Lorelai woke up in the basement of the Diner. She saw Liz, Jess, Sookie, Jackson and Rory all asleep in their respective sleeping bags or cots. But Luke was gone. In a panic she pulled on her shoes and ran up the steps as quickly as possible to not wake the others. A ray of light streamed onto her face as she pushed open the door and once she closed it behind her called out, "Luke?"

There was no answer so she made her way into the diner and her heart sank. Two windows were broken, chairs were strewn about with branches and glass all over the tables. When she got to the door she saw her beautiful town in shambles. It broke her heart.

The roof of the gazebo was damaged, there was something sticking straight through the Stars Hollow sign and a large tree in the middle of Peach Street.

"Oh my God!" Sookie said from the door of the Diner.

Lorelai turned to see her friend's eyes filling with tears. Jackson and Rory came up from behind Sookie and both had looks of horror on their faces. She knew she had to be the strong one.

"Okay guys we need a plan. First, we need to scour the town and make sure no one is trapped or hurt. Then we'll go to our houses and see how much damage there is, grab your camera and start taking pictures for the insurance claims."

"Where's Luke?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," Lorelai said, not able to hide the fear in her voice. "I came out here looking for him."

"Just then they heard a car horn honk and they spun to see Luke's green truck heading towards them.

Lorelai's sigh of relief rippled through her whole body. When Luke parked the truck and got out she ran into his arms.

"You scared me! You can't just take off when there's been a natural disaster, I worry!"

Luke held her for a moment, rubbing her back gently. "Sorry. I drove around making sure no one was hurt or trapped. I saw Taylor and some other people looking around too. Then I went to your place and yours too Sookie, I was heading to yours Jackson, but saw you guys here and knew I had to see you. Both of the houses are fine structurally. There's a window broken at your house and I boarded it up, I'll fix it properly later. There were also some shingles on the ground so I nailed a tarp up there and I'll be able to handle fixing that too. Sookie, your place is fine, but the tree at your neighbour's house fell onto the power lines so there's no power on your street."

Jackson nodded, "Sookie, let's go to your house and get what you need to live away from home for a few days. Then we can check my place and hopefully you can stay there with me." He turned to Luke and Lorelai, "I have my cell phone if you need to get ahold of us."

Lorelai nodded, "I need to check the Inn."

Liz and Jess came outside and Liz began to cry.

"Oh this is just awful."

"It's going to be okay," Jess said earnestly. "Luke, tell her."

Luke smiled at Jess and put an arm around Liz. It's going to be okay. Let's go back to the Diner and make a list of things we need to go buy and things to do."

In the Diner, Luke started a pot of coffee making his fiancee smile. Rory grabbed a pen and notepad from the drawer under the cash register. "Okay, what do we need."

"I need a piece of glass 36"x36" for the kitchen window, a small box of roof shingles, rope, a staple gun and staples. Plus ask the guy to give you everything that we'd need to install the window."

"You want me to go?" Rory asked nervously.

"Well I want to stay here in case something comes up that needs physical work."

"I can go with you," Jess offered.

"Thanks," Rory smiled.

"Take my truck," Luke said, handing Jess his keys.

The kids took off.

At this point it was now just after seven in the morning and people started coming out of their homes to assess the damage.

"We better get out there," Lorelai said. "Taylor is likely to call an emergency town meeting"

They heard a helicopter fly overhead and then saw it circling the town, it had a channel 6 logo.

The phone rang in the Diner startling Luke, Lorelai and Liz. Luke rushed over, "Luke's" he answered. "Yes, I'm okay" He looked at Lorelai and mouthed 'your mother'. She walked over to him ready to take the call.

"Yes, they're fine. We all spent the night in the basement here at the Diner. Here, I'll put you on with Lorelai."

"Hi, Mom."

"Oh my goodness, Lorelai. Are you okay? How's Rory? I'm watching the news and they are showing live footage of Stars Hollow. It's awful."

"Rory and I are okay. She just left for the hardware store so Luke can fix the very minor things that were damaged."

"Your Father says to make sure you have pictures of everything for your insurance company."

"Will do"

"And I'm so sorry about the wedding."

"What about the wedding?"

"Lorelai, I am looking at the town square that you were to have your wedding in. There is no way everything will be fixed in less than a week."

Lorelai's heart sank, she knew her Mom was right but didn't want to postpone her wedding. She wished she was already married to Luke and didn't want to wait another second.

"Mom?" Lorelai fought her every instinct to ask the next question. "Could you have a wedding planned in a week?"

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, are you teasing me? I was being genuine with you."

"So am I, Mom. I don't want to wait to marry Luke. I love him, Rory loves him. And if last night taught me anything it was that we aren't promised tomorrow. I don't want to wait. So you know when I said I don't need your money or your locations or your help? Well. Help! Please, I need them all. I'm likely going to have to spend most of the week here helping out where I can, I haven't even seen the Inn yet."

Luke was staring at Lorelai in shock. He watched as she took the phone away from her ear and looked at the receiver.

"Mom? Are you there?"

There was a quiet intake of breath from Emily's side of the call.

"If you are teasing me there will be hell to pay," Emily whispered.

"Mom! I'm serious. Do you think you can do it?"

"Are you saying this now, but will be mad if I don't call you to confirm each detail?"

"Just think of it as a surprise party. I won't ask about any details at all. Luke and I will show up wherever and whenever you tell us, preferably on the same day and time we were planning. And we will be happily surprised by your event. Just please remember that -"

"Don't say another word. I know this wedding is for you and Luke, I know that your Stars Hollow guests are the ones you care about most. Just promise me again that you all are safe from this horrible storm and I'll hang up and start planning now."

"We're fine, Mom. Start planning."

"You won't regret this," Emily said confidently.

"Oh and Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," her sincerity rang through loud and clear.

"You're welcome. Thank you for trusting me with this," Emily's voice broke and she quickly hung up the phone so Lorelai wouldn't hear her cry.