Hey, sorry again for the wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't want ot spoil it but i have a feeling alot of my reviewers are going to find what they've been waiting for in this chapter. Read and Review!

It was raining.

The rain streamed down Rory's face and back as she helped hr father unload the suitcases. She trudged through the muddy grass, lugging the heaving load behind her. It splattered her jeans as she trudged towards the miniature house. Lorelai stood at the door, as if waiting to welcome them into her new home. Rory marched past her, and placed the valise at the foot of her bed.

Chris followed, placing the suitcase he was carrying next to hers.

"Thank you," Lorelai said quietly. "I realize this is probably a lot harder for you than it is for me."

"Don't worry about it," Rory mumbled. The three of them stood awkwardly.

"Chris, can you give us a moment?" Lorelai asked. "I want to say a proper goodbye." Chris nodded solemnly, and disappeared into the rain.

"Rory," she began, "I'm sorry if I disappointed you. I can tell what you really wanted. Once I woke up, you wanted us to be able to be a family again, for things to go back to the way they have always been. From what I hear around the town, we had a pretty special relationship." Rory nodded, examining the watermarks in the wood floor. "Rory, look at me!" Lorelai pleaded. Rory picked up her head slowly, revealing the tears she had been trying to mask.

"Yeah, we did," she told her mother. "You were my best friend, the one person I could always count on."

"I wish with all my heart I could give that back to you," Lorelai confessed. "But the way I am right now, I can't. I think you know I can't. I don't know you, but most importantly, I don't know who I am. All the experiences that I went through, having you at sixteen, moving away from my parents, coming here and meeting all the people I did, I can see that that's what made me the type of mother I was, the type of person I was. But all those experiences are gone now, and with them, the influence they had on me. I want to give you back what we had before, but I can't just jump back into a life I don't know. I have to go back to the beginning, and hope it will lead me back to the same place." Rory nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"I wish you luck with that."

"I don't want you to feel like I'm running away," Lorelai continued. "You can always come here, in fact, I want you to visit. I need to get to know you. I want to reestablish the connection we had, so we should work on it slowly. Ok?"

Rory nodded, and tried to smile. Lorelai pulled her into an embrace.

"I have the most amazing kid in the world," she proclaimed. She watched her daughter walk out, and sat down on her bed. Chris came in.

"So, are you all set?" he asked.

Lorelai nodded. "Do you think she hates me?" she asked.

"Of course not," Chris assured her. "Rory is a very rational girl. I'm sure it hurts her, but I think on some level she understands."

"I hope so," she said. "Thanks for all you've done."

Chris walked over to her, and kissed the top of her head.

"Good luck, Lorelai Gilmore," he murmured. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Dean and Rory sat on a bench in the town square. Dean leaned in for another kiss, but Rory didn't open up to him. He sighed and leaned back.

"Okay, what is it?" he asked.

Rory said nothing, just stared at the ground, twisting her hands.

"Rory…" he coaxed her.

"It's just, I'm just realizing now that I'm never going to have my mom back," she confided.

"You do have her back, it's only different than you expected," Dean pointed out.

"I don't really have her back though," Rory argued. "I mean she doesn't know who I am, and now she's leaving me." She squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears that were threatening to push their way through.

"Yeah, but come on Rory," Dean said, frustrated, "can you blame her?"

Rory stared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's so lost. All of a sudden she's thrown into a world she doesn't ever remember being a part of, and she had to figure stuff out."

"But I was right there," Rory said angrily. "I was right there the whole time to help her figure it out! Why wasn't that good enough for her?"

"Because not everything can turn out perfectly the way you want it to!" Dean bit back, his words sinking into her like acid. Rory stood up and whipped around to stare down at him.

"Perfectly the way I wanted?" she hissed. "This is so far from perfect, they're not even part of the same universe! Perfect would have been no accident, no coma. I f I couldn't have that than at least give me a normal mother after not having one for two years. I have nothing now!" she cried. "My mother is gone. All that's left is a confused sixteen-year-old girl trapped inside the body of my mother, who she does not want to be! You're going to sit here and tell me to deal with it because things aren't exactly the way I want them?" She stormed away from him, her long brown hair whipping at her back.

Jess was sprawled across the bed in Rory's old room, on arm holding the book, the other supporting his head. He heard someone enter the apartment, but continued reading, lost in the world far away. He sensed someone standing at his door. Startled, he looked up and saw Rory standing there. Her eyes were wide and wild, as if she wasn't really seeing him.

