Author's Note: I had intended to end this on chapter 21, but it looks like chapter 22 will be the epilogue. Thanks for sticking with me!

Chapter 21
"Breakthrough"

"Rory," Emily called as she entered the pool house. "Are you here?"

"In my room Grandma," Rory called as she threw a sweater over her head.

"Ah, there you are," Emily replied as she entered the room. "I feel like we haven't talked in days."

"Well you were in Paris last week," Rory reminded her as she continued to go about the business of getting ready to leave.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if you had some time to have lunch with me today? I'd love to hear all about the law firm and how your community service is going," Emily said perching on a chair in the corner of the room indicating that this wouldn't be a short visit.

"Well," Rory half-sighed. "The law firm is fine, it's just filing. Community service is going well. I'm starting to make a dent in the hours and its been nice having Marty around a few times a week."

"Marty?"

"Yeah, you've met Marty," Rory replied. "He's a friend of my from school and he volunteers at the community center a few times a week so I've been working with him."

"Does Logan know about this?" Emily asked.

"There's nothing to know," Rory said giving Emily a puzzled look.

"You're working side-by-side with another boy," Emily said. "That would have caused some talk in my day."

"There's no talk," Rory insisted with a smirk. "Marty is a just a friend. Besides, I have Logan and Marty has a girlfriend."

"Alright," Emily replied skeptically. After a beat she added, "Now, how do you feel about lunch?"

"I actually can't do lunch today," Rory replied apologetically. "I'm going out."

"You don't have community service do you?"

"No, not today," Rory replied as she inserted her earrings.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked feeling put out by her granddaughter.

"I'm actually heading to Stars Hollow," Rory replied almost sheepishly. It wasn't her intent to let Emily know about this little visit back home. Although she would be there with Logan and there was no guarantee that she would ever see her mother, Rory knew that Emily wouldn't take well to the idea.

"Really?" Emily replied trying to remain cool and collected. She hated the thought of Rory going back to that small town. She was destined for something far greater than becoming Peach Queen of Stars Hollow. "If you have to pick things up from your house I'd be happy to go get them for you."

"I'm not going home," Rory said. The reply seemed to quell Emily's fear for the moment. "There's a festival that Logan and I were going to check out."

"A festival?"

"Yeah, the Stars Hollow Peach Festival is today," Rory said.

"A peach festival?" Emily gulped. "Are you sure you want to go that?"

"Yeah," Rory said grabbing her purse. "I missed last year's festival because we were in Europe and I was hoping to catch up on things."

"You're going to see your mother?" Emily asked.

"Nothing is definite," Rory said quickly as she walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

Emily, not one to end a conversation because the other party was uncomfortable, followed Rory and asked, "So you didn't make plans to see her?"

"No, we made no definite plans," Rory said filling a cup of coffee.

"But Logan is going with you," Emily clarified.

"Logan is meeting me there. He had a meeting with his parents about something," Rory replied.

"Well have fun," Emily struggled to let the words leave her mouth. She didn't want to discourage Rory from going home, or to seeing Lorelai, but part of her thought she would lose Rory forever if Lorelai was able to get a hold of her for the day.

"Thanks," Rory said surprised. She had expected a lecture or some sort of disapproving glance from Emily, but she received nothing of the sort. "Well I should be leaving."

"Of course don't let me keep you," Emily replied. Emily left the pool house before Rory and made sure not to let her smile fade until she was safely in the house.

Emily had no ill-will toward Lorelai or Rory. In fact, she had hoped that they would eventually find their way back to talking again. Emily had held years of regret for her relationship with Lorelai, knowing that it was partly Lorelai's fault for running off, but also knowing that she did nothing to mend fences. Instead of going to her daughter and trying to talk some sense into her she let the hurt she felt consume her and she used her pain to build a wall when it came to Lorelai. It was easier to be critical and firm than admit that she may have had something to do with Lorelai's decision to leave home.

Emily remembered being a small child and longing to dress in the fancy party dresses her mother owned. She couldn't wait to wear makeup and go to parties. From birth Lorelai seemed to have an inherent distain for the finer things in life. She didn't like dressing up, she'd rather wear pajamas. She didn't like lobster. She'd rather have frozen fish sticks. It seemed that she didn't like anything Emily enjoyed and a chasm developed between them because it.

