This takes place right after episode 43.

It seemed that Stork had been slightly mistaken about the time for the beards to fall off. Well, he'd been mistaken about Piper's beard. It had fallen off only 24 hours after it appeared. Aerrow had awoken to the sound of the girl shriek from pain. Everyone bolted from their doors to the bathroom to find her rubbing her currently hair-free chin. It had been a little pink and sore (although Piper put it as "burning like a hundred bee-stings"), but other than that, her face was perfectly normal.

Not so much for the others. Finn had grown tired of his "dignified beard". Radarr was humiliated by his new afro. And Aerrow hated the itchy feeling of his ridiculous beard and mustache.

Only Junko wasn't complaining. Maybe that's because the look of a lumberjack seemed to suit him.

'Or maybe he's too busy eating to worry about it.' Aerrow thought bitterly as he stared out from the shade of the hangarbay roof, his feet dangling over the water several feet below him.

They had stayed on Tropica because everybody had absolutely refused to show their faces in public again until they were beard-free. Surprisingly, Stork had agreed to it, so long as he slept in his own bed on the Condor. Might as well finish the vacation they had started.

At that thought, Aerrow's chin began itching again. Groaning in irritation, he scratched, but to no avail. He growled in frustration. If only he knew how to use a razor (only the most privileged in Atmos had crystal-powered razors).

"Something the matter Aerrow?"

Aerrow turned to see Piper. Now, Aerrow was glad he had a beard, because it covered his now very red cheeks. Piper was still wearing that orange floral one-piece swimsuit. But she was now soaking wet, having come back from a swim, and her dark hair was completely limp for once. It cascaded past her face and settled past her shoulders like a curtain of night sky, minus the stars. Her face was framed by dark blue locks, making her features look even more striking. Her wet skin was shiny in the sunlight, and altogether, Piper looked…beautiful. Beautiful enough to almost make Aerrow want to pull her to him and kiss her.

Almost. There were two things stopping him: 1) He had a beard, a very itchy beard, and there was no way he would kiss Piper if he had an itchy beard. 2) He'd never kissed Piper before, or any girl for that matter.

Piper tilted her head, placing the towel she held over her shoulder.

"Um, Aerrow?" she asked.

Unintentionally, the sky knight had fallen into a daydream of kissing Piper on a sunset beach (dramatic lighting and soundtrack included, beard not included) and had been staring off into space.

"Huh? What?" he asked, her voice snapping him back to his senses.

"You were kind of staring at me." Piper said.

Aerrow winced and once again blessed his beard for covering his blush.

"Oh, uh, s-sorry." he said, awkwardly, cursing himself for stuttering.

But Piper laughed, and he felt relieved.

"So how you holding up?" she asked. "With the beard and all,"

"I'm sick and tired of it if that's what you mean." he said, frowning at the ground again.

Piper smiled knowingly, set down her towel and sat next to Aerrow, squeezing the water out of her hair as she let him rant.

"It's always so itchy, no matter what I do. And it looks utterly ridiculous! Stork says that it'll fall off in 4 days! I can't wait that long!"

"Even though it's already been 2 days since you had it?"

"No, not even then."

Piper rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just shave it off? I bet it won't grow back once you do."

"…I…I don't know how."

"How to what?"

"I don't know how to shave." Aerrow confessed.

Piper looked surprised.

"Really? The guy who learned how to pilot a skimmer by the tender age of 4 didn't learn how to get rid of undesired facial hair?" she asked, an amused smile forming on her face.

"My mother would've skinned my dad alive had he tried to teach me." Aerrow said.

Piper giggled.

"Well then, we'll just have to do things a different way." she said, standing up and flipping her towel over her shoulder again.

Aerrow gazed at her, rightly confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

But Piper completely ignored the question and headed for the door to the inside of the ship. In a few minutes, she was back. Instead of her towel, she had a pair of scissors. Aerrow's eyes widened. The last time Piper had scissors, he'd ended up getting the most ridiculous haircut ever. He was thinking of backing away when Piper handed him the scissors.

"Would you mind trimming your beard?" she asked. "There's some more stuff I need to get. Besides, it shouldn't be that hard."

She walked back inside, and Aerrow let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He could do that. He could trim his beard. The task proved a little difficult, as he didn't have a mirror. But, by the time Piper had returned, strands of red hair had fallen in the water below, and Aerrow's beard was significantly shorter. The moustache was almost gone too.

"What's that you've got?" Aerrow asked Piper.

She was carrying a bottle of a white cream-like substance, a small, thin knife, a small towel and a bassin of water.

"This," she said, holding up the bottle, "is shaving cream."

"And since when do you start keeping shaving cream on the ship?"

Piper laughed.

"It's Stork's." she said, handing it to him so he could look at it. "100% authentic, merbian shaving cream."

Aerrow grinned as he saw the label Stork had put on it. It said "This shaving cream is off-limits to anyone unless absolutely necessary".

