Chapter 7 – Sun, Sea, No Tsunami's Please

The next morning, Stork was up before everyone else, as usual, but this was mainly due to the fact that he never went to bed. He had spent the whole night looking through his medical books and he had not been able to match up his symptoms to any disease, parasite or ANYTHING that explained what was happening to him. But he wasn't about to give up yet, it just meant that he would now have to run tests for everything.

He was sat at the table in the kitchen, black coffee in hand, and trying desperately not to doze off when Piper walked in.

"Morning Stork!" She said, cheerfully.

Stork let out a barely audible mumble in response.

"What's the matter? Didn't you sleep well?" She asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and sitting down next to him so she could see his face.

He looked totally exhausted, there were bags under his eyes, and his hair was a mess. After a few moments he suddenly seemed to realise she was touching him, and he flinched away from her as if he'd been burned.

"GAHH!!!"

Piper quickly pulled her hand away, Stork saw the hurt look in her eyes. It pained him to see her upset, but he couldn't risk infecting her, if whatever he had was contagious.

"Sorry, I'm just…tired"

"Hey, is this about what happened at Gunstaff's Terra yesterday?"

Piper saw the change in his expression, it was all the answer she needed. She could see he needed to be cheered up, and knew just how to do it.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault, we'll find a way to get the crystals we need to change you back."

"If only you knew…" thought Stork sadly.

"Breakfast?" she asked, getting up and moving towards the stove.

Stork really wasn't in the mood right now, but his growling stomach made his head nod in response of its own accord.

Piper started rummaging through the fridge and cupboards for the ingredients she needed before busily setting to work.

Stork must have dozed off for a few minutes; because he was suddenly jerked awake by the most revolting stench he had ever experienced assaulting his nostrils.

"Ugh! What is that smell? It smells worse that Finn's socks, Radarr's breath and Junko's cooking combined!"

He looked around trying to find where it was coming from, only to find out when a plate was put in front of him. It was another Merb Cabbage omelette, at least, it looked like a Merb Cabbage omelette, but it certainly didn't smell like it did before. Not wanting to offend her, he cut off a piece and picked it up with his fork, trying not to breathe through his nose as he did so, and put it in his mouth.

"Oh GODS, this is HORRIBLE! I'd rather eat some of Junko's Candy Slugs then be subjected to this torture! But if I don't eat it, then Piper will be upset and never speak to me again and I'll fall into a pit of despair and I'll be DOOMED!"

Stork tried not to spit it out and instead, swallow it quickly so he wouldn't have to taste it very much, he succeeded on the third attempt, after it threatened to make him vomit on the first two.

Stork hadn't realised that Piper had been watching him the whole time, wanting to catch another glimpse of the blissful expression she had seen on him before, but instead caught the look of revolt from her cooking. Not wanting to offend her, he asked casually:

"Urm…did you do anything…differently from last time?"

"No…I don't think so…WAIT!" She smacked her hand over her face before she continued "Merb Cabbage! Of Course! Why didn't I think of that?" she said, putting her head in her hands.

She caught Stork's puzzled look and tried to explain.

"It has Merb Cabbage in it, you're not a Merb anymore, you're a human, which means you have a human sense of taste. No wonder you didn't like it!"

"So, that's what it tastes like for human's? I knew no-one else liked it but I didn't expect it to be that bad! I guess Finn wasn't exaggerating when he said it was the worst thing he ever tasted, I thought said it just to avoid eating anything remotely healthy."

"Yeah, well, if it was up to Finn, he'd eat nothing but Flame Corn and Cloud Candy!" She chuckled.

Stork chuckled slightly, knowing it was true.

"I could make you something else if you like, Sandcakes maybe?"

"Uh, no. I'm not really hungry anyway, I gotta go..." Stork said, before getting up and leaving the kitchen, leaving a confused Piper all alone.

* * *

That day, Stork decided to not to come out to the beach with the others but instead opted to say on the Condor. Piper decided not to try and force him, she knew that if she did, he'd only end up sulking and will eventually sneak back to the ship as soon as no-one was looking.

As she arrived at their spot on the beach, she laid out her beach towel and started putting on suntan lotion as she began to wonder where they were going to get the crystals they needed. It wasn't that she didn't like the way Stork looked now; in fact, she thought he looked very handsome, it was just that he seemed, somehow…false. She knew he was the same person on the inside, it just didn't feel like the real him. It wasn't who she fell in love with, and she shuddered at the thought that she would never see her sexy green Merb again.

She silently vowed that she would not give up until she had the real Stork back as she lay down to soak in the morning sun.

* * *

That evening, Junko said he would cook them all a feast, it wasn't in celebration of anything, it was just that he was looking for an excuse to have a luau. The others had tried to talk him out of it, careful not to hurt the Wallop's feelings in doing so, but Junko seemed oblivious to his friend's feelings towards his usual menu choices and he insisted on cooking anyway.

