Chapter 66
One week later
"So, you asked her?" The vulpine shook his head, his friends rolled their eyes in response. "But I know she'll say yes. Dad said that she can get all the training she needs. I didn't wanna ask her, get her possibly excited then have to shut that down." Falco nodded his head, showing he agreed.
"So then…it's really happening?" Fox nodded in return to the frog's question.
"This… this really might be happening. It's all working out perfectly." He closed his eyes as he slouched on the couch. The guys were spending time together, getting some things fixed up at Slippy's house.
"Here, I'm almost finished." Fox's eyes snapped back open, onto the table the frog was working on. "Just need to try it out, but it should be fixed up now." Fox got up and walked over to the table.
"It looks great, just like mine. Incredible how you handle these so delicately." Fox lifted up what Slippy had been working on. It was another visor, the last prototype visor that he would need to make in the foreseeable future.
"You think she'll like it?" Fox expanded the device to inspect it again, then collapsed it and placed it in his bag. "I think she'll love it. Thanks Slippy." The frog shot him a thumbs up in return.
"Can you two save the cute banter for later? Let's play some games, like we intended to." The frog and fox gladly joined their friend on the couch as they loaded up something online and prepared to kick some tail. They enjoyed different kinds of games, almost anything as long as they could join each other in it. "A little bit of a single player adventure or campaign doesn't hurt, but it's nice to be able to join each other in something like this."
"And you always sound like you have a problem with teamwork." Falco tried not to laugh at Fox's comment, trying to not laugh at its accuracy.
A few days later.
"Here, we made you this." Fox handed Krystal the visor they had made for her a few days prior. "Oh, cool!" She took it and remembered how Fox's worked the night she used it. It expanded and was a little bit smaller than Fox's, accounting for the size difference between them.
"It feels so comfortable and practical. Thanks Fox."
"Don't thank just me, Slippy made most of it."
"I'll make sure to thank him." The vixen smiled at the vulpine as they left the school and headed towards her car. "So it's been a few days, wanna come over today?" She had a hopeful look in her eyes as they sat down in the car.
"Maybe."
"Maybe? What does maybe mean?" Fox laughed a little.
"It means maybe. There are a few important things I wanna make sure I've taken care of."
"What could be more important than me?" Once again she poked out her lip, showing a pouting, yet playful, face.
He laughed in response to her playful attitude, "Nothing's more important than you. You know that." He reached over and grabbed the hand that wasn't on the steering wheel as they made their way back to Fox's house. She pulled up in front of the house and stopped slowly. "Thanks for the ride Krystal, I'll come by or call if I have time tonight. If not then maybe we can do something this weekend."
"Cool, I'm sure Marty would love to actually meet you. And mom and dad were really happy to see you last week."
"We'll find out I guess, love you Krystal. See you later." He leaned over kissed her nose before hopping out of the car and headed for his house.
'Dad's not here, maybe mom knows.'
"Hey mom!" He saw his mom peak her head out of her and James' room. "Oh, there you are. Has dad told you about our plan?" She nodded. "Do you know if everything's set up? If my own plan works out fine?" She nodded once again and a smile of her own began to form even before Fox's smile.
"I'm so happy for you." Her eyes began to water a little as he approached his mom and hugged her.
"Mom, I love you so much." His mom returned the hug. "Where's dad?"
"He's out on a mission. He said he should be back tomorrow." As Fox released his grip on his mom, he snapped his fingers. "Dang, was gonna make sure with him that everything is good to go. Guess that'll have to wait."
"So are you sure about all of this? This is a big deal." Fox let out a large exhale as he leaned against the counter and looked up. "Yeah…it's just…this is something I've really wanted. And now everything has just gotten bigger. What dad did before, it just seems so great." Vixy laughed a little.
"Just like him." She fixed the white ruffle of fur between his ears as he smiled to her.
"But…how do I do this?" "You know her better than I do, but you know what your dad would say." "Yeah yeah, trust my instincts." Vixy laughed again. "Well you know what today is don't you?" Fox's face was confused. "What do you mean? It's Friday. Isn't it?" Vixy laughed again.
"Indeed, just like your father. Today's Valentines day."