"Let me guess," Aerrow said, grinning at Piper. "It protects against mindworms or something."

Piper shrugged.

"I don't know." she giggled. "We'll have to wait and see. Now, put some on your face."

Aerrow opened the bottle and gagged at the smell.

"Blegh!" he exclaimed. "This stuff stinks!"

Curious, Piper sniffed, then jumped back, blocking her nose.

"Uck! You're right!" she said. "But you have to put it on anyway."

The sky knight made a face, but nonetheless put some of the shaving cream on his fingers and started spreading it over his stubble. Meanwhile, Piper was dipping the razor in the basin of water, making sure it was clean.

"Okay," she said, facing Aerrow when he was done, and fighting the urge to block her nose. "Now, hold still. This is pretty sharp." she added, nodding to the razor.

She touched his face, making him turn his head to the right. Gently, carefully, she touched the cutting edge of the razor to Aerrow's left cheek, moving it slowly upwards. As she did, she held Aerrow's shoulder so that he'd stay still. Aerrow found himself immersed in Piper's scent, a combination of her damp hair, sweat and her own unique aroma. He slowly breathed it in while she moved the razor up his cheek, cutting off what remained of his beard. It was intoxicating, making him both excited and relaxed at the same time.

"Done." Piper said. "Could you turn your head the other way?"

Aerrow complied and the procedure started anew. Piper was biting her lip, hoping Aerrow wouldn't notice. She had never been this close to him before. Their noses were practically touching, and she could feel his breath tickling her cheek. She was sure she was feeling a blush forming on her face.

Did she mention that being so close to Aerrow was making her feel a little light-headed? And more than a little turned on?

Aerrow was sure that Piper had slowed down, taking her time to cut every single hair. He wasn't complaining though: he wanted her to stay here, only a few inches away. His heart was racing, especially then the girl made him tilt his head upward so she could run the blade under his jaw. She slowed down even more. Was it on purpose?

But no matter how slowly Piper did her work, the moment couldn't last forever.

"All done." she said, the disappointment evident in her voice.

She started to pull away, but Aerrow stopped her with a hand wrapped around her arm. She looked back at him. He looked slightly dazed, as though he didn't know why he'd just done that.

"Wait," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

Both were completely still, even closer than they'd been moments before. Their noses touched, their breaths mingled and turned into one. Aerrow's eyes were half-lidded as he gazed into Piper's, and he noticed her pupils flick towards his lips. They stayed still like that a moment longer, and then both headed in for the kiss.

It wasn't perfect, it took a moment to adjust the position of their inexperienced mouths, and it had been very short. But then, after both blushing and stuttering apologies, they tried again. And this time, they both melted into it.

Aerrow was amazed at the softness of Piper's lips, and at the warm feeling that spread through him at the touch. Piper unknowingly sighed into the kiss, making the hairs on the back of Aerrow's neck stand up. All of her senses seemed to have ignited and had been sent into overdrive. Her hands, resting on the floor on either side of Aerrow, moved onto his chest, roaming slowly up to his shoulders, then cupping his face as she deepened the kiss. Aerrow had to lie in a position that would've been a bit uncomfortable had the kiss not had him lost in the sheer bliss of the moment.

"Wow..." Aerrow breathed when they finally pulled away, grinning uncontrollably. "Our very first kiss..."

Piper smiled back.

"Technically, our 2nd one." she said, laughing nervously.

She blushed, and she looked so adorable that Aerrow kissed her again. It felt more natural now, but the feeling of euphoria swept through him again, just as glorious as before. As he ran his fingers into her hair, he decided to try something.

Piper's eyes fluttered in surprise when she felt Aerrow's lips part against her own and his tongue gently stroke her teeth: a permission to enter. She let out a little moan and let him in. The taste of his mouth was wonderful and she moaned again from the pleasure of it.

When they pulled away again, they smiled simultaneously.

"Maybe...Maybe we should get up now." Aerrow said.

Piper nodded and got off of him, letting him sit up and handing him the towel that had been laying nearby. Aerrow wiped the remainder of the shaving cream off of his face while the navigator cleaned the razor in the water basin.

"Thanks." Aerrow said, although he wasn't sure what he was saying thank for: the shave or the kiss.

"No problem." the girl smiled.

They sat in silence for several moments, their feet dangling over the water, their hands entwined.

"Um, Aerrow?"

The boy looked at Piper. She was nervously twirling a strand of hair around her finger and a delicate shade of pink had settled on her cheeks again.

"I was just wondering if...maybe...after that kiss...would you...consider being in a relationship with me?" she asked, glancing shyly at him.

Again, Aerrow preferred to respond with a kiss. This time, it was on her cheek.

"I'd love to." he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Piper smiled, nuzzling into his neck, holding the hand around her with her own.

"By the way," he added after a long silence. "Thanks for the shave."

"Anytime." Piper giggled.