Wonderful. Just wonderful. Exactly what my life needed. To be reunited with a girl that's going to kill me, skin me, dice me up, and if she's in a very good mood, do it in that damn order. Meanwhile my heart is telling me that would be fine as long as she talks to me while she works.

Fox gave an exasperated sigh. Hadn't he told himself not to get his hopes up? Not get dragged down again? And yet again, he'd dragged his sorry ass into yet another sticky predicament.

God help me. At this point, he's one of the few that can..

Fox finally managed to locate the eastern hallway of Peppy's rather expansive home. The home itself was nice, very spacious and well furnished. Peppy seemed to have a little thing for exotic wall-mounts of foreign plants, which Fox had no interest in whatsoever, yet Fox had to admit they went well along the color of the walls. The walls were a light blue, seeming to radiate a strangely false exuberance.

Or maybe I'm just making it false.

Fox strode down the hall, suddenly disinterested in the house. He just wanted to get to his room so he could be alone with his thoughts.

Second door on the left. That's what he said, wasn't it? And Kursed had the first. Huh. Kursed. First. Kursed. Firs-Oh, get a grip Fox.

Fox jammed his key into the second door as hard as he could. It was a childish thing to do, as if somehow trying to run the key through the keyhole and out the other side of the door would suddenly grant him relief to his problems. Unfortunately, it didn't. It merely compounded them.

Snap

Oops...

Fox stared down at the now-half-a-key he was holding.

Damn it damn it DAMN it!

Fox irately turned and chucked the key down the hall, ignoring the abrasive sound of the now much shorter metal key skipping wildly across the wooden floor. Fox turned back to examine the door. The door was made of fine old oak, with a deep mahogany tint to go along with the ornate details around the edges. The door handle appeared to be a simple metal compound, colored to appear to be old silver.

Fox bent down to examine what the bolt was fashioned out of. He peered into the small crack between the door and the doorjamb. After peering intently for a few second, Fox swore. He stood up, rolled his eyes, and tried the handle. The door opened smoothly into Fox's room. Still muttering various expletives, Fox strode into the room.

The room was much like the rest of the house. The light blue walls were just as falsely cheerful as before, and there were two excellent plant specimens on each wall. There was one queen sized bed, with a slightly darker blue bedspread. Directly across from the bed was a simple oak dresser boasting a medium-sized plasma TV mounted on top. There were no windows, and the light was provided from four bulbs stationed strategically across the ceiling. Off to his right there was a tidy bathroom, with a small walk-in shower. With a cursory glance Fox noted that the bathroom was already stocked with towels and paper. He also noted that Peppy was thoughtful enough to pre-stock it with some generic deodorant, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.

Normally upon entering a room, one would unpack his stuff and get settled in. However, Fox didn't have anything to unpack. Unless he wanted to strip down to his birthday suit and tuck those clothes away, Fox had no use for the dresser. The TV would have it's uses later, but for now Fox simply wanted to rest and recuperate from an emotionally taxing day. Without further ado, Fox collapsed onto the bed. Slowly, Fox cycled through the day's events. Peppy had come. Peppy had come for Fox. He'd given Fox a job and a way out of hell.

Out of one hell, and into another...

Then had come the news that Kursed would be working with him. Then in came Kursed, and out came the fact that Kursed was Krystal, and that she obviously wasn't particularly happy to see him. Then up came the memories, and down plunged Fox into them. Now here was Fox, after all this time of not knowing where Krystal was, he was sitting approximately fifty feet away from her, separated only by a wall.

And our conflicting emotions.

Fox sat up, rubbing his face with his left paw, supporting himself with his right. He allowed his mind to wander aimlessly.

Do I still love her? Of course I do. She takes up almost every dream I have. I can't get her out of my head. That means I love her, doesn't it?

A nagging seed of doubt voiced its opinions from the back of his head.

You already gave up your love for her, remember? You let it go with her when you kicked her off your team. You don't remember your reasons? You had said that true love was letting your love go if it meant keeping her safe. Surely you remember, Fox...

Fox lashed back at himself and his doubts.

I sacrificed our love for keeping her safe, it doesn't mean the love is dead! It just means I put it aside. It was a stupid thing to do, anyway. It was misguided. I shouldn't have done it, damn it, I wish I could take it back, I wish I could-

The seed of doubt smoothly pushed Fox back down. You can't take it back Fox. It's done. You and her that's done too. It's over, Fox; let it go.

Fox was confused. He wasn't sure which side of himself was right. He couldn't decide if he should be angry, or sad, or anything at all.

Hell, I can't even decide if I still love the damn vixen. Or if I should.

Confused and irate at his inability to piece together his emotional mess, Fox tried to think of something else.

Wasn't there something I wanted to check out? Damn it, why can't I think straight... I was in the parking lot of the jail... I got into Peppy's car... I had on my jacket... My jacket, that was it!

Fox sat up straight now, feeling the bottom seam of his jacket. He remembered there was something there, something that he couldn't quite recall. He slipped the jacket off, and examined the seam.

There's something inside. Didn't I put something in here? Damn it, why can't I seem to remember anything?

