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Back at the steakhouse, Fox and the other guys were having a conversation about their reactions from the press conference in the early afternoon. Giving this an opportunity to cool down from the uproar that occurred, they took it upon themselves to share what they were feeling about what happened.

Dash was the first one to confess;

"...when the crowd in the soda shop started to rant about your release, I started to freak over what would've happened if Pepper knew I was here somehow...and told everyone all over the Lylat System," said Dash. "With a whole lot of stress over this situation, I just...ran out of there and out from the city."

"Geez," said Wolf. 'that must've been pretty rough for ya."

"Panther agrees to that comment," said Panther, "as he would probably feel that exact rush of anxiety if he was placed in your position."

Leon just nodded in silence, agreeing with the others.

"Thanks," Dash breathed before picking up a fry, "I needed that."

Fox smiled at the monkey, feeling great that Dash was starting to feel better about what happened earlier. He wishes that he could think the same for him. The guilt was still trying to consume him again, but he had to pull through.

"I'm glad to hear that, Dash," Fox began, "it's good to talk about what's been weighing on your chest to some people that you can trust to help you, instead of keeping it bottled up for too long."

"I actually hear you, chump" Leon replied. "I was starting to feel satisfied with the crowd yelling at us at the press conference, until they brought some garbage along and began to throw them at us."

"Don't remind me, Leon..." Wolf groaned in complaint.

"I still need to take a shower ASAP..." Panther whined in 1st person.

Fox kept on smiling when he began to lower his head. He couldn't believe that he was making peace with his old nemesis and his team from the Lylat wars, and were starting to behave like friends in just one day. He never knew that things were changing so fast. Maybe a little too fast, but it's still...good, right?

"Thinking about something pup?"

Fox was brought back into reality when a lupine whispered in his ear while Dash and Panther were talking about shampoos and conditioners.

"Sorry. Just...thinking" he said.

"About what, if I may ask?" the lupine said with curiosity.

"I was thinking how fast things were changing for these last few hours. For you guys, for Lylat, and for me too," the vulpin confessed. "I was in a huge denial about what I had heard this morning, and I was very upset to accept it..."

He paused for a moment.

"...but now, I'm starting to think this is feeling right. Like this needed to happen, despite our history together."

Wolf started to feel like he was on a cloud right now. He suddenly began to grow a small smile on his face, and he couldn't take it back. Seeing this made Fox's eyes widen. He had never seen his old enemy give a sincere and sweet smile.

Wait...'Sweet?' Did Fox just seriously think that!?

"Is something wrong Fox?" Wolf asked.

"N-no. I just...didn't expect you to smile like that" he sputtered.

"Me neither" said a voice beside him.

Fox turned to see Panther, Leon and Dash looking at them now. The three of them were bewildered upon seeing the vulpin and the lupine having their conversion together. Fox and Wolf began to blush now.

"Don't. Say. Anything! Understand?" Wolf barked at the other three.

Dash just raised his arms up by his shoulders while giving off a smug. The other two just giggled.

A little later, after paying for their food, the five men exited the restaurant with a few smiles to go around.

"You know," Fox spoke, getting the other's attention, "I think I'm feeling better now. And I have to admit, I enjoyed our evening together."

Wolf snickered and said, "Oh, you did now, didn't you? Haha, you must've thought this was some sort of date with your old enemies!"

Fox was starting to feel embarrassed right now.

"Hey! That's not funny!"

The other guys just laughed now. Fox took a few seconds before he started to laugh too.

"So Fox, are you seeing anyone?" the monkey asked.

Fox stopped laughing at that moment. He grew a frown on his face and looked down.

The guys grew confused as to seeing Fox in this state. He just felt happy about opening up to them earlier. Was there something else he wasn't telling them?

"Fox?" asked the lupine.

"Huh? Oh! Um... sorry guys. I just... dozed off for a moment there... hehehe" the vulpin said nervously.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Dash.

"No! No, you didn't. It's just..." Fox sighed for a moment before continuing. "The reason I came out here was because I needed some space from my team."

"Aren't they here with you?" Leon asked.

"No. I took off without them" he replied

"Aww man," said Panther, "and I was hoping to see Krystal again..."

"Well, I'm not," Fox retorted with his annoyance coming back, "Not after her latest attempt to seduce me."

Upon hearing that, the guys were surprised and confused of why Fox would think that, but Panther was in utter shock over hearing that about Krystal.

"Why does that sound like a bad thing to you?" asked Leon. "Don't you like her?"

"As a friend," said Fox coldly, "but I'm not interested in dating her. I keep telling her that I don't wanna date her, but does she listen? No!" he was starting to get frustrated now, "She tries to woo me into having sex with her thinking that it's her reward for confiding my problems with her like some CHEEP SLUT!"

