Unseen Revenge: Chapter 28, The End is Near
It had been a few day's since Alex and Jessie had moved into the McCloud house. Things had been, unusual to them but not unpleasant. Krystal and Emerald had taken Jessie and Alex shopping for some 'normal' clothes, then James showed them around. Fox had felt drained of energy ever since he got home. He thought maybe the fatigue of all that had happened had finally caught up with him. He found himself just laying around the house most of the time. He dreaded the thought of writing the eulogy for Slippy's funeral, which was the next day. He then wondered if he would even have the energy to drag himself out of bed for it. As Fox laid there in a bit of a daze, Emerald slipped into his room to check on him.
" Hey dad, how are you feeling?" Emerald asked.
" I'm just a little tired sweetie, I'll be alright." Fox said, not even bothering to open his eye's.
" Do you want something to eat? We're making lunch." Emerald said as she sat on the edge of the bed.
" It's lunch time already?" Fox said, then he looked over at the clock.
" Yeah, how about I bring you some soup?" Emerald said.
" Don't go through any trouble over me sweetie." Fox said, knowing he should eat something.
" It's no trouble dad, I'll be back a few minutes." Emerald said, then leaned down and kissed Fox on the cheek before leaving his room.
She headed to the kitchen, where Jessie and Krystal were. Krystal only needed to see Emerald's face to know she was concerned with something, and she knew exactly what she was concerned about. She too had been a little worried over Fox's sudden exhaustion. It wasn't like him at all to be so weak. Emerald soon searched the cabinets for a can of soup.
" How's your father feeling?" Krystal asked, though she knew what Emerald was going to say.
" He's the same as yesterday. I'm starting to worry mom, I've never seen dad this weak before." Emerald said as she pulled out a can of soup.
" I'm sorry, it's my fault he's like this." Jessie said, hanging her head.
" Don't blame yourself Jessie, I'm sure this is only temporary. Fox will be back on his feet in a few days, the same as he always is." Krystal said, giving her a soft smile as she made a sandwich to go with the soup.
" But if I never started this whole thing..." Jessie started as tears brimmed her eyes.
" We might not be here. Those Saber's could have killed us before Fox actually got around to reading that letter they sent to scare him. Believe it or not, we're still here because of your little revenge plot. And now you have a home and a family who cares about you." Krystal said, wrapping an arm around Jessie.
Jessie smiled as Krystal hugged her. Emerald wrapped her arms around Jessie as well. The three of them stood there for a moment, then the sound of the microwave beeping kind of ruined the moment. They couldn't help but laugh as they pulled out of the hug. Emerald put the bowl of soup on a tray and poured a glass of juice while Krystal put the sandwich on the tray. Emerald returned to Fox's room, and Fox was sitting up in bed. She set the tray down on his lap, trying not to spill anything.
" Thanks sweetie." Fox said, giving her a soft smile.
" You're welcome dad. I'll be back later." Emerald said then left the room.
She hoped Fox would eat some of the soup as she went to the table where the others were eating lunch. She looked around at everyone as she sat down. Jessie sat between James and Alex, who was watching James out of the corner of his eye. Ray sat between her and Krystal. He was eating fast, he probably wanted to go over Jim's again. Jessie sort of leaned against James as she ate. Everyone seemed to be in such high spirits, it made it hard for Emerald to worry. There wasn't any conversation as they ate. Emerald couldn't help but smile as she watched the the look on Alex's face while Jessie leaned on James. Once they finished eating Emerald went to check on Fox. As she looked into is room she noticed he was sleeping, again. She looked at the tray that sat on the nightstand by the bed. She was glad to see that he had eaten most of the soup and sandwich, he even drank all the juice. She carefully lifted the tray, trying not to make much noise so he could get his rest. Krystal saw a soft smile on Emerald's face as she entered the kitchen, and she knew why when she saw the tray.
" He actually ate huh?" Krystal said, smiling.
" Yeah, I guess he's starting to feel better, but he's sleeping now." Emerald said as she set the tray on the counter.
" See, what did I tell you? He'll be back to his old self in no time." Krystal said, then there was a knock at the door. " I wonder who that could be."
" I'll get it." Emerald said as she turned to leave the kitchen.
Ray suddenly zipped by her and he reached the door first. He seemed excited as he opened the door, then he was disappointed as he saw who was at the door. He had been hoping it was Jim, but it wasn't.
" Hi Ray, how are you?" Katt asked as she patted the top of his head.
" I'm fine." Ray said.
" Hey Emerald." Katt said as she saw her.
" Hi, come in." Emerald said as Ray walked off. " Did you come alone?"
" No, Falco and Charlie are coming. They were talking about something and got caught up in the conversation." Katt said.
" Ok, mom is in the kitchen if you want to talk to her." Emerald said as she stepped aside.
" Thanks darlin'." Katt said as she walked by Emerald and went into the kitchen.
Emerald looked out the door and saw Falco and Charlie just standing in the walkway, talking. She left the door open as she walked out to meet them. As she got closer Charlie saw her and smiled at her. She gave him a look as though asking if his parents knew about them or not. Charlie nodded, and Falco looked a bit confused.
" What was that nod for?" Falco asked.
" Emerald didn't know if you knew about us or not." Charlie said.
" Is she getting into your head?" Falco asked, looking at her with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.
" No, I could tell by the expression on her face." Charlie said.
" Ok, just wonderin'. So, how are you doin' Emerald?" Falco said.
" Just fine, thank you." Emerald said as Charlie wrapped an arm around her.