Emily had secretly envied the relationship that Lorelai had with Rory. She remembered the day Lorelai was born. She had wanted a daughter so badly. She never told Richard of course. All men want happy, healthy sons to carry on the family the name, but Emily secretly longed for a girl and she was ecstatic when she found she'd gotten her wish. Maybe that was the problem. Emily had imagined a wonderful future of mother-daughter bonding over china and crystal and ballroom dancing. Maybe Lorelai sensed that Emily wanted to be close, but only on her terms. She seemed to recall an afternoon when Lorelai had sat her down and begged her to listen to a song by some popular musician, King or Duke or something royal. Emily cringed when she heard the noise emanating from the cassette player and she verbalized her dislike of the song. Lorelai never called her into her room to listen to anything again.

Emily sighed as she pondered the past she shared with her daughter. She thought about the relationship she had with Rory and wondered if, after today, would things ever be the same again?

"Fill 'er up," Lorelai said tapping her empty to-go cup on the diner counter.

"Keep your pants on," Luke grumped as he delivered the check to the table by the window.

"Is that what you really want?" Lorelai flirted with him.

"Yes," Luke replied not dropping his gruff tone, but giving her an almost undetectable wink as he passed her.

Lorelai smiled at him at he walked into the kitchen. She had to admit that things were going well, very well, between them. The living situation had some kinks but turning two lives, two homes and two grocery lists into one turned out to be a lot easier than she had anticipated. Everything seemed to be falling into place. Life with Luke was almost perfect, the inn was doing well and her mother wasn't talking to her, which made for far fewer tedious phone conversations. The only thing missing was Rory.

Lorelai noticed Rory's absence at home and in town a lot more recently than she had all summer. Maybe it was the school supplies at Doose's or the smell of a new 64 pack of Crayola crayons, but school supplies reminder of Rory and Rory reminded her that they hadn't lived under the same roof for a very long time.

"Here," Luke said setting the refilled coffee cup next to her. "Was waiting really so bad?"

"Of course," she said picking up the cup and taking a large sip. "Now that's the good stuff. So are you almost ready to go?"

"You know I don't do town festivals," Luke reminded her.

"Come on Luke," she whined. Lorelai had spent the better part of the week attempting to get Luke to accompany her to the Peach Festival.

"You know I don't do town festivals," Luke began to rant. "Yet you insist on trying to get me to go to every bi-weekly festival this town has and how many have I gone to?"

"None," Lorelai replied grumpily.

"Exactly," Luke said.

"But you've been to the Firelight Festival," Lorelai pointed out. "In fact, I've seen you at two Firelight Festivals so I don't know why you insist on saying you've never attended."

"That festival is different," Luke tried to explain.

"Why?" Lorelai put him on the spot.

"Well because there's Founder's Day Punch," Luke said.

"You hate Founder's Day Punch."

"I don't hate it."

"You do to," Lorelai gasped. "You made fun of Rachel for getting drunk there."

"I did not make fun," Luke defended himself.

"Yeah, okay," Lorelai scoffed. "You're coming to the Peach Festival with me." Lorelai reached across the counter and grabbed his wrist.

"I'm not going," Luke insisted. "Taylor is out there passing out 'Life is peachy' buttons. I don't wear buttons, let alone ones that say 'Life is peachy.'"

"Luke," she whined.

"I have customers here. I can't just close up."

Lorelai scanned the diner and noticed that she was current the only customer in the diner. "I'm the only one here and I'm leaving to go to the Peach Festival with my boyfriend."

"Have fun," Luke said smugly.

"You're coming," Lorelai said sternly. "You can enter your horrible peach pie into the bake off. Come on."

Lorelai started walking the length of the counter and since Luke liked his wrist attached to his arm he followed until she tried to get him toward the door, then he stood bearing down and she couldn't move him. He chuckled as she got behind him and tried to push him toward the door and he marveled at her tenacity. He knew full well that he would go to the festival because he couldn't deny her anything. However, the fight to get him to go was more entertaining than the actual festival. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest and waited while she tried to pull him out the door without any success.

"That's it," Lorelai sighed. "You're going and I don't care if I have to use your weakness against you."

"I'd like to see that," Luke teased her.

Lorelai reached down and grabbed for the back of Luke's knee. She got a hold of it as Luke struggled to get away from her. Luke had an Achilles heel so to speak and that was the fact that the back of his knees were incredibly ticklish. Whenever Lorelai wanted to torture him she went for the backs of his knees and he erupted into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Lorelai," he said warningly. "Stop."

