A/N: Here's another story that's been rolling around in my head and wouldn't let me go. I swear my muse must have ADD because it bounces me from idea to idea to idea. I have so many stories up in the air, I'm afraid I'll drop the ball somewhere. Anyway... So here you go! Please enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Princess Tutu. But I absolutely, positively want to learn to dance like her!

The Drawing

Summer was nearing its close and autumn loomed ahead. The days were getting shorter, the temperatures cooler. And Ahiru could feel the southern pull, her instincts urging her to take wing in that direction. But she couldn't leave Fakir. Not after the promise he made to always be by her side. He still went with her every day down to the pond to watch her swim and to write his stories. However, Ahiru felt as if the closeness they once shared was slipping away. These last few weeks she felt him grow more and more distant and she couldn't figure out why. Today however, was the first day he had ignored her completely. Yes, he had still come with her to the pond, but he hadn't spoken a word to her, watched her swim about or thrown little scraps of bread for her to chase.

She sat among a group of cattails in the shallows by the shore and observed her companion. He sat at the end of the small dock with his lap desk propped on his knees, his right hand scratching the feather quill delicately, almost lovingly, across the paper. His legs dangled off the edge of the pier and his bare feet hung a few inches into the water to cool himself in the heat of the late summer day. Suddenly, Ahiru had a brilliant idea. She would make Fakir notice her.

So, ruffling her tail feathers and taking a deep breath, she plunged under the shimmering surface of the pond. She swam underwater to the dock where his feet suspended. She came right up to them and ran the long, lone feather that sprang from her forehead down the sole of his left foot.

Fakir jerked his feet out of the water when he felt something run the length of his foot. But this upset his lap desk and the papers on it scattered, floating down to the water. He looked down in time to see Ahiru surface. Her quacks could only be described as laughing. "Ahiru! You moron! Why did you do that? Look what you made me do! Now all of those papers are ruined!" He shouted at her angrily.

"Qua-quack-ack. (Not this one)" she replied pulling off a page that got stuck to one of the damp posts holding the dock up. As it fell away from the post, out of the shadow of the dock and into the afternoon sun, she saw that it wasn't writing at all. It was a drawing. Since when had Fakir taken up art? But as soon as this thought crossed her mind she recognized the image on the page. It was her… as a human.

She stared at her human face as it stared back out at her. The girl on the paper was wearing a happy smile. Did Fakir not like her as a duck? Did he wish she were human again? Even though it was no longer possible that she could be? Is this why they were drifting apart? Was he coming to resent the form she now was in? Ahiru's bright blue eyes filled with tears.

As Ahiru thought these things she drifted into the shadow of the dock. "Ahiru?" Fakir asked getting down on his hands and knees to peer down at her. "What are you doing?" She looked up at him and he was taken aback by the tears that flowed from her eyes. Alarmed now, he demands, "What's wrong?"

The concern in his eyes broke her heart. She was sure it wasn't concern for Ahiru the duck but for the girl she could never be again. I should leave so I don't bother him with painful memories of the old me. She thought. So she quacked out a sob, dropped the drawing and raced for the opposite shore as fast as she could.

"Ah! Ahiru! Wait! What-!" but Fakir's cries were cut off when the paper she was looking at floated out where he could see it. It hadn't completely absorbed water yet and the drawing was still visible. His eyes widened and he reached down and plucked it out of the pond. "Oh, Ahiru. I'm so sorry" he whispered looking up to see her disappear into the cattails on the far side of the pond.

A/N: I know. I'm sorry it's so short. But It's really just an intro chapter. I hope you understand. Please read & review! I'd like to know what you thought of it. I have a vague idea of what I want to have happen but I'm always open to suggestions!

kaerfemina