I am SO sorry. I am so sorry that this isn't up sooner and I am so sorry that this chapter isn't longer. To make up for it, I'm going to kick my own butt and edit the next chapter so it's easy to post sooner. Also, regarding the length of the chapters, if I remember right the next chapter is a little shorter, but from there on they start getting longer and longer... finally! It just takes a while to get into the swing of writing a new story, especially when writing for a fandom for the first time.

Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I'm getting some really awesome feedback and I really appreciate it.

CHAPTER 6: The Lost Years

After the bus ride that had been both a little bit long and a little bit scary, Elle finally arrives at where she wants to be.

When the nine year old gets off at the last stop on the route, she searches for the kindest looking faces in the crowds, as well as help kiosks that she finds along her path until she finally reaches her destination.

At her destination, she is stuck in crowds that she can't quite see through before the crowd is directed to form a very slowly moving line.

Waiting in the line for over an hour, listening to the never-ending 'next's, Elle just patiently follows the slowly moving line and quietly waits from where she is seemingly invisible in the crowd; invisible to everyone but one person as she reaches the front of the line.

The one person that she, and everyone else, is here to see.

The older blonde man is wearing a tired looking smile as he first looks above Elle's head; initially expecting the height of an adult. However, when she falls into his gaze, her presence produces a genuine smile of recognition on Logan's face.

"Hi there... I know you, don't I?"

Elle just grins back at Logan as she nods her head at his question, waiting to see whether he can determine where he knows her from without her giving it away.

"I saw you at the funeral. Elleigh, isn't it? You're Rory's sister, right? Hi again..."

Initially Elle smiles at how quickly the older man puts two and two together, before her smile falls just as quickly when she hears the crucial element that he had gotten wrong.

"No... I don't have a sister. She's my mom."

Suddenly, Logan chokes on nothing, grabbing at his throat as he reaches for the glass of water sitting on the table that suddenly has a purpose.

"Oh, uh, um, okay."

As Logan grapples with finding composure, he also grapples with his tie, trying to loosen it even just a little. The second that the little girl in front of him answered his last question, it suddenly felt like his tie had somehow been tightened and now he feels like he's choking.

"Is Ror- is your mom here sweetheart?"

Elle shakes her head.

While what Logan really wants to know is why and how that is the case seeing as she is sitting here her on her own, he instead takes a different course of action.

"Claire" he calls out, beckoning his personal assistant. "Claire, can you please have a spare chair brought here for this little lady to sit here with me. Thanks."

Next, Logan turns to the little girl that is still standing in front of him and the table that he had been been using for the signings and meet-and-greet which felt like a million years ago now.

"Okay, so, she's not here. She does know that you are here, though... doesn't she?"

Logan looks to Elle for an answer as her expression she gives him answers his question without a word. Her expression reads equal parts mischievousness and equal parts charm; telling Logan that no, no Rory does not that her daughter is here with him.

"Oh man, you're gonna have me killed, kid" Logan mutters under his breath, knowing that it's not just Rory that will be after him; it'll be Rory, her mother, her father, Luke and 95% of Stars Hollow's citizens.

Logan takes a deep breath, trying his hardest to work out what the best course of action is from here on out.

He knows that he has over a hundred people here, waiting in line to meet him. He knows that there is a little girl, his ex's daughter, here with him, and without her mother knowing. He knows that both of those things require his attention. However, he also knows that he has a theory about her presence here growing in the back of his mind; a theory that he is finding impossible to ignore.

"Okay, here's the plan" he says to the child beside him, as he tries to sound like he's a confident entrepreneur and not a panicking grown man who is really just pep-talking himself.

"So, I'm going to talk to all these people as quickly as I can and wrap this seminar up as fast as humanly possible. Then, we'll head straight for Stars Hollow and I'll take you back home to your mom. You do live in Stars Hollow, right? But, first, I'm gonna give you my phone and you're going to call your mom and tell her that you're okay and that you'll be home soon, because I know that she'd probably be getting quite worried by now. Sound like a plan?"

Elle nods at the older man and she holds her hand out, signalling a high-five of agreement. The two blondes share a high-five before Logan passes Elle his phone as she enters the number that her mom had forced her to learn at age 5.

"Mommy?" the child that seems and acts so much older than her age, suddenly sounds a whole lot younger with that one word. "I'm really sorry that I didn't go to school today and I didn't tell you. I'm okay. I'm safe. I just caught the bus into the city. I'll be home a little bit later."

When she hears her mother's panicked voice on the other side of the phone, Elle speaks as quickly as she can –a skill that comes naturally to a Gilmore- and hangs up before she has a chance to be disciplined over the phone.

"I think I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble later" Elle says with a familiar, sheepish grin as she looks up to Logan, who just nods at the young girl's prediction with gritted teeth.

Logan's personal assistant approaches the table which is located in front of the large, waiting crowd, bearing an additional chair for the youngster.

"Logan, would you like me take the limo and get her home while you're doing the meet up? Or I can find someone else who can do it?"

"No. No, I'm going to wrap this up as fast I can and I'll go with her to take her home. I don't want her to leave my sight until I know that she's back home with her mom, safe and sound" Logan replies, suddenly feeling protective over the little girl and everything that could go wrong with her if he let her out of his sight in the big city.

Claire nods at her bosses answer and Logan turns to the line-up of people that are there waiting for him, beginning to speak with the next person in line after Elleigh; determined to get through them all as quickly as possible.

As Logan makes small talk with person after person, it's as though he's on autopilot. His mouth is carrying on without him and while he is doing and saying one thing, his mind is thinking about something very different. Really, Logan's mind is running wild as piece by piece, Rory's 'lost years' when her career came to a standstill after college begins to make sense. Maybe...

While there are a lot of unanswered questions, there is also one strong possibility forming within Logan's mind. However, his theory still feels far too wild to believe without confirmation. Even he can't quite accept his theory.

After all, Rory wouldn't do that to him... Would she?

So Elle's in New York... to see Logan... who is now getting suspicious too. Fun times ahead for Rory!

I know a lot of you were looking forward to another meeting between the father and daughter (even if they don't know that) so I hope that this lived up! Logan & Elle have quite a few little moments together over the next few chapters. I'd love to see what you guys thought of their meeting as well as how Logan handled the situation.

Next chapter: On the road to Stars Hollow, Logan and Elle use the time to learn more a little more each other, with a little interrogating thrown in there.