Chapter 6: A Prelude

Back at the Great Fox, nightly life continued as expected. Krystal sat, wiping her red eyes and staring out into space… quite literally. She ran her claw gently up the glass of window with a small and painful screech.

"Why do these things happen…? Why can't life just work out for me?"

Skye entered from behind and watched her for a few seconds, silent and analytical.

"What ails ya, sunflower?"

"Wha-… Skye?" Krystal sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes again. "Well… surely you know by now…"

"Yeah. I do. T'is true. But you can't let it get to you."

"What?" She glared angrily at him and clenched her fist rather painfully, her claws almost digging into her palms. "How can you expect me to just forget all of that?"

Skye became silent for about a minute, calmly staring at her with his fist supporting his chin.

"You know… stress is bad for your health. That is why I am so healthy, you see. That's my mantra of sorts. So try to calm down… anyways… let's look at it this way… Fox was unfaithful, yes… but that does not mean that you have anything to do with it, really. Everyone is met with temptations…" He closed his eyes and scratched his hand. "… And we sometimes overcome them. Sometimes we don't. It's just nature. But what's important is that… it's all in the past. My past hasn't been the most wonderful experience, either. But… I overcame it. You can overcome this, too. No use dwelling over what you can't change."

"But… I can change this! I could get Fox back if I wanted to…" She stared at the floor and bit down on her lip slightly.

Skye snickered and closed his eyes again, wagging his finger.

"You miss the point. You could have him back… but would you want to? It's in the past now. And you still have a future. There are plenty of fish in the sea… no need to restrict yourself to this one pond. Swim free!" He snickered to himself and smiled at her. "So. What do you say?"

"Yeah… I guess you're right… I'm not sure if I'll ever get over it… or see Fox the same way, but…" She smiled as well. "I can try."

"Attagirl. You get on that, I have work to do." He left abruptly and skipped off to his normal workroom, leaving Krystal speechless.

"… He's wise, but… none too understandable." She sighed and wiped the last of her tears away, retreating to her room as well.

The night was quiet throughout the headquarters… the fury had passed and everyone was finally at peace, save Fara. She lay in her bed, Fox beside her and thought quietly. She was an angry vixen, but… she was angry at herself more than anything else. What had she done? She had no choice now. She had to confess her feelings… and hope that he understood and forgave.

"Fox… Fox." Fara gently shook Fox's side. "You awake?"

"Erm… mrm… I am now. What is it, Fara…?"

"I…" She choked up a little. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything."

"What?" He shook his head and sat up. "What are you talking about?"

Her eyes were small and she was staring downward, unable to have eye contact with Fox.

"I'm just… s-so sorry for what I did. I was…" She swallowed hard and held back her tears.

"You were…?"

"I was scared! I was so scared… I couldn't stop thinking about you, Fox… the whole time you were gone, I was going over it in my head… I was thinking about what I did wrong… how I could have changed… how I could have kept you… i-is that wrong?" She wrapped her arms around his right arm and clung to him lovingly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to be fierce like… I was."

"I… don't… no. I don't think so… it may be a little odd, but… that shows you loved me, I guess. You know… you've… matured since then."

"Huh?" She looked upward at him.

"You have… the old Fara wouldn't been able to admit that. Wouldn't have been able to apologize… I forgive you." He smiled and kissed her forehead sensitively.

"You…" She smiled and closed her eyes. "Th-thank you… Fox. Thank you… but… Krystal…"

"Hm?" He ran his hand down her back and watched her.

"I'm not sure if Krystal will approve of what I did… or if she'll let me talk to her… or if she'll ever forgive me…"

"Well… at least tell her you're sorry. She might not give you the best reaction… but it would be the right thing to do anyway."

"… I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to forgive myself for this… I'll try harder from now on. I'll try harder to keep control of myself… for the both of us."

"Fara… I love you. I know it seems hard to believe… or to accept… but I do. You're awfully competitive sometimes and you tend to be rude when you disagree with something… but I know how soft-hearted you are. Tomorrow?"

"Yeah… I'll tell her tomorrow. I can only hope she'll understand… good night, Fox."

"Good night, Fara…" He snuggled against her and closed his eyes.

"Hey, guys." Skye walked along the hallway and met with the rest of the team. "How's it goin'?"

"Can't complain." Falco stretched. "Why the middle of the night."

"Swell… and… what he said." Slippy smirked.

"First order of the day, no one says 'Swell' anymore. Second, I have important info to share." Skye had them follow him back to his workroom. "These…" He held up a folder. "Is what we got for today. I'll make it brief. Huge power spike. And when I say huge… I mean massive. This is very unnatural; as I'm sure you may have guessed."

"Wowsers…" Slippy skimmed over the folder. "Unnatural indeed… that's enough to-"

"Wipe out a planet… pretty sweet. Think a power plant exploded?" Falco cracked his neck loudly.

"Nah. Can't be. Even a huge power plant wouldn't be able to do that. This thing was, like… core. In the core. Like a supernova. But weaker. Whatever it is, all that matters is that we have a job! We're gonna investigate this thing tomorrow and figure out what caused it."

"And how… if at all… does that differ from any of the other pointless jobs that we do daily?" Falco watched him disdainfully.

"'Cause something of this magnitude is generally considered not possible. And they called on us for it. So we're in business. That's it. Good night, all. Dismissed. See you tomorrow; sleep well, yadda, yadda, yadda." He nodded quickly and darted away as usual.

The night was sound and peaceful, but a hidden tension stirred the air. Far away… there was movement. And plotting. Dark eyes glowed in the night, and as the Star Fox team sat peacefully… both their lives and the lives of the galaxy lay in peril. A dark mind's intentions were great… and though the team had had its problems before… both long ago and recently… soon they would be facing an enemy greater than them all.

The worlds rested on their shoulders… they had no room for mistakes. And at the same point… as much of a battle stirred inside them all.

"Why… I…" Skye lay half-asleep, talking to himself. "Why…? Was it… no… but… perhaps I had good reason… nng… I can't remember... not well, at least…" He struggled with his thoughts until his usual sleep befell him.

"C-can I… do this? And for this reason… for being strong as I am… I hold such weakness."

"Well… that's not your only reason, is it? I understand that you have others…"

"Just one. And selfish they both are… I can't do this."

"I'm not gonna make you… there isn't much advantage for me to be in this anyway. Whatever makes you happy, pal."

"Happy… I just want to be happy… we all do. What's the cost of it, though?"

"Eh? Cost?"

"All of this… I… I'm gonna do it. And I'm gonna succeed. And… I will finally… I'll try my best to-"

His alarm blared and he spun to the side, smacking his head against the end table.

"Ooargh… 6 AM Earth time. Mission start time... and possibly time to take some painkillers… ack." He rubbed his head and got to his feet.