Sequel to, "A Generous Gift." Set in series 4. My own made-up storylines.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wild at Heart or any of the characters; I take no credit for either.

Parting Gifts

One week.

That was all the time that Caroline and Anders had left together. All the time they had left before Caroline departed for England to help look after her Grand-daughter, Olivia.

Neither of them had talked about her leaving very much. They hadn't wanted to talk about it. Talking about it meant that it was real, and that it was coming closer and closer, and they wanted to keep it as unreal as possible. Make it something that wasn't set in stone. But both were certainly thinking deeply about it.

First there was worry. Worrying about how long they would be apart for.

Then there was fear. Fear that one would fall out of love with the other. Fear of one finding the other in danger and not being able to come to the rescue in time.

Then there was anxiety. Knowing how anxious both hearts would be, and how much they would ache to see one another again, after being separated for so long.

Finally there was pain. Pain in knowing that, eventually, the time would come when they would have to go their separate ways and say goodbye. Knowing that the pain wouldn't subside, until they were finally together again, many weeks later.

---------------------------------------

Caroline stood in the kitchen, absent-mindedly cleaning the dishes from the families' previous meal, thinking deeply about the dreaded day that would cast an ominous darkness over her and the man she loved.

She had tried to put off thinking about it by throwing herself into her work at Leopard's Den. Organising bookings, re-painting here and there, cleaning the guest huts again and again, re-confirming bookings, ordering more of Danny's veterinary supplies, helping Nomsa clean inside the house, feeding some of the safer animals in the Animal Hospital, the list went on.

She remembered fondly the time Anders had suddenly caught her by the arm as she was on her way to check on the guest huts, again, her face hard with concentration, and her pace quick and determined. He had wrapped his arms around her slight waist and kissed her deeply, while chuckling at her adorably bewildered expression, in an effort to calm her down, and stop her being so tense and frantic about the most trivial things. Needless to say, it had worked very well, as her entire body had suddenly become like putty under his warm touch, a small happy sigh had emitted from her chest as she slipped her arms around his neck.

After he had pulled back from her, a little dazed and breathless, he had said, "You looked like you needed someone to stop you, before your pretty little head blew up, from worrying about all the jobs you were trying to cram into it," he smiled, a mischievous glint sparkling in his coral blue eyes.

She had laughed gently, then looked up at him coyly, and replied, "Well thank you Anders, I believe I did need that. But I don't think that you have stopped me completely, and certainly not enough to refrain me from worrying about all those jobs that I seem to be hell-bent on doing,"

He had smiled at her knowingly; "Well in that case…" suddenly, he swept Caroline off her feet, and carried her towards the barn which, thankfully, was completely empty apart from the many bails of hay stacked upon each other, which Caroline had actually done herself earlier that day. Then he placed Caroline gently down on one of the hay bails, rested his solid frame on hers, holding his weight off her by propping himself up on his elbows, kissed her forehead, and smiled cheekily at her "…I shall make certain that you never worry about all those silly little things ever again, my mischievous little minx…"

Caroline smiled broadly at that wonderful memory of their first time. It had been perfect. Their laughter had mingled together in the cool air of the barn as they kissed over and over again, lost in this perfect little moment together, the happy warmth radiating from them. She remembered the golden glow of sunlight peaking through the gaps in the wood, producing hazy speckles of brilliant yellow light on the floor, like jewels strewn across the ground. It had seemed like nobody but them on the entire planet existed.

As she was reminiscing, she suddenly felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind … Anders.

"Hello you," she whispered, and lay her head back on his shoulder.

"Hello gorgeous, what were you thinking about?" He queried, placing gentle kisses along her jaw-line.

Caroline giggled, going slightly red, embarrassed to admit her thoughts to him, she felt slightly giddy and rebellious at the memory.

"What is it?" Anders prompted, laughing along with her. Her laugh was like sweet music to his ears, so infectious…Good God he loved her.

"I was thinking about…What happened two weeks ago…You know…In the barn," She didn't dare look at him, still struggling with her laughter; she didn't want to see his smug expression.

