My Fairy Queen Anne

people throw rocks at things that shine

"I wish you could come in with me," she admitted, gentle and unwilling. "But I'm sure Bash and Alex are waiting with plenty of mocking to do."

"I'm sure they are," he laughed softly, before kissing each of her cheeks, then the tops of her knuckles with a mischievous smile.

"Till tonight, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert," he whispered, backing away slowly while waving to her.

She fluttered her fingers back at him, staring at his figure disappear off the long dirt roads. "Till tonight."

_______________

Gilbert walked back to his house, bracing himself all the way, trying not to think about Bash's dancing prematurely. Just as he opened the door with a wince at its creak, he was greeted with  Bash and Delly at the kitchen table, the former sporting an ear-to-ear grin. The door to the guest bedroom was closed, so he assumed Alex was resting after the long ride.

"Blythe," Sebastian greeted, his smile growing wider by the second. "You would not believe who came by here just 30 minutes ago."

"Who might that be?" he asked coolly, trying hard to play off his embarrassment even as his cheeks darkened. 

"Rachel Lynde, comin' 'round tellin' me that you and Ms. Anne were holding hands in town today!"

"Yes, so what?"

"You know what! And I have to get up for this because basically, it means that I win! I win! You love her, I win!" He got up abruptly, moving his arms and shaking his hips, dancing badly to no particular tune. Gilbert rolled his eyes and went to pick up his niece.

"Delly, your daddy's being really silly right now," he hummed, running a hand through the tufts of long jet black hair on her head. "Dancing around like a fool." He shot a purposeful glare at his brother, who shrugged and grinned.

"Oh Blythe, you cannot call me a fool. Not when you've been dancing around like a fool also. Dancing around your feelings, that is. Both of you."

Gilbert chuckled deeply, blushing and tucking his head. "That we have." 

____________________________

Anne sat at the lunch table with Matthew and Marilla, just now noticing how much she had taken the homely comfort of Green Gables for granted. She'd never known how much she loved her seat at the table until she was sitting in a foreign boarding house dining room. She'd never valued Matthew and Marilla's comforting silence until the awkward silence between the girls and 'Mang' was a gloomy presence in the room, even if their friendship with Lily had saved them from trouble many a time.

"So, how has Queens been?" Marilla asked, taking a bite of her cold sandwich and chasing it down with lentil stew. 

"It's positively phenomenal!" Anne gushed. "All the girls are so nice and I've made new friends and I love my teachers! I've found a kindred spirit in my English teacher, Miss Aimee. She says that if I am to advance in my studies and apply for scholarship, I could be in Redmond next year! Oh, can you imagine your freckled Anne of Green Gables, a small town girl, attending college with the intelligent city girls and rich and beautiful debutantes?"

"Well now, I think you'd fit right in. You've sure got the skills up here," Matthew replied, tapping a finger to the side of his head.

"Matthew's right. Your wealth or your beauty have no place being a standard for Redmond girls. You're a smart girl, Anne...if a little talkative," Marilla concurred, if a bit pointed in her ending statement. 

"Of course, there still is the matter of receiving the scholarship, though I am confident I have a high chance of being selected. After all, since Gilbert is off at Toronto, the competition is limited. Although now that I ponder it, Jane isn't much far behind me, and she's an awful hard worker. Neither is Priscilla. Although I do find myself wishing Gilbert went to Queens sometimes; no one else's competition is quite so blood-boiling. No matter. I'll have to work as hard as I can to get the Avery!" she declared. Matthew and Marilla exchanged a look.

"Uh, Anne," Marilla started nervously. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Your... courtship with Gilbert." Marilla cleared her throat, the entire family flushing red at once.

"Uh, uhm, barn!" Matthew spluttered abruptly, stumbling out the door in an all but sprint, though it was nowhere near harvest or feeding time.

"What... about it?" Anne stuttered, blushing like a strawberry and desperately trying to hide herself through a curtain of long red hair.

"I trust that you are being... proper?" Marilla confirmed meekly. She knew this day would come, and she had already set her ground rules with Gilbert in their brief conversation that afternoon.

"Define proper," Anne quipped sharply, not knowing whether she meant a more progressive version of proper or Rachel Lynde's proper.

"Anne, I don't mind a few... ahem, embraces. Perhaps even kisses. But I'm trusting you not to stray too far beyond that. Not until you are married." It amazed Anne how Marilla could take about marriage with Gilbert as if it was a given and it confounded her even more how she wasn't as averse to it as she thought she would be. When she thought about being a bride, Gilbert's bride, no feelings of mortification came to the surface. The butterflies erupted in her stomach and her imagination took over, placing pleasant fancies in her head that she had to shake out.

"Of course, Marilla. You can trust us. No impropriety shall enter our sacred relationship until we may possibly, someday, in the far future, be wed." Anne hoped it wasn't too far in the future.

"Anne, I have one more question."

"Yes?"

"On the topic of... marriage, I know you were so steered away from the idea. I've been wondering... have your opinions changed any? With Gilbert? You two seem so happy and I can't help but wonder..." Marilla thought that marriage was on the table for them, but she had thought about it for herself with John too. She only hoped Anne's story would end up different than hers.

"I think that I'm not so averse to marriage. Being with someone romantically, it's pleasant, more so than I expected. So yes, I do think that with the right person who lets me be the Bride of Adventure in tandem, marriage could be a possibility for me."

"And with... Gilbert?"

"Honestly? The thought sends butterflies to my stomach, Marilla! It makes me dizzy with possibility. It may be too soon to tell, but someday, in the far future, perhaps."

"Good," Marilla nodded, nervous.

"Good," Anne repeated, equally embarrassed.

Marilla straightened and brushed off her emotion. It simply wasn't sensible for her to worry over these things this early!

"Now, I'll thank you to start on the pies!"