Chapter 41 Firework
"Come with me," he had instructed her late in the evening on July 4th, the last day of their weeklong vacation.
"I want to show you something." Rick took Kate by the hand and led her through the living room out onto the front porch.
Sunday night signaled the end of their getaway but it wasn't the end of their relationship, not by a long shot. On the contrary, they were just getting started.
Their week of makeup kisses and honest talks and getting lost in each other all over again was accompanied by healing and earning back each other's trust. It had been a week of finding their way back to each other and falling in love even more so than they were before. It was a week of pure bliss, raw emotion, and unadulterated, consummated love, one they would not soon forget.
Rick had finally finished writing Naked Heat, which was the explicit purpose of the trip. Rook and Heat were back together and better than ever, much like their real-life counterparts. They had made so much progress in letting each other in and trusting each other again. This trip couldn't have turned out any better than he had originally planned.
Kate readily followed Rick outside into the calm tranquility and serenity of night. He approached the banister, picking a suitable spot and leaning on it thoughtfully. She joined him there and lifted his arm to snuggle up automatically into his figure, not needing any further invitation. His arms were warm and protectively wrapped around her body. She knew that was exactly where she belonged.
The golden hour of the day had passed, with the sun dipping below the horizon, and it was nighttime now. The sky was completely darkened, save for a few stars that twinkled valiantly like diamonds in the sky. Only the porch lamp gave light into the expansive darkness.
"What are we looking at?" Kate asked him softly with her head pressed against his chest. She didn't mind being out here with him, but she was still curious as to why he chose to be outside at this time of night.
"Just wait for it," Rick said esoterically. "This is Alexis' and my favorite part of the trip." He nestled his nose in her hair, breathing her in deeply.
They stood there intimately wrapped up in each other, listening to the natural chirping of crickets and a light breeze rustling the grass.
"You know Kate," Rick began. "All the songs are beginning to make sense," he commented, referring to a previous statement she had once given him about what it felt like to be in love.
"Yeah," Kate whispered in response. "I think so too."
She knew exactly what he meant. All those silly love songs where singers waxed poetry about what it meant to be half of one whole, incompleteness in absence—it finally made sense to them. How rare it was to have found each other. How beautiful it was to be in love. Loving another person the way they did truly gave them greater purpose in life. They finally had something, someone, to lose. It meant they were no longer living for themselves, but for each other.
They looked up into the night sky, waiting for whatever they were looking for to start. Kate saw stars a million miles away that usually were obscured by the bright lights of the city that never slept, appreciating their simple yet glorious beauty. Those stars shone their light through millions of light years just to decorate the sky with tiny hope-inspiring sparkles.
Gazing into the vast infiniteness of space made her feel incredibly small. It reminded her of how insignificant she was in the grand scheme of time, space, and history, yet it made her so much more grateful for the precious time she was allowed on this Earth. She reflected over how her life hadn't gone nearly according to how she had planned it, yet it had turned out so much better than she could have ever imagined.
Kate had really enjoyed this past week, not just because of all the sexy time she got to spend with Rick, but also because of the change of pace. The week of limited responsibilities and abundant free time allowed her to slow down and think about the important things in life. She thought about the purpose of their lives and what it would look like to live a fulfilling one.
She decided what was important was that in this temporary life she had touched the heart of another and did more good than harm. To change even one life, make them better somehow, and to pull more people into the light than into the darkness were noble goals indeed. Castle did that for her and she loved him immensely for it. More than he would ever know.
Kate ruminated over the unlikely sequence of events that drove her and Rick together to be here with each other in this very moment. She counted her lucky stars for fate or whatever it was that brought them together despite the great odds. Who knew a mystery writer and his muse could take on the world together and make a difference by bringing justice into people's lives? The very fact that they had found each other, found something beautiful in each other despite all their imperfections, and stayed together in the face of improbability, peril, and doubt must signify that they were meant for each other. They were simply meant to be together.
Just then a high pitched shriek broke the night's stillness, stirring Kate out of her reverie. It was accompanied by two other shrill noises then followed by distant booms. Bright bursts of red, white, and blue decorated the sky, pulling apart the darkness with patriotic beauty.
"Fireworks," she grinned.
As the carefully choreographed pyrotechnic display lit up the night sky, an equally dazzling smile illuminated Kate's face as she watched in childlike awe and wonder. The show in the sky was beautiful, but Rick was intently watching Kate instead. He was captured by her singular focus, the sheer amazement in her eyes, and the magnificent smile that graced her lips. To him, that was more beautiful than all the fireworks in the sky.
