Something Blue

The Other Life

A Star Fox Adventures Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

13: Boots On

The small black velvet lined box was heavy in her hands, heavier than it should have been considering it only held a small piece of metal and a rainbow colored ribbon. It was a simple medal, which seemed strange as it was the highest award a civilian could win, and usually given to the widow.

Pepper had made some noise about finding a way to reinstate Fox in the army to add a couple other medals to the list. The top brass wouldn't accept it; he had gone AWOL in his youth and had never gone back. The matter of Fox's history of saving the system wouldn't do anything to change that.

Lisitza let out a sigh and dropped the box onto her desk, shoving it behind the terminal. She had enough medals already; she didn't care to see one celebrating Fox's death.

Another week and the ship would be repaired, and then they could get off Corneria and find a job or two. Cleo was already talking about hiring them again for another mission to the belt. It would be safer now that the raiders were gone.

At least she had earned some reputation from her fight in the belt. Job offers weren't exactly rushing in, but there were a few. They were hardly much of anything, but they would be quick to do and add a little money to the bank account.

She placed her head in her hands and shook her head. It still wasn't enough. They were in too much debt to Pepper, and it would take years to earn it all back.

Fox would have been able to do it in a couple months. His name alone was enough to bring in the big jobs, but his widow was hardly worth it.

There was a knock at her door. She lifted her head up and brushed her hands over her hair, flattening it down. "Yes?"

The door slid open to show Krystal on the other side. The blue vixen looked a little bit embarrassed, running her hands over her head and tucking her hair back over her ears. "Lisitza."

The younger vixen smiled and motioned for her to come in. "Krystal, it's good to see you."

She walked in, looking around the room a bit. Finally she brushed the sheets back on the unmade bed and sat down, tucking her tail around her hips.

"What brings you here?"

"A few things. I saw all the speeches. They were very moving."

Lisitza frowned a bit and shifted slightly in her chair. "I would rather my male self wasn't eulogized to my face. I feel like I'm dead, but I'm not. Fox is dead. Sometimes I don't know who I am anymore."

The older vixen nodded, crossing her legs at the ankle. "You're who you are on the inside, not just the outside. I'm sure everyone has told you this a dozen times already."

"It's not the first time I've heard it. I just don't feel like I'm me anymore."

Krystal nodded, but was frowning a bit, her ears twisting away slightly. "Are you wearing your necklace?"

She reached up to touch her chest, feeling the fur under her shirt. The slight shake of her head was her only answer.

"You should wear it. It's the last bit of your old body. You should keep it close to you. Don't let it go."

"Wearing the last part of my old self won't make me feel any better. It will just be a reminder of who I used to be and what I lost," Lisitza replied as she turned her head away, her tail pulling closer to her legs.

The older vixen took in a long breath and nodded her head. "I see. I wish you felt differently. I think you need to hold onto that last bit of yourself."

"I'm doing what I can, but it's not easy. I feel so empty. Like I've lost my balance, and everything I stood on has been taken away. Damn it," she finally said, covering her eyes with a hand, her ears laying flat against her head.

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Krystal asked: "Is there anything I can do?"

The younger vixen shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "I really don't know."

Krystal nodded a bit, licking her lips. "Then this won't help any. I'm leaving in about three hours. One of my contacts came up with a strong lead, stronger than I've seen since Sauria. I have to follow it. I have to find where it leads."

Lisitza looked up at her sister. "Good luck. Keep me inform. I want to know what you find. If you need me, if you need any of us, just call and I will do everything I can." She leaned forward and placed a hand on the other vixen's shoulder, while the other hand rested on Krystal's knee.

Krystal placed her own hand on top of the one of her knee. "Thank you, that means a lot. For three years no one but me cared. I'm happy someone else is on my side."

"You're my sister, and the only family I have. Family has to stick together."

The blue vixen smiled, and then moved forward, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling her tightly into a hug. Lisitza froze for a second from the sudden move, then started to relax, returning the hug the best she was able. It grew in strength as they both pressed together and the younger vixen suddenly felt a little better.

Finally Krystal pulled away with a smile on her face. "You keep safe. It's a big universe out there and it's not always a nice place."

Lisitza nodded and smiled a bit to her sister. "I'll do what I can, but being in the not nice places is the core of my job."

