Okay, here's the next fic. Sorry for not updating as soon as possible, but I was too busy with the other two fics that I'm working on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, Star Fox, or Star Wars. I do own some characters.

Encounter

Chapter 10

Past Conflicts

After a 15 minute drive to Fox's and Falco's new home, they arrived there as the rain poured down even heavier than before. Fox knew that Serenity was quite cold, but thanks to Lisa's cloak that she picked up before they left, Serenity was wrapped up in the cloak for some warmth.

Falco drove their Dodge silver truck into the garage. Fox got out carefully to prevent his wound from opening up again, and got the two girls out from the back. Lisa was supporting Serenity as she stood by her side while Serenity was shivering in her rain drenched clothes. Falco closed the garage door as they all went into the kitchen. The kitchen had wooden cupboards that were coated not too long ago as the wooden floor matched the cupboards. They saw an electric stove next to them as Fox turned it on to heat some water. Falco lead Serenity and Lisa into the living room as it had a neatly stacked pile of folders towering up to 3 feet. Serenity saw a couch in the middle of the living room as Falco was sitting in front of a computer as he was working on some documents.

Fox came around the corner, holding two mugs full of the heated water as there was a string hanging from the cup. Fox placed the cups on the coffee table sitting in front of them as the content full of chocolate was still steaming. As Lisa was grabbing for her drink, Serenity could see something around her arm. As she took a look closer, she could see that Lisa's forearm was wrapped up in some wrapping around it as a brace was on her wrist. Lisa firmly gripped her mug as she was taking a sip from it while she was wincing from the pain in her arm.

"Uh…how's your arm?" Serenity asked.

Lisa looked up after taking a sip from her cocoa, seeing the concern in Serenity's face. Lisa looked down to her own arm, seeing that Serenity would be concerned about something like that.

"It's not that bad," Lisa responded.

"Oh, but…wouldn't it hurt if your arm took something like that?"

"Eh…I've taken worse."

"Like…what?"

When Serenity asked that, Lisa then slightly lowered her head. She was then appearing to want to cry, but was suppressing that emotion. Serenity could see it in her eyes that Lisa wanted to let it out.

"The worst pain…" Lisa started.

She knew that it was hard for her to say, but it's something that she can't avoid.

"…losing one of my best friends back at the academy," Lisa answered in a lower tone.

Serenity sat there, realizing that Lisa's been bound by this loss. Serenity doesn't know what it's like to lose a friend, but she knows that it's hard to recover from. Now she understands why Lisa barely had friends to talk about.

"Uh…sorry for asking," Serenity said.

"That's fine…it's no big deal," Lisa responded.

Fox came back into the room, wearing a grey sweater, a white T-shirt underneath it, and a pair of blue jeans just slightly slack. As Fox observed Serenity, he could tell that she was still cold wearing her soaked clothes.

"Hey…Lisa?" Fox asked.

"Yeah?

"Did you drop off any spare clothesthat Serenitycould wear?"

"Yeah…why you ask?"

"Well, Serenity might want to wear something…not soaked."

"It should be in a box upstairs."

"…okay…can you be a little more specific?"

Lisa then got a stern look in her eyes, not knowing why Fox wouldn't know.

"Fine…I'll get them."

"Okay…then can you take Serenity with you?"

Lisa looked back at Fox, and then realized what he meant a few seconds after.

"Serenity, you'd better take Fox's suggestion," Lisa said.

Serenity got up right away and began to walk up the stairs with Lisa, still wrapped in the cloak. Fox stood at the bottom of the stairs, thinking about how Serenity ended up out there and why something doesn't seem right. He then shook that trail of thought off and decided to write up his report.

Lisa was searching through boxes, trying to find the box that she gave to Fox. Serenity was watching her rummage through the stacked boxes until she pulled one out.

"Found it," Lisa called.

"What is it?" Serenity asked.

"It's some of my clothes that I don't wear anymore."

As Lisa opened the box, she began to rummage through the clothes, trying to find a particular one. Serenity looked over just as soon as Lisa found it. She held in her hands a pair of clothes quite similar to the one that Lisa's wearing.

"Change into these since they're the only ones that will fit," Lisa instructed.

She handed the clothes to Serenity, who stood there in confusion when Lisa left.

"Well…might as well change," Serenity thought.

