Title: The Original JJ
Author: wild-angel82
Pairing: Prentiss/JJ
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: PG
Series: 1) Children Don't Always Get To Grow Up
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Criminal Minds. I wish I did, though.
A/N: OK, I have gotten such great response to "Children Don't Always Get To Grow Up" that I decided to turn some ideas that I had in my head into another story. I hope those of you who wanted a sequel will be satisfied with this little piece. It turned out to be a lot longer than I initially thought and it's the longest Emily/JJ story that I have written so far.
Summary: Sequel to "Children Don't Always Get To Grow Up", but it can be read as a separate story. After the Choking Game case, JJ decides to go back home to visit her family and her sister’s grave. Emily goes with her for emotional support.

***

Jennifer Jareau looked at her son playing in his playpen and she couldn't help but smile to herself. She had no idea that such a small person could have such a huge impact on your life. Ever since Henry was born, she had changed. Everybody had always told her that having a baby changes your world, changes your priorities, but she didn't completely understand until she held her son in her arms for the very first time. That's when she knew what everybody meant. Now all she cared about was being a good mother and giving her son the happiest possible life. And she hoped he would grow up to be a healthy, happy, well-adjusted individual. She figured that this was what every parent wanted for their child – to grow up to be happy. Except that not all parents were lucky enough to see their children grow up. Her parents weren't.

As JJ thought back to the case, to the memories she had about her sister and to her little talk with Emily on the plane back home from Wyoming, she felt a strong urge to be close to her family. She hadn't visited them in a while, the weekend was coming up and they were supposedly to have that weekend off. She figured this would be a good opportunity to pay a visit to a certain little town in Pennsylvania. The only problem was that she couldn't possibly go alone. She knew her family was gonna be there, but she felt like she needed someone else there to keep her sane, someone who didn't know her sister, someone who would be strong enough to keep her from falling apart.

She dialed a number on her cell phone and waited for the person on the other side of the line to answer.

"Emily Prentiss." JJ heard her friend's voice and it made her smile.

"Hi Emily, it's JJ." She started as she was trying to come up with the words to ask Emily what she was about to ask her.

"JJ?" Emily sounded surprised, although she didn't know why, because it wasn't uncommon for JJ to call her just to catch up or talk if something was bothering her. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you for a favor…" JJ began, but she still wasn't sure if she should even ask, because it seemed like such a huge favor.

"Sure, shoot." Emily encouraged her.

"OK, so I wanted to go back home this coming weekend to…" she stopped for a while before she continued, "to visit my sister's grave and see my parents. But I don't wanna go alone and I was just wondering if maybe you could possibly come with me… " She hesitated for a moment. "Unless you have some other plans or don't feel like going. 'Cause that would be totally fine." JJ assured her. "I just don't think I can do it on my own and I thought that…"

"Absolutely." Emily interjected and then added. "Although I thought Will would have been your first choice."

"Will is visiting his mom in New Orleans and I was supposed to go with him, but since his mom is sick, we didn't wanna risk taking Henry to see her. So I stayed home and figured I could maybe visit my parents as well."

"Well in that case I would love to go with you." Emily replied. "Anything to make it easier on you, JJ. You know I would do almost anything for you, right?"

"I know. I'm glad a road trip to Pennsylvania is one of those things." JJ smiled to herself.

"Are you kidding? It's been ages since I was in Pennsylvania, I'm sure things have changed." Emily joked.

"I'm sure they have." JJ chuckled and after a while added in a more serious tone. "Thank you, Emily."

"Don't even mention it. It would be my honor." Emily told her and it was the truth. She would do absolutely anything to help JJ get through the hell she was undoubtedly going through right now.

"OK, how about I pick you up on Friday around 3:30-4:00pm? Would that work for you?"

"I believe it would."

"Great. Just have your overnight bag ready. See you then."

"See you." Emily hang up the phone and JJ couldn't help but feel so blessed to have Emily in her life. She had always known there was something special about the brunette, ever since they first met, and Emily certainly had turned out to be one of the most amazing friends JJ had ever had. She was just wonderful as a friend and JJ felt extremely safe and content knowing that she could always count on Emily to be there for her.

***

"Thank you so much for doing this, Emily." JJ said as they got into the car on Friday afternoon. "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. I'm sure you have better things to do than a road trip to my home town."

