No No 22: Hi people!

Ahiru: Hi No No!

Fakir: Hn.

No No 22: You're still mad about chapter two? You're such a baby.

Fakir: Shut-up!

No No 22: Make me!

Fakir: You're going to wish you'd never said that.

No No 22: Oh yeah!

Fakir: Yeah!

Ten minutes later…

Fakir: (groan) How the hell did you get so good at fighting.

No No 22: Practice.

Ahiru: Anyways…I brought some friends. This is Rue and Mytho!

Rue and Mytho: Hi, nice to meet you.

No No 22: Nice to meet you, too. Glad you could come.

Rue and Mytho: Thanks.

Ahiru: So have you named this chapter?

No No 22: Yeah I have. Here's chapter three, The Invitation.


'Where I'm I?' Fakir thought. He looked around; it was pitch black. He walked around, not know where he was going. Then he saw a silver light in the distance that shown brightly. For some reason he started to run towards the light, knowing that it could be dangerous. As he got closer, he realized that the light was actually Ahiru. Seeing Ahiru caused Fakir to run even faster.

"Ahiru!" Fakir called out to her. He saw Ahiru look at him. For a moment she stood there, waiting for him, but then a figure started to dance around her. Fakir stared wide-eyed at the figure, and stopped running. The figure was a boy around his age. He had black messy hair, turquoise eyes, and was wearing the outfit of a prince. As much as Fakir hated to admit, the boy danced pretty well. Fakir looked at Ahiru, and to his surprise she was wearing a remarkable lavender dress, built for a princess. Fakir noticed that Ahiru was smiling at the boy, the smile that only he had gotten. Fakir started to run again, towards Ahiru and the dancing boy. As he ran, the boy stopped in front of Ahiru in a kneeling position. He held out his hand to her. Ahiru stared to get closer to him, hesitantly at first. When she was a foot away from him, she started to reach her hand out to his.

"Ahiru!" Fakir called out to her again. But she didn't hear him. For some reason, no matter how fast Fakir ran, he didn't get closer to Ahiru. As a matter of fact, Ahiru and the boy were getting farther away, by every step Fakir took.

"AHIRU!" Fakir shouted. Again, Ahiru did not hear him. She then finally put her hand into the boy's hand. And as soon as she did, everything became pitch black, and there was Drosselmeyer's mocking laugh.

"Poor wittle Fakir. He can't do anything to stop the big bad writer, he, he," Drosselmeyer chuckled.

Fakir sat up in bed, panting. Like the last time, he was covered in cold sweat. He looked at his watch; it was 8:45 in the morning. Fakir held his face in his hands, frustrated.

'What I'm I going to do?' Fakir thought. He sighed. 'Maybe some fresh air will help me think.'

Fakir was about to get out of bed, when he realized two arms were wrapped around his waist. Fakir looked to his left, and saw Ahiru sleeping peacefully. Fakir blushed.

'Since when did I fell asleep with her?' he thought. Ahiru murmured something in her sleep, and wrapped her arms tighter around Fakir's waist, bringing him closer to her. Fakir blushed even harder. After a few moments, his face cooled down. Fakir looked at Ahiru sadly. He pushed back a bit of her hair out of her eyes, and then softly stroked Ahiru's cheek. During the process, Ahiru's eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Fakir with a pair of confused eyes, which soon became bright.

"Qua, quack!" Ahiru said joyfully. Good morning!

Fakir frowned. He got out of bed, with Ahiru still hanging on to him. He calmly detached her arms from his waist. Fakir turned to face Ahiru who again had a bewildered look on her face.

"First of all, you're not a duck anymore, so stop quacking. Second, we need to go have some breakfast. And third…are you sure you don't remember me?" Fakir said. Ahiru shook her head. Fakir sighed. "Not even a little?"

