Disclaimer: I don't own "Downton Abby." Everything belongs to whoever owns them, my wishful thinking aside.

Authors Note #1: Well, it's been more than a year and my brain finally said, 'hey, you know that random fic we wrote a thousand years ago? Sequel time!' - Sir Anthony is a newly awakened Sentinel: (a person with enhanced senses) And Edith is his newly discovered Guide: (a person that helps a Sentinel control their gifts and keep them from 'zoning' or hyper-focusing on one sense and thus vulnerable.) The connection or bond between a Sentinel and Guide is a soul deep and almost spiritual thing that is generally considered pre-destined. Much like the soul-bond/one-love trope. *In this version Sentinels don't come online until they meet their Guide, the person best suited to help them balance these abilities – essentially the other half of their soul. Neither Sentinel nor Guide can come online until they are at least twenty years of age. So, essentially, when Sir Anthony visits Downton in 1x05, this is the first time an encounter would have resulted in them being matched as Edith is at least twenty years old in 1912.

Disclaimer:Sequel to "Preconceptions (preconceived, prejudice or just plain puzzled)" and takes place almost immediate after that story finished. – Contains: period appropriate behavior/language/thoughts/actions/etc, animal traits/behaviors, romantic intimacy and sensuality.

Resolutions (received, rational and rather rapturous)

Chapter Three

They returned to Downton after their nuptials and an extended period traveling abroad, wholly changed in many respects and much the same in others. They were animated, settled and quite confident in both manner and bearing. Secure and peaceable in each other and the world at large, if the life of a Sentinel and Guide could ever boast such a thing.

The time to get to know each other and navigate their bond had settled them comfortably in an intimate way that many couples were never able to reach. Their affection for each other clear to all that witnessed them together. And indeed, many tried. Despite their absence they were still very much the talk amongst society. Indeed, by the time they came to call on the estate Downton hadn't been so full of guests and laughter in years.

He was speaking to Lady Isobel of their time in Rome when a silent ripple of emotional upset made him look up. Having just enough time to notice Edith angling towards him, to excuse himself and meet her halfway. Ignoring the stares of the others in favor of pressing a chaste kiss into her hair.

It was all rather shockingly public, but he didn't care a wit. Feeling her ruffled feathers sooth themselves somewhat now that they were touching as he escorted her over to the terrace and through the doors onto the garden with the excuse of needing some air.

"What is it, my dear?" he asked softly, pleased when she settled herself in the crook of his arm with thoughtless grace. Allowing him to direct her as they inspected the afternoon blooms.

"I fear I have discovered how terribly shallow the world can be," his wife hummed. Clearly still bothered about whatever had occurred as he vaguely kept up with the whispered conversations going on inside. They were the feature of almost every one. Just as they'd been when they'd arrived. Slightly mollified to hear that the foreign air had apparently 'agreed' with his complexion. "Everyone wants to be around me because of what I am, not who I am."

"Ah," he answered, understanding the dilemma keenly. "We did speak of this when we were away, did we not, my darling? Trust me when I tell you the loss of their company will not affect you in the slightest. We have been given a gift, of sorts. Peoples insincerity and fortitude are open to us now. As upsetting as some of those discoveries can be."

She smiled, wan and slightly tired. Clearly feeling the emotional drain – just as he was – from being around so many people for a prolonged period. They felt it in different ways, to be sure. But the end result was the same. She suffered from emotional fatigue due to her empathetic gifts while he had to be careful not to get over simulated when it came to his senses.

They walked for a while in companionable silence. Fingers laced and exceedingly comfortable just being immersed in one another. The sounds of the estate humming through his senses in a pleasant tide of changeable impressions and rhythms.

"I must confess I had hoped that Mary's upset would temper while we were gone," Edith commented after a time. "Though it seems like it's only worsened. I didn't believe I would ever feel sorry for her in my life, but I find that I do now. Now that I can sense of source of it."

His nose twitched, recalling the ever present metallic scent of tension whenever they were in the same room together.

"Indeed, do wish her and Matthew would get on with it," he groused without heat, mirroring his wife's pity for the would-be couple. "For my sake if nothing else. They set my nerves on edge even when they're yards from each other."

