AN: I edited this chapter quite a bit, cut a scene, added two or three in its place, and edited another for continuity plus fixed a few little things here and there. The real changes start at around the middle of the chapter for those that read the previous, and it is a drastic change.

Beginning Again?

It was such a familiar feeling, watching the scene before her. As a single, little yellow duck she floated serenely on the water's surface, the little lake smooth as glass, the early morning light gently kissing the cool mist spread over the lake. As Duckie watched a figure began dancing upon the surface of the water as if it were solid, though her feet dangling below the surface testified otherwise. Something wasn't quite the same, instead of a pale prince dancing in the equally pale mist a dark prince was dancing in the shadows. Duckie thought she saw a flash of forest green but she wasn't quite sure.

At any moment she expected to hear a deep voice muttering from the shadows near her, to see a looming face come leering out of the mist at her, but instead the dark prince stepped lightly over to her and gently placed a golden chain around her neck. Before she could react she fell into the water and began thrashing around frantically, trying to break the surface again. As she kicked and flailed she only sank further and managed to fall off her bed, giving herself a nasty bump on the head but otherwise being unharmed.

"Ouch! That really… eeeeh?" Duckie stopped rubbing her head and looked confusedly at her hands, they were actual hands and not wings. "I'm… I'm a girl again? How is that possible?" She looked around in confusion, it was her old dorm room right down to the bunk bed she had fallen out of. She was tangled up in her sheets and wearing a creamy nightgown and around her neck… "What's this?" She held up the golden chain attached to a blood red pendant that was glittering brightly in the light streaming in through her window. "But… the story's over, I gave the last piece back to Mytho and turned back into a duck permanently. I don't understand." She would have just sat there on the floor all twisted up in her sheets staring at the red jewel if there hadn't been a knock on her door right then.

"Duckie? Are you awake? It's almost time for class, you'd better run around and panic!"

"Stop that!" The sound of a hand forcefully making its acquaintance with a skull was heard dully through the door, "You know today's not a school day!"

"Awww… but Duckie's just so adorable when she panics!"

Duckie just sat dumbly on the floor, pendant clasped tightly in her little fist while she stared at the door. "Pique, Lillie…" she murmured softly.

"Duckie, are you awake yet?" Pique knocked on the door before peeking in. "What are you doing, were you sleeping on the floor?"

"Oh, something just terrible must have happened and she sank so deep into depression that she couldn't even climb into bed!" Lillie peeked into the room over Pique's shoulder, though she was too starry eyed to really see the room.

"No, I had a nightmare and fell out of bed." Duckie was unwinding the bed sheets in an attempt to free herself before Lillie decided to do her bodily harm. "But I'm awake now so it's okay."

"Oh, you poor thing! Even your dreams are full of failure and disaster! But we're here to comfort you." Lillie had grabbed Duckie's head in a comforting hug, cutting off her air supply. Pique, meanwhile, had taken over where Duckie left off abruptly, pulling the sheets apart. "So what was your dream about?"

"I was… drowning. Yes, I was in a lake and I was drowning and couldn't get to the surface." Duckie laughed with nervous embarrassment and rubbed the lump that was forming on her head.

"Well you were so tangled up in these sheets it's no wonder you dreamed of drowning! Anyway, we're going on ahead to breakfast, hurry up and get ready so we can go shopping today like we planned." The two girls abruptly got up and waved cheerfully as they left Duckie alone. She simply sighed and finished pulling herself out of her bed sheets, pondering the strange situation she had found herself in all the while. She went through the motions of getting dressed and ready for the day mechanically while pondering what to do. "Didn't Fakir write the ending? Hasn't he been working so hard to finish untangling the town from Drosselmeyer's story? Wait, that's what I'll do, I'll go talk to Fakir! Together I'm sure we can figure out what's going on! It's a little mean to just ditch Pique and Lillie like this but this is far more important." With a plan of action set out Duckie straightened her garishly bright shoes and went running full tilt out of the dorm.

It was Autor that Duckie found first, she would have much rather have found Fakir first but she would take what she could get. When she spotted him in the library she quickly rushed over to the table he was at and tried to say quietly, though still rather excitedly, "Where's Fakir, I think another story has started!"

Autor smirked and adjusted his glasses, "What makes you think that?"