"Actually, there are very few things that would rate higher on my list than spending the weekend with you and Henry." Emily smiled gently as she tried to assure JJ that she really was happy about going to Pennsylvania with her.

"Did you hear that sweetie?" JJ turned around to look at her son sat comfortably in his car seat on the back seat of the car. "Aunt Emily is happy to be spending the weekend with us. Isn't that sweet of her?" JJ shifted her eyes from Henry onto Emily. "Seriously, it is very sweet of you."

"What can I say, I'm a sweet person." Emily joked. "Now let's get going, if you wanna get there before your parents are sound asleep." Emily suggested and JJ started the engine.

***

"So this is the house Jennifer Jareau grew up in?" Emily asked as they parked outside a white 2-storey house surrounded by a small garden and a picket fence.

"Very small town, isn't it?" JJ laughed.

"I think it's cute." Emily admitted. "I wish I could have grown up in a house like this." Emily sighed as she thought back to all the places she had grown up in. "It looks like a family house." Emily noticed.

"Yeah." JJ smiled and she turned to Henry. "Come on, let's show you off to the grandparents." She grinned as she got out of the car and took Henry out of his car seat and grabbed his bag. When Emily realized that JJ had no more free hands, she offered to take both their bags and carry them to the house.

"Thanks." JJ replied as she locked the car and they made their way to the house. JJ rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open the door. When Emily saw the woman who answered, she realized that JJ was a spitting image of her. Of course the woman was older, but the similarity was uncanny.

"Jennifer, Henry, wonderful to see you." Mrs. Jareau exclaimed excitedly as she gave her daughter a hug and took little Henry into her arms. "Hey big guy." She kissed the top of Henry's head and turned to JJ, "He is getting so big."

"Tell me about it." JJ laughed and looked at Emily and then at her mom. "Mom, this is Emily Prentiss. I told you about her." She added and waited to see if her mother would indeed remember.

"Of course, you have mentioned her before." Mrs. Jareau smiled and turned to Emily. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Jareau." Emily smiled.

Mrs. Jareau realized that they were still at the doorstep, so she hurried Emily and JJ inside. "Come on, we're not gonna spend the entire evening here, are we?"

The three of them went inside the house, where JJ's dad was waiting for them. Emily put the bags down next to the kitchen table.

"JJ, you're here!" he smiled as he stood up and pulled his daughter into a hug. Emily found it funny and interesting that JJ's mom called her Jennifer, yet her dad called her JJ. "And where is that handsome grandson of mine?" Mr. Jareau walked up to his wife and scooped Henry into his arms. "He is getting so big." He noted and JJ couldn't help but laugh.

"So people keep telling me." She grinned as she looked at her precious little guy. He really was growing up so fast.

"This is Jennifer's friend, Emily." Mrs. Jareau said to her husband and he shot Emily a welcoming smile.

"Nice to meet you. And welcome."

"Thank you." Emily replied and was blown away by how much love was still in the house despite of what had happened there. Emily was sure that it was nice house to grow up in.

"If you don't mind," JJ finally said, "I'd like to give Henry a bath. It's a little past his bedtime already and I don't want him to be all fussy tomorrow."

"Sure." Mrs. Jareau smiled. "You know where everything is."

"Yeah." JJ replied and smiled as she looked at her father talking to his grandson.

"I'll help you." He offered and the two of them disappeared from the kitchen. Mrs. Jareau looked and Emily and showed her the chair in front of her.

"Would you like to sit down?" She asked. "I can make you some coffee or tea if you want."

"Coffee would actually be nice, thank you." Emily said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. About five minutes later, Mrs. Jareau placed two cups of coffee on the table and sat opposite of Emily.

"There you go."

"Thank you." Emily said as she took the cup to drink the beverage.

"So you and Jennifer work together?" Mrs. Jareau asked after a while, even though she knew the answer to that question, but she wanted to start the conversation somehow.

"Yes, we do."

"It makes me a little calmer to know that there are other women who do what she does." Mrs. Jareau sighed and Emily smiled.

"Yeah, there are a couple of us." Emily explained. "Not all FBI agents and cops are men."

"I know that." Mrs. Jareau sighed. "But I still worry about her."

"Well, she's your daughter, it's only natural." Emily said, reassuring the older woman that it was indeed absolutely normal that she was concerned about her daughter.

