Once upon a time, there was a lonely woman. Every day this woman would search for love, and every day the woman would return brokenhearted. Eventually the woman died as alone as she had lived. Could it truly have been that she was unloved, or did she secretly believe she didn't deserve to be loved?
Fakir stared, miffed, at the pair on his doorstep. Autor had promised before midnight, and perhaps it was before midnight, but just barely. He took one look at the way Ahiru giggled and clung to Autor and felt the strong compulsion to punch the other male.
Autor returned Fakir's stare with as much fervor as he gently shouldered the slap-happy Ahiru toward the green-haired man.
"Fakiiir!" She screeched much too loudly for the hour.
Fakir chose to ignore her as he untangled her hold from the pianist. "I take it you had a good time." He ground out.
"Fakkiiirrrr~" the girl sang out again, letting go of Autor and stumbling into Fakir's side. She laughed as she supported herself on him. "Le's dansss, Fakkiiirrrrr. Otter sai' nooo."
His eyes widened in realization and he snapped his head back to Autor. "Is she drunk?!" He was furious.
"It seems she has a taste for wine." Autor stated matter-of-factly.
The urge to knock the teeth of out the cocky bastard's head grew. "What the hell, Autor!? How did this even happen!"
Autor at least had the social grace to look sorry. "I… apologize. I wasn't able to keep an eye on her while performing. I should have informed the waiters not to give her too much. I… didn't think she'd like it, to be honest."
Fakir's fist clenched, but a very inebriated Ahiru clung tightly into his side, cooing girlishly and effectively distracting him.
"I should go," Autor relented. "I made sure she ate something and had some water. I will check back up on her tomorrow."
"Don't bother," Fakir glared pointedly. Autor clearly ignored him.
"Thank you for your company, Ahiru."
"Byyeeeee Aut'r!" Ahiru mewled from Fakir's side. She tried to give him a hug goodbye, but Fakir's arm held her tightly to him. She frowned, confused why she wasn't able to move her body the way she wanted, and settled on waving. "Le'ss piano 'gain!"
Fakir inadvertently tightened his grip in irritation.
"Ouch!" Ahiru whined as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp.
"Sorry…" Fakir murmured and quickly loosened his grip, but not enough that she could slip away from him. "Did anything bad happen?"
Ahiru leaned heavily into him and shook her head. "Nooo. He played piano niiccee." She looked up at him, her mouth and part of her nose hidden in the bunched up cloth of his shirt. "Lotsa juice, thoo." She giggled blearily and buried her face in his clothes.
Fakir sighed and helped her out of her coat before he carefully picked her up, not trusting her to be able to make it to her room.
"Woooo!" she snickered loudly, moving her arms to tightly grip his shoulders and nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. "Y' smell good."
His face flushed, a strong waft of alcohol the only thing stopping him from focusing solely on her proximity, or the way he could feel her breath on his skin, or how her lips brushed against his collarbone as she spoke. He gulped, "H-how much did you drink, Ahiru?"
"Many."
"I noticed," Fakir lamented as he carried her up the stairs. He was not going to think about how perfectly she fit in his arms. Nor was he going to think about how delightfully warm she was. And he was definitely not going to think about how soft her lips were and how they were still brushing his collarbone whenever she spoke or just breathed or anything of that nature.
He clumsily opened the door, causing Ahiru to give a weary attempt at a giggle. Carefully setting her down on her bed, Fakir exhaled in relief. "Can you get yourself dressed?"
"Mm-mm," she dissented while snuggling into her bed. "You can, if you wan'," she drawled.
If his face was red before, it was much redder now. "Idiot! I'm not—" he stopped short, noticing the evenness of her breaths. She was asleep.
He sighed, his body visibly releasing tension. He kneeled down on the floor next to her bed and rested his head on his forearms. Even the ravishes of drunkenness couldn't destroy her beauty. Her salmon-colored locks twisted elegantly around her face, her long black eyelashes brushed her flushed and freckle-dusted cheeks, her rosy lips barely parted as she breathed. The pearlescent stone rested above her heart. Unthinkingly, he brushed some of the unrulier strands of hair out of her face.
He would never admit it, but he had been worried about her; dark emotions twisted deep in his gut every second she was gone. Emotions he wasn't sure he would ever be ready to admit he had. Fakir didn't know when she got ahold of him so tightly, but he was certain he never wanted to go back to before. He let his fingers graze her cheek, his whole body freezing when it caused her to stir.