" I still don't see how you two got together." Falco said as they started to walk.
" Something just clicked I guess." Charlie said.
" Well, you two do look kind of nice together. Just don't do anything to hurt her, or Fox will kill you." Falco said as they went inside and Emerald closed the door. " By the way, where is he?"
" He's in bed." Emerald said.
" What! He's still in bed?" Falco said, surprised.
" Yeah, he say's he's been tired lately. He's asleep right now." Emerald said.
" Tired huh? When did this start?" Falco asked.
" Well, about two days ago I guess." Emerald said.
" Then he'll pull himself together any day now." Falco said simply.
" How do you know?" Emerald asked.
" Past experience, and that's all I'm going to say." Falco said.
" Well, I hope you're right." Emerald said.
" Don't worry about Fox, he'll be fine. He's just been through a lot lately and need's some rest." Falco said.
Emerald nodded as they went into the living room to catch up on what everyone was up to. Jessie and James were snuggled up on the couch, with Alex watching them out of the corner of his eye.
" Aren't you two a cute couple." Falco said
" Hi Falco. How have you been?" Jessie asked.
" Well, I've been fine. How about you Jessie?" Falco asked.
" I've been great! Everything's been wonderful here." Jessie said, nuzzling into James' shoulder.
" What about you?" Falco asked Alex, who was watching James closely.
" I've been fine." Alex said.
" You know, I'm sure you don't have to watch James like that. He's a good guy after all." Falco said.
" Yeah Alex, don't worry." Jessie said, beginning to get annoyed with her protective brother.
" You guys are right, I'm just not used to being around decent guys." Alex said looking away.
" So, what have you guys been up to since you got home?" Falco asked as he sat down in a near by chair.
" Well, Emerald and mom went clothes shopping with Jessie and Alex. I showed them around the city, and there wasn't much to do after that." James said.
" So you're just sitting around doing nothing? You guys are boring." Falco said, shaking his head.
" Oh please, you spent the past few days on the couch." Charlie said.
" Hey, why'd you tell on me?" Falco said, a smile on his beak.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh. It felt good to just laugh now that all the stress of the past few weeks was gone.
" What's so funny in here?" Katt asked as she and Krystal left the kitchen.
" Oh, we're just laughing at ourselves." Falco said.
" Sure you were." Katt said as she played with the feathers on top of his head.
" Actually, we were laughing at you Falco." James said.
" Ok, so they were laughing at me." Falco said.
" James darlin', I'm afraid it doesn't look like you'll be getting your arm back anytime soon." Katt said with a smile as she looked over at him and Jessie, who was practically clinging to his arm.
" Nope, he sure isn't." Jessie said, leaning into him.
" I take it this means you're enjoying yourself." Katt said.
" Yeah, I am." Jessie said.
" What's going on out here?" Said a familiar, tired voice.
Everyone looked towards the hallway and were surprised to see Fox. He looked like he was a little tired as he walked into the living room. Falco got to his feet then walked over to Fox, then he put his arm around Fox and led him over to the chair.
" How are you feeling Fox?" Falco asked.
" I'm fine Falco, don't worry about me." Fox said as he sat down.
" Who said I was worried? I was just wondering how you were feeling, that's all." Falco said, crossing his arms.
" Of course you were Falco." Fox said.
" But I'm glad to hear you're feeling ok." Falco said, placing his hand on Fox's shoulder.
" We didn't wake you up, did we?" Emerald asked.
" No you didn't." Fox said.
" I heard you've been lazy lately Foxy. What's up with that?" Falco said as he sat on the armrest of the chair.
" I don't know, I really don't." Fox said shrugging.
" No excuses huh. Well, can't say I blame you though, after all that's happened you have a right to be lazy. So, are you ready for Slippy's funeral tomorrow?" Falco said.
" Please don't remind me of that." Fox said, placing his hand over his eye's.
" I'll take that as a no." Falco said under his breath.
Krystal put her arm around Fox, and rubbed his back a soothing manner. Fox looked up at her then leaned against her. After a minute, he noticed that he had ruined the happy mood in the room. Fox couldn't stop the small smile from creeping up on his face.
" Well, aren't I a mood killer." Fox said.
" Yeah, you just had to drag your sad tail out of bed today didn't you." Falco said in a bit of a sarcastic tone, playfully hitting Fox's shoulder.
" Well I figured it was about time I got out of bed." Fox said.
" Don't listen to Falco hun, he's just trying to start some trouble." Katt said as she patted Fox's shoulder.
" Since when is he not?" Fox joked.
" You've got a point there." Katt said.
" Hey, it's been a while since I've caused any trouble." Falco said in a mock whine.
" I could make a list that would go from here to the Katina outpost on all the trouble you've started this year alone, and the year isn't even over." Katt said, raising a eyebrow at him.
" Oh come on, I haven't caused that much trouble." Falco said, smiling to himself.
" Maybe not, but you haven't changed a bit over all these years." Katt said, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling his cheek. " That's why I love you so much."
" What did I do to deserve this?" Falco said in another mock whine.
Once again everyone laughed. Fox was glad he forced himself out of bed when he did. As he looked around the room he thought about how grateful he was for everything that he still had around him. He knew exactly why he had let himself become so tired and sad. He had lost someone very close to him and by focusing on that he didn't see what he still had. Fox saw that now and he no longer felt so exhausted. He was once again happy and so was everyone around him.
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Ok, I know it took like an eternity to finish this chapter, but there's one more chapter coming, hence the title. But I promise I won't take an eternity to finish it. So, please review.
