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Kuro lost count of how many years had passed since he was cursed.
213, he guessed… but he was pretty sure it was more. Ten years, give or take.
More than two centuries alone.
Who would ever get closer to him?
He was considered a black omen for love and lovers.
He couldn’t speak with anyone.
He couldn’t fly away.
Kuro’s life was a constant misery, but he guessed that he deserves that.
He was the Black Swan after all.
What Kuro had done with Prince Shiro, the White Swan, and with Prince Keith was unforgivable. He deceived Keith into thinking that Shiro was using and betraying him right before killing him. He would have killed Shiro too, if the White Swan hadn’t committed suicide after the dead of the love of his life. Allura, the forest witch, had cursed Kuro to stay in a swan form until he apologized to Keith and Shiro AND if they forgive him.
Dead people usually don’t forgive others. They are dead after all.
But what else could Kuro do, but to beg for their forgiveness on their tombstone?
After the lover’s deaths, the Kings (Keith’s fathers) made a huge garden right in front of the palace. In the middle of the garden, the two princes were buried, and their tombstone was a marmoreal memorial dedicated to romantic love. It was as white as Shiro’s wings were and fondly called The Lovers Resting Place.
Around it, the Prince and White Swan Park was planted and built. It was the pride and joy of the Capital, and one of the Country most beloved places. A huge green area within the city. It had many areas, like the Pure Love Pond, the Rose Tea Party Garden, the Lavender Field, the Swan fountain and the Forever and a Day Orchard (planted by the witch Allura herself). Many love stories started on some part of that big park, many lovers would go there in sweet dates and many hands were asked in marriage near the Lovers Resting Place.
It was beautiful that Shiro and Keith’s tomb had become a place of love. Very fitting, Kuro supposed.
Maybe that’s why he was not welcome there.
He was coming out of his hiding place behind some bushes to go back to the memorial, when a group of girls that were killing time and enjoying the afternoon on the park spotted him.
- Gross! A black swan!
Another girl picked a stone and threw on Kuro’s direction.
- Go away, stupid bird!
Swans usually are ferocious birds, but Kuro was in constant pain and unable to fight back. His chest hurt as if there’s a thick spear stuck there, making every breath painful. His wings were bent in weird and painful positions, forever broken (both of them, the black one and the rust cursed wing).
He couldn’t do much but ran back to the bushes to catch his breath.
Kuro was quite tired of being shooed away from the park, so he learned with time how to go unnoticed through bushes, behind stones and under benches. It worked most of the time.
He had nowhere else to go.
Living on the park and beg for forgiveness from a cold stone was all he could do.
He tried to kill himself twice on those two centuries. One time he tried to drown himself, on the other he tried to swallow glass. The problem was that part of the curse included the fact that he couldn’t die and he couldn’t kill himself either. Thus, when he tried to drown himself, he just lost conscience and woke up on the shallow end of the lake, and when he ate glass, that only hurt like hell, but he recovered after some time. Starving only made him feel weak and lose weight, but he wouldn’t die.
Therefore, begging for forgiveness from a stone was the only option.
He took the long turn, but he got to The Lovers Resting Place soon enough.
The memorial was nothing more than a beautiful statue of two swans tenderly touching their foreheads and with their necks forming a heart. A tall hedge protected the privacy of the seclude tombstone, and many flowers were planted near said hedge, so there were different blooms all through the year. There were three different entrances, three arcs on the hedge, but Kuro liked to use a small gap on the foliage to get there (better to avoid other people so he wouldn’t be shooed away).
Kuro never understood why Keith’s parents didn’t make something explaining the story or something more usual for a prince tomb. The white swans were a nice touch, though, he had to admit.
Swans do mate forever after all.
Kuro had stopped screaming at the stone years ago. Nowadays he would just stare at it for hours, mumbling apologies from time to time. On days when his pain had worsen, he would also cry.
However, on that day, when he got there, there was someone already near the memorial. A young boy with jet-black hair was sitting by the white stone. He was curled into himself and crying, his shoulders would move with every sob and hiccup.
He didn’t noticed Kuro getting there, and Kuro just stared at him without knowing what to do with himself.
Should he go away?
