Night Wind

Part I – See the Sunlight Fading... Fading...

Chapter Seven: Vows

The Lakota Shaman regards the 19th century vampire with a grin.

"Nice fangs, man," the man wearing the doeskin loincloth comments. "They'll look good next to my bear claw."

The vampire glances at the mentioned talisman displayed on a leather thong around the fearless man's neck. "You've always had bad fashion sense," he replies dryly.

Careful of the various painted designs decorating his bare biceps, chest, and thighs, the medicine man crosses his arms and responds with a half-hearted glare. "At least the person who picked your costume didn't skimp on cloth. I'm gonna freeze my ass off tonight."

"That was the idea, Maxwell."

"You're a bastard, Chang."

Wufei smiles, showing off his gleaming fangs. "Why so sullen? Not feeling up to defending your warrior prowess?"

Duo glares at his friend. Thus far they are the first two to arrive in the party site. "I'm not going to be the one with a problem if I decide to explore my... prowess," he growls.

Wufei chuckles. "Ah, yes. I'm sure Yuy would love to know who picked out his costume..."

"If you dare," Duo rasps, taking a menacing step toward the unconcerned nobleman, "I vow on all things excruciatingly painful to –"

A figure completely clothed in black slides effortlessly between them. "None of that, guys," Bisho's voice tells them from behind a carefully arranged mask of cloth. "Or you'll make me bust out my wickedninjamove!"

Duo snorts. "Oh, Christ, who thought up this get up for you?"

He can tell she's grinning by the way her eyes turn into sparkling semicircles. She looks her brother up and down before replying, "A little jealous, Jumping Buffalo?"

Duo lurches for the slender ninja and when his attempt at retaliation fails, turns his glare on a darkly chuckling Wufei. "If this weren't for a good cause..." Duo tells him with a finger poking the vampire's chest punctuating every word, "I'd kill you, Chang."

"Have I missed anything yet? Whoa, Duo. Nice... Just, nice."

Resigned, Duo grins for Taki. Then he does a comedic double-take. "You wanna talk about nice?" He supplies a low whistle and a leer. "You need to take a gander in a mirror."

Taki grins broadly and smoothes her hands over the delicately embroidered dragon that curves over the red brocade fabric of her traditional – though perhaps a bit tight – Chinese dress.

"Why, thank you, Duo." She glances at Wufei whose face is deliberately neutral. "That's probably the only compliment I'll get all night," Taki says, meeting her lover's bored gaze.

Wufei rolls his eyes. "Did Barton do your hair?" he checks in his best Agent-In-Charge tone.

Taki snorts. "As if. That man only knows two styles: bed-head and drip-dry."

From the open doorway, Cathy's knowing chuckle heralds her and George's arrival. Of course, it takes everyone a second to realize the flapper and the giant elf really are Cathy and George.

Cathy assures them, "That sounds like my brother all right." Then, with a glance at Wufei, she answers his original inquiry. "No worries, Wufei. Trowa sent her to me." Cathy squeezes through the small gathering to give Taki a reassuring squeeze and a peck on the cheek. "And you really do look lovely."

"Br-breathtaking," George assures her as he firmly plants himself on her left.

Wondering at this odd overabundance of attention, Taki raises a brow in the direction of the likely culprit. Chang arcs a brow in reply, looking far too smug for her peace of mind.

"Thanks," she mutters in ungraceful distraction but no one seems to mind.

"Hey! Where's the party?"

Bisho turns at the sound of a new – but very familiar voice – and grins in the direction of the doorway. And freezes. Eyes wide with disbelief, she gapes at her boyfriend posing on the threshold.

"Q-Quatre?"

With a big, cheesey grin, the blonde pokes his Buddy Holly glasses back into place on his nose and runs a hand over his red-and-white-plaid, short-sleeve, button-down shirt. "Yes?"

Caught between complete horror and morbid humor, Bisho takes in the carefully pleated high-waisted khaki slacks, polished penny loafers, and... dear God, is that toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his shoe? ... and chokes out, "You're...?"

"A used car salesman?" Taki finishes for her, equally fascinated and repulsed.

Duo saunters over to Quatre and takes a moment to closely examine his costume. "No, not a used car salesman... Not enough polyester." Contemplative pause. "Wait, is that sports tape on the bridge of your glasses?" Glancing down at the pens tucked into one of the shirt's breast pockets, Duo continues, "And is that a... pocket protector?"