She pealed a laugh, delighted, as her feet skipped down the path. Making him smile all the wider before he cast his senses back towards the main house. Ever watchful. Pleased to overhear the servants idle chatter. And, perhaps more importantly, Thomas' obvious evasion when one of the party-goers inquired where they'd gotten off too. Sending them on what was likely to be a wild goose chase in the complete opposite direction with an audible smirk. He would have to thank the fellow before they left. And indeed, extend an offer of employment to his own house if the man ever chose to leave Downton Abby.

He was aware it was something of a step down as far as prestige went. But Thomas struck him as someone that desired the affluence that came with upward advancement. And by his reckoning, Carson had many more years left to him yet. Thomas, for all his flaws, had proven himself exceeding capable and surprisingly loyal once such bonds had been made and tended. He wished to cultivate that feeling further, if allowed.

Besides, Edith was quite fond of him.

"And you, my dear?" he hazarded. Because altered as he was, he was still himself. Still host to the same weaknesses, the same worries. "Do you believe you've chosen wisely - in spite of everything?"

She frowned, looking up at him as their progress down the path stuttered to a halt.

"Not this again."

"Hear me out darling, he soothed. Well aware he was about to feel the repercussions of his poorly voiced words. Finding it impossible to mitigate the damage despite his long hours of reading and education. Ultimately only adding to it instead as the world curved around them. Knowing better than to track it lest he zone out like he had just hours before the wedding. Brought around by the soothing hum of her voice and the gentle righteousness of her touch as she called him all sorts of a doddering idiot for trying to test his little theory of being able to sense the world's rotation under his feet. "You cannot deny one of us didn't get the better deal."

But she shook her head, determined.

"How so? I have a husband, a good man whom I know inherently. A man that loves me for myself just as much as for my purpose. Who treats me as an equal, a partner in this venture- in this shared future we have together. Do you think so little of yourself to ignore what a rarity that is?" she insisted, eyes wet and voice impassioned as he reeled her in. Needing her close as they embraced in the cooling afternoon sun. Feeling her rouged cheeks rubbing against his overcoat with soothing frequency. Need comfort and giving it all at the same time.

"I would rather be happy for a short time than miserable forever. I'm glad this happened. I don't care how it sounds. I have half a mind to believe that if things were different you would likely leave me at the alter! Out of some bloody noble form of sacrifice no doubt- and...and the thought- it scares the life out of me!" she continued, tone growingly angry like the thought itself was seeped in poison.

And he could feel it, rising like a surge of nausea inside her blood.

Because it was true, of course.

He likely would have.

To save her?

He would do anything.

Especially if it was from himself.

A skiff of early leaves skittered past. Whispering words left unsaid as he sensed a storm building past the horizon. It was barely there, but it was enough for him to take note for when they returned. To inform Carson to be prepared with extra candles if the weather front did indeed manifest itself.

"I would have," he admitted quietly. Weighed down by the crushing arc of a possible future where he'd done exactly that. Watching her through some queer internal mirror as she ran through her family's great halls. White dress swirling. Ripping off her headdress and finery to sob wordlessly into the linens of her childhood bed. "And I would have hated myself for it for the rest of my life."

She snorted. Surprising him enough that he stalled halfway through the next step. The sound absolutely indelicate but undeniably her as she looked up at him fiercely. Hands on her hips.

"Well, bully that," she blustered, looking him right in the eye with a fierce expression. "You are mine, Anthony Strallan. And I mean to keep you. You would do well to remember that!"

He smiled. Ducking his chin into his collar as the fine cotton-down rubbed pleasantly against his chin. Truly, how could he forget?

The kiss they shared afterwards was far fiercer than he could attest to having ever initiated in mixed company. It was something he got caught up in. Seizing her bodily around the waist and crushing her to him - like the softness of rose petals arcing to bloom under the press of a gardener's thumb. Encouraging a growl from him unbidden even as he colored at the slip. Hastening to their rooms to sort themselves out until sometime later when Mr. Bates knocked on the door with a quiet cough. Informing them it was half an hour to supper, in case they'd lost track of time, as Edith muffled laughter into the pillows.

Which, of course they had.

Edith's laughter was a present fixture inside his skin for the rest of the evening.

And naturally, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. – This story is now complete.