A/N: An undefined idea I've had lying around for a while when it started taking shape as I wrote it for the gift exchange on the Live Journal community.

Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Tutu nor The Ugly Duckling tale.

Warnings: Slight spoilers. And, atypical Fakir/Ahiru shipping. Also, as per usual, probably typos even after editing.

For: IIya (ilikebigtoes on LiveJournal)

Ahiru wasn't the prettiest of girls, Fakir could admit. In fact there were times where he thought she was really quite plain almost to the point of ugliness. Almost, but never truly ugly. He could never bring himself to admit that.

She was enrolled in ballet but she was anything but graceful. Clumsy, air-headed, lazy, energetic, and even original could be used to describe her. But not graceful. Grace could only be compared to her Princess Tutu side.

Even though, her dancing was quite beautiful to him. Especially when she was with a partner, especially if that partner was him…

But she was a duck, not a person. Her purpose wasn't to dance but to eat the bread crumbs elderly couples would scatter across the park. She wasn't meant to fall in love with anyone because she was, in truth, an animal. And animals weren't suppose to have emotions.

Well, that was the general idea of animals. With Ahiru, it felt quite different, even when she was in her duck form. Those big, blue innocent eyes that would stare him down mercilessly, filled to the utmost brim with empathy…

Ducks weren't suppose to empathize. They couldn't feel, thus they couldn't even sympathize. So why did it always have to be so confusing with Ahiru? What made her any different, other than the fact she could turn into a human girl with her ruby red amulet?

He couldn't be with Ahiru and that was all there was to it. It went against all natural law. Besides, her body wasn't… shaped to the normal criteria of human girls. (Not that he had purposely looked of course, he saw on accident that first time she had revealed herself as a duck) So, she wasn't compatible with anyone, anyone human that is. And Fakir was human.

---

"Fakir, why do you always have a scowl on your face?"

Fakir ignored the voice, seeing there was no need to heed it considering he knew full well it was a figment of his imagination. Why he constantly imagined the voice, he had no idea. The owner of it didn't exist anymore. At least, not in a form where she could speak. He knew that the waddling yellow duck trailing behind him, though, was tangible and did exist. However, Fakir paid no attention to that as well. He just wasn't in any mood for acknowledgement.

The duck trailing behind simply tilted her head to the side in contemplation as Fakir continued to grudgingly stalk home.

Fakir scowled at the ground, frustrated, annoyed, and angry for no adequately explained reason. He'd been like that a lot lately- hit a low rift in his life, in his mood. A depression of sorts. Always moody, always in possession of a bad attitude and temperament for some strange, inexplicable reason.

But who was he kidding? He'd always been like that, in a sense anyways. He was always defensive, introverted to his true feelings to outsiders, strangers, and even those close to him. So, why did it seem so out of place to him now? Why did he hate being the Fakir he used to be even though there had been no definite change in him to begin with?

Was it because of Ahiru? The one person, or being rather, that he allowed himself to be so close to him on any sort of level? Was it because that, with her, he had slowly lowered the walls of his defensiveness to reveal his true, inner self to her as he learned to trust? And then, only to have her completely ripped out of his life? Well, maybe not completely out of his life. She was still there, in her true form. Her duck form. Just unable to communicate with him.

Was that it?

Fakir sighed, unlocking the door of Charon's house, and stepped inside, keeping the door open long enough to allow the small bird to waddle over the threshold before closing it securely shut behind her. Once inside, Fakir picked up the duck and made his way upstairs, to his room. After he shut the door to his room, he set Ahiru down and watched as she made her way to her small basket in the corner of the room, as she always did. She settled down, turning round to face the room in its entirety but, most importantly, to watch Fakir as he set down in his desk nearby. There was a book on his desk. A book that had been there for what seemed like ages. Ahiru had stared at this book curiously on many occasions but, no matter how long she gazed, Fakir seemed adamant on ignoring her curious eyes and not bothering to explain what it was. This somewhat had disheartened the duck; Fakir shared everything with her. The only exception was the book and his interest behind it.

