Another disclaimer: rating may go up due to description of sexual activity. Those of you who shouldn't read that stuff should probably leave and ask someone else about what happened because you will miss the ending.

Chapter 6 – Resolution

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other

Beginning's end

Semisonic, "Closing Time"

Fox awoke in a sleepy haze. The ship's daylight simulation had kicked in. The system was designed to simulate day and night by dimming or brightening the internal lights all over the ship to fit the clock. Right now, it was 0900, as Fox managed to see on the digital clock on his nightstand. But he had to look at it for a few seconds to finally comprehend what he was seeing. For the most part, his brain had become fully functional, as he was quick to wake up, even if he didn't appear to be. But Fox noticed someone else in the room who was still fast asleep.

Krystal was cuddled up beside him, her arms draped over his chest. Fox stroked her cheek with the back of his paw gently, so as not to wake her. She stirred a bit, but didn't wake. Fox debated on kissing her head, but decided not to. Instead, he watched her peaceful sleep intently, his body full of warmth for her. He felt the love radiate from her, as well, even though she was asleep. Just by the way she was so relaxed beside him told him that she was more at peace than she ever had been, and had probably slept better than she ever had, too. Fox closed his eyes, remembering the previous night. Fox would not have guessed that she had never done that before by how she'd taken over partly during their lovemaking. At first, Fox let her do whatever she felt like doing. She seemed to be in that kind of mood, and she'd definitely seemed to enjoy being in charge. She knew exactly what she was doing, and Fox had been observing her, to find out just what she wanted. This had allowed him to tame her, as she had been more off the wall than Fox had ever seen her. He continually blamed it on the fact that she'd had so much sexual energy built up, and no adequate way to release it. Until he came along. He had been the sole target of that bottled up energy, about which he had absolutely no complaint whatsoever.

But she'd been really easy to subdue once she'd let him take over. Fox was definitely glad that he'd gotten the soundproofing done when he had, because Krystal had been anything but quiet. Although that may have been because she knew the room had been soundproofed. Fox decided that thinking too much about that was not relevant, and he simply didn't care. Krystal being as noisy as she had been was the manifestation of every fantasy Fox had ever thought had involving a female, and he had no wish to continue to fantasize when the real thing was right next to him. A broad smile crossed his face as he looked upon her again. As beautiful as she was now, Fox remembered very vividly how she looked under all those blankets. Soft white fur covering her entire front. In fact, her whole body was soft. Along with this fact, Fox became aware of something else that her really enjoyed about her. Her smell. The night before had assaulted the two with smells that Fox hadn't enjoyed for too long, and that Krystal had never enjoyed at all. She still smelled of her sweet, feminine aroma, which Fox breathed in deeply. Or maybe that was what had been left on his bed. Or both. Oh, who freaking cares, she smells incredible! Fox decided.
He stared at her with an intense love, and found himself hoping to all things holy that he'd made her first mating experience one that she would never forget. He resolved that he would never be with another girl as long as he lived, and he would do anything to make her happy. Too many girls he'd known as friends had been hurt by their first lovers ditching them for someone else, shortly after making such a dramatic commitment. Fox decided that he would never hurt Krystal like that. Then something else hit him like a freight train.

What if she was pregnant? Well, it was certainly possible. He didn't remember either of them expressing concern about it. If it happened, it happened. Was Fox prepared to deal with that? Oh, what the hell are you talking about? he thought angrily. You love her, and she loves you! If she's pregnant, what the hell are you scared of? You can handle kids! And so can she! But then, he realized that they'd never talked about it. Not even a joke about it. Fox wondered if that's what Krystal wanted. He didn't want to wake her up to ask. She would wake up eventually, so he decided that when she did, he would talk to her about it. Besides, he needed a shower. Bad. As much as he wanted to keep her smell on him, he realized that his fur was quite greasy. "Stupid sweat..." he muttered almost inaudibly.

