Author's Note: I should have finished this before Christmas, but I didn't. This was only supposed to be a one shot, but I guess its a three shot now. I hope that you enjoyed it!

Days had passed without Rhett acknowledging his encounter with his wife's former husband, but the words had certainly found their aim. He mulled over the words spoken on that desolate hill over looking the sea, even though he would have liked to completely blot out the experience. He would have drowned those images with as much liquor as could sink a ship. But it failed to dull those memories, instead when he was at his most sodden, it was as though he was once again surrounded by a ghostly mist. He could almost still smell that fetid odor of Frank's rotting corpse and feel strength of his hand.

Eventually, even as stubborn as he was, he could no longer fight against fate. After he decided on a direction, it took days to travel from the shore to Dublin, and then several more days until he was able to secure a passage on a ship heading back to America. Something about being on the water made his senses honed and more alert. Perhaps the legends of the god of the seas were true, perhaps he had descended from Poseidon, perhaps he was a demi-god, God knows that he would like to be able to claim anyone else as his father than the man who had blotted him from the family Bible and expunged his name from the Butler ranks. He drew his strength from the water, just as Scarlett drew hers from the red earth of Tara.

He didn't know how to explain his return to either Scarlett or the children, least of all the rest of Atlanta, and he certainly didn't want to be taken as having lost his mind. But with a singular purpose he knew that he needed to return home to his wife and her children. No, he corrected himself, they were his children, and it was unfair the way that he had turned his back on them.

After traveling by boat for weeks and then by train overnight, he finally arrived in Atlanta. The train schedules were far more reliable now than they had been during the war and immediately following it, but delays were common, resulting in a much later arrival than he had intended. His plan had been to be sitting in the parlor when the children awakened, but instead he stealthily entered the house and found them in the dining room, obviously already too late to be there for the moment that they awakened..

Ella was overjoyed to see him, Wade was hesitant, and Scarlett looked shocked and afraid. "I apologize for my delayed arrival," he offered as he slipped into his usual seat opposite his wife , which was vacant after pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I was overseas, and it took me longer to return than I had anticipated."

Ella leapt from her chair and threw her arms around his neck. "Uncle Rhett, I missed you so much. You were gone an awfully long time, and I don't like it when you go away." She finished her welcome with a pout that would put her mother to shame, for despite the differences, Rhett saw so much of his wife and daughter in Ella.

"I missed you, too!" He returned her hug with a tweak of her nose. "And you too, Wade."

Wade nodded solemnly.

Scarlett said nothing, wrapping herself in silence, although he couldn't tell surprisingly if it was anger or shock. They stared at each awkwardly, the faint clinking of silverware stirring tea and scrapping plates, as the children rushed to consume their breakfasts in order to begin playing with their new toys. Ella took the silence as an opportunity to detail the family's activities since the beginning of his absence in rich detail. "Momma sent for us, but you were already gone before we got home from Marietta. And, Aunt Melanie went to heaven. And we went to Tara, and Wade kissed a girl. My cousin Susie isn't very nice, and she got mud all over my dress, on purpose, so Wade helped me put a dead snake in her bed. and we went to the park when we got back to Atlanta and there was a nice lady there with lots of dogs, and I got to play with the cutest puppy..." Ella was also the only one oblivious to the tension that crackled through the air, like the summer sky before the first crack of lightning.

Finally Wade set down his fork, "Mother, may I please go see Beau? I promised him that I would show him what I got as soon as we were done with breakfast." His brown eyes stared at his mother hopefully, waiting for acknowledgment of his request.

"Oh, mother, can't I please go, too?" She glanced at Wade who grimaced at the thought of his tag-along little sister, but it was Christmas after all, so he shrugged his shoulders in surrender. Ella grinned and chirped, "I'll hurry back!" She bounced about in her seat, her ceaseless energy radiating from her.

Rhett chuckled at her quick defection, was his return already losing its excitement? But he knew that the day would be filled with plenty of time to spend with each of them, and so he turned to Scarlett for her answer, ready to agree to the children's plans, if Scarlett would refuse.

But she nodded slowly at the children, her eyes averted to her plate, refusing to meet his eyes again. He observed as she pushed the food around on her plate trying to carefully conceal her obvious discomfort. The children both carefully laid their silverware and napkins on their plates, and quickly rushed upstairs to get ready for the day. After all, they couldn't go the to the Wilkes' in their night clothes. Their laughter echoed through the house as they rushed to share their bounty.