"I'm a girl again, and I have a pendant again. It's probably what made me a girl, I haven't tested it out yet, but it looks almost exactly like the first one and I shouldn't be a girl and I can't remember turning into one and Pique and Lillie were acting as if I always had been but I haven't so they're probably under control of the story too and it's all just weird and we need to figure out what's going on." Autor just sat there and let her ramble on, the girl had lung power if nothing else. "Anyway, we need to find Fakir and see if he knows what's going on yet."

"Tested it out? How would you 'test out' a pendant?" Autor's smirk just widened as he asked the question.

"What, well I… if this works we may need some water to change me back." Duckie quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking, then took a deep breath, "Quack!" She waited for the inevitable change, the tingly feeling of shifting forms, the confusion from a sudden change in perspective, the faint red glow and the sound of something like chimes heard faintly in the back of her head.

Nothing happened.

"Well… I guess that didn't do it. My other pendant would turn me back into a duck if I quacked." She held the pendant up and looked at it curiously. "Maybe it's not what's making me a girl right now." When Autor saw her reach behind and unclasp the chain he didn't have time to do more than reach forward and utter half a sound before she had pulled it off and shoved it into his hand. The very second her fingers let go of the red jewel everything she had expected to happen earlier did. To Autor's horror Duckie had disappeared in a flash of red sparkles and her clothes had fallen to the floor and small yellow duck had crawled out and looked up at him with impossibly large eyes.

Autor sighed in defeat as he gathered up Duckie and her clothes and walked quickly to a hidden corner of the library. Once they were tucked away in a nook he set Duckie and her things down, placed the pendant around her neck, then quickly turned and faced the other way so she could dress in private. When Duckie had finished she stepped out from behind Autor, "It seems we have that figured out. I wonder why it doesn't change me when I quack?"

"Yes indeed, are you through messing around yet?" Autor adjusted his glasses and frowned at Duckie, the girl could be horribly impulsive.

"You're the one who asked." She glared right back at Autor, until she remembered why she had even started talking to him in the first place. "Anyway, do you know where Fakir is?"

"No, I don't know, why would you think I would?"

"I didn't, you just happened to be here so I thought I'd ask in case he was here earlier or something. I can't think of anywhere else to look right now. I checked Charon's place, the lake, the replica of Drosselmeyer's writing place, and the practice room." Duckie counted off every place she had been on her fingers as she recited her list.

"He could be in the boy's dorm," Autor replied calmly. Duckie's face brightened up immediately, then fell back into unhappiness.

"I can't go in the boy's dorm. Will you check for me pleeeeeeaaaase!" She clasped her hands in front of her and looked at him beseechingly with such large, innocent eyes that Autor didn't really have much of a choice.

"If it will get you to leave me alone for the rest of the day then yes, I'll check for you."

"Oh thank you so much!" Duckie bounced around gleefully as Autor led the way to the boy's dorm. Once there Duckie waited near the door as Autor went inside to find Fakir. Unfortunately for the girl her friends found her before Autor could come back.

"There you are, Duckie! What are you doing here, we were supposed to spend the afternoon together!" Pique and Lillie ran up and grabbed an arm each, ready to drag her off.

"Maybe she's waiting for one of the boy's to come out so she can make a confession! Poor Duckie, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment, but we'll be here to comfort you when he rejects you!" Lillie had grabbed Duckie's face and was stretching and pulling her skin all over the place.

"Who would she confess to now? Mytho left with Rue last summer."

"Oh how tragic, she came here to wait for someone who'll never come back again. Poor Duckie, your unrequited love will forever be a wound in your sweet little heart!"

"But that's not-" Duckie started before getting cut off again.

"You can pine for Mytho later, we're supposed to be having a girl's day out right now." Before she could protest further she was dragged off, much to Fakir and Autor's amusement as they stepped out just in time to see her towed through the dorm's gateway.

It wasn't until that evening that Duckie finally had a chance to talk to Fakir, she found him out by her pond when she had gone there to get away from Pique and Lillie. "Fakir, I didn't expect to see you here." He was sitting at the dock, his feet dangling in the water with pen in hand and paper in his lap. She could see writing down to nearly the bottom of the page he was on and ink all over his fingers as she sat down next to him, taking off her shoes and letting her feet dangle in the cool water next to him. "So I take it Autor explained everything to you?" Fakir simply nodded, putting his pen and paper aside to give her his full attention. "Did you guys find anything out about the story? Who's controlling it? What's going on?"

