[fic] Star Wars: The Wedding of the Jedi

Chevron 7 locke · August 20, 2013

First off, this story would not have made possible without the help of JediMaster12 who looked over the earlier drafts and was kind of enough to let me bounce ideas off her. Thank you so much my friend. I owe you big time. This story is based off the Sith Resurrection Rp series and takes place after the Rp.

Republic Flagship Ackbar

Briefing room

Admiral Belina couldn't help but feel pride as she looked over the assembled personnel that sat before her. Each of them were the highest rated in their respective fields and she knew that they would make her proud. But she still needed to make sure that each of them understood the important tasks that had been laid out before them. Even if she had to make them cry, damn Tavaryn, she would make them understand.

“Chef Salar. Do you understand your orders?” She asked as she began to mentally check everything off in her mind.

The Mirialan Chef nodded and smiled widely. “Yes ma'am! I have shifts one and two already preparing the main courses and appetizers. Shift three is already working on the desserts and I pulled a few of the non-essential crew off duty to help clear out the mess hall for the ceremony. I also brought in a few friends of mine to help with the cake.”

Belina smiled a very wide smile. “Excellent work Salar! Just remember that we may need more food. There isn't a man, woman or child on board this ship that probably won't be dropping by. If you do need more help feel free to take anyone who looks like they need something to do.”

Belina turned to look at one of the humans sitting next to the chef and motioned for him to stand up. “How goes your part of this operation Mister Kirel?”

The human looked back at the Admiral and at the group that was looking up at him. He cleared his throat before speaking, “Everything is proceeding on time Admiral. My assistants finally finished clearing out the main recreation room and are setting everything up. We should be done within two hours.”

Belina nodded and motioned for him to sit. “Good.” She said as she turned to look at a Twi'lek woman standing near the back. Belina smiled again. “I know that we've saddled you with one of the more difficult tasks but I have faith in you and your assistants. How are the bride and groom doing? Are there any problems that you need help with?”

The Twi'lek looked up uneasily and smiled a very nervous smile. “The...The groom is doing well. He seems a little bit nervous but other than that he's doing quite well...The bride on the other hand is...well she's extremely nervous. I've never tried to help a Jedi with her wedding, much less a pregnant Jedi. As I said, she's very nervous.”

Belina nodded slowly. “You have to understand that Alriana has gone through a lot since she was woken out of cryosleep. During the war against the undying Sith Empire she was nearly captured by the Sith and ended up leading a rescue mission for a Force Sensitive child. Just try to be understanding with her and she should be fine. And keep an eye out for the groom, he said that he wouldn't try to visit her before the wedding but both our CMO and I don't trust him.”

“Understood Admiral.”

Admiral Belina looked over the group and smiled at them. “You're all dismissed. But remember, I want this wedding to be perfect for these two. I owe them both my lives more than a few times over and I intend to make sure my debt is repaid.” Belina saluted the group with the traditional republic salute. “Good luck to each of you. And remember, we can't fail these two. We've got to give it our all!”

The group let out a loud cheer as they got up and headed for their respective areas and Belina couldn't help but smile. She was going to make sure that this went perfectly.

Ackbar

Tavaryn and Alriana's quarters

Alriana frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror that had been moved to their quarters a few hours ago. She looked down at her swollen stomach and a small smile appeared on her face. She could sense the lives that she and Tavaryn had created but it was...different. She could sense their emotions and their sensations instead of words and thoughts. It was wonderful feeling those who had never known pain or grief.

“Jedi Alriana could you please stand still? The more you move around the longer this will take.”

Alriana shook her head. “I'm sorry, I'm...well...I've fought mercenaries and Dark Jedi and even Sith Lords and I was never this nervous. It's just that with the wedding and the due date coming so soon I guess I'm...well I'm scared.”

The Twi'lek who was working on the bottom of the dress looked up and shook her head and spoke in a soothing tone. “You have nothing to worry about Jedi Alriana...many brides are nervous on their wedding days. Granted many of them are not Jedi, but still.”

A sudden sound from outside the door caught Alriana's attention and she smiled as one of the attendants looked up sharply. “If that's you again Tavaryn I swear I will take the Admiral up on her offer to let me use a stun baton on you!”

“It's all right. I think you scared him away the last time you threatened to get the CMO involved,” a familiar voice answered back.

Alriana smiled. “You can come in Xeran.”

