Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Tutu or any of its characters...-.- sadly.

The next morning, Fakir found himself standing outside of Ahiru's room for no reason. Already dressed in his uniform, he could have easily just went on without her, but for some reason, he felt the need to wait. He groaned. Ugh, what am I doing? Reluctantly, he lifted a hand to the door and knocked. "Ahiru?" There was no answer. "Look, Mytho said that we can't know for sure yet whether or not those people will remain heartless. That means there might be a way to return them to normal." Fakir waited a few moments for a response and then sighed. "Okay, at the very least, can you get out of bed and get ready for school? We're going to be late." Fakir waited, and listened for a noise of any kind, but when nothing came, he knocked one more time. "Ahiru? I'm coming in."

Fakir opened the door only to find an empty room. The bed had already been made and Ahiru's nightgown was neatly folded on top of her pillow. "Fakir?" Fakir turned around. Charon was climbing up the stairs and tying on the apron he usually wore at his shop. "Are you looking for Ahiru?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

"Oh, she left early today. I had breakfast with her but she seemed a little subdued. Did something happen?" Fakir almost felt like smacking himself in the head. He had just spent about five useless minutes talking to an empty room.

"Thanks Charon." Fakir said as he walked past Charon and down the stairs. He made his way to school with a scowl, but for some reason, he felt eager to get to school. I'm probably just eager to get there so I can make sure that she's actually there, and not stuck in some trouble because of her depression.

When he walked into the lesson room, he nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was quietly doing her stretches with her friends. Of course, when he walked past her, he shot her an annoyed glare. However, instead of the pout that Ahiru would normally give him in response, she simply ignored it. Her mind was obviously still focused on the victims of the Raven. As class began, and Miss Lorna began her lecture, Fakir snuck glances at Ahiru every now and then and frowned with worry.

Although the class had begun, Ahiru's mind was elsewhere. She was too busy thinking of ways that she could return the people's hearts to them, and despairing at the thought that it might not even be possible. Soon enough, though, Ahiru was brought out of her thoughts by a hand waving back and forth in front of her face. "Huh, what?"

"Oh, how adorable!" Lillie squealed. "She's even more out of it than usual!"

"She's right, Ahiru. If I didn't know any better, you were just like one of those mindless zombies out there."

"Z-zombies? There's zombies in kinkan?" Suddenly, Ahiru felt Lillie's famous death grip around her neck and all the air in her lungs being squeezed out. She gasped for air and tugged on her friend's arms until she finally let go. "Oh, silly Ahiru! Such a fraidy-cat!"

Pique shook her head with an exasperated sigh and placed a hand on Ahiru's shoulder to calm her down. "I'm just kidding, Ahiru. There's not really zombies in Kinkan town. That's just what everybody calls them."

"Huh? Call who?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed, Ahiru?"

"Noticed what?"Ahiru blinked as Pique poked her forehead. "Geez, Ahiru, you're more out of it than we thought. You better watch out or you might end up like them."

"End up like who!?" Ahiru whispered impatiently.

Pique sighed. "Well, you must have noticed that recently, it's been pretty quiet on the school grounds, right?" Ahiru nodded, urging Pique to continue. "That's because a lot of the students in the academy have been acting really weird. All the students who haven't been affected by it are calling it 'zombie sickness' because if you look into the eyes of someone who is affected by it, they'll look blank, and if you talk to them, there's no emotion in their voice. Even the way they walk and act, it's like they're zombies."

"But you know, I've been hearing that the zombie sickness is even spreading throughout all of Kinkan Town." Lillie added gravely. But, in a sudden change of mood, a scary aura seemed to surround her and she loomed over Ahiru. "Isn't that just creeeepy?" Despite her friend's taunts, Ahiru simply stared ahead at nothing in particular, both shocked and terrified by this news. It...has to be...that must be what they're talking about! But...does that mean that Mytho has already taken out the hearts of that many people!? And...what if there's no way to restore them? Will they just stay like that forever!? Even when Lillie started shaking her back and forth violently, Ahiru barely payed any attention.

"Oh no! Poor Ahiru is already being infected by the zombie sickness as we speak!"

