Hello everyone!

Wow! 30 reviews! That's my second highest review count yet! Thank you everyone for the support!

I hope you all enjoy this oneshot! I only got my inspiration for this yesterday, and i was only able to start writing it this evening. I worked really hard to get this up before I left on my trip! So, if you find any grammer mistakes or stuff like that, please tell me and I'll fix it when I return (I kinda rushed to finish this).

Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks, nor the song "May I" by Trading Yesterday!

Your Love is Changing Me

"So I will let go all that I know,

Knowing that you're here with me.

For your love is changing me."

Aerrow stood alone on the Condor's balcony. Heaving a sigh, the sky knight ran a hand through his wild red hair. He had come out here with hopes that the cool breeze would clear his head. The wind ruffling his hair always reminded Aerrow of flying, and this usually soothed him... usually.

Aerrow could find no calm or comfort in the open air. His mind was buzzing with thoughts. It made him feel restless. The sky knight wanted so much to just jump on his skimmer and soar through the clouds, but that wasn't an option. The Storm Hawks had decided to lay low and keep their presence unknown in the Far Side, at least, until they could gather some information about this strange new world.

Aerrow had just wanted to dive in head first - as he always did - and chase Master Cyclonis wherever she lead them. But Piper had been quick to put in her voice of reason. They had no idea what kinds of dangers they would face, or what to expect. It was best to just scout out the area a bit and see if they could pick up on any of the cultures or creatures that inhabited this foreign land. And so, Aerrow had held back his ever present thirst for adventure and action, and agreed with Piper's rationality.

It was killing him.

Aerrow needed adrenaline pumping through his veins. Battles and daring feets kept his mind focussed on keeping himself alive. There was no room for troubling or confusing thoughts. These were the times when he could make decisions how he liked to: spur-of-the-moment. It was his one break from having to over-think and analysis every aspect of a problem before finding an answer.

It wasn't that Aerrow minded having to be thoughtful and thorough. He had agreed to be the one to make the big decisions when he accepted his role as leader of the Storm Hawks. He just didn't want to be stuck in his whirling thoughts all the time. No one did, not even Piper.

Aerrow sighed again, leaning against the railing to look out over the unfamiliar landscape. Being couped up on the Condor had given him not enough to do and too much time to think. And Aerrow had a massive supply of things to ponder. So much had happened in such a short time. The Atmos was free, the Dark Ace was gone, Master Cyclonis was on the run, Piper had a new power...

Piper.

Aerrow found his thoughts drifting back to the topic that had plagued him the most over his past few days of confinement. Piper had been at the forefront of his mind for a while now. He had been really worried about her when her binding power was slowly stealing her health, and had kept an extra close watch on her to make sure she didn't make herself any worse by using the binding in battle.

Then the final battle for Atmos had come, along with Aerrow and Piper's binding fight with Master Cyclonis and the Dark Ace. Aerrow still wasn't sure what exactly happened, and Cyclonis' mention of "perfect atunement" only made the sky knight even more confused.

Aerrow's thoughts of Piper brought a now familiar sensation, a light flicker in his chest. It felt like that time Junko had cooked dinner, and Aerrow's food had still been alive when he'd ingested it. Piper had been bringing this odd reaction to Aerrow for many weeks now, and it only got worse and worse as time went on. Lately, it had been so bad, that Aerrow had begun to trip over his words, and occasionally his feet. He knew his odd behaviour was getting questioning looks from his fellow squadron mates. They all probably thought he'd finally lost it (Stork would blame mindworms, and rest would blame Stork's antics).

Aerrow had done his best to hide his new clumsiness, but he knew that to truly get rid of this hindrance, he had to get to the root of the problem. These past few days had given him a lot of time to do so, and Aerrow now found himself facing a startling conclusion.

Aerrow always knew he cared deeply for Piper. Aside from Radarr, she was his best and dearest friend. Aerrow couldn't even fathom his life without Piper, and had never even attempted to, because he had assumed she would always be there. But recent events had shattered Aerrow's ideas of how his life could be. He now realized - more than ever - how fragile life was, and he would never again take for granted the time he had with any member of his squadron.

In the past few weeks, Aerrow had been truly scared. Not because of the Cyclonian invasion. Not because all hope for Atmos' freedom had seemed to fade with every sky knight that had fallen into Master Cyclonis' crystal prison. Not because he now found himself and his friends alone in an unknown place. But because he thought, for the first time in his life, that he might lose Piper.

Seeing her greenish skin and sunken eyes had torn Aerrow's heart out. Piper would never admit it, but they all knew that the binding had been slowly killing her. And now, even with Piper healed and back to her old self, Aerrow still worried. The images of the Dark Ace's last moments still flashed before his eyes. He could still hear the Talon commander's cries for more power, and Master Cyclonis' decree that she could bind anything to her will. They had become slaves to the binding, wanting nothing but to fill their undying hunger for ultimate power. Aerrow's worse fear was that this would happen to himself and Piper. Would he become so thirsty of crystal energy that he would drink to the point of breaking? Would she become so obsessed with perfecting her technique that she would risk anything to prove her true abilities and worth?

Though the thought sent shivers down his spin, Aerrow knew that this would never happen to them. He and Piper shared a bond far stronger then any stone. If one of them began to fall, he was certain that the other would be there with a steadying hand. They were true and faithful partners. They would help one another to reach their goals, and they would do it together.

It was the bond the he and Piper shared that Aerrow had really been analysing. He had soon discovered that it ran much deeper then he could ever have imagined, and that his feelings for Piper ran deeper still. Deeper then friends. Deeper the siblings.

