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Disclaimer: Star Fox belongs to Nintendo, not me. All characters taken from the games belong to them, while original characters are my own creations. The story itself is mine as well, but it takes place in a universe that I do not own. That, my friends, is why it is called fanfiction.
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Note to readers: The first few chapters may seem to jump around a lot. This is because they cover the important events that happen between Command and this story, which is a period of around 17 years. If I could have squeezed it into one chapter, I would have, but let's face it, a lot can happen in 17 years.
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It had been raining for six days straight, but it was only now that the figure in the window really paid any attention to it. Shining lights from outside were distorted in the wet barrier that streamed down the glass, the rapid pelting of water drops drowning out everything else. The figure sighed visibly, reaching one arm up to pull the curtains shut. She was tired of the weather. It reminded her too much of home.
The bed behind her was neatly made, with a large maroon comforter and goose down pillows with matching cases sitting neatly at the top. In her opinion, it was too much. The enormous room, the hot tub and swimming pool, the insane amount of throw pillows sitting in various spots around the room – she didn't need any of it. Even though it was there, she hardly paid attention. She instead chose to sit in the cold window seat and stare out into the sky, into space, where so much had happened in the past few years.
She could hear the squeaking sound as the water control knobs in the bathroom shower were spun, the soft buzzing of the water spraying from the showerhead stopping abruptly. The rain continued on. Through the nearby door, she heard the loud steps of a man's slippers on the hard tile. She sighed again, remembering those slippers from long ago. No matter what she said, she could not seem to get rid of the damned things. They were too loud, she would always say, and once she even tried them on. Not only were they too big, but they felt scratchy and awkward. What that man saw in those shoes, she could never fathom. The towel rod spun around audibly as the man in the bathroom pulled a fluffy pink towel from it, rubbing it over his body. The room was steamed up, yet the mirrors remained remarkably clear. It had been one of the things described in the advertisement, non-fogging mirrors. While it was certainly not a selling point, it was a nice touch now that he could appreciate it.
The fox stopped and looked at himself in the mirror, the towel wrapped around his face. His fur was wet down and looked a much deeper brown than it really was. His toned body was covered with small scars from his past battles, and just looking at himself brought back the memories of everything that had happened since the Academy. One of his fingers traced along the first scar he received in battle, a dogfight with Wolf O'Donnell in Venomian airspace. A shot had hit the starboard side of his Arwing and rocked the entire ship, sending Fox's shoulder into something sharp, something he had never determined. He thought it could have been something from his toolbox, which sat secured next to his seat in the spacecraft and had broken open sometime during that battle. That was right before he had come face to face with Andross, right before he stopped the Lylat War, right before he saw his father.
The other scars told similar, yet less mysterious stories: the mission on Sauria, the Aparoid invasion, and the Anglars, all of them had their stories embedded in Fox's skin forever. None of them felt nearly as special as the one from his first mission.
He moved his hand to the ones from Sauria, of which there were more than other missions. He had spent his time on Sauria on foot, with nothing to defend himself with other than a magic staff that belonged to the love of his life, Krystal. He had not seen that staff since then, but he knew that Krystal kept it with her, somewhere. He moved again to the Aparoid invasion scars, remembering the changes Wolf had experienced in the time between the two incidents. No longer was the man in the employ of Andross, and no longer did the huge enmity between the two exist. Finally, he touched the Anglar scars, where again, James McCloud had appeared to help him. He came closer to the bathroom counter and unfolded the gray T-shirt he had brought with him to change into after his shower. Sitting in the middle was a pair of black sunglasses. He grasped them delicately and put them on, looking into the mirror. It looked as though his father was staring back at him.
