Kairos, a storm hawks fanfic

I do not own Storm Hawks.

The terra was on fire.

There were dead bodies and almost-dead bodies and there were people tripping over them trying to get to safety.

Half of them were cut down before they could even run and the others were captured before they knew what was happening.

Ravess picked her way over the destruction, covering her mouth with her sleeve to avoid the smoke and smell of death. One of her musicians played a triumphant melody behind her. Over the sound, however, she could hear crying.

She followed the sound to an alleyway. Crouched among the trash was a little girl who looked maybe five years old. She was curled into a ball, a scattering of burned out energy crystals within her reach.

One thing Ravess prided herself on was that she could put two and two together. She smiled and told the musician to cut the music before kneeling down to the girl.

The child let out a shout and scrambled away from her, copper eyes wide and wild and afraid. "No no no no no!" She whimpered and the crystals seems to come to life once more at her feet.

"Don't be afraid, " Ravess said and extended her hand. "We're going to take you to a safe place, everything will be okay." The little girl slipped her tiny brown hand into hers and Ravess smiled.

Piper's first memory of Cyclonia is the entrance, of looking up from the protection of Ravess' s chest as the massive arches overhead cast shadows on them. The sky was red and it reminded her of her terra, which had been bathed in the same ugly shade.

Ravess first showed her to people who asked her questions, but she couldn't talk. The words wouldn't come out and she just stared. Then, Ravess held out two crystals. Pretty, shiny crystals.

Piper smiled and took them. They clinked together and glowed, and danced, and Ravess said that this was very good. She was a natural. She said she would get a raise.

Ravess took her hand as a strange woman wiped the dirt her face and doctored on her scratches. "You must look presentable," Ravess told her, "I'm taking you to see someone very important." She squeezed Piper's hand tightly, hard enough that Piper could feel her sharp fingernails digging into her skin. "Do you understand?"

Piper figured she had no choice but to understand. She nodded and Ravess took the time to fix one of her hair plaits that had come loose.

Ravess and several Talons (Piper had originally thought that was a stupid name) led her to a large chamber dimly lit by glowing green crystals. The only thing in the chamber was a huge, ornate chair that Piper would learn was called a throne.

The room was breathtaking in its entirety, both dark and empty. Piper remembered her home, which had always been full of light and full of everything else. She felt tears well up in her eyes and a shiver rise up along her spine.

A Talon pinched her arm. "Bow before your empress, girl." He snarled and Piper gasped as he pushed against her back, forcing her forward. "She's the one who decides whether you live or die."

It was only then that Piper noticed the old woman sitting on the throne. She was small, even in the heavy black robes that hung on her shoulders. Sharp lines in her face turned her expression into a frown, her blue eyes seeming to cut into Piper's very being.

She pressed against Ravess but the woman shoved her forward.

"So this is the girl that was brought back," the old woman said and crooked her finger in a gesture for Piper to come closer. "What's your name and how old are you?"

Piper avoided the woman's gaze, instead looking at the floor. "Piper. I'm six years old."

The empress nodded and shifted. Her lips contorted in some imitation of a smile. "I have a granddaughter the same age as you. I heard you like crystals, Piper."

" Yes!" She forgot herself. "I love crystals, you can do so much with them and there's so many. Especially at home. " She paused, realizing that this woman was an empress and her home had been set ablaze.

"How about this, little Piper, how about you befriend my granddaughter. In exchange, you'll have access to crystals and books about them, as well as a place to stay. However, you also have to swear fealty to Cyclonia. Do you know what fealty means?"

Piper shook her head.

The Empress of Cyclonia smiled. "You'll learn soon. Just know now that this place, Cyclonia, is the only safe place for you now. You understand? There is nowhere else you can go, no one will want an orphan like you. You owe me and you owe Cyclonia."

The empress's granddaughter had a real name, but everyone called her Cyclonis, a name that had been passed through her family. When Piper met her, she explained that she liked Cyclonis better because it sounded more important.

Cyclonis said that she enjoyed playing with crystals and taking over the world.

"That's why we burned down your terra," she said as they sat in the castle library, surrounded by ancient books about history and crystals, and maps. "Because we're taking over the world and your people tried to resist, so we had to get rid of them." She put her finger on a marked terra on a map and crossed it out with her fingernail. "This was your terra. It's gone now."

