Well... here's the conclusion to "The Storm Hawks Eight". I hope I didn't make things too tragic (probably not). Anyways, hope you enjoyed this story! I'm most likely not going to WRITE a sequel, but maybe just plan one out in case it should come up. lol, I already had one in plan anyways. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks (c) Ace Fipke and Nerd Corps

Chapter Twelve: Hard to Say Goodbye

After a pleasing dinner, with the exception of Stork, who returned to his room to test and analyze the floral-scented mindworm repellents that Kara bought for him, the Storm Hawks were more relaxed. With the fact that Kara had survived, and the delicious dinner, relaxation and satisfaction spread through them all.

Now they were heading back towards Kara's temporary room.

"How is she?" Arra asked the guards.

"Her fever is rising a fair bit," a guard said, "We fear she may be ill."

"And you didn't alert us, why?" Chase demanded angrily.

"Well… a boy who called himself "the Finnster" came up to us. He, being the great Domo, ordered us to 'take a break and relax'. He told us not to disturb you while during dinner." The guards explained, "We apologize for not alerting you though."

They all looked at Finn with angry "I'm-about-to-kill-you" expression on their faces.

"Finn…" Aerrow began.

"What?! Hey, don't look at me!" Finn said oh-not-so-innocently, "I'm not their great Gomo!"

"Domo!" Stork corrected.

"Whatever!" he snapped, "Same diff."

"Finn…" Piper growled, "We all know you're the Domo!"

"And no one else calls themselves 'the Finnster' except for you!" Junko added.

"Ugh," Aerrow groaned, turning back to the guards, "How is she now?"

"Not doing very well, sir," the guard replied.

Suddenly, a nurse came out of the room and turned her attention to Adrian. "Milord, we need your assistance," she told him.

The medic turned to his squadron. "Guys, hey, get to bed. I can take care of her," he told them.

"But-" Arra began.

"No," he cut off, "there still may be a chance that the Cyclonians may attack tomorrow, and you guys will need your strength. I'll be fine." He looked at his commanding officer straight in the eyes and gave a brief nod.

Aerrow sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to change the Sky Knight's mind. "Come on guys," he ordered.

They silently followed Aerrow back to their corridor and then all went into their respective rooms.

Back in the infirmary room, Adrian sat down by Kara's side and dabbed at her forehead with a cold, wet towel.

"Hey… how are you feeling?" he asked her quietly.

She coughed, "Not very well." She cleared her throat and stared him directly in the eyes. "I-I think… I'm dying… Adrian…"

"What?" he asked, forcing a chuckle, "Why do you say that?"

"The arrow," she retorted, "It was poisoned…"

He shook his head. "No… it can't be… I-I healed you…" he reassured, mostly to himself.

Kara took his hand tightly in hers, focusing on her aura. "See, Adrian? Can't you see how I'm weakening? There was poison in the arrow, I just know it. Ravess isn't that stupid just to shoot me blindly for no reason," she told him quietly.

Before he could reason otherwise, she closed her eyes and mentally analzyed the wound. "She had the chance to kill me when she could, but instead she only chose to wound me. They want me to suffer, Adrian. Suffer before I die," she explained, "But… I have to admit, I'm not suffering much. Only the sadness that I'm staying in bed." She looked outside to the balcony and into the skies. "And never have the chance to fly again."

He gripped her hand tightly. "I'm not going to let you die, Kara," he promised.

Suddenly, there was a rapping on the door.

"C-Come in!" he called hesitantly.

The door opened, and in came Aerrow and Piper, worry dancing in their eyes.

"Hey…" they greeted quietly.

"Hi," Adrian replied, "I thought I told you guys to go to bed."

"We couldn't go to bed knowing our friend was hurt," Piper retorted.

They came in and stood by Kara's bedside.

"How're feeling?" Aerrow inquired the girl in bed.

"Aerrow, Piper…" Kara began quietly, "I'm not going to make it."

Piper sat on the other side of the bed. "Kara, what are you talking about? You're going to make it. You've got to," she replied.

"I-I can't…" she muttered, "The poison on the arrow is too strong. There's no time to find an antidote." Then she looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. "I only have a few minutes left."

"No!" Adrian cried, tears beginning to spring from his eyes, "You can't die!"

Aerrow looked at her with sad emerald eyes. "He's right, Kara. We need you here with us."

"Don't worry," she whispered, "I can still visit you through other means. I will be able to visit all of you through dreams, and in my hawk form. But I can no longer stay with the Storm Hawks. Well… there is the possibility of attempting to bring me back from the dead."

"But you can't leave us!" Piper exclaimed, "We all still need you!"

She smiled softly, then looked at Aerrow. "Aerrow, come here. There is something I need to give you," she ordered.

Piper got up and the redheaded Sky Knight took her place by Kara's side. Kara reached up and gently undid her necklace. She held it by the silver chain and dropped it into his hands.

"The duty of saving Atmos as it's rightful guardian, now falls to you," she told him, "I have faith in you, Aerrow."

He shook his head, tears forming at the corner of his green eyes. "No, I can't. It belongs to you," he said.

