. It reminds me of the good in life, it reminds me of us.'

When the finale tone had been played, the priest read a short prayer and then gave his condolence to the family. Eric and his sisters were standing next to their parents, while the team was standing on the opposite side of the grave. He also recognized some of Marisol's friends. They were all dressed in black and Horatio could hear them crying.

Ever so slowly, the whole group gave their farewell to Marisol and walked away. This was the moment Horatio had been waiting for and he carefully made his way to the open grave.

"I can't believe he isn't here," Eric exclaimed, his eyes red and puffy. "He's her husband. It's his duty to be here, to say goodbye to her. How can be so selfish? So rude??" He was beside himself. He had never expected such a behavior coming from the one Horatio Caine. "I'm going to teach-," he started, but was interrupted by Alexx.

"Eric, look," she said and pointed to a spot behind his shoulder.

Still angry, Eric turned around.

"He's here…," Alexx said quietly, while she watched Horatio crouching down near the grave. "He's here…"

"Marisol…," Horatio started softly and closed his eyes. He had never been good at this. Neither when his mother died, nor when Raymond died. "I'm so sorry, that I didn't come sooner…I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to save you. Instead I told you that everything would be fine. I'm incredible sorry, that I lied to you," he sobbed. "I wish it would be me..I'd give everything for that, please believe me. What am I going to do without you? You were my anchor, the one that gave me a reason to live…I'm lost without you…," he whispered and rested his forehead against the marble gravestone.

"You rescued me from the darkness surrounding me. Your light guided me…showed me a way to embrace life and take chances. Please come back, Marisol…please…," he pleaded and knew that this was only wishful thinking. "I love you so much…and it hurts…," he sighed and wiped the tears away. "I miss you…your smile, your laugh, the way you looked at me…your kindness, your spirit, the feeling when I touched you…I…miss you. And I want you back. All I want is having you back in my arms," he let some tears fall before he angrily wiped them away.

Carefully he kissed the stone and stood up. Slowly he tossed the flowers onto the coffin and bowed his head. "I love you, Marisol. Always have, always will."

Silently they watched him walking away and Eric tried to go after him, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

"We need to leave him alone, sweetie."

"But Alexx, it's…it's…," Eric tried to argue, but in fact he didn't know what to say.

"I know…I know," she sighed and patted his arm. "Believe me, there's nothing I'd rather do than kicking his sorry backside, but we need to give him space at least for now. He needs time to think it through, to grief."

"But what about Elena? She needs him. He's her father."

"Right now, she's better with your parents," it hurt her to say this out loud, but it was the truth. Horatio wasn't able to take care of her right now. "Let's go to the others."

Eric was in two minds about either following Horatio or not. But seeing Alexx' face, he knew he'd better follow her orders, even though he didn't like them. He wanted to do something, anything to stop this situation. In the end, he nodded and followed Alexx to his parents and the team which had waited for them.

Horatio on the other side drove back to his beach house to clean it up and afterwards, driving back to their…no…his house.