Sara sat in the back of the cab as it drove from the airport to the docks.
She looked out the window as the ETA on the cab's navigation grew nearer. She felt so calm in this moment. So at peace. And so uninhibited with fear or indecision.
She exited the cab once they'd arrived at the seaport and readjusted her bag on her shoulder. The seagulls were abuzz around her, the breeze kissing her skin. She took in her surroundings, scanning the docks until she saw it. Ishmael.
She took off her sunglasses at the sight. Her heart began to smile. She'd made it just in time.
Sara walked down the ramp to the docks and began to make her way toward him. Watching as he readied the boat to set sail. Untying the buoys and throwing the ropes back on the docks. She was nearly 20 feet away from him by the time he spotted her. Having to do a double take, unable to rely on his eyes that she was really there, walking toward him.
His mouth fell open in surprise. He stood there frozen, unable to move. He could feel his heart beating faster, threatening to pound out of his chest. He watched as she continued on toward him. Watched as she worked to suppress a smile, finding his awestruck vulnerability to be sweetly endearing.
And then, there she was, just on the other side of the boat's walls. Her feet on the dock. His on the boat, feeling it sway, or was that him feeling weak at the knees? He stared at her, his deep blue eyes locking on her brown orbs. The eyes he'd been convinced he saw for the last time earlier that morning.
In a surge, he regained use of his body and quickly held out his hand. She took it, climbing over the side of the boat. He reached up, placing a hand on either side of her torso as he guided her onto his side of the boat.
She felt real within his grasp. Knowing now his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. It was really her. Here. Right in front of him. On his boat.
She placed her hands on his shoulders as he helped her over and onto the boat. Now, with her feet planted on the boat, they stood face to face. His hands not leaving her sides as hers began to rub at his shoulders, her right hand moving toward his face, cupping his cheek, feeling his warm skin beneath the pads of her fingers.
Their eyes locked, searching each others, speaking without words. She said everything he needed to hear in that moment without saying a thing. She was here. She came for him. She wanted him back just as badly as he did.
And staring into his eyes now, she saw all the love he still harbored for her. All the pain that took hold of him in her absence with his solitude. The awe he felt at her presence right then. Her face quivered in a moment, trying her best not to cry. And when he saw this, he gave in, pulling her into him and closing the small gap between them.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly, pressing his body against hers as he closed his eyes and let himself feel her hands on the back of his neck. His face relaxed as he smiled, tightening the hold he hand on her. He thought he'd never feel her again.
"Gil." Her voice was so soft he almost didn't hear her. But he pulled back to look into her eyes once more, seeing them full of water now. He brought his hand up to her face, wiping away a tear that had escaped.
"How did you—"
"I saw the tape." Her lip began to quiver, her voice betraying her.
"Tape?"
"Heather's statement." Sara watched as Grissom's expression continued to be confused. "The camera was still rolling when you went into the room to talk with her the last time."
"Oh." He searched her watery eyes. Taking in her appearance. His heart swelled and then, he couldn't wait any longer. He leaned in and kissed her lips softly at first. But upon first taste, his body took over and he deepened the kiss with over two years of longing and desperation. It took her breath away.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers, "I've always loved you, Sara." He could feel the heat rising in his body, a vast series of emotions cresting over him, overloading his senses.
"It's um—the sun—it's setting." He spoke hesitantly. "Will you come with me?" He motioned with his head that he needed to start going. The apprehension in his voice tipped her off to his uncertainty of her intensions.
"That's why I'm here." She smiled, "Where to?"
"Santa Monica." He replied as he brushed a few flowing stray strains of hair back behind her ear.
"Let's do it." She smiled easily and began to help him finish readying the boat to set sail. All the while he stared at her at every moment he could. Unable to really believe his luck.
Before long, the two set sail into the sunset, and for the first time ever, Grissom got to enjoy his boat with another person. The only person he'd ever truly wanted to enjoy it with.
The trip up the coast would take them two and a half hours. Sara clung to his arm as he steered the boat, leaning her head against his shoulder in a comfortable intimacy both had assumed was gone for ever. And yet, it felt like no time had passed for them. They didn't speak much for the first half of the trip, merely just enjoying the others company and the breathtaking scene's around them. Hands roaming freely to touch shoulders and arms, backs and faces.
