"Three days, huh?"

Fox nodded. He was sitting in Fay's apartment, Panther and Fay sitting on the couch across from him. "And once she's finished I've got transportation settled so that she can get back here."

"I must thank you both for all you have done." Panther said, looking at Fox and Fay individually. "I don't know how much help I would have been for her on my own. Not that I wouldn't have been supportive, of course, but... the resources I do have aren't the ones she needed."

"Still, just being supportive is a huge part of it. I doubt she'd have made the same strides she did without you there to help." Fay said with a smile.

"It was truly the least I could do for my captain." Panther said, with a tiny bow. "But now that we know what Wolf will be up to for the rest of the week, I suppose that I shall have to find ways to entertain myself."

"Yeah, I'll... uh, take my leave, then." Fox said, awkwardly standing up.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner, you know." Fay offered.

"No, no, I need to be getting back. Thank you, though." He paused and then looked at Panther. "Although... Panther, could I... talk to you for a second?"

Panther tilted his head, then shrugged and followed Fox out into the hallway outside the door. "Well, what does the great Fox McCloud need of me?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"I... need your advice." Fox said, sheepishly. "I tried asking Falco but he just got annoyed with me."

"I can hardly imagine." Panther said with a slight smile. "But, very well. Ask away."

"So..." This was going to be tricky, given who it was about, but... "it's about Krystal."

Panther's face twitched but didn't betray any reaction. "What in particular about her?"

Fox let out a deep breath. "I want to kick her off of the team."

There was silence. It felt like an eternity of silence, though it was less than a minute. "Fox McCloud, I say this with nothing but respect, but you might be the most foolish man I have ever seen."

"It'd be for her own good!" Fox pinched the bridge of his nose. "I just don't want to have to watch her get shot down-"

"A bold assumption to make." Panther interjected. "I have personally seen her pilot prowess, I have engaged her in combat, and I ask you this: If Star Wolf could not shoot her out of space, what chance do run-of-the-mill mercenaries or bounty hunters have?"

"But I don't want to see her get hurt-"

"And you think she doesn't want the same for you?"

"I just-"

Panther placed his hands on Fox's shoulders. "Do you love her?"

"What?"

"Do you love her?" He repeated, looking deep into Fox's eyes.

Fox gulped. "Yes, more than anything." He finally responded.

"Then why would you want to cut what time you know that you have with her short?"

That... Fox didn't have anything to say to that. "Huh."

Panther let go of Fox's shoulders and shrugged. "Or kick her off of the team and know that she's certainly welcome at Star Wolf. It's up to you, my friend."

He was going to have to think about what Panther had said, but for right now all he could say was... "Thank you for your honesty, Panther."

After the Aparoid Invasion, the Great Fox had been settled into a low orbit around Corneria. There wasn't much chance of anything happening this recently after the entire system was rocked by the Aparoids, but it didn't hurt to dissuade anyone who wanted to try. On top of that, Fox thought to himself as he landed his Arwing in the docking bay, it meant that they didn't have to find temporary lodging on the planet.

It was fairly quiet inside the mobile base. ROB 64 was maintaining orbit, Peppy was still down on the planet itself, and the other three were... where were they, actually?

"Fox? That you?" Falco's voice piped up from the living quarters. "Get on in here so I can kick your butt at G-Zero GX."

Fox shook his head and chuckled as he followed the sound of his best friend's voice. That was where everyone had been, Falco and Slippy were racing head-to-head while Krystal watched from the couch. She smiled at him as he entered the room, and Fox couldn't help but smile back. It was in that moment that what Panther had said finally clicked with him. What had he been thinking? He rushed over to the couch and took Krystal's hand. "Do you want to go to Sauria with me?" The words just tumbled out of his mouth, not entirely sure why he was saying it.

"What?" She asked, laughing lightly in the way she always has. The way he's always loved.

"We could go, right now, just the two of us, now that everything's finally calmed down."

"Fox, what exactly are you asking?" Krystal had a gleam in her eye as she asked, almost like she knew where he was going with this, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"I just think that Tricky was right and it'd be a perfect place for our... our..." He wanted to say it, he wanted the words to come out, but they just kept getting caught in his throat and-

Krystal laid a finger on his muzzle and smiled. "Fox McCloud, I do. Do you?"

Fox nodded. "I do, too."

"Then as the power vested in me as the last remaining Cerinian priestess, I now pronounce us Mr. and Mrs. McCloud. You may kiss the bride."

Falco and Slippy had quietly stepped out into the hall so as to not disturb Fox and Krystal and had decided to head into the kitchen. Slippy noticed that Falco seemed... annoyed. Well, more so than usual. "What's up, Falco?"

"What? Nothing. Why?" The blue bird scowled at him. "Everything's just peachy, that's all."

"Okay." Slippy shrugged. Clearly he didn't want to talk about it, at least not right now. "Glad they finally tied the knot though, Peppy's gonna be so mad that he missed it."

Falco said nothing, grabbing some leftover Space Taco Bell and throwing it into the microwave to reheat. He grumbled to himself as he punched in the buttons, and then crossed his arms as he waited for it to finish.

"Hopefully things go that smoothly between me and Amanda." Slippy said, mostly talking to himself at this point. "You wonder if Krystal could officiate our wedding too?"

"You and who?" Falco gave Slippy a look. "Don't tell me that you've got a girlfriend too."

"I... do? I thought I had told you about her."

"Well yeah I mean I knew you had a friend that was a girl but I didn't know that she was your girlfriend."

"We started dating before the whole Aparoid business started, I've been planning to go visit her on Aquas for weeks now."

"Un. Believable. I don't believe this. Congrats, or whatever." Falco stormed out of the room, leaving his Space Taco Bell in the microwave. After a few minutes, Slippy could hear the sound of an Arwing taking off and flying out into space.

Slippy scratched his head as he watched his friend and co-pilot fly away through one of the viewscreens. Definitely not what he had expected.

This was definitely not what Wolf had expected. It was the same dream again, Venom, another Wolf fighting her. Viciously, angrily. It was all she could do to deflect their attacks. But this time... they spoke.

"Why?" The question was growled out from clenched teeth. "Why didn't you fight it?"

"Fight what?" She leapt over an attempted leg sweep, barely managing to land on both feet.

"This change!" Claws swiped at her head, narrowly missing after she ducked. "You gave in too easily!"

Gave in? "Why should I fight it? It makes me happy!" She grabbed a punch out of the air and flipped her opponent, giving her a moment's breathing room before they hopped back up and continued their attack.

"You were fine before, now look at you. Giggling, twirling, it's-"

"It's who I am!"

"It's never been that before!"

"That's just because I never had the chance to be myself before!"

The other wolf tried for a biting attack, but she held them back at arm's length. "You never deserved that chance, then." They hissed out at her. Was... was that it? Was that what this was? "I can't believe that you became so soft that you would think that-"

Before the other wolf could say another word, Wolf leapt forward at them, arms outstretched. The other wolf held up their arms to block, but...

"Are you... hugging me?"

"I don't know... I don't know why I got this chance." Wolf admitted, eye shut tight. "I don't know if I deserve it. All I know... is that I don't know." She hugged the other wolf even tighter. "But I'm going to make the most of it. I'm going to be someone... someone you could be proud of. Someone you would have been proud of." As she opened her eye, she was alone. It was like the other wolf had never existed. "I'll be myself, and hopefully... hopefully that's enough for you..."

"...Dad."