Ahiru shook her head again. Fakir sighed again. He looked at Ahiru for a moment, then at his watch; it was 9:00. Fakir headed towards the door. As he opened the door, he motioned Ahiru to follow. Ahiru obeyed and followed. As they made their way to the kitchen, Fakir noticed Ahiru looking around curiously. Her cerulean orbs were just full of non-dying curiosity and brightness, like they were before she had lost her memory. Fakir smiled at the thought, but the smile disappeared when he felt something slam against his face.

"Ow!" Fakir said staggering backwards. He opened his eyes, and realized that he had slammed into the kitchen wall. Fakir heard some giggling behind him. He turned around and saw Ahiru laughing, making a smile crawl onto his face. Ahiru stopped laughing after a moment, and stared intently at Fakir. He motioned her towards a chair.

"Sit down," Fakir said gently. Ahiru hesitantly sat down, as Fakir went into the kitchen. He was getting the supplies to make pancakes when he felt someone behind. He turned his head slightly, and saw Ahiru looking over his shoulder curiously.

"Wh-at…are y-you…d-do-ing?" Ahiru asked, unsure if she had said her sentence correctly. Fakir stared at her for a moment, amazed that she had spoken in the human language; it wasn't totally perfect, but it was understandable.

"I'm making pancakes," Fakir replied. Ahiru let out a soft 'oh.' "I should teach you how to say a few words while I'm at it. Hmmmm, lets start with your name. Say Ahiru."

"A-hi-ru…Ahiru," Ahiru said.

"Very good. Okay, now say 'my name is Ahiru," Fakir said, as he started to make his first pancake.

"My…name is…Ahiru," Ahiru said, confidently.

"Good," Fakir said. "How about my name; say Fakir."

"Fak-ir…Fakir…Your name…is…Fakir," Ahiru said.

Fakir smiled at her proudly.

"I did…good?" Ahiru said.

"Yes. Better than I thought you would," Fakir said. He felt a hand smack him upside the head. "Hey! What was that for!?"

"You…call-ing me…dumb," Ahiru said angrily.

"No I wasn't. All I said was that you're doing better than I thought you would," Fakir said angrily.

Ahiru smacked him again.

"Eggs-act-ly," Ahiru said.

"I didn't mean to offend you! And it exactly, not eggs-act-ly!" Fakir shouted.

"Hmph," Ahiru said, as she went and sat at the table.

'She's still stubborn, and she still hits me. Tch, figures,' Fakir thought. After ten minutes, Fakir and Ahiru were at the table, silently eating their pancakes. Or at least Fakir was. Ahiru was looking at her pancakes, not knowing what to do. Noticing this, Fakir got up and walked towards her. Once next to her, he grabbed her knife and fork and started to cut the pancakes in to pieces for her. When Fakir was done, he gave Ahiru her fork.

"Eat your pancakes with the fork," he had said, before going back to his seat. Fakir watched as Ahiru studied the fork. She then slowly stabbed a piece of pancake, happy that she managed to grab it, and put it in her mouth. At first, she was chewing slowly, but then her eyes grew wide in delight and started to chew rapidly. She stabbed another piece stuffed it in her mouth. She let out a quack of joy, and continued to eat rapidly. Fakir watched in amazement, and then sighed.

"This is going to be a long day," Fakir muttered.


"Where are…we…go-ing?" Ahiru asked. It was 12 in the afternoon; Fakir and Ahiru were making their way through the busy village. So far, since they had woken up, Fakir was able to teach Ahiru more than 30 simple sentences.

"We're going to a store to get you some clothes to wear," Fakir replied casually.

"Clothes?" Ahiru said, looking confused.

"Yeah. Clothes are what everyone is wearing," Fakir said. Fakir sensed Ahiru look around her.

"Oh," Ahiru said. Fakir smiled to himself.

'She's cute when she's clueless,' Fakir thought, but then blushed when he realized what he just thought. He felt himself bump into someone.

"Sorry," Fakir said as he looked at the person he bumped into, but then froze. The person stole a glance at him and Ahiru before walking off. For a long time, Fakir continued to stare at the person, but snapped out of his trance when he felt a tug at his sleeve.

"What is wrong, Fakir?" Ahiru said, looking into his eyes.