"I missed you, Fakir…" she murmured in her sleep. Moments passed before he let his body relax, certain she was, in fact, asleep.
He watched her a moment longer before pulling a blanket over her. He silently rose to his feet and went to the door. Fakir allowed himself to check one last time to make sure she was comfortably situated before quietly pulling it closed.
"I missed you, too."
It was way too bright and that pounding was way too loud. Ahiru was almost certain that whoever was making that noise had absolutely no manners about them at all. In the least. Wearily, she cracked one eye open to try and find the source of the noise.
Birds.
She couldn't muster up the energy to be too excited, but she had enough sense to know if she wanted the noise to stop she had better give them what they came for.
Wow, her head hurt.
Ahiru groaned and opened the window, shielding her eyes and bracing herself against the cold while cautiously pushing the bird seed dish forward.
Maybe it was a blessing only a few birds had made this part of their morning routine as of yet.
"I'm not feeling too well," Ahiru mumbled to the birds, too afraid of the bright light of the sun to risk actually seeing if any birds were paying her any mind.
She noted mutely she was definitely wearing the same dress she wore last night. Leaving the birds to themselves, Ahiru retreated to a darker corner of her room as she tiredly removed the ribbon from around her waist. With great difficultly, Ahiru began pulling at the coiffure she put her hair up in, fighting with some tenacious snarls that were the result both from her clumsy attempts at putting it up and sleeping in it. While struggling with taking her hair out, she tried to recollect what had happened last night to no avail. She remembered going out, some light music, and that was it. She gave up trying to recall anything, and on her hair as well. She managed to get all of it down, but there was no way she was going to even attempt to brush it now.
A shiver ran up her body from the cold pouring in from the window. Peering over from under the protection of her hand, she noticed the birds had left. She was thankful. It was much too cold to just leave the window open for them. She returned the dish to her feed bag before closing the window and quickly turning away.
She moaned again and clutched her stomach. She did not feel well at all. Her stomach gurgled angrily, causing her to blanche as she made a beeline for the bathroom.
Ahiru clenched her eyes shut, tears gathering in the corners as she wretched the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Feeling slightly better, she sunk to her knees while flushing.
A moment passed before a knock sounded at the door. She didn't have the strength to answer.
"Ahiru? Can I come in?"
She moaned her assent.
The door cracked open and Fakir tentatively poked his head in. Seeing she was decent, Fakir opened the door the rest of the way and offered her a glass of water. "Drink this."
Ahiru groaned, but forced herself to take the glass from him. The water tasted sickly sweet after throwing up, but she drank it anyway.
Fakir knelt down next to her. "Feel better?"
She pursed her lips before handing the cup back. "A little bit…"
"You should probably eat."
Her stomach trembled at the thought; she would've shaken her head vehemently but that idea made her head ache. "No."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "What were you thinking, drinking all that wine?"
"Wine?" She tried to think back to the night before. Autor had given her a glass of some awful tasting drink. "Was that wine?"
"Honestly, Ahiru. Surely even you know you have to drink alcohol in moderation!"
She whimpered pathetically when her stomach flopped, readying herself over the toilet to empty more of whatever was in her stomach. Nothing came. She waited a moment before resting her arms and head upon the seat. Did she know? Sure, she had heard of wine, but she didn't know what wine was, objectively speaking. Being a duck for most of her life didn't really teach her drink etiquette.
After she didn't respond Fakir stood up. "You should probably take a bath, it'll help." Ahiru accepted the towel he offered her moments later. "I'll make you something for after, hopefully then you'll be able to stomach it."
He closed the door softly behind him, prompting Ahiru to groggily push herself off the floor. She figured Fakir probably knew better than she did and drew a hot bath.
It took her longer than usual to get undressed, and she was notably more careless with her laundry, just dropping it unceremoniously on the floor. Once the tub was adequately filled and Ahiru was satisfied with the temperature, she let herself sink into the hot water. The warmth was relaxing, enough so she almost fell back asleep. An accidental slip too far into the water woke her right back up, coughing and sputtering.
Ahiru let her mind wander back to the night before. The night played back in her mind in a series of short, disconnected episodes with a great deal of unknown connecting pieces. She remembered going out with Autor, and him giving her a glass of that awful drink—of which she will never drink again, thank you very much—eating some bread, and falling out of Autor's arms when she tried to show him how to do an arabesque on the way home. With a scowl, Ahiru started working her fingers through the knots in her hair while they floated under water. She wondered if she should be thankful she couldn't remember everything she said and did while drunk. It was probably saving her a great deal of embarrassment.
