This'll be a oneshot, so please don't ask for it to be longer. It's about Max going 'missing' for a few years and Fang finds her, waaay different from when he last met her, which was three years ago.

Spur of the moment story, you can call it.

(PS- I only looked through half of this, so this isn't probably all grammatically correct and whatnot. Sorry!)

On with it, sorry!

Three years…

Since I saw the only ones I trusted, since the last time I got to see those smiling faces of my Flock. Depressing, if you think about it, but it was for the better.

You see, the voice never really lies to us, so of course I'll listen to it, because I knew it'll help me. But this one was the most painful thing to do. No, I didn't need to leave the flock. I Chose to due to pride and stupidity.

'It' told me to never snap my wings out again. They said that's how they tracked it in the first place. Whenever they were out. I was the one leading them to us. So, as you can probably see, I'm all alone, in a forest cave, and probably stunk of forest pine or something. I left the flock- because I didn't know how to break it to them, and because I wanted to lead them with pride- except it was mainly from my wings.

All I ever do is listen to my voice talk about how my life could've been if I didn't run, come out only to hunt (I can make a fire! And roast! It took a while to learn.) and go to the bathroom. Nor have I smiled for three years, or spoke for two. I was too afraid to go out into a town, lest they were around the corner.

Now that that's over with…

I was intently listening to the voice's talk about Nudge- how she's acting as the mom, able to hack things within .2 seconds now, and is together with Iggy. Apparently it does know everything.

… and Fang's about ten feet away form the cave. It finished.

Anyone else hear what I thought it said? Did that make sense at all?

Fang? Fang. Fang!

Should I go out? Should I see him after three years? I mean, the Flock is in Wisconsin right now! I'm in the forests of Colorado, where our 'e' shaped house was at. It was pretty far. Why would he come?

He was shouting something, but I was too scared to know what. I hid. By the time he was in front of the cave mouth, I could hear him.

"Max! Max, please! Where are you!?" He shouted. How did he know I as still around!?

"Max, please…" He was talking in a normal tone now, but I could tell he was getting desperate. I scuttled a bit from the shadows- they weren't really hiding me anyways. I was invisible… haha. (a/n- Max'll explain later)

Fang turned to the direction of the noise, and started stepping towards it- towards me. I was scared as hell right now. I didn't know what to do. To say if he saw me. I couldn't move though. My body ached to feel his heartbeat whenever he embraced me comfortingly.

I was eyeing him, seeing if he could see me. I guess he could, but I couldn't tell. He froze a foot away from me, and stared straight at my freaking eyes.

"Max?" He whispered, crouching down slowly. I guess he was trying not to scare me off. My wings tightened against my back. "Max, is that you?"

What was I supposed to say? It's been three years. Three years since I've seen his smile shine on his face. I just nodded.

What was he going to do? I didn't know the Flock anymore. He stepped again. Five inches from me. Four. Two. And he did the only thing I wanted to feel. Something warm. His embrace around my body was the best feeling I've ever felt. I froze in place. Should I return it?

I did anyways.

He tightened his hold on me. I could feel him shaking. What-?

"Max…" he whispered, unable to go on. Either it was too painful, or the fact that he was crying onto my shoulder.

I hadn't spoken yet, so I tried, knowing my voice would probably be lost, or in a really rusty state. "Fang?" I croaked/whispered. Rusty, for sure.

I was about ready to burst. He was hugging me so tight…

"Max!" He said, cracking towards the end. "Your Flock has missed you." He whispered. "Max…" He wouldn't stop saying my name.

"Fang?" I said again. My voice was coming back after two years. I couldn't say anything else besides his name.

He loosened and turned his head so he was looking me dead in the eye, two inches apart, eyes brimmed with relentless tears. "Max…" He whispered. "Why'd you leave?"

I was afraid of that. But I tried speaking.

"Voice… Wings... Ran..." I couldn't speak straight. My vocabulary was lost. I kept going, er… if you called it that. "Pride…regret…years…" Did he get any of it?