He tried to be as unobtrusive to Krystal as he could as he rolled off the bed, and padded lazily toward the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, and pressed moved over to the shower control pad on the wall. He set it for 110 degrees. "A hot shower," he muttered. He would turn it on a cooler setting when he'd finished scouring the sweat from his body. The water streamed out and immediately steamed up the room. Fox removed his undergarments and was about to jump in when he noticed something strange. A marking on his hip. He looked closer, and realized it was very similar to the tattoo Krystal had in the same location. It was on the other hip, too. It was almost identical to Krystal's, except for two things. One, which was more obvious: the triangles were in an X formation, not a +. And second, if Fox remembered correctly, Krystal's tattoo's spiral went the opposite direction. His was spinning counter-clockwise. Krystal's spun clockwise. What did this marking mean? Fox had always assumed that the markings were tribal tattoos. Evidently they were closer to birthmarks. And why were his so similar to Krystal's? Did they mean something? He decided this was something else to ask her when she woke up. He hopped into the shower, yelping a bit, as the water was a bit warmer than he'd anticipated, but quickly adjusted and closed the shower's door.

Twenty minutes later found Fox exiting the bathroom, clearly refreshed. He had found the stiffest brush he could find to scrub his fur clean with scalding water. It had been a little much to take for longer than ten minutes, though, and Fox finally had turned the water temperature down to a much more refreshing 75 degrees. By comparison to the shower he'd been taking, he suddenly had felt like he had been swimming in the wake of an iceberg.

He emerged from the bathroom in a robe. He really felt a lot better, and his fur was much softer now. He had done that on purpose, knowing Krystal would appreciate it.

Speaking of which, where was Krystal? Fox glanced around the room, and almost missed her, except for her tail sticking out from around a corner, twitching slightly. Fox came around the wall, and found her staring out the window at the stars, wearing only her fur, which was a complete mess all over her body. In certain understandable places, her fur was matted. Her hair was ragged looking. But Fox still enjoyed looking at her. He saw her eyes, the only party of her that seemed to be the way they always were. But there was something different about them. They were too shiny. Fox looked closer, and found that the fur around her eyes was in a similar state as the rest of her. It was matted. But not from last night. She was crying.

"Krystal? Are you okay?" Fox said softly. She looked at him, but didn't move otherwise. She smiled after a bit.

"Yes, Fox. I'm fine. Just... thinking."

Fox wondered what she was thinking about that had upset her. "Can I... do something to help?"

She giggled a little, but didn't look at him. "Well, you can come over here and hold me."

Fox shrugged. "Sure." He came over to her, taking her paw in his.

Krystal glanced back at him, tugging his robe. "What's this for? Hiding yourself from me, hmm?" She tugged the strip of cloth that held it closed, wiggling herself against his body within it. Fox caught the drift, and closed the robe around them, pulling her closer to him. Every part of his body was in close contact with hers now. Apparently just what Krystal wanted. She breathed in deeply, and sighed, relaxing as his arms found their way around her middle. "Much better." she purred. Fox buried his muzzle in Krystal's cheek, licking her. She giggled, then turned her muzzle to his and grabbed his tongue up in her mouth, and kissed him. She felt him hug her tighter, and she took one of his paws in hers, and cupped it over her breast, still intensely kissing him.

"Krystal?" he said finally.

"Yes, love?"

"I really need to talk to you... about last night."

She shivered, remembering the experience herself. "Mmm... what about it?"

"Well I... we... you could be pregnant."

She grinned at him. "Well, I would think so!" She touched the matted fur inside her thighs. She kissed him on the nose. "You made quite a mess!"

Fox was blushing. "Well, I mean... is that what you wanted? I mean, you never asked me about it. We never really talked about it or anything. I thought you might not have realized that that could, you know, happen. Are you... ready for something like that?"

She looked at him with an inner warmth that grew as she stared into his eyes. "Well, I kind of expected it. I didn't think much about it at first, because I was too busy... um, enjoying myself. Or you, or... you know, whatever. But afterward, yes, I thought about it. I decided that it didn't matter. I love you. And if you were to bless me with children, even at this point in my life, well... I can think of no one better to make me a mother than you, Fox."

