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Usual disclaimers here...
Innsbruck, Von Berg's villa, July 30th 1919, morning
Georg, Max and Isaac were having breakfast on the terrace, chatting happily while the children were playing in the park, trying to catch each other. Svetlana and Ivan had left Igor in Innsbruck for a while and had gone to Vienna in order to see if there was some mean to stay in Austria since the situation in Hungary was really bad. The Rumanian army almost had reached Budapest and the Hungarian one was a wreck. If Austria tried to heal its wounds from the war, not every new country seemed to want to do that, preferring to spark off another useless conflict... Actually, the von Berg's villa looked as if it was a peaceful haven in the middle of a desert rampaged by war and social agitation... Still, Max did not seem to enjoy it all. Georg had noticed, that Max had been sadder in the last days, although he tried to hide it. But the officer knew him too well after all they had gone through: their encounter in captivity in Serbia then their extraordinary evasion... To Georg, it seemed as if all those events had happened in another life. After all, they had left Serbia almost ten months ago...
"Wait? Ten months ago?" he got up from is chair , startled by the thought he just had. "Why on earth did not I think about it earlier?" Fortunately, neither Max nor Isaac noticed his sudden confusion. The two immediately got on well, since they had gone through similar experiences during the war. Both prisoners of war, they tried several times to get away, to go home. Nevertheless, as Isaac was an officer, he had not had to work for the enemy, and thus he had not had the chance, or misfortune, to meet anybody but fellow Austrian or German officers... The children's screams woke him up from his reverie. Once again, Igor was complaining about Maria, who, like the real tomboy she was, had beaten him once again. He was about to get up to calm down the excited children but Isaac got up before him and went to settle down whatever matter it was. He had not the chance to be married yet and did not have children, so he enjoyed Maria and the other's company very much, always looking after them or even playing with them. With Isaac gone for a while, Georg was alone with Max for the first time since his arrival in Innsbruck. He was about to start a much-needed conversation when Ingrid joined them on the terrace.
"Hello guys! How are you doing today?" she asked cheerfully.
"Dear Mrs von Berg, your breakfast was splendid, as usual!" Max exclaimed with mock politeness. "I think I will stay here for a while, everything is perfect!" he added smiling broadly. He had begun to do that a lot lately, playing his "parasite" character. It unnerved Georg to no end because he knew that his friend was much better than what he showed to people around him. He often wondered why Max was depreciating himself that much...
"By the way, I have some mail for you, Herr Detweiler," Ingrid went on, giving him a small used letter. "Now, gentlemen, if you excuse me, I've work to do, unlike some people here," she finished, hitting Georg's forehead.
Strangely, Max did not answer Ingrid's playful remark. He was looking at the letter intently, his hands shaking a bit. Quickly he opened it and began to read it, suddenly turning white. Georg was alarmed at his friend's reaction. "What's with him?" he wondered quite worried.
"Hey, Max? What's goin'..." He did not have the chance to end his sentence. Max had suddenly stood up and was now hurrying to the villa, holding the letter tightly. Surprised, the officer asked:
"Where on earth are you goin', man?"
"Serbia," the other answered simply, his voice much darker than usual.
Georg immediately got up to reach his friend. "Damn! Not that! Anything but not that, bloody hell!" he thought angrily. He caught Max by the shoulders and slammed him against the near wall. The latter tried to fight back but Georg was stronger. He slammed him against the wall one more time, trying to wake his friend up from his trance.
"What the hell are you thinkin' you're doin'?" he repeated once again "Calm down! Max, please calm down! What's the matter with you, man?" he asked in a commanding tone.
"Lemme go, you bastard! I must go!" the other screamed angrily.
"No way. What happened?" Georg went on, not willing to let his friend go at all. "What the hell does this bloody letter contain? Tell me, Max!"
"She... Emilija... She... a kid" was all the other was able to utter. He had stopped to fight back and looked much despaired now. "I must go, I must go..." he kept on repeating faintly.
Georg's intuition had been right, unfortunately... He took his friend in his arms, trying to comfort him a little even if it was no use.
"Listen to me. I said, listen to me!" he began softly, looking into Max's eyes. "You definitely can't go there. You will ruin her life. You're Austrian, remember? That's why she helped us to get away. You will ruin their life if you come back. You don't want that, do you?" he said in a low voice.
"I will take them to Austria," the other answered in a quite not convinced tone.
"No, you can't. She's married. You can't. I'm sorry Max. I know it's hard but..."
