Authors note:

I am sorry for the HUGE delay from last update to this one, I'm just not finding much time to add to this story but like I said, I'm not stopping writing it. With that said, the story continues.

Chapter 5: Resolve

Another punch was hurled at the wolf child, throwing him back. He couldn't last much longer with this assault. Waiting for the opportune moment, the lupine saw when the next fist was coming and rolled to the side. Not anticipating this, the father punched the ground, hurting his fist in the process. "You little shit!" He roared.

The wolf child staggered onto his feet and ran for the door as fast as his legs could carry him. He could hear the noises of his father chasing him, but that only fueled the adrenaline in his body. Grabbing onto the door, the child flung open the door and continued his escape. Many of the residents on the streets were surprised to see him running down the street, seeing the door behind him slam shut.

Mindlessly, the child continued running away, not knowing or caring where he was going as long as it was away from that house. The rain began to pour from the skies, soaking the lupine. He quickly found a bridge and hid under it, cowering in the corner. He couldn't control the tears running from his eyes, or the muffled cries and whimpers. He thought he heard footsteps nearby approaching him.

"Hey."

Fox woke up with a start. He could have swore he heard a shout coming from the ship. Already dressed, he stood up and grabbed his blaster, just in case. After the nap, Fox was feeling refreshed. Walking down the corridor he could hear muffled noises which sounded like, cries? He wasn't sure, but it didn't sound good. Continuing, he noticed the noises were coming from Wolf's room. Confused, he opened the door to Wolf's room. Normally he wouldn't just walk into somebodies room unannounced, but he didn't know what else to do.

The sight in front of Fox shocked him. In his bed, he saw Wolf shaking, talking in his sleep. "Wolf! Get up!" He ran to the bed and shook the lupine, waking him up. Wolf shot up from his bed, sweating.

"F-Fox?" Wolf had no clue why Fox was in his room, but he knew that he didn't like it. "What the hell are you doing in here? Were you watching me sleep? You creep!" Wolf accused. He knew Fox could tell he was scared, so he quickly turned on the vulpine, masking his fear.

"What? No. You were shouting in your sleep, what the hell were you dreaming about? You woke me up from across the corridor with your shouting."

"Shouting? What the hell are you talking about? Is that the best excuse you could think of?" Wolf knew he talked in his sleep, sometimes shouting, as his old team noticed his behaviour, often mocking him. It wasn't too frequent but it occasionally turned very bad.

"Yes shouting. Don't you turn this on me, I've done nothing! I can't believe you think I would have nothing better to do than watch you sleep." Fox couldn't believe he was being accused of this by Wolf. He came in trying to help, and what did he get in return? Nothing apart from being shouted at.

"Get the hell out of my room!" Wolf roared. Fox quickly left the room, huffing in anger. He couldn't stand him, no matter what he did Wolf would always return it with negativity.

'Why do I even bother.' He stomped down the corridor in his rage, on his way to the exit. 'Why do I let him get to me?'

Krystal sat at the table in the kitchen, reading a newspaper. She sensed Fox walking towards her, noticing his bad temper. She quickly stood up and left the kitchen, stopping the vulpine in his tracks. "Fox, what's wrong?" Her voice gently asked.

"Wolf! He's what's wrong!" He shot back, walking past her on his way to the exit. Krystal quickly turned and grabbed his arm, stopping him again.

"Care to tell me what he's done?" She kept her voice calm, trying to soothe Fox's nerves. He sighed and turned to face her.

"Wolf woke me up with his stupid shouting down the corridor, so I went to check on him. After waking him up asking what was wrong, he quickly began shouting at me, accusing me of watching him sleep. So now, he thinks I'm a creep or something. He always manages to find a way to incriminate me for no reason! I can't stand him!" His speaking was fast, letting all his anger out at once.

"Shouting you say? That doesn't sound like something he would do. Do you know what he was shouting about?" She replied.

