Yay, I'm back with another Storm Hawks chapterfic! I'll warn you, though, it's pretty depressing. Written mostly out of my own personal angsting. I'll also warn you that there is a AerrowxPiperxStork triangle in here. I know I said I'd probably never write for a pairing, but...I guess I did. Whoops.

Also, Finn is paired with an OC. I know how it sounds, but trust me. Ambrel covered it. She could never write a terrifying Mary Sue. Not without really trying.

I'd love to thank my lovely, lovely betas, Ambrel and .PhaerynTao., for reading through this 'fic for me. They're incredibly awesome. Two of the absolute coolest people I've ever met here on FFnet. If you haven't read their work yet, please do.

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It wasn't supposed to be like this.

This thought constantly ran through my mind these days.

Opposing Cyclonia and defeating Master Cyclonis and the Dark Ace had been my goal, my dream, my life. It was my master plan, with nothing else to fall back on. It was either succeed, or die trying. It was my purpose, and I had given it my all.

Four months ago, we fought the final epic battle. It had lasted two whole days, in which we and our friends invaded the Cyclonian empire, the palace, the throne room, and finally took back the freedom of the atmos. Master Cyclonis, in her last attempt to stop us, ended up accidentally encasing herself in the giant obliteration crystal she had been using against us through an intricate device. She now stands in the rebuilt Cyclonia, renamed Terra Freedom, as a reminder through the ages of what once was.

Ravess was imprisoned, along with Repton and Leugy and tons of talons. Everyone else was gone.

But as for the Dark Ace, I had the privilege of bringing him down myself. We were evenly matched, but with six more years of age and experience than I had started with as a skyknight, I won out eventually. Those were the toughest hours of my life. I could still hear the ringing, crashing sounds of blows being exchanged. I still bore the scars he had given me. Though the blood was all washed away now, I still felt it there, burning into me. It would never go away completely. That final battle had marked me forever.

All of the Atmos had taken part in either aiding or defeating Cyclonia, and I'm sad to say we lost many friends in the struggle. Wren, Suzi Lu, Bobby Bones, Burner, half of the Rex Guardians...they were only a few of the many casualties. It was staggering, the price that our victory had demanded, but I was sure that every soul that had taken part truly believed in what they were doing, right to the end.

These last months had been exhausting, not only physically because we had helped to repair and rebuild, but emotionally because we had also been there to help the friends we had known for years through losing their teammates. I can't even begin to describe the sorrow that laid heavily on everyone at the battlegrounds, the sorrow that seemed to smother any feelings of victory.

It was over. I was supposed to be happy once we had won.

War is a horrible thing. Yes, it was necessary, and I'm glad that Cyclonia has fallen. But I never want to go through it again. I never want to take another life, to see someone die by my hand. If I have to, to protect my friends and what I believe is right, I will. But I hope it never comes to that again.

But, now with peace in the Atmos, I no longer had a purpose. What was I supposed to do now, when there was no longer a huge need for squadrons to protect the skies, especially ones not tied to a Terra? No way was I going into retirement, I felt useless enough already. I never made any plans for after the war, I always just focused on what needed to be done to end it. Besides, I didn't know if I would even survive to follow through on any plans I could've made.

Well, there had been one thing that I had put aside until now...

And it was painful to find out that she had the same plan for someone else.

I've always loved Piper, but with everything we had to do, I didn't want anything getting in the way of our mission, so I had waited. Waited to reveal my feelings to her, so we could both focus on our important tasks. Now I didn't think I ever would, and it killed me inside.

As surprising as it had been at first, she was now with Stork. I mean, where did that come from? He seemed like the kinda guy who'd rather keep to himself. I always figured he would avoid that kind of relationship. Okay, maybe he'd eventually find a girl back home or something. But Piper? The two of them never seemed to...I hadn't noticed...

