Author's Note: this chapter has taken WAY too long, so i apologise. i won't say much, just a HUGE thank you to anyone who has reviewed/read/is reading/will read/will review ~ you're all my inspiration and the reason i'm working hard to get this completed. chapter five may be some time, i haven't even started it yet...

but please, enjoy! ~katiecharlotte,

How Many Promises?

The ruins of Cyclonia look particularly unwelcoming tonight, but perhaps that's because Aerrow doesn't know what he's going to find, for all he knows, it could be a lifeless corpse of the woman he loves; he shudders and decides not to think about it, reason is telling him that the Dark Ace took her for a purpose, he just hopes that it's something to do with keeping Piper alive.

The intercom on his skimmer crackles and Finn's voice is heard faintly over the rumbling of the thunderous clouds overhead, "you alright, Sky Knight?"

"Naturally," he replies, voice level; admittedly he feels better having the company, but he's not about to tell him that. Sometimes Aerrow likes to think of himself as a lone wolf, independent and strong; but there are times when he realises just how much he needs and relies on his team, and then there are the times when he realises that he doesn't tell them that very often.

But now is not the time for reflection or regret, he hasn't got the Storm Hawks with him so he'll just have to deal with it; the worst case scenario: he doesn't make it back to the Condor, but his team survive; Aerrow can cope with that, as long as he saves the remainder of his friends then he won't have let everyone down that he cares about.

Shame that the one person he cares most for is the one in the greatest danger…

Aerrow lands his skimmer gracefully at one of the decaying docking stations and races through into the vehicle bay; a quick scan of his surroundings leads him to decide to walk the rest of the way, fearing that many of the corridors aren't in good enough shape to carry the weight of his own bike. He's on his own from here.

"Okay Finn, I've landed; no more communications from here on. You got that?"

"Yes'sir." The sharp-shooter hesitates, his voice becomes a little more edgy, "…but if anything goes wrong, Aerrow… don't forget to call us, the Condor and her crew are ready and waiting to come and save your ass."

"If anything goes wrong Finn, it is your duty to get you and the team out of here; if I don't make it back, you better get some training in if you're to enrol as a Sky Knight."

"Don't be stupid Aerrow, Radarr has more chances of becoming a Sky Knight than I have," an indignant squeak in the background tells him that his friend agrees, the blonde struggles to get his words out for a moment and then says softly: "you'll make it back, and so will Piper…"

'I promised Piper a similar thing once… and look what happened to her.'

With that, Aerrow severs communications; he doesn't feel like saying what he's thinking and instead walks away from his skimmer into the shadows of Cyclonia, feeling his way through the corridors and keeping to the darkness as much as possible. This is the first time he's been here in five years but his memory has served him well and he makes his way towards the throne room with very few problems; unfortunately, his memories are a little too vivid…

"Come now Aerrow, we've been doing this for years… isn't it about time you quit?"

"Storm Hawks never quit, that's only cowardly talons! Why are you working for her anyway? After what she did to you… just look at yourself, you're a mess!"

The Dark Ace falters, he catches a glimpse of his reflection in his blade and stops completely, as though stunned by what he sees; cautiously, he raises a finger to his cheek and runs it across the silver web of scars, smearing flesh blood across it as he does so. His crimson eyes dart back towards the Sky Knight.

"I have nothing else, just her – isn't that the same for you?"

"So Aerrow, you came…"

The voice forces the Sky Knight back into the present day and he quickly pulls his blades from their resting place upon his shoulders; scanning the area, he finds that he has successfully found the throne room, or at least… the remainders of it. It is dark, save for the glow from his weapons and a single beam of light from the shattered window above that illuminates the throne standing proudly in the centre, the only real surviving item in sight. Because the man resting upon it is about as broken as the terra itself… Aerrow would feel pity, if this were not the man responsible for destroying his life on more than one occasion.

"Dark Ace." He spits the word from his mouth but the talon pays no attention, instead he thumbs the tip of his energy sword casually with a bemused look on his face; he is trying hard not to smile. Aerrow grips his blades tighter with frustration; he has no time for games, he is no longer a child, he will not be messed with. He is here for one reason and one reason only: "Where is she?"

At this the Dark Ace looks up and the Sky Knight feels those cold blood red eyes cutting right through him, there's something about the man that frightens him, it's as though he isn't really a man… not any longer at least. He's more like an animal, or a demon, something not quite natural; he's wrong…

"Nothing like a little conversation these days, is there? I would have thought that you would have at least asked me how I am seeing as we haven't seen each other in… five years, is it?"

