Maria had always loved the outdoors. Ever since she was a child, the natural world had managed to soothe her mind. But not this time. Walking around the grounds of the von Trapp villa, it seemed that the ache in Maria's heart had only intensified.

She had been sent back here to find out if her life with Captain von Trapp was meant to be. But it wasn't. She hadn't been back for five minutes when the children had informed her of their father's engagement to Baroness Shraeder.

And it was at that moment that Maria knew that what the Baroness had said on the night of the party had been the truth. There was no way to stop it. She did love him. She was hopelessly, uncontrollably in love with the Captain. And she had only realised it at the moment it became obvious that he would never be hers.

Georg walked out onto the terrace. He needed a breath of fresh air. In truth he actually just wanted to get away from the chatter taking place in the parlour. Elsa was talking nineteen to the dozen about wedding preparations and Max wasn't being a help either. Georg felt like it was all too much and he had to get away.

He looked out across the grounds and out over the lake. And then he saw her. Maria. She was walking silently around the gardens. No, she was gliding. Gliding softly and slowly and could it be...sadly? He had known for a long time now that he was in love with her, but he hadn't admitted it to himself until this afternoon, when she had arrived back from the Abbey. And now he was trapped in an engagement with Elsa when the woman of his dreams was right there in front of him.

'She's wearing the blue dress,' he noticed. That beautiful, blue dress she had worn the night of the puppet show. The night he sang Edelweiss. But then Georg saw how sad she looked. He had never seen Maria look like this before. She had always been independent and strong-willed and confident. Now she looked sad and broken, like a fallen angel.

'What will my future be?' he wondered. But as he said those words in his mind, he knew. He had to break it off with Elsa, before it was too late. He loved Maria too much.

Though she had no experience with the world of love, Maria knew what she was feeling at the moment must be heartache. What she was feeling for the Captain was no mere schoolgirl crush. Knowing she could never be with him was agony.

She sat down on one of the stone benches outside the gazebo. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, lost in thought, when a voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Hello."

She looked up to find the Captain standing in front of her. 'Why is he coming to see me?' she wondered to herself. 'I have no business here now. He of all people must know that.'

"I thought I just might find you here," he continued. If she didn't know any better, Maria would have said he was trying to sound casual. She eased her hands off from where they were clenched around the bench and stood up to face him.

"Was there something you wanted?" she asked cautiously.

Georg thought his heart would break seeing her like this. He knew he needed to take things delicately, so he didn't scare her. She already looked so fragile at the moment. "No, no, no. Sit down, please," he gestured to the bench. When she didn't move, he repeated the word, more gently this time. "Please."

She sat down carefully, but she didn't relax, Georg noticed. Her back stayed ramrod straight and her hands automatically clutched the edge of the bench again.

'She's not making this easy for me,' Georg thought. Instead he asked her if he could join her on the bench. Without waiting for a response he sat down opposite her, but then suddenly realised he had no idea how to proceed with the conversation.

"You know, I was thinking and I was wondering two things," he stammered. God, he had never felt this way around women since the first little while after he had met Agathe. "Why did you run away to the abbey? And what was it that made you come back?"

Maria didn't know how to respond to a question like that. The Captain was going to marry the Baroness and she would be back at the Abbey by the end of the summer, just like it was all originally planned. So why was he here asking her about her reasons behind leaving and returning?

In the end she decided honesty was the best policy, but given the circumstances she couldn't tell him the complete truth.

"Well, I had an obligation to fulfil. . .and I came back to fulfil it," she said simply.

"Is that all?" Georg asked.

"And I missed the children," she replied vaguely, not wanting to release any of the emotions she felt for him as she spoke.

"Only the children?" Georg enquired. He was sure this was not Maria's entire answer. He had seen the way she had looked at him when they were dancing the Laendler, and then again this afternoon when she first arrived back. He knew she loved his children, but unless he was madly mistaken, she loved him too.

And despite what Maria intended about hiding her emotions towards the Captain, her mind seemed to be subconsciously screaming at her to tell the Captain the truth. "No," she whispered.

It was barely audible but Georg had heard it. Clearly Maria had heard it too, because almost instantaneously, she corrected her mistake. "Yes. Isn't it right I should've missed them?"

Georg's heart had soared when he heard her words. There was actually a possibility that the feelings he felt for her were mutual. "Oh yes, yes of course," he replied, in a slightly more cheerful tone.

However, just because she'd proved (even if only accidentally) that she may love him, that didn't mean she would stay indefinitely. He was going to have to work a little harder. But once again, he found he didn't know exactly what he should ask her.

"I was, uh, only hoping that perhaps you…perhaps you might, uh…" he was stammering again. 'How do I make her stay,' Georg asked himself. 'And not just for the summer. Forever.'

Just like Georg had never seen Maria act like this before tonight, Maria had never seen the Captain act this way before. Regardless of what was happening between him and the Baroness, she cared deeply about him.

"Yes?" she asked simply.

"Well, uh…nothing was the same when you were away…" he began, looking out towards the lake so he didn't have to meet her eyes "and it'll be all wrong again after you leave…and I just thought perhaps you might, uh…change your mind?" After he'd finished talking, Georg turned his gaze back to her, trying to analyse her reaction.

Maria's head drooped, but even that didn't get the separation from the Captain that she wanted, so she stood up off the bench and walked towards the gazebo. "I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you," she said, biting to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

'Am I losing her again?" Georg wondered as he saw her walk away slow. 'No! I can't let that happen.' Taking a deep breath, he did the only thing he could think of; the only thing guaranteed to make her pause.

