Fakir and Duck thought they had found Mytho safe and unharmed. However, something didn't seem right. An unfitting smirk remained on his face as he told them a summary of the Prince and the Raven. It was when Rue showed up that Duck became confused.

"W-what?" murmured Duck. "He took his heart out himself?" That didn't sound like something the prince would do at all. Was it really true? Duck didn't know. "Rue," she asked the fake image of Kraehe's identity. "Why are you telling me this story?"

"Haven't you figured it out?" Laughed the evil princess. "Rue doesn't even really exist." She took back the copy of Mytho, created from a simple crow, and transformed into Princess Kraehe's body.

Duck was mortified. "But we're friends! We used to chat together and dance together!"

Kraehe agreed, but she was convinced it was time to act. If it weren't for Princess Tutu, she wouldn't have had to do anything. Everything could have carried on, as it should have. If it weren't for her, Rue would never have had to regain Kraehe's memories. Everything would have been fine.

A swirl of wind formed around Kraehe as the prince's sword appeared in front of her. "Such a thing shouldn't be in the care of a useless knight," she crooned. When Duck cried out her name, all she said was, "Hurry up, and come rescue the prince and your new princess!" With a laugh of triumph, she vanished.

The night passed by without my knowledge. Something had made me fall into a deep sleep after being taken by Kraehe. What had happened during so, I didn't know. When I awoke, I faced darkness and nothing but.

It wasn't long before I felt the sensation of falling. I was falling, falling through complete darkness. It wasn't until the crow feathers disappeared from around me that I realized I really was falling. Kraehe had dropped me from a hundred feet above a lake. I watched as the water came closer at faster and faster speeds. I held my breath as I hit the water, hearing the laugh of Princess Kraehe as I did so.

The water began to swirl. It spun into a whirlpool that I was mercilessly sucked into. My head bobbed under the water several times. I tried to expect when I would surface to have the chance to breathe, but before my mouth would close again I'd be pulled back into the blue abyss. The water swirled faster and faster, dragging me closer and closer to the eye of the whirlpool. As my head reached the surface once more, I heard the sound of laughter. It was a menacing giggle. It belonged to Kraehe. She took pleasure in my torture.

I cried out as I tried to swim to any shore I could possibly reach. I couldn't catch any more oxygen. The water was moving too fast. There was no way out of it. I thought about what it would be like to drown. And then, the only thing my mind would focus on was Fakir. I'd never get to see him again, never get to talk to him again. He would never know who I really was.

Then the water stopped.

My body did a flip under the water, forced by the current suddenly stopping. I could hear the voice of Kraehe, muffled, at the surface. There were other voices too. I swam fast, kicking as hard as I could, toward the shore that held the friendly voices.

When I finally reached the top of the water, I felt as if my lungs might burst. I gasped for sweet oxygen. I wretched and coughed up water, trying desperately to grasp the shore with my fingertips. When I looked up and rubbed the water out of my eyes, I could see Fakir staring down at me. He was kneeling down on the shore, arms already outstretched toward me. After a moment of staring at him, I calmed down my breathing and took both of his arms, wrapping my fingers around his forearms. He pulled me out of the water and took off the cloak he was wearing.

"Are you all right?" he asked, wrapping the cloak around my shoulders. I stood up and held it around me.

"Yes," I said. "Thank you, Fakir."

There was that laugh again; Kraehe's signature chuckle. I turned to face her and saw Duck, or rather, Princess Tutu. I was happy to see that she was okay. Both of them were here, and they were safe.

"The prince's feeling of love is right here," said Kraehe, holding up a little black box that held Mytho's heart shard. "The heart that loves people, that loves all the world; it belongs to no one. Yet I wonder, you or me? Which one will it choose? Whose words will it be drawn to once we've both laid our hearts bare? If the shard chooses you, I'll return it and the prince. So why don't you speak to it of what burns in your heart, Princess Tutu?"

I gasped. Duck wouldn't do that, would she? Kraehe was baiting her, making it look as if she were trapped. If Princess Tutu were to speak her love, she would turn into a speck of light and vanish forever. I thought about what my life would be like without my best friend. I wouldn't allow it to happen, especially at the hands of Kraehe.

"As of now, Kraehe, Mytho wishes to regain his heart. I feel the same, as does Tutu and Lapin. You are the only one who does not wish it. Too bad," said Fakir, darkly. I removed his cloak, not wanting to appear weak. I could help. I wanted to help. I knew there was a place for me in this story, and I knew it would be in defeating Kraehe.

