Five

Four days later, Molly and Sherlock saw each other again. The detective came to the morgue with Lestrade for a case; Molly had notified them that she had finished the autopsy of the murder victim found early that morning. Lestrade strode right into the morgue and approached her with his usual friendly smile. "Afternoon, Molly," he said, and then indicated the body laid out on her table covered in a white sheet. "Let's have a look at the poor bloke, then."

Molly nodded. As she uncovered the top half of the body, she saw Sherlock standing by the morgue doors, as if uncertain whether or not to proceed further into the room. This confused her at first, but then Molly remembered the way that their last encounter had ended. With all of the thinking, turning over and debating that she had been doing over the past few days, that last encounter seemed a lifetime ago.

In the midst of all of that thinking and debating, Molly had resolved what she herself would do when she came face-to-face with Sherlock again: see him, as John had said she could see him, and just go from there.

What she saw was a man who was not sure whether or not he was welcome here. Her heart warmed and she gave the consulting detective a reassuring smile. "Come over, Sherlock."

She saw Sherlock's shoulders sag in relief as he flashed a small smile back in return. In the next moment, he was in full detective mode again as he strode towards the two of them (three, if one counted the corpse).

Hours later, night had fallen over London. Sherlock and Molly had been working diligently and companionably in the lab since he had arrived with Lestrade. The DCI had left after Molly had shown the full report of her autopsy and he had conversed with Sherlock about what the autopsy had revealed. Sherlock had remained behind with Molly, because there had been traces of unfamiliar soot and residue in both the stab wounds and under the victim's nails. The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon and the first part of the evening running every available test on these substances. In between, Molly had grabbed a quick dinner from the canteen – and forced Sherlock to eat a bag of crisps, too.

It was after nine o'clock when Molly stretched her back and yawned. "Well, Sherlock," she said as she handed him the latest test results. "I'm afraid that's the last we'll get tonight. The rest of the tests won't show results at least until the morning. I hope you have enough to go on for tonight."

Sherlock nodded as he folded the papers she had handed to him and stuffed it into his inner blazer pocket. "This is sufficient for now. Text me tomorrow when you get the rest of the results." He paused, gave a little wince, and added, "Please."

Molly chuckled as she put on her coat. "Of course I will."

They walked out of the lab and got into the elevator together. Molly herself felt quite content. Working alongside Sherlock again had felt good; all of the awkwardness that she had feared she would feel hadn't come. There was even a small bounce in her step as they walked through the St. Bart's Lobby and out into the surprisingly mild and dry spring air. "Well, good luck with the case, Sherlock," she said before starting to walk down the street.

"Wait, Molly, you're walking home?" Sherlock exclaimed, easily catching up with her. "I can easily flag you a cab."

Molly smiled at this. "That's sweet to offer, Sherlock, but it's such a nice evening and I live only nine blocks away. I feel like walking."

"Then I'll walk with you, if I may," said Sherlock, and they soon fell into step beside each other.

Molly raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you have a case to work on?"

"Yes, and the rendezvous set up with some of my network is not far from your flat, so this is no inconvenience to me," he replied. Then his steps slowed and he looked at her. "Unless you would…prefer to be alone?"

"Oh, no, it's fine, Sherlock!" she reassured the man. "I'm happy to have you walk with me."

Sherlock nodded his head and said, "Good," before they once again fell into an easy pace beside each other. For once, Sherlock kept pace with Molly instead of the other way around. Usually, he would take full advantage of his long legs and keep a pace which made even John have to put extra effort into keeping up with him. Now Molly walked beside him without having to lengthen or quicken her natural stride. It made a very nice change.

For the first four blocks, they walked side by side in a comfortable silence. Eventually, Sherlock broke it by saying, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hm?" Molly said, turning her head to look at him. He was looking up, and he gestured to the sky. Looking up, Molly saw that only half of the sky was cloudy, and more than a few stars were visibly and twinkling merrily. She smiled softly to herself. "Yes, it is…" But then her smile faded and she looked at him again. "But I thought that you didn't know or care anything about astronomy? John said that it's not part of your work so therefore you just don't put it in your brain's hard drive."

"That is correct," said Sherlock, bringing his gaze down so that he could look forward again. "But, as I've also told John, that doesn't mean that I cannot appreciate their beauty."

