Ooh! Another chapter! Sadly, I think there's only going to be maybe one or two more. Scary, no? But, that Good Ol' Days can make its debut. Yayness! Alright, enough of the bloody author's note. This chapter is dedicated to one of my best friends. She turned sixteen on Feb. 7th. Happy Birthday!

M: Jedi Bubbles would like to remind everyone that she owns nothing.

A: Except for us. Please buy us! We'll do anything! Anything!

Chapter Sixteen: According to Plan (a.k.a. Revenge of the Codenames)

Kionne frowned at the servant. He kept bowing and speaking in Hapan. She honestly had no idea what he was saying. Apparently Marin did though. She was nodding at him, saying "Ah!" and "Right" at different intervals. Although, but now that she thought about it, Marin was most likely just pretending to know what he was saying.

"Gotcha! Kionne, apparently this hallway is only used during the day and on the day we planned to do you-know-what to you-know-them the hallway will be empty as the Royal family has given most of the servants a holiday in celebration of the wedding," Marin said. She absently chewed on a strand of blonde hair before adding, "Or he could have been talking about which cheeses would be best at dinner."

Kionne stared blankly at the pair as the man babbled something in Hapan again accompanied by many ridiculous low bows. Marin nodded and said, "Correction, now he was talking about the cheese. He says the blue cheese is quite good. But I beg to differ. And to be honest, I don't really like cheese." Her nose wrinkled at that statement. "After all, it's mold! Who'd wanna eat that?"

They thanked the servant and went on their way. As they rounded the corner, Kionne asked, "How in the world do you know Hapan?"

"I took it for a few years on Kegan and a bit more at the Jedi Academy," Marin answered. She glanced at her chrono and squealed, causing Kionne to jump. It took Kionne a few minutes to calm Marin down and ask what was wrong. Marin pouted and said, "I've missed Inuyasha!"

Kionne fought the strong urge to roll her eyes as Marin continued to fret over her missed show. Kionne grabbed her near hysterical friend and somehow managed to drag her all the way to Mystiran Kenys's room. After a brief knock, both entered with Kionne still pulling Marin in by the sleeve.

Mystiran Kenys was working on a holo terminal when they came in and turned in his chair to shoot them a grin. "Take a seat," he said, waving his hand across the room before returning to his work. "I'll only be a minute."

At the same time, Kionne and Marin simultaneously raised an eyebrow. "Taking a seat" would be rather difficult. Almost every surface was occupied by some object. Every now and then, it seemed as if someone had made the effort to clean but gave up in the middle of the job. The Kenys twin pressed a key with a flourish and then turned in his seat to grin at them.

"Sorry, but we'll have to go to Al's room. Tahiri's napping at the moment and I don't want to wake her," Mystiran explained.

"S'okay, Master Kenys, we don't mind," Marin said cheerfully. She seemed to have gotten over her distress at missing Inuyasha. "As long as we're done before FMA comes on."

A puzzled look crossed Mystiran's face and hegave a shrug that said "whatever". The trio exited the elder Kenys twin's quarters and swiftly made their way to Alaric's room. Mystiran entered the room first without bothering to knock. Marin and Kionne hesitated for a moment before they followed him in.

Alaric was seated at a holo terminal just as his brother had been, but he didn't move his eyes from the screen. Instead, he waved his left hand – the right one still typing furiously, picking up the slack in the absence of its partner – to gesture vaguely at some chairs spread around. In sharp contrast to Mystiran's room, Alaric's was a neat-freak's heaven. Datapads and flimsies were stacked in tidy piles with no articles of clothing strewn haphazardly around the room.

Kionne's eyebrow went up again while Marin blinked in shock. Mystiran observed their expressions with a light grin as they gazed around the room. "Surprising, is it not?" he asked. "Al seems more like the slob of the family than me."

"I've never seen anything so clean," Marin wondered. "How does he do it? He ate moldy steak and yet he lives in a spotless environment."

"Al doesn't care what he eats so long as it's edible," Mystiran said. Alaric grunted in protest, still working on… whatever he was doing. Mystiran laughed. "Sorry, I meant that Alaric eats anything edible so long as it's not wakku nuts."

