The Ballet of the Swans

Act One

"That will be all for today, have a nice day!" The ballet teacher said to the beginner and advanced classes.

Fakir walked along with the other boys toward the changing room, stepped in and changed clothes quickly and grabbed his books, heading to the exit. 'I wonder if Ahiru is alright...' he thought of the little duck, who was once the heroine of The Prince and the Raven. 'She, who saved everyone from the tragedy of the story... it seems unfair...' he walked past the school's gate, now thinking of the last year, when everyone was puppets in Drosselmeyer's tale.

While walking past a few stores, he came across a jewelry. "Maybe" he began "I'll get her a new pendant" he smiled to his idea before walking in.

'I finally made it, walking long distances is no good on my feet...' The little duck thought walking toward the lake. When she popped onto the water, the other ducks swam away from her; she was used to that, ever since she had turned back to being a duck, the rest stayed away from her, and when Fakir showed up they were all gone.

'It's lonely that none of the other duck want to speak to me, but...' she sighed staring at her reflection. 'They have their reasons. They don't understand why a duck and a human are so close to each other...' she dipped her head underwater before popping back to the surface.

Just then, she noticed the rest of the ducks starting to swim away, feeling a shot of loneliness and longing from them leaving. "Quack..." Swimming towards the dock. Suddenly, she turned around, her lock onto the most beautiful deep amethyst eyes, but they belonged to a graceful, scarlet swan. 'A-a swan!' She watched the swan as it approached her. 'I've never seen a swan as beautiful as this one...'

"Hello, little one" her head shot up as she had been called 'Did it just speak human?' The swan set out a laugh "Yes, I can speak like a normal human... Why is such a cute little duckling playing by herself?" Ahiru could easily see it was a male 'Ah... I'm not like the other birds... and I'm waiting for my friend...' Even though her words came out as quacks, the swan understood.

"I see, tell me little Ahiru..." she looked up and he touched her beak with his; her whole body truned bright red as she quickly swam backwards. 'Whack' she ran into one of the dock poles, popped back up, and looked at the swan with shock in her eyes "W-w-what was THAT?"

"Now, you can speak again... you're all red, Ahiru" her blush deepened as she heard his words, suddenly realizing what he had just said "I-I can talk like a human... I..." A wide smile appeared on her face, as she swam around "I can talk again! I can't believe it!" She swam back to the swan. "Thank you, Thank you! I forever grateful to you!" She said before hugging him, he placed his wing over her. "You deserve to always be happy, my little Ahiru" He whispered.

"Ahiru!" She turned around, as she heard her name being called in the distance "Ah, it's Fakir! I can't wait to see him, we can now talk again! And it's all thanks to..." She turned to see the swan, who was gone now. "He left, and I never got his name..." Suddenly, she remembered that he had called her by her own name 'I never even told him mine! H-how did he know... Is it because I am a duck? Or is it...' "Ahiru!" She snapped out of her thoughts by Fakir's voice.

She looked back at the dock to see her friend running down it with a few books in his hands. "Sorry if I'm late... had to do a little shopping" She tilted her head before swimming over to him. He leaned down to the water and gently picked her from it. "You must be hungry..." he sat down in the chair with her on his lap.

Taking out a loaf of bread, he broke it in half and gave the other half to Ahiru. As she nibbled at the bread, Fakir gently pet her. "We're doing the Swan Lake play with the Beginner class... Everyone will be trying out for what part they will get, but that's all for tomorrow..." he said smiling softly.

Ahiru stopped nibbling , looked up at Fakir who leaned his head back against the back of the chair "Fakir..." 'He must be so tired...' She too began to feel sleepy, and placed her head down.

Watching from afar, the scarlet swan silently transformed into a young man of about seventeen years old with waist-lenght, scarlet hair, tied loose in a purple ribbon, gently touching the surface of the water. His hands twirled over his head, offering his left hand out to Ahiru afterwards. "We shall dance tonight... when the new story is born..." His amethyst eyes stared lovingly at the sleeping duck.

"Ahiru, I look forward to seeing you again..." He said as he vanished silently into the forest.

"Thanks for dinner Charon, it was good" Fakir said to the smith before running upstairs with his books. "No problem!" he called after the young man.

When Fakir shut his door, Ahiru picked up her head from his pillow. 'I wonder, if I should speak to him... Should I?' "Oi, is something wrong?" The duck looked up at her friend. "Quack, quack" Was all she said. He patted her head and turned back to one of his new books; she soon became sleepy again and drifted back into her dreams.

Noticing that she had fallen asleep already, Fakir took out a wooden box and opened it to reveal a silver chain along with an incomplete pendant. 'I'm glad I got this... I hope Ahiru will like it" he thought holding up the center jewel for the pendant, a medium sized dark garnet gem in the shape on a heart.

As he slowly worked on the pendant, he started to feel tired after two hours of work. "I guess I'll finish it tomorrow..." He fell fast asleep on his desk. After a few minutes, the windows to the Fakir's bedroom slowly opened, carrying a sorrowful song into the room. "Huh?" Ahiru awakened to its melody.

"Such a sad song, I've heard it before..." She whispered closing her eyes, a gentle breeze blowed her out of the room, and toward the church. 'The person who is playing it, it must be really sad... I wonder why?' She thought as the wind carried her closer and closer to the church.

The wind slowly placed the duck in front of the church's plaza. "Ah, how did I...?" the music pulled her from her thoughts, turning to see a young man with long, scarlet hair, standing atop the fountain. He wore black pants and a white loose shirt with a cross brooch pinned to the collar, but what caught Ahiru's eyes was the blue ocarina in his hands.

Without thinking, she ran towards the musician and called out. "Why is your song so sorrowful?" The man stopped playing, opened his eyes and smiled at her 'Ah, his eyes... just like that swan...' He jumped down in front of her. "Hello Ahiru, I'm happy that you came" his voice was the same as that of the swan; she took a step back. "W-who are you?" she said, her voice filled with fear.

"I've come to break the curse... the curse that turned you into a duck. Then, I will take you away into the new story that is about to be born... Ahiru, come, my little one..." He held his hand out to her. In a flash, Ahiru found herself trapped inside an egg made of glass. "What? No! Let me out!" She cried out for help as she hit the inside of the egg with her wings.

"Ahiru! Please stop that! You'll hurt yourself!" She suddenly stopped, noticing the worry in the man's face and voice. 'He doesn't want me to hurt myself?' She thought bewildered. He touched the outside of the egg. "That's a good girl... I don't want you to hurt yourself. Now..." He began "Sleep, my Ahiru... when you awaken... you will have your human body back..."

"No... I can't... I don't want to leave Fakir... Fakir..." she begged, closing her eyes, her small body floated to the middle of the egg. "Forgive me... Everyone within this town will be reborn... I promise you that, Ahiru..." he kissed the outside of the egg; before all Kinkan Twon and the people vanished.

'Fakir... will I see you again? Please don't forget about me... Fakir... Let's dance once more...' Were the last words that implanted themselves into the writer's heart, as he and efveryone else were reborn into a new life, a new town, and a new story...