Me: Sup people? and fellow werewolves, vampires, and the un-dead who may be reading this too. Now how could i forget you guys? just a little something that came to me while i was listening to "Until the End". well... i don't wanna spoil anything, so please read it, and leave a review. FLAMES ALLOWED. just don't make them too hurtful... harsh flame-based reviews mess with my requilibreum... and my werewolf aura...

Cyclonis: ...your what now?

Me: Don't question the author, please.

By the way, I don't own The Storm Hawks, though there better be more showing time on cartoon network, or a certain producer isn't gonna wake up tomorrow...

It had finally happened. Master Cyclonis had finally been captured. Everyone was celebrating. And why shouldn't they be? The cause of their suffering had finally been captured.

So why were the Storm Hawks miserable?

Well, at least one of them was.

I chuckled to myself as I sat in my cell. Well, it had happened, finally. My trial had been short and simple. A listing of all the crimes I have committed, a few old geezers stood up to talk, or throw a snide remark my way along with an accusing glint in their eye. Then of course, I was declared guilty, and sentenced to die the next morning.

Frankly, I think the whole thing was stupid and cruel. Back in Cyclonia, if you were deemed a traitor, you would be shot as soon as you walked out the door of the court room.

It was much less cruel that way. Hm... funny how Atmosia is the one claiming to be humane and good, when they made their prisoner's wallow in self-loathing awaiting their deaths. That's how I like to run things, tight and secured. I didn't like it for traitors to have a chance to escape, and walk freely around with stolen information on my forces.

And, as strange as it sounds, I didn't want them to suffer. Somewhere, in my twisted mind I suppose, I respected those who dared to infiltrate my terra. They risked a lot to protect those close to them, and I thought it was brave for them to do so. It would have pained me to see respectable people being reduced to weak, defeated shadows of the people they had once been.

So, how funny was it, that the very same thing was supposed to be happening to me now. Those pompous idiots of the Sky Council, fools to think that I would simply give up and give them the pleasure of seeing me weak and vulnerable.

That was when I decided. My last act of defiance.

I would not give them the pleasure of seeing me show the one emotion I hated myself for harboring.

Fear.

Yes, this may sound crazy, but there are only two things that I am afraid of. Being forgotten, and actually allowing myself to be afraid.

I laugh again as I find myself thinking about my fears. Yes. To put it simply, I am afraid of being afraid.

How many other people that find themselves having that fear within them, I do not know. Perhaps I am the only one. It wouldn't surprise me very much. After all, I am very different than most things in this world.

I stand up, and walk towards the window. Well, it was really just a hole in the rocks with iron bars preventing the prisoner inside from escaping. Still, I felt myself wanting to see the moon one last time before I meet my fate tomorrow.

At first, I am disappointed, because I thought it was a new moon, for I am unable to find the bright orb of white in the sky. Sighing, the smile gone from my face, I look up at the sky again, and notice an oddly-shaped cloud in the sky. A small smirk finds it's way back onto my face. The cloud reminds me of the sign of the Cyclonian Talons. My eyes soften just the slightest bit, when I see the cloud move slowly across the blue-black sky, revealing a full moon.

I always found comfort from looking at the moon, and was disappointed whenever it wasn't there. The sight of it usually calmed my nerves and helped me think. Tonight, however, only the first was done, for there was nothing for me to really think about. A light breeze blows around outside, and it makes it's way through the bars, it's cold feel flows past my face, and relaxes me. For a few seconds, I just stand there, taking in the last cool breeze I will probably ever feel.

That's when I hear the clang of the door to my cell opening and closing. I don't turn around. I think it's probably just a guard wondering why I'm not asleep.

So I get the biggest shock of my life when I hear their voice.

"I was hoping you'd be awake."

My head whips to the side and my eyes widen as I see who is standing at the other end of my cell.

Piper.

She had a small smile on her face. Not a triumphant smile, like I would have thought, but a sad, fake smile.

I turn around so I can see her more easily. A surprised expression on my face.

"Piper?"

She nods. Then she says something I never would have thought anyone would ever say to me.

"I'm sorry."

I blink, unable to answer. Such sincerity has never been aimed at me before in my life.

I guess my hatred for the Storm Hawks makes my cold facade return, as my face settles back into the emotionless mask it usually is.

"What do you want? The guards ask you to find out why I'm not sleeping? Because if they did, tell them I'm not wasting the last few hours of my life asleep."

She sighs and shakes her head.

I tilt my head to the side.

"Then why are you here?"

She doesn't answer. She just continues to stare at the cold stone floor.

I turn back to face the window and stare back out at the sky.

"Look, if you have no purpose here, I suggest you leave. The guards might wonder why you haven't come back."

If I thought I was surprised before, then what happened next shocked me beyond all belief.

I feel her hand on my shoulder, and the next thing I know, she turns me around and wraps her arms around my shoulders. She was hugging me. God, she was hugging me.

