Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: I know I am a bad, bad girl, and I am really sorry for not updating faster, I really am. I have tons of excuses of course, but let's just sum them up under "life".

Then I want to thank each and everyone of you for reviewing! I reached 100 reviews, that's a first for me and I am very excited ;)

Dedication: This is a very belated birthday present for my beta ;) Thanks for all the great ideas and advice!

And now on with the story:

Freud's and Shakespeare's joy

Emily lay in her bed motionless, staring after her daughter. Her mind was reeling. Her first reaction to her daughter's and her husband's words had been pure anger, but as always somewhere in her mind there was this quiet voice that reminded her of the fact that she was to blame in large parts for what had happened.

She had tried to ignore that voice at first after her daughter had stormed out of her room, and went on cursing her family. She even went so far as to whish for a relapse in her condition so that Richard and Lorelai would feel guilty, but she quickly buried those thoughts again. She felt guilty and childish for even having had such thoughts. Maybe Richard was right, and she was behaving like a small child…

Richard still shouldn't have attacked her the way he had and Lorelai should have known better than to force her to talk so soon after the fight with her husband.

Nevertheless Lorelai's last words rang in her head, and slowly but surely the others registered as well. Richard had risked everything to be with her? The more Emily thought about what had happened the more embarrassed she became. She had clearly overreacted and the proper procedure would be to call her husband and her daughterto apologize, but Emily figured that Richard would show up again soon, and Lorelai would need some time to cool off herself.

When Richard still hadn't returned two hours later, Emily began to get restless. She finally swallowed her pride and picked up the phone to call their house. To her great disappointment it was the maid who answered. She informed Emily that Richard hadn't returned yet, and Emily was left to hang up. It slowly started to darken outside and Emily began to wonder whether she really had gone too far this time.

Lorelai hadn't spoken much with Luke on the drive back to Stars Hollow and was glad when he didn't ask any questions. He informed her that he would have to get back to the diner, but that they could meet later, and she had agreed happily.

She was grateful for the time she could spend alone, thinking about the recent fight with her mother. Lorelai cursed herself for honestly believing that things were able to change between them. It had been so nice to get along with her, even though in the back of her mind Lorelai had known that the harmony couldn't last. They had been tip toeing around the topic of Luke, but Lorelai had been happy to play along. The hours she had spent in the car with her mother had made her appear more human, and caring than she had ever been before. Lorelai still remembered the fear of losing her mother, but those feelings of love and closeness were wiped away by her mother's recent outburst.

Lorelai knew that she shouldn't have tried to talk to her mother, since her mother had never been one to react well to criticism. She still remembered numerous times in her childhood where she had criticised her motherand as a result of that had spent the rest of the afternoon in her bedroom. Her mother had never been able to admit her faults, at least not openly. Lorelai had known her mother long enough to know that Emily did things differently. She wouldn't apologize or agree, she would buy things… or she would have the cook make Lorelai's favourite dishes for dinner. This was how Emily Gilmore showed that she was sorry. All through her childhood Lorelai had noticed those things, but the only thing she had really wanted to hear from her mother had been a simple I am sorry´. To hear those words out of her mother's mouth had been everything young Lorelai had longed for, since she herself had had to say them to her mother numerous times, but her whish had never been fulfilled. Admitting that she had been wrong would have meant weakness, and a parent didn't show weakness. At least that was what Emily thought and as far as Lorelai knew that could have been what her mother had taught young Emily.

Back then Lorelai had sworn to herself that she would do that differently with her daughter. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she had never given up hope that one day her mother would be able to change as well.

Lorelai sighed in frustration. She wasn't seven anymore, and she didn't like being treated that way. After the accident she had hoped that her mother and shewould finally be able to build up a relationship that wasn't based on the unhappy memories of Lorelai's childhood.Realizing that that wasn't possible was hard for Lorelai.

She lay down on the couch and tried to digest what she was feeling. Angry? Disappointed? Mad as hell? She wasn't sure. She sighed heavily, and the sigh turned into a groan when the telephone started to ring.

Lorelai slowly got up and answered it, but started smiling when she recognized the voice on the other end.

"Hey mum, I am writing my paper right now and need a break," Rory greeted her mother.

"Hey kid, nice to hear from you. What kind of paper?" Lorelai inquired. She lay back down on the couch and was glad for the interruption of her dark thoughts.

"I have to apply feminine theories to that book I have read, and I am stuck somehow. So what's new with you? How's grandma? Didn't you go and visit her today?" Rory asked cheerfully.

"Yes we went, and let's just say that Shakespeare would have had a lot of fun with us," Lorelai replied quietly.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked back.

"My mother decided to put up a fight with everything that had two legs and was able to form complete sentences," Lorelai explained and couldn't help sighing heavily again.

