Gundstaff's doorbell rang with a loud BONG. The giant, who had been studying a new emerald green crystal, went to the door.

"Who is it?" he bellowed in his thick German accent before he spotted the girl standing at his feet.

"Ah, Piper, my favourite customer, please, come in." said the giant welcomingly.

"Thank you Gundstaff." said the crystal mage as she floated up past the giant into the humongous house.

Gundstaff followed.

"So, what is it you need?" he asked.

Piper flew up to a shelf just below the giant's eye level. On it was a pile of small, bright green nil crystals.

"I will need some of these if that's no problem." said Piper, scooping up a handful of the green gems and placing them in the pouch on her belt.

"You need that many?" Gundstaff asked. "Just what do you need to fix?"

"The more accurate question would be: WHO I need to fix." Piper said, heading for the door.

"Wait, is this like the time your leader broke almost every bone in his body? Has he been his usual daredevil self again?"

"Well, it is like that time only, he's not the only one who needs fixing." Piper finished, flying off back to the Condor.

…

When she arrived at the bridge, Piper smiled over at Radarr, who was at the ship's controls, and hugged Kaya.

"Anything happened?" she asked.

"Nothing much; Finn's listening to his music, Junko's taking a nap, and Stork's pouting, as usual." the shape-shifter said.

"What about Aerrow?" Piper asked.

"Sleeping like a baby." was Kaya's answer.

Now you must be wondering what had happened to our beloved squadron, so I'll explain: the day before, Finn was gonna play a prank on Piper. He'd placed a trail of oil, grease, and any other slippery substance he could find, and nearly covered the floor of the Condor with it. His plan was that he'd play his rock music to get Piper out of her room, but she'd slip and slide all the way off the ship. Finn would then tell Aerrow what happened so that the sky knight would go all "hero" and rescue his damsel in distress. But his plan didn't, in fact, go so well. Aerrow came out of his room before Finn was ready, and the two ended up slipping on the trail. Curious of what was going on, Junko and Stork came to investigate, and ended up slipping as well. The four boys then slid all the way to a pipe that led to the engine. The resulting crash was not pretty. Thankfully, Piper got them out as fast as she could. Stork was on top of the pile of boys in the engine, so he didn't get extremely hurt (his only broken body parts were his legs and arms) and since he was a whallop, Junko too wasn't that damaged (he got a broken arm, a nearly crushed hand, and a twisted ankle). Finn ended up in a full body cast, but other than that, he was fine. Aerrow, however, was in no way as lucky. Not only had he been nearly crushed by a whallop, a merb and a blond sharpshooter, and not only had he cushioned their falls, but he landed on the engine crystals, of all places. Piper had nightmares of his wounds for hours afterwards. Not even a cast was gonna be enough, so Kaya put him in a healing coma, not that the collision hadn't already knocked him out.

Now, Piper shuddered as she remembered Aerrow's broken body, and looked again at Kaya.

"How long is the coma gonna last with this?" she asked, holding up a nil crystal.

"4 days is the fastest I can give, and even then, Aerrow needs to rest himself for 3 more days so that his body will fully recover. At least he'll be out of bed with the others." said Kaya.

Piper sighed and nodded.

"Do you think you could give the others their crystals? I just…wanna see how he's doing." the crystal mage said.

Kaya nodded and shifted into the form of a black and blue bird (one of her favourite forms), before getting some of the crystals and fluttering off to Finn's room. Radarr, after putting the Condor on auto-pilot, then followed Piper to see Aerrow.

They entered their leader's quarters and looked toward his bed. Aerrow lay under the blankets, stripped down to his boxers, his eyes closed and his bare chest bandaged, as well as his arm. He also wore a strange black bracelet with a blue-green crystal fixed into it, bathing his body in a pulsing turquoise aura. This was a little invention of Piper's thanks to a few hours of tinkering in her lab: a healing stone fixed into a bracelet that could heal the wearer. Piper went to Aerrow's bedside and clasped his limp hand while Radarr settled onto the bed next to his best friend. The sky monkey let out a small whine, and Piper knew how he felt. She hated seeing Aerrow injured like this, it was like looking at a bird with broken wings, unable to fly and be free. Piper could feel her eyes moistening, but she pushed back the tears. Breathing deeply, she fixed the nil crystal she'd brought into the bracelet. This would speed up the recovery. The girl looked over at Radarr.