"I don't know, and I don't care any more. I'm done with that insufferable prick." She didn't know why Fox was so angry about it, normally somebody else would just dismiss it as a misconception and be done with it, but Fox seemed genuinely annoyed.

"I'll go talk to him if you want, see what it was about." Krystal let go of Fox's arm and started walking to the door.

"Good luck to you. I'm out of here." Fox started walking to the exit again.

"Fox! Stay here! I'm going to settle this now, I'm not having you angry at him and vice versa during the mission." She said sternly.

"Hah. I'll be seeing you walking out of there in 5 minutes. You won't be able to stand him." Fox shouted at her as she began walking down the corridor. Fox turned and entered the kitchen sitting on the same seat Krystal was previously on. He sighed and picked up the newspaper she was previously reading.

Krystal ignored his comment and quickly made it to the door to Wolf's room. Knocking gently at first, she heard ruffling at the other side of the door.

"Get the hell away!" Wolf shouted from in his room. She knew he was angry, since that's the only emotion Wolf seemed to feel, but there was something else. It seemed foreign from Wolf. Was it fear? 'From Wolf? Something must be wrong.' She thought as she knocked at the door again.

"Wolf, I'm coming in whether you like it or not. Now you can either open the door now or I'm going to get Fox to open the door, and you don't want him here right now." She told him. More shuffling was heard behind the door until it slid open.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" Wolf asked as he went to sit back down on his bed. Krystal entered his room and shut the door, leaning on the wall next to it.

"It's about Fox," Krystal started "mind telling me what happened? He's extremely angry, and I would rather not have you both at each others throats during the mission." A scowl formed on Wolf's muzzle, turning to face Krystal.

"You heard it from him, right? What's the point in asking me?" Krystal wondered why he was being so stand-offish.

"I want both sides of the story."

"Fine... I woke up this morning to see Fox in my room, staring at me, so I told him to get the hell out. Like hell I wanted some creep to stay in my room." Although he seemed confident in his words, Krystal could tell he was lying.

"That's different to what I heard. You were supposedly shouting in your sleep, which made Fox wake up. He wanted to know what was wrong, but you threw him out." She calmly stated.

"And you're going to believe him? Of course you would." Wolf turned away from her, looking outside of his window.

"Wolf, I know you're lying to me. Maybe if you told me what you were dreaming about, it could help. I'm not here to scold you, I just want to help." The phrase 'I just want to help' sounding familiar to him. Thinking back upon the dream, a feeling of dread washed over Wolf. He continued to stare out of the window, looking as if he found something interesting, focusing on it.

"It's nothing" Krystal could sense the fear on him now, and she started to feel concerned for him.

"Wolf..." Krystal crossed her arms, looking at him.

"Okay, so... Maybe I was shouting in my dreams" He stated lowly.

"Would you mind telling me what you were shouting about?"

"Just, childhood memories, is all... Nothing wrong." He murmured, more to himself than Krystal.

"Nothing wrong? You just admitted you were shouting. That doesn't sound like 'Nothing wrong' to me."

"Hmph." Wolf turned away to look at the wall.

"Look, I'm not going to force it out of you, but like I said before, all I want to do is help."

"Okay," He growled "but if you tell anybody about anything I say, you're done. Got it?"

"I wouldn't do that Wolf. What you tell people is yours to tell." She smiled, finally managing to get through to Wolf.

Wolf recounted his dream to Krystal, missing out little details. As he told her the story, her facial expression changed to a more sorry look. Wolf had no idea where the dream ended, so he continued talking about the event from memory.

"Hey"

At first, he didn't hear him over the rain. He continued whimpering, his head between his knees.

"Hello, are you okay?" The lupine looked up at the man in front of him. He couldn't tell much of what he looked like in the darkness, but he could tell by his scent that he was a vulpine. He also noticed he was holding an umbrella close.

"Go away." The wolf said, his voice quiet. He didn't want to talk to anybody, he just wanted to fall asleep.

"Sorry, can't do that." He started. "You don't seem too happy." His voice radiated concern.

