Good old apartment 20. Nothing's changed except the color. The mellow purple of old has been replaced by a mildly revolting shade of green. A bamboo shade covers the large window to the balcony. Treeger enters with Joey and Rachel.

"Well, here it is."

"Aww, thanks for letting me come see the old place Mr. Treeger. It looks so different."

"Yeah, the guys who moved in after the Bings didn't like the purple, so they painted the whole place. I kind of miss the old color though."

In a true Joey moment, he asks, "It was a different color? Man, it's so weird to think of other people living here."

"Yeah, we made lots of memories in this place," replies a sentimental Rachel

Sensing a possible tenant, Treeger casually offers, "Well, if you want it back, it's available. Probably not for long though."

"Really?"

"Rent's twenty-five hundred a month."

"Well, I'll have to think about that. The real reason I'm here is Central Perk."

"What about it?"

"I want to buy it. You said it was available?"

"Yeah. Matter of fact, I was just about to start cleaning it out."

"Well, now you won't have to."

"Are you sure? The lease is two-hundred fifty thousand for a year."

In reply, she simply turns to her benefactor and asks, "Joey?"

"Right, who do I make this out to," he asks stepping forward with checkbook in hand.

An understandably surprised Treeger questions, "Tribbiani? You mean to tell me you've got a quarter of a million just laying around? Where'd you get that kind of money? Used to be you couldn't afford a cup of coffee let alone a coffee shop."

"Yeah, well, things change Treeger. And she'll take the apartment too."

Rachel, wanting badly to accept, stops him, "Aww, Joey, I'd love to, but I can't afford it."

"You'll be able to once the coffee house starts making money. And until then, it's on me."

"No, Joey. You've done enough just picking up the lease on the coffee house. I can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask, I offered. Besides, just consider it payback for all those times you picked up my half of the rent because I was broke."

Hugging him, she says in a semi-dreamy, semi-kidding fashion, "Joey, if you weren't already engaged."

Now, it's his turn to stop her, "We tried that once, Rach. Remember, it didn't go so well."

Laughing at the memory, she answers, "Right. Did I ever apologize for…you know?"

"Yeah, you did. Besides, everybody knows there's only one man for you."

"Yeah, he's marrying somebody else next weekend."

"Hey, he hasn't walked down the aisle yet. And even if he does, this is Ross we're talking about, who knows what will happen."

A bit less than comfortable, Treeger interrupts, "Hate to interrupt, but…"

"Here you go, a year's lease on the coffee house and six months rent on this apartment," says Joey handing him a check.

"Ok, as soon as I make sure Tribbiani's check is good, they're all yours. It'll be nice having you back in the building. Believe it or not, I've kind of missed you guys."

Joey, overcome with this display of warmth from his old dancing partner, says sweetly, "Aww, Treeger."

But Treeger, having none of that, quickly replies, "Except you Tribbiani. It's been nice not wearing out a toilet plunger every other week."

Back down in Central Perk, Rachel gives Joey a hug.

"Joey, I can't thank you enough for doing this for me."

"Aww, what are friends for? I get coffee on the house now, right?

"Anytime you're in town."

"Speaking of, sorry I can't stay and help you clean, but I've got to get back to LA. 'Course, i'll be back next week for Ross' wedding."

"Oh, putting on your Reverend Tribbiani hat again?"

"Nah, Ross tried, but Julie wasn't up for it. Going to be strange being just a co-best man again."

"Well, you'd better not miss your flight. And you'd better come see me when you come back."

"You bet. If nothing else, I'll see you at the wedding." At her unsure look, he adds, "You are coming, right?" She just shakes her head no. "Rach?"

"I can't Joey. I watched him get married once and it damn near killed me. And that was when I could barely admit to myself I still loved him. This time I know it all to well," she finishes with tears threatening her blue eyes.

"Listen, uggh, I've really got to go. Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine Joe, and thanks again."

