A/N: Alright, here is Chapter 4! I had a lot of time to work on this so I hope it works out. Sorry if it seems shorter than the rest, but the next chapter will be great. I promise. I would like to point out that I have changed the story from romance/drama to romance/tragedy. What does that mean? Death later on? Perhaps. More heartbreak? Yes. Betrayal? Definitely. I have already begun to type the rest of the story. I can tell you this, its turning out lovely. Of course, this is rated M for later chapters. I will not explain the content, you will have to wait and see. Enjoy and leave a review. Let me know what you think of my story... ^-^

...

I began to twirl as I looked up at the trees. The light that shined through the branches and leaves that made the sky from this view look beautiful from where I stood. As I twirled, Autor finally began to talk, "Are you excited to go home, Ahiru?"

With all the twirling, I felt dizzy. I fell onto my butt on the ground. I couldn't help but laugh as I tried to focus on the man running up to me, "Are you alright?" Still laughing, I nodded, "I am fine and I am so happy to go home! I hope they welcome me back home with open arms!" When the dizziness faded, I looked up into familiar green eyes. I extended my hands out to Fakir as he reached to lift me up off the ground. When he lifted me, I stumbled forward into his chest.

I looked up into Fakir's green-gray eyes as he looked down at me. Kind, honest eyes. I smiled at him and began to twirl again as I moved away from him. He probably did his best to hide it, but I heard his frustrated sigh, "I swear you act like a child!"

"Oh, come on, Fakir! Live a little!" Autor chuckled a little as I kept twirling down the path. Hope filled me as I thought back on the pigeon. Soon they will all realize that it was a mistake. That it was an accident. After learning the truth, their tempered minds will calm and accept me back with open arms.

"Anyways, Fakir. Have you read that book I gave you?" I stopped twirling and looked at Fakir, "What book?" His green eyes closed and he groaned painfully, "The Prince and the Raven. Of course I read it before, Autor. Its the most well known book in the country."

I looked down the path, the afternoon sun beamed through the trees, casting lovely shadows on the ground. Princess Tutu. I looked at my hands, remembering the bracelets that I use to wear constantly. Autor continued cheerfully, "Such a lovely tale of heart ache and adventure." I turned to Autor as he stood on a nearby stump. He held his hand to his chest, as if he stabbed it with an invisible blade, "The fearless prince rips up his heart, in order to lock the raven away. He held honor and courage in the face of evil."

Fakir smiled at him, "Don't get too excited now. It's just a story." We stopped walking and watched as Autor jumped from the stump, "There is speculation if it was a true story or not."

He then turned to me, "Ahiru, have you heard of the story before?" I turned from them, looking down the path once more. Of course I know the story. Who hasn't read the story? I was practically forced to be like Princess Tutu.

"Yes." I closed my eyes, trying to imagine the words from the story, "I remember the story. 'The princess was beautiful and elegant. As pale and graceful as the swan. Although she could have any man in the world, she loved the Prince and was determined to restore his heart so that she may see him smile.'"

I glanced back over my shoulder at Autor, who had a large smile upon his face, "That is exactly right. She of course was bound by a curse." I sighed, now walking away as I listened to the same story I was told my entire life, "It was said she could never confess her love or vanish into a speck of light."

Ignoring the old story, I turned from the men and continued to walk down the path. The joy I had felt earlier was now gone. Blah. Blah. Blah.

"In order to save her prince that she loved, she searched for each heart shard that the Prince had lost." I struggled trying to block out his words once he began to retell the tale. I covered my ears as we walked down the path together again, "In the end, she died before she could see him smile. It was destined, I suppose. She held onto her love for him that would never be returned. even in the face of death-"

"Lets talk about something else." I quickly chirped into the conversation. I spun around, looking at an upset Autor. He pushed his glasses up, an annoyed look on his face, "Why? Do you hate this story?"

I nodded, turning back to the path in front of me, "Yes and I am sick of it." I marched down the path, trying to ignore the previous conversation. Fakir laughed, "You two take this story so seriously." Princess Tutu was nothing more than a naive girl. That will never be me. Mytho cares for me. I am nothing like Princess Tutu.

"It is hard not to take it seriously when everyone else expects you too. I mean honestly -" I clenched my fists together, not caring how bad it hurt my knuckles, "- all that story is about a silly woman trying to make the impossible happen. The prince never loved her and she still continued. Why? For the sake of something as simple as a smile?" I turned to the men, whose large eyes were on me, "Sure, if it was for his own happiness, but what about her own? He never really knew her personally anyways. Did she really have to give her own life for his smile? Was it even true love?"