"Stay out of it." Duckie gasped and stared at Fakir, he hadn't used such a harsh tone with her since Kraehe had kidnapped Mytho.

"What do you mean 'stay out of it?' It looks like the town is under the control of a story again and I've been turned back into a girl and for all I know this pendant will turn me into some sort of hero and I'll have to go through everything all over again!" Duckie had tears in her eyes by this point and they looked about ready to spill over.

Fakir looked shocked for a moment before turning away quickly and replying in an angry voice, "I said stay out of it because there's nothing for you to worry about. I won't let anyone else control the town so just do as you're told."

"Then what's going on, did you do this? You know something you're not telling me!"

"You can be such a stubborn moron sometimes." Fakir gathered up his writing materials and stormed past Duckie and back to town. The tears did spill down her face now, she was just so angry at Fakir for being so harsh with her and worried about the way things suddenly changed. But the more she sat there the angrier she was at herself for yelling right back at him.

"I should go apologize to him, even if he was being a jerk." She quickly scrubbed the tears from her face and put her shoes back on, now soggy because she didn't dry her feet off before shoving them on. "Oh ick, that's uncomfortable! Well, can't do anything about that now." And with that she took off running back to town.

Duckie didn't have a chance to apologize to Fakir, it was far too late in the evening to do anything else but go to bed. As the next day was Monday she had no choice but to go to class like normal and hope she could find him after school. It was very strange to be back in class again like she had never left, but was comforted when she realized that there were no alligators, ant eaters, hippos, or giant cat teachers. She found it strange but everything felt a little dull, actually. Why would she miss the craziness that was normalcy in Drosselmeyer's story? She should be happy that it was peaceful and normal now. Of course, Professor Goatherd caught her being distracted and made her stay after to clean the practice room so Duckie couldn't go find Fakir until it was late in the day, and by then Pique and Lillie had decided that they wanted, no needed, to spend the evening consoling her over Mytho and gossiping about the other students. Three days passed in this manner, Duckie was afraid that she'd never get to talk to Fakir at this rate.

"Have you noticed that lately Fakir seems a little darker than usual?" Duckie perked up when she heard her friend say this, it was almost like she were reading her thoughts.

"I don't know, I haven't really seen Fakir lately," Duckie replied carefully.

"Well, he used to scowl and growl at everyone, but right around the time that Mytho left he started to smile and calm down a little. But for the last few days it's like he's gone back to being the dark prince." Pique explained.

"I do think I noticed something like that," Duckie said cautiously.

"But doesn't it add to his mystique and charm? The dark prince who girls can't help but swoon over!" Lillie practically squealed with delight

"Yeah, there's just something about him being a bad boy that's irresistible." Pique gave a dreamy sigh as she thought about Fakir. Duckie, however, liked Fakir better when he let go of his controlling, angry behavior and was worried that he was under the control of another malicious Author.

"I'm sorry guys, but I really can't spend the whole day with you today, okay? I have to go." Duckie got up and ran out before they could question where she was going or stop her, today she was going to talk to Fakir. Fortunately she found him quite easily this time, sitting out on a grassy hill near one of the school buildings. Without any preamble she sat down next to him and started in, "So what's really happening?"

"I thought I told you not worry about such useless things?"

"How can I help but worry when things get weird all of a sudden and you're acting like an angry jerk? Something's going on and either you're under someone else's control and don't realize it or you know what's going on and won't tell me. Since this is affecting me I think I at least deserve to know." Duckie glared at Fakir, it felt like they were starting over from the very beginning again and she didn't want to lose the friendship they had worked so hard to gain.

Fakir ran his hand through his hair and sighed with frustration. "You're right, you do deserve to know. I'm the one who wrote this story. I just… you're the one who worked hardest to get a Happy Ending and it seems like you got gypped of your own."

"Oh…" Duckie's anger drained away so quickly that she actually didn't know what to do or say for a little while. "I uh… I'm sorry I yelled at you a few days ago… and today."

"It's okay, I should have just told you what was going on from the beginning."

