A/N: Again, thank you for all your lovely reviews, tips and ideas. I love reading them! It makes all this writing at night instead of sleeping worth it. And to all my readers, I hope that this chapter will make you smile today!

Maria climbed up the stairs to her room and shut the door quietly behind her. She sighed and leaned back against the door of the darkened room, trying to sort out her emotions.

The captain wasn't getting married to the baroness! Her heart almost leaped out of her chest the moment the words came out of the old housekeeper's mouth. But an instant later, she realized that Frau Schmidt hinted that he was affected badly by the breakup. Maria felt tears coming to her eyes again. It seems that fate was teasing her, sending her on an emotional roller coaster ride.

She reached for the lamp beside the door and turned it on. The light wasn't very bright but it was enough to give the room a soft glow. Suddenly, she gasped at the sight before her... The captain, in his night clothes, sitting on the floor beside her bed. She tiptoed closer. He had his arms around her pillow and seemed to be asleep.

What was he doing here? She wanted to think that he came to her room because he wanted to talk to her and forgot that she wasn't home? But she quickly cast her thoughts aside. She felt her heart go out to this broken man. He must have loved the baroness so much.

For a while, she stood transfixed. She then sat down quietly beside Georg, tucking her feet under her. She moved closer to him and noticed his tear-stained cheek. Without thinking, she brushed his cheek with the back of her hand, wiping away the trace of his tears.

Georg's eyes fluttered open as he felt the feathery touch on his face.

"Maria?" He sat up straight, suddenly wide awake. "Maria!"

Georg was shocked to see her. He had to touch her face, to make sure she was not just a dream.

"Oh Captain!"

They reached for each other... Georg held Maria tightly, as if afraid to let her disappear from his life again. Maria felt his strong arms envelop her and she buried her face on his chest. Her arms went around his back, stroking gently, intending to comfort him. She looked up towards his face and their eyes met. But before he could say anything, Maria spoke first.

"Captain, I'm so sorry to hear about the baroness!" her eyes looked at him sadly.

Georg backed away and looked at her curiously. "You are?"

Maria blinked. She looked at him again. There was something in his eyes she didn't quite understand.

"I... I heard from Frau Schmidt that the baroness, uh that she left... and that you seem to be... um, unhappy since then..."

"Oh," Georg bit his lip, not knowing exactly what was on her mind. Was she really sorry that the baroness left? He decided that he needed to tell her the truth already.

"Maria, I am sad not because the baroness left. I was the one who broke off the engagement, you see ..."

Maria's eyes grew as large as saucers. "You did?"

"Yes, yes, I did."

"I don't understand... The night that I left, I saw you two on the balcony. You were ki-..., uh you seemed to be so in love and I..." she looked away, blushing furiously.

Georg's eyes lit up suddenly. Now he understood what was going on in her little head.

"You dropped your mug, Maria. That was yours, wasn't it? I found it this afternoon but thought nothing of it until now. You saw us at the balcony last night, didn't you" He asked her gently.

Maria nodded, a frown still on her pretty face.

"But Captain, how could you break off your engagement when you were obviously in lo-..." Maria started to ask but Georg put a finger to her lips. She lowered her eyes, a flush creeping up her cheeks. Never had they been this close. Her lips burned with his touch. It was getting hard to breathe.

"Maria, what you saw was me saying goodbye to a dear friend and thanking her for letting me off easy. I felt terribly guilty when I told her that I couldn't marry her because... I was in love with someone else. And that's why I was unhappy, Maria. Because..." his voice dropped to a mere whisper, soft as a caress. "Because the woman I loved ran away without saying goodbye."

He touched her chin and made her look back at him.

Maria held her breath as the captain's words registered in her brain. She looked up to his face, and saw the very same eyes that looked at her during the Laendler.

He lowered his head and captured her lips in a gentle kiss.

The moment his lips touched hers, all the bottled up emotions they both kept in suddenly came rushing forth. Maria's arms came up and entwined themselves around his neck. He put one hand on the back of her head, the other around her waist and pulled her even closer.

Maria could not form a single, cohesive thought since his lips found hers. She was completely lost in the moment. Oblivious to the world. As if the only thing that mattered now was this... the two of them, together. She didn't care about the propriety of it. Nothing else mattered.

Georg pulled back and took a deep breath. He looked at Maria. Her eyes were still closed, her cheeks flushed, her lips red.

"I love you."

Maria's eyes flew open. A moment later, she threw herself into his arms again.

"Can this be happening to me? Oh Captain, I thought this could never be!"

"And I thought I had lost you forever," Georg cupped her face in his hands.

"And I'm glad you found me," Maria smiled back at him. "Captain..."

"Georg." He corrected her.

"Um, Georg..." she said shyly. "The night I left, I was so confused. I knew I was in love with you. And after we danced, I dared hope that you felt the same way. But when I saw you and the baroness together, I felt terrible for wanting you for myself. As much as I was in love with you, I knew I could not even pray that you might love me back. At that moment, the only thing I could think of was to get as far away from you as possible. To make sure that neither you nor the baroness see what was inside my heart. I was afraid you or she would find out and..."

"Shhh Maria. Everything is okay now." He pulled her into his arms and stroked her back. He held her gently, rubbing her back in slow, lazy strokes that made Maria shiver. She looked back at him and he was gazing back at her with fire in his eyes.

Their lips met a second time. But this time, there was a hunger that was unmistakable. His tongue swept across her lips and they parted for him. He groaned as he tasted the sweetness of her mouth for the first time.

Maria was unsure of what to do so he let Georg take the lead. He explored her mouth, trying to remain gentle as not to scare her. But fear was the last thing in Maria's mind. She let her hand travel to the sides of his face. Then her fingers found his earlobe and absently began to trace around it with her index finger. She heard him shudder and he caught her fingers in his hand.

He broke off the kiss. He brought Maria's fingers to his lips and kissed them.

She felt a jolt of electricity travel from her fingers up to her arm. Georg looked at her and she met his gaze.

"Maria... I think I should to go back to my room now," he told her gently. He helped her up from the floor and they sat down on the bed.

"Did I do something wrong, Georg?" Maria asked worriedly.

"Oh-ho, no, no. Not at all, my love," he corrected her quickly. "I was afraid I might lose all semblance of sanity if we continue with this," Georg winked.

Maria covered her deeply crimson face in embarrassment. "Oh!"

He took her hands away from her face and held them in his. "Walk me to your door?"

She nodded. They stood up together and leisurely strolled the short distance to the door. But before he opened it, Georg gathered Maria into his arms again and she rested her head on his chest.

Georg closed his eyes and said a short prayer of gratitude.

"Maria, you are back to stay...?" Georg looked at her, almost finding it hard to believe that she was, indeed, back, and he dared hope, for good.

She gazed at him with a twinkle in her eye. "If I could be of any help, Captain."

He breathed a sigh of relief and held her tightly. "You already have, my love. More than you know."

A/N: This was supposed to be The End. But I was toying with the idea of writing an epilogue chapter... about what happened to Brigitta and her plans and maybe what happened to Elsa :) Please share your thoughts with me and thank you for reading!