The Sky Knight scowls, "I kind of enjoyed the peace and quiet; and besides, I only need to look at you to see you're still as warped as you used to be."

"A little more so, I should imagine." The Dark Ace gets to his feet and marches quite proudly down the stone steps from the throne to his enemy below, his energy blade now resting in its usual place along his back; he could almost pass off as normal, but his scars reflect the light from up above and make him look practically transparent. He seems aware of this, and revels in it. "Five years of darkness could turn anyone mad, even the bravest Sky Knight, I think."

Aerrow is aware of being sucked in to the man's mind games; he breathes deeply. "I will not ask again: where… is… she?"

"Don't you mean, 'where are they?'"

"Frankly I don't give a damn about Cyclonis; I want Piper, and you are going to give her back to me. So, where – is – she!"

The talon and Sky Knight, standing face to face, are practically the same height now and though Aerrow wields his blades threateningly, the Dark Ace still retains that half amused look about him; he casually steps back and gestures with one hand towards the end of the room to the window that used to look out onto the terra; all it is now is a smashed window frame, but the red-head is not interested in the view, his attention has been consumed by the terribly-familiar machine just before it… or rather, the girl sealed inside it.

"Piper!"

He races forward, transfixed on his navigator sitting calmly in the glass dome above the machinery, eyes glazed over and face calm, just like always; but as he approaches, his pulse quickens as he realises that she is aware of his movement, her amber eyes follow him though she makes no reaction. Aerrow reaches a hand up in the air towards her rather desperately, she but does not move, she just sits and stares; but the Sky Knight can see something in her eyes, it is a glimpse of fear. For a moment, he sees red and prepares his blades to smash the fragile walls of her prison…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

Aerrow turns momentarily to sneer at the approaching Dark Ace, "and why is that?"

"Come on Aerrow, do you really think that little of me? Perhaps you think that my past experiences have left me soft and simple? Do you honestly think that I would just leave her there for you take from me so easily? You smash that glass and you will trigger the machines defence mechanism… and by that I mean, the thing will create an extremely powerful energy field that destroys anything in contact with it. Now I know that you're quick, but you're not that quick… Piper would be fried in seconds – and quite dead."

The Sky Knight's heart drops and his hands holding the weapons fall to his sides, just thinking about Piper dying is enough to scare him; it is as though he is resigned to his fate, it is clear to him now that Piper was indeed just the bait, and Aerrow has walked into a trap that he doesn't not yet fully understand…

"Dark Ace… what do you want?"

The man with the crimson eyes and gossamer scars grins from ear to ear, making his skin crack and shimmer rather repulsively: "I want a master; unfortunately the only girl up to the job isn't feeling herself at the minute and so I need to fix her. As it so happens, the only way to do that is to rebuild the stone that made her that way in the first place; now, I don't know much about crystals or stones… but Piper did, and the only one who knew Piper as well as she did herself is you, Aerrow."

The Sky Knight stares open-mouthed; "… you want me to rebuild the Hypno Stone? Are you aware of how impossible that is?"

"Oh I don't think it is, Aerrow; I think that Piper knew what she was doing when she came here to destroy that stone – and I think that you know that that is the case. Your navigator was the kind of girl who was obsessed with the "Most! Perfect! Plan! Ever"" and I don't think that she would have gone into battle knowing her own fate without even trying to come up with a remedy. Sadly for her, she had a few shoddy friends who weren't quite clever enough to realise this… or maybe…" the talon peers at Aerrow as he pauses, reading the young man's face as though trying to gage his reaction; "…maybe it wasn't a case of not knowing that Piper had a backup plan, maybe it's the fact that you do know that she had a backup plan that has led you to remain silent all this time. Because you don't know what it is, you just know she had one… tell me, Sky Knight… did Piper ever try and confide in you? Was there something she wanted to tell you but never did? And was it your fault that she never did so? Is that why you visit her all the time? Because you feel guilty? It must be difficult knowing that if you had just spared five minutes of your time, the girl sitting a metre away from you this very second could have been saved… How many promises have you made to that girl that never came true?"

