Chapter 6: Recollection

"This morning at approximately 10:51, a terrible and disturbing accident occurred in Corneria's newest and most expensive hangar. The incident took place shortly after Fox McCloud and his crew boarded their new vessel, an upgraded version of the Great Fox. Eyewitnesses who were on the scene monitoring the situation have told us that their main hangar door was experiencing some mechanical problems, which would have prevented the Star Fox team from leaving the planet for upwards of four hours. However, this wait was forgone as the Great Fox was said to aim and fire upon the massive door, destroying the entire side of the hangar it had fired upon. It was immediately after this accident that the Great Fox lifted off from the hangar, using this newly created opening to avoid having to stay an extra four hours. Fortunately, no one was hurt during this accident, but the implications of this "accident" may leave those who look up to Fox McCloud with an unfamiliar feeling, doubt. According to General Pepper, it was nothing more than a weapons malfunction due to the Star Fox team's unfamiliarity to their new ship, but seeing as how General Pepper is one of the larger Star Fox advocates, it is speculated that his saying this is merely a cover for the team. What if the team did this of its own free will? Could it be that Fox McCloud's year-long break from service has changed him completely? We'll have more information as it is made available. Until next time, this is Jason Griffith for CBN."

As these words exited from the wide-screen television that sat against a wall in one of the many seating rooms that were scattered throughout the Great Fox, its previously active display was rendered inactive by the only animal that sat within that room. It was here, as the area around her because completely filled with silence that she stayed, not knowing what she should do. Her leader used to make headlines because of all the positive effects he had wherever he went, but his recent outburst had revealed a side of the captain that the feline had never seen before. Usually he was so calm and collected, so much so that it inspired the same from all those who followed him, but since she had seen him since her visit to his lonely house, she had not sensed that inspiring quality that he had previously possessed. The feline reached for a nearby pillow that rested messily on the couch she was sitting on and propped it up against an armrest, leaving her to stare up at the empty ceiling as she reclined on her back, her head resting comfortably upon the recently repositioned pillow. It was here, as she stared up into the unending white that stood upon the ceiling that her thoughts began to take over her mind.

Fox, I know you feel like you took too long to go on this weird mission of yours, but did that give you the right to blow that hangar apart? I mean, it wouldn't have taken that long for the mechanics at the hangar to fix that door, and after all that time you waited, what difference is another handful of hours gonna make? Guess I'm not the judge of his actions, no one knows what this mission were on is about, except Fox. Maybe we really don't have any time to waste sitting around waiting for small problems like the hangar door to work themselves out. I'll just have to trust that he knows what he's doing and hope everything works out, cause I don't think could take it if anything happened to slow him down anymore. Who knows when he'll blow up like that again, maybe today, maybe never. Just gotta make sure me and the rest of the crew are behind him no matter what he does. After all, that's the first rule you learn at the Academy, respect those in authority above you and follow orders without question. But…what if…

"Well, look who it is. I've been lookin' all over the ship for you, figures you'd be hiding from me after what you said on the bridge."

The feline jolted from her reclining position as she heard this voice, scanning the room quickly before spotting an irritated looking female wolf standing only a few feet from where her head had previously been resting. The pink-furred animal stood from the couch immediately after seeing Ayame and turned to face her, making sure to keep a good bit of distance between them. For a moment, neither of the females spoke, both of them doing nothing more than staring the other down. This period of silence did not last long however before the wolf continued on in an arrogant voice, "So, anything you want to say to me now that we're away from everyone else? Or did you finally figure out it's best to mind your own business?"

Katt lowered her head slightly as a smirk crept across her face, an action that was followed shortly after by her own words, "If you had any idea of who I was, you'd know better than to follow me around telling me I'm wrong."

This time it was Ayame's turn to reveal a small grin of her own as she spoke in retaliation, "Oh, and you think that's supposed to scare me? I've been in some pretty tough scraps in my life, and I've taken down men that were bigger than you. So if you don't want a fight, you're the one that better stop walking around thinking I'm wrong."