Fakir held a confused look on his face and Autor had a curious look as they continued to walk. Autor then smiled, "It was about true love on her behalf and that Princess Tutu did what she could to prove her love to the prince when she could not say it to him."

"Ahiru, it was just a tragic love story that went wrong." said Fakir in a calm voice. I spun around quickly and kept walking, "Well, everyone should treat it as such! It is a story and nothing else! It shouldn't become reality."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I could faintly hear Fakir whisper to Autor, "Did I miss something?"

...

I lay on my bed, staring at curtains surrounding my mattress. Tutu. Concentrating my mind carefully, I did my best to imagine how she looked and smelled. I did my best to imagine how her red hair cupped her face during the announcements and how her costume complimented her now developing curves.

The way her ribbons wrapped around her muscular calves and her light complexion. I closed my eyes, thinking of her perfumed scented lotion. The way she use to dance gracefully. Her long black eye lashes and red hair that was worn in a long braid. Her blue eyes shining brightly like the color of the morning sky. The small shimmer that made her eyes look more dazzling.

I should have taken her when I had the chance. I should have locked her way and made her mine. So she would love only me. So she would never leave me. My precious flower. I sighed, opening my eyes and looking back up towards the ceiling again.

The images of her dancing on the stage the afternoon before Mytho announced his engagement slowly creeped into my mind. Her hair wiping around her as she twirled around the stage. Her long, shapely leg twirling with her as she moved. Her pink leotard complementing her thin waist and wide hips. Her breasts, not so much.

I quickly sat up, trying to escape this feeling. The uncomfortable feeling returned, every time I thought of Ahiru this way, when I always thought of her. It was a feeling I only felt in my lower abdomen and groin, this feeling of lust for her. I ran my hands through my hair as I thought of her smile and red lips. The light blush on her cheeks every time I kissed her hand. The light pink color nearly covered her small freckles. Imagine how she would react if I had kissed her neck -

"The Crown Prince approaches, your Highness." I was quickly pulled away from my thoughts to the opening of my chamber door. Mytho walked in, lightly bowing before me, "Brother."

I rose, not bothering to straighten my messy shirt or ruined hair, "Has any of the guards found Tutu?" Mytho shook his head, his sigh noticeable from here, "No. They searched the city." He approached me slowly, the concern noticeable, "Should I send word through out the country for her? It would make things easier on -"

"No!" I marched towards him, "If word is passed on that I could not hold onto a woman, I would be the laughing stock of every man out there!" My brother slowly nodded, keeping his eyes towards the floor. He knew how angry I could be and knew better than to provoke me.

Silence was thick in the air. My thoughts wondered to the dancing, red haired maiden from my memories. "Siegfried, what of the taxes that the advisers want to impose on the people. The people all look to you to -"

"My first and only task at the moment is to find Princess Tutu." I will make sure she knows what damage she has done to me. I will make her understand to never leave me again.

"You barely had a nights rest and a decent meal since she left. Just let me be in charge of finding her. It would be pointless to find her only to discover you dead from the lack of the needed subsistence and sleep." Pointless. Princess Tutu was everything but pointless to me. I'll have her. Even if it kills me.

"Mytho, I cannot understand you." I walked towards the glass doors that led to the north side balcony. At the age of 14, I had picked the room for when I would ask Princess Tutu to marry me. Since then, the past two years went by quickly, my thoughts and plans that went into the room were to please her for when we were married.

"What do you mean?" I opened the doors, feeling the cool breeze flow into the room. The red curtains blew along with the curtains that surrounded my bed, "You were destined to marry her, like our grandfather had said once."

Mytho walked towards me, "Only because he believed it would somehow give tribute to the Princess Tutu from the 'Prince and the Raven' tale if another with her name actually married a prince. Of course he was slowly loosing his mind towards the end."

I sighed, thinking on our grandfather, who held me on his lap as he gave orders and signed documents that benefited the people. There were days when he would place me in the throne, promising me one day it would be mine. Somewhere in that castle stood the only thing I wanted and the only thing I envied from my twin brother, "I would have killed any man who asked for her hand in order to keep her for myself." I turned to him, meeting his gaze with mine, "And yet, you were willing to give up her hand the moment I asked."

His usually calm expression changed quickly as his eyebrows bunched together in anger, "You make it seem like I do not care for her at all."

"I am just pointing out your flaws. Imagine how heartbroken she must feel to know you are with another woman." I felt my heart drop as he looked away from me, guilt filled his heart. It was true, being his twin, I knew what he felt. Only because I spent my entire life in the company of my brother, not because of some special bond in silly fairy tales.

"That is not where my heart lies, Siegfried. It never has." He whispered to me. I nodded, looking out over the city streets, "It is how I feel. The throne was something I hardly cared for. She is all I ever wanted." Mytho turned to leave as I walked out into the balcony to see the setting sun. She will come back and love only me... and no one else.

