The Invisible Prince

Aha! Run for your life? ^_^;;

This is a very very very late bday ficcie for Sian, she requested the
pairing, so try not to be too surprised ^_~

The following fic contains: princes, fairies, wishing, a pond, an
atrium, dancing, swimming, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Warnings & Disclaimers: I don\'t own Gundam Wing, but this fic is so
loosely based on it that, that shouldn\'t matter, so nyah ;p
Most likely it\'s rated R...possibly PG-13...hard to tell...
p.s. the end only comes at \"THE END\"

The Invisible Prince (a neurotic fairy tale)
By Cs


Most fairy tales start with the traditional \"Once upon a time…\" This
story does not try to differ from the tales of old, it does in fact
begin with –

Once upon a time, there lived a king and a queen. They ruled well and
seemed to bring happiness to their subjects and lands. They were good
people and tried their best to be fair and objective, and though
occasionally they would be forced to deal out a punishment of some
sort, usually they would keep it mild.

There was a fairy – of course – and for want of a better name to call
her, we shall call her Dorothy. Now you would think that Dorothy was
perchance punished by the king and queen and so sought out justice at
a later date, but in fact Dorothy just liked to play.

The king and queen, unlike most royals in this sort of story, bore
many, many children. There was only one problem: they were, every one
of them, girls. And though girls are all well and good as far as
being pretty princesses, they are not princes. In addition, and as we
all know, you need a prince to carry on a royal line.

This is actually not true. A royal line can in fact be carried on
with a few choice objects about the household and any number of
willing princesses. Of course, the objects would have to be attached
to men.

Now this is where the fairy Dorothy comes in. It had happened that
the queen\'s maid one day mentioned that if you left out a bowl of
milk and some decent magazines, the fairy Dorothy would grant you a
boon. So, the queen did, and Dorothy showed, though she thumbed her
nose at the choice of magazines, saying she much preferred \"Guns and
Ammo\" to \"Cosmo\" any day of the week.

\"I\'ll grant you a wish,\" Dorothy conceded after she\'d wiped away her
milk mustache, \"but since the magazines were not at all to my
preferences you must be ready to grant me whatever I would like in
the future.\" She paused and pondered for a moment, and then nodded
her head as if someone had just mentioned a fabulous idea that she
should suggest. \"You must from now on invite me to every party you
throw, including weddings, birthdays, christenings, bar mitzvahs, bat
mitzvahs, funerals – if it\'s a party with food, drink, and dancing,
I\'d better be there.\"

The queen of course acceded, though for a moment she had some
qualms. \"I would bear my king an heir.\"

\"Okay, though personally I find boys a nuisance.\" And with that, the
fairy Dorothy disappeared, though she did take one of the
Cosmopolitan magazines, despite her protests of dislike.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Time passed, and before you could blink the queen was with child once
again. Roughly nine months went by and, true to the fairy\'s word, the
queen had a boy. The entire kingdom was invited to a grand party
where the child would be given a name and introduced around to all.
Unfortunately, the queen had forgotten one very important guest, the
fairy Dorothy. Of course.

The fairy Dorothy was livid – she was always being forgotten. She\'d
been all ready to go to the party, even going as far as to leaf
through the Cosmo for makeup and hair ideas. She could hear the party
start, the cheers of the guests, the shimmering sounds of music. On
the breeze past her hidden castle, she could smell the aroma of a
hundred delicious foods. She was pissed, and with a swoosh and a
pinch of smoke, she appeared rather suddenly at the party, without an
invitation.

The king had just held up his son, and was pronouncing in a clear and
proud tone the name of the child, when the fairy Dorothy suddenly
spoke up in a voice that thundered about the great hall. \"Oh-no-you-
DON\'T!\"

All eyes turned to her, a few widening in surprise as they took in
her dress, which in fact she\'d forgotten to put on and was dangling
over one of her arms.

\"I would have you forget this child as you\'ve forgotten me. You like
to see others as invisible, and so you shall see your prince – until
the day that a blind man can see him, you will see him as a blind man
would.\"

Another puff of smoke joined Dorothy in her exit.

Suddenly the queen let out a loud and piercing shriek, for in the
king\'s still out-stretched arms, there was nothing.

Well, obviously there was something, a baby, as was mentioned a few
moments ago.

The crowd went quiet as all strained to hear the faintest sound of
the child. The king shook the invisible weight in his hands a bit,
and the loud crying of a baby filled the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Years passed, as years have a tendency to do, and much as most large
increments of time will. The people of the kingdom gradually grew
used to their Invisible Prince, learning to always be careful where
they stepped, for even if they dressed the prince the clothes would
turn invisible as well. They\'d tried covering the prince in paint,
mud, chalk dust, flour, anything – but no matter what they tried, as
soon as it touched the prince it turned as clear as the very air.

They tried perfuming the prince in the hope that they could find him
by smell, but they only succeeded in finding out that the prince was
allergic to perfumes. On the other hand, his sneezing did make it
easier to find him.

Then one man – the prince\'s tutor to be exact – had a brilliant idea.
He\'d gotten it from watching the royal cat being belled.

The royal cat liked to slip into the royal gardens, and munch on the
royal birds. The queen, annoyed by the bloody royal bird carcasses,
had ordered the royal cat to be shackled round the neck with a bell.
Later the cat managed to lose the bell and decimate a good percentage
of the royal bird population; however, that\'s a story for another
time.

As it was, the prince was belled – a bit more thoughtfully than the
cat had been, as the prince never chased birds. A set of small golden
bells was put around the prince\'s neck, and from that moment on –
unless the prince managed to slip the bells off – they were able to
know where he was at all times. In this way, the prince grew up –
almost normally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it happened, a few of the prince\'s sisters were due to be married
off before he was, and so they had some time to search the
neighboring lands for kings willing to marry their daughters to an
Invisible Prince.

When the prince was seventeen years of age, Amandandia, one of his
middle sisters, was set upon by the maids and dressmakers, the
etiquette professionals and the haute chic – all of them determined
to marry this princess off as fast as they\'d managed with the other
sisters before her. The prince was as fascinated as ever by the
procedure, being sure to slip his bells off so that he could silently
watch all that went on.

Eventually (and after watching a little too much fussing with
Amandandia\'s hair) the prince went and stood silently in the great
hall beside his parents as potential suitors gathered from all the
kingdoms around – and some even from kingdoms far away – to meet,
greet, and possibly to woo his sister. Most of them seemed to be
average as far as princes went: blond hair and blue eyes, tall and
handsome, giving gifts of fine gold jewelry or petite bouquets of
foreign flowers, chocolates and perfumes.

