As the Bara no Hanayome told Wakaba about Utena’s revolutionary tale, Arisugawa Juri found out about the ex-Victor’s absence and decided she owed it to the prince to come and comfort her. "West wing, dorm...4...38. I see they put her in a fairly newer dormitory." Juri rolled her azure eyes. "Kissing up to her as usual. Typical of the Seitokaichou." The fencing captain came to the end of a seemingly endless hallway and read the temporary nameplate, ‘Tenjou Utena’, in large, hand-written script. Suddenly, she felt uneasy and hesitated before she raised her hand and rapped on the door. "Utena..." "...it’s open..." Juri’s face changed into a sorrowful one as she heard the familiar, yet obviously, saddened voice of Utena. "Utena? I...was told you weren’t at school today. This...wouldn’t have to do with your recent punishment, would it?" A long, deafening silence followed Juri’s statement. Her eyes wandered around the room curiously, gazing upon several boxes and bags that made up a large obstacle course to move about the room, then looking toward the outline of Utena’s body wrapped up in the blankets of her bed. For a newer dorm, it was incredibly small for a single. "...I see word gets around fast these days. You’ve come to scold me, I take it?" "No, I haven’t. I came to check up on you." Without flaw, the golden-locked woman found her way around the mess and approached Utena’s bedside. "May I sit down?" "Sure...if you want to." Juri sighed softly as she seated herself on the end of the prince’s bed, feeling slightly out of place. "How have you been holding up?" "All right, I guess. I’m still alive." "I’m really sorry for what’s happened to you. Especially because it’s a fellow councilman that’s caused you so much grief." "Please, sempai, don’t apologize for anything. This isn’t your fault...it’s mine." "What? How do you figure?" "I acted stupid, relentless, and foolishly. I deserved this. It’s better this way." "No it’s not. Not if it’s going to tear you apart like this." "Look, sempai, if I can’t control my rage, how do I know I won’t become like the other Victors she’s had. What if I start abusing her? I’m afraid of what I may become." "You make what you become." "...perhaps...but I won’t risk that." "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" "I’m not. I feel sorry for Himemiya." "Then do something about it! Just laying in bed and skipping school isn’t going to change anything!" By now, Utena had heard enough. Quickly, she sat up in her bed and stared coldly at her guest. "You don’t understand, do you!? I would hate myself if I ever hurt Himemiya!! I go back now without having properly managed my rage then I could leave myself open to hurting her! I won’t!!" "How the hell do you find that possible! You’re enraged because of what’s happened to her! You just don’t realize it!!" "What!?" "If you give up on someone...you’re hurting them more that way. If you give up on Himemiya...you’re hurting her more than any physical strike." "...you don’t understand..." "The hell I don’t!! Grow up, Tenjou Utena! A weak little child cannot become a Prince!" As suddenly as she said it, Arisugawa Juri’s hand dealt a sharp blow across the younger girl’s cheek, followed by her being grasped by the collar of her pajamas and getting pulled, forcefully, to Juri. "And weak little children have no reason to be envied by an elder in any way." And then, without warning, a sweet and lingering taste was pressed against Utena’s rose-pink lips. A...kiss? Arisugawa Juri was...kissing her. The Prince was indeed shocked, but dared not resist. The older woman’s lips tasted so sweet, so soft and sweet, just like Himemiya’s. Juri’s slender, crimson colored tongue felt soft and hot as it found it’s way into Utena’s mouth, just like Himemiya’s. The thin fingers of Juri’s hand stroked the pink-headed girl’s cheek, gently, just like Himemiya’s. But...as sweet and tempting as it seemed, this woman was not Himemiya. At that thought, Juri’s tongue left Utena’s mouth, leaving the prince’s bright, cobalt eyes wide with shock and realization. "Here. I took it back from Touga." In Utena’s hand rested her Bara no Kokuin. "You still have a chance, Utena. I don’t. That is where I envy you. Become strong and focused again and go be her heroic Prince. Go rescue your Princess." Another encounter for Shintaro Keingo in the Dean's Quarters. Since he’d shown up, Shintaro had grown quite reliable to Akio’s plans of his Revolutionizing the world. After closing his laptop, the pale-purple headed schoolmaster looked to his ‘apprentice’. "It’s been