A/N: My Secret Santa gift to "web_of" on the Princess Tutu LiveJournal Community. But, I guess my cover's blown now. Heh. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Tutu.

Warnings: Probable typos, as always. And, angsty stuff along with a few romantic drops here or there. Main focal pairing is Rue/Mytho but there are hints of Duck/Mytho and Tutu/Mytho.

Love Filled With Hate
By: Nuit Songeur
For: web_of

Well, if I'm going to die, then I want you to kiss me.

Rue had always, subconsciously, known she was somewhat a doomed girl. She had everything: the ideal physical appearance, the renowned ballet talent, and the one whom she loved very much. Yet, she also had a higher than average cognitive level as well. Meaning, she wasn't stupid. And, even though such things were granted to her, these things never emanated happiness from them for there was always a set back.

Mytho, her lover, she did have indeed, but what did that mean if only proven on a technical terms? He was always with Ahiru or talking of Princess Tutu. And, if neither of those, then Fakir could always be counted on to drag him away from her still. And, without her prince, the other things- talent, beauty- were meaningless to her including the most precious of them all, life.

---

"Rue, why do never smile?" Ahiru asked one afternoon as the pair walked silently together toward the dormitories.

"What need is there?" Rue said in a bit of a monotone, tiring of Ahiru's antics for today, her patience running shorter than normal. Ahiru tapped her chin thoughtfully, tripping over her words as she usually would when coming up with an explanation.

"Well, it shows people that you're happy," she said. "And being happy is an important part of life." Silence lingered between the two of them before Rue finally responded.

"I have no need to smile," she deadpanned, abruptly cutting the conversation off earlier than usual, much to Ahiru's tangible disappointment. After some time, they had reached the Girl's Dormitories and both entered through the front double doors, still in silence. They traversed a hallway and another and then a few more before they departed, Rue heading toward the master suit and Ahiru her attic tower of a room. They briefly bid their goodbyes to the other.

"Are you going to see Mytho this evening?" Ahiru asked, before she disappeared further down the hallway. Rue, who had her hand on her doorknob froze in place, feeling her fingertips grow cold and slightly clammy at the constant interest Ahiru always had for Mytho.

"Does it matter?" Rue hissed to herself quietly, inaudibly. She could imagine Ahiru's eyebrows shooting up past their normal place on her wide, innocent face.

"What did you say?" she asked, not catching Rue's words. Rue merely sniffed and spoke again, louder for Ahiru's benefit.

"I haven't decided. Though, I should expect I might do so tonight."

"Oh…" was all Ahiru managed to mumble, obviously disappointed. Rue smirked to herself at that accomplished feat.

"Good night, Ahiru," Rue said with somewhat a smug indifference.

"Good night, Rue."

That night, Rue laid in bed, her feet bare and the covers beneath her, as she stared at the ceiling with a blank expression upon her face. A single trail of tears leaked from the corner of her left eye and fell down past her face to stain the pillow that supported her head.

She felt herself dying on the inside and with no remedy to cease the feeling. She had entrusted everything emotionally within Mytho because she loved him. But what was he doing now? Throwing it back in her face, whether it be unintentionally or not.

Rue sniffed, pulling from the folds of her dress the gem that Edel had given Mytho earlier, examining it. Love is what it was called, to be given to the one he loved. And the one he wanted to give it to was Princess Tutu, not her, nor Princess Kraehe.

Still, what did it matter to her? Mytho, her prince, knew nothing of love or what it meant to love. He didn't have that emotion. He couldn't possibly know if he loved her or Princess Tutu. So what point was there to get depressed over such things? Rue knew why. It was because Princess Tutu was showing him love. Princess Tutu loved him, there was no doubt about that and, over time, her love and hers alone would go to touch his broken heart and she would be the one to return the heart shard of love back to him. Because Princess Tutu had that power. And neither Rue or Princess Kraehe did.

In a huff, Rue sat up and crossed her arms, the gem clutched within her grasp. She flipped a strand of her raven hair over a shoulder and glanced toward the awaiting cauldron across the room as ominous smoke swirled from within its depths. A few crows in the room observing from around her squawked at her silence. Rue sighed, arising to her feet.

