Okay, I wrote this chapter ages ago (for the Feb, 2014 ProBoards prompt in fact), but I have been very hesitant to publish it, as I've resisted doing any AU stuff. However, this past little while I haven't been able to stop thinking about all these great AU possibilities, so I've caved and am going to write some more AU things. So this is just the beginning...

Maria was still waiting for the bus, when she heard the sound of footsteps running along the road. A second later the Captain appeared in view. He had discarded his evening jacket as well as the medal that hung around his neck and was wearing a heavy overcoat to fight off the cold, but she could tell it was him. She would recognise him anywhere.

"Maria," he shouted. "Fraulein Maria. Where are you?"

At hearing him say her name that way Maria gasped. Although the noise was quiet it caught the Captain's attention and he turned to face her, before ducking under the shelter of the bus stop himself.

"Ah, Fraulein Maria," he said. "There you are. I would like to know what all this is about?" he shoved the note she had written, now soaked through under her nose.

"I thought that I made the situation perfectly clear in my note," she said, surprising even herself by how even her voice sounded. "I am going back to the Abbey."

"Oh, no you're not," the Captain said, grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him. "Not if I can help it. I've seen the way you act around my children. You seem to be having a lovely time here with us and then you leave without any warning at all and no proper goodbye. No, you're not going anywhere until you explain to me why you changed your mind all of a sudden."

"There's nothing to explain," she said, exasperated. This night seemed to be getting worse and worse.

He looked her in the eye again, just like he had done earlier when they were dancing. Then he spoke, his voice barely a whisper and full of nervousness.

"Maria," he said. "Don't tell me you didn't feel something during our dance tonight. I know you did."

Despite the fact that the Captain had just called her by her first name; something he had never done in the whole time she had been at the villa, Maria wasn't going to let that faze her.

"It's not important whether I did or not," Maria retorted stubbornly. "You know as well as I do that I've pledged my life to God. I don't belong in your world."

"And besides," she continued, before he could say another word. "You're going to marry the Baroness, aren't you? I may have been living in a convent for the past four years, but I'm not an idiot. I know that people get married because they love each other. Therefore, you clearly love the Baroness and so, I will disappear so you are not distracted by me."

"Is that what this is all about?" the Captain demanded. "Is this about Elsa?"

"No," said Maria, but her voice had faltered and she knew she hadn't convinced him this time. Although, she wasn't sure if she had convinced him at all.

"Maria..." he said, once again looking her straight in the eye with his dark blue eyes. Despite herself, Maria was mesmerised. And she cracked.

"Yes...," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "No. I don't know. All I know is she told me that I loved you and you thought you loved me."

"Well, she's wrong," the Captain said.

"I know. That's what I told her," Maria said. "That's why I must leave as quickly as possible; so you don't continue on this path and abandon your future with the Baroness."

"No," continued the Captain. "She's wrong because I know I love you, Maria. And given how much I love you, I know now I could never live with Elsa. I want you Maria." He paused. "I need you. We all do."

Maria's eyes widened and she looked up into his face, searching for the slightest trace of uncertainty, but all the emotions on the Captain's face were completely genuine.

"Really?" she asked, unable to manage anything more.

He nodded and walked even closer to her. Bringing his hand up, he cupped her chin and pressed his lips lightly against her own.

Though she was startled, her instincts soon took over and Maria dropped her bag and guitar case onto the muddy ground below. The kiss intensified and the Captain's hands travelled up and into Maria's hair, sending her hat off her head and into the mud as well.

"Do you love me, Maria?" he asked, ending the kiss and looking into her eyes; once again forcing her to lose herself in them. And at that moment her answer came to her.

"I think I do," she sighed, but upon seeing the Captain's expression, she knew without a doubt she loved him and there was nothing standing in her way now. "I know I do."

She sighed letting him wrap his arms around her and draw her even closer. And for one moment, Maria didn't care that it was raining and she was wet and freezing. She didn't care that her hat and bags were covered in mud. She was here with the man of her dreams, who had expressed his love for her and she couldn't remember ever being this happy before in her life.

"Maria," the Captain murmured, brushing another soft kiss against her lips. "I think it would be in our best interests to go back to the party. If we stay out here too much longer we'll both freeze to death. And I also have a very important announcement to make."

"I can't wait to hear it, Captain," she said playfully.

"Maria," he said kindly, lifting her chin so she was looking him directly in the eye. "I want you to call me Georg from now on. Alright?"

"Yes, sir," she said, mimicking the salute she'd given him on her arrival at the villa. "I mean, of course...Georg."

She smiled and together they collected her few belongings and, arm in arm, walked back to 53 Aigen.