Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox...

Memory Lane

"If home is where the heart is, my home isn't here"

Safari's area had gone downhill since Falco had lived on Avion; the once clean streets were now covered in vile graffiti, middle-class kids with nothing better to do, and the money to spend on paint, drugs and alcohol. Falco had been middle-class back then, it always seemed to be those families that went wrong the most, but then he'd dropped right off the bottom of the social ladder. He gazed down the street that seemed greyer, darker and much dirtier than he remembered. The apartments that stood against the road he walked down seemed to be falling slowly into disrepair. Falco again looked down the length of the street... he could remember playing games with Safari and their other friends on that road. When he closed his eyes he could almost hear the sound of her laughter as she watched him attempt to skip with her girl friends, and fail miserably. He could see her smiling face framed behind by the trees that adorned the small communal greens in front of the flats, the sun shinning brightly down on them, the colours in his memories seemed so much brighter than the place was now, Falco was sure he couldn't entirely put that down to the weather. He put his hand against the wet bark of one of the trees, it was bigger than he remembered. He could recall falling out of that tree when one of its slender branches broke under his weight. The tree was taller, its limbs thicker now, but all its lower boughs were gone, and Falco couldn't shake the sensation that all the trees were dying.

Falco ran his hand up the smooth metal rail on the side of the stairs; he remembered chasing Safari up these stairs, the sound of their pounding feet beat in his ears, again the sound of her laughter. He climbed the steps slowly, replaying his memories over and over in his mind, revelling in the ones he thought he'd forgotten, and the ones he hadn't dared touch for so long.

Even the inside of the building seemed to be falling apart, Falco tried to just put it down to age, it had been a long time since he'd been here. Yet the graffiti on the once sparkling white walls told him the area was not what it once was. Falco was surprised to see the Avion text, he didn't think anyone used it anymore, schools had found it easier to adopt the Lylat alphabet along with the language. The Avion language proved too complicated to be practical in a Federation that grew faster and faster with every passing year. Thanks to his father however Falco could read, write and speak it. In this case he wished he couldn't, none of the text was nice, most of it commented on the sexual habits of the building's occupants. Even with the people here using Avion Falco knew he was part of a dying kind, and personally he couldn't wait to see it gone, if Avion lost its language maybe some of its old prejudices would go with it. Even so Falco knew he still dreamt in Avion, which was in some ways a good thing, he didn't want anyone to risk catching wind of some of the places his subconscious mind was taking him now... when he screamed it was in Avion.

Staring up at the brass number nine on the door Falco began to doubt for the first time, what if Safari didn't remember him, or worse had come to hate him for abandoning her, maybe she did hate him, she hadn't answered his calls for so long... Maybe his visit wouldn't be welcome. Even if it was Falco didn't know what he would say, he wasn't sure how they would react to each other after all this time, Falco sighed, even six years later he was no closer to fulfilling his promise to her, he still couldn't give her her wings. As his doubts threatened to overwhelm him Falco finally made his hand knock on the door. He had to know...

Falco could hear noise inside the house for a little while. Mildly he wondered if it was too early, yet he couldn't possibly have gotten away from the ship any later, Peppy would have stopped him with all the wrong questions. Finally the door opened. Falco looked at a strange Avion woman who held a tea-towel drying a breakfast dish in her hands.

"Yes?" She said looking Falco up and down briefly. His heart sank.
"Do the Alianns still live here?" How could he have been so stupid, Safari must have moved, but why hadn't she told him? Now standing on the threshold of the house Falco felt very stupid.
"No dear, we bought this house almost 3 years ago" The woman seemed sympathetic enough, Falco was relieved.
"Do you know where they went?" he asked helplessly.
"Not really, I'm sorry; I think they said they were moving to Faresfva, but I can't really be sure"
Falco sighed, his hope deflating miserably.
"Thanks anyway" he tried to smile politely at the woman "Sorry to disturb you, Goodbye" Falco turned and started to walk down the stairs.
"Goodbye" She called as she closed the door.

