Hey guys. Sorry about the hiatus, but now I'm back. Please enjoy the chapter!-bp
Aerrow was shocked that there was no retribution from Starling, or the rest of the Council, for leaving Terra Atmosia so suddenly. Starling had radioed him early the next morning, but it was simply, as she put it, to make sure they hadn't disappeared to the Far Side again. After that, the Storm Hawks had been left alone. Weather people had been ordered to do so, or everyone was falling back into old habits, Aerrow didn't know. He enjoyed the idea of old habits though. Even old routines were coming back on the Condor, despite being ten years out of practice. Everything had become more relaxed. Even a small skirmish with seven Screamers, when they had suddenly risen out of the Wastelands, hadn't raised the tension. The team had beaten them easily, sending the flying chariots back under the cloud line.
The new terras that had been on Piper's map had turned out to be a maze of plateaus, rivers, and waterfalls, which caused a fine mist to wash over everything. Radarr had discovered an underground series of rivers and waterfalls that had carved tunnels so smooth, they could be used as slides. He and Aerrow had spent hours rocketing at high speeds through them, to be deposited into various pools on different levels. Piper had found a crystal that was embedded under tree roots, and had set up an outdoor lab to further discover their properties. Junko had started with helping her, but had found that berries that grew on the trees were, as he put it, deliciously sour. Finn had to fix his skimmer, as the wing was busted in the skirmish with the screamers, but he was at least able to work outside and in the sun. Stork, claiming that the mist was actually toxic brain spores, elected to stay in the Condor.
Piper delicately touched a laser to the tip of the pale green crystal, attempting to remove a smaller piece so that she could grind it down to powder. She had almost cut all the way through when Radarr suddenly came rocketing down a waterfall and landing in the pool next to her. Piper flipped up her goggles to glare at the little creature. Radarr shook water out of his ears and grinned at her, a little bashfully. A wild whoop came from above as Aerrow shot out from another waterfall. Radarr flailed madly as he tried to get out of the way, but to no avail. Aerrow crashed on top of him, and caused a wave of water to splash over Piper's feet. Piper shrieked, leaping away from the chill that soaked into her boots and landing on a low tree branch. Radarr exploded from under the surface, chirping furiously. He bounded up onto a rock, and shook himself again, glaring at the point where bubbles were breaking the surface of the water. Aerrow's head slowly broke the surface of the water. He grinned when he saw Radarr clutching the rock and glaring at him.
"What?" He asked innocently.
"I'll tell you what!" Piper's irate voice sounded behind him. Aerrow turned, and his grinned widened when he saw Piper sitting in a tree. "Here I am," she continued "working peacefully, on a delicate crystal powdering procedure with an unknown crystal, and you and Radarr…" At this Radarr chirped indignantly. Piper corrected herself. "Sorry Radarr. Okay, just you Aerrow. You're breaking my concentration with your splashing and yelling and general fooling around!" Aerrow swam towards her, grinning.
"Sorry Piper. Here, let me help you out of that tree." Piper waved him away.
"I don't need any help, thank you very much. Gah! What are you doing?" Aerrow had reached up from underneath her and had grabbed her ankle. "Aerrow, No!" Piper could only manage a small shriek before Aerrow pulled her off the tree branch and into the water. They tumbled over each other, Piper struggling to break free from Aerrow's strong grip around her waist. Upon breaking the surface, she immediately started to viciously splash him. "Why would you do that? I was in the middle of a delicate procedure, and now I'm going to have to get changed because I'm soaked, so I'm going to have to restart everything and it's all because you and your completely childish notions!" Aerrow simply laughed, and started splashing back.
"Take it easy Piper! You looked like you could use a break. There's something I want to-" he was cut off by a particularly large wave of water hitting him across the face. He spluttered, spitting out water. Piper giggled.
"Serves you right for pulling me in." She resisted the urge to childishly stick her tongue out at him. Instead of retaliating, Aerrow held out his hand to her.
"Come on. I want to show you something." Piper took his hand and he guided her through the water, towards one of the tunnels that he had been using as a water slide. Piper froze.
"Are we going down there?" she asked, eyeing the dark tunnel. Aerrow squeezed her hand.
"It'll be okay." He said, his voice soft. "I'm here." Piper forced herself to take another step toward, but froze again. Aerrow noticed she was shaking. He immediately pulled her into a hug. Piper buried her face into his shoulder. "I'm sorry." He whispered. They stood like that for a few minutes, still waist deep in the little pool. Piper then took a deep breath.
"No, I'm sorry." She said into his shoulder. She gave herself a little shake, and pulled away from the embrace, her voice stronger. "I don't want to live with… this for the rest of my life." She grabbed Aerrow's hand again. "Let's go down." Aerrow paused.
"Piper, you don't have to do this. I shouldn't have suggested it. I wasn't thinking." Piper moved toward the slide again, pulling Aerrow behind her.
"Don't try to change my mind Aerrow. I want to see what you wanted to show me." She let Aerrow climb on in front of her, then sat down behind him, arms firmly around his torso.
"Not afraid of the dark girl? Let's see if we can change that." The voice came unbidden into her mind. Aerrow felt her stiffen behind him, and turned to face her.
"We really don't have to do this. It's not that interesting anyway." Piper didn't respond, but pushed them both down the slide. They immediately started hurtling down the tunnel. Aerrow resisted the urge to whoop at the sudden burst of speed. He instead focused on the pair of arms that were wrapped around him, and the woman they were attached to. Piper was clinging to him, her breath coming out in hitches whenever they made a turn. The two of them were going faster and faster, until they suddenly shot out into a pool. They must have been in a cave of some sort because the pool around them was completely dark. It was too much. Piper closed her eyes and felt a scream welling up inside her chest. A pair of hands clasped her face, and a voice cut into the fog of fear that was clouding her mind.
"Piper, it's okay, open your eyes. You're all right. I'm here. Just open your eyes and see." Piper, against her better judgment, opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was slowly filled with a pair of worried green eyes. Wait… she could see.
Aerrow watched her as she took stock of her surroundings, hoping that she would enjoy his find, and that it was worth sliding through hell for. They were indeed in a cave, standing up to their waists in water again. The cave was lit by tendrils of crystals that spread up the walls like spider webs. The soft blue light was reflected in the water, then back up in Piper's wide eyes. She looked back at him, and a smile broke across her face.
"Oh Aerrow," she breathed. "it's beautiful. They're like the crystals in the tree. This whole terra could be veined with crystals, like they're what's giving it life!" Her excited golden eyes met his green. They were so close, he could count her eye lashes. Her excitement at the discovery was practically making her glow. He smiled with her.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"It's amazing! Aerrow, this is one of the most beautiful things I've seen!" Aerrow couldn't help it. He raised a hand and cupped her cheek gently, and with one breathed word, 'Piper', he gave into the temptation that had been haunting him since he was fourteen. He brushed his lips against hers, softly, and pulled away. He was shocked when she pulled him back and smashed her lips on his, and there they stood, surround by the soft blue light of the crystal cave.
So that was that. Let me know what you guys think. Hope you all have a great holiday :)-bp