Our souls travel together
By Edward "Winter" Weldon
I lie awake on my bunk. I haven't slept properly since…since that night. The gold
coin Reace gave me shines brightly in the light from the small lamp on the wall of my
cramped quarters on Great Fox. Turning it over in my hand, I examine the images
engraved on its two sides, an angel on one side and a flaming sword on the other.
I can't stop thinking about the young wolf that took me hostage, saved my life and
then fell in love with me and who I fell in love with in return. Is he still alive? Will I
ever see him again? Is he thinking about me? It's been almost two weeks since that
night on the island on Zoness.
Two weeks travelling back to Corneria for repairs and re-supply. Fox is still mad at
me for putting myself in danger when I went down to the sickbay to see Reace and got
myself taken hostage. Since then Falco has made a full recovery, with out even a scar.
Just days after Reace almost killed him, Falco was up, around and cracking his bad
jokes again.
Fox on the other hand; he just gave me one lecture after another. Peppy said it was
simply because he was so afraid of losing me, just his way of showing how much he
cared. I wonder how much of it was his caring about me and how much was to do
with me not obeying his orders. No, I know that Fox cares about me, but sometimes I
think he care a little too much.
I remember a year ago, the closing months of the Androssian war, when Fox almost
lost Fara. I remember how the life just left him when she was captured, how he
couldn't muster the will to fight, to fly, to even live. He was like that when I was shot
and according to Peppy and slippy, he was like that the night Reace kidnapped me.
I don't ever want to put anyone in that position, especially my own brother but…to
me at least, to have found love, true love for the first time in my life, I think that it
was worth it. The sheer scale of it still awes me and frightens me a little. Not the least
because of how difficult it will be for me and Reace, the son of Wolf O'Donnell, my
brothers arch nemesis.
In the last two weeks, more than once I've broken down into tears, just from thinking
about how fate could play such a cruel joke. Sometimes it seems that the gods have
Falco's sense of humour.
Even when I do sleep, I still see his face. Those handsome lean features and piercing
pale blue eyes. I see us together, in a world where the war never happened, where our
families were never enemies, a world where he was not marked by the scars that…that
my father gave him.
I close my eyes tightly and my hand clenches around the small coin in my hand. I…I
still don't know whether or not to believe it. The James McCloud I knew, the father
who raised me and taught me about courage and honour, he could never betray his
word and attack an innocent ship with out warning. But Reace's rage, his sheer fury
spoke volumes about how much he believed it, and why his father Wolf hated my
father so much.
I know that the only person I can ask about this is Peppy, the only surviving member
of the original Star Fox team and my father's best friend. The wise old rabbit who had
practically been my grandfather, who had always been there and who helped raise me
and Fox after our mother died. I still haven't gained the courage to ask him, because
I'm afraid of what he might say. That either Reace, the man I love is a liar, or that my
father was a cold-blooded murderer. A single tear rolls down y cheek and suddenly a
sharp pain digs into my palm.
Quickly I release my hand from around the coin and it falls onto the blanket covering
me. My hand was clenched around it so hard that the angel engraved on its surface is
now imprinted onto my hand. As it lies there, for the first time I notice letters
engraved around the edge of the coin.
Looking closely I can make out the words: Quar-jett ulaniss somatww tiirshak,
engraved in an old style of script. The same words that Reace was repeating as he lay
dying, when I almost lost him as soon as I had found him, another mystery, another
question. What does it mean?
Then somebody knocks on my door. I get up, still wearing just my vest and panties, to
answer it. Opening the door, I see Kat. By the looks of it she's having trouble sleeping
too. "Kat? It's one in the morning, what's up?" I ask her, stood there in her t-shirt and
fatigues with her hair in a mess. "I don't know. Maybe you can tell me," She replies.
Sighing, I invite her in, gesturing with my arm. The two of us sit down on my bunk
with our backs against the wall. Kat was the first to speak, "What's wrong, you've
been…distant, distracted for days now. Something's bothering you and I thought you
might want to talk about it," She said softly. Kat was someone I could always talk to
about anything and she was right, I did need to talk to some one about this.
"Kat, do you remember when I was shot, you visited me in hospital and you told me
about why you and Falco broke up? You said that some day I would find some one
special. Well, I think I may have found that someone. I mean he's handsome, smart,
funny and… there's something else about him, something I can't describe," I said, my
tone rising as I spoke.
