Silent. Still. Peaceful. Words that rarely could be used to describe Corneria had now become it's very definition. Not an animal stirred among the buildings, not a single hovercar whirred along the streets. It was understandable at this early hour that so little was happening within the usually busy place, however, all of that could not stop the oncoming storm.
On a desolate Cornerian road, a street lamp shone diligently among the quiet darkness. Unassuming, it's light did not waver as time slowly passed. But suddenly, that same unwavering glow cast a shadow onto the cold pavement below. It appeared only to be a speck upon the ground, and, looking up in to the light, you could see that was all it was. A small white flake slowly drifted down through the lamp's rays, past the metal beam that served as it's support, until it noiselessly came to rest of the sidewalk below.
For a moment, it sat alone on the walkway, a seeming anomaly on such an eventless and calm night like this, but this first speck was quickly joined by another. Even sooner after that, the two became three, then five, ten, fifty; until finally their numbers grew beyond counting and slowly began to create a thin surface of white throughout the city. The sky above Corneria had now been invaded by a new adversary; it's peaceful stillness stripped away by the gently wind-blown snow as it slowly and silently conquered the planet's capital.
Pushing his forearms away from his knees, Falco leaned back in his chair and glanced away from the window before him.
I hate the cold...
For nearly an hour he had sat there, staring blankly into the previously still scene that played out in front of him; his mind racing with thoughts he wished would leave him. Thoughts of life before Star Fox, before the fame, glory, and popularity. Back before he was the Falco Lombardi everyone knew now.
The avian was granted a momentary reprieve from his own mind as a door slid open behind him; the first noise he had heard for some time, spare his own breathing. Falco did nothing for a moment, hesitant to move from his familiar position in the chair, but when the intruder failed to speak, he turned his head just enough to see the concerned face of Fox McCloud a few feet away.
"What do you want?" Falco's words were unsteady, evidence of his long-held stillness beforehand.
The Star Fox captain took a step closer, "What are you doing up at five in the morning? Something wrong?"
Falco turned his head back to it's original position as he spoke back coldly, "I'm fine."
The vulpine couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle, "A few years ago I might have believed that, but remember, I share a bed with a powerful telepath. She says you've been up for hours worrying about something."
The avian shook his head with a sigh before commenting in an annoyed voice, "You and your wife can stay out of my 'worries.' If you haven't noticed, I'm a big boy now. I can figure out my own problems without holding your hand, alright Fox?"
Fox lowered his head with a bit of a smile, knowing before the question was asked that he would be met by Falco's stubborn attitude. Before he could attempt to push the issue further, Fox's attention was suddenly diverted out the window that had previously held Falco's latent gaze. After a few short steps, he placed his hands on the window's sill and watched in fascination as snow continued to steadily fall just outside. After a few moments of silent admiration, Fox spoke in a passive voice, "Look at all this snow. After the last couple years, I was wondering if we would ever see something like this." Hoping to lighten the conversation, the vulpine turned back to Falco before continuing, "Right? I think it was...two years after the Lylat Wars. That was the last time it snowed here."
The avian shrugged his shoulders, "Who cares? Rain, hail, snow, it's all the same."
Fox took a quiet sigh through his nose, shaking his head slightly before he returned his attention outside the window.
Unwilling to allow the ensuing silence to drag on, Falco abruptly stood from his chair and faced Fox, a defiant look on his face as he spoke, "Was that all you wanted Fox? Or do you wanna push some more questions on me that I don't want to answer?"
Keeping a relaxed posture against the window sill, Fox replied in an even voice, "Listen, I didn't wake up this early just to annoy you. I just wanna make sure you're alright."
"Do you really think you can help me?" Falco began, the anger in his voice slowly becoming more apparent, "We live totally different lives, Fox. What makes you think you could help me? Why would you care at all anyway? Just mind your own business, will ya?"
Sensing his aggression, Fox kept an adamant fix on his teammates eyes as he retorted in a firm voice, "Come on, Falco. We've been friends for thirteen years now...teammates for nine. I think by now there should be at least a small bit of trust between us. Or if that doesn't work for you, then as your captain, I have to make sure that my crew aren't bogged down by personal issues that could affect their work. Either way you want look at it, you have to communicate with us at some point. We're not going to judge you or think you're weak. That's what we're here for."
Falco quickly broke away from his captain's strong glare, turning his head to the side with a spiteful snicker, "...How many times did you recite that speech in the mirror?"