"It's not cheating, making me human again after that promise we made in the Lake of Despair?" She looked over at him worriedly.

"No, it's not, just because you were born as a duck doesn't change that you have a human heart. You earned your Happy Ending and I said I was going to write the Ending of the Story." Fakir smiled gently at Duckie, she realized how much she missed those gentle smiles.

"Thank you, Fakir." She smiled back at him, so genuinely happy that she started to tear up again.

A couple of weeks had passed and Duckie found it quite easy to get back into the routine of class, practice, and time spent with friends. She found that without an epic adventure taking up a lot of her thoughts that she was able to focus on her dancing more and was actually starting to show improvement. Fakir offering to share the practice room with her in the mornings was helping too, she found that she enjoyed practicing with him and was delighted that they could share a pas de deux that wasn't a competition or at the bottom of a lake. Thus it was that one morning she walked into the practice room to find Fakir reading a letter on impossibly white paper, a gilded envelope held loosely in his other hand. Duckie walked up to his side and looked at it curiously though politely not reading the letter. "What is it?"

"It's a letter from Mytho and Rue, I wrote them about you being a girl again and they finally wrote back, would you like to read it?" Fakir held the paper up to Duckie expectantly and she eagerly accepted.

Duckie smiled as she read the letter, Mytho and Rue sent their warm regards and congratulations on Duckie being turned back into a girl, they regretted not writing back sooner but were quite busy preparing for the upcoming wedding and would be honored if Duckie and Fakir could attend. Duckie looked up at Fakir with shining eyes, "They're inviting us to their wedding!"

"I know, I already read the whole letter."

"But… will we be able to go? Aren't they inside the story?"

"Of course we can go, we have an official invitation from the Prince and Princess themselves, moron." Fakir looked at Duckie affectionately as he said that.

"But I don't understand… I thought they were married when they left?"

"Keep reading." Fakir just smirked as Duckie turned back to the letter happily. He was right, the letter went on to explain that the ceremony was a formality for the kingdom's sake as well as a coronation for the royal couple.

"Oh, they're going to be made King and Queen! How lovely!" Duckie beamed happily at Fakir, he could only smile at her in return.

"Shall I write back that we accept?"

"Of course! I can't imagine missing such an important day!" Duckie was almost indignant that Fakir would even suggest that Duckie might not want to go.

Fakir merely chuckled as he plucked the letter out of Duckie's hands and tucked it back away into the ethereal envelope. "We can both write the letter later, right now we need to practice." Duckie simply nodded as she began her warm ups while Fakir tucked the letter safely under his towel.

"I couldn't help but notice you and Fakir are always in the practice room together when the rest of us come in for class." Pique was poking Duckie's face in mild irritation, "What are you two doing every morning?"

"Just practicing…" Duckie and her two friends were going through stretches in a tight cluster at the barre while the rest of the class were spread throughout the room doing various warm ups and stretches.

"Oh how cute, practicing so hard every morning before class even though you're doomed to fail. It's okay Duckie, you don't have to try so hard!"

"And what are you doing practicing with Fakir, though? Are you going after him?" Pique seemed a little more than just irritated at this point.

"A secret rendezvous every morning behind your best friend's back!" Lillie seemed far too excited over the prospect of her best friends having a battle.

"It's not like that, Fakir and I are just friends. He's helping me get better, Professor Goatherd even says soon she'll start teaching me en pointe." Duckie was waving her hands around a little frantically at this point in her attempts to placate her friends.

"Then you'll get to dance together with us again instead of spending most of your time on the side lines watching us." Both her friends got far away looks in their eyes, "Though… why Professor Goatherd kept you in the normal class instead of knocking you back to probationary class when you can't dance en pointe with us…"

Duckie blinked and looked at her friends, they had a point that she hadn't even thought about. Pique just shook her head and plowed on, "So when did you and Fakir become such good friends anyways?"

"Yeah, yeah! This is all so sudden!" Lillie simply nodded along with Pique.

"A while ago, back before Mytho and Rue left!" A lot of time had passed, nearly a whole year! Duckie still didn't know what Fakir had done to fill in the gaps of their memory, he refused to let her read the story he had written and she had simply let him keep his silence. Pique and Lillie looked ready to ask more questions but before they could the teacher had walked in and was calling for everyone's attention.