"I already worried about her when she went away to college, but when she told me she wanted to get into the FBI, I almost had a heart attack." Mrs. Jareau started sharing her JJ and FBI story. "And her father flat out told her that she was crazy." Mrs. Jareau laughed at the memory and Emily couldn't help but smile. "But we've made our peace with it." Mrs. Jareau continued. "I mean we still worry, but she seems to be happy with her job and It's all that matters to us."

"She's great at what she does, she really is." Emily told Mrs. Jareau. "She's a great agent and she helps a lot of people. You should really be proud of her." Emily said and Mrs. Jareau couldn't help but notice a little spark in Emily's eye when she was talking about JJ.

"You two seem pretty… close." Mrs. Jareau noticed. "I can tell that you care about my daughter."

"I do." Emily assured her. "She's been a wonderful friend to me ever since we met and I try my best to return the favor whenever she needs me." Emily smiled gently and added after a moment. "JJ has a lot of friends in Quantico, you don't have to worry about her."

"That's good. She mentions you guys sometimes and I'm glad that she has people who care about her over there."

"We most certainly do." Emily said. "We would never let anything happen to her." Emily promised as she realized that it really did make Mrs. Jareau feel better to know that JJ was surrounded by people who loved her.

"So what have you been gossiping about?" They suddenly heard JJ's voice and saw the blonde coming into the kitchen.

"Oh nothing." Mrs. Jareau smiled and looked at Emily. "Your friend here was just telling me what a great agent you are."

"Oh has she?" JJ asked as she looked at Emily grinning.

"I most certainly have." Emily mirrored JJ's grin and added after a moment. "And you know I only speak the truth."

"Henry asleep?" Mrs. Jareau inquired.

"Not yet, but dad's working on him." JJ explained as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the kitchen table with the other two women. She looked at her mother and then at Emily and she knew that taking Emily with her was definitely a good idea.

***

"So this is your room?" Emily smiled as her and JJ entered what used to be JJ's sanctuary.

"Yeah." JJ replied. "Pretty tacky, isn't it?"

"No, it's not. I think It's nice." Emily replied and looked around the room. It wasn't your typical girly girl room, after all, JJ did used to play soccer, but you could definitely tell it was a girl's room. The walls were light yellow and the furniture crimson. It wasn't exactly a color Emily thought JJ would have in her room, but then again she didn't really know that much about her friend as a child or teenager.

"It's been that same way ever since I left for college. Not exactly the décor I would use now, but somehow I still feel safe here."

"It's nice to have a place like that." Emily noted. "One that you can actually call home."

"Yeah, it is." JJ smiled, sat on her bed and invited Emily to join her.

"That's what I missed a little bit when I was growing up." Emily admitted after a while. "I mean we would live in all those amazing places, but none of them ever felt like home, you know? I never had a room like that, a room that would be my little hide away from the world."

"Oh that it was." JJ sighed. "I used to really love being here. Of course when I was younger I used to spend all my time bugging my sister in her room…" JJ said and suddenly got silent at the mention of her sister. Emily gently put her arm around her friend. "And then you know what happened, so…"

"Yeah." Emily replied, not wanting for JJ to have to finish, because clearly causing her so much.

"You know, it took my parents a good couple of years to change anything in my sister's room. They turned it into another guest bedroom, but they don't use it unless they absolutely have to. It's still hard for them to see anyone else sleeping in that room." JJ's expression got even sadder than it was before. "And honestly, it's not that easy for me either." She took a moment to look around the room she hadn't stepped a foot in in a really long time. Too long maybe. "You know, as much as I love this house and my room, being here also brings back a lot of memories of…" She didn't have to say it, because she could see in Emily's eyes that the brunette knew. "That's probably one of the reasons I don't come home to often. And I have a great excuse, you know? After all, I'm an FBI agent and I'm busy and all that. That's what I keep telling my parents, and they seem to buy it, at least that's what they say. But sometimes I keep wondering if I'm really that busy or if I just convince myself that I am to clear my conscience, because I don't want to come back here. " She shifted on the bed, so she was now leaning against the wall with her arms around her legs curled up in front of her. Emily followed JJ's suit and sat next to her. "The funny thing is that once I'm actually here, I'm always happy that I came, but I have the hardest time making a decision to come. I'm so weird." JJ laughed.

