Thank you for all of the positive feedback on this fic! Its is quickly becoming one of my favourites to write.

The Pact, Part Ten
"The Time of Your Life"

Ross and Rachel made themselves comfortable in the far corner of Central Perk. It was funny that they had chosen such a warm, familiar place to have this discussion. They quickly ordered their beverages, but once the waitress left them alone, they found that beginning the discussion was not as easy as it would have been ten years ago.

"So..." Ross started.

"So..." Rachel replied, and laughed uncomfortably.

"I um, I wanted to apologize, Rach. I was way out of line at the zoo today,"

"No, no, hey, we were both there ya know? We both wanted..." Rachel paused, realizing that she had no idea what Ross wanted. Hell, she had no idea what *she* wanted.

"Rach, I...I have to go back to London tomorrow morning. I have to go back to my wife. But..."

"But what?" Rachel looked at Ross intently.

"But I don't know what...what all of this means?"

"Ross, are you still in love with me?"

"Are you still in love with me?" Ross replied.

"Please don't answer my question with a question," Rachel said, exasperated.

"Rach, I don't know. I mean, I loved you for so long, ya know? And ten years ago...hell, five years ago, I'd say yeah, definitely, but now...now I don't know."

"Well, do you love Emily?" Rachel asked, fighting to keep her voice even and calm.

"Yeah...I guess I do."

"Well, I think you've answered you're own question, then," Rachel said, taking a sip of coffee.

A long pause followed, and as Rachel studied the design on the wooden table, Ross studied Rachel. The woman sitting in front of him was quite different from the one that he'd known ten years ago. She'd grown, in so many ways. She seemed more settled, more settled in who she was, in what she needed. But brewing just below the calm surface, he knew that the old Rachel still existed to some extent. That spark of a spontanious, sometimes irrational spirit still shone in her eyes. Ross has seen evidence of that when he's kissed her earlier that day. He felt it in his soul. Deep down, he knew he would always love Rachel, but he wondered if what they once had was worth losing all that he had now.

"You never answered my question, Rach," Ross finally said.

"What question?"

"Are you still in love with me?"

"Oh. I, um...I don't know. I try not to think about it. About you...anymore."

"Oh."

"So, what time is your flight tomorrow?" Rachel asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Um...1:30," Ross said, taking Rachel's hint.

"Maybe we can share a cab," Rachel said quietly.

"Sure," Ross replied. The two sat in a strange, yet comfortable silence. Neither one of them sure what was going to happen, once they got back to their respective lives, and both were too scared to ask.

***

~The next day~

Chandler woke up suddenly, his heart beating wildly. He realized that he was sweating, and as he sat up, he felt disoriented and had to think about where he was. As he took a deep breath, he realized that he had been having a nightmare. While the nightmare itself was horrible, he smiled at the notion that he had even had a nightmare. It had been a long time since he could remember dreaming-he knew he'd had dreams, but he rarely slept long enough, or deep enough to wake up and have any recollection of anything. His smile broadened when he saw that he was in Monica's bed. He recalled the previous night, and realized that it was hands-down the greatest night of his life. He never, ever thought he would find himself making love to Monica. It was like the best dream he'd ever had, times a million. His smile faded slightly when he realized that he was alone. He looked at the clock-it read 8:05. He pulled himself out of bed, and got dressed. It took him a while to find all of his clothes-geez, were they just throwing their clothes as far as they could last night? Chandler chuckled slightly at the thought. He pulled his baby blue polo over his head, and headed out into the living room. He stopped in the doorway, and smiled at the sight before him. Monica, on the sofa, his daughter in her arms. Elaina was busy colouring, as Monica braided her sandy brown hair. Monica looked up when she heard Chandler.

"Hey you," Monica smiled broadly.

"Hi gorgeous," Chandler said, making his way toward the sofa. As he inched closer, Elaina looked up from her colouring, and upon seeing her father, jumped off of Monica's lap and into Chandler's arms. Chandler kissed her, then leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Monica's lips. Monica stood up, and kissed Chandler on the temple.

