Rhett Butler did, in fact, return for Melanie's wake. He couldn't help but wonder how he would be greeted by Scarlett. Would she worry about her reputation and try to convince him to stay? Did she love him or think she loved him? Did he believe her? He was broken down and he knew it. He hadn't been able to sleep much. After Bonnie died, he didn't sleep for weeks. He was trying to stop drinking but he couldn't get to sleep without it. In the early hours of the morning, his thoughts went to Bonnie and Scarlett and that brief time when he thought they could have a life together. In his deepest moments, he would find himself unable to blame Scarlett, who had told him she didn't want to get married and didn't love him. He always craved her honesty, but remained smug enough to believe she didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know what was good for her.

He put her in that situation and he knew it. He had told her it would be fun. He so rarely put his cards on the table with her. He couldn't stand that with all he gave her, her heart still went to Ashley. And then, when she finally came to the realization that she wouldn't be able to stay with Ashley for more than a week without being utterly frustrated and disappointed in him…when she came running to the house to profess her alleged love… he chose then to walk out on her. He really was a bastard. Of course, he had wanted to leave her since Bonnie died. But still, Melanie's death made it an unfortunate time.

Still, Scarlett rarely lied to him. And when she said she had called for him after the miscarriage…. That thought tortured him. Not because he felt bad for Scarlett. But because when his mind rewound to the months before Bonnie's death, he would wonder if all those events had been different, would Bonnie still be alive? He remembered Bonnie running to greet Scarlett after they returned from their three months away, and how Scarlett, for a brief moment, looked happy to see him, and happy to tell him she was going to have a baby. After all, he hadn't been happy when she found out she was pregnant with Bonnie. He was such a bastard then. And there was guilt. The fact that he had said that maybe she would get lucky and have a miscarriage. And she did. When he thought about what he did to her in their marriage, somehow he could no longer blame her for everything. She didn't love him. And suddenly, he felt like the he acted like the child.

He hadn't been able to think about any of this after Bonnie's death and after he had decided to leave Scarlett. But he was so alone. He couldn't go back to Scarlett. They couldn't live in their house, and he couldn't bear the thought of having more children. Maybe it had just been her grief and regret talking? It would have been easier had she not run back to him and asked him to stay. Or if he had not believed that she finally loved him. Normally, she only refused a divorce because of the shame and the gossip. But she said that she would travel with him. Give her heart to him. And he felt so sorry for her, and so sorry for himself. He had tried to leave like a gentleman, with respect and dignity. He knew his family would tell him to go back to his wife. He wondered if he would ever marry again. Doubtful. He couldn't tolerate the pain of a child. Though maybe if it was a son. But a daughter would break his heart.

He thought he would feel more triumphant when he walked out the door. He had finally told her just how he loved her and why he was going. But it only made him feel like a fool. Sometimes he would laugh at the fact that no two people were ever so honest with each other, always at the other's expense. But he knew, as good as it felt, that the primary reason he was gone was because of Bonnie. He never really thought Scarlett didn't love Bonnie; it's just he loved Bonnie more. And part of him knew that Scarlett would move on after her death, not because of callousness, but because of her strength. Oh the tragedy of it all. No wonder he couldn't stop drinking. He feared he would drink himself to death. And those who saw him on the street felt that he was a dead man walking.

And so he showed up at Melanie's wake. He tried very hard to blend in, because he was in no mood for the gossip that seemed to follow him whenever he entered an event. No one seemed to notice or care that he was there. He had never seen so much genuine mourning at a wake or a funeral before. One could really feel the void left by Melanie Wilkes. He guessed that Scarlett never told anyone that he had left.

He saw Scarlett before she saw him. She was greeting people with Sue Ellen, and far across the room was Ashley. India was beside him, holding onto his arm, whispering what seemed like words of solace. He saw Wade and Ella with the other children, off in a corner, wanting to be any place but there. He wondered what Scarlett had said about his leaving. He wondered what impact he had on their lives. Would he just be another father they never knew? No, he was worse. Two children who had lost their fathers and their grandparents and how their aunt. And he chooses that moment to abandon them all. Some men should never be married. He was one of them.