nearly three weeks since you became the Victor and you haven’t yet received any challenges." "Yeah! Why is that!? I’ve been waiting for a good duel." "Patience. You know very well that the only individual who holds desire to duel you is Tenjou Utena and right now she is serving her two-week suspension from dueling for fighting you." "I guess...but when am I gonna get to use all the powers and stuff?" "You desire to fight? I thought you only wanted the Bara no Hanayome?" "Yeah, I did. I’ve done that and now I want something more." "What’s that?" "Power." Akio hid his impatience. He wanted this boy to just keep the ‘lifeless’ Bride and let him handle the power of Dios. At that time, the Dean decided he needed a new plan...something more to get the power...and bribing Utena may be what he needs. "I see...well then, you’re dismissed." Akio turned his back to the boy and glared out the Observatory window, ideas brewing in his twisted mind as Shintaro exited the room, wordlessly. In the days that passed, Tenjou Utena did everything she could possibly think of to keep herself busy in a manner of physical activity to regain her strength, even though her doctors had forbidden it in her conditions. Hmph, conditions? Who cares, if you’re Tenjou Utena, because the only thing that matters in your eyes is the well-being of Himemiya Anthy and a two week suspension was keeping the Prince from it. One evening, while returning to her dormitory from basketball practice, Utena passed by the familiar cage-shaped arboretum, a place she had grown quite attached to. With a small longing, the ivory Prince approached the floral-scented domain, though she stopped as she spotted an unwanted character inside. "What the hell is he doing there? It’s one thing to invade Himemiya’s dormitory, but her sanctuary as well?" The Prince stood outside the door, a towel still draped over her bare shoulders, jacket hanging from an arm. Inside, Shintaro Keingo appeared to be angry over something...as usual in Utena’s mind. Intently, she listened, hoping to get some idea on what he was talking about. "Well, I told you to be back to the room after school, today! I had plans!" "I understand that, but I tend to this garden everyday. I thought you knew that?" "You talk back to me??" Keingo stood abruptly from his seat, tipping it back as he strode to Anthy and began shouting in her face. Powerless to defend, the Bride took it. "This damn plant life is distracting you isn’t it? You’re wasting your time in here! You are to do as I say, when I say it! Did I tell you to water plants? Did I say that??" "No, Shintaro-sama, you didn’t." "Then what the hell are you doing in here!?" "I’ve done this since I’ve been here. Utena-san always told me it was a good thing for me to do something I enjoyed." "Oh...that’s it, is it? You do this because Utena-san said it was okay? Is that what you’re telling me?" "No, it’s not...but I...I..." Quickly, Shintaro realized it, why she’d kept mostly to the roses than anything else. His hand shot out, gripping a handful of roses and ripping them from the bushes, waving them harshly in the now shocked girl’s face. "I got it, now! This is just another reminder of your loser tomboy ex-Victor, isn’t it? I told you that you’re forbidden to think of her!" Another round of shouting and his clenched hand swiped the thorny stems across Anthy’s cheek, leaving several small incisions in their wake. Before he could strike the grounded girl again, the door to the arboretum burst open, a visibly angered cobalt-eyed girl standing in the frame. "I’ve had it. This has gone too far, even for a self-righteous bastard like you." Once visible in the moonlight that shone through the glass roof, Utena stared daggers into the assailant. "You steal her freedom, now you steal what little desire she has? How black-hearted are you?" "Ah, Tenjou-kun. Nice to see you again. We were so caught up in our fight a week ago that I didn’t get to ask how your wounds were doing. By the way, that’s a hell of a scar you’re sporting...sorry ‘bout that. I guess I got a little carried away." A chuckle of sorts escaped his sneering smile, but with a little more wisdom, the carnation-haired Utena walked right through it. "It’s quite all right, Shintaro-chan, if anything, this scar is a valuable lesson for me. Perhaps I should be thanking you for it." For once, surprisingly to Utena, Shintaro Keingo shut his mouth, a scowl on his face. "You dare insult me in front of the Hanayome? My prize? I will not accept that, Tenjou-kun." Angered, he stepped to Utena, throwing his