For better, for worse
An introduction

Perhaps for the first time in her life, Maria von Trapp found herself wondering just when things had all gone wrong…completely wrong. She had suffered through endless hardships and wicked terrors as a child, and yet, during those more tender years, she had always held tightly to an innate sense of optimism; openly setting her heart on the belief that there was a plan for her, and that one day she would find herself at a place of peace within the world.
After the faithful summer of 1938, she found that her hopefulness had finally been gratified when she took the name of Captain von Trapp, the day she became a wife, mother and baroness was the very same day that she was sure she'd found her place of loving amity. And whilst she wasn't one to really indulge in such fancies – preferring to focus on the needs of her family or whatever task was next to come – she did allow herself to bask, just for a little while, in all that she had been blessed with. Then, like the breath of the wind, the Anschluss came swooping in, and Maria found herself on trial yet again.

But she was not alone this time; she had her family, and she knew that the strength and intricacies of their bond would carry them through all manner of hardships; and for a while, they did. It had been more daunting, more terrifying than anything else they'd ever known; but the resilience that grew from their camaraderie carried them through grueling days of being on the run and endless nights of rest in places that offered little safety nor refuge. And whilst it was most certainly the combined spirit of all nine von Trapps that allowed them to climb and claw their way across the border – and into the awaiting arms of their new life – Maria knew that the unwavering strength and admirable bravery of her husband had truly been at the heart of the operation. Had it not been for his steely determination to protect his family at all costs, she was unsure if they'd be as safe as they were now.

And yet, in spite of all of this, she found her heart grew heavy – and he her chest tight – at the thought of her husband. It shouldn't have been this way, and yet it was. They had barely spoken to each other in the past couple of weeks, in fact, she wasn't even sure what the last thing she said to him was; and whenever they looked at each other, it would only be a second later that one of them would turn away with a scoff or flare of the nostrils. It was horrific. At some point they had grown apart from each other – in a time when unity was vital – and now, she could see no more of the man she fell in love with. Now she shared a bed with a stranger. And it broke her heart.

When they had wed, she had been so certain that their love could withstand anything, and over the course of their honeymoon, Georg had showed her – in so very many ways – just how much he loved her, had made her feel like she was the only woman in the world and that he would follow her to the ends of the Earth…now he seemed to be walking away. He was cold now, a shadowy man who seemed so distant from the elements of the world, from his family and his wife. No one could even claim that he had become the man he was when his first wife had died, for now, Maria was sure that he had become worse than that; beastly, withdrawn and heart-wrenchingly stoic. At least his previously dark behaviour had been a reaction to grief, this, well, she didn't know where this had come from, but if the was a reason, he had made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to tell her. But he had assured her through gritted teeth that nothing was amiss – a blatant lie that had come to life when she noticed that he could neither look at nor touch her without something dark clouding over his eyes. Something she didn't recognise, but instinctively knew that it could break them if it so pleased.

No longer did they speak softly in the evenings, reminisce over fond memories or hum that they loved each other through panted breaths and stolen kisses; now, if they spoke at all, it was through sharp comments, aggravated offences or blackened arguments. No longer did they catch each other's eye and become oblivious to the rest of the world around them; now, they did all that they could to pretend the other didn't exist. Now, they were no longer Maria and Georg von Trapp, two people madly in love and surviving every hurdle thrown their way; now, they seemed to be little more than two people who wore their wedding rings for propriety and for the sake of their children.

So, as she cried soft and private tears, Maria finally allowed herself to analyse all that had happened since the Anschluss, every detail, spoken world and executed plan, everything that led them to where they were now; and after what seemed like hours of hopeless investigation, she finally stumbled across a correlation that lay deep within her memories, something that could be the very root of their crumbling marriage: their arrival in England.

Author's notes: Hello, everyone! So I'm back with my newest multi-chapter story. I'm afraid that the next chapter will contain a fair bit of set-up (which I couldn't really avoid, I'm afraid) but after that, it'll get going. My plan for this one is a lot more vague than, for example, Better than a dream, but I do know the main premise. That being said, I am open to suggestions!

I've taken a lot of inspirations like this, mostly a desire to be more like some of my favourite TSOM fanfiction writers (Warmwoollenmittens, augiesannie, INeverExplainAnything, bloomandgrow, thoroughlymodernjulie IDontKnowYourSignal and Bellarsam Chrisjulitte - just to name a few), and a desire to write something I can really be proud of, something with a really compelling story, you know? I think that achieving this will be difficult for me, since I always end up hating everything I write, but I truly hope that this story can, at the very least, be a stepping stone.
But, more importantly, I really hope that you all enjoy it!

Oh! And Downton Abbey has and will be a big inspiration for this too!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this 'introduction' chapter. The next one will divulge some of the story, but since it still contains a lot of set up, I have so far listed it as a prologue; moreover, it is already written, so I'll post it soon.

Thank you all!