Rachel woke up with a jerk. She blinked rapidly and looked around. The train was slowly coming to a stop, and she could already hear the rustling of the cars on the street. She squealed with excitement when the train had reached a full stop. This was it. She was finally where she was meant to be.

"Finn we're he-" she stopped herself in mid-sentence quickly, realizing her mistake. Finn, her Finn, he wasn't here with her. She was going to conquer this big city all by herself. The thought of being in New York alone made Rachel's stomach turn un-easy. Thinking about Finn being in the army only made things worse as Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes. She did her best to compose herself as she made her way off the train, her suitcase trailing lazily behind her. Rachel kept her head hung low, not even basking in the glory of New York like she knew she should be. She just couldn't seem to get Finn off of her mind. The flashbacks of her car ride with him hit her like a ton of bricks. However, one quote he had said seemed to stick into her mind.

"I'm setting you free."

Now, Rachel knew Finn better than anyone else, and she always would be able to understand him. But for some reason, she can't seem to understand what he meant. Rachel was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't watch where she was going, which in turn caused her to bump into a person passing by.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said frantically to the stranger.

"Watch where you're going kid." the stranger had replied in a harsh tone.

Rachel avoided eye contact with the stranger and kept walking, she made sure to watch where she was going this time. Rachel looked around at her surroundings. It's everything she remembered it would be. She felt so secluded in between the tall buildings. Rachel saw the building she was meant to meet her fathers and she quickly navigated her way to the path she was meant to take to get there. There was something odd about the place she was walking through, almost as if she had been here before when she was in New York for Nationals one time. Then she realized where she was. Rachel was on a bridge. The same bridge that Finn had given her the beautiful flowers for their "work date". Just the memory of the moment brought tears to her eyes as she stopped on the bridge and leaned on its handrail. Rachel put a hand to her mouth as she felt that she couldn't hide in the tears anymore.

"I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this." she repeated to herself over and over again. Rachel felt so vulnerable without Finn. There wasn't anyone here to kiss her and tell her it would be alright. There wasn't anyone to hug her with those big strong arms and make her feel so protected. There wasn't anyone here that would ever compare to Finn. Rachel wiped her tears away with a brush of her left hand. She felt something cold brush against her face as she did so. Rachel looked at her hand and saw the ring still there. Her engagement ring still shined as brightly as ever in the sun's glow.

She wasn't sure why, but it seemed to comfort her. It helped her see the light in this cloud of darkness she was under. Finn wouldn't want her to stay in New York wallowing around in the pity of her tears. No, he would want her to embrace the chances she was given, and take on the city at full force. That's why he sent her here after all. For her to accomplish her dreams. Rachel lifted her head up high. She was going to do what she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl. Rachel wasn't going to just do this for her benefit, she was going to do this for Finn. For Broadway. For Barbra. For glee.

New York be ready, because here comes one Rachel Berry.