Piper pushed her braid over her shoulder. In addition to playing with Cyclonis, she was also in training to be a Talon. She had almost mastered the bow and arrow, rising to third place above all the other trainees. She was still learning about the mechanics of a skyride. "You still have a long way to go."

"Oh I know, but that's why when I'm the empress, I'll be stronger. By the time I'm old, we'll control all of Atmos." Cyclonis reached into a fold of her robe and brought out a crystal. It was a pale blue, almost translucent and appeared to be smooth to the touch. It was half the size of Cyclonis's palm. "Do you want it? It was found in a mine but it was a dud."

In her short while with Cyclonis, she learned to always accept what she was given. She took the crystal, feeling its cool surface in the palm of her hand. "Thanks, " she said as the crystal powered clock chimed at the corner of the room. "It's time for my training, see ya later!"

Cyclonis caught her sleeve. Her eyes were blue by her grandmother's. "Come back soon," she said and to Piper, it sounded almost as if Cyclonis was pleading. But she knew that the heir of Cyclonia never begged, not when she had the world balancing in the palm of her hand.

By the time Piper was ten years old, she had nearly mastered crystals. She knew how to fuse a fire and an explosive crystal in order to make a fire bomb, and she knew how to jolt a useless skyride to life with a energy crystal. By the time she was ten years old, she had become proficient at hand to hand combat and knew how to fly a skyride backwards with her eyes closed.

When she was ten, the Empress of Cyclonia called her to the audience chamber.

The empress was frail, as if the last four years had been particularly hard for her. She sat far back on her throne, nearly hidden in shadows. Beside her dais stood a tall young man, tall and lean with black hair and eyes the same shade of Cyclonian red.

Piper recognized the man only by what she had been told. He was the infamous Dark Ace, a man who earned his reputation for ruthlessness and cunning, a man who had singlehandedly destroyed an Atmosian squadron. She saw the dagger at his hip and she wondered if she should be afraid.

"This is the girl?" The Dark Ace asked and Piper wondered how the empress allowed him to be so sharp. Maybe she was afraid of him.

"The very one." The empress said and called Piper to her. "This is the Dark Ace, girl, the greatest warrior of our terra. He's taking you under his wing, you're going to be his co-pilot." She turned back to the Dark Ace, "She's wickedly intelligent and brilliant at using crystals, she has an affinity for them. I figured that with her at your side adapting crystals on the battlefield and Cyclonis here developing technology, there'll be no way Cyclonia will lose." She put a hand on Piper's head. "She owes her life to me and Cyclonia, she'll serve you well."

The Dark Ace nodded. "I expect she will," he said. "We begin tomorrow."

Piper arrived at the training ground twenty minutes ahead of schedule, her satchel of crystals set before her and her staff extended, held in her right hand. She stood with her back straight and chin out, eyes forward.

The Dark Ace approached from behind, his foot whistling by her ear. Piper ducked and swept her staff up, catching his leg and throwing him off balance.

He caught himself and before Piper could react, his fist had wrapped around her shirt collar. he used the other to wrench the staff from her grip, hurling across the training yard. She clasped her hands on his arms, digging her feet into the ground. "You're alert. Good."

Piper let him push her backward and she slid, using one hand to throw a punch at his face. The Dark Ace caught her hand and repositioned his hands, lifting her into the air and slamming her down.

Tears welled up but she refused to let them fall. She looked up at the man as he presented his hand, smirking. "You have a lot to learn before you're a worthy co-pilot. I could've taken your life with ease, you must learn to do the same."

He pulled her up with one hand and took a lock of her hair. "I want this cut and styled differently, if your hair is long that gives the enemy something to hold on to."

Piper nodded, telling him that she would do it tonight. She had a style in mind, something short and spiky. The Dark Ace smirked and gestured to her satchel. "I imagine you've concocted all types of weapons and enhancers," he said, " and I imagine we'll get to use them all."

She nodded once more and the Cyclonian patted her head. "Yes sir," she said, "I look forward to it."

When Piper was thirteen years old, she witnessed and engaged in the attack on dozens of terras. Sometimes they were destroyed and other times they were simply robbed of their valuables. In any case, she learned, the Dark Ace lived for the thrill of it, of the invasion and invoking fear.

