Chapter 5: Love Never Dies
Decades passed. The Geller-Bing and Geller-Green children grew up and had families of their own. Phoebe married Mike Harrington and settled closer to where her biological mother lived on Montauk; the old friends would often take trips out there to visit them. Chandler felt the memories, even there, always fresh: on one such trip, he had asked Monica, half-seriously, if she would ever date him. If he really wasn't boyfriend material. She had tried to laugh it off then, but he had dared to hope, then, that she was considering it.
Uncle Joey never changed. Content in his role as the bachelor uncle, he commandeered a small vacation loft in the separate garage in Chandler's backyard so he could visit his old friend and surrogate niece and nephew whenever he wanted. It was where he would eventually live permanently, as they all grew older, and time marched steadily on.
The five surviving friends aged gracefully, seeing children and grandchildren (and in Phoebe's case, great-grandchildren). One by one, they passed on. Rachel was bereft at the loss of her Ross, and Chandler offered to have his sister-in-law stay with him. She politely declined, not wanting to add an extra burden on him on top of Joey, moving in with a by-now widowed Phoebe on Montauk instead. Jokes about the pair being the Golden Girls abounded. The close girlfriends eventually slipped the bonds of earth themselves, leaving Erica and Jack anguished each time, at the loss of their aunties.
Joey was the next to follow, leaving Chandler at the dinner table one night and shuffling off to the loft in the back, only to not show up for breakfast the next morning. Chandler had to call his son over to investigate; Jack found Joey cold to the touch, having passed away in his sleep.
Now it seemed that, with the exception of his children, Chandler was well and truly all alone. He had kept his word, even after all these years: he had never loved again. Never even so much as dated, despite Erica's matchmaking manipulations.
The last day dawned peacefully, sun streaming in through the window. Dozing on the couch, Chandler lifted his head against the glare of the light and…
He had to be seeing things. There was Rachel gliding in through the foyer, a beaming smile on her face. She inexplicably appeared as young as she had on the day she had burst into Central Perk in that awful wedding dress, fleeing her wedding to Barry. Or had it been Larry? All these years removed, Chandler couldn't remember.
"Come on, Doofus!" Rachel tugged at Chandler's hands, helping him to his feet. "Everyone's waiting!"
"Rache….? Where are we going…?"
She smirked. "You'll see…." Guiding him by the hands, Rachel led him with purpose, and almost seamlessly, to another world. One that to Chandler had only appeared in dreams.
There was Phoebe, dropping her husband's hand to throw her arms around him.
"Chandler!" Ross's crowing voice wafted over to him, as he nudged Phoebe aside and tackled his brother-in-law in a bear hug. Joey was right behind him, smiling at Chandler in a knowing and almost aged way.
"Someone's been waiting to see you…."
Glancing past his buddies, Chandler froze. A statuesque woman stood in the near distance, her back to him, until she turned, dark hair tossing over her shoulder.
She was exquisite. As beautiful as the day he had lost her. Her beaming smile upon laying eyes on him was as blinding as the sun.
"Chandler…."
He sucked in a breath, his smile widening, hardly daring to believe it. "Monica…?"
She ran into his arms, leaping the last little distance and it was as if time stood still. Or that no time had passed at all. Chandler clutched his wife close, face buried in her sweet-smelling hair, and he tried not to cry tears of joy. All the time that they had lost! Even after all these years, and now in paradise, it was hard not to feel bitter.
As if sensing his thoughts, Monica drew back to peer into her husband's eyes. Rearing up, she kissed him deeply and with a moan, Chandler held her close, kissing her back and basking in the reunion. He could feel their family watching them, but he didn't care.
When husband and wife broke apart, Monica brushed the tears from Chandler's cheeks. "Don't cry, sweetie…. We have eternity to make up for lost time. Now come on – I've been waiting for so long to hold you again."
"And feed him," Joey muttered grinning. Monica stuck her tongue out at him, and tapped her wrists together twice for good measure.
Letting her take his hand, Chandler beamed. His waiting was over. Monica had been right. Happily ever after didn't end with death. Now that he was back with her, it never would.
He allowed himself to be led by his beloved, to whom he had remained faithful even after death had parted them, if only for a time, off and into paradise without end.