Forgiven

It had all happened so fast...she felt herself become numb as she watched Hawkeye drag Duncan's body behind the thick brush. He checked the immediate area for anyone else who might have heard the shot, then once satisfied they were alone, he had proceeded to claw out a shallow grave in the dirt with his bare hands. After dumping the body and burying it the best he could, he dragged a fallen log nearby over the spot to stop animals from dragging out the corpse to eat.

""Duncan left...He wanted to slip away quietly, that's what I tell Alice. That's what happened. You hear?" Hawkeye hissed but Anna remained unresponsive. "You never speak of this, you understand? You can't...not now that you are with child...my Pa told me..it's White Wolf's ain't it?"

"Duncan was the one that gave the order ..he's the one that murdered White Wolf...he's the reason my son will not know his father."

"And you thought killin' Duncan would solve it? Have you lost your goddamned mind Anna?" Hawkeye exclaimed, fury in his eyes as she stared at him.

"I had to Hawkeye! I had to avenge White Wolf..it's jus' me an' this baby...I don't have no one..Uncas has his woman now...Alice gets to have the husband, the children..the life I should have had with him! All I have known is suffering while everything just falls into place for her..."

"She's jus' lost her whole family Anna! Jus' like you did... Cora..Cora didn't make it..."

"...people die all the time..." Anna said, a coldness to her tone and he suddenly grabbed her by both arms, his face mapped with anger and grief.

"It weren't jus' anyone! It was Cora...my Cora.." his voice broke with emotion.

"And White Wolf wasn't jus' anyone...he was mine!" she screamed shoving him back.

They both stood in silence staring at one another for a long moment, tempers flaring and tears threatening. Anna turned her back looking out at the woods beyond damning the whole world. She wasn't sorry that she had killed Duncan in cold blood. She was more sorry for letting Uncas go.

"Promise me you won't say a word about what happened here" Hawkeye said eventually and she looked at him.

"Why? Why do you even care about what happens to me?"

"Because I bloody do!" he snarled. "Promise me."

The night was bitter and Anna lay under the bearskin rug trying to stay warm. She had seen Uncas disappear with Alice into his wigwam earlier. She had cried for a while, then just stared into nothingness. There was a distance now between her and Chingachgook ever since she had refused his son which she could not blame him for. She couldn't blame anyone, this was her own doing. She was surprised at Hawkeyes sudden selflessness to help her when all they had done was bicker save for those few moments he had shown kindness to her. He had just helped her bury a man and was willing to take the secret to his grave... Alice had barely even blinked at Duncan's sudden departure when Hawkeye had spoken to her and Anna got the sense she didn't care as she was now settled with Uncas. But watching them so happy together was like twisting a knife into her gut. Suddenly she heard a rustle and snapped up only to see Hawkeye crawl into the wigwam dressed only in his deerskin breechclothes.

"What are you doin' here?" she asked, bitterness in her tone as he sat opposite her.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright" he said simply and she frowned.

"I'm fine" she lied and he shook his head, seeing her red rimmed eyes.

"You've been crying...is it about what you did?"

"No..I just want to be alone..."

"I don't believe that. No one should be alone" he said.

"You shouldn't be here. Someone might have seen you..they'll think somethin' goin' on -"

"And so what if it is? Ain't none of their concern" he said and an awkward silence fell between them for a long moment.

"I was crying because...because of Uncas. I still love him..and it's jus' so hard to be the one left behind..."

"We both lost someone Anna...but it don't mean we're alone..."

Five Months On

Anna sat with Fala by the fire, her hand resting on her baby bump. She had another month to go before she was due to give birth but she felt as though she was about to burst. Alice was also with child, two months gone. It had been hard at first to accept but as time passed, she found herself more accepting of the situation. Uncas was married now and though they did speak, it was seldom and forced. She did not think things would ever be the same for them again, there were still feelings there and a lot of pain involved.

"Lykopi ya unpi hektika!" Doli, Fala's oldest daughter called and Anna looked around to see Hawkeye with some of the other Delaware men.

"They have come back from Cisboko town. And I see they have brought many gifts" Fala said gleefully as she scrambled onto her feet.

Anna watched as Fala joined some of the others to greet them. The small band of men had been gone for almost a month, trading and selling furs. Hawkeye had become a friend of sorts to her but when he had decided to leave for Cisboko town, it made her feel more alone than ever. He said he needed the time away to think but Anna feared he would come back with a wife and then his woman wouldn't allow him to talk with her anymore. But there was no woman with him and she nodded as he approached.

"That baby sure don't want to come out" he commented as she climbed onto her feet.

"I would hug you but I can't.." Anna said, looking down at her stomach and he laughed.

"It's good to see you.." he said softly as his eyes searched her face. Her hair was longer than he remembered; it tumbled now just below her waist. Her skin was darker now due to being out in the sun but there was life in her eyes again. Unknown to her, the reason he had left was because he had started to feel something towards her, something he didn't think he was capable of after Cora had died. He had felt he was betraying her memory by allowing himself to think of Anna. And then there was Uncas. His own brother. He had left because it was too much temptation and he thought time away would help but seeing her standing infront of him, it all came rushing back. Never did he believe he would feel this way about her. Yes, he had been guilty of looking at her in the past but this was different.

"I'm glad you came back" she smiled and he reached around his neck, untying a turquoise stone necklace.

"I brought this for you" he said and rested it in the palm of her hand.

"Hawkeye..it's..beautiful" she said as her fingers traced over the smooth stone.

"The woman that sold me it told me to make sure I gave it to a pretty girl.." he murmured and she met his gaze, something passing between them.