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lottie--1234 · 2 years

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it sparks your soul

Muriel watched, leaning against the doorway and watching as the loving glace between Anne and Gilbert lingered. “Ah, to be young and in love.”, she thought. It was torment watching the pair interact each day, blindly oblivious to what they truly felt. Some days, it took all the strength she had to not lock them in the schoolhouse and make a break for it so they could finally muster up their courage and talk things over. Though it probably wouldn’t be that easy. It was more complicated than that, of course. After all, she had once spent an entire night trapped in a library with her late husband without confessing her feelings for him.

The teacher gathered her things and left the schoolroom to see a flustered Anne rushing home. She decided to do something she probably should have done weeks ago. “Anne! Stop for a second!” Muriel called after her redheaded student.

“Yes, Ms.Stacey?” Anne responded, swiftly turning around to face her teacher who had run after her.

“Do you have a moment to talk about something? At my house? I promise, it’ll only take a second of your time.” Muriel asked. Anne was excited inside to be spending time with both her hero and mentor but was curious all the more.

“Of course. I’m sure Marilla will understand.” Anne smiled. The pair turned around and made their way through the forest to Muriel’s secluded teacher’s cottage. “You have such a lovely home.” Anne mused as her eyes pored over the wildflowers that had grown outside her teacher’s house.

“Thank you, Anne. I enjoy the flowers, too. The bees they attract are always so cheerful.” Muriel told her student, pouring lemonade into two cups. Anne smiled to herself. “Kindred spirits, indeed.”, she thought happily. This made her think of Gilbert. Was he a kindred spirit? It certainly had seemed so at the dance practice earlier. Their movements were so light, so in sync. Like they belonged together. Like she could do this for the rest of her life. Was that what love meant? She wondered more. There were things she didn’t know. Like how being in love even felt. Was this it? She couldn’t ask Marilla and certainly not Matthew. Diana could ask her parents but clearly, she did not have that sort of luxury herself. Ms.Stacey had been married before, hadn’t she?

“Ms.Stacey. May I ask you something in confidence?” Anne asked, mustering up all the courage she had.

“Always, dear Anne.” the older woman replied, taking a sip of lemonade.

“What does being in love feel like?” This made Muriel smile and turn slightly red. She knew it was a matter of time before Anne had asked. She herself had the same questions at that age. And they were so alike, weren’t they?

“Well… it looks different for everyone. Maybe you plan it, maybe you don’t. Maybe you know, maybe you don’t at first. But one thing is the same. You can’t stop it. It’s when you have this person. This amazing person. And you want to make them smile for the rest of their life. Because every time they smile -even though it’s such a little thing- it sparks your soul.” Muriel said, in her steady tone and looked expectantly at Anne who was deep in thought. “Do you understand?”

“I think so. Was it like that with your husband? I’m so very sorry if I’m intruding.” This made Muriel so immensely happy inside. They had come such a long way from what happened the first day she had met this overzealous student.

“Not at all, Anne. I enjoy speaking about him. Jonah. His name was Jonah Stacey. We existed only for each other. It wasn’t love at first sight, I believe. Perhaps annoyed at first sight would be more accurate. He was in my Physics course and remained one of my greatest academic rivals until we graduated. But we became friends along the way. And one night, we were solving a particularly hard question and got accidentally locked in the school library. I had promised myself I wouldn’t fall in love with him but it was two o’clock in the morning, and we were laughing way too hard and I felt so immensely happy that I thought to myself that this was what I could do for my entire life and never tire of it. That’s the moment I knew.” Ms. Stacey told her student, telling her story.

“Did you tell him? And how?” Anne wondered. Muriel chuckled.

“I didn’t. Not then. It was about a year later. It was the last day of school before our summer holidays. I think a friend had talked some sense into him because he came running up to me with this adorable speech and when he was done, I just decided to go for it. I kissed him first.” Muriel admitted, proudly. “But there’s something I’ll always regret. I regret not telling him sooner. Not being braver. Because now he’s gone and we’ll never get that year back. That year we spent pretending to just be friends when everything was just so clear. Life is short, Anne. If you love someone, tell them.” Anne could feel the pieces of the puzzle come together in her head. She was in love with Gilbert Blythe. But first, she had a feeling no one had allowed her dear teacher to remember her late husband in a long time.

