"Mom?" Conna asked as I packed a small bag. "Where are you going?"

"I haven't gone to dance in almost a year," I explained. I paused and rethought my answer. "You know, I think it's been a few years."

"You mean, since Falco left?"

I turned on her quickly. "You're trying awfully hard, Conna. You shouldn't push things that aren't meant to happen."

"It's no coincidence, mama. Whether you want to admit it or not."

I scoffed. "Believe what you want. I'll be back in a few hours. Think you can manage to not burn the apartment down?"

Conna rolled her eyes. "I think I take better care of this place than you do."

I went and kissed her forehead. "That's my girl."

I left for the dance studio and was allowed my room like I used to have. I brought in my small radio, put on some slow music and did my stretches. Once I was loose, I began to dance. An hour in, I was getting extremely frustrated. I was missing steps, falling after missteps… It was embarrassing. I paused the music then leaned on the barre to try and get my bearings.

"You're rusty, Skye. How uncharacteristic of you."

I knew the voice all too well, so I didn't bother to look up.

"Let me guess, Conna called you."

I finally glanced over to find Falco leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He sighed.

"She's determined, I'll give her that." He pushed himself off of the doorframe and strode over to me. "She seems to think that we can still be something."

"And what do you think?"

He thought for a moment. "I think four years is a long time to think about things."

"For me or you? Because, quite honestly, I've done all I can to forget you. I have tried everything to get over anything and everything that happened between us. Channery even pushed a partner on me and Conna's constant badgering is enough to make anyone go crazy…"

He smirked but it quickly faded. He moved to half-sit on the barre.

"Conna told me about your partner. Eric Darcy? Is that right?"

I nodded.

"She doesn't like him very much, does she?"

"No…" I murmured. "In the end, it doesn't really matter what she thinks. Does it?"

He shrugged. "So, you and Eric…?"

"Hardly. He's just a friend, nothing more. In fact, since Hara hasn't been around to be comic relief, Darcy seems to fit in quite well in that department."

"Finding replacements already?"

"Hara and Channery are practically living together. I'm waiting for the marriage announcement any day now."

"You sound disappointed."

"They're happy and will possibly have many godchildren for me. Why would I be disappointed about that?"

"What about your happiness?"

I froze at his question. He was so sincere. His eyes bore down on me and had a hint of sympathy in them. I squirmed inwardly. I cleared my throat and shook off the discomfort.

"My hope of any happiness left four years ago."

He looked away from me. "So did mine…"

My heart pounded at his confession. I couldn't be falling for him again… Not again. My heart had been broken too many times by him. A few times of my own doing but, still… How stupid would I be to fall back into what we both tried so hard to get away from? How stupid could he be?

I was about to find out…

Falco pushed himself off the barre and pressed play on my radio. A few notes echoed through the room for a slow song then Falco turned to face me.

"Well… How about a dance?" He offered his hand to me. "For old time's sake?"

I hesitated. The little voice was screaming at me to not do it. But my heart…

I finally took his hand and he led me to the center of the room. We took our stance. He saw how far apart we were and sighed.

"I thought we were past this, Skye." He put his hand on the small of my back and brought me against him. "There."

I swallowed hard and let him lead me. We just swayed to the music, no crazy dance moves, no making me trip over my own feet… Despite me wanted to fight it, being in his arms made me feel safe again. I was at peace with him here. I wasn't about to admit it though. Not by a long shot.

"So…" I said trying to break the ice, "I, uh, heard about Captain Shears… Well, kind of. Fox didn't mention any details or anything. All he told me was he found you one minute and you were gone again after it was all over."

He smirked. "You want to know what happened."

"Kind of. I am a little curious."

He resituated our hands to get past his discomfort. "Shortly after I left, I got a call from Katt, asking me to come back to the Hot-Rodders. When I found her and Cool, she told me that Captain Shears had been working on something big and we needed to investigate. Turns out, he had some surviving Venomian soldiers and, not only was he a traitor to the Cornerian army, but he was also working to clone and revive Andross."

I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What the hell?"

"Tell me about it…"

"And Fox was sent to…?"

"Star Fox was sent in because the good captain called them for protection. Fox didn't know that Shears was a traitor."