Taking a quick look back towards the vulpine, Falco noticed that his usual biting sarcasm had no effect on him, Fox's eyes refusing to flinch from their target.
Growing rapidly uncomfortable under Fox's glare, the avian took a quick sigh as he retreated to the peaceful scene that played out beyond the window. All he ever noticed was the miserable cold when it snowed. Winter was a bitter time, a time when he often sought out the warm, comfortable temperatures found elsewhere on the planet. But looking out the window now, he began to notice a slight change. Not in the weather, but in his perspective. It was very slight, but nonetheless present, and that was more than enough to catch his attention. Maybe it was something in Fox's words, but somehow, Falco suddenly felt a strange connection to the frozen powder that fell outside.
Lowering his head, the avian closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing intently on this unlikely train of thought.
...Maybe...this is the perfect time...
"Fox?" Falco began, abruptly breaking the rather long-held, pensive silence that had previously filled the room, "...How much time do you have?"
"As much as you need..."
Those were the words that Katt Monroe had been reciting in her head over and over again. In a rather futile attempt to stifle her incessant thoughts, the feline lazily threw her arm across the bed, grabbing a nearby pillow and firmly pressing it atop her head, as if to silence everything around her. Unfortunately, she could not put an end to her reeling mind with frustration alone; a fact that she had become all too familiar with.
Come on Katt...this isn't like you. Nine years ago...maybe, but not now...not anymore.
Her thoughts ceased for a moment as silence overtook her, but she would not allow herself to stall any longer. Her meeting with General Pepper was in an hour, and she couldn't afford to be late.
Leaning her legs clumsily over the side of her bed, she let out a quiet yawn.
This is your life now, Katt. You don't have to depend on anyone but yourself. Do well on this mission, and your days as a common merc are over.
Her first steps out of bed came with great importance, as they came on the threshold of the most important day of her life. After this simple escort mission, she was to be named captain of her own team. To be granted her own ship, to take on missions she wanted, and to cement her place as one of the best the Cornerian Government had under it's employ. It was an accomplishment she had been working towards for so long, and it was well-deserved.
But, perhaps, more important than all of this was that she would soon be able to put those bitter memories behind her, forever.
So...you're leaving to fight Andross...
Yep, we've gotta destroy that ape before he takes over Corneria.
But...isn't that kind of dangerous for your first mission? Aren't you worried?
Worried? Heh, if I was any less of a pilot, maybe. But come on, I'll be fine. I didn't graduate top of the academy because I couldn't handle stuff like this.
But those were just simulation runs. You've never been in a real space battle before. What if...
Hey, don't worry. I'll get through this. Sure, the new Star Fox Team has only been around for a few days, but Pepper is sending us out for a reason. He thinks we can do it, you should too, right?
I just want to make sure you're alright, Falco. I don't want anything to happen to you...
Come on, like anything could stop me, huh? Think about it, I'll head out, finish off this Andross guy and come back a hero of the whole Lylat system. That's the kinda guy you'd wanna be with, right? All the other girls on Corneria will be jealous of...wait, what's that face for?
I don't want you to go...
What?
You can't...I won't let you. You're gonna die, I can feel it, Falco.
Don't give me that, don't you trust me at all?
It's not about trust! You are a great pilot, but there must be someone else who can go instead of you.
I'm not letting Fox go out with only Peppy and Slippy with him. He'd get killed before he left the docking bay. It's just gotta be this way. You can understand that, right?
..If I have too, but promise me Falco. Promise you'll come back.
Haha, alright, alright...I will, ok? Just give it some time and I'll be back.
...I'll give you as much as you need.
The feline regained awareness with her attention out her bedroom window, where traces of snow were beginning to fall just beyond its surface. With a heavy sigh, full of the frustration of these incessant thoughts, she shook her head and spoke under her breath.
"...I hate the cold."
It was on a day like this, nine years ago, that he left on that mission. In the snow that day, she waved goodbye as the Great Fox took flight. Not only that, but unknowingly, she was also waving goodbye to the one thing she held closest to her. She had been left with reassuring words and promises, but she soon realized that all she really had received from him, was a broken heart.
"A whole year..." Katt began, still in nothing more than a whisper, the snow outside seemingly becoming her listening ears, as if they could provide some solace as they had been a part of the story, "The days went by...and he was gone. Andross was gone, we were all saved...but he never came back." The feline let out a deep breath as she continued, "I waited for him, I trusted him..."