open palm at the scarred face of the previous Victor, but she simply raised her hand, catching his wrist, effortlessly and turning her face to his, eyes opening quickly. "You will not strike me, again, in careless anger, for I warn you now, Shintaro Keingo, it will only lead to your downfall." "Is that a challenge, Tenjou!?" "It would seem to me, that, due to your careless anger one week ago, I was temporarily banned from dueling for two weeks, so, no...that cannot be a challenge..." A mental grin could be felt on Utena’s face as she spoke again. "...but, in one week, it will be if I have anything to do about it." Quickly, she threw the boy’s hand away from her and looked to her fallen lover. "Himemiya...please try and take care of yourself. It won’t be long, now, I promise." With that, Anthy’s ‘noble prince’ turned and walked out of the arboretum, verbally victorious, but her heart still beating rapidly in her chest. Many days since the encounter in the arboretum, Utena spent long and sleepless nights regaining her strength, this night being spent in the gymnasium, alone, in a sweat-breaking, solitaire-game of basketball. The game seemed to be played on auto-pilot as Utena’s thoughts wandered elsewhere, concentrating on the many bits of wisdom she’d been thrown since her loss, wisdom she’d received mainly from Dios and of all people, Juri. Although the mental training was as good as the physical, the prince’s mind was obviously a million miles away, for she never saw the figure walking across the bleachers, leaving a bag, and walking away before a high-pitched ringing sounded in the noise-reflecting gym, catching Utena’s attention. No one would have ever guessed that the ringing would distract the victim before the bomb it was attached to detonated. The deafening blast sent everything in it’s wake flying: the broken boards of the bleachers, the rafters, the hanging light fixtures, and Utena. The force of the blast rocking Ohtori Gakuen and waking the many slumbering students and staff, causing them to run outside in frightened curiosity. "What the hell was that!?" "Was it an earthquake!?" "Something exploded!" "Hurry, someone, go get the headmaster!!" "Call the fire department!! The gymnasium’s up in flames!" In the time it took to call for assistance, countless amounts of people began flooding out onto the campus grounds, each one putting in their two-cents about the explosion. In the crowd, Shinohara Wakaba began frantically searching for a familiar face to be with, but when none turned up, she turned and ran toward the second crowd of people near the fleet of fire fighters and paramedics near the gym, their vehicle lights illuminating the scene. One paramedic began asking questions to by-standees. "Were there any people in there?" One asked sternly to a random young boy. "I don’t think so, sir. It’s after hours and policies keep us in our dorms this late at night." Near the boy, Wakaba felt sick with a bad feeling as she began running about the flaming facility and finding what she never thought she would: a half-nude girl staggering from the wreckage. "Oh, no! It can’t be...ohhh no...Utena-sama!!!" Worried more than she had ever been in all her fourteen years, Wakaba broke into a concerned run, just in time to catch the suffering Prince before she collapsed. "No, Utena-sama...how’d this happen?? Who did this??" Though she was alive, Tenjou Utena neglected to respond at all...to her savior, to the questions, to anything but how much it hurt and how badly she wanted to see the boy, she knew did this, struck down for his loyalty to the man known as Lucifer. Painfully, she choked on the sulfur-riddled smoke in her throat, and weakly opened her eyes. "...dammit...that stupid bastard got me again. He won't...stop until he's killed me..." Utena muttered with a weak grin on her face. "...wa...kaba...don’t let..." Another round of coughs and desperate gasps for breath wracked the tragedy-prone girl. "...please don’t let...Himemiya...see me...like this. She has...enough to be concerned about..." "Utena-sama, I...I can’t promise you that. Please don’t make me accept that." "...just...try..." Slowly, Wakaba’s chocolate-brown eyes welled with fresh tears. What could she do, especially since she was so scared that she could barely move. "Utena-sama, please be okay...I don’t want you to die...please don’t die..." A forced half-smile appeared on Utena’s face as she looked to her beloved, loyal friend, blinking several times as the smoke burned at her eyes...but also to blink back her own threatening flood of