Hi people, this my second Friends fan fiction. I had this idea after watching the episode [6x25 The One With -The Proposal (Part II)]. When I saw Rachel taking the napkin and put it in her pocket, I thought that maybe she wanted to keep it. And so I wanted to write something about it.

I'm not an English native speaker and I usually make a lot of mistakes, so please forgive my typos and failures in the language. I hope you enjoy this! RT

Ross was bringing home one of the many boxes Rachel had prepared to have shipped to Paris. Fortunately, she had decided to have them sent only once she arrived in Paris and found a final arrangement, so the boxes had never been sent. In this way, the move from Joey's apartment to Ross's would have been even faster since everything was already packed.

Most of her clothes were in the baggage she had loaded on board of the plane that had left for Paris, so Rachel had contacted the airline to get it back and found out that it would take a few days. Anyway, Rachel had packed in those boxes several clothes and shoes belonging to hers and Emma.

Joey had offered to help his friend with the move, so he was following Ross with the last of the many boxes they had brought up and down from one building to another. It had not taken so many trips, but the effort had nevertheless been enough.

"Hey Joe, thanks for the help!"

"You're welcome!"

"Rachel disappeared at the right time, as usual." Ross noted ironically.

"Where is she, by the way?"

"She went to bring Emma to her mom, she thought that with all the chaos of moving this afternoon it would have been more convenient to leave her with her."

"Did you hear Monica and Chandler?"

Ross nodded, "Monica is in cloud 9, you have to hear her talking about the kids..."

"Yeah... I never thought Chandler would be a great father, but when I see him with Jack and Erica... It's like when I think of myself with Duck Jr. and Chick Jr."

Ross looked at his friend thinking about how naive he was at times, "Yes, that's just the same!" He commented. "Do you want a beer?"

"Maybe later, or I'll be late on set. See you tonight with Phoebe down at the Cafe?"

"Sure, thanks again!"

Joey exited the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Ross took a bottle of water from the fridge to drink, then he put it down on the table. Knowing that waiting for Rachel could be a wrong move - you never know if Rachel Greene is on time, Ross decided to start opening the boxes to sort the items. They had already made room in the wardrobes the day before and Rachel had already told him where she wanted to put her things in Ross's room and which ones were going to Emma's room.

The night Rachel had returned from the airport they had talked for a long time about their future and one of the main topics had been their cohabitation. Rachel had no doubt of wanting to come back to live with Ross to finally give Emma the family she deserved. Ross had asked her if she wanted to proceed step by step, if she preferred things to proceed slowly and if she wanted to settle down for some time in Emma's room. She had smiled at him and calmed him: she would not sleep in a bed if Ross wasn't there, from that moment on. She had made a final decision, she would not look back anymore, only forward.

Ross opened the first box, noticing that it contained mostly Emma's toys. He smiled to see that the orange dinosaur that the little girl did not like very much at first was actually inside it. By now Emma couldn't stay without it and she always carried it with her, much to her father's delight. Ross shuffled the games inside their container into Emma's playroom, then he folded the box carefully – in a way that would made his sister Monica very proud, then he opened the second box.

This one mostly contained Rachel's shoe boxes. Ross opened them and as Rachel had explained to him the day before, he put the shoes in the closet area they had planned to be her shoe-paradise. To save space, however, he took the shoe boxes and placed them near the front door of the apartment to throw them away.

At the end, just one shoebox was left. It was a blue-purple box, a little worn-out and certainly older than the others. When Ross opened it, he gasped. Only after opening it he did recognize it. That was the box Rachel had shown him at the Thanksgiving in 1997, the year after they broke up, when he had scolded her and accused her of not having feelings.

At that moment he felt once again guilty of having done so. And he felt even more guilty when he noticed the front door opening and Rachel appearing with a huge smile on her lips.

"Hey Sweetie! Emma was very happy to stay with Grandma Greene. My mom said that maybe she will take her to see my father. Who knows, maybe having a common granddaughter will bring them together a little more…"

Noticing Ross's broken gaze, Rachel worried, "What's up?"

Ross pulled out the box and showed it to Rachel, making a gentle smile. Rachel inclined her head and nodded gently.

"You would have brought this to Paris?" he asked.

"You thought I didn't have it anymore?" she questioned him, a little surprised.

Ross shook his head, "No, it's just...After all these years... you can still amaze me."

Rachel smiled, satisfied, "Have you already looked at it?"

Ross shook his head again, "I just found it. I was starting to put away your shoes, and let's say it's quite a challenge!"

Rachel chuckled, "Do you want to look at it together?"

Ross made one of those smiles for which Rachel had fallen madly in love with him, one of those that made dimples emerge on his cheeks, one of those that made him look like a child.

The two sat down on the floor, both legs crossed. Rachel took the box in her hands and began to examine the contents, showing Ross the various objects it contained.

"Some things you already know, don't you?" She asked, recalling the fight they had that November day a few years earlier.