"I'm gonna start breakfast," she said, "The gang will be here soon."

"Okay. I'm am gonna pack, and get Elaina dressed," Chandler said, as he headed toward the guest room.

"Kay," Monica said. She sighed heavily. Although she was sad that Chandler and Elaina were leaving, the thought that they would be back brought a smile to her lips. Of course, she had been smiling all morning anyway. Thoughts of her night with Chandler flooded her mind, as she fired up the stove. He had been amazing, and Monica could not believe that she had never realized how much he had cared for her before last night. She was truely lucky that he had come back. Everything about this felt right. She was finally going to have the family she'd always wanted. She flipped on the radio, and hummed along at the Green Day song that filled the air.

what's the consolation prize?
economy sized dreams of hope
Give me something that I need
satisfaction guarenteed
Because I'm thinking about a brand new hope
the one I've never known
and where it goes

Because I'm thinking about a brand new hope
the one I've never known
'cause now I know
it's all that I wanted
("Macy's Day Parade", by Green Day, 2001)

***

The group ate breakfast in silence. They all knew that this would be their last meal together for a while. Chandler, Elaina, Ross, Rachel and Joey were all flying out today. As they sat in silence, all of them wondered what this reunion had meant. Would they keep in contact with each other? Would they vow to meet more often? Were Ross and Rachel getting along? The silence was finally broken when Mark asked his father for more juice.

"So, maybe we should try to do something like this every year or something," Phoebe suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe we can rotate which city we go to or something," Joey added.

"So, maybe LA next year?" Chandler said.

"Of course there's nothing like New York," Joey pondered.

"And Mon and Pheobe and Mike and the kids all live here..." Rachel added.

"And Chandler and Elaina are moving back to New York," Chandler said, winking at Monica.

"What?" the group said simultaniously.

"I want to come back," Chandler said matter-of-factly, "Plus, I have so much to come back to," he added, gazing at Monica. Rachel caught on, and smiled.

"Aw, I wanna come back to New York!" Joey whined.

"Joey, don't you make, like millions of dollars?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Joey said.

"So just move back! What's stopping you?"

"Yeah!" Joey yelled excitedly.

The gang laughed, and continued eating, happy to have the time together, but sad that it was soon ending.


Ross was the first to fly out. He and Rachel had shared a cab, but both avoided any uncomfortable topics. Chandler, Monica, Joey and Elaina shared another cab, and Mike, Phoebe and the kids a third. At Ross' gate, the gang exchanged hugs and tears, and all promised to call and write. Ross looked over his shoulder as he walked toward the gate. The group that stood behind him was his family, in so many ways. He wanted more than anything to move back to New York. He was jealous that Chandler and Joey were going to be back here soon. But his life was in England now, and he knew what he had to do. He had to make things right with Emily. No matter what.

Rachel flew out forty minutes after Ross, and as she headed for the gate, she found that she had no desire to be anywhere but in New York. She shook her head and got onto the plane. Once she got home, everything would be fine, everything would be back to normal. The only problem was...she felt as though she was already home.

Chandler and Elaina hugged everyone quickly, and prepared to board the plane home. Elaina started crying when she realized that Monica wasn't coming with them. Chandler smiled at Monica, and promised to be back in about a week, once loose ends were tied up in Philadelphia. For her part, Monica had agreed to start looking into schools for Elaina.
Chandler wanted her to get into a routine right away after the move. Chandler and Elaina made their way toward the plane, and Elaina's sobbing grew more desperate and pleading.

"I know, I know, honey, I feel the same way. But we'll see Monica soon," Chandler knew that Elaina could not hear anything that he was saying. He simply said it more to convince himself that everything would go smoothly. He had no reason to believe that it wouldn't...yet.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yeah yeah, it's short, but If I don't go get in line for Harry Potter now, I'll end up sitting next to an obnoxious 13 year-old who spits gummi bears at the screen. uuuuuh.
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