Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

Author's Notes: Part of this story idea was inspired by Nova (Novonia). The part where Melanie comes back as an angel to help Scarlett.

I will tell you now that I have written two endings to this fanfic. One is a happy ending and the other a not so happy ending. When we finally get there, I will post the HEA ending first then I will post the not so HEA ending. It will be your choice to read or not to read the second ending.

This story is almost completely from Scarlett's point of view until Rhett and Scarlett are reunited. Rhett is in the first scene but he doesn't return until later in the story. This is a soul-searching, introspective, journey for Scarlett. This is a time of growth and maturity for Scarlett. If you are someone who thinks Rhett can do no wrong then this is not the fanfic for you.

Chapter One

This was the worst night of her life and she had some bad nights. Melanie was dead, her love for Ashley and been nothing but a false emotion and Rhett was leaving her after having loved her for twelve years. How can his love have worn out? What had he said when she had asked that? 'Your love for Ashley ran out.' She pondered that.

He didn't know it but he had revealed a great truth to her. His love for her had been as false as her love for Ashley. He had only wanted her because he was going to be the man that brought Scarlett O'Hara to her knees. She smiled when she thought, 'He was the one who would have used my love like a whip against me.'

He had not loved her. He had wanted her just like she had wanted Ashley. He had been obsessed with her just like she had been obsessed with Ashley. He had wanted her because he couldn't have her just like she had wanted Ashley because she couldn't have him. He had thought he could buy her love just as she had thought she could buy Ashley's love. He had given her things while she had provided for Ashley. He had thought that him bringing her sexual pleasure and buying her things would make her love him. That was why he was so mad in New Orleans when he thought she was thinking about Ashley. Rhett had thought he was on the verge of victory only to find out that her love could not be bought. Sexual pleasure and pretty clothes did not win her heart.

He had not loved her he had desired her so greatly that he had given up what he valued most. His freedom. She had made him do that because she had made it the criteria for having access to her body. That had made him resent her and hate her. He had been obsessed with having her body and that had made him hate her. He hated her for how he felt about her. He had always been in control of the relationship up until then just as she had always been in control of the relationship until Ashley. She smiled and thought, 'If he ever thought himself as helpless in regard to me as Charles Hamilton or any of the other fools that hung around me, he would have been angry at himself then he would have turned that anger on me.' That is the only thing that explains why he was so ugly to me after we got married. He was punishing me not only for loving Ashley but because of what I made him feel and do. If I had ever told him I loved him he would have won and then he would have been done with me. Then the hate and torture would have been even worse because it had cost him the thing he valued most, his freedom.

His resentment of her was great. He was the magnificent, rich, well-educated, sophisticated, handsome Rhett Butler and she was an uneducated, naïve, stupid, vain, country bumpkin who not only did not love him but really wasn't interested in him except as a friend or worse as a source of money. She remembered what he had said to her when they were dancing at the bazaar. He wanted her to tell him she loved him. That had only been the second time they had met yet Rhett had already expected her to someday declare her love for him.

She became his challenge. Rhett Butler could not accept that he couldn't have any woman he wanted. He couldn't accept that she was going to get the better of him in his quest. Just as she could not accept that she couldn't get any man she wanted.

Neither one of us knew how to love. She smiled. She could manipulate any man except Ashley. He could manipulate any woman he wanted except her. She only wanted Ashley because he didn't want her. He only wanted me because I didn't want him. That whip was only in his mind because I was making him do things to win my heart that he didn't want to do. Things he had sworn never to do, like get married.

With insight that had been missing most of her life Scarlett knew she could never win Rhett back any more than Ashley could win her back. If Rhett had loved her, he no longer loved her. She knew that even if he came back, he would never be the man he was even a year ago. He really was broken. At this point it didn't matter if he had loved her or not. He would never love her in the future. The greatest kindness she could do for him was to let him go. That was Melly's last instructions – 'Be kind to Captain Butler.' She would let him find whatever peace there was left for him to find. She would give him his divorce and put him out of his misery. All she and Atlanta would ever represent would be pain and failure. She hoped he found beauty and grace or whatever he needed to find. She cared enough about him to let him go.

She was so very tired. She couldn't fight anymore. She would go home to Tara. All she wanted now was to live at Tara for the rest of her life. She was so tired of struggling. She had been struggling for so long. She couldn't take any more pain and she couldn't deal with anyone else's pain least of all Rhett's.

Scarlett walked up the stairs and she went to Rhett's room. She knocked on Rhett's door. She heard, "Scarlett, I'm done with talking to you."

She opened the door and stuck her head in and said, "Good because I have something to say to you. I accept your offer for a divorce. I want my children, the store, my property, this house, my personal possessions and one hundred thousand dollars. Have your attorney draw up the papers and I will sign them."

