For Good

They stood in the wings of the stage waiting to take their cue. They sent soft, nervous smiles to one another as they listened, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Seventy-Fourth Annual Tony Awards!" The announcer smiled as the room erupted in applause. "We have a real treat for you tonight. We have performances from many Broadway stars you know and love, as well as the usual wonderful awards given during the event. Now, bring your hands together, for the lovely star-stopping couple…" He paused hoping he was adding a dramatic effect as he smiled through the bright lights shining down on him, "Mrs. Rachel Berry and her beautiful wife, Mrs. Quinn Fabray!"

Quinn and Rachel smiled at their name being called. They had been married for four years, today, but the butterflies they got when hearing "Mrs and Mrs" still flooded their stomachs at full force.

When Rachel had been asked to sing for the seventy-fourth Tony awards her response was automatic, "yes! It would be an honor!" She had rushed it out excitedly while her agent chuckled over the phone and Quinn stared at her with that proud, loving, excited look she always had when Rachel would share one of her upcoming projects.

Quinn bounced over to Rachel and squealed into her neck, peppering kisses to the skin she found there. The brunette had simply giggled and bounced with her, too happy to even formulate words.

It had been a challenge convincing Rachel's co-star to allow Quinn to sing the duet instead of her, but Quinn still had her HBIC edge and Rachel… well Rachel had sent somebody to a crack house once…

The taller girl instinctively wrapped her hand around Rachel's, sending electric tingly shots down her arm, as the couple walked their way to the middle of the stage. Years ago, those shocks had made her tense and angry. She didn't know what they meant and they terrified her. Her anger covered up what the true feeling was, allowing it to just expand and expand – but never really be released. Now, the shocks led to feelings of excitement, happiness, and, a lot of the time, arousal. It was the same for Rachel; however, she refrained from anger as long as she could. Eventually, everything just boiled down to that one key moment that changed the course of their lives forever.

They thanked the announcer as they each took their own microphones.

"Wow! That's all I can say, wow! I've dreamed of this moment since I was six years old!"

"Five, honey," Quinn interrupted humorously, getting the audience to laugh and Rachel too.

"Right," Rachel chuckled, "Five years old. To finally be up on this stage, about to sing for you guys, is an absolute dream come true. My wife and I would have started by now, but we wanted to share a little news with you all."

Quinn smiled adoringly at her wife before turning out to the audience, "It's our four-year anniversary!" Quinn practically squealed and held up her and her wife's intertwined hands.

The audience laughed at her enthusiasm and Rachel flashed her signature beaming smile, "Yes, we have been married four years, and Quinn here was too excited not to share the news with the world."

"Well, if I could have internationally broadcasted my marriage proposal I wouldn't have to do this."

Everyone laughed again, but Rachel knew that Quinn was just putting on a show.

They had worked hard to get here, Quinn was a movie star and Rachel was blowing the world away with her performances on Broadway. Quinn constantly having to be in Los Angeles while Rachel was in New York was constantly a strain; Quinn usually only wanted Rachel all to herself.

The blonde was really a much more quiet and reserved person than she was letting on to be tonight. When she had proposed it was after a relaxing quiet evening of Thai takeout, cuddling on the couch reading together, and a musical movie marathon. It was unexpected, quiet – the question asked barely above a whisper, as if somebody else was going to steal the words from Quinn's lips – and absolutely, entirely perfect.

Anyone else would think the dramatic Rachel Barbra Berry would demand a performance of a proposal, but honestly, Rachel would think frequently, she wouldn't change it for anything in the whole wide world.

Ignoring Quinn's statement, Rachel continued on before they ran over their time limit, "Besides announcing our undying love for one another, we have another surprise for you!" Rachel smiled and bounced slightly on her toes, "My wife and I are going to perform "For Good" from my headlining musical, Wicked!"

The audience again applauded and Quinn let a smile fill her face. "Babyyy, come on! We can't keep them waiting any longer, listen to them!" She tugged on Rachel's hand and had begun to drag her off behind stage, "We'll be right back everyone!"

The audience laughed softly as the commercial break began, allowing everyone to quickly refresh themselves or use the bathrooms. Quinn smiled and leaned over to whisper in Rachel's ear, "I really feel so amazingly happy tonight. Even after all these years I still get the butterflies and the electricity shocks. I love you." She kissed behind the blushing brunette's ear as they went to go change for their performance.

The house lights flashed signaling the end of the commercial break. The audience had retaken their seats and the announcer's voice filled the air.

Hand in hand, Rachel and Quinn made their way back to the stage's wing. Their cue was coming and Rachel squeezed the others hand.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

The butterflies attacked the blonde again as she walked onto the stage with Rachel with a soft smile,

"I've heard it said, that people come into our lives, for a reason…"

They reached center stage, their bodies facing the audience, but their heads and attention only turned towards each other.

"Bringing something we must learn. And we are lead to those, who help us most to grow if we let them."

Quinn pushed back tears as she thought back to her and Rachel's high school years. How much hatred there was, how much pain; if only she had realized sooner what it all meant, maybe she could have prevented all the bullying that had affected her beautiful wife.

She had told Rachel these thoughts before, and every time Rachel would knock them down. She would tell her that what had happened had happened for a reason; that without it, they may have never learned what true love was. She also said that she would not be as strong-minded as she is today, but she may have also not learned compassion.

Rachel had fully forgiven her early on in their relationship, and while it had taken Quinn a long while to feel like she had made up for everything, she still would feel guilty about it occasionally.

"And we help them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true," Yes, it is, Quinn had thought. "But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you."

