A/N: I felt bad only posting a wee little chapter so I figured I might as well put up the first part of "Plan C - Play". The (numerous) quotes throughout, as Brigitta warned would be, are from a variety of Shakespearean plays (as indicated - I own nothing. I can only wish). Obviously I'm a bit of a fan :D

Chapter Fifty-One

Full many a glorious morning have I seen

Flatter the mountain tops with soverign eye,

Kissing with golden face the meadows green,

Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy.

(Sonnet 33)

A feeling of overwhelming warmth roused Maria from her slumber before her alarm had a chance to go off.

"Seven thirty in the morning and already unbearably hot" she smiled to herself as she kicked off all the bedcovers except a single white sheet. With still a half an hour before she had planned on waking the children, Maria lay back on her pillows and relished the sensation of the warm sun on her face.

The room was suddenly too small, the air too still. From her window the world was alight and beautiful, and as she had confessed to the Reverend Mother so many months ago, she longed to be a part of it.

She knew it was early and that the rest of the house would be asleep, so she simply slipped on a dressing gown before opening her door (cringing at the noise made by the locking mechanism) and tiptoed down the stairs and out onto the patio.

The sun was just above the mountains, and the fiery colours of the sunrise were beginning to fade into the promise of a clear blue sky as she moved so sit on the railing of the balcony where just weeks ago she had fallen off of in sheer depression. These sentiments could not have been further from her mind as she enjoyed the moments of peace.

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind"

(Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I Scene I)

The feeling of a hand on her shoulder should have made Maria jump, but her body recognized the feeling immediately and instead she turned quite calmly and with a smile, greeted the Captain who was offering her a cup of tea.

"Georg, I didn't realize you were awake at this early hour" she said, accepting the warm beverage while patting the railing beside her in invitation.

The Captain chose instead to lean against the railing such that they were facing opposite ways, but because of their close proximity could see each other's faces. Maria was suddenly conscious that she was only wearing a nightgown and robe, her face unwashed and her hair in disarray. She tried to subtly tame some of the wild strands that were catching in the breeze and blowing into her face, while tightening the sash on her robe. It was for naught, however, as Maria soon realized the Captain had taken no notice of the state of her appearance.

"I was making myself coffee in the kitchen when I heard somebody on the stairs. It's Tuesday, so I knew that Frau Schmidt, cook, and Franz were all at the market."

"Why were you up so early?"

"Less 'up too early' as 'up so late' I'm afraid." He had the sense to look guilty as Maria stared at him with a shocked face.

"You haven't been to bed yet?" Maria asked, reaching to take away his coffee cup.

"At the beginning of the summer the English navy sent me a telegram asking me personally to create a training manual of sorts for their new recruits. I agreed to create such a document, thinking that it would be a quiet summer with this new governess controlling the children…"

Maria laughed. "I assume this was before we met?" Her hair and attire was long forgotten.

"Most certainly – from the moment you blew that whistle at me I knew that those dreams were shattered." The Captain was grinning when he continued. "Anyways, I had promised them I would have a first draft in their hands by the beginning of September. It is a huge honor to have been asked, especially by such a prominent navy."

"How is it coming?" Maria asked, taking a sip of her tea, and smiling as she found the Captain had remembered the two sugar cubes- exactly how she liked it.

"I finished it oh…a half hour ago." The Captain's delight was apparent.

"May I read it?" Maria asked, certain she wouldn't understand a word on the page, but wanting to read it nonetheless.

"Did you allow me to read your paper before you submitted it?" he laughed, leaning in to bump her in the arm with his shoulder.

"Alright, point taken." She laughed with him. "Congratulations on finishing though – when did you have time to work on it?"

"Mostly in the evenings after everyone was in bed" he admitted. "It is far from being perfect, I know, but with a few revisions once I start working with the officials and getting an idea what they want I hope that it will be valuable to at least one captain-in-training!"

"You must be exhausted – why don't you go get some sleep, and I'll have the children complete their lessons this morning outside?" Maria offered. "It will be much quieter in the house."

