Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry that this chapter took way, way, way to long to finally post! It's hard to write in addition to school, plus I've got three other stories going, and this one just seems to get pushed to the side. Sorry!

Extra thanks to Pascy, Miasinpie, and Little Miss Seaweed Brain for reviewing!

I want to especially thank Pascy. You write the most amazing song-fics, and then, to my surprise, you went and reviewed all of mine! Thanks! You're the real reason that I continued this now, especially when I have so many other stories going. I'm sorry that I didn't update sooner. I'm not really sure I like how this chapter turned out, but here it is anyway!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Storm Hawks.

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The whole next month, my condition went from slightly tired to full-blown sick. If Atmos had a flu season, I would have imagined it were that, but I had been reading up on the Binding and I had an idea what it was. When someone extremely strong of will did too much Binding before their power develops enough, it causes them to be sick until they reach Perfect Attunement.

I hid my sickness very well, putting on makeup for the first time ever to hide the deep purple circles under my eyes, drinking tea and crystal concoctions, and going to sleep early. I didn't slack off at all; I made sure that my empire wasn't affected by my personal bad health. In fact, the Dark Ace was the only one who knew that I was under the weather. We still practiced Binding every day, though my combat training had stopped.

Now, I was sitting on my cold iron throne, trying to listen to what a nervous representative was trying to stutter in front of me. My head pounded.

"We were looking for a Terra willing to host the Ultimate Warrior Championships, it's a wrestling thing, your Highness, and we were wondering if we could have your permission to advertise." I rubbed my forehead and he trembled even more.

"Why can't we just host it here on Terra Cyclonia?" I proposed. Shock flashed across his face, followed by relief and gratefulness.

"Milady, I didn't want to appear as presumptuous as to ask. It would be perfect! You and your Talons will receive free seats, of course," he gushed.

"What do we have to do?" I asked. My head hurt. I decided I was going to take a nap instead of eating lunch.

"Nothing, nothing at all!" he replied. "We'll set everything up. You'll just have to give the introductory speech, I'll give you a card you can read it from. This will be perfect, the training grounds already has an arena, and…"

I wasn't listening as he blabbed on and on about how grateful. It was only one more event that I would have to look all excited at. Great.

Finally, the day of the event came. I felt really sick and tired, and I was only getting myself out of bed each day with the help of crystal energy. Still, I kept my discomfort hidden very well. I was not looking forward to this, though.

I looked down from my throne on the balcony to the cheering masses of crowds below. I really didn't see what was so exciting about wrestling, but if the people loved it, I wasn't going to question it. I cleared my throat.

"Welcome to Cyclonia, let the games begin!"

A large gong was hit, then the first match started. My head pounded. I wanted to be in my cool laboratory, working with my crystals. I felt better there, and I was positive that getting better had something to do with a regeneration crystal (which I had finally managed to map the matrix of.)

"Remind me why I did this again?" I asked a Talon. He shrugged. "I'm going inside," I continued. "I've got work to do."

I walked in to my desk in the throne room, keeping my posture straight until I was out of sight. When I was sure I was alone, I let my shoulders slump tiredly. I wanted nothing more than to just take a nap, but I really ought to get some work done. I groped wearily on my desk for the scroll which held the regeneration crystal's matrix.

When I finally found it, I blinked in surprise. Strange. I was certain I had left it neatly rolled up on the other side of my desk. Was there an intruder here? I listened carefully. Now I was certain that I heard some light breathing. "Hello?" I said. There was no answer. "You can come out. I'm not going to bite."

Silence.

A plan formed in my mind. I walked back out to my seat on the balcony. "Could you bring me my scroll with the regeneration matrix?" I asked one Talon. The Talon saluted, then walked off quickly. Two minutes later, he returned.

"I'm sorry, Milady, I couldn't find it," he said, dumping three other scrolls on my lap.

"Thank you, come with me both of you," I whispered. "Stay quiet. We have an intruder in the throne room."