Fox's eyes widened as his face turned a tint of red and he smacked his forehead. "That's why Krystal was talking about wanting to do something today! Oh man I'm in trouble." Vixy shook her head in response. "You still have time. It's only 4, you can always go get her something and surprise her." He pointed his finger at his mom, unable to get a single word out but letting her know he acknowledged how good her idea was. He went to his room and threw his backpack in the floor before pulling out his wallet.
'Yeesh, maybe we shouldn't have gone so crazy with that prank a few weeks ago.' His wallet was near empty. 'This sucks, now I can't buy her anything nice. Maybe I should have planned this out better.' He closed his wallet and slipped it back into his back pocket.
"Hey mom!" Fox walked into the living room calling for her. "I'm low on money, what should I do?"
"Have you told her yet? Or asked her?" He let out a sigh. "No, not yet. And I don't know when I will."
"Well then how about tonight? Just…take a chance."
"Take a chance?" Vixy nodded her head, Fox's confusion evident through both his tone as well as the expression on his face.
"Just do something without having to spend money. You know it can be a date without spending money. Just be impulsive. Do something different." Fox scratched his chin as he paced in circles. "Thanks mom, I think I got it now. I guess I have to remember that it's been a while since I did this huh?" He scratched the back of his head as he laughed. He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, walking down towards Krystal's house.
'Something impulsive?' He quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Krystal's mom was standing in the kitchen nearby.
"Hi Fox, how was school today?" He waved to Krystal's mom and walked over to her. "Great, I'm enjoying my la- I'm still enjoying it. So I just wanted to ask, since Marty is here and all, is it okay if me and Krystal go out somewhere tonight? I uh…I forgot that it was Valentines day."
The older vixen laughed quietly, her own husband forgot until she reminded him. "You're in luck, my husband forgot too, so he's decided that on short notice he's going to cook myself and him dinner." Fox jumped for joy throwing a fist in the air. "So where are you going to take her?"
"I don't even know. I just know that I should take her somewhere. It's been a few days since I really spent time with her outside of school, and considering the occasion maybe it's not a bad idea to do something." The older vixen smiled at him happily. "You're a good young man, Fox. She's in her room." Fox walked over quietly to Krystal's room and slowly opened the door.
She was sitting there on her bed, gym shorts and a basic t-shirt. She had hardly looked up at who had opened then closed her door when Fox dove on top of her. She playfully laughed as she laid on her back and linked her hands with his. "You know, even with the blue fur and basic clothes, you still look radiant."
She laughed at his comment. "You know, that's the most flattering way anyone has ever told me I'm hot." Fox laughed in return while planting a kiss on her neck. "Nothing gets past you huh?"
"So why are you here? Did you already take care of your 'important' things?" He kissed her smug grin before answering. "More or less, and since I forgot what today is, I figure I owe you some time." He rolled off of her and laid on his side looking at her, still not letting go of her hands.
"So what are we doing?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't know. Wanna go with me and we can find out together?" She laughed at the obvious statement. "Wait here, I'm gonna change." She let go of his hands and walked over to her closet.
"I'll just-"
"No, you don't have to. You can stay if you want."
What? She was about to change clothes, right here in front of him. She didn't even say to look away. And he watched as she walked over to her closet and she slowly took off her shirt with her back facing him.
'Wow.'
He thought, only looking at her from behind. He heard her giggle, instantly shooting red because he knew she heard him.
"I'll only read your mind when it's funny." She said in return, not even turning around, she already knew he was red. Once she fastened her new purple sweater on, her hands reached for her waistline.
'I know I'm gonna need to turn around for this one.'
She laughed a little louder this time. "You know you don't have to." Fox didn't respond. Once she fastened her jeans on she turned around to see him tightly holding a pillow over his face.
"What are you doing? You can't take me out tonight if you smother yourself." Fox moved the pillow so that one of his eyes was poking out and could see her.
He put the pillow back where it went and sat up. "I just uh…I just had to…" She laughed a little as she sat down beside him.
"Oh come on, just put on your shoes so we can get outta here." He had an annoyed, albeit red, look on his face as she grabbed her shoes and put them on.
"So where are we going?" He laughed and tapped her nose. "I told you, I don't know. Go ahead, read my mind, it's not some elaborate surprise." Krystal did as he said, and he was telling the truth.