Piper crossed off every terra she saw, writing notes about their downfall or attributes beside the pictures.

They were expanding, steadily approaching Terra Atmosia. Cyclonis, who had succeeded her grandmother several months ago, had plans. She had been gathering materials from every conquered terra, preparing to build a super engine.

According to Cyclonis, the blueprint for the engine had been in her father's archives, which hadn't been touched after he passed away eleven years ago. Her father was a brilliant man, she told Piper, but wouldn't have been a good leader.

Piper figured that Cyclonis (Master Cyclonis, now) was what their nation needed. She was brilliant and young, and had an eye for strategy. With her mind and Piper and the Dark Ace's strength, the rest of the Atmos would fall to their knees.

"We're going to Atmosia," the Dark Ace said to her as he strapped his sword across his back, sliding his dagger into the loop on his belt. "Master Cyclonis wants a crystal."

Piper shoved her book into her satchel and pushed herself onto her feet. "The Aurora Stone," she said matter-of-factly, "it's the only stone powerful enough to power the storm engine."

The Dark Ace nodded absently, uninterested in the intricacies of crystals. He pulled his gloves on and crossed to the door. To Piper, he always seem graceful and restrained, like a predator lying in wait, every muscle coiled in preparation to strike. "Hurry up."

The Cyclonian Switchblade had been wheeled out for them on the runway already, set out before the Talons who were already prepared for departure.

The Dark Ace slid into the seat on the Switchblade and Piper followed suit, pulling the lever that released the skyride's wings. The red eyed Cyclonian revved the engine, causing the exhaust pipe to spew flames.

"To Atmosia, " He said as they accelerated down the runway.

"Atmosia!" Piper shouted and looked back at the Talons behind them, raising her fist in the Cyclonian salute.

Terra Atmosia was beautiful. The skies were blue and clear, the land green. Piper almost hated when they came upon it, because she knew that they would take the one thing important to the people there- their safety.

Piper slid into the front seat as the Dark Ace leaped down and rolled onto the ground, blazing across the clearing towards the tower that housed the Aurora Stone. She steered the Switchblade towards the ground, fingers wrapped tightly around the handlebars.

An arrow exploded just to her left. Piper yelped and jerked hard to the right, scanning the sky for her attacker.

A blond boy howled at her from his skyride, aiming his bow at her. He grinned and slicked his hair back, and Piper rolled her eyes. He thought he was more of a model than anything else.

She reached behind her to grab an eruption crystal and hurled it at the blond boy's ride. The stone shattered against the front of the cycle and she heard him shout.

Piper gunned the Switchblade, pulling in the wings as the front wheel made contact with the ground. The wheels caught traction and she tore across the terra towards the tower.

The Dark Ace was waiting as she zipped by, hand open. Piper clasped his, pulling him onto the back of the Switchblade. She noticed his heavy breathing and when she looked over her shoulder at him, he began to laugh. "Back to Cyclonia."

She nodded and pulled the skyride up. "Did you get the stone?" She asked and from the corner of her eye, Piper thought she saw the fiery remains of an Atmosian Skimmer.

The Dark Ace scoffed. "Don't ever doubt me. Especially when I was pitched against pitiful children."

" Children?"

"A group of boys. They called themselves the Storm Hawks," The Dark Ace laughed, "A group of children trying to revive a team that was too weak in the first place. They're not a threat."

Piper admired their bravery, though. Very few people had enough courage to face the Talons, let alone adopt a name as famous as the Storm Hawks. Even they had fallen years ago, cut down by the Dark Ace himself.

The Storm Hawks had spirit, Piper admitted. She admired that. Very few people would dare launch an attack on Cyclonia, especially when the odds were so heavily weighed against them.

The sky battle had started as she predicted. The Storm Hawks had gathered a small force, a mere fraction of Cyclonia's Talons, though not nearly as inept. They had attacked the south gate of Cyclonia, nearly breaching the entrance.

From her position, Piper repeatedly took note of a red-headed boy. He seemed to be everywhere at once, seeming to take down two Talons at once and Piper found herself hating him.

"That's the 'Sky Knight'. Pitiful." The Dark Ace growled and balanced himself on the Switchblade, drawing his sword. He extended one hand towards Piper and she pushed an enhancer into his palm. "Just a little boy, looks just his poor little father. This should be over quickly."

