In which Ahiru and Fakir discuss old feelings, Fakir explains his promise, and they add to their weekly calendar.

Flowers

Fakir liked to take Ahiru to school with him. He couldn't always — not all of his teachers approved of a duck sitting in their classroom, however silent she was, and one or two had allergies — but he tried to bring her along as much as possible. She missed being a girl, and he knew that. She liked seeing the students milling around, she liked to see Pike and Lilie go about their daily mischief, and she liked it when Fakir spoke to people she knew as a girl so she could see how they were. He wasn't the most sociable person, but he did it, for her. It was the least he could do after his treatment of her (which she had forgiven him for, but he hadn't forgiven himself yet).

Because of this, he was caught off-guard when she quacked shrilly and fluttered away upon spotting another old friend of her's.

"Hey, Ahiru!" She ignored him, diving into a bush. The students around them glanced quizzically. They were used to Fakir's pet duck by now, even if they found it - "her", as he had corrected them — strange. She was cute, and she let them pat her head and feed her, and Fakir was nicer with her around, so they didn't mind.

The friend looked over at the sound, catching Fakir's eye, her face brightening as she waved at him pleasantly. Fakir waved back with a nod. She shifted the flowers in her arms and walked away. Fakir glanced between the girl and the bushes where Ahiru was wriggling around. Something fell into place and he couldn't help the cheeky smirk that passed over his features.

This was going to be fun.

"So, what was that about?"

She started, shifting on the desk and feigning confusion. He raised an eyebrow. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why did you hide from Freya? I thought she was your friend."

"Qua?"

"Of course I know her. She was in one of the higher ballet classes, they mixed us up sometimes."

Her eyes brightened; she pointed at him. "Qua?"

"Did I dance with her?"

Ahiru nodded.

"A couple times. She's a good dancer." He put his quill down, crossing his arms and watching her accusingly. "But we're going off topic."

She shuffled, looking nervous. If it wasn't for her feathers, he was sure she would have blushed; it was the same look she'd get as a girl. She muttered some quacks.

Fakir was impatient, so he opted to help her. "You like her, don't you?"

She squawked loudly, turning away from him with her bill in the air. He chuckled. "I knew it."

"Quack!" She turned towards him again, ruffling her feathers in embarrassment. He laughed. She looked a right state.

Her confirmation made something twist in his chest, but he ignored it. He decided instead to tease her. He hadn't been able to in awhile. "So on a scale of one to ten, how much do you like her? We'll start on five, five being… almost liking her, romantically."

She seemed to think, glancing upwards before making a downward gesture. "Less?" She nodded.

"Four?" No.

"Three?" She nodded again. "So you… had a crush on her?" he said carefully. The word felt odd on his tongue; he wasn't used to such conversation. She ruffled her feathers, muttering again. Yes.

The knot in his chest loosened. It made him feel guilty.

"I can understand why you would," he continued, ignoring the feeling in the pit of his stomach, "She's pretty, and sweet. And she's good at ballet."

She nodded vigorously. He sighed. "Do you…?"

Ahiru blinked, before jumping up and waddling towards him, poking his arm with her bill and shaking her head. She pointed a wing at him. "I'm with you, silly."

"That's got nothing to do with it." The guilty feeling wrung him. "Let me tell you a secret." He rested his head on his folded arms. She sat down in front of him. "When I was younger, before I started being horrible to him, I liked Mytho. He was a bit stupid and did reckless things, but I thought he was amazing. It went away after awhile; it's hard to truly love someone without a heart. That's what made Rue special to him; she always loved him, no matter what." He shifted in his chair. "But when we saw them off, when I talked to him — even though it was for all of five minutes really — but with all his heart shards back, some of those old feelings came back. They're gone now, and I didn't say anything about it because it didn't really matter."

Ahiru nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "What I'm trying to say is… even if you're with me, it's fine if you still like Freya. You're human on the inside. It's not something you can control. And…" He paused to stroke the top of her head, poking the odd cowlick. "If you want to go with her, that's fine." She started, already shaking her head. "What I mean is, I'll help you. I promised to stay by your side, and I will. If that means explaining it to her, then so be it. I'll always have your back. I'll never abandon you."