"Try again." He urged, shaking my shoulders encouragingly.

"Um…" I hesitated. My vocab. Was coming back to me. "The Voice told me how they were tracking me. They were tracking me through my wings. Every time I unfurled them they'd know where we were. I didn't want to tell you, anyone, and I ran. I had pride, and I tried to hold it." I whispered. "But Look at me." I whispered.

"And…" He tried encouraging me, hugging me again and putting his head on the crook of my neck tiredly.

"I never flew since." I whispered. Fang froze considerably, but resumed breathing. "Three years of not smiling, two of not speaking." I mumbled. "I always listened to the voice and how your lives were going along without me."

"Did it tell you how miserable I was?" I shook my head. "I was hit the worst Max. Everyone could tell. I never talked unless it was an emergency, I never really interacted. Iggy was practically leading the flock. Eventually I got fed up with not knowing and went all around the country for the one person I loved." He was getting into a whisper. "You."

I already knew it, but I acted shocked to make sure he knew I wasn't dead.

"What about you?" He asked into my neck. "What has the voice said?"

"Nudge and Iggy are in a great relationship, running the Flock, and about how Angel and Gaz is growing. Not to mention how you are in the happy sense, which is nothing, and soulmates." I said, recalling everything it said in general. He looked up at me.

"Soulmates?" He asked. "Can you explain that part, please?" He was trying to be gentle, and it really helped. I tried to say everything quote on quote-ish.

"Back at Hawaii it said the same thing. Soulmates. You and I were two pieces fitting perfectly. Two halves of a heart. We would get each other's abilities, hence the reason why I'm invisible right now and you can see me." I said, 'reappearing', although nothing really happened in Fang's sight. Just the fact now the birds and things can see me.

"The voice also said that only you could find me." I mumbled. "That's why Angel couldn't get me half a year ago." He looked at me intently, probably wondering what the hell that meant. "We have tracking devices on each other literally. What was the first place you looked?" I asked.

"Here." He muttered.

"There ya go on that. It also said that if the other was near dead and one was in at least enough shape to stay alive, neither would die. Say I got my Expiration Date. You'd die with me." I frowned. He chuckled slightly. I wondered if he stopped crying yet.

"I'll say this once, and forever. I'll always want to be with you." He Whispered. "In Life or Death." I tightened my grip.

"That's it about that." Not to mention that Angel can't read our minds anymore as soon as we develop the power to read each other's. I wanted to say, but I didn't for some reason.

"Mmmm."

I had to do something first before I told him what I said two years back, I forgot how to smile literally.

"Make me cry." I said, digging my face onto any place that was closest to me, which thankfully was either Fang's back or shoulder- I was too lazy to see.

"What?" He asked, astonished.

"I haven't cried in three years, Fang. Every day I've wanted to. Please, just make me cry." I begged.

"I don't know how, Max."

"Tell me what happened to you in the three years." I suggested. He sighed.

"I don't know how you'll react to it."

"Please." I begged. Everyone knows the Max that doesn't beg. But, that Max has crumbled into a heap of ashes.

He started explaining.

"Max, that first day you went missing, for two months I spent searching, day and night. I'd only come to the rest of the Flock to eat, then set off again. Even at night, I forced to Make Iggy take all the watches or have Nudge and Gazzy takes both yours and mine." He took a breath. "Iggy got fed up with me, and forced me to stay with them after the two months. He'd beat me until I was bruised to make me stop searching."

Tears were pricking, but they wouldn't give.

"Angel said you wanted a home in Wisconsin when you were little, so I set off to get one so when I found you you'd have that little wish. I'd send everyone every six months to get you, Total even went." He laughed bitterly. "Of course, Angel went with him. But nonetheless, I was the last to come, and here you are."

"And when you weren't?" I pressed.

