It was unlike anything Fakir had ever seen before.
Once they bid farewell to the Auspex and his sanctuary, Duck got antsier and antsier the closer they got to Siegfried's castle. She's been excited before but the fast-approaching wedding must be working her up even worse. She rarely allowed him to carry her, trying to flutter along and waddle as fast as her little legs could carry her.
Of course she would be frantic. The Prince is about to get married.
Fakir stops in his tracks a moment at the sudden foreign thought. A sinking feeling of realization washes over him, making him sick to his stomach.
"Duck," he says, throat suddenly dry. "Duck, we have to leave."
Her hesitation weighs down on him before she flails and quacks in response.
"I don't think we should stay," Fakir continues, picking her up again despite her winging about. "I don't know if we should even go to the wedding."
"Quaaaa-!"
Duck flaps her way out of his grasp with a huff and stubbornly flies towards the castle. Fakir tries to keep up but Duck has grown surprisingly fast. Finally, in a last ditch, he risks letting his mind have its way and cries out, "Tutu, come back!"
They stood still, Duck stopping in midair and falling straight to the ground. Fakir recovers first and rushes to pick her up.
"I'm sorry," he murmurs to her, cradling her close and softly stroking her feathers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think we'd get stuck like this. I didn't know..."
She tries to pat him back with her wings, attempting to reassure him even as she was reeling. He shakes his head, dizzy and no longer able to resist the pull of the story.
"I'm sorry if I ever forced anything on you or made a choice you didn't want," Fakir whispers. "All I really want... all I really want is for you to be happy. I- I want you to be able to dance again, the way you did before. Even if it means I couldn't, I want you to be able to dance."