Should he get closer?
What should he do?
The boy sobbed again, hugging his own knees tightly.
Kuro felt his heart constrict. He could relate to such kindred suffering, even if he didn’t know why the kid was crying. He took pity on the boy. He slowly got closer to him and touched his hand with his beak. He cawed softly, trying to console the crying child.
The boy immediately raised his head.
Kuro sucked a breath in total awe.
The kid was probably eight years old. His eyes were blue. He looked too thin to be perfectly healthy for a child, and he was dirty and pale.
However, even with all those differences, it was impossible for Kuro not to identify that the boy was Keith.
He was younger and he seemed to have been mistreated, while the prince Kuro met was already an adult and seemed to be used to an easy prince-y life.
But that was Keith.
The boy shoved Kuro.
- Get away from me, you stupid bird!
Kuro stumbled back and he had to move his wings in order not to fall. He cried in pain and recoiled.
The boy glared at him. Kuro couldn’t help but notice that he had a handprint mark on his cheek.
Who would do that to a child?
(Yes, Kuro was aware that his old self would totally do that with a child, but he liked to think that he wasn’t that monster anymore).
Kuro’s loud cry of pain attracted the attention of other people.
A large man entered The Lovers Resting Place area. He was tall, with a menacing expression and he reeked of cheap tobacco. Kuro knew him from afar, Sendak, a known loan shark on the Capital. He usually would stay away from the Prince and White Swan Park, but from time to time he would show up to threaten some people there.
He completely ignored Kuro and glared darkly at the boy.
- So, this is where the lazy leech is hiding.
The kid tried to scramble away, but the shark grabbed him by the arm and twisted it. The boy cried in pain.
- Please, Sendak, stop! It hurts! Please, stop! Please, stop!
- You should’ve thought about that before disobeying me!
He raised his hand to smack the kid again.
Kuro acted on impulse. He jumped on the man bating his wings as fast and as strong as he could, pecking Sendak arms and face. Kuro shouted at the top of his lungs, crowing and making as many sound as he could. His objective was to take the focus from the Keith-like boy so he could escape. It wasn’t like Kuro could die, so he had nothing to lose anyway. And the boy would have one opportunity to escape.
It worked in part. The loan shark let go of the boy’s arm, and the boy ran immediately towards one of the three exits of the memorial area. However, the kid bumped on one of the guards that were patrolling the Park. Three guards heard the commotion and went there to investigate.
Kuro was distracted by the guards entering the shrine and ended up being pushed away from Sendak and hitting the marmoreal tombstone. He cried in pain, and he was completely out of breath. His luck was that the guards were there now. Otherwise, the man would stomp on him or worse. Even if he couldn’t die, it was still a pain in the ass to recover.
The guard had grabbed the boy’s arm in a firm grip.
Sendak let out a (fake) smile.
- Thank the gods you get him! Can you imagine all the trouble this kid gives to me?
Kuro tried to crow again, to make anything just to show that that man was a monster, but he was still out of breath and in a huge pain. All what he got was a pitiful low caw.
The guards studied the two people.
- Is everything all right, kid?
Kuro saw the boy’s eyes dart to the loan shark. He cowered in fear and he was even paler than before.
- Y-yes, sir…
- Are you hurt?
- I… - his eyes darted to Sendak again before he swallowed – I fell…
One of the guards frowned. But before he could ask more, the Sendak grabbed the boy’s hand.
- Now that I found my protégé, we’ll go our merry way. Have a good day, gentlemen.
Kuro could see that his grip on the boy’s hand was vice-like. It must hurt, for the boy had tears in his eyes again, but he held them down.
The swan couldn’t do more than to hide before the guards noticed him and tried to shoot arrows on him or something. He was in too much pain to be able to fight to help the boy again, and no one in their right mind would take the word of a bird about a person.
(He couldn’t even speak).
He watched from the bushes the loan shark drag the boy while the guards only watched warily. The kid was pale and he gritted his teeth with pain and fear.
Kuro crowed in frustration and anger, attracting the eyes of some bystanders to the bushes where he was hiding.
It killed him that he couldn’t do a thing to help.
