A/N: This is the (marginally) better rewrite of the dumpster fire that is the original version of this story. Though there are definitely still some things that could be improved, this is leagues better than the original version, and getting this out of the way allows me to get to work on other stories (namely, the sequel). Thank you for putting up with my laziness and procrastination, thank you all for reading, and an even bigger thank you to those who reviewed.

Star Fox belongs to Nintendo.

"Journey Across the Stars" by SpaceCat010

Chapter I - Welcome Home

Fox stepped into an elevator at the headquarters of the Cornerian Defense Force, held his badge up to a scanner, and pushed the button for the top floor. After a few moments, the elevator gently lurched upwards, and began its climb to the 70th floor of the gigantic building. Letting his mind drift in an effort to kill some time, he thought about the telepathic blue vixen they had brought back from their most recent mission; the reason he was going to talk to General Pepper in the first place.

'Krystal...'

Although he was way too embarrassed to admit it to anyone, he had some serious feelings for her. Just a few nights ago they had up late, sitting on the couch in the common area of the Great Fox, talking about everything from what it was like to live on a giant space cruiser, what Corneria was like, but most importantly, their pasts.

Krystal's somewhat happy tone had become much more sober. The pain she was feeling had nowhere near healed, unlike Fox. His wounds had been scarred over, pushed aside, locked away like the unwanted memory it was, although it seemed as though just the wrong cut could reopen the stinging, bloody wound. Her shaky voice slowly trying to explain what had happened while keeping what little composure she had left was about all Fox could take.

The same mad ape that killed both of his parents not only killed hers, but had invaded and destroyed her entire planet.

Fox pulled her into a tight hug as she tried her best to tell him the rest of her story through hot tears, but one look at her eyes told him all he needed. That empty, helpless gaze she held was just like the one he held for years after his mother's death, and even longer after his father's. She had nowhere to go, no friends to back her up when she set out looking for answers. All she got was the life nearly drained out of her inside a giant crystalline prison standing over a fall that definitely would've killed her, had it not been for some quick thinking and a jumping save.

After she had come aboard to thank him in person, the realization had hit her.

She got her answers.

Now what?

Fox smiled as he remembered the feeling of how she embraced him when he offered to take her with them back to Corneria to help her find a home and a place to restart.

The soft, plush feeling of her fur felt softer than any blanket he'd ever touched, and her deep blue eyes were like endless oceans, almost seeming as if they peered into his very soul, reading him like an open book.

A little more color crept onto his ears at the memory of Krystal falling asleep on his shoulder that night while they both sat on the couch together, staring out the window at the flickering stars off in the distance.

/

Fox was pulled from his reverie by the sound of the elevator chime, indicating that he had reached his floor. The orange vulpine stepped out, and walked over to the receptionist's desk.

A brown feline was typing away at her computer while trying to address him at the same time.

"General Pepper is currently waiting for someone, so if you're here to see him, then you'll have to-" she stopped instantly as she looked up, surprised that the vulpine that had saved their planet countless times was standing in front of her, an amused smirk plastered on his face. "Oh! Mr. McCloud! I didn't except you to be here s-"

"No worries," Fox cut her off. "Is Pepper in his office?"

Just as the feline was about to answer, a large, mahogany door with golden trim on the opposite side of the room opened. General Pepper stepped out and greeted him. "McCloud! I'm glad you made it back! I just got your forms printed." Fox gave the receptionist a small smile and a quick nod, then headed for the general's office.

"So I'm assuming this is about the subject you brought back from your most recent mission? Krystal, right?" Pepper asked as he stepped inside and closed the door.

"Yes. She wants to join the team." Fox said, maybe a little too fast as he'd have liked.

'Dammit, think about Slippy. Think about Slippy.'

"And I'm also assuming you're here to get supplies for said recruit?" Pepper asked, with a little more questioning tone this time.

Fox nodded. Speech was already failing him.

"When will you need the payment for the extra arwing?"

