Pre-Author's Note- I hated the ending to the movie, The Swan. It was just not very happily-ever after, and I personally prefer those. If the movie had called for the ending, I might have accepted it, but I don't see the original ending as the absolute only choice.

Author's note: The Swan was a movie made (I don't know the year) with Grace Kelly as a Princess being arranged to marry a crown Prince (Alec Guiness), time being around the early 1900s or late 1800s. The Prince is visiting them in their palace while he and Alexandra get to know each other. She and her tutor fall in love, and this next part picks up from the last scene. Alexandra had just spent the night dancing with the Professor by direction of her mother; in order to make the Prince jealous. It works. There is a scene right before this with Albert, the crown Prince, in a study and something transpires there but I can't remember. Alexandra and Nicolaus, the professor, are in the conservatory and they confess love for each other. Nicolaus tries to kiss Alexandra, but she continually skirts away, avoiding him. The Prince chances upon them talking and begins to have verbal sparring with Nicolaus. He gets down-and-dirty and calls Nicolaus names, berating him for being a peasant. After listening to the Prince degrade him, Nicolaus starts forward, and is stopped by a furious kiss from Alexandra. Enter Uncle Karl, Alexandra's monk uncle whom she loves dearly, and exit Prince. Oh yeah, Nicolaus is foreign, Russian or something I think. I don't know the country this is supposed to take place in. And now.on with the show..

"He called him a peasant and tried to drag his name through the mud, and-oh, Uncle Karl!" Alexandra sobbed into her uncle's robes. He patted her back gently and caught Nicolaus' eye. With a curt nod, Nicolaus turned onto his heel and strode out of the room stiffly.

"Child, why is it me to whom you weep?" Karl asked, pushing Alexandra away from him. The princess dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief.

"I-" she turned suddenly. "But where is Nicolaus?" Her blue eyes swung back to her dear uncle in fear.

"If you don't know, why should I?" shrugged the monk. Alexandra gave her uncle's hand a quick squeeze and breezed out of the room towards the courtyard.

"Nicolaus! Nicolaus!" she cried into the falling darkness. She was too afraid to cry now. What if she lost him for good? After all her mother had done; after all she had done. Alexandra remembered the hurt in Albert's voice from her reaction to the verbal fight.

"Professor! Oh, Nicolaus, please! Don't hide from me, please. I-I am sorry for everything. For mother, for letting her lead me as such. Please forgive me." Alexandra turned, movement of lights catching her eye. Inside, servants were putting out the lights in the study.

From a shadow beside the French door to the study came a voice,

"I am here." Alexandra half-sobbed, relief overwhelming her. She paused and peered into the shadow. She struggled to see the handsome face with which she was enamored. He stepped towards her, his dark eyes cast upon her porcelain face.

"Nicolaus, oh, I am so glad you are still here," Alexandra cried, running to him. Nicolaus stood upright, a wall against her affections. She paused, and searched his features.

"I do not frighten you now?" he asked soberly.

"I only want to be near you now. No, you do not frighten me."

"I only frighten you when I love you?" Alexandra pulled away from him, her face marred with fear.

"You-you don't love me?"

"I won't be a pet to be kept, Princess. To be coddled out of pity, or to be sheltered."

"I don't understand."

"You have never been a slow learner." Nicolaus stepped out of her embrace.

"You think I kissed you out of-out of pity? That's not true! I love you, you know that."

"But you found only to express your feelings when I was verbally attacked? When you commanded me to repress my own feelings? No. If I could interpret your actions as anything but pity, I might have returned it." Alexandra felt as though she'd been slapped.

"Oh. Of.of course not. I'm sorry. I don't wish to.to pester you." Tears welled in her blue eyes as she stepped away from Nicolaus. "I won't bother you anymore, Professor." She fled the courtyard choking back tears.

Oh damn what had he done? He loved her, didn't he? Nicolaus cursed aloud and slapped a hand against a nearby fountain. His damn pride had gotten in the way. But what else was the kiss? How else was he to interpret it? A kiss to suppress him, to detain and distract him temporarily. Temporarily?

"Ha!" Nicolaus laughed aloud. How could she think that any action on her part would be in his mind only temporarily? He thought of her night and day, and even if she merely entered a room, he could never take his eyes off of her.