Katt shook her head while shaking her head, adding in an uncaring voice, "Listen, you can live your life, and I'll live mine alright? I really don't care what you do in your free time with Falco, just don't pretend that you're so innocent, ok?"

Upon hearing these words, Ayame seemed to hesitate, if only slightly, before she spoke in reply with a hint of resentment in her voice, "This is exactly what I'm talking about. You just shut up and get out of my business. Then you'll have more time to kiss up to Fox like you always do. Sound like a good trade?"

The feline wasted no time in shortening the gap between herself and the wolf after hearing these words, retaliating with her own as she did so, "I'm not kissing up to him, I'm making sure he knows that he has the support of his team. I'm not sure if you know or care, but he's been through some tough stuff recently and he's having a hard time dealing with it. But I'm sure if you had a heart, you'd have seen that for yourself by now."

Ayame's smirk returned as she heard this remark, and unlike Katt, she did not take any steps towards the other female, but merely ran one of her hands through the hair on her head as she tried to restrain herself from laughing. As she did so, she spoke in a voice that perfectly matched her current attitude, "You think I believe that crap? I've seen how you act around him, you are totally into him and it's so obvious it hurts. Seeing you act like this only proves it, why don't you just admit it pinkie?"

Katt froze in place as she heard the wolf's words, her head lowering slightly as her slow walk towards Ayame came to an end. It was here that she stood for a moment, hearing nothing more than her own thoughts and Ayame's quiet laughter. She did not remain in this position for long however as she once again looked up towards the wolf and spoke with a slowly clenching fist at her side, "You can think whatever you want. See if I care about what you tell me is the truth. But if you push me too far, don't blame it on me when you end up getting hurt."

From some distance away, footsteps could be heard quickly approaching the sitting room where this debate was taking place, but neither of the animals noticed. They were too focused on their argument to notice anything else that was happening around them, but even though this was true, Katt soon found that she was not prepared enough. This was immediately made evident as Ayame raised her fist and swiftly directed it towards the pink feline as she loudly spoke in an angry voice, "Then I guess I'll have to be the one to hurt you first!"

This sudden action took Katt completely off guard and she was forced to try and dodge what was sure to be a direct blow to her face. She attempted to raise her hands up to her face fast enough so that the blow would be slightly deadened, but it was already too late, the wolf's angry fist was rushing at her face at too quick a pace to be stopped. And so, knowing that a great amount of pain was about to surge throughout her, she cringed hard, not wanting to see the impact as it happened. The impact however, was never imparted to her. Instead, just as Ayame's fist was about it contact the feline's pink and startled face, someone had jumped in front of the powerful attack, taking the blow in with a painful grunt as this third animal's body collided with Katt's causing them both to crash onto the unforgiving metal floor of the Great Fox.

For a moment, nothing was heard throughout the room, spare the groans of the one who had taken the hit in place of Katt. The feline quickly opened her eyes to see who it was that had taken that attack for her, only to see that her captain was lying on top of her, his nose and mouth bleeding lightly from the impact he had received. Katt slowly and carefully removed herself from underneath the groaning vulpine, glaring at the wolf the entire time she did so. It was only seconds after she had been landed upon that she had once again gained her freedom out from under Fox's body, and after managing to do so, she positioned herself at his head, asking in a worried voice, "Fox…are you alright?"

He shook his head, a response that was followed shortly after as he regained his feet. After seeing the small amount of blood that was spattered across the floor and running his hand across his face to see the decent amount of blood there as well, he turned away from the two females and gruffly spoke, "We don't need any fights on this ship ok? This is not the way we start a new mission. We're a team, so any problems you have, you come and tell me instead of taking it out on each other. Besides, there's no point in arguing over me, I can deal with my own problems." He paused for a moment after saying this, only to speak again a short time after in a more quiet and calm voice, "I came down here to tell you that we're about enter the Warp Gate to Xantia. I want you both up there as soon as possible." With those words, the vulpine slowly walked away from the sitting room and made his way around the corner and out of sight.

