Disclaimer: The Oban DVDs are coming out, the Oban DVDs are coming ou-ut!

A Crazyvegi Note: I'm really sorry about Bonds, you guys. My life has just been in ten zillion different directions and I've had absolutely no muse to feed me. But for now I hope this can keep you content. It's a sort of sequel to Rejection, Rejection, Rejection, though as is seen consistently through me works, you really don't need to read the precursor to understand this one. Plus it's a bit AU-ish, as I've decided to make the Ultimate Prize really an Ultimate Prize, but that's really it. It's also a bit rough in some parts, and far from my usual polished works. But I managed to squeeze it out right before a major project of mine is due, and I even had fun doing it, so that's all that really matters. So Enjoy!

April Fools

"Jordan?" Aikka blinked in surprise at the man who was grinning on his communicator. It had been almost four years since the race of Oban, yet he had managed to remain good friends with both the gunner, and Molly, though he now knew her as Ms. Eva Wei.

As usual, Jordan skipped the simply pleasantries of discussing the weather and asking how the other was doing and got straight to the point. "Aikka, do you remember when we first met?"

The Prince's eyebrows jolted up at this comment. "If I recall correctly I had just saved both you and Eva's lives from something, an angry opponent I believe, and you down played me by insisting on focusing upon my people's relationship with the Crogs at the time." He paused occasionally, dusting off the file in his memory to make certain he had gotten it right.

Jordan winced. "I mean when you and I first became friends. It was Valantine's on Alwas and Eva had just rejected us both."

"Of course," was the quick response. As much as the Prince hated to admit it, the friendship between himself and Jordan had only blossomed because of their chance encounter at the pub that Valentine's night, many years ago. Had Eva never turned down both their feelings of love… well, Aikka would most likely be down one friend.

"I've decided it's time for revenge for that night."


Aikka looked up tentatively at the Earth apartment complex. It wasn't exactly shabby, with a few stains on the grey-blue paint and cracks in the parking lot. The layout consisted of three buildings making a T shape around an open courtyard filled with trees. Bird houses, that had probably housed small Avians at one time, hung from the branches above, and scrawny yellow flowers struggling in large clay pots lay half-hazardly about the place. All-in-all Aikka didn't mind it too much. It wasn't outstanding but, it was far better than many of the earth residences he had seen. With a last glance at the bird houses with their chipped and peeling blue paint, Aikka headed up the stairs of the building to the far right. On the third story he paused in front of the door marked '303' and hesitated once again. He wasn't overly joyful about this. On one hand it would be good to see Eva once again, but on the other…

"Ahh! Why did I agree to this?!" Throwing his head into his hands, the alien Prince lamented his position. What had possessed him to agree so eagerly? Eva would probably loose respect for him. Sure, it was just a joke, but things were viewed differently on Earth. Would Eva be okay with her friend from the Great Race being that kind of person? In a moment of weakness, Aikka turned from the door, heading in the direction of the stairs.

His sense of honor stopped him. He couldn't run away. He had promised Jordan that they would do this. He was certain the ex-gunner would never forgive him should he back down now. Taking a deep breath, Aikka turned around, and before he could change his mind, pushed the small round door bell.

Ding DONG!

On the other side of the door, Eva was thoroughly enjoying herself. It was a lazy Saturday morning, and that meant she and Jordan got a chance to do the laundry and basic clean-up around the apartment. At the moment she was set with the task of slaughtering the dust bunny colonies on the carpet with the vacuum. As the engine vroomed, Eva sang along to the stereo blasting in the kitchen near by. Not only was it fun, but rather stress relieving. Then Eva heard her favorite song come on. Abandoning the physical world around her, Eva launched into song, completely and absolutely absorbed in the rhythm.

Back outside the apartment, Aikka resisted the urge to fidget with the Earth clothes he was wearing or shift from foot to foot. Such acts were greatly discouraged for one of his status, and the lesson had been so drilled into his head that he dared not disobey, even on an alien planet where few (if any, besides the Earth Team) were aware of his status: to make matters worse, the whole while his head was threatening to be overtaken by second thoughts. When it seemed as if eternity had walked past, stopped to chat, and picked up her bags to be on her way again, Aikka got up the courage to ring the door bell a second time. It was very bad Nourasian manners to do so, but considering this was Eva and Jordan's apartment, and that Aikka's delicate ears could detect loud music blaring on the other side of the door, he was fairly certain the act would be over-looked.

Ding DONG!

Had Eva not been vacuuming right in front of the door at the time, she surely wouldn't have heard the sound of the door bell going off. With a sigh, she switched the vacuum to 'Off' and lumbered off to the kitchen to turn off the stereo before returning to open the door. Her eyes widened at the sight on the other side.

"Aikka?!"

Said person gave off a soft smile he reserved only for her before responding. "You must pardon my unexpected visit."

"I'm always glad when you stop by, Prince. Come on in!" The Earth woman said with a bright smile.

Elsewhere in the apartment, a bored looking Jordan had just finished starting up the laundry when he spied another pile of Eva's dirty clothes hiding in the corner of the bathroom. Eyes narrowed, he bent over to scoop up the offending garments. He told Eva to gather up all her dirty laundry in a pile so he could wash them, but No-o! He had even been nice enough to stay out of her way while she vacuumed, and didn't protest to her loud music that made him twitch in distain. But Eva couldn't even gather all her clothes together! Jordan was contemplating on a method of revenge when the music stopped, and a plan instantly poofed into his head.

