As soon as we got home, Hara got a phone call. She wouldn't tell me who it was or what the call was about, only that she and Conna were going back out for the rest of the afternoon. She and Conna left after they changed clothes and left me alone. I fixed me up a cup of coffee, got changed into some shorts and a t-shirt and popped in a comedic movie, hoping that I could find it in me to laugh or even crack a smile.

About twenty minutes into my movie, there was a light knock on the door. I went to answer it to find Falco on the other side. I sighed.

"Well, I suppose that's why Hara was so secretive about her phone call…"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "She and Conna didn't have to leave on my account."

"I'm sure she doesn't mind. Come on in."

I stepped aside to let him in then closed the door behind him.

"I wanted to check on you. After today and your speech… It's just… I haven't talked to you since everything happened and…" He paused when he realized he was rambling. "I'm sorry, I'm no good at this. You've been through a lot and I have nothing to offer you. Nothing I could possibly say seems like enough and it certainly won't erase anything that has happened."

"The effort is appreciated, Falco."

He eyed me strangely. "You look… Exhausted. Have you not been sleeping well?"

I shook my head. "Not really. Nightmares tend to keep you from sleeping at night."

I watched the sympathy flood his eyes. "That bad?"

"Bad enough." I decided to change the subject. "Are you hungry? I can make us something. I may be a little out of practice. Conna has proven to be a master chef at her young age. I don't usually get a chance to cook anymore."

"Skye, I really don't-"

"I insist," I interrupted him. "I need to start making an effort to get back to my life anyway. Baby steps and all that."

I made my way into the kitchen and started pulling out random things from the cabinets. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to make. I wasn't sure I wanted anything. If I did, I didn't know what.

Falco came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, stopping me in my tracks. He held me close and leaned down to my ear.

"You're trying way too hard," he said gently. "You don't have to rush anything. Only you can be the judge of how much grieving you should do and how long it should take. Don't bury the pain and pretend it's not bothering you, that's a sure way to drive yourself insane. It's okay to feel sad and hurt, it's okay to feel. Please, don't try to cover it up. I'm the last person you need to hide your hurt from. You lost a lot in an extremely short time. So, take as long as you need and forget everything else. Please, please, don't give up. That's all I ask."

His words made my heart skip a beat. He was so sincere… I almost thought, for an instant, just maybe, he cared for me more than he let on. More than he wanted me to know.

I turned in his arms to face him and buried my face into his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're here, Falco," I murmured. "I thought that I could get some closure from going to the ceremony. If nothing else, it just solidified the undeniable truth that Craig is gone. My friend is gone… He's really gone and I was helpless to save him…"

"You can't feel guilty about that, Skye. Craig knew what he was getting into. I'm sure he knew there was no way out."

"Had I been just a little faster… Had I warned him a little sooner…"

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen. Had you gotten there sooner, you would be dead instead of Craig. This might sound selfish and insensitive but, I'd rather him than you."

I fisted his shirt while his words sank in. He was being honest with me. I should've been upset with what he said but, I couldn't find it in me to be angry. I began to tear up.

"Thank you, Falco…" I pulled away from him and wiped my eyes. "I think I'll try to get some sleep now. I should try while you're here." I looked up at him. "Would you stay with me?"

Falco was surprised by my request. "Stay? Where exactly? I can lay down in the living room-"

"No," I cut him off. "It won't help me if you're out here. Come lay down with me."

He began to shake his head. "But… Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't sure." I grabbed his arm and pulled him with me to my room.

We crawled into bed and I bundled myself into his chest. After a while, I finally fell into what I hoped to be a fitful sleep.

I awoke early the next morning to an empty bed and some arguing coming from the living room. I snuck out of my room to find Hara and Falco going at it.

"I let you come over to console her, not take advantage of her while she's down," Hara fumed.

"It's not even like that, Hara," Falco defended himself. "Nothing happened. She didn't think it would help her if I just stayed in the living room. She wanted me in there with her so that's where I stayed. I meant to leave sooner."

