"Aw, c'mon, Red, you have to go, it's our Senior Prom!" Remy pleaded. "It's important!"

Emil sighed and remained facing the computer screen in front of him. He and Remy were in his bedroom, where Emil was working on a new hacking program. "It's important to you, Rem, b'cause you have a date! Dat's de whole point to de Prom. I don' have one, so why should I even go?"

"B'cause it's de Senior Prom! You only get one in your life, so why the heck not?"

"Go to de Prom by myself. Show 'em all what dey already know, dat I'm a computer geek wit' no life. Jus' what I want to do in de last week of school." Emil muttered.

Remy flung himself back on the bed and glared exasperatingly at his cousin. "Emil…for cryin' out loud! You can come wit' Bel an' I. It's no problem."

"Have you told Bel dis brilliant idea yet, Rem? B'sides, three's a crowd, I wouldn' want to impose…"

Remy blew air through his teeth. "She won' mind, Emil. She's not stupid. On top of dat, she an' I are gon' have de rest of our lives to be alone together. I don' t'ink you comin' to de Prom wit' us is gon' cause dat big a problem."

Emil's hands left the keyboard and he spun around in his chair, facing his cousin. The two young men were seventeen years old. In a matter of weeks, just after he turned eighteen, Remy was going to be married to Bella Donna Boudreaux, daughter of the leader of the New Orleans Assassins Guild.

"Remy…do you want to marry Bel?" he asked suddenly, changing the topic.

"I love her, Emil. Of course I want to marry her."

"But…?" Emil prodded, sensing that Remy wasn't being entirely honest.

"I wish we had more say in de whole t'ing, dat's all." Remy admitted. "Once we agreed to de marriage, it was out of our hands. Although we were t'inking of getting married eventually, but not dis soon…"

"Did either of you tell your fathers dat?" Emil questioned.

"Non…it's so important to dem dat we do dis, dat we help create a unification…dat's what dey care 'bout."

"Hey, dey also care 'bout you two. I'm sure dey don' want you to be hurt by anyt'ing dey do."

"I guess. So, are you comin' to de Prom wit' us or not?"

Emil sighed and spun around to face the computer again. "Rem-my…" he whined softly.

"Well, are you? De Prom is tomorrow, after all."

Emil picked up the phone off the desk and tossed at Remy. "Talk to Bel first. I won' agree to go 'til she says it's okay."

Remy shook his head and dialed Bel's phone number.

The next night, Jean-Luc waited patiently in the living room for Remy and Emil to show themselves. As Remy had predicted, Bel had no problem with Emil joining them to the Prom, so Emil agreed to go, although he insisted it was under protest.

Finally, the two boys came downstairs. Jean-Luc had to chuckle at them, but he tried not to let them know. They both looked so uncomfortable in their tuxes. In a sense, Jean-Luc thought, it was a good practice session for Remy, who was getting married in a few weeks' time.

"You both look very handsome." Jean-Luc commented.

"T'anks." They replied. Remy looked more excited about the whole thing than Emil did, which was understandable, as Emil didn't have a date, and Remy did.

"Remy, why don' you go an' pick up Bel, an' den come back an' get Emil?" Jean-Luc asked. "I'd like to talk to him for a few minutes, if you don' mind."

The two boys looked at each other, confusion on their faces. "Uh…sure. We'll be back in a bit." Remy replied.

When Emil was alone with Jean-Luc, he looked questioningly at his uncle. "What did you want to talk 'bout?"

"Have a seat, Emil." Jean-Luc offered, sitting on the couch. Emil joined him. "You don' want to go tonight, do you?"

Emil shook his head, careful not to mess up his hair. "Non…"

"Den why're you goin'?"

"Remy talked me into it…he says it's a big deal an' dat no one should miss deir Senior Prom." Emil explained.

"Well, dat's true, I s'pose." Jean-Luc admitted. "I'm very proud of you for goin' even t'ough you don' want to."

Emil's blue eyes widened in surprise. "You are?"

"Oui, I am. An' your father would be too."

Emil sighed. "I wish he was here…"

"He is here, Emil. You jus' can' see him." Jean-Luc told him. "Don' you b'lieve dat?"

