The warm Georgia sun shone on the men in the field as they worked together, sowing cottonseed. A large black man, who seemed unfazed by the rays beating down on him, paused occasionally to swipe his face with a rag. A smaller white man paused more frequently to wipe his face, lifting his hat to wipe his brow with his shirtsleeve. The third man, also white, paused frequently to wipe his brow and rest. Still, the trio continued their silent work until the black man began to hum. The humming produced a subtle grin on the face of the third man.

"You likes my song, Mista Rhett?" the black man asked.

"Yes Big Sam, I do. It reminds me of working in the fields as a boy. Our hands used to sing that song. Those were good days for me…"

"I don' much see ya working lik dat, Mista Rhett. You's always been dressed so nice and fine when I sees ya."

"Yes, I suppose it is difficult to imagine me in the fields. It's been years since I worked this hard."

"You best take it easy," Will cautioned. "You just back on yer feet and Scarlett'll tan my hide if you have a setback."

Rhett grinned at Will. "I'm fine. Although I have a hard time picturing Scarlett getting the better of you, Will. It might be worth being down to see that."

Will chuckled. "That wife o' yours can sure put a man down, if she has a mind to. Suellen can be sharp but she don't have the same way 'bout her. She jus' comes over as mean. Scarlett is scary when she gits after ya."

It was Rhett's turn to chuckle. "Yes, she is Will…yes, she is."

The men returned to their work, Rhett moving slower than the others.

Inside the house, Scarlett worked with Mammy and Dilcey. There were vegetables to be washed and prepared for the evening meal. The mid-day meal was usually something light. Eating too much would slow everyone down, making them sluggish and possibly even sick in the heat of the day. Bread and a piece of meat, along with fresh peaches from the orchard were on that day's midday menu. As Scarlett sat at the table, snapping beans, she remembered similar days at the end of the war when she'd spend the morning in the fields and then come inside for a break from the sun. She'd sit at the kitchen table, helping to prepare whatever meager meal they had planned for the evening. As she sat snapping beans, she felt an odd sense of comfort from reliving the memories. Strange, it seemed so tedious back then but now…it seems familiar, even friendly.

The men came in for their midday break and Scarlett gasped as she saw Rhett. His clothes were soaked and underneath the sweat and dirt, she could see his skin reddening, blistering even, especially the new skin that had only just healed in some places. "Rhett, you're burning."

He looked at her blankly. "I'm fine, Scarlett. Just a little dirty."

"No, your skin…look at your skin…"

He glanced down and smirked. "Just some dirt, my dear. It'll wash off."

Scarlett dipped a clean rag into a bucket of water and began to clean an area on his injured arm. As the dirt washed away, the depth of his sunburn became more apparent. He watched in fascination as she wiped, not flinching or commenting.

"Doesn't it hurt?" she asked fearfully.

"No…" he drawled.

She pressed her finger into the skin and watched, expecting a reaction from him. When none came, she began washing his face thoroughly. He'd washed it before entering the house but had only splashed water on it. Scarlett wiped it clean. His face wasn't as red as his arm but it was showing signs of sunburn also. He winced as she moved the rag across his cheek. "Don't rub so hard," he grimaced.

Frowning, she looked again at his arm. "I rubbed your arm harder and you said it didn't hurt." She looked at his arm again, concern written on her face. "It should hurt, Rhett."

"Really Scarlett, I am fine." Rhett was frustrated with her hovering and over protective attention.

"No, you are not and I'll not have you going back into the sun today," she declared.

Rhett's brow furrowed as he glared at her, anger mounting. "I have more work to do, Scarlett. Will needs help with the seeding. I'm fine."

Scarlett rose, put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You are not fine and you will not go out again today. Will and Big Sam will just have to do without you this afternoon."

Will chose that moment to interject. "It'll be okay, Rhett. You are jes' recovering and maybe Scarlett's right. You rest up this afternoon and if the sunburn is better tomorrow, you ken come out and help us in the mornin'."

Rhett's scowl moved to Will's face. "Scarlett is just over reacting, Will. I can work some more today…"

Will frowned. "Well, now that I ken git a good look, you are lookin' a bit burnt. I think ya should stay inside today, let things heal. After all, your skin ain't used ta that much sun. It'll take time to git some resistance."

Finally Rhett began to calm down. "Well, I'll rest a while and then later this afternoon, after the high sun, I'll go help you some more…"

Will nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Sun won't be so hot later…"

Scarlett still wasn't satisfied but decided to take Rhett's compromise as a small victory and deal with him going out again later. For now at least, he would stay inside.

Scarlett watched him closely for the rest of the day, She covered the sunburn several times with a cool rag and Rhett finally admitted that the coolness made him feel better. While he also admitted that his face was stinging a little and probably did get more sun than he realized, he kept insisting that his arm felt fine. It was later in the afternoon when Scarlett noticed little blisters forming on his arm. "Oh no," she cried out in anguish. "No…it can't be…" Rhett looked down, saw them, and grimaced. He touched his arm with his other hand and frowned as he felt the heat coming off the red skin. Looking at Scarlett, his dark eyes softened. "I suppose it is worse than I thought," he said.

"We must get the heat out of it," she insisted. Cool water was brought along with clean rags. She spent the afternoon dipping the rags in the cool liquid and then putting the compresses along his arm. By nightfall, he was in pain. He begrudgingly admitted that he had overdone it in the sun as Scarlett continued to try to get the heat out of his skin. By bedtime the tiny blisters had grown and she called Emma to help her dress the arm. "God's nightgown Rhett, it's almost as if we are starting all over. I just hope this will heal quickly. You just can't be in the sun so much…the doctor told you that but I suppose you decided not to listen."

