A/N: I just couldn't help myself.
I just couldn't.
So much for my one shot ...

My dear friend Luis,

I arrived in Atlanta a couple of hours ago.
Needless to say nothing happened as I had planned, but that was to be expected with Scarlett …

*-*-*-*-*

After Luis had won the poker game, and several more, he offered Rhett a cigar and served him a, more than generous, glass of cognac that he must have won off of a French colonizer.

With the help of at least two dozens glasses of cognac, Luis and Rhett had went from being complete strangers to becoming best friends in the time span of one afternoon.

Luis told him about his beautiful wife, Julia, who's real name in fact was actually Bonnie, which lead Rhett to talk about his own, darling, little Bonnie.

The subject of conversation then derived from little Bonnie to her mother, Scarlett. Rhett confessed to having been completely intrigued by her when they first met, but that the intrigue had soon lead him to falling head over heels in love with her during the Atlanta bazaar.

Luis also admitted that the minute he met Julia -she would forever and always be Julia to him, he had found her absolutely fascinating, and had very quickly fallen madly in love with her.

Rhett shared the story of the time he and Scarlett had fled Atlanta together, under the Yankee threat, with a young child, a sick woman, an infant and a fearful slave in tow.

Luis mentioned the time when he had thought he had killed his wife's accomplice, and she had sent him to buy train tickets so they could flee the town, and by the time he had got back, she had cleaned up the scene of the crime, and that later on he would find out that he had not, in fact, really killed the man.

Both men then agreed that falling in love with these women had been their biggest mistake ever. It had almost sent one to jail, most probably with a death sentence, and it had nearly caused the other one to drink his life away, one thing was certain, it had both driven them practically insane.

“Why did you stay with her?” Rhett slurred.

“Because I love her, and I knew I would not be able to survive without her. Why didn't you stay with her?” Luis retaliated.

“Because I love her, and I thought my love for her would be the end of me.”

Luis chuckled, “two men, two women, somewhat similar situations, identical motivations, but absolutely different outcomes, life is odd, isn't it Rhett?”

“Yes my friend it absolutely is indeed,” Rhett concurred.

“You should go back to her, my friend,” Luis went on. “Maybe it isn't too late for you.”

“I should go back,” Rhett sighed, the weight of the alcohol weighing heavily on his eyelids.

*-*-*-*-*

As he stepped off the train in Atlanta, he had to shield his eyes from the sun, so as not to be blinded. He looked around and saw no familiar faces. Of course nobody was expecting him, he hadn't set foot in town for a decade, but somewhere deep down in his mind, he had, at least, expected to recognise someone, anyone from his former life, even if that person had been Ashley Wilkes himself.

As he made his way to the place he -once upon a time called home, he took in his surroundings, being back in Atlanta was the strangest thing. Everything seemed different, but nothing had changed, that or everything was the same, but somehow different, he was not sure. It was an odd feeling.

As the carriage pulled up next to the Peach street house, he sighed heavily as he handed the driver his fare, grabbed his case, and walked up the front steps.

Once he was standing outside the door, he wasn't exactly sure of what his next move should be. Should he knock or just walk in?

After all he wasn't even sure Scarlett was still living there. True, he had not received any papers, while he was in Paris, concerning the sale of the House, but he would not put it past Scarlett, to have gone and sold it behind his back in spite.

“What if she actually had left Atlanta?” he panicked. “No, no, no,” he thought, desperately trying to reassure himself. “Atlanta is her home, she has her mills, her store, her entire life, and she would never leave.”

As he was still debating whether to just walk in or knock politely on the door, a voice startled him, “May I help you, sir?”

Rhett spun around, he did not know who was more shocked, himself or the young man standing face to him.

“Wade? Is that you?” Rhett said flabbergasted. The boy, he had entertained as a baby, and been a surrogate father to, was no longer a boy, he had grown into a man. Time had made it even more obvious that he was Charles Hamilton's son; his affiliation could absolutely not be questioned.

As much as he had inherited his father's sweet features, Rhett recognised a light in the young man's eyes as inherited from his mother.

“Uncle - Mr Butler? What on earth are you doing here, sir?” Wade asked him.

“I came to visit your mother; it has been a long time ...”