Krystal let out a slight sigh. "Seems like it's mine as well. Hopefully this lead will turn up something useful for once."

"If you find anything, pass it my way and I'll send it to Pepper. He might be able to find something to help you."

The vixen smiled a bit, her blue eyes twinkling. "Thank you."

She smiled in return.

There was a moment of silence, and then Krystal tilted her head to the side, her ears flicking back. "Your eyes are green."

"What?"

"They're green. Not blue. Not like mine. They're green."

Lisitza turned around and looked for a mirror, only finding the one she had covered with black cloth. Her head snapped back to look at her terminal. With a flick of her fingers she brought up the video com, setting the feed to loop so she could see her face.

Opening her eyes wide she looked into the camera and then back at the screen. Her eyes were green, not the dark green they had been as a man, it was very light, with a touch of blue, but there was a definite shade of green among all the blue.

"They were blue when I changed. Maybe... maybe I'm turning back, without the spirits' help." Her tail was flicking in excitement.

"That would be fantastic," the other vixen said smiling widely.

Lisitza nodded, turning the display off and standing up from her chair. "I'll have to keep an eye on myself for a few days to see if anything else changes. Maybe things will go in reverse of the original changes." She reached down to rub her stomach as she spoke.

"Maybe," Krystal replied, and then hugged her sister again.

This time she was happy to return the hug. "Let me walk you out of the ship. It's the least I can do."

"Of course," she replied.

Together the two blue vixens walked through the ship. Neither one had anything more to say, but the silence wasn't so overwhelming anymore.

They finally parted at the gate to the docking slip, sharing a small smile as Krystal started walking back to her own ship.

Turning around, she found Peppy running towards her across the docking slip, his ears trailing out behind his head and a look of panic in his eyes. "Lisitza," he said, gasping for breath, his whole body shaking as he came to a stop.

She hurried to his side, running an arm under his, holding him up. "What's wrong?"

The old hare paused, panting, trying to catch his breath. "Raiders, at Aquas."

The vixen bit her lip and pulled the hare close to her. "Come on, let's get to the bridge," she said, helping him back across the docking slip.

By the time they reached the docking bay he finally had caught his breath and was walking on his own. She still moved slowly so he could keep up with her as they climbed up the staircase.

They stepped over the few remaining open panels in the goose neck on the way to the bridge. Slippy and Falco were already there, hunched over the communication panel.

"Guys?" she asked.

Falco looked up and moved to the side, the hypercom image was on the screen. Four large ships where moving in over Kew, the engines glowing brightly.

"How old is this?"

"Seven minutes," Peppy said.

She took in a long breath. "And the military?"

Slippy shrugged. "There's nothing in the area. Aquas is suppose to be safe."

"When can we leave?" she asked.

The toad gave her a nasty look. "Three hours, if I push it, and if I violate every no-fly zone we might get there in four and a half days."

A growl rose up in the back of her throat, looking at the star chart on the display. "On the other side of the system. Damn," she said. Her eyes traced along the chart, from Cornaria, across the system, past the sun and over to where Aquas was currently in its orbit. The location was a familiar one, and one that didn't move. "Where is it in relation to the second egress point?"

Falco's head shot up. "What?"

"Where are they in their orbits? close?"

"Close enough to join the fight," the hare replied.

Lisitza took in a long breath, running a hand over her face, her eyes closing as her mind raced. Points connected together, crossing over the image of the system held behind her eyes. "Falco, I need a full load on my fighter. Slippy, I want the ship heading to Aquas as soon as you safely can. Peppy, call the General, get _The Great Fox_ cleared for a direct trip, and tell him to warm up the black hole, I'm going through."

"Lisitza?" Flaco said in a surprised tone.

"It's the only way to get there before the raiders do too much damage."

"But the wormhole?"

"I've done it before, and I'll do it again. Now stop standing around and get to work," she ordered. Then turning around, she quickly walked out of the bridge to her quarters.

The three men were left looking at each other in surprise any worry. Peppy let out a long sigh and shook his head. "She can't--"

"I know," Falco said.

"You've got to do something."

The falcon shook his head. "I can't stop her. I know that look. She will not stop for anything, not even her own safety. But I have an idea." He spun on his heel and headed down towards the docking bay.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.