"No you're not." Emily didn't agree and looked affectionately at JJ, as if trying to convince her that it wasn't weird at all. "If I had a place that had so many memories like this house does for you, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be crazy about going there either."

"It shouldn't be this hard." JJ sighed.

"I don't think anyone can tell you how hard things like that should or shouldn't be, JJ." Emily could see the conflicting emotions on JJ's face and it was really difficult for her to see her friend like this. She had already seen how distressed JJ was when they had talked on the plane, but coming home certainly brought about a whole new level of uneasiness and angst for the blonde agent. "Everyone deals with loss and pain differently." Emily continued, hoping that her words will bring at least some sort of a comfort to JJ. "No one can tell you how you should feel. And if someone does, than they don't know the first thing about life."

"You sound like know a lot about loss." JJ suddenly looked at Emily realizing that maybe her friend did indeed know more. There was something in Emily's eyes that JJ hadn't seen before and it made her heart skip a beat. There was definitely something that was bothering Emily, but JJ didn't know if she wanted to upset Emily by asking questions.

Emily looked at JJ wondering if she should say anything. The blonde had enough on her mind right now and maybe it wasn't such a good idea to lay something this heavy on her. But this was definitely the best moment to tell her what Emily had wanted to share for a very long time. She felt a little selfish, because she knew talking to JJ was going to help her. She just needed to tell her, especially after JJ had shared so much with her about her sister.

"I was fifteen and we were living in Rome at that time." Emily started and JJ could see how dark and sad the brunette's eyes suddenly became. "I was… Let's just say that I wasn't the easiest kid to be a parent to…" She admitted. And even though her mother wasn't exactly perfect, Emily knew she wasn't a saint either when she was a kid. "I had many ways of acting out and…" She took a deep breath and finally flat out said it, "Bottom line is, I got pregnant. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly what I had planned for myself at that age."

"I bet it wasn't." JJ said softly and realized that there was much more to Emily Prentiss than she thought, even after becoming as close as they had in the last 3 years or so.

"I totally panicked. I couldn't imagine myself raising a baby, I was a kid myself… " Emily said and she could see in JJ's eyes that the blonde understood. "Plus my mother would have probably killed me if she had found out. So I…" Emily knew she couldn't and didn't really have to say the actual word.

"I'm so sorry, Em." JJ whispered as she let Emily's head rest on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." JJ repeated and asked, "Why didn't you… Why didn't you say anything to me before? Did you tell anyone?"

"I told Rossi during that case we had with the exorcisms. One of the men that got killed was a friend of mine Matthew Benton. He was the one who helped me get the abortion, so the case was pretty hard on me. I admitted everything to Rossi, but somehow after the case got done, I couldn't go back to all the memories…"

"I understand. It's kind of like me not wanting to come back home now I guess."

"Yeah, something like that." Emily agreed. "I'm sorry I never told you before. It's just…"

"You don't have to apologize, Emily." JJ cut her short. "It's hard to talk about these things."

"Yeah, but you're… You're the first person I would ever tell anything to and I can't understand why I never mentioned it. I should…"

"What was it that you told me a minute ago?" JJ interrupted her friend again and looked at her meaningfully. "There is nothing that you should or shouldn't do and feel in situations like these."

"I did say that, didn't I?" Emily smiled. "I guess you just feel what you feel and do what you…" Emily fell silent for a moment, but then continued. "You know, there is not a day in my life that I don't think about it." Emily admitted. "I see people losing their loved ones and sometimes I feel like such a fraud, because I killed my own baby." She finally let it out and JJ got scared by the tears so obvious in Emily's eyes. She pulled her friend closer to her and kissed the top of her head.

"Don't think about it like that or you're gonna drive yourself crazy." JJ tried to tell her, but truth be told, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She knew she couldn't possibly comprehend what Emily was feeling, because while she indeed was talking about the loss of her child, it was different than her sister killing herself, it had to be.

"Do you remember what you said about your sister on the plane? How you wonder what her life would be like if she grew up?"

"Yeah." JJ replied with a sigh.

"That's what I do sometimes too. I try not to, because it's just so damn difficult, but sometimes I catch myself wondering if the baby would have been boy or a girl, what it would look like, what color their eyes would have been… It just never goes away, but you learn to live with it."

"Yeah, you do." JJ smiled and rested her own head on Emily's and decided to change the subject, because she figured there was nothing more to say regarding the previous topics. "I hope my mom didn't scare you too much." JJ asked, a little worried of how her mother could have behave in Emily's presence.

