A/N: I've made the Baroness a heroine in this story, which means she'll probably be a villain if I attempt any-more fanfiction. Teaser. Hehe!

A Time For Forgiveness

On Friday, Maria had expressed joy at seeing the back of the working week and now it was Monday, she was just as glad to see the back of the weekend too. She was wishing her life away and she knew it, another habit that Maria had acquired of late. The weekend had seemed to drag it's feet somewhat, like a child in the midst of a temper tantrum; every second had seemed like a minute and every minute had seemed like an hour to her.

Maria had made the resolution to move on with her life, to exorcise the ghosts that prowled the lonely corridors of her mind and to forget about her summer in Aigen with the von Trapp family. . .with the Captain. But at times like the weekend, that was easier said than done. She had not really lived in Mondsee long enough to make any friends yet. There was Alese, but she had spent the weekend in Innsbruck visiting her brother, so Maria had been left alone for two whole days with only her traitorous thoughts to keep her company.

The weekend was behind her now, however, and she was ready to face a new day, a new week and with any luck, a new era. Busying her mind with work would be the ideal distraction, just the tonic she needed.

Maria was greeted by Alese as she walked into the studio, "Good morning. There's a cup of tea on your bench for you."

"Thank you. I'll have a quick drink, check the order book and get started on my to-do list then," Maria proposed cheerily.

"Oh, erm, well actually. . .there's no need for you to do that. I have a special project for you. On Friday when I said I had good news and I told you about the ball, what with all the excitement, I forgot to tell you about the second thing that happened while you were out," Alese disclosed sheepishly.

"Second thing? I don't understand," Maria uttered, frowning in confusion.

"Well, an aristocratic lady came into the shop and made a request for a ball gown of the highest quality be made, with no expense spared. And the strangest thing about it was, she said she was an old friend of yours. I don't know how you met the woman, Maria, but I couldn't picture her in a wimple," Alese jested. "She was very insistent that YOU be the one to design the dress and make it. . .she said she wanted nothing but the best as it was going to be a gift for someone very special. I took all the details and left them in the order book," she explained.

Alese picked up the ledger, flicked through it to find the correct page and gave it to Maria. "Here it is, Baroness Schraeder, she said her name was. . .seemed nice enough. I jotted down the measurements, but another thing struck me as odd. She wants no input on the design, she said she wants YOU to create a dress to die for, something YOU would dream of wearing yourself," she added.

Maria's eyes bulged in shock when she heard who the latest order was for and her rosy cheeks were overpowered by a slightly anaemic shade. Baroness Elsa von Schraeder. . .Maria never thought she would hear that darn woman's name ever again, hoped with all of her heart that she wouldn't. Maria wondered how on earth the Baroness had even tracked her down and more to the point, why. She hadn't exchanged more than a thimbleful of words with Maria when they had met at the von Trapp villa during the summer. The only occasion they had spoken properly had been on the evening of the party, when the shrewd socialite had accused Maria of being in love with Captain von Trapp and had implied that he was infatuated with Maria.

"What makes it so nice is he thinks he's in love with you. He'll get over it soon enough, I think. . .Men do, you know."

Those words of cold-blooded candour from the mouth of the Baroness had cut Maria deep with calculated precision. Those few words had done untold damage. They had caused Maria to doubt herself, doubt her theistic path in life, even doubt the Captain's intentions towards her. They had sent her running back to Nonnberg Abbey and away from the family she adored and loved. Just thinking about those words caused her no end of pain.

Maria was curious about why the Baroness had gone out of her way to travel to Mondsee to seek her out. . .maybe she intended to rub Maria's nose in her matrimonial bliss or perhaps she was on a quest for vengeance. She wanted to know why the Baroness had described her as 'an old friend' and why she was still going under the name of von Schraeder if she was married. There were so many questions whirling around Maria's mind, making her feel dizzy.

"Maria, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Alese inquired, looking concerned.

"No. . .Yes, I'm fine. Just Monday morning blues. I'll get my thinking cap on and get to work on something that will knock the Baroness dead," she stuttered.

