I don't own the characters. I attach strings to them and shout, "Dance marionettes! Dance for my pleasure!"
Ahiru lay awake in bed, unable to sleep.
It had only been a week since she suddenly woke up a girl instead of a duck. Fakir and Charon were in the process of reinstating her back into school, but so far the process was slow and she had another few days to wait until she could have her old life back.
The former duck smiled as she remembered her double life as both a normal girl and Princess Tutu. Sure it had been hard, but she would never say it wasn't enjoyable. She made amazing friends, fell in and out of love, and helped save the town. After she turned back into a duck it all went away and soon, everyone forgot about the clumsy girl from the ballet department. Now she is back and ready to stay in this life.
She sighed and turned over in her bed. It just got so boring waiting for Fakir to come home after school. At least he was tutoring her so she wouldn't be behind in her classes when she went back. She would show them she wasn't the same clumsy, stupid girl as before. She was going to put in effort this time, instead of slacking off and looking for heart shards.
As she was about to close her eyes, she gasped. There was pure white surrounding her window. Trying to make the least amount of noise possible, she tip-toed to her window and gasped again. The whole town was covered in snow! Ahiru had waiting all year for this moment to happen. She loved snow, even in her years before she became a girl. Snow always meant peace and carol singing from the people of the town.
Without even hesitating she walked to her closet and pulled out a large shirt and a pair of Fakir's pants. After she was dressed she quietly opened the door, snuck out as quietly as she could, and then closed the door behind her. She tip-toed down the hallway, attempting to be extra quiet when she passed Fakir's room, and then scurried down the stairs, past the kitchen and out the door.
Ahiru breathed in happily when she reached the outside. It looked like the entire town had been dusted with sugar and the snow was getting thicker by the hour. She would have loved to start running around, but Fakir would probably hear her and the last thing she wanted was to wake him up.
Ahiru sighed. She honestly couldn't think of a way to make this picture any more perfect than it was.
Behind her, the door open and shut.
Unknown to the former duck Fakir also lie awake in bed at the same time as she. He couldn't help but be aware that Ahiru was right down the hall from him. In her human form.
He tried to shake off his thoughts and instead, thought about the surprising day she became human.
He hadn't tried to write about it for awhile, so he didn't know how it could have happened. All he knew was he was coming home from school one day and instead of duck Ahiru, there was a young woman standing on his porch in one of his older shirts. He nearly fell over in surprise.
After calming down and finding out that it had just happened somehow, he realized whatever did this did them both a favor. She was a girl again. She could walk like a human and talk. She was a human again. Fakir knew better than to question his luck, so he simply helped her adjust to walking (that was a funny few hours as it had been a while since she walked like a normal human, and even back then she had never been very good at walking normally) and living as a human girl again.
The door down the hallway suddenly opened and shut.
Fakir sighed. That little idiot was going to be the death of him. "Leaving her room at this time of night?" Fakir thought. "What the hell is she..." He glanced over at his window, which was frozen over by the snow. "Oh. That would explain it. Ahiru does love the snow for some reason."
He grabbed the nearest coat he could find and went to find his companion. Fakir knew she forgot about things like coats. She was just so damn air-headed like that, especially when she got excited.
As expected she was just staring in wonder out at the snow-covered yard. Personally Fakir didn't really see the beauty in a bunch of frozen water, but Ahiru could find beauty and light in just about anything. She believed in the Raven princess after all, and Rue ended up being the one Mytho choose.
"Dummy." He murmured as her draped the cloak over her dainty shoulders. "You realize you're going to get sick right?"
She rolled her eyes but accepted the cloak anyways. "Don't be such a downer Fakir. It's the first snow fall of the season. Of course I want to see it. I'm not frail."
"I'm just worried–"
"You worry about everything." She rolled her eyes again and patted his cheek. "I'll be fine. I'm here with you aren't I?"
He smiled fondly before taking her into his arms. "I just worry that someday I'll wake up and this will all be a dream. You'll still be a duck and I'll never hold you like this again."
She blushed but nodded. "I think about that all the time. Every day, I wonder if this was all just some fluke and someone will take away my human form."
He tightened his hold. "I would never allow that to happen. You know that."
She sighed. "I know. Even so, if something turned me into a human when you couldn't...that something could turn me back into a duck." She suddenly shook her head. "I can't allow myself to think like this. I need to think positive. After all, thinking positive is what kept me going all this time while I was a duck." She suddenly blushed again. "Well, that and being...like this."
"Being like what?"
She snuggled into Fakir's embrace. "Your arms around me. It's different when I'm a few feet taller and have skin instead of feathers. I can feel your warmth differently. It's...nice."
He chuckled. "I bet." He rested his head on top of hers. "What do you say we go back inside and get some sleep?"
Ahiru rolled her eyes. "You just want to dive under your covers." Nevertheless, she took one last lingering glance at the white scenery before following Fakir inside.
I know. I tried to be romantic...and failed. I deserve flames.
