A/N: The response has been fantastic, thank you all so much! I hope you all like this chapter as much, I'm still a bit iffy about the ending, but please let me know what you think.

Eight: She'll Never Be A Nun

The next morning Adda was still in Maria's arms, sleeping soundly after not having woken from another nightmare. Maria found her eyes opening as soon as the sun streamed through that Wednesday morning, having forgotten to close the curtains the night before. Shifting slightly, her arms still around Adda, she smiled down at the girl tenderly. Her heart rejoiced as the memory of Adda opening up to her came to her mind, although also present was a solemn and sombre feeling when she considered all that the little girl had been through.

Shifting onto her side, Maria looked across at Adda and absently lifted her finger to push some of her hair to one side. The girl was still sleeping peacefully after Maria had showered that morning and changed, so Maria found that she had to wake her upon arriving back in her bedroom.

Maria leant across the bed, placing her hand on Adda's shoulder as she whispered slowly, "Adda… Adda, it's time to get up."

Adda shifted and groaned at the thought, the sight of which caused a smile to spread across Maria's lips. After a few moments of nothing, Maria decided that she must again prompt the young girl into waking up, and getting out of bed.

"Come on, up you get!"

With that, Maria took hold of the duvet covers and threw them off Adda. They landed in a crumpled heap on the floor, and Adda seemed to sit up straight away as a result. Her dark brown eyes were tired, but showed some signs of happiness as they were positioned in the direction of her Frau Maria. The two shared a brief smile and a knowing look, before Maria left whilst telling Adda to go and get changed.

After breakfast that morning, Maria had to admit that she was dismayed to still find no response from the Captain – he would usually be prompt and thorough in his responses, and this caused Maria's stomach to flip nervously. Had she written something that had offended him? Screwing up her face in concentration, she could not recall saying anything that would strike her as potentially threatening to their letter correspondence. Perhaps it was something else entirely? Perhaps there was something wrong at home?

But the children had come to visit her yesterday, and none of them had mentioned any fault with their day to day activities. It could be a serious matter, one that the Captain had not mentioned to his children, and therefore there was no way of knowing. That was a reasonable excuse not to write…

Maria shook herself from her reverie. She told herself to stop being silly, and that the Captain would respond when he could. After all, despite being a retired naval hero, he was still a busy man and a prominent member of society, therefore he may not have the time to write meaningless letters to his children's old governess…

Maria shook herself again, telling herself to stop being so negative. She was adamant through her memories that she had not mentioned a thing that could cause a delay in his response, and therefore she would stop thinking about it with such dread. He would respond when he would respond, and she should accept that.

Once all remnants of breakfast had been cleared from the table, Maria led all of the children through into the schoolroom where she decided that morning it would be another mathematics lesson. After announcing her intentions, a series of groans and moans of displeasure was her response, but Maria ignored them. She had to, otherwise the eleven of them would never have a mathematics lesson.

Maria turned around to face the blackboard, writing on it with the chalk.

"Today I think we'll do some percentages."

More groans sounded from behind her. Maria could not stifle a small chuckle to herself as well as a small shake of her head.

"As much as you all hate it," Maria turned to face them all. "It will come in useful."

The looks she received from all ten girls told Maria that her argument had fallen on deaf ears, and that no matter what excuse she managed to muster, it would not change their opinions. Every single one of the girls had an exasperated look across her face, but as soon as Maria made eye contact with them all, a small smile played across each of their lips.

Maria smiled back at each of them, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well, if we do manage to have this mathematics lesson, and if we do put all of ourselves into it, then maybe…" Maria looked around at all the children, smiling a little, waiting for their responses to her suggestion. It seemed that her compromise was, temporarily, working as their eyes lit up in anticipation. "Maybe, we can look at a few story books, or some art work this afternoon."

It seemed that this compromise worked, because all of the children seemed to eagerly get on with their work, and even seemed one hundred percent involved in the lesson. As Maria began explaining how to solve percentage problems, she wrote the solutions on the blackboard, making sure all of the girls were watching.

Once she had finished explaining, Maria turned and attempted to cover the board as much as she could with her body.

"Right! Question time!"

