Just Herself (Princess Tutu, Fakir/Ahiru, G)

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

Title: Just Herself
Author: laurus_nobilis
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Word count: 319
Prompt: Princess Tutu, Fakir/Ahiru: dancing pas de deux - "I'll catch you."
Summary: Their dance was not perfect, but it was their own.

She felt confident when they danced together. It wasn’t the same as dancing with Mytho; but Duck couldn’t say if it was better or worse. It was just… different.

Mytho was, after all, the Prince, and a wonderful dancer. She would be lying to herself if she said that she hadn’t loved that pas de deux with him.

Fakir wasn’t quite as good as him, not in the technical sense, at least. And she didn’t dance as Tutu anymore, now. But, with him, she felt as if she could be herself and nothing else. She didn’t need to be Tutu, or an idealized version of herself; just Duck. And she knew, although he didn’t say it aloud, that Fakir wasn’t trying to be the Knight. Their dance was not perfect, but it was their own.

They complemented each other. They felt free to move in the ways that came naturally to them, knowing that the other wouldn’t be thrown off guard. Duck tried her very best, of course, as she always did. But she knew she didn’t need to be perfect. If she made a mistake, Fakir would adapt to it, turn it into another facet of their dance – just like she would do for him. If she stumbled, he would catch her. No matter what struggles they had, they would go on; not as if nothing had happened, but changing with the situation, making the best of everything.

When they danced together, they put all of their effort, all of their passion. They would never be great; they would never be the best. They were not a Prince and a Princess. They weren’t even a Premier Danseur and a Prima Ballerina. They were just a writer who was only now discovering his talent, and a clumsy girl who had, not long ago, been a duck.

But they danced from their heart, and they loved it, and it showed.