Rhett hurt too much to argue. "Is this …I mean, did my arm look like this when…" He stared forlornly at his appendage, wondering how he had endured it.

"It was worse…much worse. The blisters, where there were any, were bigger and deeper. And where there weren't any, well…it didn't look like skin at all, more like a pig that's been on the spit too long."

Rhett winced. "You saw me when I looked like that?" He could only imagine how horrible he must've looked and she had sat with him, cared for him…spent hours watching over him…looking like…that. He'd marveled at her attendance when he first began to recover and he'd been very aware of his appearance …then. But what must he have looked like before…while he was still unconscious most of the time?

"Yes, by the time I got there, you were in very bad shape…" she said as she continued ministering to his arm.

"And you…" his mind was reeling, once again astonished by her devotion, her tenacity in staying with him through the horrible ordeal. It must have been ghastly, he thought. The sight was bad enough but the stench would have been awful. "You were with me all those weeks…until I began to heal. Surely you must have felt that you were caring for a dead man."

"I never gave up, Rhett. Don't think that I ever gave up. I knew you would get better…why, you just had too!"

Rhett smiled at her, her defiance was typical and oddly reassuring. "Scarlett O'Hara said I would get better and so it must happen," he chuckled. "Sometimes you are still such a child, my pet."

Scarlett's green eyes flashed. "I am not. I just…I couldn't loose you, especially like that, before we had a chance to…to…"

"To what?" He looked curious although he thought he knew the answer.

"Well," she tried to think of a quick answer that wouldn't give herself away. Of course, she had gone to Charleston with hopes of mending things between them. "To talk…to…well, to be more friendly. When you left, it was…well, not only did I lose my husband but …you had been such a good friend for all those years. I'd just lost Melly and then you left and it was as if I had no one left, no husband and no friends. When you left, it was like I lost both."

"So, you went to Charleston to visit an old friend?" His tone was incredulous.

Scarlett studied his face, a catlike expression on her own. Finally, she answered. "No, I went to Charleston to take care of my husband, the person I love most in this world."

Her declaration was so definite, so confident. She'd told him that she loves him so many times in the past weeks, but this declaration was somehow different, more assertive. Her love was something he'd wanted since the first time he saw her and he'd waited patiently for years to claim her, only to wait impatiently for her to come around. As he'd recovered from the fire, he'd begun to trust that she loved him but as he looked at his arm, he once again doubted its fortitude. "How…how can you …love me, Scarlett? How can you even…look at me? I…I've been such a monster and…now it…" he took a deep breath, "I look the part."

He saw many emotions at war on her face but it was anger that won. "How dare you, Rhett Butler! How dare you think that because of …that I couldn't love you because of the scars? You have behaved monstrously and sometimes, I was just as bad. But that is past. Or do you not want that? Would you rather continue our past mistakes?" Something broke in her stern countenance and her face softened, her eyes pleading. "Oh Rhett, let it be…put it in the past. Finally, the games have ended and we have been honest with one another these past weeks… and we have a new baby to look forward to. It's as if we've been given a second chance. Please Rhett, trust in it, trust me…trust us," she said softly as her hand clasped his.

Tears sat in his eyes as he looked into hers. Yes, that was what he would do, had to do…trust her and trust them together. He needed this, this second chance; he needed it with every fiber of existence in his body. So yes, he would be selfish and hold her to him, forever sealing her fate by tying her to a grotesque man for the remainder of his life. A twinge of guilt ran through him as he contemplated his selfishness, but she was getting what she wanted, he reasoned. Why should he feel guilty? Mentally he shrugged the question off, willing himself to be happy. "I do, Scarlett. It's just that…if the situation was reversed, if it had been you burned…I'm not sure I would be as caring."

"You always have before, Rhett. I simply would not have survived if you hadn't…" He looked at her, confused. "Oh Rhett, you came to help us escape when the Yankees invaded Atlanta. And you would have helped with the money for Tara if you could have. And you were there for me while I was married to Frank, coming to meet me when I would ride out to the mills, supporting me as I went into business. And when I was attacked, you went to help Frank and the others… And after we were married, you were willing to help restore Tara. Why I can't think of a time since I came to Atlanta that you weren't ready to help," she said, sounding surprised.

His gaze was steady. "I had to be there," he said quietly. "I couldn't let anything happen to you."

"And you thought you were saving me again…in the fire."

Rhett tried to remember that night but all he could conjure were fuzzy memories of someone who reminded him of Scarlett. But she had been bland in comparison to the real thing. "Scarlett….I…we didn't…

Covering his mouth with her fingers, she stopped him. "You don't need to tell me. You used to go to that Whatling woman's and I imagine you were…"

"Belle is a friend, Scarlett. I've known her for years and we haven't…I mean, well…she's just a friend. And I was playing cards that night and had too much to drink. I fell asleep upstairs, hardly in any shape to…to…amuse myself with a whore."

Scarlett smiled. "As I recall, you were quite drunk the night you carried me up the stairs, the night you…that we…well, that the last baby was made."

"Scarlett, I , well…I shouldn't have …treated you that way. I was angry and jealous."

"I know you were. But, the things we did that night, the way you…loved me, the things you said; that's when I knew. Although I wasn't sure what it was I knew at the time."

"Knew what?" Curiosity gripped him.

"That I love you…how much I need you." She paused before changing the subject. "Now, let's get you ready for bed…"

He grinned salaciously. "As you wish, my dear."

GWTWGWTWGWTWGWTW

Suddenly I am struggling with this one. I know where I want to go, just having trouble getting there. Had this chapter almost finished and then trashed it because it was awful. Hopefully this is better.