Author's Note: This is a one shot that just popped into my head. And I just had to write it down. Hope you all enjoy it.
The afternoon sun caught the burnished highlight in her ebony hair. Her dark, slanted eyes sparkled merrily into his dark ones. She laughed softly at something he had said. Eulalie and Pauline, had both said that they were only children playing games. But they were not playing. "Be serious, Ellen. You do not love Phillipe! You know that you love me!" He grinned at her with his white teeth gleaming.
"I could never love a blackguard such as yourself. Why, you got yourself thrown out of West Point, you fool. You know your father is going to have your head for that one." But she laughed despite the grave words she had spoken.
"O father, will be displeased, of that I am certain. But Ellen, come away with me. Let's run off together." His black eyes danced at gazed so intently that she shifted away from him.
"Father would not approve of you anymore than he would approve of me marrying Phillipe. And he is off in New Orleans. Rhett, you know it wouldn't be fair to you. Why, I could never give you my heart." She spoke softly, not wanting to hurt one of her dearest friends and favorite beaux.
"I shall always loved you, Ellen Robillard. And if I can't have you then I will find someone that reminds me of you and I will have her as my own." He laughed as he spoke the words, but there was an honest sincerity in his words, for he truly loved her and always would.
She looked at him sadly, wishing that she could answer that she did love him, but the words would not come. She stared into his eyes for a moment before the tears began. "I'm sorry, Rhett. I truly am."
He turned and walked away from her, leaving behind the large pink house that flowed and swirled like a lady dancing. He never saw her again; he heard through the constant rumor mill that Phillipe had died. She had married a little bustling Irishman who lived in the wilder parts of Georgia. But he never laid eyes on Ellen again. She was only alive now in his dreams.
O0o0o0o0o0o0
It had been many years since that sad day. He had been searching for her for years, yet suddenly before his eyes there she stood. He knew that it was not Ellen, but something in her bearing made him think of her. This girl's eyes were strikingly green and Ellen's were dark, but the shape of them was right. This child, this girl, had caught his attention in a way that no woman since had ever done. So he stared. She caught him, staring at her. But then she immediately resumed her coquetry. And it was possible that she was not as lovely as Ellen had been. But she was captivating.
She was much too young for him. She was probably no older than Ellen had been that last day, but there was something in her eyes that captivated him. She was alive like none of the other ladies in the room. And then that bumbling Frank Kennedy introduced them... "Rhett! Rhett Butler! Come here! I want you to meet the most hardhearted girl in Georgia." In that instant Rhett knew that this was the girl he had been waiting for since that day years ago. She was even more of the woman for him than Ellen had been. There was more fire too her, a strength in her eyes that drew him in like a moth to a flame. And he was caught and captivated by Scarlett O'Hara.
author's end note: I am not implying that Ellen and Rhett ever were together. And the book does say that Ellen changed drastically when she married Gerald. I like to think that she was a lot like Scarlett until her heart was broken. And Rhett actually is a year older than Ellen and with Pauline and Eulalie married and living in charleston it is very possible for them to have been in the same social circle. But basically Rhett had a crush on Ellen, but was more smitten by Scarlett. And pretty much could be considered AU, although it does nothing to change the story