Katt took a few hesitant steps towards the corner Fox had just rounded, speaking in a loud voice so that she was sure he could hear her words, "Fox, are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should head down to the Medical Center before you head back to the bridge." Despite her attempt, her words of concern went unanswered as they echoed down the metallic hallways of the Great Fox until they finally faded away. And just as her echo had proceeded to do only seconds before, she too walked free of the sitting room and quickly rounded the corner as Fox had only moments before. As much as she had wanted to get back at Ayame for doing what she did to Fox, she forced herself to quickly disregard those feelings in favor of honoring her captain's request to forgo any further fighting.

The wolf soothingly rubbed her slightly aching fist as she watched the feline disappear just as Fox had only moments before her. She smiled, looking down at her fist as she spoke quietly to herself, "You can't deny it, I can see it in the way you act around him. You really like him, don't you pinkie? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone…it'll be our little secret."

Meanwhile on the bridge, the three remaining members of the Star Fox team stood in wait for the return of their captain, as well as the other two missing females. This wait had caused a long silence to be cast over the bridge, an abnormality that rarely ever was experienced aboard the previous Great Fox. The reason for this being that this ship required almost no work by crew members, and even if they did wish to work with a computer on the bridge, they would have to share it with the robot, who was the only one doing actual work in that room. Because of this inactivity, these three animals merely stood good distances apart from each other and listened to ROB's joints make quick movements against his computer screen.

In such an environment, it is easily understandable that these animals would become slightly restless over time, especially for someone with a tolerance for patience as short Falco. As a result of this, the avian suddenly spoke across the bridge, not really doing anything more than breaking the long, awkward silence as he did so, "Hey Kaya, what do you think of our captain so far? I mean, besides the part where he looked like he was about to kill someone when we left Corneria."

The black and white striped tiger hesitated as she heard Falco direct this question towards her. She had rather been enjoying the time of silence that was previously held on the bridge, but she lowered her head timidly as she spoke quietly in reply, "He's good."

Falco let off a snicker as he heard this semblance of a reply, speaking back in a lighthearted voice, "That's all? Isn't there something else you have to say about him? I mean, you haven't really had time to get to know him, but you could make a better call than that."

As soon as Falco's words ended, Slippy spoke in a sympathetic from a position near ROB's computer, "Don't say stuff like that Falco, you know what she had to go through. It's probably kinda hard for her to talk to animals like that…"

Falco wasted no time in conjuring up a reply, "Ya, maybe, but it's been almost six months since then. You'd think after all that time you could get over something like that, besides, its not like we're gonna do anything to her like they did, right Slippy?"

The toad hesitated slightly, knowing that bringing up such a sensitive topic was not the best idea, especially in front of Kaya herself. Before he replied to the avian's words, Slippy looked over towards the one they were talking about, only to notice that she now held her head against her chest, making it look as if she was trying to ignore the words as they reverberated throughout the small room they were standing it. The toad quickly took pity of the tiger as he saw this, shortly after speaking in response to Falco with a voice that reflected these feelings, "I don't think we should talk about this now…I don't think she wants to hear us talk about it."

Falco shook his head in disagreement, speaking back with almost no hesitation to Slippy's words, "That doesn't make sense to me. If we never talk about it, how's she gonna get over her problems? She can't just go on being a mute her whole life. Right Kaya? That's makes perfect sense, doesn't it?"

