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Once upon a time, the youngest daughter of the sea laid eyes on a son of the land. The princess immediately fell in love with the prince. One day, during the festivities on board of a royal ship, the prince's company had fallen prey to pirates. The prince, his heart pure and brave, fought bravely against his foes whose own hearts were as black as ravens. But despite his efforts, in the midst of battle, the prince had fallen overboard, and sank deeper and deeper into the abyss. The prince's knight had seen him fall, but, aware of the troubles on the ship, did not follow him, knowing that his lord was better off sinking deeper and deeper unaware of the battle on the surface.
The princess, unlike the knight, could not watch as the prince drifter deeper into darkness. She could not see him suffer and die. She swore she would save him, no matter how difficult the task.
He had survived, much to the delight of the princess. Still, she could only watch on even as he lay in the hands of another princess. One, she saw, was more suited for him than she.
She was determined however, to be alongside him, although she knew she could not be with him. She knew her desires, and she knew of a way she could fulfil them. She allied herself with a witch, who gave her what she wanted. She would now be recognised as a child of the land. She would now walk on the land that her prince walked on. But there were conditions to be wary of. She could not talk of her love for him, or she would exist no longer. For this, she was silenced, for she knew that though she would not say it, her voice would betray her love for him, and she would die.
Instead, she committed herself to dance. In dance she could express her love freely and still live alongside her Love.
But what happens when she must speak of her love to save her Love...
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As Fakir fell once again into the depth of the underground lake, Tutu watched, aware that there was nothing she could do to help him. Not that he would want it. He had fulfilled his purpose. Mytho's heart would remain completed as it was thus far.
"No matter," Claire sniffed. "Come out, oh piece of my beloved Mytho's Heart." A transparent form of Mytho had emerged beside the Raven Princess, his hand protectively placed over his own heart, as he looked expectantly at the Swan Princess. "Speak your love to your heart's content." She rose even as her heart pounded. She knew the consequences of what Claire was demanding of her. Like the daughter of the sea, she was forced into silence about her love for her prince. It could cost her her very existence if she confessed her deepest secret. But, like the daughter of the sea, she was given a way out of her contract. She would continue to exist if she renounced her prince. Her magic blade was her confession of love to the prince. jyu
She was torn between her life and her Love. Speak of her love for Mytho, and disappear from the Earth forever, or remain silent, and watch as he suffers in the same emptiness that plagued him before her efforts to return his heart.
Still, she was determined. And she loved. That, she knew, would be her greatest strength.
Claire smirked. "So you've finally made the decision to disappear?"
"I will not disappear." She stretched out a hand to the prince, to his heart, inviting him to dance. As always, she invited him to dance, to bring his heart closer to her.
As always, as she did every time, as she did for her prince and for her love, she danced. And her dance was as fluid as the sea, as graceful as the swan princess, that as a duck she wished to be.
I cannot speak of my love for you but, I have the ability to dance.
Surely this can convey my feelings.
"Just who will draw the prince to her?"
The Princess whose heart was as black as the ravens she controlled joined her. Though each was as graceful as her counterpart, though each danced toward the same goal, through they danced together, neither was connected to the other, but as rivals. It was a veritable battle. One of will, one of heart and one of truth.
"You're just borrowing Princess Tutu's power, after all. You're not a real Princess, Ahiru." Claire smirked as the girl's faltered. The prince was a son of the land. And the son of the land had ended up with a real princess, despite the Princess's Love for him.
Ahiru was no more part of this world as the Sea Daughter was part of her own prince's world.
I'm just a Duck... Even as a girl I was a terrible student...
Who was dancing now? Ahiru? Tutu?
Her confusion caused her to pause, subjecting her to the mocking of the Raven Princess, the Real Princess, Princess Claire.
Still, she was Tutu, and she would try.
The Heart of the Prince, however, was drawn to the dance of Claire. And the Prince's love only knew the raven winged girl. "I am your princess." Claire had won. Mytho's Heart was now hers.
Tutu looked on, helplessly. The Prince, no, Mytho had chosen his Love. His princess was Claire and Ahiru's place was no longer beside him. He no longer had eyes for Tutu, the one who had risked everything to save him from drowning in his emotionless darkness. The Sea Princess had ceased to exist in the Land Prince's world or in her own world, in the end. Still, Tutu knew that that was not her story. The Sea Princess and Princess Tutu were different. Their stories were different. While the Princess had given up, Tutu resolved herself to continue to save her Prince.
My Feelings are My Own, so
"Right now, I am Princess Tutu!"
I would not give up!
And so began her dance. Like the Daughter whose legs and heart ached with her desire to express the love she could not say, she danced.
I would just turn back into a duck.