"N-no...I'm fine...really." Ahiru said halfheartedly. Pique frowned at the blonde haired girl beside her and said, "Look what you've done. I think you really scared her this time." Then, Pique shifted her gaze to Ahiru and shook her gently. "Hey, c'mon, snap out of it Ahiru. It'll all be fine. I'm sure this whole zombie sickness thing will all blow over before you know it."

"Y-yeah..." Even though her friends tried to reassure her throughout the entire class that things would be all right, Ahiru couldn't stop trembling. She managed to hide it on the outside so as not to worry her friends even more, but it was still there on the inside. She also felt cold and anxious, scared and weak, and once the teacher had dismissed everyone from class, she quickly got changed and ran out of the change room, hoping to get away to somewhere where she could be alone with her thoughts. However, as she tried to make her escape, she nearly bumped right into Fakir. Luckily, though, she had managed to swerve around him and head towards the exit of the building.

"Ahiru?" Don't tell me she's still depressed about that. That idiot... "Hey!" Fakir ran down the hall and out the door after her. Rue and Mytho who were just about to leave as well, looked on in wonder.

"Ahiru? Fakir? Did something happen?" Rue stepped forward, planning to go check up on Ahiru, but was stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Rue, I don't think it's serious."

"Prince! How can you say that? You saw her yesterday, didn't you? And even during class too. She looked horrible..."

"Of course I noticed, but, for some reason, I believe that perhaps only Fakir truly knows how to cheer her up." Rue stared in awe of her Prince's words, but after giving the hall a final glance, she nodded and wrapped her arm around his.

"I hope you're right, my Prince. Besides, I think we have some work to do." Mytho tilted his head slightly, not quite catching on. "We need to figure out how to get rid of the Monster Raven's blood, before things get more out of hand than they already are." Mytho nodded in agreement and followed Rue to the library.

Along the shore of a small, crystal clear pond, Ahiru appeared out of the bushes with a slight stumble. Once she had stabled herself, she dragged her feet hopelessly to the edge of the water and knelt down, staring at her reflection in the water. Quietly, she sat by the water's edge alone, her occasional sniffling the only thing disturbing the calm silence. Oh, what am I going to do...Isn't there anything...?

Suddenly, Ahiru heard the bushes behind her rustling and whirled around. Making their way out from the bushes was none other than Fakir. Once he was in clear sight, he simply stared at her for a few moments until Ahiru finally pouted at him and turned back to the water. He sighed as he saw her raise her arm to wipe away her tears.

"Why are you here?" Ahiru asked weakly.

"I'm here because of you, Moron." This made Ahiru turn around to shoot a glare in his direction, but Fakir barely even flinched at her weak attempt. He walked over and sat down beside her, staring out onto the lake. "When you suddenly ran out from Mytho's room yesterday, you had all of us worried. Then you come to class even more depressed..." Fakir scolded her harshly, but then, he softened up slightly and asked more gently, "What's wrong with you?"

Ahiru flinched. She knew. She knew that her attitude would worry everyone, but she just couldn't hide it. Ahiru wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them closer to her chest, nearly hiding her face behind her knees. "Fakir...is what we're doing...pointless? Hopeless?"

"What?" Fakir began to bristle with annoyance. Standing up and towering over Ahiru, he hissed, "Don't tell me that that's what you've been depressed about? Ahiru! You of all people should know that this isn't pointless! Does helping the people of Kinkan and Mytho not mean anything to you anymore?"

Ahiru came out of her ball and jumped to her feet to defend herself. "No! Of course helping everyone is important to me! It's just that..." Ahiru looked down at the ground. "Are you sure...we aren't too late already? Are you sure that we can even really do anything?" Ahiru asked shakily.

"What? How can you-"

"You know yesterday, when you and me were chasing after Rue? And then I told you about how quiet it was at the academy?" Fakir nodded slowly. "Well, it turns out...that it's because a lot of the students at the academy have already...t-they already lost their hearts!" Ahiru ended with a squeak. Suddenly, she began trembling, only slightly and her hands balled into fists. "Pique and Lillie told me about it...they said that a lot of people in the academy had blank eyes and looked emotionless, and that...and that even people outside of the academy are starting to become like that!"

Then, Ahiru finally lifted her head and her eyes were brimming with tears and screamed of hopelessness. "Mytho said that it might not be possible to rescue their hearts from the raven!" Ahiru clutched at the pendant around her neck. "So what's the point of having this power if I can't even help anyone!? And even if we do defeat the Raven again, everyone might stay this way, forever! They'll just go on living....without hearts or emotions..." Ahiru fell back down on her knees and turned her head down. "I'm just plain useless." Ahiru whispered.