For a short while, the young tiger did not move as she heard these words, but it was not long before her already embarrassed expression began to worsen, up until the point where she had to raise her hands to her eyes in order to hinder the progress newly formed tears as a result of her growing discomfiture. It was here as these tears began to cloud her face that she briefly spoke in a wavering voice, "I can't…I…won't speak…"

Falco felt a sense of accomplishment in seeing the tiger shed tears, figuring that it meant that she was on her way to recovery, and with this in his mind, he continued to speak in as comforting a voice as he could muster, "See, you just gotta get it outta your system and you'll be alright. No big deal, now just tell us everything that happened that day and I bet you'll…"

Much to the avian's surprise; he was actually cut off by the wavering voice of the tiger as she spoke hesitantly before Falco was able to finish his statement, "Stop…please."

Upon hearing these words, Falco quickly withdrew from attempting to comfort her any further, finally understanding that all of his efforts to help the feline during the previous few minutes had been ineffective. Once again, the bridge was filled with something close to silence, the only thing keeping it from being so was Kaya's gentle sobs as the traces of tears began to run down her face. Neither of the animals knew what they could do to help, leaving them both to do nothing more than stand by and watch with sympathy. However, they were saved from having to observe this for too long as the sound of the opening bridge door broke the depressing silence.

The newly arrived vulpine stopped abruptly as he entered the room, almost as if he sensed what had happened only seconds before his arrival. If this was true, then he did nothing to prove it, as he seemed to mentally shrug off the feeling and continue on his way towards the captain's chair at the front of the bridge. He walked past each of the three animals without stopping or even glancing over at them, the one he acknowledged first was the robot that sat just to his left as Fox descended the small set of stairs. The vulpine spoke in a flat voice as he reached this point, "Open the Warp Gate ROB, the other's will be up soon enough. I don't have the time to wait for them."

Shortly after an affirmative answer was given by the robot, Falco spoke to his captain in a slightly sarcastic voice, "Hey Fox, what were those two doing down there? I'd bet anything you had to go down there and break up a big ol' girl fight, right?"

The vulpine merely glanced over at the avian with a frustrated look on his face after he had been asked this rather acerbic question, turning just enough so that his faintly bloody and battered face could be seen. Upon seeing this, the avian took a few steps towards his captain's current position and asked in a voice that had forgone all sarcasm, "Whoa Fox, what the heck happened to you? You didn't get involved in whatever they were doing down there, did you?"

Fox looked back towards ROB's computer, raising his hand to remove some of the small spots of blood that still remained on his face as he did so. This action was followed shortly after by the vulpine's quiet and apathetic reply, "It's nothing any of you need to worry about. No one was hurt, so just forget it. I've been through worse…" Fox's voice trailed off as his speech continued briefly in his mind.

But I've never seen things this bad with my own crew…

Before anyone could have time to respond to the vulpine's words, ROB spoke in his usual monotone voice, "Warp Gate status: Open and clear for entrance. Awaiting further commands."

As these emotionless words sounded throughout the bridge, the one and only screen that sat at the front of this room lit up, giving the animals that stood within it's walls a glimpse of the actual opening of the Warp Gate. At first, there was nothing more than the blank, star-spotted view of space on the screen, but as if almost out of nowhere, a bridge green light began to shine in front of the Great Fox. Shortly after this overwhelming glow had filled the bridge's monitor, it's brightness began to fade, and it instead began to focus slowly away from the head of the Great Fox and venture a good distance forward before it halted and created a giant green hole within the never-ending darkness of space.

Almost instantly after ROB had finished speaking and the green portal in front of them had come to a complete halt, Fox replied in a partial voice, "Enter the Warp Gate now, ROB."

The robot wasted no time in replying, "Affirmative, entering Warp Gate to destination: Xantia."

After these words, there was nothing heard on the bridge. No one spoke or even thought of speaking, their attention too diverted by the gaping green circle that slowly crept closer to the Great Fox as time gradually passed. It was here, as they silently watched themselves slowly approach the Warp Gate that a pink feline made her entrance onto the Great Fox, an entrance that was received only by nothing more than a few brief glances in acknowledgment. Feeling slightly awkward about her silent entrance, she crept in a few steps to avoid the door, which closed quickly as soon as she was out of its threshold. It was here that she noticed the bridge's main monitor and what it displayed. Having never seen this process before, she broke the previous silence by inquiring about what now sat mere miles ahead of them, "What is that? The Warp Gate? Either that or we're about to get completely smoked by a huge laser."