Fakir picked up this book, as he usually did, and opened it. The book gave way to a page that he continuously read, constantly, the spine bending in response to his use of it. Fakir's fingers trailed along the black-inked lines, feeling the familiar smooth texture of the paper. Instinctively, his hand stopped on one line:

He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds.

Fakir softly repeated the line to himself before exhaling a defeated sigh. It was just a silly line. Nothing more. No matter how much he hoped that Kinkan Town, famous for its fairy tales and folklore coming to life, hoped that this one would prove true as well. It didn't matter though.

"Doesn't matter," Fakir muttered darkly to himself, his thick mass of raven-black hair keeping his green eyes from view of Ahiru. "Doesn't matter at all…" He finally looked up at Ahiru, expression blank and studying as the duck silently stared back.

"Quack?" the duck said tentatively.

Who was he kidding? Ahiru wasn't ugly. Even for a duck. She was quaint and cute. Not ugly. And definitely not ugly as a human. So why would he even want her to turn into a swan, what he figured to be her Princess Tutu side? He didn't want some stunning prima donna. He wanted the awkward girl he had come to know and trust over time. And maybe love as well. Because she was his. Even in animal form, she still was, and is, his.

Fakir suddenly found his teeth clenched and his throat tight and dry as sandpaper. He grunted, averting his gaze from Ahiru.

"Doesn't matter," he repeated, this time, his voice slightly raised. On an angry impulse, he pushed the book from his desk and it fell heavily onto the floor. Ahiru gave a small, slight jump at the noise it made from impact.

"Quack?" she said, this time her voice seemingly anxious. Fakir was oblivious to her.

"Doesn't matter at all," he whispered to himself, hiding his face in his palms as his elbows rested on his desk. "She would still be just a bird… just a bird… Ahiru…" The name was uttered barely audible to his own ears and there was a slight choking in his throat. Fakir covered it up with a cough.

Meanwhile, Ahiru lifted herself on her webbed feet and padded lightly over to the fallen book to examine the cover that became visible when it was shoved. The title read: The Ugly Duckling.

"Quack," Ahiru whispered to herself sadly, only minutely understanding Fakir's pain as she glanced back up at the human she didn't expect to love. A human she so desperately wanted to hug at that very moment but couldn't. If only she could. If only…

Suddenly, something else clattered to the floor. Ahiru looked up and scanned among the wooden floorboards until her blue eyes caught something of a small, shiny glint that reflected in Fakir's candlelight.

The duck tilted her head curiously at the strangely familiar object. It's shape, it's color was what seemed to be eerily commonplace, as if she'd encountered many like this object before its time. And, upon closer inspection, Ahiru realized she had.

It was a heart shard. But, what was a heart shard doing here? Heart shards belonged to Mytho and Mytho had gained all of his and returned to his story with Rue. So, this heart shard couldn't have belonged to him. But then, who?

The duck looked up, away from the ruby red gem and up to the trembling figure of Fakir, and saw that his frame was shaking with his silent agonizing as he cried quietly. He may have hid his face from her view but it wasn't enough to fool her; she easily saw that he was suffering.

So, did that mean the heart shard belonged to him? A strand of his happiness finally dislodges itself from him, unable to remain in his heart with his recent depression? Was that it? Just because he couldn't be truly happy anymore? With Mytho, it took a sword to accomplish that. But Mytho had been a pathos person. So, what had caused it for Fakir?

Ahiru may have been a duck but she had also been Princess Tutu and so, it was her job to return heart shards to their proper owners. She had to help Fakir.

Ahiru, with this resolution, waddled the rest of the distance toward the heart shard. She bent her small body over it and tried grasping it within the confines of her beak. However, after she had touched it and once it was safely tucked in her bill, Ahiru felt an odd sensation that she hadn't felt in quite a long time. She felt herself transforming.

