Unseen Revenge: Chapter 25, The Secret's Out
Fox was standing next to his car, with Krystal. They were waiting for Emerald and Ray. James was going to stay and wait for Jessie. While they waited, Fox thought about what he saw when he was looking for Krystal. He had wondered if he should tell Krystal yet, or not. They could see Charlie and Emerald walking slowly. Fox couldn't help but glare at Charlie, and Krystal noticed.
" Fox, is something wrong?" Krystal asked, watching him carefully.
" No." Fox said.
" Then why are you glaring at Charlie?" Krystal said, a look of disbelief on her face.
" This afternoon, when I was looking for you, I saw Charlie kissing Emerald." Fox said, but Krystal didn't look surprised at all. " Don't tell me you knew about this!"
" I had a hunch Fox, but I wasn't sure." Krystal said softly.
" I can't believe I didn't see this. Am I a bad father?" Fox said, more to himself then Krystal.
" You are not a bad father Fox. Don't you dare think that. I'm sure she has a good reason she hid their relationship from us." Krystal said, leaning on his arm. " Do they know that you saw them?"
" I don't think so." Fox said watching the two coming closer.
" You should let them know so they can stop sneaking around behind our backs." Krystal said.
" I don't know Krystal. What if she gets mad at me? She might think I was spying on her." Fox said.
" Fox, you can't avoid it forever." Krystal said.
" Can't avoid what?" Emerald said as she got close.
" Nothing." Fox said.
" Fox." Krystal said warningly.
" Is everything alright dad?" Emerald asked, a concerned look on her face.
" No, everything isn't alright. I, I saw you and Charlie earlier..." Fox broke off, not wanting to tell Emerald, Krystal rolled her eye's.
" He saw you two kissing this afternoon." Krystal said.
" Oh, that. Well you see dad, we uh..." Emerald started, embarrassed that Fox had seen them.
" How long have you two been, together?" Fox asked, leaning against the car.
" For a few months now." Emerald said, trying not to look at Fox.
" We're not mad at you sweetie." Fox said softly, stroking her head.
" You're not?" Emerald said, looking up into Fox's eye's.
" No." Fox said as he pulled her into a hug.
" I should get going." Charlie said quickly, backing up slowly.
" You should stay here, we're not done yet. My arm may be broken, but my legs work just fine." Fox said.
" Dad don't be mad at Charlie." Emerald said quickly, stepping between Fox and Charlie.
" I already told you, I'm not mad. A little disappointed that you kept this from us, but not mad." Fox said.
" I was afraid you would overreact and do something to Charlie, sorry daddy." Emerald said, giving Fox the 'sad eyes'.
" It's ok sweetie, I just want to have a quick talk with Charlie." Fox said as he walked over to Charlie and put his arm around him, leading him off.
For a few minutes Fox didn't say any thing, he just led Charlie away from Emerald and Krystal. Fox glanced at Charlie out of the corner of his eye. He was definitely nervous about what Fox could do to him.
" You know, I never thought I would have to talk to you like this. I thought you two were just friends, and I thought you would stay that way. Man, was I wrong." Fox said slowly, tightening his grip a little. " Tell me Charlie, what do you see when you look at Emerald?"
" What can I say?" Charlie said, a smile on his beak. " She's just amazing. So kind, so sweet, smart and beautiful too."
" You've rehearsed this haven't you? In case I found out before you two were ready to tell me, right?" Fox said, giving Charlie an unnerving smile.
" A little, but I mean it. Look, I know my dad had a bad rep. and I seem to be a lot like him. But I'm not just like him. Every where I go people watch me close. They act like I'm going to cause trouble, I'm not my father you know." Charlie said, upsetting himself a little. " Sorry, that's kind of been building up for a while."
" That's ok Charlie, I know it's tough living in your father's shadow. Whether it's good or bad." Fox said, rubbing Charlie's shoulder. " You know Emerald is my only daughter, and you know how much I love her. I just want you to know that I don't want to hear about you doing anything to hurt her. Now I know you are basically good, and wouldn't do any thing to hurt her intentionally. But I am her father, and I'm sort of obligated to say this to any one she dates."
" So, basically I just don't do any thing to hurt her then you and me will be cool, right?" Charlie said.
" Right. Oh, there's one more thing I would like to know. Were Krystal and myself the only ones who didn't know?" Fox asked.
" No, the only person who knew other Emerald and myself was James. We swore him to secrecy once he found out." Charlie said.
" How did he find out?" Fox asked.
" The same way you did. At least when you saw us, you didn't kick the crap out of me." Charlie said, looking at his feet.
" James beat you up?" Fox asked, surprised.
" Yeah, but he only did it because he thought I was taking advantage of Emerald. He was just trying to protect her. We got him to promise not to tell any one after he found out the truth." Charlie said.
Fox and Charlie headed back towards the car. Emerald was obviously nervous about what Fox could have said to Charlie. She looked like she was saying something to Krystal as they got closer. Krystal looked at Fox with a questioning look and Fox just smiled. Emerald ran up to Charlie and hugged him.
" My dad didn't say any thing to scare you did he?" Emerald whispered.
" No, actually he was pretty nice about it." Charlie said.
" Come on Emerald, let's get going." Krystal said as Ray ran up to them.
" Ok mom." Emerald said. " Hey, why don't you come with us Charlie? It would be better then sitting around here doing nothing."
" I don't know, I think I should stay. I'm a little worried about my dad, he's still upset about Slippy. He blames himself for not being there." Charlie said.
" Oh, I understand. See you later Charlie." Emerald said then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before climbing into the car.
" I'll see you when I get home." Fox said softly as he hugged Krystal.
" And when will that be?" Krystal asked with a smile on her face.
" I'm not sure." Fox said.
" Alright." Krystal said as she climbed into the car.
Krystal started the car and waved to Fox before she drove off. Fox and Charlie stood there until the car was out of sight. Fox decided to go talk to General Pepper about Jessi. Fox just had to try and get him to let Jessie stay on Corneria. Then he had to go over arrangements for a funeral service for Slippy, and he figured it would be a good idea to talk to Falco. He had so much to do that just thinking about it made him tired.
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