[FFML] [fic][Princess Tutu/Revolutionary Girl Utena] Two Archetypes in Search of a Story 1/3

[Aishuu Shadowweaver]

Title: Two Archetypes in Search of a Story
Series: A Revolutionary Girl Utena/Princess Tutu
crossover
Authors: By aishuu and ekaterinn
Notes: Concrit is welcome on this. For a formally
formatted copy, visit
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3628116/1/
Disclaimer: Princess Tutu was created by Ikuko Itoh,
while BePapas is responsible for Utena. 

Part 1:

There was nothing more relaxing for Fakir than
dangling his feet in the water, watching as Ahiru swam
by with contentment. The water was cool on his toes,
and balanced a sheaf of papers in his lap,
daydreaming. Every now and then he would scribble down
a sentence or two, to give the pretense of writing,
but in truth his mind was focused on the clouds that
drifted lazily above his head.

Their story had ended well enough, he thought, not for
the first time. He enjoyed this quiet life, although a
part of him wished Ahiru could still talk to him.
Instead, he had to make due with her quacks as he
tried to interpret what she wanted.

She was quacking at him now, flapping her wings in the
water and getting his ankles wet. Fakir was pretty
sure she was laughing at him. So he laughed back and
poked her with his big toe, which set off another
round of quacks. Looking up, he realized it was
getting late. If he wanted to get home to make dinner
and look over his notes for class tomorrow, they would
have to leave soon.

"Come on," he told her, pushing himself to his feet,
"we have to get going."

Her answering quack sounded very much like an affront,
but she scrambled up onto the shore anyway. They
headed down the path, side-by-side. It would take them
about a half an hour to walk back to his parents’
house on the edge of town. His house now. He had been
too terrified to go back as a child, but whatever
ghosts were left in the familiar floors and walls were
resting quietly now.

He knew he had gained a reputation for being
"peculiar" as of late, as he eschewed most of the
school's activities in favor of living with a duck. He
knew that some of the girls who once had adored him
thought him crazed, probably because Mytho and Rue
left. The stories they were spinning about him - and
he managed to hear every one through Aotoa - stated he
was heartbroken, though they differed about whom he'd
been in love with.

As he opened his door, he looked down at Ahiru,
wishing he could tell them the truth. The strange fog
of forgetfulness that had enveloped the town didn't
encourage him. Instead, he would live quietly with
Ahiru, keeping his promise to remain with her always.

As Fakir prepared dinner for himself, he took care to
lay out a few different slices of bread for Ahiru. She
was very much a bread-eating duck, though he had
sometimes seen her chasing grasshoppers in the field,
quacking excitedly. She had never seemed very intent
on catching them however. So he kept a variety of
bread in the house for her.

Tonight, he placed a slice each of white, rye and
sunflower on her plate. Lighting a couple of candles
first, he put his own plate down on the wooden table
and sat down to eat. They ate together in comfortable
silence, Ahiru being too engrossed in her bread to
quack. Fakir drew out his meal, relishing the time
with Ahiru and not wanting to study.

He had considered quitting dancing in favor of a
career as a writer, but had decided that he had always
loved ballet. He was good at it, and had a special
talent. A very small part of him - one Fakir would
have denied, had he known it existed - kept reminding
him he had to dance because she couldn't.

His homework, an essay on /Il Ballarino,/ wasn't due
until next Monday, and he felt justified in putting it
off. Ahiru was being particularly lively tonight,
flapping around him between nibbles of bread, and he
wanted to give her his full attention.

He cleared his plate and returned to the table.
Smiling at Ahiru, he gently stroked the top of her
head with the tip of his fingers. Her feather were
soft and still a bit damp. Immediately, she burst into
a flurry of quacks that just made him smile more.

"Did you like the sunflower bread?" he asked. She
nodded enthusiastically, bobbing her head up and down.
"We'll get more tomorrow then," he promised.

A loud CRACK startled them both, causing Fakir to
reach for his sword. Except the sword was wrapped in a
bed sheet in his closet, where he had put it away. But
some part of him was still on edge, waiting for the
other shoe to drop. "Shh," he told Ahiru, who looked
likely to exhaust herself with her nervous flapping,
"it's only thunder."

He picked her up with gentle hands, cradling her
fragile body reassuringly, although he might have been
the one drawing the most comfort. Her tiny frame
trembled in his hands. "I won't let anything hurt
you," he promised. He may have been a lousy knight,
but he would protect what was important to him.

She quacked softly, her head turning toward the door.
Then she fluttered her wings, fearlessly going
forward.

"Is someone out there?" he asked, trying to keep his
heart in place. He didn't hear any rain, and there was
no flashes of lightning.

