Months flew by, as Krystal's belly grew bigger. Though her mood hardly changed, she noticed that Fox's and his mother's had. As Fox grew closer to his pregnant wife, he grew increasingly paranoid of the outside world. It seemed like the bounty on her head grew everyday, threatening all he truly had in the universe. If anything had ever happened to her, he didn't know if he could continue living.

Paranoid of the vixen at first, Fox's mother grew to enjoy Krystal's company. They talked and joked with each other and grew to think of one-another as mother and daughter. Fox's mother also grew paranoid of the outside world. Krystal was the elderly vixen's only hope for grandchildren and she wasn't going to let anyone take that away.

One mid-winter morning, Krystal found herself watching the sun rise behind the snowy mountains. This was always her favorite time of year. The days were still cold and snowy, but they weren't ridiculously short.

"Good morning."

Krystal looked as Fox's mother sat down next to her.

"Morning Vixy. You seem happy today."

"I've been thinking lately and realized that you weren't the reason Fox was miserable all those years ago. You weren't the traitor the media's portrayed you as all these years. No. You were the only reason he was ever happy. Your smiling face was the reason he fought so hard to stay alive in combat. When Fox kicked you out of his life, it seemed like he would never smile again.

And yet, here you are. All those years later and you're back in his life, carrying his child. And to think he made the mistake of marrying that one girl so long ago. What was her name again?"

"I can't remember. Fay or Fara or Miyu or something. Someone he knew. I'm not even sure it was a girl anymore."

"What happened?"

Krystal sighed. It had been so long since it happened; yet she remembered it like it happened just now.

"During the last war, I had been hired to aid Fox and his wife as they attacked an enemy stronghold. The idea was to land some distance away from it and attack the anti-aircraft systems on foot. Trying to attack them in our arwings would have been suicidal.

Eventually, I met up with them as they destroyed the first missile battery. His wife was not too pleased.

Eventually she got me alone in an empty hall. With Fox planting explosives on a missile battery outside, she knew that he wouldn't be able to hear her. She forced me against the wall, her gun's barrel digging into my chest.

'Listen to me' she told me, her anger and hate very clear 'I don't care who Fox loves more. Stay the hell away from him after this war or I will personally kill you and dump your body in a garbage dump, which is right where you belong, you filthy breathing piece of blue garbage. And I promise I won't make your death quick or pleasant. No. I will enjoy your screams and cries as you plead for the torture to end. Fox is my ticket to fame. Take that away from me and you will wish that you were never born.'

I didn't want to tell Fox because I knew that it would upset him and he wouldn't believe me.

A few hours later, we had finished destroying the last of the anti-aircraft system. We were returning to our ships a few miles away when the enemy began firing artillery at us. We split up to avoid the shells. Fox went one way and I went the other. His wife followed me.

Once the shelling had stopped, she pulled out her gun and aimed it at my head. Apparently, she didn't want to wait until after the war to kill me. The next thing I know, her chest explodes. With the last of her quickly diminishing strength, she fires shots into my arms and legs. She probably wanted me to die from starvation or exposure. Another sniper shot completely destroys her heart.

Fox eventually found me. I was shocked when he runs directly to me, ignoring his wife's corpse. He probably thought it was just one of the numerous enemy corpses that littered the landscape. He carried me to his arwing and flew me to the nearest hospital. My arms and legs had become infected during the trip, forcing them to be amputated.

I never had the heart to tell Fox. I didn't want to bring up painful memories."

Vixy had never heard that version of the story before. The only version she's ever heard was the media's version. In that version, Krystal murders Fox's wife. Fox then fired shells into Krystal's arms and legs so she couldn't hurt anyone or escape. The version never explains why she was never tried.

"That's quite different from the story that the media ran with. They'd do anything to a story to make it sell."

Krystal was upset, thinking that Vixy didn't believe her.

"Are you going to tell him, Krystal?"

"I've thought about it. I won't; I can't. He's worked so hard on our relationship while all I've done is try to die. I've just felt so guilty. What if he blames me? I can't lose him, not now. Not after all we've been through together. And I don't want to be in a relationship with a man who doesn't love me anymore. I also don't want to bring up painful memories of the past. You're not going to tell him, are you?"

"Maybe. I don't know. This is something that he should probably know. Not just the circumstances surrounding her death, but also the guilt. I should probably get his side of the story."

"Please don't tell."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to tell him yet."

Krystal couldn't help but wait nervously as Vixy left. Vixy soon came back with a box.

"I've been working on this for quite a while. I hope you enjoy it."

Krystal watched, as Vixy pulled what looked like a limbless plushy out of the box. Upon closer inspection, she noticed a zipper and a hole where the face should be. Vixy unzipped it before lifting Krystal up and placing her in it. After zipping it up, Vixy pulled the hood over Krystal's head and stepped back.

"Do you like it? I didn't want you to get too cold, especially now that you're pregnant."

"I love it."

"Good."

Vixy sat down next to Krystal, a smile forming on her face as she thought about her future grandchildren. Of all the women that could have bore them, she was glad it would be Krystal. But one question still lingered in her mind.

What really happened? She knew Krystal was being completely honest with her, but she could only know so much. Did Fox really not know? It's possible he knew what happened, but didn't care. She knew Krystal would not like it, but she had to ask Fox.

Later. She would ask him later. For now, she was going to bond with her daughter-in-law.