Starting Over

Sassy’s worried eyes looked over the scanner, " He’s been gone for two days. Man, I

knew I shouldn’t have said that to him."

Fox sat by and watched her, " That was a big fight you two had. He probably went to

cool down."

"Maybe I should go look for him." Sassy sighed.

" It’s best to let him cool off first."

Falco and Sassy had been going out for a few months now. They had had a fight, and

now Falco had taken off leaving no clues to where he was. Sassy worried that he might not

come back. She still liked him.

Suddenly an object appeared on the scanner, " He’s coming back." She smiled a little.

She took off for the Docking Bay to greet him.

" Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Fox sighed. He went after her.

Fox was surprised when he found Sassy and Falco hugging each other in the Docking

Bay. Falco looked tired, but happy to see Sassy again. Fox decided to leave them alone for a

while and went into Slippy’s workshop.

" Sassy, I’m sorry I got mad at you." Falco said, " I love you."

Sassy punched him in the arm playfully, " Don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought

something happened to you." She looked into his eyes. Something seemed to be bothering him,

" Ya’ alright?"

" Yeah," Falco answered, " I just missed you." He gently touched the side of her face.

" I missed you too Falco." Sassy smiled.

Her smile and happy eyes made the guilt in Falco grow more intense. He had too tell her

what happened, but not now. She looked too sweet and precious. He wanted to remember that.

Falco and Sassy walked through the halls of Great Fox until they got to skate park that

Fox had put in. It was a great way to keep in shape and everyone enjoyed it. Falco watched

Sassy go through the course. She was so graceful on roller blades and could do tricks the

guys couldn’t even dream of doing.

" That was really good Sass." Falco commented when she had finished.

" Thanks." She skated over to him and hugged him, " Thanks for watching me without

complaining."

Falco looked into her eyes. <I can’t lie to her anymore. I can’t keep this up.

She’s…she’s too sweet to do this too. I don’t want to hurt her though.>

" Sassy, I need to tell ya’ something." Falco started. They both sat down on one of the

ramps.

" What’s up Fal?" Sassy asked.

Falco took a deep breath, " You remember when I took of a few weeks ago, right?"

" Ya’ I remember. You scared me half to death. How could I forget." She looked up at him

with innocent eyes. Once again the guilt Falco felt grew and made him sick to his stomach.

" Sassy, I did something that I’m not really proud of and I can’t keep it hidden from you

anymore." Falco tried not to make eye contact with her, but found it hard.

Sassy turned his head and made him look up at her, " What is it?"

" Sassy, I…" Falco started, " I met some one at a bar."

Sassy looked at him in disbelief, then turned away, " Did you sleep with her?"

Falco didn’t answer her, " Sassy, I…"

" Did you?" She asked again, her eyes cold as steel.

" Yes I did." He answered softly. Sassy punched him hard in the jaw and started for the

door. Falco went after her, " Sassy, wait! I…"

" Just leave me alone!" She yelled over her shoulder. She went to the elevator, quickly

closing the door behind her just as Falco had caught up to her. Her roller blades gave her an

advantage.

Falco beat on the doors of the elevator. He ran up the stairs hoping he could catch her in

time.

The elevator opened just as Falco reached the last flight of stairs. Sassy took off down

the hall and was safely in her room before Falco had time to stop her.

" Sassy open the door!"

" No!"

" Sassy I’m sorry!"

" Just leave me the fuck alone!" She yelled.

" Sassy!"

" Shut up and go away!"

Falco stepped away from the door. He couldn’t force it open. He had tried it in the past

on Slippy’s door. He silently cursed himself and went into the den.

Later that night, Fox went down the hall to Sassy’s room. He knocked on the

door, " Sassy?"

The door opened enough to reveal her face, " What?"

" Dinners ready."

" I’m not really hungry." She answered.

Fox looked at her with concern, " You alright? You look like you’ve been crying."

" I’m fine." She said, " I think there’s some dust in the air and it’s making my allergies act

up."

" Oh, alright." Fox gently touched her face, " Sure you’ll be alright?"

" Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need to find my medicine." She smiled a little, " Thanks for

asking."

" Hope you feel better." Fox said as he left.

Sassy sighed as she watched him go. She closed the door to her room, leaning up

against it. She slowly sank to the floor. She didn’t like lying to Fox. He was her best friend, but

she didn’t want him to know the truth.

" Bret," She sighed tearfully, " Why did you push me?" She held her locket, using the key

to open it so she could hear the song. It always seemed to cheer her up.

At around one in the morning, Fox awoke from a nightmare. He knew he wouldn’t be

able to get to sleep again, so he went into the den to watch t.v. He was surprised when he

found Sassy there.

" What are you doing up?" He asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

" Drowning out my sorrows in ice cream." She held up and extra spoon, " Care to join

me?" Her eyes were red and wet with tears.

Fox took the spoon from her and set the carton between them, " What, happened today

to bring you so down? You normally don’t finish off a carton of cookie dough ice cream in one

night."

" Carton n’ a half." She corrected him, " Falco didn’t tell you?"

" No, he’s been quiet today." Fox glanced up at her, " Would you like to talk about it?"

Sassy sighed, " I just found out Falco cheated on me."

Fox saw a tear run down her cheek, he pulled her into a hug and tried to comfort

her, " I’m sorry, Sassy."