All of the girls looked up at her expectantly.

"Helga," Maria asked first. Providing the girl with a solution to solve, she gave her a warm and encouraging smile when she gave her the right answer, even after a few moments of thought.

Maria then proceeded to ask a few more of the girls: Sophia, Katharina and Theresa. She accommodated the difficulty of the questions to their age and ability, and praised their right answers whilst also taking them through the process of answering when any of them seemed to struggle.

"Adda," Maria spoke up, causing all of the girls to look around at the girl. Maria noticed their reaction, and to put Adda at ease, she moved to stand just in front of her desk, but not too close that it would intimidate her. It was close enough so that Adda could feel safe in answering the question put to her; so that all of her attention was focused on Maria.

Maria smiled at Adda, encouraging her slowly. "I have a box of 60 coloured pencils," she paused, making sure that the girl was keeping up with her. "If 20% of those were blue, how many would that be?"

Maria could see Adda processing all of the information in her head. When the girl eventually looked up, she smiled at her encouragingly.

"Twelve?"

Maria nodded, smiling widely. "Twelve. Well done."

While all of the other children sat at their desks, eyes wide open and their mouths agape in surprise, Maria simply winked at Adda, causing the girl to smile and giggle affectionately.

The rest of the morning passed at a wonderful pace, Adda beginning to interact more and more with the other children – albeit slowly, but it was progress all the same. Now, when Maria would ask any of the children a question, all of them would be able to answer. Although the vibe around the school room had been a positive one even before today, now there seemed to be something different. The various interactions brought something else entirely to the atmosphere, and as Maria sat back against her desk, she smiled out at them all.

As promised, after their lunchtime Maria arranged for them all to read through some stories, mostly fairytales for younger children which their teacher read whilst sat up on her desk. The casual attitude in the classroom brought consistent smiles to the faces of all the children, as Maria found herself noticing as she often glanced up from the hard back.

The children found themselves mesmerised with the way Maria read from the book. Her voice altered in some parts, more often than not to define the characters, and the way her voice lowered in places only dramatised the events proceeding through the story.

When Maria had finished the short story, she looked up at the clock and saw that it was nearing three o'clock that afternoon. Deciding to give all of the children a short break, she announced her intentions to all of them, and none needed asking twice as they headed towards the door and outside.

Only Adda remained. She had stood with the rest of her school friends, but instead was still stood behind her desk. Adda watched Maria with an intensely curious gaze, but both of them were silent for a moment.

Maria broke the silence.

"Is everything all right?"

Adda nodded.

She remained silent as she walked across to the large bookcase, scanning it briefly. Adda ran her finger along the titles, searching for one in particular. When she came across it, she smiled, and brought it out from its place. A triumphant, eager and anticipant look across her facial features, Adda moved across to be closer to Maria, standing only a few paces ahead of her.

As Adda opened the book, Maria noticed the title – it was impossible not to see, it was written so boldly across the front cover and with such fine graphics. A tie then seemed to wrap itself around Maria's heart and tugged at it, as she recalled the moment a while ago when she had tried to prompt Adda into reading from this book. The book she had chosen was Grimm's Fairy Tales and now she was stood in front of her, preparing herself to read from it.

The pride coursing through Maria was one that she could not describe. She assumed it much resembled that of a proud parent after their child had made one of their firsts in life. Maria was not the mother of these children, she knew that, but the attachment she had formed with them over the past few months certainly caused her to be proud of their actions and accomplishments whenever they were to make them.

Adda had opened the book at a random fairytale, and had now begun to read. She was reading to Maria the story of The Golden Bird.

"A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they were about to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone." Adda's voice suited reading extremely well. Her tones almost mimicked those of Maria previously as she had read, and Maria's eyes shone with admiration. "The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree."

Adda continued to read thoroughly, and Maria watched and listened admirably.

"The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o'clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however, at last, he consented, and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch."

Maria continued to listen to Adda as she read from the book, smiling widely. She could still hear the sounds of the other children outside, so she continued to focus solely on Adda.

"As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener's son jumped up and shot an arrow at it.