The Talons followed me carefully as we walked into the throne room, now eyeing all shadows as if they hid the intruder. I suddenly swooped around the desk, catching a familiar looking chocolate-skinned girl crouching down, clutching my crystal scroll.

"Piper!" I exclaimed. "She's an old friend. You can leave us now." The Talons exited the room, bowing.

Piper looked suitable guilty. "I'm sorry for sneaking around in your throne room," she said, "but I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with us—I mean, me, here on the terra." She put her hands, still clutching the scroll, behind her back.

"Do you want a copy of that scroll?" I offered. "I always make a backup for my work, in case one gets lost. I'm sure that it will be more quickly accepted in the medical community if it's introduced by a Storm Hawk, not a Cyclonian."

Piper's eyes flashed gratefully. "I'll say it was the work of the crystal expert Kitty Lark. That is the truth, and you deserve credit for you work."

"Where are the boys?" I asked. She gave me a surprised look. "Really, you never go anywhere without them, and I assume you're all here in the first place to watch the silly wrestling event."

Piper grinned. "They're out on the ring; Finn bought us fake tickets, so we got in by pretending that Junko was the Masked Masher. He's actually fighting fairly well, considering."

I smiled back. It was just like we were hiding out from that storm together again. "Boys, always thinking brute strength in the answer. Speed, superior planning, and crystals are a lot more effective than violence." I offered her a hand. "Come on, I never did get to show you my crystal lab!"

The crystal lab was fairly close, just down the hallway. I had designed it for easy access, and as near to my bedroom and throne room as possible. When Piper walked in, her mouth dropped in awe.

I had one of the largest collections of crystals in the Atmos, all on high shelves and immaculately labeled, in alphabetical order. Actually, the baskets oozed off the shelves and covered the floor of one side of the room. Then, I had an entire wall, floor to ceiling, covered in my collections of texts about crystal science, its history, and its various branches and applications. The remaining two walls looked like the interior of a beehive, as it was little hexagons, each holding a scroll containing information on a crystal, how to recognize it, its uses, and its matrix. Among these scrolls were papers on crystals which I had invented.

The center of the floor was covered in a large table, machines for combining crystals, and a giant microscope. All of it was kept in pristine shape; there was not a spot of dirt or a scroll out of place.

"This is amazing!" she gushed. "It's so organized, so professional!"

I gave her a small smile. "You're the first person who hasn't been daunted by its size or cleanliness."

"Are you kidding? I would live, eat, sleep, and spend the rest of my life in here if I could!"

I looked at her hopefully. "You can join Cyclonia whenever you want," I offered.

She shook her head sadly. "Who would take care of the boys? I'm sorry, but they're the only family I have. You understand, right?"

I did understand completely. "Well, if you ever get tired of them, and need some female company, just stop by. We can paint our nails, gossip, look at teen magazines, and stay up watching chick-flicks way too late."

Piper giggled. "That sounds great! I'll probably take you up on it at least once a month!"

I smiled. It was so strange how Piper and I were on different sides of this war, but we were both fighting for a better Atmos, and we could both still be friends. Suddenly, I coughed, and my legs went weak and I nearly collapsed. Piper caught me. I sneezed, looking apologetic. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm a bit sick," I admitted.

"I'm taking you down to the kitchen for some tea and sandcakes. Sandcakes always make you feel better," Piper replied.

Three minutes later, Piper placed a warm plate of sandcakes in front of me, along with a cup of chamomile tea. I shivered, despite the blanket she had wrapped me in. Okay, I felt really, really, really sick. I was glad that I could just sit there, inhaling the steam from the tea.

"Now, who do I get?" she asked. "Is there some sort of medic or doctor here on Cyclonia?"

The only thing that could help me now was reaching Perfect Attunement. If I could be healed by crystals, I wouldn't have been unwell for so long. I shook my head. "Get the Dark Ace."