The door opened and Xeran walked in the room followed by a small Cathar child. Alriana smiled at the two of them. She couldn't help but notice that Xeran had two concussion grenades attached to his belt. She put her hand over her face for a moment.

“Xeran...is there any reason you've been walking around this ship with active concussion grenades? Or is the better question to ask why are you walking around with active concussion grenades with one of my flower girls?”

Xeran looked down at his belt and smiled sheepishly. “I...uh...Well I was planning on sticking around here to make sure if the groom doesn't try to catch a look, but if you've been threatening him with both a stun baton and the CMO I think you'll be safe for a while at least.”

The attendant who was working on the upper part of the dress muttered something and the Cathar child smiled. Alriana looked down at Velra and smiled gently. “Thank you for being one of my flower girls for today Velra. Have you seen our other resident flower girl?”

“Yes Mother. She's in Aunt Jun-la's quarters getting ready.”

Alriana couldn't help but smiled. She and Tavaryn had unofficially adopted Velra after rescuing her from the Sith during the last war. Since she had been staying with Tavaryn and Alriana she had started calling Alriana and Tavaryn her mother and father and Jun-la and Matton her aunt and uncle. She thought back for a moment of how Velra's father, who had once been a dark Jedi had sacrificed his life to save his daughter's life during the last battle of the war. His final act of sacrifice had redeemed himself in Alriana's eyes.

The attendant who was in charge of the others smiled once and clapped his hands together. “Perfect! Everything looks perfect!”

Alriana smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror and then looked down at Velra. “Why don't you go to Aunt Jun-la's quarters and come to the wedding with her? I bet she could use some help.”

“Okay Mother,” the Cathar child said with a smile as she turned and tried to put some distance between herself and Xeran.

As soon as she was gone Alriana turned back to Xeran. “No grenades at the wedding. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes Ma'am.”

Alriana shook her head as Xeran walked away. That man was seven different kinds of crazy but he had saved her life during the war more than a few times and also saved Velra's father before he had sacrificed himself. She shook her head slightly as she thought of what would have happened if he hadn't been at the right place at the right time. A sudden urgent thought came to mind as Xeran left the room. “And that includes Flash Bangs! Nothing that can explode or cause a hull breach is allowed at the wedding! Remember that!”

Although Xeran was walking away she couldn't help but notice that his posture seemed to slouch for just a moment as he paused for a moment and turned around and opened his mouth, “Ma'am...with all due respect, you take the fun out of everything. What if we run into trouble during the ceremony? I'm sure that if we do you and the Jedi can take care of it but it never hurts to be prepared right?”

She shook her head. “Xeran...do you remember what happened at the victory celebration after we won the war and you tried to convert a few concussion grenades and flash bangs into fireworks and you ended up knocking out everyone who was within two feet of them unconscious for about an hour?”

Xeran winced as he remembered that particular incident. Admiral Belina had been one of those who had been knocked out by the improvised fireworks and Xeran had ended up being assigned to cleaning the 'freshers aboard the ship for two weeks and had been forced to attend a weapons safety lecture with a group of new recruits. “You may have a point. I give you my word Ma'am that I will not bring any explosives to the wedding or the reception. I will not bring any concussion grenades or flash bangs to the wedding.”

“Good. I'm going to hold you to that.” she muttered as Xeran turned and walked out the door which closed behind him.

One of the attendants shuddered slightly. Alriana smiled down at her with a reassuring smile, “Don't worry, he has that effect on people when they first meet him.” She looked down at the dress and then looked back up at the dress designer. “So...if we're done here what exactly should I do next?” She watched as the attendants stepped back and she was able to see herself in the mirror.

The lead attendant clapped his hands together and smiled. “Now...for the most difficult part: We get you to the guest quarters and keep your future husband from seeing you. Luckily, we have someone to help us with that.” The lead attendant walked over to the wall and hit the intercom. Alriana could hear the attendant's voice echo outside the door, “The two of you can come in now. We're ready to move the bride to the guest quarters.”

The door opened and two women entered. One was wearing the tradition Republic medical officer uniform and the other was wearing an Imperial medical officer uniform. The attendant smiled darkly for a moment as she remembered that Belina had told him that Tavaryn Onashi usually tried to avoid the Ackbar's CMO like the plague. She figured that adding the one from the Death's Head would make sure that he stayed away until it was time.

“Jedi Alriana, these two will be escorting you to the guest quarters and the Ackbar's esteemed CMO will make sure that he stays away by standing guard outside your quarters.”

