Once upon a time there was girl that was adored by everyone by her dance and beauty. However, she only loved one man. That naive little girl. How would she react, when she found out that her only love is false?

Akt 3

La Esmeralda

In another place, far far away, lived Rue with her Prince. All her dreams came true, when he asked her to be his princess. The raven was dead, the town saved, and she found the happiness she always wanted.

Rue wondered about this. True, she lived a fairytale now, a girl's dream to all extent. Still she felt that something was missing. Mytho was there. His gentle smile calmed her and confirmed that it wasn't a dream. But he wasn't always around. As a prince he had other duties to attend to, leaving Rue on her own, with only the maids to take care of her needs.

No, it wasn't anything missing. It was rather the fact that she wanted more. She wanted to see Mytho more often, to keep him to herself.

She wasn't particularly lonely. The people in the kingdom welcomed her as the princess and seemed to like her a lot. She was amazed how much affection the townspeople showed to her, but they couldn't fill Rue's heart completely. She wanted to be with Mytho. And she was scared of that. She was scared that no matter how many times she told herself that it had to be like that, that she couldn't help it, the more she longed for him. She still felt the darkness of the monster raven in her. Weak, but it was still there.

Even more she was frightened, to be overwhelmed by her emotions. Everybody loves me here, she thought to herself, so why can't I feel happiness at it fullest? Why is it still only Mytho I can think of?

The burden on her heart felt heavier each day. It took her a while to tell her prince about her problem, and most important of all, her resolution.

"AHIRU!"

Pique broke her train of thoughts as she almost screamed in her ear. But Ahiru just mildly reacted to the shouting, turned her head to the girl and asked:"What is it?"

The ballet class was on a trip to the eleki group which visited the the little town again. Today, they would perform only for the students. Everyone was excited, reminiscing their last visit.

Pique sighed.

" What is it with you? I asked if you talked to Fakir about it!"

"What? Why should I? What is it to you?"

Lilie rubbed Ahirus head.

" Oh stupid little Ahiru. Did you forget that it was a favor for Pique to ask Fakir to come back to school?"

"Oh, that... Well, it doesn't look like he'll return anytime soon. Maybe he will never..."

Pique made a grimace and grunted. She told Ahiru that she should ask him again, but Ahiru didn't listen anymore. Her thoughts returned to Fakir and his stories. She couldn't ask Fakir if Jägers accusations were true or false. She was scared of what he might answer. Her uncertainty made her feel even more frightened. She didn't trust Fakir, and this made her feel even more miserable. There were no secrets between them, at least that was what Ahiru thought. But then she also remembers the fact that she is not allowed to read his stories. Was he really trying to get rid of her? But then, why didn't he say so?As she thought about the possibility that he might, her heart ached.

She walked along with Pique and Lilie, who gave up talking to her and discussed what the reason for her behavior was. At the Theater, where the Eleki Troupe had their performance, the teacher introduced the students to the dancers.

"We decided to perform a classic ballet which is almost forgotten:La Esmeralda. It's based on the book Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Today I will show you a variation of Esmeralda since we're not completely done with the practice for the whole piece."

As the variation was presented, Ahiru tried to forget about Fakir for a moment and tried to remember the plot of la Esmeralda. It was a story about a gipsy girl who fascinated everybody. If it wasn't her looks then the beauty of her dance. She married Gringoire to save him from death, although she had no feelings for him at all. No, her one and only love was the captain of the knights. For her it was love at first sight and she wanted no other man. But the poor girl was used by the man who was still childish innocent. For him it was just another affair and he didn't care about her furthermore. She had to lose her life because she was accused of killing him. On the other hand there was Frollo who, for the first time, had romantic feelings for another person. It devoured him from inside, he couldn't bear being without her and finally sealed her death in his madness until he himself left for the afterlife.

A bittersweet story. A story about unrequited love. Ahiru could understand as much.

