It was strange, really, to be sitting around the table so comfortably. After everything, the peace seemed unnatural, unreal.

Letting out a soft breath, Ahiru let her eyes wander across the familiar faces in front of her. Fakir, leaning back so slightly in his seat, shoulders slumped, his cup held between himself and his guests like a miniscule barrier. But she could see the tiny curve of his lips, the relaxation in his eyes that said for once it was okay, that everything was over - that he was, dare he say it, happy.

She turned to look at the visitors, smiling. Mytho sat across from her at the square table, talking to Fakir in smooth, calming tones that somehow managed to display all the happiness bubbling underneath. His feathery white hair framed his (whole, complete) eyes. Her line of site traced down his arm to the hand he was holding, then up that adjoining limb. Rue watched on with half-lidded eyes, the gentle, sly smile that fit her so well displaying her contentedness. Slowly, the red eyes turned to glance at Ahiru and the smile grew even wider.

Ahiru beamed in response, eyes sliding to the mug cradled in her hands. Her very human hands.

After so long as a duck, it was strange to be sitting with everyone once again. Strange, but wonderful.

"Hey, Fakir? Where's Tutu? I haven't seen her around this time."

Goosebumps raised against the sudden chill running from her head to her toes, and she wondered if everyone felt the sudden drop in temperature. The gentle hum in background seemed to jerk to a stop in the sudden, tense silence falling across him. Ahiru's smile froze on her face as her grip tightened until her knuckles turned white. Fakir's breath hitched in his throat as he strained to not let his eyes slip to the girl to his right, as that would alert Mytho's ever-watching eyes. Rue's eyes fell to the table before subtly sliding to gaze sadly at her friend - their savior.

"Ahh- Hey, Rue-chan! Want to go for a walk?" Ahiru shot to her feet, ignoring the chair that clattered to the ground behind her, she stepped stiffly towards the door, arms swinging in over-exaggerated motions that almost seemed natural for her - almost.

"I-I mean, it's such a nice day out, you know? I really think that we should enjoy the sun while it lasts, 'cause it could rain at any time, not to say that rain isn't nice, 'cause it can also be fun, but sunshine is nice too, so! Ah, but maybe the idea was too sudden, ah, it was, wasn't it? I really should think things through more an-"

"Ahiru?"

Her rambling came to a screeching halt. Even with her face to the door, and her hand on the knob, she could feel his questioning gaze on her back.

"Mytho...I..."

"Princess Tutu..."

Rue snapped her neck from Ahiru to Mytho quicker than should be possible, wide eyes mirroring Fakir's own wondering gaze.

"Ahiru, do you...know something about her?"

Fakir closed his eyes and grit his teeth, suppressing the sudden urge to let his head collide with the nearest hard surface. Rue let her free hand collide with her forehead, fingers digging into her hair.

A shudder ran down Ahiru's spine. Her eyes burned and her lungs felt like they would explode as her heart lodged itself in her throat. She wanted to scream and cry and laugh and break down and just let go; all she could do was swallow.

She ran her tongue lightly over her lips, wetting them as she took a shaky breath to collect whatever parts of herself she could find in the few seconds she had.

"Princess Tutu...is gone," she said quietly, a bitter sweet smile crossing her face. She turned slightly, so that she could look at the prince over her shoulder.

"Tutu was a character created for the prince, right? They were supposed to fall in love and Tutu would disappear in a flash of light for Drosselmeyer's tragedy, right? But...but...something funny happened. The puppets Drosselmeyer used for his characters were a bit too persistent. They started to take over, you know? So there began being more of the puppet than of Tutu, and the puppet's love wasn't quite what Tutu was supposed to have, wasn't as pure and all-consuming, and that kind of love became Rue's, and Rue began taking over Kraehe, and the girl found herself actually running, 'cause for some reason she wanted something else, and maybe, despite everything the story said, maybe who she belonged with was someone...someone completely different."

Here, Fakir nearly chocked on the sip he was taking of his drink, much to Rue's amusement as she noted the startled look in his eyes and the light dusting of red across the bridge of his nose.

"And...though she wanted to protect Mytho, always...somewhere, she didn't really love him anymore... So...Since Tutu was a character made for the Prince, once she served her purpose...she didn't exist."

She looked up at Mytho's wide, awed, wondering eyes, not really knowing when or how she had moved so that her back was pressed to the door, and her arms were folded behind her.

"Princess Tutu is gone. But, she was glad to have met you, ouji-sama."

"Ahiru, how-"

And she smiled with such soft eyes, and his breath and heart caught in his throat as an idea occurred to him that shook him to the core and down right terrified him. He opened his mouth to ask, but -

She was gone.