Anne's train rolled into Bright River station in the early afternoon. It was a dazzling December day and as soon as she stepped off the platform the sun caught in her eyes. All around her the snow was sparkling, almost as though it was sprinkled with fairy dust. Momentarily blinded, she rubbed her eyes and regained focus.
Anne looked down the platform for familiar faces and there they were: Matthew and Marilla, dressed in their Sunday best and grinning from ear to ear.
"Anne!" hollered Marilla. "Anne!" Marilla took off running in her direction and for a moment Anne thought she might be tackled to the ground.
"Marilla! Oh, I've missed you so!" returned Anne, wrapping her arms around Marilla's neck and holding her in a tight embrace. They swayed back and forth a moment before pulling away so Anne could greet Matthew.
Leaping into his arms, she gushed: "My beloved Matthew! It is so good to be home."
"I've missed you," Matthew said resolutely, with none of his usual reserve and tentativeness. "So very much."
"Alright, Matthew, you don't want to squeeze the life out of her. Give her room to breath!" snapped Marilla.
Anne smiled at the familiarity of their banter. Had she imagined this scene in advance and written it down, she would have gotten it just right. What a blessing it was to know people so well you could practically write them into existence. Anne sighed.
"Shall we go? I'm anxious to see Green Gables. How the Snow Queen must have suffered while I was away. She does so love attention, you see," said Anne, smiling coyly. "And Pride! Oh, and Belle! And Butterscotch!"
Matthew picked up Anne's bags while she and Marilla strode arm and arm to the carriage. On the ride home, Anne remarked on the scenery as though it had been 30 years since she'd last laid eyes on these views, as opposed to the three months she'd been away at school.
"Seeing the Lake of Shinning Waters and the White Way of Delight again are like seeing into my very soul; it's as though I've been living behind a veil and only now that we're reunited is the veil lifted. Regardless of the fact that they are frozen and barren, of course."
Matthew and Marilla smiled. It was good, so very good, to have Anne home.
That afternoon was full of tea and preserves and oh-so-many stories. Marilla's accounts of her first few meetings with the town council were riveting, and Anne was delighted to hear tell of everyday life with Bash, Delphine, and family next door. Equally, Anne had a lot to say about her first semester at College; professors she loved, professors she loathed, her involvement with the newspaper, and the one editor there who wouldn't let her get away with anything.
"He said my opinion piece about pay equity was unsupported. Unsupported! I mean, can you imagine? The audacity!"
"So what happened?" asked Marilla.
"Oh, well, I buried myself in the library for four straight days until I found all of the research I needed to back up my arguments and I guess the article was better for it."
"You guess?"
Anne smiled.
Gilbert came in on the evening train, the same coach that had delivered him to Avonlea the evening after his Queen's entrance examination in Charlottetown but today it was running on time. When Bash arrived ten or so minutes after the train pulled away, Gilbert couldn't have been happier to see him.
"Bash!" called Gilbert.
"Brother," replied Bath. They hugged with strength and resolve.
"It's so good to see you," they said at the same time. Smiling, they headed for the carriage.
"So I assume I am to take you straight to the Cutherbert's?" asked Bash with a sparkle in his eyes that said 'I win' without actually saying it.
Blushing a little, Gilbert responded: "haha, no, thanks though. Anne and I are planning to meet up tomorrow morning. Tonight, I'm all yours!"
"Wonderful!" said Bash. "My mum's made her famous stew, and Dellie will be tickled pick to see ya."
"And Elijah?" asked Gilbert.
"Elijah has been a real blessing to me these last months, Gilbert. Honestly, I don't know how I would have managed without him."
"That's great."
"Don't get me wrong, he seems right fearful to see ya. I thought he was going to toss his cookies when I told him I was off to da train station to pick ya up," added Bash, laughing.
The two friends joked and laughed all the way home, falling easily into old rhythms. Bash shared a particularly funny story about Miss Stacey taking his mother - an island woman accustomed to Caribbean temperatures - ice fishing on the Atlantic that had Gilbert doubled over.
Recovering, he commented: "I've noticed a lot of your letters feature Miss Stacey, Bash. I'm glad you're making new friends."
"Me too," said Bash, moving the conversation along to other subjects.
That evening was full of food, stories, and reminiscing, and both men went to bed with their bellies and hearts full. It was a good day.
Anne woke up at the crack of dawn, hours before she and Gilbert were supposed to meet. She paced the floor of her room anxiously. What would it be like to see Gilbert again? To kiss him again? Her trip to Toronto hadn't afforded a repeat performance and she was so very keen to feel his lips on hers. She allowed herself to imagine this a moment, brushing her index finger against her bottom lip dreamily. Suddenly, startled, she let herself spiral. Who's to say Gilbert wanted to kiss her? What's to say he wasn't planning to break it off? The whole thing was too good to be true, that she knew for certain. But in his letters he seemed so … certain?
Gilbert managed a hair more sleep but he, too, was up much earlier than was necessary. When Bash found him, he'd cut every vegetable and mashed every potato in the house. Dodging a repeat performance of 'I win,' Gilbert snuck of the kitchen and into the barn to relieve his housemates of some of their morning chores. He was milking one of their cows when it occurred to him that he didn't really have a plan. Yes, he and Anne had made arrangements to meet on the path to the school in the very spot they'd first met more than five year early, but what was he going to do exactly when he got there? What was he going to say? He was desperate to hold her, to kiss her, but perhaps that wasn't appropriate seeing as they were courting now? They were courting, weren't they?
Gilbert arrived first. It was a cold Monday morning and he hadn't remembered to wear his gloves. He cupped his hands and drew them to his mouth, blowing warm air into them and quickly stuffing them in the pockets of his red and black checkered pea coat. He heard something and looked up: it was the tweak of a branch breaking. In the distance, he could see Anne approaching down the narrow path. She looked so different, so mature. Her red hair was pinned up, like a lady would do, and she wore a floor length skirt. In her hands she held a bouquet of winter berries and pine branches. She stopped a foot away from where Gilbert was standing.
"Hi," he said in a whisper.
"Hello," said Anne.