Author's Note - Once again, thank you for all of the reviews. I honestly don't have any desire to continue writing Rain, so I finally decided to end it. Maybe you'll see an epilogue at some point, I'm not sure. I appreciate all of the feedback I've gotten from writing this, and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading it. Thanks for supporting me. :)

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Rain

Chapter 9 - Again



This moment had been six months in the making. After all the pain, the tears, the running away, she had finally made it to this point.

Rory stood on the front porch, gazing out over the lawn. The daisies were finally in full bloom, lining the driveway where her mother sat. In a wheelchair.

Mother and daughter shared a solemn smile. Only they knew truly what a battle this had been. Through all of the rehabilitation, Lorelai had refused to admit to anyone but Rory just how much pain she was in. But here they were now, the proud owners of a wheelchair covered with metallic blue paint and a leopard print antenna.

Lorelai would say for years after that the only thing that made her want to get better was the sight of Rory, kneeling by her hospital bed, sobbing helplessly. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." she told Rory. "I just laid there thinking 'I made that. I created that. And just knowing that she loves me as much as I love her makes me want to walk again.'"

She inhaled slowly, glancing to her left where Luke and Sookie stood. It was time.

Lorelai carefully reached down, moving her feet off of the metal where they rested. A shaky hand grasped the armrest of the wheelchair, and she willed herself to push. Suddenly, she was standing.

Her muscles trembled, but she didn't give up. After assuring herself that she would be caught if she were to fall, Lorelai slowly let go of the wheelchair. Then put one foot in front of another.

For the first time since the accident, Lorelai walked towards the front door of her house. On her own. No one there to support the weight of her burdens. She approached Rory carefully, and took in the scene.

By Rory's side was the same person who had been there all along. Someone who she once believed she hated, but had eventually begun to love. Tristan. Lorelai knew that it would take some time for the growing friendship to become something more, something that he had been wanting since the beginning. She smiled at him. They both knew he was willing to wait as long as she needed.

Rory reached out to help her mother up the stairs and through the door. As soon as Sookie began running frantically around the kitchen, searching for the ingredients to a welcome home feast; Luke sat down on the couch, flipping through the channels and looking like he might cry; Lorelai wailed at her daughter to help her up the stairs so she could change into her favorite jeans; Rory knew that eventually things would be back to the way they were before the accident.

The only difference was that now she had someone there to help her through the long road that still awaited her. He took her hand in his, and squeezed gently.

Maybe things would never be the same again. She looked at him, and smiled. But maybe it was better this way.