Sorry for the long gap in between stories, I am still planning on writing a full-length GWTW fanfiction, but uni is taking up way too much of my time at the moment so that might have to be put on hold for a little while yet. In the meantime, here's a three-parter that came into my head and refused to leave until I sat down and wrote it. It's pretty different from 'Waking Up' and I'm not too sure if it comes across on paper as well as it did in my mind, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway and would appreciate any comments you have on it.

The story takes place fourteen years after Melanie died when, by my (rough) calculations, Scarlett is 42 and Rhett is 59. Hope you enjoy!

(also a quick thanks to areadergirl for giving me the nudge I needed to keep going!)

Scarlett was sitting at her desk going over the books with a methodical and practiced air one sunny morning in late June when she felt a shadow fall across the doorway. Looking up swiftly, she gasped as her eyes drank in the image of a man she had feared she would never see again. He was dressed impeccably as always, his suit pristine and tailored and his shoes polished until they shone almost as brightly as his smile. He tipped his panama hat to her in greeting and taunted, 'My dear, dear Mrs. Hara!' in a drawl so deep, sensual and achingly familiar that it made her entire body erupt in goose-pimples.

He appeared so at ease in tone and body language that Scarlett was almost fooled into thinking that it had been mere moments since they had last set eyes on each other rather than nine long years. Though his arrival was completely unexpected, Scarlett found that she was not at all shocked to see him standing in front of her. In fact it felt natural, normal even, as if she had been waiting for him all this time without quite realizing it. Even as her head told her to keep her distance and remain on the defensive, her eyes locked onto his bottomless, black ones and she felt the flimsy walls she had built around her heart since the day Melly died being torn down by the sheer power of his gaze.

He looked so different, and yet exactly the same somehow. His hair was grey where it had once been jet black, his tanned face was slightly paler and far more lined and his once commanding frame had diminished over the years, his shoulders hunching somewhat so that he had lost a couple of inches off his once impressive height. Yet, while his body may have weakened, his presence was as strong as ever, life burned just as intensely out of his dark eyes and, Scarlett thought wryly, he was still as capable of making an impression when he entered a room as he had been back in his prime.

'Rhett'

The word rose up from deep inside her and slipped from her lips unbidden, before she had a chance to stop it. She exhaled his name as she would air, as if she had been holding her breath since the moment that he left and could only start again now that he was back. It was a plea, a greeting, an endearment and a reprimand all in one and Rhett stiffened as it floated through the air to his ears, the atmosphere in the room becoming heavy and fraught in an instant.

Blushing slightly at having given herself away so easily, Scarlett sat up in her seat and, straightening her spine like a matador would when the bull first enters the ring, prepared herself for battle. 'What are you doing here?' she asked primly, as if Rhett were merely a business associate and not the man who had infuriated and captivated her for over a decade, who had promised her everything only to leave her with nothing one dark and misty night.

'Ella turns twenty-one this year. I felt it was my duty to come.' He said curtly, his earlier joviality having disappeared entirely as he strove to echo her formal tone.

Scarlett's heart sank at the answer, hurt by the knowledge that his sudden reappearance was not motivated by her, but rather by her daughter. It was beyond foolishness to have thought otherwise of course, after all he'd never so much as sent her a telegram since their divorce was finalized. Him and Ella on the other hand wrote to each other constantly, a fact that Scarlett knew only too well having had her heart break a little each time she received a letter from the man she still loved addressed to someone else. Yet, the traitorous part of her heart that still belonged to Rhett had flooded with hope when she had seen him standing before her, believing that he had returned for her at last, that he had finally come to his senses and realized he could not live another day without her.

Struggling to mask the disappointment that tore through her, Scarlett focused on the present and frowned as she took in the implication of his words more fully, 'Did you tell her you were coming?'

'I did. Surely she must have told you to expect me?'

'You'd have thought so, wouldn't you?' Scarlett said bitterly, unable to hide her anger at Ella for keeping Rhett's visit a secret. Her daughter knew how she still felt about Rhett, everybody did, and yet apparently Ella had not felt that it was worth mentioning that he was coming to see her. Scarlett knew Ella could be scatter-brained at the best of times, but surely something as monumental as this wouldn't have slipped even her haphazard mind?

