Part 4

Duo stood in front of the floor length mirror and appraised himself trying to decide whether or not to get changed. He might have had a dinner date but the clothes were sturdy and clean and he wasn't sure what the maid that they had been sent had in mind. "Prima's very good, just trust her." The woman's voice said clearly behind him.

He whirled on his heel, "Heero," he shouted into the other room, "was that you?"

A soft hn, answered him from the privy that they shared.

"Silly," the woman chided, "it was me." She stood by the window, no taller than Duo himself with long honey blonde hair that she wore in a braid exactly like his own, with the same bangs over her face, but this girl was astonishingly beautiful. She wore a pair of leather trousers just like his own and a similar jerkin, but other than surface details this girl was nothing like him. She was heart stoppingly beautiful, beautiful like the first snows over Earth with deep dark eyes that seemed to drown him and a mouth that deserved to be kissed. "I just wanted you to pass on a message for me." Her laughter was like the tinkling of bells in the room. "I want you to tell Mina to tell him it's fine. I need you to tell Mina that Avili said to tell him that it was fine."

"So you're Avili." He asked warily.

She smiled and he felt dazzled. "Yes, Duo, I'm Avili, I'm Avili Angharad Verif if we're going to be specific, and you are Duo Maxwell." She walked over to him, and she didn't walk as much as glide, it was a soft almost tidal motion, she moved with a fluidity and silence that he actually envied. She wore soft leather slippers though where he wore heavy boots. "They are talking about you all over Halcyon, but please pass the message to Mina for me."

"Why can't you tell her yourself?" Duo asked.

"She can't hear me." Avili said and turned back to the window, "it's bitter out, it might snow, ask your Senshisha to join you tonight, or he will catch a chill." She smiled, "I don't think we'll see each other again, Duo, so you must give her my message, you must make sure she tells him I said it was fine."

"Why won't we see each other?" Duo pressed.

"The halls of Halcyon are crowded as it is, and this is not my place, I must go back there. Have strength, Duo," she ran her hand the length of her braid, "I believe in you."

He was distracted by the door to the privy opening and turned away from her, "who were you talking to?" Heero asked.

"Avili," he said turning to the window to introduce her, but she was gone. "She was here, just a minute ago, I swear she moves even quieter than me in stealth mode, and she snuck past me, twice." He shook his head, "that kir of theirs must be messing with my head."

Heero just hn'ed.

There was a knocking on the outer door, "excuse me," a girlish voice piped up as she popped her head around the door, "I'm Primaverra, Lady Minako sent me to help the Shinigami dress." She wore a black dress similar in design to the one that the chatelaine, Dieina, had worn, but over it she wore a pristine white apron, her hair was caught up in a cloth wimple but she had a winning smile and was apple cheeked. "She was going to send my sister, Otonna, but she had an attack of the nerves, the three of us used to tend to our Lady of Cadarn, miss Avili, but since," she paused for a moment, "well we serve Lady Minako now and with Hivara doing her hair it fell to me to come and help," she laid an outfit much like the one that the man who had interrupted them earlier had worn on the bed, "this will be for you, sir, and for the Shinigami." From behind it she laid out a long robe that fastened just under the breastbone then hung open to reveal the pleated trousers underneath. It was a style that would have been very flattering on a much taller person, the fabric was a pale ash grey on both outfits, and where Heero's looked like something out of a Japanese history text book there was something exotic and strange about Duo's. "Well, listen to me, just wittering on about nothing, would you care for some Kir, or some wine, there is some very fine brandy in the cellars, I could just run down and fetch it, or I can send for some hot chocolate."

"We're fine, thank you." Heero said lifting the outfit she had laid out for him, it was tied together and there was a sheet of very thin wood holding it in shape. "If you would like to start on the Shinigami I am more than happy to retire to the next room and dress." Duo got the distinct impression that Heero was laughing at him.

"Look at you," Primaverra said sitting Duo down to look at his hair, unbraiding it, before he had a chance to protest, with capable hands and then batting the brush against her palm, "why apart from those eyes if you're not the image of the Lady Avili, why Master Tobin will be beating down your doors thinking that she has returned to him, it is a good job you have your Senshisha, and him so handsome and all, maybe then Master Tobin will realise that you're not her and let you be, he can be so possessive. But he did love her." She started to brush out Duo's hair. The woman's chatter was strangely hypnotic, as she ran the brush through his hair and continued on, telling gossip about people he had never heard of, he just drifted away into her hands.

