Maria walked out the house and into the garden to contemplate…
Everything suddenly felt so meaningless, so wrong as if…
There were no reason she had returned…
She spun in her light blue dress that was shadowed beautifully by the moonlight…
"oh God, if it is Your will. I will gladly live it…"
Now the captain stood on the balcony watching Maria…
He heard his heart beat quicker than usual and felt instant guilt building up inside his stomach…
And as the baroness realized how the situation had become, she stopped for a moment then sighed…
She calmly spoke the words that needed to be said as soon as possible,
"Georg, there is a young lady out there who I think, will never become a nun"
And for the past week Maria had been gone, the captain would wake up in the middle of the night and walk the down the corridor and stop right outside her door, turn the knob expecting to open it and find maria sleeping in peace, and then he'd take a sigh and realize she was gone, she had left them, she's not coming back…
She had left him…
And every night he would read the letter she had left over and over again, and as he sniffed the parchment, taking in the scent of disappointment and regret, he would feel his lungs grow tight…
"Georg! Do not behave like this!" he would scold himself repeatedly, for he was suffering from insomnia…
But in his head he knew he could never show weakness…
Especially to the children who were under the same depression…
But for the week maria had been in the abbey, she did not speak nor sing, the only thing that she would ever do was pray, eat and sleep, for the only thing that was on her mind was the night she had danced the laendler with the captain…
This thought was greatly troubling her…
She remembered the gay music playing in the background…
She remembered the green garden and the pavement below their feet…
She especially remembered how she had spun in his arms, how he smiled as he circled her…
How their lips were only inches apart…
"oh Lord" she prayed every time she recalled that event "Guide me so I may stay on the path that leads me to You and You alone…"
"hello" came a familiar voice from behind "I just thought I might find you here"
"oh captain, is there something you wanted?" maria felt very insecure as blood rushed to her cheeks once again, as they did on the night of the party…
"Sit" the captain's bold voice rang "go on sit"
He watched her take a seat on the cemented bench and noticed the empty spot beside her…
He longed to get closer to her and asked "may i?" and she nodded in approval…
There was a silence for a while and the captain didn't want their time together to fall short so he began to talk…
"I'd just like to ask, I mean was thinking, wondering, why did you run away to the abbey and…
Why did you come back?"
"well I had an obligation to fulfill and I came back to fulfill it"
"is that all?" he questioned, he needed to know whether they had mutual feelings or not…
"well I missed the children"
"just, the children?"
"no, well yes! Isn't it right I should have missed them?" Maria couldn't say anything more, for she knew she could never have the captain…
for he was going to be married…
"oh yes! Yes of course…" the captain couldn't get a clear and straight answer out of her so he decided to change the topic…
"I was only hoping that perhaps you, uh, Perhaps you wouldn't mind, uh,"
"Yes?" Maria was waiting so desperately to hear what he had to say but he couldn't think of anything as he stared at her glowing face…
"Well, uh, nothing was the same when you were away, it will all be wrong again after you leave and I just thought perhaps you would might, uh, change your mind?" He yearned for her presence in each and every waking moment of his life, but his words were so tangled that he couldn't quite show his desire.
"I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you" Maria could no longer play along, she did not want to expect , she did not want to worsen the wound she had already acquired when she had fallen in love with him.
She got up and walked to the gazebo, wanting, but not wanting him to follow…
"Maria…" His voice calling her, made her feel so complete inside…
Like the world was lifted off her shoulders…
"there isn't going to be a baroness" and those words had struck her entire body, she stopped trying to pull away for once and finally decided to truly listen to what he had to say…
"There isn't?" maria asked, and the captain found the right time to express his thoughts, his feelings, and to express his self…
"No" came the only answer he could think of…
"I don't understand…" Maria replied, but she knew for a fact what was going on…
"Well, we've um, called off our engagement, you see" The captain was preparing, as he built up the conversation steadily…
"oh, I'm sorry" Maria wasn't really paying attention anymore for the only thing she could hear was their hearts beating in unison…
"yes" the captain was puzzled for a moment then he answered "You are?"
"You did?" Maria responded, snapping back into the world as she finally had the guts to gaze into the captain's blue crystal eyes…
"yes" he said firmly with all confidence…
They both felt it, now was the time…
"Well, you can't marry someone, when you're, in love with someone else."
Maria shook her head, she could no longer speak only smile…
She felt amazing…
"Can you?" The captain whispered...
He lifted his hand to her chin, leaned in closer and let his lips touch hers…
And suddenly nothing meant anything to them anymore, only them and their love…
The kiss was so pure and so true that it was absolutely magic…
It was warm and relaxed, it was flawless…
Perfect…
Maria felt this bubbly feeling inside of her, the kind of feeling that she never wanted to stop…
But the captain pulled away and they quickly locked in an embrace…
He took in the sweet scent of her perfume as she rested her head on his muscled shoulder…
"Reverend Mother always says, 'when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window' "
Maria murmured, she was telling this to the captain because it was applicable to the heavenly joy they were both feeling…
"What else does the Reverend Mother say?"
"You have to look for your life"
"is that why you came back?"
She nodded.
"and have you found it, Maria?"
The captain stared into her radiant blue eyes, peering into her unstained soul…
"I think I have…I know I have" then her cheeks lit up like a blooming rose in spring…
"I love you" The captain said for he could no longer hold back or hide anything from her…
She was his life now…
The reason he lives…
They now mean everything to each other…
Then he began nuzzling her forehead, wanting to feel and savor every bit of her…
She had tasted soo sweet…
He couldn't stop burrowing his nose and lips in her skin…
"oh, how could this be happening to me?"
Then maria, so caught up in the moment, started singing…
"Perhaps I had a wicked childhood, perhaps I had a miserable youth, but somewhere in my wicked miserable past, there must have been a moment of truth…"
Their hands linked together…
"For here you are standing there loving me, whether or not, you should. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.."
Then the captain kissed their interlocked hands…
"Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could, so somewhere in my youth or child hood… I must have done something good" Maria sang with her impeccable voice…
They held their pleasant gaze, the love they felt and the love they had for each other was so powerful and so strong, it was indefinite…
"Do you know when I first started loving you? That night at the dinner table when you sat on that ridiculous pinecone!" The captain chuckled, and it was the truth. When he saw her jump up and giggle, he fell for her in an instant and even more when she answered so foolishly with "rheumatism"
"What?" maria asked in shock, she felt more elated then she had a few moments ago for she though she had made a very bad impression of herself, she paused for a moment and tried to top that.
"I knew the first time you blew that silly whistle."
The captain was amused, for he knew she hated it the moment I blew the noise…
"oh my love"
Then the captain began to sing to maria with his beautiful baritone voice, moving closer and closer to her…
"For here you are standing there loving me, whether or not, you should. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.."
Then maria had joined in and with their voices coupled together, it sounded like angels , they were a one-of-a kind duet…
"Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could, so somewhere in my youth or child hood… I must have done something good"
And their lips touched once again, the aura was just as spectacular as it was the first time…
And that feeling between them will never end…
"maria" the captain spoke though their face never parted, he began snuggling his lips close to hers "Is there anyone I should go to, to ask permission to marry you?
"Well, why don't we ask—" maria tried to respond but they both answered in unison,
"the children?" and they laughed together knowing they no one could ever part them anymore…
That they would never forget that night, that they would live happily ever after…"