Katt yawned, stretching out as her eyes cracked open to observe the near pitch-black room she slept in. After a few moments to accept the fact that she was indeed awake, and likely should have been awake hours ago, she sat up. Again, the feline stretched out, enjoying the last few moments of relaxation she had before preparing for the day ahead. It wasn't even a full twenty-four hours before the Day of Flowers and she had spent quite a lot of time devising a plan for her favorite ace pilot. Today, she would finish ironing out her plans, then begin preparing them.
Stepping lightly over and around the various piles of clothes, books, and other possessions strewn about her room. While it took most of her friends forever to cross from one side of her floor to the other, she did so in a few short seconds.
Flinging the door of her closet open, Katt dug through her outfits, finding one that she had a particular fondness for right then. She through it on, giving it a few tugs so it set straight as her natural-born energy began to awaken with her.
Now, fully dressed, there was one final thing she needed to be truly ready for the day; however, whatever excitement she had been feeling froze in her stomach before turning to anger.
When she was a girl, her mother had given her a special golden locket. She had loved it, wearing it every day, whether she was fighting for her life or enjoying a day on the beach. She had only stopped wearing it when a member of the Hot Rodders had stolen it. She had roped Falco, her best friend, into helping her find it. When they did finally find it, the avian had been rather unforgiving and she even less so.
It was at that time she had revealed to Falco just how much the locket had meant to her and though he often acted like an insensitive jerk, he knew her boundaries and respected them. So, she couldn't fathom why she was seeing a blue feather where the locket should have been.
Sure, the locket had been all but destroyed in their last run-in with Star Wolf a few weeks prior, but it was still the most important possession she owned. The heat from a blaster shot in her side had melted half the heart-shaped container, and Leon, being the sadist he was, had torn it off her, breaking the chain in the process. As she had passed out from her wounds, she had been terrified that Leon would keep it forever; however, she had awoken in the medical bay with it sitting on her nightstand. She hadn't lost it for long, but she was still a little raw over it.
All thoughts of her romantic pursuits were tossed aside as she stormed out of her room and down the hall, deciding on the best way to go about strangling the avian pilot.
Katt still hadn't made up her mind, even as she forced her way into his room. Fortunately, for her, Falco wasn't there, meaning she had more time to make up her mind. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find him.
Taking a moment to cool off and think, it occurred to her that it was a little convenient that the avian had dropped a feather precisely where her beloved possession was supposed to be. In fact, dropping a feather of his was a habit he'd picked up during his days in the gang.
It was his calling card.
To her, that meant that the feather was some sort of clue.
Narrowing her eyes, she scanned the deep reds and blues of Falco's room more carefully, looking for some other subtle (or not) sign as to where she could find him. While she could reasonably conclude that he did indeed have it (as he wouldn't dare do anything to it while leaving a feather behind), that did not change the fact that she was well beyond displeased with him.
Whether it was a childish attempt to get her attention or some sort of game he was playing, she wanted no part of it.
It didn't take the feline long to find a strange outlier in Falco's room in the form of an empty milk carton. He always kept a clean room, ridding himself of unnecessary garbage at least once a day. It must have driven him crazy to leave it behind but she would make sure he regretted it even more when she finally found him.
"Hey, Ka...tt," Slippy said hesitantly as she stomped into the kitchen, flinging open the fridge and digging through the contents.
"Is he on the ship?" she asked curtly.
"Is wh-"
"Is Falco on the ship?" she asked tightly, taking a deep, calming breath as she continued picking through everything within the refrigerator.
"No," Fox answered shortly. "He left to "take care of something important" this morning."
"Right." Katt knew that Peppy was likely watching her out of the corner of his eye, Slippy was openly gawking, all the while, Fox and Krystal would be having another series of silent exchanges as the cast furtive glances at her. She ignored them all as she found a small, cat-shaped chocolate shoved into a corner of the fridge. She pulled it out, finding a folded paper taped to the back.
Unfolding it revealed it to be a receipt from a supermarket on Corneria, which they were currently orbiting. "I'll be back later," she said as she crammed the paper into her pocket.
"Please be careful," Fox sighed with a shake of his head.
"Relax, Foxy boy, I'm just heading to the store."
"I meant to please be careful and not kill my ace pilot," he replied dryly.
"He'll still be able to fly an Arwing… probably," she finished with a growl.
Nobody else said anything as she left the kitchen and made her way to the hangar.
"Your Arwing is prepped and ready for launch," Robb said by way of greeting when she reached the bay.
"How sweet." Her anger was abating little by little, but she found that she was still in a foul mood. Thankfully, Robb took it all in stride, as he did most things, though that was likely more to do with his nature as a robot than anything else.