"I said... Go... Away." He tried to growl it out, but it came out as a whimper. "I have nothing to tell you."

"I just want to help. A child left outside on a rainy night isn't something I can just walk away from." The fox approached the child, stopping in front of him.

"I ran away from home. My dad was angry at me, and I didn't want to stay." The child told him. "And now I don't want to go back, he'll probably be even more mad!" The wolf was shivering uncontrollably, the cold seeping into him.

"Are you sure he's mad at you? If I was him, I would be worried sick." He told him. Although he seemed convinced on this, the child was certain he would be mad. The lupine stayed silent, looking out from under the bridge, seeing the rain pour down heavily.

"Well, listen. My wife and son are out of town for the weekend and, how would you like to come with me back home? I wouldn't feel right leaving you out in the cold, especially since you're around the same age as my son. I could get you a warm bed and a change of clothes if you want." The vulpine offered, holding his hand out.

"You... You mean it?"

"Of course. Tomorrow morning I can take you back to your house, I'm sure your father will be worried sick about you." The child grabbed his hand and the vulpine hoisted him onto his feet. The two started walking out into the rain, and the wolf got close to the fox, trying to avoid the rain. The vulpine held the umbrella closer to the wolf to shield him. They silently walked down the street, the only noise heard was the rain and an occasional car driving by.

"M-Mister." The child started.

"Yes?"

"What's your name?"

"James."

"James? As in, the James McCloud?" Krystal interrupted him.

Wolf sighed. "Yeah, that was the first time I ever met him, but wasn't the last."

"So, when was the last time you met him?" She asked.

"Venom..." his tone was quiet.

"Venom?"

"It was the time when Star Fox first attacked the base on Venom. I avoided getting shot by him and his team, but in the end he fell." Wolf visibly flinched. "I called my mercenary team Star Wolf because of the respect I had for James. He was the first, and only, person to be kind to me. Once I found out about the 'James' who took me in on that night, I was stunned. I had no idea he was that important."

"What ended up happening to James?" She wanted to hear about the story first hand, from someone who was there. "We all thought you were the one to shoot him down."

"It was Pigma. The swine betrayed him and shot a smart bomb directly at James. Since he wasn't expecting the shot, he had no time to avoid it. The bomb engulfed his ship, making his engines fail, and he crashed." Wolf regarded Pigma with contempt, angry at him. "The only reason he joined Star Wolf was because of Andross. He knew Pigma was a decent pilot, and he threw him onto us. If it wasn't for Andross, I would have gutted him the first moment I could."

"Oh." Silence followed after Krystal saying this. The two stayed still, not wanting to say anything else. Suddenly, Krystal remembered why she came into the room in the first place.

"Now you've told me this, could you please apologise to Fox?"

"Me, apologise? You must not know me well." Wolf stated

"You've pretty much just admitted that it was your fault that Fox is angry. Why can't you just apologise and get this over with?"

"I have nothing to apologise for. It's his fault for taking it out of proportion."

"Nothing to apologise for? So you won't apologise for shouting at him? Insulting him? He doesn't deserve this and you know it." She was starting to get annoyed at his attitude. "I promise you, it will all be for the better. You can't stay angry at each other all the time."

"Who said I'm angry at him?"

"If you're not angry at him, why can't you just apologise?" Wolf turned away. "It's either you say you're sorry, or I tell him about what you just told me."

"Wait what? You said you wouldn't tell." She knew he was getting worried now, but in truth she wasn't going to tell regardless.

"Okay, I'm lying. I won't tell him, but please? For me?" She pleaded with him. Wolf mulled over the thought of apologising with Fox, thinking about the benefits and the things bad about it. In truth, there wasn't really anything bad about apologising with him.

"Fine, I'll apologise." Wolf finally accepted, sighing in resignation.

"Good!" Krystal added cheerfully. She stopped leaning on the wall and opened the door, with Wolf following behind. The two were quiet while walking down the corridor, making their way to the kitchen.

