I completely love this piece... its so... lovely!

Memories of intertwined pasts

Aerrow sat on the edge of the runway, the slow day creeping by as slow as possible. His legs were dangling off the side of the ship, an album in his hands. The wind was warm and almost lulling. It made him want to sleep. The red head flipped through the pages, stopping once in a while to marvel some memories. He stopped at a picture of their last trip to Tropica. Stork had taken the picture. Finn could be seen near the back, being hit on the head with a volleyball by a brunette girl, who looked pretty mad. Aerrow and Piper were laughing close to the front, one of Aerrow's arms on her shoulder. Her hair was down for once, and it flowed down lower than where his hand rested in a feminine manner.

He moved onto another page, and smiled broadly. Radarr's last birthday. The creature sat above his destroyed cake, stuffing his face. Stork was in the back, seemingly running for his life. Finn was in the other corner, a huge piece of cake aimed for the Merb. Aerrow was shoving some cake in Pipers' face, her mouth open in a silent shriek. A bit of cake was in her hand which was against his arm. The picture even had a dot of frosting in the top corner.

He glanced down below and there was an old picture: it was yellowish with age, and somewhat crinkled. Finn, Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr sat next to each other, looking about eight. Piper's grin was defiantly noticeable, and she had her hands in front of her, holding down her navy blue sundress. Finn was giving his signature hand motion, two little hands drawn like a deputy. Aerrow was ruffling Radarr's fur, his white t-shirt grass stained. Looking closer, Piper and Finn's apparel were also adorned with grass stains. He remembered that they had been rolling down the hill in the background of the photo.

"Aerrow?" A females' voice rang out.

He swiveled his head around, green eyes resting on Piper. Now fifteen, her eyes had gained more depth somehow to him... maybe through experience. Those orange eyes locked onto him as she made her way to the end of the runway. Settling next to him, she grabbed one side of the album, smiling wide as she looked over the three photos he had just been looking at.

"Who took this picture?" asked Piper, her tan finger resting on the old one of the three of them as children.

"I think it was my mom." Aerrow guessed, trying to remember. She placed one of her hands on his face, making his face fall from its concentrated wrinkle.

"It was. I can still see the twinkle in her eye." Piper flipped to the next page, but still could feel his intense eyes on her. "What?"

"You can remember my mom so clearly?"

"Of course. And I always remember..." She blushed. "That look she would give us, her eyes twinkling with a happy laughter. I never forgot it."

"It like she saw what we would become." He finished, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Piper snuggled into his form, and they turned to the page she had flipped to.

Piper's hair tickled his face, and he rubbed his cheek against the black silky locks. The couple's minds jolted and Piper gasped in surprise.

"You kept this?!" She cried. He laughed.

"Of course." Aerrow rubbed his nose against hers, then gazed back at the picture.

Finn had taken this one, no doubt. It showed the two of them on the runway of the Condor, Piper trying to aim Finn's sharpshooter device. Aerrow's arms were wrapped around her, holding her hands to try to help her aim. Their faces were flushed, Piper's pink cheeks contrasting from her dark skin. Junko was in the back, stifling a laugh.

"I can't believe you! Finn got so much mileage out of this!" Piper ran her hand over the picture, blushing herself.

"Don't blame Finn; it was my idea to take the picture." Aerrow whispered in her ear. She only turned her head back to him, blushing more.

"Aerrow!"

Aerrow smiled wider, the devious grin covering his face. Piper could say no more as he kissed her deeply, but she yanked away.

"A kiss isn't going to get me to forgive you, Aerrow." declared the girl. Aerrow only pulled her head back to his and claimed her lips once more. And this time, she didn't pull away. "But it'll get you pretty close." She breathed out when they parted.

"Do you remember this one?" He said as she looked down at the album.

It was an older photo, but not that old. They looked about ten, and showed Junko and Finn running after Piper and Aerrow. Younger Piper's wrist was in the red head's grasp, and a blue flag in his other. Finn was reaching out for the two, Junko just smiling in the festivities.

"Oh! Capture the flag!" She finally exclaimed.

"Yeah... Finn barely ever won."

They laughed with that statement.

Piper cooed at the next picture, and Aerrow smiled sweetly.

Piper was in a beautiful dress, from only about a year ago. Aerrow was at her side in formal wear also, Stork and Junko in the back. Radarr sat on the Sky Knight's shoulders. But what caught Piper's eye was the light tint of red on their cheeks, especially Aerrow's. She turned to him with a smirk on her face, pointing to his blush.

"You were beautiful." he shot back with, light pink coming to his face as he recalled just how beautiful.

"Do you have the picture of... oh, never mind." Piper tried to turn to the next page, but Aerrow's hand caught hers.

"Of what?"

She finally spoke up. "Our kiss on the bridge last Christmas. Finn took it without telling us."

Aerrow pushed forward a couple pages, and revealed a relatively new photo. Aerrow and Piper's forms were nearly shadows, but their faces were turned sideways, clearly meeting at the lips. The snow was flying in torrents outside the window, and a string of Christmas lights ran along the top of the metal framed window. The end of mistletoe was hanging above their heads.

