Chapter Text
After All
"Scarlett..."
Tomorrow
"Scarlett!"
Is another day!
"Scarlett, darling!"
Scarletts eyes shot open to find Ashley Wilkes' bright blue eyes shining above her.
"Ashley?" She said, her voice heavy with sleep.
Ashley was kneeling in front of the large lounge chair he had found Scarlett asleep on. Scarlett looked around, and quickly realized her surroundings.
No, it can't be true! She thought to herself. I'm at twelve oaks!
"Ashley, where-what? Wheres Rhett?"
"Red?" Ashley said, gazing at her with confused eyes. "Who's Red? Don't tell me you've collected another fiance already? Do I need to be jealous?" He said, jokingly, lightly grazing his pointer finger up and down the top of her arm.
"Fiance?"
"My dear, are you feeling alright? I'm you're fiance. We're at Twelve Oaks, at the barbeque to announce our engagement."
"Our engagement!"
"Scarlett, what's the matter? Are you hurt? Do you want me to-"
Scarlett shot up on the couch, startling Ashley.
"But, aren't you going to marry Melanie?"
Ashleys face clouded over slightly, his smile never fading but his eyes slightly hardening. "My darling Scarlett, I'm to marry you and only you." He said gently.
All Scarlett could do was stare at the face in front of her. This was not the Ashley she had just seen, with his sunken, grey eyes and pale skin. This was Ashley before the war. Ashley whose smile was as bright as the sun, and whose blue eyes were as sparkly as two rare sapphires, full of life and happiness, without worries or sadness. Scarlett couldn't believe it. It was Ashley, her Ashley, her knight in shining armor.
"Ashley, could you go get me a glass of water?" She asked, offering him a gentle smile. Ashley, still kneeling in front of her, lightly squeezed her hand and stood up. "Of course, my darling." and in a few long strides with his slender but muscular body, was out the door of the library.
Scarlett shot up from the seat and looked out the window at the rolling lawn in front of her, with hundreds of people standing under shady trees in bright dresses and handsome suits, talking and laughing and smiling.
I can't believe it Scarlett thought with merriment. It was all a dream!
She turned around to find the all too familiar couch behind her. She lifted off her tiptoes, looking over it, and was pleasantly surprised to find no mustached eves dropper trying to take an afternoon nap. She looked down at her green muslin dress and smoothed it out. She gazed into a decorative dish at her reflection. She was still sixteen! She pinched her cheeks lightly and brushed away the hairs that had escaped her hairdo while, apparently, napping.
"I suspect we don't even have to announce our engagement, seeing as the Tarleton twins haven't stopped glaring at me all day. I suspect one more drink and Stu will have me outside, trying to duel for your hand." Ashely said with a smile, glass of water in hand. Scarlett took it gratefully.
"How long was I asleep? Did I miss much?"
"Only twenty minutes, though those twenty minutes were absolutely dreadful without you, my dear," Ashley said, leaning against the fainting couch. "Are you feeling better?"
"I am, yes. Thank you."
"You must have had a strange dream. I found you in here crying in your sleep and calling out for someone named Red."
"It was strange, though I can't remember any of it now." Scarlett lied. She could remember it clearly, but she didn't want Ashely to ask, for fear of having to explain.
"Alright, well, you rest here for a bit. The other girls are napping upstairs. I'll go check on the men in the study and then come back. We'll walk through the rose gardens, I know how you love them." He said thoughtfully, Planting a chaste kiss on her cheek before exiting the room.
Scarlett sat down on the armchair once again, glass in hand. Relief flowed through her. The war hadn't happened, she was back at Twelve Oaks, and Ashley was all hers!
Footsteps shook her out of her reverie.
"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't realize anyone was in here."
Scarletts eyes snapped at the man in the doorway, whose Charleston drawl she could pick out amongst a hundred strangers.
"Rhett!" She said shooting up from the armchair.
Rhett gazed at her with a shocked expression on his face.
"How did you know my name?" He said, with a face full of wonder.
Scarlett, though now bright red at her slip up, could only stare at the handsome man in front of her. He was just like the man in her dream, with swarthy skin and eyes as black as coal.
"You look like a pirate!" She blurted out, her hand shooting up to her mouth. Rhett laughed heartily.
"I hope that was a compliment! Now tell me," he said, wandering closer to her. "Are you psychic? How did you know my name? I'm sure we've never met before, I'm sure I'd remember such a beautiful face as yours."
Scarlett, still crimson from embarrassment, pulled together her muddled thoughts.
"You- Your reputation precedes you, Captain Butler."
Rhett stared at her once again. "Captain?"
"Yes, well, oh!" Scarlett said, realizing her slip up. He doesn't run the blockade yet, she thought. "You just look so much like a pirate, I just-"
"No need to explain, I like the sound of it. Now tell me, why are you sitting alone in a library? Shouldn't you be napping with the other girls?
"I fell asleep in the armchair. My fiance will be back momentarily."
"Fiance? Who-" Realization washed over his face. "You must be Scarlett, the one who's marrying Mr. Wilkes."
"How did you know?"
"You're quite infamous if I do say so myself. Is it true Ashley shot a man to have your hand?"
Scarlett laughed. "I'm afraid not. I live on a neighboring plantation. Ashley was my childhood friend."
"Ah, well I'm glad to hear no lives were lost at your expense." He said sagely. "Though I wouldn't be surprised."
Scarlett felt a blush rise to her cheeks.
"You should take your leave before my fiance returns, I wouldn't want you to be the first."
Rhett laughed. "Now, now little lady. If it was between me and the elegant Mr. Wilkes for your dainty hand, we'd be married by nightfall. I can drill a dime fifty yards." He kissed her hand, sending a shiver down her spine. "It was a pleasure to have met you. I've never met a psychic before." He said, leaving a very red Scarlett standing in the library.
"What a woman!" Rhett said laughing.