Hey there all! And here's another oneshot from the mind of M--

Excuse me? Oneshot?

It's not a oneshot, then, self?

Uh, NO.

Oh, sorry, I thought it was. That's all I--we ever do anymore.

Don't talk like that!

Sorry...

Anyway it's not a oneshot. It's going to have at least three chapters. This is just the first. So hah.

Um, ok people. So, I guess this isn't a oneshot. But it IS a songfic. So here's the first chapter and first song right here. REVIEW! (p.s. it's in Fang's POV)

Time For Me To Fly

I looked around at the flock, sleeping in the predawn light that filtered through the trees. I felt a bit guilty about this, since it wasn't their fault. But this was something I needed to do.

Then I looked at Max, feeling, as always, the sudden tenderness that overcame me in her presence, especially when she was sleeping or otherwise vulnerable. But this was something I needed to do. It was her, I couldn't let her keep doing this to me; I couldn't let her keep me here.

Glancing around again at the rest of the flock, I fingered the note in my hand.

I've been around for you
I've been up and down for you
But I just can't get any relief

I hoped Max would get it, finally get it with this note. The rest of the flock knew, somehow, and probably expected this. But not Max.

I'd done everything for her. Everything in my power. It wasn't her fault she took me for granted—she had way too many issues that just wouldn't let her go. So I helped her, never stopping, and definitely never complaining. I'd do anything for Max, and for the good of the flock.

I've swallowed my pride for you
I've lived and lied for you

For Max, I'd become someone else. I'd become everything she needed, everything she wanted. I held her long into the nights she battled Jeb for possession of her own brain. I let her vent to me, cry on me, yell at me. I took it all for her.

I let her because we couldn't let the flock see just how out of it their leader was. I let her live through me. I held her up.

But you still make me feel like a thief
You got me stealin' your love away
'Cause you never give it

But even when it was finally over—when Itex and the School were defeated, when Jeb was killed, giving Max freedom and closure—even then, she never said she loved me. We were just friends. Best friends, but nothing more.

She knew I was more than that to her, and her to me. But she wouldn't let anything come of it. After saving the world, she was just trying to heal, to start a new life, to be what she used to be, strong like she used to be.

I understood, and I waited. Once, I tried to kiss her.

We were alone while the flock was out doing whatever they decided to do. We were hardly alone anymore, and I got the feeling it was on purpose.

It was a repeat of that night three years ago when I tried to kiss her. She jumped up, though, before I even touched her. Ran to her room. I didn't hear crying, only pacing, so I left her alone.

After that, we never talked about it. I waited, and she ignored. We were still friends and I was there for her, and she still leaned on me when she needed it.

Peeling the years away
And we can't relive it

But I couldn't just wait forever. The constant giving was wearing down on me. We were already 17. Who knew how long bird hybrids would last? So far, we'd lasted longer than any other hybrid—excluding tortoise-lady, the now-deceased Director.

The rest of the flock could even see how much I loved Max, and how much she ignored it.

Max was her old self again—she didn't need me to hold her up. She apparently didn't need me at all. I had to go out and do something with what was left of my life. Something productive. My work here was done.

I make you laugh
And you make me cry

The last three lines of the note—oh how accurate they were. Max was the only one who could make me feel so strongly about something—mostly about her—that I could be driven to tears.

And meanwhile she was finally over her tears, all because of me.

That was as it should be; her face was too beautiful to harbor tear marks. It deserved to be clean and free. And now it would be—free of me. Just as I would be free of her.

I believe it's time for me to fly

It's for the best, I assured myself as I tucked the note into Max's hands, forced myself to look away, and kicked Iggy in the boot just before taking a running leap into the sky, soaring away, probably forever.