A/N - Oh well. . .this is it, the final chapter of my story, unless anyone has any ideas that make me think otherwise. Please enjoy!

The Captain of her Heart

When Georg finally rejoined Max, he was bowled over by the spectacle that greeted him and wondered how he hadn't noticed what was being set up before. He had obviously been too distracted by his heart to heart with Elsa and he recalled that she HAD turned him around to face the statues. . .strategically, it seemed. Georg gaped in utter disbelief at the four musicians now sat upon chairs in the middle of the snow-covered courtyard. It was a string quartet and they were starting to play a melody that occupied a special spot in his heart. He flicked his eyes around in search of Maria and spotted her dancing with Kurt a few yards away.

Elsa tapped Georg upon the shoulder before he could move his feet though and he twirled to face her. "I always felt guilty about interrupting your Ländler with Maria. It should've been your perfect moment. . .and now it still can be. This is the final gift to you. . .from me, your Secret Santa. Happy Christmas. . .friend!" she stated with a soft smile and kissed his cheek.

"Merry Christmas. . .friend," he muttered.

Georg was choked up, but managed to thank Elsa before she sauntered over to Pascal, linking her arm through his and looking happier than she had in a long time.

Then Max stepped forward. "One more thing. . .just before you go and join Maria. . .you won our little wager, so here are a pair of tickets for the concert. There's an extra one, courtesy of Santa's 'Head Elf', in case you want to take someone special. I'll book a hotel of your choice and pay for it, once you two sort out the. . .ah. . .arrangements," he offered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Georg rolled his eyes, but laughed as he took the two tickets and stored them in his inside pocket. He thanked Max, gave him a brotherly hug and eagerly approached Maria and Kurt.

"Do allow me, will you?"

"Hhmm," Kurt nodded and went to stand by Elsa and Pascal.

Maria raised her hand to allow Georg to claim it and the couple promenaded side by side. They moved in a straight line and in rhythm with the music, but turned slightly, every so often, to make eye contact. Then, facing one another and with both hands joining, they took some steps in the opposite direction, interspersed with hopping motions, before he held her hand aloft and twirled her around a few times. Georg was utterly entranced as he watched Maria turning; she was as graceful as a ballerina in a musical box to his way of thinking and twice as delicate.

As the dance wore on, the pair stood eye to eye with their arms entwined and they circled around each other, sharing a shy smile as they did so. It was just like when they'd first done the Ländler together. Then, after completing a series of nimble pirouettes around the square, Georg grudgingly spun Maria away from him. With his hands at shoulder height, he clapped and stamped his foot down strongly to the beat, almost as though he was demanding her attention right back on him. Meanwhile, Georg treated his eyes to the sweet sight of Maria's figure; he inspected every inviting inch of her meticulously, as she hitched up her dress and pranced around him, blissfully unaware of the attention he was paying to her now exposed calves.

Once the more carnal chapter of the dance commenced, Georg and Maria felt their temperatures rising despite the winter weather conditions. The was no disguising the desire present in their eyes and they ironically wondered why the stifling heat engulfing their bodies wasn't melting the snow. He grasped her hand from over his shoulder and manoeuvred her in front of him again. Then he pulled her close. . .into what was a submissive dancing position; one of Maria's hands was trapped above her head by Georg's and he wrapped his other hand around her waist and behind her back to restrain her second hand there. He had her exactly where he wanted her. He held her captive. . .not only with his body, but with his soul too as he stared deep into her eyes while they enacted the final few seductive spins of the dance. Only when there were no more steps left to perform did they freeze like musical statues, but this was no mere children's game. . .on the contrary, this was the racy prelude to a kiss.

The musicians continued to play, but in a muted tone as Georg and Maria stood transfixed and remained suspended in their last dancing pose. For long moments, neither of them moved a muscle and their awareness of the world around them was clouded. Georg's mind, as usual, had been easily enslaved by Maria's beckoning, blue eyes and vice versa. . .with only one inevitable outcome. He slowly inched his lips as close to hers as they could go, without actually touching them, and he paused to breathe in the very air she exhaled, wishing to feel her lifeblood flow through him. Then, when the wait to taste her again became too much to bear, Georg kissed Maria with an impatient urgency.

"ACHEW!"

Georg and Maria reluctantly broke away from the kiss after a minute or two and their mouths dispersed clouds of condensation into the cold night air at a fast rate, while they took some time out to catch their ragged breaths. Their embrace had just been disrupted by a loud sneeze emanating from Kurt, which had provoked strangled sniggers from all the other adults, far off in the background, all amused at the boy's bad timing. Even his father and Maria, who still held each other close, now laughed lightly at the situation.

Once everyone had quietened down though, Georg decided there was only one more thing that could make this moment - this evening - more perfect than it already was, as a thousand-and-one thoughts about Maria were vying to be set free from his head.

Therefore, he framed her face in his hands and spoke his heart, "Maria, when you went away. . .I secretly fell apart. . .thinking I would never see you again and it hurt like hell. I felt so lost. . .alone, cast adrift in the darkness. " Georg paused for a moment and looked down, the bitter taste of painful memories causing his throat to constrict.

Seeing his obvious distress, Maria suddenly felt guilty that she had been the cause of it. "I'm sorry, Georg. . .I-" she began to apologise.

But his head shot back up and he placed a finger over her lips, hastily cutting her off. "No, Maria, you don't understand. The point I'm clumsily trying to make is. . .I'd gladly endure any amount of hardship. . .I'd endure navigating through that darkness a million times over. . .if it meant there was just a chance of me bathing in your celestial light at the end of it. I love you, Fräulein and it's my sincerest wish to never be parted from you again. I want you to marry me. . .uh. . .I ask you to marry me?" Georg implored tenderly and moved his finger from her lips to wipe away the trickle of tears that now ran down her cheek.

Maria smiled and then, with the odd sniffle, said, "I was just as miserable without you in my life and even though there was distance between us. . .you were still the Captain of my heart. I thought of you constantly. I love you too, Georg and yes, a thousand times, yes. I'll marry you."

As her words embraced his ears, Georg could not contain his sense of elation. His heart jumped for joy and he lifted Maria clean off her feet, pressing his lips to hers swiftly as he did. At that moment, Kurt - who had crept closer to the couple to spy on them - started applauding and let out a boisterous, "Hooray! They're getting married!" while the other adults shouted, "Congratulations!" and clapped along with him.

Hearing the commotion, Georg broke away from Maria and settled her gently back on the ground as the couple matched each other, laugh for laugh and blush for blush. He beckoned Kurt to join them and slipped his arm around Maria's waist.

"I think it's high time for us to go home and join the rest of our family for the festivities," Georg suggested and was about to lead his fiancée and his son away until he felt Maria refuse to move.

"Wait a minute," she demanded and raised herself on her tiptoes to whisper in her Captain's ear.

As he listened to her, his lips curled up into a smile of adoration and then he turned to make an announcement, "Maria and myself would like to formally invite you all. . .Max, Elsa, Alese and Pascal. . .to join us for the Christmas period at the villa. It will be a double celebration because we'll be toasting our engagement as well as the birth of our Lord, so we want all of our friends present. . .and Max, of course."

At that, everybody laughed and heartily accepted the invitation, agreeing to arrive at the von Trapp residence before dinnertime on Christmas Eve. Once the arrangements were made, they all started to wander off the courtyard to make their journeys home, but before they did, Max and Elsa shared a hidden high five and a self-satisfied smirk - Mission 'Secret Santa' had most certainly been an overwhelming success.

Maybe one day I'll write about the Christmas the characters spend together. For now though, it's time to box this one off & move onto something different :)