But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail and flew away. The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the coun–" Adda struggled with one word, but soon found herself being able to say it and composed herself. "Council was called together. Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, 'One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.'

Then the gardener's eldest son set out and thought to find the golden bird very easily…"

As Adda continued to read, Maria found her eyes wandering around the classroom, silently sighing in relief of their progress. She smiled to herself as she leant further back on her desk, content to be here and be surrounded with all of these children.

However, she found herself being pulled from her reminiscent reverie as her eyes fell onto the doorway into the classroom, and more so the figure that was stood there. Maria gasped.

There he was. There he was just stood there, leant casually against the door frame as if it were the most normal action or stance in the whole world. Little did he know the resounding affect he had on her state of being: how Maria instantly felt her cheeks flush under his gaze, how her heart beat rapidly out of rhythm than it did usually, and how her stomach did somersaults whenever she happened to be in his presence.

Adda had stopped reading as soon as she had heard her teacher gasp. Turning on the spot, she noticed the man stood in the doorway, dressed in a fine suit and looking extremely important.

Adda inhaled sharply, and then turned back to Maria. "Are you sending me away, Frau Maria?"

Hearing Adda's scared, little voice, Maria broke her gaze away from the Captain and averted it to the little girl. Seeing her apprehension and fear, Maria bent down and pulled Adda into her arms, lifting her up so she now stood with her in her arms.

"Of course not," Maria responded tentatively, although adamantly. "This is my friend, remember, the one I was writing to? Captain Von Trapp."

The Captain, at this stage, had walked further into the room, and was only paces away from the two of them. He smiled reassuringly at Maria, and then the young girl. Although he had not been introduced, Georg could assume this was Adda.

Adda noticed the smile, but still looked a little wary of speaking to him. Silently, she nodded at both him and Frau Maria.

Deciding to take the initiative in this conversation and bring an end to this awkward silence, Maria spoke up, addressing the Captain. "This is Adda."

"Hello," Georg addressed her warmly, accompanied with a smile.

Maria found herself watching the curve of his lips as he did, and then just watching his lips. She found herself mesmerised as she watched them move, remembering the night she had felt them against her own. Maria almost chastised herself for thinking such thoughts.

After another few moments of silence between the three individuals, Maria decided to place Adda back down on the floor. "Why don't you go and take your break now? See what the others are doing."

Adda seemed content with this suggestion, and happily walked out of the room, leaving the two adults alone with a fiery tension also present with them.

"I see she looks a lot more comfortable now," the Captain commented, taking a step closer subtly, but it did not go unnoticed by Maria.

Maria nodded. "I managed to speak with her."

Maria was just about to continue her explanation about Adda, how and when she opened up to her, but the Captain got there first and decided to steer their conversation away from the topic of the children.

"How are you doing?"

Maria swallowed nervously, struck by the magnificent surge of power that seemed to jostle around them whenever he was in the room. It took her a few moments to compose herself until she responded. "I'm well, thank you for asking. And yourself? I was beginning to get..." Maria was about to say worried but stopped herself. "... Curious when you were not responding."

"I decided to come, since you invited me. I also have something for Joanna..."

The Captain lifted his arm to reveal three books in his possession. Maria wondered curiously how she did not notice these before... Taking a closer look, she saw that one of them was the title of one of his favourite books.

"Oh, Captain, you shouldn't have."

"Well," he countered back. "I thought we could sneak them onto your bookshelf, that way..."

"Oh," Maria murmured, trailing off. Suddenly, she found herself not looking at the books in his hands, but just his hands. Taking a sharp intake of breath, she let her gaze rise to meet his eyes. She was momentarily startled by the compassion she saw within them, the honesty and the longing that seemed to be trying to hide, but still prying at the cracks.

"Well?" the Captain asked, smiling one of his half smiles.

Maria stuttered for a moment, but then raised her hand in the direction of the book case, beckoning for him to follow her. "Yes, just over here."

He followed her. As the Captain was placing the books onto the shelf, moving some books to one side and making room as he seemed adamant to keep to the alphabetical order that had been devised, Maria found herself watching his movements again. At one stage, he had to reach his arm across her body to place down the book, and Maria could have sworn that he had heard her sharp inhale of breath.

