"Fox? Did you hear what I asked?"

Upon hearing the female's voice question him, Fox's head flinched as he was tossed back into reality. He blinked rapidly a few times and looked beside him to see Fara Phoenix smiling awkwardly at him with polite but confused eyes. Truthfully, he hadn't heard whatever she'd just asked him, so he rubbed the back of his neck and asked sheepishly, "Uhhh...wh-what'd you ask again?".

The fennec tugged lightly on her light blue scarf, gesturing out at the grassy field in front of them with her head. "Don't you wanna join them?"

Fox had been so lost in his thoughts for the past few minutes that he'd forgotten what they were doing. There was a long stretch of a concrete walkway to his left, and a wide lake reflecting the orange evening beyond the walkway. A couple of thin trees were spread evenly throughout the spacious fields of neatly trimmed grass that sat to the right of the walkway. On the grass, Bill Grey and Falco Lombardi passed a sleek brown football back and forth to each other, changing positions each time. And though she wasn't participating, Fay Spaniel stood a few feet away from Bill, keeping herself a part of the small talk between the three of them.

Fox pushed his hands into his coat pockets and shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, heh. I'll just watch with you, Fara."

The female's smile drooped upon hearing his response. She pretended to shrug it off and quietly mumbled, "Alrighty then…". She leaned softly against his shoulder and watched their friends entertain themselves, choosing to stay silent for now.

Bill tossed the ball to Falco in a casual manner, allowing the avian to catch it with ease. Falco narrowed his eyes at the canine and sneered at him. "What kind of throw was that, Bill? Use your arm!"

Fay lowered her head slightly and smirked, glancing over at Bill. The canine frowned slightly at Falco's taunting and wiggled his arm. When the avian threw the ball back to Bill, he pounded his hand against it once before taking two steps forward, rearing his good arm back and hurling the ball towards Falco with a sudden burst of strength.

Clearly not anticipating such a powerful throw, Falco barely caught the ball in his hands and grimaced as he stumbled back, clutching the ball to his chest. "H-Holy...I call foul, Bill."

Both Fay and Bill just laughed it off. Falco had to take a few moments to compose himself again. He shook his head and sighed, tossing the ball upwards a few times. "Look fellas, I gotta get going now, I have some stuff to take care of. Maybe we'll meet up again next week."

Bill shrugged and put his arm around Fay's shoulders, and the two met each other's eyes with a smile as the former responded to Falco. "Maybe Slippy will actually come along next week. That way you won't be the only third wheel, heheh."

Falco scoffed and grinned, starting to walk away and scratching the back of his neck. "Shut it, Bill."

The pair of dogs walked past Fox and Fara. Bill stopped beside them and held Fay close. "We're just gonna head out now too. Both you guys are fine on your own, right?"

"Sure, see you later Bill." Fox responded and gave him a friendly smile.

As Bill and Fay continued on past them, the latter turned her head back and waved sweetly to Fara, calling back to her "Bye Fara! Have fun with Fox!".

Out of courtesy, Fara waved back and nodded before returning her attention to Fox. "Sooo...whaddya wanna do now?"

"Honestly Fara," Fox began as he stepped away from her and tugged at his collar, "I...um, kinda don't feel like doing much right now. I think I need to get some rest or something...you understand, right?"

Fara's ears drooped as any chance of a pleasant evening crumbled away. "Oh...alright then Fox. Whatever you want, I guess." She lowered her head and put her hands in her pockets, glancing disappointedly at Fox behind his back before starting to walk off.

Fox bit his bottom lip and looked up from the ground, watching the girl leave. Her brisk steps showed she was clearly irritated...but she had the right to be. Quickly realizing his mistake, Fox turned and called out to her. "Wait, Fara!"

The girl stopped and closed her eyes for a moment, sighing quietly and turning around, looking at Fox from the short distance between them. She did her best to remain patient, but he hadn't given her much to work with so far.

Fox took a few steps closer to her and felt himself blush with shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to brush you off like that. I gotta stop thinking about this thing on my mind." He smiled apologetically with sincere emotion, holding out his hand as an invitation. "Can I still walk you home tonight?"

Fara felt herself grin. That was all she needed, just to see Fox somewhat interested in spending a little time with her.

Daylight had left Corneria by the time the pair arrived at Fara's apartment. Fox had walked with her for a little less than twenty minutes, listening attentively to what she had to say and responding thoughtfully. Best of all, he'd really enjoyed himself while doing so too. He was reminded of how much he liked Fara's company outside of wartime business.

Now the two of them stood in front of the door to Fara's home. The conversation had come to a halt, and they stood together for a short while not saying much.

Fara turned her head to Fox and nodded in satisfaction, smiling with narrow eyes. "You know, that's the Fox I know. I'm glad we got to hang out for a little."

"No kidding, it was nice Fara." Fox agreed with her and returned her warm smile. He took a short breath and glanced out at the dark sky, watching distant vehicles travel around in the nightly rush. There wasn't much else to be said now.

The fennec observed him quietly for a moment before coming closer to him, enveloping Fox in a cozy embrace. Without any hesitation, he reciprocated her action and put his arm around her, holding Fara to his chest. They stood like this for some time, silently appreciating the warmth they gave each other.

Eventually, the two let go. Fox watched as Fara unlocked her door, considering what he wanted to say next. "Hey, Fara. I was thinking…"

The female turned her head to him and paused. "Hm?"