Piper took control as her mentor sprung off the skyride, landing on an enemy Skimmer. She grinned to herself and dug into her bag, wrapping her fingers around a fire bomb. They just had to finish them off, everything would go according to plan-

One minute, she was piloting the Switchblade, another, she was falling through the air. She felt a sharp pain rising up her spine, sending jolts of wicked electricity over her skin.

Someone's hand wrapped around her wrist and then she was out.

When she woke up, Piper first found that she was tied to a chair. Her back throbbed, though it was tolerable. She raised her head and groaned, taking note of her surroundings. She was in a large space with a window before her, even though a heavy cloth covered most of it. She registered the sound of voices and looked around her, seeing a Wallop and two human boys. One blond and one red-haired.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" The Wallop said timidly and Piper glared at him. Despite his size, he seemed cowardly and young. She set her gaze on the red haired boy, the Sky Knight. Dark Ace had said he was the Sky Knight. The strategic part of Piper's mind said he would have to be destroyed.

"Of course it is. This Talon's got information that we can use. Plus, did you see those crystals in his bag?" The Sky Knight said as the Wallop plunked down in a chair across from her. In his meaty hands was her satchel, which must have gone down with her. Piper wished she could slap him.

"I'm a girl." She snapped.

"Oh, sorry." The Sky Knight said and scratched the back of his head, looking at her and quickly averting his eyes. "Wait...the Dark Ace's co-pilot is a girl?!"

The blond boy gasped and leaped over the table, rubbing his hands together. "Well, unmask the lovely lady!"

Piper wrinkled her nose.

"You're a pitiful excuse for a Sky Knight and squadron," Piper growled as the red haired boy guided a spoon of food to her mouth. She accepted it, forcing her humiliation down. "How old are you anyway, twelve?"

The boy refused to rise to her bait. "Fourteen," he answered, "and you're actually not too shabby, even though you're a Talon." He gestured to the cup of water at his side. "Want some?"

Piper looked away as he guided the water to her lips, letting her fingers twitched. "I was hand picked by Master Cyclonis herself. I'm a crystals expert." She smirked, "One of the best, if I do say so myself."

"I'll take your word for it," the Sky Knight said. "Say, do you want to make a deal? How about we let you out of these restraints if you...help get things on track in here?"

He meant their carrier ship, which they affectionately called The Condor. Piper hadn't seen much of it, but she imagined that it was in disarray, considering its residents.

Piper weighed her options. Remain tied down to a chair, having to be fed like a child and escorted to the restroom by the shy Wallop, or have a chance to roam free.

"I'll see what I can do," she said finally and the Sky Knight, Aerrow, grinned.

10.

They were a strange group.

Aerrow, the leader, seemed to be the only sane one. His companion was a strange blue creature called Radarr, which Piper soon acquired a strange love-hate emotion towards (she reached a new low when she argued with the animal about a mop).

The blond boy was Finn. His presence was large and boisterous, though he commanded a different type of attention than Piper was used to. She found he had an eye for small details and peculiarities. The shy Wallop was Junko and the last of their crew was a Merb known as Stork, who seemed to suffer from an acute case of paranoia.

" What's it like, being a Talon?" Aerrow asked her, standing at the doorway of the engine room. She steadily dropped energy crystals into the valve, wiping the drops of sweat that formed on her brow. "How did you become one?"

Piper raised her head, pausing in her work. "I was six." She shrugged, "It's not so bad, considering we're taught that crystals are stored by type, not by color." She rolled her eyes.

Aerrow was silent, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You were the Dark Ace's co-pilot...He killed my father." He said it quietly, barely audible over the hum of the engine.

"The Dark Ace has killed lots of fathers." Piper said and started, whipping her head around to face the Sky Knight. His green eyes met hers, as if urging her to say the words that balanced on her tongue. "Your father was the leader of the old Storm Hawks."

"The Dark Ace has killed lots of fathers," Aerrow repeated, furrowing his brow. He turned away from her, shoulders slumped. "I'm not special."

11.

Piper had never noticed the beauty of stars before.

She stood on the deck of the Condor, hands clasping the railing. The glowing light of the command room was behind her and in front of her was the open sky, dark and empty and lovely.

