What family means to me...

This is my first Anne with an E fanfic, although it isn't my first fanfic on this site. I am new to this franchise and so obsessed with Gilbert and Anne. This is an AU fic, my small version of what could've been.

A short and sweet fic on family. Miss Stacy asked her students to write a short essay on their family and what it means to them, and Anne is the only one who hasn't turned hers in. She finally turns in the project and it surprises more than one. Implied Shirbet. Takes place in Season's 2, episode 10: The Growing Good of the World, of AWAE.

Anne was in distress, although she had calmed down considerably since the end of the town meeting where she, her class mates, and many others saved their teacher, Miss Stacy, from being fired and run out of town by the narrow minded community that was so afraid of change. Yes, she felt like she could finally breathe, as she looked around. Her eyes landed on Gilbert, and she remembered the last thing she had to do to get total peace.

See, Miss Stacy was new to the town and to the school and she desperately wished to get to know her students so she asked them to write a short essay on their family (longer than one paragraph at least, but try to keep it to three pages, was her instructions)... Well Anne had yet to turn in her assignment, and she was more than a week overdue.

This was her colossal cause of anxiety. Deep rooted and seemingly unshakeable, for she had never turned in a project late. Not that she'd attended school much in her short life, but she'd prided herself in her ability to do assignments on-time and do them well. Except for this one.

Gilbert caught her staring at him as he was talking to Miss Stacy, and paused, he gave her a small, crooked smile and a cheeky wink before turning back to Miss Stacy and resuming the conversation.

Cheeky boy!

Normally she would be embarrassed to be seen caught staring at Gilbert, for any length of time, and especially if it was by himself, but she'd come to realize something in these last two weeks, and that was her own self-discovery of her family, and what they meant to her.

At first, she despaired at the fact that she was given an essay on her family and what they meant to her, she was an orphan for goodness sakes! Surely, she had mentioned that to Miss Stacy upon their first meeting, hadn't she?

But Miss Stacy's reasons for setting this particular assignment were hidden until recently, she wanted Anne to dig deeper, to look around her and see, truly see, the rag-tag family she had around her, those that, cherished her, respected her, looked after her, supported her, fought for her, stood by her, and most importantly, loved her. She was truly blessed. Miss Stacy had opened her eyes to how blessed her life had become, and she would forever be grateful.

There was just one problem, she didn't know how to tell Miss Stacy, and more importantly those she considered family just how she felt about them. Until now, that was.

She was still staring at Gilbert, and once he'd finished his conversation, he noticed her still staring. He raised an eyebrow, and tilted his head slightly, that adorable crooked smirk of his gracing his lips, he was questioning her, in that secret language of his, silently asking if she was alright. Her heart felt fit to burst.

She breathed deep and choked back her own nervousness, squaring her shoulders she marched over to where Gilbert and Miss Stacy stood, his eyes following her all the way, still silently questioning her.

"Excuse me, Miss Stacy. Gilbert, may I borrow you one moment?" She asked her friend.

"Umm, sure?" he replied, his brows knit together in confusion. She had never openly sought him out before, in fact, in a large crowd such as this, she normally avoided him at all costs. She was just glad the rest all seemed busy, deep in their own conversations.

"Good," she smiled. Then began stepping forward, she laid a hand on his chest, and began gently pushing him back, his eyes widened in surprise and amusement as he stepped back at her behest and she followed him, pushing him all the while, closer than she'd ever been before, and more intimate than they had ever been before. Amused, crystal blue eyes staring into shocked, and slightly excited, chocolate brown ones. Surely, she could feel the thump of is rapid heartbeat under her soft delicate hand. His back thumped against the stage, he let out a yelp in surprise and she smirked slightly leading him to let out a huff of shaky breath. "Stay there please," she murmured and darted off into the crowd again.

His breath left his body rapidly, now that she was no longer touching him, and his heartbeat returned to a somewhat normal pace. He glanced at Miss Stacy, she appeared to be highly amused, and slightly questioning. He just simply shrugged his shoulders and scanned the crowd for the fire-haired beauty.

Darting through the crowd she sought those she needed, those who meant everything to her. She was ever so grateful that the congregation had decided to stay on to converse with one another, after the meeting was over. It made this endeavor so much easier. Spotting Matthew and Marilla standing off in a corner, discussing something, she ran over.

"Excuse me," she said interrupting them.