"So, you took over my room?" she asked playfully, but there was no smile on her face.

"It beats sleeping on a mattress on the floor," Jess answered. It was silent. "Have you been crying?" Jess asked, sitting up.

Rory ignored the question. "Let's go somewhere," she said.

"What? Where?" Jess asked, staring at her. Rory folded her arms.

"I don't know, anywhere. Let's just get out and drive," she pleaded.

Jess was out of his bed without any more questions.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing his keys.

They sped down the highway. Rory turned the radio on full blast, and let the window down so the wind did battle with her hair.

"So where are we going?" Jess asked again.

"I don't know," Rory said loudly above the music. "Far away." Jess looked at her in disbelief and grinned.

"I know," he said. He got off at the next exit and pulled into the first train station that he saw. He parked, and pulled Rory out of the car and up to the ticket window. He handed money to the drowsy teenager selling tickets. "Two tickets to New York," he requested. He looked at Rory, who grinned back at him, and let out a wild laugh.

"The next train's in five minutes," she told them, handing them the tickets.

As soon as they settled into their seats in the train, Jess turned to Rory.

"Alright, you have to stop holding out on me," he said. "What's with the sudden madness?"

Rory leaned back in her seat, and for the endurance of the ride they talked about what had happened.

"So she just left?" Jess asked at the end. Rory nodded. "Ouch," he sympathized. Rory nodded, willing herself not to lose it again.

"Yeah, it hurts," she admitted. Jess leaned close and whispered in her ear.

"Not tonight," he promised. Rory's eyes met his, and they were sparkling with anticipation.

"So what's in New York?" Rory asked. Jess's eyes widened.

"What's in New York? It's the city that never sleeps!" he told her.

Rory stared out the window in anticipation. Before she knew they were pulling into Penn station. Rory was amazed at the rush of people whizzing by in every single direction.

"Come on," Jess tugged her arm and led her up and out onto 7th avenue. It was dark by now, but the brilliant lights of the city lit up the night. "Let's go," Jess pulled Rory alongside him. Rory let Jess drag her along as she turned her head in every direction, trying to take it all in.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen the city like this!"

"You haven't lived yet."

"So I've been told."

Jess laughed he led her down Seventh Avenue, and down 37th street. Finally they turned left, and Rory gasped.

"Welcome to Broadway, Rory," he announced with a flourish.

"Oh my gosh," she breathed, her eyes sparkling just like all the lights around her. Jess watched her take everything in.

"Oh, can we see a show?" she begged.

"They're all closed now," Jess said, glancing at his watch. Rory whipped around to face him.

"What time is it?" she demanded.

"Ten," Jess answered, putting his arm around her.

"My dad is going to be freaking out." She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"You're seriously going to tell him you hopped on a train to New York?" Jess mused. "And you think he'll be less freaked out then?"

"I don't know!" Rory said, panicking. She heard the click. "Hi dad?" She paused as her dad replied.

"Hi I'm in…" she paused. "I'm at Lane's house. She needed help studying. I'm really sorry I didn't call." She paused again. "Yeah she has a history test and she asked me to help her out. It's gonna be a long night so don't wait up for me." She listened again. "Okay. Love you too." She snapped her phone shut. "I just lied to my Dad," she announced in disbelief.

"Wow, you're a wild one now," Jess teased. Rory blushed.

They set off again through the streets of New York City. Soon they entered Central Park. They walked around, and finally settled by the water.

"You're amazing," Rory told that.

Jess laughed and contradicted her.

"There are those who would disagree."

Rory turned her face towards him.

"No really, you knew exactly how to make me happy. You know exactly how to make me forget."

"I guess you could say I have a gift," he murmured. Rory leaned back on him. They sat like that, just watching the water moved silently across. Rory stroked the grass with her fingers. Finally she looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling like the water.

"This is perfection," she said, and she kissed him lightly on his chin, then moved her lips softly up to his lips. He allowed her for a moment, but then he pulled back, holding her away from him. Her eyes creased with confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"What about Dean? As much I want, I can't let you do this again, because I know you would just end up hating me, and I don't know if I could take that."

Rory shook her head closing her eyes.

"I don't want Dean anymore," she whispered.

"What are you talking about? I thought you loved him."

"He doesn't know how to make me happy anymore. He doesn't make me feel like this."

Jess didn't need much persuading. He leaned his head forward, and allowed Rory in.

Yeah, I know... I went against one of fundamental rules and went against normal character in this one... but it had to happen sometime.

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