[When faced with Mami's silence, Utena almost loses her nerve. The dilemma shows, as her emotions so often do, in the open expressions of her face, the way her blue eyes flicker away from Mami's own and shutter closed for a several long seconds.

Time ticks on, and then Utena finds her courage again. The bravery she had grabbed hold of as a child, that courageousness that had taken her through so many duels and trials. She owes Mami this, her bravery, if nothing else. Mami had been brave for her that day by the tree, she knows now. She had told her something important...something precious. Words that were meant only to be shared between the both of them.

Utena takes a deep breath, exhales, and when she looks up again, her eyes are brighter, filled with some inner resolve.] I don't think of you as just a friend. I don't...I don't really understand it all, and that's why I... [A pause.] That's why I lied. I've never really had these sorts of feelings, so I thought...

[She fiddles with her ring, bites her lip.] I thought it might go away if I tried to pretend things were the same. But it wasn't fair, was it? What I did, it was wrong. You were so brave and I ran away, like a coward. I'm sorry, for everything. For lying and...for hurting you. I just didn't know what else to do.