Lisa stood outside the door, waiting for Serenity to change into the other clothes. Lisa stood outside the door, wondering why she was out there and what happened. She tried to look into Serenity's emotions, but what she could get from it was confusion and disbelief. The conflict with Serenity's brother was what caused it. Lisa heard the door open behind her, seeing that Serenity changed into the Jedi suit while holding her rain drenched clothes. Lisa studied Serenity for a minute, checking to see how it is.

"So…how does it feel?" Lisa asked.

"Well…it does feel comfortable," Serenity answered.

"My opinion is that it looks good on ya."

Serenity looked at Lisa for a minute, then looked down at herself and examined the fit of it. Everything fit perfectly around her waist, arms, legs, everything was to her fit.

"I'm not a type of person who wears long clothes…but this actually feels nice," Serenity commented.

"It's made from some of the finest, but durable silk," Lisa said.

"No wonder it's so soft."

"Well, I've worn mine a lot."

"It must get annoying after a while."

"At one point, maybe, but at least it's not made from wool."

"Yeah."

Lisa and Serenity went downstairs to see how Fox and Falco were doing. They got down there to see Fox sitting at the computer working on some projects while Falco was outside with a metal spatula. Serenity could see smoke streaming out from an area to the left of their walk-out porch that was covered overhead. At the same time, she could smell an aroma that that made her stomach growl. Fox looked over to Serenity, who began to blush of embarrassment from her hunger.

"Uh…sorry," Serenity said.

"Hey, I'm feeling hungry myself," Fox said.

"Same here," Lisa added.

Falco came in with a full plate of burgers as they were cooked to a perfect brown with delicate care. The way he makes his burgers would be at a medium well job with some spices lightly sprinkled on them. Serenity saw a table with four plates around a circular table big enough for four people. Falco set the plate full of the burgers embedded inside hamburger buns. Everyone sat down wherever and began eating. As they were eating, Falco decided to ask something.

"Serenity, why were you out there?" Falco asked.

As she heard that, Serenity sat there, staring blankly at Falco. Serenity let out a deep breath, ready to explain everything. Her head hung low as a rush of emotions came to her.

"Well…Joey and I…we had a fight earlier," Serenity said.

"…What sparked it?" Fox asked.

"Joey wasn't letting me out of the apartment without him since he didn't feel that I could handle it out there." Serenity explained. "The problem was that I couldn't stand being inside all the time, so I decided to leave, and ended up punching my brother. What I did was something I now regret."

Fox sat there, thinking about what could've easily sparked it. He knows that Serenity wouldn't let out her aggression like that, but it's something that couldn't have been from one incident.

"Tell me…was there something else that was bottled up inside?" Fox asked.

Serenity looked at him, knowing that Fox wanted to get to something. Lisa placed a hand on Serenity's shoulder, trying to comfort her from holding back.

"It's okay, Serenity. You don't have to tell us," Lisa said. "If this was something that you kept bottled up about Joey-"

"That's not what caused it…" Serenity interrupted.

Everyone looked at Serenity, not expecting that to be said.

"What was causing it?"

"My parents got divorced because of my father…since he got drunk a lot. He kept abusing Joey and me to the point where that was what caused us to be separated. My mother took me with her while Joey had to fend for himself."

"But that's not the only thing…is it?" Fox asked.

Serenity looked at Fox as if there was something else about it. Fox sat forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"I know there's more to it, mainly because of your history in your old school you use to go to," Fox said.

"…What was…wrong?" Serenity asked.

"I found in your school records that you're a bright student…but what concerns me was your status. From what I read, you had no friends."

Serenity's eyes were beginning to fill with tears, not wanting to admit that.

"Serenity…you can't deny this. This is something that is serious. Just tell us whatever it was that caused it, or if it's something that you bestowed upon yourself."

"…….I…well…it's not that simple," Serenity managed to say.

"You should tell us," Lisa said.

"Must've been something with the people at the school," Falco thought.

"…I don't think so," Fox said.

"That being in there…there's a reason," Serenity started.

Fox focused his attention on Serenity, who had her eyes filled with tears.

"It's…it's because of my mother…" Serenity said.

"Why?" Lisa asked.

"Well…she…ever since my parents got divorced, my mother…she…she told me things…about what I shouldn't do…" Serenity explained. "One of which is saying that love does no good. The other is that having friends doesn't do any good."