"...I loved him."
Her eyes beaded with tears, but before she could regress too far in thought, she promptly righted herself and turned to the center of the room. A slight breath and a few steps later, she found herself going about her daily morning routine.
She hurried about, realizing she had taken far too much time preparing, as she now had only thirty minutes to reach her designated docking bay and begin her important mission. Grabbing a coat, she opened the door to her house, letting in a rush of bitter, cold air. The sudden sensation caused her to pause momentarily, as she tried to acclimate to the outside temperature, but after several seconds, it became apparent that this would be nearly impossible no matter how much time she had. Clenching her shoulders together, the feline closed and locked the door behind her, and gradually began her walk through the thin layer of slowly accumulating snow.
Her progress was rather slow, as the frigid air caused her muscles to tense, but she pressed on, slowly leaving behind her block after block of lamp lit sidewalk, which was still darkened by the un-risen sun. By foot, the docking bay she had been assigned to was only minutes away, luckily for her, as she quietly berated the snow while she walked.
This continued for a short time, but as she finished her quips, Katt's ears suddenly perked up. The sound of footsteps echoed out like a gong within the peaceful state of Corneria this time of the morning. At first she ignored the noises, not really in the mood for distractions or wasting any more time. But soon the sound became louder, spaced more closely together, as if someone were running. Now irritated, she began to turn back towards the source, but as she did so, the feline suddenly felt something grab her coat.
Alarmed by this sudden intrusion, Katt gave a slight jump to distance herself from whatever had touched her and assumed an defensive posture, in case someone were trying to harm her. The feline's eyes darted over the figure, but she was unable to identify it, as the sun had only just begun to peak over the mountains that surrounded the city. Wearing a full coat and stalking cap, there were few features Katt was able to make out, except for a yellow beak that stuck out from between the layers of clothing.
"Katt...wait."
The voice traveled completely undisturbed across the snowy street, which kept it from echoing or distorting in any fashion.
This fact, however, did not keep the feline from becoming greatly perplexed.
That sounded like...Falco, but it couldn't be. Why would he just suddenly show up like this? You've really gone crazy Katt, pull it together...
Soon convincing herself it was merely a figment of her imagination, she lowered both her guard and her line of sight as she turned about and continued walking down the street, quietly talking herself down for letting her frustrated mind have such control over her.
There were only a handful of steps to be taken however, as the feline now found herself clutched from behind by both shoulders, and when she attempted to turn this time, the force of the hands that held her prevented her from doing so.
Her attempts were about to become markedly more aggressive, but before Katt was able to take any further action, the voice again traveled crisply through the winter air, "Just hang on a minute Katt, jeez."
It was the same voice as before, it was Falco's voice.
Still unsure if this was some elaborate trick of her own mind, Katt decided to humor herself by answering back to the entity in a rather uninterested voice, "Ya, what is it?"
For a moment, there was no response, just the continued feeling of a pair of hands on her shoulders. Katt let out a quiet laugh, "I can't believe myself...how can this be happening?"
"Wh-What are you talking about? I came all the way out here to talk to you, and ya, it's actually pretty cold so if you'd just listen for a minute we could both get this over with."
It was here, as this seeming illusion actually responded to her comments, that she actually believed it was the real Falco standing behind her. Slowly, she turned her head back, and in her peripheral vision, she could see that familiar face next to hers, a steady stream of frozen breath emanating from his beak.
"You can't be serious," Katt quipped as she shrugged free of the hold she was in and completely faced the now all-too-real figment of her imagination, "What do you think you're doing out here, following me around?"
"I love walking around walking in sub-zero temperatures stalking animals, what can I say? It's kinda my thing."
The blue avian only gave himself half a second to chuckle at his own joke before he continued on in a much more uncomfortable voice, "No, uh. I...I just have some things I want to tell you, it's umm...been kind of a long night, and..."
Now tapping her booted foot against the compacted snow, Katt interjected in an annoyed voice, "If there's a point to this I'd love to hear it, I actually need to be somewhere 5 minutes ago."
"Hey, come on," Falco began in an equally annoyed voice, "I wouldn't walk through a blizzard like this if I didn't have something to say, right? Calm down a minute and I won't waste any more of your precious time, princess."
Katt smiled with a tilt of her head, then turned and began to walk away.
The avian let out a loud, heavy sigh, "Ahh, come on. Just listen to me for a second. You don't have to be so stubborn all the time."
She kept walking.
