Alright everyone, I'm actually updating like I promised! This one was only six days after the last chapter, so… it's still within a week!

Now, for anyone who's wondering, I'm definitely still running the contest for this story. The updated stats will be posted at the bottom of this chapter, but here's a little more incentive….

I went through some of the authors notes, and in one chapter it mentioned that there would be more details to come about the prize. Well…. Imagine me writing you a story for Christmas. It could be a song fic, it could be a oneshot, or it could be a short chaptered story similar to 'Music to my Ears' Oh, and if someone, ANYONE cracks fifteen correct guesses, well, I might just post up the first chapter of APAH: Reunion, Dissent, and New Beginnings. That's right, you're not imagining it, a chapter exists for that story! In fact, I recently took a look at the second chapter and I'm in the process of reviewing the first two APAH stories to ensure the third one is still good to go. So… if anyone wants chapter 1 for Christmas this year…. Wink wink, nudge nudge. :D

Oh, and by the way, the chocolate for December 6th was a cabin in the woods and snow, and the last chapter, December 7th was a snowman. Congrats to WhsipertheWolf for being the only reviewer last chapter along with guessing correctly, whoot!

Well, here it is! Enjoy, and just a warning now, it may seem weird and off from what I would usually write, but the situation Piper is finding herself in is sort of peculiar too, so, keep that in mind as you read this, it is meant to be nothing more beyond FLUFF. Ahem. 'nough said.

I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps.

December 8th

Words Can't Express

I resisted opening my eyes for a while longer, expecting harsh light to be waiting for me as soon as I allowed myself to wake up. Instead, I curled up further as I intended to get as much sleep as I possibly could. I hadn't felt this warm and comfortable for a long time, and I definitely didn't want to go out into the snow again.

'The snow?' I thought to myself groggily. 'What snow?' I suddenly felt the need to be able to think clearly without sleep covering my thoughts in fog. So, in an attempt to clear the block in my memory, I slowly opened my eyes to take in my surroundings for some sort of clue as to where I was.

Contrary to my sleepy beliefs, the lighting of the room I was in was hardly bright. In fact, except for a small glow coming for the floor a few feet in front of me, there was hardly any light. I looked at the glow closely and soon concluded that amongst that shadows around me, there was a fireplace where a fire was slowly dying. 'Maybe that's why I'm so warm.' I thought as I turned my gaze elsewhere.

Looking up from the mound of glowing coals, the shadowed form of the fireplace's mantel came into focus. Upon further inspection, I saw that there were framed pictures resting on the old, rustic stonework, but I couldn't see the actual photos in the frames. It was still too dark, and I had a feeling from the musty smell in the air that was mingling with the smoke of the fire that wherever I was, it hadn't been lived in for a long time. So, no doubt the pictures would be covered with years of dust, waiting for someone to rediscover the once smiling faces.

I tried to tilt my head so that I could scope out the rest of the room, but the back of my head bumped into something hard, followed by a muffled grunt of annoyance. Needless to say, I froze, listening in the silence for any other source of sound besides my beating heart. I began to move again, but this time I felt something tighten around me and rush of warm air fly past my ear as a familiar, yet raspy voice murmured, "Easy Piper, you're safe."

Aerrow's calm voice of assurance may have convinced me that I was fine, and that the two of us were out of danger for the moment, but my heart still had a reason to race. As I felt my senses slowly kicking in after being dormant while I slept, I realized that it had been Aerrow's arm that had tightened around me. Feeling instantly awkward with the whole situation, I asked impatiently, "Where are we Aerrow?"

I felt Aerrow shift behind me and one of his arms lifted and brushed the top of my head as he moved to prop himself up with it. I quickly deduced that his arm must've been what he was using as a makeshift pillow. I twisted around slightly to be able to see his face in the dim light, and couldn't help but notice Aerrow had made no effort to move his arm that was draped around me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I asked again, "Atmos to Aerrow? Do you mind telling me where we are?"

Aerrow looked down at me and then to the fireplace behind me. I watched as his shadowed green eyes scanned our surroundings like I had minutes before, except his neck had the advantage of being able to move where it wanted. However, mine didn't while I was being partially pinned thanks to my friend that was half sitting, half lying next to me.

I gave him a moment more and was about to ask him my question again when he turned back to me and replied, "We're somewhere safe Piper. We're somewhere safe and warm, and for now… that's all that matters."

If he weren't my friend and my Sky Knight, I may have slapped him then for not explaining himself further. Also, there was the unfortunate circumstance I was in where my hands and arms were currently pinned to my body thanks to Aerrow's ever unmoving arm. Sighing in quiet exasperation, I asked, "That's great and all, but do you mind explaining how we got here?" Aerrow glanced at me before he returned to his previous position with a sigh of his own. "Actually Aerrow, do you mind explaining everything?"

He shifted awkwardly until he was laying on his back, causing him move his arm that had been restricting my movement for far too long. I went to move away from Aerrow to put a bit of space between us, but that's when I realized there wasn't anywhere to move to. Whatever I was laying on ended just to my left. That's when Aerrow wrapped his left arm around my shoulders to keep me falling off before he finally started talking.

"Well, to start with, it's four in the morning and you ought to be sleeping still."

"Aerrow." I deadpanned as I glanced to my right, trying to catch a glimpse of my friend's face.

He shifted and lifted himself up some as he said, "Let's start with what you remember and go from there Piper."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms and tried to supress a shiver that ran through my entire body. 'Why am I so cold all of a sudden?' I thought to myself before telling Aerrow, "All I can remember at the moment is that there was snow, snow, and more snow."

