A/N: Sorry about the wait. I'm having computer issues so most of this was typed on my phone (which took FOREVER! DX). My phone doesn't have a good spell checker so please excuse any mistakes. So, I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Princess Tutu. I'm not that smart.
Miles and miles away, sinister, dark yellow eyes glared out of the darkness. "I sense a powerful magic. I can feel the tingle of it in my spine. I must devour it."
Another pair of yellow eyes glint in the gloom. "Shall I find it for you, Master?"
"Yes. Find it and bring it to me so I may consume it."
"As you wish, Master."
The next morning, Fakir was awakened by a loud commotion downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, he found Ahiru covered from head to toe with eggs, flour, milk and other foodstuffs. The room was a wreck.
"Ahiru, what are you doing?"
She started and slopped more of the sticky goo in the mixing bowl down her shirt. She laughed nervously. "Well, I was trying to make breakfast. I'm not very good at it."
"That's because you're so clumsy. Why didn't you ask for help, moron?" Without waiting for a response, he walked over to the stove to salvage whatever it was she was cooking.
As he pushed past her, she replied, "I didn't want to wake you." She licked some sugar off one of her fingers and grimaced when she realized it was really salt.
When he looked into the pan, the pancake frying there was perfect. She may have turned the kitchen into a disaster area but she could cook. So he just flipped the pancake onto a plate, turned to her and said, "Thanks, Ahiru. This looks delicious."
Her face immediately flushed at the compliment. "You're welcome." Embarrassed, she turned away and poured more batter into the pan.
Fakir moved to the table and poured syrup over his pancake. Looking up and watching Ahiru make more of a mess as she cooked, he finally noticed what she was wearing. It was one of Charon's old work shirts and it was humongous on her. "We need to get you some clothes. You can't keep wearing our hand-me-downs."
Ahiru looked down at the gooey shirt. It hung off of her oddly, since she was so small and it was so big. But she just shrugged. "Why not? This is comfortable and it covers me well enough."
Fakir eyed her skeptically. "Don't you want pretty girly clothes?"
"Of course I do." She said, carrying another pancake over to the table. "I just don't want to inconvenience you."
"Its not a problem, Ahiru. You need your own clothes. We'll go into town after breakfast."
"Okay." She answered looking down at her pancake as she poured syrup over it.
With that said and done, Fakir took the first bite of his breakfast. The pancake was light, fluffy and buttery. It melted on his tongue and the flavor was heaven. Without even realizing he did it, he hummed out his approval. "Mmmmm,"
Ahiru looked at him, her eyes shining with happiness. "You like it?"
Fakir's cheeks warmed over his sudden lack of self-control. Clearing his throat he replied, "Um, yes. Its good, Ahiru."
She smiled brightly at him and his heart stuttered at the expression. "I'm so glad." With that she dug into her own breakfast.
Fakir ate quietly, enjoying the melt-in-your-mouth goodness, as he tried to figure out the reason behind his reaction to her happiness; why there was a blossoming warmth in his chest whenever he saw her smile.
"Wow! Look at those!" Ahiru cried running towards a store. Fakir followed, loaded down with shopping bags. There, in the storefront window, were beautiful white satin toe shoes. "You know, when I was Tutu I could dance point without even thinking about it." She lifted herself up on her Tipp toes and twirled. "Maybe I should take classes again at the academy. I did love to dance. What do you think?"
"You're free to do anything you want, Ahiru. But you're not Tutu anymore. You'll have to work hard." Fakir answered shifting the bags to get a better grip on them.
She put her hands on her hips. "You think I can't work hard? I can work hard. I just had a lot of things on my mind last time and my dancing suffered for it. Now I don't have to worry about Mytho's heart or the raven. I can concentrate completely on dancing."
"If you say so, moron," he teased.
She stuck her tongue out and turned to enter the store. "I'm going to buy a new leotard and slippers."
Fakir sighed and followed her inside. He watched as she exclaimed over much of the merchandise in the shop and finally she found things she wanted- soft white tights and a dusty pink leotard with matching ballet slippers- and tried them on. She stepped out of the dressing room, stood in front of the mirrors and twisted about looking at how it fit. "How do I look, Fakir?" she asked.
Beautiful. Fakir surprised even himself when this thought came automatically. Shaking himself mentally, he replied, "It fits fine. Are you buying it or not?"
She pursed her lips, which of course caused Fakir to focus on the cute little pucker, and glared. "Yes. I like it, so I'm getting it."