Kuro was already moving away, fully intending to go to his favourite hiding safe spot (a small stone burrow near the Carnation’s Garden) to mope, when a new voice intervened on the boy’s fate with a shout.
- Wait!
Kuro felt a shiver run down his spine and he cowered to the darkest part of the bushes.
Allura herself walked there coming from the Forever and a Day Orchard.
It wasn’t unusual to find Allura on the Capital. Her forest was near it and she liked the contact with the people. Also, it wasn’t unusual to find her enjoying the day on the Prince and White Swan Park just like many other people. Kuro usually avoided her during her visits, hiding deeper into the foliage and as far away as he could from the witch.
He had his dose of angry witches on his life, thank you very much.
It would be risky to try to escape with her nearby, so he only took refuge on the bushes and watched.
She got to where the three guards, the loan shark and the boy were. Allura was already glaring at Sendak. Kuro was too far away to hear the conversation, but he saw when one of Sendak’s teeth fell from his mouth and that vines grabbed him by the legs when he tried to escape. The guards arrested him while Allura was consoling the boy.
Kuro sighed in relief.
At least someone with enough power intervened to save the kid. The day wasn’t completely lost, and he was glad for it.
He watched as Allura took her cape and put over the boy’s shoulders. Then she offered her hand for him to take and she gently conducted him out of the park through the nearby gates.
When she was almost out of the gates, Allura looked back, in the direction of the bushes where Kuro was hiding. Kuro shuddered and recoil to further in the shadows. He could swear that she had smiled before walking away with the kid.
Kuro thought about the encounter with Prince Keith’s doppelganger for a few days, but he soon dismissed the case as one hell of a pointless coincidence. What were the odds that that kid was the reincarnation of the Prince? And if he was, what were the odds of him understanding the Black Swan apology and forgiving him?
It was probably just a way of the universe to screw with him.
A few weeks passed uneventfully, with Kuro following his usual mourning routine.
However, one afternoon when Kuro was quietly sitting by the memorial and sighing apologies to the cold white stone, he heard someone approaching The Lovers Resting Place area.
As usual, he stood up and got ready to walk away through the gap on the hedge. Kuro took a deep breath and was ready to run when he heard a quiet voice calling him.
- Huh… hi… mister Black Swan…
Kuro turned immediately toward the tiny voice and was face to face with the Prince Keith look-alike kid.
He looked better than the last time they have saw each other. He was wearing clean clothes and his cheeks were rosier than before. He was still too thin, but Kuro guessed that he still needed a few more meals before getting fully healthy.
The boy hemmed embarrassed.
- Miss Allura said that she only noticed the situation because you made some noise. And you fought to make Sendak back off from me… - he scratched his head – So… hum… I think I should thank you… and apologize for the mean things I said. I mean, you’re a bird, but you’re not stupid…
He bit his lips and scratched his head again.
- Yeah… You probably don’t even understand me, but thank you anyway.
He gave the swan a tiny smile.
Kuro cawed happily. He might not be forgiven, but it was nice to know that a good deed he did ended up well.
The boy bit his lips again, but kept a smile. He took a few cautious steps towards the bird.
The swan flapped his wings in apprehension. He was too used to be shooed away or to have people throwing things on him. Even his last interaction with the kid wasn’t an exact fond memory (it took a few days for Kuro to feel better).
However, the boy gently touched his head and he petted his feathers with soft touches. Kuro sighed, relaxing into the touch.
- You’re a weird bird, mister Swan. – the boy laughed, still petting him – But I guess I’m weird too. I mean, I’m talking to a bird.
Kuro cawed again, pleased with the conversation (even if it was kind of one-sided).
- Well, it’s rude to talk with other people without telling my name. At least, dad used to say that…
He was sad for a few moments, losing his smile and biting his lips again. Kuro cawed softly to try to console him. The boy gave him a tiny smile again.
- So, nice to meet you, mister Swan. I’m Keith.
If Kuro had a jaw, it would have hit the floor now.
No fucking way…!
What were the odd…?
He shook his head.
Anyway, it was still pointless. That new Keith didn’t have any idea that he shared a lot of similarities with old Keith. And Kuro still couldn’t talk in order to ask for new Keith’s help (he didn’t even know if new Keith could help at all). Besides, he was still missing 50% of the people required to break the spell.
