What is Friendship

by Shutupnkissme313

This is a single shot AU story set decades post series. This is a rebuttal to another story where Ted shows up and Robin rejects him to where she does not ever want to see him again. Does she hold to that? What does Ted do? Barney/Robin, Lily/Marshall, Ted/?

A/N: Thanks to those reading this even though it is not my standard muse. This story is 'inspired' by another story I am choosing not to acknowledge at this time. However, knowing at least some of that story is necessary to understand this tale. A quick synopsis: at the finale when Ted goes to Robin with the French horn; she rejects him and states they are no longer friends and she 'literally' never wants to see him again; ever, but she will still see Penny and Luke. Do not own HIMYM or attempt to make money from this, but I do have a copy of the Bro Code.

What is Friendship?

A small breeze crept on to the porch. Lily Aldrin-Erickson, she finally hyphenated after losing five bets in a row with her husband, leaned back and smiled as the smell of the ocean air wafted by. As she closed her eyes the fact that the scenario was almost as she had always envisioned, but there was just one thing missing which began to gnaw at her to figure out what that item was. The two couples had arrived late last night separately after Robin and Barney's weeklong Bermuda cruise and Marshall and Lily's annual two-week trek to Minnesota to visit Marshall's brothers. She opened her eyes and looking to her left saw her husband engrossed with the morning news on his tablet. Surveying the table past the deck of cards they finally stopped on her best friend and smiled. Robin smiled back, however that did not stop the sense that something was off, but she still could not put her finger on what that exactly was.

She looked back and saw Marshall was completely concentrating on the story that he was reading and not wanting to disturb him attempted her telepathic link to Robin, "Hey, so is the third time finally the charm for you and Barney?"

Robin's smile grew as she nodded emphatically, "Yes, we didn't rush things like that weekend in Vegas a few years ago and literally talked through some things and now with my semi-retired schedule: The New Year's Eve special, Election Day coverage and the three one hour interview shows spread throughout the year; we literally have the entire day to be together. That's why we spent the past year making sure we could handle our collective awesomeness for long periods of time together without irritating one another. But umm…"

"Time to take a shot."

"Lily!"

"Sorry, it's just a reflex. Was Barney still asleep when you came down?"

"No, but his phone rang just as I was walking out the door, so he should be down as soon as he is done."

A muffled sob broke their link as they both looked over to Marshall who had placed the tablet down on the table and now had his head resting in his hands. Before either of the women could ask what the problem the porch door opened and a familiar battle cry hit the air, but without the joy it always had come with, "Marshall, time to suit up."

Marshall lifted his head and nodded before Barney added, "I brought one down for you. I figure we are better off driving straight through rather than taking the train." Marshall nodded once more and went inside quickly leaving Barney with two perplexed women. He started to say something before cringing and stopping; he took a deep breath before trying and failing once more as tears ran down his cheek.

Marshall quickly emerged and kissed Lily's cheek before hoarsely stating that if they changed their minds to call and they would let them know where they were. Lily's now concerned expression caused Marshall to look up at Barney. Barney looked down as he turned his head from side to side. Marshall bit his bottom lip and held out his tablet to his wife as he straightened up and made his way out to the car with Barney. Lily watched with her mouth open as the two left, only noticing Robin slide next to her when she turned over the tablet to reveal the headline: Renowned Architect Ted Mosby Dead.

The two best friends looked at each other with similar blank stares until they each gave a small shrug and began to read the story. They were surprised to learn that he was highly thought of within the architectural community… "No offense, but he only got the GNB job because of Barney and how hard can it be to design a building, right?" wasn't stated, but still understood between the two as they read on. They learned Columbia's architecture program every year was ranked first or second in the US during the time he was the Dean during which he was also able to become part of a group that was lauded for regentrifying depressed areas by rehabbing and renovating abandoned buildings to be of use once again moderately impressed the two females. They skimmed to the end for the more personal information and neither seemed surprised when they saw that it only mentioned Penny and Luke and not another wife. The final sentence stated that the viewing was today which marked where their respective husbands were obviously headed off to.

