Post Series, Utena and Anthy have left Ohtori Academy behind, they left Eternity behind to be together, and now the price for that decision is beginning to show. Utena/Anthy.

Wrinkles in the Plan

“Anthy?”  Anthy heard Utena, saw her in the mirror, but she wasn't listening to Utena, she wasn't looking at Utena.  Her eyes were focused on her reflection, on her face, on her eyes, on the corners of her eyes.  “What's the matter?”  Anthy raised her hand and brought it to the corner of her eye.

“It's already happening.”  Ten years, it had only been ten years since Anthy had left Ohtori Academy behind and had found Utena, ten years they'd been together in every sense of the word.

“Already happening?”  Utena looked where Anthy was looking.  “I don't get it, what are you...oh!”  Yes, Utena saw it now, saw them now; small and tiny and microscopic though they were, they were there.

“Wrinkles.”  Anthy lowered her hand and looked away from the mirror.

“Oh come on!  You're not going to tell me that you of all people are going to wig out over something like this?  I mean, it happens to everyone!”  She pointed at her own eyes, at the same corners.

“For thousands of years it didn't happen to me.”  Utena stopped, fell silent; being trapped in that eternal moment for so long, aging became an abstract that happened to other people, people who existed outside of Ohtori Academy.  “I hadn't thought about it, hadn't considered that this would happen...”  They'd given up eternity to be together and the toll was showing itself already.

“Ugh, you're right.”  Utena rubbed her head one hand, used the other to pull on her leg and stretch it.  “Still, I mean, it's not like this makes you want to go back to that place, right?”  Anthy nodded, agreed.  “And it's not like I'm going to mind any even when were both wrinkled up like a pair of old prunes.”  Anthy's imagination got away from her, she imagined the two of them as prunes, and she laughed at how ridiculous that was, a pink-haired prune!  “There, you see?  You were bothering yourself over nothing.”

“Yes, you are right Utena.”  Anthy turned and looked at Utena, at her and not her reflection, at her face and not the tell-tale signs of the passage of time.  She reached out and grabbed Utena's breast.  “Still, I would like to enjoy this time while we have it.”  She squeezed.

“Ah!”  Utena moaned.  “Don't you ever get enough of that?”

Anthy smiled.  “Not even an eternity would be enough.”

Afterwards, when Utena and Anthy were lying together on their bed like they'd done so many times before, Anthy looked Utena in the eyes.  “How do you deal with it, Utena?”

“Hmm?”

“I know it happens to everyone, but so many things happen to all people, and they all handle them in different ways; how do you handle knowing that we'll grow old and there's nothing we can do to stop it?”

“I suppose saying I don't think about it wouldn't help, would it?”  Anthy shook her head.  “Well...shoot, I don't know, it's like how all the fairy tales end with 'happily ever after', and you don't think of how that is exactly.  I guess if I had to try...well, so long as our hearts are young, we'll manage somehow, right?”

Anthy nuzzled her head into Utena's neck.  “Right.”