Scarlett looked up quickly at one point, and saw him. She almost smiled. He was going to have to approach Ashley at some point, but that seemed hard to do. He wondered if it had occurred to Ashley to marry Scarlett. She would provide him comfort and take care of him. And even though it would never be a true love, it would probably be a happier marriage than Rhett and Scarlett ever had. Maybe she would have a baby with him. Maybe they would sit in bed in sadness, with Melanie's ghost over their heads, just as his bed had been haunted by Ashley. He got a closer look at India at one point and realized that that she wore makeup that looked as if she was covering a black eye… strange, it was slightly discolored and swollen. At first, he thought maybe it was the crying…Oh dear, did Scarlett finally take a swat at India, Rhett thought. Shortly after, an acquaintance mentioned to him moving back to Tara as soon as Sue Ellen found a new home. Scarlett was going to help her look. Ah, he thought. Of course she's going back to Tara.

Scarlett waited till Rhett found a seat by himself. She approached him calmly.

"Rhett," she almost whispered. "I knew you'd come. Thank you."

"I came out of respect for Mrs. Wilkes, and.."

She held her hand up to silence him.

"I understand all too well why you're here. Doesn't change that it is the right thing?"

"I suppose not."

She studied him and he studied her back, neither really sure what they were looking for.

During the services, Scarlett got up to speak. And if anyone had anything to whisper about, you couldn't tell by looking at Scarlett. It was as if she was daring someone, especially India, to disrespect Melanie in any way. Apparently, Melanie had asked in her last wishes for Scarlett to read a passage from the Bible. And Scarlett did so dutifully. She read from a paper that she had scribbled it on. And then much to Rhett's astonishment, and everyone else's, she added something.

"I realize this is a terrible time for all of us. We have lost so many people in the past years, that one would think it would get easier. But I'm afraid- it just seems that of all the people to lose- Melanie Wilkes should have outlived us all. It will take us all awhile to think of her as we should, with only fondness and smiles. Living our lives as if she is watching over us in heaven, as I know she is… She was the kindest person we have ever known or maybe will ever know. Things like that are often said at these occasions, but for Melanie, it's the truth.

Scarlett paused to regain some composure. She felt weak, but had made a million promises to herself to be strong for Melanie and for Rhett and for herself. She felt like a coward for fumbling, but years later, she would see this as one of her more courageous moments… which, for Scarlett O'Hara, was saying something…

"It's something not often enough said of Melanie Wilkes. That besides her kindness, she was the strongest and wisest person I've ever known. She saw only the best in people, and it seems we all behaved and lived a little better because of her. After all, who would want to disappoint Mellie?"

That was the only point it seemed Scarlett might cry, but she moved on. She regained her composure and flashed her green eyes.

"I'm afraid all of this sadness would disappoint her as well. She very recently spoke to me after my daughter's passing. And the things she said… well, I won't get into them here. But she helped me so… and how I wish she was here now."

Scarlett stopped there, though it seemed she had more to say. But her eyes were swollen with tears that wouldn't fall. They just made her green eyes glassy. She sat down next to Rhett. He suspected had they been another type of couple, he would take her hand, or she would take his. But neither made that move. But Scarlett sat strangely close to him, as if he was still hers. He laughed to himself that her finest hour seemed to be when he walked out on her. She never looked better or stronger. He was skeptical. Maybe she was acting a part.

After the funeral, with everyone at the Wilkes' home, Scarlett made eye contact with Rhett again.

"You look terrible Rhett."

"Not everyone glows at a funeral, my dear."

"No need to call me dear, Rhett. I'm a big girl. And I am not glowing and you know it."

"I didn't mean to imply that you were joyous. I do believe you finally found a portion of your heart. Congratulations."

They stood side by side, but were anything but. Rhett's words seemed to wound Scarlett, and she had long given up wearing a mask in front of Rhett, for he could read her anyway. But she had an air of confidence that he hadn't seen from her in so long. And she lifted her chin up to him, and instead of glaring, she looked at him in a way that mimicked how he had often looked at her. As if she knew more than him. As if she loved him and pitied him at the same time. It was disarming. And then she whispered to him something more disarming.

"If I agree to divorce you, can I ask something of you?"

"I suppose." Rhett was still trying to read her…

"When you are around me, even if it's while passing on the street… can you at least be kind? We couldn't be kind to each other when we were married. Haven't you had enough? I'm tired… "

Rhett had no smug answer for that.

"That may be the smartest thing you have ever said."

That almost amused Scarlett. She spoke to Rhett lazily, almost as if he was an afterthought. Still, she came up with some sarcasm for good measure.

"Well, I say so many smart things..."

