FSE

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**Ch. 25

The Talk**

After Fox talked to his team about their new mission he started to walk down the hallway and noticed in the Lounge room that Krystal was still there and she was staring outside the large window; He took a deep breath and made his way in, if there was a better time to find out where the two stood he would gladly wait for it, but he knew no better time would come. Krystal knew it was him approaching her and took a deep breath as well. She was dreading the moment the two would be alone again, they would talk and he would want to know why she left.

‘Knew this was coming.’ She thought and turned to face him, she could tell he was just as if not more nervous than she was.

“Can we talk?” He asked, Krystal silently nodded and made her way over to the couch.

“I didn’t know you had a son, or a wife.” She said, Fox nodded.

“A lot has happened in two years…You missed a lot when you left.”

“What did you suspect that I would still be there even after you broke my heart?” She asked feeling the tears come up, she was feeling strong emotions build up and the dam was about to bust. Fox quickly stood up.

“It wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do Krystal…I loved you, I wanted to be with you, I wanted to have the son we always talked about.” He said, Krystal stood up.

“Then why did you end it?” She cried feeling the dam break down; all the emotions she had been repressing about him were now free. Fox turned around to look at the window, he always hated seeing her cry, but now it was much worse for him.

“Because…Because I wasn’t able to focus on the missions, I spent the whole time trying to cover only you…I was too distracted, and if something had happened to you…I would have been destroyed…I had to keep you safe, even if it meant ruining what we once had, And it worked didn’t it? You’re still alive and well.” Krystal tightened her fist, she wanted to punch him in the face, she wanted to unleash two years of anger and anguish and break his muzzle.

“That was the most selfish thing you have ever done Fox McCloud, did you not take my feelings into account?” She asked wiping the last bit of tears from her eyes.

“Of course I did, and it broke my heart at the thought of the pain I would put you through…Krystal, when my father died…I was torn to pieces. I just wouldn’t have made it if you had been killed because I wasn’t able to look out for you…I would have died…When you left, you hurt me too Krystal. To be honest I stayed in my room for a week straight…Crying, because I gave up the most precious thing in my life. In that week I would have given up Starfox if it meant that I would have had you back…I tried looking for you for the next few months, but you clearly didn’t want to be found. That’s when I met Talia, I fell in love with her so quickly that I didn’t even see it coming, and she wasn’t a member of the team so I didn’t have to look out for her all the time. One day she told me she was pregnant and we got married, we had Damon a year ago…I never gave up looking for you Krystal, I had to be sure you were okay, because I love you…Maybe not as I once did, but I still love you and care about you.” Fox took another deep breath and looked at the floor for a few seconds.

Krystal placed her hands together and brushed them through her hair, she let out a sigh and turned to Fox, she no longer felt the need to hurt him…She couldn’t hurt him as much as he had hurt himself and she felt sorry for him.

“I hated you for such a long time Fox…I hated and loved you at the same time and it tore me up inside…I thought leaving you and Lylat behind would help me heal, but it never did. Every day I had dreamt about you and it was amazing dreams that I loved having. Yet at the same time I hated myself for loving them. I tried so hard to forget about you so I could move on. Because of Josh the past month I didn’t really think about you. If I did I was easily able to push the thought away…Josh has been the greatest thing to have happened to me since I lost you…The first month I was with Josh, he was going through the same pain I was. He too was engaged and she left him, not only that but she was going to have his child. In the end she wanted to make things right with him, she died…And he never got the chance to say that he forgave her…That’s why I think he sometimes still thinks about her.”

Krystal took a deep breath before finishing.

“I don’t want something like that to possibly happen to us before I can say that I’m so sorry for the pain that I had also caused you…I…I forgive you.” She said, Fox’s ears flickered at her words and he looked at her with tears in his eyes.

“You do?” He asked and nearly sobbed at asking. She nodded and walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his back hugging him. Fox slightly gasped and quickly hugged her back. “I’m sorry for all the pain I put you through too Krystal…I was so selfish in my desire to protect you that I couldn’t see just how much I was hurting you…Please…Please tell me that we can still be…Friends…Please tell me we can still at least be friends?” He asked with a teary voice, it was actually more like he was begging her, if she said no to him, she knew he would be crushed. A few days ago she would have liked to seen him broken, but she meant what she said. She had forgiven him; if it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t have had the chance to meet Josh. The man she cared for more than anything else.