For a while, the felines words did nothing more than reverberate through the small bridge before dying without an answer. However, instead of an answer, the vulpine who stood at the front of the bridge began to retreat from his position, no longer looking at the screen as he turned an started on his way up the small set of stairs and across the floor. This caused all the other animals that stood on the bridge to forget about what sat just in front of them on the monitor and instead place their attention on the vulpine, a reaction that Fox did not respond to in the least. But before he could reach the bridge door and leave without saying a word, Katt spoke again just as he was about to pass, doing so with a hint of confusion in her voice, "Wait, where are you going Fox? Don't you wanna make sure we get through this Warp Gate alright?"

The vulpine calmly stopped himself from moving forward any farther as answered quietly with no hesitation, "No, we'll get through the Warp Gate fine, I'm sure. There's something I need to do right now instead, and you'll handle any problems that come up for me, right?"

Katt nodded slowly, responding shortly after, "Oh, sure. But still, what's so important that you'd leave the bridge like this?"

Fox turned his head towards Katt, giving her an unusually cold glance as he spoke back, "If it was important enough for you to know, I'd tell you. You just worry about yourself for now, alright?"

These incensed words hung in the air as the feline, as well as the rest of the crew who stood on the bridge, looked at the vulpine with shock. He made no effort to reconcile for his rather insensitive statement, but merely returned his attention directly forward before quietly exiting from the room. No words were exchanged after their vulpine captain took his sudden leave from the bridge, but several confused glances were given in their places. Never had anyone even heard of such disrespectful behavior from the legendary mercenary Fox McCloud, yet that very description fit the vulpine's recent attitude perfectly. Why this would come about, none of these animals knew for sure, but it didn't take much thought to figure out that such conduct could only led to even greater problems. No one on the bridge had doubted his aptitude for being the leader of the Great Fox, but such suspicions were beginning to creep into their minds, as much as they did not want to face it.

Such thoughts however were nowhere near the mind of the vulpine as he purposely made his way down the corridors of the Great Fox, not once taking the time to look up from the metal floor that sat beneath him. The last thing he wanted right now was distractions. He only had one thing on his mind, and that singular fixation was exactly what he desired. For too long had he stood indecisive about the action was about to do this very day. For almost a year he had waited, contemplating this complex destiny that loomed ahead of him. Often during that period of indecision he would wonder what good could come from journeying across the galaxy once more. Were those dreams really pointing him to take part some nearly implausible undertaking, or were they just the memories of that day manifesting itself in his mind, haunting him as he slept? It didn't matter which of the two were right, all that mattered was which question he himself thought was true, and that single task was perhaps one of the greatest he had ever faced. It may have taken a whole year, but he had finally chosen his path. There was only one way to go now, and he would not let anything stop him, or even slow him down.

It was only a handful of minutes after the vulpine had left the bridge before he reached his destination. He hesitated as he reached this point, raising his vision from the floor until his eyes met with a small engraving that sat upon the door he found himself standing in front of. Upon it sat the words, "DO NOT ENTER: CONTENTS EXTREMLY DANGEROUS." After this brief observation, Fox continued to walk towards the surface door until it quickly opened up in front of him, allowing him to enter into what he knew, as far as he himself was concerned, to be the most important part of the Great Fox.

As he walked into the room and the door closed behind him, he found that there was no sign of light in this room, spare one large light that hung from the ceiling at the far end of this otherwise darkened room, a light that cast a soft blue light in only a very specific area of the room. Before advancing towards the source of light in this room however, the vulpine turned to a small device that sat directly to the right of the door and placed his index finger against a small sensor that was ingrained within the apparatus. Less than a second after he had done this, the small machine silently let of a gentle green glow, letting Fox know that he was clear to enter. If he had not done this, a special light would blink on his wrist communicator, signaling him immediately of any intruder that had entered into this restricted area.

