Aneko: WHOOOOO!! YES!! I finally got around to starting this fic. I'm not really sure why it took so long to finish the first chap, but now it is here, ha ha!!

Disclaimer:

Fakir: This writer does not, under any circumstance, own Princess Tutu.

Ahiru: Mou, why do you have to be so formal, Fakir?

Fakir: -vein twitches-

Ahiru:-smiles-

Princess Tutu: Chapter of Swan

Chapter One- Of Once Upon A Times

Ahiru stood on the table, staring intently at Fakir's hand as he unwrapped the bandage around it. Ahiru still felt like it was her fault, no matter how many times Fakir assured her it wasn't. If she hadn't tried to give up in the Lake of Despair, Fakir wouldn't have had to stab his hand in order to rescue her from Drosselmeyer's control.

Seeing her intensity, Fakir smiled, patting her head.

"Stop worrying, baka. It's not your fault. And even if it was, it's not like I'll never be able to use this hand again."

This being said, the bandage came all the way off. A pale scar showed, but nothing more. Fakir flexed the hand experimentally.

"See? Good as new."

Unconvinced, Ahiru reached forward, brushing the scar with a wingtip lightly.

"It's just a scar."

Ahiru realized he was right, as she remembered the one he had on his back, which was far worse.

"Well?" Do you want to go to the lake now?"

"Qua!" Ahiru nodded, jumping down from the table. She walked ahead to the door, waiting for Fakir to open it. Fakir did so, but didn't come out.

"You go ahead. I just have to talk to Charon and get something."

Ahiru walked out, quacking her okay as she headed to the lake.

She usually took side and back roads to get to the lake, but it didn't stop people from noticing the little yellow duck, and how she stayed in Kinkan town all year round, and was very tame…almost…human. Many a time, young girls would come and talk to the duck about their troubles, or a boy they liked, and each said they felt like she was listening and understanding them. This made Ahiru happy. While she could not actually speak, she was spoken to, and not just by love-struck girls and happy village people. More than anyone, Fakir spent most of his time with Ahiru. It was a common occurrence that if you found the little duck, you would find Fakir, and vice versa.

Ahiru couldn't explain it, but she was always happiest around Fakir. If he had to go to school, she would wait all day for him, and when he finally came out, her face would light up. It was ironic, since when they first met they had hated each other.

Had she been asked (and be able to reply), Ahiru would honestly have said that she would be lost without Fakir.

While others would talk to her, Fakir knew her, and what she had been. He would talk to her as a person, not a duck. He held conversations, and sometimes asked her questions. He had become used to interpreting her quacks and gestures.

From the very first day, he was beside her. It took awhile for them both to get used to, in more ways than one. Fakir decided to move permanently to Charon's house, though he still went to school. Ahiru had to get used to not being able to turn into a human, or to talk. They both had to get used to the fact that Neko-sensei (and others like him) was not a cat anymore, but a normal teacher (albeit one who was somewhat obsessed with marriage). There was no Mytho, Rue, or Drosselmeyer anymore. For a while it felt almost eerily quiet to the two, since they were so used to trouble; but it was now a pleasant silence.

And through all of this change, Fakir remained. Not one day had gone by in which he didn't come see her, or even spend the whole day with her. Many times he would just come out to the lake, and sit writing on the dock. And this was enough for Ahiru. He didn't have to talk a lot, because he was, well, Fakir. But Ahiru would watch him write, and be happy for him, because he was no longer afraid of his own gift.

Yet at the same time…

Reaching the lake, Ahiru jumped in, paddling around lazily.

At the same time, Ahiru was unable to be happy for herself. She could not count the number of times she'd seen a ballet class, and wished she was learning there with them, before remembering that that wish would never come true again. And, thinking this, Ahiru would be sad. She tried not to be, though, because she didn't want Fakir to worry.

She had chosen the decision to give Mytho the last piece of his heart and become a duck again. She couldn't start telling Fakir she was unhappy. They both had decided to return to their true selves, together. What would Fakir think if she told him she wanted to be a girl again?

Ahiru sighed, looking into the water and trying to push the thoughts out of her mind. It was futile, though, as they were the same kind of thought that plagued her every day, and Ahiru knew she would be thinking the same way tomorrow.

Fakir watched Ahiru sadly from behind a tree.

As much as she tried to hide it, Fakir could see that she was unhappy. Each time she saw people practicing, or even just talking, he saw it; looks of longing, which became so sad that it was almost unbearable for him to look at her when she was like that. And how could he blame her? He remembered his words to her as if it were yesterday, that this was her true self. It seemed that he had not truly understood what that meant for her until spending this much time with her.

