A/N: I'm posting the first chapter of this story today in honor of the closing of Zac's wonderful Broadway play She Loves Me.

Walking into the little café an elderly gentleman was suddenly hit with an onslaught of images rapidly flickering across his mind. When the rapid succession of images finally ceased the elderly man collapsed to the floor, causing a flood of people to race toward him. It had been decades since his last flash and he wasn't used to the sensation or its effects anymore.

While the group of people who had surrounded him when he fell tried to help him and asked if he was okay, he looked through them to the woman sitting at the far end of the café by the window. She was the cause of his flash and the intense pain he felt.

Chuck adjusted his glasses as he continued to focus his attention on the woman by the window. She had long, white hair in a braid that fell halfway down her back. The sunlight streaming in through the window bathed her in its warmth and she was so beautiful. He hadn't seen her in over fifty years, but she was just as beautiful as she was the last time he saw her. Looking at her Chuck realized the feelings he held for had never gone away, only falling dormant until the sight of her reawakened them. Even after all this time she still made his heart flutter. In that moment he knew one undeniable truth, Sarah Walker was still the love of his life.

As Chuck continued to gaze at Sarah he remembered the last time he ever saw her. It was fifty-four years ago in Prague at the Nadrazi train station. She had wanted him to run away with her and leave the spy life behind. She wanted to be with him and have a 'real life'.

When Sarah first informed him of her plan he had been excited, but when the time came to put their plan into action, he backed out. Ever since then, whenever he reflected back on that day he always wished he had made a different decision. If he could go back and change that day he wouldn't give her his train ticket and just walk away without a word. Not running away with her that day had become his biggest regret in life.

Instead of going through with the plan he returned to the spy life, but, as he learned five months later, it was already too late for Sarah to turn back and she ran, just as she had planned, except she ran alone and with a broken heart. The pain and tears he saw in her eyes that day at the train station still haunted him.

Chuck was so focused on Sarah that he didn't realize that the people around him were trying to help him up. It took a sudden shock of sharp pain to snap his attention back to his predicament. He had collapsed under the now unfamiliar sensation of a flash and unexpectedly seeing the love of his life again after more than five decades, which resulted in a lot of both physical and emotional pain. The flash had given him an intense headache and falling was a lot harder on his body these days, so he hurt all over. But none of that pain compared to the pain he felt in his heart after laying eyes on the one and only Sarah Walker again.

A little later Chuck was back on his feet and one of the waiters who worked in the café was helping him to a nearby chair. Upon reaching the closest available chair the waiter continued to assist Chuck as he slowly helped him sit down.

It wasn't long after that when the sounds of sirens began to fill the air. Someone had called 911 to report on Chuck's fall and now they were almost at the café. Before he knew it EMTs had arrived and were looking him over and asking him all kinds of questions.

"Sir, what's your name?"

Replying to the first question with a wince caused by the shooting pain that suddenly surged through his body, he responded, "Chuck Bartowski."

"How old are you Chuck?"

"I'm 82," Chuck answered, only halfway paying attention, especially when he noticed Sarah glance in his direction.

"Eighty-two? Wow," one of the EMTs said, sounding impressed by his age for some reason that Chuck didn't understand. To him his age wasn't a big deal.

The questions from the EMTs continued as they asked him about what had happened and if he was okay. Chuck couldn't tell them about his flash, not that they would even understand if he did. They would probably think he was crazy. Chuck needed another explanation for what had occurred and instead said he had suddenly become dizzy, which didn't exactly explain everything he was feeling, but it was the best he could come up with.

The EMTs continued to look over Chuck for a few more minutes before they announced that they were going to get him to the hospital.

That caught Chuck's full attention and he began fiercely protesting that idea. "No, I need to talk to her! I can't lose her again! I can't lose her!"

"Who? Who do you need to talk to?"

"Chuck slowly raised his arm and with a slight shaking he pointed across the room to the woman by the window, who due to his flash he knew was a now elderly herself, Sarah Walker.

After briefly looking to see what he was pointing at, the EMTs turned back toward Chuck. "Sir, you really should go to the hospital. We need to make sure that you didn't break anything and that you don't have any internal injuries."

"No!" Chuck answered forcefully. "I'm not leaving without talking to her. I'm not going anywhere except to see her."

"Sir, you need to go to the hospital."

