Please Smile

Disclaimer: I don't own these guys. Be glad that I don't.

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When Ahiru had first met the mysterious prince, it felt like a dream. Perhaps it really had been a dream or it had merely been their imagination.

Whatever the feeling was, it had been magical. It had suffocated them in an overwhelming sensation that had allured them both to a tragic demise that had been plotted out just for them.

Their only little melancholy ending that might've had a possibility of taking place if she hadn't seen the sadness in his eyes. Those sad, sad eyes that always seem so lonely.

On more than one occasion Ahiru found herself dwelling on those eyes.

It was those eyes that motivated her to save him, to save Prince Mytho, without even knowing what exactly he needed saving from. All she was aware of was that she needed to protect him from anything that should harm his wellbeing.

At least, that was how it all started off. Somewhere along the way, this hapless duck's urge to protect him had morphed into a desire to see him smile. She wanted to see what that would look like on him, she wanted him to glow with ecstasy.

The only way she had been granted the power to do this was by collecting the shattered pieces of his heart scattered all about Kinkan Town. If that was the way to see his smile, even at the cost of her life, she was determined to complete this goal.

Maybe it was selfish. Maybe it had only been her wish from the start, no matter how much she'd heard him actually ask her to restore his heart. Maybe the only reason she wanted to witness his smile was the hopeful possibility that he could smile at HER that way someday.

It had been a fool's hope but anyone who knew Ahiru well knew that she was a fool. She had leaped into this new double life of hers as a graceful super-powered ballerina without second guessing anything. She didn't consider any of the consequences that had been devised for her.

All she had ever wanted was to see him smile. There was nothing wrong with that, right?

Right?

Ahiru didn't know she had been trying to convince herself or anyone else that her decision had been a noble one; that it had all been for Mytho's sake. Truth was, she was not connected with the prince's fate so she didn't truly understand what was best for his sake.

It had all been a guessing game, one that seemed near impossible to figure out. Ahiru kept finding puzzle pieces that didn't fit in the right areas, ones that looked similar to what she needed, and ones that didn't seem to match up with the rest of the picture at all.

Then eventually it clicked that he didn't actually need her. Ahiru had been so determined to get a smile out of the prince, she hadn't considered that she wasn't the only one who could make it happen. Another girl had that very power, and seemed to know how to use it better than Ahiru ever did.

Lady Rue, a girl laden with elegant poise, shining hair softer than silk, ruby red eyes brimmed with a kind of wisdom that only a person who faced serious hardships could understand. And she had the prettiest smile that could sweep any man off their feet.

Ahiru envied yet admired her at all the same time. That girl was everything she wasn't, and everything that Mytho really needed. They did not show off their relationship in public very often, but Ahiru could feel the very essence of their undying love for one another.

They had a deep connection with each other that Ahiru never developed with Mytho. It saddened her to know that her love had ended before it even started, but she did not hold a grudge against either of them for it.

Mytho made Rue happy and Rue made Mytho happy. That was all that mattered to Ahiru, Mytho's happiness. That was what she had really desired from the start, she had begun to realize.

She had come to understand that her feelings had been an infatuation, a feeling that was incredibly similar to hope that many people managed to confuse for love. She had hoped that he would get the chance to live his happily ever after and he did.

But she had still not gotten to see his smile. Ahiru was sure it would be the most beautiful smile in the world, which just made her yearn all the more to catch a glimpse of it, even if only for a moment. The little duck had been certain that a happy ending was all the prince needed in order to smile.

Had she not done something the right way? Had all the effort she'd put into helping restore his heart been for nothing?

Then her doubt and worries were put at ease on the day the Prince was officially wed with his new princess, Rue. There was so much love swelling between the two, they were so overjoyed that they'd now be dedicated to each other for as long as they shall live. That was when Ahiru finally got to see it.

His smile. It was even more beautiful than she had expected it to be. After saying "I do" and kissing Rue, he averted his smile to Ahiru.

It was a cheeky smile, one that shared a story between him and the little duck that only they knew the words to. Those words had said to her, 'Thank you, Ahiru. For making this day possible.'

Tears of joy had cascaded down Ahiru's face at that moment. Getting to see his smile was she had ever truly wanted.