Summary: S6 fix-it. Rory arrives back in her own time only to realize the ultimate consequence of her decision. Some damage is irreparable, but Rory is about to learn there's something far more powerful than any time loop.
Notes: All the scenes from the final episode played out as we saw them. But who's to say something doesn't change things, behind the scenes, from what those final scenes seem to imply? If the show writers can insert things into what they didn't give us on screen to try and fix their senseless storytelling (sorry, but…), then so can anyone else.
Those final 3 scenes, starting with Rory reappearing on her mother's death bed occurred in future Rory's timeline. Following this, something (or someone) happens to change things/break the time loop.
So…future Rory goes down to Hell to visit her parents just after her mother died…
Rory's palms are sweaty and her heart is thumping strangely in her chest. The ash falls around her; around the winding, infinite pathways, quiet and empty and dark.
It's her mother's face that greets her first; younger again and smiling now, worlds apart from the withered face she's just left behind in the land of the living. There's much happiness here; lighting her mother's face in a way Rory's never seen before, and yet there's the echoes of something else too, something she can't comprehend at first.
Her mother squeezes her hand, and the unconditional, unbreakable love Rory feels from her in that moment brings tears to her eyes.
"He's waiting for you," she says.
Rory's hands feel shaky now as she steps toward the door to meet her father—the father of her present—for the first time. That deep, dark, place inside her; the one of anger and resentment and pain, has been a part of her for so long that, even now, when she finally understands, it lingers; significantly dulled but ineradicable; a phantom pain.
He's standing in the center of the empty room.
When she enters, he seems to freeze in place, eyes almost tentative, a touch of fear at first. "Rory," he breathes, a multitude of different emotions passing across his face, and Rory feels choked by it, by the stark reality that this Lucifer has not seen her, touched her, or held her for millions of years.
Untouched by age, he looks much the same as the Lucifer she just left behind; and yet he isn't.
He isn't.
Behind everything that's the same, there's something that isn't.
Behind the hope and love that gradually settles into his features as he looks at his daughter.
Something buried deep, but intractably present.
An unspeakable, irreparable phantom pain millions of times worse than her own. An agony, a loneliness, layered by time and practiced distance.
It's there.
Rory sees it.
Her knees buckle. Her breath leaves her lungs.
And the pain, the pain she feels now is absolute and unforgiving, because, she's made a horrible mistake, she sees that now.
The anger, the resentment, was nothing compared to this.
"I'm sorry," she cries out, just as both her parents rush toward her.
Rory wants to tell them she was wrong, so very wrong. That she was scared; scared of what it could mean.
She doesn't get the chance; they don't make it to her side before she disappears in another swirling dark cloud.
This time, the phenomenon is triggered by something all the more powerful, something enough to cut through time and space and everything in between.
Rory knows where—or rather, when—she is the instant she reappears.
The utter, gasping relief floods into her heart and trembles there, shaking her, surging her forward with a renewed purpose and determination.
The ash, the shadowy pathways, are identical to those from the Hell of her present.
It's been several earth days since she left them; since she left them with a promise they'll keep for a lifetime, all because she asked them to.
The guilt tears into her again, sharp and crippling.
"Dad!"
The word rips out from inside her as she takes flight, searching.
It nearly drowns her when she finds him. Because, this agony she sees isn't yet softened or buried by time; it lines every part of him, raw and unfiltered and utterly devastating.
"I take it back!" she cries out, falling to her knees before him. "I take it all back!"
Notes:
And there you have it. Rory absolves Lucifer of his promise. Obviously, we know what Lucifer will choose to do now, don't we? (*cough* now that he actually gets to have a choice…).
Yes, clearly I'm bitter about the ending (apologizes in advance if I upset anyone who actually liked it). Wasn't even going to share this at first. Definitely not going to be my best writing considering where it's coming from, and honestly, a much better fix-it is to just pretend most of S6 didn't happen at all (which I'll probably be reverting to doing when I don't feel so raw about it), or change some of those scenes in the final episode, but my coping mechanism for now (so that I can try and enjoy the good S6 moments without imagining THAT ending) is to fix existing canon. Go figure. Also, I can rationalize the possibility that Chloe/Lucifer/Rory made poor decisions while under time-sensitive duress, but then afterward realize what a horrible mistake it was. This is far more plausible to me than Lucifer of all people spending eons and eons in unimaginable pain, separated from his loved ones, without trying to move heaven and earth to be with them. Just no. Lucifer was absolutely correct at the beginning of the season in saying the only plausible solution for him abandoning his family is Azrael's blade wiping him entirely from existence. Nothing will convince me otherwise.
So that leaves two possible alternatives the way I see it. Either Rory self-actualizes herself back to fix her mistake and give back her father his choice, OR after Lucifer goes back to Hell (maybe for several earth days), he's in agony with the decision and HE self-actualizes himself to future Rory in order to convince her to absolve the promise (maybe after flying up to consult with Chloe and seeing her suffering too). After all, Lucifer's pain would be a million times worse than Rory's anger/pain could ever have been. Lucifer lost EVERYTHING; the love of his life. His daughter. All his friends. Lux. His entire life on earth. EVERYTHING. If Rory can travel through time from only anger/pain of being abandoned, than Lucifer most certainly can with all THAT. (Lucifer's the one that loses/suffers the most from the decision and it wasn't even allowed to be HIS decision. I just can't even.)
Therefore, I accept all those scenes shown in the final episode, but reject the implied canon behind them and choose to imagine the much more plausible alternative that Lucifer found a way to be with his family. The baby Rory scene? Well, now, you see, obviously Chloe's attire (very neatly brushed hair etc) was much too put together for her to be coming directly from the hospital after giving birth. Clearly, Lucifer was so excited he had to take his little family back to Lux/his Penthouse first, where Chloe rests up before going to the party with all their friends at her place. Yep, that's what happened.
Feel free to join me in re-imagining canon, if you so desire. And I'd be ecstatically happy if anyone wants to use any of this to write their own fic. Probably, many of you have thought up something similar (or better) anyway. Either way, steal and/or expand/re-invent away! Please do.
(In case anyone wants to read my tumblr rant about the finale: thehiddenmemoryuniverse,tumblr,com,com(slash)post(slash)662875335236435968(slash)doing-whats-best-for-your-child-it-doesnt)
(And now I've gone and written another rant about the injustice to Lucifer's character specifically: thehiddenmemoryuniverse,tumblr,com(slash)post(slash)663357629901438976(slash)lucifer-morningstars-broken-journey)