"Piper?"

Should I go for it? Maybe start small, a compliment. While she's distracted. So she can ignore it if I'm too awkward. Or if it comes out wrong. Now, while you have her by herself.

"What's up Stork?"

"Um…I-"

Finn and Junko burst through the doors, tripping over themselves and laughing like maniacs. Well, Finn is laughing, Junko's just grinning sheepishly. They remind me so much of Torch and Bobby when they do that. I guess they really might be my friends.

"Hey Stork!" Finn hollers, brandishing a piece of paper over his head, "Why didn't you tell us that you have a girlfriend?!"

Or not.

It's bad enough that Piper is right there; I can feel her eyes boring into the back of my skull; but Aerrow and Radarr walk in just in time to hear Finn's outburst. Bad, bad, bad. If I were Greison I would just turn around and give them all a death stare that would melt their faces off. As it is, my hands and feet have been welded in place and I have lost all ability to speak.

"You have a girlfriend?" Aerrow asks, surprise evident in his voice.

Oh, there's my mouth.

"No."

"Not according to this!" says Finn gleefully, paper held high. I recognize my own handwriting. Oh no. Not that.

"Where did you get that?" I can hear the prickles in my own voice.

Now Junko speaks up, still sheepish; "We found it in your room. The skortchball went in there and knocked it over. Sorry." At least he apologized. It was probably Finn's idea to read it anyway, and to confront me with it. Junko wouldn't do that. I can't help but be mad at him though.

"I don't-"

"Ahem!" Finn clears his throat, cutting me off. "Dear Grei," I wonder which one it is. "I'm probably crazy to write letters that I know will never be mailed," oh, that one. "Especially to someone who I don't even know is still alive. But insanity has never really been an issue with you, now has it."

His smile is gone now, didn't he read this first? But he keeps going, stubborn as ever. "I've been thinking about you a lot lately; not in a miss-you kind of way though, more of an I-see-you-everywhere kind of way. When Finn does something stupid I think of how you fall off your hover board at least four thousand times a day. And when Aerrow pulls some crazy stunt for no reason except for the rush it reminds me so much of you I almost start laughing. Almost. Like we used to. Piper's smile and Junko's metal collection and Finn's air headedness and Aerrow's high-octane energy drive. I can almost imagine you crash landing on the runway and each of them instantly knowing who you are. That's just the kind of thing that happens when I'm around you. Paranoid, inventively, stubbornly yours; Stork."

They're quiet, and I can hear the Condor's engines thrumming away behind and beneath us. Finn definitely didn't read it first. It could have been a letter to my great aunt for all he knew. And here comes the question. They're all thinking it, they don't even have to ask, but Aerrow's the one who lets it fly.

"Um, Stork? Who's Grei?"

And there it is, out in the open. All eyes are on me, I can feel them. I wonder what would happen if I just didn't answer. But I have to. What do I say? How can I possibly explain all she ever was to me in the fewest words possible? Words aren't good to me.

"She was my non-sister." Non-sister? That's sounds even more pathetic than I expected it to.

"You're what?!"

"She was my sister, but we weren't related, so she was my non-sister." So that's what I meant. I must be really stupid today.

"You have sister?" Piper asks quietly. I can feel her hurt, and it cuts me deeper than anything she could have yelled. I want to curl up and die even more than I usually do when I'm around her. I'm still cemented in place though.

"I used to. I'm not sure what happened to her; I haven't seen her in over six years."

"Then why do you still write to her?" asks Junko, confused. This must be way over his head. Ill have to think about that one, it's over my head too. I still have all six years worth of letters to her. She can't read them, she can't write back; but it helps me keep this side of crazy. This side of the darkness that she sometimes slips into. I can't tell them that.

"She helps me think." Score two for stupid. Lucky for me I say it so quietly I'm not sure if they hear it or not. I hope not.

Finn pesters me with questions for the rest of the journey, none of which I answer. We're headed for some terra near Scilar for some sort of all-purpose tournament. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I'll bet Greison would love it. Maybe I should tell them that, but I don't.

With the Condor in its hammock and the rest of the team on their way down to the camp, Piper gives me one last look. I can't tell what she's thinking, but she seems pensive, almost confused. I wish I could tell her everything. Pour my heart out to her and explain why I act so strangely about everything. But I can't. Especially not now. Now that she knows part of the story, I wish I could tell her the rest.

I look off to the west. If it weren't for the clouds you could see the mountain from here. For a moment I wish I had a hover board with me. Then I could fly over and say hi to Bobby and Torch; if they're still there. I left, there's no reason to think that they didn't. It's been long enough.

Maybe this means its time to give over. To let her go. To focus on the present. On Piper. But the thought of doing something like that just makes me miss her more. I really wish Grei was here. She'd laugh and cryptically tell me what to do. She might know what to do about Piper. My head hurts; this is just too confusing for one person's brain to handle. It might make them seize up and die. I sigh.

I'll think about this later.

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Let me know if this is horrible. No, wait, don't do that! My disclaimer still holds, but putting it at the top broke up this already confusing story even more. Sorry.