"You stay with him, okay?"

The sky monkey chirped, meaning "yes", then lay down next to Aerrow, his head on the redhead's hand. Piper smiled a sad smile and left.

…

"PIPEEEERRRR!" Finn whined the next day.

The crystal mage groaned and climbed groggily out of bed. Her hair was sticking up in places, and she was slow getting dressed. Pulling on her boots, she slumped over to the sharpshooter's bedroom.

"What is it now, Finn?" she asked, still half-asleep.

"I'm BORED that's what!" he said.

Piper rubbed her temples, shaking her head.

"You woke me up at 6:00 in the morning just because you don't have anything better to do?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Piper looked up at him with murder on her face.

"How about I get Radarr to tickle you? And considering that you can't move, I think that'll give you something to think about." she threatened.

"NO!" Finn shrieked. "NO, PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THAT! I'll just…go back to sleep."

Grumbling, Piper left the room. There was no point in going back to sleep since she was awake, so she went to the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. She'd just finished eating a plate of sandcakes when something out the window caught her eye. Were those little red forms birds? No, they were skimmers. CYCLONIAN SKIMMERS! And they were heading right for the Condor! Piper dashed over to the controls and started blasting. In a few minutes, all 5 skimmers were down. Piper sighed, exhausted. Now, she felt ready for sleep. But as she trudged to her bedroom, she heard Junko's stomach growl.

"Piper!" he called.

The crystal mage groaned, and went back to the kitchen.

…

Almost 3 days later, Piper was at the bridge, mapping out a new route. After that fiasco with the cyclonians the other day, she wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible now. Radarr was driving the ship, and Kaya was off doing some recon. Piper stretched out her arms and yawned. It was nearly midnight, so she'd better see if the guys were asleep yet. She walked over to Finn's room. He was snoring, a little bit of drool dangling from his mouth. Then, Piper checked on Junko. He too was sleeping. Stork, however, was still awake. He looked at Piper with annoyance as she entered his room.

"About time you came to check on me!" he said. "You're precisely 3.2 minutes later than usual, and the Condor's tilting an eighth of a degree to the portside, and…"

Before he could go on, Piper had placed his trans helmet on his head and pressed the button. The merb's eyelids drooped and he fell asleep, snoring happily. The girl then left to check on her favourite patient. Aerrow was sound asleep, as he had been for the last few days, but the healing crystal's glowing aura had faded a little, meaning the 4 days of his healing coma were nearly up. Piper smiled as her fingers swept over his forehead, pushing his red locks away from his handsome face. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, so sweet, almost harmless. Then, his bandages caught her eyes. They were all wet and clinging to Aerrow's skin, red from his blood.

"Oh shoot." Piper whispered. "I forgot to change them."

Carefully, she lifted Aerrow's limp body so that she could remove the soaked bandage wrapped around his chest. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks as her tapered fingers brushed his firm pecs. It suddenly occurred to her that she was so close to him. She shook herself out of her hormones' trance and inspected his wound. It had healed; and though there was still a faint pink scar, it was nothing the nil crystal couldn't fix. Then she moved to the other side of the bed and went to work with his arm. That wound was still festering. As she applied some ointment and wrapped it in a new bandage, she felt the exhaustion from lack of sleep and hard work creeping to her mind. That and being so close to Aerrow, seeing his sleeping face, was so soothing.

'Maybe he won't mind if I lay down for a bit, just a few minutes.' she reasoned, gingerly sitting on the bed and stretching out on the blankets.

