Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

A/N: Last chapter. Here we go. Thanks for everyone that has reviewed.

Not beta'd. All mistakes are mine.

August 7th, 1945

"Brittany!" Rachel squealed. "It's beautiful. When did he ask you?"

"Last night." Brittany beamed, admiring the ring on her finger. "It was so romantic. I love Artie so much. He asked for my father's permission a few days ago." She spun around the room, amazed by the way the light from the window made the small diamond sparkle. "We set the date for a few months from now."

"I'm so happy for you and Artie." Rachel smiled, watching the blonde closely. "I'm surprised you two haven't gotten married sooner."

"Well, you know how depressed he was after his accident." Brittany smiled sadly. "He was angry for a long time. Then when you went to England to help… well, I think he just wanted to wait for you two get back, Rachel. You've always meant a lot to him and honestly, he'd never get married without you being there." She sighed and sank onto Rachel's bed beside her. "I knew I'd have to wait before he asked me but I didn't mind. I want you to be at my wedding."

"Have you decided on a location?"

Brittany shrugged. "Our church. It's going to be really small. Only family is invited."

"That's sounds intimate." Rachel smiled. "I'm sure it will beautiful. Artie will get a nice outfit and I'll even help you pick out a gorgeous dress. It will be perfect, Brittany."

"What about…?" Brittany stood up. "The letters you sent me while you were over in England, you kept mentioning this Sergeant. Was he important to you?"

Rachel laughed softly. "He was." She nodded, moving to walk across the room. She pretended to sift through her ribbon basket. "He still is."

"Do you want to tell me about him? You haven't talked about the war. Your dads are a little worried about you." Brittany sighed.

"I'm fine." Rachel forced a smile. "It's just… he promised he would look for me. It's been over two months since I got back and even longer for him. What if he got tired of trying? What if he forgot about me?" She complained, trying to keep from sounding whiny but failing miserably.

Brittany pursed her lips as if she was trying to decide what to say. She was about to say something when Artie's voice drifted up the stairs of the house. Brittany quickly smiled and jumped up from the bed. "We'll talk about this later, Rachel. I promise."

"Yea." Rachel replied meekly and then slowly followed Brittany down the stairs.

When she reached the end of the steps Brittany was in Artie's lap and kissing his cheek. Rachel couldn't keep the smile off of her face. Artie and Brittany deserved each other. They were incredibly happy and Rachel wished them the best.

/

August 14th, 1945

"So Quinn doesn't mind me staying with you two for a little bit?" Noah asked. He was sitting in the Hudson's small kitchen area, enjoying a nice, cold beer with Finn. Finn and Quinn had gotten married as soon as he got home. They didn't want to waste any time.

"Not at all." Finn shook his head. "I told her about you and Rachel. I think she likes the idea of helping you find this mysterious woman you fell in love with while you were wounded. She says it would make for a great book." He chuckled. "Quinn said you could stay as long as you wanted."

"Thanks." Noah sighed. "I'm so glad this damn war is finally over. I didn't want to leave my Ma until it was. I've been trying to find Rachel but I haven't had much luck." He shook his head. "Where the hell is Lima, Ohio anyway?"

"I'm really sorry I can't be any help." Finn frowned. "But you're only a few hours from Lima I think. It can't be that big of a town so she should be pretty easily to find."

"I hope so." Puck downed the last of his beer. "It's late. I'm going to try to get some sleep."

/

August 17th, 1945

"You look beautiful, Brittany." Rachel smiled fondly at the dress Brittany was wearing. "Absolutely stunning. Artie is going to love it." The small brunette woman walked closer and tried to help pull the dress back to fit Brittany's frame better.

"I love this color on me." Brittany grinned. "Thank you so much for agreeing to make me a dress for the wedding. Artie said I could go to town and buy me a really nice one but I'd like to save up our money. Artie wants kids soon and so do I. I'm just glad that you know how to sew and everything."

"I don't mind, Brittany." Rachel shook her head. "My dress may not be as nice as one you can buy from a store but I'm happy that you asked me."

"I want you to know that I care about you, Rachel. You're Artie's family… that makes you my family, too." Brittany told the woman quietly.

Rachel blushed and looked up at Brittany through the mirror. "Thank you, Brittany."

"You're welcome." Brittany smoothed the dress down in the front and stood a little straighter. "Do you think that Artie and I will make cute children?"

