Hey everyone! I came across this story last night bc i had gotten several notifications about it and I feel terrible abt the abrupt stop to the story. I reread it- hated every second, though still felt guity about the lack of a proper ending. I realized that i actually had the most recent chapter already finished and pieces of the next few, so i figured I would update it. Due to my contempt for this piece, the shitty writing and improper (or lack of) plot, the non sequiturs, and just overall disaster this story has become, i feel its best to just wrap it up and leave it as it is. I was seriously contemplating deleting it but figured it was best to just tuck it away and maybe write a new one that i might actually like.

The truth is, and I feel many other writers might share this reality, there is not a single story of mine that I like. They are all extremely cringy and just...ahhh, not a fan. However, they show progress and bc of that i think it is important to keep them- for the sake of my growth if nothing else. And the fact that some people do genuinely enjoy them.

ANYWAY, God, sorry about this rant. The point is, the one thing worst than crappy writings is unfinished pieces, so I hopefully will finish this little guy. (No promises though...).

Enjoy (if you even can), and thank you for all your support. If it wasn't for all of yall I would not be bothered to even check my notifications or open up this account so... im truly grateful.

Also, this chapter is a filler. Some pieces are relevant despite their insignificance in the long run (I know this is super cryptic, I dont know what i was thinking originally...). But this chapter is only Gilbert's perspective. We will see Anne soon!

In front of Gilbert sat the girl he never really saw. One he thought he imagined, one he thought was a trick of hallucination. The one that had floated sickly before him, her eyes bleeding down her cheeks, her red hair twisting behind her ears like grapevines.

It made no sense.
But she was real, and she now sat in front of him, staring up at him with large grey eyes.

"I'm-I'm sorry. I'll leave the window open a bit."
The girl settled back on her pillow, clasping her fingers behind her head and watching Gilbert tensely.

"What's your name?" Gilbert asked her cautiously. He felt bad about his strange behavior and he was drawn to the young girl before him. Her looks, her behaviors, even her mannerisms were so much like.. her, that he couldn't help himself.

The girl looked towards the window, and the breeze that slithered through the cracked frame enveloped her, lifting the curls at the base of her neck gently.

"My name is Victoria. I'm from England. My Mama used to live in France and we came here to visit her brother, my Uncle Samuel. But one day I woke, and I felt under the weather. My head felt as if it was holding the weight of the world, like Atlas in the old tales. Do you like reading old tales too? Mama says that when I get better, she will buy me a new book, filled with fairy tales! Joseph says tales are for children, he's my cousin but I don't like him much. And I don't mind reading books for children, I will have plenty of time to read adult books once I get older. Do you read adult books? I'm afraid they will bore me, Mama doesn't like to read them. Whenever I asked her she gets a sad look in her eyes and tells me that she when she was younger she would have. Is getting big as scary as it sounds? I always thought that it looked like such fun. I've always wanted to be a bride! I love dresses, long, poofy dresses with frothy veils. I think brides look just like angels! Have you ever seen a beautiful bride before? Tell me, how did she look?"

Gilbert smiled in spite of pain in his chest that she unknowingly brought about.
"I have seen many beautiful brides. But being an adult is much more than beautiful things." He reasoned, sitting on the corner of the child's bed, pulling out a thermometer.

Victoria smiled, glancing back towards the window.
"I think beauty is in everything. Not just things, not just people. It's in experiences and it's in every minute of every day."

Gilbert put the thermometer back down, his hands shaking ever so slightly. It was such wise words, especially for a child and even more than that, they were words he swore Anne had said before. He studied the young girl before and wondered if they were related somehow, if they were connected in some way.
"Tell me more about your family Victoria." He asked her, before he could stop himself.

O

Gilbert hardly noticed the setting sun. He had been performing checkups all day, running around the hospital, and stopping every couple minutes to converse with Victoria. He was in the middle of one of their conversation, when he felt a presence at his shoulder.

"-Gilbert?
He turned quickly
Elodie.
"Its half past eight" She whispered, careful not to wake up the sleeping children. You should probably head back home." She then turned and looked at Victoria smiling softly. "Get some rest dear."

Gilbert gathered up his belongings, sliding his jacket on and rolling up several papers to be finished at home. He turned to Elodie "I'll walk you home."

O

They walked in comfortable silence, their breathes spilling out from chapped lips in puffs of air. He wondered if it was usually this cold in France in the summer. It hadn't been so when he first arrived, but it had been only the beginning of the summer then. Now, he was shivering uncontrollably, and the chill never seemed to go away. He coughed, clearing his throat. It ached and he noted strangely that it had been all week.
I'll make myself a strong cup of tea when I get back. That'll surely do the trick.

"So..." Elodie murmured. "Do you know her?" Gilbert blinked, confusedly, "Who?"
"The child, the little redhead one, 10 maybe 11 years of age."
Gilbert shook his head.
"No, she just-" He paused, not knowing how to describe the familiarity that Victoria brought about.
He felt as if he was talking to his past, like Victoria was a fragment of broken window, one that overlooked the world he desperately tried to block out.
"She reminds me of someone I used to know. An old friend"

An old friend. His heart laughed humorlessly.
Definitely not old, no the pain was fresh as if it had been just yesterday. And definitely not a friend, because if she was just a friend than well, he wouldn't be in this predicament to begin with.

"I see" She said and he wondered how much she saw.
What do you see? He wanted to ask her. A love I tell myself I let go? A love that just yesterday I was sure I did? A love that I pretended escaped my mind, but now, after talking to a girl that only barely resembles her, a love that I don't believe I will ever leave behind?
But he was silent, and he let her see what she chose to see.

"Gilbert." Elodie stopped turning to him as they finally reached their respective parting ways. He prepared himself for the worse. For a "the past is in the past, your life is in the present." speech, for a "what's lost let go" conversation, so he was utterly shocked at what she requested.

"Will you teach me English?"

"I-yes. Of course. It would be my pleasure to teach you Elodie."
She sighed as if relieved, as if letting go a heavy burden.

"I have some books with me. Some silly romance novels. Stay here a moment, and I will go fetch them."
Elodie grinned. "That sounds wonderful Gilbert" She exclaimed, trying her best to mimic Gilbert's Canadian accent.
Gilbert threw his head back and laughed, "We will work on the accent after. For now, just the english."

-prop of LA Mont.