Fox was amazed at how she worded that. It made sense, and she was truly not worried about it. In fact, she welcomed it. That made Fox feel a lot better.

She looked at him, and sensed he was fighting himself to say something else. "Fox, do you... not feel ready? I mean, to... have children? Does it scare you, or something?" She seemed very concerned about it, like she half expected Fox to be angry that she could be pregnant.

Fox shook his head quickly. "No, no. It's not that at all, Krystal. I just... can't really top how you put it." He grinned sheepishly.

Krystal giggled. "Oh. So you were just worried about how I felt about it."

Fox smiled. "Yeah. I wasn't sure how you would react. I'm fine with it. I think I'm about to the point in my life where... I should be thinking about that stuff. Quit playing around, and get serious." He laughed. "I'm going to sound like Peppy saying this... You're still young enough that you could go out and see what else there is to experience. I was worried that you would miss out on something."

Krystal shook her head. "Miss out on what? Casual sex? 'Playing the field' as you people say? No way. Too many unknowns in there. I don't want to gamble, especially when I know what I've got right here. I don't care what else is out there, because no one could make me any happier than you have. Especially not with the experience you've given me." She giggled. "And I'm not just talking about last night!"

Fox blushed again. "I know what you meant."

She nudged his cheek. "I know. Just playing with you, love. You've made me feel more complete, more alive, than I've ever felt before. I mean, I don't know if you've noticed me, but I feel this... energy coursing through me that I've never felt before. I feel alive. Like I'm not restricted by anything. I feel like I could just..." she spread her arms out to either side of her. "Fly out of this window, and sail into that nebula cloud over there. In fact, look at it. Just look at it!" Her voice was hushed excitement. Fox looked out at where she was indicating. The cloud was made up of reds, yellows, blues, all swirling together in a fantastic display. "That" Krystal said breathlessly. "Is how I feel inside. I can't compare it to anything I've ever felt before, because I've never been this way before. I've felt this way for some time toward you, Fox. And when I finally realized what it was, I was too afraid to tell you. To afraid to admit that I loved you. Then I found out how you felt. You know, up until last night, out relationship wouldn't have had the outside appearance of love that was that intense. Or then again, maybe it did. I don't know. I don't care. What I know is what I feel right now. What I felt last night. And all I care about is for this incredible felling to never go away. And you're the one that makes it happen to me."

Fox was awestruck. How could she describe it so well? He sure couldn't, even though he felt exactly like how she described. "I wish I could have put it into words like you just did!" he laughed. "But I feel everything you just said you feel. I just... could never say it to you. I hope you don't doubt it, you know, because I couldn't say it?"

Krystal kissed him gently. "Of course I don't doubt you, Fox. I knew you felt that way. Why do you think I let last night happen? I wouldn't have strung you along like that until I was absolutely sure you felt the same way. Hence the crystal. It's why I gave it to you in the first place. And when it glowed so brightly... I felt like my very being resonated with it. At that point I knew, without a shred of doubt, that you loved me as much as I do you. That's why I was so... er, excited about it. Because I knew it was time to take the next step." She placed his paws on her belly, hugging him close. "And if part of you grows within me, even now, I promise to love it as much as I love you. I always will. " Fox was going to speak, but Krystal silenced him with another kiss. "Don't try to say it yourself, Fox. I know you promise me that, too."

Fox smiled, relieved. "Thanks. It was going to come out awkward. I really need to work on that."

She shook her head, smiling. "Poor Fox. Don't worry. I have a lot of time to teach you."

Fox grinned. "That would be a first. It seemed like, after last night, I was going to be doing all the teaching!"

Krystal glared at him. "Oh really? You teach me? Ha! Don't make me laugh!"

Fox stared at her. "Yeah, teach you! Remember this?" He turned her around to face him, then picked her up, lifting her from her thighs, and pressed her against the wall. He buried his face in her chest, as she yelled in surprise, feeling his tongue slide over her breasts. "Hey you! Cut that out! Ahh! We can play later!" Somewhere in this playing around, Fox's robe fell away completely, but neither of them seemed to notice, or even care. Fox put Krystal down, pawing her inner thighs.

