Disclaimer: the usual, and Drops of Jupiter is by Train.

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~Return~

Grissom was so excited he couldn't sit still. She was coming home, and she had called him, of all the people in the world, to pick her up at the airport. He was taking her to a welcome home party where everyone else would be, but he would have those first precious moments to himself.

He held the orchid in his hand. He knew that the first one hadn't kept her, but he had put so much more thought into this one. He had written the card himself, and this time, it did not say From Grissom.

He looked around the airport. It was full of people waiting for their loved ones to come home, and Grissom was glad to count himself among their number. He had been so worried that she would never come back. That all he would ever know of her would come from her emails, and the occasional phone call. That one day he would get an invitation to her wedding.

Grissom drove those thoughts from his mind. She was coming home, and she had asked him to come and get her.

People began coming through the door. Children flocked to greet their parents, kisses and hugs were exchanged, joy permeated through the arrival lounge.

Then, there she was. Her eyes met his in the crowd, and her face was lit up by a smile. He could feel his own mouth stretch into a smile larger than he could recall having while she was gone. She made her way to him as fast as she could given the amount of people, and her luggage. She stopped just out of arm's reach, then dropped her bags and flung herself into his surprised arms.

There in the middle of an airport, with heaven only knew how many people watching, Gil Grissom held Sara Sidle. She laughed and cried, and he could do nothing but smile.

Finally she whispered "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." He said, gently detaching her arms from around him, in an attempt to save the orchid from an untimely demise.

He held it out to her, and she took it with another grin. He picked up her larger bag, and offered her his arm. She took it, and they made their way out of the airport to Grissom's Tahoe.

"We're having a party for you at the lab." He said as they pulled out on to the highway. "It was the only way you'd be able to see everyone at once."

"It'll be nice to see everyone again." She replied, sounding slightly detached.

He glanced at her and realized that she had opened the card that had come with her orchid. He looked at her for as long as it was safely possible to do so, with his heart in his throat.

Her head was tilted to the side as she read the card. He watched emotions fly across her face. She new what it had been to him to write this. And for her.

The radio played out in the silence that settled between them.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere

With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey.

She acts like summer, and walks like rain

Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey.

Since her return from her stay on the moon

She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey.

Tell me, did you sail across the sun

Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

And heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star

One without a permanent scar

And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Now that she's back from that soul vacation

Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey

She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo

Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey

Now that she's back in the atmosphere I'm afraid that she might think of me as

Plain ol' Jane Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet

Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

And head back to the Milky Way

And tell me, did Venus blow your mind

Was it everything you wanted to find

And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken

Your best friend always sticking up for you,

Even when I know you're wrong

Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance , five hour phone conversation

The best soy latte that you ever had. .and me

Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet

Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day

And head back toward the Milky Way

Tell me, did you sail across the sun

Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded

And heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star

One without a permanent scar

And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

"I did you know." She said just as the song ended, so faintly he almost didn't hear her over the noise of the cars on the road.

"You did what?" He asked equally softly.

"Miss you." Came the answer, just as he had hoped, "I missed you every day."

"And now you've come back."

"No" she replied. "I haven't come back. I've come home."

He smiled, and took one hand off the wheel to seek out one of hers.