Rhett almost laughed, then remembered where they were. He glanced at Ashley. He still couldn't find it in him to hate the guy. He felt so badly for him. And envious. More now for his marriage to Mellie, then for the fact that he held Scarlett's heart in his hand for so long. All her acts of heroism for Mellie, any good deed she had ever done… had always been for Ashley.

Scarlett caught him looking at Ashley and looked away for a moment.

"Rhett, if you have a moment, I would like to talk to you in private."

"Oh please, Scarlett..."

"There is nothing more pressing than the state of our marriage. Or soon-to-be former marriage."

"And I thought your mind and heart were with Melanie."

"Melanie doesn't need us mourning her. She is probably up in heaven mourning us."

Rhett was surprised. He had spent so many years congratulating himself on being able to predict her actions and her thoughts. Why had it taken him leaving her, to suddenly see everything clearly?

"You seem surprised that I can utter one sentence on someone else's behalf."

Again, Rhett was dumbfounded, but trying not to reveal it.

"Alright, Scarlett. We can talk for a minute in the parlor."

When they entered the small room, Scarlett closed the door. People had been watching them, probably surprised that Rhett was even there. She paced back and forth before him a few times, while Rhett sat down, waiting for the old Scarlett to emerge. He couldn't help but think about the first time they spoke, and how she had forced Ashley into a room to profess her love. He hoped it would not be something so pitiful. But she did not have the same expression on her face. It was as if all her Irish rage had emerged. It was actually quite pleasant.

"I have been thinking for days about what I would like to say to you."

"Scarlett-"

"Please, Rhett. I let you make your grand exit from our home. Now let me say my goodbye."

"It wasn't meant to be grand. It was just a long-time coming."

"I know. But I think it's still a terrible thing to leave someone alone with their thoughts in a big house."

She looked out the window, hiding a certain element of her despair. But Rhett could not muster up sympathy for her.

"I can't apologize for that. I can't help that you finally felt what I have felt for so long. Do you want a me to congratulate you for normal human emotions? Or for finally seeing what a blind person could have seen long ago?"

She ignored this. She was not letting him bait her.

"No one but you appreciates the irony more, I suppose. I come to tell you that we can make it work, and you're gone. I saw it in your eyes as soon as I saw you in that chair…"

Scarlett winced a little at the memory.

"Still, all the thoughts in my head seem to lead to the same revelation."

Rhett had expected the word "love" to come next.

"You were right about a lot of things, Rhett. A lot of things. You and I were never meant to be married. To each other, or to anyone. Sometimes I think if we had waited, things would have been better. Sometimes I hate you for proposing after Frank died. You promised me fun, remember? Can't hate you for that. We did have fun. In New Orleans. Even when Bonnie was born… And I was so sorry at first, when you left… blaming myself. With such guilt, such regret… I felt like you at the end of the war, joining the fight when all was lost. And then a thought came to me in the middle of the night that finally allowed me to get to sleep. I don't have regrets Rhett, and I'm not all that sorry. I'm not sorry that I changed after the war, Rhett. I'm not sorry that without me, Tara would be lost. Melanie would have died years ago, and her baby never would have made it out of Atlanta. Sorry that I couldn't be like Bonnie, without a care in the world? You think I wasn't a little jealous of her? I don't hate you Rhett, but I can hate you for telling me that you loved me for what I was before the war but not after." (she paused, thinking hard about the meaning of it all…) You weren't there. To see what I saw when I came home. To think I'm running home to see my mother and she's dead. To turn to my father and realize his mind is far gone. To realize that I had to be a mother, a father and a farmer to everyone in that house. Or that I had to run to you and beg for money. I'm sorry it ruined me for you. But it ruined me. I remembered something Ashley told me. That you and him were not so far apart. When he told me that, I thought it was an insult to him of course. He said you and he thought the same way, just acted differently. And now I see the same look in both your eyes. And I cant make either of you better."

"Comical, isn't it? I was telling you the truth about the day of Ashley's party. Perhaps all was already lost then, but I kept wanting to tell you that nothing happened. I think I knew then that I didn't want him. But I couldn't face it. The time that I wasted loving him. We've been so cruel to each other. Yes, we're too alike I think. Stubborn and proud, and it's gotten us nowhere. How I envy Ashley and Melanie… all their lives, so sure of who they love and so sure that person loved them back…"

Rhett was quite taken back that Scarlett would admit to envy. She had been so jealous of Melanie for so long, and now as some of that envy faded, she was admitting to it."

