Chapter 25: Another Happy Family

Marcus, Leon, and Coby sat right across from Falco and his family aboard the public transport. The ship flew high above one of Corneria's oceans, heading for the city. The ship had been flying for about an hour now, but there hadn't been much talking at all until Leon finally decided to ask a question.

"So, uh, do you have a job Mrs. Lombardi?"

"I used to work as a teacher in the Military Academy," Katt answered as she looked down and smiled at the bundle in her arms, "but that was before we had the little ones. Now I'm a full time stay-at-home mother."

"And a good one to," Falco said softly as he grabbed his wife's hand with a smile.

"The Academy?" Leon said with surprise, "Were you ever in the military?"

"Not exactly," Katt answered as she looked back up at Leon, "I was a bounty hunter before I became a teacher. When I retired, Fox was kind enough to get me a job as a teacher with the military. They were suspicious at first of course, but Fox convinced them otherwise and said my abilities as a pilot could be useful to them."

"So, you were a bounty hunter before you retired." Leon said.

"Yes, but I mostly worked with Star Fox later on in my career, so I technically did join their team. However, I never signed up as an official member."

"I thought about becoming a bounty hunter," Coby said as he tilted his hat down over his eyes and rested his head behind both of his hands, "but after I met Marcus and Leon, I decided to join them instead."

"You made the right decision," Katt said as she looked at the raccoon, "Being a bounty hunter is a very risky job. The work is dangerous, and you're alone on a lot of your missions."

"Working alone does sound really boring," Coby said as he tilted his hat up and struck a smug smile at Katt, "but danger wouldn't' keep me from doing any job."

"You seem to be very confident in yourself," Katt noted with a smile, "I would expect nothing less from a member of Star Fox."

Coby chuckled and closed his eyes as he tilted his hat down again.

"Anyway," Marcus suddenly said as he cleared his throat, "How long have you guys been married now?"

"Sixteen years in about two months," Falco answered with a smile.

"Although we had been dating for quite a while before that, hadn't we dear?" Katt said with a teasing voice.

Falco chuckled a little and nodded as he scratched the back of his head.

"And you said your oldest son was six?" Leon asked as he looked at Jaden, who was sound asleep in his seat right next to Falco.

Falco nodded, and Leon sighed as he thought about his next question.

"Is it okay if I ask you guys something…personal?" Leon asked.

"Of course," Katt said with a smile.

"Why did you guys suddenly decide to have kids?" Leon asked, feeling a little embarrassed by the question, "I mean, you had already been married for ten years, and you two knew each other before that, so…why now, this late in your marriage?"

Katt looked over at Falco, and Falco looked away, blushing with embarrassment. Katt giggled and laid a hand on her husband's leg.

"Aren't you gonna tell him honey?" Katt asked.

Falco thought for a couple of seconds, and then he looked back at Katt with a nervous smile.

"Maybe another time. I'd be kind of…awkward if I said it now,"

"Wait, there's a real reason?" Marcus asked, feeling even more curious.

"You'll understand later," Falco answered, and his wife nodded.

Marcus looked at Leon, who just shrugged and shook his head.

"How much longer until we get to our destination?" Coby asked.

"Well, we've been flying for an hour, so my guess is thirty minutes, maybe a little bit less than that." Falco said.

Marcus sighed and rested his cheek on both of his hands. He didn't like traveling for long periods of time. As a younger kid, he and his family came up with a lot of fun ways to do entertaining stuff on their vacation trips, but Marcus guessed that kind of thing ended when you got older. He tried thinking of something else to talk about in order to kill the time, and he finally thought of something brilliant.

"Oh! Leon, we never told Falco about our new technique!" Marcus said as he looked up at his brother with excitement.

"Are you sure we should tell him now?" Leon asked as with a doubtful look on his face, "I think a visual presentation would be better."

"What technique?" Falco asked as he leaned forward in his seat, "I didn't know about this."

"We've been working on it for the past two weeks while you were gone," Leon said as he looked back at Falco with a smile.

