A/N: I know you guys are probably thinking that you can't trust me when I say that
"this is the last chapter" BUT… I promise this is! HONEST. ;D
So there's a twist in this chapter and then another twist towards the end, so I think you guys might hate me for it, even though I hope not. But I can try and make it up to you guys. ;) For now read the chapter, then the note at the end and see. Enjoy! Or try to, anyway.

xxxxxx

Saturnine – Part III

Before Maura knows it, she's asleep, with the candle still burning in her friend's honor. She barely acknowledges the fact that the candle is still burning because it's late at night, she has to wake up early the next day to go to work, and she's tired as hell. Besides, she's happy because even if just in her dream, she got to visit her best friend once more to bid the proper farewell they never got to say to each other.

The night goes on and she suddenly feels like she's being removed from something. It's a weird feeling and it gets even weirder when she feels extremely light, almost as if she's floating in the air. For a long moment, all she can see is white and it's like she's experiencing nothing at all, then slowly and suddenly, her vision blurrily begins to kick in. The moment is interrupted by loud sirens and a lot of chaos around her.

"What the hell…?" she mutters to herself in utter confusion. She doesn't understand what's going on, and the only thing she knows is that she's standing in her kitchen. She begins to blink a few times only to find her house in heavy flames, which adds up to half of the chaos. The other half of the chaos is composed by the firefighters outside, trying to make their way inside the house.

Through the fire, she can catch a glimpse of a silhouette and her heart instantly skips a beat. Her mind is racing with thoughts but she's telling herself that it isn't what she thinks it is. Then what the hell is it? she mentally snaps at herself, but almost immediately pushes the thought away. She soon sees the firefighters pull out the figure of a person outside to "safety." She follows them, ignoring the fact that the flames aren't causing her any harm.

And then she sees it. It's her; it's herself, her body, barely recognizable, practically burned to death – but she knows it's her.

She gasps loudly and tears spring to her eyes. "Oh, my God!" she cries as she brings a shaky hand to cover her mouth. Curious, nosy and worried neighbors are watching in broad daylight as she's being pulled into an ambulance and rushed to the nearest hospital. Deep down, she knows it's no use because she's gone. The ambulance is gone in a matter of seconds and all she can do is watch. Everything around her begins to quiet down as she closes her eyes and feels her knees give in underneath her and then fall to the ground.

It's not long before Maura feels a hand touch her shoulder. She opens them and she's somewhere different now. She barely notices where she is at first because when she gets up and turns around, she sees the face of her best friend. "Jane?" she says cautiously.

Jane smiles at her.

"Is it really you?"

The detective rolls her brown eyes. "Did you, like, bump your head really hard or something that caused you to have a memory loss and you have to ask if it's me when you see me?" she says sarcastically. "Do you even recognize me at all?"

Maura isn't smiling back. "Yeah, but… Didn't I already… I mean, didn't you… I-I'm confused."

"Really? I would have never guessed. Do I get a reward now or something?" she retorts. "Come on, aren't you happy to see me?"

"I had a dream that I saw you yesterday," Maura answers as her brain is trying to put the pieces together. She feels she's failing miserably at it.

"So I guess that's a no?" Jane retorts.

"No, I mean, of course I'm happy to see you again, it's just that…" She's becoming impatient now and really wants to know what's going on. "Jane, what the hell is happening here? Why are you here? Why am I here? Where the hell are we? And why did I just see myself being lifted into an ambulance?"

Jane's face contorts to that of pity and she begins to lead Maura away to a gazebo. Once they're in there, they're able to see what's going on at the hospital where Maura's body had been taken to. It's like watching a movie without a screen, as it's all happening before them. Maura's being pronounced dead by fourth-degree burns all over her body. In that moment, she feels every organ in her body freeze. Jane wants to break the ice, but does so in a way that doesn't help.

"You're dead, Maura," she says. "You died in the fire with fourth-degree burns all over your body. I'm sorry."

Maura turns to face her. "I'm… dead?" she repeats, almost as if she's skeptical about it. She can't say that she is or isn't – it just hasn't sunk in yet.

"I'm sorry, Maur," Jane says sympathetically. "You left the candle burning all night and you fell asleep and, well, yeah… You kind of know where that led to."

Maura can't help herself as the realization gradually begins to sink in and she begins to sob. Jane hugs her at that moment and lets her cry for as long she needs to, but her mind is nagging her with something else she's leaving out and not telling her friend. Seeing her hurt like this makes her think twice about what she wants to say, but she knows that eventually she needs to know the truth. She can't wait forever and decides to tell her now. "Maura, there's something else I need to tell you."

Maura pulls away and says, "It doesn't make sense, Jane, I would have woken up, wouldn't I? I-I mean…" She cuts herself off. She just doesn't understand it. She wipes her nose with her hand and says, "Sorry. You were saying."

"First, you have to promise me you're not going to get mad at me."

"That depends," Maura says suspiciously. "What is it?"

"You have to promise me," Jane pushes.

