A/N: Random one shot to give Ally McBeal a correct ending...at least for season four. For Julia. If this gets any attention or if people want it...may expand it into its own fic. Maybe. We'll see.

"Ally, there you are! Larry Paul..."

Great. As soon as she stepped off the elevator... His name. It conflicted her. Should she be happy? Happy that she had talked to him? Was he here? Was he coming here? Did he already come here?

"Don't say his name!" she snapped back instead, turning abruptly on her heel to stare at the blond woman at the front desk.

Elaine looked hurt, but she would apologize later. Right now, her mind was spinning and there wasn't anything she wanted to think about less than Larry Attorney-At-Law Paul. If only it was that easy...

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that he came by earlier," the other woman told her softly, standing her ground.

That made Ally's heart flutter, and suddenly it was like the world shifted from black and white back into color. No longer dull, no longer sad...just bright and hopeful, just on the drop of his name and the fact that he had actually come to see her. He had come here, he had wanted to see her, maybe talk, maybe fix things? Despite their last conversation, she knew he wouldn't mess things up again...she just knew it.

...Did she know that?

He had left, after all. Several times. Maybe not actually like left Boston, but left mentally, if not more.

Yes, there was Detroit, but that was justified. ...Okay, it wasn't, but she made it justified, because it was complicated. He had a kid, he had a life before her, and as much as she didn't want that to be a reality, it was, and she can't ask him to change the past for her. For one, because that was just silly. For two, because that would be selfish, and she was finally realizing that she wanted to be selfless for him. That included accepting his family.

But then there was his absence recently, where he may have still been physically in Boston, but his mind was...somewhere else. Maybe Detroit, maybe not. She wasn't sure, honestly. It was definitely buried in ice cream somewhere, under the whipped cream she added to that mess, with his ex wife.

Okay, so two ex wives...not a good track record. Why did she want to be number three so bad?

"What? What did he want?" she finally asked, breathless as she gave in and decided to shove those thoughts back down for the time being.

She held up an envelope with pressed lips, looking quite pleased. However, the words that followed...weren't as great as she assumed they were.

"He left this for you."

Blinking, Ally felt her heart shatter further. Well...that was it. That envelope was her worst fear. Yet somehow, she was still functioning. Maybe she was numb to it now..being left. Maybe she expected it for so long that she already accepted this before it was actually happening to her. She told her roommate last week that she was going to get a note. And now...here was that note. He was gone.

"Don't you want to open it?" Elaine's feminine voice interrupted, quiet and kind, and all Ally could do was shake her head at the floor.

"I know what it says," she admitted painfully before turning to her office.

"Ally-" Elaine tried to call after her, but she didn't want to hear it.

Once in her office, she closed the door, sighing and sinking down into the chair at her desk. So that was that. Now she was single again. And twenty nine. And without a family. Back to where she started from for the millionth time. She thought for sure this was it...he'd promised her. But...it wasn't.

"You stuck me in your freezer?"

The voice came from behind her as she wondered just how in the hell the snowman from her freezer had made it into her living room.

And when she turned around...it was him. In black. And glasses. And that hair that she loved. That smirk on his face that she had come to adore and miss more than she could fathom...

"What...uh...wha...are you...are you back?" she stammered, breathing heavy as her heart pitter-pattered, uneven.

"I'm..back..." Larry suggested slowly, finally stepping toward her.

...To which she shook her head and took a step back, looking at the floor. So he went on, adjusting his dark frames that rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I'm not much better at hellos than I am goodbyes..." he admitted.

But Ally cut him off right then and there. "How long?"

"What?"

"Well..no, how...how..." she managed awkwardly. "Is this a visit, or you know, how long are you back for?"

"Oh," he replied simply, then checked the fake watch on his arm. "Well, does uh, forever work for you?"

Breathless, Ally could do nothing but stare, nothing but watch as he invaded her personal space. So he took the silence as a welcoming to continue.

"I was hoping to...move in..." came next, which didn't help the matter of not knowing what to say. "Are you...thinking about it?"

Swallowing nervously, Ally shook her head again, looking down at her feet and pressing her fingers to her temple with a sigh. "Uh, no...Larry, Larry..."

"I promise I won't shave my legs in the tub," Larry tried to joke, like he always did to lift the tension.

"Mmm..no, no, uh-uh, I... Well I just won't be able to take you leaving again," she whispered, finally meeting his dark eyes.

That earned another smirk from him. "Which works out well cause I don't plan to... I told you before I'm only at the beginning of loving you."

"Well-" she tried to protest, but then she was lost in his kiss, his taste...him.

And those were the memories that played back in her mind the rest of the night.

On her way home, Ally swore she saw him. Saw him on the street, walking toward her. They'd bump into each other and awkwardly play it off, looking at their feet for several seconds before realizing who it was. Then he'd tell her he was coming back to see her, right?