He opened the door for Ahiru and walked out behind
her. It wasn't raining, but the wind was rustling in
the trees. Fakir found himself a bit spooked.

A figure came out of the darkness. Ahiru quacked at
it, flapping her wings in nervous excitement. Fakir
stared. It looked like Ahiru, in her lost girl-form,
was walking towards him. Then she came out of the
darkness and Fakir saw a rather bedraggled looking
girl wearing a cloak and a boy’s school uniform.
/Perhaps I am peculiar if I'm seeing things now,/ he
thought to himself. The girl had pink hair. Her eyes
flickered between him and Ahiru before she smiled.

"Hello," she said, "I think I'm lost."

*

The girl was named Tenjou Utena, and Fakir felt like
he should know her. There was something familiar in
her face, though he would swear on Ahiru's life that
they'd never met before.

Utena sat at his table, cradling a cup of tea in her
hands. She was explaining how she'd come to be in
Kinkan town, and he listened closely, hoping for a
clue. She was pretty, in a tomboyish sort of way, but
Fakir felt no attraction to her. Instead, he wanted to
protect her in the same way he'd served Mytho. Since
he hadn't had that urge since the story had ended, he
was on guard and suspicious.

"I was trying to head south towards the coast, but I
got lost and ended up in a forest. When I managed to
find my way out of it, I found myself deeper into the
continent instead." She took a sip of her tea. "I
never heard of Kinkan before, but at least it's not
the forest!" She laughed.

Ahiru seemed to be listening intensely as well. "What
are you doing on the road, anyway?" he asked, feeling
uneasy.

Utena's eyes turned sad. "I'm looking for friend," she
said. "A girl with a soft smile."

"What's her name?" he asked.

Utena pressed the tips of her fingers against her
forehead, squinting a bit. "I... I can't remember,"
she said softly. "My head feels like someone threw all
my thoughts into a blender and hit puree."

For a second, he wanted to throw her out. There was
something strange about this girl, and he'd dealt with
all the strange he ever wanted to. She wasn't an enemy
- he knew that instinctively - but she would drag him
back into a world he thought finished.

Ahiru quacked softly, waddling across the table to
stand in front of Utena. Utena smiled at the duck,
touching Ahiru's back with a gentle hand. "I'll know
her when I see her," she said. "She's waiting for me,
somewhere."

"Great, you'll know her when you see her," he repeated
sarcastically, "I'm surprised you remember your name."

Utena said nothing, but just looked at him. Ahiru
seemed to be on her side and quacked at him loudly.
Fakir finally looked away and shrugged. He didn't want
any part of anyone else's strangeness. Or their
quests, for that matter.

Fakir wanted to live in his house with Ahiru. He
wanted to buy sunflower bread from Mika in town. He
wanted to talk to Aotoa after classes and be laughed
at for hanging around with a duck. He wanted a normal
life.

Utena offered him a smile. "I'm lucky, aren't I?" The
words were tinted with irony, but her face was more
amused than frustrated.

Fakir sighed, knowing he was going to regret what he
was about to offer. "You can stay here for a bit," he
said. "I've got a spare futon, and you can share
Ahiru's room, providing she's okay with that." He
turned toward Ahiru, and received a confirming nod.
The little duck seemed to approve of the idea.

Utena didn't laugh at the idea of staying with a duck.
"I appreciate your help," she said instead. "Thank
you, Ahiru-chan." Her smile was warm as she addressed
Ahiru directly and with sincerity.

Fakir's breath caught. For a second, he thought he saw
Mytho's face superimposed on hers.

*

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Fakir woke
up and swung out of bed. Without really thinking about
it, he begun his series of morning stretches. The day
of a ballet student was a long one and it was
important to start it off limber. He had never really
liked mornings, but he had been getting up early for
so long that had became a habit. And he had slept well
last night: no troubling dreams, no waking up at the
slightest noise.

Fakir finished stretching, shook his body out and went
to prepare breakfast. Last night's fears and
suspicions seemed a lot more manageable in the morning
light.

He heard the sound of footsteps, too heavy to be
anything but human, and turned to see Utena standing
in the doorway. She was dressed in one of his old
shirts, which came to the middle of her thighs. He was
reminded of Mytho's habit of sleeping in similar
clothes, the whiteness enhancing fair skin. She was
pretty, he thought with surprise. He hadn't realized
that the night before.

She was too tired to notice him ogling her, which was
a blessing. Instead, she tripped her way to the table,
sleep blurring her eyes. One piece of her hair was
practically standing on-end from having been slept on
wrong. It looked cute.

