There was a moment where nothing moved. Breaths and heartbeats, thoughts, the dust in the air — everything was still.

And then he said, very simply, "Thank you, Anthy." It wasn't his own voice he spoke with; it was the voice of Dios the Prince.

Dark red rose petals dripped from his wound. Then he fell, and his whole body crumbled into rose petals as well. They lay scattered with his clothes on the threshold of eternity.

"He's dead," Utena whispered, only half-believing the words as they left her mouth. "The prince from my childhood is dead."

Anthy looked on her with a small, frozen smile and said nothing.

"Himemiya," she pleaded, "it's over. You can change back now."

"Isn't this 'back?'" Anthy asked pleasantly. Utena's only response was to stare at her in horror, so she explained, "I tried to be like you, but I guess in the end I'll always be the witch. It's just like in the beginning, taking him away from the world…"

Utena bristled. "That story was a lie!" she shouted. "You're lying to me, Himemiya!" She took a step forward. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy who tried to take care of everyone but himself. People said he was a prince, so he became one. But it was a lie, and lies break apart." She began to cross the bridge. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved her brother very much and told a lie in order to save his life. The lie got her killed. But then it took on a life of its own." She stepped over the white silk and red petals and stood before Anthy. "Once upon a time — and I really don't know how long ago it was now — you told me that you loved me. I know that wasn't a lie, which means you're lying to me to me now, and I won't accept that, Himemiya! I won't!"

Wordlessly, smile fixed in place, Anthy held out the sword to her. Utena took it and threw it to the ground. "No," Anthy said, "I didn't think you'd want it back now."

"That's not it at all," Utena reached out to her and took hold of her hands. "It's just… it's only a symbol. I don't need it anymore. Our reality will be enough." Anthy didn't answer. "Himemiya… Anthy… What are you thinking?" Anthy didn't answer. "Are you sad?"

"Yes." The smile was still there, but it was cracking now.

"For him?"

"Yes."

"For yourself?"

A moment of hesitation, and then, "Yes."

"It's okay to be sad. He was your brother. I—" She felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and started to force them back, then realized that wasn't the sort of strength Anthy needed from her and let them flow freely. "I loved him too. For who he used to be. I—" Her voice caught. Anthy was visibly biting her lip. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes."

"Are you afraid they'll come back for you?"

"No!" Utena was startled by her sudden vehemence.

"Then what..?" And then she looked at Anthy, really looked at her, and saw something in her eyes she had hoped never to see there again.

"You're running away!" Leaping from a tower or pushing me away from you, it's the same intention. "You promised you wouldn't run away!" What are you running from? What about me has you so scared?

Then all at once she knew.

"You're afraid we'll hurt each other."

Anthy burst into tears and fell against her. Her hair came down. Her glasses and the red gown melted away. Utena wrapped her arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I will never be like him," she said. "I promise you, Anthy."

"I can't not be like me," Anthy said. "I tried to change, Utena, I really did, but…"

"You have changed," Utena insisted. "You saved me, Anthy. You've saved me so many ways, and you've changed me, too. Let's keep changing, both of us together." She tilted Anthy's chin up so that they were looking eye to eye, leaned down to kiss the tears from each of her cheeks, then planted a third kiss on her lips.

Behind them, the doors to eternity creaked open, and everything was bathed in light.

"Utena! Your bouquet is here!"

Whose voice..? Anthy, where..?

Utena opened her eyes, lifted her head, and found herself looking into the dressing room mirror. Her fiancé's younger sister was reflected there behind her, brandishing a spray of white roses — which she then suddenly dropped.

"Utena!" she cried in horror. "What happened to your dress?"

"My dress?" Utena asked, realizing with wicked delight that it had been thoroughly shredded to ribbons. "Shouldn't you be more worried about my arm?" She spun around in her chair, straddling the back of it in an entirely unladylike manner, and held out her right arm, which now bore a large, ugly scar that hadn't been present two minutes ago.

"Forget about that!" the other girl shouted, not even looking at it. "You can get married with a bad arm, but not without a proper dress! Oh my God, how did you even do that? I'm going to look like the worst maid of honor ever!"

Utena wasn't listening. She had just spotted a small piece of paper that had fallen from the bouquet, and leapt from her chair to scoop it up.

If you want to find me, I'm nearby, it said. And then there was the date. Odd, why would she date..?

Oh!

"There's been a mistake," she told the younger woman, then realized that wasn't sufficient to convey the situation. "I mean, I made a mistake. A big one. Please tell your brother not to go to the altar. He shouldn't have to wait there."

The other girl stared. "Oh no," she said. "Oh no, you cannot mean by that what I think you do."

"I do. I'm sorry. I forgot, but there's… I have a prior engagement for this day."

"This is no time for jokes!" her fiancé's sister shouted. "What does that note say? Let me see it!" She lunged, but Utena easily evaded her. "Did that florist stick it in there? I knew I didn't like her! This is all her fault, isn't it? She was weird. Yes, it's all her—!"

Utena's hand shot out and seized her shoulder. It was all she could do not to slap her, because the poor girl didn't deserve that, there was no way she could know. "Don't you ever say that," she said, as calmly as she could manage. "This is my decision and my responsibility. I know exactly how bad what I'm doing is, but I also know how much worse it would be to dig this hole any deeper. We'd all regret it, in the end. That's what you will tell him. Make no excuses for me. Understand?"

The sister, cowed into silence, nodded. Utena spared her a quick smile, then released her and walked out the door.

"Excuse me, do you know this area well?" she asked the first person she saw.

"Yes?" He stared at her. Unsurprising — she must have looked a mess.

"What's the nearest tea shop?"

"Ah… Well… That is…" Still staring. So were a lot of other people. She could ignore it. "There's Rosehips?"

"That's the one!" she half-shouted in her excitement. "That has to be it! Where is it?" He pointed dumbly. She thanked him profusely and ran.

Anthy was standing behind the counter when she got there, a tray with two cups and a plate of cookies laid out before her. When their eyes met, her lips parted into the widest, truest smile Utena had ever seen grace them. She ran to her. They both reached out and grasped each other by the wrists. Even more people were staring now — all the patrons of the reasonably busy shop — but it mattered less than ever.

"Hey, Himemiya." Eloquent. That was all right too; she didn't need words for this. They'd already gotten the most important ones out of the way.

"Hello hello, Lady Utena." And for the first time, it sounded like a joke.

"Did you set this place up all by yourself?"

Anthy beamed. "Chuu-chuu helped!"

"Chuu-chuu!" Utena laughed. "I almost forgot! Where is the little rascal?"

"At home. The health and safety people got upset with my having him here, for some reason."

"Welcome to the real world, Himemiya."

"Glad to be here, Lady Utena."

They let go of each other just long enough to get situated at a table. Both the tea and the cookies were warm and sweet, and neither were remotely poisonous.

"Hey, Himemiya," Utena said, "I left my job when I decided to get married. May I work here with you?"

"Of course, Lady Utena. If the inspectors don't mind."

"And Himemiya," she said, "I left my apartment when I decided to get married. May I move in with you?"

"Of course, Lady Utena. If the goat doesn't mind."

"And Anthy," she continued, her tone a bit softer now, "I left my fiancé when I decided not to get married after all. May I spend the rest of my life with you?" Her heart fluttered just a little, though she already knew the answer she'd get.

"Oh, Utena, of course." Anthy set down her cup and reached out across the table to lay a hand on her face. "Of course, unconditionally."

And that was the beginning of that.