"I think you'll make lovely children." Rachel replied.

"How many should we have, Rachel? I don't want too many." Brittany sighed. "But family seems important to Artie and I want to make him happy."

"You make him happy. I'm sure he'll be fine with how many ever children you want."

Brittany quiet for a while and Rachel knew it was coming before the blonde even opened her mouth. "Do you want to talk about that Sergeant yet? I'd love to hear about him. You always spoke so highly of him in your letters to me."

"Noah." Rachel said quietly. "That was his name: Noah Puckerman." She smiled as she retold the story of her encounters with Noah to Brittany.

/

August 19th, 1945

"Take these." Quinn shoved the plate at Noah's chest. "It's a long drive and I made you a lunch."

"Thanks, Quinn." Noah smiled and jumped into his truck after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You'll have to bring this Rachel girl around sometime. I'd love to meet her." The blonde grinned. "Plus, I kind of need to thank her for caring for my husband." Finn hugged her side. "Be careful on the drive, Noah."

"I hope you find your girl." Finn yelled as Noah pulled out of the driveway, heading towards Ohio.

Noah blew out a breath. It was nearly noon and he still had hours before he got to Lima. He checked the map one last time to make sure he was heading the right way and shifted to get comfortable in his old farm truck. He had told him Ma that he could just take the train most of the way there and walk the rest of the way but she insisted that he take his truck. She said that she didn't leave the house much anyway and when she did, she and his sister could just walk. He didn't argue with her any longer. He really didn't want to walk all of that way anyway. He still walked with a limp and he hated it. Plus, it would be faster if he took his truck. He didn't want to waste any time to find Rachel. He'd already lost enough time because of this war.

His eyes were drooping when he finally saw the sign to welcome him to Lima. His face broke out in a smile and suddenly he wasn't tired anymore. It was just starting to get dark, the horizon was lit up with hues of oranges and pinks. He drove through the town slowly and finally stopped at the post office. Surely, someone there would know where the Berry house was.

/

Brittany and Artie had left a few hours ago. Rachel's dad was on the porch, listening to the radio and she had taken it upon herself to bring the clothes in from the line. She was in her work dress, a dull yellow color with worn patches and stains covering the front. Her hair was pulled up into a bun but her bangs were framing her face, tickling her cheeks when the wind blew just right. She smiled back at her dad when she heard a song come over the radio. Rachel danced along with the song slowly as she pulled the clothes carefully off of the line and into the small basket in front of her.

"Sing for me, Rachel." Her dad told her and she giggled before obeying his soft command.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow

Rachel's voice carried over to her father and he hummed along, enjoying how pure Rachel's voice sounded. She had always liked to sing and he had always liked listening to her. They both stopped, singing and humming, when a truck slowly creaked up the road. No one ever came down this road. It led straight back to the Berry's farm.

Rachel continued to carefully fold the clothes and tuck them into her basket but her father laid down his paper and stepped from the porch, eyeing the truck as it slowed to a stop in front of the house.

The truck was parked pretty far away and the sheets on the line were obscuring her vision but Rachel recognized the man instantly. Her breath hitched and the man started to walked towards her and her father, a slight limp in his step. The shirt of her father's in her hand fell to her feet and she took a careful step forward. Was this really happening?

"Hello, Sir." The man nodded to her father, Henry Berry. "Good evening."

"What can I do for you, young man?"

"Well, actually…" Noah smiled and looked over the man's shoulder to see Rachel.

Henry's brow furrowed when he heard his daughter squeal but then she was running past him and basically pouncing on the young man. She showered the man's face with kisses and his arms held her around her waist, holding her up when her legs wrapped around him and her hands clung to his neck. Henry Berry found it an odd way to say hello but he had a feeling that Rachel knew this man. They definitely didn't seem to be stranger.

His daughters laughter rang out into the evening and Henry stepped forward, determined to find out who exactly Rachel seemed to be so fond of. He cleared his throat loudly even though she had her back to him, he knew she was starting to blush. She untangled herself from Noah and turned to face her father. It wasn't lost on Henry that the two young people in front of him couldn't seem to keep their hands off of his other. Noah had one arm wrapped around her waist still while her hand was twining their fingers together.

"Noah Puckerman, Sir." Henry could tell that Noah wanted to shake his hand but Rachel wasn't having any of that.