'Are you certain you have the right day Rhett?' she asked.

'Actually we had arranged to meet tomorrow, but I finished up in Atlanta earlier than I had anticipated so thought I'd head down today and surprise her.'

'Oh that explains it then,' Scarlett said, pleased to have solved the mystery, 'She probably intended to tell me that you were coming when she got back tomorrow morning. You see Rhett, I'm afraid your journey's been in vain as Ella's not here at the moment. In fact no one is, they've all gone to visit Jam… that is they've all gone away for the weekend.' She stuttered awkwardly, a blush darkening her alabaster skin.

Thankfully Rhett seemed not to have noticed her slip, or if he did he chose not to comment on it, and either way Scarlett was grateful, there were some things that Rhett was better off not knowing, God knows they'd already caused each another enough pain to last one lifetime.

She had expected him to look crestfallen at her announcement that Ella was not around and as such was shocked and slightly bemused when instead his face split into a wide grin. Wondering if Rhett's hearing had deteriorated with age and he hadn't understood her properly, Scarlett opened her mouth to repeat herself when he surprised her further by moving across the room towards her desk, his tread, though significantly heavier than before, still every bit as predatory.

'What luck,' he said softly as he lowered himself into the chair across the table from her, his black eyes twinkling with a potent mixture of mischief and nostalgia, 'to find you alone!'

Scarlett bristled as his words evoked memories of an earlier, happier time, a time when they had been so much more to each other than they were now, a time that she had tried so hard to make herself forget. She knew he was only teasing her as he had always loved to do, but once again it seemed to be a cruel joke, one which ripped open old wounds and mocked her for still bleeding when he himself had long since learnt to stem the flow.

In that moment she remembered why it was that she had finally caved in and granted him his precious divorce after years of stubbornly holding out. It was not because her feelings for him had waned over time like they had for Ashley, but because she had finally realized that no matter how hard she fought he would never truly allow himself to love her again. Scarlett had always despised weakness and being unable to break down his iron will had left her feeling exactly that. Over time she had even stopped looking forward to his annual visits, for while he may have been near her physically, mentally he was as distant as if thousands of miles still separated them.

While she had initially thought she was trapping Rhett by refusing to grant him his divorce, eventually Scarlett came to realize that it was in fact her who was slowly suffocating under the weight of their prolonged sham of a marriage. Rhett had always done exactly as he pleased single or not, Belle Watling was nothing if not a constant remainder of that, whilst she was imprisoned by her status as a married woman, unable to move on from her life with Rhett even though their relationship had been dead for years in everyone's eyes but the law's.

Giving him up had been the hardest thing she had ever had to do and yet she knew that it had been for the best, finally bringing about an end to the miserable half-life she has been leading ever since he'd left her. With nothing to tie her to Atlanta anymore and unable to stand the old cat's sneering for a second longer, Scarlett had gathered her things, her children and her servants together and left the house that had taken so very much from her over the years for good.

Whilst the rest of her life may have been in chaos, her destination had been the only thing she was entirely certain of. There had after all only ever really been one place that she belonged in, only one place that she had truly called home. Tara.

Within its white walls surrounded by miles of red, rolling hills she planned to grow strong again. To recover from all the hardships that life had thrust upon her slim shoulders since the day she had first left it as a young, bored widow and rise up greater and prouder than ever. Looking down at the bulging book on her desk, Scarlett smiled at the knowledge that she wasn't the only one who had come to retain her former glory over the last few years. Tara and her had prospered together, the plantation was now back to its best, making even more of a profit than it had done before the war thanks to a winning combination of her visionary business ideas and Will's ability to put them into practice.

'You know you're still a pretty person Scarlett,' Rhett mused, his eyes alight with some unknown emotion as he took in her happy countenance, 'and I'm glad to see you smiling again. There was a time when I worried that you'd forgotten how.'

Scarlett passed over the darker implications of his comment and instead heard only the compliment, pleased that even after all this time Rhett still found her attractive. She had done her best to maintain her looks over the years, following Mammy's beauty tips as if they were her own personal Bible helping to save her from the Hell that was old age.

