Disclaimers: I don't own anything except for Hope, Faith and Dustin.
Author's Note 2004/03/12: Chapter completely revised. I tried to kill every misspelling and grammatical errors but I'm not sure if I won the final battle.
Memories
Chapter 2: The souvenirs
It's late at night and the town of Stars Hollow is deserted. Leila is sleeping close to Rory's heart. Rory starts to walk around town, passing in front Luke's, she looks through the window and sees that it's close and Luke is finishing cleaning the counter. Rory hides in the shadow, making sure that Luke won't be able to realise that she's back.
"Luke, coffee!" Lorelai screams.
"No, you've had enough today." Luke says without looking at Lorelai.
"But Luke, I'm in major withdrawal of caffeine here, if you don't give me some I might collapse on your floor! And that would scare the customers away."
"You're already scaring them away and the answer is still no!"
Rory enters the dinner, "Luke, coffee please!"
Luke fills a cup of coffee for Rory in front of Lorelai, "It's not fair, I'm the mom! I should get the coffee."
Lorelai makes a moue and Luke answers, "What can I say? She said please."
"Please!!! Please, please pleeaase! Do you want me to beg on my knees?" Luke gives her a cup of coffee.
'Too bad they never realised their feelings for each other', Rory thinks. She resumes her walking and passing in front of Doose's market…
"Dean, I didn't mean to kiss him!" says Rory while tears come out of her eyes.
"But you did Rory, and you never told me about it."
"But we were broken up already."
"Yes, but don't you get it, he was my enemy." Dean screams.
"It didn't have to be that way!"
"And now he's back and you're friends?"
"He's changed, Military school changed him!"
"And you really think he's after your friendship only?"
"Dean, it's not because you suffered a failed marriage that we have to get back together!"
"I love you."
"I want us to be friends."
Passing in front of the gazebo, Rory sits for a minute…
Tristan takes Rory's hand and says, "I've always liked you Rory."
"No, I was a challenge nothing more."
Tristan kisses her lips tenderly and adds, "I love you."
"You can't drop a bomb like that on you best friend Tristan."
"I'm not asking you to love me; I just wanted you to know."
"And what am I supposed to do now?"
"Same thing you always do, Rory. Run away from me."
Tears starts running down her cheeks, she hadn't run away from him, she had kept him as her closest friend and she had used him so many times. Guilt builds up inside her heart as she keeps on walking. Walking on the bridge…
"You're back!" Rory puts her arms around Jess and hugs him.
"I came back for us."
Rory looks into his brown eyes and whispers, "There is no us anymore Jess."
"I know I should have talked to you but…"
"Please, don't! I need time. Why don't we try to be friends?"
"I love you Rory."
She keeps on walking; she is now standing in front of the cemetery. She seeks for a specific tombstone. Finding it, she sits in front of it in the snow, passing her finger on the letters she can't read because of the darkness. She whips because she knows exactly what's written there.
"Why didn't you tell me before? I would have stayed with you!" Rory screams.
"I wanted to see my baby girl graduate from college."
"But what am I going to do without you now that I've graduated?"
"You have plenty of people loving you, you'll do just fine." Lorelai assures her crying daughter while she starts to cry herself.
"How long do we have?"
"A month, two months maybe? The doctors don't know."
"Can't they operate you?"
"Yes, but if they do there is a ninety-five percent chances that I'll become a vegetable and I don't want that!"
"But there's a five percent chances, you have to try it, please mom."
The day of the operation, Luke is sniffing besides Lorelai's bed and realises it might be his last chance to says the words he has kept inside his heart for so long, "Come back Lorelai, that way I'll be able to love you."
Lorelai passes a hand on his cheek whispering: "I love you too Luke, now kiss me good luck."
Luke kisses her and leaves the room for a moment. Rory sitting beside her mom tries to smile and be cheerful, "I'll see you soon mom."
"I'll always see you honey, remember that."
The doctors come in to take Lorelai to the operation table.
Three hours later, a doctor finally comes out of the operation room; the whole town is waiting for the diagnostic. Rory gets up, "How is she?"
The doctor shakes his head and explains, "There was a haemorrhage and we couldn't stop it. She passed away at four fifteen. I'm sorry."
The doctor turns to go back to his other duties but he can take a second step, Rory runs to him with rage and screaming, "You killed her! You killed her!" She cries and punches the doctor with her small fists when two strong arms immobilise her fists in front of her. The doctor exits the room in a hurry. She turns around to see who stopped her screaming: "I though you were my friend! Why did you stop me?"
Rory collapses on the floor and mourns her mother while Tristan sits on the floor holding her close. Luke joins them and within minutes everybody in the room is holding on to each other with Rory in the middle.
Died 2007, August seventh, four fifteen. Rory decides to go to her house when she realizes that it's not hers anymore.
"I have to leave Tristan; I can't live here anymore, not without her!" Rory murmurs while walking around the first place she has been able to call home in her whole life.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to sell and move away from here."
"Don't do that, you're in shock, you're going to regret it if you sell."
"If I don't sell, I won't have any money to leave."
"I'll give you money but keep the house!"
"I can't take your money; I've already taken too much from you already."
"I'll buy the house then!"
