like a star, like a firefly

Yep. It was such a long time ago and trauma can impact memory, but it's also pretty obvious to me that Dios-becoming-Akio meddled in some way. Maybe not an outright memory wipe or brainwashing, but something that replaced the true memory with the story that started the first bunch of episodes.

Aww! :D I still love that fic. I just really love slotting Touga's movie backstory into the series, and imagining other people in his life being mostly clueless but wondering WHY Touga does certain things.

GOD, SHE IS. Touga was a dick in episode 11, but no matter who would've beaten Utena she still would have been forced to learn a harsh lesson about Anthy and how in the end her wishes for her were no different from other Duelists'. The whole first arc makes Utena's admission of her selfishness in ep 38 even more meaningful, because you know she's referring to those instances in addition to everything else.