DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor claim to own, Princess Tutu nor any of the characters herein portrayed. That all belongs to Itou Ikuko and Hal Film Maker. This is merely a moment's amusement, not for profit. Please don't sue ^^

It started with a small Spark- bright, warm, quickly gone.

In fact, it disappeared so quickly that at first he convinced himself he had imagined it; after all, he had more important things to do, he didn't have time for such moronic emotions. The Raven was slowly exerting his influence on reality, and Princess Tutu flounced about, unknowingly speeding things along. In short, the story was in motion, and the Prince needed his knight.

So he ignored it.

But then, Things changed.

Princess Tutu was revealed to be nothing more than clumsy little Duck.

The Prince's pure heart was being corrupted by the Raven's evil.

He (wretch of a knight that he was) couldn't even die honorably for his Prince.

That was when he suddenly noticed the warmth that had been steadily building. It seems the Spark had not disappeared after all, but simply gone dormant. Now a steady bank of coals bathed him in… Something. This Something was very strange; though It was not unlike Duty, It was not-quite Hope, nor was It quite Affection (though It was very like it), but somewhere between the three.

And even as he basked in the warm glow, he did not dare ask himself from whence It came, for reasons he could not even name.

Then came the Revelation.

The Raven, that dastardly villain of the story, was no more than a puppet, a pawn maneuvered by a sadistic dead man. But with this Revelation came danger for Her, and in his frustration and panic and… Something…. the coals were fanned into a flame.

The fire leapt up and consumed the shackles with which she was bound, but miraculously, did not touch a hair on Her head (nor on his).

Unsure of what to make of this new development, he turned his back to It in order to face the world (though he still savored the warmth it gave him, even if he would not say so aloud).

At length, and after struggle, the Man Who Was Supposed to Have Died and his pet Raven were defeated.

The Prince was turned back into a true Prince by the Love of his Princess- she who had once been the Raven's daughter but had herself been transformed by Love. The townspeople rejoiced, dancing in the streets. They were saved!

But all of this came with a terrible price.

Princess Tutu, sweet, fiery, angelic, stubborn Princess Tutu had been turned into a duck. And, to further the tragedy, upon seeing the Prince and Princess transformed, he finally realized the name of that Something whose warmth had sustained him all this time. Only now, after it was too late, could he name that fire burning steadily in his breast.

But for all his pain, he was happy for the Prince and Princess. He-who-had-once-been-a-knight wished them the best of wishes and bid them farewell (for a story-book Prince did not belong in the real world, and he had been gone from his kingdom for far too long).

In fact, there were many things that did not belong in this world, and, as the sole person so able to do, the once-knight set himself the Duty of straightening out the Story World from Our World.

Still the fire burned. And he vowed (to himself, to Duck, to both Worlds) that as long as he lived, he would keep it burning. He carefully gathered firewood, and cleaned the grate, and swept the chimney (it should be noted that though he did sometimes complain of how dirty he got doing this, he did so with an almost-smile on his face) and kept the fire fed.

For now that he had finally accepted Love for what it was, he would not let its Warmth go out.

AN: Written for Fakiru Week's Sep 27 prompt: Warmth.

Oddly enough, writing this made me think of The Call by Regina Spektor. I hadn't heard it recently, or even thought about it before writing this, but now it's stuck in my head. Ya'll should listen to it while you read this; it actually fits pretty well.

And yes, I call her Duck, not Ahiru. I watched the dub, so... Anyway, the translator claims that "Ahiru" is as strange of a name in Japanese as "Duck" is in English, so since I speak English not Japanese, I use "Duck".