They all sat nervously around the huge dining table that had been set up on the beach and surrounded by Hawaiian-style torches, there was a bunch of covered plates scattered across the table, and Junko was just returning with the rest.

"Dig in guys!" said Junko, as he began lifting the lids off the plates.

They all looked at the horrors that Junko had prepared, knowing that at least some of it would be fatal for any human who dared to eat it, it didn't help that some of the dishes were sluggishly making their way across the table of their own accord.

They did find several dishes that seemed at least edible, and didn't taste bad either, though they didn't dare ask what they were, in case they didn't like the answer. Junko either didn't mind that his friends were not eating much, or he was too busy stuffing himself to notice.

Piper merely picked at the food on her plate, even if it had been something she enjoyed she still wouldn't have eaten it. She wanted to check on Stork, he had been in a bad mood when she had left him this morning, and she didn't know if he had lunch, let alone dinner. Standing up, she turned to Junko.

"I'm going to go and check on Stork"

"Okay" said Junko in between bites.

Aerrow, Finn and Radarr all looked longingly at Piper as she left, wishing that they all had an excuse to leave the table. Junko had said he had something 'special' planned for dessert, and they all knew that whatever it was, if he called it 'special' it couldn't be good.

As Piper approached the Condor, she noticed a strange silhouette on the outside of the ship, as she got closer, she could see the light from the moon reflecting off of it making her able to make out the shape. It was Stork. He was sat on one of the pontoons, apparently looking up at the stars.

As the light hit his features she could see he looked strangely calm, yet the moonlight reflecting off his eyes have her the impression that he looked sad, it was a sight that pulled at her heartstrings. She didn't take her eyes off him the whole time she was approaching the ship, the scene reminded her of something she read in a romantic novel once, and she felt a strong urge to comfort him.

She walked into the Condor's hangar and made her way up the ladder to the outside of the ship to where Stork currently was.

* * *

Stork was miserable. He had performed every test he knew, and all came back negative. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not; on the plus side he wasn't dying, but then again, if there wasn't anything to cause it, then the only logical explanation was that it had been him.

"Does this mean I'm turning…EVIL!" thought Stork, panicking slightly, his eyes darting all around before he got a grip on himself. "No" he decided, "if I was evil I would have killed Finn a long time ago."

He remembered someone once told him that people sometimes do stupid things when they are in love, he never really paid any attention to that stuff then, but he was beginning to think that maybe it was all true.

Stork sighed. Maybe love was more complicated than he thought…

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and he turned towards the hatch that lead into the ship where he was greeted by a shock of spiky blue hair which was followed by Piper as she ascended the ladder.

"Hi, Stork" she greeted

"Hi" he replied, he couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of her. She was still wearing her bikini from when she was sunbathing earlier, except she had tied a sarong around her waist before she went for dinner, but it was rather…transparent. Stork tried not to let his eyes wander over her body as she approached and sat down next to him, horribly aware that it would be very obvious to her if he was to get aroused in these shorts.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Stork had resumed stargazing to avoid accidentally looking somewhere on Piper that he shouldn't, while Piper had been mentally debating whether or not he would freak out at what she was going to do next.

"Need a hug?" she said leaning close to him.

Stork's head shot up at hearing his, but Piper had grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into a firm hug before he had time to object. Stork's heart started hammering in his chest and his muscles tensed violently in response to the electric feeling that was running down his spine from Piper's touch, but Piper wasn't about to let him go that easily, she needed this just as much as he did.

Stork desperately tried to calm down, remembering to run through the mental exercises he'd learned from his self-hypnotherapy tapes.

'Don't tense up Stork! Calm down, relax, relax….relax…' he told himself. Slowly his muscles relaxed and he melted into the hug, putting his arms around her and leaning his head on Pipers shoulder as he did so.

Stork felt happy, this was the kind of contact he'd always wanted, but never thought he'd get because they were so different, both physically and mentally, and being here this way gave him a renewed hope that maybe now had a chance with Piper. No way would she had hugged him like this had he still been a Merb.

They stayed in their embrace for some time, Stork wasn't sure how long exactly, he'd wanted to stay like that forever, but his senses had just started to become aware he could feel Piper's bikini bra and what it contained pressed up against his bare chest and he reluctantly pulled away, smiling sheepishly.

She smiled back at him, a slight blush dusting her cheeks before she spoke.

"Want to come down for dinner?"

Stork chuckled "With Junko's cooking? No thanks."

"Actually the food he cooked is fine"

Stork looked at her with a disbelieving stare.

"Alright…some of it isn't that bad." She said crumbling under the stare. "Tell you what, I'll make us up a batch of Sandcakes, how does that sound?"

A wide smile spread across Stork's face as he replied.

"I'd like that."

Piper stood and helped Stork to his feet as they both made their way back into the ship.


Sorry if it seems like there isn't much going on in this chapter, but the story seemed too rushed without it and I think it needed the little fluffy moment at the end. The action starts next chapter, promise!

Please review, it makes me happy!