The afternoon found the four young men sitting together in a parlor staring at each other awkwardly. Duo obviously wanted to be elsewhere with his lifebond, as his wandering hands and mournful gazes at Heero indicated. Nothing about Heero's expression showed his own feelings about the matter, but he did nothing to discourage Duo, stating more clearly by action than words ever could how he felt. Quatre would have liked nothing better than to have returned to the library with Trowa to explore, but Cathrine had not-too-subtly hinted that Trowa ought to be paying greater attention to the other guests.

Thus they were all miserable, or that was what Quatre assumed, since Trowa really hadn't indicated his preferences in the matter.

Minutes ticked by like tiny eternities until Duo yawned dramatically. He sretched and winked at Trowa and Quatre. "God, I'm sleepy... Please excuse me, but I think I ought to go get a nap before supper." He stood and glanced at Heero. "Well, are you going to tuck me in or not?"

"Hn." Heero stood as well, seeming rahter relieved by Duo's ingenuity. He stared at the other two. "Are *you* going to let someone else tell you how to enjoy your afternoon?"

"But Heero, they aren't ma--Not the braid, not the braid!" Duo yelped as Heero seized him and headed out of the room purposefully.

Trowa turned his attention to Quatre. "Are they always like that?" he asked.

"As long as I've known them," Quatre laughed. "Although they haven't always been that openly expressive."

"You've known them for a long time, then?" Trowa pressed.

"Yes. the same woman tutored both me and Duo, and Heero and I trained under the same swordmaster for a long time... we all sort of grew up together." Quatre grinned. "Believe me when I tell you that Duo hasn't changed a bit from the days when he hid snakes in Lady Une's belongings."

Trowa digested this. "They're young to be declared lifebonds."

Quatre shrugged. "Maybe. When they first got together, though, Heero's fiancee Relena had a star reading done. She was rather upset to be jilted, you see, but it turned out that while she and Heero are pretty compatible, he and Duo are an even better matach... that is, if you believe in the stars, anyway."

"You don't."

The prince shook his head with a sigh. "No, I don't. I think the stars are just stars. People don't fall in love just because a few patterns in the night sky say they should... although I'll be the first to admit that what those patterns said about Duo and Heero made their life a lot easier." He looked at Trowa. "I have to admit that I'm curious--do you believe that the stars guide our destinies?"

Trowa was silent for so long that Quatre thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally, he said, "I can only hope that it's true."

Quatre nodded thoughtfully. "That's logical enough, I suppose. His Highness isn't exactly thrilled with the arrangement, either," he said drily. *Although he _has_ taken certain steps...*

"That's why you're here."

"Yes, definitely." Quatre smiled tentatively. *Maybe I should just tell him now...?*

"Duo said you were close to His Highness... what's he like?"

"Busy. Very, very busy," Quatre responded automatically, remember the escaped piles of paperwork lying on his desk in the Eternal City.

"That stands to reason," Trowa replied.

"But I--" Quatre realized he'd started with the incorrect pronoun and swiftly switched tacks. "I think he does his best to make time for everyone he can in his life... He doesn't have very many close personal friends, really. Just Duo and Heero..."

"And you."

"Ah, yes... and me." Quatre smiled faintly. *There'll be time later to tell him...* "Most of the people who comprise the royal court are there for their own personal gains... it's difficult to find trustworthy individuals--what?"

Trowa's face was dark. "I am familiar with the breed," he said, tones clipped.

Quatre gauged the expression. "What happened?"

Trowa shook his head. "It's not important."

Quatre lifted an eyebrow, but let it pass. He had a feeling that it would resurface eventually.

At that moment, the cat who had disappointed when Trowa had escorted Quatre to the library chose to reappear. With a plaintive cry, it wound itself around Quatre's ankles.

"She wants you to hold her," Trowa told Quatre. "Pick her up, she almost never scratches."

"Almost never? That's supposed to be reassuring, right?" Quatre lifted the cat into his lap, rubbing her ears. He was rewarded with a resounding purr and a puddle of fur as the cat went boneless, sprawling across his lap limply.

"She likes you," Trowa observed. "Smoke isn't alway so friendly with strangers."

"*Now* he tells me," Quatre complained to the cat. "Thanks for the warning, Trowa."

The quiet man shrugged. "I had a feeling the two of you would get along just fine."

Quatre gave him a look. "That confident, are we?"

"When it comes to animals."

"Oh, really?" The cat rolled over in his lap, inviting him to rub her exposed tummy. "You're that good with them?"

"It's a matter of listening to what they say." Trowa held out his hand to the cat, who immediately abandoned Quatre in Trowa's favor.

"I've never had much time for pets," Quatre replied wistfully. "There was always something else more important to be done."

"What could keep you so busy?"

"Duties at court, mostly... Learning about my family's office and how to execute my responsibilities properly when my father dies," Quatre explained, only stretching the truth a little.