The CMO smiled darkly for a moment. “Don't worry, if he comes near the quarters I'll threaten him with a trip to the bacta tank.”

Alriana looked at the two medical officers and the attendants and shook her head. “Is this really necessary? I mean how bad could it be if he...” She thought for a moment and shook her head, “Never mind.”

The attendants smiled at her as the two CMOs walked her out the door. She turned to look at her fellow attendants. One of them looked up at the lead attendant. “Do you really think that the CMO will be able to keep her future husband away?”

The lead attendant immediately shook her head. “For a short while. But I do have another plan in case this one fails. Admiral Belina told me I could use whatever asset I need to keep Onashi away. I took her up on her offer.” She pulled a communicator and keyed in a set of numbers. “The bride is mobile. I repeat, the bride is now mobile. Stand by to intercept the target should he attempt to get near.”

A familiar voice answered, “Understood. Moving to surveillance position and preparing to engage should target be seen. Maintaining comn silence unless target approaches.”

Ackbar Mess Hall and Galley

Chef Salar smiled as he looked around the Ackbar's galley and breathed in the scents that filled the air. Admiral Belina had spared no expense in gathering what he had listed in the data pad that he had given her. Everything that had been requested was either sitting in the galley, was being prepared or was currently being cooked and set out on the tables out in the mess hall. They had around two hours before the wedding which would most likely take about half an hour so they had two and a half hours to finish everything up. It was going to be close but if everything continued the way it was going they would make it.

This is going to be it...my crowning achievement, the Chef thought to himself as he sprinkled a small amount of seasoning on a large plate of roasted nerf steaks when one of his assistants approached with a look filled with panic. “Chef Salar! We have a problem in the dessert section! The Dantooine sunrise truffles are gone! Someone ran off with them!”

The chef's eyes went wide as he clenched his fists. Those truffles were very difficult to prepare and the chocolate that filled them took a very long time to be mixed with the other ingredients before they could be gently injected into the breading that covered the truffle. “Is anything else missing?” He asked the question quietly as he headed for the dessert section.

The assistant chef shook his head. “Nothing else is missing. Someone reported that the groom was seen in the kitchen shortly before the truffles went missing.”

“Onashi...” He muttered under his breath, “If he thinks he can get away with this without me getting those truffles back he's sorely mistaken.” The Chef knew that he and Onashi were not on the best of terms. Onashi had once ruined a dish that the Chef had been preparing and the two of them had been feuding ever since. “Where is the groom now?”

“Someone saw him heading for the guest quarters a short while ago. Sir...is it possible that Onashi isn't the one who made off with them? Quite a few people have been through the kitchens today and I doubt that he would want to ruin his own wedding.”

“Oh...I know it was him.” Chef Salar growled as he headed for the section of the ship that housed the guest quarters. “I'm going to get those truffles back even if I have to get Admiral Belina herself involved.

Deck fifteen

Guest Quarters Deck

Tavaryn Onashi knew no fear as he made his way towards the cabin that they were hiding his future wife in. He was careful to make sure that he was alone as he continued to make his way towards the cabin. He was close to reaching his objective...In fact he was close enough to the cabin to see that it wouldn't be easy.

The viper was standing outside the door.

He muttered under his breath as he stealthily made his way back towards one of the intercoms that were nearly everywhere on the Ackbar. He couldn't say that he had anticipated this problem but he knew that there was an easy solution. He smiled to himself as he hit the intercom and cleared his throat as he tried to deepen his voice.

“Attention. The CMO is requested on Deck Five. I repeat, will the CMO please report to the Med bay on Deck Five.”

Tavaryn retreated into the shadows and smiled as he watched the cabin doors open and the CMO from the Death's Head walked out and talked with the Ackbar's CMO for a moment before the two of them headed for the lift. He could help but let out a soft chuckle as the lift activated and the two of them vanished from sight as the door closed.

Too easy. He thought to himself as he headed for the cabin. He was nearly there when he suddenly heard the sound of someone landing behind him.

“Damn.”

“It was a nice try Onashi.” Xandros said with a grin on his face as Tavaryn turned around. “But you should have known that the Admiral wouldn't underestimate you. We're going to be five steps ahead of you until the wedding. Now save yourself some time and get off this deck before I drag you away.”

Tavaryn returned the smile with a large grin of his own. “Xandros...we both know that we're about evenly matched here. How about you just forget that you saw me and no one ends up getting accidentally hurt or being accidentally being thrown into a stasis tube until after the wedding is over?”

