Hold Me Now
by Thyme In Her Eyes
Author's Note: Sorry about the title, but I just couldn't resist. So here's another Rue/Mytho piece, and this time it's a collection of 50 single-sentence stories, with prompts taken from the Livejournal community's Gamma set. My only alteration was in changing 'Silk' to 'Satin' for ballet-related reasons. All feedback is greatly appreciated (and I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone kind enough to have reviewed "Traum" for your encouragement!). And just to disclaim again, I still don't own Princess Tutu (it owns me.)
-- HOLD ME NOW --
Once upon a time...
01 – Ring
It had always been just the two of them endlessly dancing their pas-de-deux in the spotlight, until the day Tutu stepped so daintily into the ring only big enough to hold two, and broke it apart.
02 – Hero
She was waiting for her Prince when she noticed a sparrow with a broken wing thrashing and calling hopelessly among the tufts of grass, and although she had been raised to be contemptuous of human weaknesses such as care and compassion, the little girl thought of her Prince and picked the poor thing up in her tiny hands, cradling it over her heart.
03 – Memory
He remembers a stray and sad girl who was always true to him, and his eyes are fully opened for the first time; only to witness her being taken away from him before he can even speak her name.
04 – Box
Every evening, Kraehe slips into his room with the moonlight and locks the door behind her, while Mytho only smirks from his perch by the open window; for does the foolish crow really think she can cage him so easily?
05 – Run
Once, she couldn't see a thing for all the cawing black monsters pecking and tearing at her, until she collided with him and felt a redeeming light on her face – and now all she can see is darkness once again as she screams and chases uselessly after his flying, doomed form.
06 – Hurricane
Mytho watches Princess Kraehe appear in a storm of black plumes and pain, and as the tempest sweeps him away, he faintly wonders why he can't stop himself from falling into yet another dance with her.
07 – Wings
She's seen him wield a sword and felt him lift her body high above his head, both with equal ease and grace, and she knows the true strength of his arms well – though no-one else would ever guess at it from the way they always hang so limply at his sides, useless as the limbs of a marionette with cut strings.
08 – Cold
The cold hurts and tears of misery fail to warm her face, but she'd rather spend the night out in the bitter frost than return to her beloved Father empty-handed – and then she spies her Prince dancing slow, soft and beautiful with the full moon and falling flakes, untouched and unconcerned by their chill, and her heart melts with sudden joy as she forgets her pain and races with wide-open arms to join him.
09 – Red
One day, Mytho noticed that the passing years had altered Rue's eyes, changing their colour from tea-brown to wine-red.
10 – Drink
With an air of command, she asks him to find her fresh water; already anticipating its sharp taste and perfect softness as she passes it from her mouth to his in a kiss that belongs to them alone.
11 – Midnight
"Take thy beak from out my heart," he chokes weakly, as she crawls over his body like a succubus and perfumes the night air with soft, cruel laughter while trailing her talons across his trembling skin and breathing frozen kisses upon his chest.
12 – Temptation
Wondering whether or not the Prince is asleep yet, Kraehe peeks shyly through the open window of his new home, only to find that boy sleeping in his bed, sharing his warmth and nestling so innocently against her Prince, as if to defend him from any ravens haunting his dreams, and for the first time in her life she truly wants to carve out a human heart and offer it to her Father.
13 – View
He can see her many flaws and weaknesses so plainly now, and delights in the pleasure of twisting the blade at every opportunity, cutting her open and peering into the depths of her, and demanding that her quivering and crying heart love only him.
14 – Music
The room swells with sublime sound as she begins her daily practice, and soon she soars high and free with each piece, until she hears the most beautiful music of all: "Hello, Rue."
15 – Satin
"No..." he said with a soft smile, wandering fingers, and a final sweet whisper, "Leave the toe-shoes on."
16 – Cover
This isn't how it was supposed to be, she thinks in panic, and despite how wrong everything has become and how sick she feels with pain, indignation and terrible fear, it brings tears to her eyes to think of him as hers in this moment, and something inside still hisses and shivers in hot excitement as he pins her down and covers her mouth with a biting, mocking kiss.
17 – Promise
"Once my blood has dyed the Prince's heart completely, he will belong to you, stay with you, and love you," her Father tells her, and Kraehe listens in spellbound gratitude, gazing down into the red pool and ignoring the tortured wails rising around her: "Obey my instructions, beloved daughter, and your dreams will come true."