It was almost immediately after he had taken this security precaution that he turned to face the only lit-up area in the entire room. At first he walked towards this area of light blue with haste, not wanting to wait any longer than he already had to see what sat amidst the darkness, but after making it nearly halfway through the deceptively large room, his pace steadily slowed, the thoughts of what he was about to see taking the place of whatever he had felt before. His attitude may have changed when he was with his crew or on Corneria, but it was here that the true Fox McCloud was revealed. This fact was clear as he approached the lit area of this room, a lit area that held a large container that Fox had visited devoutly since that day. He slowly rounded the back of the machine, which faced the door he had entered from, and came around to the front of the machine where a large and complicated control panel sat. He quickly looked above this panel, only to see that a metal curtain shielded the container's contents, just as Fox had requested. No one would be able to move this metal out of the way by force since it was such a heavy piece of material, only by use of the control panel could such a thing be moved out of the way, and thanks to the doctors at the Cornerian Laboratory, the vulpine was quickly able to decipher which button would accomplish such a task without accidentally pressing an incorrect button and triggering undesired effects upon the object that sat within this container. The vulpine scanned the complicated device for only a few seconds before finding an almost undetectable blue button among the hundreds of other, much larger buttons and switches that sat upon the control panel. Upon pressing this button, a quiet grinding of gears was heard as the curtain of metal rose towards the ceiling, gradually revealing to the vulpine what he so desperately wanted to see.

It was not long before this obstruction had risen fully into the ceiling, revealing its spotless glass-like surface shortly after. It was as this occurred that Fox was forced to suddenly fall back onto the ground as all too familiar emotions began to overtake him. However, as he fell, his eyes never parted from the sight that was held within the glass capsule that sat only feet in front of him. It was her, the one he had accompanied throughout the galaxy in search of answers to the very destiny that haunted him now. When she was killed in the final battle against Scales, Fox felt as if he no longer had a reason to live, because it was then that he realized that she was the one thing that could fill the unexplainable void that he had felt for so long a time. But now, as he saw her lifelessly suspended in front of him, he realized that he had chosen the correct path. How could he deny her the right to a second chance at life, a chance she had whole-heartedly given him only one short year ago? Perhaps she was not with him now, but he knew that she was watching him from somewhere, wishing him the best just as she always had.

For some amount of minutes, the vulpine did nothing more than stare upon her unmoving body, wondering what great lengths we would have to go to in order to bring her back. Not that it mattered, he was willing to do anything it took to get her back now, his drive to fulfill his destiny at that moment was more intense at that moment then it ever had been over the course of the passing year. Seeing her hanging in the nothingness that the capsule contained this time did not fill him with despair as it had before, on the contrary, it made him more determined than ever to get her back, and he would not fail. A single, silent tear fell from his eye as he regained his footing once again, knowing that soon, she would be back, and that was a time he would attempt to bring about as soon as he possibly could.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a second light made its way into the darkened room. Fox immediately noticed that and quickly scanned the room, thinking that perhaps someone had entered into the forbidden room without permission. However, after finding that this conjecture was inaccurate, he quickly after found that the light was actually emanating from himself. He looked across his body in surprise, having no idea what was going on, mostly because of the fact that even though it was obvious that this feint light was shining from his own body, he could not feel anything in himself that would explain such a thing. Just as Fox was about to figure out what this sudden light meant, it abruptly vanished from his body, just as it had come. For a moment, he stood motionless, trying to decipher exactly why that power had suddenly manifested within himself. Usually when the Energy of Life made itself apparent inside himself, he was filled with a variety of sensations, but on this occasion, no such thing was felt, spare one thing. That being the fact that his mind seemed much less clouded after experiencing that weak surge of that ever-mysterious power. It was as if he was able to look past the mistakes he had made in the past and focus solely on what he had to do to prevent it from being recreated. The vulpine looked once again towards the beautiful blue body of the vixen as he spoke quietly, a smile breaking into his visage as he did so, "Thank you…I know there isn't anything that can stop me now, I just won't allow it. I'll get you back…I promise you."

