Disclaimer: As always, I own absolutely nothing.

A/N: Here we are again. Thanks for all the reviews! I was really surprised by how many people are intrigued by this story. I hope you continue to enjoy. Right now, I'm predicting about 7 or 8 chapters total. (Told ya it would be short!). OK, enjoy!

Chasing Fate--Chapter 2

Lorelai walked into the diner and walked over to the counter. Luke was standing with the phone between his ear and his shoulder. He was wearing a frustrated scowl along with his trademark baseball cap and flannel shirt.

"No, actually, that's completely unhelpful." He growled, walking over to the wall and hanging up the phone.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked, peering over the counter. Luke had a few pieces of paper with numbers on them as well as a few phonebooks lying open.

Luke looked up quickly at Lorelai, noticing her sitting there for the first time. "Oh, I'm trying to get in touch with my sister, and like Liz herself, it's proving difficult." He tried to mask his discomfort by looking busy. He crumpled up a piece of paper that proved useless and grabbed a cup for Lorelai.

"To go, actually." Lorelai said, setting her purse down. "It's gonna be a crazy day. Inn stuff." She said with a proud nod.

Luke really looked at her for the first time and nodded. "Of course. You're in your "serious" attire."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked, bringing her hand to her chest in fake anguish.

Luke nodded at her and said, "The glasses."

"These are not "serious."" Lorelai said, pushing up her glasses. "They're a fashion statement."

"Glasses are not a fashion statement." Luke retorted, switching the mug for a paper to-go cup. "They're meant to improve your vision, and nothing more."

"Luke, anything can be a fashion accessory if it's cute enough!" Lorelai exclaimed brightly.

"Could this coffee pot be a fashion statement?" Luke asked sarcastically, picking up the pot and pouring the coffee.

"For you, yes." Lorelai said. Changing gears, she asked, "Why are you looking for Liz?"

Luke sighed, and moved towards another customer to fill coffee as he spoke. He was attempting to be as casual about this as possible. "It's been awhile since I've talked to her, and there's just some…family stuff we need to deal with."

Lorelai tilted her head to the side. "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah!" Luke said, a little too quickly. "Everything's fine. I just need to talk to her, but Liz…she can be nomadic, especially since she sent Jess here. No telling where she is."

Lorelai stiffened visibly at Jess's name, but there was no reason to touch on that subject. "And you have no idea where she is?"

Luke shrugged. "My cousin Vinnie-."

Before he could get any farther than that, Lorelai started laughing. "Oh my God, did you really just say that?"

"Sorry, forgot who I was talking to." Luke quipped. "Vinnie, my Aunt Janine's son, said something about a Renaissance Fair. I don't know if that means she went to one, that she's following them like some sort of Renaissance groupie, or that at some point in history, a Renaissance Fair occurred someplace in the world. Vinnie's not exactly a wordsmith."

"Renaissance Fairs?" Lorelai asked, wrinkling up her nose. "Why would Liz be there?"

Luke raised his hands and said, "I don't even want to think about it."

Lorelai frowned, "I've gotta run, but I hope you find her. Let me know what happens?"

"Yeah." Luke said. "I'm sure you'll hear about it."

Lorelai walked away, and Luke shook his head. He sighed. He wanted to do this for Rory, but it was proving more difficult than he thought it would. He thought Jess was with his father, but was in no way sure about that fact. Not that he would even know how to get in touch with Jimmy anyway. And now Liz was MIA too. He was at a stalemate. He didn't know what he could possibly do to find him. He'd done all that he could, called every relative he could think of, and even subjected himself to speaking to Liz's old landlord.

Luke sighed and closed all the phonebooks in front of him. He grabbed his coffee pot and went to fill cups for his customers. There was nothing else he could do to find Jess, at least not right now.

"Coffee, Kirk?" Luke asked, walking up to where he sat alone at a table.

"Half caf, please." Kirk said.

Luke nodded. "Moving up from quarter-caf, huh?"

Kirk shrugged and nodded. "Mother's very proud."

Luke shook his head and poured half a cup of coffee into it. "I'll be back with the decaf."

Luke had his back to the door as he grabbed the orange-handled pot. From behind him, he heard the bell about the door jingle.

"Big brother!" A high, female voice screeched.

Luke stiffened in shock. No way. That wasn't even possible. Luke turned around and there was his sister, standing there in her old, torn jeans and a gauzy, green shirt with bell sleeves. Her blonde hair was shorter than it was the last time he saw her, but that was a few years previous.

"Liz!" Luke said, still not quite believing that his sister was standing in front of him. He walked over to Kirk's table and placing the decaf coffee pot there. He walked over to his sister and stared at her in complete disbelief.

"In the flesh. Give me a hug!" Liz said, diving at Luke. She hugged him tightly, receiving an awkward, half-hearted hug from her still-confused brother.

"Well, to some people that might constitute a hug." Liz said, pulling away and smiling.

"Liz…I…You…" Luke sighed in exasperation at his inability to form a complete thought. "Go upstairs and wait for me, huh? I'll be there in a sec."