Don't ever give up, my son, Fox remembered. Those words had been at the front of his mind for eleven years now. He took the sunglasses off and set them down again, looking into his own emerald eyes. He had always been told that he had his mother's eyes, and he desperately wished that he had paid attention to the smaller parts of life when she was still alive. To see his parents again, to let them meet Krystal, to be one big happy family…
His headset began to blink with a blue light and he could hear his wrist communicator ringing in the other room. He put the headset on and pushed the button to answer it. In the other room, Krystal had left the window to see who was calling. She grabbed the small bracelet, an upgrade from the bulky unit she was used to seeing, and looked down at the screen. It was Falco. She took the unit over to the door and was about to knock to tell Fox that he had missed a call, when she heard him talking, almost a whisper; as if he didn't want her to hear it.
"Hey, Falco," he said, and the avian replied.
"Find a solution to your girl problem yet?" the bird asked. Fox tilted his head quizzically, and Krystal stood outside the door, eavesdropping.
"What girl problem?" he asked. In another room of the hotel, Falco's head drooped disappointedly.
"Come on, man, wake up and smell the coffee. It's obvious that Krystal isn't the same. She feels strange about having the team back together again. I mean, you did tell her to get lost a couple years ago,"
"I did not tell her to get lost, Falco. I told her that I didn't want her to get hurt," Fox said irritably. Falco could not seem to get this simple little fact through his head.
"Whatever, man, it's the same. But you've noticed, haven't you?" Falco asked, and Fox noticed himself nodding in the mirror.
"Yeah,"
"Well, you aren't just gonna let her go again, are you?" Falco asked, and Fox shook his head.
"I don't know what to do," he responded solemnly. He had tried to ignore what seemed to be true ever since Krystal had rejoined Star Fox, but no matter where they went, it all seemed to catch up to him. He had noticed that Krystal didn't seem to be enjoying the facilities in this hotel, but he had done it all for her. Nothing he did for her seemed to matter.
"Well, you tried the hotel, that didn't work. Maybe … maybe she wants something more from you? Something to show her that you really care for her? Like, I don't know. Don't you want a little cub of your own?" Falco asked. Fox smiled.
"That's perfect, Falco,"
He had never thought about it. His life had just been so full of commotion that the thought of having his own child had never crossed his mind. Yet now seemed like the perfect time. Krystal's interest was peaked, as well, though she could only hear Fox's end of the conversation.
"But how do I know she's ready for a baby?" Fox asked. Krystal gasped and stepped away from the door, nearly dropping the communicator as her hand went up to cover her mouth. She was overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling, mixed with an amount of uncertainty and confusion. A cub of her own? Something for her and Fox to bond over, to rekindle the old flame? Something that might make everything okay between them? But was she ready? She walked further from the door and covered the speaker of the communicator, turning it on. She could now hear both ends of the conversation.
"Bring it up lightly, don't go into detail. Maybe lead a conversation into kids, how you like kids, how someday you want to have a cub, ask her if she ever wants kids, you know. The small stuff. If she says yeah, then you can take it from there. Use the old McCloud charm that I'm sure exists in there somewhere," Falco told Fox, and Fox nodded. Krystal was surprised that of all people, Falco was giving relationship advice, but her mind drifted straight back to thoughts of a baby. Did she want a boy or a girl? What would she name it? What would they look like? There was so much to consider. But she was now sure of it. She wanted a child.
"So go in gradually? What if she says no?"
"Trust me, she won't say no," Falco said. Fox blinked twice.
"Falco, is Katt standing behind you giving you relationship advice to give to me?" he asked. Falco chuckled.
"Of course. I could never come up with that on my own," the bird said. Krystal understood now. Woman's intuition had told Katt that Krystal wanted something more in her relationship with Fox, which, from the conversation that Fox and Falco were having, was obviously on the rocks. A baby did sound perfect.
"That's perfect. Tell Katt I said thanks. I think I'll bring it up after dinner. Bye, Falco," Fox said, clicking the button on his headset and hanging up. He took it off and set it down by the sunglasses, looking at himself in the mirror. Now that he wasn't discussing it with anyone, he felt incredibly nervous. Was this really what he wanted to do? What if Krystal was so violently opposed to the idea that she never spoke to Fox again? No, she couldn't do that; that would be rude. Krystal was not a rude person. Krystal was a good person. Krystal was perfect.