"Are you kidding me?" Emily laughed. "She is a joy to be around."

"Oh come on." JJ couldn't believe this was really what Emily thought about her mother.

"No, really." Emily assured her. "She treated me very well, don't worry."

"Oh I'm sure she did." JJ sighed and couldn't help but grin a little as the thought of her mother's usual hospitality.

"She worries about you, you know?" Emily suddenly said.

"Yeah, I know. "JJ replied and she really did know how freaked out her mother was when she had told her about what kind of job she wanted. "I don't think a communications liaison for the FBI was what she had in mind for her daughter's career. It was hard enough for her to let me go when I went to college, let alone when I decided to join the FBI. And she never flat out said it, but I know that she just can't bear to lose another daughter."

"She's not gonna lose another daughter." Emily lifted her head and looked into JJ's eyes.

"You can't know that."

"Yeah, any more than your mother can't know if you would be safe if you had any other kind of a job."

"I guess you're right." JJ agreed. "But to her FBI screams danger and she just can't understand why I chose this career." JJ paused for a moment. "And honestly, sometimes I wonder myself why exactly I have decided to do what I do, but somehow I know that this is what I was put here to do, you know? Like this is what I'm supposed to be doing."

"What you do helps a lot of people, JJ." Emily told her with a gentle smile on her face.

"I hope so." JJ sighed deeply. "Otherwise it just doesn't make sense." She looked at Emily and she could see in Emily's eyes that she knew exactly what JJ was talking about. Sometimes she felt like Emily really was the only person that could understand her so well. The only person who knew what she was about to say before she even said it. And sitting in her old room in her old house, full of memories that had been counting her for years, somehow felt a lot less scary with Emily Prentiss holding her hand and the warmth of brunette's shoulder on her chest.

***

The next morning Emily was half-awake when she heard a knock on the door to the room she had slept in.

"Come in." She said, not knowing who it was, but figuring it couldn't be anyone she would have a problem seeing. A smile spread across her face when she saw JJ in her robe standing at the door.

"Hi." The blonde smiled back at her. "I didn't wake you, did?"

"No, not really." Emily replied, still a little sleepily. "I was on my way to being fully awake when you knocked." She laughed.

"Well good. I kind of forgot that you don't actually have a baby that you have to feed in the morning." JJ sent Emily an apologetic look.

"No, it's OK. I was gonna be getting up soon anyway."

"I just wanted to ask how your night was." JJ explained with a gentle smile on her face. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Emily replied and she wasn't kidding. The little talk she and JJ had the night before completely wore her out, but somehow it had also been almost cleansing for her.

"Well, my parents promised to take care of Henry for the day. They haven't seen him in a while, so they're excited to spend some time with him." JJ said and she also was happy that Henry would get to spend some time with his grandparents. "I'll fix you some breakfast and then we can plan the rest of the day." JJ took a moment to collect her thoughts. "You know I wanted to visit my sister's grave, so I'd like to maybe go after breakfast or something."

"Sure, we'll work it out." Emily smiled. "And you don't have to make me breakfast."

"Of course I do." JJ insisted. "You're my guest and you shall be treated like one." She grinned and turned around to leave. "I'll see you downstairs in about twenty minutes." She said on her way out.

"See you then." Emily agreed and opened her bag to take out the clothes she was gonna wear. She thought of JJ making breakfast in the kitchen and she couldn't help but feel so blessed to have a friend in her. Maybe someday she would tell JJ how grateful she is for her.

***

"Are you ready?" Emily asked, squeezing JJ's hand gently, as they stood outside a small cemetery where JJ's sister was buried. She could see JJ's reluctance and she could see how scared JJ was of the way she might feel once she sees her sister's grave again.

"No." JJ replied quickly, because she knew she wasn't. But she also knew that she wasn't going to become any more ready than she was. "But I have to do this." She took a few seconds to breathe deeply. "It's not like I haven't been here before." She said as if trying to convince herself that it really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Are you sure you want me with you?" Emily asked, making sure that JJ hadn't changed her mind. "It just seems like such a personal thing to do… I'm not sure…"

"Emily, I cannot imagine having anyone else here with me." JJ told her, but instantly got worried that maybe it was a little bit too much drama for Emily to handle. "Unless you don't want to go with me?" She inquired as she got mad at herself for a moment for dragging Emily into her hometown. She thought that maybe she was being selfish, only thinking about how good it felt for her to have Emily by her side, but never thinking how it made Emily feel.

