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AUTHORS NOTE!: Here it is you guys!! The last, and final chapter!! I hope you guys all had as good of a time reading it as I did writing it. I owe my thanks to a lot of special people! My reviewers are the best, and I wouldn't have done most of it w/o your guys input! So here's a special thank you to all those reviewers-whether you reviewed it once or ten times, you guys really are awesome!: Gilmoregirl1979, faith5x5, Moonlight01, Julians Angel, Muse-of-the-Faires, Danagabrielle, Amefinch, Irish-Surf-Chick, Only-Soup-Cans-Need-Lables, Jaymek, Lauren9, TGR, RedHairIsTrouble, Xenanaut, Bambi-Cat, Spuffyluvr, and my two constant reviewers:
lorelaivictoriadanes-thank's for always reviewing!! I really appreciate it!
and...
Maria G-thanks for all you're great reviews! ecspecially the last one! you are awesome and thanks for reading my other stories also! i appreciate it so much!

Here it goes...enjoy!!!

(And thanks again to my kick-ass reviewers! I love you!)

Chapter Twenty: Back in the Hollow, Again.

On Saturday morning, Lorelai woke up with Luke next to her, in her bed. It was almost 10, and he wasn't opening. Lately, they had been sleeping in so late. Which was very unusual for Luke, but never for Lorelai.

"Get up." He said, trying to shake her awake.

"No!! Stop!!" She yelled out at him.

She leaned over and slapped his hand that was trying to push her around.

"Ouch! Don't hit me!" He hissed.

"Well, don't wake me up."

"You're daughter is going to be home soon."

She quickly raised herself up, and a huge smile appeared across her face. "What time is it!"

"It's 10. She'll probably be home in 2 hours. You wanted to get the house ready for her."

"Yes, let's get goin, mister! You have to help me clean up. Oh...and, I want to organize her room a little. Clean it up, move some things around. Just...cause, ya know? I don't want her to come back, and be scared of her room or anything like that."

"Good idea."

They spent an hour and half working on the house. Lorelai cleaned up everything, with lots of Luke's help. They arranged some things in Rory's room, and Lorelai wrote out, "WELCOME HOME RORY," in donuts on the table. It took a lot of donuts, but without a doubt they would all get eaten.

Rory and Lane left yesterday, and were driving straight through. Rory dropped off Lane at her house, and drove down the familiar streets of Stars Hollow. The place that she left. The place that she loves. She pulled into her driveway at around 12:15. Lorelai and Luke were in the kitchen, Luke trying to pull Lorelai off of the donuts, and Lorelai trying to fight the urge of eating them all, when suddenly, they heard a honk from outside. As quick as she can, she dropped a donut and ran straight out the front door, Luke following slowly behind her. Rory was just getting out of the car when her mom walked out of the door. They made eye contact that said 'I missed you. I'm so glad you are home.' Lorelai ran over to her and gave her a huge hug.

"Rory!!!!" She screamed in excitement.

"Mom!! I missed you!" They sat there jumping around like little girls for a few moments, when suddenly Luke walked out of the house, smiling at Rory. She caught his eye and returned the smile. She pulled away from her mom and walked over to him and surprised him with a hug.

"Luke!"

He returned the hug, and made eye contact, this time with Lorelai who was smiling at the two of them.

"Hey Rory! I'm glad you're home."

She pulled away but quickly leaned back in to whisper something in his ear. "Are you okay? Was she okay?"

He laughed a little and whispered back. "She's okay, but I'm glad you're back to take over."

"Hey! Secrets, secrets are not fun, secrets should be told to everyone or however that stupid rhyme goes." Lorelai called out to them. "Now, let go of her and come back here! I need to give you another hug."

Rory ran over to her mom and they sat there welcoming eachother for quite some time. Luke pulled all of Rory's bags in, as Lorelai and Rory sat on the swing on the porch and started talking about her trip.

"So, over all. Scale of 1 to 10. How much would you rather of been here with me?"

"10."

"10 being?"

"The most."

"Ah, that's my girl. But it sounds like you had fun."

"I did. I needed it."

"Yeah. So how are things going with...Dean." She said hesitantly.

"He called me."

"What did he say? I mean, if you want to talk about it."

"That he and Lindsay are still getting a divorce. And that it's not my fault. He knew they were going to get one anyways, before we...slept with eachother."

"Well, maybe it's better for them...but what about you guys."

"Nothing's going to happen. There really is no you guys because I don't love him, and as much as I'd love to be his friend, I don't think that can really work. In the back of our minds, we will always know what we did. And we'll know that what we did was wrong. Wronger than any other thing. And that not only was it wrong, but it was a mistake."

They spent the whole afternoon talking. It wasn't until about 5 that Rory wanted to lie down. She had been driving for 15 hours straight, with the exception of Lane driving, and she was tired. Not to mention that the hours of talking with her mother wore her out also. Right before Rory walked into her slightly changed room, Lorelai stopped her.