"I bet Cyclonian skies don't look like this," Aerrow said. "This is what we fight to protect and they fight to destroy." He stood beside her, shoulder not quite touching hers. A certain type of warmth radiated from him, one that Piper wasn't used to. "It's beautiful isn't it, Piper?"

In spite of herself, Piper nodded. It was beautiful, so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes. She bit her bottom lip and Aerrow pulled her into a hug. She put her head against him and let out a shuddering sigh, and then Piper began to speak.

She's a horrible, horrible person.

12.

She stole off in the middle of the night with the Wallop's Skimmer and her satchel stuffed with stolen crystals. She fought to keep the smirk from her face and odd lump that seemed to swell up in her throat.

'I thought,' Aerrow says in her head. 'I thought we were friends.'

Piper let out a laugh and turned into a shout, and turned the Skimmer to Cyclonia.

13.

"They are essentially children," Piper said, glancing up at the Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis. "They play games to train and have posters of beautiful women pinned up. They also collect crystals based on color, not use." She emptied her satchel, letting the crystals spill out before her. "Unbelievable, really."

Master Cyclonis picked up a green gem, twirling it in her fingers. "Interesting information," she said and raised a perfectly formed brow, "Considering these boys destroyed my storm engine."

"Did you become their friend?" The Dark Ace asked and Piper knew it was a trick question. She met his gaze and grinned.

"No, sir. Never."

14.

Piper dreamed that the Condor was on fire.

She dreamed that she was the one who lit the match.

15.

Their first mission since her return was to a jungle terra, known as Terra Amazonia. It harbored a vast amount of rare crystals vital to Master Cyclonis's next project.

The sweat beaded up on her forehead and neck, forming small rivulets on her skin. She wiped her brow, sitting with her back to the Dark Ace. To the side, the dense green whipped by. Piper thought she saw eyes amongst the trees.

"This is easier than I thought," Ravess said as she pulled to a halt beside the Dark Ace and Piper. She hadn't physically changed much in the years that Piper had known her, even though Piper had soon found out that Ravess wasn't the kind-hearted mother figure that Piper had painted her as. "No jungle monsters or meddling kids."

"Don't speak so soon," The Dark Ace dismounted, stepping onto the dark dirt of the forest floor. Piper heard something crunch beneath his boots. "You know the first to doubt is always the first to go." He chuckled as Piper trailed after him.

"The crystals are supposed to be stored in some type of rock," Piper informed him. "Right here in this clearing, if my calculations are correct. The coordinates line up here." She scanned the shadowed clearing, searching for any unusual forms.

The Dark Ace drew his sword, striding forward. Piper saw the earth underneath him ripple and shudder. A few loose rocks shook.

A pit of fear opened up in her stomach.

The ground burst, spewing dirt and stone everywhere. They were thrown backwards, slamming into each other. A massive, scaled beast emerged from the gaping hole with a ferocious roar.

Piper scrambled backwards as the monster gnashed its teeth, catching an unfortunate Talon in its jaws. The man screamed desperately and Piper shielded her eyes.

She heard the Dark Ace curse. "Scatter!" He shouted as he rose to his feet. "Scatter!"

Piper scattered.

Branches and underbrush whipped her face and legs, leaving stinging marks on her skin. The roar of the beast seemed to come from every angle, ringing in her ears. Her heart seemed to slam against her chest, her breath coming out in tiny, frantic pants.

The earth underneath her feet began to split and Piper felt a scream rip her throat. She forced her legs to move faster, throwing her body forward. She did not want to die today, she could not die today-

It was at that time that Piper began to believe in chance.

A pale hand closed around her forearm, hauling her into the air. She landed on warm metal and she looked up to see blond hair and twinkling blue eyes.

"Finn?"

"The hero swoops in to save the day!" He said and pulled Piper closer to him on the Skimmer. "You're a lucky kid, Piper. We got attacked by that thing, too."

She lifted her head. "Why were you here?"

Finn scratched the back of his head and grinned awkwardly. "The same reason you guys were here, I guess. Treasure hunting. Even though I came to see if there were any hot chicks."

"You're so crass," Piper shook her head as they burst through the tree canopy. The Condor hovered just above it, looking every bit as Piper remembered.

Finn skidded to a halt in the carrier's hangar. Piper rolled off of the Skimmer, putting her head in her hands. She saw dirty boots with the laces beginning to come apart.