"Yeah." He simply answered her.

"This is the movie stub of that foreign film that you took me to see on our first date. Unfortunately, after almost ten years it's a bit faded... This is the eggshell from the first time you made me breakfast in bed."

Ross remembered that morning as if it was the day before, "I still remember Monica and Richard's face when they left their room and saw me in the kitchen preparing eggs and pancakes for you. She could not believe it!"

Rachel smiled, thinking about how things had changed radically, "She probably wanted to do the same for him."

"I actually cooked for everyone that morning, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe came to eat too. It was a Sunday morning."

Rachel smiled, showing him the last object Ross had already seen, "And this is the bone of contention..."

Ross chuckled, thinking about the investigation probably still going on at the Museum to look for that bone that had disappeared years before. "You were really crazy to take it. But I understand why you did it."

Rachel nodded, "I wanted a memory of that wonderful night."

Ross leaned over and kissed her tenderly, "So what else is there?" He asked, intrigued.

"Let's see..." Rachel continued, looking into the box. "This is the list of my pro that you had done to try to make me forgive you after the disaster of the first list..."

"Oh yeah...Now I remember you asked for it after we started dating. I always wondered why."

"I wanted to keep it. And I particularly love this 7th pro."

"What is it?" Ross asked, reading the paper out loud. "The way you always befriended my sister in high school even if she was non popular."

"It always reminds me that when we were younger you liked me not only because I was the pretty popular cheerleader, but also because I was something more.

You've always seen something more in me, Ross, like nobody else."

He smiled and caressed her cheek, because that was only the simple truth.

Rachel continued, smiling, "Uhm yes, this will please you very much. Remember this?"

Rachel handed Ross a white paper napkin. Ross took it and noticed that his name was written on it. It took him a moment to focus on it, then he understood. "You want to tell me that you kept the napkin that you pick to decide that I was your backup?"

Rachel nodded, "Of course, Ross. But I kept it because you've never been a backup to me. That day, when I was talking to Phoebe, I never had any doubts about coming to ask you to be my possible backup. I knew very well that I could never end up with someone else but you, probably because I unconsciously still knew that I did not want to end up with someone else but you. So when we picked the napkins at the Café and I got Joey's one in my hands...It did not take me much to ask Phoebe to change hers with me. I don't know if any of this makes sense to you..."

Ross took her hand, "Of course it does, Rach. The fact that I had told Phoebe that I accepted her proposal to be her backup had been more like a…goliardic promise made in friendship, it was never a serious matter. But when you came to ask me... I understood that there could be a whole bunch of other implications...and… What's that ?!" Ross asked, noticing a paper that read Pizza Hut.

Rachel smiled, "This, Mr. Geller, is the flyer we were given on the evening of our wedding dinner at Pizza Hut in Las Vegas!"

Ross burst out laughing, "How did you get it?"

"I found it in my pocket back home. That's one of the reasons I remembered everything before you when we came back to New York."

"I can't believe you kept that too...in spite of everything I did to you by keeping our marriage a secret, I mean…how could you forgive me?"

"With a good dose... of patience... and margaritas."

Ross smiled, "You've always forgiven all my mistakes, Rach. You're the strongest woman I know."

She looked down, her memory for a moment pondered on much more painful memories than their divorce.

Ross lifted his hand and took her chin with his fingers, inviting her to look at him: "We're done being stupid, this is it?"

"This is it." she answered, nodding and kicking out of her mind all the bad thoughts.

Ross picked up a long-dried rose from the box, "Tell me about the flower."

Rachel smiled again, "Do you notice it's pink?" Ross nodded. "It's the one you gave me on Barry and Mindy's wedding day while I was singing Copacabana."

Ross chuckled, "Of all the flowers bouquets I gave you for birthdays, holidays and monthly anniversaries, why did you keep that one?"

Rachel shook her head dreamily, "Because you were there for me that day. You accompanied me during an embarrassing situation and you supported me in a difficult moment. I had to face my past to see if I had done the right thing. And when I sang in front of everyone, with you encouraging me…and then you got on the stage with me to sing…you gave me that flower...and I realized that running away from the wedding with Barry was the best choice I had done in my entire life."

Ross began to think how much he and Rachel were made for each other. Soon he would have the opportunity to prove it to her. But now he wanted to finish seeing what this box contained.

"What else do you have in there?" He asked her.

"Well... this is a video. We do not need to look at it because you already know it. It's the footage we recorded on the night of Emma's first birthday."

"The one for when she turns 18?" Ross asked.

Rachel nodded.

"How come you keep it here?"

"Because when we were able to record our message together at the end of the video... I felt for the first time in a veeeery long time that maybe we could sort things out between us. That night I was shattered for how the party had gone, and yet you managed to cheer me up as usual, especially saving the cake and turning it into a bunny. "

"Why, penis-shaped was not good for a one-year-old girl's birthday?" Ross stated ironically.