"I suppose that's how you're tied in to His Highness?"

"You could put it that way, yes..." Quatre sighed, deciding the charade really had gone on long enough after all. "Actually, I *am*--"

"Pardon my interruption, but I thought that you gentlemen might enjoy some tea," Cathrine announced, bustling through the door witha tray in her hands.

Quatre closed his mouth. *Maybe later.* "You're too kind," he murmured as Cathrine set the tray down.

"Well, I know that Trowa would never think of it," she said cheerfully, unaware of his sarcasm. "But where are your friends?"

"They were feeling--" Quatre twitched as Trowa began his explanation in a faintly amused tone "--sleepy, and decided to take a nap before dinner."

Cathrine looked sympathetic. "They must still be tired from the travel through the storm."

Quatre hid his smirk. "Yes, well, since Heero tends to be very noisy when he... sleeps... they left Trowa and me to our own devices."

"How considerate of them!" Cathrine poured a cup of tea, and looked the disguised prince. "One lump or two?"

"One, please." He accepted the cup, saw that Cathrine was preparing two more, and realized that he wasn't likely to discover anything else about Trowa for a while.

*What was he going to say before Cathrine interrupted?* Trowa wondered, not for the first time since she had arrived. Something told him that it was important... very important. The other young man had seemed on teh verge of a confession, but about what? Trowa felt a faint shiver touch his spine as he hoped it wasn't anything too bad... he was coming to like the emissary from the Eternal City, all things considered. Quatre seemed almost as much a victim of upbringing as Trowa himself. *Maybe he'll tell me later.*

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Cathrine inquired solicitously when Duo and Heero appeared for supper. Quatre laughed silently at the off-balance expression on Duo's face.

"It was very refreshing, thank you," Heero answered, with a perfectly straight face.

Duo just shook his head and took his seat at the table.

The meal progressed smoothly, the conversation centering mostly around teh winer storm still raging outside. Duo voiced his wonder that anyone could stand a span of months containing such weather.

"I suppose it's much more temperate in the Eternal City," Cathrine commented.

Duo nodded vigorously. "Much. I can't stand being cold, really."

"And he goes to great lengths to avoid it, too," Heero muttered.

Duo smiled innocently, the gleam in his eyes telling Quatre that Duo had definite plans to stay warm later. The prince rolled his eys, agreeing with Heero's "insatiable wizard" verdict.

After supper ended, they gathered in a drawing room, enjoying the warmth of a roaring fire. "Perhaps a little music would be pleasant," Alacar remarked. "If our guests don't object, Cathrine, would you play a little, please?"

Cathrine glanced at the three young men from the south, who indicated their assent. She looked at her brother. "Trowa, will you play with me?"

"I'd rather not," came the reply.

Cathrine looked disappointed as she departed. She returned bearing two instruments. She handed the flute to Trowa. "Just in case you change your mind," she explained. Then she lifted the violin and began to play.

*Not a bad player... noat a bad player at all,* Duo decided, surreptitiously snuggling a little closer to Heero. He smiled slightly as his lifebond shifted, placing an arm around his shoulders. *Wonder what Quatre thinks...*

Cathrine played for several minutes before pausing. She flushed at the applause from her audience, and then noticed the way Quatre's gaze rested on the violin. "Do you play, too?"

"When I get the chance," he replied.

Cathrine offered the violin to him. "Would you?"

Quatre paused, then accepted the violin. "Thank you." He ran his fingers over the dark, aged wood, approving of how loved its eemed. He raised the violin and tucked it under his chin, playing a few notes and testing the feel of the instrument. He smiled, liking the results. He rose from his seat, adjusted his stance, and struck up a simple melody to warm up. He finsihed to polite applause from the Bartons, but before they could say anything, he was playing again.

*I guess all those years of enduring the noise he called practice paid off,* Duo thought lazily, listening to the magic being wrought as Quatre's fingers danced over the strings and the bow coaxed tumultuous waves of music from the fragile violin.

Quatre's eyes had drifted shut as he lost himself in the music. When his father had first assigned him to lessons with a musical tutor, he had been violently opposed. He would have much preferred not to be closeted five times a week with the wizened old man, but the king had insisted on it, saying that the music would be of value to Quatre as he grew older. He hadn't understood his father's wisdom until the day the master, enraged by his pupil's diffidence, had demonstrated the difference between playing music and feeling it.

Abandoning the score in his mind, Quatre drifted into his own flights of musical fancy. The notes echoed the wildness of the storm outside, dipping and soaring with the howling of the wind. His frame swayed slightly with the force of his playing, and the world fell away until all that was left was the moment and the music.

And then a flute joined in, and Quatre's eyes flew open to see Trowa was also standing, playing with identical intensity.

Duo: Saa... isn't she evil? <grins> C&C always begged for.

Heero: C'mon, we have a party to attend....