Lily looked over to Robin with her eyebrow quirked as the brunette had shut off their psychic link halfway through the article and now had a perplexed look on her face. "Honey, what are you thinking about? I mean it is a shock… I always thought there would be time…" Lily trailed off and Robin knew what she was saying. Although Robin never asked, would never ask for her to choose, but Lily had and now there was a final repercussion neither one really considered.

They both aimlessly stared at the surf watching the waves roll in trying to determine both what they were feeling and if they had the right to be feeling anything at all. Robin's dismissal of the man carrying the blue French horn was still completely valid in her view. Even after hearing Penny and Luke relay they basically double-dog dared their father to make the move, it was not enough to sway her decision. She tried to remember the last words she had said to Ted, but Robin had done an excellent job of suppressing all traces of her once best friend/lover/roommate from her memories. She replaced Ted with one of the other three if it was an exceptionally positive memory: Lily gave her the AC/DC Christmas light show, Marshall found her locket, and Barney made it rain that prevented a likely hookup with Sandy Rivers. However, the true memories were forcing their way back and she knew there were words that needed to be said and Robin Scherbatsky is not going to trudge through some cemetery when she can get it done today. Robin took a look at her best friend and could see Lily was emotionally constipated while staring at the ocean. Robin lightly grasped the tiny redhead's shoulder and stated, "I'm going to get changed… I think we should probably go… for Penny and Luke… and to keep our guys out of trouble, it's been a while since they've been in the city by themselves."

Lily recognized the attempt at humor and offered a sad smile while nodding. No matter how hard she tried, Lily was unable to discern the overriding emotion about this event. It wasn't as though she was numb, it was a big deal, but it should have been more and that disturbed her. She looked back at that porch as it settled in that Ted was the missing piece from the perfection she was thinking about just a few moments ago. Sadness was starting to drift in, but Lily was still unsure whether it was for Ted himself, or just the thought that somebody once so integral in her life, in the end, might not have been. Lily sighed and headed back inside agreeing with Robin that they should probably go and that Barney and Marshall would be headed off to MacLaren's after and that would be messy: Jabba and Beercules messy.

Marshall and Barney's eventual happiness that their wives decided to appear fueled the two women whose apprehension was growing the closer they were to the funeral home; so they stopped at a familiar place to settle their nerves. After a Labatt's, a rousing rendition of 'Let's go to the Mall', and a few crullers they embarked once more to the funeral home. The friends stared at the entrance for over a minute before Lily finally grasped the handle to open the door and they stepped into a hallway with a sign that had obviously been knocked down and hurriedly placed back up. There were two rooms: one was loud from an abundance of conversations, the other was fairly small and quiet. Despite the arrow for Mosby pointing to the commotion neither had any doubt that Ted's had to be in the smaller room and they went and sat in the back row quickly surmising they were the only two people in there.

"Maybe we are too late and the viewing is over," Lily stated to end the lack of noise.

"Maybe Barney and Marshall wanted to get to MacLaren's and whoever else decided to end it early because there still should be a half-hour left," Robin added.

"Or maybe you could have followed the arrow to the correct room where the viewing is taking place. It has been a long time Lily, Robin."

"Victoria? Wha… why are you here?" Robin stuttered out.

She gave a small smirk before responding, "I think the same could be asked of you, but rather than being snippy I'll answer you. After the French horn incident, he contacted me and a number of other ex's, almost all of them, except for those that either burned his possessions or studied Krav Maga. It wasn't easy talking to him the first time, but after Lily banished him from Thanksgiving…"

"Hey, he told you about that" and "What are you talking aboot (Robin's Canadian flared up after being at the Hoser Hut)?" was delivered simultaneously and forced Victoria to pause and make sure she understood both.