Falco couldn't help feeling disappointed as he slowly descended the stairs, he tried to ignore the tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He didn't want to believe that Safari had stepped out of his life, he had promised he would see her again, he'd always written to her, but after a while she stopped responding. Falco was afraid he would never see her again. Sure he could search for her on the Faresfva database but in a city of more than a billion citizens it was likely she would share her name with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of others. Even then he couldn't be sure that that was where they had gone. Falco sighed sadly to himself, his chances of finding her were now 6 billion to 1. Falco sighed and wondered if Safari wanted to be found. His address hadn't changed, Falco knew in his heart that now if they were ever likely to meet again it would have to be a huge stroke of luck, or she would have to come to him.

He stepped back out into the grey morning; the air had a damp chill to it. It brought back all the wrong memories, all the worst ones. He had only one more place to go...

The lake was quiet. Small waves crunched up the gravely shore. Falco felt sick being back here. Things hadn't changed much; the place still felt the same. As he walked, listening to the quiet splash of the lake he tried to kid himself that things were different, but deep down inside he knew what he would find when he reached the bridge. He paused to look out over the lake, at the familiar Avion backdrop. There were a few more houses around the shoreline, but for that Falco could have been eight again. Avion was as stuck in the past as anywhere. The sky seemed to be just the same as it was the last time he'd stood on this shore. Thick, heavy, casting long grey shadows, making the lake look cold. But the last time Falco had stood here he'd been with Jedd. The weather had always been like this then; Falco had chosen the middle of winter to become homeless...

Falco had never really regretted his time on the streets, at least, not in the ways you might expect. It had woken him up to the cold reality of life, shown him that the world is scary and dark if you find yourself in the wrong place. He'd learnt to avoid those places, lest he wished to meet his demise. He'd found out the hard way where all the girls went every night, and so where some of the money they used to feed themselves came from. After that he'd never worried about stealing again. On the streets Falco had first found sarcasm, his trustworthy and loyal friend for many years, until he was sure Peppy wasn't going to be a repeat of his father, besides, it always got on Fox's nerves.

But that was six years ago now, and things had changed, and were still changing, at a rate Falco could barely keep up with. They said these years were difficult for everyone, but Falco had the strongest impression that most people didn't have the problems he had now, but they also said every teenager thought they were alone.

He kicked a grey stone into the smooth waters of the lake. It landed with a "plop" then disappeared beneath the surface. He started to walk back along the beach, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The yellow grey stones crunched beneath his boots. Cars ran along the road on the edge of the shore. To his right the gravel backed up a few meters until it met the hard grey wall of the flood defences. On top of that the road, and beyond that high rise buildings, not the best, but certainly not the worst. Some of them were wearing and in need of some repairs, but most still had curtains in their windows and locks on their doors. The worst buildings had been on the other side of town, if they hadn't been pulled down since then.

Falco knew he would get in trouble if Peppy found him here. Over any other planet he would have been grounded for what he'd done, but Falco knew Peppy still hoped he would visit his parents. "If only he knew" Falco sighed to himself. He really should tell him what happened... maybe someday. He'd nearly told him lots of times, but the words had caught in his throat at the last moment. He'd been in trouble for refusing to go to the post mission celebrations on the surface. He'd given no explanation and of course that hadn't gone down too well. Falco wasn't sure of the excuses that had been made on his behalf, he didn't care. Avion had abandoned him and he had no wish to spend any more time there than absolutely necessary, given the choice he wouldn't have taken the mission, but they had to go where the money was, and he couldn't leave the team to deal with it. He paused to bend and pick up one of the pebbles from the shoreline. It was smooth and damp, he fingered it thoughtfully for a while before turning and flinging it into the surf. A big part of him didn't want to see the bridge, until he saw it he could still keep up the pretence that he might have been wrong, and that things had changed, maybe the StreetRunner had been given help...