"I hope you don't mind. Luke and I are going to dinner tonight. I thought I'd give you the night to rest. We have much more catching up time though before you go back to school."

"That's fine. Don't worry."

They both walked into Rory's room. Her eyes lightened up at the changes. Not much was different though. It was cleaner, which not to say always was. The bed had new sheets and a comforter on it. She moved her desk and bed around, and she left her a journal on her desk. She opened it up and scimmed through the old pages that her mother used to write on. She turned to the first page, and began to read the entry.

February 20, 1985

I love Rory so much. She's the greatest thing that ever happend to me. And of course, struggling to keep her healthy and safe at some points isn't always easy, but she's worth all the troubles. I'm going to raise her to be a smart, fun, loving kid. All the guys are going to want her. Ah- what am I talking about? She's only so young. More later. Lorelai.

Rory glanced over at her mom with tears in her eyes. Why did she want to give her this journal? She flipped over to the last page.

June 30, 2004

I still love you so much. Just always remember that, okay? You are the greatest kid in the world. And I hope you had a great time in Chicago. I missed you tons, but...I got used to it. Luke did a good job of keeping control over me. I love you, kid. Mom.

She walked over to her mom and gave her a tight hug. "Thanks mom, I love you."

"I love you too, babe."

Rory took a long nap, while Lorelai was upstairs alone, getting ready to go out to dinner with Luke. They were going to an extremely fancy restaurant out in Hartford, where her parents had often dined. That had to say something about the place. Lorelai wore a dress, a blank, slinky knee length dress with a low-cut front. She mastered looking good in dresses like that. Luke wore a suit and a tie. Lorelai had given him proper instructions as to how to dress for this place. And although he wasn't thrilled, he didn't bother fighting with her.

At exactly 7, the doorbell rang. Lorelai walked down in her high heels, trying not to wake up Rory with the sound of her stomping. She opened the door and smiled faintly at how nice he looked. He did the same. She leaned in and kissed him deeply.

"You look wonderful." He said.

"I am beautiful, aren't I?" She said twirling around in her dress, Luke watched her closely. "Just kidding." She said taking back her comment.

"No, you are. Ready?"

They drove to the restaurant and after ordering her food, there was music playing and people dancing on the other side of the room. Lorelai looked over at all the happy couples dancing to the slow songs that they played. She caught Luke's eye, and shifted her's over the dancing, not to long after, casting them back at him, trying to send a hint. She smiled at him and winked.

"Please?"

He turned his head, and looked at the people dancing. He leaned his hand over the table and she placed her's tightly in his. They walked over and danced closer than ever. They did this twice, and afterwards sat back down and ate their dinner. When they were finished, they walked back over to the dance floor and danced to one more song.

She whispered quietly in his ear. "So, Rory's home."

"Yeah, she is."

"But things are going to be the same with us, right? I mean, you know you can always sleep over, and Rory is going back to college, so then you can really sleep over. I'll be lonely again."

"Yeah, well, is it okay, I mean...do you think she'd mind if I were over some nights? Or if you ever fell asleep at my place?"

"Not at all. She's one of our biggest fans, ya know. Besides Patty and Babette, that is. Oh and Sookie. But she's right up there."

"She's a great kid."

"Yeah, she is."

"You did a great job of raising her."

"Thank you." She said so quietly he could barely hear her.

After the song ended, they headed back home. They walked up the steps to Lorelai's door when Lorelai tripped, but pulled herself back together, trying not to laugh. They reached the top of the stairs and stood face to face in front of the door, Lorelai giggling slightly.

"You're crazy. You know that?"

"What can I say? I'm a Gilmore Girl."

Luke smiled, and she went to fix his crooked tie. "Ah, this is all messed up." She said fumbling with the collar of his shirt.

"Why are you doing this now? Why did I even have to wear one in the first place?"

"Because..." she smiled, "That's the romantic way to do this, damn it!"

He had to smile. The night of the test run flashed through his head. They both smiled.

She began to fix his tie again, but he began to move around.

"Will you just stand still?"

And they kissed. They re-enacted the night of the test run, yet again. They kissed passionately, just like the first time. No matter what, that's how things would always be. And that felt good. They both knew that there was something magical between them. Something always was, and something always would be.

A/N: All Done!! I know that the last few lines were a repeat from the finale, but I meant to do that! Haha, thank you guys! Hope you enjoyed it--sorry this chapter was sort of short, but...what can I say!

"In this world, we're just beginning to understand the miracle of living. Baby, I was afraid before, I'm not afraid anymore. Oh baby, do you know what that's worth, oh Heaven is a place on Earth. They say Heaven...love comes first, we'll make Heaven a place on earth."-Belinda Carlisle, Heaven Is A Place On Earth.