As someone who loves angst, I'll admit that this is a little much and I'm sorry... But, patience is apparently a virtue and I hope the ending (which is a chapter or 2 away) will make up for all the pain and devastation these previous chapters have consisted of. Thank you for all of your support- it means the world.

About this chapter - Anne is back! I missed writing her perspective, I feel like- due to my hiatus- its been a really long time since I put myself in her shoes and I thoroughly enjoy her p.o.v. She the heroine we all fell in love with! As for Gilbert, with each passing day his health worsens and worsens, and this chapter is a week later than the last one...

Let me what you think, and what you would like to see as our ending grows nearer!

with love,
- A.G

On a totally separate note, kind of irrelevant- I have no freaking clue what season it is. I'm too lazy to reread the beginning and check, so umm... I'm gonna say its Fall/Autumn now(?)
If that's totally inconsistent with the storyline I'm really sorry

A week later:

The port was packed. People were squeezing by one another, trying to get by - hands and arms waving excitedly, shoes pointing in every direction.
A million faces and a million stories, Anne thought, smiling to herself.
A million faces were quite an exaggeration, however the voices spilling in the wind were so deafening and numerous, she could hardly be certain.

She hopped on the nearest carriage, clutching her suitcase to her chest. She hadn't brought much with her; a few changes of clothes, a book and a package from Gilbert's mother. Packing was the last thing on her mind when preparing her trip, and now, as Anne shivered from the bitter air, she regretted her carelessness.

Her fingers played absentmindedly with the pink enamel heart sitting on her white throat. Anne had not forgotten the necklace, she couldn't as she hadn't removed it from her neck in months. It was there as a reminder, who she was fighting for and what she was fighting for.

She only hoped the fight was not yet over.

The carriage jerked as it tumbled down the stone ways. To steady the furling nausea in her stomach, Anne shut her eyes- Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale
With each breathe his face came to life in her mind.
The ridges of his nose and the dimple when he smiled, his lashes fringed upon his cheeks. His eyes, golden and warm in the sunlight, smooth like honey when he would turn to look at her. The curls of his hair ruffling in the wind, each strand more golden than the last. She heard his laugh, she heard the strings that his letters were woven through- the way his words melted together, the way they clung to one another and resonated in the spaces between them.

She smiled despite herself. I'm coming Gil. I'm coming.

...

Gilbert's head was on fire. He could hear the blood rushing in his mind like he was holding a stethoscope against his temple, and he had an odd sensation like he was drowning. He blinked, sitting up in his mattress, and pressing a clammy hand to his forehead.

Did he catch something at the hospital? It would make sense, the hallucinations, the headaches, the chills, the coughing.
But it wasn't probable.
He was likely just overworked, what he really needed was rest.

He stood slowly; the room blurry as it spun around him. He let the white walls guide him to the worn boots that stood beside the bookshelf. Were the walls white? They looked pink to him now, rosy pink, maybe even purple... He blinked once. He couldn't possibly go to work, not in this condition anyway. He needed to let Elodie know that he wasn't coming. And then he needed to sleep for a while. A good day or two.

He wheezed in his elbow, then giggled at the sound of his scratchy throat. He sounded like, like, like a rooster! He laughed again, slapping a hand on his knee, nearly falling over.

"Cockadoodledoo!"
He spun around; shock spilling across his face.
A rooster!
Right in front of him!
Sitting on his bed, its large yellow eyes gazing up at him warily.

Gilbert blinked once. Twice, and the rooster dissipated.

I'm hallucinating! He realized fearfully. His condition was much worse than he thought. He needed to get to Elodie immediately.

...

The wind bit at her neck and goosebumps erupted at its frozen touch. Her heart pounded unparallelly and at that moment she was sure it would fall into her stomach.

She was standing in front of St. Joseph's hospital, wearing the emerald dress she knew Gilbert especially loved, together with his pink enamel heart. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms leaving pink crescents in their wake. Her throat ached and she swallowed the bile rising quickly to her tongue.

This is Gilbert.
The boy who pulled your hair, the boy who saved you from your drowning boat while playing Elaine.
The boy who encouraged you, fought with you, loved you and offered a hand no matter the time or place.
There is nothing to fear, Anne. Don't be afraid.

She inhaled deeply through her nose, letting the breeze feather through her twisted hair.
Fight for him, Anne. Don't be afraid.