She paused when she heard a scuffle downstairs. Was that Autor? Ahiru winced as she pulled free another knot. No, probably just the echoes of last night playing in her mind, trying to remind her of all the stupid things she did. She sighed and grabbed the washcloth hanging over the side of the tub. Time to scrub away the dirt and bad memories.
Ahiru sighed as she stepped out of the draining bath and wrapped herself in a towel. Fakir had been right, she wasn't one hundred percent, but she certainly felt tons better. She lazily picked up her dirty clothes and padded back to her room as discreetly as possible. Shutting the door behind her, Ahiru winced at the bright light shining through her window. Normally she'd admire the smattering of rainbow dancing on her floor from the ornament Fakir had given her, but she couldn't bear to.
"Never again," she muttered as she tiredly rubbed her body dry with the towel.
It took some serious will power, but Ahiru was eventually able to get herself dressed. Her hair was beyond her patience at the moment, so she wrapped the towel around her hair and propped it atop her head.
At least her stomach had stopped flip-flopping. She gingerly crept out of her room, afraid of the effects noises had on her head. The smell of bacon wafted up the stairs. Breakfast actually sounded really good right now.
"You feel better?" Fakir turned to her when she entered the kitchen.
Ahiru nodded, thankful he spoke softly. "Yeah," she murmured, "my head still hurts, though."
Fakir put a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of her as she sat down. "A hangover will do that."
She ate with much less vigor than she usually did. Fakir exhaled sympathetically as he set a glass of water near her. "Do you remember anything from last night?"
"Not really," she admitted. "Bits and pieces. Mostly me being an idiot." She pouted as she drank some water. "What's that?" She nodded to the bouquet of red roses and white lilies sitting on the kitchen counter.
Fakir groused. "Autor dropped them off."
"Today?"
"While you were in the bath. He wanted to wait, but I told him to get lost." Fakir paused, hoping the duck wouldn't be cross with him.
Ahiru didn't acknowledge his admission and looked at the roses curiously. "They're gorgeous." She regarded them for a second before continuing. "They remind me of Rue and Mytho. They're not very much like me at all, are they?"
Fakir didn't quite know how to respond to her. He eventually laughed and shook his head, "No, not really."
"What did Autor leave them here for?"
Fakir would've choked had he been eating something. "You're kidding, right?" He knew she was dense, but surely she should have figured it out on her own, right? He almost felt bad for Autor. Almost.
Ahiru groaned as her hair wrap tumbled to the side and set her fork down impatiently. "Ugghh! My stupid hair won't just do what I want it to!" She frowned and glared at the towel laying on the ground.
Fakir picked up her empty plate and started washing it in the sink. If she didn't want to press the Autor subject, he wasn't going to. "Have you combed it?"
"Have I combed it?!" Ahiru repeated back, her voice a slightly higher pitch than normal. She grumbled under her breath and leaned her head on the table. "I tried." Her voice was full of emotion.
'Great,' Fakir thought, 'She's moody when recovering. Dually noted.'
"Fakiiiiiiir." She was whining.
Fakir didn't know if he liked where this was going.
"Fakkiiiiiiirrrrr," she tried again.
"What?"
"Comb my hair for me."
"No."
Ahiru hummed happily as she sat between Fakir's legs, her hair splayed out across his legs, the bed, and the floor.
"Hey, don't move so much. This knot is particularly bad, and you're making it harder." Fakir complained as he worked a wide tooth comb into a knot.
"Oops, sorry!" Ahiru apologized and straightened her back in response, trying her best to stay rigid and still. A moment passed before she slowly started relaxing her muscles back into a slouch.
"How did it get this bad?"
Ahiru shrugged. "It's not like anyone ever taught me how to take care of my hair."
"But you do… brush it every day, right?"
"Yeah, but I don't know how to do anything other than braid. And I slept with it already tangled up, and I'm sure the bath didn't help."
Fakir sighed. "Have you considered getting a haircut?"
She glared at him.
"Alright, then."
Ahiru began toying with the strands Fakir had given her to hold after he had finished detangling them. "Have you ever had alcohol?"
Fakir handed her another chunk of tangle-free hair. "Yeah."
"Really?!" She turned to look at him, earning several aggravated shouts in response. "Sorry!" She immediately turned back around. "Did you get drunk?"
