Title: Gardenia
Author/Artist: KyaniteD
Pairing: Juri/Anthy
Fandom: Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Theme: # 11: Gardenia
Disclaimer: The basic set up, surroundings and characters are not mine. The story, however, is.
Rating: If a rating should be applied, it'd be PG-13 to be safe, but maybe that would raise too many hopes and PG would probably be more realistic.

A/N: Thanks to Lilian - your work as beta is much appreciated, I always enjoy working with you ;)

GARDENIA

Tending the roses

- A.

PS: Don't wait for me.

Don't wait. For almost a year she had been the rose bride's master. She had fought off every challenger, had defeated each duelist several times, putting their efforts to shame each time, and the halo of the victor shone even more brightly over her head with each time that the bells tolled.

Yet, here she was victor and master, but never champion.

Don't wait read the piece of paper she had found on the pillow when she had returned from the bathroom. Don't wait

And tonight, like every night, she would not heed her bride's advice and left the room, the house, dressed only in her nightgown, to sit by the fountain and wait.

From the west the wind carried the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs and the roar of surf caught between the rocks. Her gaze wandered across the clear night sky, her eyes swiftly crossing the distance between the stars, following them to the horizon, and returning on a lower path to a softly illuminated greenhouse that happened to look like a birdcage.

She remembered how the president had referred to the rose bride as a bird in a golden cage. He did not understand anything. Or maybe things had just been different back then.

She knew that, now,Anthy fled to the rose garden, fled from the confinements of the school, the student council, the duels, the duty… Somehow, there, she seemed to feel free, and, sometimes, even lighthearted enough to hum a soft tune while watering the rose bushes.

But she knew, at this hour, it was not the rose bushes that were on her mind, nor was it the watering can that was kept in her hand and held on to.

Juri knew what Anthy was holding. She had known for a while now. Since her curiosity had made her follow her bride into the night for the first time, she had made sure she would wait, here, by the fountain, every night, to gather her in her arms, offer her a handkerchief to dry off the tears and accompany her to what she had started to refer to as home.

If she had been honest, she would have admitted that she could not sleep alone, without her precious bride by her side, who silently and somewhat willingly humored her need to hold on to a warm body. But while being blatantly and at times brutally honest with the people around her, facing truth about herself was not Arisugawa Juri's strongest suit. And so she told herself that she was merely concerned for the bride's well-being; Himemiya was the responsibility of the victor in every regard, after all.

Don't wait said the piece of paper each night. And every night she would wait.

She would sit and watch the shadow in the glasshouse, hovering in one place, unmoving, for over an hour or more.

But she was tired, tired of waiting, and she got up to walk in the direction of the mockingly birdcage-like greenhouse.

The door opened with a creaking sound and what she found made her chest ache in several places, one of them most certainly was the empty spot right above her breasts, where a locket used to rest against the bare skin, held by a heavy golden chain.

Anthy was kneeling in front of a single rose bush, one with pristine white, perfectly shaped blossoms. There was no wilted petal, no dry leaf on the bush. And Anthy was sitting there, caressing the blossoms, softly talking, and although her back was turned to the fencer, Arisugawa Juri knew that the girl was crying.

She tugged her gown tighter and slowly walked over to the girl.

Holding her gown closed with one hand, she buried the fingers of the other in the rose bride's loose hair. The caressing touch quickly turned into a harsh gesture when she curled her fingers and pulled the head back so that Anthy would have to face her.

"She is dead, Anthy. When will you understand that she died. She fought for you, and she lost. She is gone Anthy. I am your master now. I have been the victor in all the duels you and your brother have sent me to. I will be your champion."

She let go of the girl and turned to the door, and while she slowly walked away, not waiting for the bride to follow, she said,

"I have waited for so long. Tomorrow I want the white blossom."

Arisugawa Juri did not see the smile that crept over the face of an ancient, at best to be described as shady, creature of a long and lonesome past.

In the afternoon of the next day, the duelists faced each other, waiting for the rose bride to attach the blossoms to their chest. Stony faced she watched a lilac rose being pinned to her challenger's jacket, and her face lit up when she saw the rose bride approaching her with a white flower. She closed her eyes and smiled when she felt her cheek being kissed softly.

Her eyes shot open when she heard the soft whisper from the retreating figure.

"Gomen, Juri-sama."

A heady, sweet scent suddenly clouded her mind. Looking down her eyes found a perfect, pristine white blossom, which was not a rose, protruding from her uniform jacket. Pain invaded her head and breathing became harder with each heave of her chest.

Why.

Greed, Juri-sama. Greed.