"Nothing…come on, lets get going," Fakir said, leading the way again.

As he walked, the person that he had bumped into, kept crossing his mind.

'It couldn't be him, could it? No…it just can't be,' Fakir thought, as he stopped in front of a parlor shop. He walked into the shop, closely followed by Ahiru. A young man came walking towards them. The man had brown curly hair, brown eyes that were filled with joy, and was wearing black overalls and a white collared shirt.

"Welcome to Endo's Parlor shop. I'm Taiki Endo, how may I help you?" the man said in a cheerful voice.

"Er…well I need some clothes for my friend here," Fakir said as he motioned at Ahiru. The man smiled brightly at Ahiru, who returned the smile.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone as beautiful as her, other than my wife, Misha of course," Taiki said. "Would you like them made, or would you like to choose your clothing?"

Ahiru looked at him then at Fakir, with a confused expression.

"If you don't mind, she would like them made," Fakir said.

"Excellent! Misha! We got customers!" Taiki called out. Minutes later, a young beautiful woman appeared from a door, behind the counter. She had blond hair and green eyes, and was wearing a lavender gown.

"I guess we do have some customers. And they're such a lovely couple," said the young woman. Fakir and Ahiru blushed. (She might have lost her memories, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know what love is and what couples are.)

"W-we're not a c-couple. We're j-just friends," Fakir said. Ahiru nodded.

"Right," the woman said sarcastically. "Do you have any preference in color for your clothes?"

"What color do you think she'll look good in?" Fakir asked.

"Misha is an expert when it comes with colors and people," Taiki said proudly.

"Oh stop it," Misha said, blushing. "Please follow me."

Misha went behind the counter and through the door she had came out of. Fakir and Ahiru followed her, hesitantly, and left Taiki alone. The room they had entered was full of cloth of all colors. In the center of the room were five footstools. A boy and three girls occupied four of them; eight women were working them all. It seemed the boy was being made a suit, and the girls…well the girls just wanted new dresses. Fakir and Ahiru found Misha looking around in a row of colorful cloth.

"Hmmmm. Ah, I think these will suit her," Misha said, as she grabbed long chunks of cloth, the colors of emerald green, sunshine yellow, snow white, lavender, ocean blue, and midnight black. "Would you like them all to be dresses?"

"Yes please," Ahiru said without stuttering or pausing. Misha smiled and nodded.

"Then please follow me," Misha said. Fakir and Ahiru followed Misha back to the center of the room again. Misha gestured Ahiru to stand on the footstool. As Ahiru stood on footstool, Fakir noticed the boy was staring at her with dazed eyes. Fakir didn't blame him, Ahiru was absolutely beautiful, but non-the less, he shot him a death glare. The boy noticed it and immediately tore his gaze away from Ahiru. Fakir smirked, and turned his gaze towards Ahiru. Misha was measuring how tall she was from chest down. She then measured Ahiru around the waist and around her chest. She told the measurements to a woman with brown silky hair that stood beside her.

"Now, we'll have her dresses done in about an hour or so. So you can go run along and be back in an hour," Misha said with a bright smile. "Oh by the way, what are your names?"

"My name…is Ahiru," Ahiru said. "And…his name is Fakir."

Fakir smiled at Ahiru. She was getting better and better, and it's only been a few hours.

"Ahiru and Fakir…I swear you to do make a good couple," Misha teased.

"No we don't!" Fakir and Ahiru said, blushing. Misha giggled, and walked off with the woman, holding the cloth she had picked out. Fakir and Ahiru stood there for a moment, before they started to leave. Taiki had said good-bye before they left, and told them to come back soon, which they will. As they walked through the busy crowd, Fakir noticed a big crowd of girls; fan girls to be exact. Fakir heard one of them squeal with joy. He immediately knew what was going to happen next. Fakir quickly grabbed Ahiru's hand and started to run. Fakir heard running feet a few feet behind them, so he ran a bit faster. But then he noticed that Ahiru was having a hard time keeping up.