...

I walked into the small hotel. There was a bar area that was filled of drunk men and women, who were laughing and arguing among another. Autor groaned, "This doesn't seem like a proper place to let a lady sleep for the night!"

"I don't mind." I turned to see Ahiru stumble in. A large smile appeared on her face as she began to move with the music. I pulled Autor towards the counter with me, "We can't sleep outside, it looks like it might rain. Our tents wouldn't last the night."

"This place doesn't look very safe." I ignored him and turned to the woman behind the large counter, "Excuse me."

Her gaze was harsh and her dark brown eyes felt like they would pierce my soul, "What is it you want, sir?" Her dark, curly brown hair was tied into a messy bun in the back. Dark circles were visible under her eyes. Her thin lips were pressed together and her white dress was loose. I cleared my throat, pointing to Autor and Ahiru, "We would like two rooms for the night. The weather looks awful and -"

"We only have one room available. Take it or leave it." I turned from her and towards to Autor, "This woman is so rude -"

"Fakir, are you sure about this?"

I nodded to him, "Yeah, we can't stay out in the open with this weather. It won't kill you to share a room with Ahiru. You act like she is going to kill us in -" The woman behind the desk interrupted me, "Are you paying for the room or not?"

Autor smiled at the woman, which I knew was a sarcastic smile, "Yes. that would be just lovely." She turned to the empty board behind her that had only one key left and grabbed the key that said room 8. She tossed the key onto the counter and handed us the book in front of her. The woman held the pen to me, "Sign here please. The room will cost ya 20 dollars." Autor dug into his pockets as I signed my name on the last line of the page.

We then slowly walked up the creaking stair case that led up to the floor. Ahiru walked into the room first, "Ugh! It smells like rotten eggs and mold!" I couldn't help but agree with her. The bed frame was made of rusty metal and the mattress had white sheets and an old blue blanket. The floor was scratched and some parts of the wood flooring didn't match with some of the other flooring. The window frame looked like it could use a little paint. Autor and I began to lay out our blankets onto the floor as Ahiru grabbed her night gown she had bought at a store earlier that day.

Ahiru held onto her night gown as she watched us prepare for the night, "You don't have to do that. One of you can have the bed."

"It wouldn't be right for the lady to sleep on the floor while a man sleeps in the bed, it will be just fine." Autor said in a cheerful voice.

Moments later, we stood outside the room as we waited for Ahiru to finish getting into her nightgown. I sighed deeply, hoping to get rest soon. My eye lids grew heavy due to the fact I was up all night preparing to leave home.

"Do you like her, Fakir?" I quickly looked at Autor whose blue eyes were on me. I laughed, not believing what I had just heard, "Are you serious?"

"Tell me the truth." I groaned, rubbing my sore neck, "What gave you that silly idea?"

"I've seen how you always rushed to her side when she was in trouble and how you treat her. It isn't like you to care so much, especially a complete stranger." Yes, for years it was just Autor, Uzura, Miss Eidel and I. Only looking after one another since my uncle was thrown into prison.

"That is different. Who in their right mind not help Ahiru?" Autor continued to keep his gaze on me. Finally he turned towards the door across the hall from us and slipped his hands into his pockets, "It just doesn't sound like you."

I thought for a brief moment, "I don't know. Perhaps because I can connect to her in a certain way." Autor kept his eyes averted from me. I crossed my arms, leaning against the old wooden wall, "I know what its like to have nothing, but the hope of seeing my uncle again. Just like Ahiru has hope of meeting her friends again."

Finally the door opened slowly. I tried my best not to clench my jaw. Ahiru stood, her white night gown went town towards her ankles. Her sleeves there large, but hugged her wrists and gave ruffles to the ends of the sleeves. Her collar was done in lace, where small buttons led from her collar and all the way down to the bottom button. In a way, it was an attractive look to her. Looks like a doll one would find in a expensive toy store.

She smiled as we walked back into the room. Ahiru jumped onto the bed, bouncing lightly. I climbed into the bed that I made, Autor just across the room from me. I looked up at the ceiling, feeling awkward to lay on a harsh floor. Ahiru reached towards the desk next to her and blew out the candle.

I closed my eyes due to how tired I was, but I could faintly hear the rain drops hit the window. After a few minutes had past, I sat up and looked at Autor, who rolled onto his side, his snoring echoed in the room.

"Good night, Fakir." I turned towards the bed. There was barely enough light coming through the window form the street lights below, but I could see the outline of her silhouette that lay under the sheets. I nodded to her, laying back down onto the hard floor, "Good night, Ahiru."

...