Two years. It had been two years since it had all happened. Rue thought about this very thing as she watched Duck from across the dance room. On the other side she was standing near a barr'e practicing a few steps that she would be showing the class later that day. Duck, Pique, and Lilie were all stretching. Rue turned her head slightly as she gazed at her friend. Two years ago it had all happened she thought again. Drosselmeyer's tragic tale had succumbed surprisingly to a happy ending. Fakir, their dear old friend had finished the story allowing Mytho, or Prince Siegfried as he once was called and Rue to live as they pleased. Having lived a life of total happiness, they both had returned to Gold Crown Town to continue with their ballet lessons for it was still Mytho's dream to become a famous dancer along with his partner Rue and now that the tale of The Prince and the Raven had come to an end the world outside had become much larger then they had known it to be. For some unknown reason however when they returned to their once shut in home, they discovered a few changes they hadn't expected. Mr. Cat who had once been a cat himself and who now only sported the name as a human was still the top ballet instructor at the Academy but had given up all talks about marriage when he met once again with his possible soul mate Miss Goatette who like him was now completely human. They even both had cats, his who looked similar to his former appearance. The other unusual change they discovered was that despite them not knowing it Fakir had departed from Gold Crown Town just one month prior to their return. It was said amongst the students of the Academy that with the help of Autor his distant relative, that he had become famous by his writing and well sought after to make appearances in other towns. Knowing Fakir's personality to be usually quite against such frivolities Rue and Mytho were incredibly surprised that he had left, especially since he left something very important behind, mainly Duck. But Duck didn't even recall this fact. Not at all. When Mytho and Rue had discovered her on the riverbank it was if they were meeting her all over again. And so it seemed as the days went on. Duck introduced herself all over again and the strangest thing was, that even if she couldn't recall her long forgotten memories, the school always seemed familiar to her very much like the dance that she was once so graceless at she now could perform like a pro. Like Princess Tutu once could.
Princess Tutu Rue thought. Here was something else that Duck could not remember. Rue sighed as she sat down on the cold floor, Mr. Cat across the way instructing some of the younger students to pay attention. On purpose Rue and Mytho had decided not to tell Duck about Princess Tutu as of yet. Trying to help her remember Gold Crown Town and the people in it was complicated enough. Not to mention she wasn't the same duck they had once known.
"She's lost all her clumsiness" Rue thought with a slight chuckle later that afternoon as she dressed in the locker room, "Her loud obnoxious voice, and her goofy giggle" Rue sighed again as she grabbed her school bag and flattened out the bottom of her skirt neatly, "Her eyes don't sparkle the way they used to" she thought sadly as she left the room and began to walk down the hall, "And there's one other thing" she added out loud as she slowly pushed open the big door that led to the large practice room.
On the other side Duck was still in her dance practice tutu, concentrating on her movement carefully. On the other side of the room a record player was playing the same tune over and over as she moved gracefully across the floor.
"Despite no longer being Princess Tutu" Rue said quietly to herself, "She dances like she is no longer Duck. It's as if, dancing is the only thing that makes her happy now."
"Rue" a soft familiar voice spoke behind her.
Rue turned her head briefly and saw Mytho staring back at her with a concerned expression.
"What's wrong?" he asked placing a hand onto her shoulder, "Why do you look so sad?"
"Look" Rue pointed, "What do you see out there Mytho?"
Mytho gazed into the room astonished his eyes becoming slightly wide.
"It's Duck."
"Yes, but what do you see when you watch her dance? Mr. Cat has always said what do you see on a person's face when you watch them dancing."
"Well" Mytho paused and then spoke gently, "When I see her dancing like that, I think lots of things."
"Such as what?" Rue asked as Duck did a perfect pirouette across the floor.
"How hard she is concentrating is definitely on her face. Duck was never really that serious back then. And also, I can see a bit of sadness too."
"That's what I am talking about, sadness. It's so apparent all over body. Mytho" Rue gasped as they turned from the door, "What makes her so sad? What can we do to make her happy again?" she cried placing her hands onto his chest.
"I don't know" he shook his head, "You know she sort of reminds me of me when I had no heart. It's like she is not herself any more. The fact of the matter is, that the truth probably lies on why she is back here as she is now to begin with?"
"Yes" Rue nodded, "Why is she back like this? Why isn't she a duck?"
"Good question" Mytho replied, "We need to figure it out though. Because it may be the only way we are ever going to get our true Duck back" Rue fell into his arms wanting to cry but holding back the tears.
"Our true Duck" she thought.
How sad it had been to say goodbye to her little friend as she was back then. A small yet courageous little duck that did everything in her power to protect the people she loved. Rue longed to see that person again and was certain that Mytho felt the same. And somewhere deep inside of her she also knew that at that moment they were thinking the same thing as they moved down the hall and out the front doors to the courtyard.
"Fakir" Mytho thought, "Whatever became of you? Do you hold the answers to all our questions?"
(To be continued…)
Authors Note: Hey everybody! I'm back. Hope you all had a good summer! Well it's time for me to get busy, busy, busy! Here's the next chapter of Princess Tutu for you. I plan to get up at least three more this week if I can. I'm not sure how long each chapter is going to be. It just depends on the way the story is going I guess. I'm sure there will be some long ones too as well as short ones. I also need to add some chapters to my Ranma story that has been on hiatus since June. So I have quite a lot of work to do. Not to mention I have my personal stories on the other site to do as well. Anyway enjoy the update. I know you guys have been waiting. Thank you for being so patient and it's good to be back!
Next Chapter:
Chapter Three: Storyteller
And
Chapter Four: Festival