"Woah!" Krystal exclaimed. "Hey, now! Private property! No trespassing allowed!"

Fox laughed, but let her be for the moment. As she'd said, they could play later. Fox found it ironic that he was now hoping General Pepper didn't call them anytime soon. Oh crap, don't think that! Then he will call! I hope he like, kicks it or something. Wait, no. Bad idea. Boss kicks it, we're out of work. I hope he breaks a leg. Or ear, or something. Something not fatal, but enough to keep him in the hospital, or at least keep him from getting us a contract for a while. Yeah. Much better than killing him. Damn, I almost wished my boss to die... that's not very professional.

Then Fox remembered something else he'd wanted to talk to Krystal. He glanced at the marking on her hip. "Hey, Krys. What's that mean?" he patted the mark.

She grinned at him. "An excuse for you to slap my butt, obviously!" she giggled. "No, it's my princess mark. I was born with it. I bet you thought it was a tattoo!"

Fox shrugged. "Yeah, I did. Same with the one on your arm?"

She nodded. "Mmm-hmm. That one means I'm... well, a peaceful warrior, if that makes any sense. It means my personality is such that, I don't like violence, or hurting others, but that I'm skilled in combat. Or, predispositioned to be, anyway. All my people are... were, born with marks like these, that told what their most prominent behavioral characteristics were."

Fox did a mental double take. "Wait! What did you say the other was?"

"My princess mark. It just means I'm predispositioned to be a leader. All the members of my planet's government were born with these marks."

Fox looked nervous. "What does it mean when a boy has a similar mark?"

Krystal looked puzzled. "Well, I guess it means that you're a leader too. My father had a mark similar to mine. Usually, if you're born with these marks, when no one else born that year is, it means that you become royalty automatically. Why?"

Fox turned his hip so she could see. Krystal looked at it and gasped. "Oh my... Fox, this says you're a prince!"

Fox was puzzled. "What? But I thought you said that all members of your government had these marks. How could I be a prince?"

Krystal shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no. Those other marks were just the triangles with lines connecting them! You have a spiral. Like mine! But yours goes the other way, and the triangles are in an X!"

Fox was getting worried. "Well, what does that mean?"

Krystal was examining him closely now, more curious than worried. "Well, the position of the triangles on the female mark resembled compass points. Hence the leader thing. The spiral represents a depth of knowledge guiding the compass points. You're mark is the male equivalent of mine. If mine were compass points, they'd be north, south, east and west. Yours are the in between directions. Together, they symbolize that a compass with eight directions is more efficient than one with four. Yours also has the spiral, going the other way, which also symbolizes a depth of knowledge, but from an... alternate perspective, to cover more ground, if you will. These two marks together mean a strong governmental structure, hence the heads of government, one male, and one female, have these two marks. My parents had the same marks. Yours is exactly the same one as my father's." She looked at him in awe. "You're my other half!"

Fox tried to take that in. "I... but I'm not Cerinian! Where did this come from? I wasn't born with these!"

Krystal became lost in thought. "Maybe the crystal that transformed you, read your... behavior through your genes. Everyone is predispositioned genetically to certain behavioral traits. That's why my people relied so heavily on these markings to find who would be best suited for certain rolls. I don't know when the marks began appearing on people, but it wasn't right away, because our government wasn't the way it was in modern times when the first colonists of our planet came. When the markings became abundant, my people studied them, and found that they were linked to certain character traits. Over time, the findings were accumulated into a book. A library of all known marks, and what they meant. When we found how accurate they were, we used this book a lot. It's kind of like your horoscope. But those aren't always accurate. These are. Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? You are a leader!" She laughed, standing up. "You really are full of surprises for me!" She hugged him tightly. "Come on. The others are probably waiting for us to get breakfast." She ran into the bathroom and grabbed a robe, putting it on as she came back out. Fox did the same.

Fox smiled at her. "Yeah, because you don't really know how they'd react to us being out there naked!"

She laughed. "Not exactly good for digestion, is it?" Fox shook his head. The two walked out of Fox's quarters paw in paw. They were going to be seen doing a lot of that now.

