A/N: It seems I was not the only one who was pleased with the outcome of the Academy Awards last Sunday. Just have to share this!

"I also celebrate getting older because there truly are no limits with age. Look at the Academy Awards. There was my lovely 'Sound of Music' costar Christopher Plummer who at 82 won a Best Actor Oscar. He was the oldest man to win an Academy Award. There he was looking handsome, wicked and delicious. He was so eloquent."

- Julie Andrews


A Time to Meet Again

It was midnight, and Maria was still awake. She sat at the window of the Bristol Hotel room, looking down into the boulevard bathed in both the silver moonlight and the orange glow of the streetlamps. A mist had descended to mix the colors and lights up a bit, and she knew that the heat was finally starting to cool; the first week of August was officially over.

In the far bed, she could hear her brother's even breathing as he slept peacefully, and she felt envious. Envious of anybody that did not have to face what she was about to face. But should she complain? After all, this time she was taking the initiative.

In her hands, Maria held her rosary, the only heirloom she had left of her mother's family. She had pulled them out of her bag intentionally, but not to pray. She still felt angry with God, the Reverend Mother, and her faith in general. It was justified, given her circumstances, but she still felt a little guilty about it. Deep down, she knew her faith had not been broken. It had been built on the strongest foundation in her heart, and she'd carried it with her through thirteen years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. Faith that strong was not just swept away in one night, but it could be shaken a bit.

Maria held the small crucifix between her fingers, and was examining it closely. It was an image that she and millions of people grew up seeing, and they took it for granted. Looking at it, Maria realized what a horrifying image it was: this man was literally nailed to a wooden cross, rusty iron nails hammered through his wrists and ankles, a crown of sharp thorns piercing his head, stripped down to one loin cloth in the cold wind, dehydrated, in intense pain, on display to be mocked by the soldiers and wept over by his mother and followers. It was a mercy he died in a few hours; usually these deaths lasted much longer, and the crows and animals went for the body even before it was completely dead. The most torturous death in the world…

Where does one find the courage to do something like that?

Tears in her eyes, Maria looked out the window again, and hoped that someday she could have that kind of courage.


It was midnight, and Georg was still awake. He stood on the private balcony, his elbows on the stone railing, relishing in the newly cool air and mist. It would be nice without the heat of early August.

But that was far from cheering right now; he was too damn nervous to sleep. Over and over he went through what he was going to say upon meeting her, what he should do, if he should bring anything. All his tired brain had managed to conclude was that it would be best to let her start the conversation since this was her idea, and he thought any gift he could bring her would in no way make up for what he'd done. That was just shallow.

So he was walking into this blind. Captain Von Trapp did not like doing that. But from the moment she had come into his life, that's what had happened.

Between his fingers he held a small, delicate, and valuable object, which he was examining in the faint light coming from the house. It was a ring, white gold band with a beautifully cut diamond surrounded by tiny sapphires and aquamarines. This ring was an heirloom, and a very precious one. His grandfather had given it to his grandmother when he had proposed. Both had died shortly before he met Agathe, and the ring had fallen to him. When it came time to propose to Agathe, he, being the young and arrogant thing he was, had opted to buy a more modern and new ring for his bride.

Over twenty years later, Georg was holding the ring in his hands again. When his grandfather had been alive, he'd heard many times as a small boy the story of how he and his grandmother had fallen in love. When Georg had been no older than Frederich, his grandfather had made him promise to, when he decided to marry, do it for no other reason than love.

Now Georg found himself wondering if he was keeping that promise or not…


The eighth of August dawned misty, but that cleared by midday. The sky remained partly cloudy, veiling the sun from view often and easing the bright light on Austria. The air was thick with the promise of rain for the evening, so not as many people were in the Mirabell Gardens as usual for a summer day. But there was still a healthy number of people there.

At a quarter to three in the afternoon, Georg arrived with Max following. He had insisted on coming in order to observe from afar. While Georg hated the arrangement, he knew that his own past actions made Max do this.

Arriving at the fountain, they found no sign of her, but they were early after all. Georg was grateful, for it gave him time to mentally prepare.

"I'll be sitting on the bench over by the yellow rose bush," said Max. "I think it's safe to say you know all I want to say in warning."

Georg shot him an anything but appreciative look and was grateful when Max walked away. After pacing around the fountain slowly for a while, Georg finally settled on sitting on the stone edge of the circular fountain, anxiously waiting and feeling more nervous than he had in a very long time.


Maria arrived at the Mirabell Gardens with Dominik just before three o'clock. She hid herself behind a statue when she spotted the Captain sitting on the edge of the fountain. Part of her had hoped he wouldn't be there and that he wouldn't show up, but he had. Since the both of them could only see him from behind, he could not see her yet, which relieved her. She could let him see her when she was ready.

When she spotted Max sitting on a bench a small distance from Georg, Maria felt even more relieved that there would be someone to help Dominik keep her safe. She pointed him out to her brother.

"Go and sit by Max. You two will get along splendidly, I know, and you've both heard enough about each other."

"All right," said Dominik, giving her a tight hug. "Remember: you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Maria gave a hollow, painful chuckle as she hugged him back.

