A/N: I haven't updated LWTL since August. Yikes! I had five pages written and three pages of notes, but none of it felt right. Gah! Prompts taken from LJ's 1sentence community because those things always give me inspiration.

Lady with the Lamp

( Chapter Seven: Longing )

Ring
There is a piece of jewelry handed down from the previous Master Cyclonis to the next. When Lark came to her coronation, it was the Dark Ace who knelt at her right hand and gave the signal for the Wise Man to give the princess her father's ring.

Hero
Aerrow looked into the glowing face of the Oracle, her eyes and face radiant with knowledge but also full of sorrow. Wetting his dry lips, the Sky Knight lifted his hand that held the medallion and said, "Show me."

Memory
It was Finn's turn to write in the ship's log book. He flipped to an empty page and wrote: Piper returned with the Dark Ace. Nothing more, nothing less.

Box
"Is your guest with you?" Stork asked and cast his watery, yellow eyes over the Talon. She nodded and frowned when her teammate looked away, utterly disgusted.

"It's not his fault," she reasoned and handed him the duffel bag to put into storage. The carrier pilot shrugged indifferently when she told him to be careful with those. He was difficult, stubborn. Stork changed since they lost Starling.

"He's a Talon. Of course it's his fault."

Run
Aerrow reached into his backpack for one of Piper's maps and checked the mileage on his skimmer. Radarr chirped, rubbed his eyes, and scurried up the Sky Knight's shoulder. Another morning, another day of endless travel.

Hurricane
"What are you doing?" He barked as she re-entered the galley. Piper was taken aback with the anger and the harshness in his voice, they had only returned to the Condor three hours before. "Why the hell did you leave me alone?"

Wings
He didn't recognize the voice, but Piper helped him identify the Good Samaritan as a Wallop. It was a little messy at the moment, but in a few hours he'd have everything cleaned up and the Dark Ace could reside in Junko's room.

Cold
"I've brought you a blanket," she whispered and without asking for approval, laid it over him as he lay awake on the couch. "Why don't you want to sleep in your old - I mean, new room?"

He sighed. Words came out of his mouth, a monotone voice she thought he had lost all feeling of joy. "It's his room. This isn't my ship anymore."

Red
Two o'clock in the morning and she changed his bandages.

Drink
Somehow, it brought a smile to her face when he relented and gave into Piper's offer to make something warm for them both. Her heart felt a little lighter as she recalled the look on his confused face. Drinking hot chocolate, in May?

Midnight
Sometimes, he imagined he heard familiar sounds for the sake of feeling at home. Talons as they made their early morning rounds past his chambers, feet running towards the Mess Hall. The whir and the clank and the groan of metal as he passed the giant furnaces of Cyclonia on his way to visit his master on the throne, the sound Ravess made as she laughed at her twin brother.

Temptation
It was so simple, power was the only reason he joined.

View
It was hard to reconcile the image of Master Cyclonis with the image of Lark.

Music
As much as Lynn enjoyed Finn's prolonged sessions of rock guitar (Sometimes. If only for prank purposes.), it was she who finally took away the instrument to shut up the Dark Ace's loud complaints. The girl rolled her eyes. Men.

Silk
He told Master Cyclonis about her mother. She had no lasting recollection of her father and her fondest memories were of her grandmother. Three generations of women to rule the throne: one out of necessity, another from ambition, and the last had a future yet unknown.

Cover
The day Aerrow left, Piper almost chose not to say farewell, thinking it was just another one of his brief solo missions.

Promise
He was the reason her crystal necklace was missing.

Dream
"Aerrow, why are you up so early?" / "I had a nightmare."

Candle
He was a man and she was just a child, but he served Master Cyclonis out of love. Was that so bad?

Talent
Her mother's sister smiled at her; shook her head when she admitted she didn't understand half of the words Piper uttered. Gently, she lifted the volume out of her niece's hands and stared at the cramped words, line after line of knowledge - so much information in just one little book.

Silence
The house she grew up in was empty now.

Journey
When Piper was younger, she used to make up stories to pass the time and to feed her child-like imagination. Her aunt would open the window, the spring wind made the chimes sing, and the two girls would sit at the kitchen table with their hands clasped in front of them.

"Once upon a time, there was a young boy…"

Fire
So many fires forged the stone around Master Cyclonis's neck, so much technology and so much time.

Strength
He touched his blind eyes, now covered with gauze, and was satisfied with Piper's work. Not once did he regret his decision.