But then he was finished, and with a triumphant smile he turned to face her. They were standing only a few paces apart now.

During the silent moment that passed between them, smiles were shared and eyes were locked, and often eyes would flicker downwards, but only just. It was the Captain who then proceeded to break the silence, mustering up the courage to speak his request.

"I came here to ask you something…" the Captain trailed off, suddenly looking down to the floor, almost slightly nervous. Maria found the sight utterly endearing, and a small smile played on her lips. "Saturday must be your day off."

Maria's eyes widened.

"I thought we could share a coffee, and catch up, maybe? It's been a while."

Maria suddenly found herself unable to respond. The words that she wanted to form were lost upon her tongue, and all she seemed to be doing was staring into his eyes with this unfathomable feeling of wonder. To see his bright, blue eyes once more after all these months began to ease her nerves, and suddenly she was brought back to that night all those months ago.

Suddenly, everything disappeared: their current circumstances and their old circumstances. Maria could see in his eyes as they slowly approached her that he had missed her too. There was the same look etched across them that had been present that night.

Maria watched as the Captain took another step towards her, and then another, until both of them were just centimetres apart. She felt his hand cup her cheek, and instantly she felt enveloped in the warmth of his skin, the security she felt whenever she was close to him. Her safeguard, her solace, the logical and analytical source to her ranging and confused mind. Suddenly everything seemed clear. Although she was aware that it could hardly happen twice for him, she had no intention of backing down as she felt his lips gently brush against her own.

In fact, she responded to his movements, yearning to have him close again. Her heart was ruling her head, and she could not pull away.

She was desperately trying to convince herself that it could never happen twice. The fever of his first love had overwhelmed him; a love so strong that he had withdrew himself from the rest of the world after it had been brought to such an abrupt end. A love so all consuming, she knew she could never live up to those expectations; she knew they could never have something that special. But as he kissed her once again, just like he had that night in his second study – with the strains of the orchestra floating through the villa, almost as though they were accompanying and urging the couple on in their embrace – she could not help but believe her theories were wrong. The way he kissed her brought her into another world, and it happened so quickly that she believed it took so little effort on his part. Her mind was in rapture, and from this moment onward she almost knew he would be the only one to have the ability to take hold of her in this way. Only he could take her in his arms, kiss her and make her feel like all of her limbs were ceasing in their function.

Despite her current predicament, she would not draw away. The taste of his lips; the feel of them against her own lips was addictive. A passion leapt in her stomach; a fire began to burn which would take something extraordinarily powerful to extinguish.

Georg was in a state of bliss. He had waited weeks, months, to see her again, to kiss her again. Ever since that night in his study, he had dreamt of their next encounter. It was only when his hands began to wander about her body did he pull away. Their roaming had begun around her back, moving to her arms as they rose until they were at her shoulders, then her face… When he had tried to touch her hair, to fulfil the wish and desire to rake his fingers through her short, strawberry blonde, locks, his hands had come in contact with her wimple.

He pulled his lips away, his eyes wide open in horror. Maria then opened her eyes too, slightly breathless, but searching for his reaction. She noticed that his hand was on her wimple, and instantly she understood.

"Will you still be...?"

Maria was about to answer him verbally, when the sounds of ten eager children filled the room. All Maria could do was shake her head slightly, and bite her lip nervously.

This was all the incentive Georg needed to cause him to smile.

A moment of silence passed between them, a moment where everything around them seemed to disappear, but then that had ended. Some of the children were beginning to ask their Frau Maria who this man was.

"Girls, you all remember me mentioning Captain Von Trapp?"

As soon as she had announced his name, some of them gasped, but then the talks continued. A few of the children moved across to talk to the man himself, and one of those was Joanna. She introduced herself bravely, and instantly the two of them were talking about books.

Maria watched them all, her fingers covering the smile on her lips. She had a pensive look across her face, but her main thoughts were all surrounding the sea captain that had taken hold of her heart. Maria continued to watch them all for a few more minutes, until she was inevitably drawn into their conversation, but knowing herself that the days now leading up to Saturday would pass by torturously slowly.