Beach

By: Alyson Tierney

Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, or any related Gilmore Girls characters or places mentioned. Those all belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB network. I also do not own Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay, Angel, or any related Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel characters or places mentioned. They belong to Joss Whedon and the WB and UPN networks. After this long paragraph it should be obvious that I am simply borrowing such characters for entertainment reasons, so don't sue.

Author's Note: This is a short four-chapter story that came to me one day as I was thinking about my two favorite shows and was thinking "Hey, how cool would it be to combine them?" Basically, this takes place after season 5 of Gilmore Girls, and two years after the demise of Sunnydale. There is a pair of lesbians in this story, so if that isn't your thing, please leave the page now. Thank you to all of those who checked the first chapter out. Even though you aren't reviewing, I know you're reading, so thanks so much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Two

"Oh, hey." Rory said, timidly, not sure what this redhead wanted.

"I saw you here and was wondering what a pretty girl like you was doing sitting on a beach all by herself." The redhead smiled, "Unless you come here to think, which I do a lot, too."

Rory nodded, "Yeah, I came here to think. My mom and I used to go swimming at beaches when I was younger. We never saw this one, though, and now that I see it, I think she'd love it here."

"Where is your mom?" The other woman asked, settling her toes in the tidal pool as well.

"She's at home, I think. I…haven't really talked to her in awhile." Rory said, a hint of sadness in her voice, "We live in a town called Stars Hollow, it's in Connecticut. Well she lives there now. I live…well right now I live in Hartford with my grandparents."

The redhead nodded, "Do you and your mom get along?"

Rory's eyes filled with tears as she spoke, "We used to. We were best friends."

The woman puckered her lips into a sympathetic pout, "I'm sorry." A few seconds of silence ensued before she perked up, "Oh, excuse my manners, I'm Willow. Willow Rosenberg-Maclay."

Rory smiled at Willow, "Nice to meet you. I'm Rory Gilmore. Well, Lorelai really. I was named after my mother, Lorelai Gilmore, but she calls me Rory."

"Rory's a nice name. It beats mine, and heck, most of my family's." Willow grinned.

Rory chuckled, "I like the name Willow."

Willow blushed, "So, you a writer?" She asked, gesturing to Rory's notebook.

Rory nodded, "Yeah. Well at least I was. I still am, I think. I wanted to be a journalist."

Willow looked interested, "What stopped you?"

Rory sighed, "Long story. Self-doubt, doubt from others, comments about me not being suited for it."

"What is your major now?" Willow asked.

Rory looked embarrassed almost, "I don't have one. I dropped out of college, and as a result, got kicked out of my mother's house."

Willow nodded, almost like she understood, "I got accepted to practically every college in the United States. Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Yale. I could have gone anywhere." The redhead cast her green eyes back to her family, "But I didn't. My friends, Buffy and Xander, they needed me in California, where we used to live. The way I look at it, though, is that I would never have met half of the people I know now if I'd come out East then. Tara…my…" Willow looked at Rory, gauging her reaction, "wife…I met her my first year of college."

Rory only smiled, "So it worked out for the best for you."

Willow nodded, "It did. My mother practically had a heart attack, though. She badly wanted me to get my Ivy League experience. But…she got over it. And so will your mom. Granted, my mom had the whole lesbian thing to deal with the next year so, yeah." The redhead laughed, and Rory joined in.

"How did you get all the way out here from California then?" Rory inquired. She'd heard so much about California and was amazed anyone could ever leave.

"We moved here almost two years ago." Willow looked like she was counting in her head, "Two years ago this August. Our town was buried in a big earthquake."

Rory gasped, "Sunnydale! I heard about that!"

Willow looked amazed that the young woman in front of her knew about Sunnydale, "Yeah. It was a whole thing. We got out safely, though, and went to LA, where that big goof with the Sponge Bob trunks worked, and stayed with him almost three months until we moved out here."

"I've never been to California. It's funny, I've been to Europe, Canada, and DC, but never out West." Rory informed her.

"It's not all that it's cracked up to be." Willow chuckled, "Pollution, noise, and earthquakes. No, thank you."

"Will! Come on, we're gonna bury your feet next!" The blonde called out. Willow and Rory both turned to see that both women had buried their feet in the sand, and were ready for Willow to join them.

"Coming, Buffy!" Willow called, and then turned to Rory, "You know what I think?"

"What?" Rory asked, mystified.

"I think you should call your mom. Maybe things have calmed down enough for you two to talk." Willow said, her green eyes dancing.

"I don't know…" Rory said, her hope and her gut mixing the emotions around in her mind.

