The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

18.

After following the paths down to their destination, they arrived at the Notre-Dame. They stood back from the small gathering of people near the front and admired the building in all its glorious beauty. They arrived on the west façade, where the two towers stood. Maura gasped audibly as her eyes fell upon all the intricate details in the building. From the carvings of the Last Judgement on the central portal, to the rose window that was front and centre - everything was truly mesmerising. 
"Wow, this is... breath-taking." Maura mumbled under her breath. 
"Yeah, it really is." Jane laughed slightly, nudging into Maura, her arm still linked through hers. "Do you want to get a little closer?" 
"Of course." Maura quickly pulled her camera from her bag and snapped a few photos of the building on the west side and then moved closer with Jane. 

Being that much closer helped Maura to really admire all the beautiful details. They made their way to the left portal first, their heads moving from left-to-right as they took in the story carved on the portal. 
"What does this all mean?" Jane asked, raising a finger to point at the carvings on the stone. 
"Well, this portal represents the Virgin Mary, an astrological calendar, and a coronation sight. The central portal represents the Last Judgment in the form of a  vertical triptych, and the right portal is Saint-Anne. It's the oldest and longest surviving portal of the three of them." Maura began reeling off facts about the Notre-Dame portals. Knowing things like this was what made Maura who she was. She was the one to turn to if you needed to know something and on the lead up to her journey to Paris, she had made it her personal mission to find out as much as she could about the landmarks and popular tourist spots. At the time, it was for her own personal gain but now she had Jane with her. She wanted to impress Jane. 

Maura looked over to Jane, who was snapping photos from various angles of the Notre-Dame portals.
"Wow, that's really interesting actually." Jane said, finally freeing her arm from Maura's as she took the photos.
"You think so?" Maura's face lit up, hearing that the detective was interested in learning about the things that Maura was intrigued by. 
"Yeah!" Jane added, a small laugh sounding from her lips. "So, who are those men above the portals?" Jane pointed to a row of Kings that surrounded the entire front of the Notre-Dame's west façade.
"Oh, they're the 28 Kings of Israel. Although they had to duplicate them as they were beheaded during the revolution."
"They should have left them beheaded!" Jane joked, causing a few heads to turn and give her the most disgusted look she had seen. Instantly, she felt a heat rise to her cheeks as she blushed red. She linked her arm back through Maura's and swiftly moved along to the central arch, then to the right arch so they could both snap photos of all the details. 

"Oh, did you see the rose window?" Maura exclaimed, trying to turn Jane's attention away from her little comment. Maura had laughed, finding Jane's humour to be rather amusing, but not everyone got her sense of humour. Maura did and she took nothing to heart. It was just who Jane was, but perhaps this wasn't the time or place.
"No?" Jane raised a brow, tilting her head a little to the left. 
"Come on, you must see it!" Maura let go of Jane's arm and instead, she took her by the hand and jogged the few steps back so that they could take it in properly. Once they were far enough away, she pointed with her free hand. "There! It holds the record as the biggest rose window, ten meters in diameter or 32.8 feet." Maura even had the conversions down. She loved learning new things.
"WOAH! That's... big!" Jane laughed, snapping a few photos of the rose window.
"You think that's big? Do you know how tall the towers either side are?" Maura asked, pointing to each of the two towers in turn.
"No?"
"They're 68 meters tall, which is close to 223 feet."
"HOLY CRAP!" Jane gasped, her jaw dropping and tone raising to a shout which caused the entire crowd to turn her way. Jane smiled rather awkwardly. Through gritted teeth and a closed jaw, she lowered her voice to a raspy whisper. "Why do these people keep looking at me like I'm from another planet?" 
Maura couldn't help but to laugh at the detective. She squeezed her hand, shaking her head. "Don't worry about them." 
"But they're staring."
"So? Let them." Maura was never usually this care-free and the one thing she had been worrying about was Jane embarrassing her, but right now, it was the last thing on her mind. She was in Paris - the most romantic place on earth - and she was sharing this with her best friend. Wait, best friend or crush? Both? What exactly were they? 

"Aren't you embarrassed?" Jane asked in her normal tone, standing in front of Maura, her hand still laced through the honey blonde's.
"No... Not at all." Maura said, her face flushing red as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, her eyes trailing to the ground. 
"Hmm." Jane's lips curved into a smirk as she brought a hand up to below Maura's chin, tilting her head up to make her meet her eyes once more. "Then let's go inside." Jane held Maura there for a second before finally pulling away and leading Maura inside the Notre-Dame.

As they walked in, Maura noted that their hands were still connected with one another. The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. Did this mean Jane felt the same way? And what about what happened out there? What did that mean? Maura had so many questions and none of which she had the answers to. That drove her crazy - not knowing the answers to her own questions. She had never felt this way about anyone before, especially not a woman, so she was very confused about it all right now. She would usually turn to Jane for advice, but seeing as Jane was the woman she thought she loved, that wouldn't be a wise move... 

Inside the Notre-Dame, it was just as beautiful as the outside. The stained glass in the rose window gave the most colourful reflections the pair of tourists had ever seen before. The pillars inside went right up to the ceiling. The architecture was stunning and Maura and Jane stayed inside for quite some time, chatting quietly as they made their way through, taking pictures of the many gorgeous sights. 

This trip had only just started and yet somehow, it was perfect. Maura couldn't quite believe just how perfect this all was. Being here with Jane meant so much to her, and as they finished up with the Notre-Dame and exited the building, she sighed happily. 
"You okay?" Jane asked.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm great." She chuckled lowly, grabbing a bottle of water from her bag and handing it to Jane. She grabbed one for herself, too, and they both drank a little before continuing on their walk. 
"Should we head back to the hotel now?" Maura asked, knowing that Jane wanted to go swimming before the pool closed tonight.
"Yeah, sure." Jane nodded her head and then linked her arm back through Maura's. No more holding hands, Maura thought... She was slightly disappointed, but she simply smiled and said nothing as they made their way back to the hotel.