"So you're the one that my daughter has been talking about since she got back." Henry smiled.

"Rachel talked about me?" Noah smiled down at the girl in question and she blushed profusely.

"It took you a while." Henry nodded. "To find her, I mean. She was starting to worry that you weren't coming."

"I got here as soon as I could." Noah told the two of them. "I never stopped thinking about you, Rachel."

Rachel turned back and hugged him hard. "I never stopped thinking about you, either, Noah." She took a deep breath. "I can't believe you're here. I feel like if I let go of you, you're going to disappear."

"I'm not going anywhere." He promised. "I'll stay with you as long as you'll let me."

"Forever?" She asked, her voice almost child-like.

Noah looked up at Henry, who nodded. "Forever." Noah whispered.

/

Noah didn't have a lot of money but they found this really small farm house not too far from the Berry farm. Rachel said that they could move to be closer to his Ma but he insisted that they stay in Lima. He had been saving up some money and Rachel's dad loaned them some money, although Noah was adamant he would pay him back. Henry just shrugged and made Noah promise to take good care of Rachel. Noah held good to that promise, making sure Rachel got whatever she wanted.

They were married the next week. It was a small ceremony; not nearly as nice as the one Artie and Brittany were going to have but Rachel insisted they do it as soon as possible. She told him that she wanted to be Mrs. Puckerman and that it didn't matter if she was wearing the old dress she had on when he had showed up in Lima; she just really wanted to marry him already. She didn't want a big wedding so they drove to the synagogue, the only one in Lima, on a Tuesday and had a small Jewish ceremony. They took pictures and sent them to his mother and sister as soon as they could.

Noah told Rachel that once they had enough money they would get a bigger, nicer house but she refused.

"I like this house." She told him. "It's ours. The first thing that we can ours. I don't need a big house. This house has three bedrooms, Noah. One for us… and we can fill the other two with kids." She said sheepishly. They hadn't really talked about kids but she just assumed. She wasn't sure how he would react but he just picked her up and kissed her, whispering in her ear how much she meant to him.

It was their wedding night and everyone had finally gone home to give the newlyweds some privacy. Rachel was nervous but she could tell Noah was too. She knew he had done this before, the whole making love thing, but she hadn't and they could both tell. She hated that he had some experience and she had no idea what to do.

He kissed her sweetly, assuring her that everything was alright, and he took his time. They were under the covers, naked, and she was studying his face when he smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. Her stomach was twisting and felt like it was trying to jump right out of her throat. His head dipped down and kissed her cheek, still whispering soothing things into her ear. She could feel him, aroused against her thigh and it just made her more nervous. She was afraid she would do something wrong.

"Rachel." He whispered and pulled back to look her in the eyes. "I love you."

He said those three words and suddenly, her stomach stopped doing flips. She wasn't nervous anymore. She took cues from him, letting him subtly lead her into the role she was supposed to be playing. He assured her that everything would be alright, that this night was just about making her feel good. He took it slow, not wanting to hurt her. Her breathing sped up as he pushed into her and she held her breath when the pain washed over her.

He slowed his pace and moved his lips against hers like he was trying to kiss her pain away. It helped a little bit and kissed him back, focusing on how his lips felt on hers. Soon, he was pushed all of the way in and she urged him to start moving. It decided on a slow, tortuous pace but they both enjoyed it, taking the time to absorb each other.

Rachel caught on quickly, learning how he reacted to her kissing him in certain places or how he moaned when she trailed her fingertips down his spine. She smiled, happy she could get this kind of reaction out of him and then it was over. He pushed her to the edge and she cried his name out as they shuddered together. He pulled out of her then and collapsed onto the bed beside her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"I never got to hear you sing." He commented lazily, his voice laced with sleep and happiness. "I want to hear your song, Rachel."

She placed an open-mouthed kiss to his bare chest and shifted under the quilt to snuggled up next to him. "What do you want me to sing?" She asked quietly.

"Anything. You could sing Happy Birthday and I'd be okay with it." She giggled at that and then took a few seconds to think of a good song.

"I love you, Noah." She whispered. "And I think this song is perfect for tonight."

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singin' in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Noah pulled her closer, amazed by her voice and kissed the top on her head. He let the sleep take over his body as she sang the last few lyrics quietly, almost like a lullaby.

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

The End