"The directorship?" He finally asked.
She shrugged, "I turned it down."
"So you're leaving Vegas?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" She smiled up at him, watching the disbelief in his yes. He was still trying to wrap his head around all of this. Just a few hours ago he was prepared to spend the rest of his life alone. Having only memories of her to keep him warm and night.
"I'm glad you caught me. I was set to sail out a couple hours before you arrived."
"They needed to make sure your permits were in order."
Grissom shot Sara a look, "How'd you know—"
"I called in a favor." She smiled proudly at herself for masterminding his delay, "Nick is the Lab Director in San Diego now, you know?"
A small smile crept over his lips. "I thought it was curious." He looked her over again, levity consuming him, "I've missed you Sara… I.. I let you go."
"I let you." She nodded, "But all that is behind us now."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She confirmed as he turned the boat into the Santa Monica Harbor. His hand reached up to her face, guiding her in closer to him so he could kiss her again. Her long fingers danced over his hand that held the ship's wheel.
"Are you up for a walk? It's only about fifteen minutes." He asked as they got off the boat.
"Sure." She smiled as he took her hand in his and walked down the docks with her. They made their way along the water's edge about fifteen minutes north. The sounds of the gentle night played out around them as they quietly walked on. The ocean's waves cresting and breaking. The tree's swaying.
But soon Grissom slowed. "This is, uh… well… this is it." Grissom said a bit shyly as the pair stood in front of a quaint, light yellow cottage. A wild garden growing in the front yard, wrapping itself around a white picket fence.
"You bought a house?" She looked at him through squinted eyes. And he simply shrugged in return. She'd assumed that he'd been living on a boat all this time.
"I wanted somewhere to be able to go home to after months away at sea… I haven't been here in a while. My mother stops by to tend to the garden while I'm gone."
She nodded knowingly, "That's right she lives near here, doesn't she?"
"A ten minutes drive."
"Is that a Coast Live Oak?" She asked, taking in a massive tree at the corner of the front yard as they walked up to the front door. A grin spread over his features and illuminated his face.
"It's an old growth. Nearly 150 years old."
"You bought the house for the tree, didn't you?"
He opened the door and let her walk in first. She was right, and she knew it. She knew him so well. Even after this time apart. He turned on the lights and closed the door behind them. Then, watched as she took in her surroundings. As she observed the familiar items that once had a home in Vegas. The pinned framed butterflies on the walls, for one.
"Can uh… can we…" He paused, trying to find the right words, causing her to turn back toward him, "Can we pick up where we left off?" He asked in a small voice.
He watched as her sidle-famous grin from spread her face. "We can." She agreed. Reaching past him to a newspaper on the counter. It was months old, and she remembered finishing this one. "Let's start here." She smiled knowingly, "15 down is Revere."
His eyes seemed bluer and brighter then they'd ever been. He looked at her and felt a surge of emotion overcome him. In a quick series of movements, he swept her up in his arms and kissed her deeper and more passionately then she could have ever remembered before. His hands were in her hair, on her back, roaming as he felt her smiling against his lips.
Once the shock dissipated her hands moved to his chest and pushed his jacket off of him. They wasted no time. He lead her to the bedroom where they shed the rest of their clothes and let their actions speak for them. He could finally express to her just how much he loved her still, how much he'd missed her. How he regretted ever letting her go. He could say everything he needed to tell her, without needing to say anything at all.
That night, in the throws of desperate wanting, Grissom held onto her tightly. So tightly that she was sure he thought she may vanish if he let go.
When they had sex for the first time, after six years of built up sexual tension and dancing around each other, it had been intense, and passionate. But it had also been hesitant, slow, deliberate.
This was different. Now, they both knew what they were missing over the last two plus years. They knew how good it could be. And that fueled a more intense love making then either had ever experienced previously. In the end, she could feel him release so forcefully that this whole body shook.
They laid together that night, both sleeping soundly for the first time in years. Her head rested in the spot on his chest where she could hear his strong, steady heart beat against her ear. The place she knew was meant for only her. Home.