18 – Dream
Her eyes lower and her small cheeks redden as she plucks up all her courage and asks, "When I grow up, can I...marry you?"
19 – Candle
The great bonfire may have dimmed to a cool glow little stronger than a candle's light, but the dark of loneliness has gone away and all that matters to him now is that he can be here and stay here, feeling warm and alive as he dances with Rue and listens to her laughter, and it's all so strange and new yet he's eager to embrace it the best he can, and never let the dance come to an end.
20 – Talent
Even on the rare occasions when she made mistakes or allowed her focus to waver, Mr. Cat never once proposed to her – not only because her raw talent offered him little hope, but because even the most optimistic of felines could see that Miss Rue would only ever marry young Mr Mytho, and no-one else.
21 – Silence
There are no words shared in her nest of black feathers and dark caresses – only his soft breathing, and the pitiful noise of her lips as she hides futile kisses in the hollow of his throat.
22 – Journey
It's when no-one else dares to dance with him that his polluted blood, body and heart all scream and suffer in rage and loneliness, and he takes to the skies to find her.
23 – Fire
His heart burns, and her hand smoothing over his chest is useless and unworthy; yet even though his heart is bleeding dry and his skin is raw and irritated, he still presses it to hers in spite and in shame.
24 – Strength
Shrinking, begging and cringing beneath the frightening weight of her Father's anger, her own bitter failure, and the terrible threat of losing his love, Kraehe's only support comes in the act of fixing her gaze on the forest of fine white feathers around her, each plume sharp as a sword, and in trying to think of her beloved Prince, and somehow these feelings allow her to summon up a mysterious strength even as she cowers.
25 – Mask
They walk around the town and school grounds together, linking arms or holding hands in sweet intimacy, and Rue always tries so hard to pretend that she isn't pulling at him.
26 – Ice
Duck may not be the best thinker sometimes, but she just doesn't get why some of the girls in their class think of Rue as some kind of cold and untouchable Ice Queen, when just watching her dance with Mytho should prove to anyone that Rue definitely has a heart; one that's warm, human and loving.
27 – Fall
The rescued kitten doesn't want to be held or petted, but the blithe rejection sears and enrages him until hurled stones and curses fly after the terrified creature, and Mytho slowly turns away from the scene, still seething and confused, and completely unable to understand why Kraehe should be staring at him with such a look of horror on her face.
28 – Forgotten
Now that his feelings are returning, Mytho can recall what pain is, and understands that the bite of a thorn into his hands is unpleasant and to be avoided – but he also comes to understand that Rue's hands, as she tends these frequent hurts of his, are soft and kind and beautiful.
29 – Dance
He's still her Prince and always will be, no matter how twisted his form and soul have become, and as Rue dances with him for what can only be the last time, knowing she'll never see that beautiful full-moon innocence in his eyes again, she holds on tighter and truer than ever to the few broken and ruined fragments of him left; loving a poisoned heart, caressing rough feathers and tasting her own tears.
30 – Body
"Rue...what...what did I do?" he whispers in pure fear, staring down helplessly at skin bare as his own cruelly marked by scratches, bites and burns – and before he can speak again to utter his shame and horror, she recognizes the true him caressing her and doesn't flinch from his touch, but darts forward with a sharp cry and wraps her arms around him in a hug, sobbing in relief and joy rather than pain and despair, and holds him so tightly that he believes they'll never be separated.
31 – Sacred
It isn't in the nature of ravens to mark or commemorate the day they were hatched, but when the Prince absently mentions that he doesn't know if he has a birthday either, a new bond suddenly forms: one so strong that even he can faintly feel it.
32 – Farewells
Kraehe raises her blade, ready to shatter his heart or take his life if need be, but is unable to cease her trembling as she suddenly thinks of a doomed fairytale mermaid, who even in her pain and devastation preferred to die rather than pierce the heart of her beloved prince.
33 – World
This world is new to her and she's not yet used to its nature, and so he loves the way her eyes widen in what can only be surprise and delight as the passion of their pas-de-deux lifts them into the night sky on a cloud of flowers, allowing them to dance their love among the moon and stars, and keeps them held aloft by the magic of soft bliss, wild rapture, and smiles that never stop.