Mask
Crystal fragments in his eyes, cursed gemstones hidden deep within his flesh. If he could peel his skin in one piece, the wounds would still be there.

Ice
Every terra reminded the Merb of the Absolute Zero. Fire meant Terra Saharr and her participation in the Great Atmos Race so many years ago. Ice reminded him of Starling's friendship with the Blizzarian. Stork's dexterous fingers gripped the handles of the steering wheel tightly as he muttered cruel words underneath his breath. He'd never forgive Harrier and Suzy-Lu for giving him the news of the Sky Knight's death.

Fall
When September came, Piper's family moved terras and she moved to a new school. Before winter arrived she never heard from them again.

Forgotten
And when the future navigator met Aerrow and his friends, she knew she would never be an orphan again. (You are my brothers, she insisted. You are my family.)

Dance
Lark reminded her of a girl she once knew when she was five years old and still taking dance lessons. The blonde ballet dancer was a shy girl, a little supercilious, but had the makings of a prima donna.

Body
What scars we have are only the ending of stories, never the beginning. It takes time and patience to read them.

Sacred
Inside his duffel bag was a copy of Herodotus. When Master Cyclonis was older, he planned to give it to her. "Every night, I'd cut out my heart. But in the morning, it was full again."

Farewells
The Storm Hawk had it in her head their Sky Knight would never leave them for something better. The Talon was tempted to tell her otherwise just to break her sanctimonious attitude.

World
Once the redhead pointed at the stars and her tangerine eyes followed his finger up to the twinkling lights. "Do you see that, Piper? One day, I'm going to go back up there."

Formal
His realized his future life would became a bland routine: wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and wait for the Storm Hawks to ask him what he knew about Aerrow. He hated the dependency, the inevitable distrust and scorn.

Fever
And yet, it was easier to ask for something from Piper over any other Storm Hawk. The Sky Council may have appointed the squadron his caretakers, but only the girl had the proper training to deal with such a patient. In less than two days, he had grown accustomed to her voice and tried to recreate a face to go along with it.

Laugh
There was another girl on the Condor; a female laugh albeit a little huskier. It must be the new girl she told him about.

Lies
Piper wanted to give him the stack of letters, her half of the secret correspondence between the Storm Hawk and Master Cyclonis so he could learn how she tried to save her. But even so, she thought presenting him with evidence of the truth would be painful for his proud heart.

Forever
Stork made up his mind already; he distrusted the Talon from the start. The war should have ended with them - with the Storm Hawks, with the last Interceptor. Not with their Sky Knight missing and his beloved ship playing sanctuary with Cyclonia's champion.

Overwhelmed
Her loyalty hadn't been questioned yet, but soon it would. The Dark Ace knew this story all too well.

Whisper
She smiled and said, "Were you able to sleep last night?"

Wait
He answered in a civilized tone. She was nice to him, he might return the favour. He lied. "I think I could get used to living here."

Talk
Lynn answered the incoming message. "Burner just called. Thought we might want to drop by for some juicy rumours he heard this morning."

Search
By the time she was ten, Piper finally accepted her foster parents were no more.

Hope
One word, one name… Aerrow.

Eclipse
A laugh and a jeer - a stab through the chest. "So, what's it like to always be in the dark?"

Gravity
All of a sudden, Piper was in the room with him - she shouted for everyone to get out and leave him alone. His hands shook, his face turned dark, and he fought not to lose his temper. Stupid Storm Hawks who wanted his help and then treated him like this. Ungrateful bastards, if only he had his eyes, he'd show them!

The Dark Ace jumped up, hands eager to grasp whatever he could to exact revenge and his need for violence. Alarmed, Piper stepped between the wall that was his chest and the door, and used her voice to calm him down. She was sorry she left him even for a moment, she shouldn't have done that. She thought she could trust her friends. He was right about staying here. What they said to him was cruel.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and moved closer to him. He finally sat down, his body still rigid. This was the first act of comfort since he lost Master Cyclonis, it was almost like an embrace.

Highway
Despite the heat, he kept the cloak pulled down over his face and eyes. Approaching the merchant, Aerrow reached into his pocket and took out the small purple fragments. "Could you help me find more of these?"

Unknown
She learned her lesson the hard way. They had to leave tonight.

Lock
Less than a week, and Piper was already repacking his belongings. The Condor was a poor substitute for a hospital, no wounds would be healed this way.

Breathe
She didn't know how to tell him without expecting some sort of physical response on his behalf, so she kneeled down in front of the Dark Ace, laid her hands over his, and told him they were finally going to see Lark.