"What happened? She was fine the last time I saw her," Rory said and got up from her desk to lie on her bed. She somehow got the idea that this phone call was going to take longer. She listened patiently as her mother told her everything that had happened earlier.

"Whoa… This sure sounds like grandma, though," Rory concluded after her mother had stopped talking. "Poor grandpa!"

"Poor grandpa! Have you listened to me?" Lorelai asked in a mock upset voice.

"Poor Mum, of course," Rory added quickly and then laughed softly. "But what the hell got into you to walk back into grandma's room?"

"I whish I knew. Luke was right there, warning me about it, but do I listen? No, of course I don't," Lorelai explained and growled again.

"How do you feel now?" Rory asked sympathetically.

"I don't know. What scares me most is that part of me understands why she reacted the way she did," Lorelai said.

"Now that's a first," Rory exclaimed and couldn't help chuckling. When her mother didn't go on to explain what she had meant, Rory continued. "What do you want to do now?" she asked carefully.

"I am definitely not going back to apologize. I still think that she needed to hear all those things. Especially the ones about Luke," Lorelai stated firmly.

"Yes, well, I think you're right, but does that mean that you'll end the relationship again?" Rory implored.

"It means that I won't call her until she has apologized to me… and Luke, while we're at it," Lorelai said.

"How quick do you think hell is going to freeze over?" Rory asked sheepishly.

"My witty daughter, what would I do without you?" Lorelai replied and chuckled softly, even though she didn't feel like laughing. "I just can't understand why she won't accept Luke. After everything she's been through with gran, she should be the one to welcome Luke into the family," Lorelai stated.

"Yes well, Luke isn't from her world and that's probably why she won't accept him," Rory explained.

"Yeah, because the fact that he makes me happy doesn't count," Lorelai replied angrily.

"That's not what I meant, Mum. All your life you've been rebelling against your mother and I think in a way grandma hoped that at least when itcomesto marrying, you would choose her world. If you had found a man from her world you loved, you would both have been happy. With Luke things are different though. He's from our world, and grandma has no chance to get a firm place in your life when you marry him," Rory went on to explain. Lorelai had listened in awe and was momentarily rendered speechless.

"Mum? Are you still there?" Rory asked carefully.

"You're still majoring in journalism, aren't you? Have I missed something or did you sneak into some psychology lectures?" Lorelai asked after a few minutesof thinking about Rory's words.

"I am still your intelligent journalist- becoming daughter. This is just part of the stuff I have to do for my paper. Did you know that your conflict with your mother is quite prominent in theory?" Rory asked in an eager voice.

"No, I didn't, but thanks for sharing. So, Freud, what do I do now?" Lorelai asked.

"I am afraid that the theorists have been unable to come up with the perfect solution so far. I think you should sleep it over for one night. That would give both ofyou the time to think about everything and cool off a little. We could talk again in the morning, and if you still feel the same way, we can think of something" Rory suggested.

"We pay thousands of dollars each year for your studies and the only thing they teach you is problems without solutions! I could do that, too," Lorelai exclaimed in a teasing voice.

"Mum," Rory simply replied.

"Tomorrow will be fine, hon," Lorelai agreed. When they had hung up Lorelai continued to lie on the couch. Staring at the ceiling soothed Lorelai's mind and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

When Emily woke up again, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. When she looked over to her window, she almost cried out in surprise. It was completely dark now, but the almost full moon illuminated the room. The silhouette standing at the window had startled Emily, but she hadsoon realized that it was Richard, who was standing there. He had his arms folded behind his back and was looking out of the window.

Emily watched him for a few minutes. The realization that he had come back, made her smile softly. Suddenly she knew what she wanted to do. Ever since she had been admitted to hospital she had felt the strange wishto hug her husband. Have him wrap his big arms around her, and press her to himself. Her whish hadn't been fulfilled yet, as she had either been lying inbed or she had been in pain.

She quietly started to push her blanket away, and tried to slip out of bed as quietly as she could. When she tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed, her hand hit the nightstand, and the sound made Richard turn around.

"Emily!" he called out and hurried to her side. "Let me help you," he wanted to offer her his hand, but she declined. She had wanted to surprise him with getting up, but that possibility had passed now. She lay back in her bed with a sigh.

"It's alright, Richard, I don't need to get up," she said quietly and watched as Richard sat down in the chair next to her bed. She was grateful that he hadn't turned on the light yet. She felt more comfortable in the dark. With the moonlight she was still able to see her husband's face. Over the past hours in which she had been waiting for him to return, she had thought of a thousand things she wanted to tell him, but now that he was sitting next to her, she suddenly lacked the courage to start talking.