Aerrow tries to drown out the Dark Ace's words but it's no good, his memories are bubbling at the surface, trying to force their way into the front of his mind; they bring with them, the anguish and pain that the Sky Knight has tried to bury for five years…

"Aerrow, I need you to look after something for me…"

No… no, not again… not now… not here… not ever! He cannot bear to remember…

The Dark Ace looks at him and places a firm hand on his enemy's shoulder; the Sky Knight, so consumed in his own self-deprecation, doesn't even flinch at the contact. It is a bizarre moment, where the man who has the potential to ruin his life stands like a fatherly figure above him. "Aerrow," there is a hint of feeling in the man's voice, is it pity? "Aerrow, you can bring her back – I have just given you an incentive. You wanted to save her life, now you have no choice but to, in more ways than one. Piper will have recorded every last detail she knew about that stone, and you are going to follow up on every lead you possibly can – you are going to bring me that stone…"

"But you'll just use it to bring Cyclonis back," the Sky Knight's voice is scared, he has reverted back into the child of years ago.

"And you will use it to bring Piper back," smiles the talon, "it's a win, win scenario for both of us… and it isn't as though you have a choice."

There is nothing but silence for a minute or so as the two men stand facing each other, one beaming insanely, the other trembling with anger and fear; Aerrow doesn't know what to do, reason is telling him to end this all now, to finish the Dark Ace whilst he still has the chance to do so. But his heart is not listening to reason; it's breaking under the strain of looking into those amber eyes and believing that maybe, just maybe… he can bring Piper back again. He looks up at her, she is gazing at him blankly; what if, one day, she will remember him? What if he could give her, her life back? If he could make it up to her for not listening?

His mind is made up.

The Sky Knight turns to the talon determinedly; "one condition."

His peer eyes the red-head cautiously, they are almost level in height and Aerrow's posture makes him look that little bit more powerful than the broken Dark Ace; the man feels a small amount of respect towards his enemy, but he hides it well. "You're not really in the position to bargain, Sky Knight; but I will allow you this one thing…"

Aerrow doesn't even falter, "if I fail, you let her go."

The Dark Ace laughs sharply, "well then, what will I receive in compensation for your failure? I'm not quite sure that I'd like to get rid of my only bargaining chip here…"

"You can take me, instead. Release her, finish me."

The silence takes hold again, but this time it is not because of discomfort, it is because of disbelief; the Dark Ace is taken aback by Aerrow's resignation. "You mean, you will put your life in the place of Piper's? Regardless of whether you can bring her back or not?"

"Exactly, there's your win, win scenario; Dark Ace. I succeed, you get your master back; I fail, you get me – but Piper is released."

The Cyclonian ponders this offer for a moment, then smiles, baring his yellow fangs; he holds out his hand to the Sky Knight, who takes it firmly. "Very well, Aerrow of the Storm Hawks, it's a deal."

The pair shake quickly and then release each other, unable to stand the close contact that is so against their nature; Aerrow takes one more darting look up towards his navigator, sealed in her glass prison and then turns and runs away – he cannot waste any more time. His head is raging with so many different questions; he doesn't even know if he is doing the right thing, perhaps he could have just killed the Dark Ace then and found a way to get Piper out of the chamber unharmed… After all, he should hate the man for putting her into this situation in the first place; he has risked her life to lure him into his little game, so shouldn't he be angry?

But the fact of the matter is that Aerrow is not angry, instead he is desperate; this is his last chance to bring Piper back, and he cannot fail her again…

The Dark Ace watches Aerrow leave and then smiles evilly, turning his attentions to the dark-skinned jewel in captivity; "yes, little Sky Knight, run – even though it won't do you any good. I will have a master, but you may not have a navigator… you failed her just as Cyclonis failed me, and now, Piper and I shall have our revenge upon you both."

"Are you mad? You want to build the Hypno Stone? Build it? As in, the Hypno Stone? The stone capable of destroying the minds of the two most powerful Crystal Mages in the Atmos?"

"Is there another Hypno Stone then?"

"Don't be stupid, Finn. At least, don't be as stupid as Aerrow here; honestly, "build a new Hypno Stone"… do you realise how suicidal that is? And how do we know that the Dark Ace will stick to his word? And why on earth would you offer to take Piper's place when you fail…"

"- should I fail, Stork."

"No, Aerrow; when you fail. Because there's no way that you can create such a powerful crystal; it's just not possible. Stones like that are formed, not created by hand; plus, it was one of a kind, that usually means that if you destroy it, you're probably not going to find another one just lying about."

The Sky Knight puts up with his helmsman and his ranting for another half an hour, patiently waiting until the merb has come to his conclusion, one revolving around the word 'doom' an awful lot and creating the impression that any action of Aerrow's will lead to disastrous consequences. Finn, Junko and Radarr listen in too, but they seemed less concerned with the dangers; as far as the Sky Knight can tell, they're pro "find the Hypno Stone".