The strange thing was, I wanted to hug her back. And, if not for all the years of being enemies, I probably would have.

Why? It seemed like only yesterday I had decieved her. Ah yes. The first time I had truly met her in person, I was not Cyclonis. I was Lark.

Doesn't she remember that?

Of course she does, I tell myself. Of course she remembers that we are enemies, of course she remembers that I deceived her. Of course she remembered that I had probably destroyed all causes of unconditional trust in people she would ever have in the future. So...

"...Why?" I feel myself wondering aloud, and then I quickly shut up, and glare at the far wall, should anything else come out of my mouth involunterily.

"...Because, no matter what you may have done in the past, I'm not so naive that I know that somewhere, the girl I made friends with is still inside you."

I open my mouth again to retort.

"No matter how much you deny it."

My eyes widen the tiniest bit and I push her away, only to stare blankly at her in disbelief. Her eyes are unreadable, but her smile is real this time. I don't know how I know this, nor do I wish to know. After all, I was still the feared ruler of Cyclonia, devoid of all positive thoughts and emotions. But, I find myself thinking, no one is probably thinking that of me now.

They are all probably asleep, dreaming of how all their suffering would finally be appeased, and of how I would finally meet my end tomorrow morning.

Now I find myself thinking of my most highly-ranked officers. Snipe, Ravess, Repton, and of course, Dark Ace. Where were they all? How were they doing? Well, I knew Repton was probably fine, considering he wasn't there at the time of my capture. But, I didn't know what had become of the others. I feared they might have been killed when the sky night's and their squadrons had stormed throughout my palace. It frightened me a little, not knowing what had happened.

Ha, look at me, a cruel and fearless leader worrying over her officers when she should be thinking of a plan of escape.

"Ya know... I have to say I'm a bit disappointed."

I turn back to Piper, to see she is standing by the bed I was supposed to be asleep on.

"Huh?"

"I would have thought you would be thinking of an escape plan."

My face falls slightly, and I kind of feel guilty for a second, before shifting my gaze to the floor.

I feel her hand on my shoulder, and glance up at her, to see she is no longer smiling. In fact, she looks almost... concerned.

Hm... I guess being close to death really does bring odd experiances. So much for being emotionless for my last few hours.

"Why do you care?"

Her face falls, and I first I think I make her feel guilty, but soon see that she is just surprised. What, surprised that I don't trust her like she trusted me? This thought makes me slightly angry.

I turn away, forcing her hand off my shoulder at the same time, and fold my arms.

"How do I even know how much of this is real?"

She sighs, and I hear her walk towards the bed again.

I sigh myself, and I keep the silence as it is, for I am unwilling to be the one to break the silence. I find myself trying to figure out why Piper would be here if she wasn't telling the truth. Was she here to try and make me fall asleep? Heh, yeah right. Still, even if that was the case, I don't think Piper would sound so... real. I frown, seeing as that was the only word I come up with. I shift my gaze back to the floor.

"Why give up?"

I turn around, and am disappointed to see Piper by the door, on the other side of it. She starts to walk away, and I find myself wanting to call her back. I raise my hand, but find I am unable to say anything. I sigh once more as a cold silence settles over the cell. I sigh again, feeling depressed at the silence Piper has left me in. I had never truly felt this... alone before. Sure, I have been alone before for hours on end, but those hours had been comforting.

All the hours spent in my Cyclonian crystal lab had been a great relief from the usual problems and complaints put forth by my soldiers, and the pain of the constant failures of my plans told to me by the ones I respected.

Hey, just because I seem heartless doesn't mean I don't have my share of problems. And... it pains me when people think that. I think that's why the silence created by Piper's abscence has affected me so. She was the only person to get close to the real me. Not the other me. Master Cyclonis, empress of Cyclonia. No, she got close to the teenager I used to be before I lost all that was dear to me, before I decided to rule all of Atmosia and make them pay.

I walk over to the bed, the silence leaving me exhausted and depressed. I sit down, and was about to attempt to fall asleep, when I saw it. My eyes widened.

Now that definately wasn't there before.

There, sitting on the pillow as if it was there the whole time, was a nimbus crystal.

I gingerly picked it up. It was in mint condition, never been used.

I look back up towards the door of the cell, and find myself walking towards it. I look down both ends of the hallway, hoping that Piper was still there. She, of course, wasn't.

I look back down at the crystal sitting innocently in my hand, and then do something I thought I would never do.

I smiled. Not a sneer, not a smirk. A smile. Probably the only smile I have ever made in my miserable life. And I found myself wishing she could see it. I wonder what she would have done if she had.

I close my eyes.

"You have a point."

I think that was when I decided to live on, in order to thank her. To thank her, for the second chance.

I turned back around, and walked to the window, the crystal gripped tightly in my hand.

It looks like the moon would come in handy after all.

Me: Thx for reading, so plz leave me a review!

Piper: cuz if you don't. trust me... you'll regret it.

Me: ...she has a point...