"Fox? You back here? Fox?"

The vulpine's attention was quickly distracted by the shouting voice as it passed to door to the room he was currently in and continued down the hallway. He hesitated for a moment, but then quickly looked back towards the lifeless vixen and spoke again in a quiet voice, "They need me, but I'll be back, alright?" With those words, the vulpine once again pressed the small blue button on the large control panel, causing the metal curtain to fall back over the container, preventing anyone from seeing the vixen's body for the time being. As soon as he knew the metal had successfully returned to its original position, he began to withdraw from his most treasured part of this new Great Fox and make his way back to his crew.

As he reached the surface of the door, he paused for a moment, listening to make sure no one would see him emerge from this room. After several seconds, he deemed it safe to leave the room and did so quietly so that he would not immediately draw unwanted attention. As soon as he had done so, he began to walk slowly through the halls of the Great Fox, only to be discovered by a familiar pink feline after a very short time.

She looked toward him with confusion in her eyes as she spoke, "Where have you been Fox? The whole crew's been looking for you for a while now."

The vulpine replied vaguely short after this question had been posed, "I was getting ready to head down to the planet." He continued speaking, but quickly changing the subject so that his previous location would not have to be revealed, "We did get to the planet alright, didn't we?"

Katt nodded, responding with no hesitance in her voice, "Oh, ya, we exited the Warp Gate about twenty minutes ago and we were getting ready to leave, but we kinda had to find you first so we could actually get on with your mission."

The vulpine smiled at this comment, an expression that seemed to come as a surprise to the feline. He followed this up with his reply, "Well here I am, so lets get down to the planet. Is the rest of the crew already waiting in the docking bay?"

The pink feline nodded, answering in a much more comfortable voice than she had used recently around the vulpine, "Ya, I told em' to go wait there after looking for about ten minutes. I figured it couldn't be too hard to find you around the ship. I mean, this is your mission after all, you'd probably have shown up on the docking bay on your own eventually, I guess."

The vulpine walked towards Katt, motioning forward with his head as he spoke, "Then let's get down there. We don't want to make Falco wait longer than he has too."

Katt smiled at this comment, not because of his words against Falco, but because for the first time since his one year departure from society, she could see the true Fox McCloud in front of her, not that hollow shell that he had been for so long a time. After a quick nod, she eagerly followed after the vulpine as they both walked silently down the hallways of the Great Fox.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Jeez, how many filler chapters can I make here? I figured we'd get to the planet in this chapter, but somehow I figured out how to avoid that. Oh well, for sure they'll get there in the next chapter. I really don't have anything to say besides the fact that by the time I post my next chapter, I'll have graduated from high school! I guess that's all I have to say for now…how boring.

(Title not yet devised)
Yay, Xantia! What does Fox have to do in order to grow in the Energy of Life? And what power will he learn? I guess you'll have to find out later…probably 2 or 3 chapters later, since this will be a multi-parter! How fun, things will actually happen now! Peace!

MAIL CALL:
AntiGravity 5-1-0
Hopefully I'm the first reviewer for this here, and I'd like to officially thank you for coming back to us, your presence here means a helluva lot to us.
I could go through this story with a fine toothcomb to find problems, but I don't want to; mainly because this truly is absolutely gripping stuff, and I absolutely love it.
The section was absolutely filled with emotion and suspense, and I could really connect with most of your characters. I really, really want to hear more of this, so don't let us down. (Not that you ever really will, but hey; I nearly always end reviews for good stories like this)
Keep it Comin'!
AntiGravity 5-1-0

FoxMC: I absolutely appreciate your review! I will never let this story idle for as long as it did last time! I'm dedicated like never before!