Maybe I was just blinded by my own feelings for her, oblivious to the possibility that someone else could feel the same way about her. I was still confused by all of it. But if it was Stork she wanted, and if he was the one who would make her happy, I wouldn't say anything. I'd have to quietly stew in my own emotions. As much as I wanted Piper...I wouldn't get in the way of her happiness.

But I couldn't sit back silently when I found out that Finn wanted to leave. My wingman, my bud, my right-hand man. He wanted to leave us. Years ago, no one would've expected this from him, but he had changed. We all changed.

I really should've seen it coming. In the many times we had visited Terra Vapos over the years, he had started seeing this girl. Ada. She was a sweet girl, but that was the problem. I let Finn know, more than once, that if he continued dating her every time we visited the Terra, they might start getting serious, and that's just not a good thing for a guy who's always going to be away with his squadron.

Finn, being Finn, ignored my warnings. He told me that he was sure that they'd be fine, and not to worry so much. Apparently, I should've listened to my intuition.

Just one week ago, he announced his plans to go back to Vapos, to live there and start a family with Ada. I hadn't taken it well. None of us had, but I had reacted the loudest. How could he just come out and say that? Did he really think we'd just be okay with him ditching us? We'd all been together for six years, was he just tired of us?

He argued, saying that he was just looking to the future. We couldn't just do this all our lives, we had to stop sometime. And he had dreams of marrying Ada and having kids. Settling down. War had taken its toll on all of us, and he was done fighting. And it's not like we'd never see him again, we could easily visit any time.

I couldn't blame him, really...but I was just hurt. And shocked. It really drove home the fact that everything was different now, and things were changing. We couldn't all live like this together forever. Our job was done now, it was time to move on, and I didn't want to accept that. Being with the Storm Hawks had been amazing, every day was a new adventure, and we had become a family.

Our family had been through a lot. Too much, it seemed, sometimes. Now it was breaking apart, and I couldn't handle it. The last time it had felt like this was when Radarr died...but I...it's always painful to lose part of the family.

I shouldn't have yelled at Finn. It had caused a rift between us, and it only worsened the stiff, quiet sadness that had soon permeated the Condor. Piper had been upset. She tried to convince him pleadingly to give it more thought, but she fell silent when she realized how serious Finn was. Stork withheld the sarcastic comments he was known for and looked just about as mad as me, before he, too, saw the logic in his words.

And Junko...he couldn't say a thing, at first. After Finn's decision had sunk in, he just broke down. Finn had stood firm on his decision, but he at least looked guilty when Junko begged him not to go. The big guy was older now, a full-grown wallop, but when it came down to those basic feelings, Junko hadn't changed a whole lot.

None of us had really spoken to each other much since then.

OoO

I stood in the entrance to the hangar, looking out at the woman who sat outside on the runway, sketching something in her book.

Why did she have such power over me, over my mind? I've always had a strong sense of freedom, and never have I let anyone or anything control me. But...Piper didn't even have to try. I couldn't help but be drawn to her, to appreciate her every little detail. The breeze tugging lightly at her long blue hair, pulling the strands softly across her dark skin...the subtle movement of her concentrated expression, focusing on her work...the way she absent-mindedly pulls at folds of her clothes as she thinks of what to add...

Before, I never had the time or the attention to spare for noticing those little things. Now, it was all I could think about. It was driving me insane, along with everything else that had happened in the last few months.

Running a hand through my hair, I sighed in frustration and turned and walked back through the hangar, wishing I could just forget about everything for a moment and lose myself in something, like Piper was doing right now with her drawings. Just as I reached for the handle to the door that led to the hallway, the door opened, revealing our primary mechanic filling the doorway.

"Uh, hey, Junko."

"Oh, hey." The wallop smiled the same forced smile he'd been using the last few days. I don't know why he tried to hide it. We all felt the same way. "What's up?"

"Not much." Though, really, that was the problem. "How 'bout you?"

I stepped aside, and he walked in, gesturing to the skimmers lined up by the wall. "I was just gonna check up on our rides...again."