“Of course we can still be friends.” She said. Suddenly she felt him hug her tighter and could feel his body shaking against hers, she heard him sniffle a few times.

“Krystal?” He called out.

“Yes?”

“Would…Would you consider possibly…Coming back to the team?” He asked and slowly lifted his head to look at her. She stared into his dark brown eyes and thought for a moment. Though she had forgiven him and would still be his friend, she still had so many unclear feelings about him going through her mind. There would only be one way to truly tell if she would be able to be back at his side as a member of Starfox. If what she did revealed she still loved him, she wouldn’t be able to stay; she would have to leave with Josh. But if her feelings had eased, then she would be able to come back. The only tough part would be trying to convince Fox to make Josh a member of the team, but she had to do this one thing first.

“There’s something I have to do real quick first…And I need your help Fox. What I’m about to do will let me know how I truly feel about you; it’s the only way to know if I can come back.” She said and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” He asked, Krystal placed her fingers on his lips.

“Don’t fight it, just let me do this and get it over with.” She said, Fox gulped and nodded. Krystal took another deep breath and slowly leaned into Fox, she gently pressed her lips to his and closed her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her sides.

---

Josh was standing outside of the Great fox looking at the view of the city, thousands of lights made the city look like a glowing paradise. He sat down at the hanger entrance ramp; a cold breeze blew by sending a shiver up his spine. He crossed his arms to keep them warm. Suddenly he felt something warp around his shoulders. He flinched a little and looked over his shoulder to find Peppy standing close to him, he had wrapped a small blanket around his shoulders.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I knew you were out here and it was a bit nippy so I wanted to bring you something to keep warm.” Josh cleared his throat.

“Oh, thank you…Peppy right?” He asked, the rabbit nodded his head a little and gave a slight bow.

“Peppy Hare.” He said. Josh held out his hand and Peppy took a hold of it and the two shook.

“Thanks for the blanket.” He said Peppy nodded again and started to walk off. “Hey uh…Would you like to sit for a few moments?” He asked. Peppy paused and then turned around to look at the human.

“I wouldn’t mind sitting down for a few moments.” He replied and made his way to Josh and sat down next to him. He let out a breath of air and a smile formed on his face.

“This is a nice planet you humans have, it reminds me of Corneria…If you don’t mind me asking Josh, why are you out here in the cold all by yourself?” He asked.

“Just thinking mostly. With the Earth about to be invaded by an Alien invasion…I guess I just wanted a few moments to myself to think and clear my head…I appreciate what you all are doing for us.”

“Well, as Falco would put it, we weren’t doing anything anyway.” He said, Josh chuckled a little bit as did Peppy. After a few moments of silence Peppy cleared his throat.

“I would like to thank you Mr. Grant.” He said, Josh raised a brow and looked over to the rabbit.

“For what?” He asked.

“For keeping Krystal safe.” Josh smiled.

“You don’t have to thank me for that; she’s…A dear friend.” Josh said, part of him wanted to say that he loved her and would have done whatever it took to keep her safe but it didn’t come out. Peppy nodded and looked at the human.

“Krystal has that effect on people; she’s a natural good caring friend who doesn’t even have to try to be…I sure did miss her though…But Fox missed her the most.” Josh was then confused.

“I thought he was the one who ended it?” He asked, Peppy nodded.

“Aye he did…But that doesn’t mean that he wanted to...When the two of them were together they were the ultimate team, it was like their brains were synced together. When we had some down time, just the sight of how they cared about each other brightened the room.” Josh began to grind his teeth together, not in anger but a bit of jealousy, he wished Peppy wouldn’t talk about how happy her and Fox were together.

“After she left, ugh Fox was torn up. When his father was killed, it hurt the boy…But he held on and didn’t shed a single tear, but after Krystal left it was too much for him to handle…That was the only time I had ever seen him cry.” Josh turned his gaze away from Peppy and back to the city. This whole time Josh thought that Fox was just some prick who broke Krystal’s heart after he was done with her…But now he was starting to see that Fox actually loved her as much as she had loved him.

