Title: Iterum Incipere – Part One

Author: Emily Carter (/tucker529)

Beta: Flynn

Words: 1,811

Time-line: Fourth season; alternate universe from then on out

Pairing: Tristan Dugray/Rory Gilmore

A/N: Iterum Incipereis Latin for New Beginning, signifying the fact that in order for Rory and Tristan to really start anew, that they'll need a brand new beginning, something to start fresh on; away from Chilton, Hartford, and the friends that they both used to have. Rory is slowly changing, and we saw that in season three, but she and her mother went to Europe for the summer, effectively allowing Rory to leave Jess in the dust and have Dean move on and eventually end up getting married.

In my mind, what I saw between Tristan and Rory, was stronger than what she had with Dean, Jess, or Logan, and it wouldn't have just been purely physical like I partially feel it was when it came to Logan. I desperately wanted Tristan to make another appearance in the series so we would know what he was like now, after he finished military school and graduated; but alas, the writers didn't think that it was something that could happen; luckily, we authors have much to work with when it comes to Tristan, a clean slate with a background that has some major appeal to any woman.

This story is going to be about the starting of a new life for Rory and learning to incorporate this new man that has appeared in her life and has begun to enchant her like he managed to while they were in high school, but in a completely different way. The Tristan that I am creating has learned things that no teenager should have had to learn, experienced abandonment like he shouldn't have dealt with since he does have parents; but it has made him realize his mistakes and grow up an extraordinary amount.

I have been leery of doing a Rory/Tristan story for many years, even just for my own enjoyment and not posting it just because of the ramifications that it could cause with myself. But, after becoming more sure of myself and who I am, along with a little help from the amazing author Michaelover101 I've finally caved in and decided to try my hand on the two characters.

This is dedicated to Jordan and Justin, after many hours of talking to the two of you, you are the examples that I am using for Tristan; kind, caring, extraordinarily annoying, and constantly stepping over the line knowingly. Although you will likely never read this (they aren't Gilmore Girls fans), take some comfort in the fact that I care about both of you, as aggravating as you two can be.

Rory closed her eyes and sighed, struggling to remember a time where she wasn't involved in the town of Star's Hollow and all of the crazy events that Taylor had thought up. She struggled for a moment before deciding to give up and just accept the fact that she would always be under Taylor's wing like the rest of the town always would be under his control when it came to town matters, except for a few select times.

Smiling, for a moment she thought about her graduation and whom she had thought that she saw in the crowd for a moment while she was giving her valedictorian speech.

"Headmaster Charleston, faculty members, fellow students, family and friends, welcome. We never thought this day would come. We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, minutes and seconds and now that it's here, I'm sorry it is; because it means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who've been my mentors, so many people who've shaped my life, and my fellow students lives' impermeably and forever." Rory paused for a moment, before looking out towards her mother, and continuing.

"I live in two worlds. One is a world of books. I've been a resident of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina and strolled down Swann's way. It's a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior. My second one is populated with characters slightly less eccentric, but supremely real, made of flesh and bone, full of love, who are my ultimate inspiration for everything. Richard and Emily Gilmore are kind, decent, unfailingly generous people. They are my twin pillars, without whom I could not stand. I am proud to be their grandchild. But my ultimate inspiration comes from my best friend, the dazzling woman from whom I received my name and my life's blood, Lorelai Gilmore," Rory focused her eyes in on her grandparents and mother for a moment before she continued.

"My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years, I don't know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her." Rory paused for a moment, trying to grasp at her last bit of sanity and control to finish her speech. Glancing over the crowd to gage their reactions compared to her family and friends, in her classmates there was admiration and slight annoyance that the ceremony wasn't going faster, and in the rest of the crowd, the emotions on their faces ranged around everything. Her voice caught in her throat when she saw a blonde head of hair that looked almost exactly like Tristan DuGray's always had. She allowed her gaze to scan the face and was stunned when the realization hit her that it was likely the young man that she had proclaimed to hate.

Closing her eyes quickly, she refocused on finishing her speech and continued.

After Taylor had sprung on her that she was the "Ice Cream Queen", and then she found out that she was about to be late for arriving at Yale, she'd forgotten about the possibility that Tristan had come to Chilton's graduation. And now she was leaving for Yale in a matter of hours, far away from anything that could remind her of Tristan.

She smiled at her mother's antics as she sat at Luke's. She quietly explained to Luke that her mother had been unable to get the truck out of reverse, so she had to back it all the way to the diner. As she watched Luke run out to her mother, she told Caesar her order quickly and asked for it to go, nodding at him when he congratulated her on the whole Yale thing.

Rory paused for a moment, looking around the diner and out the windows, quietly settling in to observe the town when there was a large crash in the kitchen and she jumped. "It's okay, everything's okay. No telling Luke," Caesar's voice suddenly came out of the kitchen, panicked and stressed, causing Rory's to giggle and throw a glance back in the direction of his voice. She watched as her mother complained and Luke "magically" fixed the truck and made it start to go forward.