Peppy glanced at the wall chronometer. It was almost ten. "Those two are late again! I wonder what's keeping them.

Falco snorted. "Probably each other. They haven't been without each other for more than five minutes in days!" He laughed. "Knowing Fox, I think I know what they're up to!"

Peppy shook his head. "They would have woken us up. That whole deck is a bell. Any noise, even a cough, gets amplified loud enough to wake people up. And I'm a light sleeper." He took a sip of coffee. "Trust me, if they had been doing anything like you're suggesting, we would have all heard it. Besides, Krystal's not like that."

Falco shook his head. "I don't think so, Peppy. You saw them in the hangar the other day! You know, I think it's weird that we haven't even heard his music, though. I mean, if he's by himself, and not with Krystal, that's what he'd be doing, I would bet my tail feathers on it."

Slippy shook his head. "Oh, you wouldn't hear his music, even if he had it turned all the way up."

Peppy and Falco stared at him. "Why's that, Slippy?"

Slippy wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Because Fox asked me to install soundproofing in his quarters yesterday. They're high-tech sound dampening force field generators. Trust me, you wouldn't hear anything coming from Fox's room."

Falco and Peppy looked at each other, then at Slippy. Slippy looked nervous as the others stared at him. "What are you guys looking at me like that for?"

Falco whacked him on the head. "You soundproofed Fox's room?"

Slippy covered his head. "Ow! He said it was to keep the his stereo from waking anyone up!"

Falco chucked almost evilly. "Oh, yeah! I'm sure he did! That sneaky vulpine! You actually bought that?"

Slippy was glaring at him angrily. "Well what else would he want it for?"

Falco was laughing his beak off now. "Oh gee, I don't know!" He almost fell on the floor. "Slippy, you idiot! Haven't you noticed that Krystal and Fox aren't here?"

Slippy still glared at Falco. "Yeah. So what?"

Falco laughed harder. "Where do you think they are, genius? I'll give you a hint. They're together, and most likely still in Fox's quarters! Do the math!" He was now laughing hysterically. The he suddenly stopped, and his voice was almost a whisper. "No, no! I got an idea. I will bet you guys my next paycheck that at least one of them hasn't had a shower yet. Which means they're in the same shape that they were in, if they did what I think they did, as they were when they fell asleep last night. Peppy, your nose is better than ours, you can tell if they smell like... you know what I'm talking about."

Peppy shrugged. "I have to admit, what Slippy said really points in that direction. No doubt about it. But what of it, hmm? What if Fox and Krystal have been intimate? It's really none of our business."

Falco shook his head. "No, no, it is our business! You know why? Because it means that Fox is distracted! If some situation comes up on a job where Krystal is in danger, he's going to risk everything to get her out of it. That means he's going to be blinded by the feelings he has for her. More so than if they'd just been causal hold-hands, peck on the cheek kind of friends. And what happens in a life-or-death thing we come up against, and Fox looses his concentration! I'm a pilot, Peppy. And I know that if he gets distracted, it could mean his end, as well as our own!"

Peppy shook his head. "He would do the same for any of us."

Falco scoffed. "Oh come on, Peppy! Seriously! Who are you going to feel more inclined to save, close friend, or lover who's carrying your kid!"

Peppy did not like that comment. "Now you listen here, Falco! Friends? Fine. Relationship? Okay. Intimacy? Well, okay. Pushing it, but okay. But that's a far cry from Krystal having Fox's children!"

Falco shrugged. "Hey, accidents happen. I know. I've been there. Bleh! Ugly! I'm just asking you to consider the possibility. Hey, maybe I'm wrong. But what if I'm right? And what if Fox knows this already? Because I'm sure he does. And what if he hides it from us?"

Peppy shook his head, unable to believe Falco was saying this. "What do you mean 'if he hides it'? Of course he'll say something! If he thinks it's a risk... hmm. If he doesn't think it's a risk, because he loves her..."

Falco nodded, seeing that he was finally getting through. "He won't say a damn thing, will he?"

Peppy shook his head. "No. He won't."