"First Lily, yes he did explain that the first Thanksgiving after the blue French horn incident you waited until the day before to invite the Mosby's. Ted initially played it off that you were scared he was going to make another attempt at a Tur-Tur-Ke-Key. FYI, he eventually got it to work with a ham in between the turkeys. Anyways just as Ted was going to sit you get a call from Robin that her schedule cleared and she was able to come right over, so you gave Ted the bum's rush out the back and left him outside in thirty-degree weather while it was raining." Victoria concluded with a look asking if she was wrong.

Lily's sigh confirmed the veracity of the story to the other two, "I didn't want Robin to leave if she saw him," she stammered out, "But I invited him to Christmas and he declined."

"And if Robin called…"

"He would have to leave…"

"And there's the reason. You made your choice and he respected it. That doesn't explain you turning down his invitations." Lily and Robin then noticed the wedding ring on her finger and as both offered a confused look Victoria followed their eyes and realized what they were thinking, "No, Ted and I only remained friends, but he redesigned my shop and it took off. Currently, there are sixty within the US, Germany, and Belgium, and in deciding on a factory his trio found the perfect structure and the contractor Ted found ended up being the one." Victoria radiated as she wiggled her ring finger. "C'mon your husbands are waiting along with a number of other surprises in the correct room."

The two friends took a quick look at the other before nodding and making their way to the other room and were surprised by the number of people that they recognized. Their eyes were drawn immediately to the balding man with hair plugs in a yellowed gi talking into a recorder. His comment about comedy gold being just around the corner turned their stomachs enough to choose to try and ignore Tony as much as possible. Victoria had disappeared and they could not locate either of their husbands so they located two seats and quietly sat down to take in the spectacle.

Their first surprise is Robin spotting her younger sister Katie by the coffin snuggling up to an Asian man who looked slightly familiar, but Robin could not place him. She got up and straightforwardly asked her sister, "Why would you travel all the way here from Vancouver for somebody you only met a few times?"

Katie looked up and immediately hugged Robin which left her even more perplexed, "Well the first time I met him he saved me from making a horrible mistake, but the real reason is without Ted's Scherbatsky 101 class I may never have met my soulmate: Shin-Ya."

"Wait… you were the person that took that class and you used that to stalk my sister, what the hell Katie?"

"Robin, stop. We met six months ago on a flight from Vancouver to Seattle. Ted never mentioned me in his class, Shin-Ya kept all his scholastic papers and after discovering my identity looked for the notes as we thought it would be good for a laugh, but Ted got a lot right… I never knew about the knee sensitivity, but WOW!" Katie turned back and planted a searing lip-lock on Shin-Ya.

"Katie, don't say that out loud. I convinced everybody that Ted was completely wrong about the knees."

At that point, Barney had made his way to his wife and smirked, "No I have definitely used that maneuver on you and I called to apologize to Ted right after. I am glad you made it and are able to say his name." He went in for a hug and Robin began to feel sensory overload from the repeated close contact.

"I recognize a few people Barney, but how could so many people be here for Ted? I mean no offense, but…"

Barney was about to answer when another voice cut in, "Actually, bus lady I am offended by that, I won't ask you to leave because Uncle Barney and Uncle Marshall need their significant others right now, but if you are going to continue being snarky I will ask you to please leave."

Robin had her first bit of regret, "I am sorry Penny, it's just I thought I knew everybody in your Dad's life and it is a shock that I guess I didn't know him as well as I thought."

"The majority of people here are his students. I saw Aunt Victoria brought you in and you saw Stella with her sorry excuse of a husband sitting down. Uncle Marshall and Luke had to hold each other back when they saw him, but he finagled a Press Pass from the Times and unless he creates a situation he gets to stay. You just missed Blah-Blah and the Slutty Pumpkin pay their respects but there are two other women right behind you that you should know."