“Tempting...” Xandros chuckled briefly. “But no. Now come on...let’s leave the bride alone so she can get ready for her wedding.”

Tavaryn thought about his options for a moment. He could knock out Xandros and throw him into a stasis tube until the wedding was over or he could try and sneak back later. He didn't want to hurt the fellow Shinigami but he really wanted to see Alriana before the wedding. “I think it would be best if I...wait...Uh-oh.” He said as he heard the sound of the lift doors opening from both sides. On one side of the deck were two very angry looking CMOs and on the other side were a group of angry looking cooks led by a very angry looking Chef Salar.

“There he is!” The chef shouted as he narrowed his eyes at Tavaryn. “Find out where he took those truffles and don't let him get away!”

The two CMOs looked at each other and narrowed their eyes at Tavaryn as well. “Onashi...you sent us on a wild bantha chase around this ship. You’re spending a few hours in the bacta tank.”

“Damn.” Tavaryn muttered as he looked at Xandros for a moment.

The Shinigami was laughing until the Chef got a closer look at him. “Hold on a minute...I saw you in my galley earlier as well! One of my junior cooks told me that you made off with a dumpling earlier!”

“Damn,” Xandros muttered as three of the angry cooks started towards him.

Tavaryn looked at him and smirked, “Not so funny now is it?”

“Shut up.”

Both Xandros and Tavaryn looked around for an escape route as the two converging forces of nature came at the two of them. Finally Xandros looked up and saw that they were under one of the maintenance corridors that ran through the ship. “Onashi. Blow the covering off that tunnel so we can get out of here with our bones intact!” Xandros shouted urgently.

Tavaryn nodded and sent a small burst of force energy that sent the covering flying off. Xandros quickly jumped up and grabbed the edge of the covering and pulled himself up and was quickly followed by Tavaryn.

“They're in the maintenance corridors! Someone get up there after them!” The two of them could hear Chef Salar's angry voice through the corridor floor as they ran.

“Where are we supposed to go?!” Xandros asked as they continued running as best they could as they ducked under a maintenance sign. “I have a feeling that every cook on the ship is going to be looking for us!”

Tavaryn shook his head. “You think that’s bad? Just imagine what will happen if the CMOs catch us. They're probably already setting up bacta tanks just for us.”

“Good point. So I'll ask you once again, where are we supposed to go?”

“We need a place that we can hide for a few hours...somewhere quiet...somewhere where they won't look for us...Somewhere were they won't expect us to go...”

The two of them looked at each other as the same idea came to mind. “Hanger bay.” They said in unison as they headed in the direction of the hanger bay.

As the Chef continued to try and get up into the maintenance corridor with the assistance of his cooks the group failed to notice Kaillian and Velra walking into one of the rooms. Each of them had a medium sized truffle in their hand. Velra took a small bite of hers and smiled. “These taste very good. Where did you find them again?”

Kaillian took a big bite out of hers and smiled at Velra. “Kitchen,” she said through a mouthful of Dantooine sunrise truffle.

Velra smiled as she thought for a moment. “I should bring one of these to my mother. She seems to like sweets almost as much as you do.”

Kaillian smiled at Velra as the two of them each took another bite of their respective truffles and looked up as two of the cooks managed to get up into the maintenance corridors. The two cooks immediately began bringing up the other cooks so that the pursuit of Tavaryn and Xandros could continue.

Velra looked at the cooks in confusion and she looked back over at Kaillian. “I don't understand. Why are they trying to get up into the maintenance corridors? I thought they were supposed to be helping with my mother and father's wedding.”

Kaillian shrugged her shoulders. “Don't know.” she said through another mouthful of truffle as the two of them watched as the last of the cooks finally managed to make it up into the maintenance corridor and took off after the two fleeing Shinigami.

Velra shook her head as they turned around and headed for one of the empty rooms that they had left the truffles in. But as soon as they arrived they noticed that the plate that the truffles was empty. Someone had grabbed the last of the truffles when Velra and Kaillian had been out in the corridor.

“Wow,” Velra said, “It seems that quite a few people on this ship likes sweets. I wonder who took some of them.”

Kaillian had no answer for her as the two of them looked at each other as each of their stomachs began to growl despite just having eaten a truffle. “Kitchen,” the two of them said in unison as they giggled and ran off towards the now mostly empty kitchen.

