A/N: Thanks to everyone again for the reviews! Here is the next installment. It's a little short but the next chapter should be longer! Happy reading!

Forgiveness and Goodbyes

It was a beautiful day for the burial service Duck noted, as she stood in the Gold Crown Town cemetery. The sun was shining, birds were twittering in the trees and a slight breeze blew, giving the air a slightly refreshing quality. Despite the day's beauty however, it also gave Duck a surrealistic feeling. How could the sun be shining or the birds be singing when this was the day she had to say goodbye to someone she cared for?

The burial had been done and over with for about twenty minutes now. The images of the shovels scooping dirt onto Charon's closed casket, burying him into the earth for the rest of eternity, still buzzed around Duck's mind like an angry bee. Even though the burial service had ended, the people who all came to the prayer service the evening before still stayed; paying their final respects and saying their goodbyes to the departed blacksmith.

Duck's aqua-blue eyes scrunched up in concern, remembering how the prayer service had ended the previous night. She remembered, (how could she not?), Fakir holding her while he cried his grief away on her shoulder. She had cried with him, feeling the knight's pain and her own for Charon's demise. She recalled, despite the tears the two were shedding, feeling protected and whole in his arms. Duck blushed at the very thought of it as she scanned her eyes around the grave yard, looking for her protective knight.

Fakir was standing not too far off from the reminiscing girl. He was a couple feet ahead of her and was kneeling down by the headstone that carried Charon's name in carved marble. Duck stared sadly at the knight's back, watching as Fakir said his final goodbyes to the blacksmith that had fathered him. Despite the sadness she was feeling though, Duck couldn't help but smile. Fakir was no longer letting his anger and sadness consume him. She didn't have to worry about Fakir anymore. What she was more concerned about was the scene she witnessed last night after her and Fakir had calmed down.

Like before, Duck continued her memory from where she left off. She and Fakir were holding each other as the last of the knight's tears started to ebb away. Duck longed for the moment to never end. She wanted to stay blissfully in her protector's arms, unaware of the reality that Charon's death had brought upon her. Reality wouldn't be ignored though; it made its way through her fantasies despite her protests and brought her reeling back to the dire situation at hand. Duck fought back the tears that had threatened to surface again. Why did dealing with death have to be so hard? Luckily, Duck's depressing thoughts were pushed to the side as she felt Fakir stir on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Duck." He whispered softly to her once he had calmed down. "Thank you for everything."

Duck gave a small smile down at the young man in her arms. She felt the gratitude in every word that came from the writer's heart. "Mmhm." She softly murmured in reply to Fakir's thanks, finding that she was too overcome with emotion to effectively verbalize her appreciation for his kind words.

After her soft response, Fakir lifted his head from Duck's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Duck?" he sighed questioningly; he wasn't sure if he should say what was on his mind right now. "I think…I need some time alone." He whispered, uncertain how she would take the news.

Upon hearing his last statement, Ducks eyes widened in fear. She pleaded with him to see reason "Don't tell me you're going to seclude yourself again! Please Fakir! Don't…" but her ramblings were cut short by Fakir placing a finger on her lips.

Duck choked back a startled quack as her face turned redder than her hair. Fakir's emerald-green eyes bore into hers as he tried to explain before she got too upset. "I just need some time to prepare myself Duck." He uttered, speaking from his heart. "I'm…I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to Charon; that much is obvious. I… just need some time to prepare myself for tomorrow's burial. I'm sure Charon would want a proper goodbye from me."

Duck stared up into Fakir's green depths, as he removed his index from its resting place on her lips. Duck searched his eyes frantically, making sure he wasn't lying but his words, and his eyes, held too much emotion; he had to be telling the truth. Slowly, Duck's aqua jewels flooded with understanding. "Of course Fakir, take your time." She nodded with a smile.

Fakir smiled a true smile for the first time since Charon's heart attack, happy that the girl understood. The smile didn't last long though as the silence of the viewing room was torn asunder by a heart-wrenching cry. Startled, the knight and duck turned immediately towards the origin of the wracking sobs and found Uzura crying her heart out onto Rue's shoulder.

Duck remembered fear consuming her for the little girl's well being. It was an hour or so after that, when Uzura had cried herself to sleep, that Duck and the rest of the remaining viewers had their own questions answered by one, very upset Rue.

Duck shifted the focus of her thoughts between the raven princess and the little girl that had been holding her hand throughout the whole burial. She looked down at Uzura with saddened eyes. The puppet hadn't said a single word since yesterday, nor had she beaten on her drum which was usually a daily occurrence for her. That worried Duck to a great extent. "This isn't like you, Uzura."

Duck knew what Uzura had learned yesterday from Rue and she couldn't help but feel bad for both of them. Rue had beaten herself up for Uzura's sadness. The memory of the emotionally distraught princess surfaced to the top. It was during Charon's church service that morning when Rue had suddenly run up to her outside of the chapel.

