The next day, Krystal resumed her training in the simulator.
"It'll be the same as last time." Fox assured Krystal, "Just focus on getting used to the controls. After a few times, the controls won't light up and you'll have to rely on your training. A few more times and the rings will be disabled."
Krystal nodded as she closed the simulator door. She took a deep breath and grabbed the control wheel.
"It's just a simulation." she reassured herself. After a few moments, she had her virtual Arwing in the air and was getting a feel for the controls. After a few minutes, Krystal got a prompt to return to the virtual ship. A minute later and she was in the landing bay.
"You did great." Fox told Krystal, "Let's try that again, but with a set of rings to fly through before you return to the ship."
Fox altered a few settings before restarting the simulation. Like before, Krystal took off and had her craft under control. A path of rings appeard in front of her ship. Krystal began flying through them when Fox got a call from his parents on his communicator.
"Hello." Fox greeted.
"Your mother and I are coming for a visit." James told Fox, "She's a little worried about you."
"There's nothing to be worried about." Fox told him with a sigh.
"You left the system a man and came back with breasts." James countered, "You don't go through changes like that and expect her to act like nothing unusual happened. We'll be there in an hour."
"Fine." Fox groaned, "Just don't make a big deal out of it. I have enough to worry about at the moment with training new members and dealing with the Andronian threat. In fact, I'm in the middle of training one of them right now."
"I'll see you in an hour. James out."
Seeing that Krystal had just landed her craft, Fox turned off the simulation.
"My parents are coming in an hour." Fox told Krystal as she stepped out of the simulator.
"Should I change?" Krystal asked, "I'm sure they'd probably prefer Cornerian clothes."
"Your loincloth's fine." Fox assured her, "But it's up to you."
"I just want to make a good first impression with your mother." Krystal explained.
"She already met Falco." Fox told her, "The bar is already low. Just relax."
Fox walked down the halls, making sure everything was clean while Krystal returned to their room. She mentally went through her training on Lylatian customs.
"Makeup." Krystal told herself, "Lylatian women pride themselves on proper makeup application." Opening up a drawer, she pulled out the makeup Fara had lent her and carefully applied it according to Fara's instructions. She then looked through her clothes and footwear. Were her sandals good enough? Fox may think she looked good enough, but Krystal had a culture to figure out.
Meanwhile, Fox was cleaning a mess Falco had left in the dining room. When she had finished, she looked at her watch and she saw she had a few minutes left.
"Why today?" Fox asked herself. Sighing, she sat down in the recreation room and waited. Krystal joined her not long after. Minutes later, James and Vixy walked into the room.
"Fox?" Vixy asked in shock, "What happened to my boy?"
"Nobody knows." Fox told her, "I left a man and came back a woman."
Vixy stepped back and collected herself. "James warned me." she told herself, "I thought he was exagerating and maybe my son came back having developed a few mannerisms considered feminine on Corneria."
"Mom, I'd like you to meet Krystal." Fox told Vixy. Vixy looked at Krystal.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Krystal told Vixy.
"Is she..." Vixy whispered to James.
"She's his girlfriend." James whispered back.
Vixy examined the blue vixen more closely. Krystal was covered in what looked like tattoos, which Vixy wasn't thrilled about. Nonetheless, Krystal still appeared friendly.
"This is a lot for me to take in." Vixy told Fox.
"It was a lot for me too." Fox told her.
"And this team you're training?"
"Just Krystal and Fara Phoenix." Fox told her. Vixy's eyes went wide.
"You're training the millionaire?"
"Me and Falco." Fox told her, "Mostly Falco until I get Krystal ready to fly a real Arwing."
Vixy sat down, trying to process everything.
"I have a daughter." Vixy told herself, "I've always wanted a daughter, but not like this... But I have the daughter I always wanted ever since I was a little girl... But the daughter I have was my son."
"Can I get you anything?" Fox asked.
"Just sit down for a moment." She told Fox, "I need to process this."
Fox sat down. A few moments later, Vixy finally calmed down.
"I'm okay with this." Vixy told Fox, "I'm still shocked, but I can deal with these developments."
"That's good."
"How thorough was this change?" Vixy asked.
"I still haven't gone through... it." Fox admitted, "It's making me a little nervous."
"And you're fine with me?" Krystal asked, "I'm still trying to learn your customs and rules. I fear I'm underdressed and may commit a faux pas in front of my lover's parents."
"You're fine." Vixy told Krystal.
"I have Cornerian clothing if that's more culturally acceptable." Krystal explained, "I have pants, dresses, heels..."
"You're good." Fox told her.
"Your father's birthday is soon." Vixy told Fox, "Why don't you dress up nice and bring your girlfriend?"
Krystal was excited.
"So, how far are you two in your relationship?" Vixy asked.
"Mom!" Fox told her, almost shouting.
"Still in the courtship phase." Krystal answered, "We probably would have gone further sooner, but I'm learning your customs. We could enter the marriage stage soon."
"That's good." Vixy told her.
Fox sat down on the couch, still feeling stressed about the situation. Everything about the situation felt awkward.
"Sooo..., you're from Cerinia?" Vixy asked Krystal, wanting to get to know her... son's?... daughter's girlfriend better, "What's that planet like?"
"Warm and foresty." Krystal answered, "Or at least my village is. I can't answer for the rest of the planet."
"And what do you do there?" Vixy asked.
"I'm a warrior and a priestess. I've fought alongside your offspring against the Andronian invaders."