"Good morning," he said, crossing over to the kitchen
counter and checking the breadbox for when Ahiru woke
up.

"Morning," she mumbled back. She yawned loudly,
cracking her jaw before dropping her face in her hands
and leaning forward on the table.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked. It would
be easy enough to make two of whatever she wanted; he
wasn't a picky eater, having spent much of his
childhood trying to find food that would get a
reaction out of Mytho.

"Coffee. Please."

"Just coffee?"

She grunted, and he decided that making pancakes
wouldn't hurt, since he wasn't about to skip
breakfast. Apparently Utena was one of those people
that didn't function without an infusion of caffeine.
Hopefully the smell of food would perk her interest;
aside from the tea, she hadn't had anything to eat in
over 12 hours.

He carefully measured out a couple scoops of coffee
beans into the machine, filled it with water, and hit
brew. Then he dug out a packet of pancake mix, smiling
as Ahiru fluttered onto the nearby counter top. He'd
given up eating eggs since coming to know her; it
would have approached cannibalism.

Ahiru pecked the pancake mix and looked up at him
hopefully. "If you're good, I'll save some for you,"
he teased. She quacked back at him, communicating her
feelings about people who would even think of
withholding pancakes. "Okay, okay, pancakes for you,
too."

Soon the sounds of coffee gurgling and pancakes
sizzling filled his kitchen. He flipped the pancakes
easily and quickly had a small stack piling up on the
plate. He snared two for himself and one for Ahiru,
bringing the rest to the table. The coffee had gotten
to the occasional drips stage, so he poured two cups
of that as well. Placing one of them in front of
Utena, he watched as she fumbled for something
resembling a death-grip on the mug. She drank about
half of it before he even sat down, and sighed
blissfully.

"Where's your girlfriend?" she asked. "A man who makes
coffee like that has to have a girlfriend."

He glanced at Ahiru nervously. She was merely his
friend now, but once she had been the girl he loved.
The idea of finding someone else was abhorrent, but he
knew that he probably would someday. He wondered if
Utena was hitting on him; she hadn't seemed the type.
Checking her face, he decided she was issuing a
strange sort of complement.

"No girlfriend," he said, before patting Ahiru
reassuringly. He wouldn't leave her; he had given his
word.

"What a waste." She sipped again, her eyes brightening
with alertness. "Are you going to school?" she asked,
nodding to his white and blue uniform.

Fakir nodded. "I'm a ballet student at Kinkan Academy.
It's in the middle of town." He gestured in the vague
direction of the school.

"A dancer, huh?" Utena said. "I - one of the images in
my mixed-up head is of someone in white, dancing in a
ballroom," she added, tapping on her head with her
hand. "It probably wasn't ballet though."

Fakir was beginning to like talking to Utena. It was
very easy to fall into a rhythm with her - maybe too
easy, he thought, remembering his suspicions last
night. His eyes fall on Ahiru, resolutely munching on
her pancake. He had her, and Aota if he really wanted
someone to talk to. Utena was just passing though.

"Let me see your foot," he said.

She looked at him quizzically, before standing and
coming around so she was in it. She held her foot up,
and he studied it, ignoring the way the shirt rose
against her thigh.

"Definitely not a ballerina," he declared. Her legs
were well-muscled, so she was probably an athlete, but
the toes didn't have the heavy calluses or broken
toenails that marked ballet dancers. She was a little
too sturdily, he thought, as he looked at her.
"Probably into some sports," he conceded.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I wonder what,
though?" she asked, before ruffling her hair in
agitation. "This is so frustrating!"

Ahiru quacked sympathetically, then mimed swimming
around in the lake. Fakir laughed and translated:
"Ahiru thinks that you swam."

Utena looked at the duck and smiled. "It's a thought,
Ahiru-chan." Ahiru hopped up and down on the table,
looking very pleased with herself.

Fakir pushed the remaining pancakes towards her.
"Here, eat. It'll take your mind off it."

"Oh, that smells good. Thanks."

For a short while, the kitchen was filled with sounds
of people -and ducks - eating. Then Utena asked,
swallowing her last piece of pancake, "Do you suppose
I could come into town with you? I could look around
school grounds, see if anything else sparks a memory.
After all, I wore that uniform when I first found
myself outside, so I probably was a student."

He couldn't see the harm in it, although he felt the
hair on the back of his neck stand up at the idea of
her wandering around unsupervised. His instincts
warned him it was a bad idea, but there was no excuse
not to fulfill her reasonable request.

