My second Sound of Music story, and another one-shot! This one takes place towards the end of the film, when Rolfe and Georg are facing off. What if there was something else going on while Georg was arguing with Rolfe? What if it was something extremely deadly? What if that someone was Herr Zeller with a gun trained on Maria and the children?
Enjoy!
Georg took the gun away from young Rolfe and looked him straight in the eyes. "You'll never be one of them,"
Rolfe looked indigent and yelled, "Lieutenant!" He yanked out his whistle and started blowing it as he ran off towards the door, bellowing, "They're here Lieutenant!"
As Rolfe ran off, Georg hurried towards the steps and was just descending when he heard a shot, and then he heard Maria scream. The blood drained from his face as he bolted down the rest of the stairs. He saw a figure dragging his wife off in the distance and he yelled,
"Maria!"
"Georg!" She screamed, fighting her captor tooth and nail. He dashed forward and pulled out Rolfe's gun.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Georg threatened, and the captor turned around, gripping Maria in his arms and holding a gun to her head.
"Oh really, Captain?" Herr Zeller's voice said with a laugh, and Georg stopped in his tracks.
"Let her go, Herr Zeller, it's me you want,"
"Well, maybe it's her we want, since you obviously won't cooperate with us," Herr Zeller said angrily, pushing the barrel of the gun into Maria's temple and she hid a wince.
"Don't listen to him, Georg," She said through gritted teeth, and Georg tried to swallow but found his mouth dry. All those years of going into battle, as fearless as anyone, and a single man with a gun scared the living daylights out of him.
Because that man held Maria, his Maria, in his arms.
"What do you want?" Georg said finally, and Herr Zeller grinned evilly.
"You know what I want. You, on your way to Bremerhaven, to accept your commission in the navy of the Third Reich."
Georg glanced frantically back at his children and then his eyes locked with the bright blue eyes of Maria. She marginally shook her head no, but how could he just let the woman he loved die? He had to do that once, and he wasn't about to let it happen again.
"I'll give you whatever you want, just let her go," Georg said quietly, and Herr Zeller eyed the gun in Georg's hand.
"Drop the gun first, Captain, I'm no fool,"
Just as Georg was about to let the gun slide from his hand, Maria slammed her elbow into Herr Zeller's stomach and as he doubled over, his grip on her loosened and she broke away, running towards her husband. He took a few steps forward with his arms out when a shot ran through the air, and time seemed to slow down.
Maria fell gracefully towards the ground, her hands going to her back. Georg leapt forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. He held her close as she gasped, "The…the children…"
"We're all right, Mother," Liesl said from above them, and Georg glanced up to see all seven of his children standing around them. He then glanced over and saw Herr Zeller looking at them with fear in his eyes.
"How dare you shoot an innocent woman in the back!" Frederick bellowed, and all the children nodded as Herr Zeller ran off.
"You…you have to get out of here before they come back for you," Maria gasped, and Georg put his finger to her lips.
"Shh…darling, don't say anything,"
"Herr Zeller snuck up on us, Father, he was swinging his gun around like he didn't know which one of us he wanted to shoot," Brigitta said in a shaking voice, and Gretel said,
"He pointed it at me and then Mother...she…"
"She took the bullet meant for Gretel," Louisa explained quietly, gripping Brigitta's hand tightly. Liesl had her hands on Gretel's shoulder and Frederick had his hands on Marta's shoulders. Kurt was standing between Brigitta and Frederick, his hands shoved in his pockets.
"We…we need to get you out of here, to a doctor," Georg stammered, starting to stand up and carry Maria. She moaned in pain and he immediately stopped moving.
"It's no use, darling," Maria said quietly, reaching up and touching Georg's face gently.
"No…there has to be something…" He said desperately, and she just smiled.
"Oh, I love you,"
"I love you too, Maria, but please…please don't leave me…" He ended his sentence in a whisper, and Maria closed her eyes for a moment.