I closed my eyes and squirmed at the thought of Fox and Falco in a dogfight. "Shit…" I put my forehead against his shoulder. "Please tell me-"

"You honestly think Fox or I would be here if we had shot each other down?"

"That's beside the point. He's my brother and you're one of his friends."

"You almost sounded worried about us."

I looked up at him find a joking gleam in his eye.

I shook my head at him. "You're not funny…"

He shrugged. "Do I at least get props for trying?"

He slowly spun me then brought me back to him.

"No. None at all."

We danced a little longer then Falco brought us to a gentle halt when the next song started. He looked like he really wanted to tell me something.

"Skye… I, uh, I need to… Um…" He fidgeted a bit then finally got his bearings. "Skye, I've really-"

He was cut off by a knock at the door. He closed his eyes and let out an irritated sigh. I glanced over to the door to find Darcy standing there.

"I hate to bother you two in your, uh, moment," he said. "But, we've been called in."

I pulled away from Falco and went to my phone to find no messages.

"What do you mean by…" I trailed off when he gave me a look. I tried to play it off. "Oh… Yes, of course. I'll… I'll meet you outside."

He gave me a nod then stepped out of the studio. I packed up my things and slung my bag over my shoulder. I glanced over to Falco.

"I know you only came because Conna called you but, thank you. For the dance, I mean."

"Don't mention it."

I went to the door and stopped. I couldn't just leave him like that without something to give him. I let out a sigh,

"Falco, for what it's worth… I missed you. A lot. I'm glad you're home. If not for me, then at least for Conna. She thinks very highly of you."

I took my leave of him and met Darcy outside.

"What's this about?" I demanded. "I know damn well that we weren't called in."

"Hara called me. She said that Conna had set you up and that you might need a getaway." He looked over toward the studio. "It seems to me that you were just fine."

I stiffened. "How long were you there?"

"Long enough."

"Damn it, Eric… I'm sorry."

He held his hand up to stop me. "Look, your life is your business. I've told you how I felt and you shot me down. I will never use that against you. We're partners and friends, and that's fine with me. You don't have to explain anything or justify your actions to me. Unless your life is in danger, I will not interfere. Alright?"

My heart swelled at his words. It made me feel awful that I couldn't return his feelings.

"Thank you, Eric. Seriously. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Sure thing. Just, do me one favor."

"Anything."

"If you really love him, don't make him wait. If he's as good for you as Conna says he is, don't drag him around and make him think he has a chance when you have no intention of giving it to him. Please, Skye. That is legitimately the worst thing you can do to him."

His sincerity made me hurt for him. He was looking out for me despite how he felt about me. I didn't know if I should have felt great because I had a friend who was looking out for me or like complete poop because he was trying to be selfless.

"I'll try not to hurt him."

"Good. Now, let's get you home. Hara is already there doing damage control."

We arrived at the apartment to find Conna sitting in the center of the couch and Hara perched on the coffee table in front of Conna with her arms crossed. Hara shot up as soon as she saw us.

"Thank goodness! I thought you would be seething by the time you got back." She paused to look at me. "You okay?"

I ignored her question and went straight to Conna. She already looked like she had a good talking to from Hara. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Don't you ever catch me by surprise like that ever again," I ordered. "I know your intentions are good but, you have to let it go. It's hard enough, okay? He's not ready and neither am I. How would you like it if I pushed you to do something that you weren't ready to do?"

Conna kept eyes fixated on the floor. "I'm sorry, mama. It won't happen again, I promise."

"You need to call Falco and apologize to him too."

I handed her the phone and she left for her room. Hara gave me an impressed look.

"You handled that better than I thought you would," she admitted.

"I can't be angry at her. Besides, he showed up because he wanted to. Conna may have told him where I was but he made the choice to come and see me." I looked toward my partner. "Thank you again, Eric. I'm sorry that you had to deal with all of this."

He shrugged. "Trust me, there are worse things I could be doing with my time. Catch you later?"

I nodded. He acknowledged Hara then left us be. Hara arched a brow at me.

"You sure you're alright?"

I nodded and rubbed at my eyes. "I'll manage. Besides, I've got more important things to worry about."