Warning: This is a total Utena spoiler, for those who don't want
their perfect Utena image spoilt, skip this short story, for
others, please give your comment  after read- ing through
judyabbort@hotmail.com. Thanks and enjoy this.

Is the Rose the Destiny?

Prologue

'I am now on the way to find you. Wait for me, Utena!' said
Himemiya Anshi, and she stepped out of the gate of Ohtori
Academy, with the company  of Chuchu.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three years later. China.

Himemiya Anshi was walking in the busy streets of Shanghai. Every
now and then she stopped by a shop and asked for the information
of Tenjou Utena. 'This is the four hundred thousand and fifty
first time of getting a negative answer, Chuchu,' said Anshi,
calmly.

'Chu! Chuchuchu!' answered Chuchu.

'No, I won't be disappointed. It is Utena who set me free from
bounds, and of course she has her right to hide from me. But I
will find you, Utena!' she said the last sentence aloud, and
smiled. People around her looked at her strangely, then walked
away.

'I guess you're hungry, Chuchu? Let's find a restaurant and eat.'

'Chu!'

'Welcome! How many seats?' A waitress immediately approached them
when they walked into the restaurant.

'One, please,' answered Anshi politely.

'What kind of tea would you like?'

'Pu-er, please.'

After a while, the tea came. Anshi gave one cup to Chuchu.

'Chu! Chuchu!' Chuchu did not drink the tea.

'You don't like Chinese tea?' asked Anshi. But the sharp sixth
sense of pisces told her there was something important to happen.
She looked around, look- ing for clues.

'Chu!' Chuchu's right hand pointed to a table near to the
kitchen. That table was a few metres away from Anshi's.

Anshi looked at the direction Chuchu pointed. Then, her gaze
glued to a figure, and could never move away.

That figure was tall and slim, with short hair. Even though that
figure wore a painter's hat, Anshi still regconised the figure at
once. Who on Earth could ever have natural pink hair?

Just before Anshi ran over to Tenjou Utena, Anshi noticed there
was a man just beside Utena. Anshi rooted to the ground. Before
long, that man left the restaurant with Utena.

Seeing their departure, Anshi at once put down some money on the
table and ran out into the street. 'No need to change please,'
she said as she passed by a waitress.

Anshi thanked her lucky stars when she was able to follow the man
and Utena quietly, instead of losing them. They walked up a hill
and went inside a cave.

Anshi noted the name of the hill was Hill of Phoenix. Anshi did
not enter the cave, instead, she listened outside.

'Zagato sama,' said Tenjou Utena,'let me lean on your breast and
listen to your heartbeat.'

'I don't mind,' Zagato answered.'But no sama for me, Utena.'

'I cannot, I feel I depend on you totally only I call you sama.'
There was a heart break tone in Utena's voice.

'Chu?' Himemiya Anshi was able to pull back her voice from
pronouncing anything, but Chuchu could not avoid his question.

'Who? Who is outside? Enter and meet us!' Zagato and Utena
said together.

Anshi and Chuchu entered the cave, shyly.'My dear Utena...'
Anshi's voice broke off.

'Who are you?' Zagato asked coldly, thinking of how to protect
Utena when danger loomed in way.

'Utena!' Anshi ignored his question.'You have changed so much!
You have changed your style of dressing, your motto, and even
your way of life! Can I still believe that you are the one who
set me free from the fate of being an eternal rose bride? Can I
still regconise you as the one I once betrayed, the active, noble
and innocent Utena? Can I still regard you as the Utena I have
been looking for in these years?'

'WHO ARE YOU?' Zagato repeated the question boldly.

'Zagato sama, please be not furious,' Utena spoke softly.'Anshi,
it is true that I have changed during these years. I am no longer
a prince, I am just a normal human being, just like Miki and Juri
do. I also want somebody to depend upon, you have to understand,
being a prince forever is really tiring. Now I am tired, so I
have fallen.

'I do not blame you for your betrayal, Anshi,' Utena continued
after a brief pause,'I know the fault belongs to Dios and you are
only his tool. But I was still hurt, not only physically, of
which can heal in time, but more importantly, I was hurt
emotionally. Even though I was a prince, I was still human, and I
felt I could not bear the pain in Ohtori Academy, because
everything there could remind me of your betrayal, so I left and
searched for somebody I could depend upon. At last I found Zagato
sama. He secured me. So I decided he was the man I would depend
on in my life. It is better for you to leave and find your true
prince. In the future, we may be able to get in touch in some
ways.'

'I want my old Utena back,' Anshi exclaimed.'I want the noble
Utena back! I want my prince back! Zagato, I AM GOING TO DUEL
with YOU!'

'What will you do if I win?' Zagato asked insultingly.

'I will go away at once and find my own prince. Utena will no
longer be my prince.' Anshi answered firmly.'What about you if I
win?'

'Tenjou Utena will be yours, and I shall return to Rayearth.'
Zagato answered lightly.

'Let us walk up to the hill top as the dueling ground,' said
Utena quietly. In a second, her clothes changed to the bridegroom
which she wore when meeting Dios. It was pink and dark blue
rimmed, with the style exactly the same as Anshi's bride groom.
Utena then started walkinginthe front, followed by Zagato, then
Anshi and Chuchu. No one made a sound on the way.

