The weather is getting warmer and sunnier - great for sitting outside. Ahiru admires the neat line of the flying geese for another moment before turning her eyes at her name. Fakir is staring at his lunch.
"Have you thought about what you want to do when you graduate?"
Huh?
To be honest, Ahiru hasn't given much thought to anything other than stumbling through another day as a human girl - parentless, supposedly from an orphanage, nothing remarkable, but somehow gets a scholarship and an attic to stay at the local art school.
That question has caught her in surprise.
"I don't know." She tries to think, "...maybe I can teach, like, children?" She's good with children, and she'd probably be good enough to teach novices in a few years, no? Mr Neko actually commended her style (not her technique, by no means) this morning, something about eco..evoc..emotive, that's the word.
"What does Fakir have in mind?" Fakir is in his last year already. He's the star student of Kinkan Academy, probably already received invitations from several dance companies in the region.
She tries not to think what school will be like when Fakir graduates.
But he replies with a question, "have you noticed students dropping out recently?" Oh. Yeah, she bobs her head. Something about the whispers of a war, and people moving further to the West, even out of the country, Lilie mentioned.
"Raetsel wrote to me; she performs in Lausanne now, do you know?" He glances at her. Oh? She didn't know the couple moved; she assumed they went to Hans' family in Bayreuth.
"Anyway, she knows the ballet company there has openings. I might have a chance to get in…they also allow dancers to develop their own projects, script-writing and choreography and stuff. I kind of want to try my hands in more things, you know…since…hmm…" Fakir is starting to ramble, so Ahiru tells him it sounds great, and that she's sure they'll be happy to have him.
Fakir thinks so. He talks about interviews and the war and transports, drumming his fingers on his lunch box.
"So," he clears his throat, that gets her attention. "If I go…will you come with me?"
She's happy to go with him. In fact, it sounds very exciting! But Ahiru is also a little worried. She is no polyglot, unless you count duck speech. Maybe Fakir can write her into speaking French fluently? Anyway, she can learn. For a moment she was at a loss what to do, if Fakir would simply move abroad. But now that she thinks of it, it seems unlikely he will go without her. He did promise he will always stay by her side, and Fakir keeps his promises.
Hermia invites them to her wedding to Lysander. The donkey costume sits in the middle of the front hall. "I haven't found anyone to carry on my mission," she sighs, and then turns hopeful eyes to Ahiru, "or maybe Ahiru would…?"
Fakir hates to disappoint Hermia's hope, "Ahiru is leaving next year too."
They catch up with Hermia and listen to Lysander wax poems about love and joy and the beauty of life.
The wedding proceeds beautifully, and the guests cannot but get a bit emotional at the end of the night, stuffed with food, tipsy with wine, before the lovely couple dances a last dance, swaying in the dancing firelight and warm summer breeze.
"Do you think Rue and Mytho had donkeys attending their wedding? They do live in a fairytale, after all," Ahiru giggles against his shoulder, entertained by her own whimsies. "I hope they prepared good bird food; I mean, I would. Ducks must attend. And pigeons. And swans." She goes onto a list of her avian friends, whom she may or may not have been feeding every morning.
"Do you think we'll ever see them again?" He asks the cowlick sticking up on her head. Ahiru stays quiet; he looks down at her.
She shakes her head.
They watch the fire die down and the guests leave. Fakir is reminded of another night, when Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette dance a pas de deux, for Miss Edel, for him.
"I miss him, Ahiru," he breathes.
She looks at him then and must have noticed the wetness in his eyes. "Oh Fakir," he lets himself be drawn into a hug, "I know. So do I."
Her frizzy hair tickles his chin, and he complains about it. "I like hugging you better when you're a duck", he tells her, "it's fluffier". She laughs.
The school year is drawing to an end. There're fewer letters for Fakir now, with more and more students leaving, and indeed, many finding their 'other halves' upon graduation, some even eloping to escape the approaching war together. Lilie left with her family last term, and Pique is also transferring to another school. Ahiru cannot help but become a bit sad at parting ways with both her friends so soon.
She might not see them again.
But currently Pique is eyeing the bundle of letters Ahiru carrying to Fakir's. Her friend winks, "Ahiru! Should I throw in mine? This seems like the last chance before I leave."
It seems so, and Ahiru knows Pique has admired Fakir since forever. Does she want to write one now? She doesn't have to go in a while yet.
Pique only raises her eyebrows, "...you think Fakir will reciprocate?"
Ahiru has to shake her head. Pique only laughs brightly and makes a funny face. "I'll pass. Go, Ahiru!"
They've been invited to so many parties and weddings it's becoming a bit numbing now, even through the emotional rollercoaster from congratulating their elated townspeople to the sadness of saying more and more goodbyes.
Autor still manages to outdo everyone: he announces he's moving across the ocean to marry his one true love, despite his family's protest. Autor only met the person once, but they fell in love through correspondence, he says; they're soulmates, their hearts and minds are one, and together they'll create the greatest written work of their generation.
Paddling around the lake with other ducks in the last heat of summer, Ahiru imagines leaving everyone she knows, to spend the rest of her life with a person. She tries to picture such a person, but draws blank. It sounds too dramatic, even though Ahiru doesn't have that many people (or birds) in her short life. But, thinking about it, that's what Rue's done, no?
She tries to imagine herself in Rue's shoes, marrying Mytho and leaving to live in his fairytale. It's not that she doesn't love Mytho, Princess Tutu would sacrifice herself for him without hesitation; she longs to be with him, to comfort him, and to protect him. But…she hasn't given much thought to…marrying him.
She thinks of Fakir. If he decides on one of the love letter girls (or boys), Fakir bringing both of them to Lausanne sounds a weird idea. Or her following Fakir and someone around the house during the weekend. Or her waiting both of them to make dinner in the kitchen on Friday night.
Actually, it just sounds weird that Fakir will take someone into his life like that.