To keep from falling off the bed, she had to press herself to Aerrow's warm, slumbering body. But to be honest, she didn't mind a bit. As she drifted off, she failed to realize that the glowing aura enveloping Aerrow had dimmed, until, with one last flicker, disappeared entirely. But by then, she had already reached that stage of deep sleep that can withstand even the loudest of Finn's rock music.

…

As Aerrow woke the next morning, he knew that he wasn't alone. His instinct was buzzing like a beehive, and he could feel someone else's form pressed against his. The sound of soft, deep breathing lulled him, and he was tempted to go back to sleep. Whoever was here, it certainly wasn't Radarr (too big to be a sky monkey), Junko (WAY too small to be a wallop), Stork (not mumbling in their sleep about mindworms or whatever) or Finn (the someone didn't smell like they had put on too much hair-gel). And Aerrow highly doubted that Kaya would want to sleep so close to him like this. So that left… He lifted his eyelids just enough to see the head of a dark-skinned girl, her face partly hidden by a mop of blue hair. The sky knight smiled. Piper looked just so cute in her sleep. He REALLY hated to have to interrupt this perfect moment, but he didn't want Finn's complaining or Stork's moaning or Junko's tummy-growling to wake her up. Softly groaning from the effort (after all, he'd been asleep for 4 days); he sat up and gently shook her. Piper gave a little moan, stirred, and her eyes finally fluttered open.

"Asleep on the job, are we?" he asked playfully, smiling.

"Aerrow…How did…How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

Aerrow shrugged.

"Beets me." he said.

Slowly, tiredly, Piper got up. As she stood, the two heard Finn's long wail.

"PIPEEERRR, I GOT AN ITCH!"

"I better go help Finn." Piper said. "See you later Aerrow."

"See you later." he said.

The crystal mage smiled and left. Aerrow lay back down, breathing out a long sigh. He'd never admit it, but almost the whole time he'd been in his coma, he'd been dreaming about the crystal mage that had just left his company. He couldn't help it. Maybe it was just his hormones, but it seemed that Piper had become even more beautiful to the sky knight's eyes. She was like a panther; an exotic, intelligent, beautiful panther with golden eyes and blue hair. She was sexy too; she had a nice, lithe body, sculpted curves…Aerrow blinked to rid his mind of the image. His attraction to Piper had been smoldering ever since he'd met her. And now, years later, there was no more denying what this attraction was.

'Face it sky knight.' he thought. 'You are in LOVE!'

Aerrow rolled onto his side and started falling into a normal sleep. And as he drifted off, he thought that if there was one thing he could possibly want now, just one thing, it would be to have Piper love him back.

…

3 days passed, and still Piper looked after the guys. She cooked for them, fed them, scratched them whenever they got an itch, basically waited on them day and night until she was as ill and tired as could be. Now, an entire week after the boys' accidents, Piper was standing on the Condor's balcony, trying to stay awake. She hadn't slept for more than 1 hour each night, and she had a throbbing headache. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was sweating profusely, despite the cool breeze outside. She heard a chirp and turned around. Radarr was standing in the doorway. Beside him was a very worried-looking Kaya.

"Piper, you don't look so good." the shape-shifter said. "As in, REALLY not good."

Piper wiped the droplets of sweat from her forehead.

"I'm fine Kaya." Piper said, not convincing either the girl or the sky monkey. "Don't worry about me."

Kaya laughed without mirth.

"Don't worry about you?" she asked. "Let's see: you've slept for a grand total of 3 hours these past days, you've been caring for the guys this whole week nonstop, you've lost your appetite and therefor skipped several meals, you won't let me or Radarr cover for you, and on top of that, you're still trying to hide your crush on Aerrow, yes, we both know about it. I think that we have we good reason to worry about you."

Radarr whined to back her up, and then chirped something else only Kaya understood. She then proceeded to translate.

"The others worry about you too." she said.

Kaya didn't mention that it was Aerrow who worried about Piper the most, or the fact that he'd admitted not only his worry, but also his crush on the navigator to Kaya. Normally, she would've rubbed it in Aerrow's face that he was in love, but not this time. This time, even she was worried. As though to add to this, Piper wiped the sweat from her forehead again and blinked a few times. Her vision had gone blurry for a second.