"Gee, that's a relief," my friend replied sarcastically. "Now I know exactly what your intentions are."

"It's not like that," Falco reiterated. "What more do you want from me?"

"How about be honest with her? I see how you look at her when you think no one is paying attention. Seriously, man up. She isn't going to wait around forever. If anything, someone will snatch her up before you can."

I stepped into the conversation before Falco could come up with a comeback. They were both surprised to see that I was up.

"Skye! You're… You look…"

"Rested," Falco finished for her. "How do you feel?"

"Much better, thanks to you," I told him. "I figure you've had enough of Hara beating you up, go ahead and go. I've got damage control here."

Hara's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. Are you really just going to let him walk out of here without anything to say to him?"

"He did nothing wrong," I told her matter-of-factly. "He did what I asked of him and that's it." I turned my attention back to him. "Go home. We'll catch up later."

He gave me a nod and made his exit. Hara looked like she was about to have a stroke.

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

"I am clearly letting him leave peacefully. As I said, he's done nothing wrong."

She arched a brow at me then her features melted into a smile. "You've got your groove back. Who knew what a decent night's sleep could do." She crossed her arms. "So, what's the plan now?"

I gave her a mischievous grin. A real grin. The first one that I had actually felt some sort of happiness behind in weeks.

"I feel the need to go to a party," I told her. "But not like the stupid balls that Fox and Falco have taken me to. Something lax, fun, without many rules. Something for you, me and Conna."

Hara thought it over for a moment. "Come to think of it… My company is hosting a small festival in a few days. It's outside, and there will be a dance party at dusk. Family-oriented, perfect for the three of us."

"Good. It's time that I get back to my life."

A few days later, Hara, Conna and I went to the festival. We went in cute dresses. Conna's was a green that complemented her eyes. Hara and I wore matching dresses, short and somewhat flared out. Hers was a halter while my sleeves were off my shoulders. The three of us looked and felt fantastic and couldn't wait to go have some fun.

As Hara had said, it was outdoors at the large memorial park outside of the city. It was a beautiful gathering, lots of families with their children, couples coming out to enjoy the sun… It made me genuinely happy. Conna had a blast playing all of the games and such. It was a wonderful day.

Dusk came and many of the people started showing up at the dancefloor at the center of the festival. There were already some fathers twirling around with their daughters and sons with their mothers looping around like happy fools. My heart swelled at the sight.

Antique jars hung from the trees with candles inside of them. Only the dancefloor panels and DJ station had electric lights all around.

Hara and I took turns dancing with Conna. While Conna was with Hara, I felt a light touch on my shoulder. I turned around to see Falco behind me. I got out of my chair to greet him.

"What in the world are you doing here?" I asked. "Not that I mind but, I'm surprised to see you."

"I wanted to see how you were doing. Obviously, you're doing fine." He paused. "And to tell you bye."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Star Fox has been called on a mission. Fox says it is purely reconnaissance but, still, we don't know how long we will be gone."

My heart fell at the news. "Fox didn't…"

"We found out today. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. And Conna…"

Conna skipped over to us and latched on to Falco's waist. "Mr. Falco! What are you doing here?"

"Yes," Hara mused as she strolled up. "What are you doing here?"

My friend did not look pleased to see Falco. He shook it off and bent down to Conna's height.

"I'm going away for a while," he told her gently. "I wanted to spend some time with you before I go." He held a hand out to her. "Want to dance?"

Conna lit up at his request and let him take her to the dance floor. Hara came to my side with her arms crossed.

"Are we not allowed to have one outing without him showing up?" She spat. "Just one?"

"Instead of hating him, you should be thanking him," I said to her, matching her venom. "It's because of him that I'm out and about and having a good time."

She stiffened. "What did he say to you that I didn't?"

"It's not even like that, Hara. You're looking too much into this."