“I understand. Tell me a story about Jonah. He sounds like he was wonderful.” Anne breathed. She loved hearing about Ms.Stacey’s tragical romance.

“He was a surgeon. A good one at that. He saved countless lives. And he was so kind, Anne. He had this amazing mind, he loved to invent things. Always tinkering about with pieces of scrap metal and items people had discarded. He always said that everything had opportunity. Jonah was like hope personified. He was charming, too. There was a way about him that you just couldn’t dislike him. It was impossible. Come here, Anne.” the teacher gestured over for her student to join her kneeling by Jonah’s old trunk. She pulled out the ring box that held her plain silver wedding band and the engagement ring Jonah had made. It was made of silver wire wrapped around a moonstone. “He made it himself. He proposed when it was pouring down with rain. We got soaked but it’s still one of my happiest memories of him.”

“That sounds so romantic.” Anne mused. Maybe someday, someone would love her enough to do such divine things. Perhaps it would be Gilbert?

“This is what he looked like. Color doesn’t show on photographs but his ties were always so colorful. You couldn’t help but feel cheerful when you caught a glance of him. He would have loved you, Anne. There’s no doubt about it.” Muriel concluded her story, closing the trunk. The image of Jonah remained in her head, though. She remembered his deep, romantic brown eyes and his dark but soft hair against his milky, clear complexion. “God, Jonah. You were good looking, huh?” she thought to herself, hoping that Jonah was listening and laughing, wherever he was. A smile came across her face as she bade her student goodbye.

Anne walked down the path now wiser than she was when she came down it the last time and with a clearer head. She was in love with Gilbert Blythe. And now, she had to tell him one way or another.

#anne x gilbert #anne with an e #awae fanfic #awae #anne with an e fanfic #muriel x jonah #muriel stacy #miss stacy #gilbert blythe

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lottie--1234 · 2 years

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The Song is Ended But The Melody Lingers On

Muriel wandered down the stairs of her small teacher’s cottage. She sighed, thinking of the dream she had last night. Dreams like that frequented her mind. She dreamt of Jonah. Again. Not that it was bad, it just made her miss him all the more. It was living a dream, only to wake up and live the nightmare over and over. He was gone. And he was never coming back.

The teacher knelt by Jonah’s old chest and opened it up. It was filled with letters they had sent one another, old clothes she couldn’t bear to throw away and other relics from her past. Inventions, his stethoscope, the like. She fished out a small jewelry box and opened it. Her rings were still sitting inside, as usual. She smiled to herself, remembering the day he had proposed to her. They had been walking to a friend’s house for dinner when the heavens opened up and it began hammering down with rain. The pair began to run when Jonah had stopped suddenly. He turned around and got down on one knee. Right then and there. It was a moment filled with laughter and happiness, even though everything was soaked through by the time they got to dinner. Jonah had later explained that he waited until the moment he didn’t feel nervous anymore. The ring was simple and he had made it himself, they didn’t have much money to spare. But she thought it was beautiful. Silver wire wrapped around a moonstone. She had told him that it looked enchanting. And he had replied that she looked enchanting.

Her wedding band was inside the box, too. And his was on a necklace that she hadn’t taken off since the day he died. She had insisted for Jonah to be buried with the ring but the mortician had refused. He said it would make a good keepsake for the children. The nonexistent children. She couldn’t bear to correct him.

Muriel pulled a large red sweater out of the trunk and pulled it over her blouse. It was one of the few sweaters that still smelled like him after a year. She remembered the Christmas he wore that sweater underneath his whitecoat as he worked in the busy clinic. That clinic, she remembered well. It was run-down and the roof was full of leaks. They lived upstairs as the clinic was open twenty-four hours a day. Luckily their friends worked there, too. Jennie, Emily, Lucas. This reminded her. She had letters to send later on. They included the daily letters she wrote to Jonah. A friend would take them and put them under a rock by Jonah’s grave. They would remain unread. Or else, she’d jam a fishhook down their throats.