"I too want to slow down. I want to live at Tara. Will swears he won't sell it, but everyone has their price I suppose. I want to raise my children. Maybe those two are the only people I have left in this world, and goddamn it. I am going to earn their love. Win it back. I want to sell our house; there are memories there that seem to live in the furniture. Neither of us needs to worry about running out of money. Ashley said he might turn the mill back over to me. He doesn't think he can run it right now. I'm sure Sue Ellen will get a kick out of me living with her as the aging spinster with no one around to love her. She'll pretend to be kind, while pitying me. And I don't even care. "

And just as she seemed to have finished her verbal reverie, she continued.

"I'm so sick of the word love, Rhett… I could scream at the sound of it sometimes. I think that staying at Tara, having some lazy days in the library, reading a book by the fire…"

Rhett almost chuckled at this as well. His wife who apparently loved him, and was so being so honest and so intuitive… all qualities she had never possessed.

"Oh Scarlett, I appreciate your words immensely, but are you to become a retiring intellectual?"

Scarlet smiled a little.

"I'm just tired, Rhett and there's still more to do. I will have to take care of Beaux, because you know that Ashley could barely take care of himself."

All these words would have meant the world to him, Rhett thought. And now, only humor and irony filled his thoughts. Scarlett glanced at him, reading his mind. It occurred to him that she kept looking at him, as he had always looked at her. Studying her and understanding her, and now it seemed she could read his mind. But she continued talking. It seemed her words had been released from a cage, where no one had been listening to her. And now, she unleashed every single thought she had. He always loved how she talked to him. But she never appreciated how special it was to have someone who understands your motivations and the way you see the world. Now it seemed she was talking to him as if they would never talk again. He almost felt guilty.

"You know, you and I walked around life so arrogant, thinking we knew everything. Life really showed us, didn't it? We sat around pitying Ashley and Melanie. And everyone thought that Melanie was so foolish and blind. Now I think she was the smartest person I ever knew. She probably knew I loved Ashley. Maybe she didn't know that I dreamed of the day he'd run away with me- "

(at this point, her candor surprised both her and Rhett. She never spoke so honestly about her dreams of Ashley. Rhett found it almost refreshing, as if it meant that she truly did not want him back. It was a relief. But a puzzle, nonetheless.)

She finally ran out of things to say… and her words just stopped and she sat down in a chair, as if she had released so much of a burden.

Rhett began to get up from the sofa.

"Well, it is quite a lovely thing to know that your conscience is clear and you seem to have recovered from everything."

His sarcasm seemed to wound Scarlett slightly, and it made him embarrassed for some reason. He wasn't quite sure how to deal with her. Scarlett leaned towards him and nudged him back down.

"Rhett, I just said that I wasn't sorry for most things. But, you of all people, should know… my heart is quite heavy…"

Rhett looked at her, wanting to fight back with an answer but silent. She bent over him and put her hand on his cheek. She looked at him so directly, so unafraid to be exposed, that it seemed to leave him exposed.

"When Bonnie died, and I blamed you… And I know you think it's childlike to think that saying I'm sorry makes any difference. So maybe it is only for my own well-being I say this. I'm sorry.

Rhett's eyes first became blank, and then glass, but without tears. Just black glass.

"I know you doubted that I loved her, but I loved her so… I really loved her. Not as much as you, but I don't think anyone ever loved a child more than you loved her. I can't bring her back, and I can't bring you back. There's such a sadness in you now. And I can't bring Melanie back to Ashley. But it's alright…"

"I know I said all I wanted was kindness and respect. But I want something else. Take care of yourself, Rhett. (She was whispering now, almost afraid she would break his trance.) You're twice the man you ever thought you were. Or I thought you were."

"In the next year, we will file for divorce. The gossip won't bother me. We've endured enough gossip being married, so it should be no different."

Rhett didn't answer. Her words had put him in a trance. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Softly and quickly, so he couldn't see it coming or back away.

She walked out the door quietly. And before the door closed, Rhett had one more question.

"Scarlett, did you give India a black eye?"

Scarlett smiled a little, with her back towards Rhett.

"Just know that she deserved it."

And so Rhett left. A few words to Ashley and he was gone. He felt free. Better than he had when he left Scarlett. Amused by the fact that they seemed to live life backwards, loving each other the most when they weren't acting as husband and wife. They lived by different rules, and Scarlett seemed to finally see it. He was happy that he had a last memory of her now, not with her pleading for him to stay, but for letting him go. It had been so long since she had surprised him. And with some peace of mind, he finally made his way to Charleston.