34 – Formal
"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me..." she sings faithfully, though her eyes turn solemn and hard as she watches the petals flutter from her hands, and tries so desperately to believe that there could be some powerful truth in this game, and in the promise of a now-naked and ruined flower.
35 – Fever
Look at Rue, the shard of Devotion whispered to Malen again and again, haunting her artist's hand and schoolgirl dreams, as if distantly recognizing his true princess and longing to be reunited with her.
36 – Laugh
A little girl who calls herself Rue is laughing with joy as her Prince dances with her and brings the warmth of the sun into her heart for the very first time – and the grown Kraehe watches the pair brokenly from the shadows, crushed by the pain of all her lonely years as the child's sparkling happiness cuts through her like a sword.
37 – Lies
Mytho gazes in pure wonder at the jeweled necklace that now glows so beautifully, and he thinks with sweet certainty: Rue is so kind.
38 – Forever
When Fakir senses Duck in one of her occasional blue moods, there's no better cure than to hold her over his heartbeat, smooth her feathers, and tell a new and exciting story about a certain selfless prince and his courageous princess, and to always end it happily with a romantic pas-de-deux.
39 – Overwhelmed
"Save me," someone cries, lost in the cold of night and a bed of blood and black feathers, though neither of them can be sure who.
40 – Whisper
As he combed and caressed her hair, breathed in its scent and touched its softness to his cheeks in adoration, he liked to smile and say the cruelest things his imagination could conjure; and conversely, whenever he pulled and twisted her lovely hair in brutal tugs and burning yanks, it amused him to bestow a soft kiss on her mouth and whisper the gentlest words of love.
41 – Wait
Mytho immediately opens his hands to set free the small creatures he rescues, and he always watches in vacant tranquility as they run away or take to the skies – but of them all, Rue is the only one to have ever stayed with him.
42 – Talk
"Look, I'm right here," he says, but not to her (never to her), and with such small and softly-spoken words, the world shatters.
43 – Search
Once upon a time, in a reality that was not allowed to be, a brave and selfless prince was forced to shatter his own heart for a second time, protecting the innocent townsfolk through sacrificing himself and his beloved princess; and so the wretch wandered once more, alone and without love or even a flickering memory of his sealed princess – and yet, though hopelessly unable to understand what compelled him to do so, the prince continued to search, forever seeking her.
44 – Hope
Even when his innocence wore her own away, like a diamond cutting at another, Rue never let go of this feeling and neither will he – and so he realizes at last that this is the bridge that will allow them to find each other again, a sword stronger than even the Depths of Despair, and Tutu's final and greatest gift.
45 – Eclipse
It doesn't matter anymore that he'll never love her and she'll never deserve it, and she doesn't care what happens to her if only she can protect him – and the story's gears scream and fly apart in chaos as Rue's tears flow and the light within refuses to be eclipsed, as she thinks of a beautiful and broken Prince who was always kind to her and fed her shriveled and lonely heart all he could spare.
46 – Gravity
He spends most nights shivering by the open window, as if trying to absorb the chill in the air and the darkness of a sky made black and ugly by crows, and each night a helpless giggle rips out of him; for he feels the pull and so badly wants to fall, and yet foolish Kraehe is always there to pull him back.
47 – Highway
It doesn't bother her because she knows how meaningless the word "girlfriend" is to him – and besides, Anteaterina will get bored, angry or hurt by his indifference soon enough (as would any girl, except for her) and will quickly forget him, and deep down Mytho must know that all roads lead back to her.
48 – Unknown
Mytho can't help but feel startled each time he gains a new heart shard and then looks at Rue with eyes more awake and aware than ever before – because Rue is so trusted and familiar a figure in his life, but when he looks into her eyes all he can see there now are the feelings of Sorrow and Fear, and he can't understand why.
49 – Lock
He is a man in rags and a prince in hiding, and she is a changeling child and a princess caged by deceptions – and the moment their eyes lock for the first time, something powerful is forever sealed between them and holds them together in a world of tragedy, and plants a seed of future freedom.
50 – Breathe
This is the part of the fairytale we all know by heart: the Princess smiles radiantly and the Prince bows reverently, one hand placed over his heart, and the whole world seems to catch its breath as she takes his hand, and they begin their eternal dance.
-- FIN --