Xeran couldn't help but wonder what the two children were up to as he walked out into the corridor with a smaller truffle in his hand. He had found a plate of the things on the table in one of the guest quarters and they had smelled wonderful so he had taken a bite. He had been surprised by how tasty they were.

I wonder where those two are going. He thought to himself as he walked down the corridor and as he turned the corner he came face to face with a very angry Chef Salar.

“Xeran...where did you get that?” The Chef asked quietly as he tried to control his temper.

Xeran didn't like the tone the Chef was using. It was the same type of tone that Admiral Belina had used on him after the unfortunate grenade/firework incident at the victory celebration after regaining consciousness. He held up his left hand while slowly moving his right hand towards a flash bang on the inside of his jacket. “Now...Before you get mad...I found them on a table in the guest quarters area of the ship. I don't know how they got there or who ate the majority of them.”

“Someone...Someone ate my truffles?” The chef asked in a dangerously quiet tone of voice, forcing Xeran slowly backed away as the Chef began to walk towards him. “I think you ate my truffles! Those were for the wedding!”

Awww...Kark. First Jedi Alriana was mad at me and now I have the Chef mad at me. This isn't turning out to be my best day.

Xeran looked up and saw the open maintenance door above him and looked at the Chef. It took him only a second to decide what to do. He pulled out the flash bang and held it up as the Chef stopped moving and narrowed his eyes. “Back off...” Xeran warned as he pulled himself up into the maintenance door. The Chef stared up at him.

“You can run Xeran, but you can't hide,” the Chef threatened as Xeran thought for a moment about where to run. The answer came to him a moment later. No one was going to be in the hanger bay so it would be the perfect place to hide until things cooled down.

As Xeran began to make his way though the maintenance corridors he couldn't help but smile. He looked down at the flash bang in his hand and laughed. These things were incredibly useful when you had angry shipmates after you. Well...it was useful against the Chef at least. His eyes were suddenly drawn to movement ahead of him.

He wasn't alone in the corridors.

He slowed his approach and squinted and a smile of relief crossed his face as he recognized two very familiar faces. So Tavaryn and Xandros were either after him as well or they were in trouble as well.

“Hello Tavaryn. Xandros,” he said as he quickly caught up with them and looked behind him. “I take it that you two have someone chasing you as well?”

Tavaryn nodded, “Our esteemed chief medical officer and the Death's Head CMO just couldn't seem to take a joke. They were guarding the room Alriana was in, I managed to trick them into leaving and then I ran into him.” He pointed at Xandros with an annoyed expression on his face.

Xandros muttered under his breath for a moment. “I was assigned to keep Tavaryn away from the bride. It would have worked too if he hadn't made those cooks angry. Now the cooks are chasing both of us. They seem to think Tavaryn stole some kind of truffle and...well...I did take a dumpling earlier.”

Xeran looked down at the truffle in his hand and showed it to the two of them. “I found a few of these on a plate in one of the guest quarters. They were only around three left.”

Both Tavaryn and Xandros looked at each other and then at Xeran. “Did you see who left the plate there? It might help us get out of this mess...well, at least with the cooks. The two CMOs are probably still angry with Tavaryn over here,” Xandros said giving a smirk at the elder Shinigami.

Xeran thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it...I did see Velra and Kaillian walking around earlier. They were giggling and heading for the kitchens last time I saw them.”

Tavaryn and Xandros both looked at each other again and the two of them narrowed their eyes at Xeran for a moment. “Kaillian,” the two said in unison.

Tavaryn muttered something under his breath. “She must have made off with them earlier. She probably didn't know that they were for the wedding and decided that they would taste good. And Velra is usually with her so she probably had a few as well without knowing that Kaillian took them from the kitchen.”

Xandros shook his head. “Well, now that we know what happened to the truffles, where do we go from here?”

“Now...we head to the hanger bay and figure out where we go. Sooner or later they're going to find us in the corridors. We head to the hanger bay, hide in one of the shuttles or some other ship and we wait until we can move freely. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Xeran and Xandros both said as the group headed for the hanger bay.

Kitchen

Ten Minutes Later

Chef Salar muttered angrily as he looked down at a plate that had previously held a small plate of Coruscant chocolate bites. They were easy to prepare and the bride had specificity asked for them so Velra and Kaillian and the other children would have something to munch on after the ceremony. They were small bits of dough, covered in chocolate, then baked and then covered with small amounts of Coruscant whipped cream.

And now they were gone.

Either Tavaryn, Xandros or Xeran managed to sneak in here and took them or we were chasing the wrong person, he thought as he looked around the kitchen with narrowed eyes as he looked to see if anything else was missing.