Finally, Stork finishes his speech and turns to his leader to see him staring into space; the merb sighs as he realises that no amount of reasoning is going to change Aerrow's mind and deep down, he knows that really, he doesn't want to...

Anything for Piper, she would do the same for them, after all. In fact, she did…

"Fine, I can see that nothing I say will stop you from trying. But just how exactly are we going to do this?"

"Piper will help." Aerrow's answer is a certain one, "there are things she knew, things she prepared for… whatever research she did on the stone will help us to discover a way of recreating its power; I'm sure of it. I'm going to search her lab, there has to be something in there that can tell us where to go. Whilst I do that… Finn, Junko, prepare the skimmers and our weaponry for any challenges we may face, and Stork… get us away from here, I can't bear the sights of Cyclonia anymore."

With a nod, the team get on their way with their new-found chores whilst Radarr and Aerrow head to Piper's old laboratory; as they reach the door, the Sky Knight hesitates, his hand poised in mid air waiting to open the lock. He hasn't been in here since he lost her, there was always that unexplainable fear that if he ever entered, he'd discover some piece of information that could have saved her life that was now no use to him; he was afraid of disturbing things, Piper's bedroom was much the same… the two rooms contained the last elements of the navigator, every item had lain undisturbed for years, the last person to ever touch them was Piper herself and Aerrow had never been able to change that.

Now however, he has to.

With sudden resolve, he opens the door and enters, what meets his eyes moves him almost to tears; the lab has not changed in five years, papers lie undisturbed, crystals cover the desks and Piper's lab coat rests on the back of her worn chair. He half expects to see her sitting there, bent over her work, safety goggles on and some dangerous appliance in her hand…

... but there is no one there.

Radarr looks up at his friend and tugs at his trouser leg, he calls out in his unknown tongue and then steps back; Aerrow smiles at him, understanding the gesture. "Thanks Radarr… I could do with the time alone."

The creature smiles before exiting the room, the door shutting behind him, leaving the Sky Knight alone with the untouched room filled with memories. Cautiously, Aerrow makes his way over to Piper's old desk, sits down and reaches over to the nearest pile of paper; he has to start from the beginning, it could take him hours but he has to do it, there is no other way. He cannot afford to miss one single detail. Maybe, if he had listened, he wouldn't have to do this now; Piper could have explained everything to him and he would have been able to help her instead of leaving her to rot.

He reads the first paragraph written in Piper's elegant hand and the memories finally take over…

There's a cold breeze tonight and it makes Aerrow shiver as he steps out onto the balcony, he should be in bed getting his much-needed rest but the attempt to sleep would be futile; how can he sleep when tomorrow will bring the last battle for the Atmos? How do you even begin to consider sleeping when your entire future hangs in the balance?

Besides, there's a particular reason for his wanting to be out here, even when it's ridiculously cold and rather late and just not the best thing to be doing right now… and that reason, is Piper. It's nice to see her, outside of her lab, Aerrow hasn't seen her all day, in fact, scrap that; in the past few weeks, Aerrow has barely seen her at all; everything has just been too manic, there's been no time to stop and chat. As leader of the Storm Hawks, he has been busy preparing the fleets and the squadrons, training his team, perfecting his own techniques and running over the countless number of strategies; meanwhile, Piper… well, Aerrow doesn't know exactly what Piper's been doing behind those locked doors of her laboratory, but he trusts her to know that her efforts will help them to win this war…

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

The question has come from the navigator, she hasn't even turned around to acknowledge his entrance but she knows that Aerrow is there; their connection has been growing ever more powerful ever since that first transference of power, when they had discovered perfect attunement. Now Piper doesn't need to look to know her Sky Knight is beside her, because she can feel him there; he is a constant presence that gets her through the days.

…and soon, Piper will repay him for everything he has done for her.

She turns, leans against the banister and smiles at the red-head; Aerrow takes it as encouragement to come closer and he walks to her side. Once together, the pair turn back to look out onto the starry night and Piper links her arm through his, resting her head against his muscular form; the young boy sighs happily and absent-mindedly runs his free hand through her midnight blue hair, this is a moment he doesn't want to forget, it is times like this when everything is right with the Atmos. Forget the war, forget Cyclonis, forget the Dark Ace; right now, it is just the two of them, making up for all the hours and days that they have spent apart in this one perfect moment.

