AN: Warning, character death. You who have seen the movies know what I'm talking about. You who haven't...well, there's something wrong with you!

Next person to offer me a cookie shall die. I ate the whole box from Jockey, and now I have a tummy ache...I love jelly beans, though... Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.It was hard to writeto write. I hate character death.

Chapter Dedication: This one's for punkteacher, who gives me such good reviews. I want to write as well as you can, hon! Though...I dunno if I can sit through 66 chapters of this...

"The Meaning of Flight"

Third Person POV- Charlie

It was sometime between the hot dogs and the ice cream that it hit him: 'playing hooky' was no fun without the others. Sure, Fulton was awesome, but without Ro and Banksie and the others, it was...well, dull. Team escapades were always more exciting, like the prank wars.

But he would rather die than admit it, admit he was wrong. Especially to Orion. He shuddered at the thought of apologizing to the new coach. Totally not happening. But what about apologizing to the team? He knew Ro had swore she wouldn't talk to him until he and Adam got along again, but...she didn't really mean that, did she?

After getting kiccked out of the Mall, and breaking off with Fulton, he was leaning more towards angry with his teammates and their 'weakness' than he was sorry for his behavior. His temper was getting in the way of his rational mind again...not that Charlie was ever rational when it came to hockey or his friends...

He stormed into Hans and Jan's shop and plopped onto the armchair next to Hans. Only then did he realize that his friend was listening to the game. Debating with himself, he decided to sit and listen for a while, see how they were doing without him.

He winced as he listened to the commentary. "...the one bright spot is Greg Goldberg, who skates up on defense for the first time tonight. He's a one-man wrecking crew!" He frowned. Goldie couldn't skate all that well...maybe Orion wasn't sucha bad taskmaster, once you got down to it. He shook his head. No. Orion was a washed up old man who coached kids so he could feel important.

He blinked out of his musings as Hans switched off the radio. "Sounds like the Ducks need you, Charlie," he said gently.

"Hn. What they need is a new coach!"

"Orion, he..." He trailed off in discomfort for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and continued. "They need you to lead, Charlie. Orion wants it. He won't let you just skate by. He demands more because he knows that it is there inside of you!" (AN: Sorry about the exact dialogue here!)

"How can he expect me to lead when he takes away my C? I was the captain, Hans."

Amusement made the older man's eyes sparkle mischievously. He reached to the side and pulled out a handful of multicolored cloth C's. "It's only a letter, Charlie. Here, I have hundereds!" He tossed them on the table in front of the brunet.

"These are not the same," he replied mulishly. "Don't make fun of me, Hans."

"You're not a little boy anymore, Charlie. Please stop acting this way. You have a good thing with the Ducks. Don't let it slip away."

"They're the ones who are slipping away from me!" he cried as he jumped up. Frustrated, he fisted his hands. "I've got to walk." Shooting pain shot up Hans' arm and he gasped. "Hans?"

Making light of it, the Norwegian lifted a finger and smiled his old smile. Charlie shook his head; to think he'd fallen for it again! "I'll see you." The door opened and slammed and Hans tried to relax; but the pain was relentless. He felt the tears building in his eyes.

"Good-bye, Charlie," he whispered, though the boy was far out of earshot by now. He reached over and turned the radio back on. He wanted to know how they would manage without him.

The sound of labored breathing eventually faded and the radio blasted on. Someone scored a goal and a smile curled over Hans' lips as his eyes slid closed. 'They'll be all right,' was the last thought of the dying man.

Third Person POV- Eden Hall

Groaning, Maurae dragged herself out of bed. She was aching and sore head to foot from all the checks she'd endured the night before, only half of which had been legal. Carrie ignored her and continued to go about her morning routine. Maurae stuck her tongue out at the back of her roommate's head and eyed her nightime attire. If she pulled on a shirt over her cami, she would pass for normally dressed. That's one thing she loved about track pants. Reached over, she grabbed the denim overshirt she normally used as lounge-wear and draped it over her shoulders, buttoning three of the six buttons. Loathe to do any more than necessary, she grabbed a pony holder and pulled her hair into a messy tail high on her head. Getting out of bed, she slipped on her loafers, without socks, and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth for breakfast.

