Well here is chapter 21 of the fic. This chapter continues the events of the first half of the previous chapter. Also Dash reappears after several chapters absent.

Chapter 21

Letting go

"Is that the reason why you stopped dating Fara?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah," replied Fox, with a gloomy tone in his face. "It is…"

For the past four minutes, despite of what he thought and of how nerve-wrecking it would be, Fox had gathered up the courage to come out to Krystal that he was gay. He believed that it was time for him to come clean to her so she'd understand the few reasons why he doesn't return her feelings. After what happened last Sunday, it was probably for the best to tell her the truth of why he didn't...

Krystal stood there in surprise and in shock from what she heard. She had always tried to woo Fox into starting a relationship with her which leads to no success, but he always doesn't have the attraction or the mutual feelings towards her. She began to understand why he never did love her back the way she did for him, even if he wanted to.

"I...I never thought about that," she said. "I was always thinking that you were just playing hard to get, even when you kept giving me your honest answer every time. It never occurred to me that you were interested in men instead of women."

"I'm sorry," Fox sighed. "I'm sorry I never told you the truth sooner. I was afraid of being made fun of or hated for the fact, considering that there weren't enough supportive people when I was younger than there are right now."

Krystal could only hum at the fact. It's true that most people in a highly civilized society don't accept the idea of people in a romantic relationship with someone of the same gender as them. She never had that problem back on her home planet growing up.

"I'm sorry too," she said with regret. "I should've realized sooner that I was giving you a hard time and that there was a reason for why you didn't return my feelings, I just…" She started to sob and croak a little. "After all these years of wandering alone, after losing my family, my friends, and my home, I thought I was going to be all alone forever and never be loved again. But when you saved me on Sauria, and welcomed me to Star Fox, I felt happy. Because I wasn't alone anymore...I started to develop feelings for you since then. I could tell you were flattered, but you weren't interested in me, and instead of respecting that choice I just tried to force you to love me!" She began to cry more now, and this really got Fox in the guilt zone. He placed one of his hands on her shoulder to assure her that he still cares for her, and she doesn't fully blame her for what she did. "What I did was...awful!"

"Krystal, it's okay," Fox assured her. "You didn't know the whole truth, and it was my fault for keeping it from you. You didn't deserve to be left in the dark like that. And I may have said some bad things about you behind your back last Monday, so sorry for that as well."

"I should've known better than to force this all onto you," she said, still crying. "It would've saved you enough trouble…"

"Well, you're learning from your mistakes. The next step is to ensure you don't make them again. And if you ever meet someone who feels that way too, then you need to pass that wisdom onto that other person as well to ensure they don't make any similar mistakes, or something worse."

Krystal remained silent for a minute to think back of how she behaved for the past year since she developed feelings for Fox. She was so much in love with Fox that she wanted him to spend most of his time with her when they're not at work or hanging with the other members of the team, and she wanted to enjoy every single moment with him. However, her desire for his love became a small obsession when he rejected her confession. When he told her that he can't love her, even if he wanted to, she became confused as to why he would say that. He's an adult, and he has his own rights, so he should be free to date anyone he pleases. He told her that he still appreciates her as a special friend of his, but she became so desperate for his love that she tried so many times to woo him into loving him. She never once thought that he was probably in love with someone else or if he was into men instead, like some of the people who used to be alive back on her home planet. After hearing the real reason why he didn't accept her feelings in return, she began to understand how foolish she was and how much annoyance and disgust that she was giving Fox for the time being.

"You...you're right. I understand what you mean to tell me." She looks up at Fox again and gives him a hug. "Thank you for helping me see the error of my ways, and I'm sorry again for what I've been doing to you lately."

"There's no need for another apology Krystal," Fox said, returning the hug. "It's okay. I forgive you for what you've done. I just hope we can stay as friends.

"Yes, of course," she replied. "Even though we can't form a relationship, I will always love you as the friend who saved my life."

Fox smiled at the comment and nodded his head in glee. He and Krystal separated from their hug and looked at each other. He saw how her face started to become a little more calm than usual, almost sad if he could describe it. He thinks Krystal is trying so hard not to feel sad for hearing the truth about him and is trying not to show it so much, so he gives her another hug to comfort her even further.

"Wha..? What are you…" she trailed.

"It's nothing romantic, but I love you…" he said. "You know that, right?"

Krystal began to tear up a little again and hugged him back.

"Me too," she replied. "Me too…"

It takes ten seconds for Krystal to calm down again, then they separate from their hug again.

"It's gonna take some time," Krystal said. "But I'll learn to move on. I've never been in a relationship before, so you're the first man I've fallen in love with."

"It may be a stupid suggestion, but maybe you and Panther could try to get together," he said.

"What? Him? Fox, no offense, but he's a total simp. He'd probably fall in love with anyone just by looking at them," she replied, while nudging her shoulder to his chest.

"Ow, hey! I was just saying."

They begin to laugh together for a bit. Krystal seems to already feel better, surprisingly after she went through an emotional train ride upon hearing Fox's confession. Krystal was about to get back to her jog when Fox stopped her for a second.