It was a spectacular view, one to be shared with others in honor of their great nation. These were the moments that they lived for, ones that made it all worth it. In a moment like this, she wished it could be infinite.
"It really is incredibly beautiful here," Kate admired wistfully as the fireworks continued shining their glory against the backdrop of night. "Thanks for forcing me to come with you," she said sheepishly, acknowledging her characteristic stubbornness.
If it weren't for his equally strong obstinance, they might not have found their way back to each other in this manner. She liked to think that they would have made their way back together somehow eventually, regardless of this trip. Life had a way of making certain things happen, despite how they tried to intervene or fight against it.
Rick chuckled and hugged Kate a little closer, kissing her on the temple. "There's no one else I'd rather be here with," he replied nonchalantly.
The weight of those words hit her hard. There was a subtle double meaning in that statement that Kate caught onto, which made her heart flutter inside her chest. There was no one else he would rather be with than her.
"Let's make this a tradition," Rick offered wishfully. He was hopeful that she would come back with him every summer in the years to come. If, god forbid, they ever broke up again, there was no way he could ever come back to this place with anyone else. He had made so many beautiful, irrevocable memories with her here. It was the place where he fell in love with her all over again. He would likely have to sell the beach house, which he certainly didn't want to do.
Kate smiled at the longer-term implication of Rick's offer. She loved that he was sharing all of his valued, time-honored traditions with her. It meant that he was making her a part of his life. It meant that he was expecting a future with her. A future where they were still in a relationship together, happily.
"Definitely," Kate grinned in agreement. She most assuredly wanted that too.
Warm nights and summer lights made this evening the perfect ending to the perfect week. They continued to watch the fireworks in silence, fully content to be wrapped up in each other, to just hold each other close and enjoy each other's presence.
Rick too thought over the course of their unconventional relationship. It had been a tumultuous one, but that they ultimately found their way back to each other was all that mattered. All the hurt and pain was but an unpleasant memory carved into the past. The love that they shared far outshone the darkness of their misgivings and mistakes.
"You know, even though we had some really rough patches I wouldn't change our story," Rick mused thoughtfully aloud.
Kate thought about his statement, considering it critically. "Not even the part when we broke up?" she asked, remembering the loneliness and hurt. Surely if all that pain could have been avoided, it would have been for the better.
"Nope, not even that," he stated decidedly.
His answer gave her pause. Kate was surprised that he didn't regret their breakup. All that time was wasted longing for each other while they were still too scared to admit how they really felt inside.
"Everything we've been through brought us here," Rick continued to explain, shedding light on his perspective. It was true. No matter how they hurt each other, they somehow made their way back to each other at the end of the day. Everything he had ever done in his life, all the mistakes and decisions he had ever made, had led him to this very moment in time to be here with her. It was like he was put here on this Earth to love her, to make her happy, to be hers.
"A lot of mistakes were made on both our parts," he admitted. That was the ugly part, but it was an unavoidable aspect of life. "But that's what got us here." Love had seen them through to the other side.
Their love was stronger for it, like a crucible for having passed through the fire of hardships in life. Being on the brink of estrangement made them both see how valuable their relationship was and how much they should treasure it and each other. They now more fully realized just how much they needed each other. They weren't perfect by any means, but they were perfect for each other.
"Sometimes two people have to fall apart to see just how much they need to fall back together."
That bold statement resounded in Kate's mind and touched her heart deeply. His words of wisdom were a gem that often surprised her and this time was especially striking. She pulled herself slightly out of his arms to look into his beautiful blue eyes. In them she found reassurance, an ocean brimming full of joy. She saw a sea of love, her future, their future, swimming in his eyes. Rick held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity, lost in the windows to the soul of the love of his life. In hers, he found that they perfectly mirrored his own.
With his hand, Rick cupped Kate's cheek gently and pulled her in for a deep kiss underneath the light of the shining stars and fulgurant fireworks.
"Happy Independence Day Kate," he whispered softly for only her to hear.
"You too, Rick."
I just wanna kiss you in the morning sun
I just wanna love you when the day is done
I just wanna love you 'cause I do
A/N: July 4th 2010 actually was on a Sunday, and it turns out that the timeline between the bomb episode (2x18 Boom!) and July 4th is roughly 100 days. Coincidence? ;) Although this chapter was short, I hope it was touching. It was a tad philosophical, probably because I just watched Interstellar and was feeling rather existential. This chapter was also largely inspired by two songs which I highly recommend—"Saturn" and "In the Embers" both by Sleeping at Last. Definitely listen to Saturn, it will make you remember how valuable life is and make you feel meek yet infinite. This could have made a really satisfying ending chapter, but there's still a little bit left. Stay tuned!