A/N: total fluff, because I felt like writing something fun again. No M rating for once but lots of forbidden attraction. Will probably only be one or two more updates. As always, I love review!

The scene could only be described as blissful to anyone who happened to stumble upon it. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, birds were chirping from their branched hiding places, the breeze continued to move through the trees like a restless sea, and the lake sat like a sheet of glass reflecting the majestic mountains that loomed over it. Just shy of becoming stifling, the heat of the day seeped into the nooks and crannies of the garden, spilling forth onto the veranda and bathing its aristocratic occupants in a blanket of warmth.

Normally, Georg von Trapp would've been tugging on his collar impatiently by now, in pursuit of some relief from the noose of a tie that was knotted tightly around his neck. Despite suffering long, sweltering days under the sun on the occasions that he and his crew had broken the surface of the Adriatic during the war, he'd never quite grown to love the heat - especially not while adorned in a blasted suit and tie. Indeed, most of his rare days above the sea's surface had been spent shirtless, soaking up what little daylight they'd been able to enjoy. Strangely enough however, it wasn't the sun that was leaving him restless on this particular summer's afternoon - but rather, the uncharacteristically peaceful silence...

Where on earth was the little fraulein and her boisterous charges, he wondered. Surely they weren't indoors on such a glorious afternoon? He knew Fraulein Maria well enough by now to know that she chose to be outdoors whenever she got the chance - even, on occasion, when it was raining! - as he had discovered not one week ago. The memory suddenly rose unbidden in his mind - he'd been poring over some work in his study, when suddenly he'd spotting her through the window, catching her in what she must've thought was a private moment. She'd been twirling in a circle with her arms spread, laughing heartily as clouds thatched the sky and the heavens unexpectedly opened - and within a few seconds she'd been absolutely soaked to the skin. Much to his chagrin, he hadn't been able to look away...

There was a time not too long ago - before the Fraulein's somewhat disruptive arrival, in fact - when he would've positively relished in the current silence. Now however, the quietude was simply unsettling. He was restless - and while he didn't like to admit it to himself, he couldn't deny that in his idle boredom he was rather craving Fraulein Maria's undivided-

"ATTENNNNNTION!"

It was Friedrich who pierced the solitude, sending birds scattering from the trees as he sprang from behind a bush with a roar and a hearty salute. Almost immediately, the rest of the children erupted from various hiding places around the garden and lined up enthusiastically like a troop of soldiers, posing in an odd variety of stances. Among the little platoon, was a rosy-faced Fraulein Maria.

Ah, Georg thought with a knowing chuckle, that's more like it!

"Good heavens!" Elsa exclaimed from somewhere beside him, her perfectly manicured hand flying to her heart in alarm, though she still managed to look as regal and elegant as ever, even in the relentless heat.

Max Detweiler guffawed impishly on Georg's other side, "The countryside is so restful isn't it!"

Elsa raised an unamused eyebrow but Georg hardly noticed, instead focusing his efforts on trying to work out the rules of this bizarre military game his children seemed so thoroughly engrossed in. It was no doubt a product of the fraulein's vivid and varied imagination - not unlike the puppet show, or the blasted play clothes made of old drapes, he mused. In any event, she never seemed to run out of new activities to keep the children entertained. And while most of her games were simple to decipher, this particular game was leaving him baffled. But before he had the chance to scrutinise it any further, Frau Schmidt arrived with ice cold refreshments, momentarily distracting his brood's attention.

"Lemonade!" A little voice yelled from the grass, and within seconds the table was surrounded by seven eager faces, their game apparently forgotten for the time being.

Maria took the chance to catch her breath as she watched the children scamper in the direction of the lemonade, shaking her head with a fond smile at the way they were so easily influenced by the promise of a sugar. She could hardly blame them though - it was a gloriously sunny day and their game had been rather taxing.

"Fraulein!" Liesl called from the balustrade, beckoning with her ice cool glass, "come and try some! It's delightful."

With a shrug, Maria followed up the stone steps just in time to hear Herr Detweiler ask of the second eldest Von Trapp child, "What was that all about Friedrich?"

"It's a game," The boy replied breathlessly, pausing to gulp enthusiastically at his drink, "a mix of hide and seek and musical statues. When I yell attention, everyone must run from their hiding place and adopt their assigned military stances. The first to move or stumble is it! And so the game continues."

Whether he meant for her to see or not, Maria caught the captain rolling his eyes in warm amusement - and she couldn't help but rise to the bait.

"I thought you of all people would approve captain!"

A peculiar fluttering danced low in her stomach when his eyes suddenly locked with hers, humour shining in them - though the rigid authoritarian still lurked behind his gaze.

"Me?" He enquired innocently.

She nodded.

"I don't understand."

"Military fitness!" She explained, attempting to hide her mirth, "I took creative license with your.. what did you call it? Ah yes - marching about the grounds, breathing deeply."

Much to her delight, the captain chuckled darkly and she could read his response in the look he cast her.

