Yes! I finally finished another chapter! -dances- It's been pretty busy, I seem to have a rather stubborn muse for this fic, but I'm determined to finish! I will! Yes! Enjoy!

I don't think I've said this in a while, so... I don't own Storm Hawks! They belong to NerdCorps and were created by Asaph 'Ace' Fipke. I do, however, own Weaverbird, Silverglow, Terra Orienta and its inhabitants, and anything else that has not appeared (and prob'ly never will) on the show. Please ask before using, and NerdCorps, Please don't sue me! D:

Enjoy!

Family Ties and Cherry Blossoms

Aerrow awoke, but kept his eyes closed. His head was pounding and he thought he could hear voices speaking softly somewhere around him. He shifted, groaning when it made his headache pound harder. There was a sharp intake of breath.

"I think he's coming around." Someone whispered; it sounded like Junko.

"Hey, Aerrow! You awake?" Finn's voice called rather loudly, sending Aerrow's ears ringing and his head throbbing intensely. He gasped in pain and his hand flew to his temple. He was surprised to feel linen bandages had been bound around his head.

"Finn!" Piper's voice hissed angrily. There was thump and an agonized grunt; Aerrow was willing to bet that Piper had elbowed Finn in the ribs. A few soft chuckles echoed around the room. Aerrow felt a hand on his cheek.

"Aerrow?" Piper murmured gently. Aerrow slowly forced his eyes to open.

Piper was the first thing to come into focus. Her carnelian eyes radiated concern. Aerrow blinked a few times to get his vision to clear and found the rest of his team was gathered around the bed he was lying on, save for Finn, who was nursing his bruised ribs in the far corner of the room. Stork was there as well, but was also keeping his distance; concussions led to mindworms, and he was taking no chances. Aerrow's parents were on the opposite side of the bed from Piper, who smiled with relief when she saw her leader was awake. Weaverbird and Silverglow were watching the proceedings through a window, purring softly.

"What happened? Where are we?" Aerrow croaked. Piper passed him a glass of water and waited for Aerrow to take a drink before she explained. She pressed an icepack to the side of Aerrow's head and he sighed with relief. The cold really took the edge off of his headache.

"Well, you passed out." Piper stated. Aerrow rolled his eyes and waited for her to continue. "None of us were really fast enough to catch you, and you hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Weaverbird says you've got a concussion, but nothing really major. The Orientans took you up to the monastery and insisted you stay until you recovered." Piper smiled, "I warned them you hate staying in one place for too long, and that you wouldn't be too happy about it, but they insisted." She shrugged. Aerrow sighed slightly.

"You were a little feverish after you fainted, but…" Piper pressed the back of her hand to Aerrow's cheek, "it's mostly gone now. You'd better take it easy for a while, Aerrow. We thought you were goner for a second there."

"I'm fine, Piper." Aerrow insisted, smiling reassuringly.

"I know." Piper replied, returning the smile. Finn made a gagging gesture behind Piper's back and Aerrow shot him a look. Piper saw and glared at Finn over her shoulder. The sharpshooter skittered nervously away from the tactician. Aerrow chuckled softly. He suddenly frowned and turned to his parents.

"Where did you come from? I thought you were-" Aerrow started to ask, but his father cut him off.

"Dead? We are, and Silverglow is too." Sorrow flickered in Weaverbird's eyes for a moment. "There's a Blue Moon this month, remember? It opened a passageway between the world of the dead and the world of the living." Aerrow blinked in surprise; he had thought that story was just a myth. He said so. Weaverbird purred in amusement.

"Easy for a human to say, considering your short lifespans. Such things are easy enough for a race to forget after a century, let alone a millennium. Dragons are probably the only species on Atmos that live long enough for an individual to see a Blue Moon." Weaverbird pointed out.

"How old are you, anyway?" Finn asked from across the room. Weaverbird looked at him.

"Five hundred and sixty four years, going on five hundred and sixty five." Weaverbird replied frankly. Finn's eyes widened, "Oh, that's actually quite young," the Dragoness continued, "My age is the equivalent to that of a human in their late twenties." Aerrow and Piper shared a nonplussed glance. Aerrow shrugged and suddenly found himself caught up in his mother's embrace. Finn smirked at him and he felt his face fluster.

"We've missed you so much!" She breathed, gathering her son close to her. Aerrow's countenance softened and he returned the hug.

"I missed you too." Aerrow murmured softly. Aerrow's mother pulled back slightly and just gazed at him, smiling.

Piper, trying to be tactful, ushered the other Storm Hawks out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Aerrow alone to catch up with his parents.


Aerrow found himself wandering among the trees in the cherry orchard. The fragrant pink blossoms drifted lazily down around him. It was his third day at the monastery and the monks had finally conceded to let him out of bed. The young sky knight needed some time to sort out his thoughts and sought out solitude at the orchard. He watched as a handful of cherry blossoms fell to float upon the water of the ancient fountain in the center of the orchard.