"You asked for it," she said not stopping.

The two locked arms and they danced in a clumsy circle while Lorelai tried to get Luke and he tried to stop that from happening. Every once in a while Lorelai would get a good grasp of him and he would giggle like a Kindergartener. The two were so oblivious to the outside world that they didn't hear the little bells above the diner door jingle.

"Hh-mm," Rory cleared her throat to get their attention. Luke and Lorelai stopped their childish wrestling match and looked over toward the door to find Rory staring at them. An awkward silence enveloped the diner while Luke stood upright and cleared his throat.

"Rory, hi," he said awwardly. "What brings you here?" Luke backed away from Lorelai and walked back behind the counter to grab a coffee mug. "Coffee?"

"Sure," Rory said quietly. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, I appreciate the interruption," Luke said looking pointedly at Lorelai.

Lorelai just stood and stared at Rory as if she weren't real. She wondered if her eyes were deceiving her for a moment. For some reason Rory and Stars Hollow almost didn't connect in her mind.

"Are you here for the festival?" Luke asked setting the cup on the counter.

"Yeah," Rory said stealing a glance to her left and catching Lorelai's eye before shifting her gaze back to Luke.

"You came for the Peach Festival?" Lorelai asked incredulous.

"You said it was this week," Rory replied.

"I know," Lorelai replied. "I mean, I'm glad you came."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said walking over to the counter. "I was trying to get Luke to come with me."

"It looked like a decisive battle," Rory said following her mother and perching on a stool next to her.

"Well, I had him," Lorelai said unsure of what to say.

Luke stood behind the counter and he suddenly felt very out of place. He wiped his hand on a rag and decided it was time to excuse himself. "I'm gonna go see Miss Patty about a thing," Luke said vaguely.

"Very smooth," Lorelai whispered as he walked by.

The bells above the door jingled and Lorelai and Rory were left in silence. Luke took a glance inside and hoped against hope that this was the turning point he'd hoped they'd find.

"So, you came by for the Peach Festival," Lorelai said.

"Yeah," Rory replied not looking at her mother, but tracing patterns on her coffee mug. "Logan is gonna meet me here in a little while."

"Logan," Lorelai nodded knowingly even as she tried to keep an even tone.

Rory let out a small sigh. "I don't want to talk about Logan."

"I didn't say anything about Logan."

"You said his name. That was enough for me to gather your feelings on the topic."

"Sorry," Lorelai replied knowing that Logan was a touchy subject for them. "So how are things?"

"They're okay."

"Okay, huh? What happened to great?" Lorelai asked gently.

"I've just been busy with work and community service."

"Right. How is work going? Do you like the law firm? Are you going to be the next Ruth Bader Ginsberg or are you more the David E. Kelley type?"

"Neither," Rory confessed. "Filing papers all day isn't exactly exciting."

"More mind-numbing than exciting?"

"Tedious," Rory added.

"Like having teeth pulled?"

"Like going to a DAR weekend retreat, with no alcohol," Rory replied.

"Wow, thanks for that horrible thought. You really hate it there huh?"

"It's just…it's not what I thought it would be," Rory said.

"The law firm?"

"Everything," Rory said seriously. "The law firm, the community service, living in the pool house, it all seemed fine, but lately..."

Rory didn't finish her thought. She simply stared at the counter top. Lorelai hesitated for a moment and then reached out her hand and rubbed Rory's back lightly.

"I just feel like what if I made a mistake? What if I thought I was being independent, but I was just being stupid? Now it's too late. I've missed fall registration and I'm not talking to you and you hate me. Everything is just so screwed up right now," Rory cried. For the first time in months Rory actually felt like herself again. It was as if the tears falling down her cheeks were stripping away the façade that she wore and the true Rory began to show through.

"Sweets," Lorelai said reaching out and pulling her into a hug. Lorelai had to fight back tears herself. She finally felt as if all the craziness of the last few months was coming to an end. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."

"It's not," Rory sobbed. "I don't know how it can be. I'm so confused."

Lorelai ran her hand over Rory's head and felt her daughter's tears drip on her shoulder and as much as she felt awful admitting it, Lorelai finally felt completely happy again. She hated seeing Rory in pain, but she'd rather see her in pain than not at all.

"Rory listen to me," Lorelai said softly. "It's not too late for anything okay? You're young. You're not even 21 yet. You've got years of mistakes ahead of you and nothing is done that can't be changed okay?"