When she came out, Carrie handed her her bag and they left the room together. Maurae wasn't really in a mood, nor awake enough to talk, so the walk to the mess was rather silent. Once inside, Carrie gave her arm a squeeze and went off in one direction to join her friends, while Maurae continued into the center of the room to the Ducks' table.

"M-m-moring, guys," she managed through a yawn. Half-hearted waves and grunts were her only answer, so she dropped bonelessly into a chair and rested her chin on her hands, elbows on the table. She yawned again and rubbed her eyes with one hand. Glancing over at the Varsity table had become a habit by now, and when she saw Adam laughing and joking with his teammates, she suddenly couldn't look away.

An odd feeling fluttered against her diaphragm, and she choked on a deep breath. Coughing, she buried her head in her arms until she got it under control. She missed seeing him laugh. She missed making him laugh. She heaved a sigh and stood up to get breakfast. Surprisingly, she was the only one of her friends that seemed to have enough energy. That made her feel slightly better.

Returning from the line with a tray holding sliced fruit and a bowl of cereal, she had to walk past the table Varsity had claimed. Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin and walked.

Not surprisingly, Riley and Cole stood up to blck her way. She stopped dead and rolled her eyes, but remained focused on the two instead of looking for help. "Going somewhere?"

"Always," she retorted. "So if you don't mind...?"

"I do, actually. Quite a loss last night," Riley sneered. Her eyes flashed, so he knew he'd touched a nerve, but she refused to say anything and give him the satisfaction. They waited, but she could out-wait them any day. "Tell your Captain I said we'll be seeing him...oh, wait. You don't have a captain anymore."

Again, the flare of anger, which she held down. She did not want to have to explain attacking two boys twice her size. Bad enough she'd provoked a fight with her cousin. "Excuse me, Riley. My cereal's getting soggy." She shoved past him, grinding her teeth. She wanted to shove her tray into his face, mess up his perfect hair and his perfect clothes. She wanted to throw a punch. She stalked to the Ducks' table and slammed the tray down, causing Julie, Ken, and Fulton, the three nearest her, to jump and blink sleepily at her.

She smiled blandly and sat, picking at the food with her spoon. She took maybe three whole bites before the bell rang. With a universal groan, the team stood and started trundling off to biology. "I am going to be so glad when this week is over," Maurae sighed, pulling her bag high onto her shoulder. Julie and Connie nodded. "That game last night was brutal. I swear, half the people in the stands were booing us by the end of the second period, and the other half were laughing at our lack of coordination."

"Trust you to use big words when the rest of us are half asleep," Kenny muttered with a small grin as he ducked past the girls into the classroom. She took a fake swing at him. He laughed and strolled to his seat.

Madigan walked in and started to pick up the homework assignments. She paused in front of Fulton and flashed a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Ah, Mr Reed. Good of you to return." Then she swept forward. "Take out your pencils only and put your books and notes away. Time for the quiz." By then, they had all learned not to groan aloud at this announcement.

The quiz was relatively easy, and twenty minutes later, they had finished and handed it in. Good thing Madigan liked to go over the quiz during the class, otherwise the Ducks would have been in trouble. It was almost like the Captain Blood days of the Junior Goodwill Games, only nobody had fallen asleep yet. Luis looked close, though...

The bell rang, and was followed by a deafening rush of movement towards the door. Again, Julie, Ken, Russ, and Maurae joined up and headed off to geometry, where they had another quiz scheduled. Fortunately, it was a homework quiz, to make sure they were actually doing the assignments. She could do this easily too.

After geometry, she headed off down the hall to debate, greeting Shayne with a lopsided smile, before dropping into a seat next to her dark cousin. "Well, someone's in a good mood today," she suggested. Shayne grinned.

"Well, who wouldn't be glad to see their--I mean...aw, shit."

