Eliza raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon, but what did you just say?" She and Higgins were walking through the garden at his mother's house, as Mrs. Higgins had so nicely invited them to lunch. She had subsequently been called away on urgent matters, but had bid them stay and enjoy the fresh air in her garden.

"I said that you look rather lovely today," Higgins repeated gruffly, in his usual cool tone. His words, however, betrayed the intonation.

Her heart soared at the simple compliment, which would have been expected from any other man, but from Higgins it was revealing. "Thank you, Professor," Eliza managed to respond after a moment. She did, in fact, look rather lovely in a long white dress, trimmed in pale pink and high collared, as was the fashion.

The pair walked along silently for a moment. Both made token attempts to look at the flowers, but found their gazes invariably drawn back to one another. After being caught staring at Eliza for the second time Higgins stopped walking, and Eliza, noticing he had paused, turned around to see why.

"Eliza," Higgins began, but for once was at a loss for words. He looked up at her, hands in his jacket pockets and eyes on the ground.

Eliza took a step towards him. "Higgins, what is it?"

"For God's sake, will you stop calling me that!" he burst out. "You've been living under my roof for nearly seven months and yet you still cannot call me by my first name?" Higgins took his hands out of his pockets and ran one through his hair.

"Well I didn't know you wanted me to," Eliza countered, in a very Eliza-like fashion. Even now when she got upset the old Cockney accent showed through, along with that all too familiar scowl.

Finally meeting Eliza's gaze Higgins asked, "Why did you come back?" It was the unspoken question between them, why had she come back and why had he wanted her back. With it now in the open, Eliza was unsure of what to say.

"I-," she faltered. "I couldn't marry Freddy." It came out as an admittance she would have rather left unsaid. "And I couldn't go back to my father."

"You know damn well that's not what I meant," Higgins said, taking a step forward. "Why did you come back?"

"Why did you take me back?" Eliza accused. There was a pause.

"Do you want me to say it, Eliza?" Higgins demanded. "Should I confess my undying love as that sap once did? Should I make promises I can't keep, and fall to my knees begging for your affection?" He turned away in disgust and frustration.

"Say it," she told him. Eliza took another step towards Higgins, invading his space in hopes of getting an answer.

He took a deep breath, turning back to face Eliza. On his face was a look of resignation, of something inside this man breaking. "I don't know what you want me to say..." His eyes searched Eliza's deep brown ones.

In a bold move Eliza reached out and took one of Higgins' hands in her own. He resisted a moment, but allowed her to hold it. "I want you to tell me the truth, not whatever lines you've been feeding me."

Higgins, leading Eliza by their joined hands, sat down on a nearby bench and pulled Eliza down next to him. Looking at her once more he began to speak. "I care for you, Eliza. I'm not sure when or how it happened, but I do care. And I can't imagine my life without you in it. So whatever you can glean from that is why I took you back." He glanced down at their hands.

"I care for you as well... Henry." Higgins looked up at the sounds of his first name. "And, as much as you try to seem cold and heartless, I've fallen for you anyway." This time Eliza looked away. "I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

Higgins put on a rare smile. "Good..."

"So where does that leave us?" Eliza asked in a tentative voice.

"You once told me that you wouldn't marry me if I asked you," Higgins replied, a touch of hesitancy to match Eliza's own tone. "Does that still hold true?"

Their eyes met once more, and Eliza smiled broadly. "A few things have changed since then," she grinned.

"Meaning I have a chance?" Higgins asked.

"Well of course I expect you to properly court me just like any lady," Eliza teased.

Higgins laughed. "Yes, you are a lady now, aren't you?"

"And you're just a regular Pygmalion, aren't you?"

"No," Higgins sighed. "I'm afraid that my attraction to you has more to do with the fact that you are not as I tried to make you, but rather you are an obstinate, out-spoken, strong woman." He brought her hand up to his lips, planting a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

It was with that simple motion that their fate was sealed. Theirs was never a typical love story, but that was because they did not have a typical love. Higgins and Eliza still argued but with it came a realization that they had each finally found their equal but opposite force in this world.