Aerrow nodded, and I could feel his unruly hair brush past mine as his head moved. He seemed to think for a few moments before informing me, "We landed on this terra yesterday because of a big snowstorm that was headed our way that even the Condor wouldn't be able to outrun. The two of us went to do some recon for a few hours before the storm kicked into high gear. The thing is we ran into some Cyclonians on the way."

"Of course." I interjected.

I could hear the smirk in Aerrow's voice as he continued, "In any case, there was too many of them for us to fight alone in the snow, so we retreated into the woods to try and lose them. However, we had to use one of your crystals to kick the wind and storm up a notch or two ahead of time so that we could lose them in the snow. We could've gotten lost too, but it's a good thing I still remember my way around these woods."

I was my turn to lean up and stare down at my red haired friend as I raised an eyebrow in question and asked, "Exactly how is that, by the way? How did you know about this place?" I motioned around the room with my hand before I looked back at my friend. "What aren't you telling me Aerrow?"

The harsh tone of my voice could be heard even by me, and I winced inwardly at the realization. I quickly decided that maybe four in the morning wasn't the greatest time for us – or anyone – to be talking. Sighing, I moved so that I could lie back down and muttered, "Sorry, I just… I just want to understand what's going on."

"It's okay Piper." Aerrow shrugged his shoulders and added, "I guess you could call this log cabin a safe house of sorts. The original Storm Hawks have them littered all over the Atmos, there's practically one in every quadrant."

I couldn't help but turn and gape at Aerrow after he shared his tidbit of knowledge. "Really?" I whispered, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I just did." Either Aerrow knew I'd be annoyed at his answer or saw me tense, but he quickly added, "This is the only one I remember. Any other ones I stayed in, I would've only been a baby at a time. I sort of don't remember them."

"Oh." I replied. I suppose I never really thought that there would've been places for the first Storm Hawks to hide out on occasion. But then I remembered our squadron had Terra Neverlandis as a backup, so maybe it wasn't all as strange as I thought it was.

"Yeah, it's sort of weird being here after so many years, and some of the memories are sort of blurry still, but I'm glad I still managed to find this old place. I remembered the fire place, and hoped that my favourite couch still existed."

"So that's why there's hardly room for both of us." I joked.

Aerrow shrugged and replied, "I guess so, it was a lot easier to have enough room earlier when you were asleep and didn't care how close we were."

I immediately turned my face away from Aerrow's as I tried to hide my rising blush. 'So it turns out he's not as oblivious as I'm sometimes tempted to think….' I thought to myself before I felt Aerrow move. It was hard for either of us to move and not have the other feel it as well. Like we had both already decided, the couch wasn't really designed for two people to lie on their backs next to each other.

Sighing mentally, I turned to Aerrow and was about to apologize – again – for my four in the morning attitude when he blurted, "I promised I'd keep you safe, and, well, when we got here, you were freezing and out cold." Aerrow chuckled and added quickly, "Sorry, didn't mean to make a pun out of it, because I'm serious." The Sky Knight shifted once more so he could see me clearly as he said, "I forgot where all the blankets were kept, and I couldn't exactly find much besides the fireplace and the couch from my memories, so… I decided that I'd be your human blanket and ride out your wrath in the morning so long as it meant that you were safe and warm."

I ducked my head as a wave of guilt and regret washed over me. I had gotten defensive with Aerrow and let the situation I found myself in get to me…I should've just asked Aerrow for an explanation from the start. I searched my head desperately for a way to put the pieces of my friend's shattered compassion back together, but I simply couldn't find the words.

I glanced to my right and stared at Aerrow's chest through the shadows before I turned around and faced the fireplace while inching backwards towards Aerrow. I could feel him tense at my touch, unsure of what I was doing, so I tilted my head backwards and told my friend sheepishly, "Look Aerrow, I – I'm sorry. I know now that you were only trying to help me…." I trailed off for a moment before I asked tentatively, "Would you mind if I had my blanket back until morning when we can look around and find different one?"

Aerrow looked down at me, the glow of the embers creating yellow dots of light in his green eyes as he tried to figure me out. I could sense his confusion, but he got past it and nodded, wrapping his arm around me again as he pulled me slightly closer so that we could share our body heat.

We both slowly slipped off to sleep, but I remember hearing Aerrow mutter, "Just don't kill me in the morning if you forget about this and the snowstorm again."

I merely smirked.

Alright, just to let you all know, this one's a bit of a tough one. And just as a hint, we already covered the cabin as a chocolate, I don't think couches exist in advent calendars, and even though I mentioned it a lot in this chapter, the fireplace isn't it either. Stumped? Take your best guess! There's nothing to lose, only prizes to be won! :D

So, I've done my best to update all of the guesses and who has how many points, and sorry if your pen names have changed and you're missing a point because I didn't find you….

Strawberry Kaydee 4.5 (wooden hut got you a half mark ;) )

kezzywezzy25 4.5 (Again, half point for hut! :D)

Amethyst Sparrow 4.5 ('nother half pointer for hut :/ I think I see a trend…)

WhispertheWolf 5.5 (You got a point for the snowman, but I felt like stable was further than a hut, though still close. However, I didn't want to get into adding on .25 as well ;) )

Mitoki-hime 1

Arendos 1.5 (Hut got you a .5, congrats!)

Well, this one was for December 8th, so…. There are 16 chapters left, so… 16 more chances for someone to get over 15 and make me post the long lost, but hoping to be revived, chapter of APAH:R,D,NB.

Hope you've all been enjoying this out of date revival!

Crimson Fox4

P.S. Would anyone be totally aghast or against me dabbling in other fanfiction categories besides Storm Hawks? Just something I've been thinking about the past few days is all….