"How do you know? How on earth do you know? You know nothing about that, you creep!" Max interrupted him angrily. Nevertheless, even if Max was mad at him once again, Georg saw in his friend's eyes that he had won the battle... Until next time... He took him gently by the shoulders, like the brother he had become to him. He spoke thoughtfully:
"You're right, pal. I really know nothing about that." Then he tried to cheer him up, joking a bit: "That's why I'm able to talk some sense in your poor wounded heart..."
He did not hear Max's confused apologizing. His friend was right. All he had been able to do until now had been breaking some girl's heart somewhere in the world like the foolish youngster he had been.
Innsbruck, August 7th 1919, afternoon
Maria was beaming with joy. Even if she enjoyed the other children company very much, she liked nothing more than spending some time alone with Mani just as she were used to when they were still in Vienna... Today, he had taken her to the park in Innsbruck. They had brought the kite and now, he was showing her how to make it fly on her own.
"You see? You must not pull on the strings too hard... Just let it fly with the wind..." Finishing his explanations, he made it land gracefully. "You wanna try, ship-girl?" he asked her with an encouraging smile.
"I really can?" she said timidly.
"Of course! That's the only way to learn, kid!" With that, he gave her the commands.
"First, you have to run to make it take off. A bit faster, Maria!" he told her cheerfully. However she did not succeed in that difficult task. She tried once, twice, three times with the same result.
"I will never make it!" Maria shouted discouragingly. She threw the commands down, crossed her arms and began to sulk a bit. Smiling, Georg kneeled down beside her, ruffling her hair.
"Hey ship-girl... You're not abandoning yet... It's not like you!"
"But I can't! You see! I can't!" she shouted again. She was really disappointed now and tears of helplessness began to fill her blue eyes.
"Shh... Maria, you're not going to cry for such a foolish thing, will you?" he said, softly kissing her forehead.
As Georg tried to comfort little Maria a bit, he did not noticed that a beautiful young woman was watching the sweet scene, smiling slightly. One of her friends called her:
"Agathe? Are you dreaming or are you still with us?"
A bit startled, she turned and smiled to her friends.
"I am sorry. What did you say, Katharina?"
"I was asking if you wanted to walk a bit across the park with us. Or, maybe, you do prefer to stay here and wait for us, dreaming as usual!" the other joked friendly.
"Well, just guess, Katharina..." she answered in a sweet smile which made her dark eyes sparkle.
"So, we're leaving you on your own, I suppose," she sighed while getting up to join their group of friends who had begun to walk. Agathe waved at them cheerfully then resumed her reverie. There was no way she went somewhere whereas she could admire that handsome and gentle young man playing with his daughter...
"Okay, Maria. Let's try another time. I make the kite take off then I pass you the commands. You agree?" Georg asked the girl, trying to make her forget her past misfortunes. After a short while, still sulking a bit, she mumbled something that he could interpret as a yes. Standing up, Georg sighed. Maria could be such ill tempered at times! Well, not as ill tempered as he had been during his own childhood, but still... He would have to teach her to behave in more ladylike way one of those days! After having given her another light kiss on her forehead, he took the commands of the kite and proceeded to make it take off. When he saw that it was flying properly, he gave the commands to Maria. After some clumsy movements, she began to manage with the kite quite well.
"Yes, perfect... Just like that... Don't pull too hard..." he kept on encouraging her. However, Maria was so proud of his comments, that she turned her head a bit to smile at him, forgetting to watch the kite for a brief moment.
"Like that Mani?" she asked with a broad smile.
"No! Look out!" he shouted anxiously, seeing that the kite was beginning to float a little. There were many people here; they did not need to hurt anybody! Startled, Maria turned her attention back to the flying object, trying to control it again. Nevertheless it was too late...
Agathe was so absorbed in her secret observation she did not hear the young man shouting at her.
"Beware!"
Then, suddenly, she felt that something had crashed on the bench where she was sitting. Startled, she gave a look at it and noticed it was a kite.
"I really am sorry, Miss," a gentle voice said next to her. "I hope you're not injured," it went on.
She looked up and saw the young man standing in front of her, humbly staring at her. His confused daughter stood next to him. Smiling reassuringly, she answered softly:
"Not at all, Sir. You really don't have to feel sorry."
The sweet way she looked up at him took his breath away. She was so beautiful. Her dark eyes had a soft and kind expression. Her mauve dress was elegant but simple at the same time, as well as her hat, which did not have any exuberant feathers on it. Her smile was intoxicating. All of a sudden, he felt ashamed about his own garments. All he was able to do was contemplating her without saying a single word. He heard neither Maria confusingly apologizing by herself nor the young woman's sweet and reassuring answer. Finally, he recovered a bit and managed to speak again.
