A token of honour

Rated: K+
Pairing: Bates/Anna
Disclaimer: So very much not mine. Julian Fellowes wrote Downton Abbey, which is produced by Carnival Films for ITV Network. This disclaimer applies for the whole story.
Spoilers: I recommend you to have seen the first season.
Summary: After the announcement of war a rift is forming between Anna and Mr Bates. Can their united attempts to help another young couple bring them back together and give some perspective to their situation?

Many, many, many thanks to my beta-reader Stuckinpast. Without her, you´d trip over an error every other sentence.

Prologue

It was strange how quickly the world changed once the war was declared to be official. Not at first glance perhaps, not if one only looked casually at the daily routines. Life continued as usual, or so it seemed. Daisy still woke up the female staff of Downton Abbey at six o´ clock sharp. Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson still oversaw the antics of the footmen and maids with their scrutinizing gazes and upstairs life continued as before. Or, at least, as everyone tried so desperately to believe.

But there were changes, however small at first. Thomas left. And perhaps O´Brien was the only one who was sorry to see him go. But not as sorry as she may once have been. Not as sorry as she was about that one small act that had changed so much. To the unobservant eye she carried out her duties as before, unchanged. But something had altered profoundly. It was noticeable in her silence, in the changed tone of her voice when she spoke about her ladyship. It was shown in her very countenance.

Gwen left as well. Excited, nervous, ambitious. Ready to take on her adventure. Ready to embrace her dreams when so many others seemed to shatter on reality. Anna was ever so sorry to see her go. Gwen had been her friend, her companion, her sister almost, ever since she had first come to Downton Abbey as a housemaid of only fifteen years young. Together they had matured, growing from children into adults. Growing from girls into women, leaving much of their naivety behind them, but not their dreams. Never their dreams.

After more than a decade together, Anna was certainly sorry to see Gwen go, sorry to say goodbye to her friend.

But not as sorry as was about the loss of her other friend. To the unobservant eye nothing seemed to have changed in that regard. They still shared an excellent working relationship. They still sat next to each other at every meal. But something had altered profoundly. A rift had risen between them, at first too small to be noticed by either one of them.

Everything between them was said and done. Although both unwilling to be satisfied with current situation, there was nothing at present that could change their predicament. She still loved him. He still believed he wasn´t worthy of her love. He still remained married. He was still haunted by the demons of his past. In a time of change, their situation remained fixed. Like a dead-end alley, like a potted flower, deprived of water and sunlight, slowly left to die.

Gwen´s place was taken by a young girl from a nearby village. Her name was Enid Kirby. She seemed ordinary enough, a pleasant, unaspiring girl. Although she didn´t share the same closeness as she had with Gwen, Anna liked her well enough. Perhaps the fact that Enid´s hopes and dreams lay outside a life of Downton Abbey helped her to remain at that comfortable distance where any feelings could be kept at bay. Enid had a suitor. He was a young man from the village, a servant to the local baker. He and Enid both earned decent wages. They both managed to set aside every penny they could spare. It would take a year at most before they could get married. Their engagement, although not official was as good as. Enid would be gone from Downton too soon for Anna to grow attached to her.

As the months passed by after that significant garden party in August, life downstairs began to change in more noticeable ways. William enlisted for the army, as did Branson and they both left, together with a dozen of the other men. Lord Grantham did not enlist, as he had promised to his wife after his return from the Boer war. But he spend a lot more time in London, offering his service in any way he could. Mr Bates always accompanied him. His enlisting in the army was out of the question, considering the state of his leg. No-one, not even Anna, knew how he felt about this. He kept to himself most of the time, became more quiet, more withdrawn then before.

Matthew Crawley enlisted and went away. His mother remained at Crawley House and visited Downton Abbey regularly. Lady Mary took his departure very hard. She wouldn´t dream of telling anyone of course. But it was evident in small signs. In the long walks she took solitary. In the way she read every bit of news she could find about the war. In the empty cup of tea that could often be found in the kitchen sink, early in the morning.

The winter of 1914 was a long one. There seemed to be no end to the frost and snow. It wasn´t until far into March before the first signs of spring began to show. With the warmer weather, the blossoms in the trees and the flowers finally beginning to sprout, some of darkness and heaviness that had laid as a heavy cloak over Downton Abbey began to lift somewhat. Its inhabitants began to get used to the changes of the past year. As one gets used to anything, even the dread of war. For now all were healthy, safe and alive.