The first feeling erupted within her neck as she felt the skin stretching and expanding over newly-forming bones. Then, the tips of her feathers separated into individual digits for her fingers. And, before she had to time to recollect, her webbed feet were suddenly fleshy, wriggling toes. Her feathers dissipated until she felt nothing of them, replaced only by a thick covering on her head which she remembered to be hair that fell in long mass across her back.

And, suddenly, Ahiru was once again a girl.

And a naked girl at that.

"Quack!" Ahiru exclaimed, stunned at the occurrence. As soon as she spoke, the heart shard fell from her mouth and she caught it within her left palm before it could be claimed by the floor. Fakir jumped, falling out of his chair upon hearing her human voice. He anxiously whipped his head up to see her scrambling around, trying to cover her exposed naked body, her face as red as a beet.

"Ahiru!" he gasped, quickly rising to his feet.

"Fa-fa-fa-fakir!" she stuttered, grabbing a blanket that had been tucked away in her basket to cover herself. When she had successfully done so, Ahiru suddenly found herself wrapped within the boundaries of an embrace and looked up to see Fakir hugging her. Her face reddened even more.

"Oh Ahiru," he murmured softly, clinging to her for a moment. But it only took a moment for him to come to his senses and recognize what he was doing and he quickly released her, his face slightly darkening as well.

"Ahiru!" he exclaimed, baffled. "It's good to see you. I mean- how is it that you're a girl again?" he demanded angrily of her. Ahiru felt the embarrassment on her face being replaced by shock. And she matched his temper for her own.

"I don't know, Fakir! Why don't you tell me?" she accused, lifting up the gem for his inspection. Fakir gaped at it, recognizing it immediately.

"What is that?" he asked, bewildered even though he already knew what it was.

"Looks like a heart shard to me," Ahiru mocked. "And I think it's yours." Fakir's sharp emerald eyes widened, giving him the expression of puzzlement.

"Mine?" he whispered quietly. "But… how?"

Ahiru was just about to shrug in response to the mutual question when she felt herself transforming once again. This time, not as drastic. She felt herself becoming taller, even if just slightly. The thick mass of hair falling down her back cropping itself shorter. And the woolen blanket around her body replacing itself with a softer material that shaped into the familiar contours of a ballerina's tutu. The material shifted down her legs as well, creating tights and toe shoes that tied around her legs of their own accord. And, within moments, the transformation was complete. And Ahiru looked down at her self to see that she was Princess Tutu once again.

The heart shard in her hand began shimmering and transforming as well, glistening with nonexistent light. Then, the hard, smooth edges of the gem lost its shape and the stone became intangible, turning into a small, smoky cloud of red sparkle which, after hovering above her hands for a few minutes, grew larger and drifted to the space between Princess Tutu and Fakir. The cloud took shape into a human form, growing legs and appendages for arms. Shortly thereafter, the undefined human shape began growing more distinctive details and shades as it turned into a mirror image of Fakir. Albeit, a more elegant, refined version of Fakir that wore a ballet costume of a dark vest and some white ruffles here and there. The feeling of Fakir spoke, perfectly imitating Fakir's voice. Yet, it sounded unreal to be Fakir's voice because it was so soft and gentle.

"I am the feeling of happiness," it said. "But I cannot return as easily as some of your other heart shards have done."

"What do you mean?" Princess Tutu asked.

"I cannot awaken myself in the heart I previously belonged to for the aspect that had made him happy had permanently removed itself from him."

"And what was this aspect?" Princess Tutu asked, stepping carefully toward the Feeling of Happiness. The feeling paid no attention to her advancing.

"It was a person, a girl," he said. "But then she disappeared forever from him and he placed himself within pits of despair and loneliness."

"Who was this girl?" she asked, coming closer to him.