Several months passed before the wedding actually took place, they take a lot of planning after all. Many swans were sent back and forth between Gold Crown and the White Castle bearing many gilt and plain letters. Rue was so excited to have Duckie at the wedding that she had insisted Duckie be her maid of honor. Duckie had refused at first, proclaiming with many splotches and misspellings that she couldn't perform all the duties a maid of honor usually did as she wasn't there with Rue helping her to plan her wedding. Rue had written back confidently stating that there were enough servants and ladies in waiting at the castle to organize everything for her and then imploring Duckie to please accept as Duckie was her first and truest friend and she would have no other for her maid of honor, Duckie had to accept. Mytho, likewise, wanted Fakir to stand up with him as his loyal knight and faithful friend. So what had originally been a one day affair with Duckie and Fakir being guests of honor had become a weeklong stay with the two being principal players in the event itself.

Duckie was fidgeting as they waited at the top of the clock tower for their carriage to arrive, she was excited to see Rue and Mytho again after so long but also nervous about what the inside of the story would be like. But more importantly she was worried about what the other people would be like and what they would think of her. Fakir laid a calming hand on her arm, "There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I know… but I can't help it! I keep thinking about what it's like to live in a castle and be royalty and I'm just… I'm just me."

"Moron," Duckie glared at Fakir but he smirked, at least she wasn't so nervous when she was angry, "Without you we would still be stuck in limbo without an end for the story. Or maybe even worse: the tragic ending that Drosselmeyer wanted." Duckie's face softened, Fakir knew just what to say to calm her down. The sound of flapping wings prevented further conversation and the two turned to see a large, open, egg shaped carriage drawn by four glowing swans descend gracefully from the sky.

"Is that Rue and Mytho inside the carriage?" Duckie was squinting at the golden carriage as it drew closer.

"I think so," Fakir was just as surprised to see the royal couple themselves come to pick them up. Duckie simply waved and called out to her friends excitedly, she was even bouncing up and down as the others waved back.

"I didn't expect the two of you to come pick us up!"

"We have a lot of catching up to do and Mytho wanted to see you as soon as possible so we thought 'Why not?' and just came ourselves." Rue beamed happily at her friends, she even had a soft spot for Fakir now that they weren't on opposing sides. The trip back to the castle was filled with a great deal of chatter because apparently frequent and long letters simply aren't enough.

The wedding was the most beautiful thing Duckie had ever seen! Duckie proudly walked at the head of a long line of maids with Fakir at her side as the best man while Mytho, called Prince Siegfried during the ceremony, stood in his most regal attire with the priest at the foot of the dais. Rue had worn the very same dress she had when they first left Gold Crown and was quite radiant as she walked down the aisle. The ceremony was held with great pomp and ritual as the priest solemnly went through their vows. Upon his proclaiming: "You may now kiss the bride," a great cheer went up from all the guests in attendance. The royal couple immediately ascended the dais and sat side by side on their thrones as their simple crowns were removed and a more ornate pair, with delicate filigree and sparkling jewels, were placed upon their heads, a herald proclaiming them King and Queen of the kingdom. This time the applause was thunderous as a grand roar went up from the throne room. A band was struck up and a triumphant march was played with much enthusiasm, confetti littered the air and Duckie gazed happily at her friends. Fakir, meanwhile, was staring at Duckie with great focus.

It took quite a while before the crowd could calm down enough for the festivities to begin in earnest, but eventually they did and they all moved into the castle's large ballroom where dancing was had and refreshments were served. Mytho and Rue were seated at a long table with their wedding party lined up on either side, men filed up next to Mytho and women next to Rue. This meant that while Duckie was lucky enough to sit next to Rue she wasn't any where close enough to talk with Fakir, Rue was far too distracted by Mytho to keep up much of a conversation and Duckie didn't know the girl next to her at all. It didn't help that the girl seemed in awe of Duckie for some reason and kept referring to her as "your highness" despite the fact that she had insisted she wasn't royalty of any kind at all. She sighed and held up her pendant, fiddling with it, a habit she had picked up ever since becoming a girl again. There was just something so special about this one.

Rue looked up then, and noticed her looking intently at the blood red jewel. "That's a lovely gem, is it what keeps you a girl?"