"You let her go?" a monk asked from the open door of the conservatory.

"Let her go? No. I pushed her away." Nicolaus practically spat the words out in anger. Who exactly was he angry at? The Prince? No. No, he was really mad at himself. Karl watched the young man carefully, his hands folded in front of him.

"Can't she see it cannot work? It is not possible. I cannot give her what she wants. What she needs."

"All she needs right now is for you to tell her you still love her."

"Right now. But what about in ten years? Or even five? She will need a big house, a clean home, where she will not have to work. Someone to look after her children. I will not see her tired, dirty, and old before her time."

"That is for her to decide. Not you."

"No. No. I would never forgive myself if I even gave her the choice."

"Why?"

"Because she might become those things."

"You ignorant boy. Don't you know that she doesn't care if she becomes dirty and tired, as long as she's with you? I may be a monk, but I am not blind to human affections and emotions." Nicolaus cursed again and Karl held up a hand.

"That is enough. I take my leave of you. It is in your hands now." And he exited quietly. He was right. The decision was Nicolaus' to make. Offer her what she wants now or deny her in hopes that she will live easier. Easier? Will his life be any easier? If her life contains just half the suffering he will face by leaving her, it will indeed be a hard life. But she does love him. She had wanted to kiss him before, when they were alone. He could see it in her eyes, in her touch. But he had also seen the frightened naiveté in her eyes. Perhaps that was all she had needed.to gather her courage. A little time. a little confrontation. Nicolaus nodded his head brusquely. He would see.

Alexandra continued to weep quietly once in her room. The party downstairs was ebbing away, and she listened for her mother's knock on her door. It never came. After a time, Alexandra rose from her bed and trudged over to the door.

"Mary! Mary!" she cried into the hall. Immediately, a young maid came running.

"Yes, miss?" she answered gently, seeing the tear streaks on the Princess's cheeks.

"Help me dress for bed," was the response, as Alexandra closed the door behind the servant. Mary did as told, her careful hands setting out the nightdress and robe and putting away the ball gown. Alexandra slipped into the nightdress while watching Mary's steady hands and motions. She gathered her emotions together and gained strength from the evening ritual.

"Thank you," she said quietly, as Mary tied up the back.

"Ma'am," Mary responded, and exited the room. Alexandra glanced at the bed. She was not tired, she knew that much. Nevertheless, she curled up underneath the covers and stared blankly at the room. When a knock came at the door to her adjoining room, Alexandra jumped. She glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned. It was too late for mother or Albert to be calling now. Slipping the robe on, she opened the door slightly, curious as to whom her visitor might be.

"Nicolaus," she breathed, opening the door. He stepped inside, and quickly shut the door.

"You shouldn't be in here," she said quietly.

"Does it really matter? I think the two of us are in enough trouble anyway." He smiled slightly and took a step closer. "Everyone is in bed anyway." Alexandra clutched her robe tighter, but did not move away from him. She was entranced by the teasing smile on his lips. His face was normally so sober, even when he was with her in the conservatory. She reached a hand out to touch his face, almost unsure if the smile was real. He turned his mouth to kiss her palm, and she felt her knees weaken.

"Nicolaus, please. Can't we talk in the morning?"

"I'm afraid not. I don't want you to think it over. We're both too logical, Princess, and by that time, we might have talked ourselves out of love."

"I don't feel very logical now, Nicolaus," she said with a weak smile. Nicolaus gathered her into his arms, and she remembered how her heart had jumped that first time he had gathered her as such. It was no different now. Slowly, gently, he lowered his mouth to hers. Alexandra did not shrink as before, nor did she play coy. She merely met him. The kiss was sweet and tender, not unlike the two of them. They reluctantly parted on a sigh from Alexandra.

"Pity?" She asked him, her eyes blue eyes searching his brown ones.

"No," Nicolaus said, kissing her gently again. "Love. I still love you, Alexandra. I fear I always will. I pose to you a question. I am leaving in the morning. You may leave with me, or you may stay and marry the prince. You know your heart and your head. I trust you know the pros and cons of each." After carefully glancing about the hall, Nicolaus escaped. Alexandra climbed into bed, content.