"Maria," he said. As he expected, it stopped her in her tracks. She had never heard him call her by her name before and just like she had earlier on in the evening, she began questioning what the Captain was doing.

"There isn't going to be any Baroness," Georg continued.

"There isn't?" Maria asked. She was becoming more puzzled every time the Captain opened his mouth. "I don't understand."

"Well, we've called off our engagement, you see," Georg said, standing up and falling into step beside Maria.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said quietly.

As they reached the edge of the gazebo, Georg registered what she had said. "You are?" he asked her.

Now it was Maria's turn to be surprised. Rather than answering the Captain's question, she turned around to face him. "You did?" she asked quietly.

Georg nodded as he crossed to the inside of the gazebo. "Well you can't marry someone when you're...in love with someone else," he asked, turning his head back to look Maria in the eye. "Can you?"

Maria's spirit had been lifted when the Captain announced that he'd broken off his engagement to Baroness Shraeder, but the effect was nothing compared to what she felt after hearing those words. Paralysed with disbelief, all she could do was shake her head slightly in response and remain still as Georg cupped her cheek and drew their faces closer together.

Although Georg gave her plenty of time to resist, Maria couldn't pull away even if she wanted to. She let her eyelids close slowly and soon all she could feel were his lips on hers. She had never known life could feel like this; she had never expected to fall in love. Dancing the Laendler with the Captain she had felt like she was floating on clouds, but that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. She let the butterflies in her stomach take flight and slowly, slowly, began to return the kiss.

Georg knew he couldn't rush things, but his mouth pressed lightly against hers was enough to satisfy him for the moment. As their lips parted and their eyes opened, he nuzzled her forehead and let her lean in and rest against him and stroked the back of her neck.

"The Reverend Mother always says: 'When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.'" Maria murmured into his shoulder.

Smiling, Georg took her head in his hands so he could view her entire face. "What else does the Reverend Mother say?" he asked her.

"That you have to look for your life," Maria said softly, her eyes never leaving Georg's face.

Suddenly, it all made sense to Georg. That was why she had felt compelled to return. It seemed that he owed The Reverend Mother a lot. "Is that why you came back?" he asked, even though he was almost positive he knew the answer.

Smiling, Maria closed her eyes and nodded.

"And have you found it...Maria?"

Maria's eyes, brimming with tears of amazement, were still wide with disbelief. "I think I have," she said, but as she gazed into Georg's eyes, seeing pure love reflected in them, there was no doubt that this was the path her life was meant to take. "I know I have."

"I love you,"

Each word the Captain said sent Maria spiralling further and further into a pit of disbelief-filled pleasure. First he had broken off his engagement, then he had kissed her, and now he had said out loud that he loved her. She leaned into him again and he began to kiss her face.

"Oh, can this be happening to me?" she moaned. Part of her wanted to stay here and succumb to these amazing new emotions she was feeling, but the Captain had made her feel things she had never believed it was possible for her to feel and she wanted to return those feelings, so as he continued to sweetly kiss her cheeks, she opened her mouth and began to sing.

As Georg heard the sweet notes leave her mouth, he distanced himself from her and listened fully to her beautiful voice. This was the first time he had heard her sing on her own. Yes, she had sung on the night of the puppet show, but then her voice had been mixed with the childrens'. Now she was singing by herself in the voice of an angel. And knowing that she was singing for him made it sound a thousand times more wonderful to Georg.

Never taking his eyes off her face, he slowly bent down and kissed her hands, where they were clasped tightly onto his in front of his chest, before straightening up again and listening as she finished the song.

Smiling, Georg led her over to the centre of the gazebo. "Do you know when I first started loving you?" he asked her. When she shook her head he answered, "That night at the dinner table when you sat on that ridiculous pinecone."

"What?" she breathed, suddenly feeling compelled to tell him when she had first fallen in love with him. "I knew the first time you blew that silly whistle."

Inwardly, Georg cringed, but he didn't stop smiling. He reached out his hand and gently cupped her cheek. "Oh, my love," he said softly, before letting it fall and start singing her song to her, moving towards her and closing the distance between them.

Overcome with joy, Maria stepped forward and began to sing with the Captain. She leaned in to him and he planted feather light kisses all over her forehead.

As his lips left her face and he pulled his head back so he could gaze into her beautiful, bright eyes. The song continued, and he reached up and playfully touched her nose, savouring the sweet smile, full of love that grew on her face. As the song drew to a close, his arms moved to her back, while hers travelled up and wrapped around his neck.

When the final note left the lips, their mouths joined in another kiss, filled with even more love and passion than their first, though only slightly, as Georg didn't want to rush anything and scare Maria. He knew how inexperienced she was when it can to romance.

"Maria," he murmured, his lips never leaving her face. He was ready. He'd spent far too long agonising over Agathe's death, but standing here, he knew he could take the next step. "Is there anyone I should go to to ask permission to marry you?"

Maria pulled away and stared up at him. Had she heard correctly? 'He wants to marry me?' she asked herself.

But if the Captain really did want to spend the rest of his life with her, she wouldn't object. She loved him too much to refuse. But she didn't have anyone he could possibly go to, so she gave him the only answer she could. "Well, why don't we ask-"

"The children?" he cut her off, having known exactly what she was going to say before the words had left her mouth.

She nodded and they both laughed softly.