He started reorganizing the hair Ahiru had managed to get mixed up. "A few times."
"What happened?" Ahiru asked, wondering if her experience was the norm.
"I was upset, so I thought it was a good idea to drink." He gently nudged through another snarl. "Drinking is… well, it certainly doesn't help. It makes you act stupid. So, I stopped."
"Why were you upset?"
He wasn't about to admit he was nursing a broken heart after she had gone back to being a duck. "Just life."
Ahiru rested an empathetic hand on his foot. "Yeah," she murmured softly. Thankfully, she let the subject drop and began humming a new tune.
Fakir was able to make quick work of a few more tangles, enjoying the tranquility of the moment. Ahiru seemed to have had a fast recovery from her hangover, and the tune she was humming was rather pleasant.
A giggle from the doorway interrupted the peace, causing Fakir to stiffen before whipping his head toward the sound.
"Aw, look at you! I didn't know you had such a soft side, Fakir!"
Leaning against the jamb was a young woman with long, brown hair which was tied back, a teasing smile upon her lips, and a knit mauve shawl hanging from her arms.
"Raetzel!"
She laughed again, "It's been a while, Fakir! And who might you be?" Raetzel sweetly directed her question to the girl sitting on the floor.
"Ahiru." She couldn't help the blush spreading across her cheeks, though she wasn't sure why she was embarrassed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ahiru."
"Why are you here, Raetzel?" Fakir made to stand up, but she put out a hand to stop him.
"I didn't mean to interrupt. No one answered when I knocked and the door was unlocked… I can wait downstairs."
"I-uh—no! We're—I'm pretty much done. I'll… I'll go make, uhm, tea." Fakir disengaged himself from Ahiru's hair and hurried past the unannounced guest.
The older woman sighed, "Oh dear, I didn't want to embarrass him." She looked back at the girl blushing on the ground. "He didn't even finish your hair, did he? If you'd like, I can do your hair."
"Uhmm… I guess, if you don't mind?"
Raetzel beamed softly as she approached the girl and carefully adjusted her long locks in her lap. She tenderly began combing out the remaining snarls. "So, Ahiru, was it?"
"Mm-hm." Ahiru confirmed with a small nod.
"You have such long, pretty hair! I'm jealous!" Raetzel skillfully smoothed out the last knot while she giggled. "I've never seen Fakir be so caring! You must be someone special!"
Before Ahiru could respond, the brunette started dividing Ahiru's hair, "You have so much hair! Please let me put it up for you!"
"Okay!" the salmon-haired girl quickly agreed. She had never had someone else do her hair—unless you counted Fakir combing her hair just now. With perfect posture, Ahiru sat raptly, focusing on the feeling of Raetzel's fingers weaving through her hair. Only a few moments passed before Raetzel took a few pins from the brush platter beside her and pushed them into Ahiru's hair.
"All done!" Raetzel leaned forward with a hand mirror to show Ahiru her work.
Ahiru couldn't see all of it, but from the side angles it looked like Raetzel had French braided side pieces into a low-lying bun, from under which a fish tail braid cascaded. "Wow! It's amazing!" Ahiru grinned up at her hair stylist. "You're amazing! I can't do anything like this!"
Raetzel smirked conspiratorially. "I got a lot of practice when I was younger. Don't tell Fakir I told you, but I used to braid his hair all the time."
Ahiru looked up at her in amazement. "Really?" She tired her best to imagine Fakir with extravagantly braided hair, but couldn't seem to reconcile the image with the one she had in her head of him. "I'd love to see that!"
"Remember, don't tell him I told you!" Raetzel repeated and stood up. She offered the younger girl her hand. "Speaking of Fakir, we better go downstairs, or he'll get suspicious of what we're talking about."
Jumping to her feet, Ahiru gladly took the lead. It was nice to see Raetzel again, she hardly got to speak with her last time she was in Goldkrone Town. She was dying to ask about her husband and how married life was going, but, in a surprising display of forethought, realized Raetzel didn't remember her from before.
"Great timing," Fakir called over his shoulder as they entered the kitchen. "The tea is just about done." When he turned towards them, his eyes paused on Ahiru's hair. He narrowed his eyes stonily and shot a glance at Raetzel—who, if she had noticed, did not acknowledge that she had.
"I don't suppose you have lemon on hand, do you? I've grown a taste for lemon in my tea."
Fakir shrugged, "I can check."