"Fine then. Let's get it and get out of here." He replied in a sort of daze as he watched her puckered lips turn down into a frown. Then her little pink tongue stuck out again causing his heart to leap in his chest. So as Ahiru went back in the dressing room, Fakir pondered his reaction and wondered over his fixation on her mouth. "I wonder if there's something wrong with me," he murmured.
"Something wrong with you? Are you getting sick?" And suddenly, Ahiru's bright blue eyes were inches from his and her hand was pressed to his forehead. His face immediately went tomato red and his heart sped into overdrive at her proximity. His mouth went dry as his eyes focused on her soft, petal lips when they opened to speak. "Oh, you feel a bit warm and your face is flushed. Maybe we should go home now so you can rest. Here, let me carry some of the bags-"
"N-no. I'm fine. I can do it," he replied stumbling away. When he reached a comfortable distance from her, coherency returned. What was wrong with him? This was Ahiru, the same Ahiru he has shared his house with for months! Granted, she was a duck at the time and not the pretty girl she was right now, but still the same Ahiru. He regarded her carefully. She was lovely in the outfit they bought in the first store they stopped at this morning- a pretty sky blue sundress that brought out her eyes with a pastel yellow three-quarter-sleeve cardigan and white sandals. She stared back at him worriedly. So he heaved a sigh. "Fine, we'll go home now. Go buy your stuff and let's go."
She nodded and rushed over to the sales lady behind the counter.
When they returned home, Ahiru insisted that he take it easy, so he went to take a nap in his room. Soon after falling asleep though, a frantic voice sounded in his head.
"Wake up!"
He sat up rubbing his eyes. "Megumi? What are you doing here?"
The ghostly young woman hovered beside his bed. "Fakir, you must listen to me!"
When he heard the urgency of her words, he finally noticed the panicked expression on her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"A servant of the shadow is closing in. It is time for the knight to lay aside his pen and take up his sword once more. You must protect the one who is most precious to you!"
"A servant of the shadow? Who is this 'shadow?'"
"I can't see. I don't know. Be ready, Fakir. You must be ready." And again she was gone.
"What? How? I don't even know what I'm preparing for!"
After a few moments, a timid voice called through his door. "Fakir? Are you all right? I heard you shouting." The door opened and Ahiru stood in the doorway.
"I'm fine, Ahiru. Just a bad dream." He stands up. "I have to go." And he walks past her and down the stairs.
"Wait! If you're getting sick, you should stay in bed!" she said, quickly following.
"No. I'm not getting sick. I'm fine. I just need to check on something. I'll be back in time for dinner." With that, he was out the door, leaving behind a very confused Ahiru standing on the stairs.
"Autor! Open up!" Fakir called, banging on his cousin's front door.
The door suddenly swung open and he almost fell in. "What do you want, Fakir?" Autor's cold voice asked.
"I need your help."
"My help? What does the great heir of Drosselmeyer need my help for?" the glasses clad boy said sourly.
"It's not my fault I have this great power and you don't. I never asked for it. If I could give it to you, I would. But I still need your help."
Autor's eyes narrowed. "What is it?" He stepped aside to allow Fakir entrance into his home.
Fakir walked inside. "I know you've probably read every book in the library so I need your knowledge."
Autor puffed out his chest in pride. He had read every book in the library and that was thousands of books. "What do you need?"
"Have you ever come across the phrase 'shadow in the darkness'? What do you know about it?"
"I can't say that I've encountered that particular phrase, but I have read about the ruler of darkness who is in the form of a shadow."
Fakir's eyes widened at hearing this. "Tell me everything you know!"
"Goodness! Calm down." Autor pushed his glasses up his nose. "The ruler of darkness is a shadow creature that looks like a massive black wolf with yellow eyes. He seeks to devour powerful magic so he can assume a physical form. It is nearly impossible to kill him. The only known way is by the sword of light."
"Sword of light?"
"Yes. It's a mystical sword that can cut through darkness and shadow. Since the shadow creatures are made of the immaterial, you can't harm them by anything but this one weapon."
"You said creatures, as in there's more than one?"
"Well I would assume that the servants of the ruler would be shadow monsters as well."
"Great. Where can I find the sword?"
"I wouldn't know. It is only ever mentioned in one book. And all that I've told you is all that is written about it."
"I see," Fakir murmured as he thought over everything. "Alright. Thank you, Autor. You've been a great help."
"Aren't you going to tell me what this is about?"
"It would probably be safer for you if I didn't. Goodbye, Autor." And with that, he left.
A/N: Tis the end. What'd you think? Drama is building! Also, Fakir is seeming to have a hard time identifying his feelings. Don't worry, romance is on the way! It always blossoms in the face of danger! Please read & review for me, okay? Please & thank you! MUAH!
kaerfemina