Chapter 61

"Ugh" he heard the alarm clock next to his head go off, it seemed like earlier than usual. It wasn't, Fox just had to remember why exactly it was that he got so much less sleep than usual. When he came to, remembering why he didn't get as much sleep, he stopped his groaning. He got up without making any more noise and began to get dressed, quiet as could be. He stepped out with his winter attire on and quietly sat down at the table for some breakfast.

He quietly poured a bowl of cereal and began digging into it. His parents walked into the room and sat down next to him with eager but concerned faces.

"So? What happened last night? Is everything okay?" James asked his son, the concern beaming even through his sunglasses. Fox swished the remaining contents of his cereal around in the bowl as he tried to think of how he should tell his parents about last night's adventure.

"Everything's…. everything's great." He told them with a tired but genuine smile.

"That's a good start, but what all happened? That's a bit of a swing to go from working a concession stand to finding…you know." His mother was unsure of how to really broach this topic. It's not impossible for her son to be lying about how things went just to hide pain, she doesn't want to risk causing him any more pain.

"She has a name, you know" Fox responded while laughing.

"I see dad didn't spare anything from you. Geez, where do I start?" he looked up to the ceiling in thought of where to start. As he did he eyed the clock, and it was nearing time for him to leave. "I'll tell you guys all about it when I get home. I may be going to Krystal's house after school today, but I'll tell you about it sometime." He smiled and waved as he grabbed his backpack and bolted out the door. As he made it to school he was happy that he could relay this good information to his friends, it had been a while since he had news this good.

He had a spring in his step as he bounded down the halls towards his friends in their usual spot by their lockers. "Hey look, there he is." Slippy pointed over as the vulpine walked over towards them, with the spring in his step being rather noticeable.

"He looks happy, I guess that means things went well with…you know."

The frog nodded back at the bird as they awaited the report from their friend. "Hey guys!" Fox gave a rather child-like wave and greeting as he approached his friends. The frog and bird both had a small laugh under their breath at this child-like nature. "You sure seem excited. Something you wanna tell us?" Falco asked the fox as he approached. Fox laughed in return.

"You know, I had to spend the whole car ride trying to figure out how to tell you guys about last night. The short of it; Krystal's coming back."

Both their eyes widened at this news. "She's…really coming back to school?" The frog had almost disbelief. Fox nodded, "Yeah, it was such a wild ride." The bird and frog looked back and forth at each other before returning both their gazes at their friend. "I mean, not like that." They all laughed while Fox's blush faded.

"So you guys know how her car was broken down?" They nodded, "I'm sure you noticed, but I got it off the side of the road. I'm gonna check it out this afternoon." Slippy interrupted to relay this information, then beckoned his friend to continue.

"She had to go to the store and get baby supplies, she has a new brother now and he managed to surprise them all when they wanted to go to bed." Both of his friends had an immature grin on their faces, trying to suppress a laugh. "So I offered her a ride over to the general store because that's kind of important. She wouldn't say a word to me." Falco shook his head, "Dang it's a good thing you told us the outcome before the journey, otherwise I wouldn't be so happy about you being as happy as you are." He crossed his arms and leaned against the lockers as the tale continued.

"Finally we get everything and I take her home, asked her if she wanted to go to corner café and she said no without hesitating. But then a few minutes after I get home she shows up at my front door and tells me we need to go to corner café!" "Geez, this keeps getting less and less believable." Fox shot the bird a small glare and eye roll. "I mean I still believe it, just that it's hard to believe. Sounds like something outta one of those chick flick gushy movies or something."

Ignoring his comment, Fox continued again. "But then we went to corner café and it just all worked out, that's the short of it. Just, let's make sure to be nice to her and all because she really has had a rough go of it. I never thought about it."

"Aw don't you worry Fox, I'm glad she's coming back." Slippy extended his fist for a fist bump. As the bell rang and Falco had to leave for his class, it was Fox and Slippy.

"So then do you think…" Fox knew where he was headed. "I didn't really think about that, I just want her back at least. She doesn't have to make any commitments. I just wanted her back with us. I've thought about that, but it's still a ways away." "You're right, guess I'm jumping the gun a little. I'll see you later Fox." The two friends waved goodbye as they split for their respective classes.

It wasn't an easy task for Fox to focus on his schoolwork for the day, he had other thoughts on his mind throughout the day, familiar thoughts. "So, you found her huh?" Wolf was nibbling on his bread at lunch. "Yeah, by pure chance." Fox told him the story of his long night. Wolf laughed in return, "I guess pure chance does that story justice. She's doing well?"

"Sure seemed like it, hope it stays that way. I'm gonna go get some ice cream before it's time to leave, see you later Wolf." The lupine nodded as Fox got up to throw away his tray and head for a frozen treat before his next class.

'Been a while since I had a cup of ice cream from here. Why not?'

He picked up a small cup of strawberry ice cream, paid for it, and headed down the hall towards his next class, if a little early. He walked down the hall towards the front of the school for his next class, he noticed that there were some guests. Some rather familiar guests, he laughed a little under his breath as he walked over towards the main office.

A vixen, and what looked to be her parents, stood at the front office desk. Fox walked in and as expected, the three guests looked right over at him as he walked in and waved at them. The vixen smiled as she stepped over towards him. "Ice cream in January? You're crazy." She said as she laughed at him.

He laughed in return as extended his hand that held the cup of ice cream towards her. "Want some?"