After confirming Charon did have some lemons on hand, he sliced one up and served it on a small plate alongside her tea.
"You never said why you came to visit." Fakir voiced as he sat down.
Raetzel dropped a lemon wedge in her tea and offered one to Ahiru. "I didn't realize I needed a reason to come visit."
"I didn't mean you weren't welcome."
She chuckled. "I was feeling listless. Hans makes enough money for us to live comfortably, so there's been no need for me to work. It can get unbearably boring, though. And I've been missing you and Charon, so…" she shrugged.
Fakir smiled, "Well you're always welcome here."
Raetzel looked down at her tea, swirling it around her cup. She hesitated before adding, "And I wanted to… apologize. I don't remember much about my last visit—I don't think I was in my right mind—but I think I asked you to write a story… that was cruel of me."
Fakir waved her off, "Long forgotten. Honestly, I've actually started writing again since then, possibly even because of it."
She looked impressed. "Really? Anything I can read?"
"I've been working on some short stories, but nothing I'm ready to divulge."
"You've really grown a lot." She paused and looked over at Ahiru, who was trying to press a lemon seed out of the wedge she had already submerged. "I'm sorry, Ahiru! You must be confused! I grew up around here with Fakir. I always saw myself as a mother figure to him."
"Hm? I kno—I mean—"
Fakir interrupted, "I've told her about you Raetzel. Though, I would've said more of an older sister… Enough about the past, though. How's Hans?"
"Oh! Hans is well. Like I said, he makes good money, but he works an awful lot, so I don't see him much." She stopped before sitting up straighter. "I don't mean to say he's a bad husband. He's actually very thoughtful. He loves surprising me and always makes sure to spend at least two evenings a week at home with me. I'm happy."
"I'm glad." Fakir took a sip of his tea.
Raetzel changed the subject and gestured at the counter behind Fakir. "Those are lovely flowers, Fakir. What's the occasion?"
"What? I didn't—"
"Fakir! Have you—" Charon stopped in the kitchen doorway. "Raetzel!"
"Charon." She stood as she greeted him.
"What a surprise, I wasn't expecting you."
"Speaking of surprises, you didn't tell me Fakir got engaged! And to such a lovely young lady! You should have written me."
It took a moment of Ahiru's gawking at Raetzel's hand which was gesturing towards her to fully comprehend what was being said. At the same time Charon let out a booming laugh, Ahiru nearly screeched, "Quack!" With wide, horrified eyes, she clapped her hands over her mouth.
The older pair turned towards the younger, but before they could say anything Fakir was already pushing Ahiru past them murmuring some excuse.
To Fakir it felt like time had slowed as he ushered Ahiru to her room. He had to hurry before she turned back into a duck, or he would have a lot of questions to answer. When he slammed the door to her room behind him, he finally let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding. Ahiru stared at him, clearly frazzled.
She didn't turn into a duck.
"Ahiru?"
"Yeah?"
Didn't she normally turn into a duck right after quacking?
"You're… you."
"Uhm.. yeah."
Fakir wasn't sure what this meant. "How?"
"I'm… not sure?" Ahiru looked up at him with her wide, blue eyes.
Fakir cleared the space between them in a couple strides. "Quack again."
Ahiru pursed her lips. "Fakir…"
"Do it again."
She sighed wearily, but did as he asked. "Q-quack."
Once again, she didn't change.
"You don't change back into a duck… at all?"
"I guess? I mean, it seems that way." She had to admit she was surprised she didn't change back, but she did remember Drosselmeyer mentioning that she wouldn't turn back anymore.
Fakir sat down on her bed and thoughtfully pressed his finger to his chin. He stood back up a moment later. "Can you… take that necklace off?"
Ahiru froze. Could she? She glanced down at the pendant and rested her hand atop it. It hadn't even occurred to her to even try taking the pendant off. Hesitantly, she reached behind her head. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly overcome by a sense of impending doom, or why her hands were shaking so much, but it took a few tries for her to get a decent grip on the cord.
As soon as cord was just above the intricate bun Raetzel had woven into her hair and the stone dangling just above her chest, a shooting pain consumed her body. A scream twisted its way out of her throat as she began falling to her knees.
Fakir lurched forward and was able to catch her before she made impact. Gingerly, he eased her to the floor and encircled her in his arms. He could feel her heaving breathes as she attempted to calm down; her hands were still tightly curled around the string of her necklace. It took some effort for Fakir to get her to release her hold, but she seemed to relax almost immediately after.
