Chapter 9

"I did what I could in the little time I had," Giovanni said apologetically, holding out a bundle of fabric to Piper.

"I'm sure it will be beautiful," Piper replied. "Thank you." She accepted the dress and took it into the changing room. As she closed the door, her eyes briefly met Aerrow's, then flicked to the ground as a red flush spread through her cheeks. The door clicked shut, and Finn turned to Aerrow, who also had a bit of a pink tinge in his cheeks.

"What's going on with you two?" Finn asked quietly. "You've been super quiet...you're not fighting, are you?" Aerrow paused for a second, then realized that Finn was his wing man...he could be told anything.

"We've decided to just stay friends," Aerrow told Finn. "It's safer that way." Finn put a hand on his friend's shoulder, his eyes full of understanding.

"Sorry, man," he mumbled. Aerrow nodded gratefully, then their attention was drawn to the side when they heard a shriek coming from the dressing room. The Stork Hawks dashed over, followed by Giovanni.

"Not again," Aerrow grumbled, knocking on Piper's door. "Everything okay, Piper?"

"More than it, Aerrow!" Piper called back, and Aerrow could hear the smile in her voice. "This dress is amazing!" The rest of the squadron let out a relieved sigh, and Aerrow turned to smile at Giovanni, who beamed.

"Well, come on out and let's see it on!" Finn exclaimed, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Aerrow.

"Hmm...nah," Piper replied. Aerrow raised an eyebrow. He really wanted to see this dress on her.

"Why not?" he questioned. Piper opened the door, holding the dress over her arm.

"Because I want it to be a surprise!" she told him coquettishly. He couldn't help but grin at her joyfulness as she gave the dress back to Giovanni.

"Okay," Aerrow chuckled. Piper looked up at him with a smile, then turned back to Giovanni.

"Thank you so much," she said, as he went to his counter and put the dress on a hanger.

"For the Storm Hawks - anytime," Giovanni said. "Continue to save the Atmos, and the price for these outfits will have been more than paid." He handed over the suits they had left the last time along with the dress, and Aerrow took and distributed them amongst the rest of the squadron.

"Thank you again," Aerrow quipped, and the Storm Hawks left the shop with many more thanks to the tailor. Aerrow fell back as they walked through Terra Atmosia, allowing Junko, Finn, Stork, and Radarr to stride ahead while he lingered back to talk to Piper.

"Hi," she mumbled, with a small smile. She unconsciously reached for her necklace, but found nothing there. She gasped and froze, causing Aerrow to stop and turn in concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I forgot to ask Giovanni if he had seen my necklace!" Piper cried, distressed. In front of her, Stork, Finn, Radarr and Junko turned around, hearing how upset she was.

"Oh!" Aerrow reached behind his head and untied the string around his neck. He held out Piper's necklace to her, and her eyes brightened in relief.

"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed. Aerrow reached around her neck and tied it for her. His proximity caused her breath to catch in her throat and her heart to pound in her ears as her eyes flicked up to his face. His emerald eyes looked up and focused on her hazel ones, and, sensing the rest of the squadron watching, he released her necklace, putting his hands back by his sides. Piper murmured, "Th-Thank you."

"No problem," Aerrow muttered. Stork cleared his throat, rolled his eyes, and continued on his way back to the Condor. The other guys followed, and Aerrow, scratching the back of head, indicated to Piper that they should do the same. Piper suddenly flushed red when she realized that it had been Aerrow who had been holding onto her necklace for her.

"D - Did you find out wh - what it is?" Piper stammered, flustered, fingering her necklace unconsciously. Aerrow looked over.

"Huh? Oh!" He shook his head. "No, you hadn't shown me before you...left...so I didn't wanna check it out without your permission." Piper smiled appreciatively, glancing back up at him.

"You're so sweet," she commented, stepping in nudging him with her shoulder. Aerrow grinned, and nudged her back. Piper narrowed her eyes in good humor, nudging him harder, and he retaliated in kind. As she moved in for her hardest nudge yet, he stepped aside, throwing her off balance. While she was still caught by surprise, he stepped around and pulled her up onto his back, carrying her back to the Condor.

"Aerrow! Stop! Put me down!" As they rushed past the rest of the guys, Finn grinned hesitantly.

"At least they're back to normal," he remarked.

"So what's that crystal about?" Aerrow asked, after he had playfully dumped her on her bed and sat next to her.

"Oh..." Piper said, reaching for the necklace. She untied her necklace, holding it in her hand. "Well, I guess you can now..." Squeezing the crystal gently, Piper caused a gentle light to radiate from the crystal's heart.

Aerrow was surprised to see a translucent image to burst from the crystal. He found himself looking into the eyes of his eight-year-old self, bright eyes that sparkled with a love for the world that was still found there today. Next to younger Aerrow was a younger Finn, who was firing off trigger fingers at Aerrow.

"Are you sure that you don't just want her on our team because she's a girl?" little Aerrow was asking. The younger Finn grinned back.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "Don't you see potential?"

"Believe it or not," little Aerrow said slowly, "I do. P - Piper...I feel like I can trust you. Wanna be friends?"

"Yeah," the voice of a quiet Piper replied. "Let's be best friends!"

"Awesome!" little Aerrow exclaimed. It seemed as though little Aerrow was hugging Piper, because there was a sudden close-up of his chest. When he backed away, he was holding Piper's hands. "We'll be best friends. Let's trust each other!" The image faded, and normal Aerrow looked at Piper, who was slowly retying the crystal around her neck.

"Why would you be embarrassed about that?" he asked quietly.

"Well, it's just...before, you didn't know how I felt...and..."

"We are best friends, so there's no reason to be embarrassed." Aerrow hesitantly put his hand around Piper, worried that she would try to pull away. She didn't, though, and leaned her head on his shoulder gently. Her eyes were closed, so she couldn't see the red flush spreading through his cheeks as he embraced the warmth of her head on his shoulder. He wanted this, wanted it without hesitancy, but for that, his and Piper's feelings would have to have been made public. That was more than fine with him, but Piper didn't want that.

Why was this so bad?

Yeah...sorry if it feels like I'm kind of dragging this out a bit. I had forgotten when I wrote it to include what Piper's crystal was, so this was kind of the best I came up with. I wasn't sure how to phrase it exactly, but I did the best I could. I don't think it turned out too badly after all. The point is that Aerrow is having second thoughts about letting Piper go. The ball is in the next (and final) chapter!

Please review!