Richard studied his wife quietly and wondered what was going on in her head. He was unsure of what to expect. With Emily he somehow never knew what was going to happen and that was part of why he loved her as much as he did. She could still be mad, though he doubted that. When she didn't seem to want to talk to him, he spoke up, only to have Emily do the same thing at exactly the same moment.

"May I?" Richard asked carefully, after both had stopped talking again, realizing that the other wanted to say something. Emily nodded quietly, part of her was relieved that Richard would say something first, so that she was able to respond to that, but the other part was anxious as to what to expect.

"Emily, I know that I have once more been a lousy husband during the past weeks. I wasn't there to support you when I should have. It was my idea to work against Lorelai, and yet it was you, who had to suffer the consequences. That wasn't fair, and I apologize for that. I should have listened to you. I am sorry that you thought that I considered your life to be frivolous and meaningless, that was not my intention. I never meant to hurt you Emily, but I did, and I am very very sorry for that. I know I promised you to change when we renewed our vows, and I failed miserably, but I am willing to try again- harder this time," he broke off and looked at her with an insecure smile on his lips. She simply nodded, touched by his words. She wanted to take his hand, but sensed that he wasn't done yet.

"The things you said today hurt very much, Emily. You had no right to say them. You have no idea what Lorelai, Rory and I went through during that night, in which we didn't know whether you were going to make it or not," he said quietly, and Emily was able to see his eyes clouding over again.

"I am sorry, Richard," Emily said quietly, and lowered her eyes in shame. "You're right, I had no right to say what I said. I regretted those words as soon as they were out of my mouth, and I wish I could take them back. I was so frustrated and hurt that I didn't think. You have no idea how patronizing and cold you can be at times," Emily said and noticed that her voice had started shaking slightly.

"I am still sorry for hurting you," Emily finished. She was still looking at her hands, not knowing what was going to happen now. When she felt Richard taking her hand, she looked up to see into his eyes. She was surprised to find tears in them. She put her other hand to his cheek and caressed it softly. This was what she had longed to do for so long now. Richard suddenly reached into the breast pocket of his shirt and took something shiny out of it.

"I planned to give it back to you after my apology to you," he said and showed her the tiny object. Emily smiled softly when she realized that Richard was holding her wedding ring between his fingers. She held her hand out to him and allowed him to put the ring back onto her finger. When Richard had put the ring back to the place where it belonged, he bent forward to press a light kiss onto his wife's lips. Emily instantly gave into the kiss and marvelled at how kissing her husband still caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. When they broke the kiss, both were smiling softly at the other one. For a few minutes both were silent, content to simply hold hands. Then Emily remembered something.

"Richard, Lorelai told me that you have trouble at the office," Emily began softly, but Richard instantly interrupted her.

"That's nothing you have to worry about. It's all taken care of," Richard said simply.

"You're not losing your job because of me, are you?" Emily asked carefully.

"No, I am not. My contract is quite a masterpiece of legal work. Floyd would be forced to pay a fortune if he wanted to get me out of the firm. He simply couldn't understand why I spent so much time with you, now that you are doing better," Richard explained and smiled at her. She smiled back and took his hand again. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You don't have to spend that much time with me, Richard, I am fine," Emily tried again.

"There's nothing more to be said about this, Emily, I made my decision," he said with a determined voice and Emily smiled happily. She knew that Richard probably had no idea how much this meant to her. For the first time in their lives he had put her over his work, and he had done it fully aware of the fact that it might cost him his job. Their marriage had always been about the little things and the gestures- a brief touching of hands here, a little gift there. This was one of the biggest things Richard had ever done for her and Emily bent forward to kiss her husband again. He didn't hesitate to respond to her kiss.

"Maybe we should argue more often," Emily suggested sheepishly after they had broken the kiss again.

"Oh, bite your tongue," Richard replied and both laughed softly, remembering the last time they had had this discussion.

"Have you heard anything from Lorelai, yet?" Richard asked, but instantly noticed that his wife tensed at the mentioning of their daughter's name.

"No, and I am afraid that we won't hear from her in quite some time," Emily said quietly.

"What happened?" Richard asked, even though he was sure that he had a pretty good idea of what might have happened between his wife and his daughter.

"She came back to talk to me after you had left. She told me a few things, and I wasn't exactly cooperative, to put it that way. There's a good chance that she won't talk to me again," Emily explained and lowered her eyes again. She knew that Richard had been very happy about the way things had been between Lorelai and them recently. He had enjoyed the harmony, and the new understanding between the three of them, and Emily was afraid that he might get angry. Instead she felt him taking her hand again.

"It's going to be alright," he simply said in a reassuring voice. Emily looked up again to find him smiling at her softly. She gently smiled back at him, and squeezed his hand. She was desperate to believe him.

So that's it for today ;) I hope you liked it, and if you did, leave a review ;)