"Oh Anne, there you are, we were wondering. What were you doing to that poor boy, Gilbert? And what may I ask are you doing now?" Marilla asked, for she had grabbed each of them by the elbow and was dragging them to the stage where Gilbert stood. "Sorry, no time to explain now," she said as she lined them up beside Gilbert, then once again darted off into the crowd. She grabbed Diana next, and led the girl to the stage as well giggling all the way, before darting back into the crowd, finally she reappeared with the newlyweds Sebastian and Mary and lined them up also. All of them looked highly confused. She looked up and down the line, nodding once in satisfaction, of course the line wasn't complete, Cole was still all the way in Charlottetown, but this would do for now, she'd write him a letter later. She turned to Miss Stacy.

"Miss Stacy, may I speak with you, one moment?" She asked. The woman nodded her head and made her way over to one of her favorite students, although she could never tell her that!

"Is everything alright, dear?" Miss Stacy asked looking at the rag-tag bunch of people that Anne had assembled in front of the stage.

"It is, yes" she began breathing deeply. "Miss Stacy, I am so very sorry for the tardiness of my assignment, but I am finally ready to turn it in.

You see, at first, I was in the depths of despair, I couldn't understand why you would ask me to do an assignment on my family, when I so clearly didn't have one, being an orphan and all. But then, I started taking in the people around me, and I realized, that I did have a family. More than two dead parents, I had these people. Miss Stacy, this is my family." she paused there taking a deep breath, and letting her words sink into those in front of her.

Gilbert, who had been looking at his feet as he listened intently to Anne's speech, immediately snapped his head in her direction. Shocked eyes met smiling ones; did she just say that, really? Anne, his Anne, the smart beautiful, wonderful young lady, that he'd loved with all his heart, really thought of him as family? He never really knew how she'd felt about him, he'd dared to hope, but this? This was more than he could ever hope for! "Breathe Blythe," Bash whispered, gently elbowing him the ribs to attract his attention. His eyes finally left hers. Gilbert's ears went pink, and Bash chuckled.

"These people standing before you," she began again "are not my blood, but they mean more to me than anyone ever has before. You see they each took me in, and made me part of their family, they sustain me, they put a roof over my head, fed me, clothed me, gave me the ability to learn, and expand my already wide mind and showed me what true love was" She said smiling at Matthew and Marilla, who looked her with watery eyes and broad smiles.

They showed me that true love not only comes from those who birth us, or those we betroth ourselves to, (she shyly glanced at Gilbert) but also our best friends, our bosom buddies, and although one is missing, I will be sure to tell him just how much he means to me, when I write to him next." She smiled at Diana, who gave her a wide smile in return and blew her a kiss, which Anne pretended to catch and hold to her heart.

Family, surprisingly enough, can come from the least expected of places, it can come from competitive classmates, ones who you never thought you could even tolerate, and it didn't even cross you mind that they would mean more to you than anyone ever has before—" She glanced at Gilbert, who was looking at her with such an intense longing look, one she'd never seen before in his eyes. She could feel a blush creeping up on her cheeks. "Even, if you hit them over the head with a slate, they still just won't go away." She teased. Gilbert laughed loudly, the sound filling her heart with something she'd never quite felt before. She chuckled, shaked her head and moved on to the last two, Mary and Bash. The newest members of her family.

And lastly, but certainly not least. Family can be those that just simply show you kindness, show you that you are worthy, that you are loved, no matter how quirky you may be, no matter the colour of your skin, no matter how long you've known them. Because kindred spirits just know when they're safe, with good people, who can broaden their minds in a way they never thought imaginable." She smiled gently, at them. Bash returned her smile shyly a blush creating up on his dark skin. Mary brushed a tear from her eye and whispered a thank you to Anne.

So, you see, this is my family, Miss Stacy. A rag-tag bunch of people who bring their own values into the equation, who individually mean something differently to me, and collectively," she took a deep breath, "well, collectively they mean the world to me." She finished focusing solely on Gilbert. He smiled, a disbelieving, yet hopeful sort of smile.

"Well, that was quite the presentation Miss Shirley-Cuthbert, and despite your tardiness" she threw a teasing look in Anne's direction, causing the young woman to blush "you presented it exceptionally well. You are the only one to show, not just me, but also those you consider you family, just exactly what they mean to you. I am proud of you. I am proud at how deep you dug into yourself. And now I feel like I truly know Anne Shirley - Cuthbert. You deserve an A star for this."

"Oh, thank you, Miss Stacy." Anne beamed before diving on the poor woman, crushing her in a hug. Miss Stacy laughed, patted the young hopeful on the back and pushed her towards her family. Who swarmed in all hugging the girl simultaneously.

Anne was overwhelmed, she was being crushed under the weight of those who loved and cherished her, and though there was one key person missing, she'd never felt more whole than she did at that moment.

A.N. Hello all, thank you very much for reading my story. I really hope you enjoyed it!