Anne with an e- a new version of the story

Chapter 94- Interwined destinies

GILBERT

The evening seemed lovely, illuminated by the setting sun, and Gilbert's eyes were for a moment lost in that beauty which had suddenly seemed so out of tune to him, for the girl in his arms wept, and her aching sobs hurt his ears causing all the grace out there to mean nothing.

He rested his eyes on the paper Anne had left lying on the floor, and Gilbert felt as if there was Anne's letter of manumission, which had imprisoned her all that time. He didn't know exactly what she'd found there, since she didn't say anything. She was only weeping silently now because her sobs had ceased. Did he want her to at least tell him why she was so shaken? Had the results been the worst possible? Was that why you cried as if the world had ended? Was that why she clung to him as if Gilbert could free her from that pain? Again, she'd left him in the dark, but she'd learned to respect her space, even though she hated that silence and that feeling of being on the other side of the wall that Anne always put between them when things got tough.

Gilbert still hadn't gotten enough strength to push down the emotional block Anne was putting them both through in those moments, but he was glad that at least she would let him get close enough to hug her in her most vulnerable moment.

He looked again at the paper lying on the floor, and thought that if he tilted his body a little he would have it in his hands, and then he would know what Anne now knew, but dared not say it for some reason. However, he thought he had no right to betray her in this way, for that paper belonged to Anne and only she could tell him what was written there.

Gilbert waited a little longer, until she on her own detached herself from him and sat on the bed looking at her own hands. He sat down beside Anne, and put his arms around her shoulders, in a clear indication of her support, as if to say he was there if she decided to speak.

The silence lasted still a few minutes, and Gilbert began to fidget, he wanted her to say something, to scream, to break things, he didn't care, for anything was better than that heavy silence, in which even the subtlest noise would become audible to anyone. He glanced back at her as he waited for her emotional crisis to pass, and he couldn't help but watch as her beauty became evident amid tears and smiles. Anne had a glow that was so natural to her, and that not even her upturned nose red from crying, which by the way was lovely, did not disfavor her. She literally took his breath away, no matter the moment or the situation.

He decided that he would be the one to break that silence, since Anne seemed to want to drag that suspense indefinitely.

"Say something. I hate it when you close yourself off like that It's like leaving me out of your most important moment." - He saw her close her eyes, and tried to find a clue to what was going on in her thought, but her delicate face was closed like granite.

"You want to talk about it?" Whatever it is, let's face it together. I'm here don't forget." - Anne lifted her head and looked at him from the side, her sad eyes that seemed to tell him Gilbert wouldn't like what she had to say.

"Anne?" - He persisted.

"I can't." - It was the same phrase he'd been hearing for weeks, the same reaction that pulled him away from her, the same lowering of his head that suggested she was giving up, the same shrugging that showed her she was exhausted, so Gilbert decided he was going to put an end to it himself.

He got up and picked up paper that was on the floor, and read what was printed there. Gilbert directed his gaze at Anne, but she gazed at the moon rising in the sky at that moment, so majestic surrounded by her subjects stars that they thanked their queen with unparalleled light. There was another queen inside, the one who owned his heart, but who at that moment had transported to another dimension where he had no access. However, he refused to be kept outside, this time his will would prevail, and he would not let Anne push him away like that.