(A/N: Hi! Anaghia here with the fabulous Chapter 9 of Mi Amor, Aerrow!!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing- the Storm Hawks, its characters- nothing. Just the plot… Enjoy!

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Aerrow's POV

As soon as I land in the hanger bay, I retract my wings and look around for Piper. Everyone else has made it back, but she's no where in sight.

Junko speaks, reading my mind. "She's in her room- asleep," he told me.

"Is she okay?" I have to know.

"We don't know…"

We let the words hang there for a minute. "Maybe her mind has been infested with mind worms," says Stork, just now joining us.

Finn snaps his fingers. "That just may be it," he says thoughtfully.

I would've laughed if it weren't for the fact that we're discussing what could be wrong with her. I look down at the crystal that's still hanging from my neck and grip it in my hand tightly. What could be wrong…

And then, just like the smell of Junko's cooking, it hits me. "The crystal!" I think out loud.

Everyone looks at me. "Crystal? What crystal?" Finn asks.

"The one that she's wearing- the red one. She wasn't wearing it before and she was fine. Now she is wearing it and she's acting weird. I really think that it's what's causing her behavior!"

"Then what're we standing around for? Let's go and get rid of it!" Finn says.

I don't need to be told twice. I race past them toward Piper's room. Now that I know what the problem is, I've gotta get rid of it.

When I reach the door, I don't hesitate for a second- not even to knock- and I go in. She's lying on her bed asleep. She seems so peaceful. That is, until I hear her talk in her sleep.

"Take me back," she's mumbling. "You're in danger… take me back…" With a soft snore, she quiets down again.

Everyone's standing behind me now, waiting. Trying to ignore the stares I can feel on my back, I step forward and kneel at the side of my sleeping beauty's bed. Carefully, I reach toward the necklace. The red culprit is hot in my hand, even though I'm wearing gloves. I can feel that it -yes, it- is resisting my touch. Or trying to anyway. It's becoming hotter and hotter, halfway to the point of stinging me.

Even so, I use both hands to keep the string still enough so that it won't tickle Piper's neck as it comes off.

To me, everything is going in super slow motion, even though I'm anxious to get it off as soon as possible. Finally, after lifting her head up slightly, the necklace comes off easily. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until now.

"So now what?" Junko whispers from the doorway.

"We get rid of it," I whisper back as I stare down at my girl, "once and for all."

I quickly step out of the room and make my way to the hanger. Once I'm there, I take one of my blades in one hand and hold the crystal in the other. I stare at the red crystal for a moment, even though it's going to be too hot to bear. It was this small, seemingly harmless crystal that was making Piper this way. "It ends now," I mutter as I activate my blade.

I toss the necklace up as high as I can. It's almost to the ceiling when I shoot at it. Everything is going in slow motion. The menace is making it's way back down when my blast catches it. Suddenly, everything speeds up, and the crystal is no more. All that's left is the string that it hung on, now lying on limp on the floor.

As invigorating as it is, the only thing on my mind right now -as I briskly walk back to where everyone's waiting for me- is Piper. Did it even matter that I destroyed it? What if nothing's changed? What if this is permanent? What if-

No more time for "what ifs." I'm back in her room and, with everyone else, watching her wake up.

Piper's POV

I'd been dreaming of floating in nothingness before I started to wake up. The thing that had disturbed me was the jolt of the evil little voice, which had been speaking to me in my dreams, suddenly being silenced- cut off in mid-sentence. It had screamed a shrill scream, and then there was only silence.

I slowly opened my eyes, trying to adjust to the bright lights opposed to the darkness behind my eyelids. Once they did, I looked around my room. My real room. Everything looks like it should, and everything is where it should be. Then I notice my friends standing in here, staring at me.

Then my eyes shift to Aerrow in particular. He seems frozen in his place, his bright green eyes anxious, waiting. Waiting for what? What is everybody waiting for???

Then it kicks in. Dark Ace kidnapping me, Cyclonis being nice to me, that necklace she gave me, my weird mood swings, the team coming to rescue me… Aerrow yelling at me… I silently reach for the spot where the necklace should be resting. It's gone.