"How about we start in the car and we'll see where it takes us? Are you hungry?" Krystal nodded. "Not really hungry, but a snack wouldn't hurt." "Okay, how about we go to the drive in and split a platter of nuggets or cheese sticks?"
"Mmmmm, cheese sticks sound great right now."
"I hope you're not terribly hungry, our little prank from a few weeks ago cleaned me out a lot and I don't have a whole lot left."
"Oh that's fine, I'll pay this time. You've paid for so much, how about this time you be my date instead?" He laughed and put an arm around her petite waist as they were nearing Fox's house.
"I forgot how much you liked cheese sticks." Their basket came with seven, Fox only had one when he noticed Krystal had inhaled five of them. "Oh, sorry. I lost track of how many I had." She covered her muzzle and suppressed a laugh.
"It's fine…I wasn't that hungry anyways." He gave her a playful glare before winking at her.
"So you may not believe this, but I think I know what we should do next." His attention turned away from his second, and last, cheese stick. "You're really taking this thing about me being your date seriously, aren't you?" Krystal tapped his nose in response. "Let's go to the park and swing on the swingset." Fox tapped her nose in return. "That sounds like so much fun." He smiled at her before finishing his cheese stick and threw the disposable basked away.
"Geez, the sun's setting already? I can't believe we've just been wandering around like this for so long."
"Stop thinking about it and just come on!" Krystal yanked him out of his thoughts, literally, she grabbed his hand and started high tailing it towards the swingsets with Fox in tow.
"It's been so long since I've been on one of these!" She ran and planted herself in the nearest swing like she was an 8 year old girl. Fox laughed as he walked up behind her and started pushing her.
"This is fun!"
He could hear her say as she was swinging back and forth, going pretty fast.
"Higher!"
"Are you sure? You're pretty high up now."
"I said higher!"
He laughed at her response. "Alright you spoiled little girl!" He kept pushing her as he watched her swing higher and faster.
'She's so perfect.' He laughed to himself as he watched her laugh and swing to her heart's content.
She dug her feet into the ground to slow herself down and when she did, she turned towards Fox. Krystal reached out and pointed to the swing next to her. "Get on, let's see who can jump the farthest." He gladly obliged to her challenge and sat down next to her. "Just know, the only reason you were so high up is because I was pushing you."
"Pff, you wish."Fox shook his head as he laughed.
'So perfect.'
They swung, and swung. "When do we jump?" He nearly shouted. "When you think you'll win, so you'll probably be swinging for the rest of your life." He laughed again.
'What did I do to deserve her? Nothing, so I guess I don't deserve her. Yeah, that sounds about right.'
He jumped at the peak of his swing, making a nice four foot jump.
"Ha! Beat that!" He pointed over at her while she continued swinging.
Then she launched herself out of her own swing, "Easy!" she flew through the air, higher than he thought she would. As Krystal neared the ground she was prepared to land on her feet, but she didn't.
Fox caught her before she landed.
As if she expected it, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her like she was his bride. Without saying a word she looked around at the imprint his feet left,
"I win."
She grinned at him, knowing that she was the victor. "Then I guess it's good I didn't bet anything on this game." He rubbed his nose on her cheek while planting a kiss here or there. It was dark out now while they sat on the swingset, just talking.
"Look, wanna climb that jungle gym?"
"Course I do, look, there's even a slide at the top to get down." The two foxes ran frantically towards the jungle gym, competing once more to see who could make it to the top.
"Wow, this thing's actually kinda tall." Fox made the mistake of looking down, they were at least six feet in the air, looking like there was at least another foot or two in front of them.
They reached the top and sat there as the moon made its way into the sky. "Fox, I'll love you until the day we stand on the moon together." She was only teasing him, but he laughed more than she would expect him to.
"You should choose the length of your love a little more carefully."
"What's that mean?" Fox tapped thumb on the railing they sat on.
"Slide down the slide with me first?" She nodded as they climbed towards it. Krystal looked down at it when there was a sudden impact on the back of her knee. She fell right into Fox's lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck and balled up so they could fit in the slide together. The two foxes shot down the slide, going so fast that they had a hard time believing this slide didn't have any enhancements on it.
They barreled out of the total dark into the slightly lit night while laughing. Krystal turned around to Fox and smiled, he brushed a few of her bangs back into place when she did.
"You know I love you."She nuzzled up to his neck when he told her.