"So what's the problem? He seems like a real catch," Kat said, hanging on to my
every word. Then my tone started to fall again, "It's…it's difficult, we…just can't be
together. I mean, I'm sure I love him, but…" "You're not sure he loves you?" Kat
asked softly.
I shook my head and said, "No, no it's not that. I know that he loves me. It's just that
our lives get in the way. I mean we come from such different backgrounds. I'm afraid
that…well, we could never be accepted, by either side. You see his family fought on
the Imperial side during the war. His father was an Imperial war hero and…" "There's
still so much hatred on both sides from the war," Kat finished.
I simply nodded and the replied, "I know this is different from what you and Falco
went through, but…you're probably the only one who might understand, who could
know how I feel," As I spoke, I began to cry. Kat just hugged me and said "I
understand, what you're going through is possibly one of the hardest things
imaginable."
She then tilted my chin up and looked strait into my eyes and said, "The only advice I
can give you, is to follow your heart. If you love each other, then that is all that should
matter," I smiled a little. Then Kat turned her head a little and noticed the small gold
coin, still lying on my bunk. "What's this?" She asked, holding up the coin to the
light.
"I don't know, he gave it to me," I replied. Then Kat said, "I haven't seen one of these
in a long time. My grandmother used to have one, my grandfather gave it to her when
they met," turning the coin over in her hand. "Then do you know what the inscription
means?" I asked, my pulse racing a little.
"Yeah, I think my grandmother said it means: Our souls travel together forever, or
something like that. Y'see, hundreds of years ago, you gave a coin like this to your
one true love as a symbol that your souls will find each other, from generation to
generation, because true love is eternal," She explained.
"Wow, I didn't know that. I guess I should check out some history files," I said, a
little awe struck. "Yeah, well based on this, I'd say that no matter who his family is,
this guy is most certainly worth it," Kat said as she stood up and walked out. Just as
she reached the door to leave, I turned and said "Kat, thanks. I really needed this."
She just looked back at me and replied "Your welcome hon, anytime," and with that
she left. As she left, feeling of relief swept through me as I lay back on my bunk.
Drifting off with the coin still in my hand, I know now…that this is right. It won't be
easy, but I know now that we were meant to be. And that's all that matters.
To be continued…
By Edward "Winter" Weldon
I lie awake on my bunk. I haven't slept properly since…since that night. The gold
coin Reace gave me shines brightly in the light from the small lamp on the wall of my
cramped quarters on Great Fox. Turning it over in my hand, I examine the images
engraved on its two sides, an angel on one side and a flaming sword on the other.
I can't stop thinking about the young wolf that took me hostage, saved my life and
then fell in love with me and who I fell in love with in return. Is he still alive? Will I
ever see him again? Is he thinking about me? It's been almost two weeks since that
night on the island on Zoness.
Two weeks travelling back to Corneria for repairs and re-supply. Fox is still mad at
me for putting myself in danger when I went down to the sickbay to see Reace and got
myself taken hostage. Since then Falco has made a full recovery, with out even a scar.
Just days after Reace almost killed him, Falco was up, around and cracking his bad
jokes again.
Fox on the other hand; he just gave me one lecture after another. Peppy said it was
simply because he was so afraid of losing me, just his way of showing how much he
cared. I wonder how much of it was his caring about me and how much was to do
with me not obeying his orders. No, I know that Fox cares about me, but sometimes I
think he care a little too much.
I remember a year ago, the closing months of the Androssian war, when Fox almost
lost Fara. I remember how the life just left him when she was captured, how he
couldn't muster the will to fight, to fly, to even live. He was like that when I was shot
and according to Peppy and slippy, he was like that the night Reace kidnapped me.
I don't ever want to put anyone in that position, especially my own brother but…to
me at least, to have found love, true love for the first time in my life, I think that it
was worth it. The sheer scale of it still awes me and frightens me a little. Not the least
because of how difficult it will be for me and Reace, the son of Wolf O'Donnell, my
brothers arch nemesis.
In the last two weeks, more than once I've broken down into tears, just from thinking
about how fate could play such a cruel joke. Sometimes it seems that the gods have
Falco's sense of humour.
Even when I do sleep, I still see his face. Those handsome lean features and piercing
pale blue eyes. I see us together, in a world where the war never happened, where our
families were never enemies, a world where he was not marked by the scars that…that
my father gave him.