The prince soon found himself quite bored and sat down to lounge in
his mother\'s throne, happy that no one could see him do so. Idly he
played with his booted toes, knowing they were a rich and royal blue,
but unable to see them at the moment. He leaned his head back and
eyed the vaulted ceiling far above, listening to the droning on and
on of the suitors.

How boring, he thought, couldn\'t any of them be more original than
that? He gnawed his lower lip, hoping the future princesses he\'d be
shown would not be like the suitors. Then, a discordant note in the
hubbub caught his ear, and he turned to gaze down the long line of
suitors. There appeared to be a mild argument going on between a
prince and his page.

The Invisible Prince slipped from his mother\'s throne, inching
quietly down the red-carpeted line, until he stood beside the
bickering pair.

\"But I don\'t want to marry her!\" this suitor was whispering
fervently. Unlike the other princes, this one was dark of hair and
much shorter than the rest, and he also – the Invisible Prince noted –
had lovely brilliant blue eyes.

\"Well, you don\'t have a choice now do you?\" said the boy who
apparently was the prince\'s companion. \"You\'ve refused all the hands
of all the princesses around our kingdom, now you\'ve got to travel
along and find someone from foreign parts.\" The boy put his hands on
his hips and swayed from side to side a bit – a long braid sweeping
along from behind him – and then said, rather cruelly, \"It\'s your own
fault, really.\"

\"Hn,\" said the prince.

\"If only you\'d married the first one they\'d offered, you wouldn\'t
have to be here petitioning for a woman you don\'t even want.\"

\"Yes, well, you didn\'t see her, Duo. She was hideous.\"

\"Whatever,\" Duo waved his hand vaguely, very nearly smacking the
Invisible Prince. \"So I never saw her, you could\'ve said yes to one
of the other fifty they showed you.\"

The Invisible Prince, curious, stepped a little closer.

\"Just remember what Mother said, you\'re next.\"

It was at this point that the Invisible Prince realized that the two
were brothers. However, they did not resemble one another very much,
if at all. The one named Duo, though as short as his brother, had a
much lighter hair colour held in a braid that reached the back of his
thighs, and his eyes were a strange purple-tinted blue. His face as
well little resembled his brother\'s except perhaps in the brow and
cheekbones.

The Invisible Prince – who\'d never had a brother but had often been
curious – decided he would continue to follow the pair about. After
all, it was not every day that a twosome of princeling brothers
entered the kingdom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point in the story, a few things must be explained about our
Invisible Prince.

When the fairy Dorothy set her curse upon the prince, she had also
cursed him with being ignored.

At first the king and queen always noticed the prince and tried to
pay attention to him. However, over the years, gradually, and so
little by little that it was hardly noticed, everyone forgot about
the prince. They even forgot his name.

Mind you, they knew there was one, just as they remembered he was
invisible, but for the life of them, they couldn\'t seem to recall
where he might be, or what he might be doing.

The unfortunate prince couldn\'t help that he was light-reflective
impaired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Invisible Prince followed the brothers throughout the day. He
watched as the dark haired brother – whom he had found out was called
Heero – offered his loyalty and love, and asked for Amandandia\'s hand
in marriage. Of course, the princess was quite bored by that point,
seeing as how the thirty previous suitors in line had said much the
same thing to her already. Nevertheless, she graciously nodded her
head and repeated what she\'d told the previous thirty suitors, \"I\'ll
consider it.\"

Indeed none of the princes had expected a different answer just yet.
After all, there were balls, feasts, and various party activities
lined up for the next few weeks. There would be plenty of time in
which to woo the princess and win her heart.

And so, the princeling brothers explored the palace and the grounds
around it. There were many gardens, mazes, and a few gazebos
scattered artfully here and there. There was even a domed and
glittering aviary in which many romantic trysts were concluded like
the best of deals often should be.

The Invisible Prince followed the brothers from one end of the day to
the other. He was amazed at how well they got along, despite their
near-constant bickering. Strangely, for each argument they had, they
would always end in agreement. What kept the Invisible Prince\'s
attention most of all, was the younger of the two, Duo.

He always seemed to step gracefully about, as if dancing to an
unheard tune that played only within his head. Once in a while, it
seemed as if he\'d actually heard the Invisible Prince, and those
stunning purple-tinted eyes would stare, as if they could almost see
him. But the Invisible Prince knew better, for no one had ever been
able to see him, not even himself.

He often wondered what he looked like. He could tell his features
were even and small, and his eyes were a bit round and large, and he
was slim and quite petit. Nevertheless, he\'d never known his hair
colour or eye colour, nor whether colours like blue suited him for
that matter. The prince had never really been bothered by all of this
before, except perhaps in a vague way. Yet the more he followed the
brothers about, the more he wished he could interact with them
without the piercing looks of someone who cannot see you.

Just once, it would be nice to have friends of his own age, and to
hold a conversation with someone who was not being paid to stand
there and listen for him, such as his tutor had been. The only real
conversation the prince had ever had, had been with his cat, when
he\'d been four. The cat had listened well, and then had climbed into
the prince\'s lap and purred its response. Cats are good like that.

As the prince followed the brothers back to their rooms, he formed a
plan. Perhaps he could send a letter inviting them to meet him in a
dark place, such as one of the gardens late at night. Then they
wouldn\'t realize he was invisible, and perchance just think it was
too dark to see anything. In this way, he could hold a conversation
with them and they wouldn\'t be influenced by his lack of visibility.

There was only one slight flaw to his plan, and that was how to word
the letter – or, more appropriately, note. In the end, the prince
settled on wording it much as other notes he\'d caught sight of, ones
that asked for similar meetings. Unknown to the Invisible Prince, the
note wound up sounding exactly like one of those invitations to a
midnight tryst in the aviary.

It went something like this:

Dear Princes,

I have been following you all day, and have become
charmed by your striking etiquette. I have never before met two such
as you. Please meet with me tonight in the aviary beneath the twisted
tree that grows by the pond.

Yours,
An Admirer


It should be obvious why this could have been mistaken for a more
romantic tryst. So how could the princeling brothers be to blame when
they argued, and then sent off Duo to meet the mysterious admirer?
After all, Prince Heero *had* just asked for the princess\'s hand in
marriage and it would be unseemly and detrimental to the process of
wooing to be caught meeting another woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night the Invisible Prince waited patiently in the aviary.
He\'d always liked the aviary best of all the gardens. Barring the
occasional bombardment of bird poop, it was quite lovely. It had
trees filled with fluttery pink, orange, yellow and white blossoms,
and little rolling hillocks of bright green grass shorn short. There
were small birds and large birds - though they were very quiet at
night, with just the occasional tweet and peep emanating from the
sheltering trees. The small pond was dark except for the reflection
of the night sky, and the intermittent plop of a fish.