"Jane, what else could go wrong? We're dead," her voice breaks off a little at that part.

Jane takes a deep breath. "Half of the reason you're here is because of me," she says, waiting for the doctor to scream at her or something like that. Maura is confused but she's not saying anything so she decides to continue. It would get worse from there on. "I mean, you fell asleep with a candle burning unattended… but if it hadn't been for me, that fire wouldn't have been as bad as it was and… you might have actually survived."

Maura opens her mouth in shock as if to say something – a protest maybe – but words fail her at that moment. She's not sure she's hearing right; hell, she's not sure she understands anything anymore. Her throat can't carry out any words, so for now, she's just staring with her mouth open.

"What I'm saying is… I caused the fire to be a lot worse and I caused you to sleep through it all. I mean, I'm dead, yeah, I've been dead, but… apparently, I can make some things happen too," Jane finishes.

Maura closes her mouth and gives her brain some time to think. She appears calm, yet shocked and Jane can't read her at all. She waits for the recently-deceased doctor to say something, anything, until she finally does. She's not expecting what happens next to happen, though.

In a sudden rage, Maura punches Jane hard in the shoulder and sobbing, yells at her, "So you killed me, basically!"

Jane's hand quickly flies over her shoulder as she feels it throbbing in pain. She can't say she was expecting her friend to punch her. "Maura, I didn't kill you. I didn't make the fire happen. I just made it worse and … caused you to sleep through the entire thing. The fire killed you, not me."

Maura can hardly believe what she's hearing. "I can't believe you, Jane! I'm dead because of you! What the hell is freaking wrong with you?" She proceeds to break into more body-wracking sobs and she buries her face in her hands. Jane feels bad for her but she can't say she completely regrets what she did.

"Come on, Maura, don't say that…" she says, now practically unsure of what to say to make her feel better, if that's even possible. "There's a perfectly good reason for this."

"A good reason?" Maura yells as she sharply snaps her head up and gets in Jane Rizzoli's face. "A good reason? You're telling me there's a perfectly good reason for you causing my death? Really, Jane?" She places her hands on Jane's chest and shoves her hard. "There's a good reason?" Another shove. "I'd love to know what it is, because I–" she gave her a third shove now, "I'd love to know what it is!"

Jane has to hold Maura's hands tightly now. Even in death, she can feel the pain from those shoves as though she were alive again. "Maura, Maura, please! I'm sorry, okay? I get lonely up here and thought I could use some company!"

"Company my ass!" Maura snaps angrily. "I thought you said I could put the memory of you to rest! I thought you wanted me to live life and be happy! You never meant it, did you? You had this planned, didn't you?"

"Nobody plans a fire, dimwit," Jane snaps back at her sarcastically. "And of course I meant everything I said, Maur. But when you fell asleep, I couldn't help myself and just took advantage. I'm sorry you're upset."

In another sudden rage, Maura begins to punch Jane again in the shoulder with all her strength, for a dead person, but in exhaustion, she stops and buries her face into Jane's shoulder, which is still pounding from the pain, bursting into another set of sobs. Jane wraps her arms around her friend and repeatedly apologizes to her. "I'm sorry, I'm stupid, I know."

It's clear to the doctor now that she's dead and she'll never be able to go back. Jane's been dead for three months and it's not like she could go back either. Everyone dies eventually and even if Jane had something to do with it, maybe it was meant to happen anyway. She can see that her friend is almost at the verge of crying, if she somehow secretly hadn't already been, and feels bad for her, even if she had admitted that she had much to do with her death. But, she tells herself, she did say that she couldn't wait to be at peace with her some day.

She recalls the day that she was at the cemetery and before she left, she'd said, "I can't wait to be at peace with you some day."

Maybe it was meant to be now.

She pulls away from Jane and wiping her tears away, says, "Jane, I'm sorry. I-I was just… shocked."

"No, Maura, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did," Jane says. "I was so selfish, only thinking of myself and how I was so lonely for three months… I never should have done it. It's okay if you hate me, I guess."

"I'm not used to being … dead."

"You'll get used to it," she says, causing the blonde to giggle through her tears.

"I'm sorry for hitting you," Maura says. "We all die at some point in our lives. I'll just have to live with the fact that I'm gone."

"You're with me now forever," Jane says. "I'll make it fun, though. I promise."

Maura scrunches up her face. "We're dead, Jane." The words sound so bitter coming out of her mouth. She still has to get used to it. "How much fun can it be?"

A small smile begins to work its way into Jane's face and her brown watery eyes glimmer. "Obviously, you don't know me that well, Doctor Isles."

A/N: Ahh, so do you guys hate me yet? I hope not ;(
Anyways, if anyone's upset at the way the story unexpectedly ended, I apologize. You still get a cookie. Actually, you get a lot of cookies! Lol.
So I've been thinking about writing a sequel to this story, which will be about Jane and Maura in the afterlife (where they are now) and so forth… but I don't know. What do you guys think? I won't know unless you review! So review and give me ideas and let me know if you think I should write a sequel or not! :D