(TW: Bullying; mention of parent loss)

   Princess Cordelia and Prince Wisteria were standing in a lovely green meadow. But it was not so lovely anymore, now that the evil witch had arrived. She stared maliciously at them with her cold, blue eyes.

   "Mwah ha ha ha! You've fallen right into my trap!" She cackled.

   "What do you mean?" Prince Wisteria asked with a guarded tone, frowning.

   Suddenly, the ground beneath them collapsed and they each fell into pits that had been hidden under the tall grass.

   "Now you'll be stuck there forever!" The witch taunted.

   "Princess Cordelia? Are you hurt?" Prince Wisteria called out anxiously. Cordelia could almost hear the look of concern spreading across his face.

   "No, I'm fine." She said, standing up in the pit and brushing the dust off of her floor length cream dress, which had puffed sleeves. Some of the tiny white flowers had fallen out of her long, flowing, auburn hair, which was mostly down but had a few small braids pulling it back slightly.

   "Hmm...I think I shall destroy Prince Wisteria first." Said the witch. "Servant! Get the poisonous snakes and throw them into the pit!"

   "No!" Princess Cordelia cried out. She dug her hands into the wall of earth and climbed up out of the pit.

   She clenched her fists at her sides as she turned to face the evil witch.

   "Throw me your sword!" She shouted down to the prince.

   He unsheathed it and tossed it into the air, where she caught its handle perfectly.

   "You will never defeat us!" She swung the sword in front of her and leapt into a fighting stance. "Now prepare to fight!"

   The witch took her sword out from under her dark robes and charged towards Princess Cordelia. Their swords clashed together and...

***

   "Anne! Get up, right away!" Marilla shook her awake.

   Anne slowly got out of bed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry Marilla, I was just having the most exciting dream about-"

   "-I don't care what your dream was about, just get ready for school!" Marilla interrupted.

   Anne quickly put on her dark green dress and did her hair in 1 braid. She hurriedly ate her breakfast and dashed out of the door, yelling her goodbyes to Matthew and Marilla.

   She quickly ran to the barn to say goodbye to Jerry, who was basically her brother. As she ran around the corner she collided into him, and the hay he was carrying fell to the ground.

   "Watch it!" He said, picking it up again.

   "You're the one who wasn't looking where you were going." Said Anne, even though it had been the other way round. "And you almost got straw on my dress."

   "Why do you care so much? Trying to impress someone?"

   "Absolutely not! That is preposterous!"

   "Pre-posterwhat?"

   Anne sighed "Preposterous. It means utterly absurd or ridiculous. I'll teach you how to spell it when I get home."

   "I don't know why you're so worried. You know Gilbert looks at you like you're some kind of angel no matter what you look like." Jerry went back to the original topic.

   "What on earth gave you the idea that I care about Gilbert Blythe's opinion?!"

   "Oh, just the fact that you talk about him ALL THE TIME! You literally never stop "complaining"" Jerry used his fingers to make air quotes. "About how smart he is and how-"

   "-Goodbye, Jerry!" Anne interrupted him, rolling her eyes as she left the barn and ran down the path to school.

   She raced through the woods and made it to the school yard just in time, as the bell began to ring.

   Most of the students were just settling down as Anne sat in her seat next to Diana. She didn't need to turn around to know that Gilbert was looking at her, but she quickly glanced back over her shoulder across the aisle anyway. They exchanged a small smile and quickly focused their eyes on Miss Stacey, eager to begin their learning for the day. Anne just hoped there wouldn't be too much geometry.

***

   Later at lunch, Anne and Gilbert were both studying at their own desks, while most of the other students their age were discussing what game they were going to play near the cloak room.

   "Psst." Gilbert whispered loudly to her from his desk.

   "What?" She tried and failed to look annoyed with him. She couldn't help but smile when he acted so adorably dorky. 'Wait, adorably? Nonononono, shut up brain!'

   He took a second apple out of his bag and tossed it over to her. "Catch, Shirley... Cuthbert!" He quickly added before she could open her mouth.

   She caught the apple expertly with one hand. "Thanks. Marilla made an extra cheese sandwich for Matthew and accidentally put them both in my bag, do you want one?"

   "Sure, throw it over here!" He excitedly lifted his hands up in preparation to catch it.

   She rolled her eyes as she unwrapped her lunch. "You can't just throw a sandwich through the air, the cheese will fall out, you idiot." She walked over to him and placed it on his desk. "You're welcome,"

   "Thanks!" He said as she sat back down in her seat.

   Anne munched on the sweet, juicy apple at the same that Gilbert nibbled on his sandwich. They both tried to continue reading and making notes while leaning away from their books so they wouldn't get food on the pages.