The little bench that the prince was sitting on while he waited was
located just under a large, many-branched, and twisting tree. Even if
the night had been moonlit and bright, the bench would have remained
almost completely blackened by shadows. The prince later felt he
should have half expected what happened, considering the factors
involved.

A loud shout suddenly split the air right beside the prince\'s head,
followed by a body falling into his lap and a voice he recognized
saying, \"I\'m sorry – bloody!blast!ow!ow! – are you my date?\"

The prince squirmed, inhaled, and said, \"!\"

\"Oh, sorry, just let me move over.\" There was the sound of cloth
scraping across stone in the manner that you know means someone has
just felt along the bench with their arse before settling in
comfortably.

The prince, in the meantime, had managed to regain his equilibrium
and find his voice. Few had actually heard it, as most of the time no
one realized he was there. The prince was shy and a little reserved
by nature, and seemed to have a voice that matched his personality.
It was… feminine, to say the least. \"Are you Duo?\"

\"Yes, are you…an, uh, admirer?\"

\"Yes, I followed you and your brother all day. I\'ve never met a pair
of princes who are brothers before. I sometimes wish I had a brother…
As it is, I\'ve got an awful lot of sisters…um,\" the Invisible Prince
trailed off as he realized that from what he could see, Duo was
staring at him fixedly through the blackness. It was new and exciting
to feel seen. He moved slightly to the left and watched as Duo\'s head
turned with the movement. \"How…how do you like the garden?\"

\"It\'s lovely, though, the …poop.\"

\"Oh, I\'m sorry, did you sit in some?\"

\"No, just my hand.\" There was a gentle scraping sound. \"But despite
that, it really is lovely and smells marvelous, all things
considered.\" There was a pause and then Duo said, \"I can\'t help
noticing, but you don\'t seem to be wearing a dress.\"

The prince\'s mouth dropped open in shock before moving wordlessly in
an attempt to respond suitably. \"Just because I don\'t have a deep,
manly voice!\"

\"…Excuse me?\"

\"I\'m not suppose to be wearing a dress!\" the prince shouted in
consternation.

\"But, you\'re a girl, aren\'t you?\"

\"Um, no. Though, it is very dark, so I suppose I can see how you made
that error.\" The Invisible Prince hoped that Duo wouldn\'t try to get
a better look, since even then he wouldn\'t see anything.

\"Oh, sorry. So then, you\'re a boy?\" Duo didn\'t sound as surprised as
he might have, much to the Invisible Prince\'s delight.

\"Yes.\" He stilled, uncertain what to say next. He\'d never had a
conversation like this before. He\'d never really had any
conversations. It all had to do with the fact that people had to see
you in order to converse with you, usually.

\"What\'s your name then?\" Duo leaned closer, a slight smile curving
his lips.

\"Uh.\" How to explain that due to a fairy\'s curse he\'d never actually
officially received a name? The Invisible Prince quickly glanced
around, searching for something to call himself, anything other than
Invisible. Four turtle doves cuddled close together in a branch of
the tree above him and he uttered the first thing that came to
mind, \"Four, my name is Four.\"

Luckily he hadn\'t noticed the partridge in the pear tree just to his
left.

\"Four? Well, that\'s an odd name.\"

\"Yes, it\'s an…old family name.\" The newly-named `Four\' did his best
to give Duo an innocent smile, despite the fact that it wouldn\'t be
seen.

\"So, Four, I\'m just wondering one thing now,\"

\"Oh?\"

\"Yes, why am I here exactly?\"

\"Well, I\'ve been told that there is an all powerful being that-\"

\"I meant in the garden with you.\"

\"Ah, well, yes, that.\" Four fidgeted on the bench before saying
softly, \"I don\'t have…that is I\'ve never met anyone my age before. I,
usually, I don\'t get out much.\"

\"Ah, are you here to propose to the princess then? I should warn you,
my brother Heero is a pretty strong contender.\"

Four grinned suddenly, \"Believe me I have no interest in the
princess.\"

\"Do you live here then, in the castle?\"

\"Mostly.\"

\"How can you live here mostly?\"

\"It\'s a long story.\"

\"Are we running out of time?\" Duo smiled in the direction of Four.

\"No, I suppose not. You would like to hear it then?\"

