Penny has a lot of fears about not only what there is between her and Sheldon, but whether she is even physically capable of being in a true relationship now.

Penny held on tight as Sheldon carried her over to the low slung, horse-drawn carriage. The man holding the reins grinned widely as he watched them approach. "Hello, my friend. So, this is your Penny, huh? She's much prettier than you said."

Sheldon blushed and muttered "knew I should have hired a stranger" under his breath. Penny laughed aloud at his words and he blushed brighter. He cleared his throat. "Penny, this is Valto Saari. He is a physicist I work with." He settled her on the padded seat and climbed up beside her. "Valto, this is Penny Queen. Kindly keep your remarks to yourself."

Valto laughed loudly. "Oh no, my friend. You cannot expect me to keep quiet. You have spent two years expounding on the qualities of this young woman. You have only yourself to blame for my curiosity."

Valto smiled warmly at Penny. "Welcome to Santa's Park, my dear. If you are half as sweet as you are comely, then Sheldon is indeed a very lucky man."

Penny snickered and leaned against Sheldon's arm. "Sheldon told you about me? What did he say?"

Valto grinned and Sheldon groaned. Penny looked from one to the other. She definitely had to know, now! The man flicked the reins and the horses began a slow trot. "Let's see. You are vibrant, loyal, and courageous. You never give up, no matter what happens. You play video games like a pro, and make everything brighter. You are very scary if woken up, and tend to punch first and ask questions later. You steal milk and internet, but when he needed anything, you were right there for him. Oh, and you have absolutely no self-control when it comes to tormenting my young friend here."

Penny sniffed and tried to hide the tears forming in her eyes. She felt Sheldon stiffen beside her and when he slipped an arm around her worriedly, she looked up and shook her head. "You really said those things?" she asked softly.

Sheldon nodded, his expression one of concern.

Penny laid her head on his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered.

Slowly he relaxed and wrapped his arms around her loosely. "It is the truth," he reassured her. "When we met, I was concerned about integrating you into my life. You are the polar opposite of me, Penny. Open, friendly, exasperating, chaotic and utterly unmanageable. But like a moth drawn to a flame, I was continuously drawn to you."

"You managed to keep away for two years," she reminded him hesitantly.

Sheldon shrugged calmly. "I had to move halfway across the world to do it," he reminded her. "I was already thinking of returning when Bernadette called me. I missed you. If she hadn't called, I do not think it would have been much longer before I returned on my own. Your accident just sped that along."

She looked at him with stunned confusion. "You were coming back anyway?"

He nodded. "I felt I was almost ready."

"Ready for what?" she asked.

"For you," he said softly. "I felt I was close to being the kind of man you would approve of."

Penny shook her head firmly. "You didn't have to wait two years for that, Sheldon. I'll be honest. You had a few quirks that were annoying as hell, but they were also kind of endearing. I liked who you were. I like the man you are. But I liked the man you were, too. I ….I miss that Sheldon some. The guy who triple knocked on my door and called my name. The guy who took a bus to my job and asked me to take care of him because he was sick. The guy who hung my underwear on a telephone wire."

Valto gave a surprised bark of laughter. He looked over his shoulder at them. "Sheldon did that? How did he manage that?"

Penny shook her head wryly. "I never did figure it out. I had to call his mom and she made him take them down and give them back."

Sheldon cleared his throat with embarrassment. "Not all of them. I kept a little white camisole with little green butterflies on it."

She looked at him with a slack jaw. "That's what happened to it?! Why didn't you give it back?"

He shrugged slightly. "It smelled like peaches and vanilla and the butterflies are the same color as your eyes."

Penny looked suspicious. "You still have it, don't you?"

He hesitated a moment and decided to be completely honest. After all, only complete sincerity and candor had gotten him anywhere with Penny. "It's in my desk at work. I keep it in a ziplock bag so the scent doesn't fade. When I am upset or lonely, it makes me feel closer to you."

Penny thought about it for a bit. "Okay, I'm not sure if that's really sweet, or really creepy."