The bridge Falco had called home for one of the longest months of his life came into view. Nothing had changed. The StreetRunner still sat below it in their little shanty village. Falco felt sick again as he looked at the huddled forms under the bridge. The thought that Jedd and Altayu could still be here six years later filled him with sorrow. Avion hadn't changed - the culture, the society, or its people, everything was just the same, and it was that that made him so angry. The mission had been simple enough, some trade dispute Falco hadn't really understood, interplanetary relations had never been very good on Avion, some world had spontaneously declared war on them, and as always the Star Fox team had been called in to tidy up the mess. Peppy would probably think Falco had returned home when he found his Arwing gone from the docking bay. Not likely, but the lie served to cover the things he would rather remained hidden.

Cautiously he walked up to the group of Avion children living in the filth under the bridge. He was afraid, they might not be too willing to receive a "rich kid" prying amongst their ranks. A few faces looked up at him, most scowling, others just showing mild distaste. Cautiously Falco spoke.
"Err... Could you help me out, I'm looking for a few old friends. Altayu Marr and Jeddah Reeves, they used to run with this pack, but it was years ago now"
"Why would you be looking for them RichRunner?"
"They were my friends! I wanted to come and see if they were still here, or if any of you could tell me where they might be."
"We haven't seen them around here for a long time" A girl said looking up at him curiously "I think I remember you-....RedEye!" Falco flinched "Lom... Lomb... something like that wasn't it?"
"Lombardi"
"That's it!... You were shorter then... and so was I" She said looking at him sadly.
Falco sighed "Have you seen one by the name of Safari Aliann?" It was worth a try, though he hoped with all his heart she wouldn't have ended up here.
"No. Never heard of anyone by that name"
"Never mind" Falco said, relieved and disappointed all at the same time.
"Reeves used to lead this group, but then they disappeared. I lead now."
A tall Avion, maybe a little older than Falco stood up and reached out his hand. He shook it.
"I'm sorry we can't help you find your old friends, I remember when Reeves led, those were good times for us. The police left us alone mostly while he was in command. I'm afraid I don't remember you Lombardi"
"Call me Falco, Jedd always used to"
"Falco Lombardi..." A new voice commented "I know I've heard that name before... on the news"
Falco backed away slightly. He'd brought his blaster, just in case things didn't go quite as he'd planned.
"Err... Well, I got around a bit..." He tried to cover.
"Star Fox!" Another voice called, younger. Falco locked his eyes on him. Then scanned the group judging the reaction.
"It can't be, he's too young, and Star Fox wouldn't be seen dead with people like us"
Falco didn't immediately defend the team, no-one knew about this part of his history. He'd been warned not to talk about it by his mother in case it gave the wrong impression. He hoped Peppy was better than that, but everyone could jump to conclusions.
"I'm not so sure. McCloud can't be much older than him"
"Why not?"
"Do the maths Roy!"
Falco put his hand into his pocket and drew out a small canvas bag. He turned to the leader of the StreetRunner.
"Here" he put the bag in his hand and curled his fingers round it with his hand "buy the little ones some food, and keep the girls home for a few nights ok?"
The lead Avion stared at him, then opened the bag.
"Whoa!!! RichRunner!!!" he looked from the bag to Falco and back again "This must be a year's wages!!"
Falco sighed, four weeks being a hired killer could earn you that. He didn't like to think of it in lives...
"Take it. I don't need it, I have a home to go back to"
"I'm Idan" he reached out and took hold of Falco's wrist "on behalf of everyone present I thank you. Fly Forever Falco Lombardi"
"Run Swift, Run Free Idan"
With that Falco backed away slowly, then turned and ran.

Falco listened to his feet beat against the gravel, he remembered running from dogs, the police, people he'd stolen from. The stones moved under him so he nearly fell. Screaming he kicked at the rocks.