Of course, she wasn't what she had been, her skin was less tight and firm now, and a few wrinkles were beginning to form round her lips and forehead. Her once glossy locks had lost some of their bounce and thickness and her waist was larger than she cared to either notice or admit. Yet, all in all she was rather pleased when she looked in the mirror these days, finding the reflection to be an elegant and dignified one. Most importantly though, her startling green eyes had survived the ravages of time and were as arresting as ever, promising that no matter how old she might get, hers would never be a face that blended into the crowd.

'Thank you Rhett,' she replied in as demure a voice as she was capable of, 'you don't look so bad yourself I suppose, although I miss your black hair, that grey stuff makes you look like an old man.'

Rhett threw back his head and laughed loudly at her comment and Scarlett felt shivers fizzle across her body at the much missed sound.

'I see your looks aren't the only thing about you that hasn't changed Scarlett, you are still as blunt as ever! I agree with you about my hair though,' he said ruefully, reaching up and stroking his hair with a mock mournful expression, 'I tell you I've always been vain about my appearance, nowhere near as bad as you of course, but still I'm not ashamed to say the day I found my first grey hair I wept a little inside. Indeed, the only thing that managed to comfort me was the thought that at least I wasn't going bald. It takes a certain sort of man to carry off baldness Scarlett, and I fear that I am not one of them.'

Scarlett found herself laughing harder than she had done in some time, not so much at the idea of a bald Rhett, although the image was indeed amusing, but at the absurdity of the situation she now found herself in. If someone had told her when she got out of bed this morning that she would soon be sitting in her office talking to her ex-husband about the state of his hair of all things she would have told them to hush up and stop spouting such nonsense. And yet here they were, after years of separation and with so much pain and repressed emotion still existing between them, sitting idly round talking about inconsequential things as if they were an old married couple with all the time in the world.

As with so much of their relationship though, her joy was short lived as the image of her and Rhett as an elderly couple cut through Scarlett's laughter and made her stomach clench in pain. She had always feared ageing, convinced that life was not worth living once all the best things like beaus and balls and beauty were behind you, but now she almost wished that she could grow old with Rhett. Somehow she felt that she would not fear the passing of time so keenly if only he were there to share it with her.

'Who's that?' Rhett asked, breaking Scarlett's reverie and pulling her back into the present.

'Who's who?' Scarlett asked worriedly, spinning round to look out of the window afraid of what, or rather who, she might find staring back at her. Instead though, she saw nothing but a wide expanse of lawn and sky and frowned as she heard Rhett chuckle behind her.

'Not out there, up there.' Rhett said amusedly, pointing his hand to the wall behind Scarlett's desk. A wall which was almost entirely taken up by the large, gilded portrait of her grandmother.

Scarlett smiled as she took in the figure of the woman she had never met and yet had always secretly admired, a woman she had come to resemble far more closely than she had Ellen. 'That's my Grandmother Robillard, my mother's mother.'

'Ah,' Rhett said his eyes sparkling with recognition, 'the one who married three times and had duels fought over her, yes?'

'How on earth do you remember that Rhett? I hardly even recall mentioning her to you!' Scarlett exclaimed, stunned by his impressive knowledge of her family tree.

'You'd be surprised how much I remember when it comes to you Scarlett.' He said simply, his eyes burning with some silent emotion that made it hard for her to look him in the face without blushing. She felt startled by his admission, pained by the thought that he had once cared enough about her to memorize such inconsequential details. He must have loved her so very much back then, more perhaps than any man had ever loved a woman, and she had been such a damned, blind fool to have let such happiness pass her by.

'For example,' Rhett continued, his intense expression having morphed into one of sly amusement, 'I also remember you telling me that she wore terribly low-cut dresses, but I must confess that I see nothing so shocking in what she is wearing in that picture, God knows I've seen you in far more scandalous ensembles!'

'Yes I'm sure you have,' Scarlett replied tartly feeling her temper, normally kept under a tight rein these days, rising rapidly when exposed to his expert baiting one more, 'and I'm also sure that you bought most of them for me Rhett Butler, so don't you go acting all high and mighty!'

'Calm your ruffled feathers,' he said placating, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth as if he was pleased to find that he still had the power to make her mad, 'I meant no offense by it. Besides, I'd have thought that you would be pleased by the comparison if anything, after all didn't you always say you wanted to be like your grandmother?'