tears. "...don't be ridiculous...Wakaba-chan...I’m not gonna...die, now. Tomorrow...I’ll be back in class...getting glomped...and pulling on your ponytail...just like...I always do..." And then, her eyes closed, her head tilted to one side, and the tears spilled. "...Utena-sama...? Hey, Utena-sama...? Please, open your eyes. Please, Utena-sama!" Wakaba’s eyes remained wide in shock as her tears escaped from them. Why wasn’t she opening her eyes? Why? What else could she do? The chestnut-haired girl pulled her best-friend’s head to her shoulder and began crying openly as several running footsteps could be heard behind her, but she never let go. "Excuse me, young lady, what’s going on here? Is that girl injured?" Wakaba still refused to let go as she snapped back to the annoying question. "What do you think!? She isn’t moving, is she!? She’s burned, isn’t she!? Of course she’s injured!!" Along with the paramedics who had flooded around the sobbing girl and her best friend, Arisugawa Juri found her way through to take Wakaba by the shoulders, gently urging her to let Utena go. "Shinohara...please...you must let her go. She needs help." One medic slowly took the fallen Utena from Wakaba’s embrace as the small girl threw herself into Juri’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Angered and worried, Arisugawa Juri sat in the waiting room of the same infirmary they had been to not-too-long ago, her chin resting upon her clasped hands in deep thought. Across from her, Wakaba had eventually cried herself into a restless sleep on a small sofa. "This was no accident and it’s no coincidence, either. Someone wants Utena dead and is going all out to do it." Pondering the subject a moment longer, she came to an uncertain, yet obviously probable, conclusion. "Shintaro Keingo...you’ve set your last trap. I’m not letting her out of my sight until she is well once more and when she is, her suspension will be long over. You’re going down and her sword will do it." Once again, physically and emotionally battered, Tenjou Utena lied bandaged in the Ohtori Gakuen infirmary, only this time, it was critical. Had anyone she known entered the room at that moment with no knowledge of the accident, they never would have known it was her. The once smooth, ivory colored hands and arms of the girl were completely wrapped, covering up several burns that she’d received after apparently throwing her arms in her face. The prince’s stomach and thighs also had been wrapped. Unfortunate for the hopeful duelist, she had only been wearing her shorts and sports bra while in the gymnasium, therefore, her ivory-soft skin was left vulnerable to a lot of injuries. Deadly smoke inhalation kept an oxygen mask over the girl’s mouth, supplying precious air into her that she, herself, could not. The IVs in her wrist injected several different forms of life support, while the monitor by the bed beeped frighteningly slow. Sadly enough, this was only the current state. A moment later, the door opened and shut softly, the familiar silhouette of the idolized fencing captain then stood silently by the would-be prince’s bedside. "I know it doesn’t help matters, but I know who did this, and I’m sure you do, too." Arisugawa Juri took a bandage swathed hand and clasped it tightly in her own two, pulling it to her chest before bowing her golden-trussed head, silently begging for the miracle she never thought she could believe in. "Even so, Tenjou Utena, I will not let you be defeated. Himemiya is depending desperately on you to set her free." Juri released Utena’s hand and opened the small overnight bag, pulling a jacket from it and placing it next to the unconscious duelist. "I figured you’d need new clothes when you woke up. I...I broke the lock open on your bag and brought you a jacket," Juri pulled the folded article out of the bag, letting it unroll and with a snap it to straighten it out, a white square flew across the room. A questioning glance sent Juri to retrieve it. Noting the formality of Utena’s name on it, she knew if was from Anthy. "A...a letter that was written by Anthy. I know it must be important, so let reading it be the first thing you do when you wake up." Gently, she placed the letter upon the newly folded jacket then rested Utena’s hand over it. "I know you can’t hear me, but wherever you are, I know you can feel Anthy’s suffering. I’ve told you once and I will tell you, again...be her prince. Fight, Utena...for Anthy." Over the last few weeks, the once-bitter woman had found something in Utena that she, herself, could not find