Note: This chapter is one that I have looked forward to writing since I came up with the concept for this story. I adore love scenes in movies and this turned out to be one of my favorite scenes so far. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and I'm sorry that it took so long to get it up. I've been sick recently and haven't felt like writing. Thank you for all the nice reviews as well. I was afraid that no one would like this story and have been pleasantly surprised so far. So...read and enjoy .

Chapter 5

A Fiddle In The Night

From the moment she collapsed by the river, Alice had a series of sensory images and feelings that mad very little sense to her. She remembered Uncas calling her name from some distance and trying to answer him, but it was as if her tongue were made of stone. She could not get the sound to form in her mouth and she didn't have the energy to push it past her tongue. Next, She remembered being carried over uneven terrain and being held close to a warm chest. She had forced her heavy eyelids open enough to catch the image of brown arms wrapped around her, then there was nothing. Her next memory was of a deafening sound. It frightened her and she clutched at something soft that rested near her hands. A deep voice, speaking a foreign language was in her ears and she strained to keep hearing that voice. There was peace in that voice, and warmth. She could find safety within that voice.

Perhaps her most vivid memory was the one of many voices talking at once, and the feeling of something cool on her face. She was laying on a hard surface and the voices made her head ache. Soon the hard surface was gone, and the arms were back around her. She clutched her hands into a soft shirt and held on for dear life. She felt unfamiliar hands grabbing at her and held tighter to the shirt. She knew only that there was safety with the brown arms and deep voice, she wasn't ready to lose it yet. Then she had fainted, totally and complete.

Alice remembered very little after that, sounds and dreams mostly. She was told later that she slept for nearly two days. There wasn't much to tell about the illness except that it wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. A cold made worse by exhaustion and exposure to the elements. The doctor was still unsure as to why she had run such a high fever.

When she was lucid enough, Alice's father had her moved to a private quarter to be with her sister. Cora seemed altered to Alice now, she was more distracted and took less notice of her sisters person than normal. Before their trip through the Wilderness, Cora had watched over her sister like a guard dog. Always looking for trouble, ever vigilant of anything that might hurt her sister. Now she was in her own thoughts, seeing things that Alice couldn't.

Alice, for her part, thought only of Uncas. Since she had woken from her two day sleep, she had not seen him at all. On the morning that her fever had broken, she had woken to find a long, black crow feather on the table by her bed. She had turned it over in her hands and run her fingers over the glossy feather. The color reminded her of his hair and she suddenly wanted him there. She knew he had been the one who carried her to the fort, he was the comforting voice she heard in her ear. When she closed her eyes, she could see his brown eyes staring into hers and she longed to have that again.

On the fourth night in Fort William Henry, Alice was resting on her side while Cora gathered up linens that needed to be washed. Alice was thinking of Uncas when a knock sounded on the door. Her eyes went to the door expectantly, hoping that it was him. Cora opened the door to reveal Duncan instead, Alice's heart sank and she shut her eyes so no one would see the tears pooling there.

"Cora...I wanted to speak to you," He said loudly as Cora went to hush him.

"Shhhh," She said, "Alice-"

Alice pulled herself up slowly from the bed, she was still weak from the illness. Cora looked at her with concern as she got unsteadily to her feet. Alice kept her head lowered as she padded to the door.

"Talk to Duncan, Cora," She said as she passed, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

"I must manage. I cannot be an invalid school girl."

The last was said with a quiet dry sob that she hoped the other two missed.

"I will go see if Doctor Phelps needs anything."

Alice shut the door quietly behind her and leaned against it, tears trailing down her face. She wiped them off with her sleeve and chastised herself. She barely knew Uncas and she was crying over him as if he had broken her heart. She pushed away from the door and began to walk, not heading for surgery as she had said she would. Truth be told she didn't know where she was going and she didn't care. Her heart felt raw and empty and she didn't know where to find the one that could fill it.

Alice didn't know how long she walked or how far, but the weakness from her illness was taking it's toll. She was lightheaded, and the buildings around her seemed to weave back and forth. She grabbed the side of one building as her head swam, leaning her head against the wood for support. After the dizziness passed, she started walking again. It wasn't long before the whole thing started up again and when it happened she realized she was in a very bad area. Around her, cannons were being fired and rifles shot over the tops of the barracks. In her hazy vision, she could see men falling here and there. She could smell the metallic mixture of blood and gun powder. Alice clapped her hands over her ears and screamed as the cannons roared around her. The sounds were to much on her senses and she couldn't see which way would take her out of it.

Alice ran, almost blindly in one direction. Her hands were still clapped onto her ears as she swayed from here to there. Without seeing, she ran right into a solid chest. Feeling panicked, Alice screamed again and hit at whatever was in front of her. She called out Uncas name because he was the only thing that seemed safe in this nightmare she was living in. Strong hands grabbed her and pulled her in against a warm chest, then they were on her face, making her look up.

"Alice," A familiar voice was saying as the long finger clutched at her face. "I am right here."

Alice stopped screaming and pounding her fists against his chest. She stared up into Uncas face and felt relief washing over her. Tears ran like two hot rivers down her face, flooding over his hands.

"Is it you," She whispered raggedly, afraid that it was all a dream and she would wake up in a world where he was gone. He was about to answer when another round of cannon fire sounded nearby. It sent her reeling into his arms, her body shaking from weakness and fear. She buried her head into his chest, holding him as tightly as she could.

His arms went around her, awkwardly at first. Then he seemed to hold her as tightly as she was him. When things were quieter, he spoke.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked her, as his hand gently stroked her hair.

"I don't know how I got here," She answered, her voice muffled against his chest. She turned her face up to his, their faces were only inches apart.

"I wanted to see you," She said softly.

Then her vision swam, she started to slide downward in his arms. When he realized what was happening, he grabbed her wrists and pulled her back up. Without a word, he scooped her into his arms and began to walk out of the battle area. They hadn't gone far when fiddle music reached Alice's ears. It was soft and sweet in the night air after the deafening roar of the cannons. The sound brought her around enough to realize she was being carried back toward her fathers private quarters. She turned her head to look into Uncas face but his attention was focused ahead. Alice realized she had spent a great deal of time in his arms of late, and wanted to find herself there more. Without thinking about it, her hand crept up to touch the side of his face. The touch startled him and she turned his face to look at her. Alice's head had been resting against his neck when he had picked her up, so when he turned their faces were nearly touching. Alice traced her fingers along his cheekbone and jaw for a moment then grasped the back of his head with both her hands. She closed the distance between their mouths before he knew what was happening.

Alice had never kissed a man before but had seen the servants doing it many times. Uncas lips were stiff against her mouth for only a moment before his arms moved out from under her legs as if he were going to drop her. Instead, his arms pulled her in closer as he kissed her back fiercely. Alice felt his tongue dancing tentatively against her lips, she opened her mouth and let it in. She moaned into his mouth and gasped when it moved from her lips to her neck. He left a trail of soft kisses over her chin and down her neck but came back to claim her mouth again as her hands ran up and down his chest.

It was the kind of kiss that promised other things though neither made any motion to put their hands on more intimate places. Instead, they memorized each others faces with their lips and hands. They delighted in the feel of one another and lost track of time as they danced the line between passion and intimacy.

"I love you," Alice breathed against his mouth when they came up for air. As soon as she said it, she knew it was true. God help her, but she loved him. Whatever their relationship was before this moment, she didn't care. She was in his arms and she never wanted to leave them again. She saw the love and desire in his eyes after she had declared hers, though he didn't say it back. He only kissed her more hungrily as a fiddle played on in the night.