"That won't be necessary." The general said with a slight smile on his face.

"What? Why?" Fox asked, unsure of who all of a sudden had an extra arwing laying around.

"Peppy contacted me a couple days ago, said his arwing hadn't been doing anything other than collecting dust since the day he retired. We'll be restoring it and upgrading it for your new recruit."

Fox already knew that Peppy tried to pay for it as well, and tried to interject.

"That's really generous of him, but-"

"He also added explicit instructions to refuse any objection," The general chuckled as he grabbed several sheets of paper from his printer and slid them into a manila document packet.

"Here. You'll have to fill these out so we can add her to the payroll. We'll need her to come in and have her measurements taken for a flight suit, but that can wait for now."

Fox thanked the general and left the office, papers in hand and a lopsided grin on his muzzle. As he made his way towards the exit, his grin quickly faded and turned to a scowl. A large group of media vans and reporters were outside the building, waiting for a specific celebrity mercenary to walk out.

'Great,' Fox thought to himself. 'Of course they recognize the car.'

The dark silver LeDorean with striking red accents had become an icon in Cornerian media and celebrity news, so Fox always managed to get mobbed wherever he went. Despite the constant bombardment of interviews and microphones, Fox would drive that car until it broke down, and then fix it up and keep driving it. The car had belonged to his father, and Fox felt like he had a legacy to carry in one way or another.

Bracing himself for all the shouting and microphones to come, he took a deep breath and began walking towards his car.

Literal seconds after he opened the glass door, he was spotted. The sea of reporters flocked to him and started asking questions a mile a minute, most of which could make anyone utterly disgusted by their nosiness, but Fox was a forgiving person, to an extent at least. Andross was a prime example of this. Just as he'd reached his car, one reporter asked the simplest questions out of every single one that kept being thrown at him. "Is it a new recruit?"

Fox was perplexed that they'd managed to figure that much out, although it was highly likely just a lucky guess. The news of him rescuing Krystal off of dinosaur planet was only disclosed to higher-ups of the Cornerian Defense Force and the other members of Star Fox. That, and the papers he was carrying were in a sealed folder.

The mercenary in question had climbed into his car after managing to push through the sea of reporters, and glanced at the reporter outside his rolled down window. If they wanted something, he could at least give them a little bit of info, but not much. Fox was a fox, and he loved messing with people.

"Maybe," was all he said, dragging out the 'M' unnecessarily long with a sly smirk.

As soon as he said that, the crowd had gone into an uproar of more questions, but the vulpine had already rolled up the window, started the engine, and put the pedal to the metal.

Fox brought up his communicator, and dialed a number while he left the press vans behind him in the dust.

/

Krystal was strolling around the large, spacious rooms of the McCloud family manor, passing the time while she waited for her soon-to-be captain to return. Fox had inherited the manor from his father when he died, and now used it for housing his team whenever they were on Corneria. Full of anticipation for him to return with the forms, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the orange mercenary in question.

'Fox...'

Just thinking about him made her blush a little, as she'd developed a massive crush on him since he saved her from falling down Krazoa Palace, which had only grown stronger over the two week long journey back to Corneria. How he was always there for her at a moment's notice, wanting to make sure she felt welcome, how he sat by her side and comforted her when she talked about what she was doing all alone in space in the first place, the way he'd flatten his ears whenever he blushed, and so much more about him gave her this feeling of comfort that no one else could have ever given to her.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she recalled Fox and her, sitting on the couch in the common area aboard the Great Fox, staying up super late and talking about everything, sharing both their good and bad memories, and eventually falling asleep on his shoulder while they watched the stars.

Speaking of bad memories...

She couldn't think of anyone but herself that had such a similar story. Fox was barely eight years old when the same mad scientist that wiped out her entire planet had killed his mother. Krystal cried at the mental picture he painted for her of a small Fox McCloud, sobbing at the mutilated and charred corpse of his mother, his father running out of the house towards him with a distressed look on his face.