Alaric gave an affirmative grunt from where he sat. He finished whatever he was doing with a flourish – unknowingly mimicking his brother – and spun around in his seat to face them. The smile on his face was identical to Mystiran's. Suddenly, both girls were very thankful that Al had his shirt partially un-tucked, hair un-combed, and forgot to shave. Otherwise they would have had a very difficult time telling the twins apart. Apparently both shared the same taste in clothing for their outfits were identical.

"So, what's up?" Alaric asked the girls.

"We talked to a servant," Marin started, "and found out the time that would be perfect."

"It's about three hours after the actual party is going to start," Kionne added.

"Good, now for the hard part," Mystiran cut in. He pulled out a datapad from his back pocket. "I brainstormed some ideas we can use to lure Goddess and Merc Man into the room. The first one involves lighter fluid, so we'll save that as a last resort. Now here's one that involves Merc Man –"

"Who's Merc Man?" Marin asked.

Mystiran gave her a "you've got to be kidding me" look. Marin responded with a look that said "not kidding". "Merc Man is your master."

"Why?"

"Because he used to be a bounty hunter," Alaric supplied. He was absently spinning in his chair, occasionally stopping to let the faint green tinge vanish from his face before starting again.

"Why do we have codenames for everyone?" This time Kionne asked the question.

At this query, both Mystiran and Alaric stopped dead and stared at her in dumbfounded shock. For several moments, no one moved or said anything. Then Marin sneezed. She gave a sheepish smile, but Mystiran and Alaric remained frozen. Finally, Alaric worked up enough energy to respond. "There has to be codenames. Codenames are our friends. Codenames are good. Everyone needs a codename. I even mentally give people codenames."

"If there aren't codenames, then our prey would know who we're talking about," Mystiran supplied more efficiently although he had been nodding in agreement the whole time his brother gave the explanation.

"But wouldn't they already know? The codenames are so obvious," Kionne said.

This time the silence that stretched over them was thoughtful. Alaric and Mystiran seemed to be truly attempting to think about this. It ended with them both nodding in simultaneous agreement, then saying, "You're right, we should work on those."

"Great, but maybe you should finish listing off the reasons first?" Kionne suggested.

"Alright," Mystiran consented. "As I was saying before, Zekk could be led off under the pretext of some technical problem. Same with Jaina. Number two: We could drug their food and drag them there, number three: you two ickle apprentices can lure your respective master to the room, and number four – which is a personal favorite: we just walk up to them and ask them to come with us. Then we tell them straight forward what they are doing in that room and then we lock it after checking to make sure they have no devices that can be used to aid their escape."

"How would they get the tech in the banquet hall? Those security guards are good!" Alaric exclaimed. "They found every single datapad and game system I had on me!" He scowled slightly. "They even took my comlink."

"That's true, it also wouldn't be practical for them to bring anything," Mystiran said. He was about to say something else but the buzzing of his comlink cut him off. He lifted the device and flicked it on. "Hello?"

An angry female voice filtered through and Mystiran hurriedly turned the volume down so the others couldn't hear. "Yes, dear. Right away. Yes, I'll ask him, bye."

He flicked it off and faced the others. "Meeting adjourned, my wife wants me back. Apparently, she's bored and wants me to massage her feet." He shuddered. "Also, Al, Tahiri's wondering if you have any grik onion-flavored hubba crisps. She's hungry."

"I think I do," Alaric said. His brow furrowed in confusion a moment later. "But I thought Tahiri didn't like grik onion."

Mystiran shrugged nonchalantly. "She's developed a taste for them."

Alaric nodded, still looking slightly confused but rose to get the chips anyway. He foraged in his closet for a moment before handing the snack food to his twin. "Did she want anything else?"

"Yeah, after you get dressed for the banquet tonight, you need to come to our room for inspection. Please remember to shave this time. I don't wanna miss the hors d'oeuvres, again." Mystiran strode out of the room, muttering to himself and shaking his head. "I swear, she's becoming more like Mom every day."

Marin and Kionne said farewell to Alaric and each other then departed for their rooms.

----------

Just one more day. One more day before they would shut Jaina and Zekk in a closet until they came to their senses. Alaric did a small dance in his corner of the ballroom, earning himself several odd glances. He was half-hidden behind an ornamental tree, avoiding all forms of match-making mothers and young ladies eager for dances. They scared him - no, that wasn't right. They downright terrified him. It was much safer for him to just play with his "contraband" hand-held game.