"Okay," Rory sniffed as she pulled away from Lorelai.

"What happened?" Lorelai asked.

"I was at community service and I work with Marty a few days a week and he introduced me to his girlfriend and he said I used to go to Yale. He said I used to go there. At first I was offended and then I realized that he was right. I don't go to Yale anymore. I don't do anything. I have no plan. I have no direction. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Well you weren't," Lorelai said rather glibly. Rory responded with a look of hurt. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I mean you were thinking with your emotions and level-headed Rory was nowhere to be found so you weren't thinking things through, but we can fix all of this."

Rory just nodded as she wiped her eyes with a napkin.

"Rory," Lorelai said after a moment. "I'm sorry for my part in all this. I was being childish and stubborn and I forgot that I was the adult in the situation."

"Mom," Rory tried to interject, but Lorelai stopped her by continuing.

"I feel like if I would have been more open to talking about this situation then maybe we wouldn't be here right now. I'm sorry if I confused you even more."

"I'm sorry too," Rory replied after it was clear she was finished. "I should have talked to you, but I was so upset and confused that I didn't listen. I know that I hurt you by going to Grandma and Grandpa and I'm sorry. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Well what's done is done," Lorelai said. "But, can we talk about this now? I promise I'll be a grown up about it."

"I promise I won't run out of here determined to defy you," Rory said.

"Deal," Lorelai replied. "Okay, so the whole dropping out of Yale thing did you do that because you hate Yale or did you do that because of what Logan's said to you?"

"Part of it was because I felt overwhelmed, but it was mostly because of what he said to me. It was mostly because I think he might be right."

"Why would you think that?"

"It's hard to explain," Rory said.

"Try, please?" Lorelai asked.

"He said I didn't have that killer instinct and he's right, I don't. How can I be a journalist when half the time I don't know what my story should be? Paris is a better journalist than I am and she'd pre-med."

"Okay, well who says you have to be a journalist?" Lorelai asked. "There are plenty of careers that involve writing that don't require a passport. You could go into advertising or public relations or become an author. You could write what you wanted when you wanted."

"An author isn't exactly a lucrative career," Rory said.

"Not always, but I wouldn't expect you to be the next Harlequin romance novelist. I'd expect you to be Steven King or Dan Brown so you could take care of me," Lorelai kidded her. "My point is, there is nothing in the plan that says its journalism or nothing, right?"

"Right," Rory replied glumly.

"I know it's hard to give up on a dream. I blame Disney for all that 'dreams always come true' crap. The truth is, sometimes dreams don't come true and it hurts, but you're stronger for choosing another dream than holding out on one that can't work. Although I don't think you should change your life based on the opinion of one man. He clearly has no eye for talent because I think you're an amazing journalist."

"Yeah?" Rory asked.

"Yeah," Lorelai replied firmly.

"So, how are things with Luke? Is he all moved in?" Rory asked changing the subject.

"Yeah, he is," Lorelai said. "I thought it would be weird, but it's really not. It's like he came over to fix something and he just doesn't leave." Lorelai chuckled a little. "I'm really sorry I didn't check with you about moving Luke in to our house."

"It's your house," Rory reminded her.

"Yeah, but it was big decision. I guess you could say I wasn't thinking either."

"But you're happy right?"

"I really am," Lorelai responded firmly surprised by how happy she really felt about everything.

"Good. You deserve it," Rory said. She was happy to see her mother really, truly happy. There was no hesitation in her voice when she answered and her eyes seemed to get a dreamy far-off look when she talked about Luke living at their house. "So is my room the sewing room or the tool shed now?"

"Neither. It's the Rory Gilmore shrine at the moment," Lorelai said. "I haven't touched a thing."

"Really?"

"Really. I was sort of hoping you'd come home and use it again," Lorelai said quietly.

"Even if I'm not in school?" Rory asked.

"Do you want to go back?"

"I think I do," Rory replied.

"Well then that's all that matters," Lorelai said. "We'll figure it out."

"And what about Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Kid, I hate to tell you, but that is one battle you're going to have fight with them," Lorelai sighed. "I can't talk to them about you moving back."

"I understand," Rory said, sorry that her mother couldn't help her, but knowing that she created the current situation and it was her mess to clean up.

"So you're coming home?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"If you'll have me," Rory replied equally as hopeful.

Lorelai threw her arm over Rory's shoulder and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

TBC