"I guess you have changed your mind about marrying the little gentleman."

"The funeral will probably be in two days. Do you think we can get the papers ready by then?"

"Why are you in such a hurry? The little gentleman will still be there in a month."

"You are the one who said our marriage was over the day Bonnie died. Why prolong our agony? Good night." And she closed the door.

Scarlett got to her room and got out her bottle of brandy. She set it on her vanity table. She got her glass and poured herself a large drink. She said to the room, "Rhett is a cruel and mean man. He is willing to give me a divorce now. I no longer want to be married to him. I no longer want to have to obey him. I can't allow myself to believe that Rhett has loved me for twelve years. If I accept that as a truth, it will break me. For now, I have to believe I was just a challenge to him that got out of hand. If I think about it anymore, I will go crazy. I will think about it tomorrow." She swallowed the drink down in one gulp. She laid on her bed and went to sleep.

Floating in the air above Scarlett was a ghost. It was the ghost of her daughter. Bonnie had been with her mother since her death. She had tried to talk to Mother but Mother couldn't hear her. She would pop in to see her Daddy but it hurt too much to look at him.

The man with the white beard had told her that if she could get someone strong enough to go back in time and change the circumstances surrounding her death, she could live a long life.

When the man told Bonnie that, she had immediately thought of Daddy. Daddy could do anything but she had known when she had seen him that Daddy was a broken man. Bonnie had always thought he was so big and strong. He had been but her death had broken him. He would be no help. No help at all.

She thought of Mother and went to be with Mother. Mother was sad but she was carrying on. She had always thought Mother was the most beautiful woman in the world but now she knew Mother was strong too. She maybe even stronger than Daddy. Bonnie now thought like an adult. She decided that it was because she was a ghost now.

She saw her Aunt Melly shimmering like herself. Aunt Melly must be dead too. How?

Aunt Melly turned and saw Bonnie. She had tears in her eyes. Aunt Melly said, "Bonnie?"

"Yes, Aunt Melly. How did you die?"

"I did something silly that everyone told me not to do. I got pregnant."

"Is the baby dead too?"

"Yes."

"Did the man send you to find someone too?"

"Yes, the man with the long white beard."

"Daddy is no help. Daddy is a broken man."

"He loved you very much."

"He loved me too much."

"He probably did. Ashley is no help either. He is broken also."

"Is there anyone else?"

"No, our poor Scarlett is going to have to step up once again and save us all."

"No, Mother is all alone. She isn't strong enough. She is almost broken."

"No, not our Scarlett. Our Scarlett will never break. We do need to get her stronger. It will be up to us to get her strong enough again."

"How? She can't hear us."

"I don't know we will have to think of a way."

Three Days Later

Rhett's attorney got the papers drawn up in three days. The day after the funeral they signed the papers after Uncle Henry had looked them over. It took a while to convince Uncle Henry that this was what she wanted. After they were signed Rhett's attorney said he would file them that day. If there were no unseen hiccups, they would be divorced in three months.

Scarlett went to Uncle Henry's office and Rhett went to the train station. Scarlett had no idea where he was going. Sadly, he had not even asked for visitation rights with Wade and Ella and that made her mad at him for a moment. Her anger evaporated in an instant. Scarlett knew that although Rhett had loved her children, he would not be able to have a relationship with them for they would always be Bonnie's siblings to him.

She asked Uncle Henry to look for a buyer for the mansion. It would take a while to sell. Uncle Henry said, "Yes it will but if you sell it at below market value then you will probably sell it faster. Do you want to sell the store?"

"Yes, to Ashley. Let's get Ashley in here and have him sell the mills then after my divorce is final, I will sell him the store. Mr. Elsing can run the store until Ashley gets back on his feet. I know someone who wants to buy the mills."

"Good idea."

"I need you to set-up a trust for my aunts and send them the check every month. I don't want to have any contact with them from now on. I don't want to listen to them complain anymore. I definitely don't want to hear about how I shamed the family with my divorce."

"I will take care of it and you can sign the papers when you come back from Tara."

"Thanks Uncle Henry."

"I'm so …."

"No, I can't bear to hear any more expressions of sympathy for any reason." Scarlett leaned forward and kissed Uncle Henry on the cheek. Scarlett had not been able to look at Henry. She would have seen her sorrow reflected on his face. She just couldn't bear it. She left his office.

Melanie said, "Scarlett already is making things right."

Bonnie said, "Daddy didn't even say goodbye to me. He just boarded the train."

"He couldn't bear to say 'Good bye," Melanie saw the tears in Bonnie's eyes. "He is in so much pain. Don't be mad or sad. Let's follow Scarlett."