"Piper!" Aerrow knelt down and pulled her to her feet, holding her steady.

Gaining her footing, Piper narrowed her eyes. "Really, why were you here?" She asked and Aerrow shied away. "You followed us, didn't you?"

"To be fair," Stork deadpanned from where he stood at the stairway to the higher floor of the ship, "it wasn't hard. You Talons aren't very discreet."

"Besides, friends don't leave friends behind," Aerrow said as if it was a universal rule that even Cyclonians were suppose to know, and she figured that must have been true.

Piper felt her hands tremble. "I have to get back home," she said softly. "I have to get back to the Dark Ace and the others." (If they were even alive, but Piper figured that a simple monster wasn't going to kill the Dark Ace.)

Aerrow grabbed her hands and squeezed. "Piper," he said, almost in a whisper, "That's not your home. That's not your family."

"Yeah!" Finn exclaimed. "Your home is with us."

"No...no," Piper murmured. She jerked away, taking a step back. "I'm Piper the Cyclonian, crystal specialist and Master Cyclonis's..."

Her breath was taken away.

The Dark Ace's hands wrapped around her neck and Piper would have screamed if she could breathe. She gasped and grabbed at his hands. He stood behind her on the end of the hangar and before Piper could react, he flung their bodies backward, back towards the terra beneath them.

Piper kicked in the air, beating desperately at his hands as they fell. They hit the trees hard and continued to fall through to the earth.

The Dark Ace took the brunt of the fall. He rolled, forcing Piper into the dirt and straddling her. "You insolent child! Betraying Cyclonia, the only place that would dare take in a filthy orphan like you! You owe your life to us. You were expected to become something great, something to be proud of!"

The corners of her vision began to black and fade. She felt her strength waning, her grip on the Dark Ace's hands slipping. His hands began to crush her throat.

It was at that time that Piper began to understand death.

Then, she was reminded of the red-headed Sky Knight with a grin almost like the Dark Ace's, but it was goofier and sweeter. It felt real. And it felt like home.

Piper raked her nails across his hands, gritting her teeth. She shoved against his weight, loosening his hold on her. She brought her legs up and kicked, propelling herself to her feet as the Dark Ace fell backwards. She took note of his tattered uniform and realized that he had not escaped unscathed from the monster.

"I owe you nothing!" She screamed and drew back her fist, punching the older man in the stomach. He stumbled and she took the opportunity to dig into her pocket, letting her fingers grasp the hard, smooth object. She closed her fist around it.

She slammed her hand into the Cyclonian's chest and the crystal in her hand shattered. The Dark Ace's eyes widened and he began to breathe heavily. Ice began to form on his skin, creeping up his limbs towards his chest and neck. He looked wildly at her, eyes full of hatred and fear.

The ice slid up his neck and the Dark Ace gasped for breath. " You were expected to become something to be proud of."

"We're proud."

Aerrow.

The last thing Piper remembered seeing was the Dark Ace's mouth permanently frozen in a snarl. Her vision darkened and became a tunnel before fading completely.

16.

" So you're a Storm Hawk now?" Aerrow asked as he lifted the glass of water to her lips once more. Piper figured he simply enjoyed it. "Right? You'll help us fight Cyclonis?"

Piper smiled softly. Her body still ached and according to Stork and the others, she slept for two days straight. They were somewhere in the eastern skies of the Atmos, drifting along. "Cyclonis once told me the only things she enjoyed were playing with crystals and taking over the world. My favorite things are playing with crystals and stopping Cyclonis. She also always told me to come back soon, but y'know...Cyclonia wasn't all that great anyway."

The Sky Knight watched her. "How'd you do that thing do the Dark Ace?"

"Cyclonis gave me a crystal back when we were kids. She thought it was dud, but I did research. It's a crystal activated by emotion. When I used it, I wanted nothing more than live and for it all to end. It turned the Dark Ace into ice, but I imagine he's thawed out by now."

"And he'll be back."

"He'll be back," Piper said and nodded. "And I'm not scared. After all, I'm a Storm Hawk."

The door of the room was thrown open and Finn and Junko rushed in. "Welcome to the family!" They shouted and threw themselves beside her. "Now that you're home, you can help Junko out in the engine room and now I don't have to wash my own socks."

Piper made a face. "Now that I'm home," she whispered, "now that I'm home."