Falco got up. "You know what, screw the bet. This is the team we're talking about. Hard for me to accept something is more important than I am. Well, maybe not, but this is still pretty important."

Peppy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Fine. I'll see what I can... smell. But not a word of this to him, understand? I still don't feel right about invading their privacy like this."

Falco shook his head. "It wouldn't be invading if Fox did what he was supposed to and told us himself!"

Slippy raised his hand. "Um, guys? What exactly are you talking about?"

Peppy waved a pshaw gesture at him. "Don't worry about it, Slip. Just be like you normally are."

Slippy shrugged. "Okay."

Suddenly the door opened, and Fox and Krystal, clad in bathrobes, meandered into the room. Falco and Peppy scrutinized the two, as Slippy inadvertently covered for them.

"Hi guys!" he said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Slippy. And Falco and Peppy," Fox said, noting how the other two were eyeing he and Krystal. Falco and Peppy tried to look inconspicuous. They both noticed how much of a mess Krystal was and how she walked almost uncomfortably, rather than with her normal grace. Fox looked refreshed and perfectly comfortable. Peppy caught a whiff of Krystal and Fox as they passed to the kitchen, temporarily out of ear shot.

Peppy sighed at looked at Falco. "Oh yeah. She definitely smells... different. Fox smells like he took a shower."

Falco nodded. "Did you see how uncomfortable she looks? Fox must've gotten up before her, and took a shower. Krystal hasn't had one yet. She normally isn't that messy when she comes to breakfast. She was distracted."

Peppy nodded. "Fox is also wearing Krystal's necklace. She must have given it to him, but I don't know that that means anything significant. Then again, it could mean something important. Like their status with each other."

Falco nodded. "Yeah. I think you're right. Oh crap, here they come!"

Fox and Krystal emerged from the kitchen holding their breakfast. Fox seated Krystal, and then sat beside her. "This looks and smells great, Peppy," Fox said, still wary of how they were looking at him and Krystal. "Okay, what's up with you guys this morning?"

Falco was the first to speak up. "You tell us. Why'd you have Slippy soundproof your room?"

Fox opened his mouth and glared at Slippy. "Slippy! You told them? Wait..." he sighed. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I bet that tipped you guys, didn't it? Why we're late? And why Krystal is such a mess?"

Krystal stared at him. "Hey!"

Fox patted her leg. "I didn't mean it like that."

She didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but she didn't say anything more.

Fox sighed. "You guys should have been told. It affects everyone here. I want to apologize to you guys, for... not acting like the leader this team needs. I should have... held back, until we could evaluate this together."

Krystal looked puzzled. "Fox? What are you talking about?"

Fox looked helplessly at her. "Krystal, what happened between us... really shouldn't have. My feelings for you could affect the way this team works in a bad way."

Krystal looked like she was going to cry. "Oh, no, Fox, no! You can't! Not now!"

He smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'm not going to." He looked at the others. "So I'll confirm your suspicions. Yes, we were intimate. But I don't intend to let this affect the team. I'm still in charge here, and I'm going to stay that way. But just like anything, I have to earn it. My relationship with Krystal hasn't changed how I will run this team, so you all can rest easy."

Everyone nodded. Peppy sighed. "Thank you, Fox. For coming out with this. And I'm glad you've resoled to not let it affect things, but I warn you: I have the authority to pull you from the team temporarily if I feel things are getting out of hand. I hope I don't have to do that."

Fox extended his paw across the table. "You won't." They shook on it.

Peppy grinned. "Good."

Fox hugged Krystal. She buried her muzzle in his arms. "Fox, you scared me! I thought you were going to..."

He kissed her hair. "I know." he whispered. "But you don't have to worry about that. Now, you should eat something, then get cleaned up. You looked really uncomfortable walking over here."

She nodded, and hungrily dug into her food. "Thanks, Fox. I'm starving."

The conversation for the next half-hour or so had been much lighter, more upbeat, and less suspicious. Fox had gone back to his quarters with Krystal, and she'd made a beeline for the shower. Fox got dressed, and then had gotten a call from Slippy saying that he'd finished installing the new booster into his Arwing, and that he was ready to test it. So Fox headed excitedly down to the hangar.