"I said I'm not going," Chuck repeated, refusing to back down. "I'm just an old man that fell. I don't need to go to the hospital."

Chuck knew that the EMTs couldn't force him to go to the hospital, only strongly suggest that he do so. Thus, a few minutes later they reluctantly walked back out to their emergency vehicle, leaving Chuck behind in the café.

Slowly and painfully Chuck rose and carefully made his way across the café, limping slightly. Upon reaching the table where Sarah was sitting, he silently pulled a chair out and sat down. He was just too dizzy and weak to be on his feet right now.

Following a moment of looking at her wordlessly, taking in the sight of her up close, Chuck spoke. "Hello Sarah."

The woman, not wanting any company or attention, especially from some man she didn't know, who was making her feel uneasy tried to get him to leave her alone. Using a clipped tone she said, "My name isn't Sarah." Then softening her words after recalling that she had just seen the man with the EMTs moments ago, which could have led to confusion on his part, she continued, "It's Savannah."

Refusing to let her reaction deter him Chuck said, "I know that you are Sarah Walker."

Hearing that name she suddenly tensed up and began subtly wrapping her hand around the fork sitting next to her plate.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked in the most intimidating tone she could muster.

"Sarah, it's Chuck. Chuck Bartowski. Do you remember me?"

"Chuck?" she replied, finding the name difficult to say.

That name also resulted in a very different reaction than the name Sarah Walker had. The tension left her body and she relaxed a little. Then, reaching up toward his face she carefully removed his glasses, folded them up and set them on the table. She then leaned forward and placed her hands on his face, looking deep into his eyes. After a few moments, no longer hidden behind his glasses, she recognized the kind, brown eyes she was staring into. The elderly man sitting next to her was indeed Chuck Bartowski.

"It is you Chuck," she said with a small smile. She then spent several moments taking in the sight of a much older Chuck. In addition to the glasses he wore, which were currently resting on the table, he had thinning, gray hair, with just a touch of curl to it. He clearly kept his hair a little longer to disguise the fact that it was thinning out.

She was pleased to learn that Chuck was still alive. That he hadn't been killed on a mission after she left and that things like age and disease hadn't taken him yet. Over the last ten years she had witnessed many of the people she had come to know in her new life die for a variety of reasons as they approached their older years. Very few of the people she knew around her age were still living. Knowing that Chuck was among those people filled her with a sense of happiness.

"How did you recognize me? I would have never known who you were if you hadn't said anything."

Instead of answering Chuck fumbled just a bit as he tried to pick his glasses up off the table and slipped the plastic, black frames back onto his face. "That's better. I can see again. My vision has gotten pretty bad in my old age," Chuck explained. "Without my glasses I couldn't make out your face anymore. Now that I can see you I can answer your question."

Chuck lowered his voice and moved his mouth against Sarah's ear. Then hoping that she could hear him he said, "I still have the Intersect in my head. When I saw you I flashed. That's how I knew who you were."

Suddenly something occurred to Sarah and she threw her hands over her mouth. Chuck! That was you that fell! Are you okay?!"

"I'm okay. Just bruised and banged up."

"What happened?"

"I haven't flashed in thirty or forty years. I guess my body just isn't used to it anymore."

There was a slight pause in the conversation before Chuck changed the subject and resumed speaking. "Sarah, or is your name really Savannah now?"

"I've been living as Savannah Smoak for the past fifty-four years, ever since the day I ran."

"So should I call you Savannah? Or Sarah?"

"You can call me Sarah. I've always been Sarah to you."

"Okay, Sarah, I'm really sorry for what happened that day in Prague. I wish I had made a different decision that day or at least explained to you why I didn't run with you."

"Chuck you don't have to apologize. That happened more than fifty years ago. I let go of what happened a long time ago. I went on with my life."

"Sarah, I need to tell you this. It's something I've wanted to say for fifty-four years. I chose to be a spy because I wanted more out of life than just working at Buy More. I wanted to actually be able to do something to really help people. I wanted to worthy of you. You deserved more than a guy who worked at an electronics store. I loved you Sarah. I never wanted to lose you. I wanted us to be spies together."

After a slight pause Chuck concluded with, "I really hope that you can forgive me and that you don't hate me."

"I could never hate you Chuck, even if I tried. And I did try at first. You really hurt me when you left me at the train station. I wanted to hate you and forget about you, but I never did. I've thought about you a lot over the years, wondered how you were."

