Well here is chapter 19 of the fic. This chapter continues the events of chapter 16. A female character who has not appeared in several chapters will also reappear.

Chapter 19

A Fresh Start: Part 1

For the next few hours, Fox, Wolf and Falco went to the nearest alleyway to escape the stairs of the other civilians that knew them well. Nobody in the entire city, not even the three of them, would ever believe that, after all these years of dogfights they got into, Fox and Falco would treat one of their arch nemesis as a longtime friend that they have never seen in years.

Of course, that didn't feel like a problem to them right now. Right now, they are starting to get used to each other without any conflicts. Although there still seems to be some thin ice between a few of them, as well as some of the recent bickering that came from a few sassy comments from Falco, they're talking things over and are beginning to get along pretty well. If all goes well, then it seems they'll result in putting the past behind them and moving on.

"...and THAT was the last time I would ever eat pineapple as a pizza topping. EVER in my life!" Falco shouted, getting a few giggles from Fox and Wolf.

"Dude," Fox giggled. "It was the ONLY time you had pineapple pizza, like ever. You were the one who wanted to try it."

"Well, I'm not the kind of guy who wants to eat something that's both salty and sweet in one bite! Heck, I'm not even sure if sweet and salty make a match when they're eaten together! It sounds like nonsense to me."

Wolf could only snicker for a few more seconds before speaking again. "Well, I'M the kind of guy that would prefer spicy foods on my pizza. Like peppers, hot sauce, even chilli! It's really good."

"You've got guts O'Donnell," Falco said with a smirk. "But can they stand the amount of spice you'd be giving them?"

"I don't eat pizza with all of those toppings at once," said Wolf. "I'm not that crazy."

"No, but you sure got a big appetite compared to me," Fox said with a wink.

"I think that was a compliment," he noted as he turned to Fox.

"And a compliment it was…" he replied.

Wolf smiled at Fox as he laughed. Despite not being his own intention of doing so, mainly due to being under the command of that ruthless, banana peeling, pink-butted Andross, he still feels pretty guilty of the many times he treated him poorly back in the Lylat Wars when they used to fight each other. Even when they fought the Aparoids together, he still said some pretty bad things without really meaning to. He has a lot to get off his chest with Fox about how bad he feels, he deserves to know the truth about that, but he also feels a little bit of peace from the man he's in love with.

"Hey Wolf," Falco whispered in his ear to snap him out of his romantic trance. "Don't get too close to Fox like that. Need to make sure you don't make a mess out of him one of these days."

Wolf cocked his head at him and gave him a glare.

"W-what are you saying Lombardi," he shuttered, feeling annoyed by what Falco said. "That I would deliberately go out of my way to harass him, even when he was kind to me and gave me a chance?"

"I wouldn't say to 'harassing' him, more like to forcefully pleasure his worries away with a nice, sweaty and juicy-"

"Shut up will you?!" he whispered nervously and blushed. "What makes you think I would do something to him like that?!"

"Oh nothing!" the bird replied with a smirk. "Just wondering why you were smiling at him, and making googly eyes like a cute, little puppy~.

Falco snickered after he said that and got Wolf to growl at him.

"HEY!"

They both heard Fox being the source of the voice that startled them and turned to his direction. They both felt intimidated when their friend was giving them both glares in the eyes and can see that he was upset. Either he was a good listener when eavesdropping on private conversations, or they were bad at whispering and Fox heard everything they said.

"Falco," he said. "Stop teasing Wolf. Also, I'm not getting into that commitment just yet, and don't you go getting any ideas that involve me trying to get a 'ride' with either one of you."

"Aww, c'mon Fox! I'm just trying to have a little bit of fun with the guy. Besides, he's the one who's eying you right now."

Fox and Wolf stared wide-eyed at Falco and blushed.

"S-Shut up…" they both muttered embarrassedly.

"What?" Falco said. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I just wanted to make a little joke and play around a little, that's all."

"Well, it sounds messed up to play with other people's emotions or feelings. Didn't anyone teach you that?" Wolf pointed out.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry," Falco said defensively.

Fox shook his head with an unsatisfied look. 'Is Falco seriously going with this?' he thought. 'And to think that I still have a few little feelings for him, even then…' He still had feelings for Falco. Even though what he did back then, ditching the team like that to go solo, did break his heart, he still felt as though he couldn't let Falco go when he left. And when he came back... he expected to hate him for what he did. But, he didn't. He couldn't hate him. The thought of hating someone he cares about just didn't feel right for him. Even though he was still mad at Falco for what happened before, he could never hate him even if he wanted to. He looked over to Wolf, who also had an unsatisfied look, but it grew to a small smile when he turned to Fox's direction. After all these years, being on opposite sides of a war, fighting someone who was seen as an enemy he knew nothing about, and with his terrible lifestyle while he was on the run from the law, and worst of all, rumored of being involved with his father's death, he actually found a chance to get to know the real Wolf that was being begged to be seen by the world and find who he believed could be a great friend. However, he still needed to come to a few more terms with Wolf, as there seemed to be some things left unsaid, and needed to come out. Suddenly, he started to feel that same warm feeling he has with Falco again, but it's different. He still has feelings for Falco, but now he's growing another warm feeling, and it's with...Wolf? He tried to hide it by changing the subject.

