The sun was rising over Terra Amazonia. On the cliff, his legs dangling over the abyss, Aerrow sat, staring into space. The sun was rising on his side of the Atmos, but chances are, it was setting on the other side. He'd been summoned by the other sky knights for what was supposed to be "an important diplomatic mission" about 5 days ago. But, to Aerrow, it seemed more like it was just an excuse to get him away from his squadron (probably Harrier's idea). The redhead looked behind him at the other sky knights. Francois (the sky knight of the rebel ducks), Burner, sky knight of the Third Degree Burners, the sky knight from the screaming queens and the sky knight of the buff buzzards were quarreling, Suzy Lu and Starling were also arguing, and Tritonn and Harrier were yelling furiously at each other. The young storm hawk sighed and looked back toward the sky. None of his friends had been allowed to come, not even his co-pilot. He missed them all dearly; Radarr's companionship, Finn's joking personality, Junko's bone-crushing hugs, even Stork's pessimism. He just wanted to hear the merb pop up beside him and say: "You're doomed Aerrow." just to snap the sky knight out of his loneliness. And Piper…God, he missed her. He missed the sound of her tinkering in her lab, he missed her smile, he missed her eyes, the moments they had spent together…Aerrow sighed and turned on the radio beside him. It started to play Jet Lag, and the boy laughed at how the song fit his situation so well. He started to sing along, even though it somehow felt wrong to sing a duet song without Piper to sing with him.
"What time is it where you are?"
On the other side of the Atmos, the Condor had landed on a small, uninhabited terra. On the ship's balcony, Piper stared out at the open sky as the sun began to set. The evening breeze played with her hair, and the golden light of the dusk formed a halo around her face. It had been days since Aerrow had left with the other sky knights. She didn't want to admit it to the others, but she missed him, badly. She had always considered Aerrow as an important piece of her life. Without him, she felt lost. He was her compass, her light shining in the dark…her everything. Piper sighed and caressed the blue crystal necklace around her neck. Aerrow had given it to her as a present for her fifth birthday. The gem reminded her so much of him. She wanted him here, standing beside her, holding her hand…Piper began humming the song Jet Lag, just because it was her favourite song, and tried to imagine that Aerrow was singing along, wherever he was.
"I miss you more than anything."
"And back at home, you feel so far."
"Waiting for the phone to ring…"
As Aerrow sang, he pulled out from his pocket a small, torn photo. It was a picture of Piper. She was smiling shyly at the camera, and there was a slight bit more color in her cheeks. But the photo was torn down the middle, and Aerrow couldn't remember what the other half of the photo was. The sky knight reminisced about all the fun and joyful moments he had shared with Piper; their fourth mission when they'd found the phoenix crystal together, her amazing Sky Fu performance at the challenge, the time he'd given her the oracle stone after they went to the forbidden city, that day she'd pretended to quit the storm hawks, but returned, and a number of other memories.
"It's getting lonely living upside down.
I don't even wanna be in this town.
Trying to figure out the time zones, it's making me crazy.
You say 'Good morning!'
When it's midnight
Going outta my head, alone in this bed
I wake up to your sunset
And it's driving me mad
I miss so bad
And my heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jet la-aag
So jetlag"
Piper rubbed at her eyes. She was feeling tired, but she knew that, on the other side of the Atmos, the sun was rising. While she was falling asleep, he was waking up. She wanted to stay awake when he was, but her body wasn't following that plan. Trying to stay awake according to a different time zone was scrambling her brain. She could hardly tell day from night anymore. But she knew that she wouldn't rest until Aerrow was by her side again.
"What time is it where you are?"
"5 more days and I'll be home…"
"I keep your picture in my car."
The song progressed and Aerrow put the picture back in his pocket. He sighed and stopped singing, feeling miserable. He didn't quite understand. Why did he miss Piper so much? Why was it bothering him so much, knowing that she was so far away? Why was he missing her, above all his other squadron members?
"Something eating at ya lad?" a voice from behind Aerrow asked.
Aerrow turned to find Tritonn smiling at him. The sky knight sat next to him and put a webbed hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"You could say that." Aerrow said.
Tritonn's jovial face shifted to worry.
"Ye miss yer squad, don't ya?" he asked in his heavy sailor's accent.
The young storm hawk nodded in response.
"And what about yer navigator? Ye miss her too?"
Aerrow hesitated, then nodded. Then, because he felt that Tritonn would, somehow, know the answer, he asked:
"Tritonn, do you know why I miss Piper so much?"
Tritonn didn't answer. At first, Aerrow didn't understand, then he noticed that the man was holding back what looked like a troll smile.
"I think it's because ye love her." he said.
Aerrow's green eyes opened wide.
"I…what?"
Tritonn shrugged.
"Do ye?"
Aerrow couldn't speak. He didn't know how to react. Tritonn smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"I'll let ye think about it." he said. "I've got to yell at that lily-liver Harrier su'more."
Then he left, leaving Aerrow just staring out into the distance again. Was Tritonn right? Did he love Piper? Had he, in fact, been in love with her all these years? The answer, he knew it, as yes.
"I hate the thought of you alone."
Piper lay in bed, but she still wasn't asleep. Her bed was right next to a window. The dark blue curtains were drawn together. Although she wanted to stay awake with Aerrow, she knew that she couldn't deny herself any more sleep. But she just felt so restless. She opened the curtains so that she was bathed in starlight and moonlight. She finally settled down. She felt better now, with the moon and stars as her company. They reminded her of Aerrow, so she didn't feel as lonely anymore. She rolled onto her side and blew a kiss to a photo of her captain, one side completely torn, on her bedside table.
"Goodnight Aerrow," she whispered.
"I've been keeping busy all the time.