After another hug and a worried look, Joey leaves. Rachel begins to absent-mindedly walk around assessing the business she's attached herself to. She goes to the back room and comes back armed with cleaning supplies. As she's dusting the counter, Ross walks by. A bit shocked at what he's seeing, he enters.

"Rach, what are you doing in here, cleaning? You didn't even do that when you worked here. And in broad daylight, what if someone catches you?"

"Nobody is going to catch me, this is my place."

Now more than a bit shocked, he asks, "What?"

"I just bought it. Well, Joey and I just bought it, but I'm going to manage it."

"Well, wow, that's a surprise."

Going on the offensive, she asks, "Why? You don't think I can do it?"

Realizing what he's done, Ross is quick to reassure, "No, no. I've never doubted you could do anything you put your mind to. It's just…you used to hate working here."

"Well, I know I complained a lot about it, but really, I didn't hate it. Besides, what can I say, things change, people change."

"Well, I think it's great. And I know it will be a success," he says, shock having been replaced by supportiveness.

"Thanks, Ross. Oh, hey, more good news. We're going to be neighbors again. "

"Oh we are?" he asks, shock making a minor return to his voice.

"Yep, well, unless you and Julie are moving."

"No, no plans to move anytime soon."

"Great. I'm moving back into good old apartment 20, upstairs."

"That's…That's great. It'll be nice having Emma right across the street where I can see her all the time."

"Oh, and that's the only reason it'll be great?"

"Well…" he teases

Rolling her eyes and acting annoyed, she fires back, "Ok Geller, I've got work to do. So, you can either help me out, or you can leave."

"Ok, see you."

"Wait, if you don't have to be anywhere, I could really use some help."

Now it's Ross' turn to roll his eyes. After that, he just takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and grabs a broom. Rachel busies herself taking things down from the shelves behind the counter. She grabs a mug from the top shelf and it dumps dust in her face. Ross can't help but laugh and, after a brief consideration, she can't help joining him. They're having so much fun they fail to notice they're being watched. Outside, Julie stands, a look of anger, mixed with even heavier doses of sadness and regret plays across her face. After watching a few more seconds, she looks down and walks away.

The scene is a large toy store, doll aisle. Emma is there with Julie and Ross and looks none to happy about it.

"Hey, Emma, this one's pretty, how about it?" asks Julie indicating a doll.

Emma, sweetly and politely replies, "No thank you."

"But Emma, you were so crazy about it the other day when we were here with your mom," says Ross with exasperation, as if this isn't the first toy Emma has turned down.

"Well, I changed my mind. I don't need any more dolls. Can we go now?" asks Emma

"Sure," Ross replies tiredly. He can't help but be proud at how polite and intelligent his little girl is. Rachel had really done a good job. One look at the hurt expression on Julie's face brings him instantly back to earth.

Back at Central Perk now, we see the whole gang, plus Mike, Allison, Emma, young Jack, Erica, and Julie all helping with the cleaning. Chandler is telling a story about something from the old days. Ross and Rachel glance at each other and blushingly smile. Monica, seeing the sad look on Julie's face, silently gets Chandler's attention and indicates Julie to him. Without missing a beat, he goes into an embarrassing story about Joey working at the coffee house. All laugh, well, all save Julie who continues to look sadly at Ross and Rachel.

We see Ross, Emma, and Rachel painting Apartment 20 back to its proper shade of purple. Emma is on Ross' shoulders and both have paint rollers. She drops a glob of paint on top of his head. Rachel, having seen the whole thing, can't help but laugh at the mortified expression on Emma's face. Ross looks a bit upset that Rachel is laughing at him until the paint drips down his nose. On realizing what happened, he can't help but join the laughter.

A/N: Just wanted to take a moment to thank my reviewers. Especially those faithful few that have been here since the beginning. Thanks for the love man, err, girls, whatever. There are only two more chapters and an epilogue yet to come. Trust me when I say faith will be rewarded, you will like the end even though it may not come quite how you expect it. Now I've said too much so I'd better stop.