He gave her a warm smile to contrast the cold treat he offered her. Krystal took it out of his hand and tried a scoop. "Mmmmm, strawberry, my favorite." "Just like I planned it." Fox laughed, sensing that he definitely didn't plan it.

Krystal's parents looked over at the two of them and smiled. "Hey guys, how's it been today?"

"Just getting her re-registered. It's good to see you Fox." Krystal's dad seemed happy to see him again. "Good to see you guys again, it's been a while." He turned his head over towards Krystal's mom and walked over towards her.

"And this must be Marty?"

Indeed it was, Krystal's mom was holding their new son, the one who was the reason that Fox reached his redemption with Krystal. He looked over at Marty, he looked like he was sleeping. "I guess maybe I should be quiet then, don't wanna wake him up." Fox took a step back while smiling at Krystal's mom. He looked over at the clock and saw it was nearly time for his next class, he stepped over towards Krystal.

"Looks like it's time for me to go." She extended her hand to return his ice cream cup and he took it from her, making sure to run his fingers across the back of her hand. They smiled at each other as Krystal laughed a little. "What?" He asked with a laugh of his own.

Looking down into the ice cream cup he saw what she was laughing at. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He waved goodbye to Krystal and her parents as he threw away the empty cup and walked towards his next class.

"She was here? I didn't even get to see her." Falco seemed upset, you don't see that too often.

"She was getting registered, maybe she'll be here tomorrow and you can talk to her then." Fox and Falco were walking towards the exit of the school, ready to go home. "I'm going to her house this afternoon, want me to tell her?" Now it was Falco's turn to have a slight red tint on his face.

"I mean whatever, I don't care."

"What? Are you embarrassed that it's been a while since you've seen her?" Fox laughed a little as they kept walking. "Forget it dude, I'll see you later." Fox laughed as his friend split off from him for his locker.

Fox arrived home and went to throw his backpack in his room before walking down to Krystal's house. "Hey mom, I'm going to Krystal's house." Her ears perked up a little. "Yeah I saw her at school today, just know that everything went great last night. I'll tell you guys everything later tonight." He waved goodbye before she could even say a word to him and he was out the door.

Shortly after knocking on the door he could here fast footsteps headed towards the door. The door was opened and Fox was greeted with a happy vixen. "I think Falco misses you." They both laughed as he walked in. "Where's mom and dad?" "They went out, I told them they should since they've been so busy with Marty. I told them that I'd take care of them, but I didn't tell them about my pleasant company." She smiled as she led him to Marty's crib.

"Nice seeing that he's sound asleep, looks like he's enjoying himself." Krystal nodded her head as she walked out, and jumped onto the couch. Fox vaulted over the back of the couch on the other end as Krystal as she propped her feet up in his lap. She had a smug grin on her face as he looked at her.

"So, when are you coming back? Don't wanna keep Falco waiting." She laughed a little before she answered. "Tomorrow. I'm so excited." Fox laughed at how she could hardly contain her excitement. "So do you think you're ready?" "Of course I am silly." Fox shook his head. "Are you sure? Because you know…" Fox was hoping this wouldn't put a large damper on her mood, but it was something he had to make sure she was prepared for. "You know Panther still goes to school there right?"

There was a small sigh from the vixen. "Yeah, I thought as much. I'm just… I have to put it behind me. It's in the past, and I have to just look forward. Like you did when Fara came to school here." Fox laughed a little, he could see the question that Krystal's face was asking.

"Fara is cool now. She's actually part of the reason that you and I met up last night."

Krystal paused for a moment.

"That was only last night? Wow."

"Yeah, right? Me and the guys went to run a concession stand at the volleyball game, close to the end we went and watched the game. Turns out that Fara's on the team and so afterwards she and… her friend came and talked to us. We decided to all go to corner café and hang out for a little while."

"So… her friend? Not to be rude, but I sense a little bit of your emotions concerning this friend." Fox laughed a little with a weak smile. "Yeah, she was cool. Her name was Sydney, she was really pretty and nice…" Fox's thoughts trailed as he looked out the window at the sky. He heard the snapping of fingers as his attention was drawn back to the vixen whose feet were still place in his lap.

"Over here?"

He laughed a little, "Sorry, she just reminded me of you a little, I had a small flashback. I'm sure you noticed." Krystal just crossed her arms and looked at him, "You don't have to be any kind of jealous. Your feet are still in my lap you know, I've noticed them this whole time." He slipped his hands up on her ankles and began to rub them.

"That's better." She laughed when he started.

"She just reminded me of you, it was more of a reminder than just talking about you. Which we did a few times by the way."

"Tell me more."

"We talked about how I was scared, but at the same time maybe…what we thought would happen was supposed to." He looked down at her ankles for a moment. "How maybe you were supposed to just…go." He looked back up at her again with that weak smile he usually has with her.

"We talked about how much we would all miss you if you did go. I told them about you today." Now it was Krystal's turn to smile at him. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to." Once more he laughed.

"There's a lot I want to say to you."

As he finished speaking, they could hear Marty wake up. "Well, duty calls." She removed her feet from Fox's lap and got up to tend to Marty, Fox was more than happy to follow her.

"Looks like he needs a diaper change, you wanna do it?"

Fox pinched his nose as she held Marty towards him, "I think I'll see you tomorrow then."

She laughed as they sat Marty down on the table to change him.

'Tomorrow' she thought to herself.