Fox The Cave II
(Look it up, it's like big and stuff)

FoxMC: Check it out dawg! No parenthesis dividers or bunchy dialogue!

disturbedthoughts
Oh my god! I thought that this fic was dead! And it's not and I'm so happy. Don't take this long ever again...Please?

FoxMC: For a while I thought it was dead too, but I didn't want to let anyone down so I had to keep going, and now I'm enjoying it just as much as I did when I started. It will never take that long to update again!

abee
Hmm, good story, but the plot is a little slow. Try picking up the pace a bit. Also, your dialogue needs to be fixed like Fox the Cave said, and stop announcing the transitions in your story - you can do that in better ways. Otherwise, I like it, keep it up!

FoxMC: Ya, I seem to have trouble boring people with character development and stuff, but it has to be done…

Titan
Congratulations on your return almighty fanfiction writer Titan bows to FoxMC. This here reviewer is like totally in shock from finding out you wrote this chapter. Now what should I say? After the longest wait ever this was woth it.
Alright Titan over and out.

FoxMC: Wow, no need to bow. I'm just your everyday fanfiction writer trying to avoid hate mail from fans that want to kill me because I took so long to update. Tough life…

SonicBreezie4ever
Wow! Haven't seen this in awhile! XD I was just thinking about this yesterday, how funny! But ahem, to the comment. It was very good! I can't wait for the next chapter to be up! I bet it's gonna be really great now that they're off! Missed your writing and great chapter!

FoxMC: Thanks! I hope it'll be good once they leave, I mean, it should be, but I can never tell when I type it up…

SPG inc.
UPDATE! YAY! AND NO MORE GOLF TO DISTRACT THE WRITER!
builds shaine to Fox MC

FoxMC: Yay, my own shaine! Finally!

Spectral Swordsman
FINALLY! I am oh, so glad that you continued this very promising story. This chapter is exceptional, just like all the others! Keep doing what you're doing, you're doing great.

Fox MC: Ya, I'm glad I kept going to, this is way more fun than blistering up my hands playing golf everyday!

Another Star Fox Fan
AWESOME! NEW CHAPTER! Lovin' it! Keep it up please this is amazing! Haven't had a chance to read your other story yet, I just happened to see you updated this one, but I will read it asap! again- AWESOME!

FoxMC: Ok, I'll keep it up! I get to many reviews like this; I have nothing new to say. Thanks for da niceness!

Aether Mantis
Most excellent, MC, most excellent. I could actually feel the emotion.

FoxMC: Again, thanks. I'd hope there are some redeeming features to have chapters that have no action…

MisterChief
It's about time you showed back up. What were you doing? Hiding from my bad reviews? And no, I will not pardon you for your tardiness. NEVER!
And on with the review.
The main problem you've got with this chapter is wooden dialogue. It just didn't sound natural at some points. That's a possible problem. Other than that, there's nothing much that I'm in the mood to complain about at 11 at night.

FoxMC: Sorry, I could just stop all together…and seriously, no one used wooden golf clubs…

youngchick27
Wow, This is so good! I love it! I would have to agree though on some of the other peoples comments though you really do need to work on your grammer. Its really hard to read the story the way its written right now. But other then that its really good. I especially liked the part Ayame kissed Falco. :)

FoxMC: I like how you spelled grammar.

sandman91
Holy crap. I can't believe I waited four days before reviewing this. Anyway, nice chapter and keep it up. I don't care how much golf you play as long as you're still able to write.

FoxMC: Ya, what were you thinking! Oh well, it's no problem. Less golf more writing, yay!

Death
ah fox mc nice to have you back i trust your golf game when well
well i look frowand to you next chapter and by the way don't listen to all this carp from all the people who give you long review most of them are nead's and keep going on and on but hay do as you please
death out

FoxMC: You kind of remind me of my old editor what with all your spelling quirks. Oh well, por favor para el reviewo!