"And that's how the story of the Prince and the Raven ends!" Chibiusa held up her poster with the drawing of the last pages of the book. The story ended well, with the Prince and his Princess both defeating the evil Raven and eventually being wed. Sadly neither Tutu nor Fakir were mentioned in detail, but she knew in her heart they had been there the whole time.

"That's so mushy!" Kyusuke complained.

"No one asked you," Chibiusa stuck her tongue out at him. "I think it's sweet. Despite all odds, they were able to defeat the Raven and save Gold Crown Town. It's a great ending!"

"Thanks, Chibiusa, that was a great report," the teacher smiled.

Chibiusa beamed happily at her, tucking the sketches under her arm and settling back in her seat. She felt like she'd done the story justice, fully represented the people and the world she'd experienced. She wanted to see them again, but she was certain that wasn't possible. They lived in Germany or some European town, and she was over on the other side of the world in Japan. Even if they managed to reach Japan, they'd all speak different languages.

Perhaps for now, she'd just keep them as memories in her picture diary. When she returned home from the library, she spent all weekend drawing everything that happened, her adventures with everyone from Gold Crown Town and Edo. She didn't want to forget.

But that was only drawings. She walked by the river after school, a bag of crackers in her hand.

Diana peeked out of her backpack, looking concerned. "You still miss them, don't you, Small Lady?"

"I do," Chibiusa nodded.

"But they'll always exist in our memories," Diana pointed out.

"I wonder if Puu can help me visit them," Chibiusa wondered. "I should talk to her about it. I bet she'd love to hear the adventure we had, of all the people we met, and all the friends we made."

She stopped, staring out at the river. It was the same river that appeared in the fake Edo, but this was in modern Tokyo. It was a pretty big river that she'd visit every so often just because it was pretty. The same river even ran through Crystal Tokyo.

She'd visited it frequently lately as ducks tended to gather there. A family full of mallards had settled on the shore of the river, quacking noisily at each other as if carrying on some intriguing conversation. Among them was a particularly yellow duck that Chibiusa hadn't seen visit the lake. She wasn't even sure what species of duck it was. It looked like a duckling but was the size of an adult.

Chibiusa squatted down, opening up the cracker bag. "Here duckies!" She pulled out a handful of crackers, crunching them a bit and spreading them on the grass. The hungry ducks came and quite quickly gobbled it up. The yellow one, however, went right past the food and up to Chibiusa.

"Aren't you cute!" Chibiusa smiled. "You know, you remind me of someone I knew. Her name was Duck. Cute, right?" She stuck her hand in the bag, pulling out another handful of crackers and offered it to the yellow duck. "You know, she's probably a ducky like you now, floating around happily in some pond as Fakir writes all sorts of stories. That sounds like a great thing to do, right?"

The yellow duck peered up at her as if it understood.

"I just wrote a story about her for class," Chibiusa continued. "About Princess Tutu and Fakir and the story they once lived. It's just a legend here, but it was fun to write about them. I wonder if they're writing about me too."

"Quack quack!" the yellow duck replied.

"You know, I bet you're right," Chibiusa nodded. "We said we'd never forget each other, even if we're worlds apart, and so we won't. We'll always be there for each other in our memories and dreams."

"Quack quack!" the duck attempted to jump into her lap.

Chibiusa smiled. "You're really cute, but I don't think Ikuko-mama would let me have another pet. You have to stay here in the river with your friends." She gently picked up the duck and set it down on the grass. She stood up, crushing the crackers then emptying out the bag onto the grass. The yellow duck seemed more interested in her than the crackers.

Chibiusa knit her brow in concern. She wanted to take the duck home but she didn't know how to care for a duck. It was best it stayed here where it belonged. She frowned, turning on her heels and staring at the bank back up to the sidewalk.

"You know, you feed her too much, she won't be able to fly home."

Chibiusa paused. She knew that sharp voice. She saw those familiar shoes, those familiar black pants, that weird familiar blue shirt that had one sleeve longer than the other, and finally that familiar sharp angular face staring back at her. "No way."

"That's the first thing you say to me?" Fakir grinned.

She leapt forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Fakir! I can't believe it!" She buried her face in his shirt. "I don't know how you're here. Are we in another story?"

"Nah, this is reality," Fakir shook his head. "I decided to write us a trip, and after I found your picture diary, I guessed where we might find you."

"Quack quack quack!" the little yellow duck poked at Chibiusa's leg.

"That means this must be Duck! Really actually Duck!" Chibiusa knelt down, scooping up the yellow duck and hugging her gently in her arms. "I should've known no other ducky could be so cute!"

Fakir snorted a bit of a laugh which resulted in several angry quacks from Duck. "We'll be in Tokyo for a while. Apparently book signings are a big thing here. However, if you have some time, would you show us around?"

Chibiusa lit up. She still wasn't sure how this was possible, given that she was convinced that they were in a different time than she was, but she traveled through time herself, so it wasn't entirely impossible. Pluto might be upset about more time travel, but with some explanations from Chibiusa, surely she'd understand. "I'd love to! We should go to Harajuku for some crepes then visit the real Tokyo Tower. Let's make the most of the time you're here!"

...

Author's notes:

Thanks for reading my first crossover! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

The last few chapters have all been named after songs from "Coppelia". The Dance of Hours is the final song in the ballet, a fitting name for the final chapter. I wanted to write a short epilogue to help tie things together, to show where they all ended up. I bet they had a lot of fun eating crepes and visiting Tokyo Tower!

Until the next tale!