"Now that the war's over and we have plenty of time on our hands, maybe you and I can...erm…" Fox found difficulty in keeping his statement going, rubbing his shoulder as he struggled. He became aware of how long it was taking him to finish and abandoned what he originally wanted to say, simply looking up and smiling. "Heh, nevermind. I'll see you soon, have a good night Fara."

Fara had been hoping for him to continue, but she didn't pressure him to finish. She simply smiled back and nodded. "Goodnight, Fox."

With everyone else gone now, Fox was alone with his mind as he walked home. Though he did his best to just ignore it, the same thoughts were coming back. How he was certain he'd seen his father during his escape from Venom. How his father had seemingly just disappeared afterwards.

And how viciously he pursued Wolf O'Donnell when there was no truly sensible reason to do so.

Wolf had been occupying Fox's mind just as much as James McCloud for the past few days now, and it vexed him to no end. When he was younger and had received the news of his father's death as well as Star Wolf's involvement, the image of Wolf haunted his dreams. When Fox first went head-to-head with him on Fichina during the war, he felt empowered; despite being a skillful mercenary with a fearsome reputation, both of them were on even playing grounds. And now that the war was over and Wolf was no longer an immediate threat, the bad dreams returned!

Indeed, the Lylatian War was over. History would preserve the Star Fox team's triumph with reverence and awe. But it all seemed so tiny in comparison to what was going on in Fox's head now.

As he lingered on the quiet empty walkways of Corneria, Fox contacted Peppy Hare through his mobile phone. It wasn't too late; the old pilot should've still been awake.

Sure enough, Peppy answered Fox's call within seconds. "Fox? What's the matter?"

Fox felt relieved to hear the old hare's voice. It distracted him from his own thoughts. "Hey Peppy, you don't mind if we talk for a bit, right? I won't keep you on for long, I promise."

"Well, I mean, sure Fox." What'd you wanna talk about?" Peppy's answer was a godsend. That was just what Fox needed to hear.

"It's about, um...Star Wolf, if you're okay with talking about that." Fox mumbled over the phone.

Peppy audibly sighed, though it sounded much more concerned than annoyed. "Alright, give it to me son. Just let it out. Whatever you got to say, spill it. Don't be sorry or anything, I'm here for ya right now."

Fox rubbed his forehead, finding himself pacing back and forth along the concrete now. It took a little while for him to speak again, but Peppy stayed true to his word and waited patiently. "I tried so hard to fly after and kill Wolf O'Donnell outside of Venom, that's why I came back with a busted up arwing. He didn't fight back at all, but I was just so damn focused on lighting him up…"

"Okay, okay. Can ya tell me why you did it Fox?" Peppy questioned.

Fox held his breath and closed his eyes, wincing. "No, I can't. That's the hard part honestly...I feel like I had no reason to go after him, but at the same time, it felt like the most important thing to do at the time, and it still kind of feels that way. It feels...wrong. But also right."

"Ah man, this is because of your father, isn't it Fox?" Peppy asked with a slightly lower voice.

Fox didn't respond right away, knowing it was a subject Peppy didn't often talk about. "...is that a problem?"

"No, no not at all. It's not like that at all Fox," Peppy assured him, "you wanna talk about it? you have the right to."

"Thanks Peppy." Fox sighed in relief. "So...did Wolf do it himself? Was he the one that...you know, did it?"

There was a noticeable pause. Fox could hear what sounded like crinkling sheets over the phone before Peppy finally spoke. "Well Fox, I think I told you this before, but you clearly need me to tell it to you again, judging by how much this is botherin' you. Star Wolf...they all did it. They all played a part in the ambush, some less than others, but all of 'em regardless. I would've been dead had your father not saved my hide and gave his own life...but I think I know what you're really asking for. Wolf O'Donnell did not shoot James McCloud down, no. I did not see him do it, that specific bit was Pigma Dengar's doing." Despite Peppy trying to be quiet, Fox could clearly hear him mutter through the phone "Backstabbin' bastard…".

Fox still felt unsatisfied. An answer he needed was still missing. "B-But that makes Wolf still responsible. It does, right?"

"Maybe not directly...but he was there when it happened and definitely wasn't trying to save him. So, I guess that only leaves one thing for you to think about now, doesn't it?" Peppy responded.

Fox began to understand where Peppy was going with this, and it was already troubling him. Yet he pushed the hare to elaborate. "And what would that one thing be?"

"I guess," Peppy started with a short pause after, "whether or not Wolf is entirely at fault is up to you to decide Fox. He's a criminal and deserves prison, no doubt. And he was a part of the scheme that ultimately cost your father his life. But if you're lookin' for an answer as to whether or not Wolf is a hundred percent guilty and deserves death, that's up to you. Just remember that vengeance is a dangerous thing to have floatin' around your head."

Fox took a long breath and looked up at the night sky. Now that he'd heard someone else say what he'd been thinking, it impacted him profoundly. That was the key word that described exactly what he was struggling with:

Vengeance. Cold hard vengeance.

Having left Peppy with silence, the hare spoke again once he realized Fox wasn't going to respond. "Look Fox, this is obviously pretty serious to you...why don't you and I talk about it again sometime soon? This is somethin' that's better to discuss in person, you feel me?"

"Yeah...sure. Goodnight Peppy." Fox said quietly as he ended the call.