in her own being, and she would not let that something be lost. With a shake of her head in anger of Utena’s battered condition, she turned and exited. "Be strong. We’re counting on you." It would appear that news gets around fast, and to Himemiya Anthy, it still seemed too slow. Though she had heard the explosion that dreadful night, she was not permitted to leave the Observation Tower until her ‘Victor’ returned from a nightly errand. Anthy was not so stupid, though, as Keingo seemed to think she was. As soon as the bomb detonated, she knew Shintaro Keingo was up to no good, and that meant trouble for her beloved Utena. The clock struck 3:30am as the Bride rose from her bed, her velvet locks flowing down her back, her curvaceous body clad in skin-tight black clothing instead of her night gown. Checking once to assure herself that her abuser was asleep...after a drugged cup of tea knocked him out...she soundlessly exited the dorm. "...Utena-sama..." she mouthed silently before entering the elevator. "Oh, Dios, protect her for me." Once more, her feet padded across the ground, taking her through the campus, undetected. Her heart beat painfully beneath her breast, thinking of what punishment she’ll endure for running out on her Victor to see the woman that he forbid her from. Except, to Anthy, no punishment was more painful than knowing that that same boy was responsible for the attempted murder of the prince she held so dear. Once she came to the infirmary, she casually entered, figuring that nobody in their right-mind would recognize her in her exotic, current appearance. "Can I help you, miss?" The night receptionist asked the question rather formally for Anthy’s taste, but she remembered she must remain casual. "Ahh, yes. I’m...a very close friend of Tenjou Utena and I was just informed, by...by phone, of her accident. I never would have imagined the victim of the explosion could be her. Could you be so kind as to direct me to her room? It’s of the utmost importance that I see her as quickly as possible." "Well, visiting hours are passed, but I suppose. It’s so early in the morning, who’s going to know, right? Let me pull that up for you." The receptionist spun around in her chair and began typing quickly on her keyboard. Behind her, Himemiya Anthy’s eyes beamed with excited relief that she had fooled this woman so simply. "Ah, here we go. Tenjou Utena...roooooom...253. Second floor, third door on your left of the hallway." "All right, thank you." Anthy walked to the elevator, relief still washing over her senses as she stopped one floor up. "...third door... here." Upon entry, the rebellious Bride stopped to take the medical clipboard from it’s holder outside the door, then walking in and locking the door behind her. Nervously, she inhaled a deep breath before taking a place beside the bed. Once there, she gazed helplessly, yet lovingly, to the unconscious girl lying beneath the sheet. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked at the clipboard in her hand and felt her heart jump into her throat at the heavy amounts of injury her beloved Prince endured, yet a pang of relief flooded her when she spotted a small check-mark that noted: ‘1:37am: Patient regained consciousness for a brief moment during quarterly checkup. Patient rejected any needs offered except to have a paper held up for her so that she may read it. Reasons unknown. 1:42am: Patient falls unconscious. Condition no longer life threatening. Aside from burns on body, now safe to place patient into stable condition.’ Walking back to the door, Anthy placed the clipboard back into it’s slot and locked the door once more. The notes on the doctor's sheet left her a little confused. Why would Utena fall unconscious after reading a paper. What paper, for that matter? The Bride looked back to her Oji-sama and realized which paper it was. It was the note she wrote to Utena after that tragic day. It rested in her clenched fist. "How...did it get here?" Curiously, she pondered the possibilities, but shrugged it off. "Either way, she read it." Again, Anthy sighed as she sat back down next to the bed, brushing her slender, tanned fingers gently over Utena’s pale face, tracing her features as if she were reading them in Braille. "Utena-sama...my noble Utena-sama. I’m so sorry for everything. I never should have left you alone. I suppose I have yet to recognize my humanity in this world, or else I would have fought the decision of the Sekai no Hate that day." Anthy’s hand came to the noble prince’s left eye, hesitating before letting her