"I suppose, but I don't have anything for you to wear.
I mean, I don't keep girl's clothes around here or
anything." He did have Ahiru's old uniform tucked
away, but he could see Utena was far too large for it.
Even if it would have fit, he didn't think he could
bear to offer it, although Ahiru would have welcomed
sharing.

"Boy's clothes are fine," she replied. "If you can
loan me a pair of pants, I can just tuck this shirt
in."

Mytho's old clothing would fit her, he thought. "I
have a spare uniform you can borrow."

"That would be awesome." She picked up her coffee cup
and drained it. "You're very kind."

They walked down the road together, Ahiru waddling
alongside. Mytho’s old uniform fit her well, thought
Fakir. It accentuated her hips and made her legs look
even longer. Though it was a bit tight across the
chest.

"Have you studied ballet long?" she asked him.

"Since I was little," he replied. "I've always loved
it."

"It's funny, but when I first saw your house, I
thought you were a writer. All those papers lying
around..."

"It's just hobby. Ballet is my passion," he told her.
Best to keep to simple truths. He wanted nothing to
disturb his world... anymore that it had already been.

"I think we can have more than one passion," she said.
"I... think I like to do a lot of things." Less surety
in her voice this time.

"You'll remember," he said. Ahiru nodded in agreement,
and Fakir smiled down at the little duck. There was a
pool close to school she spent most of her day at,
waiting for him to complete classes. They always had
lunch together.

"I hope so," Utena said, biting her lip. Then she
shook her head, and a smile decorated her face. "Any
ideas where I should start?"

"The library. There's a guy named Aotoa there, and if
he doesn't have a clue, no one will."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan." She sounded a bit
more cheerful.

"It's good to have goals." /My goal is to get though
the day without anything else strange happening,/ he
thought wryly. "I'll take you by the library once we
get to the Academy. It's on the way to my morning
class."

She nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate that."

They were coming up on the main part of town now.
Ahiru moved closer to him. Fakir knew she was worried
about being stepped on by other students heading to
class. He bent down and held out his hands. She hoped
nimbly onto them and settled on the crook of his arm
as he held her close to his chest.

"Is the view better up there?" Utena asked her. She
got a happy quack in response.

The feeling of almost-strangeness that had been
assaulting him crystallized. He had been pleased Utena
had been so polite to Ahiru, but it was odd. Most
people wouldn't treat a duck like a thinking creature.

"You're very kind to her," he said softly.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Utena asked in confusion. "A
friend..." her brow furrowed as she tried to sort out
her thoughts, "I've always liked animals. Sometimes
they appear smarter than we are."

"They probably are," he said. As if on cue, a cat
wandered by, turning a curious head toward them.

Fakir nodded acknowledgment to Neko-sensei. It was
strange, seeing an animal who'd formerly been his
teacher, staring up at him with blank eyes. Ahiru had
retained her intelligence and memories, but the others
that had been caught up in the story hadn't been as
lucky.

They had reached the entrance to the school grounds.
Kinkan Academy was laid out before them, its long
boulevard sloping down toward the courtyard. Fakir
glanced over at Utena, dressed in Mytho's uniform. Her
eyes widened as she took in the sight of the school.

Fakir was reminded of the first time he and Mytho had
walked to school. He smiled. He'd been so excited,
pulling Mytho along with him. When Mytho had hesitated
at the entrance, he had said, "Don't worry, I'll
protect you."

"Don't worry; if you need anything, I'll help," he
offered. She was not Mytho, but she was evoking the
same feelings his prince had commanded.

"It's so pretty, so much like..." she paused as she
searched her scrambled memories. "I think I went to a
school like this." Her hand touched the gate, running
slender fingers along the stone.

"Your uniform was certainly of high quality." He had
noticed that; he had always been a detailed-oriented
person. It wasn't a traditional uniform, but the
design and cut had been expensive. He wished he had
been able to tell what school it came from.

"Which way is the library?" she asked, changing the
subject.

"Toward your right. Aotoa doesn't have classes until
this afternoon, so you should be able to find him
easily. Look for a guy wearing glasses and a smug
expression."

She laughed. "Smug. Glasses. Got it." He watched she
strode off towards the library. She had such
confidence for someone lost in the world, without even
her memories to guide her. He couldn't help but admire
it.

"What do you think of her, Ahiru?" he asked
rhetorically, looking down at the duck.

/She's nice! But a bit mysterious.../

Fakir frowned. That voice had sounded just like Ahiru
had, when she was girl. But Ahiru was still quacking
happily away in his arms. He sighed. It was only
wishful thinking.

______________________

Help, I'm fallen into a weird fandom and can't get out!

Fanfiction: http://www.midnightrevolution.org/quicksilver/
Fic Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/~quillofferings


       
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