This is a story written by me for an test we were supposed to write in school. This is AU Pride and Prejudice. If you care for posting a review or sending me an PM where you tell me what you think of it, I shall be eternally grateful. Without much further ado, I give you:

The Road

In war, our primal instincts come out, our struggle for survival. Thus, it is each man by himself. The ground was harsh, solid dirt against his boots. Around him was nothing but slippery mud, plain fields that once had given food and fed entire families. Gone, trampled into the ground were the gentle plants that provided food.

He did not know what else to do but to walk on, continue walking in a country which seemed to have been erased from people's minds. Home. To her. That was where he was heading. The very thought of a life without her seemed impossible. It was so completely irrational that he wished the thought perished and wiped from his mind like dirt removed from his shoe.

Grateful he was, for there had been a war on the continent also, but he had been spared for it. The military forces he was part of were stationed but a few miles from her home at the beginning, not too far from Town. He knew how big the losses had been among those who fought on the continent, several of his friends had indeed perished in the war. It had broken so many men, destroyed so many lives and families.

The locals invited him and his regiment to several parties. Saturday before their first month there had ended, he met her. Keeping his promise to never love anyone, save Lily his darling little sister, became very hard the moment his eyes landed on her. Such fine eyes, any man would be a fool to resist them. And she took him for a fool. Never could understand how she did it.

Yet, all he was met with was loathing. Destined and determined to loathe him, she appeared, all because of a few ill chosen words about women in general prior to their introduction. Women, he mused, could sometimes be very astonishing. In time, the feelings he harboured for her seemed only to grow. In vain he had tried to suppress them, seemingly being mocked by them, they did nothing but escalate. A phenomenon, if the world ever had seen any.

Softened by the meeting of his sister, she agreed to let him court her. Lily, the stubborn little one who had inherited her father's stubborn will who refused to remain at Pemberley, came down to see him. Claimed it had been to long since she last had seen him, and indeed, she was right. His beloved was mislead by a deceiving Fredric Lilbourn regarding his intentions, she nearly broke of their courtship.

Given the fact that Lily and Adelaide had become such good friends, Lily was quick to correct her assumptions and she, who was dearer to him day by day, no longer refused him. They had conquered hindrance by hindrance, but their greatest victory was winning over her father. He was so proud the day he could introduce her as his fiancée.

The aging and honourable Mr. Edward Hayward was not happy about the relationship his favourite daughter, Adelaide Cassandra, and he, Fitzwilliam Darfirth shared. Of course, he would have gladly rid himself of any of his, according to him, silly daughters, save his Addie. Addie was born with the spirit of her father, and the two of them shared many a laugh regarding her sisters.The sisters were silly, he might agree slightly with Mr. Hayward, but he could not bring himself to offend his future sisters.

'Twas with great reluctance the elderly man had agreed to the courting. Darfirth had an annual income of over twenty thousand pounds, so there was little Mr. Hayward had to say regarding this matter. His greatest grief in live was that he never had sons. Five times had they tried, once they lost the baby, and the rest he was granted only daughters.

The eldest, Fanny, was named after his wife. While his wife suffered from poor nerves and a love for silliness unlike any he knew, his daughter had the most gentle and kind being. Sadly, it did not prevent his youngest daughters from inheriting the silly nature of their mother.

While Mary might have been silly, she played the pianoforte rather well. But her heart was with the Fordyce's Sermons, and took no great pleasure in dances. Unlike her older sisters, Lydia was her mother born again. Her nerves were better, but silently, many a person had considered the possibility that nerves might be developed over time. Addie and her father became closer as the years passed by. They were both fond of reading, enjoyed often long walks about the park and talked about their musings and findings in life.

Fitzwilliam Darfirth was the colonel for his regiment. Mr. Hayward peered through the window of his library each day and saw how his favourite fell in deeper and deeper in love. While his heart may have shattered at the prospect of no longer being the only man in his Addie's life, he was secretly elated and greatly relieved about how much in love the couple seemed. Her mother had always said that she would have been the one to marry of, yet she was only second.

Fanny, the cherished older sister, had meet a man visiting his aunt in the neighbouring town. London, or Town was his home, this became also Fanny's new home. While marriage might have been an expected thing, giving birth to twins no less than ten months into the marriage, was not entirely after plan. But it did not concern her, as she loved both her children and her husband.

To them, him and Addie, it was a road that seemingly had no end. That was the perfect description for them. It had been so very similar to a journey along a road. A path, now wilted, that once had been the very vein of travelling between the civilized south and the rural north a few centuries back in time. In the end there was an end, but it was hidden. Buried in arguments, moving and all these other things.

When it became clear that his regiment was to travel far north, they married in haste. It was the happiest day of his life, seeing her walking down the aisle towards him, led by her father. The gown was white, donned with a few ribbons her mother had pressured her into wearing, but otherwise it was clean. The dress had no meaning to him, it could have been covered in ribbons and silliness, and he still would have had her.

The following night, his wedding night, made him certain he was to return to her, no matter what. No war would stop him. How very much alive a man could feel, by the sheer act they carried out, amazed him beyond belief. When he had departed the next day, she had kissed him in front of his entire regiment. She had smiled impishly and cocked her head to the side, innocently. Though none of the men in the regiment could find it creditworthy, not when mischievousness glittered not only from her eyes, but her whole being.

So, they marched and went to war. Day by day, men were killed. Bullets always missed him, as he was protected by an invisible shield. He lost many, yet he always survived. When it ended, they all dreaded their return. It was a known thing and saying among the men: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. He did wonder how she would treat him. He had after all abandoned her.

The moment the war was declared over, they all fled the scene, according to Adelaide; it would have been almost in a similar manner to Shakespeare famous stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear." He did indeed feel like they scattered like leaves to the wind.

To Pemberley he travelled, home to her and his sister. The sister whom he had been forced to raise from infancy when his father died on the sea, he was more like a father than brother. When he entered the entrance hall, clothes covered in mud and filth, he was met with three people, not two as he had expected. In Addie's arms laid a little bundle. He had reached the end of the road, the end of the journey and also the end of this tale. In case you wonder, Addie, Lily, Fitzwilliam and all their children lived happily ever after.

brokenblackangel