"I thought about you nearly every day Sarah. And I hoped that I would see you again one day so that I could explain my decision. I just wish it wasn't when we were in our eighties."

Chuck and Sarah's conversation was interrupted when a loud musical tone rang out. Sarah turned her attention to her purse and began searching for her phone. It only took her a few moments to find it and when she answered she left Chuck to listen to her end of the conversation.

"Hello sweetie. It's okay baby. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm at the café. Okay sweetie. I love you. I'll see you soon. Bye-bye."

After Sarah hung up the phone and returned it to her purse Chuck asked, "Who was that?"

Smiling, Sarah answered, "That was my granddaughter, Sabrina."

"You have a granddaughter? You're married?" Chuck asked, both astonished and a little sad.

"No, I never got married."

"Then how do you have a granddaughter?"

"A few years after Prague I had decided what I wanted in my new life, a family, and I adopted a baby, a little girl I named Samantha. She's all grown up now and Sabrina is her daughter, my granddaughter."

"What about you Chuck? Did you ever get married or have a family?"

"No, I never found anyone like you. I never stopped loving you."

Chuck didn't realize what he said until he had already said it. He had just admitted to Sarah that he was still in love with her. It was too late to take those words back now. He just hoped that they wouldn't scare Sarah and ruin his chance to know her because he knew that he couldn't bear to have her walk out of his life.

When Sarah started digging through her purse a few seconds later Chuck became worried. "Are you leaving?"

"My granddaughter will be here soon. I don't drive anymore so she's coming to pick me up and I still need to pay my bill."

Sarah pulled a glasses case out of her purse and slipped a pair of white frames onto her face.

"I like your glasses," Chuck commented. "They look really good on you. I like that they match your hair too."

"Thank you. I only really need them for reading; otherwise my vision is still pretty good. My hearing on the other hand isn't so great anymore. I've actually lost most of my hearing. Without my hearing aids someone would nearly have to shout directly into my ear for me to hear what they were saying."

"Wait! You wear hearing aids? I didn't notice any hearing aids when I was whispering to you earlier. My hearing is still pretty decent and I can generally hear fairly well without hearing aids, but I still wear them to help me with the softer sounds. Yours are clearly a lot more invisible than mine though."

"I guess they are. No one can ever tell I'm wearing them. My daughter helped me pick them out. She's a doctor and helps me with all of that stuff and makes sure that I always have the best care."

Laughing, Chuck said, "I guess we'd be doing pretty well if we had your eyes and my ears."

"I guess so," Sarah said laughing herself. "The other way around would be a disaster though. We wouldn't be able to see or hear."

Chuck and Sarah were still in the midst of laughing about the declining quality of their various senses and other issues related to their advanced age when a very young woman with deep black hair and bright blue eyes approached their table. Sarah's face immediately lit up when she saw her and Chuck guessed that she had to be the granddaughter Sarah mentioned.

The young lady with the contrasting hair and eyes wrapped her arms around Sarah before asking, "Grandma, who is this?"

"This is an old friend of mine, Chuck. I haven't seen him in fifty-four years."

"Chuck, this is my granddaughter, Sabrina."

After the greetings Chuck learned that Sarah's granddaughter had just turned nineteen and would be starting college in just a couple of months. The way Sarah talked about her granddaughter it was clear that she really loved her and was very proud of her. Before this moment Chuck never could have imagined Sarah as a grandmother, but here she was gushing about her grandchild like any good grandma would.

"Are you ready to go home now Grandma?"

"Yeah baby, I'm ready," Sarah said as she closed up purse back up and slowly stood.

As Sarah and her granddaughter were heading toward the door Chuck stood and called out to them as he tried to catch up, still limping from his fall. "Sarah! Wait!" Then remembering Sarah's new named he called out, "Savannah! Please don't go yet."

Turning around Sarah, aka Savannah, waited to hear what Chuck had to say.

"I don't want to lose you again. Not after finally finding you. I want to be a part of your life. If that is something you would want."

"Of course Chuck. I'd like that. Are you staying nearby? Or live around here?"

Chuck told her about the hotel he was currently staying at and soon the plans had been made to meet at the café again tomorrow for lunch. Sarah even promised that she'd come with her daughter so that Chuck could meet her.