\"Sure.\"

~~~~~~~~~~~

And so the Invisible Prince proceeded to try and explain his life in
a way that would somehow not give away that he was Invisible and not
Four, as he so much wished he could be.

His invisibility he described as \"a disease I\'ve had since I was a
child. It has disfigured me in such a way that most care not to look
upon my countenance.\"

Duo had made a gentle murmuring sound in the back of his throat in
comfort, going as far as to lay a hand on Four\'s thigh in
consolation.

\"I haven\'t had much contact with anyone,\" the Invisible Prince went
on to say. \"Most people avoid me, or ignore me as if I\'m not even
there.\" Which technically was the truth. \"So I\'ve never danced, or
gone riding, or swimming, or-\"

\"Or had a friend?\" Duo asked, his eyes glinting in the dark.

\"No, no one is willing.\"

\"I will.\"

\"You will?\"

\"Of course! After all, I\'m not the one here to woo the princess; I
only accompany my brother. I\'ll have lots of time in which to do
nothing.\"

\"Why does he ask for her hand when he\'s refused so many others?\" Four
blurted out before he could think about it.

Duo let out a little laugh, patting Four\'s leg once again. \"Do you
promise not to tell anyone else?\"

\"Of course! That is, who would I tell?\"

\"He does not much care for the gentler sex. He\'s always thought of
them as rather weak and silly.\"

\"Well, my sister certainly is.\"

\"Your what?\"

The Invisible Prince abruptly realized his mistake and tried to back
up. \"I mean she\'s like a sister! I was uh, raised so closely to her.\"

\"Despite your disfiguring disease?\"

\"Oh, uh, yes. The Queen and King are very nice that way.\"

\"I see,\" though Duo did not sound like he quite believed this story.

\"Tell me about your childhood, it must have been great fun to have a
brother.\"

\"Not as fun as you seem to think, but yes, it is nice to have a
companion.\" Duo leaned back, finding the trunk of the tree and
settling against it comfortably. \"He\'s a tough older brother. We\'re
actually twins, though we don\'t look it I know. We were born on the
same day, he just before I. And ever since he\'s acted the part.\"

The Invisible Prince gave a little laugh. \"Is he so bad?\"

\"No, not so bad as that. He merely believes that as the `eldest\' of
us he gets to make `our\' decisions.\"

\"Is it true that you will have to choose a wife next?\"

\"Ha! If he ever picks one himself. Though I do not truly wish to be
married at this time. I\'m still young, too young to be shackled to a
wife and possible child. I think Heero feels much the same way. So
he\'s been refusing all hands and we\'ve traveled from kingdom to
kingdom. And though this has entertained us, our parents have been
urging him longer and harder with each refusal. They are determined
to see him marry soon.\" Duo sighed deeply and frowned in the
darkness. \"Though, in my deepest heart I long for him never to marry,
so that I won\'t have to either.\"

\"I think I understand. Soon I shall have to find a wife, though I do
not think there is any woman I would want. I would choose freedom
before that. Though, I won\'t have the choice, just as you.\"

They sighed in unison, silent for a moment as they contemplated their
mutual lot in life. Eventually the Invisible Prince fidgeted a bit
and then blurted out, \"What will you be doing on the morrow?\"

\"Sleeping most of the day I\'d imagine. It\'s been a long journey here.\"

\"Oh,\" the Invisible Prince whispered, completely disheartened.

\"But,\"

\"Oh?\"

\"After that, would you care to do something?\"

Four nearly bounced in place with excitement. \"Do you mean it?
Really? What shall we do? Could we go riding? Or no! Show me to
dance! I\'ve always wanted to know how.\"

Duo chuckled, nodding his head and laughing a little at Four\'s
exuberance. \"Dancing it is then! Is there a room in the palace where
we would have privacy?\"

\"Yes, I know just the place. It\'s a small ballroom located in the
east wing. I will send you directions to it. What shall we do for
music?\"

\"Hm, now that is a tougher thing to be sure, for we don\'t want to be
seen.\"

The Invisible Prince had to choke back a snort at the notion of being
seen. \"What if there were a blind musician to play for us?\"

Duo suddenly sat up straight as an arrow, his face in the shadows
seemingly wounded. \"What a silly idea!\" he said, his voice a trifle
shrill, his features closing in and revealing nothing.

Four felt quite unable to think of a reason for the sudden change,
but he couldn\'t lose this possibility of friendship. \"Wait! I think I
might know…someone.\"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Invisible Prince was unsure if his idea would work. Certainly the
blind minstrel was an amiable fellow, and the newly-named Four had
known of him most of his life, but they\'d never actually met. And so
it was with some foreboding that Four snuck through the hallways in
search of the man. He knew he was tall, and slim, and his eyes were
supposed to be a strange shade of green with a milky veil over them.
He figured there couldn\'t be *that* many people living in the castle
fitting that description.

The minstrel was easier to find than Four thought; rather, it was the
sound of his flute that gave him away.

The minstrel sat with his back to the Invisible Prince, pouring out a
sweet melody that called for all ears listening to tap the feet
connected to them, for all bodies to sway in time to it.
Unconsciously Four found himself doing both, swaying and tapping, and
humming a bit too.

\"Ah, I know that voice.\" The minstrel said suddenly, putting the
flute down and turning blind eyes towards the prince. \"Is it not the
sound of the unseen?\"

\"How do you know?\"

\"There are few voices I haven\'t heard, and though I have never heard
yours it seems familiar still.\"

\"Then you are right, I am the prince. I have a favor to ask of you as
well.\"

\"Well,\" the minstrel\'s milky gaze seemed to almost see the Invisible
Prince, as it followed his nervous movements. \"As you are the prince
of this domain, I believe I should follow any order you give. And
what is it you ask of me?\"

\"I need you to play for me tomorrow in the ballroom near the library.
Do you know the one?\"

\"Aye, the small one, close to the East wing. I know it.\" The blind
minstrel cocked his head to one side, a look of curiosity moving
across his features. \"Why do you need me to play? You have never
asked before, and certainly I have been here for as long as you.\"

The Invisible Prince didn\'t know quite what to say in response.
Truly, the blind minstrel knew he was invisible, so it would not come
as either a shock or news. So perhaps the truth, carefully garnered,
would be best. \"I have met a friend who will teach me to dance. I\'ve
never learned before. Somehow he does not know yet that I\'m…well,
hard to see. I told him that I have a disfiguring disease. So I
thought with you...\"

\"There would be no worries? But what of his seeing – or rather not
seeing – you? If you wish to keep it a secret perhaps you should make
him blind as well?\"

\"Oh! I haven\'t thought of that. You are right, what shall I do?\"

\"Hm, what have you told him of the reasons he has not see you so far?\"

\"I\'ve only met him in the atrium under the twisted tree in the dark.
He did not seem to see me.\"

The blind minstrel chuckled. \"Of course he did not, as he will
never.\" He paused, and a slow smile crept across his lips. \"Might I
suggest something?\"

\"Yes! Of course! Please do.\"

\"Ask him to wear a blindfold. Tell him you would rather not have him
run screaming from you as have others in the past.\"

\"But no one has…oh, yes I see. That\'s an excellent idea.\"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ballroom had always been one of Four\'s favourite rooms. It was
small compared to most of the ballrooms in the palace. Only a few
hundred people could fit in to it with ease. The ceilings were high
and vaulted, and large marble columns circled its inner perimeter.
The floor was of a glossy black marble, veins of white zigzagging
like glass lightning across it.

The minstrel sat to one side, patiently waiting. As soon as Four
entered the ballroom, the minstrel\'s blind eyes sought him out, the
familiar milky veil over them glossy in the sunlight of the room.

\"Well Prince, where is your dance partner?\"

\"Not here yet I suppose. Though I did tell him to arrive a little
later than myself. And to wear the blindfold.\"

\"Good, as I am sure your lack of visibility might send him running as
easily as a disfiguring disease might.\"

\"Would it really?\" the prince asked despondently.

\"It might, dear Prince. These things can take some by surprise.\"

The prince looked uncertainly at the minstrel, feeling qualms about
his meeting with Duo that he\'d not felt before. There were too
many `what ifs\' lying about. What if Duo took off the blindfold and
saw…nothing? Would he react as badly if the prince were merely
disfigured?

\"I have always wondered about something,\" the prince began.

\"Whether I as a blind man would ever be able to see you?\" the
minstrel asked knowingly. \"Yes, I knew you would ask this someday,\"
he continued when the prince looked at him in surprise.

\"Will you?\"

\"No, Prince. Look at me,\" he gestured towards his veiled eyes. \"How
could these eyes ever see? For me the world will always be dark. Look
for seeing in other eyes.\"

The prince\'s shoulders sagged. \"I had always hoped…\"

\"Hope is for those who cannot do. But if you would look for blame,
you could put that upon your mother, the Queen.\"

\"No! How can you say that? I would never blame my Mother.\"

\"You should, for it was she that forgot the fairy Dorothy. She that
stupidly did not invite the one person she should have been sure to
invite.\"

\"Invite where? What are you talking about?\"

The minstrel turned towards the prince in surprise. \"You do not know
your own story?\"

\"I know that only if a blind man will see me, will I become visible
to all.\" This was something the prince had heard all of his life, the
only part of the story he had been told. Now he wondered what had
been left out, for *surely* there could not be more.

\"Your mother was so desperate for a male child that she begged the
favor from the fairy Dorothy. The fairy Dorothy only asked one thing
in return: that she must be invited to all festivities in the palace
henceforth. Your mother forgot this when it was of the most
importance to remember. On the day of your introduction to the
kingdom, the day of your name announcement, the fairy Dorothy was
forgotten. And so you too shall forever be forgotten.\"

The prince was near tears by the end of the minstrel\'s story. He had
always somehow hoped that one day a blind man would see him, that
truly the curse could be lifted. Now, suddenly, all hope was gone.

\"Remember always, this punishment is not for you, but is for your
mother.\" The minstrel stood straighter, leaning towards the
door. \"Enough now, Prince. Your new friend is arriving.\" He paused,
his eyes squinting slightly as if it would call his hearing into
better focus. \"He wears the blindfold as you requested - a true
friend he might be.\"

\"A friend, yes.\" The prince had nearly forgotten of such things, his
head now swimming with thoughts of blame and curses.

\"Hello?\" Duo called from the other side of the door. In a softer
voice Four could hear him mumble, \"I hope this is the right room. How
embarrassing if it is not.\"

\"It is!\" The prince all of a sudden forgot his fears and worries,
rushing to the door and flinging it open to beam at the blindfolded
face of his new friend. \"It is the right room,\" the prince said in a
calmer tone of voice, grasping his friend\'s arm and helping him into
the room.

\"This blindfold makes me feel a bit silly.\" Duo halted just inside
the door and turned his cloth-covered face towards the
minstrel. \"Hello?\"

\"You\'ve good hearing,\" the minstrel responded. \"But can you dance in
that state?\"

\"As well as you can play in yours.\"

The minstrel nodded solemnly, and picking up his flute began to play
a lively, mincing waltz.

Duo smiled towards Four and held out his hand, his fingers twitching
in an invitation.

\"Now what?\" Four asked after he\'d slipped his hand into Duo\'s.

\"Now, you follow my lead.\"

It started out slowly, each step given a few minutes of careful
examination. Four thought for a while he might never understand the
complex bobbing and bowing, and then as if a light full of knowledge
from above had shone directly into his head, he understood.

The music and the way their hands clapped together in time with it,
all made sense. Each time Duo went slightly down on one leg, and then
Four crossed over and offered the other hand, it all fit. Until
without being aware of it, they were dancing.

After a while Duo stopped, grinning at the Invisible Prince. \"Ready
for a new one?\"

\"Oh yes!\" The prince nearly bounced with excitement.

\"Minstrel – oh Minstrel is too harsh a name for someone who plays so
nicely for us, surely you\'ve been called something else?\"

\"Other names, yes. But would you hear any of them in polite company?\"

\"There must have been a name you were born with, surely you remember
it?\"

\"Oh, aye, I had a name, though I don\'t seem to recall it.\"

Duo turned towards the minstrel and put his hands on his hips, his
expression disbelieving. \"How can you not recall that name which you
were born with? For surely I think, it was not Minstrel. Unless
perhaps at birth you played so well?\"

To the Invisible Prince\'s delight the minstrel suddenly laughed out
loud. \"Do you really want to know it? It seems my memory does recall
something of a name.\"

\"Yes!\" both Duo and Four exclaimed.

\"Very well, if you must know, I do believe the midwife recorded my
name as `Too-Right-Out-With-Another-And-How-Will-We-Feed-This-One-You-
Son-Of-An-Ever-Loving-Bitch-Just-Call-Him-No-Name-If-We-Must-Call-Him-
Something.\'\"

Four\'s mouth dropped open.

Duo briefly echoed the expression and then laughed, nodding his
head. \"All right then, Minstrel it is.\"

\"It always was the better name,\" the Minstrel agreed soberly.