"Huh? Oh yes, it's what turned me back into a girl, Fakir gave it to me." Duckie beamed happily at Rue, she would never take being a girl for granted.

"It's lovely," Rue cooed as she looked at the gem. "What kind of stone is that? It seems very familiar." The raven haired girl had a strange expression as she asked the question, Duckie couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"I'm not really sure, Fakir never told me." Duckie rubbed her head in embarrassment, she didn't want to admit that she had never thought to ask.

"It looks an awful lot like your old pendant." The expression on Rue's face became more intense though it was also guarded so Duckie still couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to say, though she thought she saw merriment dancing in her friend's ruby eyes.

"I suppose it does…" Duckie trailed off.

"Maybe it's made of the same kind of jewel as Tutu's pendant was. Remind me, what was the first jewel again?"

"What?" Duckie was nearly flabbergasted, there's no way Rue could have forgotten that! "It was one of Mytho's Heart Shards." Duckie looked at Rue questioningly, she didn't respond though, only kept looking at her friend with an intense gaze. "You think this is a Heart Shard?" Duckie looked down at her gem, then back at Rue.

"It's possible, I'm not the one who gave you that pendant though so I don't really know." Rue stood up and took Mytho's Hand, "It's time for the couple's 'first dance' together." Duckie watched as the two left the table and walked out onto the dance floor, now clear of dancers. The strawberry blond, however, simply stayed in her seat and looked down at her pendant with new wonder.

"If this is a Heart Shard… whose Heart Shard is it?" She got up and hurried out of the library, she knew exactly who to ask and he had better give her a straight answer!

"Fakir! Fakir I need to talk to you." Duckie had waited until later in the evening to talk with Fakir, the party was starting to wind down and she had noticed him step outside for a breath of fresh air. She had quietly followed him and now they were standing together on a terrace hedged in by shrubbery. "Is this jewel a Heart Shard?" She held up the pendant to Fakir as she asked the question, he looked vaguely shocked and a little worried.

"Why would you think that?"

"Answer my question, what is this jewel made of?"

"It's… just a ruby."

"Liar." Duckie was glaring at him now, she wasn't going to let him get away with whatever it was he was trying to get away with.

"Yes, it's a Heart Shard. It was the only way I could think of to turn you into a human again!" Fakir replied angrily, he didn't like the way Duckie was trying to corner him into a confession.

"Whose Heart Shard is it?"

"What?" Fakir was certainly not expecting that question.

"Whose heart did the Shard come from?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Why won't you tell me?"

"My heart, okay? It came from my heart!" Since the argument had become a full on shouting contest and Fakir had practically yelled that at the top of his lungs, he turned a shade of red that Duckie hadn't seen before, even while Uzura was throwing water on her every chance the little puppet got. Fakir took a deep breath and calmly repeated, "It's a piece of my heart. We couldn't use your heart and I wasn't willing to ask anyone else to do such a thing so I used my heart."

"But… how did you…?"

"I contacted Mytho and explained the situation."

"But someone who's missing a part of his heart-"

"It's not the same." Fakir cut off before Duckie could finish. "Mytho shattered his heart to seal away the Raven, I took out apiece specifically to make a pendant for you. It's only one piece and since I willingly gave it to you it hasn't done anything to me."

"That's not entirely true, You've turned back into the controlling jerk you were before Mytho got his heart back." Duckie looked up at Fakir with such sad, worried eyes.

"That was just at first, I'm not that way anymore. It… took a little getting used to."

Duckie thought back to how he had been acting over the last few weeks and did have to admit that he had gone back to normal, "I suppose that's true, you haven't been a prick lately…" Fakir turned and scowled out into the moonlit garden, not trusting himself to say anything right then and feeling a little hurt over Duckie calling him names. Duckie simply stared back down at the pendant in her hands, turning over everything she had just learned. "So Fakir, which piece is it?"

"What?" Fakir started and stared at Duckie, he wasn't expecting that question either.

"Which piece did you use to make the pendant? Mytho's was hope and it was shaped like an egg when I wasn't Tutu, but this one is a circle. And every Heart Shard was an emotion of some kind, so which one is this?" Fakir was turning red again.

"I don't really know, Mytho's the one who carved it out." Fakir replied flippantly as he stared off into the distance.

