The only sound in the study was the ticking wall clock. It was a little past eleven o'clock. Early morning sunlight barely warmed Fakir through the chair he sat in as he bent over his desk. The paper under his hands had rows of black writing, but Fakir had stopped writing halfway down the page. His dark eyes stared intently at the end of the words and the beginning of the blank paper. Why are the words not coming to me? he asked himself in silent bewilderment. I've written many other stories with this same duck quill I'm holding. What is it that's blocking the words? He set the duck feather quill down and rested his forehead on his hands, his fingers ruffling his black bangs. A whole year, and still –

"Quack?"

The soft sound caught his attention, making him look down at the floor at little Ahiru. Her large blue eyes shone with worry as she looked at him.

Fakir smiled tenderly at the small yellow duck. "Hey, Ahiru," he said to her, reaching a hand down. His gentle fingers stroked over her head. "What is it? You look worried."

"Quack," she repeated, again her voice soft. She looked at the desk, trying to peer at what it held from her low vantage point.

Fakir stared at the paper and quill at the desk, then back at Ahiru. "Oh, is it about my writing?" Ahiru quacked and nodded. Fakir sighed before replying, "I know I've been sitting here for a while now, but really…"

"Quack!" Ahiru flapped her wings, her eyes showing annoyance. She half-jumped, half-flew onto his leg. Fakir caught her before she could fall off. Ahiru hopped from Fakir's hands onto the writing desk, nearly knocking over his jar of ink. Fakir caught the jar as Ahiru picked up his quill with her beak.

"Can't you be more careful?" he scolded the bird on his desk.

"Kwuck!" Ahiru shot back, her quack distorted by the quill in her beak. She tilted her head sideways and dipped the nib of the quill in the ink well. Fakir moved the first page of the story to expose the blank page underneath. Waddling to the side of the paper, she bent her head awkwardly and began to write. Writing each word was meticulous for her to write, but she persisted until she wrote in shaky letters, You're still trying to write me back to a girl, aren't you?

"Well, yes I am," Fakir retorted. "What's wrong with that?"

Her slow response was, You have been shut up in here for days. You don't eat much, either. I'm worried.

"Lately it's been hard to eat," Fakir admitted, leaning back in his chair. "And neither of us have been able to go out because of the constant rain for the past few days."

Ahiru paused, tilting her head as she thought. Then, she set the quill's nib to the paper again and wrote, But you are more obsessed about this story than any other. It-

"It what?" Fakir demanded, startling Ahiru to stop writing. "Is it wrong for me to try to turn you back? Why won't you let someone else do something for you for once? How can you like being a duck?" He slammed his elbows on the table, again hiding his face in his hands.

Ahiru gently set the quill back on the table. "Quack?" she asked softly, waddling over to him. Fakir didn't move. She pecked once against his right hand. He still didn't move. She stared at him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. With another worried quack, she moved back to where she had been standing before and picked up the quill with her beak. At first, Fakir didn't move when he heard her scratching the quill against the paper. When she finished, he moved one hand away from one eye and read what she had written.

You made me promise to go back to this form to save Muto. You made me promise that I would be happy as a duck. I started life as a duck, so I became a duck again. I am happy just being with you. I do not need to be a human girl to be happy.

Fakir's expression shifted from one of anger to one of surprise. He lowered his arms onto the table and simply stared at the slanted, shaky words. Then, his gaze turned to Ahiru as she set the quill next to his hand and looked at him with hopeful yet tear-filled eyes. I remember what she promised, he thought, simply staring into her vivid blue eyes. I see her happiness every day. Yet… lately she seems to be not quite as happy. Am I just thinking that to justify my wanting her to be human? Or is she hiding her sadness from me?

"Quack," Ahiru said quietly, waddling over until she was right next to the table's edge, right next to Fakir. She continued staring at him, smiling as best she could with a beak. "Quack quack quack."

Fakir sighed. "Are you really happy as a duck?"

"Quack!" Ahiru shouted, sounding angry. "Quack quack quack QUACK quack quack!" To Fakir, it sounded like she had said, Of course I am! Don't you believe me? That was further affirmed as more tears welled up in her eyes.

Despite himself, Fakir chuckled. "Alright, alright, I believe you," he replied, calming Ahiru down. "I just had to check." He stroked the top of her head with his fingers, making Ahiru quack with delight. Smiling, he picked up the little duck and stood up, saying, "At least the rain's stopped today. How about I take you back to the lake?"

"Quack!" Ahiru replied, nodding.

With a smile, Fakir set Ahiru down long enough to grab his jacket, then picked her up again and walked out the door.

(Author notes below)

MU: Hello to all my readers, whether you be new to my work or old fans of my other stories! Anyways, now I have a slight dilemma related to this story you just finished reading. See, I wrote it for a Secret Santa exchange at a Princess Tutu Livejournal community, but I have a second half almost entirely written. Should I continue this story and post the second half here? Or should I post the second half on its own? Or is the story good enough as it is? I know the whole 'Fakir turning Ahiru back to a girl' is a super cliche fanfic idea, but I wanted to try my hand at it. Feel free to leave comments about what you do or do not like about the story! :D