Well here is chapter 26 of the fic. After a time of training, it is time to relax for all members of the army.

Chapter 26

Lunch Break

A few hours went by of flying in the air, and everyone was famished by now. The time was 12:15, which meant that it's a few minutes past the start of lunchtime and everyone couldn't wait for their second course meal of the day. People were in line with a food tray in both of their hands while they waited for their contents to be served. Today, they were serving ham and cheese sandwiches, small bowls of salad, and pretzels. The drink they're always supposed to have every day is water, and would grab a plastic cup to fill up at the water dispenser at the end of the line.

The Star Fox team and Dash were almost done getting their food while Sabre was sitting at an empty table, already eating his food, and Krystal was eager to sit with him. Fox couldn't wait to chow down on his food as soon as he got it, but he was also wondering if Wolf and his team would be heading up here for lunch too. Although he has the thought of asking them to join them for lunch, they probably don't want to be in the same room with a lot of people that knew about their reputation as criminals and would probably give off uncomfortable glances as if they don't trust them. He's glad that he became great friends with Wolf, and he wouldn't mind becoming great friends with Panther and Leon too, he just hopes that other people would give them a second chance too.

Looking back to when Wolf opened up on how guilty he felt about fighting him, it was surprising and shocking to him. But it was about enough proof that Wolf really is wanting to become a better person.

As soon as Fox got to the end of the line, he grabbed himself a plastic cup and held it underneath the dispenser hose, pushed the button above it to fill his cup with water, and placed the filled cup onto his tray before heading out of the line.

His team and Dash followed him as they made their way to the table that Sabre was sitting at. It didn't take long for them to make it there to sit next to the brown wolf.

"Whew! What a day," Sabre said with a smile on his face.

"It sure is," Slippy said with a laugh.

"How are you feeling on your first day on the job?" Krystal asked her brother.

"It's been great! I've made quite a few friends here, especially many of the ladies here."

"That's great news!" His sister exclaimed happily.

"Hmph. Lucky…" Falco grumbled under his breath.

"Now Falco, no need to get all grumpy," Peppy assured the pheasant before turning his head back to Sabre. "Glad to hear you're having such a great time, Sport."

"Yeah," said Fox. "I felt glad to be here the first time I came to the academy."

"You seem to be doing pretty great so far," Dash said.

"Haha. Thanks everyone. Glad to hear such kind words from you," Sabre said.

Everyone at the table was exchanging laughs and a few friendly comments as they sat together for lunch. It didn't take long for the other people present in the cafeteria to talk about a topic that caught the group's attention.

"Didn't you hear? Star Wolf has joined us at the academy today," said a bulldog from the table across from theirs.

The group slightly turned their heads to the voice's direction to listen in without being noticed.

"You're kidding!" another bulldog said. "Has General Pepper lost his mind bringing them to work here?"

"Well, according to him; They're being given a chance to start their lives over," the first bulldog explained.

"Second chance?!" the second bulldog asked in disbelief. "They worked with the guy who almost destroyed the entire Lylat system, and Pepper's giving them an opportunity to become better people? Nobody that bad can ever change that quickly."

"They were a mercenary team like Star Fox though, so they were probably just doing it for the money. Plus, you remember a month or so ago when they helped Star Fox defeat the Aparoids. And they didn't even ask them to help out."

"I don't care. They should be locked up and have the key thrown away."

The bulldogs went on having their argument about Star Wolf's second chance while the group looked back at each other with worried looks on their faces.

"I know that the news of Wolf and Leon were proven innocent of James' death and that they, along with Panther, are going to be given a redemption sentence was such a big shock for everyone, but I'm beginning to think that the arguing that everyone's having is bugging me," said Peppy with an uncomfortable tone in his voice.

"I'm just surprised that Pepper gave them a job here at the military base," said Sabre. "I heard a rumor going around saying that Star Wolf was looking for jobs in the city and were going to make a living to earn a clean slate, but they kept getting turned down. Guess someone decided to heck with it and give them a chance after all."

"Well, I'm feeling a little glad that they're getting another chance," said Krystal. "I just wonder if things will work out for them."

"I hope so," Fox said lightly.

"Really," Slippy asked, turning his attention towards Fox as if he knew something about this. "You do?"

"Well, yeah," he said calmly. "I mean, I didn't think they would be given a chance before. But after collecting my thoughts and meeting them a few times, I figured I could give this change a try." He took a drink from his cup before continuing with a smirk. "Besides, Wolf seemed very convincing."

The group, minus Falco, gave Fox a look of confusion.

"Wolf?" asked Peppy. "Really?"

"Well, it's kinda a long story," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"Think we should tell them what happened?" Falco asked.

"Maybe not the whole story, but just enough so they'd be on track…"

"You know about this too, Falco?" Slippy asked.

"Well, it happened yesterday when Fox and I stepped out during breakfast hours at the hotel. When we saw-"

"Wolf."

Falco was cut off by Krystal who seemed to be looking in a different direction.

"Um, it's rude to interrupt someone when they're trying to talk to you, y'know!" he said, irritated.

"No, look," she said pointing in the direction she was looking at. "It's Wolf."

