Ahiru sat silently on her bed, arms around her knees, eye closed in a range of thoughts.

Why did Fakir do that? He said liked the dance...did he smile? I could've sworn I saw him smile...

Fakir sat at his desk, quill rested neatly on the paper, motionless.

I smiled...during the dance, it felt so nice to dance...especially with her...I've never felt this way when dancing a pas de deux with Diana.

Ahiru rested her head against the pillow, facing the moon outside.

Diana sat on her bed, alone, head buried in her pillow, blonde hair splayed out everywhere.

"Why did he look at me like that?" she whispered. "His face...could he possibly love another?" Sitting up, she rubbed her hed and half closed her eyes. "That duck...she looked so charming as a girl, red hair and freckles...and..." Diana closed her eyes again..."cute."

Glancing at her hands, she started to cry. "I could've killed her if I wanted to, b-but..." Tears streamed down her face. "Fakir wouldn't have wanted it, he would've cried, and killed me...I saw that look, that look of worry and love that he never showed me...never, never, never, never..." Sorrow quickly morphed into anger as Diana tightly closed her fingers around a photo. "He deserves to die! That duck deserves to die..." Sobbing, she hurled herself down onto her bed. "And Rue..and Mytho...all of them..."

"Fakir?" Diana asked the older boy.

"Yes, Diana?"

"I'm scared, w-who are these friends of yours?"

"I was twelve...Fakir was fourteen...this was when he came back to visit me...after his business in Kinkan Town..."

"Don't worry, Rue and Mytho will be nice."

It wasn't long before a raven haired girl and a white haired prince stepped into the meadow. Diana gave her best smile and waved at Rue.

"Rue-chan!" she called to the slightly older girl. "Wanna play?"

Rue stopped, hand in Mythos. Scowling, she turned to Fakir. "Who's this annoying little girl?"

"Just a friend, the pest won't get in our way."

Diana stopped short, slowly putting her hand back on the ground. She didn't speak for the rest of the day, not to Rue, to Mytho, to Fakir. She left and didn't come back. She ran to her Father's quarters, who had been gone for years. Raven feathers were scattered around her body, and for a moment, she looked up, spotting a raven perched on his window sill.

"Arrasmin," Diana sobbed to the bird. "Where is father?"

Arrasmin flared his black wings and cawed in response, "He is dead, my mistress."

"D-dead," Diana shivered, tears stopping for a split second. Before she could respond to Arrasmin's comment, she threw herself back onto the bed and cried.

"Yes," Arrasim purred, flying to the bed, beady black eyes staring into her blue. "Is there anything I can do for you."

Diana trembled with anger. "K-k-kraehe...you were never worthy enough for my father!" she cried, half screamed. "Kill the ones who did this to my father." Taking a raven knife, she plunged it into her heart. Arrasmin watched with interest.

"With the pain and raven blood in my heart, I swear I will kill the ones who destroyed my father," she breathed, looking up at the curious raven. Taking out the bloody knife, she gave morphed it into a raven feather, and put it in her hair. "Arrasmin, when the killer's sixteenth birthday comes, inform me. I will go and kill them with this feather. You are my most trusted advisor, none of those other ravens are trusted so much in the bird family."

The raven did a motion that resembled a bow. "Yes, m'lady. In fact, I think you might find this information most interesting."

Ahiru stared at herself in the mirror the next morning. The new outfit, a lime green jacket over a collared white shirt, was attractive with her red hair and cerulean eyes. A short darker green skirt reached halfway past her thighs, and knee high white socks were fit under black shoes. The long sleeved jacket made the outfit seem incredibly tight and hot, but Ahiru found it most comfortable. "I'm ready...for school...ballet classes. It seems so far away." She fixed her green bow tied just behind her braid. "It seems as if the preparation class yesterday was the real thing...but I'll be meeting new people...and Diana too."

Just thinking of the blonde haired girl she saw on the night of her almost death was frightening, and she shivered.

Leaving her room, she stepped outside, with an impatient Fakir, an extremely patient Mytho, and a humming Rue. "Um..ready?"

"That's the spirit," Rue said, smiling. "School isn't all so bad. So, what's it like graduating into the Special Class with us?"

"Uh..." That's right, Ahiru thought. I graduated into the higher class, every girl's dream! "Okay?"

Rue laughed, her footsteps echoing over the cobblestone street. "Don't be worried, it's real fun. Promise me something?"

"Huh?"

"Promise that you'll dance with me once again, Ahiru? And it'll be fun?"

Ahiru blushed, and promised.

Rue, satisfied, turned around and scowled at Mytho and Fakir. "Geez, why do boys have to be so slow?"

Fakir ignored her, and Mytho shrugged.

Huffing, Rue turned her attention back to Ahiru. "Well, I don't think ballets all that bad. I wonder what Inu-sensei would think if she saw two princesses dancing...Hmm."

Ahiru sighed and put her hands behind her head, stretching and breathing in the morning air. It was crisp and cool. Princess Tutu and Kraehe dancing together in ballet class? They'd be good as special guests, but what would we do about us? Inu-sensei would surely be suspicious about us missing while the two resembling princessese danced. What a thought...Sweat dropping, she giggled nervously. But she suddenly gasped. "What a big school!"

The large campus, filled with hundreds of students, must've contained at least 20 buildings. She could see what appeared to be the music school, as people were seen from the window strumming harps and playing violins. The dorm rooms were on her right, and the middle building was the art school. The ballet building must've been in a seperate part of the campus.

Rue groaned. "Fortunately, Fakir was able to get us a house on the campus but I forgot how big the school was!"

Ahiru spun around. "Eh?! We must've walked a mile and it was on campus?"

Fakir shrugged. "Get used to it, moron, the ballet school is a ten minute walk from here."

But Ahiru wasn't listening. "I-I feel a broken heart..."

"A broken wha-?"

"A heart that isn't full..." Ahiru murmured. "Or cracked...I just know...and it's right here on the campus!"