"So, you're official now?" Maurae asked archly. Shayne flushed light pink and nodded. "That's what you were talking about yesterday when I interrupted you, huh? Well, isn't he the romantic?"

"He is, actually."

"That was rhetorical, hon."

"Whatever, hon," Shayne mocked her teasingly. She sobered slightly. "So, how are you and Adam doing? I notice Charlie didn't come back with Fult."

"Naw. Adam and I are still not speaking," she said, biting her bottom lip. Shayne saw the danger signs and hurried to steer the conversation away from Adam. Maurae actually did it for her. "That game last night...I saw you. You actually came to one of my games...geez, Shay, you haven't done that for years."

"Well..."

"I think our Fulton's gone and rubbed off on you," she teased.

"Rae!"

"I'm glad you like him." That stopped Shayne cold.

"What?"

"I'm glad you like him. You'll be good for each other." Now she was staring at her cousin. "Oh, please. Don't look at me like that." Then she turned to face the front of the room, where the teacher was writing up the topic for preparation for the debate the following week.

"You will divide into two halves, and I will assign each half a topic. You will choose one spokesperson, and you will research the point from now ntil next week." The door opened and all eyes turned to look at it. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Dean Buckley would like to see Maurae Grabeklis in his office please," replied the student, who was obviously a senior. She glanced at the teacher, who nodded once to her and went back to writing. She got up, slung her bag over her shoulder, shrugged once at Shayne, who was looking as confused as she was, and followed the girl out of the room. It was a silent walk to the dean's office.

"Ah, Maurae. Come in, please. And have a seat. We're just waiting for the others." Maurae blinked and tried to shy away from the seat he'd offered her, next to Adam, but there was no way to decline without looking childish, so she sat gingerly, perched on the very edge. One by one, the rest of her teammates trickled in and took the offered seats.

"At the risk of sounding completely rude, what the hell is going on here?" demanded Connie. "And just what is he doing here?" This last was said with an obscure wave in Adam's direction.

"He is here, Miss Moreau, because I have just been contacted by Gordon Bombay with some rather distressing news. News that affects you all, even Mr Banks here."

"Suddenly, I have a really bad feeling. Is it Charlie?" Maurae blurted. "Oh, God, has something happened to Charlie!" She couldn't help the distinct note of hysteria in her voice, making it higher than normal, but she wasn't worried about it. That was the only thing she could think of that would affect everyone including Adam.

"No, no, calm down! Please calm down!" So, she'd made Dean Buckley nervous. "As far as anyone knows, Mr Conway is fine. No, Gordon called me to tell me that a man named Hans passed away last night. He said he was a mentor of you all." Thirteen pairs of eyes blinked blankly at him for a long moment, and then Connie stifled a sob. Guy pulled her head to his shoulder and they cried together. One by one, it was like a floodgate was released. Everyone was crying or sobbing dryly, or trying not to cry.

Adam's hand instinctively found hers, and she grabbed him around the neck, sobbing into his shoulder as he gently held her. She could feel his own shuddering breaths. This was, in a way, worse than news that something had happened to Charlie. Hans was important to them, like a grandparent.

She looked up, eyes streaming, and saw, with a flash of gratitude, that the dean had left his office to the distraught teenagers. Her eyes met Adam's, and she suddenly remembered that he wasn't speaking to her. She started to pull back.

As if reading her mind, he hugged her close again. "If you have the courage to admit you were wrong in front of my teammates, I have the courage to do the same in front of yours. I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. She slipped her arms around him and hugged him back, crying harder, and not just in anguish over Hans' death, but also in happiness, to have her best friend back.

"I'm sorry too, Ads," she whispered. "But you're back. That's all that matters."

'I swear I'll never leave you again, Ro,' he whispered to himself, hugging her tightly.

AN: I like this chapter better. Much better. To my reviewers:

ChocolateCoveredJockey: Dahling, those cookies were nummy. Thank you! And yes, I know Adam was quite...hateful in the last chapter. I'm sorry about that, but it worked, didn't it? Anyway, they're reconciled, so, there you go.

CandieBabie30: Well, you asked, and here's what happens next.