"Two weeks isn't a lot of time to develop a new move," Falco noted, "how does it work?"

Leon explained the Vulpine Torpedo move. He also went into discreet detail about how the move would be very useful against heavily armored and tough opponents. Leon spoke with enthusiasm and pride, but Marcus seemed a little bit embarrassed by his brother. He had a strong feeling that Falco would immediately start ridiculing them after Leon finished, but instead the avian simply smiled and closed his eyes as he looked down.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you two have been working together more," Falco said, almost sounding relieved.

Leon and Marcus both looked at Falco with blank expressions. They both had their own opinion on how he would react, but neither of them were expecting that response.

"But, what do you think about that attack?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, don't you want to criticize it? Or rank it? Or…something?" Marcus asked.

"I can't criticize a move I haven't seen," Falco responded as he opened his eyes and looked back up at his pilots with a smile, "But as long as you two are working as a team, that's all I really want to hear."

Marcus and Leon looked at each other with curiosity. Neither one of them knew what the heck was going on. They were both looking at each other to see of the other one had the answer. Marcus bent his head down and rested his fingers on his forehead. He disguised himself to make it look like he was just resting his head while he telepathically communicated with his brother.

"Falco's acting really strange right now," Marcus said.

"I know," Leon answered while he looked away from Marcus in order to not look suspicious, "He's usually not this laid back with us. What the heck is going on?"

"I have no idea," Marcus said, and he opened one of his eyes to peep up at Katt, who was now engaging in a conversation with Coby.

"Maybe you should try reading his mind," Leon said.

"No, I don't want to do that," Marcus said, "His emotions aren't anxious or nervous, so I don't think he's hiding anything."

"Marcus!" Coby suddenly yelled, forcing Marcus to snap out of his telepathic line and look at Coby with a startled expression.

"Uh, yeah what's up Coby?" Marcus asked, trying to sound natural, but the raccoon looked incredibly suspicious.

"Jeez dude, what was that all about?" Coby asked, "I called your name three times and you didn't answer."

"Oh, uh sorry about that Coby, I just…"

Marcus scratched the back of his head as he tried to come up with an excuse for Coby. Unfortunately, lying was still something he had a serious problem doing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Coby asked, "You seem a bit-

"He's just tired Coby," Leon quickly said as he looked away from Marcus and at the raccoon, "He told me he didn't get much sleep last night."

"Yeah, I'm just tired," Marcus said as he nodded.

"Oh, well anyway," Coby continued, "Katt was just wondering about your thoughts on the last mission."

"The media has been praising you guys for it," Katt said, "I wanted to know how you personally felt about that. Fox never liked it when the media constantly exalted his team."

Marcus looked disinterested as he shrugged and laid his hands behind his head.

"I don't know what the big deal is," Marcus said, "It's not like we saved the world. Honestly, besides the captain we had to fight, the mission was pretty easy."

"Yeah, why are they renouncing us like we're heroes?" Leon suddenly asked, sounding a bit aggravated, "we're those pirates really that big of a threat?"

"Of course not," Falco responded, "It's because the unit you're in has a history of being used for propaganda. Don't worry about it. It'll die down sooner or later."

The group talked on for the rest of the trip about the history of Star Fox and all of the significant missions that made the unit popular. When they finally arrived at their destination, Falco woke up Jaden, and Melody unfortunately woke up on her own, crying.

"Here, give her to me," Falco said as he walked over to his wife, "You carried her for the entire trip."

Katt handed Melody over to Falco while everybody else began walking out of the transport. Leon almost exited until he felt something pulling at his pants. He looked down and saw Jaden looking up at him with a smile.

"Can I have a piggy-back ride?" the child asked while he held up both of his hands to Leon.

Leon looked at the kid with uncertainty, and then he looked up at Katt. She smiled and nodded in approval. Leon smiled back and crouched down onto his knees.

"Hop on kid,"

Jaden wrapped his arms around Leon's shoulders, and Leon grabbed onto his legs while he stood up. The kid's weight felt like nothing, and Leon carried him with ease.

"Wow, you're even taller than my Dad!" Jaden said as he looked around.