   "I said we're going to do spin the bottle again, so that's what we're going to play!" Josie Pye bossed. "Truth or dare is boring, because everyone always picks truth and then lies!"

   Half of the children excitedly formed a circle in the middle of the room, while a few hung back before reluctantly joining them.

   "Are you playing, Gilbert?" Josie asked.

   "No thank you," he politely declined "I need to study."

   "Very well." Josie turned to Anne and said "There's no point asking you, since nobody will ever want to kiss you anyway."

   Anne looked up from her book and set down her half-eaten apple. "I'm not playing because I think it's a silly, childish game."

   "Sure you are," Josie stood up and slowly walked towards Anne "It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that you're an ugly freak." She taunted.

   Anne stood up from her chair to face Josie with her head held high. She would not make her cry this time. "You take that back right now, Josie Pye!" She said furiously.

   "Don't be so cruel, Josie!" Gilbert said at the same time, standing up on his side of the room, jaw clenched.

   "Oh look at that," Josie smirked, "the two orphans standing up for each other."

   Anne saw Gilbert's facial expression falter out of the corner of her eye. She remembered their terrible conversation at his father's funeral, and how he had flinched slightly at that word. She too, had grown to dislike it.

   "Maybe the real reason you won't play is because you and poor Gilbert want to kiss each other!" Sarcasm dripped from Josie's voice. "Wouldn't that be so perfect, now you're both ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD, and-"

   Before anyone else could even react, Anne rushed towards Josie and punched her in the face.

   "Anne, stop!" Gilbert tried to pull her back, he didn't want her to get hurt.

   Josie cried out and fell to the ground. She looked up at Anne in shock, who had gently brushed off Gilbert's grasp and was now standing over her.

   "How dare you." Anne said through gritted teeth, shaking with anger. She could vaguely hear Ruby sniffling in the background. "How dare you speak that way about Marilla and Matthew, and Bash and Mary! Don't even think about calling me or Gilbert an orphan. Ever. Again."

   "I-it's not very ladylike of you to punch someone." Josie stuttered, her eyes wide with fear. She still thought she could lower Anne's self esteem. But that would not be happening today.

   "It's not very human-like of you to be such a bully to everyone." Anne replied coolly.

   Then she tossed her braid over her shoulder, wiped her hands on her dress and calmly walked out of the school house, leaving the erupting chaos behind her.

   As soon as she was out of the door she began to run to the woods, where she could collect her thoughts and process what had just happened. She ran as fast as she could, her heart pounding and her braid flying behind her. Once she reached a quiet clearing she stopped, panting and leaning against a mossy log.

   Then she laughed and sighed with relief. She had finally done it! She had been brave and she had stood up to the evil witch. She doubted Josie would mess with her again.

   But now what was she to do? Perhaps the best thing was to return to school as if nothing had happened. Lunch would be over soon, so she had to hurry.

   When she got back to the schoolhouse Gilbert was waiting outside for her, hands in his pockets.

   "Hi." He said.

   "Hey." She replied.

   A look of understanding passed between them.

   "Thanks," he said "but you didn't have to do that."

   "I know," She said. "But I wanted to. Josie needed someone to take her down a peg or two."

   "Yeah... that reminds me of when I beat up Billy a few years ago," Gilbert smiled fondly at the memory.

   "Wait..." Anne's smiled grew wide with shock and delight. "You beat up BILLY ANDREWS?! When? And why?"

   Gilbert scratched the back of his neck and kicked his boot against the ground gently in embarrassment. "Yeah," He said slowly. "It was a short while after I left school, and he said some stupid stuff, soooo..."

   "What did he say?"

   "Nothing much, he just didn't want to accept the fact that you were now the smartest student in school."

   "Oh." Anne's face grew warm and slightly red, with the realisation that Gilbert had fought Billy in her defense. 'Why did he care so much?'

   There was a silent pause in the conversation as they found themselves staring into each others eyes again, for at least 8 seconds this time.

   "Ar-are you okay?" Anne said softly.

   "Yeah I'm fine... now that you're here." He said, with a light blush on his cheeks.

   Anne rolled her eyes and chuckled, thinking that he was joking. "Sure. Well, we'd better get to class."

   He nodded hesitantly and walked into the school house, Anne following a second later.

   They quietly slipped into their seats, trying to ignore the fact that the entire school was staring at them. Miss Stacey had also just sat at her desk and resumed their lesson on chemistry, oblivious to what had happened over lunchtime.

   'Is everything alright?' Diana silently asked Anne with her eyes.

   Anne gave a small nod and smile, to signal that she was fine.

   Anne and Diana, like all the best of friends, seemed to have their own secret language that they used to convey basic information in situations when they could not speak out loud. But Anne was sure that later on Di would beg and plead for details, so she enjoyed keeping what was in her mind secret for a little while longer.