"You look lovely, Duo." Heero said when Primaverra stood back. Duo blinked for a moment hearing a compliment from Heero. Heero did not give compliments at all.

Duo did a double take in the mirror, the outer jacket of the outfit she had lain out for him was a very fine silk that was elegantly pleated to hide anything that it might otherwise show but the breeches were a heavy thick silk whose rustles sounded like sparks exploding. She had given him fine silk socks and leather slippers, and braided his hair tightly, much more tidily than he ever managed by himself, but it was only when he turned around he realised that she had braided a silver ribbon, a ribbon almost the same colour as his jacket, through his hair, and to it she had attached shining diamond clips. Looking at himself in the mirror he realised he was dressed like a girl.

"What time is it?" He grated.

"Nearly seven of the clock, I will take you to the yellow parlour, Lady Minako will be waiting, her time is precious, it is not good to leave her long." Primaverra said.

The yellow parlour lived exactly up to it's promise, the walls were covered in a pale yellow silk, the shutters over the windows had been painted a deep metallic bronze that matched the upholstery and all the fittings were golden. It was lush and rich, but very yellow.

The man, Mamoru, who had introduced himself before stood behind one of the small couches completely at alert, and on it sat a lady in an ash grey gown that was almost a perfect match for Duo's except where his made him look masculine, hers, somehow made her more feminine. "Good evening," she said, and Her voice was quietly deferential and her hair was a pale blonde that looked like spun lamplight in soft curls around her face and neck. Her gown was embroidered with silver thread in delicate starbursts. She didn't look like any of the other women, there was no hardness about her, but it was as if she was built of marble, she seemed permanent. She was, Duo noticed, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was almost arrogantly beautiful with the perfection of her features. She wore no jewels or cosmetics that he could see, but her hair and her eyes, that were the colour of granite, and her skin was the colour of wintry cream. "I am Shinigami no Minako Tennosha," she bowed her head, "and I have waited along time for you, Shinigami Duo Maxwell, and you Heero Yuy." She smiled but it was a brittle thing. Unlike many beautiful women who had grown out of their beauty she had grown into hers. There was a tension between Minako and the man who had introduced himself as her husband, it was almost uncomfortable. "Please," she said with another of those strange slow smiles, "take a seat, I imagine you have questions."

"Not really," Duo said, "You probably know our names because someone told you them, but this girl said to give you a message, she said to tell you that Avili said to tell him it was fine."

Minako started, a barely noticed almost gesture and then she smiled. "Thank you, Duo, I'll make sure to tell him, did she look well? It has been months since I've seen her."

"She looked great, she was really pretty," he answered, although he was uncomfortable with this woman, who was more than a little strange in his opinion, she was listening and if he kept the conversation light he could control it. Heero only listened, "her hair was as long as mine, and her eyes were really dark, she kept repeating the message though as if I was going to forget it, but I said I would and I may run and hide but I don't lie, so I was going to tell you it. She was the kind of girl a guy could fall for, if she didn't think he was an idiot."

Minako looked a little startled at the beginning of his monologue, and then relieved, and then she laughed. "You can't lie?" She asked.

"Well," Duo began, "I've never really tried, cause Sister Helen said it was the worst thing you could do, ya'know, and no matter how bad I got I could control something, ya'know. It stopped me feeling downright evil."

"I don't lie either." She answered. "What do you know of me?" She asked.

"That you're the Lady of Meirin," Heero answered.

"And the song said that there's a lady in Meirin who talks to the dead." Duo added, "but I don't go in for all that devil worship stuff, so if you're planning on using us as human sacrifices, lady, we don't go down easy."

There was a dull rumbling and it took Duo a moment to realise that the stiff soldier was laughing at him. "Mina," he said, "the girl is priceless."

"Girl?" Duo asked his voice going up an octave. "Girl, I'm no more girl than you."

"He's right," Minako said looking up at Mamoru with a faint smile that seemed somehow mocking. "He is male, they all say so."

"Who?" Heero asked.

"It's too early to explain." Minako answered, "Duo, you must tell me, did Avili say anything else?" Duo shook his head, "what was she wearing?"

"Leather pants and a jacket," he answered, "and there was a green ribbon in her hair, come to think of it," he cast his mind back, "and hoops," he touched his ear lobes, "here. Why?"

"Because I wanted to make sure," Minako answered, "sit down, Duo, this might come as a bit of a shock." Duo sat down but Heero stood beside him. "That's what Avili was wearing when she died, four months ago." Duo fainted.