Remains to be Seen

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Spring and Situations

so HI! i am utter trash for taking so long to update, but my heart was in no place to write and i simply did not want to give y'all garbage writting...

(also, photo from this winter when where I live got like an inch of snow for the first time in freaking years and I felt very Anne-ish as I spent hours in the woods)

please comment! i have missed yall ♡
now READ!
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Hands shaking, she swallowed her tears for the fourth time and turned to face him once again. His eyes soft, seeing her broken to her core did something to him. He opened his mouth to voice a protest and keep her from saying what was paining her, but she raised a hand and closed her eyes, gathering what little strength and composure she had left. The flash of light from a passing carriage brought her back to the moment, glassy blue eyes met hazel ones.

"Permit me," her voice was hoarse, barely a whisper, as she raised a trembling hand to cup his right cheek. The look in his eyes grew in pain, at the gentle gesture, but he stayed mute. Her breath caught in her throat, barely enough for a ragged exhale for her to say, "I loved you."

"OH!" Diana exclaimed, as she looked up from finishing the short story, "oh, ANNE! I do believe that to be my favorite story you've ever written!"

"My most tragical romance indeed," Anne nodded, "I just am not quite sure that it is good enough for the Queen's essay portion. I really do not want to send anything short of my best."

"Anne," Diana shook her head at her bosom friend, "you're a shoo-in! I admit it'll be a marvel if anyone else, besides Gilbert of course, gets in."

"Can't you just picture it?" Anne's hands flailed painting a picture in the air, "Josie Pye as a teacher!"

Anne and Diana burst into a fit of giggles, falling onto the leaf scattered ground of the secret fort.

~

Winter had raged forward, with it Christmas had come and gone: it wasn't the same without Matthew. Anne spent all her time outside of school and the farm whisked away somewhere writing: often disappearing from the world she was in and rather escaping to the one she could create. That soon had to change though, with graduation fast approaching Mrs. Stacy was assisting the students with their preparations for the Queen's entrance exams.

"How I wish you could stay after school and study with the rest of us," Anne's eyes were soft as she sincerely looked at her raven-haired friend.

"As do I, Anne," a shadow passed behind Diana's eyes, but was gone in a split second, "I will write to you everyday while I am in Paris! I promise."

"And I you, my dear Diana!" the girls sat up and embraced, when a rustle came from outside.

The girls whipped their heads around to see two heads, one of messy brown hair and the other of black curls, peeking in through the window.

"GILBERT!"
"CHARLIE!"

The girls cried in unison, throwing small shells and acorns at the window, but the boys disappeared only to reappear as they entered the small hut. Diana and Anne moved to sit on the opposite side of the little fire, as the boys settled near the door.

The four of them had secretly met throughout the winter whenever they got out of school early. All going their separate ways, but taking non-existent paths in the forest to meet at the fort. While the other three talked, Anne would typically be scribbling away--never letting the others see what she was working on. This day in particular being no different.

Near a half hour had passed and Anne hadn't looked up from her notebook once.

"ANNE!" Diana's voice finally pierced through Anne's train of thought.