tampered | log; complete

When; Sept. 11, immediately after this conversation.
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Tenjou Utena (

thegirlprince ) & Himemiya Anthy (

hime_ja_nai )
Summary; The prince and princess ( err.. prince.. atm ) reunite. The evil king has disappeared.
Log;

She couldn't sit still. In the last ten minutes, Tenjou Utena was fairly certain she had paced from one end of her apartment to the other and everywhere in between. The pink-haired teenager looked a bit frantic, robin's egg blue eyes wide and mouth set into a toothy smile. She might've even been muttering things to herself under her breath. Who knew? She didn't. She was too busy thinking about the fact that he was gone. He was really gone, and she could finally be with Himemiya. FINALLY!

Right before seeing the post on the network, Utena had been on her way to play basketball. Once the plans changed, she hadn't even thought of changing back into her uniform. So she was stretching in her living room, full-out lunges back and forth in a T-shirt and gym shorts. Pink bangs fell messily before her eyes. Playing the wait game. Just how long did it take Himemiya to get from her building to Utena's anyway?

This was all too much, wasn't it? Could she really hope to believe that.. He was gone? Really?

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She liked it when Utena took her hand. It was always so... innocent. Another smile tugged at the edges of her mouth. She looked up, pulled from her thoughts again, her eyes rounded slightly.

And then she smiled again. It did seem to be becoming easier.

"I'm thinking about... the present," she answered, quite truthfully.

"The present, huh?" she parroted back, obviously not planning on joining Himemiya in her philosophical pursuits. Still, she wasn't dismissing the notion either. "And what is the present?"

She glanced back to her companion, absently taking note that Himemiya was a little bit taller in this body. The girl prince gently swung their joined hands between them.

"Right now," she answered, squeezing Utena's hand gently. "Not the past, not the future. Just right now."

Because that is all I can control at this point.

Utena smiled, actually feeling a warmth on her cheeks as they pinked. Himemiya sounded different.. more.. at peace than she'd sounded.. ever. She could see the basketball court in the distance and smiled. She hoped the other girl would have fun. It would be something fun for the two of them to share together.

"And do you like right now?" she asked, turning her head to look in the boy's direction.

"Hai."

If Utena ever did have the misfortune of tuning into Anthy's thoughts she would know that plainly. After all, it was the girl-prince's presence that had brought this change in her, hadn't it? It was her actions and her words that had... given Anthy a purpose to truly strain against the cage she had been in for so long... as quiet and outwardly invisible as that straining was...

"Good!"

As they neared the court, Utena released Himemiya's hand and bounced over to the nearest bench. She dropped the duffel down on the bench and rifled through it before producing two water bottles. Taking a quick drink, she then started stretching. It was a common routine, and she performed it mostly through muscle memory.

"All right, Himemiya!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Let's go! Come over here and take a shot."

She walked calmly over, still carrying the basketball, every movement screaming at how little experience she had in sports. Granted, in her experience she certainly knew the game, or at least the principle of it. But she had always had more important things to concentrate on than frivolous games.

She glanced first at the ball, then at Utena, then at the basketball hoop, and with all the grace of a three year old, threw the ball toward the basket...

... and didn't even get it high enough to touch the backboard...

Utena smiled, not even feeling the slightest urge to chuckle at what could have been a funny situation. She hadn't figured the girl would have much experience in the way of basketball, but Utena was more than happy to be teaching her. It was like putting together the prince's two favorite things.

She nodded as she jogged over to collect the ball. She idly sank a lay-up just because she could and caught the ball as it fell through the hoop. She turned back around to look at Himemiya.

"That's all right," she said happily. "Practice makes perfect."

She moved to stand next to the girl and handed the ball over. She then mimed the perfect shot form with her free hands.

"Try it like this," she advised. "And follow all the way through the motion."

She watched keenly. She didn't feel disappointment or embarrassment in the least over the bungled shot. When Utena gave her the ball back she studied Utena's movements before mimicking them, sending the ball into the air again.

This time it reached the backboard but bounced off the rim.

"Good!" Utena called out, hurrying over to collect the ball. This time she bounce passed it back to Himemiya. She kept her spot under the goal so she could more easily return the ball.

"Try again. I'm sure you'll get it. You're a natural, Himemiya!" She smiled encouragingly.

She gave a small chuckle, catching the ball. Could it be... she was actually starting to have fun with this? It wouldn't be surprising. Utena's attitude was rather contagious.

She repeated the stance and launched the ball again--essentially repeating the same results again, only in the other direction...

"It's all right!" she called out, reaching out a long arm to collect the ball before it bounced off the court. Utena dribbled over to where Himemiya was standing. She placed the ball down onto the asphalt and moved behind her companion. "Just try this."

Utena's arms moved around the thin body so that one hand laid itself flush against the back of Himemiya's. Her other hand wrapped around the girl's other wrist. Then she went through the motions, emphasizing the follow through of the wrist flick.

"Once you push the ball out of your hands, you have to completely follow through. It's steering the ball basically. You don't want your wrist to go to one side or the other because it will mess up your shot."

She guided Himemiya through the motions one more time before she bent down and tossed the ball up to the girl.

"Try it again."

She looked at Utena's hands over hers again. That warm feeling she had begun to get in the girl's presence coming up again... It was... odd...

You have to completely follow through.

Perhaps... if and when she was returned to her world... there would be a better course of action than she had begun to take... one... where they could both be saved...

Because... she didn't want to give up this feeling now that she had it...

She caught the ball again, and centering herself as Utena had shown her, she launched the ball again, and this time, it went straight down through the net.

"YOSH!"

Utena leaped into the air, long limbs flailing as she fist-pumped. She laughed boisterously as she landed, turning to wrap her arms around Himemiya's body. She picked the girl up and spun her around in a hug.

"See, Himemiya! That was great!"

Her eyes went wide in surprise as she was spun around, before smiling and letting out a small laugh.

Utena put her back down and beamed at her companion. She pumped her fist in the air yet again before hurrying over to collect the ball. "I knew you'd be good at this."

Unlike socializing. And cooking. And communicating. And.. well.. you get the picture.

She smiled again. It was getting easier. It felt... nice...

Itsuka isshouni...

She didn't know how long this was going to last...

But she hoped for a while at least...

log; complete

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[you see a boy in this icon I say]

I see nothing! I KNOW NOTHING!

<3