A/N: This chapter isn't the date between Fox and Katt. Instead this chapter more builds up to that. This chapter has a lot of dialogue in it as it is late at night, and a lot of it consists of a phone conversation. Fun stuff right? Sure you could say that, but I think this chapter is a bit more interesting. I'm trying to make this chapter focus more on Katt than anyone else. Oh, and to remind you all, this fic DOES NOT take place in the SF timeline.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox, Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my original characters in any way is entirely coincidental

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Chapter 11: Katt's Cradle

Fox was back at home after dropping Krystal off. This vixen was strange to him. Not in a bad way…actually in a neutral way. 'What is she scared of?' He said making his way to his room where he once again slipped on his leather gloves and then fell back on his bed.

Krystal was a shy vixen. She was beautiful but shy. It was hard to strike up a conversation with her at times. She was quiet. Very different from her friend Katt. How did those two come to be so close anyway?

It was getting rather late for him. It as almost 11:00 P.M. and he had to see what Katt wanted to do tomorrow. They still hadn't decided. A movie sounded good but Katt seemed just a bit more outgoing than that. 'She doesn't seem like the type that would want to sit in a theater…would she even be able to hold still?'

Fox tried to think of what Katt would enjoy a lot. Fox wanted to take Katt somewhere where she could ultimately be herself. It was then Fox was struck with an idea. There was a great place that he could take Katt where she could just be herself. "I'll surprise her!" Fox said aloud. It would be perfect.

***

Tomorrow was her day with Fox. Katt felt like calling Krystal now to gossip about her date but she was thinking that Krystal was probably asleep. She knew Krystal wasn't one to stay up really late.

Katt had just returned home and was up to her room. It would've been nice to call Krystal but she was probably going to sleep or something right now. That was okay, Katt could gossip with Krystal after she had her moment with Fox. Tomorrow would be that day.

Katt seemed excited about tomorrow but she didn't realize that she forgot one thing…she forgot to tell Krystal.

It was then that her phone rang. 'Who calls at 11:00 at night?' Katt thought before she picked up the phone. "Hello?" She spoke into the phone and there was silence on the other end. "Hello?" Still silent.

"Katt?" a voice resounded on the other end.

Katt recognized the voice and it was…Shane? Why is Shane calling so late? "Shane…isn't past your bedtime?"

"Isn't it past yours?" Shane chuckled on the other end. "I called because I just wanted to talk."

"You always 'just' wanna talk." Katt smiled. "So what is it? Krystal again? Or do you really 'just wanna talk?'"

"I don't know. I haven't had a 'normal' conversation in months."

"Hey the Café was a 'normal conversation.' Shane. Besides, what is 'normal' anyway?"

"Hell if I know. So what's up?"

"Nothing. I get to see Fox tomorrow. I can't contain myself Shane!"

"Uh…yeah." Shane sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Forget it."

"So tell me about when you and Krystal went out."

"Huh?"

"Tell me about when you and Krystal went out. She didn't mention a word about you two going out to me until recently. Sure there was that breakup but she didn't tell me ANYTHING!"

"What's there to tell? She was…different from other vixens." Shane said trying to remember it all. "How did you not know about us? I thought everyone knew."

"Well Krystal didn't mention anything about it to me. She said that you were close friends when I first asked about you. Then at Bill's party she mentioned you being her ex-boyfriend. That was when I placed it together why you were so mad at her. I thought it was a strange crush because you would never shut up about her."

"Uh…yeah." Shane said glumly. "Well, it lasted for a while, and thanks for putting up with me for so damn long."

"No problem. But why did you go out with her? From what Krystal had been telling me, I'd figure you would end up with some blonde human or something."

Shane held back a growl but a small one slipped his teeth before he could manage to do it.

"Don't be mad about it." Katt said defensively.

"Right, whatever." Shane mumbled.

"So tell me what happened!" Katt demanded.

"Well…she was certainly different from most other furs I've met before. She shared a lot of my interests. I felt like I could see eye-to-eye with her. You know?" Shane explained. "She was better than most other furs. She was gentle with me…even at that point where it ended…she was gentle. She didn't take my feelings and stuff 'em in a sack like most girls would." Shane ended referring to what Katt had done to Slippy. She probably didn't get the gist of it though.

"Well, Krystal's a gentle girl. She's shy sometimes but she's a good friend. She doesn't like to hurt others." Katt smiled.

"And you never heard much of anything about it?"

"Nothing at all." She shook her head as if she were talking to Shane in person. "All I heard was gossip."

"So tell me about you and Slippy." Shane quickly changed gears.. "I mean…what did you see in him?"

"Between you and me, I don't even know. He seemed really cool at the time and he was really sweet and all…but there was something about him that was missing."

"He didn't have that look?"

"Not the look…well, he's a nerd that's for damn sure. But when I first met him he wasn't all about computers and science. It was something I could never really get into. Everyone says I dumped him because he was a nerd. I didn't dump him because he was nerdish or anything. I dumped him because we started to fall apart. He ended up like most other guys I dated. He started caring more about his toys and accessories more than he cared about me." Katt sighed. "I don't see why everyone has to get upset at me for it."

"They're upset because they don't know the real reasons. But did you ever talk to Slippy about it? I'm sure he would've understood and--"

"I talked to him about one-million times about it. He always said 'no we still got it,' and then it seemed like we were drifting further and further apart everyday."

