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


Chapter 4

After breakfast was done, Finn and Junko were excited once more, obviously forgetting that their enthusiasm earlier had only gotten them in trouble with Stork. I couldn't help but roll my eyes while I was clearing the dishes from the table, my two team-mates' whining was getting just a little bit too annoying for my taste.

Picking up about half of the dishes I had gathered, I walked into the kitchen and set them down on the counter next to the sink, and turned to go back and get the rest when I almost ran into Aerrow who was carrying the rest.

Looking around the leaning pile of dishes he was holding, Aerrow grinned at me before he asked, "Where would you like these Piper?"

Returning his grin, I replied, "With the rest by the sink would be great Aerrow, thanks."

Seeing that the rest of my squad-mates were still around the table, I told them, "You guys can head to the bridge if you want, I'll be there as soon as I'm done the dishes, okay?"

"But that'll take forever!" Finn whined.

Frowning, I was resisting telling Finn off since it was Christmas and all, but thankfully Aerrow stepped in before my resolve disappeared and said, "Don't worry Finn, I'll stay behind and help Piper, it'll go twice as fast, right?"

Swivelling my head around, I saw Aerrow smiling at me before I grinned and said, "Right!" Finn simply shrugged his shoulders at my reply before he and Junko left for the bridge, Stork following them almost reluctantly.

Turning around to head towards the sink again, I felt something tug at my pant leg before I looked down to see Radarr at my feet. "Hey Radarr." I said smiling as I knelt down closer to him.

Radarr gave me a chur in greeting as I gave him a gentle pat on the head before I asked, "What's up?" In reply, Radarr began motioning towards the door for a moment before I finally figured out what he wanted.

Standing up, I told Aerrow's co-pilot, "Of course you can go with the others Radarr!" Said creature chirped happily before I added with a wink, "Don't let Junko and Finn get into too much trouble though, alright?"

Radarr nodded his head before he gave me a mock salute as he ran off to join the others on the bridge.

Shaking my head in amusement, I walked over to where Aerrow was standing at the sink, a slightly confused look on his face.

Walking up to him, I put a hand on one of his shoulders before I asked, "You okay Aerrow?"

"Yeah," Aerrow began, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion before he asked, "But why is there a turkey in the sink?"

I rolled my eyes teasingly at him as I asked, "How else was I supposed to defrost it Mr. Smarty-pants? You have to put it in water to defrost overnight, didn't you know that?

Looking at me with a smirk on his face, Aerrow replied, "I do now!"

Patting his shoulder before my arm dropped to my side once more, I told him, "It's a good thing we have three sinks, huh?"

"I suppose so." My Sky Knight answered before he began to fill the two remaining sinks with water – one to wash the dishes with, the other to rinse.

We were soon busy washing, rinsing, and finally drying our breakfast dishes before Aerrow said out of the blue, "He wrapped them up."

Pausing what I was doing for a moment, I questioned, "What?"

Glancing at me with mischief in his eyes, Aerrow elaborated saying, "Stork – he wrapped Finn and Junko up in wrapping paper and ribbons."

I couldn't help but snort before I exclaimed, "No way!"

"You better believe it!" Aerrow replied with a growing grin on his face.

"How would he have gotten them to stay still long enough to be able to do that?"

"I don't know, but I'm not totally sure yet I even want to know…."

As Aerrow trailed off, I waited for a moment before I asked, "This has been a really weird Christmas so far, hasn't it?"

Glancing up at Aerrow, I saw him look at me with a goofy grin before asking, "Now what would give you a silly idea like that?"

I couldn't help but giggle at Aerrow as he scooped up some of the bubbles from the sink and wiped them on his face to form a Santa looking bubble beard.

As I continued to giggle, I told him, "You're such a goof, you know that right?"

Aerrow opened his mouth to reply but ended up swallowing some of the bubbles which resulted in him making a really weird face at the taste of them.

Holding one hand to my mouth to smother my ever growing snickering, I used the towel in my other hand to wipe away the bubbles from his mouth before he could ingest anymore.

