Here's the longest chapter I have. It's going to be part of a shift in the story that would probably push the rating up a little. I spent a horrendous amount of time trying to cut it down before I gave up. There's a bit of fan ranting here that I considered cutting out, but I already had things set up for it.
A little later, Loid comforted his son when the boy began to fuss. "Papa, it was so scary!" Loidy said. "Mama was there, and you were there, only it was Aunt Sylvia, and there were men with shooty guns and they were so loud!"
"It is all better now," Loid said. He picked up the toy gun on the table. The boy flinched at the clicking sound when he pulled the trigger. "Don't worry, it's not a shooty gun. Just a toy." He turned to Willow, who stood attentively at his side. "What is this? My son has never had a toy gun. This one is very old."
"It's a gift for you from Mother," the girl said. She stroked the lizard resting on her shoulders. "She says it is a toy you used to play with."
"Yes, my thanks," Loid said. He looked the girl in the eye. "Listen to me. I don't know why you believe I am your father, but I am not. I never made love to your mother. You understand what that means, don't you? She may have lied to you. She may have lied to me. But the only man I am certain could be your father is this man, Yuri Briar." They all looked across the table at the seated, silent Prince, smiling with Twilight's face.
"He might tell you something," Damian said. "He doesn't seem big on talking, though."
"Oh, that's just Daddy, not my father," Willow said. "He and Mother wouldn't really do that. They just got married so I would have a Daddy an' wicked Sylvia couldn't make her do any more stuff with bad men."
"You want to explain this one?" Handler said.
Loid considered the man with his face. "I know who you are," he said. "What I do not understand is what you hope to accomplish. I am Twilight. You are Yuri Briar. You are not even disguised as me, only me as I once was."
"You were Twilight," said the doppelganger. "She showed me how to become Twilight. I worked hard, until I became a better Twilight than you. She says so."
"I'm sure you are, for her," Handler said. "She got the best of both worlds, really. This Twilight never got old. He never learned to say anything she didn't want him to say. In fact, I think he put on more muscle than the original."
"Oh, but I don't have to stay Twilight," the double said. "Look, I can be Sylvia." Even as he spoke, he assumed Handler's exact posture. "How's your dog Aaron, Sylvia?" His voice was close enough to pass as a woman.
"He died 3 years ago," Handler said.
"But he wasn't even born then," Loid said.
"Isn't Daddy funny?" Willow said. "Show them Mother."
The Prince crossed his arms, matching the bearing of his Queen. "Oh, Twilight," he said, and it truly did sound like Fiona, "it's wonderful to see you again."
Nightfall herself entered then, smiling. She had traded her armor for a hausfrau's dress and apron. Her face was made up to be more youthful than the double's. "Oh, yes, it is," she said. "It is just like old times." She curled up in the Prince's lap. He produced a comb and began brushing her hair.
"Bring our pet, Willow," the Queen said. Her daughter carried the lizard over to her. She tickled the lizard's wattled throat. It considered her with an expressionless face that still conveyed a sense of the vastly ancient and vaguely annoyed. "This is a male lesser Malayan dragon," she said. "They are more common, because females can bear male young even without mating. It ensures that the females never run out of mates, or food. We saw them on our Malaya mission; you remember that, don't you, Twilight?"
Before Twilight could speak, her Prince answered, "Sure, snowball. I posed as a businessman in a yacht race to get you to shore." He laid Nightfall's longest tresses on the table to continue his work with the comb. "It was when we expressed our true feelings for each other."
"This is unsettling," Handler said.
"I told you, the lady's crazy," Damian said.
"Then it seems to be contagious," Handler said. "Loid, you picked up real psychiatry. Could Fiona just give Yuri multiple personalities?"
"No, that is quite rare, even theoretical," Loid said. "Yuri Briar is not unaware of reality. He knows who I am. He knows who you are. He is aware of events that would not have passed for this version of myself. What I think is very possible that Yuri, as Yuri, has reverted to a preverbal state. If so, then he is using this persona the way a mute might use a recording of another's voice; without it, he might have no way to communicate at all."
"Well, he's not always like this," Willow said. "Actually, he's usually back to normal by now."
"Twilight," Loid said. He smiled as the Prince looked at him. "If you are me, then what did we say to Nightfall on the Malaya mission?"
The double smiled. "We talked about having a child together," he said.
"Yes," Nightfall said dreamily. "Don't you remember that, Twilight?"
"Now this, I never heard before," Handler said.
"What?" Loid snapped. "I never- I mean- We talked, but we never did that!"
""Oh, of course not," Willow chimed in. She had joined the double with her own fine-toothed comb. "She explained it all to me when I was old enough. She went to a doctor, like refined women do. She even got to see me before they put me into her, and that's when she saw my face! Then she married Daddy, after they met while he was looking for you. They even waited so it would look like I was an accident!" She giggled.
"Huh," Handler said. "This got interesting."
"Yes, it is true there are other ways to make a child," Loid said. He stroked Loidy's hair. "It is how my wife and I had our son. Your mother has said she conceived you the same way. She also told me, on her wedding day, about her vision of you. In fact, she was able to describe you reasonably as you are now, 10 days before you were born. She said you had, or would have, your father's eyes. She believed your Daddy was your father, then; again, I certainly am not."
"Are you sure?" the girl pressed. "I mean… are you sure you would have known?"
"Now that's an interesting point," Handler mused.
Twilight looked at Nightfall. "There were times, on that mission and others, when we were confined long enough that certain things were unavoidable," he said. "But if your mother had intended to make a child, then or at a later time, it would have been unnecessary to deceive me."
"Very sweet, Twilight," Nightfall said. She patted the double's hand. "Yes, you told me all I would have to do is ask. Didn't you?"
"Wait, what- now?" Loid exclaimed. "We did discuss this, on your wedding day! You said she was the only child you wanted!"
"Sometimes women change their minds," Nightfall said. "We can change our minds about a lot of things. I need to be alone with my Prince right now." She rose, and the double followed with a satisfied glance back at Loid.
At the last moment, she paused in the open doorway. "There's one more thing," she said without turning. "That toy gun is the closest match I found to the one you told me about. You know, the one you lied to your father to get a 10 dalc note for, before the war. I always wanted to find one for you. Is it the right one, do you think?"
"I'm not sure," Loid said. He held up the toy. "It looks like it. Yes… It might not be the same, but I cannot find anything that is different."
She did turn her head then. Her face had transformed into a visage as ageless and weary as the dragon's. "Well, here's the funny thing about that," she said."That gun was sold for 3 dalc… six years after the damn war." Then the door slammed shut.