Fakir stared at Ahiru with sympathy in his eyes. He knelt down in front of her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ahiru..." Ahiru looked as if she hadn't heard him and let her tears stream down her face and Fakir simply let her for a few moments before quietly saying, "Didn't we say that we would do whatever we could to help the Prince? That we would never let the story fall into tragedy just because Drosselmeyer willed it?" At this, Ahiru quieted her small sobs as best she could and lifted her head to look at Fakir. "Even though those are vows that we had made back when the story was in motion, I think they are something that applies even now, when the story is over. Although the fact that the townspeople may not regain their hearts is indeed a possibility, we still have to do all that we can to end this and keep the rest of the townspeople from becoming victims as well."

Ahiru felt a considerable boost of confidence in herself after Fakir's comforting words. She had a duty to fulfill, another role in a new story, and her role was to once again keep the story from tragedy. But despite that, she still couldn't shake her sorrow. "I know...but, what about the people who are already victims? Will we have to just leave them as they are? I...don't think I could...."

"Of course not, Moron. Even if what Mytho says is true, we can't give up. We can keep searching for a way to return their hearts, besides, I don't think Mytho would be able to simply leave his people in that condition either." Ahiru nodded with a small smile and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Fakir stood and offered his hand to her. "Now come on. We're going home."

"But, what about Rue and Mytho? I think I should probably apologize, huh?" Ahiru said, taking Fakir's hand and pulling herself up. However, Fakir shook his head. "Yeah, you should. But tomorrow. I don't know where they are right now so it might be easier if you apologize tomorrow morning when you see them." Ahiru nodded and began walking alongside Fakir back to the house. Once they were about half of the way there, Ahiru turned her head to the boy beside her.

"Fakir?" Fakir looked at her and simply said, "Hm?"

Ahiru flashed him a bright smile. "Thank you." Fakir blushed slightly and looked away, rolling his eyes, in an attempt to cover it. "Moron." From there, the two said not a single word for the rest of the way home, and walked along in a comforting silence.

After dinner, Fakir had gone to sleep early but Ahiru still felt a bit troubled. The melancholy feeling in the pit of her stomach had eased because of Fakir, but was undeniably there and kept Ahiru from falling asleep. So, instead, she sat by her window and stared up at the stars. She sighed. "Fakir is right, no matter how bad things seem, we can't just give up! Once we give up...that's when things are really hopeless. And with Mytho and Rue on our side this time, I'm sure we'll find a way to return everyone to normal too!" Despite saying this, Ahiru slumped against the wall. "So why do I still feel worried?" Ahiru shook her head in dismay and glanced out the window again. She sat up and squinted to see more clearly out the window. Standing in front of Fakir's house on the road, simply staring at the door, was Mytho.

"What's Mytho doing out this late? Ah! And he's alone...what if he's out here to..." Ahiru didn't even want to finish that thought. But when Mytho began walking away, Ahiru gasped quietly. "Should I follow him? But...it could be dangerous, especially if the Raven's controlling him right now. But if I don't follow him...he might take more hearts. Oh, I know!" Ahiru got up from the window seat and hurriedly made her way across the hall to Fakir's room. She opened the door and peered inside to Fakir's sleeping figure on the bed. Even though they were closed, his eyes looked tired and grateful for the sleep. Ahiru bit her lip. Oh, I can't wake up Fakir! He's looks so tired...all right then. I'll go by myself! Besides! Ahiru reached up to her pendent as she closed Fakir's door. Princess Tutu...you said you would help bear these challenges with me, right? Please...help me.

With one final comforting squeeze on her pendent, she ran out of the house after Mytho, not caring that she was without shoes or still in her night gown.

Well that's all for now! Took me a while, huh? Sorry 'bout that. ^_^; School has started and first semester final exams are starting at the end of the month so I'm in a rut. -.- Oh well, I'll try and write-er, type I guess?- whenever I can. I'm eager to finish this so I can start focusing on either drawings for deviantart or other stories. :D

Please comment and review! And also, many thanks to all the people who have commented on this story, 'specially BlueForestAngelCat, Moon Shadow Magic, and lloyd-forever!