Just to try to keep you off my mind.
Trying to figure out the time zones, it's making me crazy.
You say 'Good morning!'
When it's midnight
Going outta my head, alone in this bed
I wake up to your sunset
And it's driving me mad
I miss so bad
And my heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jet la-aag
So jetlag"
Hours past, and the sky knights still argued on Terra Amazonia. By that time, it was obvious to Aerrow that there was probably no "diplomatic mission" at all. And as the sun began to drop behind the horizon, Aerrow was sitting on the edge of the terra again. By that time, he knew the reason for his missing Piper. He loved her. It was stupid for him not to have noticed all these years. And he only realized it now, when he was miles and miles away from her. He wished Piper was with him now: he would hold her to him and whisper in her ear that he loved her, and…No, that just made him miss her more. Aerrow glared over his shoulder at Harrier. The pompous sky knight was yelling at Tritonn again, but this time, Aerrow could almost see the steam pouring from their ears. He wished he could punch Harrier for making him leave his squadron for so long. Aerrow sighed, turning back to the setting sun.
"Hey there Aerrow!" a female voice called.
Aerrow turned to see Starling as she sat down next to him.
"Is something bothering you?" she asked.
Aerrow nodded.
"I miss Piper." he said. "I…I think, no, I know I'm in love with her."
Starling smiled.
"I knew it. We all knew it." she said, gesturing to the other sky knights.
Aerrow chuckled.
"It was so obvious, wasn't it?"
The interceptor nodded. The two were quiet for a bit.
"Aerrow," Starling finally said. "You know how Harrier called us all here for a 'diplomatic mission'?"
Aerrow nodded.
"Well," she continued. "It turns out that it's not a very big mission at all. It'll only take me and another sky knight or two, but you didn't have to come. He just wanted to get you away from your squadron for a bit."
Aerrow was shocked.
"That's why he and Tritonn are arguing. Tritonn thinks that you should return to the storm hawks, but Harrier (that old snob) doesn't like that plan. But we don't really have to listen to Harrier."
Aerrow slowly turned to her.
"So that means…" he said slowly.
She grinned.
"Go tell Piper you love her already." she said.
Aerrow needed no further encouragement. He bolted up, grabbing his small radio, which had just started playing Jet Lag again, dashed to his skimmer and took off in less time it took you to blink. He was going home…to Piper.
In the wee hours of morning, Piper was on the balcony again, this time clad in only a yellow spaghetti-strap dress. The dress was cut just an inch or two above her knee, showing off her long legs, and her limp hair flew about in the breeze. The sun was just a sliver of gold on the horizon, and the stars were fading away. Piper hadn't slept well, so she stood there on the balcony, holding the torn photo of Aerrow. She knew that this image she held was only half a photo, but she couldn't remember what the other half represented. Suddenly, a stronger breeze caught hold of the photo, and it slipped from between her fingers! Piper snatched at it, but the wind carried it beyond her reach. That photo was one of Piper's most valued possessions! She quickly went to the hangar and rushed outside, chasing the flyaway picture.
"I miss you so bad…"
"I miss you so bad…"
As Aerrow flew at high speed, he felt himself rushing through time zones. He realized that he was tired, even exhausted, and confused. It didn't matter, so long as he was back with Piper. When he would be by her side again, his world wouldn't be so upside-down anymore. Everything would be alright. He took out the torn photo of her out of his pocket and slowed down his ride. But what he hadn't realized was the direction the wind was blowing, and how hard it was blowing. It snatched the picture from his loose grasp and sent it whirling off.
"No!" Aerrow cried, accelerating to catch up with it.
But the breeze tossed the photo up and down, eluding the sky knight. And though Aerrow didn't realize it, he was heading directly for the terra where the Condor had landed.
"I miss you so bad…"
"I miss you so bad…"
Piper rushed across the plains of grass, headless of the dawn slowly creeping in the sky and the warm breeze pushing her forward. She tried to grab the picture, but every time it dodged out of the way. Finally, at the top of a little hill, it floated down onto the grass and settled there…right next to another torn photograph.
"I miss you so bad…"
"I wanna share your horizon…"
"I miss you so bad…"
"And see the same sun rising…"
This one, Piper just knew it, was the missing half of her photo. And the new photo had her face printed on it. The two pictures, one of her, one of Aerrow, settled on top of one another, as there they were exhausted and had finally found each other after a long journey.
"I miss you so bad…"
Suddenly, Piper caught sight of someone running up the hill. It couldn't be…It just couldn't…It was! Aerrow reached the top of the hill, panting, but not completely out of breath. Then, he raised his head and caught sight of her. Piper, suddenly realising how underdressed she was, blushed at his gaze.
"Piper…" he breathed.
"And turn the hour hand back to when you were holding me!"
She felt her face breaking into a smile and ran to him. He mirrored her grin and dashed over to her. They cannoned into each other and fell over the side of the hill, rolling and laughing, their arms around each other. When they finally stopped, Aerrow was lying on top of Piper. Her hair was messed up, her dress had a grass stain, but she was smiling.
"I missed you Aerrow." she whispered.
"And I missed you Piper." Aerrow whispered back, before he kissed her.
The girl quickly melted into the kiss, moaning with pleasure. She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair while his hand tenderly caressed her back. After days being apart, the two had finally found each other and were reunited, just like the two photos.
"You say 'Good morning!'
When it's midnight
Going outta my head, alone in this bed
I wake up to your sunset
And it's driving me mad
I miss when you say 'Good morning!'
When it's midnight
Going outta my head, alone in this bed
I wake up to your sunset
And it's driving me mad
I miss so bad
And my heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jetlag
Heart, heart, heart is so jet la-aag
So jetlag"