Day 203.

She slowly opened her eyes, her limp body resting on the passenger seat of the Prince. She weakly lifted her hand so that her fingers were lightly pressed against the cold glass of the car window, as the moving landscapes quickly shifted before her eyes. Her lips were chapped, and quivering, as she tried to speak. She felt as if she was running on empty, her head dizzy and throbbing as she struggled to sort out where she was. Finally she found it in herself to turn her head to the driver's seat, her eyelids heavy and swollen.

"Derek…"

Still driving, he promptly looked over at her, one of his hands letting go of the steering wheel to gently touch her forehead. "It's ok baby. Don't worry." He smiled, his eyes fixing back on the road.

"Mom…"

"She's been with you until we left the hospital. You were sleeping, so maybe you didn't feel her kissing your forehead." He sniffled, letting out a sigh. "The whole family has been right next to you the whole night."

She could sense she was already beginning to drift back to the darkness of her restless sleep. "Where..." she inhaled deeply, striving to stay awake, not wanting his handsome face to disappear once again from before her eyes. "Are we… goi.."

"Sh… baby, it's ok. Save your energies for later. It's a surprise. You know how I used to love making you surprises, right?"

The last thing she saw before everything went black again was the light of dawn, beaming through the car window and making the tears on his cheeks sparkle like pearls.

Moment 1.

"Casey! Baby, please, come on wake up!"

She heard his car door being slammed hard as he rushed to her side to help her out of the vehicle. Derek carefully picked her up in his arms and walked her a few steps, before letting the two of them both sit back on the grass, Casey's tiny form resting on his legs as he pulled a warm blanket over her shoulders.

"Baby, please, can you open your eyes for me?" He spoke quietly, his voice calm and tender. He finally realized he was really on top of the world. He had anything he'd ever needed or wished for right there, and at that very moment, he simply knew time was just not on that list. The love of his life was burying her beautiful face in his chest and a wonderful dawn was breaking right in front of him; he could feel light washing over them and the smell of dew on the soft grass beneath him. He simply had everything. For the very first time in months, he was finally not scared or tired anymore, because he finally understood how she had been right all along when she would say moments could make a day. And moment like that one could've meant a lifetime for him.

"Baby, please. I know you're tired, but I really want you to see this. Open your eyes, Case." He brought her closer, his fingers entangling into her short hair as he kissed her temple, her skin burning against his lips. "I love you, Casey. Please…"

Her breathing was shallow, almost wheezy, like ocean waves washing up on the shores miles away. She could feel his familiar scent surrounding her as she finally managed to open her beautiful blue eyes. She struggled as she tried to find it in herself to slowly turn her head around to have a look at her surroundings. Tears welled up in her eyes at the marvelous sight in front of her.

"Derek… It's…" she blinked several times as she strived to keep her eyes wide open. "Beautiful… where…"

"I knew you would've loved it, baby." He smiled happily as he kissed her nape. "It's the Greenbelt, Case. I know it's not the Rocky Mountains or the Cimarron, but I couldn't drive all the way to there. So this is still one of the very few places left in Ontario where mustangs run free, though." He stifled a little laugh as he saw how astonished she looked.

"It's… amazing. Der…"

Her gazed wandered over the herd of wild horses running across the meadow only a few feet away from them. A mustang that seemed to be the leader was galloping faster than the others, his elongated legs quickly prancing through the expanse of grass that was flecked with bright yellow dandelions and lilac foxgloves. Poking through the very few white clouds that were wandering across the dawning sky, rays of the rising sun reflected on a pond nearby, making the surface of the water sparkle as the horses ran through the blue lagoon. Casey could see they were heading towards the beech tree woods on the slopes of the mountains that were far away in the distance.

"Derek…" she looked up to him, her feeble voice coming in raspy whispers. "It's the most… beautiful… moment" her chest was quickly rising and falling while choppy breaths escaped her pale lips. "you're… my… Spirit."

"I'm just happy, Case. I really am. I'm happy to be here with you." He kissed her ever so gently, their lips touched for just a second but Derek could've sworn he'd felt as if a whole eternity had passed by in the meanwhile.

"I know… the road… is long… but where… you are…is home…"

He smiled widely as he heard her breathe out the familiar lyrics against his chest, eyes locked with his. He kept stroking her hair as he quietly hummed the song too. "Wherever you stay, I'll find a way…"

She slowly closed her eyes as she kept whispering the words "I'll run… like… a rivr… I'll… foll.. th.. sun."

"I'll fly like an eagle, yes you are the one… I can't stand the distance, I can' t dream alone… It's to you, I will always…"

"Re… turn…"

"Now I know, it's true, my every road leads to you, and in the hour…" he sighed, a sob softly escaping his lips as he held her closer. "Case…"

He was silent for a moment as he kept listening to her shallow breathing, looking up to the rising sun. "Case… Case, please, sing with me. Please, Case."

A small eternity.

"Do you really expect me to pretend to not notice the fact that you just got so fat you can't even walk?"

"Derek!" she shouted as she made her way towards him across the meadow "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant!"

