BEAUTIFUL
by aircompass
Okay, I wrote this story because I felt the need to expound on
Una and Walter. I didn't think Walter was stupid or oblivious
enough not to know how she felt about him. So, here's a little
ditty I wrote, to explain things the way I think they would
have been.
PLEASE R+R!!! I hope you like it, tell me what you think, I LOVE
getting those. Even if you hated it, TELL ME!
If you have any questions or something, just leave your e-mail
on the review, I WILL TRY to mail you back :). Aight, sweeties? :)
This goes for ALL of my fics.
DISCLAIMER: All Hail the great L.M. Montgomery. :) I don't own
anything, I just write stories :)
He had beautiful hands. They were hands created purely for the transmission
of magic, beauty and the goodness of life. It often seemed to her that he
was not meant to live very long in this world. That he was an angel sent on
a brief mission, not expecting to find what he did, and stayed for as long
as he could.
Una thought of him often, still in the bittersweet knowledge of what she
could not understand. She had loved Walter sincerely most of her life, in
every way, every type of love she could possibly have. She knew that Walter
loved her, but the love between them was...not for this earth.
She remembered a time when she had moments with him alone. No one
had or would ever know the secret they both kept buried. No one had guessed
and both liked to keep it that way. Una had always felt that her bittersweet
love was sacrosanct, and telling anybody would destroy its beautiful
simplicity.
She had run down from the manse, needing to release her soul from its
chains. Una, with sixteen years of living behind her, found herself tired of
her own existence. Sometimes, she wished she could run away for awhile and
leave it all at home. Rainbow Valley often allowed her this chance to leave
her body for the briefest of instances and truly breathe the world.
At home, she felt as if she was slowly being suffocated out of her sanity.
Father and Mother had gone on a vacation to Winnipeg, they wouldn't be
back for a week more. Faith and the others were getting to be a bit much for
Una's patient nature. They tended to be a little insensitive, though they
never really meant to be.
It was almost destructive to Una's weak self-esteem, she had always felt so
small and insignificant when surrounded by her siblings and the Blythes.
They had always had such overpowering presences, they never meant to make
her feel bad, it just happened. She sighed and gripped her legs protectively
to her chest. Una was so tired of feeling this way.
A warm and gentle hand suddenly caressed her head. She looked up in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Walter Blythe gently reproached her. "It's freezing
and you don't have a coat..."
"Walter..." Una said softly. A sad and fleeting half-smile tugged at her lips.
Except Walter. Walter was always good and sweet and understanding and
completely humble. "I didn't expect anyone to be here." He stroked her
hair again and then sat down beside her. He held out his coat to her and
she smiled gratefully.
"What about you? Aren't you going to be cold?" she said.
"Nah, I'm okay. Got my thermal everything on, a sweater, a flannel and a scarf."
"Thank you, Walter." Her voice wavered a little, giving away her emotional state.
Walter teasingly nudged her.
"All right, Una. Enough niceties." Una looked up, startled. Walter laughed softly.
"You look like a deer caught in headlights." He brushed some hair off her face.
"I know something's wrong. Want to talk about it?"
"I want to talk about it, Walter, but I don't know how. It's too complicated.
Even I don't understand it." Una's chin trembled and she buried her face at her
knees. Walter patted her back reassuringly.
"Home life getting to you?" He asked softly. Una peeked out at the side to look
at him.
"Walter, you're really very good at this." she said, smiling at him. He leaned
down and faced her, a grin on his lips.
"So I've been told. Now stop changing the subject."
"I don't know Walter. I'm just so tired of being alive." She paused in hesitation
then turned her face towards him again. "You ever get that feeling? Like you
can barely breathe in your own skin anymore? Because, it's almost as if I'm
being suffocated at home. I'm so sick of feeling smaller than everybody else."
She stated the fact quietly, as if she was afraid of telling the truth. Walter
felt his heart shrink.
"I didn't know you felt like that." He whispered, almost shamefully.
"Yeah? Well, no one's ever heard it from me." She spat out bitterly, crying
salty tears. "Everyone assumes it's okay. Oh, don't worry about Una, she's
used to this sort of thing...Oh, that's okay, Una can deal with it. But it's not
fair, Walter."
Without thinking, Walter took her in his arms, giving her comfort in the
way he knew how. His warmth surrounded her and at that moment Una
was afforded all the comfort she had ever wanted. He gave her a quick
squeeze.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner." He sighed resignedly. She smiled,
and left his hug to face him.