Robin quirked an eyebrow as she noticed Barney placing the 'three-way belt' into the coffin and whisper a few words while Marshall gave him a pat on the back. She took the few steps to reach him before asking why he was doing this. Two voices she could recognize but had not heard in twenty-some years state, "Because of us."

Robin turned and found Zoey and Quinn holding on to one another and both looking devastated. Once she reached the obvious conclusion Robin was in disbelief, "Wait, Zoey, I can see, but Ted and Quinn didn't get along at all. How did this arrangement happen?"

Quinn answered quickly, "Ted and I did not get along initially because he knew I was using Barney for his money. It changed when he took over my apartment. I was surprised when he contacted me after the final appearance of the blue French Horn, but he wanted an outside view he could trust. We met up at MacLaren's and Zoey came in a few minutes after Ted and I started talking. After a while we talked about other things and Zoey's latest cause was another building being torn down in Chicago and Ted offered to help and that kicked off our partnership. Zoey finds the buildings, Ted figures out how to convert it to be usable, and I figure out the finances of it by getting donations. Somewhere along the way the three of us grew close and spending so much time together… It was a great relationship," Quinn stopped to wipe her eyes as Zoey nodded her assent to everything Quinn had said. Zoey tried to continue where Quinn left off, but she too was overcome with emotion as Luke led them back to their seats in the front row.

Lily had made her way up by that point and was staring at Ted's body and despite the remorse on her face she never wavered that she had done the right thing in choosing Robin and allowing her relationship with all the Mosby's to wither. She went to hug her husband who had tears in his eyes. She gave him a look and Marshall croaked out to Ted, "I'm glad you stayed my friend."

Barney's eyes misted over with that as did Penny and Luke's; Lily hugged him tighter and Robin allowed a trace of emotion to show. Lily spotted Penny and went to embrace her, but she was rebuffed as Penny held out her hand and offered, "I am glad you decided to pay your respects, Ms. Aldrin. If you two could please find some seats there will be a few of his friends and colleagues to speak. If you wish to remain after I think it would be good to talk." Penny ended with a hopeful smile, but Lily was unsure of her choice.

The two ladies were surprised as almost all the seats had been taken; in fact, the only two that were together were ones next to Stella and Tony. They looked to one another as they begrudgingly sat next to the two people who hurt Ted the most. Surprisingly enough the couple already seated were thinking the same thing. The first speaker was Ted's successor at Columbia, which neither Robin nor Lily paid any attention to. As Marshall got up to speak next everyone was startled by a high pitched laugh next to them.

"I've got it! Jed fakes his death just to hear what the people he had to pay to attend would say about him. I can intertwine bits from the previous fifteen movies as flashbacks and when everyone states how much they loathe him Jed gets flustered and tries to make his way out of the coffin and injures his groin somehow. This IS comedy gold!" Tony apparently lacked the tiny amount of awareness to know that his diatribe was not welcome. As Stella was leading him out the door he shouted out, "It will be great, I might be able to work out a discounted price for the people here… What? Stop, these people love me."

Marshall shook his head and delivered a touching rendition of times the group had shared. Both Lily and Robin for the first time in a long time wondered what if they had allowed Ted to remain a part of their lives. The next speaker was the person in his first class who stated about becoming an architect because of the ability to hang out with his friends. He did actually become one and often went to Ted for advice. Next up was Luke who barely got through, "I'm going to miss you, Dad," before his wife helped him back to his seat. Zoey and Quinn shook off even attempting to speak which left two people: Barney and Penny.

Barney looked over the crowd trying to come up with something to say. Robin could see him struggling and was trying to open their psychic link, but before that happened she panicked as she was certain she heard Ted's voice state, "Liberty Bell".