"Katt, come back here. I-I need to tell you something."
"Then say it already," Katt called back, her voice barely audible as she continued to walk into the distance.
For a moment, this retort was met with silence, only the sounds of Katt's fading footsteps cracking in the snow could be heard.
Falco watched, feeling that he was letting a great, and maybe his last chance go by.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry."
His voice was quiet, almost a whisper, and on any other day, his words would have been lost in the city, but today, that city was consumed in white, and these words that were hardly uttered at all managed to reach the quickly retreating feline.
She stopped walking.
"I'm sorry," He spoke out again, this time markedly louder than the first, but his eyes remained closed, "I've been talking with Fox, and...well..."
"I'll give you as much as you need, Falco." Fox responded, taking a seat in a sofa that decorated the room.
Despite the fact that he had allowed himself, for the first time, to give himself a chance to open up to someone about these feelings he'd been having, Falco could not easily bring himself to begin the conversation, and for a moment, there was only silence.
"Is this about Katt?" Fox said, breaking the quiet of the room.
Falco looked at him with subtle disbelief, not knowing how Fox was able to pin that down without any hint from him, but he quickly put the pieces together and let out a slight chuckle, "So Krystal's just in my mind all the time, I guess, huh? I knew there'd be a downside to her joining, heh."
Fox came to his wife's defense with a hidden smirk, "She only does that when she notices someone that's really troubled. For the past few days, I guess, she's noticed you were acting strangely. She's only trying to help."
Falco shook his head, "No, it's alright. She's right though, it's been a weird couple days for me, ever since I heard it was going to snow this morning."
Rather confused at how two seemingly unrelated things could cause an animal to worry, Fox let the avian's words drift through the room, however, he was spared from commenting as his teammate answered, "...Which, I know, might seem a little weird, but it was snowing just like this, on a morning like this, when we left to defeat Andross."
After a slight pause to gain his memory, Fox gave a slight nod in return, "Ya, that's right. I..."
"That was the last day I saw her, Fox."
The vulpine hesitated for a moment as he regained his train of thought from being interrupted, and quickly spoke back, "Katt, you mean?"
Falco nodded, "Yep, it's been nine years to the day."
Fox couldn't help but be surprised, a feeling that was greatly evident as he spoke, "Wow, I had no idea you'd been keeping track all this time. That's..."
"Crazy? Stupid?" Falco interjected, his voice growing a little more defensive, "I've been telling myself that for years now, Fox. I just..."
His voice trailed off, his eyes wondered. It was the first time Fox had ever witnessed his teammate looking this unsure about himself. To counter this, the vulpine attempted to finish the avian's sentence, "You just want to know how she feels?"
Falco glanced up at his captain and held his glance for a second or two, leaving Fox unsure about what he had just said. However, this silence was ended rather abruptly as Falco turned his attention towards the ground and shook his head lightly with a sigh, "Well...ya, I guess. I did kinda leave her behind, she'd probably kill me if she saw me again, but I still..."
The avian paused briefly, not sure if he was ready to disclose the next few words, or in truth, even be able to articulate them correctly, but after another deep sigh, he looked back up at Fox, "Ya know, I...still care about her."
"...A lot."
"Well," Fox stated simply after a short period of silence, "Then there's only one thing you really can do, Falco."
"So...here I am...heh," Falco finished nervously, after trying his best to compose himself.
Katt just stood there, a blank, indiscernible look on her face as she stared into the avian's hooded facade.
She then turned and began to walk away.
"W-wait! Katt!" Falco yelled out, "Where are you going so quick?"
"I've got things to do, Falco. Leave me alone." She retorted, her vision set on the street ahead.
Undeterred, the avian jumped ahead of her, taking her lightly by the shoulders again, "Now just hang on a minute! I'm serious here, Katt! Everything I said was true!"
Katt shrugged the feathered hands off her shoulders and continued walking, "Just leave, Falco."
The avian stood there in the snow, stunned at what was happening, "Why won't you listen to me? I came all the way out here to apologize!"
She stopped walking and silently raised a finger to her eye, "Falco, please...I don't think you..."
Then came a sniffle, a muffled signal of one who had begun crying. Realizing this, Falco quickly readjusted his voice, "Katt, come on, don't cry. I know this is tough, but I wanna make it right, ya know? I really messed up."
At these words, Katt quickly turned to face the avian once again, her eyes simmering, "Tough, huh? You think this is tough? Crawling back into my life at the crack of dawn after nine years to try and make things right?"
