Not an Afterthought
By SparklyTree3876
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance/Family
Pairing: Tokalah/Anna and Sarah/OC
Author's Notes: Hi, readers. I would like to present my first "Stolen Woman: Captured Hearts" fic. It is set fourteen months after the movie and shows Anna having been living happily with Tokalah ever since she returned to the Lakota and having an infant daughter while wanting another child in which they are unexpectedly reunited with Sarah and Stewart and do not know Daniel is looking for her and will do whatever it takes to her get back. The idea for this fic came to mind when I wondered what happened after Anna left Daniel and returned to the Lakota. As a result, it was born. I decided to write a prologue as it had too many details to cover in any chapter. It is known the real Anna Brewster Morgan did not have a happy ending like in the movie. Her marriage to her husband soured after she returned home to him following living a year with the Cheyanne. She was actually captured by the Lakota and traded to them. The tribe already had Sarah White with them. The real name of Anna's husband's was James. It was likely he became cruel toward her after learning she had married a chief and became pregnant with his child before General George Custer found her. Her half-Indian son was named Ida. He died when he was two just ten days after Mary's birth. She had Glen and Claud with James. She went to live with her brother after James divorced her. His real name was Daniel. She suffered a stigma from what happened to her for the rest of her life. She died in a mental institution. It is quite possible the original script called for the movie to follow the real life ending. However, the audience was known to be a sucker for happy endings. It was changed as a result. It will probably never be known what the real Anna's feelings were concerning her captivity with Native Americans, though it has been said she stated she should never have been found. That implies her second set of captors treated her well. I hope you enjoy this fic. Constructive criticism is welcome.
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Prologue
Fourteen months had passed since Anna left Daniel and reunited with Tokalah. He took her to his village after they rested for the night in a secluded area. She was welcomed back by her former captors. She met Kami Milla's older sister, Kihi, and her husband, Mato, as well as Manippi's older brother, Nuwe, and his wife, Ohola. She learned the women's siblings were from another village and had left their original home with their spouses years ago. They returned and brought other Lakota with them to rebuild their numbers after Tokalah contacted them for help. The late Luta's son, Ope, had taken over as chief of the village.
Anna feared Mato, Kihi, Nuwe, and Ohola would blame her for George's attack and destruction of the village's previous location. She was surprised to learn they bore no ill will toward her whatsoever. She even found they had learned English from Cetan, who was the happiest of the Lakota to see her besides Tokalah. He had managed to go to her for a hug using a staff Ope had given him due to his injured right leg. She became friends with the quartet quickly and impressed them with her knowledge of Lakota life. She moved in with Tokalah in his teepee. She spent the majority of her time with him as she had missed him so much.
A week later, Tokalah and Anna learned they were expecting their first child. They were very shocked. She had a flashback to their passionate night on the plains. She concluded that was when they conceived their baby. She had been with Daniel for two months before she fled from him. She felt lucky she did not show any pregnancy symptoms during that time as she knew he would have been furious to know the baby was not his. They became happy about it once the shock wore off. The rest of the village expressed their happiness when they announced the news.
Tokalah and Anna took a walk together that afternoon. He asked her to marry him. She was shocked at his proposal. He told her they could have a wedding much like the one she had with Daniel, including exchanging vows. She would wear a white version of the Lakota outfit she normally wore. She agreed on one condition. They had to recite the vows in his language. He had no problem with that. They announced their intent to marry much to everyone's delight. Cetan was the happiest for the couple. They married the following morning with the entire village present. They spent their wedding night on the plains. They considered it even better than their first night together.
Stewart and Sarah went to visit Daniel on his farm the following morning. Daniel had been depressed since Anna left him. He wouldn't leave it unless it was to go into town to get supplies, including medicine. Sarah tried to get him to attend her wedding to Louis Charleston as it was in three weeks, but he politely turned her down. He got angry when she told him he couldn't keep going like he was. He expressed remorse and apologized. She accidentally let it slip on how she encouraged Anna to leave him. He became outraged and grabbed her by her arms. She cried that he was hurting him. Stewart made him let her go. He told Daniel it was a mistake for him to marry his sister. He attempted to get him to let her go, but Daniel told him he was not divorcing her.
