Part 2 of "In The Woods When First We Met"

The End: Anne, Anew

Whew...ok, guys, this is it. The end.

But please, just a quick note to you before you start reading this final chapter:

If you have been with me through this long and difficult story, I want you to know how much I truly appreciate not being alone in this. Thank you. The follows, the favorites, the reviews...I have- and continue to be- blown away by how much you guys cared about my story.

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"'And perhaps--when this horrible ache grows a little less--I'll find that I can go on living.' Anne found that she could go on living; the day came when she even smiled again...But there was something in the smile that had never been in Anne's smile before and would never be absent from it again." -Anne's House of Dreams

One day, Anne and Gilbert began to walk, further than they ever had before. They walked until they reached the field at the end of their property, just before the woods began.

And as they walked, Anne told him what she'd been thinking of for a long time.

"I've decided something," she told him. "I've decided I'm ready to go back to school. I'm going to start tomorrow."

Gilbert raised his eyebrows. "School, eh? Does that mean you feel like you're...all right?"

"No," she said, firmly shaking her head. Then she gave him a smile: "But I will be."

Her smile made it's way across her face and he found himself wanting so badly to place a kiss there- somewhere, anywhere, from the end of her freckles to where that porcelain cheek curved with her grin. But he held back.

"I hate that you missed your birthday," he finally said.

She gave a little shrug, as if it had to be accepted. "But Marilla is going to have a little party for me- now that I'm up and doing things again. She said I could invite all the girls and she'd make a cake and we'd play games and...she said we'll just pretend my birthday came a little late."

He smiled. "I'm glad. Your birthday ought to be celebrated. You're starting a whole new year of your life."

She took a big breath as she realized it was true. "A new year ahead of me. Maybe it'll be a fresh start."

"I can't wait to see everybody," she went on. "I mean at school. The girls have been so nice, coming over, but...being at school, with everyone else, it'll feel so...normal."

Then she asked him, "How's Moody holding up? He's all Ruby talks about."

Gilbert laughed. "Actually, I think Moody feels exactly the same way about Ruby as Ruby feels about him. Which is good, because Ruby deserves to have someone who likes her so genuinely and so fully. ...They're really sweet together."

Anne nodded, happy for Ruby. Then she asked, sounding worried: "What about Josie? I haven't dared ask anyone, but with Billy gone...I know she liked him, and all this was hard for her, too..."

"Oh, she'll have a whole string of beaus soon enough, and she'll forget all about him," Gilbert told her, brushing that worry away.

Anne bit her lip. "It must be nice to be pretty. I don't expect Josie will have any trouble marrying one day, if that's what she wants."

"Is it still what you want?" Gilbert asked, wanting to know. "To get married?"

"Are you going to propose again, Gil? It's a lovely place, out in this field, with the flowers all around us." She smiled, almost laughing.

Gilbert did laugh. "No, I can't propose yet. Even though I want to. Would you rather me wait until you've got a string of beaus, so that I have to do daring deeds to win your love?"