"Why Duck?" Rue begged with tear-stained eyes. "Why do I hurt everyone I care about? Why? Why? Why?" Her voice rose higher in pitch with each question she asked, while she shook the duck-girl's shoulders with trembling hands.

Caught completely off guard, Duck tried frantically to calm the emotional princess. "It wasn't your fault Rue! Uzura would have found out the truth anyway; you know what she get's like when she's determined!"

Rue stopped shaking and peered at Duck through bleary eyes. "But she isn't talking anymore, and she looks so sad…"

"I know." Duck said more calmly, putting her hands onto Rue's shoulders for comfort. "I'm worried about her to Rue but I'm sure Uzura doesn't blame you. I think she's still just shocked about finding out."

Rue angrily swatted Duck's hands away. "How could you possibly know what's going through her mind?" Rue uttered darkly. "She hasn't talked to anyone since yesterday and that was because of me!" Not even waiting for Duck to answer her, she rushed past the doors that led into the chapel and past a very concerned Mytho who was looking for her.

"Rue…" whispered the saddened duck, as Mytho walked up to her.

"I'm sorry she took her frustration out on you, Duck," The prince apologized quietly. "Ever since yesterday her emotions have been so unstable that I can't even console her."

Duck looked up towards the usually serene prince to note how broken up he was about not being able to help the girl he loved. "I'm sorry Mytho… but maybe the only person that can make her truly feel better is Uzura."

"Maybe you're right." Mytho confirmed after a moment of silence. "Let's go try to talk to her."

It didn't take the two long to find the green haired puppet. She was sitting in a corner of the chapel, her head hanging down in misery.

"Uzura?" Duck asked hesitantly when she and Mytho made their way up to the broken puppet. "Are you mad at Rue?"

At hearing the question the puppet showed the first signs of life since last night by looking at Duck questioningly. Her painted blue eyes showed uncertainty at the question.

Taking note that the girl probably wasn't going to speak anytime soon, Duck continued her little speech. "You see Uzura, Rue feels really bad because she thinks she made you cry last night. She thinks that you hate her because of what she told you."

The puppets eyes widened in surprise. She didn't expect Rue to feel bad at all. She felt sad and angry about…his death…but she wasn't mad at Rue. She was actually thankful for Rue telling her the truth. The puppet's painted eyes softened in sadness as she looked towards the raven princess across the room. Rue was peering up at a glass stained window, tears running down her cheeks like rivers. Unimaginable guilt crept into the little puppet's heart for making a friend believe she was upset with her. She had to make this right! Rue shouldn't feel bad about something that wasn't true! With those thoughts in mind, Uzura jumped up from her seated position on the floor and ran towards the crying princess. She wrapped her tiny arms around the young woman's leg and buried her face into her dress, hoping Rue would stop crying.

Mytho and Duck watched happily as the scene unfolded before them. They saw Rue look down at the girl puppet in surprise. Then when the surprise had faded away she hugged the little girl with all her might.

"Since then, Rue has been less upset about the situation," Duck thought as she looked towards the girl, who was standing next to Mytho, Raetsel, Raetsel's husband, and Autor a few feet away in the cemetery. "But Uzura still has been awfully quiet since then. She might have forgiven Rue but she still hasn't spoken a word."

Duck glanced down at Uzura in worry as the puppet stared blankly ahead of her towards Charon's grave stone. "What's wrong, Uzura?" Duck asked, wanting to finally know what was on the little girl's mind.

"…I miss him-zura…" Uzura mumbled quietly as she stared forlornly at Charon's tombstone.

Duck strangled a cry of pity that rose in her throat. "Poor Uzura, she's gone through so much in just a short amount of time."

Taking in Duck's silence, Uzura tightened her hold on her 'sister's' hand and looked up at Duck with tears welling in her eyes. "I never got to say goodbye-zura!" the puppet girl cried out as her tears started to fall.

Duck took the crying girl into her arms, trying to comfort her. "I know Uzura, that's what the prayer and burial service were for. This was the only way that we could say goodbye to Charon."

Uzura glared at Duck in indignation. "But Rue said that Charon's heart wasn't here anymore-zura! She said he went to Heaven-zura!"

The duck-who-turned-into-a girl just looked down at Uzura calmly. "Yes, Rue was right about that. But she forgot to mention that Charon can look down from Heaven so he can watch over us."

Uzura's tears dried up in surprise. "You mean…he's watching us right now-zura?"

"Yes, he's watching us say our goodbyes to him until we can meet up with him again in the afterlife." Duck said with confidence and a nod. "He'll always be watching over us until our day comes to join him Uzura, so until then, I believe Charon wouldn't want you to be sad anymore."

After some thought, the puppet nodded in understanding, giving Duck confidence that everything would be fine again. Little did the duck-girl know was that an even more frightening question began plaguing the little puppet's mind.