The time spent waiting for his day in court was nothing short of torture for Bjorn, he knew he was lucky that the Swedish divorce system was much faster than nearly anywhere else in the world, he also knew that his solicitor being aware of Anna's precarious state of health had pulled many strings to get the fastest court date he could but Bjorn was a worried man because he wanted this over and done with. He didn't care what he had to go through, he didn't care what he lost as long as he had Anna and his family. He felt like he was running out of time despite the fact that Anna herself had done well this week, their relationship had gone from strength to strength as she had regained her equilibrium and he started to believe that they were better together the second time round, stronger. They built on the love that had never left them with all the things they should have had 40 years before, patience, time, empathy, compassion, they had discovered a shared sense of the ridiculous which stood them in good stead when they bickered for nowadays it was not taken seriously. They came to the conclusion the pair of them that this seemed to be a continuation of their marriage, where it would have gone had they given it time to grow and mature and they'd become comfortable with the fact that they were always meant to be. The wound that was the time they'd spent apart would always pain them but they took comfort in the fact that they had a chance to be together now. Reminding himself of all this eased Bjorn's mind as he gently woke Anna with her medication. The new tablets made her very sleepy but her doctor had said that this side effect would ease with time. His heart thumped as she gave him the smile that he knew was reserved only for him and he couldn't resist her when she lifted her arms he knew what she wanted so he bent and slid his arms underneath her lifting her gently out of the sofa and turning with her until he could sit on the sofa with her cradled safely in his arms. The sun was shining brightly into the room and he could see that her hair was starting to grow back and thicken up again, without realising he said the words out loud "Girl with the Golden Hair" he whispered "let it grow for me, I miss it" he blinked as she grinned at him "funny you should say that, I'd already decided to grow it back. It seems right somehow" he blushed and cleared his throat "I didn't mean to say it out loud Anna. You must do whatever you want with it. It's your hair. I just love you" she snuggled in further and her ruby ring flashed on her marriage hand as she reached up to stroke his face "I want to, its time. Its the right time now but you realise it'll be girl with the white hair now. I'd hate for you to be disappointed" "I don't care what colour it is" he told her "I could never be disappointed in anything when I'm with you Anna" "You are so romantic" she teased "I remember very well some of the reasons you loved my long hair Mr Ulvaeus" Bjorn shifted nervously "Anna!!" he scolded "What?" she asked innocently "there's no one here but us" she sparkled at him "besides I love it too lucky for you" and he couldn't help but laugh and revel in their memories "and I never did get to go in Benny's hot tub. You must be getting worn out" she teased "What's wrong with you?" Bjorn demanded "you must be feeling better, you're not helping me to stay away from you you know" "But I don't want you to stay away from me, I AM feeling better and I want you very much. I want our normal back Bjorn, I need to feel alive and you need to feel me live. Its over now and I promise I won't break" "but Anna you've been so poorly I couldn't bear to hurt you" he protested gently "Bjorn would it help you if I got down on my knees right now and begged you? Because I will if that's what it takes" she told him and somehow he knew she meant it, he sighed as he fought the inevitable effect she had on him "You on your knees would be the end of me Anna" he scowled as she giggled "I know" she told him happily "maybe not today but very soon Bjorn you'll get what you want, what we both want" "I have everything I could ever want Anna, you know that" he tried to distract her and himself. She tutted and laughed and wriggled until she was as comfy as she could be "Bjorn, promise me when I die you'll hold me just like this. I want you to be the last thing I see" Bjorn's breath stuck in his throat, it was the last thing he expected her to say and he met her eyes "Baby you won't die, you're going to be fine, you promised me we wouldn't discuss this again" he blinked back sudden tears "I'm just checking" she whispered "I'm going to stay with you for a long time but I've come to the conclusion that I've got used to you Bjorn, I don't ever want to be here without you" she grinned at him "and you're older than me" Bjorn's eyes twinkled down at her "Yeah, SO much older Anna, lets live first hmm? You know what I've already promised you at Viggso and that will forever be the same" Bjorn met her eyes and shook his head gently "No more baby, we've got an amazing life to live" his arms tightened round her "we've just got to push through this next bit together. It's going to be horrific" It was her turn to comfort him now and she made him focus on her "why are you so worried Bjorn?" she enquired gently "because Lena will drag everything out, there will be nothing private. It'll turn into a slanging match and I don't want the kids dragged into it, I don't want the grandchildren being in the papers. Mud sticks Anna and I'm worried it's going to be