[Again, Mami doesn't say anything. In part it's because she can offer no protest, and doesn't particularly want to anyway. Why should she? It's the truth: Utena had lied, had been unfair, had hurt Mami deeply when she ran away like a frightened child rather than face the reality of both Mami's feelings and her own. The acknowledgement of this manifests not in a nod, or words, but as the flat look that fills Mami's eyes now when she meets Utena's gaze.
Yes, you hurt me. You made me cry.
But then Mami also closes her eyes for a little while. She breathes out into the empty space between them, patiently allowing the sting of pain from the memory of her rejection to ebb away.]
It's all right. [And that, too, is the truth, lending a sincere if tired weight to Mami's voice. In her heart of hearts, she didn't hold that day by the tree against Utena. They had both been afraid, nervous, unsure of what to do.] I knew what to expect, back then, so...it's not like you led me on, or tricked me.
[She goes quiet for a few minutes, expression softening into something more contemplative. Her mind turns, at last, to the first thing Utena had said: I don't think of you as just a friend. Mami feels her chest constrict, the sensation both pleasant and painful. So....so, her feelings were returned, just far too late. Mami can feel something within her twist like a rag at the thought; if there was to be a chance, their chance, it didn't exist in this place. Not here, in the Gardens, but elsewhere. Another time, another world, if it could exist at all.
Could she wait for that? Could Mami hang her most heaviest of hopes on such a slim twist of fate? Or would it be for the better, if it was possible at all, to accept the thin comfort of knowing she had been loved and move on? Preoccupied with these questions, Mami doesn't notice the dim pricks of heat growing at the corners of her eyes, or the watery note creeping into her voice.]
....thank you, Utena, for telling me this. And for....and for caring about me as more than just a friend. It- it means a lot.
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Yes, you hurt me. You made me cry.
But then Mami also closes her eyes for a little while. She breathes out into the empty space between them, patiently allowing the sting of pain from the memory of her rejection to ebb away.]
It's all right. [And that, too, is the truth, lending a sincere if tired weight to Mami's voice. In her heart of hearts, she didn't hold that day by the tree against Utena. They had both been afraid, nervous, unsure of what to do.] I knew what to expect, back then, so...it's not like you led me on, or tricked me.
[She goes quiet for a few minutes, expression softening into something more contemplative. Her mind turns, at last, to the first thing Utena had said: I don't think of you as just a friend. Mami feels her chest constrict, the sensation both pleasant and painful. So....so, her feelings were returned, just far too late. Mami can feel something within her twist like a rag at the thought; if there was to be a chance, their chance, it didn't exist in this place. Not here, in the Gardens, but elsewhere. Another time, another world, if it could exist at all.
Could she wait for that? Could Mami hang her most heaviest of hopes on such a slim twist of fate? Or would it be for the better, if it was possible at all, to accept the thin comfort of knowing she had been loved and move on? Preoccupied with these questions, Mami doesn't notice the dim pricks of heat growing at the corners of her eyes, or the watery note creeping into her voice.]
....thank you, Utena, for telling me this. And for....and for caring about me as more than just a friend. It- it means a lot.