A few weeks had passed and Charlie found herself driving to the rehabilitation center to pick up Ruby. After more than three weeks and a lot of therapy later, she was finally being allowed to go home. It had been hard on Ruby, being away for such a long period of time. However Nicole and Romeo had been to visit a couple of times to show their support and to be there for her which helped a lot. But even they weren't prepared to see just how fragile and broken there friend seem to be. Even the incidents that occured during their first few visits was a big wake up call.

Walking through the reception area Charlie was greeted by the desk workers who she had become very familiar with over the last few weeks. They smiled at her and they spent a couple of minutes talking and they wished Charlie and Ruby the best before returning to work. Charlie smiled at them as she walked around the desk and made her way to the corridor that would lead her to Ruby's room. As she made her way down the corridor, she saw Michael approaching from the opposite end.

"Charlie, just the person I was looking to see", he said with a smile as they finally met in the middle of the corridor. "I want to talk to you about some stuff before Ruby's discharged today. Do you have time right now?", he asked as he placed the files he was carrying under his arm.

"Yeah of course", she replied and walked over to the windowsill that Michael had gestured to and sat down placing her handbag down beside her.

"Now I know that Ruby will be continuing her therapy sessions while she's at home but I just wanted you to be aware of some things that will more than likely affect your home lives for a while", he said as he looked at a concerned Charlie. "Ruby's nightmares have returned and at times they can be quite intense and at times it his caused her a great deal of distress. Now unfortunantly that's not something that can be cured through therapy. It's something that will eventually cure itself naturally. What I am more worried with is her anxiety around large groups of people and her hesitation when being touched by people...".

"Wait, what do you mean?", Charlie asked standing up.

"A couple of days ago some of Ruby's friends came to visit. When they went to hug her she panicked and backed away".

"What, why?", Charlie was beggining to feel anxious as she listened to what Michael was saying.

"Ruby's been hurt by a lot of people of the last year, physically and emotionally...",

"Including me", Charlie cut in sadly as she thought of how much she had hurt Ruby when she revealed to her that she was her biological mother.

Michael looked at Charlie. He could tell she was upset but he thought it would be best if he kept it professional. After all, he heardly knew the woman. He looked down at his hands trying to find a way to phrase what he was about to say next in a more sensitive way so that Charlie could find some comfort in his words. Looking up he saw Charlie gazing at him and realised she was waiting on his response.

"Charlie what I mean is, a lot of people have intentionally set out to hurt Ruby and I believe that this has had a very traumatic affect on her. She feels like she can't trust people", he said as he watched the woman before him take in everything he was saying. "Except you. Charlie I've never seen such a strong connection between mother and child before. Especially when there's such a close age gap. Usually it would be completely the opposite way around. But what you have with Ruby, it's remarkable. You should be very proud", Michael finished as he gave Charlie an encouraging smile,

As she saw the sincerity in Michael's eyes, Charlie found herself smiling back. Hearing those words, especially from someone who didn't really know her that well, warmed her. If her love for Ruby could be noticed by somebody they were not close with, then it obvously meant that Michale was right, They had a remarkable bond. And that was something she cherished in knowing. After a couple of minutes they exchanged handshakes and Michael handed Charlie his business card. Offering his services if they were ever needed again and then they parted ways.

Just as Charlie was about to head for Ruby's room she stopped and thought to herself for a minute. It had been a long year for both Bucktons and after everything that had happened, it felt like they had been ripped from reality in had been floating in limbo ever since. They needed to come back to earth. They needed a sense of grounding. And then it hit Charlie. The one place they had always felt gorunded. Removing her phone from her handbag Charlie decided that both she and Ruby needed a break from Summer Bay. Dialling the number she listened patiently to the dial tone for a couple of minutes. Then finally a voice answered at the other end.

"Hey Morag, I need to ask a favour, could you talk to Dad for me?", and with that Charlie set her plan in motion.

After working things through with Morag and her father, Charlie headed down to Ruby's room. When she arrived she knocked and found her daughter was all packed up and ready to go. She just had to wait for the nurse to finish taking her bloods. Within the two minutes that Charlie had been in the room the nurse had finished and neatly packed away Ruby's diabetes kit, handing it to Charlie as she said goodbye. Putting the kit into her handbag, Charlie removed her car keys so she would have them easily at hand.

Ruby smiled as she slowly stood up from the bed hugging her 'Ruby the Diabetic Teddy' close to her as she did so. She looked around the room and the uneasy feeling she had been fighting since the night before. The center had become her source of comfort over the last month or so. She felt safe where she was, even if at times she did feel lonely. It was still hard having to go back out into the real world. With real people. As she thought about it, suddenly she began to panic and her breathing became more rapid. Dropping the teddy bear on the bed she ran into Charlie's arms, clinging onto her mother tightly.

"Hey, hey it's okay", Charlie said as she dropped a kiss on top of Ruby's head. "It's okay I'm right here".

"'I'm scared Mum", Ruby said through her tears as she tugged on Charlie's top.

"Oh baby I know your scared", Charlie said as she clung to Ruby, gently stroking her daughter's hair. "But I will be here for you, night and day. Whatever you need. But you have to promise me that you'll let me, that you'll talk to me. Because I need to know what's going on to help you. Deal?", Charlie asked gazing into her daughters eyes.

"Deal", Ruby replied as she hugged her mother once more before they parted.

After saying goodbye to the nurses, Ruby and Charlie finally made it to the car. Sitting in the car they both strapped on their seatbelts and Charlie roared the engine to life and drove down the driveway towards the gate. When she reached it, she indicated right towards the city intsead of left towards Summer Bay. Ruby looked around confused and then turned to her mother.

"Um, Mum, where are we going?", she asked as Charlie turned right.

"Well I figured that you wouldn't want to go home to face everybody yet until you' d found your feet, so we're going to the city for a little holiday first for a couple of days", Charlie said with a grin on her face.

"But, why the city?", Ruby asked as she looked as the familiar scenery out of the car window.

"You'll see when we get there", Charlie replied mysteriously.

The drive was rather relaxed and it had only taken them two hours to finally reach the city. As they hit the city center, Ruby began to remember her old life. This was further helped along when they drove passed one of Ruby's old hangouts. Even after two years it was still the same. Before she knew it, they were driving down a road that was all too familiar to Ruby, because it was the road that lead to her childhood home. And with the blink of an eye, Charlie had pulled up right outside their former home and pulled to a stop. When she turned to look at her daughter she saw her smile.

"Wha...what are we doing here?", Ruby asked as she gazed at her mother with one of the happiest expressions she'd seen in a long time.

"Well, I thought, if we're going to stay anywhere it might as well be here. With the economy the way it is, Dad couldn't sell it so he decided to hold onto it for now", Charlie smiled as she looked at the house. It was this house that held fond memories for her of Ruby growing up. "Come on, lets go".

They both stepped out of the car and walked toward the house. As they fell into step with one another, Charlie took a hold of her daughter's hand and they intertwinded their fingers as they walked up the driveway. The pavement still bore the markings of the painted hopscotch Ruby had done when she was six, although it was beginning to fade away. They walked along another bit and as they approached the garage they spotted the old basketball net that hung above the garage door. Battered from the may games Charlie used to play with Ruby when Ross was too busy with a case to make a play date.

The house was a mixed bag. It held memories both good, bad and painful and over the next couple of days both Bucktons would face them together. When they approached the front door, Charlie unlocked it and they stepped inside, stepping into the past and revisiting whatever memory chose to return during their stay. As they looked around the familiar living room Charlie placed a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulders and they smiled at each other.