Robin offered that to Barney skeptically until she saw Barney's 'this is going to be legen… wait for it… dary' smile. He broke into the full recollection of the night the two placed their tongues on one of America's treasures and the crowd loved it. He then went to the story of what was supposed to be his final play and that he knew he could count on Ted to help him out even though he was going against his own heart in bringing Robin to the WWN building. He finished with the full story of finding Robin's locket which at first angered her but soon realized Ted took seriously his statement about making her feel better, even to the stupid fool's own detriment. The months leading up to the final BFH incident, she had been spending much more time with Ted than anybody else and they had been flirting; not that either escalated it, but she had been letting the words her mother spoke to her on her bridal room balcony take hold. Ted had been the one she could always count on. Barney did his best, but she knew he was sacrificing a part of himself when she forced him to give up his plays not that he would ever cheat on her, but he would use them to present a surprise to her. That was how Barney could best show his romantic gestures as each one was about her. Although the two had recently talked about quite a bit and came to the compromise of allowing him leeway in that department thinking that would be a key to keep them both happy this time.

Penny was speaking at this point and she was talking about the last time she visited her mother in hospice and that it had taken a year for her to forgive her mother for the last words she said to her father. The whole room was quiet as Penny stated that she begged her dad to allow her to visit. He explained a number of times her mother was on heavy medication and might be asleep and if she were that she was not allowed to wake her and if she was awake she might not make much sense. Her agreeing finally convinced her father to bring her. Going there was the scariest thing she could remember. Her mother looked gaunt, but was awake and offered the usual bright smile when she saw her daughter, but her eyes still showed pain. The two talked for about thirty minutes as her father let them have their privacy. At the end of their time, she could see her mother struggling with the pain and hit the PCA device which delivered her morphine. Her father came in shortly and gave her two dollars to pick up something from the vending machine. She stood outside the door as her mother and father had what turned out to be their last conversation. She started by saying that she loved the life that her Pooh Bear had given her. After taking a few shaky breaths she ended with, "There's nothing left that you can do for me, but don't worry Max will take care of…" Penny quickly went to the vending machine but found nothing appetizing especially seeing her father's expression as he walked into the area. Penny quickly broke down and asked, "Why would Mom say that last part and who is Max?"

"My dad picked me up and said, 'Max was your Mom's first love, he died on your mom's twenty-first birthday. It took her a long time to get over that. I had always believed that there was 'the one' that was your soulmate, meant for you and nobody else. It has taken me a long time to shake that thought. While I do believe that there are some people blessed like that such as your Aunt Lily and Uncle Marshall; they actually are the minority. For most of us, we have to work at it. I know your mother could not love you and your brother any more than she did. I know she loved me as well, but I was never brave enough to ask her to quantify her love for me against her love for Max. I knew it wouldn't be fair to either of us if I were to ask. Never ever doubt how much she loved you, ok?' It took a while for that to sink in, but I never quite understood it until a few years later when my brother and I convinced him to open his heart again."

Robin dropped her head at that point anticipating the glaring looks thrown her way when Penny would reveal her name as the harpy that shot down her father, but it never came.

Penny ended with this, "My father told me when he came home after being rebuffed that 'love is a gamble, but if you don't play you may never get hurt, but you will never win. Talking to that beautiful bass player with the yellow umbrella was the biggest gamble I ever took. I already had my whole life moving to Chicago but changed my mind based on one train trip. Most people would say I was stupid to do that, but if I didn't I would never have the life I do and even with what happened tonight and that the losses greatly outnumber the wins, but the quality of the wins more than made up for it. I can't blame her; she still is in love with somebody else.' Thankfully I am one of the lucky few, so far, (she offered a glare to her husband to not do anything to contradict her which allowed a brief chuckle from the audience) but to slightly disagree with Dad we still have to work at it. I know I will miss him every single day, Luke will as well, his grandchildren, friends, and students adored him, and Zoey and Quinn loved him. I also know he loved everybody that is currently in this room."