As if to add insult to injury, Fox lost his dad to the same ape, or more specifically, someone hired by said ape. Fox wasn't exactly the vengeful type, but avenging his parents by killing Andross and the man who he hired to kill his father was something he'd vowed to do before he himself died. She remembered how Fox described the feelings of pure hatred he felt when he pulled the trigger, giving Pigma Dengar the explosive, painful death that he deserved. All the hardship and loss that he'd experienced had turned him into the most stoic, reserved person one could have ever seen.

Well, until she was around him.

Krystal's presence alone was enough to break Fox out of his shell, and turn him into a blushing and stuttering buffoon at a loss for words. Even when she first boarded his ship, she had to suppress a few giggles as she watched his blushing, stuttering, self get pushed towards her by his teammates.

Just then, her communicator rang, and she looked down at the holographic display.

INCOMING CALL: FOX MCCLOUD

Mentally preparing herself for the news to follow, Krystal took in and let out a few deep breaths, and hit the answer button. The rumble of a 6-cylinder engine flooded the speaker.

"Krystal?" Fox asked over the noise, his voice laced with a bit of concern.

"Yes?"

"I may or may not have attracted some... Attention... So don't answer anyone that comes to the door."

"What? How?"

Fox let out a sigh and told her the truth.

"Long story short is, Star Fox is kind of a celebrity icon in Cornerian media."

Krystal only heard the word 'celebrity,' despite the engine noise in Fox's car being somewhat quiet at the time. Celebrities were actually quite common back on Cerinia, and Krystal had her fair share of beings that she absolutely adored.

"Wait... So you're... Famous?" She asked, unaware that she'd be joining a famous mercenary team.

"Well... Yes. I'll be back soon, just open the door for me when I show up." Fox said, the engine of his car revving loudly as he tried to race home before the media vans could catch up to him.

"O-Okay. See you soon." Krystal said as she hung up. She couldn't believe it; her, a celebrity! By not only being rescued by the orange vulpine she was head over heels for, but also by joining his team, she had just made herself famous in Cornerian media. The vixen ran to the living room, grabbed the TV remote, and turned on the TV on the far side of the room.

Flipping to the celebrity news channel, she found that people not only had new pictures of Fox himself in his sports car, but that news got around the Cornerian media fast. A headline below two canines talking at a table read in bold letters, "BREAKING: NEW MEMBER OF STAR FOX?"

Krystal was instantly filled with excitement, they had no idea they were talking about her. The two canines on screen were discussing who they thought it could be, most likely Bill Grey, a CDF pilot well connected with Star Fox, or possibly Katt Monroe, computer extraordinaire and another well known Star Fox associate. Krystal had never met them before, so she'd have to ask Fox later.

Speaking of which, she glanced out the large, rectangular window to see Fox had parked his car in the driveway and was sprinting towards the front door, followed by a mob of reporters wielding microphones and cameras. She raced down the stairs to open the door for him, and watched as Fox sprinted across the lawn, nearing the front door of the manor.

Krystal quickly opened the door as the orange mercenary ran inside, and was met with a flash of white as she closed the door as fast as possible.

"Oh great." Fox muttered while panting loudly.

"What was that?" Krystal asked as she blinked a few times to clear the spots from her vision, unaware that a picture of her poofy blue tail sticking out in the doorway was likely going to be sold to multiple tabloid companies and other news outlets.

"Looks like they got a picture of you. I guess that spoils the surprise." Fox said as he collapsed at the base of the stairs in the foyer. "Come on, let's head into the kitchen. I've got something for you."

Krystal's tail began wagging at the speed of an Arwing's afterburners as Fox pulled out a yellow envelope, removed the contents, and set them down on the counter.

"Welcome to Star Fox, Krystal." Fox grinned.