"Really Kaya…" the crystal mage said, her voice hoarse.

Radarr and Kaya took a step toward her, sensing what was sure to follow.

"Piper," Kaya said slowly. "I think you should take a break, you need to lie down."

Piper put and hand to her forehead; her vision was even more blurry and head was hurting so much. The pair took two more steps toward her; their eyes were wide from fear.

"No…honest…" she said her words almost lost within the hoarseness of her voice. "I'm…f-fine…"

And she fell down. Kaya and Radarr flew over to catch her, and they softened her fall, but her head still struck the hard metal floor. Piper's vision was blurring ever faster and growing dimmer, and her hearing was becoming fuzzy. And her head! Oh her head! The pain was so strong! She vaguely heard the sound of Kaya's voice.

"Radarr! Get Aerrow! ...Aerrow! Get over here!" she cried out.

She vaguely felt Kaya's ungloved hand pressing against her burning forehead, heard Radarr's frantic screeching, footsteps running down the hallway. Then she blacked out.

Aerrow had just pulled on his shirt, glad to be out of bed, when Radarr came racing into his room. The sky monkey was shrieking like crazy, he was trembling furiously even as he jumped up and down before the sky knight, and his eyes were so wide and bulging, they looked like they were about to pop out of his head! Aerrow immediately knew that something bad had happened.

"Radarr! What is it bud?" he asked, kneeling down and trying to calm Radarr.

But the little animal was positively frantic. He shrieked again, bouncing furiously and pointing out the door. Aerrow was trying to make sense of his co-pilot's behaviour, but Radarr was too rattled to slow down. Then, Radarr stopped and Aerrow heard Kaya's shout:

"Aerrow! Get over here! Now!" her voice was shrill and panicked. "It's Piper!"

As soon as he heard the crystal mage's name, Aerrow was out the door and bolting down the hallway and outside. When he saw Kaya kneeling by Piper's side, he stopped, just for an instant. Piper couldn't be…dead…could she? Was it possible to work yourself to death?

'No, NO!' Aerrow told himself savagely as he rushed to his fallen navigator. 'Stop thinking about that Aerrow! Piper needs you, goddamn it, so get a grip!'

Aerrow saw how Kaya's hand was feeling Piper's forehead. He removed a glove and touched the dark skinned girl's cheek. It was burning hot. But when he felt her arm, he found that the rest of her skin was normal, if anything, just a hint colder than usual.

"She has a bad fever." Kaya said, even though she knew she was stating the obvious. "Not that I'm surprised. And she hit her head pretty hard. Oh, I knew I should've used a hypnosis crystal on her. Then she'd get some more sleep and she wouldn't be in this condition."

"How long has she slept?" Aerrow asked, worried about the answer.

Kaya bit her lip before answering:

"In total…3 hours…"

Aerrow's jaw dropped.

"3…hours!?" a voice behind them said.

They looked around to find Radarr, Finn, Junko and Stork in the doorway.

"In 3 days, she slept for just 3 hours!?"

Kaya nodded, but she was frowning at the blonde.

"That's what happens when somebody keeps calling her just because they're bored." she said, venom lacing every word. "Remind you of anyone…Finn?"

The sharp-shooter winced. Aerrow rolled his eyes, but he too was glaring at his wing-man.

"We'll talk about that later." he said. "Now, Piper needs more care than any of us."

He picked her up and carried her to her room, then tucked her under the light blankets on her bed. Kaya followed and placed an icepack on Piper's forehead.

"She won't need a bracelet." she said, addressing Aerrow who had just started reaching for one of the few that lay unused on Piper's desk. "She'll heal fast with lots of bed rest. BUT," at this, she glared at Finn who was trying to tip toe out of there.

Everyone else glared at him, even Junko. Finn gulped as he turned to face them.

"No rock music," Kaya said sternly. "Unless you want Piper to go deaf too."

Finn shook his head.

"Yes ma'am." he said.