No...everything else was where it was supposed to be. A few cooks that had been part of the initial pursuit of Tavaryn and Xandros were working as quickly as they could to make replacement Dantooine Sunrise truffles but there was no way they could make enough for the wedding with the amount of the time they had before the wedding.

He walked over and pointed at the empty plate. “Did you see anyone near that plate anytime in the last ten minutes or so?”

The two chefs shook their head and turned their attention back to the truffles while Chef Salar shook his head in despair. Someone kept stealing food and for the life of him he couldn't figure out who the thief was.

It was at that moment that he saw two small children walk in. One was a small Cathar child and the other was...Kaillian he recalled. Come to think of it, wasn't the Cathar child the one that Jedi Alriana had adopted after the war had ended? Wasn't her name Velra or something?

Kaillian was looking around and saw the head Chef staring at the two of them. She smiled at him and ran over towards him with Velra next to her. Velra smiled up at him. “Excuse me, do you have any more truffles? I was going to bring some to my mother but someone took the last ones we found.”

Truffles...did these two take the truffles?!

“Wait a moment.” Salar said quietly. “Did you find the truffles over there?” He pointed in the direction of the two chefs.

Kaillian nodded happily. “Yup!”

Salar was angry for a moment but he sighed. He couldn't be angry at a child who was simply trying to bring food to her mother. “I...Well...those truffles were for the wedding. I know you were just trying to find something for the bride to eat but you created quite a bit of work for us. We need to make more truffles for the wedding now and we don't have a lot of time to do so.”

Both Velra and Kaillian looked down at the floor and sniffled for a moment as tears came to their eyes. Kaillian was still young enough to get away with bawling since she had just turned three. Velra liked to please everybody and it made her sad if she made people sad.

Salar shook his head quickly and held out his hands. “No...No...don't cry! I'm not mad at you...In fact, I think you can help us with something.”

Velra looked up with tears rolling down her face but a small smile was on her face as she hugged Kaillian. “What can we do?” Her question was punctuated by sobs.

“You see...we thought that Tavaryn and Xandros took them. And then we saw Xeran with one so we thought that he took one. Why don't you find out where they went and tell them that everything’s okay now and that we're not mad at them anymore? That would make everything all right between us.”

Velra and Kaillian both smiled widely and wiped their tears away as they nodded vigorously, “Okay!” They said in unison and ran off. Salar smiled and shook his head before moving off to go make some more Coruscant chocolate bites.

Kids...he thought as he began to work.

Hanger bay

Inter fleet transport five

“Hand me some more eggs!”

“I can't! I'm still putting the toppings on the batch that just came out of the oven! Xeran! Put down that damn flash bang! No one knows we're in the shuttle! And you already set one of those damn things next to the door.”

“You can never have enough flash bangs!” Xeran shot back as he pulled another batch of Dantooine sunrise truffles out of the shuttle's oven and set them on top of the stove and began to drizzle chocolate over them.

“Okay...we have around ten truffles done. How many more do we need?” Xandros asked as he drizzled chocolate over his own batch and looked over at Tavaryn. “We need to get probably around another thirty done before we can sneak them back into the gallery. That should get the Chef off our backs. But I don't think we'll be able to get them done before the wedding.”

Tavaryn lightly smacked Xandros over the head. “Don't talk like that. We'll get this done somehow.” He muttered something in Avalonian that could have been interpreted as an insult but was uttered in a dialect that was more like a mumble as he continued mixing the basic ingredients together.

A light knocking on the door caused the three of them to stop dead in their tracks.

“Damn.” Xandros muttered a slight curse in Avalonian as he moved towards the door and slowly looked outside to see a smiling Cathar child and Kaillian. Upon seeing who it was, he smiled and called out, “It's just Velra and Kaillian.”

Tavaryn and Xandros both sighed in relief as they opened the door. Kaillian smiled up at him and Velra smiled at the group. “Chef Salar said it's okay if you come back,” Velra said quietly, “We took the truffles and we're sorry.”

Tavaryn looked over at Xeran and Xandros and shook his head. “Any reason why you took the truffles?” Tavaryn looked down at the girls with a gentle expression. He was firm and fair but also gentle.

Velra looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet a little. “I wanted to get something for Mother.”

