The Seventh Member of the Storm Hawks

Terra Tropica

Three long days had passed since Jor made himself known to be alive, Nika wasn't the same bubbly girl that the Storm Hawks had grown to love – she hadn't touched metals, there was no teasing Finn or Stork and she spent a lot of time cooped up either in her room or the hangar, staring at her Striker shield without a word spoken other than silent tears falling off her cheeks. If she was crying and someone saw her then she would leave the room without a word, it was a sorry sight. Aerrow had only recently began to stop blaming himself for what happened and commanded Stork to take the team to Terra Tropica for a break: heck he needed it himself plus Nika still had to see the popular holiday destination. He leant on the hangar doorway, observing the brunette jumping when Piper laid a hand on his shoulder, looking glumly at her best friend. "Have you spoke to her yet?" She whispered watching Nika sadly, Aerrow shook his head and looked at the ground earning a sigh from Piper. "I just hope she takes this well." She continued, she looked tired herself through her worries for Nika – she had been listening carefully at night just in case Nika tried to run away again. "So, do I, I just feel useless... I don't even know what to do, Piper." Aerrow sighed, the navigator sympathetically smiled at him.

"So how come you don't cry infront of us?" Piper asked the brunette, noticing how emotional the brunette had been – every time Finn insulted the Yarisian's intelligence or teased her about being the youngest of the group – something that annoyed her to no end but couldn't explain why. Piper figured it was because she was always treated like a baby on her home terra or she was just trying to be strong like everyone else. "Being a princess meant being strong no matter what was said to you, one of the things I don't do is cry in front of people." Nika explained with a slight shrug, slightly confused on why Piper brought it up. "So. what would happen when you did cry?" Piper pressed, Nika raised an eyebrow at her best friend – contemplating on whether to answer her or not, it seemed ridiculous to her. "Usually my dad or Jor would pat my head as they reminded me of times of when I smiled and to think about them. What's this about?" Nika answered before furrowing her eyebrows, forgetting about the wrench in her hand and dropped it on her foot. "OW! That smarts!" She yelped, Piper laughed for a few moments before Nika glared at her playfully.

"Make her smile, Aerrow." Piper gently spoke, hoping he'd catch on but instead he looked at her with annoyance. "I don't know what to do!" He whispered harshly, Piper noticed Nika shifting around – maybe she heard the pair talking! With her eyes wide, she pulled Aerrow away from the doorway. "Ok! Her dad and brother used to remind off her what made her smile, try that." She spoke quietly, Aerrow's green eyes glanced at the door before returning to Piper, "Are you sure this is going to work?" He asked, a tone of doubt in his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was make Nika cry and be the cause of it. Piper frowned at him and jabbed her finger to the door, he nodded and went into the hangar as Piper peeked around the corner – hoping her idea would work.

Aerrow awkwardly wandered around the hangar, heightening the brunette's suspicions – what was he up to now? She wondered, careful not to turn her head to watch him. A few moments later he sat on the ground beside her, gently placing his hand over hers that held the Striker's shield. "Hey." He simply said, Nika curiously eyed him from the corner of her eye – he was gently smiling at her, deciding that he wasn't here to talk about her brother, she finally turned her head to face him. "How you doing?" He asked gently, the brunette glanced at the shield for a moment and bit her lip not answering him. "It's ok to miss him you know." He said with a sympathetic smile, running his free hand through her hair, she shuddered a little making him chuckle to himself. "I know, it's just... I don't understand why." She responded after releasing a long breath, her blue eyes wandered between their intertwined hands and the shield – not sure where to look. "Remember the time you showed me this? I think I know what Radarr was up to that day." Aerrow chuckled, mentally cheering when Nika nodded with a tiny smile, when she really thought about it – Radarr was trying to get her and Aerrow together. Trust him to be the one that got them busted, well at least Finn didn't have bragging rights, that was always a bonus. "Yeah, then you chased him around the hangar until he hid somewhere." She replied, softly giggling at the memory. "Remember when Junko and Stork placed bets on Finn and Piper?" He smiled, pleased that the brunette was smiling as he ran his thumb over her knuckles. "If I hadn't busted them then I would nearly be on the same side as Stork – that was an entire week and a half with no arguments. Presumed we were in a parallel Atmos or something." Nika fully giggled, using her free hand to cover her mouth as she did. "Don't cover that smile, I missed it." Aerrow gently grinned as he pried her hand away. Her blue eyes sparkled again, as if they were tiny rays of crystal shining in them, Aerrow felt his heart thud hard in his chest.