~~~~

When the sun was setting and the small ballroom grew dim, they
finally stopped dancing. They\'d removed their doublets hours
beforehand and now both wore merely their britches and shirts. Four
was panting a little from the exertion, the last dance having been
one of a fast pace and tune. Duo had sat down in the middle of the
floor, panting due to laughter at the fiftieth time that the
Invisible Prince had managed to tread on his toes. \"You\'d think you
were the one with the blindfold,\" he chortled out, ruefully rubbing
his foot in between fits of laughter.

The Minstrel had paused, pouring himself a much-deserved glass of
wine from a small table nearby. Four marveled at how he didn\'t spill
a drop and seemed to know just when to stop pouring.

\"Swimming!\" Four said suddenly, the sound of the wine gurgling in the
glass a reminder of another thing he\'d wanted to learn.

\"Blindfolded?\" Duo asked incredulously.

\"You\'ve danced all day that way and you question the logic behind the
request? Tsk, tsk.\" The Minstrel grinned.

\"Swimming it is then, though where?\" Duo acceded with a bow in the
Minstrel\'s direction.

\"Why not go at night in the Atrium? I\'m sure the pond would suit your
needs.\"

\"Minstrel, if I did not know better I would say your aim is to help.\"

\"Know better then, my aim is merely to guide.\"

\"Then it\'s all settled,\" Four announced happily. \"We will meet in the
Atrium when it is dark, though you still must wear the blindfold.\"

\"Of course, as I would no doubt go running if I saw you?\" Duo
responded in the monotone of one who has heard the same thing once
too often.

\"Yes!\" The Minstrel and Four shouted at the same time. Four glanced
at the Minstrel in surprise and then smiled when he saw the nod in
his direction.

