I want to begin this story with an Author's Note.

This will be, yet another, "redo" fanfiction of How I Met Your Mother's series finale. Now, I have read all of the stories on here, everyone's different interpretations and what they wanted to happen and they are all fantastic, so I know that my story probably won't be as good and I understand, at this point, it may seem a tad repetitive. However, I received a great response from my debut HIMYM oneshot and I had my own vision for the finale, so, why not?

To say that I was unhappy with the finale would be an understatement. I feel like Carter Bays and Craig Thomas created an amazing, hilarious, heartfelt show, only to destroy it in the finale. It left me with more questions than answers and more anger than laughter. I honestly wish that I, as many HIMYM would probably also desire, to sit down with both men and try to figure out their motives and what they were thinking.

I don't understand that if they have had this finale planned since the first two seasons, why did they write a completely different show leading up to it? You, essentially, have the easiest job if you already know what your ending will be; you can craft everything to build to that ending, it can shape your characters, it can even lay out your timeline for you. If the ending was always for Ted and Robin to end up together, why bother with Barney and Robin at all? Why not have just had them hook up in season four, realize it was not for them, and leave it alone (akin to Joey and Rachel on Friends)? Why waste viewers' time by investing in the twists and turns of their relationship, spend an entire season leading up to their wedding, and convince the audience that these two are meant to be? Why have SEVERAL episodes of Ted and Robin "letting each other go", only to completely contradict that? I just do not understand. I truly believe they used Barney and Robin for viewers, for ratings, after discovering how popular they were among the fandom (this is not to discredit Ted and Robin shippers, because I know that there are probably many of you out there but are just not as vocal), then, when they knew ratings and fans would no longer matter, they threw them away.

Now, I've seen many who liked the finale defend it by saying it was "realistic". Divorce is "realistic", losing touch with friends is "realistic", death is "realistic". I'm sorry, but for the series finale of a nine-year-old show, a SITCOM no less, I am not looking for realism. I'm looking to feel nostalgic. I'm looking to laugh. I'm looking for, I'm not ashamed to say it, a happy ending. This is not LOST. This is not a serial drama that depicts life in all of it's ugliest and most beautiful moments. HIMYM did a great job of touching on realistic moments throughout it's entire run and that was great, but a finale is not the time to drive that home. If they had divorced Barney and Robin or killed Tracy prior to the finale, I may have understood. But a series finale is supposed to be end, the last moment you will remember of a television show you have invested in. I'm sorry, but divorce, death, and the stupid blue French horn are not what I want to remember from HIMYM.

The pacing was too quick, the dialogue was sloppy, the details were nonexistent (Marshall and Lily were treated as side pieces. They didn't even reveal their third child's name; why bother making her pregnant again for no follow through? Why did we only hear about Marshall's career? What about Lily?), the characters were written completely obtuse to their original forms (Robin would sacrifice her friends for traveling? Didn't we already do that storyline and show that she would never do that? Ted, who planned a quickie wedding to Stella would wait YEARS before marrying Tracy? The supposed love of his life?), and there was absolutely no continuity followed (Ted and Tracy's wedding looked NOTHING like the flash-forward we once saw, Lily and Robin were shown drinking wine together as Marvin grew up, Marshall's career bounced all over the place, etc.).

My story will focus on the entire gang and their friendships, but mainly on the couples of the group. Barney/Robin, Marshall/Lily, and Ted/Tracy, who were not highlighted as they should have been in the finale, as well as the entire final season. Now, this will not be an entire fluff story. I'm trying to stick with the themes and the emotions the writers set forth in the finale, but make it more cohesive, more in character, more attention to detail, etc. No worries, I will definitely end with happily and different from the original, but I'm just forewarning for the build-up to it.

Now everything that happened in the season, happened. We start the finale with the "flashback" scene at the bar, go through Ted's goodbyes, Ted meets Tracy under the yellow umbrella, he doesn't move, he dates, than proposes to Tracy, Marshall and Lily go to Italy, have Daisy, come back, Robin is traveling for her job, Barney in tow, etc. The only things that are different is that Tracy does not become pregnant (yet!) and this takes place about a year and a half after Barney and Robin's wedding, instead of three years (which I know messes up the kids ages but if Carter and Craig can be willy-nilly with the timeline, I think I can too. LOL.), and it is the night where they all gather at T&T's house (where, originally, Swarkles announces their divorce). I hope this isn't too confusing. LOL.

I hope you enjoy this story. It will be several chapters and I hope it keeps you engaged until the end. Please ignore any grammatical or accidental spelling mistakes, if you can. I try very hard to proofread, but sometimes I do miss a few things. I'd love if you are able to review- reviews make my day. Thank you very much and let me know if I do a better job than Carter and Craig! LOL.