"He does anything, and I mean anything, to make you uncomfortable, just signal for us and we're here for you."

"I know," she said, pulling away from her brother finally. "Now go."

After kissing her brow, Dominik walked away and towards Max. She watched them shake hands and exchange greetings as a nearby church bell chimed three times. Each chime felt like a death knoll to Maria, and she knew she could not turn back. This had, after all, been her idea.

So, steeling herself, Maria walked slowly down the stone steps and walked to the fountain. Maria absently smoothed the folds of the dress the poor did not want. She had purposefully chosen this dress as a sort of stand-off to the Captain, since he disliked this dress quite a bit. The Captain still had not seen her yet, bud Max and Dominik were watching her. They shot her reassuring gazes and Maria gave them a small nod before stepping up the fountain.

Looking at him, Maria could see he was anxious and nervous. The Captain sat with his elbows on his thighs, his hands wringing and his head down. He seemed so lost in his own thoughts he had not heard her or felt her presence yet. She was glad that he felt at least as nervous as she did. And she knew she could not remain invisible forever. Better get this over with quicker.

So she sat down at the edge of the fountain, putting about three feet of distance between them, and clearing her throat as she did so, making her presence known. Here was the moment of truth.


At the sound, Georg's head snapped up and turned to his left. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her sitting near him. There she was, after over three weeks of worrying, sitting with good posture and her hands folded in her lap, where her gaze fell as well.

For a moment, he couldn't speak at all; he just wanted to look at her, to reassure himself that she was physically all right. Considering the condition she had been in – or rather the condition he had put her in – the last time he had seen her, Georg wanted to make sure that she was all right. At least physically; it would be a miracle if she were emotionally all right now.

Finally, he found his voice, but all he could say was, "Maria…"

From that point on, the young woman seemed to take over the conversation; she did not look at him but raised her gaze forward. "Before you say anything, you should know that the young man who is watching us with Max is my brother, Dominik. I believe you met him yesterday briefly?"

Georg's gaze shifted to the two men and his eyes widened slightly when he recognized the same young man he'd met yesterday at Maria's spot on the mountain…her spot…he'd mentioned looking for his sister…He nodded. "Yes, I did."

"So I believe you would know better than to try and touch me again."

Georg almost flinched at that. But he took it like a dose of necessary medicine: he deserved it but it was disgusting going down. He took it like a man and simply nodded, ashamed. After a moment of silence, he tentatively said, "I am glad I am able to speak with you again, Maria; thank you."

"I wish I could say the same, Captain."

Another bite, another swallow, and another wince. But Georg would rather have plunged his head into the fountain than have it any other way. He deserved worse than this from her; he deserved to have her push his head in the fountain.

For the first time, Maria turned to him and actually looked at him. Her jaw was set, the expression on her face hard and impassable. But her eyes confirmed the worst for Georg: she'd suffered and cried a lot. Her eyes couldn't hide the hurt and anger she felt, and his heart twisted more painfully than ever. She spoke in a tone that matched her face, calm with a controlled bite. "There are several reasons why I arranged this. The first is obvious: I want to hear from you a full answer to my most obvious question: why. I want every reason, and nothing but the whole truth. We both know that it's the least I deserve."

Georg felt both relief and nervousness enter him at once; it was a strange sensation.

This was what he had expected her to ask, and he was eager to give an honest answer. How much good it would do, he did not know, but this was the only way he could ever get a chance of being forgiven.

So, he turned slightly towards her and began his story.


"She's listening to every word," said Dominik, looking at the pair sitting at the fountain. "She's remaining on her guard, though, but she's wanted an answer to this question for weeks; she's milking it for all it's worth."

Max sighed. "I just hope his explanation has the opposite of his hoped for effect on her. After all, some of it is anything but pretty and could make her very uncomfortable…"
Both watched as Maria, reacting to Georg's words which they couldn't hear clearly, shifted an inch away from him, looking uncomfortable and almost angry.

"Uh-oh," murmured Max. "He must be telling her how she seemed in his eyes."

"Which I would like some explanation of," said Dominik, keeping a close eye on them, waiting for any sign from his sister.

Sighing again, Max lowly explained all he could to Dominik of what he knew about Georg's state of mind during those weeks, the both of them watching the pair closely.


For Maria, hearing his story was both gratifying and disconcerting. Her psyche felt like a battleground. On one side was the sensation of her curiosity being satisfied. He was telling her the truth, which she had asked for, going as far back as his wife's death to explain the state of mind he had been fixed in when she had entered into his life. It all made a certain sense to her, especially when considering his actions to the children. The Captain seemed to have come full circle in that situation, and he and the children were on good, solid ground again. Maria knew she had some kind of a part to play in that, and that made her feel good.

But the other side of her psyche battle was dominating her mind because it was disturbing to her. Maria had shown that when she unconsciously shifted an inch away from him. She had to voice something about it when he had finished.


Georg found that telling this story again to Maria was much harder than telling it to Father Norbert. With every word he spoke, Georg could feel the guilt he had inside him. He found it especially difficult to describe how the young woman had seemed in his mind and eyes from the beginning. Each word tasted like bile during this, so he chose them very carefully and didn't go into a lot of detail as he did with Father Norbert.