"Still looks huge to me!" he grinned as he helped her up the small hill they were climbing. "And I also can't believe that Ricky dude let you travel all the way to the Rocky Mountains with none other than my mindless self!"

"Der, he's my husband, not my keeper" Lizzie let out a small laugh. "And I'm perfectly fine, don't worry, I don't intend to give birth here in the middle of nowhere."

A brunette was hurriedly walking down the hall upstairs as she was getting herself ready for the ceremony, when she heard silent sobs coming from inside the room opposite to Derek's old one. She slowly turned the doorknob and walked in, as an old, familiar scent embraced her. There, leaning against the patchwork headboard of the bed was a young woman in her bride dress, tears straining her cheeks. "Aw, Lizzie… honey…"

She looked up to her sister from where she was sitting, a smile creeping up across her face, although her makeup was still smeared. "I know, I know, I'm a mess, aren't I? I just... oh well, I guess everybody cries on their wedding day. Hey, you're gonna be a stunning maid of honour…"

"Hey, come on, now, sis. Let's not make our men wait too long."

He smiled at her as she held his arm for support. "Man! Look! Now I know why they call it 'the journey of a lifetime'."

She slowly nodded, unable to fully take in all the beauty right in front of her once they had got to the top of the cliff. The gentle slope was covered with little red monkey flowers and delicate white violets and a few feet away, a fir tree almost covered the view of a crystal blue glacial lake, that was nestling into the lap of snow- capped, wooded mountains.

The two of them both sat on the grass under the azure sky.

"Woah, Der. You're right, I am getting fat." Lizzie sighed as she struggled to cross her legs.

"Nah, you're not. I mean, it's normal. Plus, honestly who cares about your body fat now! We didn't come all the way to the Rockies to hear you complain about your personal body issues!"

She let out another sigh, giving him a quick smile. "Summer is about to end, isn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, starting to chew nonchalantly on a peppermint stalk. "Yeah. Fall's gonna be here soon."

"Hey Case…"

He looked at her. She was sitting on the couch, her hands on her lap, deeply staring at him with a small smile on her face. "Yeah, before you ask me… today was real shit. I realized fall is coming, you know, as I was walking home tons of leaves from the trees kept falling on me. And plus it darn cold too." He took his coat off and left it on the small table in the foyer, as he finally walked over to the living room, sitting in front of her on his armchair. He looked for a moment into her bright blue eyes as a smile crept up across his face. "I don't think I can hold on the whole winter feeling like this, Case."

"You know, now that I see you in daylight… this beard kind of looks good on you…"

"Really?" Derek sat back, supporting his weight on his elbows. "I was about to say the same thing about yours!"

"Derek!"

"Kidding…" he chuckled as he moved his gaze back onto the lake again. "Anyways, yeah, I hope it does, although i only sport it 'cause I'm too lazy to shave. Everybody at work says I look older than I already am with this much of a stubble."

Lizzie laid on the grass, smiling at the sun. "You're not already old, Derek."

"Don't expect me to be telling you the same when you'll be 32 yourself!"

She kept her eyes closed as she reached out to smack his arm. "You're such a fool. Anyways, you know… everybody's so happy to see how great you've been doing as far as work goes. I think that ever since you won that award…"

He let himself collapse on the arm chair, as he saw a pair of familiar blue eyes finally greeting him home.

"Ah, babe, I'm glad you didn't come, you wouldn't have liked the ceremony anyway." He looked down to the award plaque in his hands. He looked up, feeling his heart melting at the sight of the most beautiful smile she was giving him. "Thanks, Case. Anyways, I don't know if it showed on tv, but best pediatric oncologist of Ontario here looked extremely dumb wearing this stupid tux. I hate having to look even better than I already do naturally…" he chuckled as he ruffled his own hair with his hand. "You know, they think I care about this stupid award. Everybody was so excited… duh, Casey. Doctor Welsh would've been proud of me… we should definitely go pay that guy a visit."

She kept staring at him, not a single word escaping her lips as it was obvious he just wanted to let go of all his stress and she seemed to be waiting for him to go on. "When we were 21, if anyone had told me I was to become a doctor, I would've thought they were nuts. Funny, uh? I think I'm probably one of the very few people on this earth to be madly in love with their profession. I wish everybody knew me like you do, baby. They think I'm the most kind hearted human being in the world for doing what I do, but I think we both know that I'm kind of helplessly selfish when it comes to the actual truth about it. I love my job, yes, that's true, but just because it makes me feel… at peace with myself, I suppose. Seeing how everybody hurts in their own personal way… and you can help them… and so they love you for that… I guess it just makes me feel less lonely, Case."

She had her hands on her lap, her eyes still locked with his as her lips were curled into a soft smile.

"By the way, baby, you look gorgeous with that purple shirt."

"Everybody's just so proud of you."

"I only wish someone was, too. You know."

"She is, Derek. Probably more than anyone else."

He let out a small laugh, lightly pulling at the tuft of hair growing on his face. He stopped chewing at the peppermint leaf and brought his gaze back onto the mountains. "Hey, that's an eagle!"

It was late in the afternoon and everybody had already gone home, whereas the family had stayed behind, since Derek refused to leave her yet. He was standing there, his arms falling limp at the sides of her body as he kept looking down to where she was.