Leon smiled and let out a small laugh at the kid's compliment.

"Hold on tight," Leon said as he started walking off the ship, "I don't want to accidently drop you and then have to face your mother's wrath."

Leon walked off of the ship with Jaden and joined Coby and Marcus on the outside. Falco and Katt soon followed with Melody, who had stopped crying and was now sucking on a pacifier. Both parents were carrying the luggage they had brought with them, and the ship took off as soon as everyone had gotten out.

Marcus looked around the public station they had been dropped off at. He looked up and noticed several large buildings towering into the sky. The structures looked strangely familiar.

"Haven't we been here before?" Marcus asked.

"This is the same city where the Cornerian Flight Academy is located," Falco said, "you guys graduated here about a month ago."

"Are we going to the academy?" Leon asked.

"Not yet," Falco answered, "but we will sooner or later. We'll head to the hotel for now."

"Where is the hotel?" Coby asked as he tilted up his hat and looked around.

"Follow us," Falco said as he and Katt picked up their luggage and started walking down the sidewalk.

"Wait a minute Falco," Marcus said as he walked up to his captain and grabbed the suitcase out of his hand, "you shouldn't be carrying anything if you have a baby in your hands."

"Here, let me help to." Coby said as he walked up to Katt and grabbed one of her suitcases.

"My, what gentlemen!" Katt said with a smile.

"Thanks guys," Falco said with a smile has he put an extra arm under Melody.

"Hey Leon, why don't you carry Katt's other suitcase?" Coby said as he looked at the lupine.

"I would, but as you can see, my arms are already full," Leon said as he looked back at Jaden, who was looking around with an excited smile.

"If he gets too heavy you can set him down Leon," Katt said.

"No, he's okay Mom!" Jaden quickly said, afraid that Leon would set him down. He quickly looked at Leon and whispered, "You can still carry me, right?"

Leon looked at the kid from the corner of his eye and smiled. He was a lot like Marcus when they were both kids.

"Yeah, I can carry you," Leon whispered back with a smile, turning the whole matter into a game, "But that's a secret between us, okay?"

Jaden smiled back and nodded.

"Got it!" he whispered excitedly.

Leon looked away from Jaden, and he noticed Katt smiling at him. It was a very peculiar smile, as if she knew something that Leon didn't. Leon smiled back nervously, and Katt just chuckled and looked away from him.

"Here it is," Falco said as he and Katt both stopped and looked up at one of the buildings next to the sidewalk.

The three rookies stopped walking and looked up at the hotel along with Jaden. The building was six stories high, twenty rooms across. Each pilot could tell that it wasn't low-quality either. Their captain spent a lot of money on them.

"My family and I will sleep in one of the suites," Falco said as he and Katt began walking inside, and the rookies followed, "I got each of you your own room, so you won't have to share tonight."

The group walked into the hotel and Falco picked up his registration at the front desk.

"You guys will be on the third floor," Falco said, "The suites are on the top floor, so my family will be staying up there. When you're done packing all of your clothes away, meet in the lobby downstairs."

"Where will we be going next?" Marcus asked.

"We'll talk about that once we've settled in," Falco said, "By the way, the brown suitcase is for you guys. It has your clothes in it."

"You know, we could've packed our own clothes," Leon said, a bit confused by Falco's decision.

"Yeah, but I wanted to get you guys some new clothes anyway," Falco said with a smile, "You always seem to be wearing your uniforms everywhere, so I decided to change that."

"Thanks a lot Falco," Marcus said, but he didn't smile, and instead felt a sense of guilt rise in his stomach as his ears dropped, "Although, this seems like a little much. You didn't have to-

"I did it because I wanted to Marcus," Falco responded without breaking his smile, and then the elevator stopped and the door opened.

Before the rookies walked out, Coby and Marcus exchanged their black suitcases with Katt's brown suitcase.

"We'll sort our clothes out it in my room," Marcus said as he grabbed the brown suitcase.

Leon and Coby both nodded in agreement and the rookies began to walk out of the elevator.