Pretending he was a ninja, Jordan snuck stealthily around the corner. This accomplished he took aim and fired, throwing the miserable garment across the kitchen and into the entree way, where Eva was standing. Off course the ex-gunner hadn't been calculating how he would need to adjust his pitch for the lighter object, and sent the cloth sailing a little too far.

Aikka was amidst a pleasant catch-up conversation with Eva when his eyes caught an object sailing through the air. With his defenses currently down (He was in the middle of a friendly conversation for Tellus' sake! You expect a man to be on his guard when talking to an old friend?!) the Prince was unable to trigger his reflexes in time, and the cloth struck his face. His instantly yanked it off and peered down at the strange cloth.

A pair on panties?

It took the poor Nourasian's brain a moment to register what he was currently holding. They were white with a rather cute pink cat on the front. Silence had overcome the two friends when Aikka had been struck down. Eva immediately broke this by swiping the under wear from the confounded alien.

"JOOOORRDAAAANNN! I'm going to KILL YOU!" She practically screamed. Jordan, who was rather pleased that his revenge had gone better than expected, quickly took off in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, Aikka hadn't moved. He blinked as realization started to dawn on him. Those were… Eva's(1) panties?


The three all sat down together at the dining table. Eva occasionally shooting dirty looks at Jordan(who now had a lump on his head, courtesy of Eva) as he sipped a cup of Orange Coffee.

"So, Aikka. What brings you to Earth?" Eva stared Aikka down, too irritated with Jordan to realize how rough she was being on Aikka, who was really just the victim of the situation.

"Ah… It's a rather complicated story," The Prince began, having no idea how to go forward with the plan he and Jordan and created many months earlier.

"We haven't got all day. Spit it out," the brunette responded, unaware of how much like her father she sounded.

"Jordan… and me… well… we…" Aikka tripped over his words. How in Tellus' name was he suppose to say this?!

Jordan smoothly interrupted the bumbling Prince by clearing his throat. He set his coffee cup down on the table and reached over for Aikka's hand which was resting innocently on the table top, unaware of the vile dangers approaching.

"Jordan," The startled Aikka began, his eyes as wide as Floating Temples. The man with bi-colored hair quickly shushed him, giving his hand a squeeze in the process.

"It's okay Aikka. I know Eva will understand." A worried look appeared on Aikka's face, but he made no further protests. "You see, Eva." Jordan continued, turning to face the third member of the party. "Aikka and I have had something we've wanted to tell you for a long time." Eva fell silent at this, but took no further action. "We're planning on getting engaged."

Eva supposed the words should have struck her harder. Jordan and Aikka were the only two males she had ever even considered dating, yet here they were, in love with each other. Some tremendous, chimerical force gave Eva the urge to rebuke. Voices in her ears whispered that this was all wrong. That they belonged to her, not each other. Of course these same voices had often urged her to kiss Aikka (or Jordan for that matter) and she had long since learned to ignore them (2).

Truth be told, she really couldn't have been happier for the two. Sure she had liked them both at one time or another, but in reality Aikka was the prince of a foreign planet and she was most definitely not the ruling type. And Jordan was… well… Jordan. He was her best friend, and like a big brother to her. It would be just… wrong. That aside, she was glad they had been able to find happiness, and since it was with each other, it saved her having to learn their wives names, and this way she would only have to go to one wedding! This worked out beautifully for Eva.

"That's great! I'm happy for both of you." She replied simply with a quick smile.

Both men sat and stared at her like someone had just smacked them in the face with a brick.

"Anyways, Koji said he wanted me to come test one of their prototypes today, so I should probably be headed out." Stretching as she stood up, Eva stifled a yawn before grabbing a deep purple jacket from the hooks by the door. "Have fun while I'm gone." She said with a wink before shutting the door.

Silence, whom was bored of keeping the company of Jordan and Aikka dragged in his close friend Realization. Realization decided they were both fine fellows, and settled in as Silence waved goodbye.

"AHHHHH!" Jordan shot from his chair as Realization hit him in the face with a brick (3). "I can't believe she took it like that! Do you realize what this means?" He turned to face Aikka with a crazy stare.

"Ah…." was all Aikka could do to reply before Jordan took hold of his shoulders, shaking him back in forth.

"Eva thinks I'm GAY!" Jordan voice rose to practically screaming at the last word. "Not that anything is wrong with being gay, of course, but still…" The ex-gunner quickly added. "Eva knows all the girls I actually think are decent people! If she tells them I'm gay, I'll never get a date again!"

Aikka simply stared blankly ahead, blinking occasionally. He was surprised that the earth woman had outwitted both of them, but then again… He paused to glare at Jordan, who was still having a spazz-attack. It shouldn't have been too surprising considering that it was Gunner Boy's plan in the first place. In fact, Aikka couldn't help but laugh how ridiculously this had all turned out. Ah well, he had gotten to see Eva, right? This was most definitely a day he would look back on in a future that seemed far off.

Happy April Fool's, Eva. He thought with a smile fixed on his features.


(1)- No Aikka! Those were Jordan's panties! He also has a pair with a picture of a jelly bunny on it. Just think about that for a moment.

(2) – It seems Eva has so sort of psychic connection with the fan girls. Remember 'Nervous like Ning and Skun'? In the beginning of the episode, Eva wasn't blushing because she had ended up in Jordan's manly arms, she was blushing because of what the fan girls were telling her at that moment. Listen to them Evey! You know you want to!

(3) – It seems Realization hits many people with bricks, and for a limited time only, you too can be hit in the face with a brick! Just call 1-800-BRICKME for your free evaluation.