'Damn it,' Fakir thought. Without thinking, he scooped up Ahiru, and ran as fast as he could. Ahiru was a bit surprised when Fakir scooped her up, but she let it pass. She looked over his shoulder and noticed a stampede of girls. Ahiru's eyes widened at the sight, she now knew why Fakir was running. Luckily though, she noticed that the girls were falling behind. As Fakir ran with Ahiru in his arms, Ahiru noticed that people were staring at them in bewilderment, and couldn't help but feeling embarrassed. She thought that it must look really weird for them to see a boy run with a girl in his arms, while a stampede of girls were after them (well they're actually after Fakir, but you get the point). Ahiru then felt Fakir make a sharp turn to the right into a dark alleyway. Fakir then pressed himself against the wall, and watched the girls pass his hiding place. Fakir let out a sigh of relief, and put Ahiru down. For a moment they stayed quiet and stared at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

"That was quite a work out, wasn't it?" Fakir said to Ahiru, who nodded. Fakir looked at his watch and sighed. "Well we still have 50 minutes to go. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't…know," Ahiru said with a shrug.

"Why don't we go to the lake? We always went there in theses situations," Fakir suggested.

"Yes! Let us go…to the lake!" Ahiru said. "I…love the lake!"

"Yes I know. After all you were a duck," Fakir said with a smile. "Come on."

Fakir turned around and started to lead the way towards the lake, Ahiru happily following close behind. As they walked through the village Fakir noticed there were many eyes following Ahiru, most of them were hungry looking boys, and envious girls. Fakir also noticed that it has gotten chilly. He quickened his pace a bit, and looked back at Ahiru. She was looking around happily, her cerulean eyes still filled with curiosity. He felt something freezing and wet surround his foot. Fakir down and noticed that he had stepped into the lakes water; he didn't notice how fast he had been walking. He shivered and took his foot out of the water.

"The lake is pretty…isn't it," Ahiru said, as she looked admirably at the lake.

"Yeah I guess…" Fakir said.

"But it is cold," Ahiru said, hugging herself.

"Yeah it is," Fakir said. He then felt something-or rather someone-lean against his chest. Fakir looked down to see Ahiru pressed against his body. Fakir felt himself go red. "W-What are y-you doing?"

"Your body…it is so…warm," Ahiru replied, cuddling against Fakir's chest, causing him to blush even more. After a few moments, Fakir gave in and wrapped his arms around Ahiru. And they stayed in that position for a long time, without moving. Ahiru noticed that Fakir smelled nice. She smiled and buried her face in his shoulder, taking in the scent. She felt Fakir stroke her hair lovingly. Ahiru felt a weird feeling in her stomach, it felt as if someone had let out a jar butterflies in her stomach. Then a question ran across her mind; had she really known Fakir before? He kept asking if she remembered him at all.

"Fakir," Ahiru said, lifting her head and looked up at Fakir.

"Hm," Fakir said looking at Ahiru.

"How long…have you…known me?" Ahiru said.

"Do you really want to know?" Fakir asked. Ahiru nodded. "We've known each other for two years."

Ahiru's eyes widened in shock.

"R-really?" Ahiru stuttered. Fakir nodded slowly. "How come…I don't remember a-anything?"

Fakir looked at her, not knowing if he should tell her or not.

"Fakir. Why aren't you…answering me?" Ahiru said.

Fakir sighed and closed his eyes. He had to tell her, he just knew he had to. Fakir reopened his eyes, and stared into Ahiru's eyes.