At Quatre's affirming blush, Duo howls with mirth.

"Winner... the Nerd," Wufei announces.

Before the rest of the room's occupants can begin to bask in that novelty, Quatre holds up a hand, then silently turns around, presenting his back to them. There, taped to the opposite side of his pristine – if hideous – shirt is a sheet of lined notebook paper on which some thoughtful soul had scribbled the blatant request:

Kick me.

Duo blindly grabs for one of the disposable cameras sitting out on the nearest table and documents the moment.

"Woah, dude! Isn't that one of my shirts?"

The NW boys, lead by the atrociously dressed Sam, had arrived.

Luke rolls his eyes. "I'm surprised you can recognize it when it's clean," he drawls. Slinging an arm around Mark's stiff shoulders, he concludes, "And you wonder why I'm always hanging around Marky, here."

With a nervous glance at Mark's mutinous expression, Ian interjects, "Come on, guys, let's get this gig rolling."

"Yeah," Jarret agrees, "it's got the food and the folks but it ain't lookin' like a party yet."

Luke's smile fades as Mark roughly shrugs off the arm around his shoulders. In his confusion over Mark's uncharacteristic and persistent bitchiness, he looks at Ian who merely –and unhelpfully – glances quickly away. Eyes narrowing, Luke silently vows to discover the source behind the sudden discord. But, for now, there are beautiful women to flatter.

"Taki! Oh. My..." He turns abruptly to Wufei and informs him, "If I hear you aren't treating this woman like the goddess she is, I'll steal her, Chang."

Wufei looks rather amused by this declaration. "I highly doubt you could keep her satisfied, Goldfeld."

Taki rolls her eyes. "Oi, Bisho, you got any hidden weapons on you I can barrow?"

The young woman pauses briefly before replying with award-winning vagueness, "I am a ninja."

Whether this means her skills far transcend the base need for mere corporeal weaponry or she is armed to the teeth, Taki is unable to discern before her masterpiece walks through the door. Foregoing thoughts of threatening her mate, Taki takes a moment to appreciate Trowa.

She doesn't bother to hide her smug smile when he glances pointedly in her direction. Beside her, Duo clears his throat. She waits for the teasing to start but is thrilled by the uncertain question Duo poses instead.

"Uh, Tro? Has, um, Heero seen this costume?"

"Why? Do you think he'll finally figure out I'm his sister's pleasure slave?"

"And not the other way around? Yeah, I managed to get that a while ago, Barton."

With a small grin, Trowa turns and regards his lover's brother. "Yuy. Nice to see someone finally wrestled you into a skirt."

From behind Heero, a third voice interjects, "It's called a kilt."

"Thank you, Jaspien. I stand corrected."

"You're standing there in not much of anything at all, Barton. I fully expect you to drag your girlfriend out of this party within the hour to save us the pain of accidentally glancing in your direction," Wufei intones with a glower.

Heero grunts his agreement.

"So Heero's a Scottish laird, that's obvious," Cathy muses aloud in a blatant attempt to redirect the conversation before Taki's mutinous expression becomes a vocal protest. "And it appears Trowa is some sort of Egyptian god–"

"Ra, the Sun God, actually," Taki drawls with great pleasure. She is nearly overflowing with her anticipation of Yokaze's arrival and inevitable viewing of said Egyptian god. After all, Yokaze had "forgotten" to tell her that she and Trowa had become lovers. In fact, had it not been for Duo's off-handed comment she'd managed to overhear a week and half ago, she still might not have known. So the costume she'd originally manufactured with the intention of driving Yokaze mad with lust until the woman could no longer ignore her latent feelings for her roommate Taki had wrapped up with the intention of driving Yokaze mad with lust but being unable to accost her lover until the official end of the party. All in all, Taki is satisfied with her revenge. Especially when presented with such short notice.

Cathy hums thoughtfully and, perhaps a bit too diplomatically, at Taki's informative interjection and continues, "But I can't see Jaspien's costume..."

Heero reaches down and nudges the boy into the limelight where everyone takes a moment to contemplate...

"Everyone, meet Preventer Agent Jaspien."

Taking this as his cue, Jaspien pulls a small wallet out of his pocket, flashes a badge at them and demands forcefully, "Where were you last Tuesday night?"

