Fandom: Princess Tutu
Title: Tragedy
Author: lostinabook
Theme: #2: Toys (For when you die, I'll be there for you) & #26: Under your skin (surreal reality)
Character: Rue
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Princess Tutu does not belong to me; it is the property of Ito Ikuko. Also, the verse quoted in the story is from Anne Sexton's "Cinderella."
Summary: Following her happily ever after, Rue receives a warning…

WARNING: This chapter is a post-ending fic, and contains spoilers for the end of the series. If you have not finished the series, please consider this before reading.

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The wedding was perfect, just like everything else in her new life.

Mytho (her prince, who was called Siegfried now) had insisted that the dominant color of the ceremony be white—purity, chastity, goodness, and all things connected to Rue's new world. The flowers, the tablecloths, the guest's clothing, her prince's hair—all were colored a blinding white.

At first, strangely enough, she had been opposed to the idea.

"I'd look ridiculous, Mytho. Do you want your people to know about—"

She couldn't finish the sentence.

Her prince merely laughed. "You'll only look more stunning surrounded by such color, my love. After all, I only want you to look every inch the fairy-tale princess that you are."

Rue was glad that she had listened to him, even though it was still strange for her to hear Mytho voice his opinion. Her raven-black hair had shone like a starless night bordered by a full moon, and her eyes had glittered like the rarest of rubies as she was eternally joined with the only person that she had ever truly loved.

I suppose that he really is 'my prince' now.

The thought made Rue smile to herself, something that she was doing more and more often lately. Mytho had told her recently that he loved it when she smiled, and she hadn't been able to stop doing so since.

The ball was over, the feast eaten, the wedding ceremony completed. The day had gone by like a blur. Rue had never seen so many people in one place in her entire life. Apparently, not only the citizens from the surrounding town had attended, but people from all over Mytho's kingdom had traveled out to see their long-lost prince's wedding day.

The dancing had been Rue's favorite part, however. She and Mytho had preformed an elegant pas de deux to open the festivities. Rue would have had to have been blind not to notice the awed look on some of the guest's faces. It seemed that they had expected her to be a pretty face with no talents, nothing more.

Just like a doll.

And now Rue was walking through the gardens, alone, hearing the soft echoes of the guests calling goodbye to each other as she tried to engrave the feeling of pure happiness onto her heart forever.

She had been slightly surprised that Mytho had been so willing to let her go off by herself (they were newlyweds, after all), even if she had asked for some time alone as a favor.

"Do whatever makes you happy, my princess."

The memory made Rue smile all the more. Who would have guessed that she could ever be so happy?

She stopped for a moment to look up at the moon. Coupled with the stars, they cast a pale light upon the surrounding landscape, making everything appear to be colored a soft blue. Rue's wedding dress—the same that she had worn when the story had ended, made of white feathers that rejected her role as the Raven Princess—seemed to glow with an unearthly quality.

It wasn't that she had wanted to leave Mytho to be by herself. Quite the contrary. She couldn't be near him enough. However, the concept of happiness was a new feeling to Rue. Due to her… unusual upbringing, it had become a feeling solely tied to accomplishing the task her father had set her to do. Now, to feel happiness of its own accord… Rue wanted to memorize every last detail of the day and savor it completely before she returned to her prince, and, subsequently, more happiness.

All was still. The memory of the pas de deux continued to run through Rue's mind… All of their love and devotion for each other had been contained in that dance… All the pain and suffering that had lead up to their happily ever after simply forgotten, and they could see nothing but each other…

"Well, well, well."

Rue gasped aloud and spun around wildly but saw no one. She knew that voice…

It can't be…

"Oh, yes it can, Kraehe. It is I, Drosselmeyer!"

This couldn't be real. This wasn't happening. He couldn't… Hadn't Fakir broken the machine in the tower? Had he found another way to write stories? She wouldn't… she couldn't let him…

"Stay away from us! Or didn't you learn anything the first time?!"

Strange laughter echoed from everywhere, yet nowhere. "No need to fret, Princess. I cannot touch your perfect little ending. My descendant made sure of that." There was a hint of frustration in his voice.

"But, that doesn't mean that I still can't watch. You wouldn't begrudge a poor old man his last desire, would you?"

"You're dead, and your story nearly killed all of us. If you're looking for pity, you won't find it here."