Piper looked frightened, but she nodded, then scurried off. I cupped the tea in my ice cold hands, willing them to warm up. Everything was swaying back and forth, like I was on in the ocean.

The ocean…another thing that I missed from back home. I had never seen any oceans here, just Terras and the Wastelands below them. I never saw oceans, or rivers, or forests, especially not on Cyclonia. I missed home. I having a laptop, and cars, and the Internet, and all of my friends. I missed my family so much. I missed my precious little cats. Who would feed them now that I was gone?

I sniffled, wiping my nose with a tissue. No use getting upset over something that I couldn't change. Anyway, it was nice here in the Atmos, and this was my home now. There was no use thinking of the "might-have-been"'s.

The door burst open, and Piper stumbled through, pushed by the Dark Ace. I stood on my wobbling legs, chair clattering to the floor. "What do you think you're doing?" I hissed. "She's a friend!"

"She invaded our Terra!"

"She's here to see the games! She has a ticket! We're neutral until the matches are over, remember? You are violating the peace that we promised! And ever worse, she's my guest! She's in the palace because I invited her to look around. How dare you?"

He looked taken aback. "I saw her, and I assumed—"

"What? That because she was a Storm Hawk, she was here trying to sabotage us? She's my friend!"

The Dark Ace's eyes narrowed. "My first priority is your protection, and there was always the possibility that she was here to assassinate you. Better safe than sorry."

Piper inched away from us. "Um, I'm going to go now, I ought to get back to my team before they start to worry about me."

"Oh no, you're not," Dark Ace growled. "You're going straight to the Cyclonian dungeons."

"Oh, yes she is," I spat back. "Piper—go. Dark Ace—back off. That's an order."

Piper practically sprinted out of the room.

The Dark Ace took a deep breath, as if he was trying to calm himself down. "I don't like you being friends with her," he protested. "She's the enemy. It's too dangerous!"

I glared at him. "Don't you go telling me about what's dangerous."

He glared right back with his unnerving red eyes. We were locked in an ultimate stare-down, a battle of wills. Then suddenly, my legs gave way underneath me.

He caught me before I could fall, his strong arms supporting my trembling body. Quickly, he picked up the abandoned chair and set me down in it, then made way to the door. I caught one arm as he walked past.

"Wait!" I sputtered. "Where are you going?"

"You've been pretending that this was no big deal for way too long. You need medical attention. I'm getting a doctor."

"No!" Panic filled my voice. I felt really, really bad. I did not want to be alone. Was I going to die? Piper didn't die from it. But Piper reached Perfect Attunement! Was I going to die? I was hyperventilating. "Don't leave me!"

"Okay, okay." He grabbed another chair and sat down next to me. "I'm not going anywhere." I calmed down a bit, regaining control over my breathing. I still felt horrible, but I wasn't just going to drop dead. At least, I didn't think so.

"Have a cookie." My voice broke the awkward silence. I didn't think that I was going to eat the rest of the sandcakes, probably because I felt like I was about to throw up, so I offered them to him. He accepted one silently, munching on in, before mumbling a thank you.

Suddenly, a violent fit of coughing wracked my frame. I was shaking, trembling, and hacking my lungs out, and I couldn't stop.

I'm not sure how, but I ended up in his arms. All I could do was stare fearfully into his deep, emotionless red eyes. Then, I didn't feel anything anymore, just numbness. Everything faded. The world turned black, then red, then black. I realized that I was blinking. Blackness, his crimson eyes, blackness.

"No!" His voice, filled with anger and worry, made me blink my eyes open again. "You can't leave me!"

His lips were on mine, all warm, and suddenly, my entire body jolted. Heat rushed through me again. I looked at myself, and to my surprise, I was glowing purple. I took a deep breath, the first in a while.

"Perfect Attunement. About time. I was getting tired of being sick," I joked. He flashed me a smile.

I brought my lips back onto his, kissing him again.

"And that was for saving my life."

"Saving your life is part of the job description, Master."

"Whatever."

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Hope you enjoyed!