Wrong.

When she looked back up at the stranger coming her way, they were just that...a stranger. It wasn't Larry, it wasn't even someone her age. Just a random passerby that was looking at a book, ignoring her existence. Well, at least the tow of them had that in common.

Then again when she dreampt of him. About the night they shared after that return, actually. His second kiss, knocking the hat off of her head and letting it land on the floor with a thud. The way her feet tripped over his when he persuaded her to move to the bedroom. The way his hands worked their way down her shoulders, warming the chilly skin that slipped out into the cool air when the sheets fell down to her lower back.

She woke in a cold sweat, holding the blankets to her chest. To her side, her free arm reached for his side of the bed, but...but it was empty. She grabbed nothing but a fistful of silk sheets, no longer warm with his body heat. Just sheets, just like it always used to be. It was like he never had a place here, like that time never existed. At least that's what she was trying to remind herself as she combed through her messy hair with that same hand, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart.

But she couldn't help but focus back on that point...he had come to her. He had stopped in to say goodbye. Which was weird, right? Different. He didn't do goodbyes. So maybe he had come for a completely different reason. He wanted to get back together? Or maybe he just took a trip again, and he'd turn up.

But the note...the note basically assured her that that was his intention. If it wasn't a goodbye, there wouldn't be a note, and she wouldn't be over thinking...

She grumbled to herself as she made for the kitchen to grab a glass of water before trying to get back to sleep, but when she entered the kitchen, she nearly did a double take, stopping in her tracks. There was a man at her fridge, dark hair, broad shoulders...just like...

"Larry?" she whispered, stunned.

She rubbed her eyes, making sure she was sane...and quickly came to the conclusion she wasn't. There was no one there. The kitchen was empty, it was just another memory or imagination. Another hallucination, just like the last time he was gone. She had to get used to it, though. They were broken up now, weren't they?

And the last one...the last one was in the morning when she nearly jumped out of her skin in the bathroom while she was getting ready for work. She washed her face, then glanced in the mirror after drying it, and that's when she saw him in the door frame, leaning there like he'd woken up there with her.

"No, no...you're not here..." she mumbled, closing her eyes.

But then she heard his voice. "Ally."

"Go away!" she yelped, stepping back, and that's when she tripping on the floor mat and was sent tumbling to the ground, nearly taking the bathtub curtain with her.

That little incident had alerted her roommate, who had come flying into the room with a robe wrapped around herself.

"Ally?!" she questioned urgently, looking panicked...but eventually settling into just confused, with a heavy sigh when she realized Ally was brushing herself off and standing up.

"Sorry.." she mumbled.

"What's going on?"

"Everything's fine..." Ally lied. "I'm just...practicing, you know, for a case today..."

"You're not in court," her friend pointed out, so she waved her hand dismissively to counter.

"Tomorrow, I meant tomorrow..."

"Uh huh...maybe you should stay home."

But Ally didn't want to do that. At all. She didn't want to be questioned at work, either, but she had to do something besides sit around and mope. If she sat around, she'd succumb to the thoughts again. Plus, she had only really been seeing Larry since she'd left the office yesterday, so maybe being there would mean some sanity.

Why that couldn't stay the case, she didn't know. Because by the time she was at the office, she was losing her mind again.

Elaine was on her case again as soon as she arrived, almost like a repeat of the day before, to which she lowered her head and kept moving. She didn't even look up to acknowledge Ling or Richard, who she knew would be snooping on her every move for the rest of the week...or until she broke, whichever came first. Weird, she hadn't cried yet...guess that acceptance was setting in early.

Making a beeline for the office, like yesterday, she set down her stuff and closed the door, sighing with closed eyes and her back against the wooden door. She took a deep breath and tried to focus, tried to plan out each moment of the day in her head.

"Hi."

It came so suddenly, that familiar voice that she hated. That deep, raspy, uniquevoice that she knew anywhere. That voice that made her open her eyes and...see him...again.

Larry Paul, standing behind her desk in front of the big window, just like the last time they had talked in here.

"Oh, no," she heaved, finally having enough of this nonsense. "Not you again. I can't handle you right now!"

"Me?" he questioned.

Oh, cool, so now he was holding conversations with her, not just saying her name. Great.

"I know what you're doing, you did it before!" she snapped.

But he only furrowed his brow, confused, and kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Did Coretta-"

Ally was fuming, however, so she took a step forward, bringing up the courage to scold him, even if it was just apparition him. "Let me tell you something, Mr Paul..."

"Okay," he accepted, and waited.

Another step.

"I am sick and tired of you coming into my mind!" Ally accused.

Another step.

