Title: Seasons go by

Rating: K+

Pairings: The usual ones... E/C, A/B, I/R

Spoiler: Spoilers for series 2. Be warned.

Disclaimer: They all belong to Jf... I know.

Summary: Seasons go by downstairs at Downton and the village, so lives change during them...

Others: Written as another piece for my 1000 words a day challenge. I wonder if I will ever manage to finish the longer stories on time... oh. And it's completely pointless.

~~o~~

In spring Elsie Hughes goes to visit Ethel with a basket of food before she promises the girl to write to Major Bryant about the wee child for the first and last time herself. In summer she waves Mr Carson goodbye on a grey day which suites her own mood perfectly and sees him only when he comes back for two days to sort some business. In autumn she takes long walks along the coloured trees and through dying leaves, trying not to think about how much she misses William. In winter she helps Anna prepare for her wedding and lifts everybody's spirits.

During the year she cares about all the members of her makeshift family as best as she can.

In the next Charles Carson makes her his and promises to care of her till death does them part.

~o~

In spring John Bates has to attend his wife's funeral and to worry about a trial thinking him to be a murderer. In summer he has to face said trial and feares to have to go back to prison for something he did not do. In autumn he is finally free from Vera and her death and allowes himself to ask Anna to marry him. In winter he watches her walk down the aisle on Mr. Carson's arm, thanking Lord Grantham for his generosity and Mrs. Hughes for her planning.

During the year he was threatened again and again by fate and the danger to lose hope.

In the next he is hopeful when he sees Anna getting sick in the morning, hoping for a new life.

~o~

In spring Isobel Crawley gets told by Cora that she's not valued at the grand house and wouldn't be missed there, when she threatens to go to France where war is raging she isn't held back. In summer she walks through Paris, tired from her work searching for missing sons and husbands, willing to forget the war and beginning an affair with a man barely older than her own son. In autumn she returns home for the first time, since she left England six months before, to take care of her injured child. In winter she starts something new in her life when Violet desperatel tries to get her out of the grand house, telling her about orphans, refugees and missing husbands.

During the year she is hardly valued for who she is and what she does.

In the next Richard Clarkson tells her how happy he is to have such a capable nurse working for him before he takes her hands into his and does not want to let her go.

~o~

In spring Daisy writes to William that she misses him, feeling like a liar because with him in France she's save from marriage. In summer she tells him she want to wait till after the war to marry him to give him something to come back for and to leave the war behind. In autumn she lets flowers fall into his grave down onto his casket , only married for a view hours, a widow for the rest of her life. In winter she prays for forgiveness and wishes nothing ele for Christmas.

During the year she has felt the guilt of leading William on and on, for giving him false hope even in his last few hours.

In the next she learns to forgive herself and all those who pressured her into it in the end, but she can't hope for the forgivness of the person she needs it the most of – William is dead and she is his widow.

In spring Charles still doesn't like Anna helping him to serve at the family's bigger dinner parties even though Elsie still reprimands him for it. In summer he feels restless when he has to sort out his father's friends things after the old man died, telling Elsie he has business to sort and suddenly finds himself to be a servant with quite a fortune more. In autmn he has to accept that even though he promised William a place to work when he will return from war the boy will never work again when Charles watches the young boy laid to final rest. In winter he attends the Bates'es wedding, grumbling about the valet and the Head housemaid never been married before.

During the year Charles doesn't let life change him but instead fights it with all his might.

The next year he has another turn and realises that he can't fight change but only make the best of it – so he doesn't care about what a butler shouldn't do and asks Elsie to marry him.

~o~

In spring Anna Smith seems to find the fulfillment of all her dreams when Vera Bates dies, it's not that she's happy about the other woman's death but at least John is finally free. In summer she tells him that she won't let him push her away again just because someone thinks him to be a murderer, she knows better. In autumn she feels like the luckiest girl alive when John presents her with a small bracelet for their engagement and tells her mother she will need her wedding dress. In winter Mrs Hughes helpd her plan her wedding which everybody seems to have an idea about, but in the end Anna gets her will.

During the year she has fought for her own happyness, her will and most importantly for John.

The next year she learns that fighting is turning into winning when her stomach slowly swells with the new life within her.

~o~

In spring Richard Clarkson finds himself unable to soften the anger in the relationship between Mrs Crawley and Lady Grantham, sees himself unable to keep her from leaving for France and to tell her he'd miss her. In summer he finds himself unable to post the box of letters he has written to her nearly every day she has been gone. In autumn he still can't give her the letters or invite her for tea or to dinner. I nwinter he can't do anything but stand by and watch Lady Violet manipulate Mrs Crawley into leaving the grand house and focussing her energy elsewhere.

During the year he's too shy to tell her about what he feels for her, how much her presence in his life means to him.

The next year he takes chances to not see her leaving again, tells her she's the best nurse he ever had, takes her hands and asks her to stay with him.

~o~

In spring Beryl Patmore tells Daisy to write to William, that he will be happy about receiving letters from his fiancé at the front. In summer she hugs the lad to her on his leave, happy to know him alive and well without any signs of letting the war getting to himself. In autumn she tries to dry the tears off her face when she stands by Daisy and watches the flowers fall on his casket. In winter Daisy argues with her a lot, she feels the girl's anger, desperation and resentment towards her all too clearly.

During the year Beryl has watched Daisy and William, trying to get the girl to make the lad happy, not thinking about what she was doing.

The next year she finally begins to see just how much damage she has done to the girl's conscience.

In spring she chooses the wedding present for Anna that the girl then doesn't need. In summer she watches Carson feel unhappy in London and only happy when he returns from Downton and Mrs Hughes. In autumn she does everything to get William home, attends his wedding and his funeral. In winter she drives Isobel out of the house and into working for a charity while trying to charm Dr. Clarkson into pursuing Cousin Isobel.

During the year she meddles with the lives of the people around her – sometimes knowing what is better for them than they do themselves.

In the next year she continues meddling. Of course she does. No one can ever stop Violet Crawley from meddling.

~~o~~

Thanks for reading, even though it's pointless... and please, leave a review. And as always, have a cookie. ;)