"I think I remember that kiss well. Finn made you so mad you nearly threw him out of the window without a parachute." Aerrow chuckled.

"Really?" She smiled slyly, "I can't remember how it went..."

"Would you like to get a refresher?" He asked. Piper only leaned in to him, and they met with another kiss. He grabbed the back of her head, twisting his fingers into her hair. Aerrow tipped her head upwards even more, and Piper gasped in their kiss. His lips were full of an energy that made her shoulders buckle backwards. Aerrow placed the album next to him on the deck, making sure it wouldn't fall off. Grasping her head with his other hand, she was pulled as close to him as humanly possible. Piper ran her hands down his arms, and then pulled them up to his lower collar. She gripped at his shirt tightly, and opened her eyes in surprise when he pushed forward, her back finally meeting the runway. Aerrow was on top of her when he released her head and put his hands on the floor space on either side of her. Suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck and dug her fingers into his hair. He pulled up a bit to catch his breath.

"Piper..." Aerrow gasped out, the sensation of her slender fingers raking through his hair nearly driving him crazy. She kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Yes?" She replied teasingly, in a whisper to make him listen. It only made him scowl because of the power she had over him.

Their faces were red, and Piper's hair was a bit of a mess. Aerrow sat there, hanging over her. Piper dropped her hands from his hair, enjoying the light kisses he placed on her lips. Then he stopped. The only sound was the warm wind rushing in her ears. She finally grew impatient.

"Aerrow?" She said to him.

"Hmm?"

"Uhh... could you get off me...please?" Piper meekly finished. Aerrow only smiled and lowered himself down closer to prop himself on his elbows. Piper sent him a playful look.

"You need to be more forceful than that." he whispered.

"All right."

Keeping one of her arms around him, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Their proximity remained the same to Aerrow's delight. Those God damn eyes... He thought, watching her orange eyes flicker with a fire that burned within her. This flicker was heightened with the glow of the color bursting sunset. Longing built up within the Sky Knight.

"Aerrow?" Her voice was almost lost in the breeze. They bent forward, closing their eyes. Her heart was suddenly racing, like it had when they first kissed. His green eyes were just so dear to her...

"Piper..." Her name fluttered out of his lips.

A white flash made them freeze and Piper let out a whine. Aerrow turned, but Piper's eyes remained closed.

"If it's Finn, tell him to start running." She groaned.

"Radarr..." Aerrow started, but then noticed something his co-pilot was waving in the air. "What is it?" Aerrow shifted his weight, Piper sitting more comfortably beside the red head. The little creature didn't notice how flushed the couple was, but seemed very happy about what he had. Aerrow took it from him and Piper leaned in close.

"Oh, Radarr..." She cooed.

The moment, captured so very nicely by Radarr, was of the almost kiss that both had longed for so badly. Aerrow noticed the blazing sunset that had glimmered in her eyes all around the two. A light gleam was shining from Piper's necklace, lighting up their faces. Piper looked at Radarr, and saw the camera hanging on his neck. Aerrow grabbed for the album, flipping for an empty slot. The last page. Piper grabbed the picture from Aerrow and slid it in the last slot. Aerrow took the pen he was using to mark pages and tried to think of something to write. She leaned her head on his shoulder, Radarr standing by Aerrow's side. The sky knight felt his heart beat within him, the two most important people right nearby him. But with all this comfort, he couldn't think of anything to write beside this photo. Piper noticed this. She asked for the pen and began to write a simple sentence:

Love is what makes the days brighter, but shines brightest when we are together. 8/19

"It's what kept me going." Piper said to Aerrow after setting the pen down. "You are what kept me going."

He could've cried then. All their struggles, their sorrows, their victories, laughs, memories... She had reached out to him and completely stole his heart. No one had ever, or could ever, be loved by him the way he loved her. Piper's heartfelt smile showed him that he meant the same, maybe even more, to her. Aerrow closed the book and kissed her once more, letting the album be grabbed by Radarr. Her lips were so inviting as always to him, yet poured out with an emotion that could never truly be put into words. They pulled away from each other.

Piper blinked and a tear fell down her soft face. His rough skinned hands wiped it away, and locked their eyes. Piper marveled his handsome face and green eyes, which could never be described in her own words. For an endless amount of time the two just sat there, gazing at one another. Radarr was gently flipping through the pages when Finn raced out onto the runway. Piper looked up, and Aerrow only turned his eyes.

"Hey, sorry to bug ya, but have you seen my camera, I think it was-" Finn stopped. Radarr shifted his eyes from the camera on his neck and back to Finn a couple times. Then he ran.

"RADARR! No, stop. I need my camera!! I'll kill you!" Finn bolted after the creature, which was running for his life. Finn's voice faded after the two disappeared into the Condor.

Aerrow placed his hand on the album, and turned out to the sunset. Piper's eyes followed and they looked outwards, the sun fading for the two whose pasts were intertwined... and so were their futures.