"You're lying again, I can tell." Duckie smirked as Fakir turned even redder, the blush spreading even to his ears.

"Does it really matter which piece it is?" Fakir asked a little desperately.

"Not really, but I want to know. Please tell me Fakir!" Duckie looked up at him with her huge innocent eyes all a sparkle with the threat of tears. Fakir sighed in defeat.

"It's… it's Love." It was Duckie's turn to stop short and turn red.

"L-love? You gave me your… Love?" Fakir had looked away when he said it and hadn't looked back up yet.

"Yes."

"I… I… I have to go." Duckie turned and ran back into the ballroom, completely missing the look of hurt on Fakir's face as she ran away.

Duckie had wanted to sit by herself and think quietly for a little while but her being part of a wedding party in the middle of the reception wasn't going to allow for that. The close to the reception was about to start, namely Rue throwing her bouquet as the couple left the party for their own quarters. The couple had opted out of throwing the garter as well as Rue proclaimed it quite "unseemly" and though she was sweet and good natured most of the time she was becoming known for being quite stubborn once she put her foot down. "They will simply have to be content with just the bouquet," She had declared when asked about it.

Duckie and the rest of the eligible girls were gathered in a large group as Rue prepared to throw her flowers, though she was quite distracted by her pendant and wasn't paying the least attention. Rue threw her bouquet and watched as it sailed gaily towards the throng eager women. It was quickly snatched out of the air once it was within someone's range and a brief tussle occurred, one of the bride's maids came out victorious and waved the bouquet around triumphantly, followed by a polite applause from the other women, Duckie was oblivious to the whole thing.

With that Rue took Mytho's hand and was escorted out of the ballroom with many well wishes from the joyful crowd, though once they were out of earshot Rue confided sadly to Mytho, "I do wish Duckie would have caught the bouquet."

"You told her, didn't you?" Fakir was in a bit of a foul mood that morning, he had hardly slept at all the previous night and was anxious to have a talk with Rue. He had pounced on the couple as soon as they sat down to breakfast, Duckie hadn't woken up yet.

"Told who what?" Mytho smiled as he sipped his morning tea.

"Rue told Duckie about the pendant," Fakir ground out angrily.

"I may have hinted at it but I didn't outright tell her." Rue simply smirked as she replied to Fakir's accusation.

"Why?"

"Because you were too much of a coward to tell her yourself." Rue put down her cup hard enough to cause the delicate china to clink quite loudly in the suddenly quiet room. Mytho had decided to simply be quiet and let them argue by themselves. "You spent nearly a year agonizing over a way to turn Duckie back into a girl, you searched long and hard to find a solution, you wrote nothing else in your letters, you've spent the last week following her around like a puppy, and for heaven's sake you cut out a piece of your own Heart to make that pendant for her. You haven't said anything to her about it either, so since you weren't going to say anything at all and Duckie seems too accepting of the world around her I decided to ask her a question or two to push her onto the right train of thought." Rue was smirking by the end of his speech, she would admit later that she rather enjoyed meddling in Fakir's affairs.

"You're just as conniving as Drosselmeyer himself." Rue just smirked all the more at Fakir's comment and sipped her tea.

"A story left hanging in the middle with no end in sight is a terribly dangerous thing, you know that from firsthand experience."

"Don't try to make this sound altruistic." Fakir left then, slamming the door behind him. Rue and Mytho simply went back to their breakfast as they discussed where they thought events would lead.

That day was very awkward for Duckie, she didn't know what to say to Fakir after his confession. She avoided him all day in the castle as they recovered from partying too hard the night before and started preparing to leave for Gold Crown the next day. She alternated between spending time with Rue and Mytho, walking in the gardens, and hiding in her room for meals. She spent a great deal of time staring blankly into the distance or gazing intently down at her jewel. It wasn't until the next day when they were getting ready to leave that she actually saw Fakir again. She blushed and uncomfortably greeted him as he tried to look everywhere but at her. That was nothing compared to the awkward pause as the smaller carriage was brought around and the royal couple began their farewells.

"You're not coming with us?" Duckie's face paled, making every freckle stand out in stark contrast.