"Oh, it certainly is too bad," said the crow. "Right, my prince?" We all noticed just then that Mytho was standing up from his apparently dormant state. There was nothing in his eyes, not even loneliness. He was a shell of himself. That was clear. "You know, my prince, it seems that the heart shard is not worth enough to Princess Tutu for her to protect." Kraehe continued as Mytho drew his sword, and she released the little shard of his heart. "In that case, let's shatter it."

"No!"

"Stop it!

"Stop!"

Tutu, Kraehe and I all yelled at the same time as Mytho raised his sword and nearly brought it down onto the shard. On her command, he froze. "There is no other path for you to choose," said Kraehe, triumphantly. She felt as if she'd won. "Now get on with it, and let me see you vanish!"

I looked toward Tutu, silently begging her not to do it. I knew how much she loved the prince. I knew because I loved Fakir the same way, with all my heart. I knew how much she wanted to see him smile and know that he would be okay, but she couldn't do it, not when she'd come so far already.

"Fine," agreed Tutu. I gasped with horror, yet there still seemed to be a smile on her face. "But in return, once I've vanished, please don't do anymore horrible things to Mytho."

Kraehe laughed. "I wondered what you'd ask for."

Both Fakir and I tried to intervene, but she interrupted us. "Promise me, Kraehe."

Kraehe's smirk remained triumphant as she agreed. "I'll love him even more than I have in the past, so much so that he'll forget all about you."

Tutu took a step forward and got ready to speak. I couldn't let this happen. It wouldn't happen. She belonged with Mytho, much more than that damned crow did! She was the heroine here, not Kraehe. "Wait!" I cried. She stopped. I walked up to my friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why would you do something so pointless? Kraehe doesn't deserve Mytho! She doesn't deserve anything! She's a nasty crow with a heart as black as her feathers."

Fakir began to speak too. "Don't take what a crow says seriously," he said. "If you just vanish, who will regain the shards of Mytho's heart to him? Did you not want to see him smile the moment all of his heart is returned? You alone, and nobody else, could accept Princess Tutu's fate so smilingly. That is why you must not vanish." Fakir then unsheathed his sword and stood in a fighting stance. "I will change this fate!"

"Fakir," I said in a warning tone as Kraehe called upon reinforcements. I didn't get to say anything, however, for she interrupted me.

"Fate cannot be altered!" she shouted. "You will die in vain, without even getting close to me."

I cried out his name again as Fakir went on to fight the dozens of crows. I tried to chase him, but two more blocked both Tutu and me from getting anywhere near him. I watched as the water turned to ice, and Fakir ran across it, destroying crows back and forth, demanding Mytho be given back. Kraehe refused. Suddenly, the ice melted again. I screamed as Fakir fell into the water. I expected another whirlpool, to watch my love drown right in front of my eyes. But no. Instead, there was a spout of water that was released about fifty feet up. Fakir appeared out of the top of it. I looked up, gasping again in terror as crows began to dive at him. Their beaks slowly became sharper and more defined. Soon they were daggers, black daggers, heading straight for his chest. Fakir was forced back into the water, slicing his sword back and forth to defend himself. I called his name again when I heard him scream.

I thought he would come back up. I prayed that he would shoot out of the water, gasping for air, just as I had done. When I saw the pool of blood rise to the surface, I screamed. I screamed bloody murder, begging for him to come back. "Fakir! Fakir, please! FAKIR!" The tears started flowing, and only did a surge of hope rise in me when I saw his hand reach for the shore across from us.

His clothes were ripped; his hair was ruffled. Yet he was able to still swing his sword, up high into the air. He brought it down again onto Mytho's sword. Tutu and I both gasped as the blade cracked and shattered.

"Now you won't be able to go and senselessly shatter that heart shard," Fakir muttered. I could see him falling back, further and further, ready to plunge into the water. "Tutu," he continued. "Lapin, you must see to Mytho's future." I heard the splash; I saw his body fall. Yet I refused to believe it. He was not dead; I would not let him die.

"No, Fakir!" The crows still held me back but had long since let Tutu stand free. I was so angry at them, so angry at all the damned birds. I raised my hands, pushing them aside, a purple light shooting from the palms of my hands. The crows were forced aside and obliterated right in front of me. Before anyone could stop me, before Kraehe could form another whirlpool, before Tutu could convince me it was no use, I dove into the water.