Touché fraulein, touché!

"I hate to tell you fraulein," Herr Detweiler interrupted with an air of superior understanding, "but that was not military fitness, as you so graciously put it."

The captain scoffed non-too-quietly into his lemonade and Maria had to stifle a giggle.

"Max, you wouldn't recognise a fitness regimen if it came up and bit you on the backside!"

A titter of stifled sniggering broke out amongst the children and Maria managed to shush them while failing hopelessly in keeping her own face straight.

Herr Detweiler looked thoroughly affronted.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" He protested, outraged, "I'm fit as a fiddle!"

A dangerous set of mischievous dimples framed the corners of the Captain's mouth as it shaped itself into a perfectly crooked smile - and much to Maria's dismay, she felt her face flush hotly. Luckily it was uncle Max who was on the receiving end of such an unsettling look - if it'd been her, she would surely have had to avert her eyes to keep from embarrassing herself. Her employer's angry glare, she could handle without so much as flinching. His temper, she could match with equal vigour. But his teasing? His smile? Or even worse, his kindness? They left her completely and utterly flustered every time. Of course, she would never admit it to a single soul - not even to herself! - but when Captain Von Trapp was like this - playful, mischievous, mysterious - she couldn't deny he was rather devastating.

"Well let's just say," the captain goaded Herr Detweiler, leaning forward in his chair, "A little birdie told me you need your tuxedo altering before the party! One too many strudels I dare say, Max!"

And with that he flopped back in his seat nonchalantly, chuckling darkly at the scandalised look on his friend's face as the impresario rounded accusatorially on the baroness.

"That was supposed to be a secret!" He hissed sulkily at his elegant companion as the children doubled over in another fit of giggles.

"I'm sorry darling, really I am!" The baroness tittered gracefully, in a manner that made Maria suspect she wasn't really sorry at all, "But I'm no match for Georg and his skills in the art of extraction! He had it out of me before I'd even opened my mouth!"

Now that Maria could well believe. She'd lost count of the number of times the captain had needled the truth out of her without so much as a single word. Sometimes she wondered whether he could simply read her thoughts - but the very idea was too disturbing to even contemplate.

"How I despise idle gossip," Herr Detweiler grumbled petulantly, "I'm as fit as I was in my navy days!"

"So not very fit at all then," the captain retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Do you care to bet on it?"

"What did you have in mind exactly?"

Maria watched the two men sparing with avid interest. It seemed that even the baroness was somewhat amused by the exchange, smirking into her glass of lemonade as her eyes flitted between the two.

"I wager I can still complete that blasted exercise drill you used to put us through on the docks right before a mission!" The impresario declared, much to the delight of Kurt and Friedrich.

"What drill father?"

"Show us!"

"I bet we could do it!"

"You couldn't.."

"Yes I could!"

The captain interrupted his sons with a hearty laugh then, clearly pleased with their enthusiasm, "Boys, as much as I'd love to put your uncle Max through his paces, I believe your fraulein confiscated my trusty whistle. And every naval officer knows you can't direct a drill without a whistle."

He punctuated the final word with a gentle tap to Marta's nose, causing the little girl to giggle happily by his side. Content to put the topic to bed, Georg reached for his glass of lemonade again, ready to change the subject altogether, when-

"Actually captain," the little fraulein made him pause with his drink halfway to his lips, "I've got the whistle you gave me right here," and she reached into the pocket of her dress before thrusting said whistle at him with what would've been considered a guileless smile, if it wasn't for the mischief he caught in her eyes. The last time she'd fixed him with a look like that he'd found himself taking a guitar from her outstretched hands. The realisation was oddly unsettling.

"It's come quite in handy for some of the games we've been playing, you see."

He said nothing, merely chuckling hesitantly as his eyes flickered to the blasted whistle clutched in her dainty fingers. As always, she'd somehow managed to outsmart him, putting him on the spot with the very instrument that he'd once used to exert his authority. The irony wasn't lost on him.

"Please father, show us what you and uncle Max used to do in the navy," Kurt implored - and for some reason that Maria couldn't quite fathom, the baroness almost began choking on her lemonade.

"Er... perhaps not everything. eh Georg?" Herr Detweiler mused, flashing Elsa a wink.

"Yes, thank you Max!" The captain barked and Maria could've sworn she saw his ears redden as his eyes flickered for a split second onto her.

"Please father, it'll be fun!" It was Louisa asking this time - and even her slightly more gentile sisters agreed with irrefutable enthusiasm.

Georg looked to Max and Elsa for help, but of course they offered him none - the former looking fiendishly smug at the unexpected turn of events, while the latter simply watched him curiously through mascaraed lashes.

He turned back to his brood, and their gazes shone with expectant excitement.

"Oh alright," he eventually conceded, "if you insist on making your uncle Max suffer this badly then who am I to stop you!"

A/N: I'm quite excited to write the next chapter, could be lots of fun!