“Oh...” Tavaryn couldn’t help but give a smile at that response. He knew that Alriana had gotten a sweet tooth once she became further along in her pregnancy, something that was normal from the strange combinations she had requested of the chef. Since there was no harm and no foul there still remained the question of what to do next. Tavaryn sighed heavily and then straightened up as an idea came to mind. He looked over at Xandros and Xeran. “Guys, I have an idea.” He grinned as he grabbed the tray of finished truffles and motioned for the others to grab the half completed ones. “We're going to pay the Chef a visit.” He motioned for Velra and Kaillian to follow him.

Chevron 7 locke · August 20, 2013

((Second part of the story. It kept saying that the complete story was too long so I had to split it into two parts.))

Twenty minutes later

Kitchen

For one of the few times of his life, Tavaryn was afraid. He was carrying two large containers of Dantooine sunrise truffles and behind him was Xandros carrying the half completed ones. It was going to be difficult to defend himself if the various chefs tried to go on the attack when they saw him. “You know I would rather face the explosion on Genosis again than this.”

“Well...If they see us with the truffles they might not go on the attack all at one time...No. They'll probably try to surround us than kill us.” Xandros rolled his eyes a bit but it hid his apprehension since the kitchen staff was mild mannered most of the time.

Tavaryn muttered under his breath, “And beat us like Krayt eggs or something.”

They finally entered the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Head Chef Salar standing in the middle of a large group of chefs who were desperately pulling making truffles as quickly as they could but even Tavaryn and Xandros could see that it wouldn't be enough.

Tavaryn and Xandros looked over at each other for a moment and Xandros coughed slightly to get the attention of Chef Salar. Two of the other Chefs turned to look at them for a moment and one shouted out something that sounded a bit like “The thieves have returned!”

Four of the chefs ran at them and were just about to reach them when Salar's voice echoed though the kitchen, “Stop!”

The chefs who were on the attack stopped for a moment and looked back at Salar in confusion. The head chef slowly walked towards the two and shook his head. “I...owe you two an apology. Velra and Kaillian were the ones who took the truffles. I just found out a few minutes ago...but it doesn't matter. We'll never get the rest of them done in time for the weddi-...wait a second...” He paused and looked at the containers that the two Shinigami held and took a deep sniff. “That smell...I recognize it...”

Salar's eyes filled with hope for a moment as Tavaryn opened one of the containers and saw something that restored his spirit and brought a massive smile to his face as Tavaryn said, “Hope these will help.”

Dantooine sunrise truffles. Dozens of them. And as Tavaryn set down the other container and opened it he saw more of them.

“How...how did you get this many done?!” The chef was beside himself as Xeran walked in with another container.

“I managed to get into the chancellor's shuttle and I got the last of the truffles!” Xeran said proudly but he stopped short as he saw the Chef. “Damn!”

Salar shook his head and grinned. “As far as anyone is concerned, we managed to get the last of the truffles done right before the wedding. And if the chancellor asks...we didn't see or hear anything.” He said as he grabbed one of the containers and a few of the other chefs grabbed the other containers and began to work on the half completed ones.

Tavaryn shook his head as he looked at Xeran. “I still don't know how you got into that shuttle...or how you knew he had the same type of truffles we were looking for.”

Xeran grinned modestly. “I hear things.” He said as he turned to look at Tavaryn and then looked at one of the clocks. “The wedding is going to start in half an hour!”

All three of the culprits looked at the clothes the three were wearing. They were filthy and filled with dust and grease and cooking waste. “I...Uh...we need to get cleaned up. Now.” Xandros said quietly feeling embarrassed. The worst was Tavaryn since it appeared that the original suit that he was supposed to wear as a Republic officer was pretty much trashed. Xandros added, “Especially you Onashi.”

Tavaryn wanted to scowl but he felt guilty about it. The attendants had worked on the dress uniform since he technically didn’t have one and now it needed specialized cleaning that wasn’t going to be done in time for the wedding. He sighed and said, “Well do you have a spare officer’s dress uniform?”

“I’m a Shinigami.”

It would have been an argument if Velra hadn’t tugged on Tavaryn’s hand and said, “Why not the one that I saw Mother look at once?”

Tavaryn paused a moment to look at the Cathar child. She was holding Kaillian’s hand which was no surprise since they took to each other. He knew full well what Velra was talking about. He thought that he had hidden that away since he devoted more time to the Fleet and the Republic but it seemed that the women in his life liked to peek. He did recall Alriana saying that he should have something that was representative of his heritage. Nodding he said, “Alright my little a’ghra. You and Kaillian go back. I’ll fix it.”

