A/N: Uh-oh, a new story! I know my faithful readers of Eyes the Color of Ireland and Eyes of Green, Heart of Gold probably won't be too happy with me for working on this instead of those, but umm, I wrote this a while ago, and am just now posting it. So don't worry, I'm not quitting those! Anyways, I was re-reading my copy of GWTW the other day and came across a rather interesting passage that I had forgotten about and it sparked my imagination, so now I have about like 20 million stories floating around in my brain. (Not all posted, obviously) So…here goes and lemme know whatcha thing by REVIEWING! Without further adieu, I present to you, "Kissing the Rod that Chastised Me," by, err, me.

Oops, I guess I found a further adieu.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gone With the Wind, any of its characters, yada yada yada, blah blah blah. But seriously. I don't own it. Hmph.

Chapter 1 (The Original Kiss) of Kissing the Rod that Chastised Me

"…What kind of a fool do you think I am? Kissing the rod that chastised me is not in my line. The South and I are even now." –Rhett Butler, Gone With the Wind, Chapter 13

How dare he? Laying in her bed at Tara, Scarlett still couldn't believe Rhett had left her—to join the army, no less—and then had kissed her. Her whole day had been unbearable. Tara was the absolute opposite of what she had expected. It was no longer her safe haven, it was…miserable. Mother was gone. Pa might as well be gone. In her sisters she found two more people who needed to be taken care of, and Mammy looked to Scarlett for advice on what to do next. What kind of warped, messed up world had she entered into?

This was her first chance to sit and think since her arrival, and instead of thinking about sensible things, like how they were all going to live, she found her thoughts returning to Rhett.

That kiss. Those words. What had he been thinking? What had she been thinking, kissing him back?

She knew what she had been thinking of. His soft lips meeting hers, the pent-up passion exuding from his body, which was pressed up against hers so tightly she could feel his muscles against her body. He had begun kissing her softly, slowly at first, and then, and then he let his emotions guide him, kissing her roughly as if he were trying to consume her.

How she had loved that feeling, of someone else's want, and knowing that you were the only one who could quench their desire. The feeling was overwhelming, she felt both powerful yet helpless against him all at once.

And then she had stopped it. Slapped him across the face so hard that the sound had reverberated throughout the night air. She had told him that she hoped a cannon would catch him, and she really did. Who was he to make her feel such things, and to tell her so many lies?

Hah.

He loved her.

Hah.

Rhett lay on the hard ground amongst other Confederate soldiers. His mind was on Scarlett, as it usually was. He was still quite shocked at his conduct. He had confessed love to her, and then kissed her. What made him act like that?

It had to have been her look of helplessness. She was so beautiful, and quite obviously unaware of her hold over him. He just hadn't been able to help himself. Now that it was done, there wasn't much he could do about it, and he rolled onto his side and fell into an uneasy sleep.

ANOTHER A/N: Okay, okay, okay, I know it's short. Believe me, I know. I seem to have some sort of problem that disables me from writing long chapters. You guys should see my notebook, I mean I have, literally, one sentence stories. You guys would like go into spasms if I ever posted one of those! But anyways, I'm sorry it was short, but I'd really like to know what you think! I like the idea that I have (it's in my head, not on paper yet) but if no one really thinks the story has much promise, then I won't really bother to post it. It's up to yall!

REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW…but please don't say it was too short! Because, yes, I know, it was!