Thus, Kuro just enjoyed the company of his new friend.
In his head, just to avoid the confusion, he started to call new Keith as just “Keith” and old Keith as just “the Prince”.
Keith liked to talk with him, and that was how Kuro learned about the boy’s story.
Different from the Prince, Keith had been born in a poor family. His mom left when he was very young, and although his father was a lovingly man, he had a gambling addiction that put the small family in even bigger poverty. Keith’s father borrowed money from a loan shark, Sendak, and lost all the money gambling. Before he could do anything to try to pay his debt, he died in an accident. Keith had no other relatives, and Sendak still wanted his money back. Thus, the loan shark took custody of the kid and tried to force him to steal and commit other small crimes in order to “pay” for his father’s debt. When Keith refused, he was abused, either verbally of physically.
Kuro was glad that he had intervened and helped to bring attention to Keith’s situation.
Keith himself liked to spend his free time by the park.
- I don’t know, Black. – he said one hot afternoon while they were splashing their feet in the pond – I kinda feel attracted to this place.
Kuro snorted.
“I wonder why.” he thought with irony and an amused chuckle.
At first, Keith called him “mister Swan”, but with time he got to the “first name basis” and called him just “Black”.
- You are a Black Swan after all. – the boy grinned at his own clever deduction.
Kuro didn’t mind the name.
He could follow Keith’s life closely from there.
After Allura brought attention to the case, Sendak was arrested.
An old knight took pity on Keith and adopted him. He wasn’t the most affectionate of people, but he was loving on his own way. The biggest proof of that was that Keith went from calling him by the name, Kollivan, to calling him dad and then calling him pops by the time he entered his teenager years. Kollivan was very strict, and the two of them would argue a lot, but in the end they would always reconcile. Keith always spoke of him with fondness, even when he was angry.
Kuro himself was happy to have a friend and to have someone who would protect him from been shooed away or from having stones being tossed on him. He was safe to enjoy the daylight whenever he was in Keith’s company. He still avoided Allura like a plague (and she seemed to be fond of Keith, much to Kuro’s chagrin) and his body still hurts all the time, but overall it was a great improvement in his life.
Keith himself seemed to be growing up into a fine young man. He was a little shy and have few friends, but he was an honest and good boy. He was quite fond of talking with Kuro and, with time, he got good at interpreting the swan’s caws and crows. Sometimes Kuro would do some mischief, like stealing part of Keith’s lunch, but overall, they were both happy with their friendship.
Kuro was happy with the turn of events and he enjoyed his new routine for a few years.
Seven years to be precise.
Keith was sixteen and he was already getting excited to become a knight like his pops. His semblance with the Prince was becoming more and more evident every day (it was a little uncanny for Kuro, but there wasn’t much he could do about it).
One afternoon, Keith was staring at the Silver Steam from over the stone bridge (the Swan’s Neck Arc) when Kuro found him. There few other people around (that wasn’t one of the most popular areas of the Park), but he was fast enough to get to the young man before anyone noticed and shooed him. He nudged Keith’s leg with his beak to call his attention.
Keith smiled at him.
- Hey, Black. How’s going?
Kuro cawed cheerfully. Today was a good day, his pain was manageable and the sun was warm on that fall day. He nudged Keith’s hand.
- Heh. Good to hear that. I’m… I’m all right…
The swan tilted his head to the side in curiosity.
Keith groaned and bit his lips (a bad habit that he hadn’t grown out yet).
- It’s just… I met a boy today…
Kuro cooed and jumped so he could sit on the arc’s parapet to hear.
Keith had a few crushed and boyfriends on those years, and Kuro couldn’t help himself but to be interested on some of that gossip.
- I-I mean… - Keith blushed with embarrassment – I didn’t exactly met met him. He’s one of the new squires… and I, huh, I was with pops during one of the knights events...
He blushed harder.
- He’s just… soooo handsome…
Kuro chuckled internally. It was always fun in an amusing way to see Keith fawning over other boys. He couldn’t relate (since he had never been in love), but he could at least listen to the young man talking about his latest crush.
Keith continued.