"Leon, aren't you forgetting something?" Falco asked before Leon had a chance to walk out. The lupine had to hold the door open as he turned around.

Leon looked at Falco blankly for a few seconds, trying to figure out what it was he still had. Falco smiled and chuckled before pointing his wing at the head on Leon's shoulder.

"You're still carrying my son," Falco said.

"Oh, thats right," Leon said with a laugh.

Leon was about to let Jaden down, but the kitten tightened his grip.

"Can I stay with him!?" Jaden said with a pleading voice as he dug his claws into Leon's chest.

"Jaden, don't unsheathe your claws while you're riding on his back!" Katt said with a shocked face.

"What?" Leon said as he looked down at Jaden's claws, "Oh wow, I didn't even notice that."

"Sheathe your claws right now so Leon can put you down Jaden!" Katt scolded as she put her suitcases down and rested her hands on her hips, "You're being very-

"Hold on a minute honey," Falco interrupted, putting a wing up to Katt, "Leon, does that not hurt you?"

"Lupines have naturally thick skin and fur," Leon said with a prideful smile, "It takes a lot more than a kittens claws to hurt me."

"See, I can stay with him!" Jaden said with an excited voice.

"No, you can't," Katt said sternly as she crossed her arms, "You need to come unpack your clothes and toiletries first."

"Aw man," Jaden said with a disappointed look.

"Hey, it's alright bro," Leon said as he smiled encouragingly at him, "It'll only take us a few minutes to unpack. After that, I'll carry you for the rest of the day, alright?"

Jaden's mood quickly changed as a large smile beamed across his face. The child nodded, and Leon crouched down on the floor so he could hop off. When Jaden entered the elevator, Katt still crossed her arms and glared at him. Leon finally let go of the door so it could close, and then he headed off to Marcus's hotel room. When he arrived, Marcus and Coby were already organizing the clothes into their own piles.

"Three t-shirts, two pairs of shorts, two pairs of jeans, some socks, and some boxers," Coby said as he went through his pile, "Good grief Falco. It's not my birthday."

"He got me the same thing," Marcus said, and when he saw Leon, he nodded his head towards the third pile that he had already made.

"That one's your Leon," Marcus said, "Same amount as me and Coby."

Leon crouched down on the floor as he began going through his clothes.

"Well, I'm gonna head to my room," Coby said as he picked up his clothes along with some toiletries Falco had got him, "See you guys in the lobby."

Coby exited the room, and Marcus and Leon were left alone. Marcus looked at his brother going through his clothes. He let out a small laugh as he went back to sorting out his own pile.

"This is quite a change in routine, isn't it?" Marcus said, "Feels like just yesterday we were fighting Captain Maine and his pirate crew, and now it's almost like we're on a family vacation."

"I know," Leon said with a small smile.

Marcus stopped going through his pile, and he looked up at Leon.

"It feels like we're home again," Marcus said with a smile.

Leon nodded in agreement and continued to go through his clothes. When he finished, he picked up his pile along with his toiletries and began walking out.

"Thanks by the way," Marcus said before Leon could leave.

Leon turned around and looked at Marcus with confusion. Marcus blushed a little and smiled. The vulpine looked away as he scratched the back of his head.

"You covered for me in the transport when Coby asked me what was wrong," Marcus said, "Thanks for having my back."

Leon smiled again and nodded.

"Don't mention it," Leon said before opening the door and walking out.

About five minutes later, the whole group met downstairs in the hotel lobby. Katt had brought along her baby stroller for Melody, and the rookies had changed into some more appropriate wear for a family trip (except for Coby, who still wore his hat and duster). Jaden hopped onto Leon's back again, and Falco began explaining the plans for the day to the rookies.

"It's almost eleven o'clock," Falco said as he looked down at his watch, "In a couple of hours, we'll head to one of the restaurants to get some lunch. Before we do that though, I wanted to introduce you guys to my friend over at the Cornerian Flight Academy."

"We're going to the Academy?" Coby asked, sounding a bit surprised, "Uh, are we walking there?"