"Call her." Willow said, "And then come play with us. We can bury your feet."

Rory smiled as Willow raced back to her friends, stooping and grabbing the other woman, with golden brown hair in a kiss. Rory felt a sense of happiness and then a jolt of guilt. Reaching for her purse, she decided Willow was right. It was time to call Lorelai and end the silence.

Rory dialed the familiar number, and waited for it to ring. She'd called her mom's cell instead of the home number, figuring that since it was Saturday afternoon now, her mom would be out. It rang once…twice…Rory knew if it got to five rings, it would go to voicemail. She sincerely hoped it wouldn't. Three rings. The call was halfway through the fourth ring before someone finally picked up. Rory heard her mom's beautiful voice on the other end, saying just two words, "Hello? Rory?"

Rory swallowed a few times before speaking, "Hi." Her voice was timid, and Rory realized she should probably speak louder or her mom wouldn't hear her over the waves lapping against the edge of the rock.

"Hey." Lorelai said. It sounded like she wasn't sure what else to say. Rory really wasn't either, but she was the one who had initiated the call, so she figured she better say more.

"I…miss you." Rory managed to get out. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she needed to say, but she was finding it hard to form words.

"I miss you too, baby." Lorelai said, sounding like she was trying to keep from crying.

"I drove out to the beach this morning. We've never been to this beach, but it got me thinking of when we used to go to the beach in the summers." Rory said, a catch in her voice.

Lorelai chuckled, "Those were fun times. Remember that time when I tried to bury you in the sand, but you kept wiggling so much, I just let you bury me?"

Rory smiled, "Yeah. I made my first Mommy-Castle."

"Which beach did you choose today?" Lorelai asked.

"Kingston Beach. It's in Massachusetts. I just kind of drove, wasn't exactly planning on this exact beach. I met someone here, though, and they told me to call you." Rory said, glancing over at Willow and her family. The youngest girl was now on the sand helping bury Willow's feet, and both guys were playing catch in the water with a Nerf ball.

"You met someone, huh? Cute?" Lorelai teased her daughter.

"She's a girl, Mom. She also has a wife." Rory informed her.

"They're always taken!" Lorelai exclaimed, and Rory laughed.

"Mom, I'm sorry." Rory said, after a few moments of silence.

Rory heard Lorelai sigh, "It's okay. I should have been a better listener. I just shut you out. I'm sorry, too."

"No, I should have listened to reason before throwing it all away. I may never, ever get it back." Rory said, mournfully, "I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not. Confused? Yes. Idiot? No." Lorelai said, her voice soft.

"Very confused." Rory agreed, "Hey, Mom?"

"Yeah?" Lorelai asked.

"Want to go to the beach?" Rory asked, hopefully.

Lorelai chuckled, "Well it so happens that I was watching Charlie's Angels on DVD for the five thousandth time, and, yeah, a beach outing sounds much better. Can I meet you there in about an hour and a half?"

"Mom, it took me three hours to get here! Plus, do you actually know where this beach is?" Rory asked her thoughts in high gear.

"I'm going to take the Interstate, and yeah, I know where Kingston Beach is." Lorelai said, patiently.

Rory giggled, "Okay then. See you soon?"

"See you very soon." Lorelai corrected, her voice becoming happier with each sentence.

"Oh, Mom?" Rory asked.

"I love you too." Lorelai said, without hesitation.

"Well yeah, that, and can you bring my suit? I kind of don't have it." Rory said, sheepishly.

"Absolutely. Until an hour and a half from now." Lorelai told her daughter.

"Bye, Mom." Rory said, and closed her phone with a snap. Smiling, she gathered her notebook, purse, and shoes and headed over to Willow and her family. She was nervous about interrupting a family outing, but Willow grabbed her hand and led her over to the group.

"Guys, this is Rory." Willow began, "This is my wife, Tara." Willow said, pointing to her, "My best friend, Buffy, and her little sister, Dawn. And those big goofballs in the water are Buffy's fiancée, Angel, and my other best friend, Xander."

"Hi, Rory. It's nice to meet you. Want to join us in burying Dawnie's feet?" Tara asked, gesturing to where Dawn's feet were half-buried in a mound of sand.

Rory smiled shyly, "Sure. Hi, Dawn."

The teenager gave Rory a big smile, "Hi!" Rory flopped down in the sand, her worries about intruding forgotten. Everyone seemed nice and friendly, and it was nice to have someone to talk to, even though she barely knew Willow and Dawn, and everyone else. Logan, Lane, and Paris were all out of town this summer, so the last month had been incredibly lonely.

To Be Continued…