Tavaryn turned to head out of the kitchen like he was going for battle and was followed by Xandros and Xeran. They headed to the lifts that would take them to the guest quarters. Xeran was curious since Xandros had gotten the look that he knew what was going on and asked, “What do you have in mind Onsahi?”

Twenty five minutes later

“Xeran...please tell me those aren't grenades. Because if you try to smuggle grenades in at my wedding...I'll be forced to have the viper put you in an induced coma.” Tavaryn gave a look that said he was going to do more than that and Xeran wouldn’t like it.

“Damn.” Xeran pouted as he reluctantly pulled a few flash bangs out of his pants pockets and set them down on the table as the three men headed for the turbo lift. Xeran looked down at the suit he was wearing and then looked at the other two and was envious of the fact that his was boring but it did reflect his status.

Xandros looked up at one of the clocks as he impatiently waited for the lift to reach them. “We've got five minutes till the wedding. I hope you get there on time Onashi, you don't want to make Jedi Alriana angry.”

“You don't have to tell me that,” Tavaryn muttered as the lift finally arrived and the three quickly boarded it.

As Tavaryn began to tap the control panel he saw that Xeran was looking up innocently at the top of the lift. Son of a gundark... “Xeran! I said no grenades!” He walked over and stood in front of the other man and held his hand out.

“It's not a grenade!” Xeran shot back. “It's a gift for you two that I was going to give to you both at the reception.”

Tavaryn was suspicious so he had to ask the usual questions that came with accepting gifts from the explosives expert. “Will it explode?”

“No.”

“Will it knock anybody out once it's activated?”

“Not this time.”

“Does it pose a danger to anyone at the wedding or the reception?”

“Nope.”

Tavaryn gave him a last suspicious look at Xeran. He knew that Xeran wouldn't lie...but he was still nervous. He, along with a good number of the crew thought that Xeran was a bit crazy when it came to grenades. Yet if there was anyone he wanted watching his back when it came to explosives, it was Xeran and he gave a nod. “Alright but you better put it with the other gifts and don’t let anyone see you. I don’t think Belina wants to have the bomb squad scan everything.”

“You wound me Onashi,” Xeran replied, “But I’ll do that.” He gave a slight smile to know that it was acceptable to him.

After a short turbo lift ride, they arrived at their destination. They paused while Xandros decided to adjust the fold on Tavaryn’s shoulder. They would have fussed but it was a moment the two Shinigami shared in understanding and Tavaryn took the moment to do the same for Xandros with Xeran looking on and wondering what it was about Avalonians and Shinigami in general.

The doors opened they heard the talking and chattering of the crowd that was muffled before fall silent. Tavaryn looked towards the front of the roof and saw his bride to be standing there, looking as beautiful as the day he had first laid eyes on her. He slowly walked towards the front of the room. He could hear Xeran and Xandros walking quietly behind him. “Hope your ready Onashi.” Xandros chuckled softly as he pushed Tavaryn forward a little.

“Shut up,” Tavaryn quietly shot back as he finally reached the front of the room and stood face to face with his soon to be bride. A large smile appeared on his face as he looked her over. “You look beautiful,” he said quietly as he reached out for her hand and gently held it.

Alriana smiled back as she looked him over. “I could say the same for you. You wore it.”

Tavaryn cleared his throat softly and noticed the slight glare of one of the attendants and ignored it. He made an imposing figure standing in the traditional dress wear of the Shinigami. It was modeled somewhat similar like the Jedi robes in that the shoulders jutted out almost like the officer’s shoulder pips. The sleeves flared a little like Jedi robes. The traditional color was black but the edges were embroidered with silver, with the markings that spoke of his family. He knew that he was getting stares and glares especially since he was wearing his sword.

Alriana didn’t seem to mind. She had seen it once and had asked about it. He told her that it was something from his people and he explained the embroidery to her and how it was like his family’s coat of arms. She looked at him and he was how she always saw him. “I like it.”

“Glad of it though I think I have to hide from some attendants,” Tavayrn whispered.

“Don’t worry about it. I see you got Xandros to do the same thing.”

Soft music began to play in the background and Admiral Belina approached the two of them and smiled at the two of them as Velra and Kaillian stood behind Alriana. The two of them were holding empty flower baskets. “Well...Onashi. I heard that you and your two friends were causing trouble earlier today. But since nothing was destroyed and everything is all in order, I guess we can let this go. Not to mention it is your wedding day.”