\"Yes, you would surely run if you were to see the travesty that my
body and skin has become,\" Four went on in a more serious tone of
voice. \"I would not lose you as I have others.\"

Duo seemed to take this to heart, his smile fading. \"I think even if
I were to see you, I would not run from someone with as lovely a
heart and soul.\"

\"Oh, this flattery is making me ill!\" the Minstrel exclaimed, and
then picking up his flute began a slow dirge which made them laugh.

~~~~~~~

The Invisible Prince sat on the bench beneath the twisted tree in the
Atrium and waited. He\'d been thinking a lot on what the Minstrel had
told him about his mother and the fairy Dorothy. He\'d always been
aware of the curse upon him – there was no way to be unaware of it,
considering he wasn\'t visible and never had been. Now, with his new
perspective upon the happenings before his birth and after, he
wondered anew.


\"Deep thought is bad for the heart,\" Duo\'s voice said from beside
him.

\"You\'re so quiet. And how do you know what I think?\"

\"I can tell,\" Duo sat down beside the prince and patted around until
he found a hand. He held the hand for a moment before going on. \"The
silence is darker when one is deep in his own head. But now is not
the time for deep thoughts, now is the time to learn something new,
eh?\"

\"Yes!\" the prince exclaimed, laughing with delight. \"So tell me how
this must go, for as you know I\'ve never been swimming.\"

\"Then follow my lead.\" With that Duo stood up and began removing his
clothing, all except for the blindfold. \"Now you, and then we shall
slowly immerse ourselves.\"

Four followed suit, wondering if he looked at all like Duo did, naked
in the darkness, with nothing but a pale moon and faraway stars for
lighting. Duo looked like a petit god, with his long slim limbs, lean
muscles, and alabaster skin that fairly glowed. Four hoped he looked
half as stunning when visible…if visible…if ever.

\"No deep thoughts!\" Duo shouted, and then chuckled at the muffled
gasp. \"Now come,\" he held out his hand. \"And do not let go of my hand
until you feel safe.\"

The Invisible Prince nodded and then realized a nod probably couldn\'t
even be heard and said aloud, \"Yes, of course.\" His fingers seemed to
send a shock down his spine when they met Duo\'s. As it had been when
they\'d danced he kept feeling frissons of nearly painful intensity
where their hands touched.

They walked to the edge of the pond together, hand in hand, and
slowly began stepping in, tiny step by tiny step. The water was chill
from the night and most likely from its source of the underground
spring that fed it. Four shivered and clutched Duo\'s hand tighter.
Suddenly he felt his footing get lost amongst the little rocks and
sandy bottom and his balance left him all in one go. With a
resounding splash he landed bottom first in the muck at the edge of
the pond, Duo\'s hand still held within his own.

Duo began laughing, and reached down to help Four up, when he
stopped, his hands sliding from the smooth shoulders he held, down
the perfection of Four\'s biceps, triceps, and wrists. His expression
moved quickly across his face, one moment it was surprise and then
swiftly it moved in to a hurt anger. \"This is not the body of one who
is scarred.\" His voice held a high note of confusion. His fingers
traced the smooth, silky line of Four\'s jaw, moving upward to sweep
across brow and hair. \"You\'ve lied to me.\"

\"Yes,\" the Invisible Prince said forlornly. \"I\'ve lied to you.\"

\"But why? Surely you have a reason not to be seen? It cannot be
merely for a laugh can it?\"

\"I cannot say.\"

\"Well you must say! You did not lie merely to laugh at me? Perhaps
you know more than I thought, perhaps this is just a great joke at my
expense?\" Duo had already released the prince and began splashing the
short distance back to shore. Stiffly he began putting on his
clothes, the lines of his back tense. \"If I chose to have jokes at my
expense, I would go home, where they know many more than you.\"

\"No! Oh please don\'t, please. I did not mean to lie, it was not a
joke I swear.\" Four\'s voice was shrill with emotion. Already he
seemed to be losing the only friend he\'d ever had, all because he was
afraid of the reaction to his lack of visibility. It was a twisted
weaving inside his head now, a worming confusion of thought. \"No,
please, Duo.\"

\"Then tell me the truth, why don\'t you want to be seen?\" Duo still
had not removed the blindfold, his mouth turned down into a twisted
frown.

\"Will you promise not to-\"

\"Run screaming?\" Duo asked bitterly. \"Yes, of course.\"

Four slowly walked towards the shore, achingly aware that at any
moment things could be much worse. He reached Duo and slowly slid the
blindfold up and off, his fingers trembling. He\'d closed his eyes,
unwilling to see the blank expression, the confused look. \"See?\"

The sharp bark of laughter from Duo caught the prince off guard and
he opened his eyes, glancing swiftly at Duo. \"What?\"

\"You\'re perfect and you hide that perfection? How dare you pull such
a stunt!\"

\"Wha-\" the prince began.

\"Of course I should\'ve known this was merely all an elaborate joke.
Who told you? Who told you I was blind?\"

Suddenly Duo was shaking the prince, fingers digging in, and anger
stretching his features into grim lines. \"Tell me who you are! Tell
me the truth!\"

\"The Invisible Prince.\"

Now it was Duo\'s turned to look stunned, his hands dropping to his
sides as quickly as they\'d come up to shake the prince. \"What? But
then, that would mean…\"

\"I told you, I have no interest in the princess.\"

\"Yes, so you did, and it all falls in place now, like puzzle pieces
on a board.\" Duo sat down heavily on the nearby bench, and
sighed. \"Yes, it all makes sense. I\'m sorry for my reaction.\"

\"I\'m sorry to have deceived you, Duo.\" The prince sat down as well,
wondering about Duo\'s exclamation of blindness. From his earlier
conversation that day with the Minstrel, he knew it should give him
no hope. \"Are you really…blind?\"

\"Yes.\" Duo turned towards him, fingers inching along the bench until
they found the prince\'s fingers and grasped them tightly. \"And you\'re
really… invisible?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"How strange then that a blind man would meet an invisible one.\"

\"Tell me something, to you, I seem as if I\'m here, yes? As if there
is nothing missing?\"

Duo nodded, smiling slightly. \"Yes, you\'re all here, and solid and
real. It must be a novel experience.\"

\"It is, I feel so…seen with you.\"

\"You are.\"

\"Duo?\"

\"Yes?\"

\"Can we…can we go swimming now?\"

\"You really don\'t know how?\"

\"No, everyone was afraid to try. After all, how would they see me?\"

\"Fools, cannot they sense you? I can smell your very presence in a
room of people.\"

\"Oh, Sorry, they still douse me with perfume occasionally in the
bath.\"

\"What?\"

\"Never mind,\" the prince said with a smile. \"Just teach me to swim.\"

~~~~~~~

The Invisible Prince was having too much fun, he was sure of it. At
any moment now something had to come and ruin it all, and yet,
nothing did. He lay on his back in the middle of the pond, and it
seemed as if he were covered in stars and floating in the sky. The
moon was reflected just to his right, looking hugely fat in the
darkness of the pond. For some reason in the sky it looked much
smaller and further away, but in the pond he could touch it, make it
waver and wiggle in the water with just the poke of a finger.