Molly felt her heart leap in her chest at what he said, and it took everything she had not to stop in her tracks and give him an astonished look. She didn't have to wonder why her body had such a reaction to the simple statement that Sherlock had made, because she remembered who else had expressed to her how beautiful he found the night sky…

There was no doubt about it in her mind, soul or heart: Molly had received the blessing of approval that she had been praying for. Thank you, Tom.

Molly looked at Sherlock's profile for a moment, looked forward again, and she did what her instincts told her to do. With her left hand, the pathologist reached out and took the detective's right hand in her own. She felt the man give a barely perceptible jolt of surprise, but in the very next moment, she felt his fingers securely intertwine with her own. She felt his gaze on her own profile; she didn't look at him, but she smiled a small smile to let him know that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Their hands remained joined, swinging gently back and forth between the two as they walked, the rest of the way to Molly's flat. When they came to the front steps of her building, they stopped. Without letting go of her hand, Sherlock met her eyes and asked in a voice she had seldom heard him use before (that is, without a trace of arrogance or patronization): "Molly, this Saturday…instead of staying in, may I take you out?"

Molly noticed that his grip on her hand had unconsciously tightened, and that his palm was sweating. Her doubts continuing to tumble down one by one in her mind and heart, Molly smiled at him and nodded firmly. "Yes, Sherlock, you may. We'll talk about it tomorrow, when the rest of the test results come in."

"Yes, good, we'll do that," said Sherlock. The relief that now radiated off him was palpable. "I'm sure that, once the rest of the results come in, I'll be able to wrap this case up before then."

"But if you don't, Sherlock, just let me know," said Molly firmly. "I won't be angry, so long as you tell me right away and not let me show up somewhere without knowing you won't be coming."

"Right, of course, that wouldn't be good, would it?"

"No-pe."

They shared a small chuckle at her imitation of his favorite way of responding to simple questions. When it died down, Sherlock looked completely unsure of how to proceed. Thankfully, the intuitive Molly had an idea. She said, "Well, good luck and be careful on your case tonight."

"I will, Molly," he said, and he meant it.

"And thank you for walking me home, Sherlock."

"It was no trouble or inconvenience."

Molly smiled, and then she went on her tiptoes so she could kiss his cheek. She'd never given him any kind of kiss before, but though it was an innocent kiss, it was far from an insignificant gesture: it held hope. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said softly.

All Sherlock could say as his ears turned red were three words: "Sweet dreams, Molly." And then he bent down and kissed her cheek in return. He'd done this twice before, but those had been quick pecks of apology and gratitude. This shy but lingering one held so much more: it held a promise.

With one last smile, Molly pulled her hand from his and walked up the stairs to her front door. She was very tempted to look behind her as she went through the front door, but she resisted it. Baby steps, one at a time, move forward…

That night, three good things happened.

One, Molly Hooper had a peaceful night's sleep with sweet dreams indeed, which was the last reassurance she needed that she had received the blessing that she needed.

Second, Sherlock Holmes gave the members of his homeless network who helped him that night almost triple what he usually tipped them, and even departed from them with a smile.

Third, Dr. and Mrs. Watson were each sent a captured image from a CCTV camera (no guesses who it was from) which showed Sherlock and Molly walking under a streetlamp holding hands. It pleased the couple so much that it was a miracle that their nightly activities didn't wake their one-year-old daughter sleeping just down the hall.

Their mission had been a success.

A/N: So, that's the end of this sequel. I'm sorry if I'm ending it before some of you would like it to, but I wanted the story to really end at the beginning of something wonderful rather than right in the middle of it. Plus, I wanted it to end on a real note of hope (as is evident from my title), which I think all of us Sherlock and Sherlolly fans need right now.

Speaking of…is anybody else as scared shitless as I am after watching the latest trailer? Of course, it would be nice if he's saying that to Molly, but I get the horrible feeling that if he is, that means she's about to die. Sherlock is not a man who would say those words under many other circumstances, especially in front of his brother. And also, the shot of Molly crying while she's talking on the phone doesn't bode well…ugh, yup, I'm scared shitless.

I won't be writing any new Sherlock fanfiction until after the whole series has aired and we'll have our questions answered for better or for worse. In the meantime, I've found a new couple in the Harry Potter universe that I've fallen in love with and am getting inspired by (please feel free to check it out!)

So, au revoir for now. I'll see you on the other side (ugh, I'm starting my Sherlolly prayers now…) Please leave a review!