Robin and Lily both perked up and had hopeful looks on their faces when Penny brought up that last sentence. Robin's doubt quickly crept in before Lily chimed in psychically with the memory of her toast to Ted and Tracy about his emotional endurance. Robin remembered that moment and that seemed to unlock the multitude of memories and suddenly Ted was back in the proper places of their complicated history. The full gravity of the situation hit both women approximately at the same time as Lily mumbled something about her 'Grinchiness had reared its ugly head once again.'

Her contention of being vomit free since '23 was now in major jeopardy. The coinciding thought that her 'partner in crime' for that idiosyncrasy was now gone forever gave the final push which allowed the beer and doughnuts to leave Robin's stomach via the way they entered. It was all she could do to close her mouth and attempt to leave the room quietly before causing a commotion. Unfortunately the sound of her retching into the large fern in the entryway was heard by all before the door closed.

All the eyes left in the room focused on Lily, at least in her estimation and she slowly rose mouthing, "Sorry" repeatedly as she made her way to the door. As she reached for the handle she got a ping on her watch from Marshall stating "Korean Massage?" She turned back to where her husband was standing and nodded before opening the door and going to her friend.

A/N: Originally the two were going to remain unchanged in their feelings, or lack thereof, for Ted, but that was probably why this story has sat for as long as it has. I am fairly positive that this will be the only story I write for HIMYM, but semi-creative flashes cannot always be controlled...although the thought of a BtVS crossover could be intriguing. Regardless, there is room for an 'end of credits' scene.

Epilogue: When Lily got up she knew that it was time. She snuck out of her husband's embrace to make her way to the kitchen and make her famous pancakes. The week following the wake was subdued at the best, laconic at its worst. However, today would hopefully change that by visiting Ted's grave and saying the things she should have said long ago.

As Marshall placed the car in park the subtle shift brought Lily back to what she had to do. Getting out of the car she was surprised to see Robin and Barney's car parked in front of theirs. Marshall got to her side and started walking towards a tree that looked eerily reminiscent of the tree the two first exchanged their marriage vows. There were two small benches and Barney was seated on one looking off in the opposite direction from where they were coming.

Barney got up before the couple announced their presence and their eyes followed to see a distraught Robin walking slowly towards them. The three reached the Canadian-American at the same time surprising both her and Barney.

"Hey guys," came out in a croak and as a tear slid down her cheek Robin raised her arm to wipe it with the back of her hand showing she was holding a hand shovel which caused a gasp from the other three. Robin answered with a confused, "What?"

"Honey," Barney said placatingly, "I'm not exactly sure what third world tribal customs Canadians have for burial, but…" He stopped as the piercing blue eyes, and Ted's class, told him he was on exceedingly thin ice if he were to continue.

Marshall oblivious to the change offered, "I mean it is true that you come from a family that drinks wolf's blood."

Robin quickly responds, "I'm pretty sure it was just red Kool-aid with some syrup added, but…" and finished with a shrug. She turned to Lily, "I'm sorry I've been such a bitch lately," was stated by the two women simultaneously.

"Jinx" was reflexively called out by Barney. After realizing he had said that sputtered out, "You're right you both need to talk this out... But, I will need to collect a 'Get out of jinx' card from both of you," finishing with his usual bravado.

Robin placed a quick kiss on her husband before offering the answer, "I had a 'talk' with Ted," she looked to Lily who simply nodded answering that was why she was there, "And I placed my locket there." Robin brought Lily into a hug, "I'll set out the Pinot." Lily nodded and Robin whispered, "And there's one final thing I have to tell you about that day with Marvin."

A/N: Now it is complete. I will be interested to see what, if any, response this gets. Potentially skewing the responses I will state that I thought the ending worked for the series and having Ted and Robin getting together in the end was not simply reversing years of character development. As Robin pointed out (paraphrasing) one of the keys to chemistry is timing. They both needed to mature and accomplish certain things before they could be fully there for the other. As far as my other stories I cannot promise when or which will be next to publish, but I will do my best to complete everything I have started.