When she finally calmed down enough, she pulled back from Fakir's embrace. "Fakir… I don't think I can take it off."
Fakir nodded. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to try again, but the thought of putting her through more pain was a strong deterrent. He pinched the bridge of his nose. So, she won't change back to a duck, but she can't take the pendant off at all? Part of him wondered what would happen if it was ripped off, despite her pain. The writer quashed this line of thought when a heavy pit of fear began growing in his gut.
Ahiru, however, shared this thought process. With determined eyes, she requested, "You try to take it off."
"Ahiru…"
She shook her head, not budging on her decision. "We should at least test what we can test, right? We know it hurts when I try to take it off, but what if someone else does? Maybe it's similar to when I couldn't get the pendant off in the lake of despair."
Fakir nodded again. He didn't want to cause her pain, but she was speaking logically—not exactly something she was known for. "Okay, but the moment it hurts, stop me okay?"
Ahiru clenched her eyes shut. "Don't tell me when you're going to do it, just do it."
Anxiety flooded Fakir's stomach as he reached out for the simple black string around Ahiru's neck. She looked utterly terrified; he couldn't tear his eyes away from her trembling jaw. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and steeled his resolve. With a sharp motion, he yanked the cord upwards. There was no resistance, it moved exactly how one would expect it to. He barely got it over her head before she shrieked in excruciating pain, causing him to instantly drop it back around her neck as if he were burned.
"Ahiru?!"
She gasped and pressed her hand to her chest. "I'm sorry, I couldn't stand it, it-it's…"
"What's going on up here?!" Charon's voice was filled with panic as pounded at the door. "Ahiru?!" Charon opened the door with more force than he probably intended. Raetzel peered over his shoulder, concern painting her features.
Despite her recent pain, Ahiru began flailing, trying to come up with any believable excuse. "I-I—I uh…"
Fakir attempted to help "Ahiru—"
"—stubbed my toe!" Ahiru wailed. She quickly untucked one of her legs and enveloped her foot in her hand. The toes were red from the awkward angle she had sat upon them, lending some credibility to her story.
"And the first scream?"
"I…" Ahiru blushed and tucked her chin into her chest, focusing on her "hurt" toes. "I stubbed them… twice…" she trailed off, hoping her embarrassment for her lame excuse would be taken for embarrassment of her total clumsiness.
Charon sighed in relief as Raetzel rushed forward, "Oh you poor thing!" She knelt in front of Ahiru and examined her foot. "It doesn't look like you did any major damage or broke any skin. Thank goodness."
"I'm used to your squawks," Charon laughed, "but you must've stubbed them something fierce if you screamed like that." He clearly sounded baffled, if not a tad incredulous.
"S-sorry…" Ahiru bit her lip.
Raetzel stood up, "Fakir, why don't you put Ahiru on the bed and I'll go get a cold compress."
Fakir, still shaken by Ahiru's display of pain, didn't argue. He scooped Ahiru into his arms and set her on the bed.
Raetzel returned not long after, a cold, damp towel in her hands. She sat on the edge of the bed alongside Ahiru and tenderly set the towel under the duck's toes.
"Oh, you don't have to go through all this trouble!" Ahiru insisted.
"Nonsense!" Raetzel dismissed. "It must've hurt pretty bad." With a ginger touch, she probed each toe, double checking if anything was broken.
Ahiru yelped in surprise at the action.
"Was it this one that you stubbed?" The older woman withdrew her hand.
"U-uh, yeah…" Ahiru glanced over at Fakir before looking back at Raetzel and adding with more fervor, "But it really isn't that bad! You don't have to worry, I was just surprised!"
Charon scratched his head, not used to feeling so useless. "It looks like you have this covered Raetzel. I'll go start on some dough. Since we have company, I ought to make something special for dinner, right?"
Raetzel giggled, "If you insist!"
"Fakir," Charon gestured toward the door with his head, "I'll need you to run out and get some groceries for dinner."
Fakir looked like he wanted to protest, but ultimately did not. "Alright." He looked at Ahiru and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. She could see in his eyes he was formulating how long he could spend in the library researching before Charon was suspicious he wasn't just picking up ingredients for dinner. Without another word, he followed Charon out the door.
With a smile, Raetzel tended Ahiru's "injured" foot, wrapping the cold cloth around it to ease any supposed pain. "They sure do care a lot about you."
"Huh?"
