Prettyinpinkgal: Woot! I love you guys! In a non-sick way! I'm really happy that you guys all love the story so far. I'm pulling an all nighter tonight (at least, the best I can. I pulled an all-nighter last night too, so I'm kinda tired. But I'm at my relative's place, and she let's me stay up as late as I can, so I wanna take advantage of it), so hopefully it gets finished before six. Well, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu. Any events or characters not in the official storyline belong to me, however.
THE FEELINGS OF A DUCK AND HER KNIGHT
CHAPTER THREE: THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
LAST TIME...
Suddenly, a hand clamped her mouth shut and pulled her into a dark alleyway, pushing her up against the wall.
"So, you're Princess Tutu," the voice said.
This is so creepy! Somebody help me, please! Fakir, HELP! Duck hesitantly opened her eyes, although she was scared to death. When her attacker's face came into focus, her eyes widened.
Fakir?
He sneered. "I knew it. You shouldn't wear your pendant in such plain view, Duck," he said, spitting out her name.
Duck trembled slightly. He knew. Fakir, the knight who vowed to protect the prince and hated her alter ego's guts, knew that she was the princess from the fairy tale. Why? Why had everything gone so wrong? And we were beginning to be friendly, too, she thought sadly.
Fakir released his tight grip on her, letting her slump against the wall. She rubbed her mouth, which was the most sore. Duck touched her pendant, then covered the red stone by turning it and hiding it under her small jacket. At least only Fakir knew.
"Pl..." Her voice caught, and she attempted to try again. "Please, don't tell anyone," she whispered.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone about your little secret."
"Th-thank you."
Fakir was shocked, although he covered it up with his rough expression. This clumsy, energetic girl with two left feet was the infamous Princess Tutu. How about that? When he began his sneering, he winced, although it was undetected by the frightened girl in front of him. He could tell just by her eyes that she was afraid, and, for some reason, his heart hurt. For the first time in so many years, he had began feeling...upset about another person. Mytho was different; he was Fakir's responsibility. And he considered him as, in some odd way, a friend.
But Duck was different. With her freckled face half covered by his large hand, her body trembling, he felt something...different. More piercing. More heartwrenching. Was it because of the fact that he caused her fear? Yes, that was it. But why? Why her, of all people? She was just some clutzy girl that he just happened to slightly associate with more than he did with other girls. He didn't care if he scared anyone else with his rough aura. So why should he care if he scared her?
He was simply acting cruel. He couldn't afford to allow himself to become soft, especially with Duck.
Knocking Fakir back to reality, Duck said, "F-Fakir, why do you hate me so much?"
He almost said, "I don't hate you." In fact, he felt the urge that he should. But Duck was his hated enemy. Well, the hate was one-sided. Either way...
"I have to go," he said angrily. Fakir left without another word. When he arrived in his room, he laid down on his bed to think. He could have easily come up with some comeback without making some excuse to get away. Why was it that that girl could make him act so different?
Duck watched as Fakir left. She curled into a ball and buried her head in her dress. Fakir hated her guts. Mytho liked Tutu, but not Duck. Kraehe despised Duck as well, and was trying to steal heart shards. Tears, which rarely appeared on the happy-go-lucky girl's face, began welling up. Everything was going wrong. She took a shuddering breath in order to regain control of her tears, but instead, she began sobbing. Drosselmeyer never said it would be easy, but she had only been collecting heart shards for a month or so! Now, there's suddenly Princess Kraehe popping up and demanding that Tutu stops collecting Mytho's heart, Mytho's admitting he loves Princess Tutu, and Fakir hates both her identities now!
Well, the sad girl wondered, I don't care what Fakir thinks of me! He's always been mean! But still...somehow, I don't like thinking that he hates me. It's different than if any other person said they hated me; it's like this matters so much to me. Why DO I care what Fakir thinks of me?
Another flashback occured of her thought of Fakir saying, "What do you think of me?" Duck pressed her face deeper into her wrinkled skirt. She sobbed, wondering what she did indeed think of the boy. He was so dark and mysterious, yet he could be so determined to help Mytho, and he was very smart, too. He was a wonderful dancer, and Duck knew in her heart that Fakir was not always cruel. Hadn't he tried to cheer her up earlier? And Duck knew that Fakir suffered with his own problems, too. She had seen him crying that one night, and he had smiled at her duck version. Hmm...Now that she thought of it, he had also tried cheering her up earlier. That was pretty out of character for him. Why did he try cheering her up?
After staying in this position for a while, Duck's tears finally subsided. Being her first real cry in a while, she felt as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Wiping her face, she smiled slightly as she stood up and stretched. "I haven't done that in a long time." A tune wandered its way into Duck's ears. The magical girl immediately recognized the tune. After straightening her skirt, she ran and cried, "Miss Edal!"
"Hello, Duck. How may I help you?" the green-haired woman said.
Leaning in to her ear to whisper, Duck replied, "You know about me being Tutu, right? Well, Fakir found out about me, and he hates my guts! And for some reason, I hate that he hates me! What's going on with me?"
When Duck backed up from Edal's ear, the woman smiled. She took out a gem and said, "This stone went through many hardships when being created, but now it is a shining jewel." Handing it to Duck, she said, "A princess need not always be with a prince."
Duck stared at the jewel in her hand. When she looked up, the woman was gone.
Prettyinpinkgal: Comment please! I love getting reviews:D I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all next time!