Day 47: Greenhouse (2nd Shift)

[himetsuru]

Why couldn't she get it out of her mind? It was a stupid white dress. So what if it was visual evidence that she was a princess? It should not be bothering her this much. It was a just a dress

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[exbride]

Here was something that Anthy was used to, the familiarity its own sort of comfort. After avoiding the crowded meal hall a few times in a row, her nurse finally convinced her to participate in the gardening activity. This greenhouse was larger than the one from Ohtori, but it was a little less colorful and housed vegetables as well as flowers. There were only a few other girls in here at the moment, but few or none appeared to be doing any gardening.

Moving on automatic, Anthy ambled down a pebbled path and found a secluded spot with an empty patch of soil. She chose a bundle of roses to work with, of course, and knelt by the dirt to begin digging a hole. This was familiar to her. This was something she could do.

This was a glass cage. Her hand slipped on the shovel and she stabbed at the dirt with a small measure of undue force, her hair falling in her face and obscuring it. It was difficult to garden with no means of tying back hair that flowed as long as hers.

[free]

[quickdrawbkiddo]

"It is indeed possible to love a ghost," Beatrix replied, "for I still love the man that did this to me even though he no longer lives."

Leaving a man that was a shell of what he once was completely alone and helpless? Anthy was far crueler than she was. Beatrix was brutal, yes, but rarely cruel. "You believe your revenge is complete?" The Bride gave a cold, short laugh. "Dear child, you have taken everything from him and yet have suffered him to live. He now has nothing left to lose and that makes him very dangerous." He could be the reason Anthy was taken prisoner.

[exbride]

"Then I refuse to do the same," Anthy insisted and repeated the last part back to herself: Even though he no longer lives. So the successful revenge this woman spoke of earlier had been to eliminate the man who put a hole in her head, and who knew what else he'd done, and she loved him still. She was more forgiving than Anthy; kinder indeed. Anthy had even directed her hatred at people who scarcely deserved it.

Like Utena. Her eyes caught on the sight of the prince-girl across the room again and a complicated pain etched across her features.

"I should have killed him?" Anthy wondered, processing the idea slowly. It made sense now -- why not? She'd plunged a blade into people less deserving before.

Like Utena.

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Whereas Beatrix did not know the extent of the relationship between Anthy and this man, but the girl's protest about continuing to love him rang false to the Bride. She contributed this stubbornness to youth and not understanding what love was. Beatrix loved Bill and she hated him. She had killed him and would do it over again if she had to. And through it all... she would still continue to love him. But love did not excuse him for the things he'd done, the things he'd taken from her. He deserved to die.

Then again... so did she.

"I don't believe that is the question you should be asking yourself," Beatrix commented as she smoothed the dirt around the plant. "I think the better question is why did you let him live?"

[exbride]

The immediate, yet tentative, answer that she wanted to give was because I wanted him to suffer. Anthy had to admit that she was not sure if she would've been able to do it if she'd went through with an attempt, because Akio knew not to trust Anthy and the only way Anthy knew how to deal injury was to sneak up on an unsuspecting victim. Still, Akio had been an unsuspecting victim of his own sort, believing the Rose Bride would never turn on him. One night after he fell asleep, it might've been easy to just