When he had finished his full explanation, Maria felt frozen to the stone edge. She wanted to back away even more but she couldn't. Her eyes burned slightly as she looked into his own eyes, which were burning and pleading for her to understand.

"I…what am I supposed to say? I can understand how I would be an easy target to blame all of your mistakes on; I imagine that, as a sea captain, you're not used to talking back to other people. But…" She felt tears stinging her eyes. "How could you…I showed up in this sack of a dress, in a tent of a nightgown! I'm not beautiful, I'm not attractive, I was a postulant! You turned me into some kind of temptress from hell! I wasn't there to…that was the very last thing I wanted to…" Maria felt herself choking up, and she knew that if she kept going she would start crying, so she stopped and turned her gaze away from him, pushing the tears back.

It was the worst feeling Georg had ever experienced, in this moment of watching her. She was in pain and confused, and he had caused that. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her hand, even hold her, to try and comfort her, to make her feel safe and protected…and loved. But he couldn't, and he knew it. Because he had been the one to put her in this state by touching her in the first place. He'd never felt so helpless or disgusted with himself in all of his life.

Though there was only 37 inches between them on the edge of the fountain, Georg felt that there had never been a greater distance between himself and another person.


"Maria…"

Her ears perked at the sound of her name, a name he once could not remember. She had never heard so much anguish, pleading, guilt and compassion in someone's voice.

"There is no action you did in my home that was at fault; that all falls with me. I changed the true image of you into what I needed you to be so I could remain guiltless – that did not work. And I turned my initial attraction to you into something awful, because I never thought I could be attracted to another woman again. And, regardless of what you may believe, I find you to be very beautiful and attractive without even trying to be. Had I been in a proper state of mind…well, everything would have been different, but the past cannot be changed though I desperately wish that it could. I will spend the rest of my life working for your forgiveness, respect and trust; I doubt I could ever forgive myself."

Maria listened to all of this without moving at all. She had not expected to hear all of that. Her honest heart told her that he was being as honest as he could be: completely. She was not ready forgive him completely yet, but secretly in her heart she had begun to.

Remembering that there were other things she wanted to know, Maria slowly turned back around to face him again, but she avoided eye contact. In her calm voice again, she said, "The second piece of information I wanted to know is how you came to the conclusion of the…solution you presented the Reverend Mother with, and why you believe it to be so."

The Captain nodded and immediately began talking.


"She's loosening a bit," murmured Dominik, looking closely at his sister. "His remorse must be genuine, for my sister could smell a liar like a shark smells blood."

"You could ask either myself or his priest," said Max, relieved about Dominik's observation. "His remorse, guilt, it's all real."

Both men kept silent from there on in, waiting to see what outcome would come of the life-turning conversation.


Georg found this much easier to say than his previous story, and Maria seemed to be listening closely. He saw her eyes spark in what could only be something positive when he spoke of Father Norbert and how he had made confession. He felt glad that he could spark that in her eyes after everything.

His conclusion turned into something he had not predicted, but he would never regret.

"Maria, I wish that this was not the best solution for the situation I've put everyone in, but I simply can't see any better way. I don't want my children to receive scorn they don't deserve, and I couldn't bear that for you, either. I couldn't give a damn about my own reputation. You know that you will always have the love of the children, who considered you their mother from the first day; I know you love them like your own.

"But I want you to know also that, if you agree to this arrangement…I promise to protect you, provide for you, be anything you need or want me to be. I would spend the rest of my life being the best husband I could be, the best man I could be…the man you helped make me to be."

What he did not say in this proposal was his promise to love her. That had been at the forefront of his proposal to Agathe, but this was a different situation entirely. She would be God herself if she loved him now, and he would only scare her by saying the truth: he had begun falling in love with her.

Maria turned away from him after a moment and assumed the position he had been sitting in when she had found him. She sat there, completely silent and still, for a long time. He felt he could cut through the tension with a knife.

Finally, when a nearby church steeple bell rang four times, she slowly raised her head but did not look at him.

"It would have to be done soon, yes?" Her voice was nearly a breath, dead and toneless.

"As soon as possible, yes," said Georg, automatically replying.

She took a very deep breath. "Could you arrange for it on the morning of the fifteenth? My brother must go back to Vienna that afternoon and I want him with me for this."

Georg couldn't believe it, he just couldn't believe it. His eyes widened and he couldn't speak for a moment. She was…accepting him!

"Of-of course, yes, that would be fine."

She nodded briskly and stood up.

How could he…what on Earth could he say to her? To thank her? "Maria…"

Suddenly, she turned sharply to face him fully. Her face was resigned, sad, but her strength was still there.

"I'm doing this for the children's sake; I will not see them hurt by this situation, they have suffered enough. I want to be clear about that and one other matter: my condition, for I do have one." She raised her hands to her upper arms. "The bruises you made here have disappeared now, but I swear to God…you dare touch me like you did before, I will disappear completely, and you will have only yourself to blame."

And with that, she called for her brother to come with her, and the two twenty-one-year-olds walked away and out of sight.