Sadly, his heaven was interrupted by the clearing of a voice. He ignored it, hoping the person would leave him alone. It worked until Mega Wampa Bashers 6 was wrenched from his hand. Sighing quietly, he looked up at the disturber of the peace.

It was a black-haired, dark-eyed woman, Hapan, judging by her looks. He sighed again and waited for her to get it over with. She smirked once she realized that she now had his attention and then said, "Howdy. What's a good-looking man like you doing in this corner?"

Definitely Hapan, he thought, noticing her strong accent as she spoke in Basic. She was too flirty, he decided a moment later as he looked at her coy smile and lingering glance.

"I was playing Mega Wampa Bashers 6," he replied, looking longingly at the game she held.

The woman noticed his gaze and smirked. She waved the video game in front of his face and watched as Alaric's eyes followed the device. Her smirk grew. "Do you want this back?" she asked, her voice deceptively sweet.

At Alaric's eager nod, her smirk widened. "I'll give this back if you dance one dance with me."

He mentally weighed the game's worth. Sit in a corner and look like a lump, or dance with a pretty girl and spend the rest of the evening relatively undisturbed with his electronics. Just as he was about to refuse – the game wasn't worth that much – his sister-in-law's voice drifted into his head.

"Al, if you dance just once tonight, I'll give you back all those games I took from you…"

He could tell that his eager nod threw her for a loop thanks to the Force. She was flabbergasted for all of two seconds, and then sheregained hercomposure. She placed the game on a nearby table and looped her arm through his left arm. He was half-dragged all the way to the dance floor.

The floor was crowded with many other beings, DJ Bob once again in charge of music. The band changed songs just as he was pulled onto the floor, changing from a slow waltz to a fast song. His mind vaguely tried to identify the band and song but he gave up and concentrated on dancing.

His partner was determined to try and lead. Alaric allowed her to pick which direction they were going in but made her stay in time with the music. She made him stay in an area near a group of woman who stared jealously at her. He figured they were her friends.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alaric caught sight of his brother and Tahiri. She was giving him an approving nod and smile. Mystiran was jerking his head to the left, barely noticeable at first but it soon grew violent. Finally, Alaric figured out that his brother wanted him to look in that direction.

His eyes strayed over – spun his partner around so he could get a better view. Nothing of importance was over there. He mentally went over the possible things his brother could want him to see.

Let's see, there's Kionne and some guy, a half-eaten sandwich, Jaina and Zekk talking, a – Wait a minute! What's a Hutt doing here? His brow furrowed and he glanced at Mystiran then back to the Hutt.

Why'd you want me to look at a Hutt?, Alaric asked his brother through their twin bond.

He felt Mystiran mentally hit himself on the head. Not the Hutt, scrag-for-brains. Jaina and Zekk! Go and listen to whatthey're talking about!

How?

You're on the dance floor. Twirl your way over there and listen in.

Why can't you do it?

Tahiri doesn't feel like dancing. Someone stepped on her foot.

She needs to start wearing shoes.

You tell her that and see how she takes it. But first, go and listen before they stop talking.

Alaric held back a resigned sigh as the songs changed. When the woman started to pull away, Alaric bowed and gallantly kissed her hand. "May I have another dance?" he asked charmingly, trying not to feel like he was going to the execution block.

The woman blushed and was momentarily speechless at his sudden attitude change. His smile was charming and he repeated his question. Dumbly, she nodded. Alaric's smile grew (he felt like grimacing) and tugged her back to him when a new song started.

"I'm Captain Alaric Kenys," he said in an attempt to distract her enough to let him lead the way.

"I'm Nashare Galcos, fifth cousin to the Queen Mother," she said with obvious pride.

Alaric made a noise of awe and appreciation as it was obviously what Nashare was looking for. "Are you close to Her Majesty?"

Nashare then went on to tell a bunch of fabrications about how they were "the best of friends" and "closest confidences". He tuned her out, using the skills he picked up when having to listen to his sister. He knew exactly when to nod, make a noise of outrage/appreciation/awe, and say things like, "Really? No way!".

His concentration was devoted to enhancing his hearing with the Force. Concentration was the key here. He had to drown the other people out and focus on Jaina and Zekk. It was harder than he remembered. Maybe he should practice his Force skills a bit more.