Once they were out of sight, Rhett rose from his chair and knelt on the floor beside Scarlett's position at the end of the table. "Scarlett, look at me," he commanded with a gentle firmness.

She refused, her jaw tense, as she continued to fidget with her plate.

"I was an ass," at this admission, she snorted derisively, but he continued. "I apologize. But you aren't going to get some flowery speech from me." Rhett leaned forward and dropped a soft, questioning kiss on her mouth.

She gasped, her eyes opening and finally meeting his again. He dropped another quick kiss, his kisses had always been far more persuasive than any words he could muster. She instinctively leaned towards him, advancing his gesture.

"ahh-hmm" Wade voiced from the hallway. "I'll be going now." His cheeks were red with embarrassment, for he had just caught his parents in as a compromising position as he dared himself to think. But his eyes twinkled in amusement, for they both looked at him in horror. Ella darted into the room, swinging her arms around her step father. "I'll be back soon." She turned to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, mother! Thank you!" And as quickly as she had slipped into the room, she was gone with Wade at her heels.

Rhett rose and offered a hand to his wife. "I'm sorry, I've been remiss in my role as your husband." She hesitated for a moment, but then rose and reached for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She stared at him warily, but he did not pull away. Green opened to darkness, and he gently swooped his lips down on hers once more, gentle fleeting kisses that slowly drew her to him, calling back to kisses that they had both nearly forgotten.

"Rhett," Scarlett breathed, her voice faint. "I don't understand. Didn't you say that your love had worn out?" She asked hesitantly, afraid that her very question would cause the moment to evaporate as quickly as it had appeared.

"I was wrong," he muttered.

She blinked in confusion, for surely those words could not come from the mouth of Rhett Butler. "Excuse me?"

He glowered at her, "I. WAS. WRONG."

She beamed at him, her eyes lighting with mirth. "Those are words that I never thought would escape from your mouth."

"And you never will again. Take that as your Christmas present." he added.

"So you love me?" She asked hopefully, her hand resting on his chest. He nodded his assent. "Are you home for good?" Again he nodded. She reached up and kissed him shyly. "I'm glad."

He deepened the kiss; his fingers threading through her hair. "It was so nice of you to come down to open presents in your nightgown for me. Should I take that as your gift to me?" He began fiddling with the ties of her wrapper.

She slapped his hands away, "No, you skunk. I actually did get you something for Christmas. And besides anyone could walk in here." She pushed away from him, and moved towards the parlor as he trailed behind her. She led him to the tree, where a small package was nestled in the branches.

He watched her face and reached for the gift. It was less than six inches in each direction, and Scarlett had obviously wrapped it with care. He pulled at the blue ribbon, which easily fell away. He carefully tore at the paper, and opened the box. Inside was a small pillow with crudely stitched words, some of the letters were backwards, obviously the work of a child. "I love you" was clearly the intended message. He looked up at Scarlett, unsure of exactly what this gift meant,

"Bonnie made this. Melanie helped her. She wanted to surprise you. I… I didn't know what to get you, but before I left for Marietta, Melanie brought it to me. She thought that I would want it, but I wanted you to have it more. I thought you needed something to hold on to…." she finished awkwardly.

Tears pricked at his eyes, "Thank you, Scarlett. I can't imagine anything better. I have no words." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his handkerchief, "but we both might be needing this."

"My gift to you is nothing in comparison." He went to hallway and retrieved two boxes from beside the door. He first handed her a large box. She opened it slowly and found a pile of beautiful wool tartan plaid. "It's supposed to be the O'Hara plaid. I was in Ireland, and everywhere I looked, all of the colors I saw were the color of your eyes." She smiled at him and thanked him. He handed her another box, this one much smaller. Inside the box she found a brilliant sapphire on a golden angel, delicately designed as a pin. "I wanted to give you something of Bonnie." He kept his words few as she nodded at him with teary eyes.

"Thank you, Rhett." She brushed at a tear streaking across her face. "I miss her."

Rhett wrapped his arms around her. "I miss her, too." They stood in companionable silence, for a moment sharing their grief, as they should have shared it from the beginning.

"Rhett, what made you come home? I'm not complaining, but you're so different than you were back in September."

He chuckled, "you'd never believe me, my pet. You'd think I'd gone mad and belonged in an asylum. Let's just say that I needed reminded of my promises to you, and someone had to make me see that I was making a mistake." His neck hairs stood on end as a breeze blew across his neck, although Scarlett seemed completely unaffected, but he understood, he knew that he was being watched with eyes of mist and glowing coals. And those eyes would not hesitate to remind him.

The End