"It's alright, Walter. How could you have known? I'm just under the stress
of keeping this much pressure inside of me, and I just had to let it out
somewhere." Walter placed his hand on her arm.
"You're special, Una." He murmured, squeezing the arm he held gently,
reassuringly, as if the squeeze was meant for her to realize that he meant
his words. "You are strong, but no matter how strong we are, we all need
other people sometimes." Una nodded. "I hope that next time you feel
horrid...you know that I'll be right here." He chucked her chin.
"Understand that?"
Una smiled through her tears and nodded.
"Good."
Walter had always seemed to have time to let her in and listen to what she
had to say. Una had always found it difficult to actually speak her thoughts
except to her stepmother Rosemary, and Walter's mother Anne. Faith was
often preoccupied with her thoughts, among other things. And somehow
Faith and the others never seemed to be able to understand her the way
Walter did. Carl was the one closest to her, but he was not always what
she needed. Most times she needed Walter.
There was something about him. His eyes were always understanding, his
arms always warm. Walter had about him a magic that he so often lent
over into her life, and made everything all better. Even when he himself
was hurting, his eyes shone with kindness.
Una could only remember one time when those eyes had changed.
Often after that night when Una had finally allowed herself to let go of
how badly she was feeling, she and Walter would go up to Rainbow Valley
and talked of little things. That night, things were tense. They said nothing,
but sat by the cheerful brook. It was ironic that the brook seemed so bubbly
at a time when neither of them knew what to do, feel or believe.
He was leaving for the war in days. Una felt a heavy burden in her heart. He
was leaving her, and she didn't know when he would come back. Somehow,
she had a sinking, foreboding darkness in her mind that caused her to
trust in these moments.
Then Walter broke the forbidding silence.
"I really saw him you know? All those years ago..." Una trembled at his tone.
"Saw who?"
"Do you remember the Piper?" He asked her hesitantly. She nodded slightly.
"I saw him, and he's come." Walter whispered, his voice almost breaking with
tears he held back. "And I must go, Una. You and I both know that. He is
calling me, and I MUST answer. No matter how scared I am!" His cold hands
trembled and Una clasped them in her own warm ones. She said nothing,
only allowed her warmth to speak to him. He gazed at her in rapture and
gratefulness, but still worn around the edges.
"I know." Una said softly.
"I don't want to go, Una, but I know that if I don't, I'll spend the rest of my
life regretting my decisions and creating illusions of what I COULD have
done." He said it brokenly, as if he had lost all sight to the truth.
"That's not it." Una replied firmly. Walter looked up. "I know that isn't it.
You're afraid of having to face what you dread. You love beauty, and life
and peace. You fear war because it represents everything you hate,
everything you distrust." She stroked his hair. "It's alright Walter.
Everything beautiful you have ever had, and ever will have is right here."
And she laid her palm on his heart. She felt the tears course down her
cheeks. How much she loved him. Her eyes fairly throbbed with it.
Walter smiled at her sadly.
"I love you too, Una." He whispered. Her cheeks flushed, her gaze
faltered and the tears ran down faster. "Do you know that?" She nodded
slowly. "Good." He paused, hesitating to speak his next words. "Ma ---
may I kiss you?" The gentle words made Una raise her eyes to his, her
cheeks pink, her eyes aglow with both sorrow and joy. He touched her chin.
"You'll be right here."He said, touching the hand she had left on his heart,
and bestowed upon her a clumsy, nose-bumping tender kiss. Once
apart, he wiped away the tears that fell from the beautiful eyes she loved.
"I..." she began. "I don't want to lose you, Walter." Somehow, they both
felt the dark cloud crossing over Walter's path. Instinctively, Walter said
nothing, and hugged her to him. She remained there as long as she could.
She had told no one but Mrs. Blythe.
The day Walter left, she shook his hand quietly, knowing that it would be
the last time she felt the warmth in those beautiful hands. His eyes spoke
volumes to her as he kissed her cheek, and from then on, Una's world
had a trace of his magic.
She hadn't said good-bye. He understood. He told no one of that night,
simply because Walter knew Una would have wanted to keep it for herself
and he wanted her to have the choice. She realized that if anyone else had
known, they would have misunderstood her need to sort things out by
herself. The grief of this, the love she shared with no one else, remained
her strength. She drew her faith from Walter, and felt his magic flow
through her world to remind her.
He was not meant long for this earth. In that knowledge, Una would
look up and smile at the heavens.
She knew he was where he belonged.