Quinn smiled at Rachel and squeezed her hand because she meant those last words. Without Rachel she definitely would not be true self. She knew that without Rachel, she would have never learned what love was. She knew that she would have stayed her same-old angry, hurtful self if she had never had Rachel around. If Rachel had never come into her life, she wouldn't be the successful, happy, woman she was today.

"Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes a sun," God, is that true, she thought again. They were in total different social spheres when they met, but it didn't matter. No matter where Rachel was, Quinn was always there too. Something always brought them together, and it was only a matter of time until their lips crashed together desperately.

"Like a stream that meets a boulder halfway through the wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better, but because I knew you… I have been changed for good."

Quinn smiled at the lyrics and the truth behind them, and similarly so did Rachel. She, too, had been thinking of high school and the entire journey that she and her wife had shared together. She thought of that first fateful, frantic kiss in the middle of Glee club and how she had promised Quinn, "one day at a time."

Never had she been happier with a promise. It was the most fruitful promise she had ever made, and if there were ever a chance to change it through all the turmoil their relationship faced at first, she wouldn't change it for anything. Their journey was incredibly important to her. It was what made them learn and grow into the people they were today. It made them stronger when they thought that everything would come crashing down. If the world suddenly turned their backs to them, they would always have each other. They knew that. They knew that they would get through anything together. If they hadn't gone through their past, they wouldn't be preparing for their future.

Rachel's eyes bore into Quinn's before she sang, facing the audience, "It well may be that we will never meet again…" She held up her hand, flashing her wedding ring and shaking her head, getting the audience to laugh for a countless time.

"In this lifetime. So, let me say before we part," she turned to Quinn again, singing incredibly powerfully for singing so softly. "So much of me, is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end I know you'll have rewritten mine…" Rachel smiled as the memory of checking off "Be Quinn Fabray's Friend Girlfriend" on her Senior Goals list.

"By being my friend…"

"Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea. Like a seed dropped by a sky bird in a distant wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better…"

Rachel smiled softly as she noticed the unshed, loving tears in Quinn's eyes.

"But because I knew you..."

"Because I knew you…" Quinn responded with a mirroring smile.

Their combined voices floated into the theater, "I have been changed… for good…"

Rachel smiled softly and sang her next verse, "And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness for the things I've done, you blamed me for."

Countless silly arguments filled the couple's head, each other them laughing silently at their own ridiculousness. They knew that they could never stay angry with each other. They had long since grown past that and blaming one another.

"But then, I guess, we know there's blame to share," Quinn responded quietly and bite her lip in a way that always made Rachel's heart flutter.

They shuffled closer to each other, their fingers falling delicately between each other's, and faced the audience to sing out the rest of their performance to them.

"And none of it seems to matter anymore." Their voices rose in union and they sang powerfully out to the audience. They had trouble seeing any faces from the bright lights, but they each liked to imagine a smile on each one.

"Like a comet pulled from orbit," Quinn's voice resounded first, quickly followed by Rachel's as they sang back and forth and over one another, creating beautiful harmony.

"Like a ship blown from its mooring."

"As it passes a sun,"

"By a wind off the sea,"

"Like a stream that meets a boulder,"

"Like a seed dropped by bird,"

"Halfway through the wood,"

"In the wood,"

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better," they turned again towards each other, singing as if the song was reserved for the others ears only.

"I do believe I have been changed for the better."

"Because I knew you…" Quinn smiled softly, looking over Rachel's breathtaking features.

"Because I knew you…"

Rachel's eyes bore into Quinn's unabashedly before their voices rose together again in graceful eloquence,

"Because I knew you, I have been changed... For good…"

The music faded out around them and even though the audience erupted in a loud applause the couple kept their eyes locked together for a few more moments – taking in all of the unhidden love shown through the others eyes.

It made Quinn and Rachel's insides, alike, scrunch together and tingle. It felt exactly like it did that fateful week they were paired together for a Glee duet, except multiplied by a hundred. Butterflies and electricity and deliciously tenseness that could really only be described as sexual tension. The sparks flew between the two and everyone could see it. They were soulmates and were indisputably made for each other.

A smile spread on each other their faces as they lingered a moment longer before taking their bows for the audience. The announcer thanked them as they waved their way back behind the stage.

"You were amazing," Quinn breathed in awe as they had their microphones taken off by a stagehand.

"No, you were," Rachel smiled as she kissed Quinn gently on the lips. Even with such a soft kiss explosions erupted through them.

Quinn breathed in and smiled, "I mean it," she cupped the smaller girl's cheek, "You were amazing out there. You do that practically every day and I'm in total awe of it. I'm in total awe of you. I have always been. You're beautiful, gorgeous, and you can sing better than anyone in this entire world. You've accomplished all of your dreams, and Rachel, I could not be happier than I am right now, here, with you. All I need is you, and I am so incredibly lucky to have you."

Rachel's breath had flown out of her as she looked into Quinn's eyes with such bare emotions. All Quinn could see was love shining from the beautiful brown orbs.

"You're my dream come true," Rachel smiled that one smile that was reserved for only Quinn. That same breathtaking smile that the brunette had given the blonde after their very first kiss in front of all of their friends.

It was their four year anniversary, they had just sang for thousands of people, Quinn would probably be heading back to Los Angeles for filming in the morning, and Rachel would be performing her dream show at her dream theater, but Rachel and Quinn couldn't be more happy.

They had each other, no matter what or when, they always had each other. They were destined for each other. They had grown and learned from the blindness as teenagers, their long distance relationship while in college, and similar one because of work, and had become happier than anyone either of them had ever known.

They were each others. They were each others dreams. And no matter what life threw at them they took it one day at a time, hand in hand. Each step building a firmer foundation, a better marriage, and a happiness that could never ever be rivaled.