"Hey, wait. Before you go," he said. "You said that you were going to see your brother tomorrow. Any chance I could come with?"

"Actually, I was planning to invite you and the team along to meet him then. So, the answer would be 'yes'."

"Cool! I can't wait to meet him."

They both said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways. While he was walking, Fox could see Wolf in the distance looking at him. He must've seen everything, as he was smiling at the vulpin and gave him a thumbs up before walking away. Thinking that he'd wasted a chance of something, Fox looked both ways before crossing the street to catch up to the lupine.

…

Hours later, the evening started in Corneria. Dash was walking down the streets of the city, feeling a little more relaxed in the city since he met Fox. Since he met Fox, and thanks to Fara for giving him a little tour of the city, he was now visiting some places that he was interested in knowing. He visited many stores, parks, and the like. He even bought some new clothes, since the only clothes he had worn in the last few days was his clothing that he brought with him from his home planet Venom. Which, despite being in good condition, would not be enough if he wanted to start a new life on this planet.

At times like this, he wondered how his life would've been if he'd been born here on Corneria. Surely, it would have been a better life than what it was until the day he escaped from that horrible planet, as each year there keeps getting worse and worse. Even though he didn't like to admit it, after all the tragic moments he lived there, including losing his parents when he was a baby, if he hadn't found the opportunity to escape Venom a few months ago, he'd already use the only way he'd think of. He was thinking of committing suicide, because he could not bear the environment that he was living in and more so without people to call his family.

His memories of his home planet momentarily faded when he felt a nice aroma in the air and began to follow it. When he got closer to where the smell was coming from, he saw that it was a restaurant that served Mexican food and that tacos were their specialty. He started to get a little hungry seeing people eating those delicious stuffed nacho shells and decided to buy one. He checked his wallet and saw that he still has a lot of money to pay to eat before heading inside. As he entered, he went into a small line of other customers waiting to get their order. When it was his turn, he ordered a taco and a grape flavored soda, then went to find a table to sit at and enjoy his food. Just as he was about to start eating…

"Hey there!"

...a familiar voice was heard from behind him. He turned around to see that Fox McCloud was here too.

"Hi Fox, I didn't expect to meet you here today," said the monkey in surprise.

Dash didn't realize that Fox had entered the restaurant a little bit ago, as he was waiting in line towards the counter and his back towards the front door.

"Neither did I Dash," Fox replied "My Dad and I used to come here on our father and son moments before he died. The last time I came here was shortly before it happened."

"Oh," Dash said sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright," he tried to assure him. "Anyway, I came here because I wanted to have some nostalgia. Something I haven't eaten in a long time, since I was a teenager."

"That could be a good reason. I just came here cause I was hungry, and nothing else."

"I see," he giggled. "It's such a coincidence to find you here. Are you alone at the moment?"

"Yes. I was exploring the city and doing some shopping. If you want, you can sit with me."

Fox nodded his head and sat down next to the monkey. They begin to talk about what happened to them today while they ate. Fox told him about the time he and Falco spent with Wolf all morning until Falco had to leave for important business in the afternoon. Then the conversation he had with Krystal, where it seemed that things had begun to settle between them. Before arriving at the restaurant, Fox tried to catch up with Wolf to see if he wanted to come with him, but after Wolf left after his talk with Krystal he wasn't able to reach him. He probably had to go back to the apartment where he and his team were living at, trying to look into the job offers that he gave him from General Pepper, and he knew he could always contact him when they both had the time, but he really wanted to spend more time with him. And he couldn't call Falco to join him for tacos because he was busy with something that he didn't know what.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you worked things out between you and Krystal," Dash said.

"Yes," said Fox. "What's more, is that Krystal also said she had thought of asking us to accompany her to the Corneria army base tomorrow to meet her older brother. Do you want to come with us?"

Dash almost choked on the food upon hearing the invitation, but took some soda to help him swallow it better.

"Me, with you and your team to go there? Of course I would love it!"

The monkey felt like the luckiest being in the system. He was going to go to a place that he wanted to know in the company of his awesome heroes.

"Well, it's settled," Fox said, clasping his hands. "We'll go in the morning. I'll pick you up at your hotel where you're staying. It'll be around 8:00 AM."

"I think that'll be a good time," Dash said. "I'll be ready!"

"That settles it then," stroking the monkey's head as if he were his younger brother.

That brief gesture from Fox made Dash feel something. Some kind of warm feeling that he had never felt for anyone before, but he couldn't quite understand what the feeling was. He just liked it and even started to blush. Although, Fox didn't notice it.

After they both finished dinner, it was a pretty good evening for them both. They left the restaurant, said goodbye, and went their separate ways to their respectful hotels.

…

In Dash's room…

Dash started to put away the things he bought, but he suddenly started to think about what he felt when Fox patted his head. He was not going to deny that he liked him, but he wondered what he owed. After thinking for a few minutes, he asked himself, "Could it be... that I'm in love with Fox?"

Here ends the twenty-first chapter. I hope you liked it.

Note: Although me and my co-writer support Panther x Krystal, in this fic they will not be together.