The older woman looked up from the younger's foot. "Fakir and Charon. They're not exactly the most personable pair of men in the world." She laughed. "But I can see why. You're so cute!"
Ahiru's face flushed red and she looked at her hands. "I—uh…"
"It doesn't seem like it's as tender anymore." The brunette patted the cold towel along Ahiru's extremities.
"Oh, heh, I'm pretty tough! I was just uh… just surprised! I was surprised after the uh first time and it already uhm hurt so…"
Raetzel gave her foot one last pat and leaned back on her arm, twisting her body to face Ahiru better. "I'm sorry for my misconception earlier. Charon explained to me that he took you in as a ward."
"Huh?"
"You seemed so flustered when I said you and Fakir were engaged, after Charon told me everything I felt a bit bad." Raetzel leaned in conspiratorially. "Though if you ask me, Fakir is awfully fond of you."
Ahiru's face deepened in redness. "N-no way! Fakir's just really nice that's all and he wouldn't possibly like a total klutz like me! That's just—nope, nope." She squirmed and laughed uncomfortably, waving her hand in the air as if she could physically dismiss the idea.
Raetzel chuckled and let the topic drop. "I'm going downstairs to see if Charon needs any help. Would you like me to assist you down the stairs?"
"Mmm, no thank you. I need to take care of a few things," Ahiru mused. "Plus, I'm sure I can walk on my own. I'll be down in a little bit. Thanks for taking care of my foot."
The older woman stood with a nod. "You're welcome. Just holler if you need anything, okay?"
Ahiru flopped back on the bed once Raetzel had left, placing a hand above her aching heart. She exhaled heavily and closed her eyes, listening to the soft creak of the stairs as Raetzel descended them.
She felt emotionally drained and almost hollow. A dull thud—probably her heartbeat, she decided—shook her chest. Tendrils of pain ghosted along her body. The utter agony she had experienced was indescribable, nothing like she's ever been through before—and she had been through a lot.
Why was she such a mess? She was so useless, so unnecessary. She was making everyone worry about her, and then lying to them about it. It just kept getting worse. What use was this year, after all?
And it was all her fault. "Rue," Ahiru hissed, her lips twisting in a snarl. Her eyes darkened. If only Rue hadn't stolen Mytho, then none of this would've happened. She could've had her happy ending and never made the stupid deal with Drosselmeyer if only—
Ahiru gasped and clutched at her heart. "Where did that come from?" She shook her head, trying to rid the foreign thoughts from it. She attempted a halfhearted laugh, "Of course it's not Rue's fault. Why would I even think that? I wouldn't even be happy with Mytho." Rolling her head to the side, Ahiru groaned. She felt like crying, she felt like screaming, she felt like laughing, she felt like she could just punch the next thing that mildly inconvenienced her. Ahiru felt hopelessly jumbled, and all it did in the end was make her feel even more anxious.
It took quite a few moments for Ahiru to gather herself back together. Maybe even more than an hour had passed—she wasn't quite sure. She stretched as she sat up, inhaling with renewed determination. She didn't know what game Drosselmeyer was playing, but she wasn't going to let him win. Maybe she'd die in a year, but that doesn't mean she'll lose.
She tossed the now lukewarm towel into the basket she kept her dirty laundry in and padded down the hallway. Soft voices drifted up from the kitchen, causing Ahiru to pause. She crept down a few stairs and peered through the bannisters.
All she could see was part of Raetzel's back, but she could hear both her and Charon. Ahiru smiled at Charon's booming guffaws that filled the air along with Raetzel's ringing chuckles.
"Really?!" She could hear Raetzel cry out in amused disbelief. "He didn't!"
"Oh, but he did!"
"Fakir hasn't changed a bit!"
Ahiru settled herself on to the stairs, listening to the two reminiscing, a smile playing on her lips.
"I remember when he was running around town, pretending to be a knight. Always so serious about his duties." Charon's voice was filled with fondness.
"Remember that one time, he tried to protect that flower from getting squashed? He cried so hard when he woke up and it had been ripped out of the cobblestone!"
"And you were always there to comfort him."
Raetzel tittered back, "Well someone had to be his mother. He was always getting into trouble!"
"That he was. Half the time I didn't know where he disappeared off to."
"I remember when he and…" Raetzel faded off, the laughter slowly dying out. Her voice became heavier. "Charon, I have to admit… it doesn't feel right, does it?"
Confusion flooded Charon's voice, "What do you mean?"