Scanning the nearby conversations proved more difficult than he had thought. There were so many different voice patterns and some sounded like Jaina and others Zekk. At one point he could've sworn he heard his mother's voice.

"I love your dress!" came a female squeal. Alaric gave an almost imperceptible wince.

"My feet are killing me," said another voice. Nope, not them.

"And I was like 'no way' and he was all 'yeah', and I was –" Definitely not.

"Jay, stop fidgeting. It's annoying." Nope. Next voice.

"- And then this skip came out fro- " Wait a nanosecond! That was them!

Alaric quickly tuned into the conversation he had just cut out.

"Stop laughing, Zekk, it's not funny. You try wearing a corset!" Zekk kept laughing and Alaric turned just in time to see Jaina stomp her foot on the ground in indignation. Her hands were on her hips and she was scowling furiously at Zekk. "Oh that's it! When we get back, I'm making you wear a corset and see how you like it."

Zekk was gasping for breath when he was finished and started to wipe his tears away. He fought valiantly to keep the grin off his face as he stared at his disgruntled friend, but hecouldn't keep a straight face for more than three seconds. As he erupted into another bout of mirth, Jaina stomped her foot again and turned away from him.

"Fine! If you aren't going to stop, I'll just go find someone else to talk to. I'm sure that Hapan tactician won't mind my company."

She made to walk to away but Zekk grabbed her arm before she could get far. It took a great feat of control for his laughter to subside, Jaina's un-amused face glaring at him the whole time. Once his mirth had subsided, Zekk let go of her. Upon seeing her expression, Zekk sighed and said in a semi-pleading voice, "C'mon, Jay, don't be that way. It was funny."

"Was not," Jaina deadpanned.

Zekk let out an exasperated sigh. "All right, if it makes you feel better, I'm sorry."

"Are not."

"You're being difficult."

At that moment the song ended and Alaric quickly stopped listening. Nashare pouted, thinking it to be the end of her "quality time" with him. Inwardly, he gave a defeated sigh. The things he did to complete assignments. Once more, Alaric turned on the charm.

"Milady, I find myself reluctant to part from your excellent company. Will you do me the honor of another?" Good grief, he was going to strangle himself soon if he had to keep spouting that out.

Nashare giggled and nodded. Alaric forced a grin on his face but this time it came off as more of a grimace. When could he return to playing Mega Wampa Bashers 6? Luckily, she didn't notice.

Just when a slow song was about to start, he heard his name called. His brother was jumping up and down at the edge of the dance floor attempting to gain his attention. Alaric's grin turned genuine as he rushed away. "Sorry, gotta go. Family emergency. Had a nice time, hope you never blackmail me again."

He rushed off towards his brother (savior from dancing), leaving a dumbfounded Hapan woman on the dance floor. As soon as he reached the edge of the floor, Alaric glomped Mystiran around the waist. He said multiple, lightspeed fast "thank you"'s. Mystiran pried Alaric's arms off of him and rolled his eyes.

"You're ridiculous," he stated. After casting a wary glance about the room, he whispered, "Al, grab your game and go. Short One and Tall One have flown the coop."

"Eh?" Alaric asked, still too relieved to be off the dance floor. "Who are they?"

Mystiran scowled at Alaric. "Jaina and Zekk."

"Those are really crappy codenames."

"Shut up, like you could do better."

"As a matter of fact I could."

"Prove it."

"Raccoon Girl and Rooster hair."

"What?"

"It was something Marin said. From something – Umm… Spumoni Kenshin(1)?"

"… You're kidding me right."

"No! Let's see you do better than that."

"X-wing and Skip?"

"Weak. What about Chocolate crackers and Nachos."

"No way! Mission Solo and Jedi Boy?"

"Major Sticks and Captain Bubble-man."

This went on for quite sometime. Neither brother noticed the continued blinking of Mystiran's comlink.

------TBC------

Yes, that last part was odd. Oops. Also, that was a mean cliffie. My apologies. Oh, and the Raccoon Girl and Rooster hair thing came from Rurouni Kenshin. Raccoon Girl is Kamiya Kaoru and Rooster hair is Sazara Sanoske. Go Ruro-Ken!