The group turned to the direction that Krystal was pointing to and understood what she was saying, with Fox's heart feeling warm again. Wolf, Leon and Panther were walking in a corner of the cafeteria with their trays of food, probably trying to avoid any confrontation with the other pilots.

and"Maybe they don't want to have lunch by themselves," Fox said, quite animated after looking at Wolf, Leon and Panther over in the corner. Feeling confidence, he boldly said, "I'll go over there and invite them to sit with us."

"Do you think that's a good idea Fox?" Krystal asked. "They do look like they want to be alone."

"It'll be a good chance to find some common ground with them," he pointed. "Besides, you might like one of them." 'As long as one of them isn't Wolf…' he thought to himself. "Falco? Dash? Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure, count me in," Falco said. "I've still got a lot of insults to give Leon anyway."

"I figured you'd say something like that," the vulpine said with a confirming tone. He turned towards Dash. "What about you Dash? Are you in?"

"Definitely!" the monkey said with enthusiasm.

As the three of them got up from their seats to walk towards Star Wolf, Falco began to notice how Fox was feeling happy at the moment. Both of them knew each other for many years since they were children by now, and Fox always puts himself in situations like this that he considered very special. The pheasant even noticed something suspicious about the vulpine's tail; It was moving from side to side, not too strongly though. He can tell by Fox's expression that he was trying to control that reflection of his happiness, since he obviously didn't want anyone to notice it. Too bad for him that Falco already noticed…

At that moment, Falco began to think, and he couldn't deny that Fox looked cute when he was so happy, he even wished that Fox would start to feel that same kind of happiness for being with him. He shook his head to shove off that sudden thought to snap back into reality, feeling a little flushed under his feathers. 'Why was I thinking like that?!' he thought to himself. He always assumed that he was a free bird, and that he would never want to tie himself with anyone in a relationship, much less to actually fall in love with someone. But, now that he thought about it, there was something different in Fox that he hasn't seen for anyone else so far.

The pheasant was a little confused, but he decided to concentrate on something else because this wasn't the right time to think about that. Instead, he decided to think about all the kinds of insults he would give Leon in case an argument or fight would start between them.

...

Meanwhile, the rest of the group remained in their seats as they continued their conversation. Krystal was starting to have a slightly annoyed feeling in her chest as the words that Fox said about liking one of the Star Wolf members were ringing in her head. Although she hoped that they would feel comfortable sitting with them for lunch and work things out, she just hoped that Panther doesn't start flirting with her again like he did since they've met.

Sabre noticed that expression on her face and didn't hesitate to ask her. "Is something wrong Krystal?"

"No," she said. "It's nothing."

He wasn't convinced. "Oh come on, Krystal. I've known you since you were a baby and I know when something bad happens to you." He proceeds to place one of his hands over one of hers and puts a concerned look on his face. "You can tell me what's bothering you."

"It's fine," she told him. "The problem is that one of the Star Wolf members has a crush on me."

She knew she already saw where the situation was coming from, but she let herself continue with her explanation. "But the problem is that I don't feel the same way, and he's very insistent."

"Well, just between the two of us, if he tries to overdo his attempts we can put him in his place," he assured her. "Without attracting everyone's attention, that is."

"That could be a little much, but thank you Sabre," Krystal gratefully said with a warm smile, feeling a little better.

After they got past their conversation, they both went back to eating. Although Peppy and Slippy heard the entire conversation, they didn't want to get involved since they believed it was a sibling moment.

Anyway, Slippy couldn't stop thinking about Peppy while he was next to him. Seeing him eat his food led him to fantasize about what it would be like if he fed Peppy, as Peppy once explained that that's how several couples going out together would do sometimes. Since they arrived in Corneria on vacation a few days ago, the toad never stopped thinking about romantic fantasies with the rabbit and would really like to be his boyfriend somehow and confess his feelings. But the fear of being rejected by him made him feel very nervous.

Sometimes, he would like to know what the rabbit would think about him as he is without knowing of his feelings. He knew that they were pretty close teammates and great friends, but Slippy wishes to know if he likes him the same way that he does; A person that he could love and would give him happiness for all his life. But the thoughts that Peppy would never love anyone again since he was widowed could also be disappointingly possible, which frightens Slippy too. Looking back at Krystal and Sabre, knowing that Krystal could read his thoughts due to her telepathy and he figured that Sabre could and has realized his situation as well. He only hoped that neither of them would say anything about the situation, although he knew that he could be sure that neither of them would ever say anything to Peppy about his secret.

When he finally snapped back into reality, he watched as Fox, Falco, and Dash brought Wolf, Leon, and Panther to the table with them. After formally introducing them to Sabre, they all sat down. Wolf sat to the right of Fox while Falco sat on his left, which made him very happy to have the two men he has a crush on on either side of him. Leon sat across from Falco and they both started to shoot deadly looks at each other. Lastly, Panther sat next to Krystal and, of course he would, try to woo her into an advance with his charm to which Krystal is trying to ignore.

This was going to be the most interesting lunch meetup for everyone that is sitting at the table right now, especially since the other people in the cafeteria were watching them from their tables too.

Here ends the twenty six chapter. I hope you liked it.