She quickly closed her eyes, attempting to force the memory to stick into her mind for her to bring up later that night when the homesickness set in once the nervousness wore off. As she closed her eyes, a flash of a memory went through her mind so quickly she couldn't quite identify what it was. Before she had a chance to figure out what it was, she heard the door clatter open and a little bell ring and her mother and Luke's voices float into the diner, causing her to smile and push the thoughts out of her mind.

Rory sat on her bed the next day, glancing around the room that now had her and Paris' belongings and "decorative touches" on every inch. Sighing, she let herself fall against her bed, feeling her form sink into it before closing her eyes and letting her mind wander to the memory that had flashed into her mind for a moment while she was at Luke's.

"I knew he was going to do this, but no one wanted to listen to me. It was all 'Let's make Tristan Romeo, he's hot.'" Paris began to rant to Rory, frustrated that Tristan had yet to show up to get ready for the play.

Rory sighed, trying to calm Paris down for a moment, "What about Brad?" she said tentatively.

"Brad transferred schools," she said, as though everyone had the inside connections that she'd managed to attain in her years at Chilton. Paris spotted Tristan walking up towards them and quickly pounced on him. "Where have you been? You have to get dressed, we're on in ten minutes," she said, flying her arms around, pointing in the direction of where their costumes were stored.

"Can't," he said simply.

"What?"

"Actually, my dad had me pulled out of school. He…" Paris suddenly stormed away, cutting Tristan off, "And is she unhappy."

"What do you mean he had you pulled out of school? What happened?" she said quickly, trying to make an attempt to show him that she cared about him and what happened to him.

"Nothing. Just ticked the old man off, that's all," Tristan said, trying to appease Rory, but failing as she started a new round of guilting him into telling her.

"By doing what? Tristan come on, tell me," she coaxed lightly.

"I got into some trouble," he said, still unwilling to tell her what he'd done, fearing that he'd ruin what little progress that they'd made over the past months.

"Trouble involving…?" she pried more.

"Involving Duncan and Bowman, and Bowman's dad's safe."

"Oh no."

"I mean, Bowman had a key. It was supposed to be no big deal. And the crazy silent alarm kicked in."

"You broke into Bowman's dad's safe?" Rory said, disbelievingly.

"Yes."

"Stupid."

"Yes."

"Well, okay, you can apologize and you can put back the money and you can explain that, I don't know, you were going through something," she said, trying to find something that would keep him around and in her life.

"I was, I was going through his safe," Tristan said, the sound in his voice deflating.

"Why would you do this?"

"I don't know. I guess that's something I can ponder at military school," he said, giving in and letting his last shred of self-respect fall away.

"Military school?" she said, stunned that his parents were taking it that far and making him leave the state, let alone Hartford.

"The police are letting our parents handle it, and in my case that means military school in North Carolina," he said, a sad tone taking over every other emotion.

"I don't know what to say."

"Well, I imagine you're overwhelmed with the relief in knowing that soon I will be gone."

"I'm so sorry," she said, trying to convince him that she never really wanted him to leave, let alone be completely out of her life.

"Well, I'm a big boy. I can handle it," Tristan said, snagging the last shred of dignity that could be grabbed.

"There's nothing you can…"

"Tristan, come on," Tristan's dad suddenly yelled down the hall.

"I gotta go. So, I might kiss you goodbye but, uh, your boyfriend's watching. Take care of yourself, Mary," he said before turning away, giving her one last look that left her speechless as Paris ran towards her.

Rory closed her eyes, and let a tear run down her face for a moment before quickly wiping it away, thinking about what would have happened if Dean wasn't stand there, watching her all the time. She knew where it would have led, especially if she let it lead to where she had secretly wanted it to for quite a while at that point. Squeezing her eyes shut, Rory pleaded with her mind to let Tristan go. She hadn't thought of him while she was in Europe, and she had already her bad boy, the last thing that she needed was to have another huge mistake like Jess turned out to be.

Sighing, she decided against mentioning Tristan to Paris. After all, she was happy with Jamie, and she didn't want to ruin their happiness by bringing up an old long-time crush of Paris's just because Rory was having confusing thoughts about him once again. She had to admit though, she and Tristan had undeniable chemistry, that was probably what Dean had been threatened by the whole time that they went out and Tristan and Jess were around; he considered them competition.

Letting her eyes slowly open, she stared at her new ceiling, wondering whether or not she would have been so infatuated with Jess if Tristan had stayed around. If her infatuation would have been put onto Tristan like it had… no, she hadn't even had any feeling for Tristan other than concern and friendship. Just like that kiss had meant nothing to either of them, just a little post-break-up confusion that had thrown both of them for a loop.

It really had meant nothing. That spark that had shocked her and made her realize that she was stupid for dating Dean, that was nothing, nothing at all.

A/N: Okay, I have the second chapter started, and am even currently typing it, but hopefully I'm going to be able to get it out next week, but I have finals, so it shouldn't be any later than the 18th, even if I end up proofing it myself. I really hope that you guys like this, and review. :-)