I have a sad, sad little tale to tell you. It is based off of the stories"Never Far From You" and "The Rose Elf" in Even More Short and Shivery.
Far, far away, in the distant Lylat System, there lay two gravestones. Between them is another stone with the inscription: "In memory of the two beloved heroes of the Galaxy, who were torn from each other by a sudden and untimely fate on the day of their marriage celebration."
This is the story of that tragic and sad inscription...
Many years ago, there were two young lovers, who happened to save the Galaxy several times over. One was a young fox by the name of Fox McCloud, the second was his soon-to-be wife, Krystal, a blue vixen.
The handsome couple was often seen in public (when possible) holding hands, kissing, and so on. The day Fox proposed to his beloved, he gave her a ring of pure gold that seemed to glitter even when in pitch dark, fueled by their love for each other, almost speaking the words engraved on it, "I will be never far from you, my love-be never far from me.", above their intwined initials.
The next few weeks were spent designing the wedding, from the weeding cake to the honeymoon, and sprending time with each other. The day before the wedding, the two met in the forest to discuss and do things that the world would go ballistic over. But from the shadows, there was an evil being who wouldn't stop for anything to destroy the young couple's relationship.
Meanwhile, on the forest floor and residing in a gorgeous rose, was a small creature called a Lover's Tear. The beautiful little woman very closely resembled a fairy, but at the same time was alien in her offworld way.
The day the two lovers spent in the forest, she sat and listened to the lovers prematurely exchange vows, and meditated while blushing when those "moments" came and went.
After their time was spent together, Krystal left the forest to rest up until tomorrow. Fox remained in the forest to go over what would happen when the beaming vixin would walk down the isle. Spotting the rose that the Lover's Tear resided in, he plucked the flower from the ground and took a good, long look at it.
It was, in every possible way, perfect. Tears dripped down his eyes at what a beautiful rose it was, and how it resembled his beloved Krystal.
But, the evil being snuck up from the shadows of the darker, deeper parts of the forest, weapon in hand. While the Lover's Tear could see the evil being, Fox could not, for he was too caught up in the beauty of the rose and thoughts of his beloved.
A silenced blast rang out through the forest, so silent that not even the airborne creatures flew away. Fox dropped to the ground, dead. The rose drifted down beside his muzzle, and the Lover's Tear was in the perfect position to witness the ghastly attrocity as the evil being proceded to cut up and burn Fox's remains until only ashes were left, which he left in the fire pit.
To the Lover's Tear's horror, the evil being turned it's muzzle towards the rose the Lover's Tear resided in. Smiling wickedly, the evil being picked up the rose and began to talk to himself.
"Yes, this is sure to please the lovely Krystal.", Panther Caruso purred, slipping the rose into his breast pocket. The Lover's Tear, seething with anger at the feline's actions, placed a curse on him using her forbidden Dark Magic, which was supposed to be used only under grave times.
Years passed without word from Fox, whom many thought had tricked Krystal into believing he loved her. But the Star Fox team knew better than to believe them. Falco and Katt Lombardi, two members of the team, both knew that Fox would never in eternity betray Krystal. Krystal, who spent most of her time locked in her room, cried her eyes out day after day after day.
Although Panther tried to woo her time and time again, she would shoot him down again and again and again up to the point she would try to kill him if he came within her sight even if he didn't see her. And the same thing happened to other girls Panther was after, they would go the the point of trying to kill him whenever they saw him.
But eventually, distress getting the better of her, there came the day she was bedridden. Her sickly form, her beautiful eyes, her slim form, her blue fur, her long hair, everything about her, was stolen away. She was like a ghost or a zombie, there just to be there, cursed to be alive while her bleoved was in the Afterlife.
Twirling the only rose she kept that Panther gave her in her hand, the one with the Lover's Tear, and holding the ring Fox gave her in the other.
"'I will never be far from you, my love-be never far from me...", Krystal quietly cried. The Lover's Tear was heartbroken that her Dark Magic forced the vixen to stay alive until her revenge was complete, and quietly sang a hypnotic song to calm the vixin's nerves when she began to sob uncontrollably.
"You don't know how you met me,
You don't know why,
You can't turn around and say goodbye."
"All you know is when I'm with you
I make you free,
And swim through your veins
Like a fish in the sea."
"I'm singin',
Follow me, everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you want to leave, I can garauntee
You won't find nobody else like me."
Slowly, under the hypnotic effects of the song, she began to drift off to sleep for the first time in weeks. Closing her eyes, she was at once met by images and dreams of her beloved.
Years passed, and every night the Lover's Tear would sing to her. But they both knew the day would come, when even the evil power of the Lover's Tear's Dark Magic, Krystal would finally rest in peace forever. The whole team mourned their loss, two members, their leader and his love, lost...
In the next few months, the Galaxy saw the death of all of the Star Wolf team. Leon OD'd on designer drugs at The Viper Room. Wolf O'Donnel was killed when he crashlanded on the Moon orbiting Earth. Panther had the worst of any of them, he was diagnosed with the alien form of AIDS, which acted both like the disease and Cabin Fever, his flesh slowly started rotting away, falling off in large chunks, and he died painfully, a firm reminder of what pain he caused Krystal.
Eventually, two graves were dug for Fox and Krystal, buried side-by-side, and the entire Lylat System appeared to mourn them. Even the Lover's Tear was there, and she made her new home, a rose bush, right inbetween the two graves.
Note: To find out what happened to Wolf, watch Apollo 18.