She gave me a strange look. Then realization hit her. "You love him… You've finally fallen for him…"

"I wouldn't go that far. Love is a strong word."

"Fine," she conceded. "You have strong feelings for him."

"I don't know what I feel. I know I care about him and the thought of him leaving kind of hurts me but, it would seem that I managed to keep my pride intact after all that's happened. I'm not ready to admit anything yet. And I'm certainly not ready to have a relationship with him."

Hara softened then chuckled. "Your denial is adorable, Skye. I'm not going to back you up when he asks why you won't have him. If anything, I'll have my fun with him and you can be left to find someone else."

I rolled my eyes at her jabs and couldn't help but laugh. She was looking out for me in her own way, still wary of how I will react to everything.

After the song ended, Conna ran over to us with Falco close behind. A new song started, slow and romantic. Many of the couples and parents flooded the floor. Falco offered a hand to me.

"Want to join them?" he asked.

I gave him my hand without hesitation. He led me to the floor and we started to sway with the music. Instead of waiting on him, I crushed myself to him of my own accord. He noticed.

"You've finally gotten used to dancing with me."

"Despite our past, I've grown to enjoy our dances." I glanced up at him. "You look so sad. Why?"

He shook his head at me. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to finally have a mission. I'm going crazy just sitting around. But leaving you and Conna, I'm not happy about that. Especially now that you're getting back on your feet after all of the tragedy that's been going on."

"We'll be alright," I assured him. "I have a long way to go but, I'm getting there. Conna understands better than you think. She was the one that told me to try and save Craig. She'd tell you to go do your job."

He chuckled. "I suppose you're right. Where does this leave you and me?"

"You make it sound like you're never coming back, Falco. I don't like that."

"We don't know how long we'll be gone. It could be days, weeks, months…"

"I'll still be here for when you get back. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"What about your job? Now that Gilford is shut down, what will you do now?"

I sighed. "I once told Craig that I would sooner join the military than work for anyone else. Maybe I'll go in as a part-timer so I'll be home every night. I heard the volunteers still get paid well."

"You never were one for being down long, were you?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. As for me and you… I care about you. Deeply. You've done a lot for me, which only endears me to you that much more. You're so good with Conna and she loves you to pieces."

"I sense a 'but' in there…" he murmured.

"I don't want to tell you things that I'm not sure of. I don't want to give you a false hope. I like my freedom, Falco. I always have. You and me… Together… It's just not in the cards for us. Not right now at least."

He was trying to hide the disappointment that he obviously was feeling. I could see it in his eyes. My chest grew tight from watching him squirm.

"Falco, I… I'm sorry…"

He shook his head at me again. He was calm as he voiced his next words. "No. Don't you dare say that to me. You have no reason to be sorry. Especially not about your feelings." He gave me a slow twirl then brought me back to him. "If anything, I understand."

"What about you? What do you think about us?"

He shrugged, trying to play off the hurt. "I wouldn't mind being more than friends. You're just extremely complicated."

I arched a brow at him. "Complicated? Me?"

He laughed at me. "Yes, you. Complicated. Between your love of freedom and your relation to Fox, you've found the two things that would stave off any kind of relationship prospects."

I laughed with him. "It seems that way, doesn't it? I promise you, it's not like that. I'm set in my ways, that's all. I've spent most of my life taking care of me, myself and I. After everything that's happened, I realize now that I'm not as invincible as I thought I was. It's going to take a while to recover from that."

"There's nothing wrong with not being invincible, Skye. It's okay to depend on someone."

The song ended and he slowly stopped us.

"I suppose that's my cue." He pulled away from me but kept a grip on my hand. "I'll see you later."

He slowly slipped his hand out of mine.

"Be careful out there," I said to him.

He gave me a nod then went to Conna to say goodbye. He left the party right after that. Hara and Conna met up with me on the floor.

"Well, ladies," I told them. "I suppose we've had enough fun for the night. Let's go home."