As they all left, Aerrow glanced at Piper, and concern washed over his features. She seemed so small and vulnerable, yet peaceful. Kaya looked at him.

"You can stay with her if you'd like." she told him.

"Thanks," Aerrow said as she left, sitting down in a chair and watching over Piper as she slept, like a guardian angel.

…

When Piper woke, the first thing she felt was a throb of pain within her temples. With difficulty, she lifted her heavy eyelids. She was in her room. Wondering how she got here, she looked around, catching sight of Aerrow, sitting in a chair next to her desk. His legs were sprawled out in front of him and his head was bowed, but the small rumble of a snore confirmed that he was asleep. Piper laughed, but the laugh turned into a cough and a groan of pain as her head throbbed. Immediately, Aerrow's head shot up and his eyes snapped open. In barely a few strides, he was at her bedside.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Piper tried to nod, but her head hurt so much.

"How did I get here?" she asked weakly.

"You fainted on deck." Aerrow said. "You got a bad fever from all that work, caring for us and all."

"Oh."

Piper then tried to sit up. But Aerrow pushed her back down.

"Oh no you don't." he said, easily overpowering her.

"But…" Piper protested, but Aerrow silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"You're sick Piper. You need to rest."

He smiled, and Piper did settle down. Her pillow suddenly felt a lot softer than before, the blankets seemed cosier. Aerrow saw his navigator's eyelids getting heavy. He gently stroked Piper's cheek, and as though his touch alone carried soothing magic, she fell instantly asleep.

…

A few days passed, and Piper's fever got worse. It wasn't until after a week when, finally, it cooled down. And the whole time, Aerrow insisted on taking care of Piper, though he let the others pitch in too. Kaya had even considered setting up a cot for him in Piper's room, and though Aerrow kinda wanted to sleep in the same room as Piper's, he said no. Anyhow, a week and 2 days after Piper got ill, Aerrow was in the kitchen, watching as Kaya made soup for their patient. As it finished simmering and Kaya spooned it into a small bowl, Aerrow took it.

"I'll give it to her." he said.

Kaya grinned.

"You'll take almost any excuse to be with her, won't you?" she asked mischievously.

Aerrow shrugged.

"Bit obvious now." he said.

Kaya's mischievous grinned faded to a soft, wise smile.

"I'm sure she'll find out soon." she said.

This was Kaya's subtle way of saying: "Go and tell her, you cowardly idiot.", and Aerrow knew it. He left for Piper's room. She'd just woken from yet another nap when Aerrow entered.

"Dinner," he said. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," she said.

Aerrow felt her forehead. It was cooler than it had been yesterday, but still hotter than usual.

"You're still warm." he said, handing her the bowl. "Better eat up."

Piper nodded and drank the soup. When she was done, she put it on the bedside table.

"Thanks." she said, snuggling under the blankets.

Aerrow smiled. Then his gaze turned to the clock. It was late.

"I'd…better go." he said, cursing his own cowardness.

But as he reached the door, he heard Piper's voice.

"Aerrow," she said.

He looked over at her, concerned. Piper looked down and blushed, slightly embarrassed at the question she was about to ask.

"Could you, maybe…sleep with me tonight?" she asked, looking up at him.

Aerrow smiled, kicked off his boots and hopped into bed next to her full-clothed. Piper snuggled up to him and Aerrow wrapped his arms around his navigator. Piper let out a contented sigh. Aerrow then placed a tender kiss on Piper's forehead. Piper looked up at him.

"You call that a kiss?" she said.

Their lips met. Aerrow groaned happily and deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking Piper's lower lip. She let him in, and their tongues memorized the other's mouth until they knew it as well as their own. When the need for air was too great, they separated.

"Now that was much better." Piper said, cuddling closer to Aerrow's chest.

The sky knight buried his face in Piper's hair; it smelled of summer.

"I love you Piper." he whispered.

Piper smiled softly.

"I love you too Aerrow."

Then, blissfully relaxed in each other's company, the two storm hawks fell asleep.