"It'd be easier to b'lieve if I could see him from time to time…"

Jean-Luc gave his nephew's shoulder a light squeeze. "I know. Tell you what. If at any time tonight, you wan' come home, jus' call me okay? I'll come get you."

As Remy honked the horn of his car in the driveway, signaling that he and Bel were back, Emil smiled at Jean-Luc.

"T'anks…for everyt'ing…"

"Pas de problem. Now you go an' try to have a good time, okay?"

"Yeah, I will."

Bella Donna shook her long blonde hair and pouted at Emil, who had been sitting at a table in the school gymnasium for two hours, watching everyone dancing around him. "Are you ever gon' get up off dat chair tonight?"

Emil raised an eyebrow quirkily at his future cousin-in-law. "Why should I? Not like I have anyone to dance wit'."

Bel sighed and looked around the gym. "You know, dere are girls here who don' have dates…"

"I find dat hard to b'lieve, Bel." Emil replied. "An' even if it is true, dey won' wan' dance wit' me."

Bel went over to where Remy was standing nearby and whispered something to him. He nodded and Bel went back to Emil.

"Get up." She commanded, extending her hand.

"Huh?" Emil asked, confused.

"You heard me. Get up. If you won' go ask one of de other girls to dance, den you're gon' dance wit' me." Bella Donna said.

"Bel…you don' have to…" Emil began. Bel cut him off.

"Emil Lapin, dis is your Senior Prom too. An' you are not gon' spend de whole t'ing sittin' dere like a reject. So get up an' come dance wit' me. Jus' one song."

Emil stood up in defeat and let Bel lead him to the dance floor, casting Remy a look that said 'Can you handle livin' wit' dat for de rest of your life?' Remy just shrugged and watched them go.

As they danced, Emil had to admit that Bel was one of the more beautiful girls in the room. She looked absolutely stunning in a long gown of pale pink and silver. She reminded Emil of Cinderella at the ball. For what it was worth, Remy was a lucky man to be marrying such a beautiful woman.

When the song ended Bel grinned at Emil. "Dere. Dat wasn' so hard was it?"

"Non. I guess not. T'anks Bel."

"You're welcome. Now go back an' sit down…Remy kept your chair warm for ya."

An hour later, Emil decided he'd had enough. During a break in the dancing, when Remy and Bel were sitting with him, he commented softly to Remy,

"I'm gon' head out. Your dad told me to call him if I wanted to go home early…I jus'…I don' really feel like bein' here anymore."

"Hey sure. I'm jus' glad I got you here in de first place. Now you can' say you didn' go to de Prom. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah." Emil replied, getting up. "Bye, Bel. T'anks 'gain for dat dance."

Late that night, Remy slipped quietly into his bedroom, trying not to wake Emil, who he knew was asleep in the sleeping bag on the floor. After he got into bed, he heard Emil's voice from the floor in the darkness.

"Didja have fun?"

"Yeah…why didn' you tell me you were awake?"

Emil shifted in the sleeping bag and looked up at Remy, marveling for the millionth time in the past almost eight years at those glowing red eyes. "I don' know. You seemed to be enjoyin' de challenge of tryin' to not wake me up."

"You're funny, Emil." Remy chuckled. "Hey, remember earlier when we were talkin' 'bout Bel an' I getting' married?"

"Oui…what 'bout it?"

"Well…I can' control most of it, but I was wonderin' if…well…would you be my best man?" Remy asked.

"Oh Rem…of course I will!" Emil exclaimed, sitting up in the sleeping bag. "Um…dey will let me, won' dey?"

Remy snorted. "If dey don' let me choose my own best man, I'm not getting married, period."

"Dat would not go over well, Remy." Emil commented, lying back down.

"Well, dat's deir problem, not mine. You're my best friend an' I want you up dere wit' me."

"I will be, Remy." Emil yawned. "God, what time is it?"

"Almost three. Maybe we should get some sleep, huh?" Remy laughed.

"Oui. 'Night, Rem."

"'Night, Mil."

Jean-Luc, who had heard his son come home and rather shamelessly listened to the conversation the two young men had, stepped away from the doorway. He knew, as he went back to his own bedroom, that the High Council of the guild would not like Remy's decision to take the initiative in even just a small part of the wedding. Jean-Luc, on the other hand, supported his son's decision. There was no one in the Guild better suited to stand with Remy than Emil.