"It's not fair!" He shouted at the surf, tears again pricking at the back of his eyes "It's not fair! They don't deserve to have to live like that!" he kicked violently at the stones. This was it, his last ties to Avion were severed, lost into the depths of the Federation... eight years of life... had only given him three true friends, and now he'd lost even them. He didn't ever have to come back again; there was absolutely nothing for him here now... The thought of that gave him surprising peace, he was suddenly content just to look out on the tranquil lake, trying to memorise the way the waves gently rippled in the wind, the smell of the air, the sounds of the city, because he knew he would never see it again. For the first time Falco felt at peace on Avion, the burning for the sky that had plagued his childhood, as he fell victim to the "Wanderer's Disease" wasn't there now because he knew with Star Fox he could fly whenever he liked. Falco sank down onto the pebbles, and for the first time in years looked at the world of his birth with something other than burning hatred, he didn't hate Avion anymore because he knew he was leaving and never coming back...

The waves splashed slowly up the beach, Falco flicked the occasional rock into them, as his mind drifted he finally allowed it to return to his home, his family, the people he had barely so much as spoken to in 6 years. Falco didn't care much what had become of his father, but he hoped his mother was safe and happy. Falco knew he had put a strain on his parent's relationship, maybe it was better he stayed out of their lives. Falco knew he couldn't go back; he was scared he wouldn't be able to hold back his fists from his father; he'd fought in too many battles now to be afraid of someone like him. Besides, if his family had really wanted him he they would never have sent him to join Star Fox, and his father would certainly never have done the things he did.

He was surprised to feel tears in his eyes as he prepared his Arwing to leave. In the distance he could just see the lake, sparkling grey in the early sunshine between the high rise buildings. Falco looked to his left as he pulled his Arwing up, parked next to him was a dark green personal transport... the same model as his father used to drive. He wondered what he would have done if he'd seen an Arwing marked with Star Fox colours... if he would have even noticed it... Falco could hold back the tears no longer as he pulled away from the ground. The skyscrapers swam in his vision as he pulled away from Avion soil for the last time...

The skies above Malcapay were almost empty. Falco flew slowly along, looking down on it. The vast city stretched from horizon to horizon, in his youth he'd known exactly how big it was, he didn't care to remember now. He gazed at one of the less densely populated areas, the leafy suburbs, so to speak, where his house used to be... he didn't like to look too hard.

He flew on, over miles and miles of city stretched out below him, then in the far distance he spotted the plains, yellow grey under the heavy sky, arid, cracked with the shifting of the planet's ancient heart. Soon enough the city passed away below him and receded into the dust. The sky of Avion had always seemed bigger somehow than on any other planet... to Falco everything evolution or God, whatever you believed had made his race give up. The sky... his chest burned for it again. With the Wanderer's Disease, such as he hadn't felt since he'd been a child, trapped under his father's roof... He'd only seen the plains once before, that day the sky had been clear... and so vast, eternal... bigger than that of any other world he'd seen since, intoxicating, calling to him with a voice he couldn't ignore... it was cruel to keep hawks in cages... longing for the sky he pulled up. His Arwing raced for the heights, towards the heavy blanket of cloud, his lungs burning for flight like they would for air underwater... Wet streaks ran along his cockpit as he climbed through cloud, then glorious sunlight sparkled into his cockpit, warm, bright. Falco drew breath; he somersaulted above the clouds, for freedom, for flight, for the sky! How could anyone say Avions didn't belong here? He looked down on the tops of the fluffy white clouds... the tops! Remembering the first ever flight he'd made in an Arwing... under Peppy's care...

Falco drew away from the planet. The blue of the sky, the Avion atmosphere faded to purple then black and Falco saw stars and then his real home, Great Fox shinning silver in the distance. He would dock and Peppy would welcome him... Home.

Falco found his way to the Common room; Fox, Slippy and Peppy were there... his family... where he really belonged...
"Where were you?" Peppy asked.
"Just visiting a few of my old haunts..."