"The Academy's pretty close by," Falco answered with a smile, "It'll only take us about ten minutes to get there."

"And you're still not going to tell us who it is?" Marcus asked, sounding a bit impatient.

"Just ten more minutes Marcus," Falco said as he and Katt began walking, and the rest of the group followed, "Don't you like surprises?"

"No, not really," Marcus mumbled as walked right behind Leon.

As the group walked towards their destination, Falco kept pointing out certain landmarks and buildings that he and the old Star Fox team had visited so frequently in the past. Marcus and Coby seemed rather intrigued, but Leon seemed uninterested. He walked in silence until Jaden suddenly asked him a question.

"So, you're a pilot right?"

Leon turned his head a little to look at the child and he nodded.

"That's right," Leon answered, "Me and your father work together in Star Fox."

"Is that how my Daddy knows you?"

"I knew your father long before I actually joined Star Fox. He started training me to become a warrior when I was eleven years old."

"What's a warrior?" Jaden asked as he tilted his head.

Leon was about to answer, but he hesitated and struggled to find a definition that might make since to the child.

"Well, it's sort of like a soldier," Leon answered, "You know, someone who's trained to fight in war."

"So, you're a soldier then?" Jaden asked, sounding even more confused.

For some reason, the child's question caused Leon to think deeply about his answer. He'd gone to a military school and graduated as a fighter pilot, but he never once thought of himself as a "soldier". He and Marcus had always used the term warrior instead, as they saw themselves as brave fighters, not servicemen in the military.

"I'm not really a soldier," Leon said as he struggled to describe his job, "I'm sort of like a fighter who serves under the military for money."

"Oh, so you're a mercenary!" Jaden said with a smile.

Leon stared blankly at the child for a few seconds.

"Uh, yeah that!" Leon said with an embarrassed smile, "Kind of surprised you know what that is."

"My daddy's a mercenary too," Jaden said.

"Oh, well then of course you know," Leon said, feeling a little bit stupid that he didn't just say that he had the same job as his father.

Jaden looked at Leon with a sense of wonder. Leon turned to look at the kid's face of bewilderment as he stared down at Leon and examined his physical structure. He looked at his arms and legs like they were some form of fancy art. It made Leon feel a little bit uncomfortable at first, but he got used to it.

"Did you say my Daddy works with you?" Jaden asked curiously as he continued to look down at Leon.

"That's right," Leon answered, "You're father works as the captain for Star Fox. The rest of us are privates."

Jaden smiled and closed his eyes as he rested his chin on Leon's shoulder.

"Well, that makes since," Jaden said, "Only strong guys would work with my Daddy!"

"You think I'm strong?" Leon asked with a smile as he glanced at the child.

"Of course, you have big muscles!"

Leon laughed at Jaden's response.

"Strength is more than having big muscles kid," Leon said, and then he indicated towards Marcus and added, "See my brother over there? His muscles aren't as big as mine, but he's as good of a fighter as I am."

"But you're still strong, right?" Jaden asked.

"We're all strong," Leon said, and then he indicated towards Coby and added, "That guys strong too, even though he's not as good as me or Marcus."

"I heard that Leon," Coby hollered without looking back at Leon.

Leon chuckled and ignored the raccoon's response.

Leon and Jaden chatted on for a few more minutes and Falco continued to point out landmarks to Coby and Marcus. When the group finally arrived, everybody stopped talking, and Falco lead the group through the courtyard right outside the large, white structure. As they walked into the building, Marcus looked up at the two large pillars that were right outside the entrance. The academy looked incredibly majestic.

When everybody walked in, Falco began looking around for his friend. There were officers and recruits talking and walking around the large reception room.

"He said he would meet me here," Falco said as he placed his wings on his hips, "So I'm not sure where he-

"Hey, Falco!" a voice called out, echoing across the room.

Falco looked towards the direction where the voice came from, and he smiled when he saw a grey bunny in a white and blue uniform smiling and waving to him. Falco waved back, and then he indicating for the others to follow him. Davian walked over to Falco and offered his hand for a handshake.