Valto glanced back at her. "Go with sweet."

Sheldon sent his colleague a glare but Penny smiled. "You know, I think I will. It sounds a bit less complica…"

After a couple of heartbeats Valto and Sheldon both glanced at her worriedly. Penny's eyes were wide and her jaw hung open. Her right hand grabbed Sheldon's knee and squeezed tight. Slowly she blinked a couple of times.

"Oh my god," she breathed softly.

Sheldon and Valto looked forward at the view. They were just coming to the edge of the woods and before them was a panoramic view of the mountain ridge. The sky was a riot of pinks and reds with streaks of violet. To the left they could see the rooftops from Santa's Village in the distance.

The temperature was in the mid 60's but Penny felt a shiver run down her spine anyway. She could see little groups of people dotting the landscape, but somehow it felt like it was just them at the edge of the world. The enormity of the scene dwarfed her. Her hand clung to Sheldon tightly as she stared at the sky. Never in her life had she seen anything so incredible.

Several minutes passed before she finally began to relax a little bit. She was afraid to say anything, to shatter the peace and joy that seemed to envelope her. She eased back slowly until she was braced against Sheldon's chest. She released his knee and threaded her fingers through his. She watched silently as the sun dipped to the edge of the mountain ridge and slowly began to climb again. She wasn't sure how long they sat there, but she knew it had to be hours because it had gotten a bit colder. At some point Sheldon had placed a blanket over their legs and had adjusted his position so that she was now sitting on his lap, his arms around her waist.

Valto had unharnessed the horses and moved them a few feet away so they could eat some grass. She looked at Sheldon and smiled softly. "This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Thank you."

Sheldon tilted her head back slightly and kissed her. "I knew you would like it as much as I do."

He knows me well, she thought to herself. She laid her head back against his chest and closed her eyes as she realized something important. Sheldon had brought her to the Arctic Circle. The place where his world fell apart. And he had done it to make her happy. This part of the world should hold nothing but bad memories for him, yet he had found something in it to make him smile. And he had shared that with her.

On the heels of that realization came another. She loved him. There was no maybe to it. There was no guarding against it. It was a done deal. She loved him, wholeheartedly.

XXXXX

Karissa opened her door with a grin. "Back already?" she asked.

Sheldon nodded and stepped into the much larger apartment. Whack ran over and sat on his haunches beside Sheldon's leg. He bent to rub the mutt's back before turning to Karissa. "Valto asked me to give you his regards and to remind you that he will see you on Thursday."

Karissa smiled. "I was wondering if you would hire my cousin or not. He has the best horses in Lapland. But he is also an incorrigible gossip."

Sheldon nodded slightly. "He spent the journey to and from the park telling Penny everything he knew about me, her, and life in general."

Karissa frowned as she studied Sheldon. "What has happened? You are not happy."

Sheldon sighed and ran a hand down his face tiredly. "Penny is going back," he murmured. "When we were on the train, she said she wants to go home to Pasadena. The day after tomorrow if possible." He bent and picked up Whack. "And she wants to go alone. She is speaking to her dad right now, arranging for him to meet her at the LAX airport and pick her up."

Karissa gasped and shook her head. "But Sheldon, she can't! You have to make her stay here! She loves you! I know she does! If she leaves.."

Sheldon shook his head firmly. "No!" His voice was firm, just shy of a shout. He took a steadying breath and turned toward the door. "I promised her I would never take her choices from her again. I cannot force her to stay, nor can I force myself on her. If she wants to leave, I will let her."

"But you love her," Karissa whispered.

He nodded once, sharply. "Which is why I have to let her go."

XXXXX

Penny lay awake long into the night. She knew Sheldon was upset with her. She couldn't fix that. The realization that she loved him was almost overwhelming. She had to go back. She had to fix some things. And she couldn't do that with his arms around her, his kisses blurring her mind. She didn't even dare explain it to him. She was afraid that if she told him she loved him, told him why she had to go back, he would insist on going with her. She simply told him she had something she had to do, and she had to do it alone. Otherwise she would never feel whole again.