Taki's brows arc. "Wow, he's really got the scowl down, doesn't he?" she asks indiscriminately, highly impressed.

Before this new thread of conversation can be explored, Trowa pats Jaspien's shoulder to get his attention, "Agent Jaspien, would you mind accompanying me on a brief assignment?"

"Is it dangerous?" is the authoritative reply.

"It very well may be," Trowa replies solemnly. "Are you armed?"

Jaspien nods.

"All right then. This way, sir."

The gathering watch in amused fascination as Trowa escorts Jaspien out onto the terrace. "Wow," Bisho says at long last. "Tro's really good with kids, hey?"

"What I want to know," Cathy contributes in mild puzzlement, "is where they found a uniform that small."

"Looked rather dashing, didn't he?" Bisho responds with a grin.

Taki smirks, "Well, I think this answers the age-old question. There really is something about a man in uniform."

Duo snorts. "As if you'd ever catch me in one of those things. I mean, really. What were you thinking taking a job where you're required to wear a noose around your neck as part of the dress code?" Duo challenges Wufei.

"That particular item of clothing is actually called a tie, Maxwell. But as most civilized people know this, I'm not surprised you don't."

Duo fingers the edge of his ceremonial hatchet at his hip and asks mildly, "But I do know quite a bit about scalping. Perhaps you've found yourself in need of a... demonstration, eh?"

No one had any doubt that Wufei's reply would be caustic in the extreme, however, it was left unvoiced.

At that precise moment, a figure had moved into view. A figure cloaked in shadow. Wiry and suspicious. The faint glint of light reflects off of a green tank top and black spandex shorts. And, for an instant, Duo is dragged back in time. And then the newcomer moves into the light and snares the others' attentions.

Beside him, he hears Taki demand with blatant curiosity, "Just who are you supposed to be?"

Dark blue eyes shift their gaze to the young woman and glare from beneath unruly dark bangs.

A shiver dances along Duo's spine at that look. God, how long has it been since he's seen that particular promise of painful, imminent death? Eager to distract himself from the memories this calls forth, he takes in the remainder of Yokaze's costume. And feels a grin pull at his lips. He clearly recalls Yokaze's playful rendition of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" she'd sung for them in the garage last June. Obviously, this is Heero's attempt at a payback for her rather creative lyrics:

"Spandex pants, Heero's showin'... maybe they stopped him from grown'... They hold him so tight, no circulation tonight..."

Smirking, Duo glances at Heero and notes the young man's gobsmacked expression. Apparently, Heero had not anticipated his old clothes would be quiet so... sung on his elder sister. Endlessly amused by Heero's no doubt meticulously planned revenge backfiring, Duo allows himself a good long look at Heero's attempts to digest the sight before him.

Into the stunned yet appreciative silence, Taki takes the opportunity to demand of Yokaze, "What are you? A deaf mute?"

"Hn."

And with that single syllable, the proverbial light flicks on. "Oh! I get it! You're Heero Yuy!"

"Oh, man," Duo hears himself purr as he pointedly takes his time looking Yokaze up and down. "I never would have guessed Heero knew your, er, measurements so well."

At his side, Wufei mutters, "I doubt Heero took any measurements into consideration when he chose this particular costume."

Duo shakes his head in awe as he allows his gaze to descend over the Gundam pilot in front of him until he's gazing at a very familiar pair of puke-yellow sneakers. He's silently astonished at the attention to historic detail.

"Dude," Taki enthuses, "exactly how long did it take you to pour yourself into those shorts?"

With a completely in-character scowl, Yokaze redirects her attention to the impertinent young woman. Duo takes the opportunity to satisfy his sudden burning curiosity regarding the fit of those shorts. The sound of the waistband snapping back against Yokaze's skin startles not only the vampire, the ninja, and the dragon lady but also a very peeved perfect soldier.

Duo backs up a step as a very familiar-looking Glock is thrust into his line of vision.

Glare o' Death revealed in full force, Yokaze intones, "Omae o korosu."

A moment of absolute silence resonates through the dinning room.

And then: "Holy shit!" Taki stares at Yokaze with her jaw hanging open. "Where the hell did that come from?" Because, judging by the incredibly tight fit of her garments, there aren't a whole lot of options here.

"Wouldn't we all like to know," Duo murmurs, making sure his hands are where Yokaze can see them.