"I am happy to see you were not injured, Miss. And please forgive me, I did not introduced myself yet. My name is Captain Georg von Trapp. How do you do?"
So, this young man was an officer. It was quite surprising seeing the way he was dressed. He wore neither a vest nor a tie and had rolled the sleeves of his white shirt up. His beard and hair were a bit ruffled. However, his blue eyes had such an intense expression.
"How do you do, Captain von Trapp. My name is Agathe von Zimmer. May I ask what's the name of this adorable little girl?"
When he heard Agathe mentioning Maria, he became aware of her presence again. A bit ashamed that he had been able to forget her even for a few seconds, he put gently his hands on her shoulder, caressing them lightly: "Forgive me, her name is Maria."
"Hello, Maria, how do you do sweet girl?" Agathe told the little one, caressing her cheek. "You do not need to be sorry, really. I should have paid attention to my surroundings too..." she added merrily.
That beautiful lady was so kind although she should have been mad at her and her awkwardness. Instead of that, she was smiling at her, caressing lightly her cheek. Maria was so confused. More, Mani had acted so strangely for a few seconds, it was as if he had forgotten her presence. It was the first time he had ever acted like that. What was happening with him? She was happy with the lady unbelievable kindness, but, at the same time, quite upset by Mani's behaviour. Lost deep in her thoughts, she did not hear Agathe asking them if they did not mind to walk a little. Of course, he had agreed, much to Maria's disappointment. They began to wander slowly across the park. She was walking between both the adults, Mani holding her by the hand, holding the broken kite in his other hand. He was acting so strange... The way he talked to Agathe, the way he was smiling... It was definitely not like him at all. Somewhere, in a place she did not know it existed, she was a bit jealous. However, she heard him suddenly talking about her, pride and affection filling his voice.
"Not exactly... She's not my daughter. She's a young girl I've been looking after for a few months. However, even if she isn't yet, I do hope she will be my daughter someday. She's very important to me."
Maria felt utter joy filling her heart. He was not forgetting her! Moreover, he was saying to that unknown lady she was important to him! While finishing his sentence, he had put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit, as he usually did when he wanted to show her how much she meant to him.
"Isn't that right, Maria? We've gone through a lot together?" he asked her gently.
"Yes, Mani!" she answered happily, cuddling a bit against his waist.
Agathe and he laughed at her sudden display of affection.
"She's such a sweet child. I really hope you will be able to adopt her, Captain," she said softly, staring at Mani with gentle eyes.
With that, the three resumed their wandering. Agathe and Mani went on talking animatedly, exchanging some long and intense looks at times. Maria kept on walking with them, not really paying any attention to their endless discussion. Mani was not forgetting her, but, still, that encounter had ruined their day alone, and she had more and more difficulties to hide her growing disappointment.
Without really noticing it, they arrived at an imposing house. Agathe spoke first.
"Well, I guess I am home. It was so kind of you escort me back, Captain," she said with a hint of regret in her voice. Georg was not quite happy either. He did not want their discussion to end. But it was getting late and she had to go home.
"You're welcome, Miss von Zimmer. It was a real pleasure to meet you," he answered, smiling gently. They stared at each other for a while, not knowing what to do or what to say. Finally, deciding he really wanted to see her again, he timidly asked her if she happened to have some paper. Smiling, she reached for a little book note in her handbag and gave it to him. Finally, he wrote down her address and found the courage to ask her if he might see her again. She answered with a broad and happy smile:
"I would be really delighted to see you again, Captain."
"I thank you deeply. Now, I guess it's time to say goodbye, Miss von Zimmer. I really am glad to have met you."
"The pleasure was all mines, Captain." Then she added, bowing a little to stroke Maria's cheek, "Goodbye, little Maria. Have a good night. It was a pleasure to meet you too."
"Goodbye, Miss von Zimmer," the girl answered timidly. With that, Agathe opened her home door and waved kindly one last time at Georg and Maria. The young man stood still for a moment, looking intently at the now closed door. After a while, as if he was waking up from some wonderful dream, he took Maria in his arms and hugged her tightly. At last, they proceeded to go back to Ingrid's, Georg holding Maria's hand. As they walked back home, the little girl could not help to wonder why her guardian kept on whistling some joyful air all the way home.