THE END
by aircompass
Okay, I wrote this story because I felt the need to expound on
Una and Walter. I didn't think Walter was stupid or oblivious
enough not to know how she felt about him. So, here's a little
ditty I wrote, to explain things the way I think they would
have been.
PLEASE R+R!!! I hope you like it, tell me what you think, I LOVE
getting those. Even if you hated it, TELL ME!
If you have any questions or something, just leave your e-mail
on the review, I WILL TRY to mail you back :). Aight, sweeties? :)
This goes for ALL of my fics.
DISCLAIMER: All Hail the great L.M. Montgomery. :) I don't own
anything, I just write stories :)
He had beautiful hands. They were hands created purely for the transmission
of magic, beauty and the goodness of life. It often seemed to her that he
was not meant to live very long in this world. That he was an angel sent on
a brief mission, not expecting to find what he did, and stayed for as long
as he could.
Una thought of him often, still in the bittersweet knowledge of what she
could not understand. She had loved Walter sincerely most of her life, in
every way, every type of love she could possibly have. She knew that Walter
loved her, but the love between them was...not for this earth.
She remembered a time when she had moments with him alone. No one
had or would ever know the secret they both kept buried. No one had guessed
and both liked to keep it that way. Una had always felt that her bittersweet
love was sacrosanct, and telling anybody would destroy its beautiful
simplicity.
She had run down from the manse, needing to release her soul from its
chains. Una, with sixteen years of living behind her, found herself tired of
her own existence. Sometimes, she wished she could run away for awhile and
leave it all at home. Rainbow Valley often allowed her this chance to leave
her body for the briefest of instances and truly breathe the world.
At home, she felt as if she was slowly being suffocated out of her sanity.
Father and Mother had gone on a vacation to Winnipeg, they wouldn't be
back for a week more. Faith and the others were getting to be a bit much for
Una's patient nature. They tended to be a little insensitive, though they
never really meant to be.
It was almost destructive to Una's weak self-esteem, she had always felt so
small and insignificant when surrounded by her siblings and the Blythes.
They had always had such overpowering presences, they never meant to make
her feel bad, it just happened. She sighed and gripped her legs protectively
to her chest. Una was so tired of feeling this way.
A warm and gentle hand suddenly caressed her head. She looked up in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Walter Blythe gently reproached her. "It's freezing
and you don't have a coat..."
"Walter..." Una said softly. A sad and fleeting half-smile tugged at her lips.
Except Walter. Walter was always good and sweet and understanding and
completely humble. "I didn't expect anyone to be here." He stroked her
hair again and then sat down beside her. He held out his coat to her and
she smiled gratefully.
"What about you? Aren't you going to be cold?" she said.
"Nah, I'm okay. Got my thermal everything on, a sweater, a flannel and a scarf."
"Thank you, Walter." Her voice wavered a little, giving away her emotional state.
Walter teasingly nudged her.
"All right, Una. Enough niceties." Una looked up, startled. Walter laughed softly.
"You look like a deer caught in headlights." He brushed some hair off her face.
"I know something's wrong. Want to talk about it?"
"I want to talk about it, Walter, but I don't know how. It's too complicated.
Even I don't understand it." Una's chin trembled and she buried her face at her
knees. Walter patted her back reassuringly.
"Home life getting to you?" He asked softly. Una peeked out at the side to look
at him.
"Walter, you're really very good at this." she said, smiling at him. He leaned
down and faced her, a grin on his lips.
"So I've been told. Now stop changing the subject."
"I don't know Walter. I'm just so tired of being alive." She paused in hesitation
then turned her face towards him again. "You ever get that feeling? Like you
can barely breathe in your own skin anymore? Because, it's almost as if I'm
being suffocated at home. I'm so sick of feeling smaller than everybody else."
She stated the fact quietly, as if she was afraid of telling the truth. Walter
felt his heart shrink.
"I didn't know you felt like that." He whispered, almost shamefully.
"Yeah? Well, no one's ever heard it from me." She spat out bitterly, crying
salty tears. "Everyone assumes it's okay. Oh, don't worry about Una, she's
used to this sort of thing...Oh, that's okay, Una can deal with it. But it's not
fair, Walter."
Without thinking, Walter took her in his arms, giving her comfort in the
way he knew how. His warmth surrounded her and at that moment Una
was afforded all the comfort she had ever wanted. He gave her a quick
squeeze.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner." He sighed resignedly. She smiled,
and left his hug to face him.