It was colder than before, the water. I swam down further and further, going deeper. I could see Fakir. He was getting farther and farther away from me. Was I really catching up to him? Was I really moving at all? It was getting dark, so dark, and yet, the water seemed to get more and more shallow as I swam deeper. My feet suddenly hit the ground, and I could stand. First the water was above my head, and then it was only at my neck. After that, I felt myself approaching a shore. It was too dark for me to see where I was, but my eyes were soon adjusting. I could make out figures around me; trees. I was in a forest, and there was no more water to be found in the forest. It was as if I walked out of it, and it disappeared.

I shivered, yet breathed a sigh of relief. "The lake must have been an illusion," I thought. I suddenly felt guilty for leaving Tutu there all alone, but I knew she could handle it. She would gain Mytho's heart back. The power of love is much more fulfilling than that of evil. I believed in her.

"This way," called a soft voice to me. I recognized it, and I looked around for the source. It was a light, one that seemed to be shining at a distance from me. I started running toward it. Light was always a good sign. When I finally reached it, I realized the light had come from a burning bonfire. What had started it? I wondered. However, that wasn't what I was concerned about, for in front of the fire, laying as if asleep, was Fakir.

"Fakir!" I cried, running toward him and kneeling on the ground at his shoulder. I wanted to feel his heart, feel for a pulse, however I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't know what I would do if there was not one to be felt.

"He is alive," said the same voice as before.

I did not know who was speaking at the time, but it didn't matter. I smiled, brushing a hand along Fakir's face. He was warm, and he was dry. "Thank you," I whispered to the unknown voice.

The heat of the fire began to dry my skin as well. I felt warm, and I felt relieved. However, I still worried about Tutu and Mytho. I hoped she would succeed and bring him home.

Just then, Fakir groaned. I watched intently as his eyes began to open. "Fakir," I said his name quietly, smiling.

For once, he smiled back. "Lapin," he began. "I'm alive, but how?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure, Sir Knight."

"Where is Tutu?" he asked. "And Mytho?"

As if on cue, the two of them suddenly came running toward us. I hadn't seen either of them come out of the darkness.

"Fakir!" Tutu cried happily. She smiled at me. I returned it.

"Mytho," Fakir spoke. "Tutu, you got Mytho. Thank you."

"I was strong because you were there," said Tutu.

I agreed. "We all were. What would any story be like without its brave knight to lead the way in a journey?"

"Miss Edel," said Tutu suddenly. I looked up, and indeed there was the wise puppet who had been helping Tutu and I in our story.

"So you led us out of that dark place, then?" asked Mytho.

Looking into the fire, I could then see the parts of Edel. The wood was broken and made into kindling, as was her box full of jewels. "They were such beautiful gems," I remembered.

"It was merely a puppet, mimicking the acts of humans with emotions. Earnestly crying and getting angry and laughing. Perhaps I was jealous of you for that. Though I have no regrets, so don't cry," Edel told us.

It was indeed hard to keep the tears from flowing. She'd helped Tutu and I through lots of confusing times and other times when we were in trouble. It was sad to see her go like this, even if it meant helping us.

"I want to see you all dance before the end," she requested.

"It can't be the end, Miss Edel," I whispered.

"Please," she said. "I want to see Tutu and the prince dance a pas de deux, and you and Fakir."

As sad as I was, I couldn't help but blush. Again I was to dance with Fakir? Though this time it wasn't in class. It was real, and someone who could recognize love requested it of us. However, not wanting to be selfish, I turned to Fakir. "I don't know if you're well enough, Fakir."

He sat up, and the brave knight took my hand. "I am well," he said. He stood up just as Mytho did. They both asked Tutu and I to dance, and the Pas de Deux we danced was opposite of each other.

I felt different than I had in class. This felt more real, like Fakir actually loved me. When he lifted me, I felt so light. His hands felt so protective on my waist. I could've danced forever with the knight in front of the burning fire. However, it had to end. The four of us began to head back. However, Tutu and I had to act as if we didn't go to the academy, to keep our identities a secret. Granted, Fakir knew who she was, but Mytho didn't. Neither of them knew who I really was, so we walked to the gate with them and said goodbye there.

"Thank you," said Fakir suddenly. He reached for my hand and kissed it, which made me smile and blush brightly.

"What for, Sir Knight?" I asked.

"For coming after me when I fell."

I smiled wider. "You're welcome."

"Will I see you again?"

I thought for a moment, my smile fading a bit but still remaining. "You see me every day, Knight Fakir."

I saw his expression become confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say. You see me every morning in your classroom, just as I see you." I wanted to know if Fakir would want to find me himself, if he would be as kind to the real me as he was Princess Lapin.

"I will find you."

"Good night," I said, beginning to walk the opposite direction with Tutu until both Fakir and Mytho disappeared into the boys' dorm.

"Good night."