Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls I wouldn't be sitting at my computer at 2:19 AM on the day after Thanksgiving writing a fanfiction for it. If I owned The Gift of the Magi I would be plotting evil ways to send subliminal messages urging people to buy considering now would be the perfect time of the year to sell it. I do, however, own the ring. I bought it this summer.
PrologueI was 19 when he left…19 and a college Freshman. It was December, and nearly Christmas, Stars Hollow looked like one giant Christmas Tree, a combination of Taylor's festive decorations and the twinkle lights for the late Harry's House of Twinkle Lights…
I distinctly remember the last time I talked to him, Christmas Eve. It was about seven o'clock, and dark out. It had started snowing the night before and it was still coming down, a soft blanket over a world I knew so well…. We were sitting in the gazebo—the bridge was too cold and wet—and taking turns reading O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi to each other. It was a truly magical evening.
The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.
When we had finished the story he pulled me into his lap and looked up. I followed his gaze to a view of a sprig of Mistletoe. He had recommended the location, and I now knew why. I gave him a kiss, which he returned with a kiss on the nose. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small, black jewelry box. "I was going to give this to you tomorrow, but…"
Inside the box was a silver ring. It seemed made to fit only me, like the glass slipper to Cinderella's foot. A wide band with the word 'create' imprinted in it. I smiled and giggled before giving him another kiss. We cuddled until almost 11, when Luke came out and said that if we didn't get inside soon he would lock us out and we'd have to freeze our butts off until morning.
When I woke up the next morning I was cold. He wasn't beside me to keep me warm. I figured he had just gone to make me coffee, or maybe even to shake the gifts beneath the tree. I didn't expect to find out he was gone. That he had left, possibly never to return.
There was a letter to me beneath the tree…
Dear Rory,
I'm not good with goodbyes. You know that. I love you, and I want nothing more than to be with you, but I can't. You'll understand someday. I hope. Just know that I love you…
He didn't even sign it. That was what bothered me the most. Along with the letter was a book. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Inside the cover he had printed
To Remember Me…
Not that I would ever forget him.
***
I cried for five days straight. Once I'd calmed down enough to talk to people my mother tried to comfort me some.
"Don't think of him as the one that got away, sweetie. Think of him as the one that ran away. There's a difference, you know." I took it to heart, but there is still a piece of me that won't ever belong to anyone but him.
Chapter 1
Rory Gilmore, journalist and tortured writer, stepped up onto the curb outside Lord and Taylor in New York City. She frowned at the masses huddling by the display windows. So there was a Christmas display. It was not that big of a deal. There was a Christmas display every year. Why did everyone have to make such a big deal about it?
Rory knew that such a thought was unfair. Just because she didn't have any Christmas spirit left didn't mean that other people had to suffer, so she put on a fake smile and pretended she was enjoying the soft white powder come down to rest on her eyelashes. Digging a quarter out of her pocket she dropped it into the Salvation Army pail by the door and shot another fake smile at the poor old man standing out in the cold in a hideous Santa suit. She continued the short walk to her apartment with fewer Scrooge like thoughts, hoping that if she could convince other people she enjoyed Christmas she would eventually be able to convince herself.
"I'm home!" she called into the recesses of the comfortably lived in apartment she called home.
"In here!" came the reply from the study.
"Lane? Why aren't you packing? We're leaving in half an hour."
"Do we have to go to the Hollow? You know that if we go my mother will make me come for Christmas dinner. It gets earlier and earlier every year, by now it's probably scheduled for ten AM."
"Sorry, Lane, but I promised Mom. I don't in particular want to go, either, but it's Christmas, and if I don't at least put on the façade of being happy then my Mom will start to pry."
"She worries about you, Ror, and you have to admit she has good reason to. You haven't given anyone a real smile between Thanksgiving and Christmas since 2003. I know it hurts, but you have to move on."
"I have moved on. I just need my month of Catharsis."
"I know. I promise I'll stop."
"Thank you, now get packing. We're leaving soon."
"Fine, fine, fine."
Twenty minutes later the girls were on a train to Hartford and Home.
***
"My baby's home!" shouted Lorelai as soon as she heard the tires crunching on the gravel. Running out to greet her eldest and only child she let out a shriek of glee. Luke trailed behind.
"You need serious therapy," he said to Lorelai as she practically dragged Rory out from the backseat of a cab that looked rather out of place in Stars Hollow.
"Hey, Mom, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, sweetie. Where's your stuff?"
"In the trunk. Come on, Lane. It's not like your mother is here."
Lane crawled out of the seat and stood beside Rory. "Hey Lorelai. Hey Luke. Merry Christmas." Rory and Lane got their bags out of the trunk, paid the cab, and then headed into the kitchen where Luke served them hot apple cider and Lorelai tried to convince them to move back to Stars Hollow.
"Mom, our jobs are in New York, besides, there isn't any room for me here, what with the baby on the way and everything."
Lorelai grinned and glanced down at her stomach. "Babies, actually." She smiled at her daughter and Lane. "We found out yesterday. I was waiting until today to tell you."
"Congratulations, Mom. I'll have two little siblings."
"Three."
"Your having triplets?"
"No. But you do have another little sister. Need I remind you of Gigi?"
"No. I said two because I meant two new siblings. I could never forget Gigi."
"She's five and she's already rebelling. The tutu must be too tight."
"Yeah, that or Dad's influence must be too strong. Did I tell you she spent half an hour last week rearranging Dad's CDs so that Sherry wouldn't be able to find anything?"
"Seriously? It's about time someone put Pink Floyd next to Metallica."
"You know perfectly well that Dad doesn't have a Metallica CD."
"Yes, but a girl can dream, right?"
"Whatever you say, Mom."
***
Rory kept up the image of a happy young woman for the next week, but as Christmas got closer her expression got sourer. Everyone in Stars Hollow knew she needed her space. When she'd spend ours at a time staring at the ceiling of the gazebo they just walked on past. When she twirled her ring and read The Gift of the Magi they gave her sympathetic smiles and turned the other way. They all knew she'd cheer up once Christmas had passed.
Finally it was Christmas Eve. The Gilmores, Luke, and Lane sat in the living room of Luke and Lorelai's home. Rory sat off to the side staring out the window at the snow while Luke, Lorelai, and Lane discussed which Christmas video to watch (Lorelai was voting for Willy Wonka while Luke argued that it had nothing to do with Christmas and Lane routed for It's a Wonderful Life). Suddenly Rory shrieked and jumped up. She ran to the front door and out into the snow, never even putting on a coat. Luke, Lorelai, and Lane watched as she ran down the street trailing a figure who clearly didn't want to be trailed. By the time they got to the end of the street Rory had caught up with him.
"Jess?"