(no subject)

[reallyaduck]

So what if Pique and Lilie were making a really scary face when they told her about the Prodding Bridge? There couldn't really be a mean ghost that threw people in the water -

- okay, sometimes there really were mean ghosts around town, but Pique and Lilie said people went to the bridge to ask questions all the time! So there wasn't anything to be worried about.

"Nothing to be scared of," she chants to herself, her feet keeping time as she marches along the cobblestones, "nothing to be scared of -"

But she knows that's not really true. Mytho hasn't been back to school in days and days, ever since he got the most recent heartshard back. He could be really suffering, and it could be her fault. And that's sure something to be scared of . . .

(And so is the idea of giving up her pendant and going back to being a duck forever.)

That's a different kind of scary than ghosts, though.

"I just want to be sure I know what I should do!"

Comments

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Mytho's been gone since the performance last week.

This is obvious: everyone at school knows it.

Rue's been gone since class got out: presumably no one at school has noticed. She could be practicing, or reading, or anything that Rue does when she's not in class.

Instead, she's standing at the bridge, staring at the wall. Her hands are clasped in front of her. It seems as if, in a moment, she might step forward and address the water below.

[reallyaduck]

"Figure out what I should do . . ."

Duck's footsteps start to slow as she approaches the bridge.

"And then what?"

But it's too late to ask that kind of question. She's already almost at the bridge . . . . and so is someone else. Rue-chan!

Duck goes through a brief flail of limbs as she tries to readjust her thoughts to deal with Rue's presence. Is she there to ask questions?

(But Rue-chan always seems like she knows what to do about everything . . .)

"Uh, uh, are you here for the Plotting Bridge?"

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue turns at the sound, hands dropping to her sides.

"Plotting Bridge?" she asks, after a moment, tone lifting just enough to indicate a question.

[reallyaduck]

"- oh yeah, Prodding Bridge, that's right . . ."

Duck lets out a nervous laugh and scratches the back of her head sheepishly, then leans forward a little.

It's probably a bad idea to ask, but . . . "Do you also have things that you're uncertain about, Rue-chan?"

And then, unable to resist: "About Mytho?"

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue starts to walk down the bridge. "That's why I came," she agrees, "but I've changed my mind."

She stops a few feet from Ahiru, waiting for the girl to move.

[reallyaduck]

"I see . . ."

Rue stops right in front of her . . . so maybe, Duck thinks, she just wants to talk to someone. She's got to be really worried about Mytho not being around!

"I'm sure he'll come back to school soon!" Duck says, with her most encouraging smile.

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue blinks.

"Why do you think that?"

[reallyaduck]

- oh. Uh, maybe that was none of Duck's business.

"Just a feeling . . ."

Duck bobs her head down, flushing. "I'm sorry for saying stuff!"

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue stares at her for a moment more, then continues walking, angling to pass the girl.

"See you," she says, as she leaves the bridge.

[reallyaduck]

Duck steps aside hastily to give the other girl room, staring after her as she goes.

"Um . . . Rue-chan!"

The words leave her mouth before she realizes she's saying them; somehow, she just doesn't want to see Rue go like that. She doesn't even know what she's going to say until Rue turns around.

And she realizes what she's got to ask, of course - what she's got to, if she's going to figure out what she's supposed to do.

After all, who would know better what's right for Mytho than Rue?

"You know about Mytho having no heart, don't you?" she blurts out.

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue stops mid-turn, eyes widening. After a moment, she finishes her turn, facing Duck straight on.

"Of course," she murmurs, composed once more.

[reallyaduck]

Rue's got this way of making you feel like whatever you say next, it's definitely gonna be dumb or pointless.

But that's never stopped Duck before.

"Um, so . . . don't you think it would be better if he had a heart?"

[theladyrue.livejournal.com]

Rue stiffens, straightening, staring at her for a long moment.

"It doesn't matter," she says, decisively, turning away. She might not even be talking to Ahiru, now. "I've always looked only at Mytho. Whether or not he has a heart won't change the fact that I love him. I will always love him."

Quietly: "I am still far from having loved him enough."

She walks away.

[reallyaduck]

Leaving Duck staring after her.

Rue-chan . . . she said she loved Mytho.

Her hand hovers over her pendant, not quite clutching at it.

But I'm just a bird, so something like that . . .

Duck thinks she cares about Mytho . . . she might even say she loved him. But there's something almost scary in Rue's face when she talks about loving Mytho that goes far, far beyond what Duck has ever felt - or what she can even understand.

Maybe it's not even being Princess Tutu that's the hard part. Maybe just this whole being a person thing has Duck in way over her head.