Gilmore Girls

Wu Feng Qi Lang

A/N: This is rather cliché but I can only write clichés at the moment. I'm stuck in a rut. I know the story has been light-hearted and fun for awhile but there are still some serious issues to deal with so don't expect it to last. Happy reading! Gen. xx

Summary: Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

Chapter Eleven: A Fine Line

"Rory," Christopher called out as he and his very excited daughter approached the embracing couple. Rory gave Logan one last kiss on the cheek before wrenching herself out of his arms. Christopher looked at them and an overwhelming, crushing feeling of tenderness washed over him. They were very much in love. Time apart and distance between them couldn't stop them or break them apart. (But it had torn a family apart).

"Dad," Rory smiled. She let her father give her a hug and rewarded him with a kiss on both cheeks. She was anything but icy but he had a feeling she was thinking icy thoughts. She bent down to kiss Gigi and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, G. Are you ready to have some fun?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Daddy said if I was good, you might buy me cotton candy and hot dogs and then we can go back to your house and have a movie night and eat our body-weight in candy but I said that wasn't fair cause I'd get to eat less candy than you and that man because I'm littler."

"Well, we don't have to eat our body-weight in candy," Rory explained, shooting her dad a bemused look. "We'll just eat a lot of it, okay?"

"Okay," Gigi replied, placated for the time being.

"So you have the number of the house if anything goes wrong and I've given you my mobile number. You shouldn't need it but it's there if you do," Chris started in with all the perfunctory and prerequisite mambo-jumbo that parents spewed out when leaving their kids with people who are barely more than strangers (and in this case, it was strangely true despite the fact three out of four were flesh and blood).

"Dad," Rory broke-in. "I know all of this. It's okay. You don't need to worry."

"I know. Sorry. I still get nervous when I drop her off at places. Your mother is much better at it," he said. Immediately, he stepped back and covered his mouth. The smile on Rory's face never faltered and she actually let out a little chuckle. She looked at Logan who, although stricken, managed to step in and take over.

"It's nice to see you again, Christopher," he said, holding his hand out for him to shake. "It's probably not the best timing but it's ultimately better than our first meeting."

"Our first meeting?" Christopher asked, glad for the spotlight to be off him and an awkward moment averted.

"The country club dressing room. Emily and Richard's vow renewal," he prompted.

"Oh, right," Chris exclaimed. "I wanted to punch your lights out."

"If I remember correctly, you wanted to punch anybody's lights out," Logan said, embarrassing Christopher inadvertently (or on purpose. Who really knew?)

"Rory, can we go yet?" Gigi piped up. All three adults were grateful for the interruption.

"Sure, sweetie. Just say goodbye to Daddy and then we'll go," Rory said.

"Bye, Daddy!" Gigi yelled. A little bit of spit flew from her mouth with the enthusiasm and landed on the ground near her father's foot. She tilted her cheek up for him to kiss it and she patted him on the back when he tried to hug her. "Daddy, hurry up and go."

"She's excited," Christopher explained with a shrug. "So I'll pick her up at your house at five?"

"Sure," Rory said after a quick eye conversation with Logan. "Logan, do you want to take Gigi to have a closer look at the fountain? I just have to ask Dad something quickly."

"Sure," he said. He took Gigi's hand and led her closer to the fountain after one last wave.

"What's up, kiddo?" he asked, watching her with anticipation.

"Um, Dad, where does Lorelai think she is?"

"I've taken care of it, Rory," Christopher said, his veneer cracking for just a moment. His face frosted over for a split second but then he became warm again. "I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for what… your mother and I did."

"Don't apologise for her," Rory said so quickly and so fiercely that Chris almost moved back a step. (Like she'd ever forgive her anyway).

"I just wish I could make you love me again," he sighed. (Because everyone wanted the love of one Rory Gilmore).

"You can't expect me to just welcome you back with open arms. I was never that big of a person. I do love you, Dad, but I love you because I have to, because you are my father and you gave me life. I don't love you because I want too. I hope that one day I will again but for now, you'll just have to make do with the hug and the kiss I give you when I see you and the hug and kiss I give you when you leave. Can you do that?" she said, proving that she actually was the bigger person.

"I'll take any love from you I can get," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, hugging her to him so tightly she thought she would stop breathing. He kissed her roughly on the forehead and then let her go gently. He watched as she slowly turned away from him and walked towards her husband, the new love her life, and his daughter. He saw for a split second what their family would like in the future. An older daughter and a younger son, two happy smiling and in love parents determined to never screw up like their own parents had and he wished so hard that he would be a part of it, that he would be the grandfather welcoming his child and her family to France instead of catching moments with her before she left and went back home.