"It's alright, Walter. How could you have known? I'm just under the stress
of keeping this much pressure inside of me, and I just had to let it out
somewhere." Walter placed his hand on her arm.
"You're special, Una." He murmured, squeezing the arm he held gently,
reassuringly, as if the squeeze was meant for her to realize that he meant
his words. "You are strong, but no matter how strong we are, we all need
other people sometimes." Una nodded. "I hope that next time you feel
horrid...you know that I'll be right here." He chucked her chin.
"Understand that?"
Una smiled through her tears and nodded.
"Good."
Walter had always seemed to have time to let her in and listen to what she
had to say. Una had always found it difficult to actually speak her thoughts
except to her stepmother Rosemary, and Walter's mother Anne. Faith was
often preoccupied with her thoughts, among other things. And somehow
Faith and the others never seemed to be able to understand her the way
Walter did. Carl was the one closest to her, but he was not always what
she needed. Most times she needed Walter.
There was something about him. His eyes were always understanding, his
arms always warm. Walter had about him a magic that he so often lent
over into her life, and made everything all better. Even when he himself
was hurting, his eyes shone with kindness.
Una could only remember one time when those eyes had changed.
Often after that night when Una had finally allowed herself to let go of
how badly she was feeling, she and Walter would go up to Rainbow Valley
and talked of little things. That night, things were tense. They said nothing,
but sat by the cheerful brook. It was ironic that the brook seemed so bubbly
at a time when neither of them knew what to do, feel or believe.
He was leaving for the war in days. Una felt a heavy burden in her heart. He
was leaving her, and she didn't know when he would come back. Somehow,
she had a sinking, foreboding darkness in her mind that caused her to
trust in these moments.
Then Walter broke the forbidding silence.
"I really saw him you know? All those years ago..." Una trembled at his tone.
"Saw who?"
"Do you remember the Piper?" He asked her hesitantly. She nodded slightly.
"I saw him, and he's come." Walter whispered, his voice almost breaking with
tears he held back. "And I must go, Una. You and I both know that. He is
calling me, and I MUST answer. No matter how scared I am!" His cold hands
trembled and Una clasped them in her own warm ones. She said nothing,
only allowed her warmth to speak to him. He gazed at her in rapture and
gratefulness, but still worn around the edges.
"I know." Una said softly.
"I don't want to go, Una, but I know that if I don't, I'll spend the rest of my
life regretting my decisions and creating illusions of what I COULD have
done." He said it brokenly, as if he had lost all sight to the truth.
"That's not it." Una replied firmly. Walter looked up. "I know that isn't it.
You're afraid of having to face what you dread. You love beauty, and life
and peace. You fear war because it represents everything you hate,
everything you distrust." She stroked his hair. "It's alright Walter.
Everything beautiful you have ever had, and ever will have is right here."
And she laid her palm on his heart. She felt the tears course down her
cheeks. How much she loved him. Her eyes fairly throbbed with it.
Walter smiled at her sadly.
"I love you too, Una." He whispered. Her cheeks flushed, her gaze
faltered and the tears ran down faster. "Do you know that?" She nodded
slowly. "Good." He paused, hesitating to speak his next words. "Ma ---
may I kiss you?" The gentle words made Una raise her eyes to his, her
cheeks pink, her eyes aglow with both sorrow and joy. He touched her chin.
"You'll be right here."He said, touching the hand she had left on his heart,
and bestowed upon her a clumsy, nose-bumping tender kiss. Once
apart, he wiped away the tears that fell from the beautiful eyes she loved.
"I..." she began. "I don't want to lose you, Walter." Somehow, they both
felt the dark cloud crossing over Walter's path. Instinctively, Walter said
nothing, and hugged her to him. She remained there as long as she could.
She had told no one but Mrs. Blythe.
The day Walter left, she shook his hand quietly, knowing that it would be
the last time she felt the warmth in those beautiful hands. His eyes spoke
volumes to her as he kissed her cheek, and from then on, Una's world
had a trace of his magic.
She hadn't said good-bye. He understood. He told no one of that night,
simply because Walter knew Una would have wanted to keep it for herself
and he wanted her to have the choice. She realized that if anyone else had
known, they would have misunderstood her need to sort things out by
herself. The grief of this, the love she shared with no one else, remained
her strength. She drew her faith from Walter, and felt his magic flow
through her world to remind her.
He was not meant long for this earth. In that knowledge, Una would
look up and smile at the heavens.
She knew he was where he belonged.
THE END