Her grace was not like the sea, but like the lake. The lake Ahiru, the girl, dreamed of. The Lake, among whose reeds Ahiru, the duck, waited every night, wishing to see the mute prince dance across its surface. She danced like the soft lapping of the water that moved rhythmically, silently keeping time of the music of the song that the Prince danced to, the same song that played in Tutu's heart, even as Mytho's Love remained out of her reach.
A Pas de Deux, a dance for two. But these two remained separated, although their fates had been connected even by a force beyond them.
As the Prince of the Lake had done, she danced a Pas de Deux, without her partner.
I want you to be here. I want you to show me your smile. I want you to dance with me. I want you to support me firmly, yet gently.
As the Princess of the Lake, she danced for her partner.
"But what will you do for the parts you can't dance by yourself?" Claire asked haughtily.
The real Me is just a powerless Duck, but with you here, I can Change!
She jumped, arching her back preparing for an absent partner to catch her. As she hit the floor she rose, determined in her actions. Sure in her confession.
And the Prince's Heart watched!
She turned slowly, gracefully, as if guided by the gentle touch of the partner who danced with another.
The feeling I get when I see you is what turns me into Princess Tutu. I want to protect you. I'm sure that you never wanted to lose your heart.
Smiling, crying, loving someone; in order to protect someone's happiness, you threw all of that away.
When you had such a kind heart, that was the real you-
-I love you that way.
She looked at the prince.
Mytho raised his hand, as if accepting her invitation to dance. And as he walked closer to the edge of the lake. Both princesses saw the same thing.
His Heart was Restored!
"I am right here, Princess Tutu."
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Once upon a time, a prince found his kingdom under attack by ravens, birds with hearts as black as night. The prince, his heart pure and brave, fought bravely against his foes, alongside his faithful knight, who had fallen in battle. Acting out of love for his people, the prince shattered his own heart, in order to seal the Raven king away, and thus forfeited everything that made him the prince that he was.
Also the prince had a princess, though she existed only in legend. Despite living in his heartless existence, some faint memory of her existed, for at any chance, he asked about her, desiring to know more and more about her. His guardians, merely two children, grew uneasy when he spoke about this princess.
Now, a daughter of the lake, a little duck, laid eyes on a son of the land. The duck immediately fell in love with the prince. She would watch him silently, wishing she could dance with him, wishing that she could cure his loneliness. But she knew she was a Duck.
Their paths could never cross, but for the nighttime ballets.
However, one day, a voice spoke to her. The Man from the Darkness spoke, asking if she would save the prince. She would, she answered. She knew she would, given the first chance.
Her wish was granted. The Duck, the Lake's Child, could now live alongside the son of the Land. She would live alongside, learn and speak with the Prince she loved. But she could not speak of her love for the prince.
Still, she was satisfied.
Until the need to save him arose.
Through her desire to save him, the child of the lake connected her destiny with that of the Prince. She was the princess that he desired. She was Princess Tutu. And Tutu would restore the Prince's Shattered Heart.
Yet, something troubled him. She was the princess he wished to see, and with each encounter she brought him pain. His heart ached for her. His heart ached because of her. She was its cure, yet it saw her as its bane.
The Prince's Guardians cared deeply for their ward, yet each knew the other could not be trusted. Nonetheless, seeing the Prince in pain, they each vowed to protect him in their own way. He would shatter the Prince's Heart, while keeping both girls away from him. She would kill Tutu, while keeping the prince firmly in her grasp.
It just so happened, that the boy who guarded the Prince was a reincarnation of the fallen knight, and was destined to fall again, if Princess Tutu continued to restore the prince's heart, for he knew the Raven king wanted it for his own. To prevent this, as well as to save his own life, he wanted to shatter the prince's heart again.
However, the knight did not shatter his lord's heart. He found that he was too weak to do so. Instead he allied himself with Tutu, the very person he protected his lord from, in an attempt to save him.
For the second guardian was none other than the daughter of the Raven King, whom the king used to get what he desired.
She managed to get the final piece of the Prince's Heart, as well as the Prince himself, despite the knight's efforts. In a final attempt to save him, the knight shattered the sword that would be the Prince's Undoing.
Tutu watched as her ally and friend fell at the hands of the Ravens. But seeing his final action, she steeled herself to defeat the Raven Princess, even if it cost her her life.
"Speak of your love for him, and you will have what you want."
Tutu could not speak of her love, or else cease to exist.
But she could dance.
Dancing to express her feelings, dancing to speak her heart, braving injury, and a faltering heart she got her wish.
In the end, the Prince's heart was restored, and Princess Tutu survived to dance with him. The Son of Land and the Daughter of the Lake danced a pas de deux, hearts connected and flowing as one.
It was another happy ending.
But at what cost?
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