The relationship between John Kerry, the Secretary of State of the United States of America, and Francois Hollande, the president of France, has been on the rocks since Kerry stood up Hollande at the Je Suis Charlie rally in Paris last weekend. But in a grandly Richard-Curtisian gesture, Kerry flew to Paris today to make things right. This deeply intimate hug is their touching reunion.

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Kerry told Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, that he just couldn't make it to Paris last week for the rally. He was busy, and already had plans in India and Bulgaria. "That's why I couldn't come," Kerry said. "It's good to be with you. We have a lot to talk about."

He then traveled to Élysée Palace, the Parisian White House, where Hollande was waiting (because he lives there). Their reunion, mired in tension from the week before, was awkward at first.

Both men tried to conceal their emotions. Stifle what they were feeling. "I don't want you to see how much I'm hurting," Hollande might have been thinking. "I'm such an idiot for letting you down," Kerry could have thought.

In the gravel lawn of the Palace, photographers flashing their cameras, reporters typing furiously on their iPhones...

they crept slowly toward each other, arms cautiously extended, eyes locked into the other's gaze...

and embraced once again...

and for the first time, in a long time (a week), Hollande felt like himself.

Their hands together, they turned to the crowd.

"God, this feels so right," Kerry could have said in his head, making a fist in the air.

Together, they walked off into the Parisian dusk.

The passion for their diplomatic relationship burning brighter and more fiery than ever before, Kerry revealed a surprise that maybe brought tears to Hollande's eyes: the singer James Taylor singing "You've Got a Friend."

[Images via AP]