"I love you, Liesl, Frederick, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretel. I love each and everyone one of you, I hope you know that," Maria said, glancing up at all the children.
"We know, Mother," Marta said sadly, knowing Maria was dying. This was how everyone acted when her first mother, her birth mother was dying.
"Please, Maria…" Georg begged, and Maria took one last breath and expelled it, saying,
"I'm sorry…"
She slumped in Georg's arms, and Georg felt his heart shattering. "No, Maria, please, darling wake up, please," Georg murmured, but Maria's eyes stayed closed, her chest stayed unmoving and her heart didn't restart.
"No!" Georg gasped, sitting bolt upright in his bed, his chest heaving as if he had just finished running a marathon and his entire body was slicked with sweat.
"Darling? Are you all right?" Maria said sleepily as she sat up, yawning and rubbing her head.
"Oh Maria," Georg sighed, reaching over and easily pulling her into his arms. She held him tightly and realized with a start that he was shaking.
"Darling, what's wrong? What happened?"
"It was just a dream. Just a terrible dream," He sighed in relief, and Maria eased back, looking at her husband's face in concern.
"Darling?" Maria asked, her eyebrows knitted together in worry.
"I…do you remember the night we escaped? At the abbey?"
"Vividly, why?"
"I dreamed that when I came down the stairs, Herr Zeller had shot you, and was holding a gun to your head. He was going to shoot Gretel, but you took the bullet for her. And then you elbowed him in the stomach and ran for me, but he shot you in the back. And then…" His breath caught but he managed to finish with, "Then you died in my arms,"
"Oh, Georg," Maria said quietly, hugging him tightly. She took his hand and pressed it to her chest where her heart was. "I'm alive, I promise you, and still breathing, still here, with you,"
"I know," He said quietly, softly kissing her. "I'm sorry I woke you,"
"No, no, don't be sorry,"
"What a way to end a week in Paris, hmm," Georg said with a sigh, leaning back and pulling Maria with him. When she was settled in his arms, she said,
"Well, since we're already awake, I can think of something we can do,"
"Oh really?" He said, kissing her. She smiled and gently pushed him away, crawling out of bed and searching through her clothes. "Sweetheart, what are you doing?"
"Looking for something to wear. If we're going to be up this early, why don't we go look at something beautiful?"
"I'm looking at something beautiful right now," Georg said, leaning back against the headboard. Maria looked at him and smiled gently.
"Why thank you, darling, but I was thinking more along the lines of the sunrise. Have you ever watched it before?"
"Many times on the ships I captained," Georg said, and Maria pulled her dress on, fastening it. Then she crawled back on the bed and dragged Georg out of it.
"Come on, or we're going to miss it!"
"All right, all right, I'm coming," He said with a shake of his head, and began to get dressed. When he was ready, she took his arm and they went downstairs. They hurried to the waterfront and faced the east, with Georg pulling Maria until her back was against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.
He rested his chin on her head as the sun began to rise, and he had to admit it was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. "Wow…" Maria sighed when the sun had risen, and Georg had to agree.
"In all my years on my ships, I have never seen such a beautiful sunrise," Georg murmured, and Maria turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Now aren't you glad I dragged you out of bed?"
"Well…" He hedged, and she shot him a look. "Of course I am, darling. Any moment spent with you is a moment well spent," She smiled brilliantly at him and he kissed her. "Now can we go back to bed?"
She rolled her eyes but nodded, allowing him to take her hand and pull her back to the hotel and to their room. Maria burrowed into his arms and they both drifted off, and Georg's arms tightened on his wife, though no more bad dreams plagued him for the rest of the month.
I'll bet you weren't expecting it to be a dream, though you were probably glad. There wasn't very much romantic stuff between Maria and Georg in the movie, and I suppose I'm trying to fix that. Though if there had been, the movie would've been four hours long instead of three haha. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story!