The two stood at the entrance, waiting. Once they realised Fox hadn't seen them, Krystal called out to him. "Fox!". The vulpine quickly looked up, noticing who was with Krystal. "I have somebody with me who has something to say to you."

"Do you now? What does he have to say to me, is it more insults perhaps?" Fox snarkily said, looking over to Wolf.

"Go ahead." Krystal nudged him.

"I'm sorry." Wolf muttered quietly.

"What was that?" Fox replied

"I'm sorry." He said clearer. "For shouting at you, for insulting you, for throwing you out of my room." Wolf listed all of the things he did wrong to Fox of what he could remember.

"And..."

"And what? I said everything I've done." Wolf was confused.

"For calling me pup." Fox added.

"You want me to apologise for calling you pup? What the hell?" 'Is he really that childish?' Wolf thought.

"I'm not accepting your apology until you say it." he stated with an air of finality.

"Ugh... Sorry for calling you pup."

"Thank you. Apology accepted." Fox grinned, walking closer to the two. "Now that this is sorted, I'm off out for some food, then I'm probably going to head home. Care to join?" Fox offered. Honestly, he didn't want to go out to get something to eat on his own.

"Sure." Krystal replied quickly. "I haven't eaten anything yet anyway."

The two started walking towards the elevator, Fox whispering to Krystal. "How'd you manage to do it?"

"Magic" she replied as she smiled. She looked over her shoulder at Wolf expectantly. "You coming?". He seemed somewhat thrown off by this offer.

"I guess, I have nothing else to do anyway." He quickly followed them and the three left The Great Fox.

"You guys know any places in particular you want to go to?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, there's a place I know somewhat near. It's called 'The Lylat Star', they have all kinds of food." Krystal informed them.

"I've heard of that place I think. I've also heard that they do a great steak." Wolf said.

The walk to the restaurant was short, the three making small talk with each other. Over the course of the meal, Fox started to realise that he and Wolf actually had similar interests and the same sense of humour. There wasn't much he knew about the mysterious lupine, but he enjoyed his company. He wondered if he was being civil just because Krystal was there, but quickly dismissed the thought.

Wolf on the other hand, didn't have as good of a time as the other two. Mainly because he wasn't used to the whole 'go out for a meal and talk with other people' sort of deal. He was mostly on his own, so it seemed strange to him. Regardless, he still tried to be involved in the conversations and found out it wasn't as hard as he thought it was.

After the meal, the two stood outside the restaurant, noticing the sun setting, casting an orange glow across the horizon. "Well, it's been fun," Krystal started "we should do this another time."

"Yeah, we should." Fox added. He didn't want to go home just yet, as he enjoyed the company of Wolf and Krystal. The thought of returning home to a lonely house didn't appeal to him. The three stood next to each other, marvelling at the glory of the sun. The glow on the skyscrapers in front of them almost seemed ethereal.

"Well, I ought to be gone. I'll see you tomorrow." Wolf turned to both of them and smiled.

"Goodbye Wolf, and you too Fox" Krystal said she started walking away, back to The Great Fox.

Fox waved to Krystal as she left, but strangely Wolf stayed with him. Fox turned to him, confused. "I thought you were going?"

"I was. I just wanted to say..." Wolf looked as if he was having trouble making up the next sentence. "Thank you."

"For?"

"For letting me come with you, even after me being a jerk this morning. This was the first time I've ever really spent time with other people and, it was fun."

"Oh, it's no problem." Fox smiled back at Wolf.

"Bye, Fox." The two shook hands and turned away from each other, walking to their respective homes. Although Fox didn't want to admit it, he hoped that they could become friends, slowly patching their tattered pasts.

End note:

Like I said, I'm really sorry for this huge delay on this update. I've recently started doing my AS level exams, and they're still not over yet so the delay for the next update will also be long, but hopefully not as long.

I've also thought of writing a new story focusing more on a romance aspect of Fox and Wolf and changing the pairing on this story to just friendship. I could still keep both stories with the romance aspect, but tell me what you guys think. See you next time.