Junko has never been very good at hiding his feelings. The tone in his voice betrayed him. "How many times have you taken apart our skimmers this week?"

"Oh, I dunno." He sighed, looking at the vehicles. "At least twice a day."

I knew it wasn't because they needed fixing.

"It's just...I need something to do."

Nodding, I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know."

He sat down on his workbench, staring long and hard at the skimmers. "I don't even want to anymore. There's no point. I mean, they're just machines. They help us go places, that's all. And now, I don't want anyone to go anywhere." He rested his head in his hands. "Once Finn leaves, it's only a matter of time before we all go."

"Look, Junko, I'm not going anywhere. And can you even imagine Stork leaving the Condor? Piper...she wouldn't--"

"We all saw the crystals and stuff she got from Cyclonis' labs. When she's finished learning all she can...the right thing to do would be to share that knowledge. To do what she can to make the atmos even better. To become a teacher. The entire time we've known her, she's always talked about what she would do with her life after the war."

I fell silent. And fell hard. Why hadn't I thought about this? I guess I just figured that she'd always stay here, if not for all of us, then for Stork. And she hadn't said anything about leaving, not to me anyway. "But...we can all go with her. She'll teach all over the place, right? We'll just go in the Condor. And if she does have to stay somewhere, we'll just stay grounded. As much as Stork won't hear it, this old ship shouldn't be flying anymore anyway. We can just..."

Junko looked up at me. "Do you really think that'll work? Even if we do that, she and Stork will still be together. Stuck in here with them and nothing to do, you'll go crazy. I know you will. You'll be the one leaving. And I couldn't live here with just them, it would be weird. I can't keep fixing skimmers that aren't broken. I need to feel useful, too."

This sucked. There wasn't a single thing I could do.

"Aerrow, I want as much as you do for all of us to stay together, but I've been thinking about this a lot. We just can't. It would actually be selfish. We all have different talents that can be used in lots of different places. And it's selfish to give Finn a hard time about his decision. He's found his place, we should do the same."

If that was the case, then I wanted to be selfish. I wanted life to go on the way it had been for so long. I had been happy. I had a purpose. I had a great family close to me. I wished I could just go on living that life forever.

I wanted the impossible.

Clenching my fists, I just stood there, trying to say something. Anything. When nothing sprang forth, it only added to my growing frustration.

Junko nodded his understanding and sadly looked away, standing up next to his skimmer and proceeding to take it apart.

Leaving him to that, I exited the hangar. With every step I took I grew more and more tense, and the hallways became a blur. As soon as I was hidden behind the walls of my room, and the door shut behind me, I let it all out. I yelled. I threw things, knocked stuff over. I knew it was childish, that I was accomplishing little more than throwing a fit, but in the moment, I had to. I felt so helpless.

Never have I lost my control like that before. I've always held it together. When there was a problem, I dealt with it. I did whatever I could to fix it. I was the leader. That's what leaders did. But there was nothing I could do to make this situation better. Nothing.

I hated it. I hated this feeling of helplessness. I hated that this was the way it had to be, and that I'd have to move on. It was all out of my control, and I had no say in the matter.

When I finally cooled off, I dropped to my knees in the middle of the floor, clutching my head and shaking from the quick release of pent-up anger. It wasn't supposed to be like this. We had won the war. We were heroes. Everything was falling apart, right through my fingers. It felt like I was losing all we had fought so hard for...every bond and memory we had forged. After everything we had been through together, it was like they were ready to throw it all away. I didn't want them to go.

Back when I was younger, I had never thought that it would be like this. I never imagined the outcome of achieving my goal. I always figured that things would just fall into place. The emptiness that was left behind after surmounting the all of those trials the Cyclonian empire had set before us came completely unexpected to me. And it was painful in a way that I never anticipated.

I never knew it would turn out this way.

I never knew that I'd end up being so completely unsatisfied.

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There you have it. The coming chapters will be through the others' POVs, followed by an omniscient perspective for the end. Six in all. (Piper's next.)