He got there to find his Arwing rigged to a vice-like apparatus, with some kind of collector behind the engine nozzle. "Hey, Fox! Ready to see this thing in action?"

Fox nodded. "Yeah, Slip. Go ahead."

Slippy turned on the engine remotely. The plasma stream shot out of the ship and into the collector. Slippy took Fox over to a computer terminal, which was reading the thrust. "This is cruising. And this is the current booster." He activated the booster. The graph shot up. Fox had seen these readouts before.

"Okay, so what's the upgrade look like?"

Slippy grinned. "Let's find out." He activated the crystal powered boost. The engine stream changed colors, and sparks shot out from it. Slippy studied the readout. Fox was awestruck by the display. "Wow! It sure looks cool!"

Slippy suddenly became excited again. "Holy crap, Fox! Look at these readings! They're off the chart!" He scrutinized the display again. "Not only that, but... if this thing is correct, it's running at a quarter of the temperature!" He stared into the engine stream. "Despite the huge increase in power, the temperature dropped. And if that's true, you would be able to sustain boosting for a lot longer. Four times longer, in fact! This thing works better than I ever dreamed! These crystals are really cool! I wish we could use them for other things. Weapons would probably be affected the same way. Dramatic increase in power, drop in temperature. You wouldn't have to worry about it overheating."

Fox nodded. "I promised Krystal no violent use. The engines are enough." He patted Slippy on the back. "Good work, Slip. Get these on the other Arwings. In fact... could this be adapted to Great Fox's engines?"

Slippy shook his head. "Unfortunately no. Great Fox is too big. We couldn't increase the power of her engines unless we did some major reworking of her basic structure. And that would be really expensive. Her hull just wouldn't take it. But the Arwings are small enough that this increase in power won't affect hull integrity very much."

Fox shrugged. "Yeah. Well, it was an idea. Good job, Slippy. Get this on the other Arwings as soon as you can. I'd like to be able to use them on our next mission."

"Will do, Fox." Slippy acknowledged, shutting off the Arwing's engine. Fox left the hangar in an exceptional mood. He decided to go back to his quarters and check up on Krystal.

When he got back to his quarters, he almost ran her over as she was on the other side of the door as it opened. She ended up wrapped around him, anyway. "Woah, Krystal!" he laughed. "You shouldn't miss me that much, I've only been gone 20 minutes!"

Krystal smiled and kissed him. "Sorry, love. I was going to come and look for you. What's the rush, anyway?" She grinned slyly at him, pulling him back into his room.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Krystal, you just got cleaned up."

She shrugged. "Who says too much water is bad for you? I can take another shower if I need to." She giggled.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you something. I was just in the hangar, seeing Slippy's little science experiment with your- Krystal!" he suddenly yelled at her as he felt her paw slide down his pants and brush up against his crotch. "Jeez! Does your hunger know no bounds? Cut that out! Ahh! Stop, you!" She was playing with him now. Fox was trying not to snap and succumb to her gentle touch. She kissed him, trying to excite him. Finally he let himself get sucked in, kissing her hungrily. She laid him down on the bed, and began undoing his pants. But just at that moment, ROB's voice blared in Fox's room.

"Fox, message from General Pepper. Priority One."

Fox had no time to react, as Pepper's face appeared on the terminal facing his bed.

"Fox, I have some news for you! I..." he stopped talking, as he saw what was happening on Fox's bed, but he was slow to comprehend. "Sweet mother of Creation!"

Fox scrambled up from under Krystal, pulling his pants up. "Uh, General... sorry about that, no one bothered to ask me if I was prepared to accept the transmission..." He coughed, trying to clear his utter embarrassment.

Pepper was covering his whole face with a massive paw. "I apologize myself, Fox. I didn't expect that at all." He uncovered his face. "Uh, this must be the young lady you told me about yesterday." Krystal had squeezed in beside Fox.