"In your message for Emma you told her a beautiful thing: you promised her that wherever her parents would be when she turned 18, they would be together to celebrate with her that day. Then you looked at me, you took my hand and kissed it."

Ross blushed slightly, he did not remember making such an obvious gesture before getting back together with Rachel. "Did I really do that?"

Rachel nodded. "You did."

"Well, I think Emma will wonder how foolish we were not to get back together before."

With that said, Ross took her hand and kissed it again. This time it was Rachel's turn to blush slightly.

"Er...this is a photograph that I'm very fond of. I took it to the hospital when Emma was born. Carol and Susan had come to visit us with Ben."

The picture portrayed Ross with Emma in his arms and near him, Ben was looking and smiling at his little sister. The picture had been taken by Rachel.

At that moment, Ross's heart started to beat faster. He couldn't understand the reason why, of so many pictures, Rachel was keeping in that box a photo in which there was not only Emma, but also Ben.

"You know how much I loved Ben when he was a little boy. And you know how much I still care about him. I believe that in my heart I always thought that, being the two of us in some way destined to be together, Ben is somehow destined to be a part of my life. That's why I always wanted him to like me. And this picture reminds me that Emma will always have an older brother who will take care of her, because he is the son of two wonderful mothers and a fantastic father."

"Rach…" Ross was about to cry.

"Oh, wait to cry, I've kept the best for last!"

Ross looked at the last object. It was a plane ticket from New York to London dated May 7, 1998.

The date of his marriage to Emily.

It was the ticket Rachel had bought to get to London.

Ross looked at the ticket in shock, "Why should this be the best? Rachel, why did you keep this ticket? That was one of the worst days of our lives."

"I know."

"I almost lost you that day."

"I know." She nodded.

"You came to London to tell me you loved me and you didn't."

"I did not."

"So why keeping this memory? I- I-… I don't understand?!"

Rachel took his hands in his, "Because that day, when I came to the church and I saw you with Emily, I thought it was over, Ross. I loved you, I've always loved you so much that I knew I wanted to see you happy, even at the cost of letting you go. And so I didn't have the courage to confess my feelings before the ceremony. Do you remember what I told you? "

Ross nodded, "Congratulations."

"Yeah... If I could go back, do you think I'd change something? No. Because you'd hate me, Ross. You would have accused me of wanting to ruin your life whenever you had the opportunity to move on. Like I did with Julie, and with Bonnie..."

"No, no, no..." Ross interrupted her. "Rachel, I would never have done it! If you had told me that you loved me, I would have interrupted that madness of marriage and... "

"Ross...honey... but you did."

Ross looked at her, trying to figure out what she was trying to say.

"I, Ross... take thee, Rachel."

Ross smiled, "Are you saying that even if you didn't confess your feelings, it's as if you actually had done it?"

Rachel giggled, "I'm saying that I keep that ticket for one reason: your marriage to Emily was the only moment of my life that I was really afraid of losing you. But when

I heard you saying my name at the altar, I realized that there was still hope for us. It was one of the biggest thrills of my life!"

"Rachel...you know why I said your name that day, don't you?"

"No, you never told me. You always said it meant nothing."

Ross shook his head, "Crap. Truth is, after seeing you and hugging you, I began to think only one thing. It was like a fixed nail in my brain. I'm marrying the wrong woman. I saw you sitting in the audience and wondered what you were thinking. And when the wedding march began and Emily walked down the aisle, I entered like in a trance. For me there was no Emily in front of me, it was you. I no longer heard the words of the minister, I had only my private version of what was happening in my head. And in my vision, I was getting married to you, not to Emily. Saying your name was like a…catharsis."

"And then you heard people murmuring, you woke up and saw Emily in front of you!"

"God, talking about embarrassment..." Ross chuckled, "Forgive me Rachel, I should have interrupted the wedding at that moment. Or at least I should have told you the truth that day at Central Perk. I should have told you that I loved you too. But then I was so worried about the idea of my second divorce that I didn't know where to bump my head, I..."

Rachel took his face in her hands, "No more messing around, right?"

"And I'm never letting you go again."

They both repeated the words they had said on the evening of Rachel's return from the airport.

They kissed passionately, like they had done that night. They stayed for a few seconds with their foreheads leaning against each other.

"What did I do to deserve you?" He asked.

"Keep wondering, Dr. Geller." She answered, joking.

"I didn't think it would come a day when I could have loved you more than when you gave birth to Emma, but today, after seeing this box, I think you've crossed the limit of how much possibly I've ever loved you before, Rach."

"And this is the most beautiful thing you've ever told me." She replied, looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

"I want to give you a piece of mine too. I know maybe you don't believe this, but... I have some kind of Rachel's box too. But mine is a drawer. Do you want to see it?"

"Need to ask?"

Author's note: In Ch. 2: Rachel's Drawer ;)