The Captain considered her suggestion, then responded "That sounds perfect."

"Sleep well, Georg" said Maria – she hoped that he wouldn't notice how many times in a conversation she used his name. She knew it was far more than necessary, but the warmth that formed in her chest every time she said it was like a drug, and the words were no sooner past her tongue she was already searching for her next hit.

The Captain raised his hand and gently moved a piece of Maria's hair that had yet to be calmed with a hairbrush, away from her eyes. It paused mid-action to slightly cup her cheek before resting on her shoulder.

"I will" he responded quietly, slightly squeezing her shoulder before he turned and returned into the house.

Maria's head was spinning, and for the second time in her life, she fell off the banister.

And by that destiny to perform an act

Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come,

In yours and my discharge.

(The Tempest, Act II Scene I)

Maria rubbed the paired bruises that were beginning to form on her elbows as she listened to the stairs creek underneath her feet. She was so preoccupied in her examination of her arms for other visible signs of her clumsiness that she nearly ran straight into Liesl and Brigitta who were standing in the doorway to her room.

"Oh, children! Good morning – I was just going to dress and come and wake you."

Liesl raised one eyebrow at her governess, and Maria suddenly regretted teaching her that 'trick'.

"And where were you in your nightwear?" Liesl asked suspiciously.

"Just down in the kitchen having some tea." Maria responded smoothly, holding up her half-filled mug as proof. "What has you all up on your own this morning? Usually it takes the threat of cold water to get you all to move!"

"Last night I had a dream about Mother – well more of a memory really. I remembered how she, Liesl, Louisa and I used to have 'girl mornings'. We'd get dressed up in fancy clothes and paint our nails and talk about…well girl things."

"That sounds like a lovely memory" Maria agreed, trying to conceal the smallest hint of jealousy that had sprung up.

"Fraulein Maria, could we have a girl's morning? Gretl and Marta were only babies when Mother died, and I thought…well I thought maybe they could make memories like that with you?" Brigitta voice trailed upwards in a question as she looked at her governess expectantly.

Maria didn't have to think twice.

"Absolutely. You name the morning, and I'll make sure that you father agrees to give you a day off your lessons." She agreed firmly. She had no intention of trying to replace Agathe, but didn't want Marta or Gretl to miss out on what seemed to be a family tradition.

"What about today? This morning" Liesl asked, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"I'm afraid your father just went to bed – he was up all night working. I promised him we'd all go and work outside so he could get some sleep…"

"We could go into the guest wing!" Liesl suggested. "It's completely on the other side of the house, and has its own door leading outside! There's a large bedroom and bathroom where we could have our girls' morning, and the boys could play right outside the window so you could keep an eye on them."

No deliberation was required, as Maria agreed. "Let's go wake the others. I'll help the young ones get dressed while you dress, then while I'm getting ready you can pack up everything we need?"

With two nods, everyone was off in their own direction.

Maria's heart melted when she told Marta and Gretl of the day's plans and they catapulted themselves into her arms in a large, squirmy bundle of laughter and kisses.

Soon the children were all gathered on top of the stairs, perfectly quiet as Maria had instructed, each carrying bags or boxes filled with…well Maria didn't really know what exactly.

Just as Liesl had described, the guest wing was the perfect location for the morning's activities, and soon Friedrich and Kurt were tossing a football back and forth. Maria had been surprised when Louisa had chosen for the 'girly' activities, but was pleased to have all the girls together in one room.

"Alright Liesl, Brigitta – what's on the agenda for this morning?" Maria asked.

She instantly regretted her question as the five girls began unpacking the boxes and bags, lining up their contents on the shelves. Bottles of nail polish in every colour, hairbrushes and combs, hairpins and bands, a curling iron, and more makeup than Maria had seen in a lifetime as well as stacks and stacks of clothing.

"Where did you find all this?" Maria gasped, remembering months ago when Liesl claimed to have only an eyeliner pencil…or was it a tube of mascara?