"Sure." Liz said, her smile still wide. She walked over to the counter. "Cesar! Looking good!" She shouted as she walked up the stairs.

Cesar looked up, confused. "Was that Liz?" He asked, confused. "You found her?"

"Yeah." Luke said, staring at the empty stairwell. "But she found me, I guess. Take care of things for a little while, ok Cesar?"

Luke jogged quickly up the stairs and walked into his apartment. Liz was looking around the place with a sense of awe.

"Man, you've got this place looking good, big brother." Liz said, looking around. "It really looks great." She stopped in front of him and said, "And you. You look great too."

"Thanks." Luke said, still staring at his sister like she was an apparition.

"And me? Don't I look good?" Liz asked, gesturing to herself.

"Yeah, Liz. You do." Luke said, more to appease her than anything else. "I've been trying to find you, Liz. But your landlord said you moved out."

"You talked to Big Sal?" Liz asked, looking touched.

"Big Sal wasn't in, but Little Sal was very unhelpful." Luke said, sitting down at the table.

"Little Sal." Liz said, reminiscing. "We dated. He had an odd smell. Wait, you were looking for me? That's so sweet!"

"Where've you been, Liz?" Luke asked, trying to veer the subject away from his search for his sister.

"Ah!" Liz said, with a proud smile. She pushed her hair back and revealed the crystal and beaded earrings that she was wearing.

"You've been living in…earrings?" Luke asked, as confused by his sister as he always was.

"No!" Liz said, still extremely upbeat. "I'm making jewelry, and I'm good at it!"

"And this is a career?" Luke asked skeptically.

"Yeah!" Liz said. "I have a booth on the Renaissance Fair circuit. They go crazy for my stuff. That's what I'm doing here! There's a fair in Woodbury this week."

Luke nodded, finally making a connection in his mind. "And now the conversation with Vinnie makes sense."

"You talked to Vinnie?" Liz asked. "You hate talking to Vinnie! Wow, you really wanted to find me. Is everything OK?" Liz asked, suddenly concerned. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." Luke nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good." Liz said. The two fell into an awkward silence, Liz looking around the apartment while Luke fixated on the table.

"So…" Liz said, "Why have you been looking for me, brother-of-mine?"

"Geez," Luke said with a sigh. He hadn't anticipated this being so hard. "I'm trying to…Do you know the Gilmores?"

Liz tilted her head to the side. "What's a Gilmore?" She asked.

"Lorelai and Rory. They live here. I've mentioned them." Luke said.

Liz smiled and shrugged. "OK, if you say so."

"Anyway, Lorelai is a…friend of mine, and Rory is her daughter. Rory dated Jess."

Liz's eyes lit up. "Oh, I knew there was a girl! He wouldn't say there was a girl, but I knew there was a girl!"

"So you've heard from him?" Luke asked, leaning forward.

"Couple times." Liz shrugged. "He sent me a letter. He's with his Dad. My kid in California, can you believe that? And he called once, right before I moved from the old place. And don't worry, he thinks the Renaissance thing is crazy too. It's not just you. Hey, why do you care anyway? You kicked him out."

Luke sighed, "He got himself kicked out. He flunked out of school to work at Wal-Mart."

Liz waved that off. "He's stubborn. He's got his own ideas about what's right for him." Off of Luke's look she continued, "Fine, he's a pain in the ass but he's not your problem anymore. You tried, it's over now. So what's the big deal? And why are you bringing up the girl?"

Luke sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Do you believe in fate, Liz?" He asked.

"Of course I do!" Liz answered immediately. "Everything happens for a reason, big brother. And some things are the universe's way of telling us what we don't want to see." Liz said it definitively, and Luke wasn't at all surprised by her sure tone. Liz was flaky, but no one could shake her beliefs.

"Luke," Liz said with a smile as she watched her brother digest her answer. "What's going on with you, huh? You don't believe in fate, and Jess drove you crazy while he was here."

"He's still driving me crazy!" Luke said with a shake of his head. "Rory wants to know where he is. I don't know why, but she walks in here one day all upset and asking me about fate. Then, out of nowhere she asks where Jess is. I told her I'd try to find out where he was."

Liz leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Huh." She said with a small smirk. "And you agreed?"

Luke nodded. "When you meet Rory, you'll understand. You'd like her. She's a good kid. I've…I've known her a long time."

"And she misses Jess?" Liz asked, wrinkling up her nose in confusion. "Has she met Jess?"

Luke smirked. "I don't know. I don't know if she misses him or wants to flay him alive for hurting her or what."

Liz shrugged, "Well, I guess I can give her his address in Venice Beach, if he says it's OK, that is."

Luke looked at her disbelievingly and she said, "He's my kid, Luke! I realize I'm never going to be Mom of the Year, but he left for a reason, right? I'll call him. I'll ask. And if this girl's as special as you say she is, he'll say yes, right?"

Luke just shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, I guess." He leaned back in his chair and said, "So, Renaissance Fairs, huh?"

Liz smiled, "Yeah, Renaissance Fairs."