middle finger trace gently over the battle scar, then lowering her face to the duelist’s and placing a soft ‘healing’ kiss upon it. "In the name of all I hold dear in life, I wish for nothing more than to see my noble Utena-sama succeed. For only with that success will she ever be truly happy." Anthy looked up, closing her emerald eyes and spoke once more on Utena’s behalf. "Dios-sama...may your guidance and power bring my noble Utena-sama back to me, healthy and safe, once more." Another kiss, another plea for help, and the Bara no Hanayome lied carefully next to her protector, her velvet, purple-trussed head resting upon her lover’s soft, left breast, and letting the sound of Utena’s heartbeat send her into a sound sleep like she’d never had before. "Anthy...Anthy...wake up..." Himemiya Anthy awoke motionlessly, only her emerald-green eyes parting to the sound of a young, familiar voice. "...brother...? Is it...you?" The Bride’s small, childhood voice asked as she glanced around her surroundings for a moment, searching for the voice. "Yes, it is." "Dios, my brother...why have you come?" "Anthy, I’ve come because somewhere inside your shackled soul, you plea for help. I have come, tonight, to assist you." "I’m not sure I understand, brother." Anthy’s childish features showed all signs of confusion, her thin eyebrows arched and her lips pursed. Dios placed a white-gloved hand upon Anthy’s bare, single-strapped shoulder, pointing in one direction, urging his young, beloved sister to look. "Look there, my sister...what do you see?" The tiny Bride’s eyes locked on the scene in front of her, for right there was the infirmary bed that her beloved Utena rest in, pain coursing through the ivory-skinned Prince, but going unnoticed to her onlookers. Beside her, was a chocolate-skinned girl with the silkiest purple tresses...it was herself. "I see...me...with Utena-sama." The Hanayome’s head bowed shamefully at the sight. To her, she’d want nothing more than to be in the arms of Tenjou Utena...but it was not the physical state she was ashamed of. Here rested a young girl who spent every passing moment making sure that Himemiya Anthy was safe and happy, but now, she lied motionless, pain wracking her mentality. "It’s all my fault, brother. Had I not left her that fateful day, this would not have happened." "Wouldn’t it?" "She...she is so kind to me. The things she does are done because she wants to protect my well-being. I don’t deserve her." "You should not disrespect yourself so much." "Oh, my brother, why not!? This is my fault! She gave her heart to me and I betrayed it! I hate myself for what I have done!!" Dios was far from surprised by her outburst from the many years in their past that she often belittled herself. Quickly, he knelt down next to the now crying Anthy, taking her in his arms and holding her close. "Stop. It’s all right, now. None of this is your fault. I understand you cannot help what you did, for you are fated to be the Bara no Hanayome, but hating yourself will solve nothing. How can you respect her compassion if you cannot respect what it is that she shows this compassion for?" "...I...I love Utena-sama more than my own life. I should be the one lying in that bed, not her." "Neither of you should be suffering. You do not deserve it." Anthy looked into the eyes of her comforting brother, her cheeks streaked from her onslaught of tears. "Perhaps not, but I would gladly suffer to save Utena-sama." A smile spread onto Dios’ face, a gloved hand brushing a few stray locks of velvet from the young child’s face. "I believe, little sister, that you love her more than you know. Maybe, somewhere inside you, lies a noble heart, just like Utena’s." "Noble...heart?" "The casing of your nobility. Your desire to save Utena is the same desire she possesses to save you." Anthy looked once more to the scene, but it was gone. In it’s place, lied a small girl in light-blue two-piece pajamas, curled up in a tiny ball. "Brother, that child, why does she cry?" "That is Tenjou Utena of many years ago. That is what's left of Utena’s fading nobility." Anthy quickly looked back to the small-Utena, eyes wide as she broke from her brother’s hold and ran to the girl. Slowly, now, she knelt by her, placing her tan-toned hand upon the shaking child’s shoulder. "...are...are you all right?" Anthy’s grown voice asked gently. The child form of Utena rose quickly, a gasp and a sniffle the only sounds she made. "...who...who are you?" "...whomever you want me to be. I know who you are, but why do you cry?" Utena’s bright, glazed