When they arrived at the arena, Chuchu and Utena stepped aside.
In a minute, Utena produced two swords and two roses from
nowhere. She gave Zagato the purple sword and put the purple rose
in his breast pocket, while Anshi received red rose and the red
sword.

'The loser is the one who has one's own rose shattered into
pieces.' Utena told them.'Now you may start.' And she stepped
back.

   (Here you can imagine Anshi as Utena and Zagato as Touga in
   the TV version.)

Anshi was fighting hard to get Utena back, and she fought without
any rule, and did not care about her wounds. On the contrary,
Zagato fought at ease with excellent skill, as he was sure Anshi
would lose. After fifteen minutes, Anshi started to grow tired
and her movements slowed down a bit. Zagato was then able to
drive his sword to the aim flawlessly, her rose.

In seconds, the red rose petals fly in the air and then fall
slowly on the arena.

The petals were so red that they looked like drops of blood.

'The winner and loser are known,' Utena announced flatly, 'Zagato
sama, I shall go with you.'

'Utena sama!' Anshi forgot to change her habit due to her
failure.'Utena sama! You're always my prince! My prince! Utena
sama! Utena sama...' she collasped to the ground and cried
bitterly.

'Himemiya san, I have changed too much. I can no longer be your
prince. Please go and find your true prince now.' Then Utena
turned to Zagato.'Let's go, Zagato sama.' And Zagato and Utena
left the arena.

Anshi fell into pieces. Hours later, Chuchu protested of hunger
even though it had sympathy for Anshi.

'Chuchuchu! Chuchuchu! Chuchuchu!'

'Chuchu, I have no appetite at all. But all right, we will leave
the arena.' Her voice was broken and unclear.

Hours later, she was walking in the streets again. It was already
midnight. There were some food stores open at night, and she
ordered a Shanghainese noodles with meat dumplings.

'I want to go back to Ohtori Academy, Chuchu,' Anshi murmured.'My
prince has vanished, I want to wait for another prince. Another
TRUE prince.' The steam from the hot noodles clouded her face. No
one but Anshi herself knew her real expression on her face.

Chuchu freezed for a moment. And then,'Chuchuchu!
Chuchuchuchuchuchuchu! Chu!'

'Yes, I would once more become the rose bride. I would once more
become heartless. But I would wait for another prince, and I
would not let my prince disappear again.'

One month later. Ohtori Academy. The Room of Directors.

'Brother, would you welcome back to the school as the rose
bride?' Anshi asked aimlessly.

At the moment Anshi finished her question, the lift door openned.
From the lift came out a princess, wearing the rose bridegroom,
with light purple as the basic colour, and the rimmings were in
light yellow. That bride had long golden wavy hair. Right on her
forehead she wore a ring with three big emeralds. 'Prin...
Princess Emeraude? Princess Emeraude of Rayearth?'

Princess Emeraude bowed her head.

'She is my new rose bride, Himemiya Anshi. You chose to leave me
three years ago, and now you come back for the position of Rose
Bride. I am sorry, but I reject your demand. Please leave Ohtori
Academy at once.' Ohtori Akio spoke aauthoratively.'Now please
leave.'

Anshi pulled Princess Emeraude tightly.'Come with me, Princess
Emeraude, Ohtori is actually Dios, the dark Dios! You are only
his tool, just like me years ago...'

'Stop! Himemiya Anshi!' shouted Akio.

'Himemiya san,' said Princess Emeraude softly,'I wish not leave.
I want to be with Monk Zagato to eternity. I care not what I
become for the moment, I only aim for the power of eternity, so
that Rayearth would not fall into ruins. I must stay as Rose
Bride, in exchange for the power of eternity.'

'No, Princess Emeraude, you will never get that power. My prince
has vanished already, Princess Emeraude. Nobody can be the light
Dios, not even my Tenjou Utena. He is too noble for anyone to
follow his path. Please leave here at once and forget Ohtori
Academy totally.' Anshi was still holding Princess Emeraude's
hand.

'Don't force others leave with you, Himemiya Anshi.' Ohtori
walked towards the two Rose Brides, and seperated them.'Leave
here at once, Himemiya Anshi.'His voice was firm.

'Let GO!' exclaimed Anshi. And Ohtori let her hand go.'Chuchu, we
will go on a journey, without destination.' She pronounced the
words in despair.'Goodbye, everybody.'

'Chu!' Chuchu said with delight.

Along her way of the journey, she hummed a poem:

 Oh, My Prince

Who is my prince? Elegant and noble
Who is my prince? Save me from sorrow
I, the bride, the Bride of Rose
Waiting for my prince, the heart most adorable

People call me witch, the witch killed the prince
People insulted me, punished me, hoping my heart get rinsed
I become the cursed one
The eternal sacrifice, and Hades I have won.

Once I betrayed a prince, a prince dear to me
And the prince has fallen, fall to the bottom of stream
The prince said she wanted to be supported
And asked me to find another prince, declaring our friendship has
ended.

So I travel, travel, travel and travel
Hoping to find the heart most noble
I dare not rest, I dare not err
Hoping at last approach light with him or her.

 ~~ The End ~~

I intentionally not to explain Chuchu's words in the story. What
do you think? I hope you're not too disappointed.