He refocused himself on the investigation at hand. Carefully, Fox pulled a hole in his jacket just big enough to see what was inside. He winced as he felt the threads give. It was his favorite jacket, and he disliked tearing it. After making a slight hole, he peered inside. He could make out what appeared to be a piece of paper, but was unable to tell if there was anything on it. He hesitated to further rip his jacket, but his curiosity was growing. Fox carefully widened the hold, and pulled out the piece of paper.

It was a photo.

Oh God...

Fox remembered now.

_ A few years before _

"What is it Fox? What did you want me for?" Krystal hurried into the center of one of the few public parks that Corneria had to offer. It was dark, nearing midnight, and the moon threw haunting shadows on the uneven pavement. Krystal shivered and wrapped her coat tighter around herself. She was uncomfortable being out like this without someone by her side. Tonight though, Fox had given her a call and asked her to meet him here. She didn't know why, but she'd agreed. Now she was here, but where was Fox?

"Fox? Fox? Are you here?"

"Right here Krys." Krystal let out a startled yelp and jumped. Fox was off to her right, sitting on one of the generic green benches in the shadows. She hadn't noticed him, and was too distracted with the dark to feel him with her mind.

"Don't do that Fox! You scared me." Krystal admonished him.

"Sorry Krystal, I didn't mean to, honestly. "A few awkward moments passed, as they both stared at each other. Krystal stared in expectation of being told why she'd been dragged out here. Fox stared back with the lost look of a male who has no idea what the hell he's doing. Finally, Fox snapped out of his stupor.

"Hey Krys, sorry. Um, I uh.. I have something.. for, uh, I mean.. I have something to show you." Fox was having trouble relaying the words form his mind to his mouth. Krystal was mystified with Fox's behavior, but came willingly and sat by Fox. Fox slowly fumbled with a package that he'd had beside him. The package was wrapped with a simple brown paper, with a neatly tied white ribbon.

"I, uh... thought you might, uh.. well..I don't know.." Fox said, obviously feeling uncomfortable.

"Feeling particularly literate today, aren't we?" Krystal teased him.

"Well, uh.. why don't you just open it?"

"Oh.. okay." Krystal said. She was still rather bemused about the entire situation, but she saw no reason not to accept whatever this was Fox was giving her. Slowly, she removed the wrapping to uncover a small, plain white box.

"Go on, open it up." Fox had regained enough confidence to speak normally.

"Alright, I still don't understand why- Oh! Fox!" Krystal opened the box to reveal shining necklace made of deep back stones. Now she began to understand.

"I kinda, uh, saw them in a store, and figured... I dunno.. maybe you'd like it." Fox's ear where turning a peculiar shade of pink.

"I love them Fox." Krystal said, and she meant it with all her heart. She knew now what this was all about. Her head was spinning.

He liked me after all!

"I don't really know, uh, all that much about color coordination or anything, so I don't know if it really fits you or anything, or if you like that color, or-" As Fox was talking, his ears reddened to the point where they were nearly luminous. To the casual observer, it would appear someone had installed neon into both.

"They're perfect Fox, they really are." Krystal said. She was beaming now. She'd slowly over the past few months realized that she felt much more comfortable around Fox. He made her laugh, he loosed her up, and he'd saved her life the first time she'd saw him. The only problem was that Fox didn't seem entirely comfortable around her. Now she realized that it was simply Fox not knowing how to express himself in an intelligent way around her.

The necklace isn't particularly stylish, but I wouldn't value anything over this.

"I'm, uh glad you like it." Fox said and gave an awkward grin. Fox had no idea where the hell he was taking this next.

Why the hell didn't I think this through? Think Fox, say something...

"Anyway, um, so-" Fox's words were interrupted by a blinding flash. For the second time in the park that night, a yelp pierced through the night in the center of the park. Except this time, it came from Fox.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Fox yelled, his voice hitting at a much higher register than normal.

"Ah, now isn't this a touching moment..." Peppy said, stepping out from the trees, holding a camera.

"Peppy? What the hell are you doing?" Fox blurted out the question in an almost defensive tone. He hadn't expected to be followed, let alone..

"I just thought you'd like to have this little moment preserved for posterity is all. Slippy told me that you were giving Krystal something here tonight, so I put two and two together and brought a camera. Of course, I was expecting a show, so I'm rather disappointed." Peppy's grin nearly split his face in two.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD" Fox yelled as he jumped off the bench, leaving Krystal clutching her sides and doubled over in laughter as she watched Fox chase Peppy around in the moonlight.

Fox had gotten the photo off of Peppy, and he'd kept it. He'd put it in his jacket to keep it close to him. Fox used to tell his friends that it brought him good luck, until all his friends were gone. He'd forgotten about it after a while, as he tried to forget the past. It sure as hell hadn't brought him any luck.

Fox sat staring at the photo for several minutes, completely lost in the memories of that night. Slowly, imperceptibly, a tear rolled down his face and dropped onto the photo. As the tear splashed against the photo, it seemed to trigger all of the pent up emotions Fox had been saving. One by one, tear by tear, each memory rolled down his face in an endless cascade. For the first time since he could remember, Fox wept.

NOTE A big thanks to sleddog116 for beta-ing this chapter. Thanks dude! As always, I appreciate reviews and constructive criticism, but not flames. Thanks!