"Here and there." Brigitta laughed, but quickly changed her answer at Maria's insistent stare. "Mother had a 'secrete hiding spot' for all this stuff – she didn't want us playing with her expensive makeup so bought all this for us to use on these mornings instead."

Liesl put two hands up in the air. "Trust me fraulein, I had no idea this still existed. I thought Father had thrown everything out years ago."

"You can't throw out what you can't find!" Brigitta laughed as she began to unscrew a bottle of bright pink nail polish. "Now Miss Marta, fingers or toes pink?"

"Both!" Marta was nearly bouncing with excitement. She had never been allowed to even play with makeup, and the thought of having pretty pink nails was close to the most exciting thing that had happened to her all month."

Maria laughed as Gretl picked a bright green shade of polish for her own fingernails, and Maria quickly got to work painting them.

They paired off, and as they worked conversations about everything from cute boys at school to the latest fashions to the new picture playing at the cinema filled the air.

Maria had tears in her eyes as she finished the last little nail. She had never felt so much like a part of a family as she did in that moment. Visions of her mother were all she could see for a moment, as an entirely different life flashed before her eyes – a life where she had grown up having morning chats about cute boys, hair in ringlets like the rest of the girls at school because she too had a mother to curl it for her, and little pink outfits to wear because her mother could sew as well as the other moms.

"Don't cry, fraulein Maria. Brig or Liesl will paint your nails for you." Gretl's small hand wiped away one of her tears. Luckily it was the hand that was already dry.

"Oh my darling, I'm crying with happiness." Maria smiled at her. "I am so glad to be here with you – this is the best morning I can remember."

The other girls were instantly surrounding her, wrapping their arms around her tightly.

"You know that we love you, don't you fraulein Maria?" Louisa asked softly, causing a sob to emerge accompanied with the widest of wide smiles.

"And I love you all with my entire heart" Maria responded.

Eventually the children broke away.

"Fraulein Maria?" Louisa asked.

"Yes darling?"

"I really don't want any of this makeup on me, and as much fun as it would be to see how deep a shade of purple Father would become if he saw Marta or Gretl all made up I like having you around too much, so instead could we do a makeover on you?"

Really. How can you argue with logic like that?

"Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"

(As You Like It, Act III Scene V)

Maria emerged through the doorway into the dining room at lunch time.

A loud clatter could be heard as the Captain dropped his silverware onto the floor.

A quiet smack could be heard as Liesl and Brigitta high-fived under the table.

"No sooner met but they looked;

No sooner looked but they loved;

No sooner loved but they sighed;

No sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason;

No sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy;

And in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage"

(As You Like It, Act V Scene II)

The Captain couldn't breathe. A sea captain, who could hold his breath for well over three minutes due to rigorous training over many years, was choking while on dry land.

But all he would have to do in his defense was show a picture of the woman who had walked through the door. At least that's what he would later tell himself.

It was unquestionably still Maria – the same bright eyes, wide smile, shining hair, tall frame, and two little girls clinging to her waist. But those bright eyes were standing out so much more prominently than usual. And that wide smile was now painted a lovely light pink that caught the light. And the shining hair was arranged neatly around her face. And that frame was covered by a dark blue day-dress with a sheer layer of fabric overtop that caught the light as she walked. Even Marta and Gretl looked different – purely overjoyed, with their hair in curls and their fingers polished.

Had he been able to think, he would have realized it was a dress he had purchased for Liesl not a week ago. But he couldn't so he didn't.

"Good afternoon, Captain. I trust you slept well?" Maria asked as she took her seat at the front of the table.

"I think I might still be asleep…" he muttered to himself, but loudly enough Louisa on his left could hear. She smiled into her sandwich, and sent a discrete thumbs up to the two sisters closest in age to herself.

He had seen her all dressed up before, when Max had brought her home from Vienna. True he had gone semi-catatonic for a moment that night as well, but today something was different. She was always beautiful, but unlike that night she was awash in sunlight matching her personality. Marta and Gretl clung to her much as Louisa and Brigitta had clung to Agathe not that many years ago. But the best features which can never be replicated with makeup or hairspray were the skip in her step, the love in her eyes, the smile gracing her lips and her musical laugh as she twirled about the dining room with his youngest daughters before finally falling into her chair with a rosy glow to her cheeks.