These revelations had scared Aerrow at first. Did he truly feel this way about his longtime friend? Was he just over thinking things? Was he mistaking his feelings for something entirely different?

But the more he thought, the more Aerrow knew that his first instincts had been correct - as they always were. He loved Piper. It had felt so awkward and weird, the first time Aerrow had allowed himself to say the words in his head. But the more the thought ran through his mind, the more right it felt.

But the hardest part was still to come.

Aerrow knew, deep down, that if he wanted to ever feel comfortable around Piper again and not look like a total doofus in front of his friends, he would have to tell Piper how he felt. Even if Piper didn't return his feelings, at least they would eventually be able to clear the very thick air that Aerrow felt between them. At least, he hoped they would.

And so, here he was. Standing on the balcony of the Condor, hoping that the fresh air would clear his head enough so that he could think of how to properly tell Piper that she meant everything to him....

This was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done.

The Storm Hawks stood on the bridge of the Condor, watching there downtrodden leader through the large windows.

"Man, Aerrow's not looking so good." Finn commented, turning to Piper, "You sure you didn't give him that weird crystal-illness thing you had."

"No, Finn." Piper's brows creased in annoyance, "It wasn't contagious."

"You never know." Stork's eyes got a far-off, wistful gleam, "Maybe he'll just slowly wither away to nothing. Nothing left but his fleshless bones..."

Piper, Finn and Radarr sent Stork looks that seemed to question his sanity, put Junko's eyes welled with tears.

"Aerrow's going to die!" Junko sobbed, "B-but, he can't die!"

"No one, is going to die, Junko." Piper assured, sending a death-glare in Stork's direction, "Aerrow's probably just feeling a little down. We all are, not having caught Cyclonis yet or even knowing where she is."

"I wonder who's fault that is." Finn whispered sarcastically.

"Finn, I already told you! We can't just go gallivanting around the Far Side!" Piper began her and Finn's familiar argument, "We need information, to know what we're up against--!"

"I still think Aerrow's caught some new and unknown disease from standing out in that Far Side air for too long...." Stork mumbled, mostly to himself, ignoring Finn and Piper's bickering.

"Maybe someone should go talk to him?" Junko suggested, having heard Stork's comment.

Radarr chirped in agreement.

"I think Piper should go..." Junko continued thoughtfully.

"Go where?" Piper asked, having finally stopped yelling at Finn about his ever-present stupidity and impudence, after hearing mention of her name.

"Go to talk to Aerrow." Junko replied, pointing a large thumb over his shoulder, in the sky knight's direction.

"Uh, I don't know, Junko." Piper sounded unsure.

"Why not?" Finn asked, "You're the best with this talking-stuff."

"But Aerrow's been so distant from me lately..." Piper glanced sadly towards the red head's back.

"Ah, come on, Piper." Finn starting pushing the protesting crystal mage towards the balcony door, "You're the best man for the job!"

"Best man?" Piper eyes filled with annoyance.

"Girl, dude, dudette... whatever you prefer." Finn rolled his eyes, then gave Piper one final shove and she stumbled out onto the balcony.

"So, what do you think is wrong with Aerrow?" Junko asked as the four remaining Storm Hawks watched the pair chatting outside.

"I'm telling you, it's mindworms!" Stork said, exasperated, "Why else would he be acting so strange? The tripping and lose for words, that's not Aerrow at all."

Radarr jumped up and down, waving his arms to get the others' attention.

"You know why Aerrow's been acting weird?" Junko asked the little blue creature.

Radarr nodded vigorously. Then, he began to bat his eyelashes and pucker his lips.

"Aerrow's got something in his eye?" Finn guessed.

"Oh! He's got peanut butter stuck on the top of his mouth!" Junko offered, "I know that bothers me!"

Radarr hit his head off wall in frustration.

"He has a headache?" Finn asked skeptically.

Stork rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his fellow squadron mates, "He's imitating a girl, you knuckleheads!"

"Then why's Radarr hitting his head off the wall..." Junko looked confused.

Radarr just shock his head in disbelief. Turning back to the window, the little blue creature pointed frantically towards the couple before them.

"A girl..." Finn said thoughtfully, "Aerrow being distracted by a girl is a good reason for all the clumsiness..."

Radarr nodded, expectantly.

"But, there's a little problem, Radarr." Finn continued, "There's no girls around here."

Radarr stared at Finn dumbfounded. Then, in total desperation, he jumped onto Finn's shoulders, and turned the sharpshooter's head to look directly at Piper.

At that very moment, Aerrow leaned closer to Piper, brushing his lips against hers.

Stork, Finn and Junko's mouths dropped to the floor.

"Dude." was the only response Finn could muster.

Junko's cheeks flushed red and the wallop quickly turned away, feeling very embarrassed to be gawking at the kissing couple.

"Well, that explains a lot." Stork mumbled, but looked a bit disappointed that Aerrow's plight had nothing to do with some sudden doom.

Radarr covered his eyes with his ears, but still peeked out through the small gapes, a knowing smile gracing his little face.

Well, I hope you all like it!

The ending of this fic was along the lines of what I'd originally planned, but i felt it needed a lead in. So, I just put myself inside Aerrrow's head and wrote! I hope Aerrow's in character. I tried really hard to get the thoughts to sound very Aerrow.... tell me what you think!

Only one more oneshot left in this collection :( I'll write it while i'm away, and post it when i return! Right now, I really need to go to bed! (It's 2:30am and i need to get up in 5 hours to leave!)

Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review!