Every action, gesture, or even the way she quacked, was a ghost of how she had been as a human girl. Every time he saw this, Fakir cursed Drosselmeyer, because this alone pointed out that Drosselmeyer had a final say in the ending of the story.

Ahiru was no duck; she was a girl.

Hearing the boards on the dock creaking, Ahiru looked up to see Fakir coming to sit on the edge in his usual spot. He was holding his writing equipment, a cream-colored quill, and fine paper and an inkwell, which were stationed on a board he could use as a hard surface to write on.

On some days, Fakir also brought a fishing rod, but today he didn't have one. He merely sat down, and put quill to paper.

Seeing the degree of concentration on his face, Ahiru didn't bother him. He hated to be interrupted when his face looked like that. Ahiru chose instead to continue swimming.

On the dock, Fakir gritted his teeth. He bore down with the quill trying to write, but his hand was shaking, and finally the tip snapped. Leaning back in his chair, Fakir looked at the sky. It was just like the time he had tried to stop the ravens from attacking Ahiru. He had been unable to stop the flow of the story.

But why can't it change now? He asked silently. The story is over! Unless…

Fakir's stomach clenched. Unless a now story had started where her role is too significant to change. He shook his head fiercely and angrily. No! Her life has been toyed with enough already! She deserves a happy ending. She should be free.

Drosselmeyer must have known that in the end, whether they succeeded or not, some part of the tragedy remained: Ahiru was a duck. Ahiru, who was the very reason the story had begun to move, who had kept the whole town from becoming ravens, who had more courage and hope than others twice her size, who had changed Fakir. After everything she had done, she became a duck?!

Fakir was plagued constantly by thoughts of their dance in the Lake of Despair. Her voice, at the prospect of becoming a duck again, had been so sad. But at the time, he had known, without a doubt, that if she had allowed the story to end in tragedy, she would have regretted it until she died. It was just the kind of person she was.

Fakir looked over at Ahiru. She was gazing absentmindedly at the sky. The look on her face made him smile- it reminded him so much of Ahiru as a girl.

Fakir sat back in defeat, letting his mind wander, Was there really no way to turn her human?

"Qua?"

Fakir looked down, Ahiru was floating close by, looking at him inquisitively, and when he looked at her, she jumped up on the dock, walking over to where Fakir was sitting and settled herself next to his feet. It was as if she was telling him, "Don't worry. Everything's okay." But fakir wasn't going to accept that answer.

"Ahiru…" He waited for her to look at him before asking her, "do you want to hear a story?"

"Quack!" Ahiru nodded, turning towards Fakir as she smiled. Reaching down, Fakir scooped Ahiru up. Ahiru looked down in surprise at Fakir's hand for a moment, before looking up at him in expectancy. Fakir waited for a few moments, before choosing the right words to start with.

"Once upon a time there was a girl…she wasn't anything very special, and she didn't know very much…but she was brave, and loyal. One day she was found by a man, who thought it would be fun to watch her struggle. She he told her she was destined to save the world, while what he was really doing was turning her into his puppet. She met many people, some who were enemies, some who were friends. In the end, though, she surprised the man by defeating him and saving the world. But…in the end, she was an ordinary girl again. The man made it so that everyone forgot about her. She is forgotten."

They were silent awhile, listening to the lullaby of the lake water against the shore.

"Do you think she deserved that?"

"Quack!" Ahiru shook her head vigorously.

"I thought so," Fakir murmured.

"Qua?" Ahiru asked in puzzlement.

"Ah, nothing. Go ahead and keep swimming. I'm going to write a while longer."

Nodding, Ahiru went back to the water, as Fakir bent his head over his paper.

Ahiru was watching Fakir again. He works so hard to give happy endings to everyone, she thought, If only…

If only what?

Ahiru realized she didn't know how to finish that statement.

I wonder why he doesn't smile more? She wondered, I feel like he spends so much time trying to take care of this town that he himself isn't happy. What would make him happy?

She was so caught up that she didn't notice the white glow in the water around her until it had grown extremely bright. Looking around in panic, Ahiru called out to the one person who could rescue her.

"Quack!!" Fakir!!

Fakir's head snapped up at the alarm in her voice. Taking in the scene at a glance, Fakir jumped up from his seat; but as soon as he did, the light intensified, surrounding the little duck. When it had gone, only moments later, the lake was empty.

"Ahiru!" Fakir called, his writing equipment dropping to the deck. He jumped in the lake, searching desperately, but found nothing.

Where? Where did she go?!

Aneko :Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnd CUT!! Chapter one is FINALLY finished!! AT last!! So, what do you think? Review please!

Ja, sayonara.