...and so it is

'...she took rhett's hand and drew him with her to a window. the sight that met their eyes was sobering. dozens of dark fingers of smoke reached up from every direction, making dirty stains on the tender rose color of the sky. scarlett's eyes filled with tears.

rhett put his arm around her shoulders. "we can build it all back, darling."

scarlett blinked away the tears. "no rhett, i don't want to. cat's not safe here in ballyhara, and i guess i'm not either. i won't sell up, this is o'hara land, and i won't let it go. but i don't want another Big House, or another town. my cousins can find some farmers to work the land. no matter how much shouting and burning, the Irish will always love the land. pa used to tell me it was like his mother to the Irishman.

"but i don't belong here, not anymore. maybe i never did really, or i wouldn't have been so ready to go off to dublin and house parties and hunts... i don't know where i belong, rhett. i don't even feel at home anymore when i go to Tara."

to scarlett's surprise, rhett laughed, and the laughter was rich with joy. "you belong with me, scarlett, haven't you figured that out? and the world is where we belong, all of it. we're not home-and-hearth people. we're the adventurers, the buccaneers, the blockade runners. without challenge we're only half alive. we can go anywhere, and as long as we're together, it will belong to us. but, my pet, we'll never belong to it. that's for other people, not for us." '