Anna & Rewrich: Chapter 4

"Saffron…! I don't want to hurt you!" Those were Anna's words before their battle began. However, determined to put Saffron out of her pain, she was prepared to fight. But something unexpected happened.

"Leave it to me. You don't have to be tough all the time." Rewrich stood in front of her with his sword. "Look at her… She's such a small child, and yet so much power… Power that she can't handle." Saffron was crying, begging to die. …And she got her wish.

"Saffron!" Anna ran to the child and held her in her arms.

"Ms. Anna… Thank you… For stopping me… Tell my mommy and daddy… That I love them…" As the child's eyes closed, Anna screamed. Why couldn't she have done more…?

"Lady Anna? Are you ready?" Anna fixed her light aqua kimono with navy blue designs and walked out to the balcony, her hair in an oriental comb. Today was a royal address for the massacre.

"Everyone," She started, her fiancé by her side, "As you know, we have had a mass murder. Many children have died due to this insanity. That is why, today, I wish to start a new campaign for my clan and those who serve under us. I, along with my fiancé, Rewrich Wallach, shall search out the other labs that have been hinted all over the continent. My people, you have nothing to fear! If we all work together, we can overcome these great sorrows that have come upon us!" All in the crowd cheered in a loud roar, proud of their princess, who had matured so much.

"You did a great job." Rewrich smiled warmly at her, and she returned the gesture. She felt the butterflies from her kimono come into her stomach as her face got warmer.

"Your speech was beautiful… Anna." A man with glasses and white hair smiled at her, with a woman clinging to his side. The girl had short bobbed blonde hair in a red headband, and wore a bright green dress with a white ribbon around the waist.

"Ta… Takumi…" Anna tried to speak. Rewrich glared at the man.

"About us breaking up… I'm sorry it was so blunt… I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"That's a bullshit excuse!" She snarled. "Cheating will always hurt the girl involved! And you, Sadie! You should be ashamed."

"Oh, I'm so sorry… I just…"

"Oh yeah, like you're sorry!" Anna spat, "You knew that he was going out with me, yet you decided, 'Ooh, manmeat! I'm a goodie-two shoes, and I'll never betray the public expectations! That's why AFTER I cheat with Anna's boyfriend, I'll apologize all cute-like and sniffle!'" Rewrich wanted to laugh at her dialogue, but kept it in.

"Anna! Stop it!" Takumi yelled angrily at her. This was the first time. She gasped and stepped back. "It was my decision to cheat with her! I just never told you." Anna turned red and threw her heavy hairpin at him. Good, Rewrich thought. It was ugly anyway.

"Take it back, you bastard! I hate you!" She ran back to the house. Before chasing after her, Rewrich turned back and glared with a death stare at the two.

"Although I'm glad you broke up with her so she's mine…" He flicked his hair. "I won't forgive you for being a weasly little worm like that. You parasite. And you, wench…" He turned his gaze. "Your Mary-sue act isn't fooling me. It was just as Anna said. You're a lying snake." His pupils got small as he made a murderous one-eye look at them. "NEVER COME NEAR HER AGAIN." And they never did.

"Uuuhhhh…!" Anna cried on her futon bed after she had taken off her kimono, and her shorts and white tank top were underneath. Rewrich came in behind her. She faced the other way. "Go away!"

"I scared him away. It's OK."

"I hate him, I hate him!"

"I know. I know. Do you want me to kill him?"

"…No…! But now I realized…! I'm going to say goodbye to him, and the me that I was…! I want to move on…!"

"You don't have to try so hard. Just let it come naturally." He told her softly. "I'll always be behind you." She looked up at him and cried against his chest. He hugged her tight in his arms. How long had it been since she had felt so safe and warm…? She listened to his heartbeat as she felt his warmth against her cheek. A hypnotized, feverish feeling enveloped her as they embraced.

When I wiped the clouded window glass, I saw you
You had cold eyes, A you that was called me was there*

Tens of times, hundreds of times, you tricked me, didn't you?
I'm going to say goodbye to you already

I pushed a knife that cannot cut into my chest
I screamed, I screamed so many times

To make sure of my courage
As I shivered, I traced the wounds on my heart

You're straight-forward, and I'm a coward.
But I am reborn, and I won't be too late

As she was in a trance, her pendant dropped to the ground and opened. It started playing a beautiful tune.

"That's…?" Rewrich looked astonished by what he saw.

"Oh, this?" Anna picked it up and held it with love in her hands. "When I was trying to decide to go to Al Revis Academy or not, a travelling boy gave this to me and gave me words of courage."

"No matter what anyone says about your path in life, you have a right to change it! Hold your hand up to the sky and grasp the day!" Those words echoed in her heart.

"This is a music box pendant. They're rare because only a few clans in the entire world know how to make them."

"Singing Hills ~Eolia~…"

"Huh?"

"No…" He smiled softly. "It's nothing."