Hey, guys, guess what.

I DID IT.

You are all the greatest, and your reading-and-reviewing efforts have finally paid off. I present to you the much-anticipated fourth and final chapter of "One Small Victory," along with my sincerest apologies that it took as long as it did to get here. But get here it did, and now you can read it!

It's a bit quicker than some of the other chapters have been, but I think you'll find it satisfying. Thanks so much for all the reviews and readership! I hope you'll all check out some of my other work stay tuned for new stories! It's been a pleasure writing for you all!

Much love,
Jingle

CHAPTER FOUR

It was late afternoon, and Luke felt unusually confident as he made his way home with an armful of groceries. It had been a long time since he'd been comfortable leaving Jess home alone, yet today, he was visited by none of his previous visions of a smoldering pile of ash where his diner had stood, or of an angry mob gathering outside the door—or, perhaps the worst one, no sign of Jess at all.

No, today Luke knew Jess had gone straight home after school, and Luke smiled a victorious little smile at the thought.

It was one week to the day of Jess's incarceration. As he had done after his errands every day since then, Luke took a detour down a side street and headed for Jason's jewelry store. It was a small boutique, like most of the shops in Stars Hollow, and when Luke peered into the window, there were only a few items on display.

Among them, diamonds glittering in the afternoon sun, was Jess's necklace.

Luke felt a swell of pride… but he had to be sure. He found Jason inside the shop, sticking price tags on a display of earrings.

"Hey, Jason."

The man was short and balding. He turned around and peered up. "Oh, hi, Luke," he said. "Fancy seeing you here. What're you in the market for?"

"Not buying, today," said Luke. "I was just wondering if you'd seen my nephew around. He's not answering his phone."

"That sketchy kid?" said Jason. "Jess, right? Yeah, he was here, actually."

"He was here?" said Luke, feigning surprise. "How long ago?"

"I dunno… half an hour? Said he was looking for a gift for Rory." His expression darkened. "No offense, Luke, but I don't like the thought of her hanging around that kid. He's… well…" He furrowed his brow. "Different."

"He's still figuring out a few things," said Luke, "but he's learning. He's brighter than you'd think."

Jason looked uncertain but politely refrained from replying.

"So, did he get her anything?"

"No," said Jason. He looked thoughtfully toward the window display.

"What is it?" said Luke.

"Oh, nothing. Just… he found my necklace. Diamond. I thought someone had stolen it or something. It'd been missing a week. But I guess it must have just slipped off the stand when someone was looking at it. Kid said it was stuck in between the floorboards."

"Really!" said Luke. "Well, good for him."

"Yeah, I guess," said Jason. He looked hesitant for a moment, and Luke worried he was harboring some kind of suspicion. But then his round face broke into a grin. "Hey, Luke, I was kind of short with him earlier. But that was big of him, you know? He could have made off with it. I wouldn't have known. Would you tell him thanks for me?"

Luke smiled. "Sure thing, Jason."

Jess was on his bed, reading, when Luke walked through the door. Trying not to appear too eager, Jess peered up at him. Luke crossed his arms.

"There will be no more stealing," said Luke, "there will be no more lying, and the next time I ask you to do something, you will do it, immediately, and you will not argue about it. Those are the rules, whether you like them or not. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes."

Luke gave him an appraising look. "Jason says thanks for finding his necklace," he said. "I'm glad you returned it."

"Thank you."

Jess watched him carefully. Finally, Luke nodded his head and said, "Rory's downstairs."

Jess was halfway to the door before the sentence was fully uttered. He raced down the stairs and burst into the diner. Sure enough, Rory and Lorelai were standing, waiting, just inside the door. Jess's head felt light, and his face got warm when Rory smiled at him. In a flash he was on top of her, pressing his mouth against hers as if to make up for the days they'd been apart.

Lorelai cleared her throat, but she was wholly ignored.

"I'm just going to go talk to Luke," she said, and she headed for the stairs without waiting for a response.

Rory put a hand on Jess's face and pulled away gently. "I'm glad to see you."

"No kidding." Jess knew he was grinning like an idiot, and that everyone in the diner was gawking at them, but at that moment, he couldn't have cared less. "I thought… maybe… you wouldn't want to see me again."

"Are you crazy?" She pulled his head forward to kiss him once, but she quickly touched his lips to stop him again. "This was just to help out Luke. It was all his idea, believe me." She thought for a moment. "But whatever stupid thing you did… please, don't ever, ever do it again, okay?"

"No," Jess mumbled through her fingers. "No, don't worry—I won't."

Then he took her wrist in his hand, found her lips again, and didn't remove himself until he felt he'd made his point.

Lorelai found Luke sitting at his small kitchen table.

"Looks like it worked," she said.

Luke nodded. "Rory wasn't too upset, was she?"

"She handled it very well. Boy hormones are crazier than girl hormones."

"It's been barely a week, and he's already acting better than he has the entire time he's been here." Luke cracked a smile. "I feel so powerful."

"I'm proud of you, Luke," said Lorelai.

"Well, thanks. I'm proud of me, too."

"Can I ask—I'm burning with curiosity." She sat across from him at the table and leaned on her elbows. "What did he do?"

"He took something that didn't belong to him and refused to return it."

"A car."

"God, no. A necklace. Like a thousand-dollar one from Jason's."

"Aha. But he brought it back, eventually?"

"Yep. This afternoon."

Lorelai nodded thoughtfully. "So… no spanking?"

"For the love of god, Lorelai, no." Luke paused. "Although I did threaten to."

Lorelai brightened visibly. "Ha! I bet the look on his face was priceless."

"It was one of my better moments, I think it's fair to say."

"What did he want to steal a necklace for, anyway?"

"Oh…" Luke shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "You know. Tough guy. Shoplifting. Ooo-ooh." He made a flapping motion with his hands that Lorelai supposed was meant to be an impression of something that might appear intimidating.

"He was gonna give it to Rory, wasn't he?"

Luke sighed. "Yeah, he was. But, look, Lorelai, it didn't even occur to him it might get her in trouble, and I'm sure if he had…"

Lorelai held up a hand. "No," she said. "It's okay. The way those two are sucking face down there… I mean, I know he would never do anything to hurt Rory. Not on purpose, anyway. And I guess it was… kind of sweet. You know, in a felony kind of way."

Luke grinned. "Exactly." After a moment, he added, "So you want me to go separate them, or what?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Nah, let them have their moment." She smirked, and her eyes glittered. "So, you threatened to spank him?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "I wasn't serious."

"Not even a little bit?"

"I was just trying to sound imposing."

"What do you think it would take for you to follow through?"

"A lot."

"What if he really did steal a car?"

"Lorelai."

"Rob a bank?"

"Lorelai!"

"You know, there's still money in it for you if you ever change your mind. Fifty dollars. But only if there's a witness."

"You're a sadist."

"I just think it would provide a marked improvement to his character. Besides, you can't ground Rory every time you want to ground Jess. It's not really fair."

"No," said Luke, and suddenly he fell to thinking. "No, I guess it's not…"

And the two of them sat and thought about that for a very long time.

Fin.
El final.
最後に。
The end.