Launching herself into the cockpit, the feline allowed the soothing hum of the Arwing's engine to lull her into a slightly more positive attitude as she left the Great Fox behind and descended to the planet below.
Katt found herself somewhere between immense irritation and immense curiosity. Falco's little scavenger hunt had taken her through several stores, restaurants, and other venues that they had visited on some of their early dates. It had certainly would have been a romantic and nostalgic journey. It certainly was unlike him to set up something quite so intricate, which begged the question of just what he was up to.
If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought he was buying time.
Luckily for Falco, her day trekking across the city had exhausted her, reducing her desire to throttle him to merely flaying him with her words. She wasn't even sure she had the energy for that anymore as she entered the City's largest park, the sun setting behind her.
She followed the main trail, not even watching where she was going. She knew the tree she was looking for by heart, allowing her mind to wander as she followed the trail.
Falco knew how important the piece was to her. He knew that her mother had given it to her for her tenth birthday, after months of her mother to buy it for her. He knew that, at the time, Katt hadn't understood how expensive the piece was. He knew that Katt's mother, loving her daughter more than anything, had worked and saved for several long months to buy the object for her daughter. He also knew that once Katt understood just what acquiring it had entailed, the piece had become even more important to her.
Why had he taken it?
She paused as she rounded the bend and caught sight of the tree where her and Falco's first date had taken place. A blanket was spread at the base, with candles glowing over rose petals that had been spread over it. A basket sat in the center, with a few dishes set atop it.
The ace pilot was still nowhere to be seen.
Katt took a deep breath, readying herself to have a very difficult discussion about boundaries. Though she had come to the conclusion that he hadn't been acting maliciously despite all the contrary thoughts throughout the day, she still needed him to know that she wasn't okay with what had happened.
She sat down on the blanket, swirling a stray pile of rose petals with a finger, too tired to even really be angry.
The sound of grass crunching beneath feet alerted her to the fact that she was not alone. She didn't turn to greet Falco, knowing that he was going to settle across from her, as he always did when arriving late.
What she didn't expect was for him to come to a stop behind her. She didn't have the chance to turn and find out why as he reached down to fasten something around her neck.
The avian stood behind her, placing his wings on her shoulders as she reached down to a familiar, heart-shaped object that hung over her chest. She held the locket up, gazing in awe at the restored piece.
Not only had the melted part been reworked into their original shapes, but bright pink and deep blue aesthetics now decorated the golden heart.
"I tracked down the man who made it and showed him pictures. He told me he could fix it but would need time to do so."
"I wish you had told me," she replied quietly as she gazed down at the reworked metal.
"I thought about it, but thought you'd try to talk me out of it."
"I would have," she agreed. "Thank you," she breathed as she allowed the trinket to fall back to her chest, "but please… warn me next time."
Falco regarded her silently for a moment before nodding. "Alright."
"Thank you." Her hand found the heart-shaped container once again, tracing the restored surface as Falco set out their spread. "Really though," she muttered disbelievingly, "all of this before the day of flowers?"
She was too busy giving him a piece of her mind to notice the slight twitch in his lips at the question.
"You owe me fifty credits," Falco said smugly as he entered the kitchen.
"I still can't believe that worked," Fox muttered as he reached into his pocket and dumped the money he'd lost into the ace pilot's hand.
"I told you, she can barely keep the days of the week straight." Falco sat down across the table from Fox, wearing a self-satisfied smirk as he kicked his feet up on the table. "It wasn't that hard to convince her that today was really the Day of Flowers."
"Well done," Krystal congratulated as she sat down next to Fox with a cup of coffee in hand.
Falco was taken aback when Fox gave the blue-furred vulpine a puzzled glance.
"What?" Krystal asked, feigning innocence at Fox's confusion. "Falco did a splendid job convincing Katt that yesterday wasn't her favorite holiday. I, for one, can't wait to see how she handles that news, especially on the heels of such a romantic evening."
Fox covered his mouth with a hand but his eyes sparkled with the smile he was trying to hide.
"Of course, I imagine that your display yesterday was quite enough for our most… amorous teammate," Krystal continued, punctuating her sentence with a pointed look at Falco while sipping from her mug.
The ace pilot was suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread as he began imagining the lengths that Katt would go to to not only get him back for the emotional whiplash the day before but also making up for missing the Day of Flowers and feeling the need to outdo him. While he was certainly fond of her, he needed time to recharge before another, larger romantic gesture.
"I have some business in the city," Falco stated sharply as he bolted to his feet and left the room in a blur. Despite his speed, he could still hear Fox and Krystal's snickering in the room behind him.
A/N:...
...
In case you haven't figured it out: no, I do not know what I'm doing anymore. What I'll do next is as much a mystery to me as it to all of you.