He idly kicked a leg to keep himself afloat and wondered where Duo
had gone. \"Ahh!\" Suddenly his leg was clamped in a tight grip,
something pulling him under water. He sucked in a breath to yell
again, and found his mouth filled with pond water. He gurgled another
yell, and found a pair of hands sliding up his legs, Duo hauling him
back to the surface.

The prince panted to regain his breath, and then yelled again,
dragging Duo beneath the water and squirming around until he could
reach one of Duo\'s ankles. He wasn\'t sure what he was thinking
exactly, just perhaps to regain some revenge. His foot touched bottom
and he used the leverage to shoot upwards with Duo\'s ankle still
firmly within his grasp, laughing at the protesting wiggles. His
laughter cut off as Duo pushed against the bottom and suddenly the
prince found himself beneath the water. He could hear the hollow
sound of Duo\'s laughter above the water and wanted to laugh himself
at the game.

Pushing off the bottom he felt Duo let go of his ankle and popped up
beside the other boy, gasping with lack of air and mirth. \"Fiend!\"

\"Ha!\" Duo grinned and moved menacingly closer through the water.

\"Stay back or I\'ll…\"

\"You\'ll what?

\"Um,\" the prince glanced around wondering exactly what he would do if
Duo grabbed him again. \"I\'ll kiss you!\"

\"Eww, not a kiss from The Invisible Prince. I\'ve heard it turns
people into frogs!\"

\"It\'s true! It does!\" The Invisible Prince giggled, slowly slipping
further away through the water in the hope of an escape.

\"Well then,\" Duo suddenly lurched forward, an arrow through the
water. His hands clutched at whatever purchase on the prince he could
find and he hauled him forward. \"Frogs are better in water, right?\"

\"No!\" the prince started to yell, and quite suddenly stopped, his
mouth having become occupied. It seems trite to say the prince had
never been kissed before, but however trite it sounds, it was the
truth – he hadn\'t been. Most of the time it was because people, being
unable to see him, were afraid of where their kisses might land. Duo,
it seemed, didn\'t have any such fear, as well he need not – his mouth
was right on target.

The prince found he liked being kissed, which worried him, since it
was from another prince. Surely he shouldn\'t enjoy kissing a prince?
There should be a princess involved somewhere – the line had to go
on. His mother had always told him so, when she could find him.

Duo pulled back, the pale moon lighting his rapt features. \"Too much
thought at the wrong time can burn out the insides of your head you
know.\"

The Invisible Prince decided kissing another prince couldn\'t be that
bad a thing, and did it again. This time it was even better. Duo\'s
mouth felt just right, warm and gentle. It moved and opened, his
tongue sliding into the bemused Prince\'s mouth, leaving a hot, aching
trail. Without being aware of it the Invisible Prince wrapped his
arms firmly around Duo\'s wet shoulders, tilting his head and arching
his back.

Not too many natural kissers are born in a lifetime – it should be
noted that there are two of them in this story. Duo may have had some
practice, but the Invisible Prince was outlandishly good. He picked
up the little trick of breathing through his nose in a matter of
moments, followed by noticing that if he melted against Duo he could
get even closer, even deeper.

Thought tried to intrude. It battered at the Invisible Prince\'s mind
with a ram made of steel – it had a point to get across and it was
going to do it. The Invisible Prince gasped and pulled back, a
veritable mountain of \"oh no\" and \"what if\" perched on his tongue.

\"So, you have a lot of sisters?\"

The Invisible Prince started in surprise, the question completely
unexpected. \"Y-yes.\"

\"Have you ever heard that a line can be carried on with just a
princess?\"

\"Um,\" the Invisible Prince was dumfounded.

\"I\'m just wondering, if your parents would mind if I …\"

\"If you…what?\"

`Well, you\'re not a princess, and I\'m not a princess…\" Duo pulled the
prince closer and accented his point with his point. \"So, there might
be a problem.\"

\"A problem?\" the Invisible Prince asked hazily, distracted by the
soft brushing motion of Duo\'s hands across his bare skin, and the …
point. It was quite an interesting point, full of warmth and a
density that the prince could practically sense. \"Was there a
problem?\" the prince whispered with some confusion, finding it hard
to focus on his words.

\"My point,\" and Duo once again accented his words with his point, \"is
that though I have a brother, you have none.\"

\"Remind me of why that should make sense to me?\' the prince asked,
his own hands creeping down Duo\'s sides and flanks, determined to
find out what the point was.

\"I imagine your mother is as bad as my own, and though I have a
brother to carry on the line, you have only sisters.\" Duo panted for
a moment as the prince\'s questing hands found an interesting place to
be. \"So I\'m sure that your parents are quite keen on you finding a
WIFE?!\" Duo\'s voice hit a shrill note as the prince suddenly found
the point.

\"Ah.\" The prince spent a moment with the point before carefully
saying, \"What do they care for what they can\'t remember? Maybe one
day they will wonder where I am, when they find a woman willing to
marry an invisible man, but by then they will search forever and
never find me.\"

\"Oh!\" Duo in turn got the point, and firmly gave it a good rub. \"Yes,
I can see that what you say is true.\"

\"My Mother can always wish for a boy again,\" the prince said
bitterly, and then he smiled as Duo emitted another gasp of
pleasure. \"If the fairy Dorothy will tell her the time of day that
is.\"

\"Midnight, why do you ask?\" said a completely new voice.

Both boys jerked apart, each pretending that a mere second beforehand
they hadn\'t been ready to have the first orgasmic experience of their
young lives.

The fairy Dorothy grinned from her seat on the edge of the pond and
gave a little wave of her fingers. \"Hello. I imagine you wonder what
I\'m doing here, and - why oh why - would I interrupt right at this
very moment?\"

The boys nodded, the Invisible Prince vainly trying to hide behind
Duo despite the fact that he was, as has been mentioned numerous
times, invisible.