He left with a heavy heart. There was no hope left. He was kidding himself if he thought Rory would ever really forgive him.

(Lorelai had made sure of that).

-

"I thought we'd go and find that merry-go-round you always see in movies first. What do you think?" Rory asked when she finally made her way over to Logan and Gigi.

"I love merry-go-rounds," Gigi cheered.

"Of course you do," Logan muttered under his breath, eliciting a glare from Rory. He grinned at her and then placed a hand on Gigi's head. "I think you are going to be a lot like your sister."

"I hope so," Gigi said. She looked up at them seriously and opened her wide eyes even wider. "My daddy told me that Rory was the smartest girl in the world and the prettiest girl in the world and Lorelai said that she could do anything she wanted."

"I actually meant I thought you'd have the same taste in music," Logan joked. He looked over at Rory who had tears in her eyes and he offered her his hand and a small sympathetic smile.

"I bet you're really smart too, aren't you?" Rory asked. "And I know you're pretty. Maybe even prettier than me."

"I don't think so," Gigi sighed. "I hate my hair. It's too curly."

"G, you're only seven. You have a long time to hate your hair," Logan cut it. "And besides, I like it."

"Really?" she asked with a giggle.

"Really," he answered. He got down on one knee and gazed seriously into her eyes. "In fact, I think if I wasn't already married to your sister, I would ask you to marry me because of your hair."

"Just because of my hair?" Gigi asked, showing that she wasn't without her stepmother's famous wit.

"No way," Logan exclaimed. He winked at the young girl. "I can't go into all the reasons while Rory is here. She might get jealous."

"Me? Jealous?" Rory asked. She shook her head and laughed. "I wouldn't get jealous. You can have him, G. I'm getting a bit sick of him actually. His hair clogs the shower and he takes way too long in the bathroom plus he has more product in his hair than me. It's just not right for a husband to be prettier than his wife."

"Gee, thanks," Logan said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at Gigi. "I bet you're nicer than she is."

"Actually, I want to be the prettiest too," Gigi proclaimed.

"Of course you do," Logan answered. "You are a Hayden."

"Gigi, I think he just insulted us," Rory gasped. "Are we going to let him get away with it?"

"No!" she screamed. She moved closer to her sister and whispered conspiratorially. "What should we do?"

All the while, Logan was standing back from them, watching and laughing. He saw Rory grin wickedly and lean to whisper something to the girl she loved already. Gigi clapped her hands and giggled viciously. The two girls looked at each other and nodded before, exactly at the same time, lunging forward and running towards him. Logan turned and began to run thinking he was easily outrunning them until he felt two little hands reach around his waist before being tackled to the ground. Someone was trying, unsuccessfully, to tickle him through the thick clothes he was wearing, while the other person's hands were messing his hair.

Even through the laughter, Rory couldn't help but feel a little bit sad. Was she really willing to give this up, to give her sister up in exchange for a life without her mother? It was almost the choice she had to make. Have her mother and sister in her life or have no-one. Christopher may have been able to arrange one day that the two of them could be together but could they really keep it up their whole lives?

(She hoped so).

-

"I can't believe you two beanpoles managed to tackle me," Logan said, while brushing the dirt off his jacket. Rory and Gigi both stopped eating the huge piles of cotton candy he had bought for them and looked at him. "That says more about me than it does you."

"But we didn't tackle him, did we?" Rory asked. Gigi nodded seriously and innocently. "No, Logan, we hugged you but the passion was just overwhelming and we accidentally knocked you to the ground. Isn't that right, G?"

"If Rory said so, it's right," Gigi agreed. She rolled her eyes. "You are so silly, Logan."

He pinched a bit of cotton candy off the stick and rubbed it in her face until it dissolved into little crystals of sugar. She was laughing so hysterically, she almost slipped off the ancient park bench they were sitting on. Rory joined in the laughter and kissed Logan on the cheek.

"Honey, there's a fine line between hugs and tackles," she said awhile later. "And if you don't know it, I can't teach you."

"Is that right?" he asked. He lowered his voice and moved closer to her ear. "I'm sure if Gigi weren't here, you could show me."

She succeeded, just barely, in keeping the blush off her cheeks.

(He loved how he could still do that to her).