The Mist

"All I know is that you do not love me and you are going away!" Scarlett exclaimed in her Irish way, her temper threatening to overwhelm her. She kept it contained…just barely, as the tears poured down her face, as she looked at the one man she had always loved, would always love, and professed for the last time. "My darling, if you go, what shall I do?"

"Scarlett," he said, his voice as smooth as silk, "I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together and tell myself that the mended were as good as new. What is broken is broken-and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best then mend the broken pieces as long as I lived. Perhaps, if I were younger…" he let the sentence trail off as he sighed, "But I'm too old to believe in such sentiments as clean slates and starting over. I'm too old to shoulder the burden of constant lies that go hand in hand with living in polite disillusionment. I couldn't live with you and lie to myself. I can't even lie to you now. I wish I could care what you do and where you go but I can't." Rhett drew in a short breath and sighed and said very lightly, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," he replied, retrieving his hat and shutting the door quietly, leaving her alone.

Scarlett let out a shriek as she grabbed the nearest vase, it was one he had brought back from London or maybe Paris she wondered absently as her Irish temper got the best of her and she hurled it at the closed door. With the sound of his feet dying away, and the pain in her throat threatening to strangle her, Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler realized that her husband had meant every word that he had spoken. She knew because she sensed within him something strong, unyielding, implacable-all the qualities she had looked for in Ashley but never found. She had never understood either man that she had loved. She realized Rhett had been right all along. She had never understood either Ashley or Rhett and so she had lost them both. Yes, she could go to Ashley on this very night and he would do the honorable thing, she sneered over the word honorable, as Rhett used to, yes she could have Ashley if she still wanted him, but she no longer did. If it wasn't for her promise to Melly she would never see him again. If she had understood Ashley she would have never loved him, and if she had understood Rhett she would never have lost him. She wondered if she had ever understood anyone in her world.

She had been so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the mist swirling up and around her, even though she was indoors, standing on the deep velvet red carpet that she had so adored. She could faintly hear sounds and as she turned around she heard a chuckle from Rhett. What was he doing here? She wondered, hadn't he just left her. With stark realization, she noticed the couch behind her. She was at Twelve Oaks, in their library, where she had first spoken to Rhett. She couldn't help but stare at Rhett, a much younger Rhett, a Rhett that hadn't been consumed by grief and alcohol.

"Has the war started?" he asked, just as he had the first time.

"Sir," she stated, her heart thumping so that she could feel the pounding in the pulse at her neck. "You should have made yourself known."

He laughed, and she felt the corners of her lips curve up into a smile. "In the middle of that love scene? That wouldn't have been very tactful now would it?"

"Rhett?" she whispered, wondering what it was he was talking about, although to him it had happened mere moments ago, it had been years for her. She was vaguely aware that she had professed her love for Ashley, only to be rebuked for his love for Melanie. Melly. Melly was alive.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Rhett asked, taking in the familiarity in which she had addressed him.

"I only know of your reputation, sir. You are no gentleman," she retorted.

"And you miss, are no lady." Scarlett paid no heed to his words as she sat down on the couch before him.

"Is it true that you were expelled from West Point?" she asked. He laughed again, surprised at her bold question.

"I see my reputation precedes me. So you have been warned about me? Don't you know that well-bred young ladies would rather die that be seen with the notorious Captain Rhett Butler."

"Oh Fiddle Dee Dee, with enough courage you can deal without a reputation," she intoned airily, opening and closing the door behind her, if nothing else; Scarlett O'Hara knew how to make an exit. She noticed everyone running around like chickens with their head cut off, and was vaguely aware of Charles Hamilton telling her about the war. She looked out the window and saw Ashley talking to Melanie.

"It's war, Ms. O'Hara," he was saying, and for the life of her, he looked just as much like a lamb to the slaughter as he had the last time he had proposed. "Will you be sorry, to see us go?" he asked her.

"I'll cry into my pillow every night," she stated airily, paying little heed to the words she said, or what Melanie's brother was saying. She would need a good reason to become friends with Melanie, even if she didn't particularly care for Ashley, she loved Melly.

"Will you wait for me?" he asked, and she looked at him, realizing he had proposed.

"Yes, Mr. Hamilton, I will wait for you," she said, knowing that he wouldn't make it past the first few months of war. Did it make her cold to accept his proposal knowing that he wouldn't live to honor it? Honey was supposed to marry him, she remembered, the Wilkes and Hamilton's always married their cousins. She wouldn't have Wade, and the thought shook her though she knew it would be one less mouth to feed when the war reached Tara. She would have to convince her Pa to keep their money in gold instead of exchanging it for Confederate paper, but how could she a mere girl to her father convince him of that? Maybe she should talk to Rhett, would he be able to sway her father's mind? She was vaguely aware of Charlie leaving to speak with her father as she found Melanie at her side.

"It's so sad, isn't it?" Scarlett found herself saying, "Our boys, our men racing off to fight a pointless war, reaching for stars they will never touch only to come home with the stars burned out, merely a shadow of their former selves that is if they come home at all."

"Why Scarlett, I never thought I would hear such things from you!" Melanie cried shocked. "Don't you believe in our Cause?"

"I believe in our families, and protecting our young, not in senseless fighting," Scarlett replied. "Admit it, Melanie Hamilton, you don't want them to go anymore than I do," Scarlett said, her eyes twinkling.

"No, I don't but they will do what they believe they have to. They are protecting their women; you can't fault them for that."

"If its protecting their women, they are after then they would do it better by remaining at home," Scarlett replied.

"They will do what they feel is right."

"Then, I believe, Melly that we are going to have to agree to disagree. Congratulations on your engagement to Ashley," Scarlett said, offering her a hand.

"And to yours as well, you are to marry my brother Charles?" Melanie asked.

"Yes, I am, I would be honored if you were to be my matron of honor," Scarlett said to her, a genuine smile on her face, even if the wedding would never take place. "I must admit," Scarlett continued, "I hope you can understand Ashley better than I. I find him to be somewhat of a loner," Scarlett said. She watched as Melanie glowed.

"Ashley just spends most of his time wrapped away in his books; it's a trait we all should be lucky enough to possess. We often trade books and speak at length about our interputations," Melanie said to her. Scarlett smiled.

"Then I wish you all the happiness and luck in the world. May you be fruitful, Melanie," Scarlett said, knowing this was Melly's most freverant hope. Melly colored and made her excuses leaving Scarlett alone. Or so she had thought.

"Don't you know Ms. O'Hara that well-brought up ladies don't discuss child-bearing," came the dark dangerous voice to taunt her. She turned around and smiled looking straight into his dark eyes.

"Did I ever tell you, Rhett…?"

"And they don't refer to gentlemen they just met on a first-name basis."

"Very well, Captain Butler," Scarlett continued. "That I once went to see a fortune teller…Mammy Jincy…" Scarlett had had trouble recalling the name from so long ago, "She said I was going to marry a gentleman with jet-black hair and a long black mustache," she whispered to him as if she was telling a secret. He threw his head back and roared.

"My dear, I am not a marrying man."

"All men must marry, Captain Butler," she said as she left him and went to find her Pa, if war was coming she had a lot to do to ensure that Tara were to survive, this time.