"It has been said that if the guardian cannot fulfil her duty, another will be chosen. But as the guardian lay dying, she may choose her successor. And I choose you, Aerrow," she explained, turning to Piper with her hand outstretched, "To you, Piper, I give you all my knowledge of crystal handling and experimenting. I also give to you my sanity, so that you can put up with all the crap Finn's probably going to throw at you for the next few years."

An orange light surrounded Kara's hand and flew into Piper. The navigator chuckled quietly about that joke with Finn, but her heart was quietly breaking as she felt her friend's life fading away.

Kara then turned to Adrian, who had tears streaming down his cheeks. "And to you, my love, I give up all my healing powers, so you can help others in need. I also give both you and Aerrow my strength, so that you can lead the Storm Hawks into victory with your bravery."

A blue stream of healing light flowed from Kara's arm and into Adrian. Gently, he leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I love you," he whispered, "Don't ever forget that."

"I-I love you too…" she mumbled, her eyelids drooping.

"I swear to you, Kara," Aerrow choked, his voice cracking with emotion as he clenched her necklace tightly in his fist, "Ravess and Cyclonia will pay for this."

"We're all going to miss you," Piper whispered, tears running down her face, "Life on the Condor is never going to be the same without you."

"Goodbye, all of you, and thanks for everything you've ever done for me," she whispered.

"I love you so much, Kara…" Adrian choked, kissing her one last time before the last breath left her body and she went still.

Almost instantaneously they all could feel her presence disappear and sobs erupted from the room. Somehow, both Chase and Arra sensed that something was wrong and instantly Chase ran towards Kara's infirmary room while Arra went up to the Prophet's Tower.

"No…" Arra trailed off as she found the copy of the prophecy of the Storm Hawks. On it there was a note. It read, 'false prophecy. The guardian will die."

Chase stopped dead in his tracks once he reached the door.

"No…" he whispered in disbelief, "No, it can't be."

He burst into the room to find Aerrow holding Piper against his chest, both of them sobbing. He turned to the bed to see Adrian holding Kara in his arms, sobbing into her shoulder as her head hung limply, her eyes closed.

"No… No! NO!" Chase yelled in disbelief, "You can't be dead!"

Suddenly, a guard ran up to Chase as he fell to his knees, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Milord, what's wrong?" the guard asked.

"G-Go alert everyone on Foresta. The guardian has fallen. She's dead," he sobbed.

The guard was taken aback, and instantly ran through the corridors, yelling that the guardian was dead.

Chase forced himself to walk into the room and sit upon Kara's bedside, staring into the lifeless face.

"Adrian, I'm sorry…" he whispered, "I knew how much you loved her, as she loved you. She was like a younger sister to me…"

Adrian forced himself to look into the eyes of the 18-year-old. "She will be greatly missed," he said, "But… I don't think there's anything we can do now."

Aerrow looked at them, still holding Piper against him as she continued to sob. "All we can do now is take down the Cyclonian Empire. It was her mission, in which she passed it onto us. All the while we will try to find some way to bring her back," he announced, "I think it's time that the Storm Hawks leave Foresta, and we're going to take Kara with us. If and when she is resurrected, you will all be the first to know."

Chase bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Please, just wait for the dawn to leave. There are many of us Forestians who would wish to say our final goodbyes to her," he requested.

Aerrow dipped his head gravely, then escorted Piper out of the door. "Come on, Piper. It'll be alright. We'll find a way to bring her back," he soothed with a heavy heart.

Adrian gently kissed Kara's still-warm lips before setting her back down on the bed. Then he took a glance at her before forcing himself to leave the room.

Chase closed his eyes and took her cold hand in his. "We're all going to miss you, Kara. Why did you have to leave us?" he whispered, tears continuing to flow freely down his face, "You were always like a little sister to me, and you always will be." He gently kissed her forehead and pulled a silver crystal ring out of his pocket. On it were the words 'best friend forever', and engraved inside was Kara's name.

"I was going to give this to you before you left Foresta. It belonged to my cousin. She told me to give this to my best friend, and that would be you," he said as he slipped the ring onto her left hand pointer finger. "Goodbye, my dear friend," he whispered. He stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door.

Outside, Piper was leaning against Aerrow for support as the last of her tears rolled down her cheeks. Junko was crying, huddling himself into a ball. Finn cried quietly, tears falling from his blue eyes.

"It's all my fault…" he sobbed, "If only I hadn't told the guards to take a break, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"It's not your fault," Chase told him, "The poison had already been killing her from the start. There was no way you, or any of us for that matter, would have known. It's not your fault, Finn." The 18-year-old looked at the Storm Hawks' medic, who was crying silent tears as he felt his heart breaking with the death of his true love.

I feel so alone... Adrian thought with grief, I could have saved her. If only I had known how. I miss her so much...

Alas, sadness and grief tore at the Storm Hawks, but they knew they had to stay strong, for the sake of the Atmos, and for the sake of Kara, who gave her life trying to make Terra Foresta a better place.

Aerrow looked at the blue star pendant in his hand and clenched it tightly. I made a promise to her, he thought, closing his emerald eyes, and I intend to keep it.

THE END
(For now…)

Please review! (I don't have very many reviews for this story so pleeease!)