"You don't need it!"
"But when you do, I'll sell it back to you."
"Is there any way I can change your mind?" Rory asks while coming to stand in front of Tristan.
Taking her in his arms to embrace her, he replies: "No."
She walks on the familiar streets, she's only a corner away when she sees him, sitting on the porch of what used to be home.
"Make love to me Tristan." Rory begs while still in Tristan arms.
"No, you're in shock, your mother died a couple of hours ago, you don't want that." Tristan tries to move from Rory but she is holding on too tight.
"Yes I want it and I know you've wanted it for a long time." Shock flashes in Tristan's eyes while he still tries to get away from Rory.
"But…"
"Just make me feel Tristan." Rory raises herself to kiss him knowing that he can't say no to her. The woman he's been dreaming of for the last seven years is kissing him on her own will. He kisses her back, losing himself inside her as he makes love to her, two, three, four times before falling asleep.
Tristan has been sitting on this porch for the last year and half. Every night after work he would go eat and then sit on the porch 'till one in the morning. Sometimes Jess, Dean or Luke would wait with him. But every time, he heard a noise, with or without witnesses, he talks to his best friend, hoping that she will come out of the shadow but every time he is deceived. If it wasn't for the promise he made Lorelai, he would have tried to move on.
"Well, I'm going to bed, good night!" Rory kisses and hugs Lorelai then kisses Tristan softly on the cheek. Without another word, she walks inside her room.
"Well, I guess I'll be going then." Tristan gets up to leave but is stopped by Lorelai. Looking into her usually bright blue eyes that are very sad and wary at the moment, he decides to listen to her.
Sitting back on the couch beside her, he opens his mouth to say something but Lorelai puts her hand on his mouth and whispers, "Don't, I have to talk to you."
"Every…"
"Let me speak, Rory doesn't want to listen to me. I don't have much time left so listen. Okay?"
"Yes." Tristan waits for Lorelai to speak but instead she starts to cry.
Tristan puts an arm around her shoulders then she starts to speak, "I know that I won't make it tomorrow. Rory doesn't want to believe it but I won't. Take care of her for me and when she's ready tell her that I love her with all my heart, that I lived a life full of joy, happiness and than I'll always be proud of her no matter what. Tell her that the only thing I regret I have is not being able to meet my future grandchildren. At least I got to meet the daddy."
"Who is it?" Tristan asks worried.
Lorelai gives him a sad smile and says: "I know you love her and she's going to need you. Be patient, be there for her."
"I promise you that I'll always be there for her, but I'm not going to put my life on hold because she'll never want me the way I want her."
"I love you Tristan, you can go now."
"What will you do?"
"Spend every second I have left awake, looking at my beautiful daughter, guarding her sleep one last time." Lorelai gets up and silently walks inside Rory's room.
He had failed his promises. During the wake, Rory had escaped through the back door, never to be seen again. He had bought her house to give her money to mourn the way she wanted but she left without saying goodbye and that's what broke him the most. Looking at his watch, he realises that he has five minutes to go before driving back to his apartment. The cold is getting inside him, looking at the door like so many times before, he wishes he had the courage to go inside but he had closed this house the day of the wake and no one would go in until Rory returns.
One, it's time to leave, drying the tears he hasn't realised were falling, he gets up and starts walking toward his car when he sees the shadow moving, must be his imagination but like always he starts talking to Rory, "Rory, is that you? If it's you, come back, I need you. I'm lost without you. I've been waiting here for you to come back for so long, if it's you come out, please!" Not seeing any movement in the shadows, Tristan sits in the snow and cries, "I just miss you so much Rory, I've sent people looking for you all around the world but you've disappeared from the face of earth."
Hearing that, Rory makes sure her daughter has enough covering her to keep her warm for a while and then gently puts Leila in the snow. Walking out of the shadows, she whispers, "And I've missed you too."
Hearing her voice, Tristan gets up, and muttering, "It's not good, I'm earring voices now!"
Taking a step closer to him, Rory dries her tears and smiles, softly teasing him, "Then you must be seeing things too which might be pretty bad."
Seeing her, Tristan runs to close the distance between them. He holds her in his arms begging, "Tell me I'm not dreaming."
"You're not."
Tristan just tightens his embrace, saying softly, "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too."
"I love you"
"I know you do."
Tristan kisses her with all the passion he's been holding for the last year and half. Rory returns the kiss for a little while before breaking it, "There is someone I want you to meet."
"Are you here to stay?"
"Depends if you like the person I want you to meet…"
"Are you in love with that person?"
Rory gives him a bright smile, "Pretty much!"
"I don't think I want to meet that person then."
"You'll love that person, close your eyes and stay here." Tristan closes his eyes, while Rory goes back into the shadows. When she comes back with Leila, she demands, "Open your eyes now!" Opening his eyes, Tristan sees Rory holding a baby, she puts Leila in his arms and saying, "Tristan, meet your daughter, Lorelai Faith Gilmore."
Tristan falls in the snow, tears running down his cheeks, rocking his daughter while keeping her close to his heart, he whispers, "I'm so sorry Rory!"
Author's Note:Liked it? Hated it? Why? Drop a note.
Siaram