"I am a crow, a raven by blood, whether he likes it or not," Rue hissed to herself. She pirouetted, stretching her right leg out and arching her arms out before her. As she did so, Rue felt her world spinning, shifting, and not just because she was pirouetting. There was a whistling of wind and the color and shape of raven feathers filled her vision while, at the same time, she felt her own body changing. Her school uniform transforming to a smaller, tight-fitting black tutu as her bare legs and feet became covered with tights and matching black toe shoes. Her hair fashioned itself up into its own hair style and her fingernails grew, coloring themselves purple.

Rue stopped suddenly, feeling when her transformation was complete, and brought her arms down to her side as the ravens around her began to caw in a manner that seemed to be ceaselessly. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw, with somewhat grim satisfaction, that she was now Kraehe, Princess Kraehe.

"I am Princess Kraehe," she announced imperiously to the reflection. "Whatever I want I will take by force, if need be." She looked down, uncurling her fingers to see the gem resting in her palm. "And everything that I do want will be mine," she whispered to herself. She lightly tossed the gem onto her large bed and then, raising a slender, pale arm in the air spun yet again, slicing the arm through the air in front of her. A whirlwind of raven's feathers engulfed her tiny, lithe form as she continued spinning until, abruptly, she disappeared from the room, along with all the crows that were previously there.

Meanwhile, across the plaza between the girls' and boys' dormitories, in the master suite of the boys' dormitories, two boys were in their beds sleeping the night away. The dark-haired youth was turned on his side, his back turned to his companion as if he were in a none-too-pleasant mood. The companion, a white-haired youth, laid on his back, his hands folded calmly on his chest. His eyes were closed but, he slept so peacefully, one might suspect that he was feigning.

All was silent and still, until a mass of blackness stained the moonlight-filtered room, eerily soundless. The dark cloud subsided and revealed a female figure clad in a black tutu that left the skin within radius of her shoulders exposed. She would had been invisible, had it not been for her ghostly pale skin.

The ballerina approached a sleeping boy, the white-haired one, with cautious and muted steps. When she had reached his bedside she lowered her face closer to his own and reached out with a hand to stroke the side of his face, her long, purple fingernails lightly scraping down his cheek. The cheek twitched and his lips slightly quivered. The prima donna hesitated when he stirred but then, she bent her face down even closer to his and uttered his name.

"Mytho," she whispered, her delicate voice swept away easily by the darkness of the night. "My prince," she continued to murmur. "I love you."

She said the last statement so softly it was barely audible even to her own ears and left nothing but a pressing calmness in its wake. She descended her face even further until her lips were a hair's breadth away from his and after lingering slightly above him, she pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. For a few moments, she just let their lips touch and then she applied a slight amount of pressure steadily, sighing into his slightly parted mouth.

It was then that her prince responded, moving closer into her inviting lips. Princess Kraehe froze as his hand lifted to touch the back of her neck and his neck craned toward her. She felt his own lips move against hers as her eyes widened. He was actually kissing her back!

Despite her elation that he was responding to her with affection, however, Kraehe continued to remain motionless. Her limbs would not move and her will to stay immobile would not give way to the other part of her that wanted to kiss Mytho back even more. She knew there was something wrong with Mytho's reaction; Mytho had no feelings. At least, he didn't have the feeling of love returned to him yet. So, how would he know how to kiss with such… passion, urgency? He never did that when she was Rue and courted him around as her boyfriend. It wasn't until he stopped his kiss and drew back a bit did she found out why.

"Princess Tutu," he whispered to her, his breath skimming across her skin. The breath, the very breath that supported the life of the one whom she loved, now revolted her because he devoted it to another.

Kraehe untangled herself from the limp hold he had on her and disappeared into the night, sinking into the shadows in a swirl of raven feathers. When the prince finally opened his eyes, she was gone; no one other than Fakir and himself were left in the room leading him to think it was all just a dream.

---

Kraehe set to work on weaving the magic granted to her by the Raven. Moving her hands in sync with the other, she produced a black feather, seemingly from no where, and dropped it within depths of the Gem of Love where it settled, awaiting its prey.

"Mytho," Kraehe said as tears streamed down her face. "I will not let anyone else have you."

She vowed to herself, I'll never hand you over.

So, there you are. Tell me what you think. Please review; I accept anon reviews.

-NuitSongeur