1Awright! First Princess Tutu fic! ONESHOT! May be ...different, or OOC characters (accidentally of course), please let me know! Now lets go!

'Thinking'

"Talking"

By The Light Of A Flame

Ahiru walked with Mytho through the shroud of mist that blanketed the ground before them and obscured their vision oh-so-slightly. For once, the white prince walking beside her wasn't the only thing on her mind. In fact, he was far from it. She raised her neck, looking around in slight wonder at the cool cloud around them, stretching on for who-knows-how-long, before once again letting her head hang in dejection. 'Fakir,' she thought miserably. 'Fakir was only protecting Mytho. He was only trying to help. So why? Why-' she sniffed quietly at the words she was thinking.'Why did he have to die?' She clamped her eyes shut, refusing to open them, lest she shed the tears they were now threatening. She tried to think of something, anything else to take her mind off the issue clawing at her brain with the talons of a raven. Ravens...Ahiru narrowed her closed eyes slightly at the mere though of that acursed creature. It was the fault of those stupid ravens that Fakir had been lost in the first place. There was one raven in particular she was thinking of right then. 'Kraehe...' How that name irked her. That brainless, arrogant crow. It had been her who summoned the ravens that had clawed, pecked and slashed Fakir into being practically...helpless. Ahiru opened her eyes and frowed. Helpless...she had never, ever envisioned "Fakir" and "helpless" same sentence. It was a truly unfitting word for him.

As she was absorbed in her thoughts, she vaguely heard a voice calling her name.

"Ahiru...Ahiru...AHIRU?"

She was suddenly wrenched from her thoughts as the quiet, yet forceful voice of Mytho brought her back to the current reality.

"Huh? Wha? What'd I do? What's happening?"

She rabbled until her eyes met with Mytho's. She quieted almost instantly as she met those lonely pools of amber. 'His eyes...they're still so...sorrowful and lonely...'

"Ahiru? Are you all right?"

Mytho's gentle voice once again brought her out of her musings.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Mytho. What's up?"

Mytho, now satisfied that he had captured her attention, turned his head forward once again and pointed in the direction they were headed.

"There's a fire. It seems to be melting away the mist around it."

Ahiru put a hand to her forehead and squinted slightly. Indeed, there was a light not too far away, flickering slightly. The air smelled of smoke too, she noticed. If she hadn't been caught up in her thoughts, she would have scented it a while ago. Mytho spoke once again.

"It also looks like there's someone there. On the ground. I would have gone over there faster, but you seemed so caught up, I didn't want to leave you."

Ahiru flushed with regret at this realization. She had kept him waiting. "Well," she started, "then let's not waste anymore time!" She took off running in the direction of the flame, followed by Mytho. As they hurried toward the flickering warmth, she noticed that there was indeed someone lying on the ground next to the fire. Her heart, for some reason or another, skipped a beat when she saw the figure was wearing an apparently black (she couldn't really define color at night) cloak that looked startlingly similar to the one Fakir had been wearing. As Ahiru and Mytho reached the small clearing in the mist where the fire was, a sudden gale blew through the air, forcing the pair to shut their eyes. They halted as the wind blew strongly, whipping their hair and clothing in all different directions. Even after the wind had stopped, Ahiru kept her eyes closed. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Mytho, and opened her eyes. They grew wide, and began to water. Whether from tears or the breeze, she didn't know. She let the drops fall from her eyes as she fell to her knees, dizzy with relief and happiness. She half hugged, half fell-on the cloaked figure she knew so well as she cried with relief.

"Fakir!" Ahiru cried as she hugged him tightly. "How? I thought..." Words failed the girl as she released her near-death grip.

"Ow," Fakir muttered, "Damn...well, a little...ecstatic now...are we?" He managed sarcastically.

Ahiru grinned widely. "Nice to see you too, Fakir!"

"Eh, shut up,"

"Whatever. I'm just...I'm just so glad you're okay!" She said, throwing her arms around him once again. With her head over his shoulder, she blushed. 'This is so unlike me!' she thought, freaking out slightly. She released him once again. "Anyway, how did you survive?" she inquired, changing any subject. "I mean, you couldn't have done all this-" she gestured at the fire, "-by yourself, I mean, with your injuries and all. So, how?"

Fakir attempted to sit up, but due to the extent of his injuries he could do little more than raise his arms a few inches off the ground. Seeing as his posture wasn't going to improve, Fakir finally began his explanation, from start to finish.

Ahiru's eyes were brimming with tears once more after hearin Fakir's full explanation. "Ms. Adel..." she said sadly, "Ms. Adel's...gone..." Indeed, not much more remained of Adel than a pile of burning logs. A few were untouched, however, and sat nearby the fire.

"Yep," Fakir said, a twinge of regret barely detectable in his voice. He heard Ahiru sigh, and heard a small plish, and then another one, as she began to cry openly. He sighed quietly and closed his eyes as he spoke once again. He noticed that, interestingly enough, Mytho had gone.

"Come on, stupid, don't cry," he began in an awkward attempt at comforting the sobbing girl. Ahiru looked up.

"H-huh?" she inquired half-coherently. Fakir sighed once again, his eyes still closed.

"Adel saved me, Ahiru," he continued. "She willingly gave her very existence to help me survive my injuries." Ahiru wiped her eyes and looked at him quizzically, her face still red from the abrasive tears. "It doesn't matter if she was just a puppet for Drosselmayer. She ended up giving her life for me. She wouldn't want you to cry. And neither do I, Ahiru." Ahiru wiped her eyes once more and the look in her eyes changed from sadness to one of pure determination.

"Alright, Fakir. I won't mourn Adel any longer. She wouldn't want me to. So I'm not going to." She nodded her head determinedly to cement her point, as if to reaffirm it to herself.

"Good," Fakir agreed. The two sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Mytho still hadn't come back yet. Ahiru spoke again.

"Um...Fakir?" she ventured.

"What is it?" he inquired simply.

"Um...well...I just wanted to say...that..." her face turned a deep red.

Fakir opened one eye and looked at her. "What? Spit it out already."

"Ummm...well...I love you Fakir!" she blurted out. "I have since that once time I tackled you after you locked Mytho in a closet! Well, technically I only really liked you then, but..." She trailed off. Her blush faded, strangely. Fakir was staring straight skyward, wide-eyed and blushing a deep crimson. He directed his eyes toward her once more. He was silent. Ahiru looked at him and lowered her head, sighing. "I'm sorry, Fakir...nevermind. Forget I said anything," She said dejectedly, on the verge of tears. Her voice was shaking ever so slightly.

"...You liked me for locking Mytho in a closet? Damn you're a strange one." He commented, looking straight at Ahiru now with both eyes, a smile curving the sides of his mouth and a good humored glint in his eyes. Ahiru looked up at him incredulously. Both burst into laughter.

After that had settled down, Ahiru, though she had a smile plastered on her face, was seriously starting to worry about Mytho. She stood up finally, catching Fakir's attention. "What'cha doing?" he asked out of boredom and interest.

"I'm gonna go look for Mytho. God knows how long he's been gone! I'm strating to worry about him." Fakir managed an uninterested shrug.

"Fine by me," he said simply. Ahiru turned to look at him and knelt next to him quickly.

"There's one more thing I have to do first," she said with a glint of mischief as well as a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"And what's that?" Fakir inquired, before stopping short of another sentence as Ahiru pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened, but soon closed as they kissed for what seemed like an eternity. She broke off, blushing furiously, and got up and ran into the woods to go find Mytho, A huge smile plastered on her face all the while. Fakir's face felt hot and he touched his lips lightly with his better arm.

"...Damn. She really is a strange one."