Fate has a clever way of working sometimes. It can open a door when all others look closed.
It can place someone in your path you would have never expected to be there. It can even draw you against your old club, even though you do not want to be drawn against them.
It has been two and a half years since Thierry Henry parted ways with Arsenal. If you had watched his goodbye on the Arsenal website, you could have seen the emotion in his eyes.
I can recall at one point he had to catch himself from crying, which should come to no surprise as he had enjoyed eight lustrous years wearing red and white.
He captained the team in his final years, led them to multiple titles, scored 226 times in 380 games. He scored a hat-trick on the last day at Arsenal's old and historic stadium, which had survived a World War II bombing, and knelt down to kiss the very ground he called home.
He was voted Arsenal's number one greatest player of all time and vows to return home someday.
So, it is no secret that leaving Arsenal was difficult for Henry, and ever since he left he has not been the same player.
Yes, he scored 35 times in all competitions last year; but he was not the player that took your breath away, like he was at Arsenal. The player that effortlessly flicked the ball up with his back to goal and guided the ball over a helpless Barthez, or the player that pranced and glided past four Liverpool defenders before gently placing the ball in the area where the net just meets the post.
This season, Henry has managed to only feature in 21 games and netted on three occasions in all competitions. Henry is becoming a fading star, especially after being jeered off the pitch in France's last friendly and is need of a pick-me-up.
Henry made it clear that he wanted Barcelona to be paired with any team but Arsenal on Friday's draw, but as fate had decreed, Henry's long awaited date with destiny has arrived much to his dismay.
But is a draw with Arsenal just what Henry needs?
Since his departure Henry has brought experience, desire, and commitment to Barcelona; but he left the thing that made him world-class back on the north side of London—his heart.
If you have ever read an Henry interview or listened to him speak, you know that he is a man who speaks with his heart and follows it to worlds end, but you will also know Arsenal will forever own him.
On March 31st Henry will be forced to come face-to-face with what holds him back; stepping onto the pitch of the Emirates as the "enemy" and not the hero.
Sure he will be cheered and overwhelmed with an abundance of joy, but this game will be his wake up call that he belongs to Barcelona and that Arsenal is merely part of his past.
Being forced to play the Gunners on such a stage will show Henry what he has never let go of, that Arsenal is no longer his home. He will have to set feelings aside and play to knock Arsenal out of the Champions League. He may have to play the ball, make the run, or hit the shot that places his club into the semifinals and puts Arsenal out.
This is a scary thought for the Frenchman, but it will also be a liberating one. As I stated earlier, Henry has left his heart with the Emirates and that has held him back from producing brilliant performances at the Nou Camp.
To look across the pitch and stare Arsenal in the eyes as a Barcelona player may be the closure Henry has never wanted, but needs to become the world-class striker he once was.
Colby Newquist is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, the open source sports network.