"I do not know. Someone who wasn't meant for him. A girl that left him mourning, forever." Princess Tutu stopped her advancing for she was within reach of the feeling.

"I'm sure she did not leave him for ever and that she still stands by him, even now. Whether he knows it or not."

"Really?" the heart shard asked in wonder. Princess Tutu nodded, a compassionate smile coming to her lips.

"Would you like to go back now?" The heart shard nodded.

"Yes please," it said, its defined edges shimmering once more before it, with a flash of light, transformed back into a small gem in the palm of her hand. Princess Tutu closed her fingers around it and looked back up to Fakir who was still staring at her in amazement.

"Is this true, Fakir?" she asked. Fakir only nodded and Princess Tutu began advancing toward him as well. And, to her surprise, Fakir didn't shy away from her.

"Fakir," she said soothingly, moving her arms in motion to her advancement. "You should always know that I am with you. Always. Whether it would be by girl, ballerina, or bird, I'm there. And I shall always remain as long as you need me. Okay, Fakir?" Princess Tutu stopped moving, her face within inches of his. They were so close that she could feel his hot breath swirling across her human skin.

"I… I know that," Fakir stammered in a small voice, a tone of defensiveness in that voice as his face reddened with the slightest of blushes. "But still… sometimes… I just… I just wish…" He couldn't continue and Princess Tutu couldn't tell whether if that was from his own embarrassment or rather that he didn't really know that he wished for. Cupping the palm of her right hand, Princess Tutu cradled the side of his face with a soft touch and, with the physical contact, his green eyes widened fractionally.

"What?" Princess Tutu asked quietly. "What is it Fakir? What is it you wish for?" Fakir's eyes, which had been staring at her, became unfocused and concentrated on something over her shoulder, something unseen. After a moment of this distraction, Fakir blinked, looking straight at her for a brief second before averting his eyes to the floor and gently brushing her hand away from his face. He kept his eyes hidden from her view as he spoke.

"What I wish for is… Ahiru." Princess Tutu numbly took a step back, the heart shard still clenched within her grasp. When she uncurled her fingers from the fist, the heart shard began levitating, first ascending a few inches away from her hand, and then quickly drifting toward Fakir's slightly hunched form, directly aiming for the left side of his chest. The shard hesitated before passing through the barrier of his clothing, as if it were nonexistent, and then it slowly shifted back into its rightful place, giving Fakir several pained gasps before settling.

When it had finished returning, Fakir swayed dangerously from side to side, a lost expression on his face and with the demeanor of one about to lose consciousness. It wasn't long before suddenly, his eyes began rolling back into his head and he suddenly lurched forward, falling. Princess Tutu instinctively reached toward him.

"Fakir!" exclaimed, not Princess Tutu but rather, the voice of younger female, a girl. Ahiru. And, as Ahiru caught him, she realized that she was no longer Princess Tutu but rather Ahiru, the girl. As to why she was still in human form was a complete mystery to her but, all the same, Ahiru wasted no time in pondering upon the whys and hows of her situation and focused on dragging Fakir back to his bed before anything else significant happened. After much heaving and pulling, Ahiru finally accomplished her seemingly simple task and was about to turn and gaze out at the inky black sky and ponder when Fakir muttered something while in his unconscious state.

"Ahiru…" was all she heard before leaving him there.

The next morning, Fakir arose with heavy eyelids and a stiff back. Still, he managed to pull himself to a sitting position. He blinked several times, gave a considerable yawn, and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. He looked over to the window, expecting to see a view of the neighborhood landscape but there was a figure obstructing his line of vision. And, after blinking yet again for several more times, Fakir first saw what was the silhouette of a majestic bird with white, sparkling feathers. However, the heaviness of his eyelids gave way again and the swan was replaced by that of a smiling, familiar girl.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this. Especially you, IIya. (Which by the way- I had not forgotten to gift you- I've been very busy with real life stuff.) Please review everyone!

-NuitSongeur