After the variation ended, everyone clapped and were fascinated by the dance and choreography with the tambourine. The teacher tried to cease the chatter and announced a break for the students before they asked questions to the cast of dancers. Ahiru walked after Pique and Lilie, trying to join their chatter.

"I'm sorry...Ahiru? Can I talk to you?"

Ahiru turned around to face a classmate of hers. She looked a little nervous. Ahiru couldn't recall the girls name, but that didn't matter to her right now.

" Sure, what is it?"

" Well you see, I was wondering if-"

" No leave me alone!"

Another girls scream disturbed the two classmates conversation. Ahiru could see Freya near the stage, arguing with some other girls. Freya took a step backwards as the girls tried to persuade her.

" We didn't say anything like that, please believe us! Who told you that?"

Freya spoke with a broken voice and her hair fell into her face.

" I heard it myself! I thought we were friends..."

" But we are!", said another girl.

" We'd never say anything nasty about you! You must have heard someone else say that!"

Freya held her ears and closed her teary eyes.

" Stop it! I don't want to hear it anymore! Leave me alone!" And with this words she ran behind the stage. As she turned and let down her hands, a little earring glittered in the light of the lamps.

Ahiru recognized its resemblance to the piece of glass Rätsel had before. It must be connected to the Snow queen and Jäger, Ahiru thought as she chased after Freya and left her classmate behind who didn't even try to hold her back.

Ahiru ran to Freyas friends who didn't know what to do. Each one of them had a hurt expression on their face. Something was wrong after all.

As Ahiru stepped behind the curtain, Princess Tutu appeared in all her beauty. But what she found wasn't Freya. Standing close to her, it was yet again Jäger with a mild smile on his lips.

"How do you do?"

Tutu was startled for a moment but pulled herself together again. She folded her hands over her chest.

" Why are you still doing this? This is wrong."

"Oh come on. I don't force anyone! Everybody can decide freely if they want to go."

" You know that it's not true. "

He turned around with a smile and took a few steps.

" You shouldn't disturb the Queens wishes. She can be very nasty if something doesn't go her way. The last time was interesting, but you better don't do that again. I can't tell what the Queen will do. I can't go against her will, even if it's you."

As he spoke Tutu remembered something.

" You..know me, right? That I'm the princess of the story..."

Jäger stopped and listened.

" Say, why were you trying to find me?..You even called me your princess..."

Jäger turned around . For a moment, Tutu could read sadness in his eyes, but it disappeared as soon as she realized it. He fully turned around to her and grinned.

" You're curious? Well , I'm in no position to tell you. But don't you have other matters to take care of? What about your lovely writer boy? "

Tutu blinked and looked away. She wanted to leave, and walked aside Jäger, so she could go see Freya, but suddenly he stood before her again. Surprised she looked up to him. He shook his head.

"You can't run away from this."

The princess took a step back and said weakly:" This has nothing to do with you. I need to help Freya now."

He didn't let her pass. Tutu felt miserable she wanted to run away from it. The more she thought about it, the more desperate she became. What is true or false? She didn't know. Only Fakir could release her from her doubt. But it could also become a curse.

The mere thought weakened her greatly. Her head was spinning again.

" He wouldn't do something like that.."

" You're saying that again? Why don't you ask him then? Or is it that you already know the answer?"

Tutu legs felt weak. Jäger held her hand and supported her.

" He wants you to leave this place. He wants to be alone. Why don't you see it? "

Jäger put his hand around her waist. Before she knew it, the Prima donna was dancing a pas de deux with the boy. No, that didn't seem right. The Princess could barely take a step alone. It was more like Jäger who leaded and supported her every step. She felt like an invalid but let him do as he pleased. Like a puppet moved by it's master, she didn't even considered to go against his will.

" You can come to the Queen, if that's your wish. You'll be most welcomed princess."