Vixy nodded.
"And how is life in the Lylat System?" Vixy asked.
"Okay, I guess." Krystal answered, "I haven't been here long enough to get a good enough picture, but I'm learning the customs. Last night, I had my first fancy dinner."
Fox relaxed a bit. Things weren't turning out as awkward as she had feared. Minutes later, Falco walked into the room.
"Katt wants me at her place." Falco told Fox, "She mentioned needing to bring me along for a little shopping."
"And if you refuse?" Fox asked.
"Fox, she has blackmail material on me." Falco answered, "Either I go or she talks about last night with her friends."
"What happened last night?" Vixy asked Krystal.
"We met Katt after dinner." the blue vixen answered honestly.
"The details are on a need-to-know basis." Falco told the older vixen, "And I need everyone else to not know."
"I already promised him I'd keep my mouth shut." Fox told her mother, "Let's just say bad things will happen if Katt's friends find out."
"What could possibly so bad that..."
"I already told Falco I'd keep it a secret." Fox said, interrupting Vixy, "Krystal and Fara already agreed to keep the details a secret for Falco's sake. All anyone else needs to know was that nothing illegal happened and nobody got hurt."
Falco looked at his communicator and held back a curse.
"I have to go... now!" Falco told the group as he headed for his Arwing, "Fox, if I give the signal, hop into your Arwing and bomb the area."
"What happened last night?" Vixy asked again.
"Again, that information is classified." Fox told her mother, "I'm not going to break Falco's trust, so please drop the subject."
"Sooo..., Krystal mentioned something about marriage?" Vixy asked.
"We're getting there." Fox answered, "In fact, we'd be a lot closer, but Krystal wanted to try out Cornerian courtship customs. She's been interested in experiencing other cultures since before we even met."
Vixy nodded.
"I've dreamt of seeing my son marry the woman of his dreams." Vixy revealed, "There'd be a big wedding where all the friends and family members would be invited."
"Wedding?" Krystal inquired.
"It's a ceremony where the couple are officially married, usually with family and friends witnessing the ocassion." Fox explained, "It's kind of a mix of a solemn ceremony and a party celebrating said ceremony."
Krystal's interest was piqued.
"I need to know more." Krystal told Fox, "How do we celebrate? What is worn? How and where do we perform the ceremony?"
"It's a pretty big subject." Vixy told the blue vixen, "There's so much planning and it begins with a proposal, usually months before the actual event."
"I didn't think you'd be so interested." Fox told Krystal.
"It's a big ceremony that's not done on Cerinia." Krystal explained, "It's also a big ceremony we'll have to go through if I am to experience Lylatian culture adequately. I need to know."
"Traditionally, it begins when the man proposes." Vixy explained, "He gets on one knee and asks her for her hand in marriage. If she accepts, he..."
Fox left the room and headed to the kitchen for a snack. She opened a cabinet and took out a small bag of chips.
"Why did they have to come?" Fox asked herself, "We were already going to Dad's birthday party. Today was supposed to be about training Krystal."
Fox opened the bag and began eating.
"At this rate, we'll have to postpone Krystal's return to her village."
Fox thought about it.
"Would I move in with her or would she return to the Lylat System with me?"
Fox wondered about the options. Living in separate systems was out of the question. Krystal would probably love living in the Lylat System, but it was also likely too crazy for her to tolerate for long.
A few minutes later, the bag was emptied and Fox returned to the recreation room. She found Vixy showing Krystal wedding things on the computer.
"We need to do that." Krystal told Vixy, "Before I return to Cerinia... or after. I need this Cornerian ceremony party thing."
Krystal turned around, having sensed Fox's return.
"Fox, we've had feelings for one-another since our time on Cerinia." Krystal began as she walked toward Fox, "We fought together. We repaired your ship together. We've trained one-another in our respective combat styles. We've formed a bond and now it's time to make it official in accordance to the rules of your culture."
Fox had a suspicion where this was going. Confirming her suspicion, Krystal got on one knee in front of Fox.
"Fox, will you marry me."
"Of course I will." Fox told her, "And if it's truly what you want, we'll do the ceremony."
Krystal smiled.
"Thank you, Fox."
"We have so much planning to do." Vixy told the couple, "We need to pick a venue and a date. We need to invite so many people. We'll need to get Krystal a wedding dress."
"And one for Fox." Krystal pointed out, "It is what the females traditionally wear, after all."
"What have I gotten myself into?" Fox asked herself.
"A wonderful part of your culture that I get to share with you." Krystal answered.
"We'll handle most of the preparations." Vixy assured Krystal, "Just worry about the dress, what kind of a venue you want, and where you'd go on your honeymoon."
Krystal thought about it for a moment. A church seemed the most traditional, according to what she had learned, but outdoor weddings were increasingly popular and did have their own appeal. And if they did an outdoor wedding, where would they hold it? A beach? An open field? Fichina was also a popular choice for those that didn't mind the cold.
"There's so much to choose from." Krystal told Vixy, "Back on Cerinia, the choices would have been 'temple', 'village' and 'forest'."
"You'll pick something." Vixy assured, "Don't overthink it. Just go with what you and Fox prefer. It is your shared special day."
Krystal nodded. She would eventually decide.
"Thank you." Krystal told the older vixen, "For now, I'll focus on today's training."
Vixy watched as Fox and Krystal headed for the simulator. Someday soon, her child was going to get married.