“A long time indeed,” Wade cut in. “We haven't heard from you in years. Most of us assumed you were dead.”

Rhett was slightly taken aback by the bluntness of the young man's tone; obviously there was more Scarlett in him than a mere glimmer in his eyes. “I know, son. I should have come sooner.”

“Yes, you should have, and I am not your son, you made that crystal clear when you abandoned my mother, my sister and I, and left us without even a letter for over ten years,” Wade stated bitterly.

It was at that moment Rhett realised the extent of his actions. By leaving Atlanta and running away like a coward, he had not only left Scarlett behind; he had also left her children. Children to whom he had promised to take of and treat as if they were his own blood and flesh. He felt a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach, and he looked at Wade remorsefully, “Wade, I am so sorry. I truly am.”

Wade gazed at him unconvinced by the meagre apology. “Mother is probably in the study, stay in the hall, I'll fetch her for you,” he said as he brushed past Rhett and let himself into the house.

Rhett stood in the hall nervously, his heart beat accelerating with every single noise he heard. “This place has not changed a single bit,” he thought.

The same heavy drapes hung next to the stained glass windows, the same rich red carpet covered the massive an imposing staircase. It was as if the house had remained stuck in time.

“Rhett?” a familiar voice asked from behind him.

It was her, the woman he had dreamed of, the woman he had dreaded, the woman who made his heart, body and soul travel through a whirlpool of emotions in less than a minute, it was Scarlett. Time had been very kind to her, and was apparently allowing her to age gracefully. The look in her eyes was softer, more tired perhaps.

The puzzled expression on her face, made him question whether he was welcome or not, especially after Wade's hostile greeting, so he decided to take a more cautious approach with Scarlett.

“I was absolutely certain you were dead,” she said adamantly.

“Unless this is a dream, you can see that you got that one wrong, my dear,” Rhett said, attempting to make a joke and release the pressure that seemed to have risen dangerously in the room.

“You stopped haunting my dreams long ago, Rhett Butler,” she said, with a hint of melancholy clearly audible in her voice. She stared at him like she was visually assessing him for what felt like an eternity, before she asked in an almost whisper, “What in the name of God are you doing here? What possessed you to think that coming back to Atlanta would be anything but a bad idea?”

Rhett looked at her, slightly shocked by her words. “I had to see you,” was all he could manage as he took a bold step forward and closed the distance between them a little more.

“You had to see me? You had to see me” she repeated incredulously.

“Scarlett, I made a mistake,” he continued, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand.

“I can't believe this is happening,” she said, as she stepped back out of his reach. “After all this time, you realised you made a mistake? After disappearing for over ten years, you suddenly realise you made a mistake?”

She looked at him sternly and added, “I don't believe a single word of what you just said.”

“Why would I come back here, and admit that leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life if I didn't mean it, Scarlett! Be reasonable!” he said getting slightly annoyed himself.

“To taunt me, to dangle something I can never have in my face. You have done it before, it wouldn't surprise me if you did it again,” she argued. “Well, it is not going to work Rhett Butler. I am truly and completely over you, just like you stood in this very spot and said you were through with me.”

“Are you saying you want me to leave?” he asked her. “I'll take my bags and go and settle in at the hotel if you want me to.”

“Frankly, to be entirely honest, I don't give a damn what you do,” she spat out, using his own words against him. She turned her back to him before continuing, “But I have managed to redeem myself a little in the eyes of the good people of Atlanta, and I would very much like it to stay that way, and I'm not convinced that banishing you from my home would be the best idea to maintain my reputation.”

She turned around to face him once more as she added, “You can stay in your old room. I'll get Pork to fetch you some linen. Dinner is at seven. Now, if you would please excuse me I have work to do.”

*-*-*-*-*

… So as you see, my friend, nothing went as I thought it would.

It's not as if I expected her to be waiting for me to return with her arms wide open, I have been gone for over a decade, I knew she would be a bit bitter, but she was very clear in stating she was done with me. She even went as far as to quote my last words to her.

Hopefully, things will settle down, and as soon as the storm has passed, we will be able to have a normal adult conversation,

Take care, my friend,

Rhett Butler.

*-*-*-*-*

TBC? You tell me …