I close my eyes tightly and my hand clenches around the small coin in my hand. I…I
still don't know whether or not to believe it. The James McCloud I knew, the father
who raised me and taught me about courage and honour, he could never betray his
word and attack an innocent ship with out warning. But Reace's rage, his sheer fury
spoke volumes about how much he believed it, and why his father Wolf hated my
father so much.
I know that the only person I can ask about this is Peppy, the only surviving member
of the original Star Fox team and my father's best friend. The wise old rabbit who had
practically been my grandfather, who had always been there and who helped raise me
and Fox after our mother died. I still haven't gained the courage to ask him, because
I'm afraid of what he might say. That either Reace, the man I love is a liar, or that my
father was a cold-blooded murderer. A single tear rolls down y cheek and suddenly a
sharp pain digs into my palm.
Quickly I release my hand from around the coin and it falls onto the blanket covering
me. My hand was clenched around it so hard that the angel engraved on its surface is
now imprinted onto my hand. As it lies there, for the first time I notice letters
engraved around the edge of the coin.
Looking closely I can make out the words: Quar-jett ulaniss somatww tiirshak,
engraved in an old style of script. The same words that Reace was repeating as he lay
dying, when I almost lost him as soon as I had found him, another mystery, another
question. What does it mean?
Then somebody knocks on my door. I get up, still wearing just my vest and panties, to
answer it. Opening the door, I see Kat. By the looks of it she's having trouble sleeping
too. "Kat? It's one in the morning, what's up?" I ask her, stood there in her t-shirt and
fatigues with her hair in a mess. "I don't know. Maybe you can tell me," She replies.
Sighing, I invite her in, gesturing with my arm. The two of us sit down on my bunk
with our backs against the wall. Kat was the first to speak, "What's wrong, you've
been…distant, distracted for days now. Something's bothering you and I thought you
might want to talk about it," She said softly. Kat was someone I could always talk to
about anything and she was right, I did need to talk to some one about this.
"Kat, do you remember when I was shot, you visited me in hospital and you told me
about why you and Falco broke up? You said that some day I would find some one
special. Well, I think I may have found that someone. I mean he's handsome, smart,
funny and… there's something else about him, something I can't describe," I said, my
tone rising as I spoke.
"So what's the problem? He seems like a real catch," Kat said, hanging on to my
every word. Then my tone started to fall again, "It's…it's difficult, we…just can't be
together. I mean, I'm sure I love him, but…" "You're not sure he loves you?" Kat
asked softly.
I shook my head and said, "No, no it's not that. I know that he loves me. It's just that
our lives get in the way. I mean we come from such different backgrounds. I'm afraid
that…well, we could never be accepted, by either side. You see his family fought on
the Imperial side during the war. His father was an Imperial war hero and…" "There's
still so much hatred on both sides from the war," Kat finished.
I simply nodded and the replied, "I know this is different from what you and Falco
went through, but…you're probably the only one who might understand, who could
know how I feel," As I spoke, I began to cry. Kat just hugged me and said "I
understand, what you're going through is possibly one of the hardest things
imaginable."
She then tilted my chin up and looked strait into my eyes and said, "The only advice I
can give you, is to follow your heart. If you love each other, then that is all that should
matter," I smiled a little. Then Kat turned her head a little and noticed the small gold
coin, still lying on my bunk. "What's this?" She asked, holding up the coin to the
light.
"I don't know, he gave it to me," I replied. Then Kat said, "I haven't seen one of these
in a long time. My grandmother used to have one, my grandfather gave it to her when
they met," turning the coin over in her hand. "Then do you know what the inscription
means?" I asked, my pulse racing a little.
"Yeah, I think my grandmother said it means: Our souls travel together forever, or
something like that. Y'see, hundreds of years ago, you gave a coin like this to your
one true love as a symbol that your souls will find each other, from generation to
generation, because true love is eternal," She explained.
"Wow, I didn't know that. I guess I should check out some history files," I said, a
little awe struck. "Yeah, well based on this, I'd say that no matter who his family is,
this guy is most certainly worth it," Kat said as she stood up and walked out. Just as
she reached the door to leave, I turned and said "Kat, thanks. I really needed this."
She just looked back at me and replied "Your welcome hon, anytime," and with that
she left. As she left, feeling of relief swept through me as I lay back on my bunk.
Drifting off with the coin still in my hand, I know now…that this is right. It won't be
easy, but I know now that we were meant to be. And that's all that matters.
To be continued…