Ahiru leaned in closer, concerned by the sudden change in tone.
"There's something missing, don't you feel it too? Something… important. Someone?" A pause. "I feel like someone else was supposed to be there, in these memories."
"I… do." Charon confessed. "I hadn't thought about it before, but I feel like something is missing. I don't know how to describe it."
A flash just outside of Ahiru's periphery caught her eye. She looked down at the gleaming gem hanging from her neck. "A sha—fragment?" Eyes wide, she glanced back up at Raetzel's back. "It couldn't be! Both of them?!" With a frantic check around the area, Ahiru quietly dashed up the stairs, just out of sight, before letting the familiar warmth carry her away.
Raetzel and Charon sat solemnly in the kitchen, the laughter long gone from their throats. Suddenly, everything felt wrong. Memories that were cherished were tainted and ruined; something or someone that was very important was supposed to be in those memories.
Charon started when a white figured appeared in the entryway. Gracefully standing en pointe, her face carrying a comforting look, stood a ballerina. Sensing the change in Charon's demeanor, Raetzel turned to look behind her.
"No, it couldn't be…" she murmured as the ballerina smiled at her. "Princess Tutu?" She wanted to look back at Charon for confirmation, but couldn't tear her eyes away. "Like from your stories?"
Charon couldn't bring himself to make a single sound.
"Yes." Princess Tutu confirmed as approached. "Your hearts are burdened with incomplete memories." She performed her trademark invitation with ease. "Please, come dance with me."
Without a single sound, the blacksmith rose from his chair and reached for the prima ballerina's hand. Raetzel followed suit. It was as if kitchen melted from existence when their hands touched Princess Tutu's. Her movements were mesmerizing and compelled them to mimic her movements to the best of their abilities.
"Though our memories are significant, they can easily be manipulated," Princess Tutu spoke soothingly as she led the two through a pirouette.
"It feels like what is missing is so important, like it was such a big part of our lives." Raetzel lamented.
The two of them knelt, each providing a hand to the ballerina as she stood arabesque. Charon agreed, "I feel as though there is a hole now."
"Lost memories can hurt us a great deal, but we must learn to let go of what we cannot remember." She prompted them to rise with a gentle tug. "Sometimes we forget because we need to."
"But it so unfair." Raetzel cried as Princess Tutu assisted her in a dip. "Why should we forget?"
"It is unfair, but cannot be helped. Cherish what you can remember, but do not let forgotten memories detract from what is around you now. Hold on to experiences that bring you joy, and understand that the parts that are gone, are probably gone for a reason. Nothing that brings you pain is worthwhile."
Charon and Raetzel performed fouetté to the best of their abilities around the ballerina. "It's okay to have forgotten something like this?" Charon asked.
"Yes," Princess Tutu confirmed, "You wouldn't have forgotten if it was truly important for you to remember."
"You're right." They agreed, bowing to their dance partner and bringing their pas de trois to an end. "If we were meant to remember, we would."
The prima ballerina returned their bow with a smile. Both groaned in pain as the dark lights departed from their hearts, causing them to collapse back into their chairs, unconscious. Princess Tutu staggered backwards with a shattered gasp as both were absorbed into her pendant. Her vision became blurry as her transformation wavered before completely falling.
"I… can't…" Ahiru wheezed as she stumbled towards the stairs. "Fakir can't… find me…" Unsteadily, she climbed the stairs, her chest aching with the effort. By the time she reached the top stair she was crawling along the floor. She just barely made it near her bed before passing out, welcoming the familiar darkness.
Fakir let out a low chuckle as he picked Ahiru up off the ground. "Idiot fell out of her bed." After setting her atop her covers, he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. He could hear Charon and Raetzel laughing downstairs as they fought over who should cook their meal. He smiled. "Don't sleep too long, moron. You'll miss dinner."
Not wanting to linger, he turned away and headed down to help cook. Unbeknownst to him, the pendant around the little duck's neck shone gray.
A/N: Phew, another chapter done! One fourth of the way through the story (in only how many years? Haha, let's ignore that)! I didn't mean for this to take so long to get out, but a lot of things ended up happening since the last update. Like I got engaged to my very sweet and wonderful boyfriend! Anyway, I plan on starting to cross post this story on ao3, but will do so in increments. So if you see it over there, it is me (if it's posted under the same penname, anyway). Thank you very much for reading, and as always, please feel free to let me know of any spelling/grammar errors.