"So, what time is it?" he asked, slightly nervous. "I feel like we've been out here for hours."

"Let me check…" Falco pulled out his phone and read the time on it. 12:48 pm, it said. "It's ¾ past 12. We've been in this alleyway for about three hours and over 25 minutes."

"That long, huh?" asked Wolf. "I still need to figure out where I'm gonna get a job."

Fox thought for a few seconds and had an idea. "I know it may be a big risk, but maybe I'll put in a good word for General Pepper and ask him to help out."

"Seriously Fox? You're going that far for me? That sounds like a suicide attempt if you're willing to help a former criminal to start a new life."

"I'm willing to," he said sincerely. "And besides, think of it as receiving the chance to repent for your mistakes. Working with the ones who had to clean up your messes from before." Fox paused for a moment then said, "Not that I'm rubbing it all in, or anything."

"No offence taken," Wolf replied. "Ok fine. Let's see what General Pepper can do to help out."

Falco just kept staring at his phone. He saw that Katt sent him a text the previous day wondering how he was doing. He hasn't seen her in a long time, and he doesn't think that she's over the whole fallout they had years ago. He didn't think he'd ever talk to her again after that, it's strange for her to text him out of the blue like this.

"Hey, um, something just came up. I gotta go."

"Huh? Why?" Fox asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No. An...old friend just texted me. They want to know how I'm doing and get together with me."

"Okay then," said Wolf. "Have fun on your date!"

"It's not a date. It's just a friendly reunion."

"That's what they all say!" Wolf chuckled at his comment and got a red blush from Falco.

"And I'm gone. Later!" Falco ran off in the opposite direction, checked the streets to see if anyone was out there, then left in the left direction.

"Was that necessary?" Fox asked.

"Nah," Wolf replied. "But it felt like it was."

He chuckled a little bit more, then Fox began to chuckle with him. As they chuckled, Fox thought to himself a little more. 'Man, I can't believe I'm in love with BOTH of them now!"

…

Falco went on his way to a small restaurant nearby, where Katt asked him to meet her. He wondered how much she had changed since he last saw her five years ago. He just hoped that she'd gotten over her infatuation with him, because if that wasn't the case, and she'd start flirting with him he'd get up and leave without saying a word. Even though she was his friend, that was one of the few things he didn't like about her. He hoped that she'd changed about that and found another person with whom she could form a relationship.

When he finally reached the place they promised to meet up, he went inside. The place wasn't full of customers, but he couldn't see the pink cat anywhere, so he waited a while for her to arrive. While he waited, he took out his cell phone and started to see if he had any more messages that he hadn't read other than Katt's, but no. There wasn't anyone else who texted. These past five years, Falco never thought about Katt again. But if she left the life she had with her own gang, he wondered if this had happened with the other members too. They all must've left that life behind, and had sought to walk a better path. Like Star Wolf is trying to do right now.

"Wow Falco," a female voice spoke. "I see that you haven't changed much in these past five years."

When the pheasant heard the voice, he looked up from his phone at the person next to him.

"Hello, Katt," he said back while putting the phone away. "I see that in your case that you've changed a little yourself."

And it was true. Although Katt looked the same physically, she wore different clothes too. Not like her usual rebel girl clothes like her typical yellow shirt, black jacket, blue jeans, and black boots. She was actually wearing a more sophisticated attire right before his eyes; a white long-sleeve shirt, black pants, a black jacket, and black high-heeled shoes. With that outfit, Falco thought that she was working in a company or in some government agency, since she's not the Katt he knew for years.

"Well, for the past five years, I started taking classes at the local college they have in the city," Katt began to explain as she sat across the table from Falco. "I'm studying a law major to become a lawyer. That's why I'm dressed like this."

"Wow! That is surprising!" said Falco supportingly. "I never imagined seeing you making that kind of decision for a job. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you," she said. "And tell me, what have you been usefully dedicated to? I suppose that you haven't separated from your liking to fly in your ship."

"You know me very well," he answered. "After our last meeting, I wandered alone for a while bounty hunting until I returned to the Star Fox team last year."

"Oh yeah. I heard you were present during the Aparoid invasion a month ago, but I heard rumors about a planet called Sauria and that Andross had returned."

"Those rumors are true. I returned to the team during that event, but you don't have to worry about Andross anymore. He's gone for good, and he won't return this time."

"Excellent!" she said in cheer. "I'm glad to hear that. By the way, answer me one thing…"

Falco gulped. He had a feeling that she was mad about something he did.

"Why didn't you reply to my messages yesterday?" she asked with an upset tone.

"I'm very sorry I didn't," the pheasant sighed. "These days, so much has happened that I didn't even notice your calls, since I didn't have the phone in hand those times. And I just found out about your texts today after not checking out my phone for the past two days."

"Ok, I understand," she said calmly now. "I guess it has to do with the whole Star Wolf thing, right?"

"That, and several other things. But, I don't wanna bore you with the details. So how about we order something for lunch and you can tell me more about why you chose a law career."

"Oh yes, of course."

Thus, both the bird and the cat took their menus to see what they were going to order. Falco panicked when the appetizers list had the option for chicken nuggets on it.

Here ends the nineteenth chapter. I hope you liked it.