A cold wind was blowing, and George was beginning to wondering how to get his son to finally go home with the rest of them.

"Smerek, look!" Marti pointed her finger at the sky "An eagle!"

He tiredly looked up to the clouds. "That's not an eagle. I think it's just a hawk."

"But… Casey said she was going to be your eagle…"

"Marti, come on, come here" George scolded her as he took a grip of her shoulders.

"It's a girl."

"What?" he shoot his stepsister a glare, looking puzzled.

"My baby. It's a girl. I guess we all know what her name is gonna be."

Derek smiled widely, his face softening at the sight of Lizzie's protruding belly.

"I'm due in Novemeber… I really wanted it to be December, though."

"Liz, come on, you know it doesn't really matter…"

"Derek, if you think about it, even us coming all the way to here now doesn't really make sense either, but still.."

"I see your point." He handed her a small orange foxglove before lying back onto the ground again, the wet grass tingling his nape as he could still smell the scent of dew. "Sometimes I think that nothing of what I've done in the past 10 years makes sense, you know. Yeah, I do good at work, I try to help Sam to finally find Ralph a woman but then… in the end I still come home to no one every day, and all the numbness I still feel… it scares me."

Lizzie let out a shaky breath, her fingers fidgeting with the delicate flower in her hands. "Sometimes I think I'm losing it too. I keep talking to her. Like, when I'm in the car, or something. I tell her about my day, or what I'm worried about at the moment… you know, just random stuff I can pretty much imagine what she would say about. In my thoughts, she's jokingly jealous for the fact that Marti got to be the maid of honour at my wedding instead of her." She sniffled as she stifled a small laugh, trying to hold back the tears.

"I talk to her too, Liz. All the time. Everyday when I get home I just sit on my armchair and look at that picture of her I have on the table in the living room…"

"The one where she's sitting on the couch wearing a purple shirt?"

"Yeah, that one. I just look at it and talk to her. All the time. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I'm just happy to see her face. Sometimes I just think she's staring at me and I just sit there and stare back for hours."

"Aw, Der…"

"Sometimes I just wish I knew where she is. If she's still trying to find a way to make it back like she said she would've. If she misses me…"

"Derek" Lizzie gently leaned over to cup his face with her hand. "She loved you so much…"

"And now I'm here, we're here but it was supposed to be different. I mean, she loved the Rockies. And the Grand Lake. And I was supposed to take her here one day."

"Derek, you took her to the Greenbelt. And I don't think she minded the difference as long as she was with you."

Derek closed his eyes as he could feel the sunlight washing over him and a soft breeze blowing across his face.

"Here, Der." He opened his eyelids to see she had placed a small silver chain on his chest. "Hey, that's the one Casey…"

"Yeah, the necklace you got her before you left for Spain. She gave it to me before she first got in remission, saying it was a symbol of hope. I had just got together with Ricky so I guess it did work afterall. He and little Casey will be my hopes from now on. So I'm giving it back to you. You were her hope, Derek. She told me. You were her only reason to always keep fighting."

"Liz, I…"

"Let her still be your hope, Derek. She'll inspire you everyday. You know, the day of my wedding I was thinking I couldn't be going to get married without my big sis there with me. But then I thought just how much strong Casey had been throughout all she went through and… I guess I just found it in myself to stop crying and get out of her old room. Although Marti walking in on me in tears kind of helped too."

They let out a small laugh as Derek looked at the pendant of the necklace in his hands. His sun.

Later that day, after they decided to finally go back to the small town they were staying in, Derek was casually going through the radio stations in his car.

"Country music, Derek? Really?"

"Hey come on, I work with kids, the only music I listen to all the time is basically nursery rhymes! Let me have my say on this…"

"And now, a song all you guys will surely know already… I will always return by Bryan Adams!"

The two of them both exchanged looks as Derek kept driving.

"I hear the wind call your name

The sound that leads me home again

It sparks up the fire, a flame that still burns

It's to you I will always return…

I still feel your breath on my skin

I hear you voice deep within

The sound of my lover, a feeling so strong

It's to you, I will always belong…"

"I never knew there was also this version to the song…"

"Now I know it's true

My every road leads to you

And in the hour of darkness darlin'

Your light gets me through

Wanna swim in your river - be warmed by your sun

Bathe in your waters - cos you are the one

I can't stand the distance - I can't dream alone

I can't wait to see you - Ya I'm on my way home

You run like the river - you shine like the sun

you fly like an eagle, You are the one

I've seen every sunset

And with all that I've learned

Oh, it's to you I will always, always return!"

Derek smiled, looking at the bright blue sky above him through his car window. "Thanks for coming back, Case."

A.N.= alright guys! Aw I can't believe this is the end at last!

Sorry I had Casey die at the end… but I guess it was more likely to happen and plus I think it was more appropriate according to the ultimate message of the story.

Well, guys, writing this has been one my biggest challenges, my first fanfiction in an other language from Italian and let me tell u, this story wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your amazing support. I loved all of your reviews and thank you so much for following my story….

Thank you for this beautiful journey together

Daniela.