"What the hell?" Falco reacted. "What's your mother smoking?"

"Falco…" Lisa sneered.

"Uh…sorry…just an expression for-"

"I know what you mean, Falco," Serenity said.

Falco looked at her as if she had problems with her as well.

"Tell me…what kinds of things did your mother tell you?" Fox asked.

Serenity sat there as tears were running down her cheeks in a slow stream as her breathing began to sound like short chokes.

"…She'd…tell me that…men are only good for drinking and hurting other people." Serenity explained. "She told me that love isn't anything that I should be in a need of. She'd also tell me that friends don't do anything to…help their friends…when they're in need."

"Okay, that's bullshit," Falco said.

"For once, Falco, I agree with you," Lisa said.

Fox knew that this was something really serious. People without friends of their own become emotionally dead. He knows that a major mental breakdown would occur, but he's never seen one with that problem.

"Serenity," Fox began, "I know how you feel about this, but a love life isn't always necessary. Someone can have love by choice."

Serenity looked up at Fox, who was sitting there with his hands folded up as they rested on his lower jaw. Fox was blankly staring down to the table as he was thinking about the situation.

"Despite that, it doesn't mean that family and friends are unnecessary to live," Fox said. "You need your family and your friends to live a normal life. Without them, then who would be there to listen to you, to help you when you need it, or even to be there to save you?"

"Which is why we're always here for you," Lisa added.

"And you're brother is there to help you whenever you need it," Falco said.

Serenity sat there, believing in them that she can have a better life with Joey and the friends she cherishes. The thought of them made her feel happy again, making her eyes fill with more tears as she was able to smile again. Fox looked on his wrist at a watch, looking at the time. He got up and walked off in a hurry out to the truck. They all saw him walk out the kitchen door as Fox took the keys off the key rack.

"Where's Fox going?" Serenity asked.

"Uh…to pick up your stuff for your project in your science class," Falco responded.

"Our…stuff?" Serenity questioned.

"The stuff needed for your lightsaber project," Lisa said.

"…Oh, that stuff," Serenity said.

Falco was still sitting in his chair, trying to remember something that Fox told him. He then snapped his fingers as he remembered.

"Serenity, Fox said that you and Lisa should stay here for tonight," Falco said.

"Why?" Serenity and Lisa asked in unison.

"Well…because Joey said for you to stay here," Falco explained.

"…And why do I need to be here?" Lisa asked.

"Just because it'd be best for Serenity to have someone near her age to be with her," Falco explained.

"…Oh, understood," Lisa said.

Lisa got up and motioned Serenity to go with her down to the basement. Serenity got up, following her instincts. The two got downstairs as the basement was filled with empty boxes, some spare parts well organized, and a large area with a mat in the middle.

"Uh…why are we down here?" Serenity asked.

"I've been hoping to teach someone Tae-Kwon-Do sometime soon," Lisa explained. "I asked Falco if I was ready to teach someone soon."

"And what was his response?"

"He said I was, but the thing is…will you be my first student?"

Serenity stood there in awe after hearing an offer like that. Serenity didn't know what to say though.

"Well…yeah…I guess," Serenity answered

"Okay, but don't worry. For you, it'll be at no charge."

Serenity is extremely anxious as well as honored to be Lisa's first student. Lisa was waiting at the mat, ready to give Serenity her first lessons. Serenity snapped out of her trance and went over to her.

"Okay, since you're already quite familiar with the basics from self-defense, then we'll just move on to some of the more advanced techniques," Lisa explained.

Upstairs in the kitchen, Falco was sitting at the table, talking into his communicator.

"Are you sure, Fox?" Falco asked. "I mean, you're not for sure, are you?

"I'm not completely sure, but we should keep our eyes peeled," Fox said. "We should keep close observations just to be safe."

"If your theory is true, then we'd better be prepared for anything."

"Let's just hope I'm not correct."

"Yeah."

"I'll be back soon."

"Okay.

"Fox, out."

"Falco, out."

With that, he and Fox stopped communications through their comlinks. Falco doesn't like what Fox can sense, but what he's more worried about is if they're what he thinks they are.

"Man, damn it. I just hope they aren't sith."

Okay, long chapter, so sorry about that. I had too many writer's blocks just trying to get through this chapter. Please R&R.