Disclaimer: I don't, and never will own, Princess Tutu or any of its characters of plotlines. This is purely for entertainment.
A companion piece to Growing.
Grown
Six years and ease had made Rue more graceful and beautiful than ever. A faint blush lived on her cheeks and her hair began to lose its feather-like quality, albeit slowly, turning into gorgeous curls.
She had even gotten smile markings by her eyes.
Only her prince could've done this to her. Only he would make her quite so happy.
It had occasionally crossed her mind whether or not her parents, real parents, could have ever made her feel so loved, and she believed they could have, but they were lost in that sea of a town. Maybe she had even known them back in Kinkan.
That didn't matter, though, now. She had a family, small and discombobulated, and that mattered now.
She had her love Mytho, for she never grew accustomed to calling him Siegfried, Fakir and Ahiru, who were like her loving brother and sister, now, and another on the way, peacefully resting inside of her.
The Queen stepped out onto her balcony, her shoes clacking softly against the tiles. She stood holding the railing, leaning forward, watching all the kingdom's people.
They seemed so happy. It wasn't like it was without problems, though, and Rue had learned of that impossibility of life early on.
The sky was currently white like clouds, the November air chilly and quick to change direction of wind. The people walked by arranging store items below, by the frosty morning bushes of her world. A myriad of shops and houses lined every street for miles, then forests and lakes and dazzling fields on ever side other than the harbor.
No one knew if and where those fields and forests ended. No one seemed to care, really, for they had lives and weren't going to speculate silly things when their lives required them elsewhere. Rue liked that about her people. They were sensible.
Yet even as she thought, she wondered what was beyond here. She had to need, or want, to get away, but maybe if she ran so far there would be nothing left to run in. Maybe none of this was even physically real, like they lived in an imaginary realm. Ahiru would've thought that, maybe, because she had a knack for asking questions no one could really answer.
As far as she knew, Ahiru was still a duck, Fakir was still trying to understand things, and the whole town was practically the same, living inside a story with no ending. Rue didn't know anything.
Mytho had probably written to Fakir at least once, but what was the possibility letters could get to different realities? Very slim. If he had gotten it, and replied, Rue knew not about its contents. But maybe that was best. Sever the connection while before it grows.
When she was alone these things plagued her mind to oblivion, starting at the pinnacle of sense then down quickly until it was things she never expected to think. Mytho would come in the room from his business and everything would simply evaporate as though it was never there.
One couldn't expect her to still be fully sane, after all, being raised by the demonic Raven.
Footsteps walked up to Rue. She didn't even have to turn to know it was him. He took his hands in hers and held them against her chest, slightly swaying her back and forth. "Hello, darling."
Rue smiled. She still loved the way that sounded. "Hello, my prince."
He rested his head atop hers and she closed her eyes, enjoying Mytho's presence as always. "How do you think the baby is?"
She instinctively patted her stomach. "Happy. He doesn't kick too much, and he always calms down when I go outside."
"That's good." His voice still rang soft and sweet to fit perfectly with his words. Rue couldn't imagine a more loving soul in the world.
"Yes. I can finally have a family now." She spoke quietly, almost like a whisper.
He looked down at her. "I'm happy here, you know."
Rue laughed. "Of course. It's a lovely place."
He laughed gently, too. "No, flower, I'm happy here with you."
"I'm so glad." And she was. She loved him more than anything. And he loved her back.
"You know, I didn't quite love you when we came here."
Rue was hardly shocked. "You had just regained your heart. It would be highly unlikely to find love so quickly."
He chuckled. "I suppose so."
They shared a small moment of silence, and she closed her eyes blissfully.
"I do love you, Rue. I've grown to love everything about you, and I always will."
"She looked up to meet his eyes. "I love you, my prince. I always have. And forever I will."
Her mind wasn't quite at ease, though. "Mytho?"
"Yes, love?"
She let go and turned to look at him. "What is beyond the forest?"
"More land." He seemed surprised at that question.
"But what beyond?"
He considered, his white brows knitting together. "Nothing, I suppose."
Rue looked down at the gliding landscape, tracing the edge of the beach with her fingers. "How lovely it would be to dance out there forever. I'll be glad when he's born so I could dance again."
Mytho chuckled. "You have the strangest thoughts, Rue."
She laughed. "Quite. Sometimes this place doesn't even feel real to me."
Mytho looked down at her with a serious face. "Well, it feels real to me, so it must be."
She looked at him. "I suppose you're right." She smiled. "Come, my prince, let's go down to villages. Everything looks beautiful for the holidays coming along."
He pulled her up and kissed her cheek. "Anything you want, darling."