"Oh, hell," Heero mutters to himself. His eyes narrow as the terrace doors open once more and a tall, lithe figure is backlit by thousands of twinkling lights.

Duo feels a twinge of concern as Yokaze's gaze wanders over his shoulder to the disturbance and the Glock wilts dangerously downward in her loosened grasp.

Taki says nothing to break the moment and simply basks in the fruits of her vindictive labors. Beside her, a small click draws her attention and Taki spies Wufei in the act of lowering a disposable camera. He catches her eye and she can't resist a glowing smile. Dear God, but sometimes she really does love the man.

The man braced in the open French doors, shifts slightly and announces softly, "Are you ready?"

Whether this question is directed at Yokaze alone or the entire room is irrelevant. Yokaze nods minutely and a noise that sounds suspiciously like "Uhrt" slips out past her parted lips.

Trowa smiles softly, appearing to understand this strange dialect easily. "Shall we?" His arms drop from the edges of the doorframe and he holds out a hand to Yokaze who readily abandons Duo.

Duo's expression twists into something like a contemplative frown. "Ya know, if it weren't for the fact that she was about to shoot my eyebrows off, I'd feel a little offended by that."

Wufei rolls his eyes and offers his arm to Taki. Eager to follow in Yokaze's wake, Taki doesn't comment on Wufei's courtly mannerisms. She wraps her fingers around the crook of her lover's arm with startling agreeableness.

Taki is barely aware of the others trailing after them. At first, her attention is focused solely on Yokaze and Trowa's silhouettes, but once she steps out onto the terrace, her attention is – predictably – snagged by the gracefully arcing lights illuminating the area. She stares in near-awe at the small, white lights that had been meticulously wound over the wire framework. And, here and there, the occasional light would blink violet or blue or orange. Her fingers twitch against Wufei's jacket sleeve, instinctively wishing for her portable watercolor set.

"Well," Duo says, standing apart from the rest of them and motioning Jaspien to his side, "now that we're all present and accounted for..."

Taki blinks out of her trance and glances around her, noting the odd fact that everyone has formed a perfect circle around herself and Wufei. She glances at Wufei who doesn't seem remotely startled by this. In fact, he nods once to Duo, a sly grin curving his lips.

Duo clears his throat. "Friends and family, we are gathered here on this fair evening to celebrate the commitment of two incredible people. The heavenly Taki Daemon and the less impressive but gun wielding Chang Wufei–"

Surprised by Duo's words, she hastily interrupts. "Duo? What the hell's going on here?"

Grinning, Duo replies, "Well, we decided – by popular vote – that you and Wuffers here are going to be together forever so we kinda figured it was about time we did something about it."

Beside her, Wufei leans down to whisper softly in her ear, "Welcome to our wedding, Taki."

Startled but unable to deny the warm rush his words and breath have enticed, she scrounges for a token protest but her voice is breathless when she demands, "So this was all your idiotic idea, then?"

Wufei smiles at her, his expression alight with a depth of affection she has somehow forgotten he has the capacity to show, he says simply, "Yes."

When the bride returns her love's warm smile, the Lakota shaman continues with his highly improvised blessing. Beside him, the Agent-In-Charge-of-the-Camera snaps away with fanatical enthusiasm. And when it comes time for the rings, Wufei carefully withdraws from around his neck the small silk pouch Taki has often seen but never understood the purpose of. Until now, that is.

"This is all I have left of the Dragon Clan," Wufei says softly into the breathless silence. "All I have left of our people."

Taki regards the meticulously detailed red gold dragon that winds its serpentine length around the silvery band.

Still whispering, Wufei tells her, "You would greatly honor our ancestors and myself in accepting it."

Well, hell, Taki muses, blinking furiously. What's a girl supposed to say to that? And then she hears someone promise in an uneven murmur, "I'd be proud to wear the banner of our people."

And only after the ring – still warm from resting near Wufei's skin – is slid onto her finger does Taki realize she'd been the one to utter that eloquent oath. For a long moment, she stares at the symbol of her long-forgotten past and then she fists that same hand around Wufei's lapel and draws him down for a long kiss.

"Er – well..." Duo muses with a grin at the interruption, "Yeah, okay. Husband and wife and all that good stuff. Let's eat!"

In happy silence, the witnesses drift back into the dinning room leaving the still-embracing pair alone under the canopy of lights.

End of Chapter Seven