"It' good to see you again sir," Davian said with a smile, "I'm glad you could make it. You didn't run into any propagandists on your way here, did you?"

"No, the media hasn't managed to bother us yet," Falco answered as he let go of Davian's hand.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Davian said with a relieved sigh, "I wouldn't want to put you guys under the spotlight. Did you bring the others?"

"Yep, they're right here," Falco said as he looked at the three rookies, "Men, this is Captain Davian."

Marcus smiled like a little kid and immediately dashed over to the bunny.

"I'm so glad I can finally meet you!" Marcus said as he eagerly shook Davian's hand, and then he began talking as fast as a ship in hyperspace, "My name's Marcus by the way. So are you really the grandson of General Peppy? Man that would be so cool if you were! I heard you have your own ship. Do you have a crew as well? I think it's amazing that you're already a captain at eighteen! Although I'm sixteen, so I guess that means I'm also young for my position. Hey, I guess that means we both have something in common! So, do you know where-

"Dude, slow down!" Davian said with wide eyes as he made a stopping gesture with his hand, "I can barely understand what you're saying!"

Marcus blushed nervously and quickly let go of Davian's hand. He put his own hand behind his head as he closed his eyes and laughed nervously.

"I'm sorry," Marcus said, "I just got a little excited since I knew who your grandad was."

"Oh, well that makes since," Davian said with a small smile.

Leon chuckled at Marcus's reaction. It reminded him of the time when he told Marcus that his own father was Wolf.

"He gets so excited when he meets famous people who have some connection to Star Fox," Leon thought to himself.

"Since you're a captain, I guess that means I should solute you," Coby said as he walked over to Davian with a smug smile and offered him is hand, "I hope you don't take offense to me not saluting."

"No, not at all," Davian said with a small laugh as he shook Coby's hand, "You're Private Coby, aren't you?"

"That's right," Coby said as he tilted his hat, "Official mechanic for Star Fox."

Davian let go of Coby's hand and walked over to Leon. He was about to offer him his hand until he saw the blue-furred kitten riding on Leon's back. Being careful not to drop Jaden, Leon lifted up his own hand, and Davian shook it promptly.

"And that would make you Leon," Davian said, acting a little bit more professional then he did with the other two rookies.

Leon didn't speak, and instead he just smiled and nodded.

"You know, I'm kind of surprised that you guys got here without being bombarded by news reporters and journalists," Davian said as he let go of Leon's hand and addressed all of the rookies, "Even after two weeks, the hype around the return of Star Fox still hasn't died down."

"I guess it's because none of us really look like pilots right now," Marcus said as he looked at his comrades, "And Falco's the only recognizable face in our group."

"I've been careful not to reveal my whole identity," Falco commented.

"You've done a good job so far," Davian said, and then he looked at the rookies and smiled, "Anyway, I didn't come here just to make small talk with you guys. There are a whole lot of other people who want to see you."

"Other people?" Coby said with a confused voice, and then his expression turned into one of anger as he growled at Davian, "Wait a minute, I thought you said you didn't want to put us under the spotlight!"

"Hey, I wasn't talking about journalists," Davian said with a laugh, "I was talking about my crew."

The other rookies looked at Davian with surprise.

"Your crew is here?" Marcus asked.

"Admiral Perry put us on leave. We've been waiting here for three days without a single thing to do, so we're pretty bored to say the least."

"Yeah, we'd love to see your crew!" Marcus said jubilantly.

"I don't see why not," Coby said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"It'd be nice to see some other rookies in the military besides ourselves," Leon said with a smile.

"Alright then," Davian said with a smile as he turned around and began walking away, "Follow me. I'll lead you to our waiting room."

The other rookies began walking with Davian, and then they realized that Falco and Katt weren't following them.

"Hey guys, aren't you coming?" Leon asked as he turned around.

"They want to see you guys," Falco answered with a smile, "We'll wait for you right here."

"Take good care of Jaden, Leon." Katt said with a smile.

"I will ma'am," Leon answered as he turned around and started following Davian again.