- He came from the countryside to become Iverson’s squire. I don’t get why would anyone be Iverson’s squire. The man’s an asshole!
Kuro cooed in agreement.
- But, huh, I suppose all knights can have squires… - he smiled – And, huhh… I’m glad he’s here. It’s nice to have an eye-candy around.
The swan chuckled again and cooed in agreement, making Keith smile grow for one moment.
However, his smile fell suddenly and his face got red in embarrassment.
- Fuck! He’s here.
And he basically jump behind the closest bush to hide.
Kuro cawed in laugh at Keith’s antics. Why teenagers were so overdramatic was beyond him (since he was already created as an adult), but it was still highly amusing.
The moment Keith’s crush came into Kuro’s line of vision, however, his laugh died and he sucked a breath in astonishment.
Taking a stroll through the Prince and White Swan Park there was no other than Shiro himself.
If Kuro had a jaw, it would be hanging.
Just like there were some differences between the Prince and Keith, that Shiro look-alike had a few differences from his own original.
First of all, he was younger than Shiro at least ten years, being on his late teens. He didn’t have any of the scars Shiro had acquired during his time as Haggar’s slave, nor he had the white forelock or the cursed arm. Finally, his eyes looked like a normal young man’s eyes of his own age, not the wise beyond his years look that Shiro’s eyes had (due to all his trauma and suffering).
What were the fucking odds of two people with the same faces as the Prince and the White Swan to found each other?!
Kuro was so lost in his own awe that he didn’t realize that the young squire was close enough to spot him.
The young man glared at him and moved his arms in a big “shoo” movement.
- Shoo! Get outta here, stupid bird!
Kuro was caught by surprise, and since he was on the parapet, his movements to escape made him fall towards the river.
It wasn’t a high fall, but it hurts nonetheless. Besides, Kuro tried to prevent the fall by flapping his wings, but since they were forever broken that only made it more painful. He moved toward the stream margin and laid there for one moment to recover and to wait for the pain to lessen enough for him to move more.
“Ok… I guess I deserved that...” He thought with a groan, remembering the fall he had two centuries ago, right after he had murdered the Prince. It seemed like a fitting punishment (even some poetic justice) since he had dragged the White Swan with him on that fall.
Keith didn’t seem to agree with him.
- What the fuck is wrong with you!? – he shouted to the other young man with a big scowl and walking hard towards him
The Shiro look-alike blinked.
- It’s a black swan! Everybody knows they’re bad omens.
That seemed to make Keith even angrier.
- He wasn’t doing anything wrong!
- It’s just a bird! – the squire crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes annoyed – Why do you even care?
Kuro groaned again.
Great! Now he was responsible for separating the two lovebirds.
Again.
He stood up, ready to recoil to his favourite hideout before the day could get any worse, when he noticed that Allura was watching the two young men arguing from that margin of the stream. Kuro tried to get away without calling her attention, but she suddenly turned her blue eyes towards him and he skedaddled as fast as he could (regardless of his own pain. Better be safe and in pain than cursed again).
The next few days he was in too much pain to move much, so he stayed near his burrow the whole time. He was looking for food by the Carnation’s Garden when Keith found him again.
- Hey! Black!
Keith got near him with a smile. That day he was still wearing his school uniform, but he had already unbuttoned part of the shirt.
- Good to see you! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!
Kuro cooed quietly, but fondly.
- How’s you doing?
He cawed pitifully.
- Still hurting? Poor thing… - Keith petted his head and neck and Kuro sighed into the touch – What about we have lunch by the Lavender Field? What do you think?
He cawed softly and the young man snorted.
- Yes, Black, I can carry you there and then back here. – he answered with a smile.
Kuro cooed with cheerfulness and Keith chuckled while carrying the swan.
The Lavender Field was pretty much what the name implied: an open field area with many bushes of different types of lavender spread in a mismatched way. It had a certain chaotic beauty on it and the smell was really good (a little too strong at certain months of the years, but still pleasant). People liked to have picnics around the area.
Some bystanders looked at Keith a little weirded out for him having a black swan as his companion, but he paid then no attention. Kuro was just really glad to enjoy the sun, to have Keith gently petting his feathers and to have free lunch.