Falco couldn't meet her eye line as she continued, "I waited...and waited for you to come back. I was so excited to get to see you again. Andross was dead, and a few days went by, I told myself you were busy. Then a month went by, then another, then a year, then eight years, and now, here you are, completely out of the blue, grovelling at my feet hoping to win me over with an apology?"
"Well, I don't know about the grovelling part, but..." Falco began, his habitual sarcasm kicking in after being backed into a position he was far less than comfortable in.
Katt could only shake her head, "I can't believe this. I can't believe I waited on you for so long, for this? I could have four years logged as captain of my own ship if I hadn't sat around all day, everyday, wishing and hoping that you'd come back to me."
Falco managed to miss the bigger picture of her statement as he replied, "So you do still have feelings then, right?"
The feline let out a frustrated sigh, "Falco..."
"Come on, we can make this work Katt. We'll just start over fresh, it'll be alright."
"No Falco, we can't!" She yelled suddenly, subsequently causing a few house lights to flip on. Katt didn't seem embarrassed at all by this, however, as she continued undeterred, "It's too late. Just leave me alone, ok?"
"No Katt, I won't," He said back in a somewhat mocking voice, quickly becoming frustrated with the results of this conversation, "I've been thinking about you everyday since I last saw you, it's been driving me crazy. I'm not gonna stop until I..."
"I loved you," Katt spoke suddenly, her voice returning to normal levels, "I loved you through school. I loved you while you were in training. I..." The feline was forced to pause slightly as she struggled to hold back the tears that had been secretly pushing their way out this entire conversation, "...I loved you when you joined the Star Fox Team, and I loved you for so many years after, even though I never saw you...I saw you in my dreams, I saw you in the places we used to go...I didn't want to let you go, Falco. That's the truth."
So much of that sentence Falco had wanted to hear for so long, and that in itself could have brought him to tears as well. But that wasn't what got him, that wasn't what forced him to wipe his eyes free of moisture that his feathers had never before touched. "Loved? But...you still do, right? Because I..."
"It's been nine years Falco." She began in a wavering voice, "I couldn't sit around and wait anymore, no one could, not even for you."
"I..." Falco mumbled clumsily, still attempting to finish his previous thought.
"Even to this day, I still think about the days we used to be together. Those might have been the best days of my life, and maybe I dwell on them too much sometimes, but I've moved on, Falco. And I think you should to."
"But...I..." His tears were no longer hidden as the words continued to fumble out.
"I'm engaged, Falco."
The avian froze in place. All the blood seemed to rush out of him as even his vibrant blue feathers seemed to dull in an instant. In an instant, his world crashed around him.
"Now, will you please...just let me go?" Katt spoke, in an unsuccessfully masked tone of sadness. "I'm late enough already..."
"You're...getting married?" Falco managed to get out in a small voice that was seldom heard coming from his beak.
"Goodbye, Falco," She said as she turned her back to him, and slowly began to make her way down the street, "Take care..."
It's...not supposed to go like this..It can't just...I can't just let her...
"Katt! I love you!" The words came out unexpectedly, loudly, and with untold passion and fervor. Even among the snow laden streets and buildings, his scream echoed, loud enough for all of Corneria to hear, it seemed.
But she didn't stop. She didn't slow down or look back. She just kept walking, farther and father until she was out of sight.
He dropped to his knees. His hands followed suit shortly after, followed closely by free-flowing tears that were accompanied by the avian's heaving sobs.
In this moment, the sun slowly began to peek out from beyond the horizon, casting a beautiful red-orange hue over the slowing snowfall that covered the city.
Looking to his side, Falco noticed something had fallen from one of his coat pockets. It glistened brilliantly in the newly revealed sunlight as he looked over it's surface. The small object was platinum in color, adorned with several, well sized gems of all colors and shapes, ordered so artistically it was hard to take your eyes off it.
He had hoped this would have all turned out better. He wished it could have gone his way, that his new-found emotion and deep-seeded feelings could save him, but in the end, time turned out to be the ultimate enemy, and a cruel one at that.
That morning, Falco carefully wrote a message in the snow in front of Katt Monroe's door; outlined by the depiction of a heart, with his glistening jewel sitting in the very center of it. Within the heart, he neatly wrote the following words:
"Katt, this ring took me nine years to put together. I'm sorry I was too late."
~Falco Lombardi
The snow melted months before Katt returned.