Silence…

Confused by this she dared herself to turn and look round at him. When she did, she didn't know whether to slap him, or kiss him. He stood there, arms still around her waist, with his eyes tightly closed, biting his bottom lip in an effort to stop himself from bursting with laughter and happiness. He attempted to compose himself, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips, keeping his eyes firmly closed, and said,

"Oh? I never knew I had such an effect on women…So every time you get angry with me, I can just remind you of our little "Chat," and then you'll be putty in my hand," Anders opened his eyes and met Caroline's mortified gaze. He couldn't suppress it any longer, his laughter burst out of him, radiating joy throughout the entire room, his coral blues sparkling with mirth and moisture.

Caroline did slap him this time; playfully however, as much as she hated to admit it, he did have that power to somehow make people adore him no matter what he said…As long as it was more or less a joke.

Anders rested his forehead gently against Caroline's, wrapping his arms tighter around her small waist, looking her in the eyes. He bit his lower lip, lowering his gaze, suddenly looking shy. That made Caroline want to just grab him by the collar and kiss him hard. She loved 'Shy Anders,' he looked so forlorn, so sweet and gentle. She also loved the fact that he usually only showed this side of him to her, and her alone. He let his guard down for Caroline, and she had always marvelled at how much trust he put in her. How much he trusted her with his big, but fragile, heart. She knew that this was part of the real Anders. He didn't have insecurities per se, but it was easier for him to hide a little bit behind his mask of loud confidence, and wicked sense of humour. Those aspects were also part of the real Anders, but he still used them to prove to people in the outside world, that he was fearless, and he was not the sort of person you would want to push around. Only those who knew him so well would know of his shy and gentler side, but he only ever revealed his shyness very rarely, and Caroline considered it to be almost an honour to be one of the few people who had witnessed this.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" she queried in her velvety soft voice, which she only used for him and the children. Sometimes Caroline's maternal instincts would kick in when Anders was like this. She felt a strong need to protect and comfort him, a feeling that surged through her entire being, which mingled with that familiar rush of love that rendered her breathless...It was intense.

"Nothing's wrong…Not at all. It's just…Well…It was wonderful wasn't it? I mean, I've never felt so…Connected, to another person before. Well maybe except for Elizabeth…but, erm…" he trailed off. Elizabeth had always been a painful and difficult subject for him to dwell on; he didn't talk about her much.

Caroline reached up on her tiptoes and planted a deep, lingering kiss onto his lips. She felt the deep rumble of his happy sigh against her own lips. She drew back, cupped his strong jaw gently in her soft palm, and made him look straight into her ocean blue eyes.

"It was wonderful, incredible, breathtaking, and I will never, ever, ever forget such a glorious moment between us. I don't think I have ever felt love like that before…So I guess you do have quite an effect on women, and a strong one at that. I just wish you weren't so devastatingly adorable, because I think I'm going to have to compete with other women for you, for the rest of my life." Anders smiled lovingly at Caroline, his velvety, yet striking eyes twinkling with warmth. She leaned forward and kissed him again, arms tightening around his neck, holding him there, deepening the kiss, becoming more urgent until Anders suddenly, but regrettably, broke away.

"I love you," he gasped, breathless. "And I think we may have to have another "Chat," in the barn," he finished, chuckling, surprised by how forward he was being.

Caroline shot him an incredulous look, a strong hint of mischief flickering in her big blue eyes. "I love you too, and that…is a brilliant idea," and with that she grabbed Anders' hand and dragged him out of the room; she was a woman on a mission. They started kissing on there way down to the barn, both checking to see if the coast was clear every now and then, both feeling giddy and laughing almost uncontrollably as they tried to walk and kiss at the same time. They reached the barn, Caroline suddenly lost her footing, and they fell through the doorway, arms wrapped around each other. But this only made them laugh even harder, and it certainly didn't stop them from what they were doing.

Anders kicked the barn door shut, and when they both heard the click of the latch, they kissed passionately, settling down to have a wonderful and long, chat…