"Ah, Kraehe. Always the feisty girl. That's what made you such a good counterpoint to Tutu. While she embodied grace and hopefulness, you symbolized beauty and predestination. Such a predicament, choosing between the two of you. I wonder how the Prince did it."

His mocking tone wasn't lost on Rue. "Mytho made his choice of his own free will, with all of his heart shards intact. And stop calling me Kraehe."

"But you are still Kraehe at heart, aren't you? Still bound by raven's blood to your prince, for better or for worse."

"That is because I love him," Rue said automatically. She was beginning to seethe with anger. What was the point of the old man bothering her if he no longer had his words?

"But I don't need to tell you that. You're the writer. You knew about everything."

"…Yes, yes. Quite right. I do know everything." Rue could almost see him smiling, with his wide teeth and bug eyes on a perfectly symmetrical face…

"I haven't stopped watching you, you know. All of you. The beginning is the end, the end a beginning. Ask my descendant about that, if you happen to see him. Just because the story ended doesn't mean that the new one isn't bound by the same ties."

"What do you mean?!" It was a gut reaction. She knew that she wouldn't get an answer.

"You know what I'm talking about, Kraehe."

Rue's eyes narrowed, and her voice became sharp and cold. "I am not Kraehe."

More laughter. "Do you truly believe that? How delightful. This will make for an interesting story."

Rue's hands tightened into fists. "I don't need to listen to this. You can't hurt anyone anymore." She began to walk away.

But the writer's voice still followed after her, mockingly. "Look at the beautiful princess, deeply in love with her handsome prince. But has anything truly changed from what she used to be? Is she not still bound by the same emotions?"

"You don't know anything."

"They lived, they say, happily ever after,
Like two dolls in a museum case,
Never bothered by diapers or dust,
Never arguing over the timing of an egg,
Never telling the same story twice,
Never getting a middle-aged spread,
Their darling smiles pasted on for eternity…"

"Why can't you just drop into the same hellhole that the raven who claimed to be my father fell into?!"

"Temper, Kraehe. Temper. As I said before, there is nothing that I can do. I'm only speaking to you out of my own boredom."

"Consider your boredom appeased, then. I'm returning to my prince."

"Are you sure that is wise, Kraehe?"

"…What?"

"The prince's heart is whole once more, but even he admitted that it is still being affected by the raven's blood. Do you think that it is best for him to be married to a person with the same condition? Or, to put it more accurately, the person that tainted him in the first place?"

Rue stood stationary on the steps leading back up to the castle.

"Ah, you see my point. Allow me to continue. If, perchance, Mytho had chosen Tutu instead of you, what would you have done?"

"Rotted in the Depths of Despair."

"No, assume that didn't happen. Assume that Tutu was the one who confessed her love, and, by some fluke, did not disappear into a flash of light. Assume that the Prince chose her as his Princess, and you were left alone. What would you do?"

"…"

Drosselmeyer chuckled. "And you thought that the tragic ending had been averted! You're only partially correct. Imagine how little Duck feels, having sacrificed everything for a 

person that she also loved, only to be condemned to never be with anyone, no matter how strong her love."

"…I never…"

"I just thought that I'd let you know, Kraehe." The glee was back in his voice now. "After all, there's nothing I enjoy more than tragedy."

Rue ran up the stairs, ripping the hem out of her dress. Feathers were everywhere, no longer giving her a new identity, but mocking her for having stolen a place that should have been someone else's.

She threw open the double doors that led into the ballroom. The prince—her prince—stood alone in the middle of the floor, where they had danced their pas de deux only a few hours before.

"Rue! What happened? Is something wrong?"

She loved him. She loved him so much that it hurt. She loved how he ran to her, wrapping her in his arms and making her feel, if only for a moment, happy.

But… but now… Rue knew better than to listen to the words of that deranged author… but…

Now it felt entirely wrong to be happy, knowing that it was at the cost of someone else.

"Did something scare you? Was someone out in the garden?"

"M-Mytho…"

"Rue."

"…T-Tell me… that you love me."

"…What? Rue, what happened to you? You know that—"

"Just tell me!" She buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing and clutching him without ever wanting to let go.

Like a doll.

A beautiful doll, in the guise of a princess, only alive when animated by the love of her prince.

"I love you Rue."

For the first time that Rue could remember, those words weren't enough to make her stop crying.