"Of course I will be there for you, but I needed to be sure you want me there?" Emily shot JJ a questioning look.

"I definitely do." She whispered. "I need you there with me." She added as she held on to Emily's hand tight. "Please…"

"I'm not going anywhere." Emily promised. "So whenever you're ready." She smiled at her friend and for another minute or so they just stood there with JJ slightly terrified, breathing heavily and Emily praying to God that she could be strong for JJ.

Suddenly Emily felt JJ take a step forward and she followed her, never letting go of her hand, until they stopped before a gravestone that read:

Jessica Margaret Jareau

1973 – 1989

Beloved daughter, sister, friend

JJ stood for a moment until finally she kneeled beside the grave and ran her hand across the hard stone. Emily could see how emotional the blonde was getting, so she sat next to her, in case JJ found herself in the need of a shoulder or a hand to hold.

"As you can see, I was not the original JJ." JJ smiled and looked at Emily to make sure she had read the name on the gravestone. "Although really nobody ever called her JJ, that came to be when I was in college and it kind of stuck. Now nobody really calls me Jennifer anymore."

"Except for your mom." Emily pointed out.

"Yeah, she could never get into the whole JJ thing." JJ laughed. "She always insisted on calling me the name she gave me at baptism."

"Well I like JJ." Emily told her. "It's very… well… you." She added with a smile and JJ chuckled.

"Thank you, that's very sweet of you." JJ said, with a small smile still lingering on her lips.

"What did your sister call you?"

"Jennifer or Jen on a good day. But mostly that little nuisance or that little twit." JJ thought back to all the names her sister had called her. "I hated that back then, but now I would give anything to hear her call me a twit again." She took a deep breath. "The thing is that even when she slammed the door in my face and told me to get the hell out of her room or told me she hated me, I somehow always knew that she loved me. She just didn't say it often, if at all. Which is why sometimes I think that I should have known that something was wrong that night when she came into my room to give me the necklace."

"JJ, we've been through this…" Emily reached for JJ's hand and was surprised how quickly JJ accepted it.

"I know, I know." JJ cut her short. "And I don't usually feel that way, just sometimes when I try to overanalyze things I guess. It's very complicated." She sighed.

"Nothing is ever not complicated when it comes to how you feel about losing someone. And believe me, I know how hard it can be to talk about it sometimes." Emily sighed. "Which is why I feel honored that you have opened up to me about your sister. It really means a lot, JJ."

"Honestly, Emily, you're really the only person I would ever want to share all this with. Even if you hadn't had what happened to you happen, I know that you would still understand. I don't know how, but I just know that you would. There is this thing about you…" JJ stopped for a moment when she realized she no longer knew what she wanted to say. "I don't know, you make everything easier." JJ finally said and she turned her head to look Emily in the eye. "Thank you for coming out with me. I don't think I would have gotten through all of it without you."

"I know you would have." Emily told her and she wasn't lying. "But I'm glad I was able to help. You know I will always be there for you, right?" Emily asked as she put her arm around the blonde and JJ only nodded. "And you have no idea how much this trip has helped me." Emily said and she really couldn't believe how healing spending the weekend with JJ was turning out to be. "I guess there must be something about Pennsylvania." She joked.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is." JJ grinned. "Pennsylvania."

"But seriously, JJ, thank you for inviting me. It meant a lot to me."

"Well I'm always there for you two." JJ smiled as she smiled as she squeezed Emily's hand. "So don't you ever forget that."

"I'll try not to." She promised and slowly let go of JJ's hand. She stood up and took a step back. For a moment she looked at the blonde whose eyes were fixed at the gravestone now and then she started slowly walking. She knew that her job was done and now it was JJ's time alone with her sister.

JJ felt the cold air on her hand again, where Emily's hand used to be, but before she could protest, she realized what Emily was doing and it amazed her yet again how well the brunette could read her mind. And as she looked behind her and caught a glimpse of Emily disappearing behind the trees, she knew that no matter what happens, she could always count on Emily. And knowing that made facing the future a little bit easier.

She shifted her eyes back to the gravestone again and whispered. "You would have liked Emily, Jessica..."

THE END

***