'I don't remember.' Scarlett muttered petulantly, coming down from her sudden peak of rage and yet unwilling to give into him so easily.

Rhett's smile grew in response to her stubborn behaviour, but he wisely chose not to comment on it, instead saying, 'Well then, you should be pleased by how your life turned out.'

'How so?' she asked.

'You married three times as well, didn't you?' he replied, his gaze seeming to Scarlett to grow more pointed as he spoke.

She felt herself stiffen slightly at his words and she turned quickly away from him, suddenly uncomfortable, as she tried to think of a way to bring the conversation back to safer ground.

Thankfully though her task was completed for her when Rhett continued, 'And while I never quite got as far to fight an actual duel for you, I did come frightfully close to shooting Ashley Wilkes on numerous occasions.'

Ashley. She had wondered how long it would be until he came up in conversation, in fact she was surprised Rhett had managed to go this long without mentioning him.

'Speaking of our mutual friend,' he continued in what he no doubt intended to be a casual voice, 'have you seen much of the esteemed gentleman lately?'

'Not lately no,' she replied cautiously, before deciding it was safer to tell the whole truth. After all Rhett always knew when she was keeping things from him and besides she was only fulfilling her promise to Melly by looking out for Ashley anyway. 'He and Beau will be coming here for a visit in a couple of weeks though, they always come twice a year, once in the summer and once for Christmas. Beau's training to be a lawyer, he and Wade hope to take over Uncle Henry's practice one day if he ever gets around to retiring. I swear though Rhett that man will outlive us all, he's as hardy now as he was the day that I first met him!'

Rhett's face, which had hardened at the knowledge that she was still in touch with Ashley, softened slightly at her last remark and he replied jovially, 'Don't I know it, I stopped by to see him yesterday afternoon and do you know that old beggar refused to see me! He even had the gall to get his secretary to tell me that he was out of the office when I could damn well see his shadow through the glass in his door!'

Scarlett grinned indulgently at her uncle's obstinate behaviour, 'You know he never did forgive you for divorcing me Rhett.'

'No, I don't suppose he did, can't say I blame him though,' he said before lowering his voice until it was barely above a whisper and Scarlett had to strain to hear it, 'God knows I'll never forgive myself for it either.'

Scarlett gasped at his unexpected admission and she opened her mouth to ask him exactly what he meant by his startling words. Before she had a chance to though Rhett, perhaps fearing that he had said too much, suddenly leapt up from his chair with the speed and virility of a much younger man.

Frightened that he was going to run away like he always did when things got tough, Scarlett sprang up from her own chair and reached across the desk that separated them to clutch his arm in a tight grip.

'Please don't go yet Rhett,' she pleaded, allowing her eyes to fill with all the love and regret that she had been trying so hard to hide from him throughout their conversation, 'give me just a little bit longer.'

Rhett seemed to shrink from her touch as if it burned him, his face was cautious, his emotions safely locked away behind the mask of indifference that he had always worn when he wished to keep her at a distance. They stood for a few moments in silence, staring at each other warily, neither sure whether to back away or move closer still, unable to decide in that moment which option would cause them the least amount of pain in the long run.

Finally, just as Scarlett had begun to feel as if she could no longer take the tension that emanated between them, Rhett closed his eyes and sighed heavily as if trying to steady himself. When he reopened them a few moments later all former traces of uncertainty and strain had disappeared, and when she felt his body relax under her she breathed a sigh of relief, sensing that his instinctive desire to run had been suppressed.

Before her very eyes his mask dissolved and he smiled her favourite crooked smile, the corner of his mouth curving down and his eyes sparkling, 'I suppose it would be ungracious of me to leave so quickly.' he said, 'After all this is my first ever visit to the infamous white elephant of Clayton County and it would be a shame to go without first getting a tour.'

Scarlett grinned at his words, her heart beating faster at the thought of showing Rhett round Tara. They were after all the two things she loved most in this world and it was only right that they should finally get to meet each other.

'Give me a moment to get my shawl Rhett and I'll be right with you.' She said before hurrying out of the room and up the stairs. She only just managed to stop herself from running, gripped by the fear that if she left him alone for too long then the spell would surely be broken and he would disappear out of her life as quickly and devastatingly as he had just re-entered it.