"Well…" Shane trailed off thinking of what else to say. "Did you tell him THAT?"

Katt was silent for a moment…"Well…no."

"Maybe you should've told him that. If you told him that…maybe he would've understood. Well…do you miss him at all?"

"If you want the honest truth Shane, I don't." She said earnestly. "You can't just ask someone out and call yourself a 'couple.' You gotta work at it."

"Yeah…"

'Wait a minute!' Katt thought. "How do you do that!?"

"Do what?"

"Krystal said you were like this and now…"

"What are you talking about?" Shane interrupted before Katt could finish.

"Krystal said you know how to get others to open up and you just got me to tell you what I wouldn't tell ANYONE except Krystal. You didn't even try…so how did you do it?"

'Is she serious!?' Shane thought…poised by it actually. "I didn't do anything. I just started talking. That's all I did."

'His voice is so soft and soothing…maybe that's why.' Katt thought. 'Oh stop it!' She told herself before she would find herself going gaga over Shane. "So you're a listener?"

Shane had no idea how to respond to that. "I guess I am. Anything you want to say?"

"I still want to know how you did it!" Katt screamed.

"I didn't do anything…that's the point." Shane said. "You were just talking and it all came out I guess. All I did was ask."

It was then Katt realized why she told him everything. 'All he did was….ask.' He didn't judge her like other furs did…and he didn't poke fun at her. 'Even this fox is pretty amazing!' She told herself. "Well, Shane it was nice talking to you but I think I should be on my way now."

"I guess so huh? You have a date with Fox later on today."

"You mean tomorrow?" Katt corrected him.

"Nope, today. Look at your clock. It's after midnight! It's a new day." Shane laughed. "Good morning Katt!"

***

Krystal still hadn't fallen asleep yet. 'He was probably a little bored with me. We didn't even kiss. How lame.' She thought and wrapped herself in her blankets as she strolled to her bed and relieved her feet of carrying her across the floors of her home. 'But you don't always have to kiss on the first date do you?' She asked herself. But this wasn't even supposed to be a date! Fox MADE it into a date.

Her mom had interrogated her when she walked in the door. Her mom wasn't usually like that, being that when she questioned Krystal…it was about the date. She didn't ask if they did anything wrong or anything like that. Krystal's mom asked if she liked Fox, and when Krystal said yes her mom was delighted. 'Why did she do that?' Krystal wondered.

Krystal lie down in her bed and wrapped the covers around her as she turned onto her side thinking about the night. She couldn't help but wonder something about herself sometimes…'Am I boring?'

No, of course she wasn't boring. She couldn't be boring right? Fox McCloud asked her on a 'date' right? She couldn't possibly be boring! After all, it was Fox. Instead of dwelling on the thought of what Fox thought of her she decided that she might as well go to sleep. "I'll call him tomorrow." She groaned to herself as if she were talking to someone there.

***

Fox was still wide-awake, but unlike Krystal hadn't been thinking of their little "date." Instead he had his mind on other things.

Like Katt.

Sure, he wasn't bored with Krystal, but he liked how Katt spoke her mind and was outgoing. There was something about her that even Fox found irresistible. What was it? Fox didn't think much of it. Actually, Fox was trying to deny the fact that he LIKED Katt. Not only that, but the fact that Krystal was there too…

Fox found him growing to like Katt in this way was a little ironic. 'And here I was telling Krystal how stuck up her best friend was.' Fox shook his head in disbelief. 'It's nothing. All it's going to be tomorrow is a nice get together.' Fox told himself. That's right! He'd keep telling himself too.

Fox fell back on his bed and found that he was more excited about seeing Katt than he was Krystal. He had asked them both out, but they weren't meant to be 'dates.' True, he had made the first move on Krystal…but she responded.

"Perhaps it's time to go to bed. I got a nice surprise lined up for Katt tomorrow."

***

Shane had been thinking of what Katt had asked him earlier. "How do you do that?" To Shane there was nothing to it. All you had to do was talk. In Shane's eye you couldn't say anything that sounded stupid. After all, they were only words. If Katt's words alone could sound stupid, imagine the stuff HE said.

Shane was up and even more awake than Fox. Bill had always made fun of Shane for the fact that Shane stayed up late and got up late as well. Bill had always said to others that Shane would "go to bed at five and wake up at five." Which wasn't very funny to him. Shane was actually a more serious fur than that. Which is probably another thing that drove Krystal away.

Now it was Katt's game. She was trying to pull something. Shane tried to relax and hide to himself what was true…there was something that even HE liked about Katt. But he kept telling himself that Katt wasn't worth it. 'She's Krystal's best friend, dammit!' Shane thought. 'I can't go out with my ex's best friend.' Now Shane really WAS trying to hide what was true. Now Shane was starting to fall into Katt's Cradle…

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A/N: Forget what I said about the whole Shane/Katt thing. In fact, I'm going to stop predicting myself, as I can't even do that! Besides, this puts an interesting spin on things. Now you've got ummm….a sort of "Love Square" type thing going on and all four of them can't decide what they want! Well, I like toying with people a lot and I felt this chapter was actually pretty good. Turns out that the summary goes a lot further than what you saw there eh? What does Fox have in store for Katt? Well, when the next chapter comes you'll see.