She sat down and drank her tea absent-mindedly. She did not know what the hell the Baroness was playing at, but Maria decided not to rise to any-more of that woman's mind games. It would only cost her dearly again. Maria put all of her fears aside. She resolved to treat this ball gown with as much professional pride and as much care as usual. She vowed to create something extraordinary.

The second week of December arriving meant good news and bad news for Maria. The good news was that she had just completed her 'special project'. She looked proudly at the tailor's dummy now, that was sporting the ball gown that she'd worked so hard on for the Baroness. It was everything Maria had hoped it would be and so much more. It was a strapless, sleeveless, navy blue dress with a sweetheart neckline. It was made from taffeta and the floor-length skirt flared out from the body-hugging waist in tiers with a bustle effect. But what made it extra special were the scattered silver sequins on the skirt that made it twinkle like a starry sky at night and the slim band of silver appliqué at the waist. It was indeed a dress to die for and whoever wore it would feel like a princess. . .No, strike that, whoever wore it would LOOK like a princess.

The bad news was that Baroness Schraeder was expected to collect it from the shop today. Maria dreaded facing her, but recalled the words the Reverend Mother had once said to her.

"Maria, these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them."

At the time, Maria had steadfastly chosen not to follow that advice, had chosen not to return to the von Trapp villa, had chosen not to face up to her problems and look how well that'd turned out. She was stuck in Mondsee with only one real friend. She was sad, lonely and regretting all of her life choices. Well, today would be different. Maria would choose not to cower in the studio, would choose to face her problems and would choose to greet the Baroness with a renewed confidence.

An hour later -

Maria apprehensively guided Baroness Schraeder into the studio. She really DID want this particular client to be blown away by the dress. She had had time to think long and hard while making it. She felt guilty about what had happened in the summer and wanted to build bridges. The fact that both Maria and the Baroness loved the same man was very unfortunate, but it didn't meant they couldn't be civil to one another. Maria had decided to show off her creation in all it's glory by leaving it on the tailor's dummy. As the two ladies stopped in front of the ball gown, the Baroness gasped and displayed a stunned expression on her face.

"Baroness, if it's not to your taste, I can always make alterations. . .I-" Maria hastily blurted out.

"Maria. . .it's the most beautiful gown I have ever seen! I will definitely tell all my friends about this place. I only wish I was going to be the one wearing it. I wonder whether you could model it for me. I would really love to see what it looks like on and it's about your size," the Baroness enthused and smiled warmly.

"Of course. If I could be of any help," Maria agreed, nodding slowly and smiling. Then she disappeared up the stairs to ask Alese to help her get changed.

She returned fifteen minutes later and was greeted by another gasp from the Baroness, who said, "You look divine, my dear. Do you like it?"

Maria laughed, "Well, I am rather biased, but what's not to like? It's THE dream dress."

The Baroness chuckled and then turned serious, "I'm so glad you feel that way, Maria, because I want you to accept it as a gift along with my apologies for the way I behaved towards you last summer."

"Baroness, you don't have to do th-" Maria started, but was silenced when the socialite held up a firm hand to halt her protesting. She sighed in resignation and smiled. "-I don't know what to say, erm. . .Does the Captain know that you're here?" Maria asked, looking stunned like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Maria, please call me Elsa and no, Georg won't know that I'm here. Him and I are no longer together. I realised that I wasn't in love with him. I was just in love with the idea of being married again, of recreating what I had with my sweet Seba again, God rest his soul. I thought because Georg and I got on so well, that the rest would follow in time, but I was wrong. Maria, can we put what happened behind us and be friends? I acted foolishly. I didn't mean to hurt you. It would really mean a lot to me if you accepted this dress." The Baroness got her chequebook out to pay for the garment.

Maria was flabbergasted to hear that Elsa wasn't married to the Captain and deep down her heart rejoiced, but she hid her emotions well, not wanting to appear undignified or gloating.

"I'll be happy to accept your gracious gift, Elsa, thank you. After all, Christmas is a time for forgiveness. Friends?" she offered and held out her arms for an embrace.

"Friends," Elsa breathed out in relief and hugged Maria tight to her.

Three cheers for Elsa :D