"Invading my thoughts. You're not here, you're not real, I know that. I know that from last time! Okay, and I'm not crazy, either. And yes, I know I have a therapist, and I might actually be a little bit crazy, but that doesn't mean I-"

"Ally," he repeated, just like at home, but she was lost to her rant, talking over him with another step, closing their personal space to nearly nothing.

"-need help. I just need you to go. I...would appreciate it if you-" she finished, finally close enough to jab her finger into his chest. "You're..."

She stopped, because she half expected it to go through his figure. To make him vanish or something. That's what these visions did, right? Disappeared when they were touched? Or morphed into something else, or...

"You're poking me," he stated simply, watching as she did it again. "And kinda freaking me out a little, are you...hallucinating...me?"

"You?" It came in a breathy whisper, repeating what she heard last for lack of words.

"Yeah."

"You're...you're here," she observed, lifting her hand to feel his face awkwardly, placing both palms on the sides of his cheeks and squeezing in a funny way. "Actually, physically here."

"Yup," he agreed through a disfigured face.

She dropped her hands, feeling weird about touching him like that. "But you left..."

"I left a note," he answered quickly, nodding to her desk where that familiar white envelope from yesterday now sat, opened; Elaine must have snooped. "Didn't you get it?"

"I..." she stammered, glancing where his eyes traveled. "I didn't read it...

Puzzled, he lifted one hand from a pocket and scratched his head. "Why?"

"Because!" she defended without reason. "Because you...left a note."

"Right, which explains why you didn't come to dinner last night..." he concluded. "I thought something might've happened because you seemed eager to talk the other day, so I came here after I realized you probably didn't stand me up." A pause. "You didn't...stand me up, right?"

"Dinner?" she repeated, catching his eyes and staring.

"Yeah...did they not tell you anything here?"

"Notes mean goodbye," she informed him.

"Right," Larry agreed, nodding slightly. "Which is why I left a note, cause you'd think that and would be surprised by my proposal, but-"

"Wh...what? Your..."

"Proposal," he repeated with a gulp. "Yeah. So funny story, the other night at dinner, I was trying to ask you to marry me, and then the desserts got mixed up, so longer story short, a couple that should not have gotten that ring wound up getting it, and then I just took that as a sign, you know? Bad omen, whatever."

"At...dinner..." she mumbled, realizing why he was so restless and strange that night.

"Right. Kinda ruined it now, I know. The note...I was running late so I dropped it off out front, and I asked you to meet me at seven, but you never got it, so-"

"You were going to ask me to marry you?!"

"Well, I lost the ring in that whole ordeal, so I had to get another one, which by the way aren't cheap. So I asked my ex to help me figure out how to ask you because I was panicking, I thought you were done with me. And that's when you walked in and made my face a banana split."

His explanation made sense, but it left her speechless, back at that day in the ice cream parlor.

"Ally I wasn't saying goodbye, I'm just not good at these things, you know that."

With that, he pulled out the small box which held the new ring, or so she hoped, and fumbled with it in his fingers for a second. She was frozen to her spot in front of him, her head whirling after all of this new information was being fed to her.

"I'm a little further than just the beginning of loving you," he teased. "But I still have a long ass way to go. And I freaked myself out a little, but I realized you...in all of your crazy outbursts and doubtful moments...are worth the uncertainty. So, uh..." he mumbled, holding the box out for her to take. "Do you want me to do this...formally...I can..."

Ally ignored him, opening the box slowly to reveal a golden ring, with a small diamond that fit her personality perfectly, and her eyes welled up in an instant. She didn't need him on one knee, she didn't need him to confess anything more for her. She should be the one apologizing, but her heart was bursting at the moment, so that would have to wait.

"Yes," she breathed, blinking up at him. "Yes, I'll marry you."

"Yeah?" It definitely sounded like Larry didn't believe that, but that was okay.

She removed the ring herself, placing it on her ring finger on her left hand, and inspected it carefully. After a moment, she caught it glittering in the light ducking in from the big, open window, and then before she could say anything else, he was scooping her up in a big kiss, lips pressed to hers and taking her by yet another surprise.

"I told you," he finished once they parted, "I hardly ever lose. What's that, three me?"

"You can win them all," she whispered on a breath, which made him chuckle.

"I love you, Ally McBeal."

"Paul," she argued. "That'll be my last name, right?"

"I love you Ally Paul," he corrected.

And that would've been when he kissed her again...if it wasn't for the door bursting open with the weight of everyone in the office. They piled up on the floor awkward, obviously listening in, which caught the wide eyed stare of both Ally and Larry until one by one they stumbled out, Richard closing the door behind him awkwardly.

"We really gotta do this stuff at home," Larry suggested, blankly staring at the reclosed door.

Home. Forever. Yeah, that sounded good.