The proposition sounded nice. A place where she is needed and accepted, not standing in anyones way. The best for everyone. She almost didn't hear the little voice in her head that said that this is wrong. It was the easiest way, the safest. A melody arouse and pushed away the little voice in her head. Her eyes were half closed as her partner pulled her closer to him.

From afar, another melody could be heard. A violin, with a beautiful calming melody. It found it way to Tutus ear. Her eyes grew big and she freed herself from Jägers grip. Jäger grunted, looked at Tutu, then turned to the place the melody came from.

" That pest. Doesn't she know her place yet?"

He flinched and disappeared in a flash of Snowflakes. Tutu, after recollecting her thoughts, also turned in the direction where the melody came from. The sound of the violin saved her from being controlled, or rather the melody. She pulled herself together and followed the sound.

In a lightened room, she found Freya lying on the floor with a calm face. The earring wasn't on her ear anymore. Next to the girl stood another person. She wore a beautiful blue dress, on her hand wrist a flower that shone in the light. Her hair was put together in a knot with a crown in form of a star on top. Two twirled hair strains fell into her face. Her shoes were plateaus, not that of a ballerina. In her hand she held Freya's earring, glittering in the light. She looked at it as she closed her hand.

Princess Tutu came closer to her. Slowly and cautious.

" Who are you?", she asked in her heart melting voice as she approached the girl.

The girl turned to her in shock and took a step back, pulling the stone closer to her body. She looked at the princess with wide eyes.

Tutu looked at her curiously and gave her a light smile. She reached out a hand.

"Don't be scared."

The other girl pulled herself together. After closing her eyes for a moment, she opened them yet again. With a serious but calm look she said:"After all, it seems I can't do it. I'm sorry."

Before Tutu could say anything else, she disappeared with a swift wind of sparkles.

She thought for a second about her words before turning back into a normal girl and helping Freya, who just started to wake up.

After Rue was finished, Mytho only stared at her. Then after while he found his words again.

"What do you mean by that?", was the only thing he could say.

"I'm not capable of being a princess. I will leave this castle."

She turned away so she wouldn't meet his gaze. But she could still feel his eyes in her back.

" I...I would still like to stay in the kingdom if that is alright with you. The people here are very nice to me."

" You're running away from the problem."

Rue turned around furious."I am not!"

" Instead of leaving, we could try to find a way to get through this together. I also have the ravens blood inside of me after all." Mytho touched his chest as he spoke those words.

He stepped closer to his princess. A gentle smile on his lips.

" We will find a way together there is no reason for you to leave...I don't want you to leave!"

His words weakened Rues determination. She really wanted to stay. But what if she hurt him again or the people around her? She wanted to protest but the words didn't came out. She felt small.

Mytho embraced her. She could feel his warmth.

"Give me some time, I will find a way. I promise.", he whispered in her ear.

Rue put her head on his shoulder.

"I don't like it. It will hurt..."

Class was over and Ahiru was on her way to the Dormitory. She lost sight of Pique and Lilie but she didn't realize it herself. She was still in her thoughts. She was in pain. She didn't understand why, but Jägers words always went under her skin.

She folded her cold hands and finally decided. There was no reason to keep it all to herself. Last time she couldn't ask Fakir about it, but she wouldn't turn away this time. Everything will be alright. She believed in this and these words warmed her up a little. She ran for a while before she figured that she had no idea where Fakir was. She decided to check Autors place first, because Fakir seemed to trust Autor with this situation.

She stopped at the door in silence. She stood still until she finally decided to reach out to knock on the door. Her heart was beating fast and her face was heating up.

Just before her hand touched the door, it opened on it's own. It almost hit Ahiru in the face but she luckily backed up in time. It was Fakir himself who had opened the door and now looked amazed at the girl.

"What are you doing here? Did something happen again?"

At first she stared and then looked at her feet. Her courage left her for a moment.

"Well yeah but... that's not why I'm here actually. I guess."

"Huh?"

