I love how in Princess Tutu everybody's relationships deepen and change in unexpected ways, leading to a deep love they all share at the end--Ahiru and Rue, Fakir and Mytho, Mytho and Ahiru, Mytho and Rue, Fakir and Ahiru--EXCEPT for Fakir and Rue.
It is ON SIGHT for them from the moment they meet as kids and throughout the entire anime... and the only real change in that in the last episode is that they are civil/neutral with each other. They don't even talk to each other when Mytho and Rue say goodbye, with Fakir only addressing Mytho and Rue only addressing Ahiru. I think they both now care if the other lives or dies, Fakir did help save Rue even if it was probably for Mytho and Ahiru as much as her and all that, and they probably understand each other a little better. But other than that? Nope. Just two people in the same friend group who want nothing to do with each other.
It's so funny how there's never a single tender moment between them when there is with everyone else. Like of course they're still not friends, Fakir's interactions with Rue are always just "WHERE IS MYTHO", trying to fight her, grabbing her and shaking her at one point, and calling her an ugly crow a couple times in the first season (and interrupting a moment where Ahiru might have been able to snap her out of being Kraehe). Meanwhile on Rue's side, she deliberately triggered his past life PTSD, attempted to murder him (which resulted in serious injuries), and said "hey man you're useless I think you should kys :)" every single time she saw him in most of season 2. Hard to get over that. And neither of them are as forgiving as Ahiru and Mytho are!
And what's also funny is as much as Drosselmeyer wanted Ahiru and Rue to hate each other's guts and fight incessantly over a boy, that never really happened- Ahiru never wanted to fight, was totally fine with Mytho choosing Rue, and loved Rue openly and deeply, just wanting the best for her, and on Rue's side, she did love Ahiru deep down but couldn't acknowledge it because of her father and her role in the story she felt she had to fulfill. BUT, meanwhile, Fakir and Rue WERE geniuinely hating each others guts and no-holds barred fighting incessantly over a boy. And had been since they were children. Just good ol' fashioned rivalry and "he's mine" vibes and Dross didn't even notice thanks to heteronormativity.
And that grudge runs deep, so I don't think they'll ever truly forget it even if they've stopped hating each other.
I like to think Fakir and Ahiru (whether in duck form or not) go visit Rue and Mytho, and that it's mostly fine but always extremely awkward when they end up in a room alone together. Just forced into stilted small talk and awkward silences. I also like to think because they can't conceive not arguing, they pivot to fighting over Ahiru: who she likes best, who's hogging too much of her attention, who understands her more....Rue probably just picks up Ahiru in duck mode and runs away from him with her at one point, and Fakir will be running after her yelling while Mytho watches in mild amusement.
















