"Dear Lord…I'm so nervous…" Remy kept saying over and over as he and Emil waited for the ceremony to start.

Emil started fidgeting. He wasn't any more comfortable in the tux now, and half-wished he hadn't accepted the job of best man. "Would you stop sayin' dat? You're makin' me nervous, an' I ain' de one getting married!"

"Sorry…how much time left?"

Emil checked his watch. "'Bout ten minutes, by my guess."

Those ten minutes dragged by. Both Remy and Emil thought the time would never pass, but even watched pots will boil eventually, an' finally the organ music struck up with the wedding march. Everyone turned and looked at the back of the church; a few murmurs were heard as Bella Donna, looking striking in an elegant white gown, her hair up, walked down the aisle on her father's arm. Not surprisingly, Marius himself looked as uncomfortable in his own tux as Emil and Remy felt.

"Whoa…" Remy breathed. "I don' know if I can do dis, Red…"

Alarms rang in Emil's head. He'd been waiting for this since they got there. It was time to avert the crisis. "Jus' breathe, Rem. T'ink of how much you love her, an' remember to breathe, an' you'll do jus' fine." He whispered, careful not to let anyone else see that they were talking.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, as all good weddings should, but when it was over, all hell broke loose for the guilds.

Everyone was outside the church, waiting to have the official pictures taken, when Julien Boudreaux, Bella Donna's older brother made it known he didn't approve of the marriage.

"You don' d'serve her, LeBeau! You're not good enough to be married to my sister, you're jus' an adopted mutant. You don' even d'serve to be a member of de guild."

Emil struggled to keep his own temper in check. They didn't need to add to the scene Julien was causing. He looked at Remy and saw the anger in his cousin's flashing eyes. Through gritted teeth, he muttered. "Don' let him get to you Rem…he's jus' tryin' to make you mad…"

Remy took in a deep breath and let it out, nodding at Emil and noting the horrified look on Bella Donna's face. "It's a little late to be complainin' 'bout dis, Julien." He said in a light, confident voice. "I didn' know you were so against my marryin' Bel. You should have said somet'ing before…maybe we could've put it off for awhile, or somet'ing…"

Julien snorted and shook his head. "Non. It wouldn' do any good." He pulled out a sword, much to the shock of everyone present.

"Julien…what are you…?" Marius began. Julien cut him off with a snarl.

"Shut up, father! You an' Jean-Luc are two foolish old men who actually had de gall to b'lieve dis would unify de two Guilds. Well it won'." He turned to Remy again. "I challenge you to a duel, LeBeau. Right here, right now.

"Julien, please…" Remy started.

"Now." Julien commanded.

"Julien, de guilds are unified whether you like it or not…" Theoren stated, trying to get control of the situation.

In a flash, Julian leaped over to Theoren. He held the tip of his sword right at Theoren's throat. Theoren stood there in shock, unable to move, looking at Remy for help.

With a deep sigh, Remy looked at Marius. "You got your sword?"

"Oui…but Remy you're not plannin' on…"

"Can I borrow it?" Remy held out his hand, waiting for the sword. Marius handed it to him.

"Dere has to be another way…you have a choice, Remy…" he said.

Remy took the sword and shook his head. "I had a choice, Marius. I don' now. I stopped havin' a choice when he threatened my cousin."

"Remy…" Bella Donna began.

Remy looked sadly at her. "I'm sorry chere. I really am. But he's not givin' me any other option."

"I know." Bel sighed. "Jus' be careful."

"What do I do now?" Remy asked, pacing the living room of the LeBeau mansion. He felt like he was going around in circles. His heart and his mind were both racing.

"You could try sittin' down so you don' wear a hole in de floor." Henri commented.

"Dis is no time for jokes, brother." Remy exclaimed. "I killed him. Ruined my own wedding day. Bel's furious at me, an' no wonder. An' yet you're sittin' dere makin' jokes. Dat's jus' wonderful Henri."

"Remy, it was an accident. B'sides, you didn' kill him. He killed himself, when he challenged you. He had to know you're a better swordsman. He jus'…he didn' want de unification, so he t'ought he'd try an' stop it at it's source."

"I did kill him, Henri. I didn' have to accept de challenge. An' now what's gon' happen? De unification will fail…dey all hate me…maybe I should jus' leave…dat might be de best option."

Henri sighed. "You accepted de challenge b'cause he threatened Theoren an' he threatened de unification. Dat's pretty honorable, if you ask me. An' why leave?"

"Why stay?" Remy demanded. "If I leave, de peace might continue. I won' risk de chance of it not goin' on."

With that, Remy left the room, heading to his bedroom. Once there, he packed a bag, preparing to leave. He was surprised that Henri hadn't followed him, but he was glad he hadn't. He looked around his room, pack on his back, and then went to the desk. He put the pack down and sat at the desk, pulling out some paper and a pen. He had three letters to write before he could leave. He couldn't leave without saying goodbye to the people he loved.

An hour later, after Remy had left the mansion, Henri went to his brother's room. He found three folded pieces of paper on the desk, each with a name scrawled on the outside, signifying who the letter was for. Henri read the names out loud in a whispered voice.

"Papa…Emil…Bel…oh mon Dieu…he's not comin' back…"

He asked the three to join him in the living room. When they were assembled, he stood at the front of the room, holding the three letters in his hands.

"I'm sorry to be de bearer of bad news…but I guess it's jus' been dat kinda day." He said, approaching each of them and handing them the appropriate letter.

Instinctively knowing what the letter contained, Emil took his and went outside, not wanting to be around anyone when he read it. He sat on the back steps so he could use the porch light to read the letter. With shaking hands, he opened the letter and started to read, tears falling down his cheeks as he read.

"Dear Emil, I've been thinking and I don't think I have any choice right now but to leave New Orleans. I'm doing this for the sake of the peace, for the sake of everyone in the two guilds, for the sake of the people I care about. I don't want to risk the peace being destroyed because of the stupid things Julien did. I know this hurts, and I'm sorry for that because the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone. I don't know when I'll be back, if I ever will. Thank you for everything, you've been the most amazing cousin I could ever ask for, as well as a fantastic best friend. Take care of yourself, Red. Try not to get into too much trouble without me. Love Remy. PS: Always remember the good times."

The letter fluttered to the ground as Emil hid his face in his hands, sobbing quietly. "Bye, Rem." He whispered softly through his sobs.

"He's gone, isn' he?" A voice said quietly. Theoren sat down beside Emil, putting his arm around his young cousin's shaking shoulders.

"Yeah…" Emil sniffled.

"He did a good t'ing today, Emil. We're all proud of him. An' to speak jus' for myself, I'd like to t'ank him, b'cause I owe him my life."

Emil turned and looked at Theoren, his blue eyes shining with tears. "If he did such a good t'ing why did he leave?"

"I figure he didn' want to jeopardize de unification any more den it was already jeopardized. De assassins hate him, dey're furious wit' him. Maybe he t'ought dat if he wasn' around, we could continue wit' de peace de way it's s'posed to." Theoren suggested.

"De way it's s'posed to? Without him? How…?"

Theoren sighed. "I don' know, kiddo. I wish I did. But I t'ink you'll see dat today isn' de last time he's here. I t'ink he'll be in our lives again someday. Jus' hang on to dat, okay?"

Emil nodded, sniffling again. He wished he could have at least said goodbye to his cousin in person instead of just having the letter. He bent down and picked up the paper, folding it and putting it in his pocket. He had a feeling, he didn't know where it was coming from, that Theoren was right. It was really too bad that Remy had to leave in the first place, all because of Julien's arrogance.