She was beautiful, inside and out. Every time she spoke, every time she laughed, and every time she sang he was again reminded of how lucky he was to have her in his life.

"What will you children be doing this afternoon?" the Captain asked once he had finally regained her bearings.

"I was wondering, Father, if you could help me with my English lessons." Kurt asked, as carefully as he could, reciting Brigitta's 'script' word-for-word.

"You are asking to do homework all afternoon?" Maria asked, clearly surprised.

"School's starting in a week, and I want to be able to impress the girls with my Shakespearean knowledge" Kurt smiled toothily at the grownups, who had a good laugh.

"I'm glad to hear you're so motivated" the Captain chuckled wryly. "And you all want to sit in on this reading?"

The rest of the group nodded.

"If it means not doing my history homework, I'll sit and listen to anything!" Liesl laughed, and the other children were quick to follow with their own comments.

"Kurt, perhaps I could help you with your English? You father probably would like to catch up on his sleep…" Maria had been worried when she had first seen the Captain at lunch, and he had been dropping silverware and stuttering – clearly he was extremely sleep deprived, the poor man.

"Nonsense – I got quite a few hours in this morning. Thank you all for being so quiet." He addressed the table.

"We had a girl's morning and fraulein Maria let us all practice on her!" Gretl chimed in.

"So I see…well you all did an admirable job" the Captain sent a smile to each of his daughters. He was relieved to have an explanation for Maria's appearance – his mind had been running rampant as to why she would be so dressed up in the middle of the day.

The dishes were empty, and the Captain and the children made their way out of the dining hall. To the disappointment of all, clouds had rolled in while they were eating, and the sun was completely blocked.

Instead of leading them out into the grassy area as he had been planning, the Captain instead made his way to the living room where he and Maria had sung 'Edelweiss'.

He stood at the door while his children filed in, and stopped their governess who was at the back of the group.

"You look incredible" he spoke softly, bringing a blush to both their faces.

"Thank you…Liesl and Brigitta convinced me that the little ones needed some female bonding time, or something to that nature."

"They are so lucky to have you…we all are." The Captain's hand grazed Maria's arm, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Would you like to stay for the lesson? You can have the afternoon off if you like…"

"Not at all – I'm a little bit of a Shakespeare fan myself" Maria admitted, at the tension that had grown between them was broken. The Captain held the door for her, entering the room behind her.

"Doubt though the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love."

(Hamlet Act II Scene II)

Meanwhile, while the Captain and Maria were having their interlude at the door, Kurt was reading as quickly as he could from the piece of paper that Brigitta handed to him, memorizing what it was he had to say.

"Just remember 18 – that's the most important. If you say any other number this won't work" she hissed to him, as the two adults entered the room, both with red-tinted cheeks.

This part of the plan was simple – Maria had to see the Captain as not…well a Captain. She had to see his heart.

"Alright Kurt" he said as he took a seat in the large chair the children had gathered around. Liesl and Maria took a seat on the couch across from him. "What play are you having difficulties with?"

"According to Louisa we'll be doing a summit before we start on the plays" Kurt spoke carefully.

"Do you mean a sonnet?" the Captain asked gently, and Kurt nodded, hoping Friedrich would not hurt him too badly if he messed this up.

"Number eighteen." He affirmed.

Brigitta, Louisa, Friedrich, and Liesl all visibly relaxed.

Maria smiled as she recognized her favourite Shakespearean sonnet. She was suddenly ecstatic she had decided to stay – to hear the Captain read those words would be, well, magical.

The Captain didn't even reach for a book as he began to speak. By the second line his eyes had found Maria's, and without realizing it, he was speaking directly to her.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Though art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often in his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time though growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee."

A silence overcame the room as the two adults stared at each other, neither daring to move.

"So what does that mean?" Kurt asked, breaking the silence.

The older girls could have slapped him.