Aerrow started to walk towards the fountain, not really thinking about where he was going when he ran into something rather soft, yet firm, and fell forward onto the ground.

"Ouch." Aerrow felt his cheeks flush as he realized that he had run into Piper, and hard. The two Storm Hawks were sprawled on the cobblestone path between the rows of cherry trees. Aerrow had ploughed right into Piper and landed on top of her when he fell. The two teens' faces were almost too close for comfort and their eyes widened in surprise. Piper's breath hitched in her chest, her heart skipping a few beats.

Aerrow and Piper managed to extricate themselves from their awkward entanglement and stood, looking away embarrassedly. Aerrow waited for the blush to fade from his cheeks before turning back to his navigator.

"Um… Hi?" Aerrow squeaked a greeting. He promptly squeezed his eyes shut, mortified. He cleared his throat and Piper giggled.

"Hi." Piper returned the greeting, "How're you feeling?" she ventured tentatively. Aerrow smiled warmly at her, embarrassment forgotten.

"Much better." The young sky knight replied. The pair stood in silence for a moment.

"So… Um…" Aerrow took a stab at conversation. Piper's tangerine gaze met Aerrow's peridot eyes. He cleared his throat again, "I guess I should thank you…" Piper tilted her head at him.

"What for?" she inquired. Aerrow scuffed the ground with the toe of his boot.

"Everything… you know… when I was… Sick, I suppose." Aerrow rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I'm not sure I would have made it without something to hold onto…" The sky knight lapsed into silence. Piper watched him for a while.

"Aerrow, even without me you have a lot to hold onto," Piper put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "You still had a good chance of survival." Aerrow shook his head.

"You were the one who figured out that it wasn't a normal illness, remember?" Aerrow winked at her. Piper opened her mouth to make an inquiry but Aerrow chuckled and cut her short, "I lapsed in and out of consciousness a lot more often than you thought. If it weren't for you, I'd have died permanently." Piper shuddered at the thought.

"What was it like? Dying, I mean." Piper asked quietly after a few moments silence, "It wasn't… painful for you, was it?" Piper looked at her friend sadly, concerned. Aerrow furrowed his brow, deep in thought. Piper could practically see the gears turning in his mind. Aerrow opened his mouth to answer and closed it again, a hand on his chin.

"I don't really remember. It's all a haze; I wasn't thinking clearly. I think…" Aerrow trailed off, shutting his eyes. He stood like this for a moment. Suddenly, he gripped his chest and cried out, falling to his knees. Aerrow doubled over and sweat broke out on his brow. Piper gasped and quickly knelt by her leader's side. She felt his forehead. There was a flash of burning fever and then he was normal.

After drawing several deep shaky breaths, Aerrow choked out his response, "Nope. Not pleasant." He hissed through his teeth and shuddered, gasping. Piper slipped Aerrow's arm over her shoulder and eased him into a standing position. He forced his legs to move as Piper gently led him to the edge of the fountain and they sat down. Piper kept her hand on Aerrow's back to steady him.

After a few moments, Aerrow's breathing eased and he relaxed, his muscles slackening. He kept his eyes closed, however, and Piper could feel him shivering through his uniform. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Concerned, Piper started rubbing small circles into Aerrow's back, trying to soothe him a little.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked finally, watching Aerrow carefully. He swallowed and nodded weakly, still breathing heavily. "Are you sure?" Another nod, but a little stronger this time. Aerrow let out a long breath and opened his eyes halfway.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He sat up straight and drew a deep breath to steady himself, "I guess it wasn't quite out of my system yet." Piper smiled sympathetically at him. Aerrow wiped the sweat off of his brow with his sleeve and glanced at Piper. She was still eyeing him with concern. He smiled reassuringly.

Piper gave a small smile after a moment and fished a cherry blossom out of the water. Aerrow plucked it out of her hands and tucked it behind her ear. She giggled. They sat together in silence for a while. Piper's fingers somehow found their way over Aerrow's. The sky knight turned to look at her. Aerrow couldn't help noticing how close their faces were getting…

"Aerrow and Piper, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Finn's obnoxious shout drew the pair's attention towards the gates of the orchard. They glared at the sharpshooter, faces flaring. Spotting the murderous expression on Piper's face, Finn squeaked and high-tailed it in the opposite direction. Junko, sitting on a rock near Finn, watched as his friend fled from his teammate's wrath.

"That wasn't very nice, Finn!" Junko reprimanded, trotting after him. Aerrow could almost see the smoke pouring out of Piper's ears and he rested a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"I'll hold him down, and you can pound him." Aerrow joked, flashing a wink at his navigator. Piper grinned and shot off, laughing, down the path after Finn, Aerrow close behind.

Hur hur, Sorry AXP fans, nothing beyond awkward teenage romance yet. ;D I gotta say, Finn has perfect timing. XD Jerk. XD XD XD