The best choice Anne ever made was to travel abroad as a teacher. Sure, Avonlea was her home, but Anne loved teaching more than anything, and when she was offered the position to travel overseas, she jumped at the chance. seven years of her life was spent in Ireland at the request of an old family friend, getting tons of letters, emails and the occasional phone call from Marilla, Matthew and Diana. They all talked of how much they missed her, so, on the last day of school before summer break on her last year in Dublin, Anne nearly broke down. Long had she made the choice to return home, much to the chagrin of her students. Her students crowded around her and gave her goodbye gifts and promised to write and email as much as possible. Anne assured them she'd answer every letter and email they sent.

After sending them along there way with many a tearful hug, Anne started packing up her classroom when a fellow teacher stopped by. "Anne, dear," Milly never knocked, and this time was no different. "Is this really your last day?"

Anne smiled sadly and nodded. "I can't believe it. I mean, I know I promised Diana that I'd come home a long time ago but it still feels like I still have so much to learn here."

Milly smiled back, "oh, I know what you mean. I've been working here for almost twelve years and not a day goes by that I don't learn something new from my pupils."

"It's not just the students." Anne replied, hugging herself, "it's you guys too. All the teachers, the staff, maybe every person in Dublin. I keep thinking that this is a mistake. I love Ireland."

Milly laughed," and we love you, dear. But we're only one corner of the world. Go see others."

"I've already seen Avonlea," Anne nearly whined, making Milly laugh again.

"Go home, Anne, dear. I know you miss it. You would stay here if you didn't."

"I guess you're right."

"I know I am. I always am. Now, let's get you packed up and ready to go."

Anne nodded and together, Anne and Milly started packing. It took them almost 2 hours to collect every small touch Anne had made to the classroom, every book she's put in the library, all the photos she had up by her desk, and all the gifts her students had made over the years. In that time, some of their fellow teachers stopped by to say goodbye and give Anne going away cards. Some stayed for longer, helping to clean up, and some just dropped by. In the end, Anne was close to crying no less than seven times and actually cried twice. Standing in the empty, blank canvas of a classroom, was enough for the third time.

After loading all her things in her car and hugging Milly and the other teachers for the final time, and promising them all to write as much as possible, Anne took one final look at what had been her second home for seven years, she got in her car and drove away.

The loneliness set in even more when she got to her mostly empty apartment. She'd had most of her stuff sent home to Avonlea before her, and had had a packing party almost a month ago. The only things left were a couple of things meant to get her through her last weeks in Dublin. No pictures, paintings, or flowers were there to brighten up the place. The usual laundry, dirty dishes and unfinished sewing projects were cleaned up and sent home with everything else. For the first time, Anne was glad she was leaving the next day. She wasn't sure she could continue to live in this dingy and lonely apartment.

She had a quick microwave meal, typed a few pages of her story, then laid down on the couch she had sold to her landlord that was the only furniture in the apartment, and drifted off to sleep with only a little trouble.

The next morning, Anne woke to the sound of her alarm. Even though she had fallen asleep much earlier than she normally would've, the alarm was still jarring at 5 am. Her flight wasn't for a while but she liked to be ready. She still had stuff to send home ahead of her leaving.

She groaned while rolling out of bed. Jumping up, she rummaged through her suitcase to find a fresh pair of pants and a t-shirt. Grabbing it, she went to the bathroom and showered for the last time in this apartment. Once she was done, she put on her clothes and makeup, grabbing everything as she went and throwing it into her travel bag. She looked around her bathroom, making sure she had everything, before drawing a smiley face in the fogged-up mirror and exited for the last time.

Grabbing a smoothie she had been saving for this date, Anne tossed all her stuff into her bag and sat on the couch. It was crazy how much could change in a month. Just earlier this June, everything had been bright and colourful, and now it was a dingy apartment wit nothing except a couch, a bright, stickered suitcase, and a spirited red-headed girl. Anne sighed. She'd loved this place and now she'd never see it again. She could always come back to the city, email her friends and talk to fellow teachers once and a while, but this apartment, as soon as she stepped out, would be gone forever. The loneliness had set in again.

One last sigh escaped her lips, and Anne got up, grabbed her suitcase and left the apartment, dropping her keys on the kitchen island as she went. She took one long look as she left and closed the door behind her.

On her way down to her car, she was stopped once by a neighbour she knew well enough. They chatted briefly, hugged, and said a quick goodbye before Anne finally made it to her car. First stop, the post office to drop off the stuff from her classroom. As she made her way through the familiar streets, she let herself reminisce, bopping along to the radio. Dropping her stuff off was painless enough, though there was a bit of a hassle involving the shipping address, which was resolved quickly.

The next stop was the car dealership. Anne had resolved to sell her car for a flat rate, which she got. She thanked the employees and found a cab to the airport, where she was about two and a half hours ahead of her flight.

Getting through security was painless and sitting at the gate was boring, but by the time the plane at her gate was unloading, Anne was starting to get excited. Her home was only a flight away. She was practically bouncing by the time she was seated, though, due to the exhausting week that had transpired before, she had fallen asleep by the time the plane took off and didn't wake up until the plane touched down in Charlottetown.