I have never seen a sight more wonderful than those two skimmers. They stood near the trees as though they had been waiting for us to come and get them.

Well, really, they had.

I pulled myself up from the ledge and thrust out my hands to help bring Piper up too. She winced and gasped in pain when her ribs scraped against the rocky ground but that pain was soon forgotten when she saw her heliscooter waiting just fifty feet away.

"What are the odds," I mused.

Piper wobbled. That last few feet of the climb was almost vertical. I really don't know how she made it up like that. I mean, were I in the same position, I don't know how I would have done it. Piper's really strong.

I grabbed her arm as she swayed. Her face was pinched with the effort of holding in her pain. I helped her walk over to our rides.

"I am so glad we're done with that… Aerrow, remind me next time I want to go off like that… just remind me not to do it."

I shrugged. "It wasn't a bad idea, you know. I think we should have prepared just a little more, though." I stared at where we had just come from. "Do you remember a cliff being there when we landed?"

Piper looked at me like I had grown another head. "Well, I don't think it just appeared there out of no where. We weren't exactly looking for cliffs though."

I scratched the back of my head. "Still… I think I would have noticed a cliff… Oh well. What do you say we get away from here?"

She nodded, but hesitated. "I think I might need to wait a moment. Why don't we try to contact the Condor with our skimmer radio? My chest is killing me after that climb. I need to rest a second."

I nodded and we set off toward the rides.

I don't think I have ever been so happy to see that skimmer. And believe me, that is saying a lot. I love my skimmer. I spend a lot of time with my skimmer. My skimmer and I go together like a hand in a glove. We get along great all the time. It never makes me confused and giddy. It never gets mad and shuts down on me. I always know when it doesn't feel quite right and all it takes to make it happy again is a couple fuel crystals or a tweak with a wrench.

Yeah, me and my skimmer make a great team.

I shot a glance over at Piper. She leaned against her heliscooter with her arms wrapped around her middle.

Piper was nothing like my skimmer.

Piper confused me. Especially lately. She didn't have an on or off switch. There was no way for me to easily tell what to do to make things better. She was fun to hang out with but she could switch moods at the drop of a hat. She did things that I couldn't fathom the reason for, and lately, she'd been making all sorts of weird emotions go through me.

I mean, it probably had only been maybe three or four days but it felt like it had been a lot longer. And in those few days she had made me confused, hurt, worried, scared for her life, uncomfortable… she had caused that weird fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach…

I don't know if I will ever understand Piper.

Turning to my radio, I talked into the transmitter. "Condor, Aerrow."

After a minute, static crackled across the receiver. "Aerrow! Where the hell are you!"

"Hey Finn. We had a bit of a mishap."

"You guys okay? Was it Cyclonians?

"This far into Atmosia territory? No way. But we are a little worse for wear. We'll tell you all about it when we get in. Is everything okay there?"

"Dude, if I have to endure one more of Stork's end of the world practice drills, I'm shooting someone. Maybe you. You need any help? The ship's in docks for at least another week but Junko and I can come if you need us to."

"We should be able to manage. Can you tell everyone we're okay? And tell Stork to get some first aid stuff ready. Nothing too major, just some scratches, but Piper's cracked a rib or two."

"Dude… what happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get back. Aerrow out."

I looked over at Piper. She was still tenderly massaging her ribs. I left my skimmer where it was and meandered over to her. "Hey."

"Hey." She looked up.

"So… ah.. do you feel any better?"

I was rewarded with a smile. "Yeah. But I'm sorry for falling asleep on you like that last night. I guess it was just so comfortable…" She dropped her head with a blush.

"Yeah.. but I think it was pretty comfortable too. And I'm glad you got to sleep a little… I know you've been have a rough time of it." When we had woken that morning on that little grassy spot on the trail, I had been laying flat on my back with my right arm stretched far over my head. Piper had been laying perpendicular to me with her head pillowed on my stomach. That would have been embarrassing enough save for the fact that my left arm was draped over her middrift with my hand splayed out in an almost protective fashion.

Now, that would have been mortifying for me. I have said many times that I have tried to respect Piper's space. But her hand was laying over mine. To make matters even more awkward, her fingers were entwined with mine.

When I had woken up, I went to stretch like I normally do after a good night's sleep. Imagine my surprise when I found myself holding Piper's hand!

After that… well, it was another round of embarrassed apologies and blushing glances. I felt oddly elated, but couldn't think of any way to articulate that without looking or sounding like a complete nutjob.

Piper crossed her arms self consciously. "I didn't mean to.."

"I don't mind." I think I said that a little too quickly. She looked up at me sharply, but then stood up straight.

"Yeah… well…"

"I talked to Finn," I interrupted, changing the subject. "He said that they were worried, but they couldn't come out here because of the refit on the Condor."

"That makes sense."

"We can leave when you are ready, though. I don't want to rush you. But I do know that it will be a long ride."