A million thoughts were racing through her head. She finally found her answers, found a home and a new group of friends, as well as developed a huge crush and personal friendship with the most famed mercenary on Cornerian celebrity news. She was at a loss for words, and did the only thing she could think of.

She grabbed his collar, planted a kiss on the side of his muzzle, and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, an elated grin spanning over her muzzle.

"Thank you," was all she got out.

After the shock had worn off, Fox wrapped his hands around her back and smiled, enjoying the feeling of hugging her again. It seemed as though it was a feeling he couldn't get enough of, no matter how many times it happened. After a little while, the two foxes pulled away from each other, blushing like tomatoes. Much to his chagrin, Fox saw the reporters still on his front lawn through the kitchen window, and Fox walked over to shut the blinds.

Just then, he had an idea.

The famed vulpine walked over to the front double doors, and threw them wide open.

Yelling at the top of his lungs, he quickly got everyone's attention.

"It's not Grey, and it's not Monroe either!"

The tall wooden doors of the McCloud manor slammed shut with a loud THUD.

"I was about to ask a similar question," came the voice of his new teammate from behind him.

"About what?" Fox responded. The two of them began walking towards the living room.

"Grey and Monroe. Who are they?" Krystal asked as she sat down on the couch.

'Guess I didn't tell her about them yet.'

Grey was one of my best friends since my flight academy days, he became a pilot for the CDF after I quit to become a merc. Sometimes we'd stumble across each other on a mission, but our most recent mission together was during the Lylat Wars.

Krystal recalled Fox telling her about the Lylat Wars, a series of conflicts started by a mad scientist the two of them were all too familiar with.

"Fox, you made it!" Came a laid-back sounding voice over the comm.

"Bill! That you? I can't believe it!" The vulpine responded cheerfully.

"We can catch up later Fox, the flagship will arrive any second now."

A dark shadow loomed over the Cornerian airbase, getting darker and darker as the large, octagonal mothership descended from the clouds.

"Go for the 4 hatches on the underside!"

Fox quickly went to work, firing at the 4 hatches on the underside of the ship, looping back around, and firing again. Eventually, the hatches opened, allowing the mercenary to fire a smart bomb into one of them before they all closed.

The repetitive, arduous process had taken him hours, until the core of the ship finally exploded from the last smart bomb in his bay.

"Yee Haaa! You did it!" Bill exclaimed as he looped over Fox.

The vulpine smirked at his friend.

"Good to see you again Bill, we've got some major catching up to do once this is all over."

"Agreed."

The four arwings adorned with the Star Fox insignia split away from the CDF's fighters, jetting off into outer space.

"Sure, it may have been pretty short, but it was nice to see him during all of that," Fox said as he sat down on the couch next to her.

Krystal smiled.

"What about Katt?"

"Falco's long-time, on-and-off girlfriend," said the vulpine nonchalantly.

"That's it?"

"She's helped us out here and there, but if you want to know anything more about her then I'd go ask Falco."

"Fair enough."

The two sat in a comfortable silence for some time until Krystal grabbed the TV remote and powered on the large screen again. The black rectangle lit up, casting the two in its bright glow.

The same celebrity news channel that Krystal had briefly viewed earlier had now become an argument between the two canines over who was the owner of the banded blue tail poking out from the other side the door of the manor.

"You guys really are famous," she mumbled at the sight of how fast the picture had spread.

Fox smirked at her.

"That's what happens when you save a galaxy."

The blue vixen giggled. The mercenary she had become so enamored with could as stoic as stone and as tough as steel, but was tender, warm, and kind around her.

'He really is a hero.'

'My hero.'

Footnotes:

- In this AU, Peppy has already retired from merc work, hence his absence. This story in particular takes place about six months after Assault, though this prologue chapter is just after Adventures.

- I like to think the receptionist in the CDF building just plays minesweeper all day instead of working.

- Yes, Fox's car is a DeLorean. I didn't say that in the story because LeDorean sounded more amusing. No, it can't time travel, not yet anyway. (wink, wink)