The Awakening

A one-shot Anna/Bates story.

They sat in silence for a long while. The day's events had been momentous and overwhelming. Finally, Anna reached over and took Bates's hand in her own. He looked at her in surprise, then enfolded her small hand in his.

"Anna," Bates began, "you realize that this changes everything."

"No." she said simply. "It doesn't. The world may be changing around us, the household may change, the seasons may change, but nothing changes how I feel about you. Nothing will ever change that. Not your past, not the present, and not our future."

Our future. Bates felt his heart soften, his eyes become moist. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. "My dear, sweet Anna. After everything you know, you can still love me?"

Anna brought her free hand up and laid it gently against his cheek. "Yes."

Bates felt all resistance crumbling. Here, in the dark of the kitchen gardens, for just this one moment in time, perhaps he could give voice to those most tender of feelings, those hidden thoughts that he had pushed aside, thoughts he had scarcely dared think about.

Bates turned towards Anna, let go of her hand and brought his hands up to the sides of her face. Gently, slowly, he leaned towards her (God, he prayed, please no interruption this time), and touched his lips to hers. He felt her tremble in his hands as his lips met hers.

Anna felt as if the touch of his lips was a small slice of heaven. She knew she was trembling, and with a start realized that it was as much from desire as it was from the fear that they would once again be interrupted. She hadn't had much experience with this, but at that moment she gladly would have spent the rest of eternity learning.

Bates, conscious of taking things too quickly, was pleasantly surprised when he felt Anna's lips part under his, inviting him deeper. Bates accepted this invitation, and at the touch of their tongues, felt a long-forgotten stirring of desire. Anna slipped her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her. He felt her breasts press against his chest, his arms went round her back, pulling her even closer.

Eventually, they parted. Anna, face flushed, breathing heavier, brought her hand back up to his cheek. "I love you, John Bates."

Bates closed his eyes, whispered another prayer, opened them and saw the intensity of the feeling in Anna's eyes, and felt that he could no longer deny it anymore.

"I love you, Anna Smith." He brought his lips back down on hers, and their kisses smoldered with an intensity that made Anna weak in the knees, and Bates thinking that the contact between the lower half of their bodies was going to become increasingly uncomfortable. To avoid embarrassing both Anna and himself, he broke the kiss.

"Anna," his breathing heavy, "We need to stop, for a bit."

Anna, though inexperienced but not uninformed, felt a smile play about the corners of her mouth. She felt him responding to her, and part of her knew it was dangerous for both of them to continue, but part of her (God help her) wanted nothing more than to continue, and consequences be damned.

Bates rested his head against her hair, breathing in her scents of rose and lavender, and well, Anna.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

He knew what he wanted to do, but unfortunately, he WAS a man of honor. "We take one day at a time. We wait, because ultimately, our future is dependent on the future of others. Of their decisions.

She knew he spoke of more than the war; he spoke of his wife, of Vera.

He bent to kiss her again, then pulled her into a hug. "We must go in. We must do our duty. But know this, Anna Smith. I love you, and you have taught me that I am worthy of love, that I am worthy of your love. Whatever else happens, whatever the outcome, you have given me a gift more precious than any I have ever wished for." He kissed her gently, willing her to feel the depth of his love. Then he took her hand and led her back to the kitchen, for the first time, grateful to have another day to look forward to.