...

The hospital was bustling. People were crammed in every possible crevice, the air grey and sickly as it enveloped them.

Children lay at their mothers' feet, curled on the worn floor, their cheeks pale and breathes faint like ash.

Gilbert weaved his way to the front desk, letting the desperate fingertips of his surroundings drag along his arms, begging him for his help, for his words, his wisdom. He shrugged them off as gently as he possibly could, eyeing Elodie.

Her eyes lit up and then quickly dimmed upon noting his sickly appearance
"Are you alright, Gilbert? Do you need to see the Doctor?
He shook his head "I just- need to rest for a little. I came to let you know I will not be in today. As well as tomorrow, I think its best to lay low for a couple of days."
She nodded quickly, and smiled at him
"If there is anything you need, please ask."
"Will do. Thank you, Elodie."

He turned.
And she was there.

The world dim around her, grey, and irrelevant, as if she stood projected under candlelight.
As if she was the sun.
As if she was all the stars in the night sky, collected like beads and draped together in a glowing tapestry.

And she was.

He had forgotten.
Somehow, he had forgotten.

He had forgotten the depth of her ruddy hair, the coils and the curls as they spilled across her neck like fire.
And her eyes. The way the flickering lights played tricks on her eyes- green or grey? Green or grey? They asked him, begging him to stare down into them, to uncover the little secrets they promised to reveal.

She was wearing the dark green dress he loved- the one that brought out the rich tints of her hair and made her eyes burn through the walls he promised himself he built.

He couldn't look away.
His eyes flicked down her waist, where her pale hands clenched one another, shaking ever so slightly.
He wanted to trace her arms with his hands, he wanted to fold her into his chest, he wanted to rest his head in the crook of that slender neck, washed over in the fiery hair, to feel her just once more, just one last time.

He blinked.
She isn't real.
It hit him like a ton of bricks, nearly knocking him off his feet.
And although he knew, he knew, she was only a fragment of his subconscious, the truth burned as he forced himself to swallow it.
His eyes flicked to her hands, her ring finger naked as it clenched her hand nervously.
There was no ring.
There should be a ring.
He inhaled deeply, his eyes stinging as he shook his head slowly.
Nope, only a hallucination.

And he turned to leave.

/

He left.
He saw her and he left.
He stared into her eyes, his chest heaving, his face rosy and his eyes glassy and warm and golden like she remembered- and he shook his head and left.

Rejection burned in her chest and she almost doubled over.
He didn't want her.

And although she knew it was a possibility, although she prepared herself, she thought... she thought he-
Stupid.
You stupid, stupid child.
Tears stung as they dribbled down her cheeks, and she wiped them as quickly as she possibly could, swallowing her sobs and heading towards the door.
You foolish girl. Thinking he would still want you, thinking he still cared.

The exit seemed farther then she remembered. Too long she tried shuffling through the desperate children, too many steps she took as she tried to flee and yet the hallway only seemed to elongate.

There was nothing left for Anne.
Nothing and no one.
She only wanted Gilbert.
Only he didn't want her.

"Wait!"
A voice. Not the voice she wanted to hear, not the voice she needed. But she turned despite herself.
A young girl no older than eighteen, long blond hair, nearly white, eyes dark and turquoise. Anne had seen the way the girl had looked at Gil, the way she smiled up at him, and she couldn't help the jealously that bit painfully at her lonely heart.
"I'm... Elodie" She murmured, slightly out of breath.

Anne nodded, not sure what Elodie's intentions were.
"Anne." She smiled as pleasantly as she could muster, though she was sure it probably came across as a frown.

Elodie stood. Her eyes large as they scanned her face.
Her grey eyes, green in the sunlight.
The seven freckles that spilled across her nose, freckles she had tried mercilessly to eradicate for years but to no avail.
Her gaze shifted to her hair, long and red as it billowed in the wind. Elodie's fingers grazed the tips at their own will and she released her hand as soon as she realized what she was doing.

Lastly her eyes wandered to the pink enamel heart sitting cozily on her throat, as she moved her face to gaze right into Anne's eyes.
The red hair.
The green eyes.
The freckles
And then she smiled, timid little smile, only the corner of her lips lifting up ever so gently.

"Oh Anne" She touched her cheek warmly, and although she was Anne's junior, she did so like a mother would do "he is tragically in love with you."

prop. of La Mont.