\"It\'s times like these I really do enjoy my work,\" the fairy said
brightly.

\"Dorothy!\" a new voice yelled from across the distance of the pond.

Everyone turned to eye the newcomer with surprise. She was a small
girl, with the same indeterminable look of non-age as the fairy
Dorothy. Also, she had some wings – small, bat-like, translucent pink
wings.
They just screamed `I\'m a fairy!\' to anyone who would listen. \"Don\'t
even think this is your work, Dorothy.\"

\"Relena, why, it\'s been years.\" The fairy Dorothy looked somewhat
taken aback, standing up uncertainly and apparently trying to look
innocent. \"What work, where? Would *I* do a thing like that?\"

\"You would and you did! I\'ve been setting this one up for years. How
many people,\" and here she gestured towards the huddled figures of
Duo and the Invisible Prince, \"could get together a blind man and an
invisible one? Hm? Me! That\'s who!\" The fairy Relena positively shook
with rage.

\"My dear, Relena, I set this one up. As can be seen by merely
witnessing the fact that *I* am the one who cursed that prince into
invisibility,\" the fairy Dorothy growled calmly, pointing imperiously
at the Invisible Prince in question, as if she could see him and knew
exactly where he was. Which she could and she did.

\"Yes, well, *I* my dear, Dorothy, was the one who cursed him,\" and
here Relena pointed at Duo, \"to be blind! So there!\"

Both fairies\' mouths dropped open as they in turn stared at one
another and then towards the boys in the pond.

\"You did-\"

\"But I thought-\"

\"Really, cannot you two nymph-heads tell when someone else is at
play?\" yet another new voice asked.

\"You!\" yelled the fairy Dorothy.

\"You!\" shouted the fairy Relena.

\"Well of course, and now you see if this was anyone\'s work it was
mine. For who else could make such boys fall in love?\"

The Invisible Prince couldn\'t take his shocked eyes off the three
figures. He recognized the new man as the Minstrel, though certainly
he had never seen the Minstrel such as he was now. His hair seemed to
wave as if it were floating upwards and imitating sea grass on the
ocean floor. His eyes, which always before had been milky coloured
and faint, were now a glowing green. Oh, and he too had some wings
on, these were -of course - a dead giveaway to his fairy status.

\"Listen here, Too-Right-Out-With-Another, I knew you back when you
were a mere human and didn\'t even know what a wand was *or* how to
use it!\" the fairy Relena screamed with rage.

\"Four,\" Duo whispered, leaning back into the small figure that was
still trying to hide behind him.

\"Yes?\"

\"I can see…\"

\"What?\"

\"No, I mean, I can see them. There are three of them, and I can see
them.\"

The Invisible Prince slowly, as if it might disappear, raised his
hand to his eyes. It was a nice hand, pale, delicate, though the
nails were a bit on the long side.

There was a splash from behind Duo. The fairies stopped arguing, and
with amused smiles watched as the Invisible Prince, now completely
visible to everyone, fainted dead away.

~~~~~

A few years passed, as they\'ll do when they\'re of a mind for it. The
princess Amandandia married a prince, who was not Heero, but was in
fact someone completely different. The kingdom celebrated the
marriage of their only prince, now finally given a name due to his
new visibility. They\'d named him Quatre, which strangely enough had
been the name he\'d been given on the day of his announcement. It was
an old family name.

And so the story ends, with this last vision of the twisted tree in
the Atrium beside the pond. There\'s a bench there – it is stone and
cold, and there\'s a veritable bombardment of bird poop on one side of
it as if the birds were taking target practice. There\'s no one
sitting there, hasn\'t been for a year or two.

…………










High in one of the windows of the palace there is a light on, and if
you sneak up close you can hear the sounds of a really angry prince
shouting his head off. Inside the room, is a tirading, naked, blond
bombshell of a boy. He looks a little on the chubby side, though his
features are pale and beautiful in the candlelight, and his skin
seems as smooth and velvety as that of a babe.

\"How could you!\" he yells, and his wide aqua eyes hold a terrible
anger. He picks up a small vase on the nearby dresser and clutches it
tightly in one hand. \"Of all the- how could you?! And me? Why me!\"
He throws the vase to the floor and stomps somewhat heavily over to
the bed where a figure is lying nude. This figure, strangely, looks
very satisfied with itself.

\"And you said I was just getting fat from eating so many sweets! You
said I was craving crispy-fried frog legs because I liked French
food!\"

The figure on the bed, despite itself, and rather stupidly,
grins. \"She said we only have to invite her to the parties.\"

Quatre – formerly known as the Invisible Prince – flops down on to
the edge of the bed, his shoulders slumping in a helpless defeat. \"It
will please my parents…\"

\"And you don\'t look bad with the weight,\" Duo adds, pulling the
prince backwards into an awkward embrace. He rather carefully avoids
putting any weight on the round protuberance of the prince\'s expanded
waistline.

\"I\'m going to kill you,\" Quatre says firmly, turning around and
giving his prince a kiss. \"Right after I make use of you,\" he adds
with a feral little grin.

\"Let\'s just make sure the midwife gets the name right, okay dear? I
would hate for our child to be called You-Bastard-How-Could-You-Do-
This-To-Me!\"

Quatre counts on his fingers for a moment and then smiles. \"I was
thinking Trowa might be nice.\"

Duo grins and then says in a worried voice, \"you *will* invite *her*,
right?\"

\"The invitation will be in the mail tomorrow.\"

And so the story really does end, for now, at this moment. Soon the
light blinks out and only the sound of pleased and muffled moans and
sighs can be heard on the breeze.



Though, meanwhile, in a castle not far away, in kingdom right next-
door to this one, there\'s three people sitting around a table and
getting steadily drunk.

\"I was thinking about China,\" one of them says and then hiccups.

\"For what?\"

\"They\'ve still got dragons,\" the fairy with the pink wings slurs.

\"There\'s a prince there. Named, Wufei, or some such thing, I\'ve heard
he won\'t marry any of the princesses.\" This fairy has glowing green
eyes and a smirk.

\"What\'s that got to do with dragons?\" the one with the pink wings
manages to say before passing out on the tabletop.

\"You know-\"begins the fairy with the long blond hair, okay, so she\'s
the fairy Dorothy.

\"It would be interesting-\" the fairy Too-Right-Out-With-Another
begins to say.

\"Oh! Let\'s just curse `em all!\" the fairy Relena says, and then
passes out again.


The End

No, Really




THE END



for now...