[A/N] This next chapter is a very important one because it helps establish why Fox is the way he is. I cannot speak for all in the fandom, but so much of what I see written is… childish. I want to write a different king of Star Fox story, to be the change I want to see in the world. Will you try to stop me, or help me…?
"Okay, here's your usual!" Kursed turned on the Frappuccino machine and a latte came out. "All black, no cream or sugar… you are a bitter fox, aren't you?" she murred spicily.
"The only thing that could make your drinks better would be scotch" Fox winked as he grabbed the latte from her and drank it all down in one gulp – the burn felt good in his throat… but alcohiol would've burned it more…
"I keep dreaming about my mother" Fox said. "Today is mother's day… and her memories haunt me like a ghost." He put his head down in his hands and groaned, willing the tears not to come. "I can still see her face whenever I close my eyes."
Kursed stepped around the counter to sit in the barstool next to Fox and took his hands in her own cerulean-furred hands, purple nylon nails scratching his orange-furred hands in lazy circles. She tossed her head back to throw the midnight purple hair over her shoulder and stared at Fox. "Fox… what happened? To your mother?"
"She died. On a day just like this…" He looked out the window at the rain making the road glisten with wetness. "My father raised me, and… you know the rest."
Kursed starting shedding the tears Fox couldn't. "This must be why you're so angry all the time… Fox, how did she die?"
"In childbirth", he said shortly. "…I was there."
Kursed covered her mouth with her hands in surprise. "Oh God… how horrible…"
"The last memory I have of her is my first memory…" He looked up at the ceiling of the café, taking in the hazy swirling steam of the coffee machines coalescing in the rafters, where they would last an eternity. "It's ironic, isn't it?"
Kursed nodded sympathetically. "Very."
He was distracted from his conversation by Falco yelling something uncouth at Andrew – the two always fought, since the blue bird didn't trust the monkey because of the war…
"The only reason you even work here is because of the Andross Rehabilitation Act, that requires Cornerian businesses to hire ex-Venom soldiers!" Falco yelled at Andrew, and the monkey starting crying.
"Even if that's true… how can you judge me for that? I've done what I believed to be the best thing I could do in my life given the circumstances…"
They kept yelling, and the sight made Fox grin darkly. "The war might be over, but it never really ends… the wounds that Corneria and Venom have wrought upon each other are deep, and the scars will be ugly."
Kursed nodded sadly. "Speaking of the war… tomorrow is… you know…"
"My meeting?" Fox finished. "Yes. I do it every month, and this month will be no different."
Kursed bit her lip but let out what she wanted to say anyway. "You shouldn't go Fox! Revenge isn't the path to closure."
Fox got up from the stool and turned to leavr the café and walk back into the rain. "I know that, Kursed. Trust me, I know… but revenge is all I have left to me…"
Fox walked out of the café and back into the rainy road outside, and Kursed cried as many tears as the rain that was coming down as she watched him leave.
"Oh Fox… when will you come back to us?"
[A/N] I plan for this story to tackle a lot of important topics, like the war and racism, where there's darkness on both sides… Both FALCO and Andrew have points in that affirmitive action takes away jobs from people who might be better at them… but if it didn't exist, then how would people like Andrew get jobs? The other side of a coin is the same as the first side, in that they both think of their side as heads-up.