Smiling at me, Aerrow blew a few of the remaining bubbles out of his mouth before he said, "I may be a good, but I'm your goof."

My hand that was wiping the bubbles from his face with the half dry towel froze as his own hand wrapped around it. Looking up at Aerrow in surprise, I couldn't help but get lost in his kind – almost loving – green eyes.

Lowering his hand that was clasped in mine still, he moved our hands from near his face lower until they were in between us, hanging down comfortably. Aerrow gave me another smile, and with an almost tentative look in the back of his eyes, his other hand groped about for my free hand until he found it, and soon it was between us as well.

As I stood there with Aerrow holding my hands, I tried to figure out what the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach was, but I couldn't quite place it, but I knew that whatever I was feeling was causing a light blush to begin to appear on my cheeks.

I heard Aerrow take a deep breath before he opened his mouth again to say something when I heard the door to the kitchen open.

My eyes widened in surprise when I realized that Aerrow and I were now holding each other's hands in front of one or more of our team-mates.

My eyes darted between Aerrow's equally surprised face and our hands before I took a small step away from Aerrow and withdrew my hands before I turned to the sink and continued to dry the dishes as though nothing had happened. I couldn't help but notice Aerrow's slightly disappointed look as I let go of his hands though.

Silence hung in the room for a few moments that felt like a lifetime before I heard a chirp of confusion come from the door causing me to sigh mentally.

'It's only Radarr again.' I thought in relief, knowing that Finn would have had a heyday should he have been the one to find Aerrow and I in the position we had been in moments before.

As I continued to dry the dishes, I heard Radarr make a series of chirps and growls that I imagined were paired with movements and such before I heard Aerrow say, "Alright, I'm coming buddy."

I quickly began to wonder what was going on, but my thought process quickly halted when Aerrow placed one of his hands slightly on top of mine that was on the kitchen counter as his other arm reached around the other side of me to give me the towel he had been using. In doing this, Aerrow ended up being even closer to me than before causing me to freeze in surprise. I somehow managed to take the towel from his hand though.

Managing to look up at my friend as well, Aerrow soon whispered, "I've got to go help Radarr, are you okay to finish up by yourself?" I simply nodded my head, not being able to talk as I was still stunned because of how close Aerrow was to me.

Even though I had already answered his question, Aerrow's hand stayed where it was, and his eyes continued to look into mine. I was beginning to wonder what was running through his head until both of us turned towards Radarr as he began to cough, and once he saw we were looking at him, he raised an eyebrow as he glanced back and forth between the two of us.

I began to feel a searing heat rush into my cheeks again, and I saw that Aerrow's face had a slightly pink tinge to it now, but he just gave me another one his lop-sided grins before he walked over to Radarr.

Leaning down so that Radarr could get onto his shoulder, Aerrow's co-pilot quickly clambered up his arm and sat a top his shoulders. As Aerrow stood up again, I saw him glance back at me for a moment before he walked out of the door and into the hallway, and I was sort of pleasantly surprised for some reason when he gave me a quick wink even though the action made my stomach feel a bit odd.

But as Aerrow was leaving, I couldn't help but notice as well that with his arms wrapped around Aerrow's neck, Radarr kept looking between Aerrow and I. No doubt Radarr was trying to figure out why when he walked into the kitchen his best friend had been holding my hands. In all truth, I was completely sure either, yet I wasn't really complaining.

Once Aerrow and Radarr had left, I continued drying all of the remaining dishes, but I couldn't help but keep thinking about what had just happened, I mean, Aerrow has never really held my hands like that before. Mind you, up until last night he'd never really told me that I was smart, beautiful, and independent.

Okay, he may have called me smart before, but still! Something weird was up today, yet even as I headed towards the bridge to meet up with everyone else once I had finished the dishes, I couldn't help but wonder how the rest of the day would play out.


Okay everyone, before I go, I just wanted to let you guys know to keep an eye out on my profile over the next few days, I'm going to post up a really important announcement on it soon that a few, but not many of you know about. And trust me, I think you might want to check it out, and I'll make sure to mention whether its there yet or not the next time I update this story.

Crimson Fox4