This was sitting on my hard drive for a long time, and since I intend to move forward with my other stories, I've decided to tack this on at the end and have done with this story.

So this is for all Brittana fans out there. Keep sailing strong.

Brittany's sitting in make up when Rachel and Kurt walk into her dressing room. She's much more subdued than usual, which doesn't surprise Rachel. It's her last show, after all. Rachel waves the makeup artist away – "This will only take a few minutes, Richard" – so that it's just the three of them.

"Santana called me two days ago," Brittany says, without preamble. Her friends snap to attention, exchanging anxious glances.

"Did she?" Kurt asked carefully. "What did she say?"

"She wished me good luck and said that she was so sorry that she could never make it to any of my shows." Brittany's voice is small and sad. "Did you know her term of service is almost up? She's coming home really soon. And I'm happy about that. But I still wish she could've come to see me sing 'My Headband' on stage because I'm probably never going to do this again, and she won't have the chance to see me."

Kurt sighs and puts his arms around Brittany. "I'm sorry, honey." Rachel puts her hands on Brittany's shoulders, pushing down the impulse in her chest that's threatening to bubble over. She and Kurt exchange a glance behind Brittany's back.

"You'll still have fun out there, won't you?" Rachel asks gently. "It's your last show. Live it up. Tonight is about fun."

"Yeah." Brittany nods. "'My Headband' is still the coolest song ever. Thanks for everything, Rachel."

"Santana would kill me if I didn't give you everything I possibly could," Rachel says lightly.

Kurt goes to join Mercedes and the others in the audience - they've all come to see Brittany's last show, with one notable exception of course - leaving Rachel backstage to wait. As always, she begins to pace, but this time, it's not for what is happening onstage.

She begins counting down the songs from the first act, which flies by too fast for her liking. The audience is as enthusiastically receptive as always, but she hardly notices this time. Rachel smiles tightly at Brittany during the intermission, but otherwise tries to avoid her; instead, she lets Kurt keep Brittany company as she paces from hallway to hallway.

The second act starts, and Rachel starts to get even more nervous as she hears the opening strains of the first song – a duet between the Hairbrush and Sophia. She pulls out her phone, fires off a text message, and then starts pacing again. She nearly jumps out of her skin when her phone buzzes with the reply.

Fuck you manhands im in a cab, theres traffic

Seconds later: close enough. im going to walk this.

Rachel grits her teeth.

It seems like an eternity, but Rachel's phone finally rings as Brittany and Anneliese – Sophia's actress – sing the closing notes of 'It Matches Your Eyes'. She punches the Accept button. "Where are you?" she hisses.

"I'm outside the stage door, keep your granny panties on," Santana Lopez growls into the phone. "Get out here and let me in. The security guard is being a fucking pain in the ass."

What can you do when your good isn't good enough
And all that you touch tumbles down
'Cause my best intentions keep making a mess of things
I just want to fix it somehow
But how many times will it take? How many times will it take?
To get it right? To get it right?

Santana listens to the music with her eyes closed, quietly soaking in Brittany's voice. When the song fades, she opens her eyes, which are glassy and liquid. She turns away from Rachel, and that's how Rachel knows she is crying.

"It's almost time, Santana," Rachel says gently.

Right now, Sophia will sing 'You Can't Hate Me', and then Lucy will set an ultimatum: if neither Danny nor Sophia comes to seek her out after seven years, she will move on from them completely. As time goes on, both the Headband and the Hairbrush, enemies to the bitter end, pass on to the Landfill of Dreams.

That leaves the last accessory from the past, the large plush cat from the carnival, who will narrate the passage of seven years.

"I watched a bootleg online," Santana grumbles. "I sort of know when it's my turn."

Rachel still keeps a tight grip on Santana's arm as they hustle to the right stage entrance. Anneliese passes by them with a quick smile of acknowledgement.

"You'll move when I tell you to move," Rachel says, and Santana glares but doesn't argue.

The final scene has Lucy sitting in a coffee shop, watching the clock on the wall, with Danny and Sophia's wedding invitation in her hand; the deadline of her ultimatum is 3:00 pm. She'll be facing away from stage right when the clock on stage flips to the hour.

Just off stage, in the wings, Santana freezes when she catches sight of the back of Brittany's head. Rachel is not amused. "This is not the time for stage fright!" Rachel whispers frantically, pushing on Santana's arm. "Remember your line? I hope you do. And don't you dare throw up."

The music swells; that's Sophia's cue to enter. With one last, "Go!" Rachel pushes Santana onto the stage.

All of a sudden the music hushes, as the score dictates – and a collective gasp rises up from the audience. Rachel thinks that she can hear Santana gulping nervously into the microphone. This side of Santana is highly disturbing to Rachel's sensibilities – in short, an anxious Santana is completely frustrating. Rachel buries her head in her hands in embarrassment, barely noticing when Anneliese comes up next to her to watch the imminent disaster unfold.

Santana's voice is pitchy and tense as she speaks Sophia's final lines: "Am I late?"

Rachel thinks she hears Kurt and Mercedes shrieking excitedly in the audience. Anneliese lets out a soft, dreamy sigh, prompting Rachel to look up just in time to see Brittany's shocked face. Even from this distance, she can see the tears sparkling in Brittany's blue eyes. Santana steps forward and a lump forms in Rachel's throat as Brittany abandons her mark and her last line (which is "You're right on time," for the record) and rushes across the stage into Santana's arms. The audience erupts in cheers and applause as the ending score starts up again from the orchestra pit, and the curtain falls.