"We apologize, General. We... um... weren't warned." She was blushing through the white fur on her face. Fox was as well, but it was harder to see on him.

The General regained his composure. "That's quite alright dear. I assure you, contrary to popular belief, I was young once myself. Once again, Fox, you have my apologies."

Fox shook his head. "I as well, General. I'm going to have a chat with our robot caretaker."

Pepper tried to get back to business. He was trying to come to grips with the fact that it would be very difficult to see Fox and Krystal in the same light ever again. "Fox, I have a... aherm, job for you." Fox saw the General was blushing as well. "There's a small space station near the Z sector that has run into some trouble with local debris. Their shields are constantly being drained, and visitors have stopped coming altogether. Much of the staff has left as well, declaring that the station is simply too dangerous to stay on board. Asteroids are causing most of the trouble. Normally this would be routine work for a military patrol squadron, but they are much too far away. The station needs the problem dealt with quickly, and they need someone to help repair their shields, and outfit them with better ones, or at least, make some modifications to better withstand future problems. Slippy may be able to help them with that, but the primary assignment is to eliminate the rocks that are in the area. There are no reported hostiles, and they're offering to pay much more than they would to a military outfit. It's not exactly a riveting job, but it's better than nothing. How about it, Fox?"

Fox thought a second. "Well, it is better than nothing. Sure. We'll do it."

Pepper looked pleased. "Good. I'm sending the data to you now. Good luck, Fox." He glanced at the two lovers for a moment. "Take care of each other. Not enough people do these days. Pepper out." The screen went dark again.

Fox thought about the look on Pepper's face as he'd said that. He seemed very understanding. Fox wondered if the same thing had happened to him once. He decided not to think about that picture too much.

He looked over at Krystal, then hugged her. "We got work. Let's get to it."

Krystal jumped up as Fox did, and followed him out of the room. "Right behind you, love. You know, I wonder why he was so understanding. I expected him to explode, or something!"

Fox shrugged as he ran down the hall. "The General is pretty strange at times. He does things I don't really understand, and things I completely understand. But one thing's for sure. I have never been more embarrassed in my life! Thanks to you, the General literally caught me with my pants down!"

Krystal laughed. "And your flag up!"

Fox almost fell over. "Ah! God, don't say that! I know!" He pushed the event out of his mind. He tapped his portable communicator. "ROB, set a course for Sector Z. All hands, this is Fox, report to the hangar on the double. And ROB? Ask for confirmation when you send a message to my quarters from now on."

"Acknowledged," ROB's expressionless voice replied.

Fox hit Slippy's private communication signal as well. "Hey Slippy. Did you finish the upgrades?"

Slippy nodded. "Yep. All ready to go, Fox. We have a job?"

"Yeah. Pepper just called. It's a small thing, but it's better than nothing. Just clearing debris."

Slippy shrugged. "Doesn't bother me, Fox. Falco's the only one who'd complain."

Fox smiled. "Yeah, really. See you in a bit. Fox out."

By the time the team had made it down into the hangar, the ship had approached their destination. They ran through their checks quickly, reflecting how many times they'd flown together.

"Starfox team, this is Peppy. I'm reading an all clear from your systems, and the area is clear of activity. You are clear to launch."

"Roger, Peppy," Fox acknowledged. "Alright team. Let's do this. Launch on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!" The ships blasted out of the hangar, and a few whoops and yells filled the com circuit for a moment.

Peppy shook his head. "Young people, " he muttered.

A/N: Okay, I realized I pushed the rating a bit this chapter, but at least I kept it within the bounds. Well, I guess that's debatable. So I put a little note at the beginning to cover things. Oh, and I apologize for taking so long to update. Anyway, this is the end. Yes, THE END! So don't go bugging me to write more! I might write a sequel, I don't know. I didn't intend for the story to be as long as it was. I wanted to write a SHORT story, and it turned out to be almost 50 freaking pages. That's not short. But it did get me some fans. I think. Which is what I really wanted. Just to get known. I hope to have many more stories for you in the future. Once again thank you everyone who read and reviewed. I really appreciate your support. So until next time, this is FraG, signing off.