"And…you know this is my last semester at Corneria High school."
She removed her head from his neck with a look of shock on her face.
"Wha-what do you mean? But…we just got back together, and you wanted me to come back. Why are you-what's going on Fox?"He let out a breath as he began to think of how to explain to her.
"Over Christmas, dad made me an offer. With me so close to 18, to being done with high school, he wants to leave his old life behind. He wants to live the rest of his life with mom. Did I ever tell you what he did?"
The vixen shook her head.
"Before I was born, he had this thing called StarFox. He and his friends used to be a space mercenary team. They would fly around the galaxy in this big dreadnought ship, as their base, and they would be taking notable, moral jobs. Dad knew mom and all, and they knew they loved each other. She put up with it because she loved him. Then when he found out she was pregnant with me, he left it all behind. Now he only occasionally takes missions, just because you know, money." Fox made her laugh a little with the last part.
"And now… he wants me to take the reins on it. He thinks I'm to be the leader of the next generation of StarFox."
There was a pause, he didn't know what to say next.
"So…that's what you've been planning? With your future? You, Falco, and Slippy become space mercenaries?" Fox nodded his head, she had figured it out.
"Sort of, yeah."
"Sort of?" He could feel her voice choke up a little, her eyes were barely visible since it had gotten dark, but he had a feeling they were a little wet. "Fox…I love you. But why? We just got back together, I just came back to school. And now this? And it sounds like you've been planning this for a while. Why would you do this to me? I'll still love you while you guys are gone, but why can't you just avoid the mistake your dad thinks he made? Why can't you just…"
He laughed a little, cutting her off. Now it felt like those angelic eyes were on fire when they were looking at him. "Yeah, we've planned on this for a while."
"Then why? Why would you choose to just…uproot us like this? Knowing how it would make me feel?"Fox took Krystal's hand in his, and squeezed it tightly, but not too tightly as to hurt her.
"Come with us."
Another pause, he didn't let up on squeezing her hand. He held her hand tightly, and he looked into her turquoise eyes with more intent than he had ever done so before.
"Wha- what did you just say?"
"You heard me. Come with us."
"I-I think I misheard you. It sounded like you just asked me to come be a space mercenary with you, Falco, and Slippy."
"Krystal, I did. I did ask you to come be a space mercenary with me, Falco and Slippy. I want you to."
She slowly shook her head as she tried to comprehend this. "But…but what about my medic-"
"We have that covered. Dad told me that he knows about a course you can take to be certified as a military medic. It only takes about a month. You can even do it on your own time, so you can do it whenever you want over whatever period of time. You'd be certified to do almost as much as a doctor or nurse."
Her mouth was open, she didn't know what to say. "And…and what about high school? We're not gonna finish?"
"We're gonna finish this semes-wait did you just say we?" She nodded her head again.
"I…I don't know anything about being a pilot. I know just a little about being a medic but…if it means that we'll be together…even after high school and maybe even…" Fox placed a hand over Krystal's muzzle.
"You don't have to make any decisions now. Krystal, I just didn't know how to tell you so I…decided to take a chance. I want you to know." She understood it all now.
"Fox, I don't care. I'll take a piloting course if I have to. I want to be with you. Medic or not, pilot or not, I just want to be with you."
Fox had never felt such dedication, and these were just words. Her voice never wavered, her eyes, barely visible or not, never faltered. He knew the dedication behind her words, and the truth.
"I… I…" Fox was without words.
"I don't know anything about being a pilot. But if it means I can be even closer to you, then I want to learn about being a pilot."
"Krystal…"
She closed her eyes and lay her head on his shoulder, he could feel his shoulder become a little wet.
"So… you'll come?"
"I'll go anywhere with you. No one will stop me."
"Krystal…thank you."
Hey all, hope you're enjoying the content. Just wanted to let everyone know that before too much longer I'm gonna start another story. This one is gonna be something I like the call, "StarFox Adventures, Locked and Loaded". The idea is a re-telling of SFA the way the game should've been. Things like Fox ACTUALLY bringing his gun, Krystal didn't get captured, and we see the team-up we all wanted in the game. I'm not sure when I'll start on that, but know that it's in the works for the future. If you'd like to read it, then I'll certainly make mention of it again when the first chapter is loaded. Enjoy the chapters, ciao.