"I'd be sitting in my room. Thinking about what to do. Planning aswell. Eventually, Iggy and I set off to plant bombs in every single Itex branch and set them off at exactly the same time. It made an earthquake that shook the world." I remembered an earthquake a while back. "There was no trace of scientists, experiments, nothing. I knew I saved the world on that part, and I wanted to do it for you. Now you can fly without being tracked." He said, rubbing circles in my back. Yes, we were still hugging. He pulled away though, and sat against the cave wall, next to me, looking ashamed.

"I don't know what I did otherwise. All I remember is the painful throb my heart would make every time I saw your name, face, anything related to you. Even looking at birds in the sky makes it hurt. I didn't want to lose you, Max, and when you left, I broke that silent vow to stay with you to the very end. I broke the promise I made to you that I'd never leave, too. And when I finally realized that, the Fang you knew me as vanished. I went deeper into myself. I was completely quiet. Nobody knew I was there. When someone said hi to me when I walked down the streets, when girls flirted, I just walked away."

(Still explaining) "And when I was home, every night I cried." He whispered. "Every night."

That made me cry. I never knew Fang to cry. And knowing that I was the one that made him, it felt awful. The tears finally broke through, and I clung to Fang, soaking his shoulder. He just rubbed my back comfortingly.

"Let it out." He whispered. And I did.

(five minute interlude music)

I stopped, but didn't let go. I wanted to say three words. But I had to explain something. I had---

"Max, what did you say last?" He asked out of nowhere. I lossened my tight grip on his shirt, and looked up at him, wiping my stray tears away.

"I said 'I'll never stop loving you, Fang.'."

"Wha?"

"Fang, I need to tell you something." I didn't acknowledge the question.

"What is it, Max?"

"I…I…" I didn't know how to bring it up.

"You..?"

"I don't know how to smile anymore." I whispered as fast as I can. Fang looked at me funny. (I was looking up at him.)

"Why not?"

"Because there was never any reason to smile."

"Let me try, then." What did he mean? "I'll give you a reason." He took my hand, stood up, and dragged me to the end of the cave (there was a five foot fall). He jumped up as high as he could, and unfurled his large wings. They grew from a measly fourteen to a seventeen at least (A/N: I can't remember the real sizes, so please pretend it is). He brought me with him, pressing me into his body, and soared over the trees without any effort. I haven't seen the tops of trees in forever, and it made me gasp seeing the clear blue sky fully and the tops of trees under me. Maybe I could smile again.

"Max, can you fly?" He asked, turning me so I was facing him. I shrugged nonchalantly. "Try." He urged. "Bring them out and let me see them."

I tried, and succeeded. They were freed from my tight hold.

But it was painful. I hissed and buried my face on the crook of his neck. "Just flap until it's gone." He instructed. I flapped, slowly.

It did subside, and I looked down at my wings. They were surprisingly clean and tidy. I wanted to fly now, but I was afraid. Afraid of falling.

He let me go, nonetheless. I flapped, but couldn't get a drift. The trees were closing, and I felt something.

Remember, one can't live without the other. Fly. The voice said.

And almost instantly, I flew.

As if my wings knew what to do. I flapped up to Fang, and smiled. I really did smile. He smiled back. I started singing a song I remembered a long time ago. (Part of it)

"There's only one thing,
Two do.
Three words.
For youuu…
I love you." I whispered, looking at him. He smiled back, and repeated the verse, leading us down into a beautiful meadow filled with green grass and yellow flowers. There was a small pond thing in the middle, and we landed right by it, looking at it. He took my hand, and asked me the question I would surely agree to now.

"Wanna go home, with the Flock, with me?"

"More than anything, as long as you're with me." I whispered. He kissed me sweetly for a short second, and said,

"Kimi o ai shiteru"

I don't know Japanese that much, sorry! And if you don't get this, it was pretty much random, so sorry if it disappoints you or makes you on the verge of crying. It was NOT for the purpose of making anyone cry, just adding some sense of feeling into the text. If anyone knows the song I put in there, cookies for you!

Until next time,

Fang.