The guys backed away from Fox a little bit upon seeing him freaking out like that. In a state of shock, Panther couldn't believe that Krystal would do something out of character like that. Actually, he might. Seeing how Wolf changed his attitude with Fox earlier before entering the steakhouse, he guesses that some people change in many ways than one.

Fox was heavily breathing right now. The frustration of Krystal was starting to catch up on him, and it was too much for him. He started to let out a few tears, before he fell down to his knees and started to cry again. But this time, he felt gross. Wolf walked over to the vulpin and touched his shoulder, making him turn up. The lupine was giving him a look of guilt upon hearing what he had gone through the late morning. All of the sudden, Fox instantly wrapped his arms around Wolf's shoulders and the crying kept on going, with more tears coming out. The lupine was a little off guard, but he slowly gave into the hug and wrapped his arms around him too, giving him soft shushes to calm him down.

...

Meanwhile, in one of the homes that was in the city...

...and which, unlike many others, had a large number of security devices, served to protect the inhabitants who lived there, were General Pepper and his foster son, Bill.

That press conference went better than they expected, right?

"That could've gone worse," said General Pepper having a cup of coffee while sitting at the kitchen table, "those present could've tried to attack Star Wolf, or even myself for allowing them to have given them a redemption service."

"Don't say that, Dad," Bill said sipping some juice while sitting on the other side of the small table, "what worried me the most was they would've hurt you. At least they stayed calm when you reprimanded them for what they did, and I could even see that they were ashamed for behaving that way in front of you."

"You don't have to worry about me. I've been in the military long before I adopted you, and I've never been harmed."

"But don't you remember the Aparoid invasion? You almost died that day. I don't know what I would've done if that ever happened! You're my only family and it terrifies me to think that I will be all alone again the day you finally die!"

Bill began to think about that fate that would have to happen someday, sooner or later, and he began to shed a couple of tears from his eyes. Then, he placed his glass of juice down on the table and lowered his head.

Pepper placed his cup of coffee on the table, got up, walked over to Bill and gave him a comforting hug. He did not like to see Bill when he was sad, not even when he was a child. For that reason, he always did his beat to cheer him up.

It was understandable for him that Bill was like this. After never finding his biological parents who abandoned him as a baby, he did not want to lose anyone else in his life. He even preferred to give his own life to keep Pepper safe, since he owed him a lot, as he offered him a stable home and family from a very young age and was grateful for that. Even at that moment, all the memories that have passed together since he was a baby flashed through his mind. There were many memories, but there were some that Bill always kept in his heart.

Bill remembered when Pepper once secretly brought him to work with him when he was 6 years old. He was able to see all the Cornerian army pilots at their flight practice. That day, no emergency had occurred and everything was calm. On that occasion, it was the first time in his entire life that he had seen James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and that greedy traitor Pigma Dengar, albeit from afar. It was also the first time he was able to see them piloting their own arwings. He could remember that because of that visit to his foster father's job, he became interested in being a pilot in the Cornerian army.

He then remembered when he was a child, he was afraid of thunderstorms and would always cry. Pepper always sat next to him to reassure him and even once invented a game to help Bill to lose his fear. Whenever lightning struck, the sound of thunder took an amount of time to be heard, so they would wait for the next strike. He said that when they see the light they would start counting how long it took to hear the sound, and with each lightning, the thunder took longer to be heard. It was because of this game that Bill lost his fear of thunderstorms, and every time he saw a storm that childhood memory came back to him.

He also recalled a trip to the beach during a Summer day with Pepper so they both could have some quality father and son time. He remembered that on that trip, he met someone who became his best friend forever, Fox McCloud, who was accompanied by his parents James and Vixy. He also met Lucy Hare, who was also with her parents Peppy and Vivian. To make sure that no one would discover their family bond, Pepper said that Bill was the son of some friends who, as they were busy, could not come, but they've given him permission to bring him along to the beach. One one hand: the parents of both kids believed their friend's story, on the other hand: Bill met two of those who would become his best friends.

And finally, he remembered when he joined the academy and was one of the graduates with the highest honors. On his graduation day, Pepper was there to welcome the new pilots. Something that nobody had noticed was the look of pride on Pepper's face when he looked at Bill, but he was the only one who noticed. Since Bill was following in his footsteps, and who knows, maybe he'll become Corneria's general one day.

Once Bill calmed down, he looked directly at Pepper who seemed to have let out a few tears as well.

"Bill. I know you want me to live forever, but you know that life is not permanent. Someday, I will have to leave this world, but I will leave with the satisfaction that you will be a good person. Although, I would like to see you with a formed family before leaving."

That phrase reminded Bill of something that he never told Pepper out of fear of disappointing him. He wanted to tell him, but in the end, he decided to keep it quiet.