"We can't, there's too much to do that got put off because of the ceremony. We're King and Queen now, you know!" The two giggled slightly at each other as Fakir's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I'll miss you both!" Tears sprung into Duckie's eyes and she flung herself into Rue's arms, "Promise you'll keep writing!"

"Of course we will, you're my dearest friend in the whole world." Duckie nodded as Rue wiped the tears from her cheeks, Mytho and Fakir had a much more subdued though equally heartfelt goodbye.

Fakir and Duckie were silent most of the way back to Gold Crown, neither really knowing what to say after everything that had happened. "We can't go on avoiding each other like this." It was Fakir who finally broke the silence.

"I know it's just… awkward right now, I don't know what to say to you." Duckie fiddled with her skirt hem as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Why do we have to say anything? We could just go back to the way things were."

"We can't! It's too late for that. I can't just forget what this pendant is, what it means." Duckie looked at Fakir tearfully and squeezed her blood red pendant tightly, "All we can do is keep going forward. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run away from you." Fakir simply nodded and they fell back into silence. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"That's because… you have always had eyes only for Mytho."

"Only for… Mytho? What do you mean?"

"Everything you did as Tutu and as a girl, even giving up being a girl… you did it all for Mytho. I felt like there was no room for me."

"You're the one who's a moron." Duckie glared at Fakir, "Who was it I told I was really a duck? Who was it who was able to convince me to go back to my true self? Whose wounds did I tend to and who did I spend the most time with? I may love Mytho, but it's been a long time since I fancied myself in love with him! And you're also the one who worked so hard to turn me back into a girl… with your own Heart Shard. And this pendant… this pendant is precious to me, you know. My most treasured possession, I'll never let anyone else have it." Fakir stared at Duckie with wide eyes full of an emotion she was quite familiar with, she had worn it around her neck for a very long time after all. "It may be selfish of me to want it all to myself, but I want it anyways."

"Moron, it's fine that way." Fakir put an arm around her shoulders as he smiled at her, and then leaned down for their first kiss, but not their last.

And they lived happily ever after.

The End

First off a big shout out to Lunasphere for her amazing fic This Pendent Heart which is based on the same theme of Fakir giving Duckie his heart. I had the idea before I read hers so I was a little sad to see that it was already done but it's such a wonderful story that I can't be upset about it.

Ah, watching the series from beginning to end all over again really got my writing juices flowing, I wrote this incredibly quickly! I suppose what I was writing in each spot reflects the episode I was watching at the time. I was reminded all over again just what a jerk Fakir is in the beginning of the series and I suppose that's why he's the way he is here. Autor's a jerk too, he is so related to Drosselmeyer the way he only wants the power for the sake of controlling people. Pique and Lillie are a lot of fun to write, they're the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the series, I had to remind myself which name belonged to which! Watching the series over again also reminded me of a full fic I want to write that wouldn't be just a one shot but actually watching the series made me want to draw it instead… maybe. If I did it would take a lot of work but would probably be worth it. Then it reminded me of a new idea that bounced around my head briefly that I do rather want to write, but before I could I'd have to go find my copy of Pride and Prejudice. And of course there's all the talk about writing between Drosselmeyer, Fakir, and Autor which only reminds me how awesome this series is for writing fanfics if only for how meta it can get. I almost went for a meta ending but I felt that wouldn't allow for expansion if I felt like coming back to it.

And lastly: This is the last of the stories I had planned out, but it's not going to be the end of the one shots. I still have some nebulous ideas I need to work out before I can write them so it might be a long time again before I post the next one, but there will be more. Thanks for reading!

Edit: I had planned on just inserting on extra little scene as well as fixing a few little mistakes that were pointed out to me, somehow that evolved into completely changing the middle of the story! XD There are some parallels with one of my earlier chapters which really only show what some of my beliefs on the world they live in are. Mostly that people can travel into the story as easily as out of and that doing so means one has to do it like a fairy tale character would. There are rules to these things, you know!

Apologies to Autor fans for taking out the majority of his role, but once I started writing in the wedding scene I knew I had to change who it was who told Duckie about the Heart Shard. There really would be no reason for Autor to go to the wedding, especially if he hasn't gotten over Rue yet like a lot of fellow fans believe. I personally have no opinion on that matter as my focus always seems to be Fakhiru.

Egads, this thing is incredibly long now!