"Oh, Duck, I'm so glad to see you again." said a young woman who was wearing her brown hair in a bun on her head. She smiled sweetly at the duck-like girl at the front door of the house.

Duck smiled bowing. "It's no problem, Raetsel. You said you needed help around the house?"

"Well…I can handle the chores. I have something for you to do back here in the bedroom for me." Raetsel said with a grin.

Duck tilted her head in confusion. "Uh sure."

Duck wasn't sure what Raetsel had up her sleeve, but it didn't really matter. It had been nearly two months since she had been turned back into a duck by the magic of the Lake of Despair. Duck didn't really understand it herself, but she took her new given human life day by day. Fakir had found her by the lake shortly after and helped her back into her past. She hadn't been to the ballet school but wore the uniform all the same. It felt… a part of who she was.

Raetsel had returned to Gold Crown town about a week ago. To the surprise of both Fakir and Duck, she remembered who Duck was. Most of the town did not. This included Fakir's father figure, Karon, and Duck's former best friends Pike and Lilie. It had been hard to be a stranger but with Fakir with her always, and knowing he remembered her, Mytho, and Rue, she knew she would be okay.

Duck stopped with Raetsel at the end of the hall near a door. She opened the door to reveal two little children running around the room, playing with the toys inside.

"Raetsel!" said the little black haired girl. She ran up to the young woman and hugged her legs. Her dark brown eyes looked over to Duck. "Who're you?"

Duck knelt down with her hands on her knees to the girl. "Hi there! My name's Duck. What's your name?"

"Skyla." whispered the girl, hiding behind Raetsel's leg. "And that's my baby brother, Ryley." She pointed to the little boy playing with the blocks across the room.

Skyla was a short black haired girl. She was wearing a large blue shirt, probably too big for her, and black shorts. She had glasses on the bridge of her nose which kept falling down. Ryley was similarly dressed but he did not have glasses. They looked very alike, more than just possibly siblings, so Duck assumed they were twins.

Raetsel turned to Duck after pushing Skyla back to playing with Ryley. "These children were found just outside my town. I've taken them in, but Karon asked me to do some chores both in the house and around town. I can't take them with me so I've called you over here to watch them for me."

"What?! I…I…" Duck stammered over her words. She barely knew how to take care of herself much less kids. "Are you sure, Raetsel?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, Duck, you'll be okay." She patted Duck on the head as she walked out of the room. "Good luck!" Duck felt the door slam in her heart. The pink haired girl turned to see Skyla looking at her and Ryley still playing with blocks.

"Um…so what do you guys like to do?" Duck asked.

Skyla didn't say anything and sat down where she was standing. Ryley looked up at Duck and smiled real big, enough to even show that he was missing a tooth.

"I like to play pretend!" Ryley said, running over to Duck. He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to his building blocks. "This is my city!"

Duck looked down and was actually impressed. The little boy had made quite a city out of the tinker toys. There were homes, cars, even schools and hospitals. Duck knelt down to get a closer look.

"Do you like it?" Ryley asked, proudly. "It's a world in a book. And over there is where the Prince and Princess live." He pointed at the very tall stack of blocks with a triangle on top and a flag. "The Prince and Princess had to fight off a very scary raven but now they're home."

Duck nearly choked. "What did you say, Ryley?"

"Prince Siegfried and Princess Rue had to fight a raven. He was really mean but when they worked together, everyone was saved." Ryley explained. He pointed down to a small little yellow toy in the town. "And that there is Princess Tutu, a really pretty girl who helped them. Oh, but you can't forget the knight! It was Prince Siegfried's knight." Ryley grabbed a small toy behind the castle Duck hadn't seen. "But… I don't know his name… he's too proud to say."

Duck couldn't keep herself from laughing under her breath. "Very cute, Ryley. Skyla, why don't you play with your brother for a minute? Auntie Duck needs to think." Skyla walked over and obeyed Duck, surprisingly.

What is this?

Was this all set up?

Who is this boy?

Duck was very confused but tried to push it all to the back of her mind. This world was a strange place and maybe it was all just coincidence. She began to play with the kids and even Skyla warmed up to Duck and started to enjoy herself. The three played board games, pretend, and even made a simple lunch together.

As they cleaned up the playroom, Ryley and Skyla got distracted and began to play together. Duck was watching the children as she heard a knock on the door behind her. She spun around, thinking it was Raetsel, but to her surprise, it was Fakir.

"Oh, Fakir! What are you doing here?" Duck questioned.

"I live here, remember?" Fakir said. "…idiot."

Duck felt her face flush in embarrassment. "Oh yeah." she scratched her head nervously. "So, um, Fakir, have you talked to this…boy? Um…"

Fakir nodded, his face wearing a small smirk. "He must've told you about his little city with Prince Siegfried, Princess Rue, Princess Tutu and 'the knight'." Fakir said sarcastically. "Raetsel decided that she wanted to write a story for children. And so she did. Come here." He motioned her to follow him into the room across the hall.

Duck stayed out in the hall just to see the kids from where she was standing. Fakir reached onto a table, grabbing a small child's book. It was a very new book; Duck could smell the pages as if it was fresh parchment and ink. The book was a dark purple color with a raven embellished on the front. There was also Princess Tutu, in her beautiful ballet dress. In the background was Princess Kraehe, her wings spread out and there was also Fakir and Mytho in the foreground near Tutu. The title was large on the bottom, Prinzessin und der Rabe.

"'Princess and the Raven?'" Duck read off the cover.

"Kind of ironic, isn't it?" Fakir said. "I've never told her anything of what really happened but she claims she knows most of it just from asking some people in town. Some people remember and others don't. The townspeople basically act like…just like it was all some story, which I guess it was." He sighed as Duck handed back the book to him. "Ryley hasn't stopped talking about the story since Raetsel told him what she knows."

"But…there are things Raetsel can't know that Ryley does! Like Rue, and you being the knight…" Duck said and Fakir nodded.

"I told him those things." he said simply. Duck looked at him in disbelief. "What? It wasn't fair that Rue and I went unknown. We went through quite a bit to, you know."

Duck shrugged, agreeing with him. "Still, is it okay for little kids to know? I mean…"

Fakir shook his head. "Silly, it's just for play. Have fun that you're known…you know all three versions of you." He rubbed Duck's head like she remembered which caused her to blush.

Play…

Yeah…our life really has been a play.

Duck thought as she followed Fakir back into the room with the kids.