"Just a moment. I should be okay in a couple minutes. That climb just jostled me a little toward the end."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

She peered around and thrust a thumb in the direction of the large pool of water that we had landed near those long days ago. "I'm kinda thirsty. Come with me to get a drink?"

"Sure."

I walked with her, one hand out and ready in case she should falter. I was feeling rather happy right now. For the past few hours, whatever Piper had kept bottled up inside seemed to have subsided. She kept up her normal banter with me, and she didn't seem to have the same sort of aversion to my touch whenever I came near her. Maybe something had fallen into place for her last night.

I gave myself a mental shrug. Whatever it was, I was glad that she was Piper again.

She did rather well on the walk to the pool. Then again, walking thirty or forty feet across flat land is nothing compared to scaling a cliff. The water was clear as the sky and I could see my reflection within its depths. It smelled sweet and fresh.

Piper needed a little help to kneel at the edge of the water, but that was easy enough to assist with. I sat down comfortably next to her, cross legged and leaning back on my hands. There was a breeze blowing across the smooth surface of the pool that rustled my hair gently. Really, this would be an awesome place for a picnic. I glanced over at Piper to say exactly that, but jumped when I saw her looking directly back at me with serious eyes and a determined expression on her face.

"Aerrow."

"Mmm?"

"I need to say something to you."

"Go ahead Piper. You know we can talk about anything."

"I know. But this is… different. I need a promise from you first."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to promise that when I am done, you will pretend I never told you what I'm about to tell you."

I blinked. "That's odd."

"You have to promise me."

"But.. why?"

"Its better this way. Trust me."

"I do trust you… I think it sounds a bit strange, but okay. I promise."

Piper gave what sounded like a sigh of relief. "Good. I was afraid you'd refuse and I think if I cant tell you.. I'll go crazy. Not that I'm going to be doing any better afterward…"

"Well," I said, settling back on my elbows. I returned my gaze out to the water. "Go ahead."

"Okay… well, you remember how I told you I didn't want to let you know what was bothering me earlier?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Well… I didn't want to tell you because… well, its because its you."

I frowned, hurt. "Uh… so, what did I do?" I looked over at her, but she was fiddling with a pebble, staring at it with amazing intensity.

"Nothing." She whispered. "You didn't do anything."

"Oh…"

I ruminated on that for a moment. "But if I didn't do anything, how did I make you mad?"

"You didn't."

"Now I'm confused."

"Its alright. I'm pretty sure that it will get worse before it gets better."

I settled down again and waited for her to continue.

"Aerrow, you are my best friend in the world. I mean, I don't think you have a malicious bone in your body. And I admire you for it. You are so selfless. You never put yourself before others, ever. And you probably don't even notice the women who bat their eyes at you in the hopes of gaining your attention."

"Wha?"

"Exactly. You've never noticed that you're usually mobbed by the eligible young girls in every port call we make to any major city?"

"Not really… not any more than you or the rest of the guys. Its not like we're celebrities, you know."

"We're not. But you are, Aerrow. You're young, good looking, a sky knight. You're so pure and honest and you have an innocent face." This made me blush. Sure, I knew I was good at what I did, but I had never had anyone call me good looking to my face before.

Cue the fuzzy feelings in my tummy that I had come to associate with Piper. I raised an eyebrow. I had an inkling of where this might be going, but…

"Aerrow. I keep trying to find to words to spare myself the most embarrassment, but I cant. And since you will never knowingly break a promise, I think I can just come out and tell you. That way, I can have it off my chest and I can go back to normal. And we can forget about this whole damned trip to this little terra."

Piper took in a deep breath. "You're dense."

"Hey!"

"You're so dense that you will never pick up on my feelings for you unless I spell them out in giant block letters. That's what is bothering me Aerrow. You. Its you. Its because I have started to think of you as more than just a friend, and I know that a friend is all I will ever be."

My mouth worked, but no words came out. I don't think my brain was cooperating with my motor skills at this point.

Piper painfully levered herself up from her sitting position. I jumped up automatically to help her. "Piper…I-"

"No."

"But-"

"No. You promised. I told you why I was upset. Now you know. And now, you need to forget I ever said anything."

She turned and ambled back down toward the skimmers.

My mind whirled ineffectually.

I couldn't do anything but follow her back. We were both in our own worlds as we launched ourselves off of that tiny rock of a terra. She didn't invite conversation on the way home. I never tried to initiate it.

I simply watched her from behind, reeling from the revelation, as we sped through the skies towards home.

OOO

We're in the home stretch!

I have one more update in mind for this one. Possibly two, depending on how the next one goes. This was a bit awkward to write and I almost did something really, really evil, but I think I'll be nice to Aerrow this time around.

My evilness will manifest in another fic for Aerrow, I think. Bwaha.

Anyhow, please review. I hope to update one more time tonight.