Keith was talking about anything that crossed his mind, which was mostly complaining about his homework and about a few classmates. He relaxed as he was speaking and he laid on the grass after finishing eating.
It was a very peaceful moment until someone hemmed nearby. Keith turned his head to look at the newcomer before grunted annoyed and sitting.
- What do you want, Shirogane?
Kuro recoiled a little at the intrusion, but he stayed there quietly. He would move only if he really needed too, and right now, he hoped that he was safe near Keith. He also got a little weirded out with the huge coincidence that it was that man that looked like Takashi Shirogane to actually be called Shirogane. He couldn’t complain too much, though, for he was already laying his head on a man who looked just liked Prince Keith and who was actually called Keith, thus his life was already weird to begin with.
Shirogane sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.
- I, huh, I came here to apologize…
- Let me guess, - Keith rolled his eyes – you found out who my pops is and now you want to fall into his good graces.
- No! I-I mean, yeah, I know who your father is, but I came to apologize regardless of that.
- Yeah, right…
- No, I’m serious. I’m sorry, I was a jerk the other day.
- You owe an apology to Black.
Shirogane raised his eyebrow in total disbelief.
- You want me to apologize to the swan.
- It’s mister Swan to you.
- You can’t be serious.
- Do I look like I’m joking?
Kuro sighed. Keith was too headstrong sometimes for his own good. He hoped that the young man grown out of that soon.
Shirogane looked at the black swan with a very weirded out expression.
- I… Huh… I’m sorry, mister Swan. For, huh, scaring you…
Kuro shrugged. He was used to people shooing him. The fact that the man was a doppelganger of the White Swan was irrelevant. But he also cooed softly, since it was good to have someone more being nice to him, even if for just a few moments.
Keith nodded.
- Very well, you already did what you came here to do. – he said dryly – Shoo!
Shirogane scratched the back of his neck again.
- Huh…
- Yes? – Keith raised one eyebrow.
Kuro could see that Shirogane was holding back a blush and that he looked away nervously.
- Do you mind if I sit here with you?
Keith rolled his eyes.
- It’s a free park. Do whatever you want.
Although he answered harshly, Kuro could also see that his cheeks were rosy. He had bit his lips for a brief moment.
Kuro chuckled in his mind.
Oh, my… Apparently, he was going to watch the two lovebirds fall in love again.
This time, however, instead of watching them with anger and hate, Kuro watched them with curiosity and fondness. He couldn’t understand what was to love someone like that. He liked Keith as a friend, and he with time he was getting quite fond of new-Shiro (again, to keep things clear in his mind, Kuro decided to call new-Shiro as simply “Shiro” and old-Shiro as “White Swan”), but romantic love seemed like an intangible feeling.
Thus, he watched with interest.
After the rocky start, they warmed fast to each other. Shiro was relentless in making Keith laugh and Keith started to clearly enjoy the other’s presence.
Kuro also pushed the two a little when he lost his patience with them dancing around each other. He was the one that pushed Keith towards Shiro, a movement that leaded to the couple first kiss. Kuro was in pain for three long days, but it was totally worth it!
(Allura was there on that day, and while the lovers were busy kissing each other, Kuro scrambled away from her as fast as he could).
- You’re the only person I know that has a black swan as their love good omen. – Shiro laughed one day when the three of them were enjoying the fruits of the Orchard.
- Oh, shuddup. – Keith laughed, standing on his tiptoes to kiss Shiro’s lips – Black’s a good bird.
Kuro cawed. “Yeah! I’m a darling!” he laughed in his mind, but his friend weren’t paying attention to him on that moment.
Shiro laughed again and kissed Keith back.
- I believe you, babe.
Although he believed that his curse would never be broken, for the first time in his life, Kuro felt at peace. He had two good friends and they were happy together.
Kuro smiled at himself one night while walking away from The Lovers Resting Place shrine (Keith and Shiro decided to use the recluse area to snog, and Kuro really didn’t like those moments of the couple, so he usually would retreat to some of his hiding places).
He couldn’t think of any better way to make amends with his past and with the terrible things he had done than to help Keith and Shiro to get together.
