Disclaimer: Yes, I do not own Princess Tutu. And yes, in my dreams, I'd like to pretend I do.

Summary: (Series of drabbles) Once upon a time, there lived a girl and a boy who gave up on Happily Ever Afters long before the story started. For she was just a clumsy duck pretending to be a princess, and he was a knight-in-rusty-armor who could only wield a pen. This is their fairytale. ( Fakir x Ahiru )

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Masquerade

Act 04 : Determination
by makka na yuki

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If I close my eyes…

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Long, long ago, he found the will to start writing.

Once upon a time, there lived a prince and a princess who fell…

But every single time, he could not finish.

And so he tried and tried again. His hand bled from time to time, with his strong grip over the quill never waning. The pain… he did not pay any heed to it.

This… - he forced himself to believe - this was something he had to finish.

Once upon a time…

That one simple phrase, he could not find the words to fill in the gap. Many others would question why he could not complete even just that line – a line that they think is the beginning of a story.

But for him, it was an end.

Long, long ago, he already knew…

There lived a warrior prince who had no heart…

… that there was no place for a knight in their fairytale.

And so he let go of his sword and rusty armor, and faced the enemy with a pathetic-looking feather quill on hand, hoping it was enough to save the one he wanted to protect.

…And a princess who gave it back to him…

He forced himself to continue, the story shaping beneath his fingertips.

…They fell madly in love…

That word, which spoke of a pure untainted emotion... He did not think he deserved writing something that he could never understand.

Or so they say…

But he kept on trying. For her.

But the prince, getting back all his true feelings…

Who would've thought it was never meant to be? That in the end, the one who worked so hard to make every wish come true would end up with a tear-filled heart?

Married another …

The battle had ended, and everyone looked so happy. Even she smiled for all of them. But he knew how hard it must been for her to keep the sadness at bay. She had learned how expressive her eyes can be, how those deep pools could betray every single emotion she felt.

And left the princess in her little pond...

She always looked positively radiant for all of them – truly happy, because others were too. She lived a life not only for herself. And he couldn't help but hate her for it. No matter how strong she had become, hiding the sadness does not make it any less painful. She should also be allowed to weep.

Fate had declared at the very beginning that it was not meant to be.

He put his quill down – eyes closing as he leaned back in his seat. The candle's light dimming against the soft wind. He had gone as far as he could. The words of the past had already engraved their fates for them, and he could do only little against what was laid down.

It was not fair, it never was.

There is no place for a knight in this story.

But he will damn well try to make her dreams come true.

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If I close my eyes, I could pretend I was born to protect you from all these.

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Author's Notes: Funny how I just found this innocently lying around in my files – finished and already all set to go. Though the reason I probably haven't uploaded this months ago was that I wanted to edit it more… but then I easily get lazy. I wanted to work on something new drabble, so I'm letting this one go for now. Enjoy.