She set the communicator back where it had been originally and sat down at the end of the bed. In a minute or two, Fox would be walking out of the door in front of her. What would he say to her? Would she be able to pretend that she had not heard anything? Should she go back and sit in the window seat? No, she couldn't. She didn't know what she was feeling, but it was definitely not a bad feeling. She gazed at the door longingly, waiting those last few minutes for Fox to emerge from the steamy bathroom. As she waited, her legs carried her closer and closer to the door until she was practically on top of it. When she heard the doorknob jiggle, she seemed ready to pounce on the man, and that would be an accurate word to describe the movement she made when the door opened and her man was standing there. She tackled him to the floor and pressed her muzzle against his and embraced him lovingly. Once he had overcome the initial shock he started to lean upward, pressing his body into hers, until they were both standing, backing away from the bathroom. She tumbled onto the bed first and he followed, landing on top of her.
"A celo oei, Fox McCloud," she said in her sexy Cerinian accent, the dinosaur language something Fox had not heard in a long time.
"I love you too, Krystal," he responded between kisses. She started to work her hands up underneath his shirt and dug her claws into his muscular back, and both knew that it was time.
At seven that night, the team met in the large dining hall of the hotel, at the central table. Other tables surrounded it, packed full of the hotel's guests eating their dinners. But today was to be a special day for the Star Fox team. General Peppy Hare sat at one end of the table that had been reserved for Star Fox and their guests. At the other end sat the former General Pepper, still under the weather but full of vigor and pep. He was carrying a cane now, and his skin was sagging more and more with each passing day. The sounds of conversation filled the room, interspersed with the clinking of plates and utensils as food was passed and eaten.
Sitting next to Peppy was Fox McCloud, wearing his finest tuxedo and enjoying his cut of the veal. Krystal sat next to him in a gorgeous deep blue dress, poking at her garden salad and holding hands with Fox underneath the table. On her other side were newlyweds Slippy and Amanda Toad, the latter of which could not stop thinking about their newborn child at home, being babysat by Amanda's mother. Next to Amanda was Pepper, who seemed to be sharing life advice with the two toads. On Pepper's right was Falco Lombardi, who kept sneaking glances over at Fox and Krystal, trying to catch Fox's attention, but he never could. Katt sat next to him, doing the same, but with Krystal and not Fox. She wanted the female fox to turn and hear some of Slippy and Amanda's talk about baby Tad, maybe to try and stir something up inside of her and make her more open to the inevitable conversation with Fox. On her other side was Bill Grey, a good friend of Fox's who did not have a date to the party but didn't seem to care. Lucy Hare was on his right, around the corner of the table from her father.
Midway through dinner, Pepper stood up to make a toast, raising his glass of red wine into the air.
"These past few years have gone by with a lot of trouble for Lylat," he started, and the hotel patrons turned to the table to join in the toast, raising their glasses as well. The bloodhound continued.
"But it seems that no matter what kind of peril the Lylat System is in, there is always one team we can count on. One team that never gives up and will stop for nothing to ensure our peace and prosperity. To the Star Fox team!" he said, and the call echoed throughout the chamber. General Hare stood and added on to the speech.
"Having flown with these guys for many years, I feel inclined to speak as well. Falco, Slippy, and Krystal, you three have been a huge motivation for me. I feel like a father to all of you, and you've made me proud as my children. And Fox, having had the honor to have flown with both your father and you, I know that I am a very lucky old hare indeed. You two are so much alike that sometimes I swore I saw his spirit shining through in you. To Star Fox!" he said, and the call echoed yet again throughout the chamber. Dinner continued after the toast, and slowly the guests left the room, all except for the center table. The ten sitting at that table talked long into the night, and not once did Fox's hand leave Krystal's.
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Author Notes: This event took place a couple of months after Star Fox Command ended. The next chapter will take place either three and a half months after Command or five months after Command (I haven't decided if I could write a full chapter on the 3.5 month event, though I'm sure I can). R&R, people, reviews are always a nice thing to see when you sign into the site.