He doesn't know how long they stand like that, time waits for them. The teens never say anything to each other, but that's because they don't need to; just being in each other's company fulfils their needs and desires, life is truly perfect when the connection between the two of them becomes physical. The Sky Knight's mind is buzzing, maybe he should tell her now – his true feelings – before they go off to fight? But is that really a sensible thing to do? What if he doesn't come back?

But Piper breaks the silence first, she pulls away from him and begins to unfasten the necklace from around her delicate throat; Aerrow looks at her intensely, not wanting to take his eyes off her, every movement she makes moves him.

"Aerrow, I need you to look after something for me…" it takes a while for the Sky Knight to pull his intense gaze from her tangerine eyes and realise that she's holding out the fragile blue crystal on it's fine, silver chain, but even then he simply stares at it resting in her palm, a little taken aback.

"Why? What's wrong? What do you mean?"

"I want you to look after it for me… it's important, you see."

Aerrow's navigator is looking at him with a hard and determined expression, she is gesturing for him to take the stone from her but he doesn't touch it. "Piper, I can't take that from you; it's yours, you've had it for years, why are you suddenly…?"

"Because it will be safer with you, it's just in case I –" She stops midsentence and bites her lip, she has said too much for her own liking.

"In case you… what, Piper?"

"Look, just take it, will you?" She is becoming agitated, she hates it when people question her; Piper is never more sure of anything than her own abilities, and now especially is a time when she has never been more certain of everything. This is her only possible action available to her.

"Not until you tell me why you want me to have it. Don't you want it anymore? Why now, of all times?" The Sky Knight questions her persistently, he can tell that she is on the brink of telling him everything and he pushes harder; Piper is not the kind of girl to hide things from him, and she has never denied him anything before...he uses that to his advantage. "Piper, why do you want me to have it? In case what?"

"…In case I don't come back, Aerrow! In case I die!"

An awkward silence falls upon the pair as they stand there, staring at one another; Aerrow's mouth falls open and after a moment, Piper turns away in shame and despair, hugging the crystal to her chest; "…in case I don't come back…" she whispers, tears beginning to fall over her dark cheeks. The boy doesn't know what to say, he reaches forward to place a hand on her shoulder but Piper turns back to face him rather quickly, tears still forming but her expression desperate. "You have to take this necklace, Aerrow; if I don't make it back, I want you to make sure this is safe…"

But Aerrow shakes his head, "I can't take that from you…"

"Why not?"

His emerald eyes meet her amber ones, "because you will make it back Piper, you will defeat Cyclonis, you will destroy the stone… and you will come back to me."

Piper begins to protest but her heart sinks and expression falls as she recognises that resolute spark in her leader's eyes that tells her that there is no convincing him otherwise, Aerrow's mind is made up – he will not take the stone from her. The navigator feels like crying, if only he knew the truth of what she was about to do, if she explained to him… then he would take it from her. 'But', she rationalises, 'if I tell him, he won't let me do it… he'd stop me from even trying.' This is how it feels to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, Piper knows now that she cannot win either way – sacrifice herself, or sacrifice the entire Atmos; perhaps she was just pushing her luck trying to save her own life as well as everyone else's?

The Sky Knight watches her almost from afar, he can tell that she is locked in some sort of inner-debate and part of him longs to interrupt and to be involved; but he knows that she will not tell him everything, if she wants him to take the stone from her, she must tell him the truth.

"Look, Piper; we'll get through this, you give me that crystal and it will be like you making sure that you're not coming back. You keep it with you, because then you'll have more of a reason to make it, you'll know that I know you're going to come back… to me. Okay?"

All Piper can do, is nod; she is resigned to her secret fate.

Aerrow moves his hand to her beneath her chin and lifts her head up gently, then he wipes away her last tear and smiles at her, encouragingly. "We had better get some rest, it's a big day tomorrow; we don't want to be fighting Cyclonians half asleep …" then he hesitates, should he tell her?

No, not now… maybe later, when all of this is over…

"I'll see you tomorrow, Piper; and the day after that and the day after that… I promise. You'll come back, and everything will be fine." And then he raises his own head and softly presses his lips upon her forehead before releasing her slowly and returning inside the Condor.

The young girl watches him walk away and just as he disappears into the corridor across the bridge, she lets out a stifled sob and clutches the banister for support; the crystal is still hanging from her closed fist and she stares at it as though angered by its presence. But then her body falls limp and she sighs sadly; this is the way it must be, she realises that now.

"I'm sorry, Aerrow… but I think this is it. I love you, I love you so much… but I'm not ever coming back."