too much, how do I protect them all? Lena won't let this lie and the girls can't stay at Vallentuna forever, it's too small besides I want it for us, for Benny and Frida. It's ours Anna, it the only thing that I have of you" Anna nearly smiled at the ridiculousness of his statement but realised just in time that he was deadly serious "Bjorn you have ME, we've made it and you'll have Vallentuna back when this is all over. Benny promised we'd stay and eat our bodyweight in pasta when I was done" she curled her hand around his neck "I want that with you. I need that with you" she reassured him "but I'll have to go back there when it all kicks off won't I?" he sighed and looked at the ceiling "I can't bring more crazies to your door, Lena will come here, she'll work it out eventually and I want to protect you from that. She's done you so many wrongs and I don't know how to stop all this from scaring you all away. You most of all and I can't bear the thought of leaving you all for a little while but I don't know how else to do it" he had tears in his eyes and Anna suddenly understood him like she never had before. She got off him and she saw him brace himself for her to go on the attack as she would have done in the past admittedly but instead she stood silently and waited for him to meet her eyes. When he finally did they were filled with pain, confusion and total despair "stand up Bjorn" she ordered him "stand up and face me" she held out a hand and he took it and pulled himself to his feet, she tilted her head up to look at him while she considered what she wanted to say. He looked at her quizzically "What?" he asked confused. She smiled gently and dropped unexpectedly to her knees in front of him and steadied herself by gripping his thighs "Jesus Anna be careful, for God's sake you'll hurt yourself" he made a gentle grab for her "what are you doing?" "Bjorn Kristian Ulvaeus I swear you are the most complicated man I've ever met but I married you nearly 50 years ago and I'm going to marry you again and again until you believe that I won't leave you. I'll marry you in every fucking universe there is and there is nothing on this earth that would make me let you leave me. You will go nowhere, I love you. I've loved you for so long and I love you more every day. I've loved you when I hated you and I've loved you when you were married to another woman. There is nothing that Lena could do or say that would EVER make me leave you. We all have bad shit, you know all of mine and it's horrendous but you stayed. Lena will try to break us Bjorn, of course she will I know that. She managed once but she won't this time baby, we are wise to her. We are unbreakable" Bjorn couldn't halt his tears and he gave up trying when he tried to pull Anna to her feet and she resisted him "I'm not finished" she growled at him "I promise you Bjorn that whatever she comes up with I will never leave your side, you've made your choice. We will protect all the children, they know what's coming but you know what we have the best kids in the world and they are prepared to weather the storm with us. Better for us to be all together, united we stand and divided we fall and we will NOT fall this time. This is my family too Bjorn, you are not alone. I know you've been alone for a long time but you aren't now" "Get up Anna" Bjorn said trying to tug her to her feet while wiping his eyes, she resisted him so he dropped onto his knees with her "why are you so stubborn?" he mused as he studied her "because you're being an arse but you're my arse and I'm not scared Bjorn. We face things together good and bad, I'll face anything with you. Neither of us are alone anymore, try to understand what I'm telling you. I have something for you" she rummaged in her back pocket and then took his hand "Bjorn, it's my turn I still have faith in you baby, we will make it through anything. Will you marry me again?" Bjorn frowned at her confused "I thought we were, I mean I said yes. You have my ring" he worried "I know" she soothed "but you don't have yours and this is a mark of my faith in you and my love for you" she opened her hand slowly and he zeroed in on a gold band in her palm and time meant nothing, it slowed down and their world contracted to their own bubble. Bjorn touched it wonderingly "that's mine" he choked lifting his eyes to meet her tearwashed ones "it's mine isn't it?" she nodded "but I lost it on tour, how do you have it? I looked for it for months on end" "I found it in 1986 stuck in the lining of one of the old suitcases and I kept it. I wanted to keep it" he blew out a shuddering breath.
She lifted his hand and said "I don't know if it will still fit baby but the thought is there. I give you this ring Bjorn as a sign I will never leave you again, as a sign that you don't have to be scared, as a sign that you're not alone and that I'll love you through eternity" she sniffled back tears as she managed to get it on his finger, it was a slightly tight fit but Bjorn couldn't care less because it was never coming off again as far as he was concerned. There was a silence that Anna broke anxiously "say something, is it OK?" he still said nothing but he picked up her hand that wore his rubies and he wound their fingers together so that the rings settled against each other, he thought he'd never seen a more beautiful sight. "SAY something! Anything!" Anna pleaded. He met her eyes "Agnetha Ase Faltskog I love you you know. I'll marry you in every fucking universe there is"
There were no more words needed, her smile said it all.