That was the Prince and the White Swan’s legacy after all: love.
Kuro was quite proud of himself for having helped the two lovebirds this time instead of trying to break them apart.
He wasn’t counting, but exact nineteen months passed since the first time Keith and Shiro met on the Swan’s Neck Arc. Shiro was a newly appointed knight and Keith would start the knighthood process the next year. Kuro enjoyed watching the couple interacting all that time.
However, after those exact nineteen months, Kuro woke up for a very unexpected surprise.
He woke up on his stone burrow near the Carnation’s Garden lazily and yawned. Neither Keith nor Shiro would show up until the afternoon, so he had to be creative to eat that morning. At least it was a good day, and his pain was doable. Still feeling lazy, Kuro started to walk out of the burrow.
As soon as he put his head outside, he spotted Allura sitting in the ground right in front of his hide out.
- Please don’t freak out, Kuro. – she asked with a nervous smile.
Of course that Kuro freaked out.
He recoiled back inside his house with a hiss and a crow.
What the hell was she doing there!? Kuro wasn’t doing harm to anyone!
- I’m not here to hurt you. – Allura said with a sigh – May I please speak with you, please?
He just hissed again.
- It’s about breaking your curse.
That peaked his interest, but he still kept inside the burrow.
- I swear that I won’t hurt you. – she repeated – But I need to talk about your curse.
Warily, he walked near the entrance; just enough so she could see him, but he could still hide have the need arise.
Allura smiled.
- Thank you, Kuro.
He hissed still feeling wary.
- I won’t waste your time with formalities. – she nodded – As you already noticed, Keith’s and Shiro’s reincarnations are alive and they’re together, thanks to you, by the way.
Kuro cawed dryly in agreement.
- I’m glad that you helped, – she smiled again – and that made me think if 237 years aren’t too long for your punishment. You obviously learned your lesson and you aren’t that man from two centuries ago.
He cawed again in disbelief. Would she really help him break the curse?
- I still need to see if that’s possible, but if you come with me, – Allura said extending her hand on the burrow direction – I’ll see what can be done.
Kuro considered his options for a moment.
He didn’t have anything else to lose, and if there was something that he knew about Allura was that the gentle forest witch wouldn’t curse him out of nowhere. He shrugged.
Well, why not?
Kuro walked out of his burrow. However, as soon as he put his feet out of his hiding hole, he noticed that he wasn’t at the Prince and White Swan Park anymore. He was in Allura’s forest.
Near the Swan Lake to be more precise.
Kuro cawed loudly in shock. He tried to scramble back to his burrow, but it wasn’t there anymore, obviously. Without any way out, he tried to stay as far as he could from the witch.
Allura smiled amused and stood up.
- Relax, Kuro. I lifted the ban on you. You can be at the forest if you want.
He cooed angrily.
Damn those witches and their magic…
- Sorry for the abrupt ride, by the way, – she continued – but I think it’s for the best that you stay here in case the curse is lifted.
She sighed.
- Unfortunately, due to way I casted the curse on you, only Keith and Shiro can break it. I’ll talk with them today. – she smiled at him again – And I have high hopes for you. Please enjoy your staying in the meanwhile.
And she disappear.
Kuro cooed angrily again.
He hated witches.
The black swan didn’t have any other option, but to stay on the forest. It was a long walk back to the city and he was already feeling sullen enough without the physical effort. Thus, he ate some plants around the lake. At least he could enjoy the sun and the fair weather on that spring day undisturbed.
Kuro ended up taking a long nap on the soft grass around the silver lake.
He woke up at some point of the afternoon with the sound of voices.
At first, he thought that it was only Allura coming back. However, he recognized Keith’s voice.
- You’re kidding, right?
Kuro immediately looked around.
Was Keith there too?
- I’m afraid not, Keith. – Allura answered him.
Just then, Kuro noticed that the sounds were coming from the lake.
Feeling curious, he walked towards it.
Allura’s magic was making the water act like a screen, showing up the events that were happening on The Lovers Resting Place shrine. Shiro and Keith were there with Allura. The couple held hands and stared at the witch with equal awed expressions.