As Fakir waited for her to speak, Ahiru felt like she was just about to jump into ice cold water. She breathed, closed her eyes for a short moment and forced herself to look into Fakirs eyes.

"Did you... write a story about me?"

No words were said. But one look into his eyes and she knew she was right. He turned away, almost ashamed. And pulled himself away from her a little.

Ahiru looked to the ground with big eyes. In her head, every word Jäger had said was putting themselves in Line. He really did. He's tired of me and wants me to leave? Why! Why didn't he say anything? Why did he lie?

"...Why?", she finally asked in a weak voice. Fakir looked at her. She was shaking and her voice sounded like she was about to cry.

"It was okay the way it was right? So why did you write my story?"

Fakir sighed and spoke in a calm voice." Things change..."

"Then why didn't you say anything? Anything! Did you even consider that I don't want anything to change? You didn't think about my feelings all!"

"You're feelings? What about mine? I just couldn't help it!"

As they were getting louder, Autor wondered about the ruckus outside, while he was reading in the back of the room. He asked them to be quiet without lifting his head from the text but the two were to embraced in their fight.

"Just because you have that power doesn't mean that you can toy around with me like that! I thought you were different from Drosselmeyer, Fakir!"

"I'm not the same as him! You should know that, of all people!"

Ahiru made a step backwards and looked at him in disbelief. She started crying.

"I hate you... I hate you! You're the worst!", she said, getting louder with every word.

Fakir looked at her, irritated and in disbelief. He wanted to say something and reached out his hand to her but she only cried "Don't touch me!", and stepped to the side , before she finally turned around and ran away.

Fakir watched her run, not moving a finger, still in shock of her words. His mind went blank as he turned around to get back into the room. He seated himself fast and got all the utensils he needed for writing. Autor watched curiously at his sudden urge to write, as it seemed to him.

Fakir took the feather with ink and started to write the first words on the paper. But then he stopped. He gazed upon his right hand, his scar to be exact. Memories coming back to him like the rain, slowly falling and sinking. He put the Duck feather to the side and buried his face in his hands, his body shaking lightly.

Yeah 4 weeks later XD

Sorry it took me so long to update. My life changed a little in the past few weeks and i was also to lazy to write anything XD.

This chapter came out a little shorter, I'm not sure why. Maybe because there's not much happening although it's quite important. Or maybe it's just my lack of talent XD But I'm writing so i could improve anyway.

I also had to cut some passages because otherwise they had given away to much.

Also introducing another OC :D I actually wanted to put a link here so people could see how i imagined her (her design took me some time) but i still don't have a proper picture of her on my pc, or they are incomplete. I'll try to make one before the next chapter.

I wasn't sure, after I've written it, if Ahiru would actually know anything about a ballet that was almost forgotten and which nowadays isn't presented that often either. But i was worried the chapter would be to short i just kept. I guess it's not to strange. She knew about Coppelia after all, so she is actually capable of paying attention in class XD

So if you didn't realize it yet, the tale at the beginning is about Notre-Dame. I'm actually not that sure how much it differs from the actual ballet but i saw a version on Youtube and it seems more or less accurate. La Esmeralda was was revived in 1886 and 1899 by Marius Petipa, that's why i wrote that it's a forgotten ballet.

And you should definitely watch la Esmeralda Variation on youtube, there are many. It's really hard but i like the dance very much. The pas de deux between Jäger and Tutu was inspired by a pas de deux between Esmeralda and Gringoire, you might want to check it out.

And may i add how i hate some parts of this story? It's not the plot, I still it's okay but hell some passages are way to short! I feel so lame, it feels like i want to get over this story fast :(

Ah yes, there's a lot (I mean really a lot) of drama in this chapter XD But it won't stay this way too long, don't worry

And there's gonna be a "special" character in the next chapter :D

Wow this became really long... I'm gonna talk about Rue and Mytho in the next chapter they appear, that would be 5 i guess