Sarah mentioned she thought Tokalah was more of a man than Daniel could ever hope to be and that she did not fault Anna for falling in love with him. She may have hated living with the Lakota, but she had respect for them as they taught her not to take things for granted again. Stewart told him he was cutting ties with him, as did she. They did not want to be associated with someone who revealed himself to be cruel and selfish. They left the farm. She apologized for what she said. He did not fault her for it. He revealed he was giving up preaching, so he could be an adventurer as he felt civilization was too confining for him. She asked him if he could still officiate her and Louis's wedding. He agreed to do so.
Daniel went to Fort Hays and encountered George playing poker with three of his soldiers in the saloon two days later. He witnessed him winning his fourth game much to their annoyance. The soldiers decided to stop playing and went to get drinks. Daniel sat with George and explained to him about what Anna did. He asked him for his help to find her again. George agreed to this. Daniel wondered if Robert would be willing to help with the search like he did last time. George said he would talk with him about it.
Louis and Sarah married in Stewart's church three weeks later. Stewart announced to the guests he was stepping down as preacher and would be exploring the plains for a while. They were saddened at the announcement, but they wished him well. Louis and Sarah left for St. Louis not long after. Ian Garvey decided to join Stewart on his journey. He had been friends with him and Anna for years. He believed she did the right thing leaving Daniel to return to the Lakota. After all, he had heard stories of whites being captured by Native Americans and treated better than they were by their own families in which they returned to them after they were brought back home.
Over the next five months, George, Robert, Daniel, Bloody Knife, and a band of soldiers searched the plains for Anna. They found no trace of her or the Lakota much to Daniel's frustration. When George and Robert announced they needed to suspend the search until spring due to winter approaching, the farmer did not object this time. He was still determined to find her and bring her home. He wanted to make her see she belonged with him, despite she left him without a word.
Anna gave birth to a girl she and Tokalah named Maste two months later. It meant sunny in Lakota. They saw her as the sunshine in their lives. Cetan enjoyed babysitting her whenever her parents needed to have time to themselves. The only thing he didn't like was her drooling and spitting up on him. His leg was fully healed by this time. He could walk with no trouble whatsoever. He did have some reservations about his scars as several young warriors teased him about them.
George, Robert, Bloody Knife, and Daniel resumed the search for Anna three months later. They were still having a difficult time finding her. Daniel began to become obsessed with the search. He suggested they continue it, even if it got very hot as it often did during the summer. This concerned Robert and Bloody Knife, but George vowed to continue on. However, the general said the search would have to be suspended if drought set in or the heat got too intense for everyone, especially the horses. Daniel agreed to this, though it was reluctantly.
When Maste was five months old, Tokalah and Anna discussed having another child. They thought the idea of her having a sibling was a great one as she could be a big help to them. Cetan told them jokingly he would have to deal with two droolers and spitters. He was growing into a fine warrior. He even managed to kill a subadult pronghorn under Mato's instruction. He hoped to progress to killing buffalo in the near future.
Louis announced to Sarah that his boss had granted him an eight-week vacation a month later. This delighted her so much. He suggested they spend a bit of it camping in Kansas. She agreed to do so as he had taken her to farms outside of St. Louis in hopes of accustoming her to wide open spaces again over the past year. She had grown to love them. She said it was a good time as the weather had been unusually balmy for much of the summer. They knew it could get very hot without warning.
Louis and Sarah left for Kansas by wagon the following morning. They reached the plains within two-and-a-half weeks. They found themselves in Native American territory, but they were not afraid of being attacked as he had stockpiled ammunition and rifles before they left. They loved every minute of camping under the sun and stars. Little did they know they were in the vicinity of the Lakota village Anna was currently living in.