A rap on the door broke Muriel from her stance. She quickly got up and opened the door a crack, not wanting whoever it was to see the open chest and the items that were now taken out. “Muriel, that sweatshirt is far too big for you. Honestly. Now, let me in. It’s positively freezing out here. Come on! No one’s getting any younger.” It was Rachel Lynde. The short, stocky figure barged past Muriel, letting herself in.

“Um- Good morning, Rachel. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you so early?” Muriel asked, directing the lady away from the mess in the living room. She poured a cup of tea for herself and for her visitor and brought out a plate of biscuits. At least she had breakfast now.

“I was just here to tell you that Mr.Gillis’s nephew is in town. I’ve taken the liberty of telling him about you and he seemed very interested indeed. I must say, this matchmaking business is rather bracing.” Rachel nattered. Muriel sighed. She was in no mood for this. She hardly ever was in a mood for this. It had to end now.

“Rachel, stop. This has to come to an end. I’m completely fed up. There are things you don’t know and quite frankly- it’s none of your business. But since you’ve made it a mission to insert yourself into my business, I’ll tell you. I’m a widow. I was married to a wonderful, adventurous man named Jonah Stacey and he died of tuberculosis at the young age of 26 a year ago because he was a doctor and caught it from a patient.” Muriel blurted out. This took Rachel by surprise and all she could do was stutter. “This sweater was his. This was his wedding ring.” Muriel said, pulling out the silver wedding band on a chain that hung around her neck. “These are all inventions we made together and this is what he looked like.” the teacher told the lady, pulling various black and white images of her late husband out of the trunk. “This is a beach in a box. He made it for me when we visited my hometown in Cape Breton because he knew I missed the beach when we were living in Toronto.” the blonde explained, opening a tin box to reveal seashells and a tiny love note buried in the sand. “He was kind, level-headed, stubborn and annoyed the life out of me at times but I miss him every day. He was my soulmate and while my birthday was last week, I turned twenty-seven but he never will. So next time one of your suitors graces my doorstep, I will jam my walking stick so far up his-”

“That’s quite enough, Muriel. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Rachel interrupted. She was devastated she had been so insensitive.

“You should be sorry. You know, we thought we were going to grow old with one another. Like you and Mr.Lynde. But it’s over. The song is ended but the melody lingers on. Every day.” Muriel said, wistfully.

#muriel stacy #muriel x jonah #rachel lynde #miss stacy #awae fanfic #anne with an e fanfic #anne with an e

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lottie--1234 · 2 years

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Don't think.

Don't think about how when Muriel's husband died, everything she did felt wrong because it was without him.

Don't think about how she couldn't bring herself to take off her rings.

Don't think about how she kept her husband's wedding ring on a chain around her neck.

Don't think about how she couldn't walk to work anymore because she would have to go past the church where she was married and widowed.

Don't think about how she unconsciously thought about what she and her husband would do this weekend, forgetting for a moment he was gone.

Don't think about how she locked herself in her room alone to grieve when she got tired of people saying it happened for a reason and he was in a better place.

Don't think about how she tied a cutting of one of her husband's shirts to her motorcycle so a part of him would accompany her on all her adventures.

Don't think about how she would turn around at night, only to see her husband's empty space.

Don't think about how she wouldn't get rid of any of her husband's inventions because they made them together.

Don't think about how she loses her faith and hates god for taking him so soon.

Don't think about how hard she found it to cook for just herself.

Don't think about how Jonah's clothes smell a little bit less like him every day.

Don't think about how anything she does, she wonders what it would be like if Jonah was there doing it with her.

Don't think about how quiet their house is now, void of all laughter and happiness.

Don't think about how she whispers that she wishes he was here occasionally to him, hoping that he can hear her.

#muriel stacy #awae #anne with an e #grieving #i'm sad #miss stacy #headcanon #pre canon

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