Okay, so I'm just going to explain a few things very quickly. Scarlett loses her memory because she is suffering from what is now called, "Dissociative Amnesia." It's extremely rare, it usually occurs when a person suffers from psychological trauma or/and when a person does not deal with their issues. It is usually temporary, but it depends on the person. (Retrieved this information off the internet and through further academic research as of now as well). Anyway, I know it is a very 'soap opera ish' plot device, but I really wanted to write this story anyway ;)

March 1871

A shrill scream rang through the ostentatious mansion, coming from Scarlett's bedroom and causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Rhett was breakfasting with the children early that morning, and when he heard Scarlett's loud shriek, he assumed she was having another one of her reoccurring nightmares, though he thought it strange that she should be suffering from one of them in the morning. He was hesitant to check up on her because they had quarreled viciously the previous day but he could not bear to hear the sound of pain and fear in her voice as she was being chased by her demons, so he decided to go up to her room and wake her.

Scarlett eyes were wide with fear as she clutched the sheets surrounding her, fear paralyzing her. Not only did she not know what she was doing in this unfamiliar room but she also did not remember who she was. She closed her eyes, praying that she would wake from this nightmare and hoping that this overwhelming and sickening panic would evaporate when she opened her eyes again, and then her eyes abruptly flashed open at the creaking sound of the opening bedroom door.

Expecting to find a tossing and turning Scarlett in the midst of a terrible dream, Rhett was stunned to find her staring at him with unequivocal terror in her misty green eyes.

"Scarlett, what's wrong?" he asked, alarm evident in his voice.

He walked towards her slowly and she shrunk away, pulling the covers tightly about her and pressing her back right up against the headboard of the bed.

"Don't touch me! Don't come near me!" she shouted, trembling uncontrollably.

Rhett was shocked, and he stopped in place, barely even nearing the bed. Although they hadn't been on good terms lately, he did not believe that their relationship had deteriorated to the point where she would look at him as if he were a dangerous stranger who'd harm her.

"Scarlett why—" he started then stopped when he saw how she hugged her knees to her chest, burying her face into the covers, sobbing frantically.

He was at a loss of what to do. She clearly did not want him nearing her, but he could not possibly leave her falling to pieces like this. He decided to cautiously walk over to her, treading lightly, though he also did not want to startle her by just suddenly appearing by her side.

"Scarlett, I won't hurt you," he whispered reassuringly, getting closer to her as he spoke, and then finally reaching the bed.

As she continued to weep and mumble unintelligible words into the sheets, Rhett slowly sat on the side and the bed and gently placed a loving hand on her shoulder, but she recoiled from his touch as if he had burned her with his touch.

"Darling, please tell me what's wrong. Do you want me to go get Mammy?"

She remained unresponsive, her eyes locked to the sheets in front of her, and Rhett, now frustrated, did not know what else there was to do if she refused to speak to him.

"Scarlett, look at me," he now said more forcefully.

She lifted her head from her knees to look at him, seeing the deep concern in the unfamiliar man's dark eyes, which was somewhat comforting given the circumstances. Rhett sucked in a deep breath when all he saw in her eyes was fear. He could not even manage to find a glimmer of the woman he'd married in those terrified green depths.

"Who are you?" she asked faintly, tears still spilling down the sides of her ghostly pale cheeks.

Taken aback and stung by her words, Rhett started to panic. This woman was not his wife. He'd seen Scarlett look at him in many ways before, sometimes with gratitude, with friendship, with irritation, or even with hate burning in her eyes, but he'd never seen her looking at him with anxiety, her eyes lost and empty. He couldn't even see her anymore.

"Dear God, Scarlett, do you not recognize me?" he asked anxiously, praying he had misheard though knowing deep down he hadn't.

Rhett didn't know what could have possibly been wrong if she were truly being honest about not knowing who he was. Although she'd gone to bed in a furious rage the night before, she seemed perfectly fine despite their heated argument.

Scarlett was thoroughly terrified. This man obviously knew who she was and she couldn't even recognize him. She tried to wrack her brain to find some memory of this man, of herself, but there was nothing there. It was as if she was searching for something that had vanished or perhaps hadn't ever existed. It was so frustrating and frightening at the same time, and she would have gladly preferred death to the unknown existence she was faced with.

"No, no," she said shaking her head vigorously. "Please tell me what I'm doing here. I can't remember…I can't— please," she cried hysterically, hoping this man would give her the answers she needed.

She covered her face with her hands, crying wildly, and Rhett's heart tightened with pain and worry. She looked like a helplessly lost child, and he did not know how to save her. The only time he'd ever seen Scarlett this vulnerable had been the night they'd escaped Atlanta together. Even then she'd tried to hold herself together as best she could, attempting to put on a brave front, but now all she seemed was defenseless.

Rhett wrapped his arm around her, not caring if she was bothered by his touch because he would not simply stand back and watch her cry, and he murmured into her hair, "It's alright darling, please don't cry, I'll take care of you. I'm going to go fetch a doctor."