"Ahiru you-

Fakir stopped suddenly and looked up at the sky; he thought he heard horns coming from above. Thinking it was just a figment of his imagination, Fakir was about to look at Ahiru, when he heard the horns again. He looked up again and saw a bright light shine through the dark clouds up in the sky. The light was getting closer, as well as the sound of the horns. In a matter of seconds, four white swans appeared through the clouds; a carriage attached to them. It was the same carriage that Rue and Mytho had ridden and disappeared in the clouds, and both carriage and swans were glowing brilliantly. In side the carriage, were two young men Fakir had never seen before. The men were standing with horns in their hands, their mouths against the mouthpiece of the horns. Fakir knew that they were messengers of Rue and Mytho and that they meant no harm, but that still didn't stop him from pulling Ahiru closer to him. Fakir wrapped an arm around Ahiru protectively as they watched the swans landed the carriage at the edge of the lake. The men blew the horns once more before stepping out of the carriage, and walked towards them. One of the men had long brown hair tied in a ponytail, and the other had short messy blond hair. They both had violet eyes and wore the same uniform; a silver shirt and black trousers. They also looked a lot alike, as if they were brothers. The man with the long hair seemed to be older then the blond haired man, at least by a year or two. The blond haired man reached in his pocket and brought out a silver envelope, embroidered with swan seal, which kept the envelope closed. The man handed it to Fakir, who reluctantly took it. There was an awkward silence, but was broken by the older man.

"Well, aren't you going to open it," he said.

Fakir nodded, and looked at the letter for a moment before he opened it. Inside the envelope was a letter that said the following:

Dear Fakir and Ahiru,

Sorry that Rue and I haven't contacted you for quiet a while, we've been really busy lately. Being a ruler is so hard; you have to sign papers all day, you have to read papers all day, you have to listen to peoples complaints all day, you have to keep the people happy every day, and etcetera. But anyways, the point of why I'm writing to the both of you is to invite you to my wedding. I know…you thought that we've already gotten married, well we haven't. I'm also writing to you, because I want to let you know that I have a bad feeling that Drosselmeyer is up to something. I think he's writing a continuation for his last story, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, it's bad, so you guys have to watch out. The day you come to my wedding is when we'll talk about the situation, but in the mean time think of what you're going to wear for the wedding. Well Ahiru, you can't dress and I'm sorry that you can't, but Fakir, you can, and you better look nice. Oh and when you come to my castle in the sky, you are so going to be amazed. The date of my wedding is on the 20th of December, three days from now!

Yours truly,
Mytho

Fakir stared at the letter in his hand. Mytho figured out that Drosselmeyer is writing a sequel, but he doesn't know what the old man did to Ahiru.

'How am I going to explain it to him?' Fakir thought.

"Hey are you done reading? Is it really that long of a letter?" said the younger man. Fakir looked up at the men, with a questioning look.

"Aren't you just supposed to deliver the letter and then go?" Fakir asked.

"Well yeah, but we aren't suppose to leave until you give us an answer to the invitation," the older man said.

"What are your names?" Fakir said.

"I'm Koji and this is my older brother Ryoji," the younger man said.

"We're the messengers of Prince Mytho and Princess Rue," Ryoji said. "What are your names?"

"I'm Fakir and this is Ahiru, we're friends of Rue and Mytho, and the answer's yes," Fakir said.

"Excellent. Well, we'll be on our way. See you in three days," Koji said.

"Why three days?" Ahiru asked. Both men looked at her with hungry eyes, like the other men in the village.

"Cause that's when we come to pick you up, Ahiru," Ryoji said gently.

"Oh," Ahiru said. "See you then."

"Yeah see you," Koji and Ryoji said, as they got into the carriage. As soon as they were inside, the swans started to flap their wings and take off into the sky. Ahiru and Fakir stood there and watched the carriage disappear into the sky. Once the swans and carriage disappeared, it started to snow.


No No 22: Yay! My third chapter is done!

Ahiru: Good for you No No!

Mytho: You did an excellent job!

Rue: Yeah!

No No 22: Yay me. (claps)

Everyone laughs.

No No 22: Hey where's Fakir?

Mytho: He was here a minute ago.

Rue: What if something bad happened to him.

No No 22: What if he was eaten by something.

Ahiru: Fakir! (looks around franticly)

Fakir: Yes.

Ahiru: Oh thank goodness you're okay! (hugs Fakir)

Fakir: (blushes) Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be? Hey No No, end this chapter already.

No No 22: (giggles) That's so cute. Anyways, next chapter is called, The Castle, the Wedding, and Urgh.