Then he started to get an uneasy feeling in his gut, two people who loved each other so much broke up and had not seen the other in two years. Now they have been reunited, Josh couldn’t even begin to understand how that would feel. He couldn’t understand what those two must be feeling. He had to remind himself that he and Krystal were together now and he trusted her not to do anything rash, yet a lingering thought of them crept into his mind. It was time to change the subject.

“So when are we leaving?” Josh asked, Peppy looked at the watch at his wrist.

“Thirty minutes, we best hurry and get inside.” He said and stood, Josh took one last look at the city and prayed that it would still be standing by the time they got back with the Cornerian fleet. The two made their way into the hanger and closed the ramp

Josh made his way down one of the hallways trying to find Col. Ryan when he noticed a wide door was opened and he started to walk to it.

“Don’t fight it, just let me do this and get it over with.” He heard a female voice call out, it sounded like Krystal. Josh made his way closer to the open door and looked in and saw Krystal kissing Fox. A small gasp let his mouth at the sight, all he could do at the moment was stand there and watch the two wrap their arms around each other as they kissed. He could feel his heart breaking, he then turned around and left feeling betrayed by another woman that he loved.

---

As Krystal kissed Fox the only image that popped into her mind was her kissing Josh. She tried to force the thought way so she could see how she felt about Fox, but every time she managed to think about Fox, the human always took his place, and she felt guilty. She placed her hands on Fox’s chest and pulled away from him and stared into his eyes, just like she had seen Fox in Josh’s eyes, she could now only find Josh’s eyes staring back at her. She moved away from Fox and stood.

“Did you get what you needed.” Fox asked, Krystal nodded.

“I could only picture Josh when I kissed you, no matter how hard I tried to think of you. Josh popped up.” Fox leaned forward.

“What does that mean?” He asked, he noticed Krystal’s face started to brighten up.

“I think…I think it means that…I’m in love with him.” She said the last part with a smile.

“What about me? What did you feel?” He asked

“Nothing…I felt nothing…I know it sounds harsh, but it means that I can join the Starfox team and fight at your side once again.” She said, Fox smiled brightly, after two years she would finally be at his side once again, maybe not as his love but as his friend, and that was just a good.

“That’s great news, it really is.” He replied, suddenly the intercom system went on.

“We will be leaving Earth and entering Slip space in ten minutes,.” R.O.B called out, then the intercom system went off with static and then silence.

“Well, let’s get going.” Fox said and stood up, leading Krystal out of the lounge room.”

The Great Fox had jumped into Slip space, Krystal had spent the past hour searching for Josh, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She then noticed Col. Ryan talking to Peppy.

“Excuse me Col. Ryan.” She called out, Ryan turned to her and smiled.

“Yes my dear?” He asked.

“Where’s Josh?” She asked, she then noticed Ryan raising an eyebrow.

“He told me you knew.” He said.

“Knew what?” Krystal quickly snapped, feeling very uneasy and worried.

“He told me that he was going to stay on Earth in case the invasion arrived before we did with the reinforcements, he told me that he told you this.” Krystal gulped and tightened her fist.

“He didn’t tell me anything…Why would he do that?” She asked in anger. Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s a warrior, maybe he wanted to be there when the fight breaks out, and didn’t tell you because you would have tried to stop him, or stayed with him...He reminds me of myself, but more so my grandfather, both were stubborn and once something was on their mind there was nothing anyone can do to change it.” Krystal nodded and quickly turned around and started to walk away.

‘Damn it Josh, what are you thinking?’ She asked herself and got into an elevator, she pushed the button to the bridge, the doors closed and she felt the elevator go up, just like her anger and worry.

The doors opened and she stood in the bridge of the Great Fox, she could see the spinning blue tunnel of the Slip space at the front windshield, she then noticed Fox at the controls.

“Fox.” Krystal called out and approached him.

“What’s up?” He asked, surprised to see her again so soon.

“Josh left the ship, he stayed on Earth without telling me.” She said.

“Sorry to hear that, we should reach Corneria in five hours.” He said.

“I can’t believe he just ran off like that.” She said.

“Maybe he didn’t want you to try to stay with him, just in case things don’t go as planned and your life ends up in danger.” Fox replied.

“You two are too much alike; I think you could actually be brothers.” Krystal said as she sat down in a chair next to Fox, nervously shaking her leg.

‘Please God let us make it there and back before the Gortons do…Josh…If something happens to you, I will never forgive you!’ Krystal thought and leaned back into the chair.