eyes looked to the girl in front of her, as if she were trying to etch every detail of her into her mind. "I...cry because...I’m lost and I’m afraid." "Why are you afraid?" There was silence. "I...feel like I'm dying. As if I'm going to disappear." Utena spoke softly. "You aren't going to die. You will never die. You're too special to leave the world." Anthy said kindly, a moment before Utena’s eyes widened in shock and realization. "Himemiya...Anthy? How is it that you’re here?" "I am here to help. I understand her weakness now...and it is because you are afraid." "I didn’t mean to...but with all that’s happened, I became scared after the pain took it’s course. I haven’t been able to find myself since." Anthy took the child’s small hands into her own and looked to her with a motherly appearance that the child-like Utena had missed from her own. "Nobility of Tenjou Utena...what is it that makes you noble?" "I...I want to become a Prince." Utena’s voice quivered slightly, a strange shyness overwhelming her. "How will you become the Prince, young Utena?" "I...will...become the Prince by protecting those that I love." An unknown feeling began to develop inside the tiny girl. "Who do you love?" "...my Prince...my friends..." Anthy’s lips spread into a smile as she realized what she was doing. It hit her when a slightly matured voice answered. Each loved one that was mentioned caused Utena to gain back her reasons for not only wanting to become the Prince, but also, her reasons to live. "...Wakaba...Juri...Miki...Chu-chu..." Before Anthy’s eyes, her beloved Utena’s nobility was maturing. "...and...Himemiya Anthy." "Utena-sama...it’s really you." Dazed, yet relieved, Tenjou Utena looked wide-eyed to her silken-trussed Bride. "...Himemiya..." The newly awakened girl stumbled to find the words that could describe her emotions, but none emerged. Anthy, though, didn’t care. In an instant, she was embracing Utena, holding her tightly so she would never lose her again. From behind them, the Prince known as Dios was rushed with a heartfelt relief to see his sister happy and his Princess well. "...Utena-sama...I’ve missed you so much. I can’t begin to tell you how badly I’ve longed to be with you." "I...I’ve missed you, too." The Prince fought to sit up in the uncomfortable hospital bed. When had they awaken? "Wha...what happened?" "...Dios guided me to you. Through him, I found the real you." "Like when he came to me in my pain. Thank you...I may never have regained my nobility without you. I should have been stronger and then it wouldn’t have diminished." "Well, I suppose a little child psychology never hurt anyone, did it?" Utena smiled warmly, keeping her arms around her Princess. Both felt so good to the emotionally battered Prince. "I’ve eased your mentality...which helped you to ease your pain. I can do no more." "I understand. Give me one week to regain my strength and I will come for you." "All right, but no more going out alone to do it. You’ll be targeted again, okay?" "Yes, Himemiya. I’m sorry." Anthy squeezed Utena’s hand gently before placing her fingers around the Oji’s chin and bringing it close, kissing those rose-pink lips she’d missed so much. "Be careful, Utena-sama. I hope my letter was appealing to you." "It...was...it and you." They exchanged glances for a moment longer. "All right, Himemiya, you better go before Shintaro finds you missing. By the way, how did you get passed him?" At that moment, Anthy blushed profusely. "Himemiya...?" "I...sort of drugged his tea last night." Silence filled the room until Utena began to laugh, also something that felt good to do again. "Oh, sure, Anthy the rebel. Still, I’m so proud of you...breaking the rules and all. Independence. There’s hope for you, yet." Slowly enough, Anthy began to laugh as well. "All right, Utena-sama...be cautious and take care of yourself. I’ll see you in a week." "I’ll be packed and ready to move back in." Anthy kissed Utena once more, softly, before turning and walking through the door, turning back to press her middle and index fingertips to her lips, kissing them, and leaving. "Wait for me, Himemiya. I won’t fail this time. I have all that I need and I got it all from you." The Prince sighed joyously before lying back down and clutching her pillow to her breast. "...one week ‘till we’re together, again." ------------------------------------------------------------ Author’s thingie: ::sniff:: ...dat was pretty. ::pokes the mush with a stick:: Wow, mushy...I guess. ^.^>
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