Hopes and Fears

six // one last time

A/N I rewrote this so many times, still not 100% happy with it but I can't keep you all waiting any longer it's just cruel. Here you go, chapter 6. Bring tissues

In the end, Jerry couldn't persuade Anne to come home to Green Gables with him.

"I'm waiting here for Gilbert, no matter anything you say. I'm going to scale that big old Oak over the main road and I'll only come down when he's back. Nobody shall see me until I decide to make my hiding place apparent, so I'll be perfectly safe. You may as well go back to Green Gables and tell Marilla I'm alive and well... That's what they want to hear, anyway. Although it is far from the truth, which is that I'm still heartbroken and I will never forgive Marilla until she relents."

Anne was acting like she was brave enough to face and fight Marilla on this but she wasn't. She could fight murderers and criminals but as soon as someone she loved was angry with her she crumbled. After Marilla had said her part about the awful rumour Anne became so upset and anxious that she had to run, to get away and breathe. Contrary to her usual character she couldn't even manage to speak, she felt too sick. To think that Marilla believed those things about her, and felt so ashamed and angry with her... It was like having all the air knocked from her lungs and the weight of that crushing disappointment lay on her shoulders ever since.

Anne thought it would be the last time she would see Gilbert properly in a long time... It would be torture to see him at school and have to ignore him, to not speak or even look at him. She felt a lump in her throat at the mere thought of it.

A resigned Jerry left Anne sheltered beneath the thick canopy, sat up in the kind old tree above the roadside. He gave her his jacket to make sure she was warm enough as the clouds darkened the sky. Just as Jerry arrived at Green Gables a rainstorm broke and he thought of Anne, her pale face sleeted with rain and wind. He felt for her, for her lost love and lost hope.

The Cuthberts weren't happy with Jerry coming back without Anne but they didn't shout or punish him - Marilla blamed herself deep down, for she had driven Anne away, forbidden her from seeing her beloved. It had broken her own heart to make Anne so terribly sad but separating the wild youths was the only solution which she could see. Anne was so young still, this whole fiasco could ruin her future. Marilla felt that she had to salvage some dignity for Anne from this shame.

"She'll come back when she's ready to talk." Matthew was sure.

"She just wants to see him," Jerry told them. "Gilbert."

One last time, thought Marilla mournfully.

...

"Wait, you're friends of Anne?" Gilbert asked.

"We are - she helped us escape Wolfsden Prison!" January explained passionately.

"Is she alright? How did she break out again?" The boy, Kes asked.

Gilbert clarified, "She didn't go back there, I took her home after she escaped. She was cleared of all charges, they admitted they'd made a mistake and let her go."

Their faces lit up. "That's brilliant!" Kes grinned.

"She's free?" January was surprised.

"Thank God." Peggy murmured.

"Yes, she's back in Avonlea... safe, free..." Gilbert smiled slightly, the relief clear in his eyes. "Finally."

"How did you convince them she was innocent?" January was still wrapping her head around it.

"We had proof," Gilbert explained. "People gave their testaments for her. We built a case."

They were glad for her. There was envy of course, from those still in hiding from the authorities such precious freedom was a holy grail. But they had gratitude for Anne and knew this was well-deserved after her suffering and sacrifice.