Although she was in the arms of a stranger, she was fairly comforted by his soothing tone, and she felt relief at his words. This man was going to take care of things for her. She wasn't all alone.

Rhett waited anxiously with Scarlett for Dr. Meade, hoping he would know what was wrong and how to fix it. When he finally came, he ordered Rhett out of the room so that he could examine Scarlett. He would have never left her alone, but then again he realized that it was not as if he could be of much comfort to her since she did not even know who he was. While they had waited for the doctor, he had tried to fill in a few of the blanks for Scarlett, though he was afraid of frightening her more than she was already or overwhelming her with too much information.

As it was, when he had told Mammy of Scarlett's predicament, she'd gone up to see her, which had only made matters worse because Mammy could not accept that the woman sitting, terrified and confused in the bed, was not the little girl she'd known since birth, was not her lamb. Rhett had angrily sent Mammy out of the room and ordered her to watch over the children while he stayed with Scarlett, though he knew he could not blame Mammy for being upset. He was feeling just as she felt, but he knew he had to keep the façade of a cool demeanor so that they did not cause Scarlett more distress.

Rhett was pacing anxiously out in the hall in front of Scarlett's room, eager to speak to Dr. Meade. Never in his life had he felt this powerless, and it killed him. He desperately wanted to drink himself into a stupor to escape this horrible nightmare, but he managed to restrain himself, knowing he would be no help to his wife if he were intoxicated. When the doctor walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, Rhett was standing in front of him in an instant, his dark eyes hard and demanding.

"Well, what's wrong with her?" Rhett asked roughly.

"Captain Butler, I believe Scarlett is suffering from amnesia."

"What do you mean? That's impossible. She was fine yesterday."

"Has she had a fall of some sort? Is it possible that she has hit her head within the last twenty-four hours?"

"No. She was fine when she went to bed last night. Are you not listening to me? She woke up this way. You must be mistaken," Rhett answered, not even bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.

"I'm sorry, but I am not. I do not know how to explain how it occurred, but she has no recollection of herself, of you, or of her family," the doctor answered, disclosing all he knew of her condition.

"Then what can we do? What's going to bring her back?" Rhett demanded, gripping the lapels of the doctor's jacket angrily.

"There's nothing you can do but wait," Dr. Meade said wearily, for once actually feeling pity for the tormented man in front of him. "She may or may not get her memory back, and I cannot make any estimation of the damage because I do not know what has caused the loss in memory. I suggest you gradually inform her of her past, and hopefully with time she will retrieve most of her memory. She may even regain her identity and her memory by the end of the day, by the end of the week, or by the end of the year, but like I said, we cannot know for certain."

"That's all you can say! There's nothing you or I can do!" he shouted, pushing the doctor out of the way as he walked over to the closed door.

"I'm sorry Captain Butler, but you need to be patient with her. It won't help anything if you try and force her to remember. It would only make matters worse."

Rhett squeezed his hands into hard fists, fighting the urge to strangle the idiot with his bare hands.

"Thank you for all of your help, but I think it is time you left," Rhett said stonily, his eyes boring into his like two dangerous daggers.

Dr. Meade took his leave without another word, Rhett's jeering sarcasm not lost on him, though he had to admit that he could not blame the man for his hostility.

Rhett walked back into the room despairingly, though he tried to mask his feelings once his eyes landed on Scarlett.

"How are you feeling? Was Dr. Meade kind to you?" Rhett asked softly, standing by the side of the bed.

"Yes, he was…fine," she answered, not knowing what else to say.

Rhett did not know how to talk to her or how to treat her. He did not want to act as if she was a stranger, but indeed she was. She was a stranger in his Scarlett's body, and he undoubtedly was a stranger to her as well. The thought of it killed him. He'd been hurt when she'd lain in his arms and pretended as if he were Ashley Wilkes, he'd been cut deeply when she told him she no longer wanted anymore children and banished him from their room, but nothing compared to this pain. Even though they hadn't been on good terms, he at least still had her in his life and still had the hope that she would come to care for him, but what hope was there now if she was gone forever? Rhett shudder at the thought of living the rest of his life without her.

"Would you—er—like to get dressed and come downstairs? I can call a maid for you?"

"I…don't know. Are the children downstairs? If I don't recognize them…well…I don't want to hurt them," she said shyly, looking down at her hands.

Rhett was taken aback by how uncharacteristic a comment this was coming from Scarlett. Even though he was fully aware that she would no longer be the same person, it was still going to be difficult, expecting her to say one thing then getting another.

"They aren't home. I told Mammy to bring them to Melanie's," he said then sighed, realizing she would not know who he was talking about. "Melanie's a family friend, your sister-in-law to be exact. She has a son and our children often visit to go and play with him. Is this too much information, would you rather I slow down?" he asked, unsure of how to proceed.

"No, it's fine. I'm going to have to find out eventually aren't I?"