- Wait, - Shiro was blinking and his expression made it clear that he was trying to make sense of the situation – you’re telling us that we are the reincarnation of them…?
He pointed out to the white memorial astonished.
Allura nodded.
- Yes, Shiro. That’s exactly what I’m saying.
The lovers looked between each other in shared awe.
- Who’s the Prince and who’s the White Swan? – Keith blurted out.
The witch smiled.
- That’s not important. What matters right now is that I’m trying to make amends and to break a curse that I casted centuries ago.
Shiro frowned his forehead, but Keith raised his eyebrows in comprehension.
- The Black Swan… - he whispered.
Allura nodded.
- Him indeed, Keith.
- Is he still alive? – Shiro asked thunderstruck – After all those years?
- Yes, he is, Shiro. I believe he truly regrets his actions and he did everything within his power to help the two of you to be together this time.
- Are you saying that Keith’s Black…?
- You mean Black?
They asked at the same time.
Allura nodded again.
- Indeed. The black swan that you both know is the same of the legend, the one who carried his penitence for more than two hundred years now.
The couple was stunned and speechless.
- He begged for forgiveness for years by the memorial. – Allura continued – But to lift the curse I need to know if you two forgive him.
Kuro held his breath in expectation for the answer.
Keith was the first one to respond.
- Of course! – he sighed – I think it’s about time.
Allura smiled encouraging.
- Thank you, Keith.
Shiro frowned angrily.
- Well, I don’t.
Kuro felt crestfallen and devastated.
Shiro, of all people, was the unforgiven one.
He guessed he deserved it. Since his creation, he had antagonized with the White Swan over nothing. Nothing more fitting than not being forgiven for that.
Keith frowned at his boyfriend.
- Takashi-
- Keith, no. – he took a deep breath in anger and pain.
Keith bit his lips before using his free hand to make his lover look at him again.
- Takashi, he already paid for his crimes after all this time. He even tried to help us.
- He was just trying to help himself. All that was just a plan to break his own damn curse.
- Unless you understand the language of the birds, Shiro, it wouldn’t be possible for him to make such plan. – Allura replied – The only reason why the two of you know about it is because I took pity on him, after all.
Shiro looked away before looking back at Keith.
- Just to think that you could have been the Prince in the past life and that he had deceived and killed you just out of pure evilness… - he said in a quiet voice cupping Keith’s face.
Keith sighed into the touch before replying.
- You could have been the Prince yourself, and it hurts to think that you would suffer such fate. But that’s the past. We too need to move on.
- I can move on very well without forgiving.
- I’d usually say that one’s not obliged to forgive anyone who had hurt them. – Allura intervened – But, in this case, a man needs it to be free from the past too.
Shiro still hesitated.
- Forgiving him won’t mean that you have to accept him, Shiro. – Allura continued – I think everyone will understand if you don’t want him near you after this. But letting go and forgiving can be a start of a new story yet to be written and free from the bondages of the past.
Kuro took a deep breath and clenched the grass under his fingers.
Wait.
Fingers?
He looked at his hands, human hands, right before hearing Shiro’s words that confirmed his suspicions.
- I don’t want him anywhere near me, but - he sighed – yeah, ok, I forgive him.
The lake stopped broadcasting what was happening at The Lovers Resting Place on that moment, and it showed Kuro’s reflection.
He wasn’t a swan anymore.
Kuro took a pain-free deep breath and touched his face, still staring at his image at the lake.
- I’m… I’m free?
His eyes widened at the sound of his own voice.
Free.
He was Free!
Kuro felt a relieved laugh bubble in his chest and tears of joy bloom in his eyes.
Free!
He was the Black Swan no more!
The curse have been broken.
He was free from Haggar, free from his curse and free from the past.
He laughed and cried with happiness.
On the next few days, the people noticed the absence of the black swan that usually roamed the Prince and White Swan Park. He had been there for so long that, even if people didn’t like him, he was part of the Park.
Most people only shrugged. He probably had just died.
However, Keith and Shiro knew the truth. They would smile at each other every time they heard someone talking about it (Keith more openly than Shiro, but they shared that small joy).
The past was finally buried for those three.
The Prince and the White Swan got their happy ending.
And the Black Swan was no more.