He sat up, tugging on his collar a bit with nervousness. He hadn't meant to say so much, but it had worked; the guilt had loosened along with the twist. Granted, the idea of Ahiru leaving him stung, and considerably so, but her happiness was more important to him. No matter how many times she told him otherwise, Fakir knew that he was a coward at heart, and he didn't deserve to drag her down with him.

She butted up against his arm, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. Although they didn't have the power to turn her back into a girl, sometimes that old spark came back and let him hear her thoughts. This was one of those times.

"I'm here to stay. I never got the chance to like Freya properly because of everything that was going on. It's just a bunch of old feelings. I'm here to stay."

He stared down at her, wondering how he had gotten so lucky. But he had to make sure she was sure. "If you'd gotten the chance, do you think it would've become something more?"

The spark was gone, but she could still gesture. She waved her wing, tilting her head from side to side.

"Maybe?" She nodded and shrugged. "You don't know. I guess you can't."

She squinted up at him before letting her wings fall into the mime for love. He sighed. "I'm sorry. For being annoying about it."

She shook her head at him. "Qua!"

He smiled. "Idiot."

"Quack!"

They'd be fine.

Friday had Fakir walking towards the back of the academy, where there was a large statue and a small crop of flowers. A blonde girl danced among them, watering can in hand. Ahiru twittered on his shoulder.

He walked towards her, stopping where the flowers began and looking around. Freya had done a marvellous job with them, as usual. She twirled again, stopping when she caught sight of him. "Oh, Fakir! I didn't see you there."

"Freya. Good to see you."

Freya nodded. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she noticed Ahiru. "Is that your duck?"

"Well, she's not mine, per se…" He picked Ahiru up, holding her in his arms. She shifted, looking up at him. He smiled reassuringly. "This is Ahiru."

"What a lovely name…" Freya stepped towards them carefully, putting the watering can down on the cobbled ground. She bent down to Ahiru's level. "I feel like we've met before. Is that odd?"

Ahiru quacked quietly in response, burrowing deeper into Fakir's arms. Freya hummed. "My flowers like you." She stroked the top of her head. Fakir held Ahiru out to her. Freya looked between them, before asking Ahiru, "May I?"

Ahiru nodded. Freya picked her up and carried her into the flowers, sitting down among the coloured petals. Fakir smiled as he watched them frolic. Freya seemed to remember, somewhat. Good.

It became a Friday thing; Fridays with Freya. They would visit her, and the girls would tend to the flowers or sit and chat while Fakir sat down with his back against the statue and write, or simply watch them. Sometimes they would make flower crowns, upon which they would convince Fakir to wear one as well, which he did until they left. Sometimes Freya whipped up a bouquet and came along home for dinner, where Karon would thank her for the flowers and for watching over Fakir and his pet. Sometimes, at Ahiru's request, Fakir and Freya danced, and then one of them would pick her up and twirl her, just as she used to do. Sometimes Autor and Athelina would visit, and Athelina would comment on the strange duck, wondering how she understood everything but knowing deep down that she was wonderful, somehow. Once, they spotted Pike and Lilie spying on them from around the corner, and Freya invited them in, Ahiru greeting them warmly. Sometimes the two odd girls visited too, wondering why they got along so well with a duck.

Fakir hadn't thought that he'd become such good friends with Freya, but he had. It was hard not to, really. He could see why Ahiru liked her. A few of the students started a rumour that he and Freya were a couple, to which they both laughed as Ahiru quacked boisterously. They didn't mind.

The room he shared with Ahiru seemed to constantly be decorated with flowers now, somehow, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

I always thought Freya and Fakir would make good friends, and although I live for fakiru I do love some good freyahiru too (I have mimimonart on tumblr to thank for that). Love me some fakiru conversations where they discuss things maturely. And I do love Freya.

Athelina is what I always call Anteaterina. I know people typically call her Erina but I like the name a lot, and I can't remember the meaning but it suited the character.

If anyone who read In Knots comes looking for it, my explanation is this: I took it down so that I could write it all then start posting cuz if not I'll update once every other century, if you're lucky. I'll post it again eventually.

This'll be a oneshot series, mostly fakiru stuff but something else every so often depending on what I come up with. All my PT oneshots will be compiled here. Until next time!