Disclaimer: I own nothing! NOTHING!

Warning: There is a mild touch of yaoi in later chapters!

Hidden in View

Chapter 1

It was the night that was the most difficult. Maximillian Pegasus - the creator of the most popular card game in the world - could handle the days, but the nights plagued him. He dreamt of the lost love of his life, the beautiful Cecilia. And in his dreams she was so close. He could almost hold her again. They were so very close. But he always woke up alone, stricken once again with the knowledge that his wife would never again be by his side. And so Pegasus took to drinking heavily before he went to sleep, hoping to drink himself into a dreamless slumber. Sometimes it worked. But sometimes it also made the dreams more vivid. And some nights he couldn't sleep at all.

On the nights when he couldn't sleep, Pegasus inevitably found himself in the room he and Cecilia had once shared. He had long ago taken his things out of the room, but had left her things untouched. The room was a silent tribute to the woman he'd loved more than life itself. Pegasus could spend hours polishing off a bottle of wine and just talking to the portraits as if Cecilia could really hear him.

"You left me too soon," Pegasus murmured one night as he swirled a rich red cabernet around in his glass. He often uttered that same lament in one form or another, especially when he was deep in his cups. The portraits, of course, said nothing.

Finishing off this last glass, Pegasus stood and strolled to the closet. He set the glass on a bureau and began to take a silent inventory of the room. Every item held a cherished memory - the silver handled brush which Cecilia had used every morning, the quilt they'd wrap up in together as they sat in front of the fireplace with steaming mugs of cocoa on cold winter nights, the battered copy of Gone With the Wind which Cecilia had never finished reading

Stealing himself, Pegasus pulled open the closet, still filled with Cecilia's clothes. The first time he'd opened this door, he'd been planning to donate all of her clothing to charity. But the fabrics still held Cecilia's very dear smell, and as Pegasus and crushed the first dress he'd taken out up to his face and breathed her in, he knew he could never get rid of a single item. He'd wanted to throw everything onto the bed and roll in her smell, pretending she was with him once again. Somehow, though, such foolishness seemed like it would be an embarrassment to her memory. And so he'd stood there, sobbing into the dress for He couldn't even begin to guess how long, but eventually Croquet had come to check on him and had led him out of the room.

The emotional wounds had healed up quite a bit since then. Pegasus could look about the room without dissolving into tears, but the memories still hurt. With great deliberation, Pegasus pulled a dress from out of the closet. It was a wondrously dark maroon trimmed in black that Pegasus had felt always made Cecilias eyes seem to glow. He pressed the dress up against his face - the scent of his beloved was fading, but faint traces still clung to it.

As Pegasus fingered the silky cloth, a wondrously beautiful drunken idea began swirling around in his brain. He could surround himself with her scent, lose himself in the memories for a time. The rational part of Pegasus's mind had given up the battle against the maudlin meanderings of the alcohol, and Pegasus began easing out of his dinner jacket. He smiled to himself as he undressed, imagining Cecilia's hands guiding his own. The cool air against his bare skin sparked off a hint of sobriety, and Pegasus had to chuckle at himself. He knew this was foolishness, but he'd already come this far.

The dress fit his body surprisingly well. The silk warmed quickly against his skin. Edging close to a full-length mirror, Pegasus found himself staring at his somewhat altered appearance. While, at the moment, he merely looked like a guy in a dress, he realized that with a little work he could probably pull off playing the role of a woman if he wanted to. "But would I want to?" Pegasus asked himself. The answer that came back was a surprising, "Well, why not?"

Pegasus knew he needed to make some sort of change in his life - something to get out of this nightly cycle of drinking and mourning. Maybe this was it. Maybe he needed to create a new life for himself. Almost immediately Pegasus's pulse quickened at the thought. He could even start dueling again! The thought of dueling Maximillian Pegasus was often too intimidating for many duelists, but if he dueled as an unknown

Pegasus laughed and twirled about the room, giddy at the very thought. He needed a challenge, and what could be more challenging than starting from scratch as a duelist and a woman duelist at that that! He would duel under Cecilia's name and keep her memory alive in doing so! But not tonight. No, but maybe tomorrow night. He'd send out Croquet for a few things to help complete the disguise, and then he would go out. Filled with a new zest for life, Pegasus tore through the hallways to his room. He had much planning to do.