Do they think I'm going to go nuts or something? Like bang around the ship until they take me back? Hmph, like that's gonna happen…

When things get even more awkward because of the silence, I decide to break it. "What happened?" I ask, since I don't remember everything.

Aerrow's tension seems to ease, if only a little bit, as he walks over and sits on the end of my bed. He looks down at me and says, "I destroyed that red crystal that the Cyclonians gave you. It was… controlling you." I noticed him wince at the memory.

I sit up. My body feels so stiff! "I thought that… it was my necklace- the necklace you gave me for my birthday." I look at him, mentally beating myself up for being so stupid.

"Ok! We can see that you're doing great Piper!" says Finn, inching out of the room, trying to force Junko, Stork, and Radaar out with him, "we'll just leave you alone now."

"Huh?" Junko asks, and then it looks as though a little light bulb had clicked on over his head. "Oh… oh yeah. We'll see you guys later."

"Mind worms, I'm telling you…" Stork mutters as he leaves.

Radaar sneaks in a look between me and Aerrow before Finn's hand yanks him by the tail and out of sight. Then we can hear him growling and Finn howling in pain, probably from Radaar biting him. Aerrow and I can't help but laugh.

Once the comic relief is over, things get serious again. "So you thought that the necklace you were wearing was the one I gave you?" he asks quietly.

I feel so guilty. "Cyclonis told me that the change in color was a reaction from Dark Ace's firebolt crystal. I feel so stupid for believing her." Then a thought comes to me. "What… did I say to you when I had it on?"

Many emotions cross Aerrow's face. Surprise. Embarrassment. Sadness. "You…" he pauses as if this is killing him, "…you said that… you hated me."

I can't breathe. "I… I did?" I gasp. He nods. "I didn't mean it! It wasn't me saying that! I mean, it was, but- oh Aerrow, I'm so sorry!" I'm halfway to sobbing now. If he weren't here with me, I'd already be in crying it out on my pillow.

He scoots closer to me on the bed and puts his arms around my shoulders. "Hey, it's ok," he says in a reassuring voice, "what matters is that you're safe."

"I guess," I say as I stare at the floor.

I can tell he's not convinced. "By the way," he says, "I picked something up on the way to bring you home."

I gaze up at him and can't believe what he's motioning to. My necklace. How did I not notice him wearing it?

Aerrow takes it off over his head and pulls it down over mine. It feels so warm. Has he been wearing it this whole time?

"H-how'd you find it?" I accidentally stutter.

"Actually, Radaar found it," he tells me, "it must've fallen off during battle. I've been wearing it as a good luck charm ever since." He smiles at me.

"Thank you," I say as I hug him. "For everything." I breathe in his sweet but spicy scent, hoping that I'll never be pulled away from it again.

"Piper?"

"Hm?" I answer, now in my own little world.

"I love you."

That snaps me out of it. Did I hear wrong? "Huh?" I ask, kind of dazed.

"I said, 'I love you.'"

I pull back to look at him. He's wearing the most honest look I've ever seen. His eyes are glowing a bright green, brighter than usual. And his mouth is upturned into a shy, modest smile. I'm also vaguely aware that his hands are still resting lightly on mine. "I love you too." I say. And I mean it- I really do.

"Phew," he said, grinning, "for a second there, I thought I was gonna have to abandon ship from embarrassment."

I laugh. "No chance of that now, huh?"

We're quiet for a moment. Aerrow's busying himself by concentrating on running his thumb over the back of one of my hands, clearly thinking about something. When I finally can't take it anymore, I ask, "Aerrow, what're you thinking about?"

He looks up at me with innocent eyes. The corners of his mouth were turned up a little, but not as much as before. He silently searches my eyes.

"Please, tell me," I whisper, pleading with him.

His cheeks go pink a little- he's so cute when he's shy- but he tells me, "Well… I wanted to…" He evades his eyes and lapses into silence again.

"Wanted to what?" The new tension is killing me.

Aerrow looks up at me one more time as he finishes his sentence with a newfound strength. "- To try this." And then he kissed me.

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A/N: Awwww! So kawaii!!!! I love this couple so much... And don't worry, I'm not letting it end here. There's some unfinished business between me and this story! Heh heh, look out people, the Epilogue will be making it's way to your computer soon! See ya!