She was calmer now, resigned to the fact that she'd lost her memory and that she had a family who loved her and who would want her to return to normal, though she was still fearful of what the future would bring. It was going to be stressful, difficult, painful, but she knew she had to try, for them. What other choice did she have anyway? Even if her memory never returned, Rhett was still her husband and she still had children that she would have to mother, even if she did not know them, she would have to get to know them again.

"You said she was my sister in law. How can that be? Is she your sister?"

Rhett silently cursed himself for saying so much. This was not the topic he wished to bring up at the moment.

"No, but we do not need to get into this right now. I don't want to overload you with information."

She began to climb out of bed, feeling stupid for having been in it for so long, given that she wasn't suffering from any physical ailments.

"What else is there to do? Will we make idle chit chat? There are things I want—no need to know, and you are the only person who has the answers."

Rhett ran a hand through his hair, at a loss, and answered, "I suppose. But I won't be answering all of your questions simply because you ask. We need to take it slow. Now would you like me to get you a maid to help you dress?"

"Yes, alright. But not that woman um…Mammy… that was up here before."

"Don't be too hard on her. She loves you and this is a bit of a shock for everyone."

"I know that but I…I just can't deal with disappointing people already. I've barely had a chance to absorb this myself," she said plainly, devoid of emotion.

"I know, I'm sorry," Rhett said softly, looking away.

"Don't apologize to me. This isn't your fault. I should hardly think you should blame yourself for anything."

Uncomfortably he answered, "Yes, well I'll send someone up to you," and then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

She sunk back down to the bed and cried once more into her hands. This was going to so much harder than she'd expected even if she tried her best to hide her emotions and pretend that she would be able to face this challenge head on, but she was still resigned to forbidding herself from to breaking down into tears, even when the task at hand proved to be wearisome.

When she was dressed in one of the plainer pale blue dresses she owned, her hair up in a simple bun, she came down the large staircase to meet Rhett in the dining room, guided by her maid. She couldn't help but think this home was awfully large and extravagant, and she concluded that they must be rich. When she came to sit down at the table, Rhett watched her quizzically.

"Did you choose to wear that dress yourself?" he asked.

She blushed, thinking she'd already made a mistake and he looked apologetically back at her.

"Yes, well, I wanted something simple. I didn't know…do I not like this dress?"

"It's unimportant. You just usually prefer to deviate from what's simple. Really I'm sorry for having said anything. It doesn't matter what you choose to wear. "

"No, it's good that you told me. I'll try to um… well I'll choose something else next time. I need to ask you something actually."

He sighed. "Ask, and I'll see if I should answer you."

"Did you tell the children that I—um , well you know?"

"No. I thought I should wait until you'd seen a doctor. I didn't want to alarm them if we didn't have to."

'No. That's good. I don't think we should tell them at all. They'd be losing their mother and I don't want to do that to them. All you need to do is teach me how to be her, and maybe, you know, one day I'll remember and hopefully they won't even realize the difference."

She looked at him with hopeful eyes, pleading him to agree, and he truly did not know whether or not to give in to her. It would devastate the children if they found out their mother no longer knew who they were, even if she was a distant mother, she was still their mother and they loved her. Perhaps her idea was not so bad. Scarlett hadn't paid much attention to their children so he doubted they would notice a difference in her demeanor towards them, though he would have to be careful about the way he treated her around them because that they would surely notice.

Mammy and the rest of the staff would also have to be very careful in the way they treated her around the children, but he was sure he could persuade them to act as he wished, even Mammy, if he made it clear how important this was. Rhett only prayed that Scarlett's memory did come back because he knew that the charade would probably not be able to go on forever since children always seem to have a way finding out the truth. Wade would probably be the biggest challenge, given he was the eldest child, but he knew that somehow they would manage to keep him in the dark.

"I think that you may be right. It won't be easy, but it's worth a try," Rhett said finally, looking at her from across the table.

"Good. I'm glad you agree. Maybe you should tell me a bit about them so I'm better prepared. I know we have three children together, but you haven't told me what they are like or how old they are."

"Your question does not have a simple answer. For one, we only have one child together, the other two were from your previous marriages," he said hesitantly, not sure if he should continue.

She looked at him with confusion, slight appalled by how she was the one who had been married more than once. "Previous marriages? How many times have I been married?"

"Three times," he answered flatly. "It's a very long story Scarlett, and I don't think that we should go into everything in one day."

She shook her head. "Look, I can handle this, I have to. You need to tell me before the children come home anyhow. Just tell me please. You needn't worry, I'm fine with this."

There was a flint of his Scarlett in her determined words, and he felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe he could bring her back to him if he told her about her life, but he would still go slowly no matter how hard she rushed him. He was not willing to throw away all his chances just because he was so eager for her return or because she eager to pull of this façade of holding it together. He assumed she was clinging to the fact that she needed to keep up the pretenses of the woman she was for the children as some sort of life saving device, and though he was fully willing to let her deny the fact that she was scared because he could still see that terror stricken woman of the morning in her eyes, he would not allow her to make rash decisions or take on too many things at once.