" I am too." She sighed, " I should have known he would have done something like this to

me. I knew he was a heartbreaker when I saw him. You even warned me. But no, stupid Sassy

didn’t listen again and got herself hurt."

" Hey," Fox didn’t like it when Sassy was so hard on herself, " You’re not stupid. You

felt alone and wanted someone to be interested in you. Am I right?"

" Yes." She rested her head on his chest, " I haven’t gone out with anyone in so long

and I just wanted to feel loved again. I… like knowing that someone cares about me."

" I care about you." Fox said a little timidly.

Sassy laughed a little, " I know you do. But you care about me as a friend."

" Actually, I care about you more like you’re a family member." Fox thought for a moment,

" How many guys have you been serious with?"

" That’s a little personal." She looked up at him skeptically.

" Sorry."

Sassy giggled, " To tell ya’ the truth, I’ve only been really serious with one other guy.

And that was about seven years ago."

Fox looked at her with surprise, " You’re kidding?" Sassy shook her head, " So you’re

still kind of new to this, aren’t you?"

" Yep."

Fox chuckled to himself. " What’s so funny?" Sassy asked.

" Nothing," Fox answered, " You just strike me as someone who’s been around a few

times."

" Gee, thanks a lot, Fox." Sassy laughed, " You’ve always struck me as being one of

those goody goodies."

" That was low, Sapphire." Fox laughed, " I’ve can’t remember the first time I was

serious with a girl." He smiled a little, " Sassy you mind if I ask you another personal question?"

" What now?" She sighed.

" Have you ever slept with anyone?"

" Yes."

" Don’t tell me it was Falco."

" No, It wasn’t Falco. I’m not that stupid. It was my last boyfriend." She sighed think about

him, " Have you ever slept with anyone?"

" I’ve slept with a few people." Fox had Sassy rest her head on his chest again, "

Sassy?"

" What?"

" Who was he?"

Sassy fell silent for a moment. She sat up quickly, moving out of Fox’s grip.

" Sassy?" Fox looked at her with concern, " What’s wrong?"

She didn’t answer him and looked away.

" Sassy, did something happen to him?"

She shook her head silently.

" You want to talk about it?"

She sighed, " His name was Bret Tigress. He was a snow tiger. We went out for quite

awhile." She opened her locket and showed it to him, " He gave me this for my sixteenth

birthday."

Fox took it from her. He knew the song that it played. He read the inscription on the

inside.

To: Sassy

You will always be my biggest fan, my Small Lady, a spaz, and my best

friend. I don’t know what I’d do with out you.

Love you always,

Bret ‘ Snowy’ Tigress

" What happened?" Fox asked, " It looks like you two really had something going for a

while."

" He…umm… died about four days after he gave me that." She sounded like she was

fighting back tears.

" I’m sorry to hear that." Fox took her into his arms again.

" He was my best friend." She sat up quickly again, " I’m sorry. You probably don’t want

to hear about this. I should get some sleep anyway."

Fox took hold of her hand, " No, I don’t mind. You know I’m a good listener. It obviously

still bothers you. It might help if you talk about it."

Sassy looked at him with surprise. <Why is he being so nice to me? Maybe I should

talk with him about Bret. Fox is my best friend. He wouldn’t use anything I said against me,

would he? I don’t care, it might help if I talk about Bret again.>

" Sass?" Fox carefully shook her, " You still there?"

" Yeah, I just spaced out for a moment." She blinked her eyes a few times, then

remembered things where so fuzzy because she didn’t have her contacts in, " You sure you

don’t mind hearing about Bret?"

" No," Fox answered, " I don’t mind if you feel like talking about it. I don’t want you to feel

like I’m pushing you into it though."

" I don’t feel like your pushing me. I just think it’s a little weird that you’d want to hear

about it." She looked at her locket again and then closed it, " Losing him was probably the

hardest thing. He… was everything to me."

Fox took a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around Sassy. She looked

up at him with surprise. He smiled at her.

" I wont fall asleep. I had a nightmare, and I don’t think I could fall asleep even if I was

tired."

Sassy smiled at him, " You sure you don’t mind?"

" No, I don’t." Fox told her, " If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered."

Sassy sighed and started to tell the story of her lost lover. Fox sat close and listened

intently to her tell her story. She often stopped and cried, but Fox always held her and claimed

her, asking if she wanted to go on. Surprisingly, she always continued, no matter how much it

bothered her.

Bret appeared in Falco’s room. He looked at the avis with cold green eyes, " No one

hurts Sassy and gets away with it while I’m here." He went over to Falco who was sound

asleep in his bed. Bret touched his forehead and closed his eyes, concentrating on a certain

memory of his.

Falco found himself in a hall long hall. Windows covered one side of the hall. He looked

out side, " Shit, I’m on Venom! How’d I get here?" The soupy atmosphere and treeless terrain

could only be from one planet.

He heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. He looked to see who was

coming. He was surprised when he saw Sassy.

She walked right by him with out even noticing him. Something seemed different about

her. She looked much to thin and pale. Her clothes and make-up where black. Falco thought it

was strange that Sassy wore make-up because it was something she never did. Then he saw

the cigarette that she put in a near by ashtray.

" Sassy, when did you start smoking?" Falco asked her. She didn’t respond, " Wait a

minuet. I must be dreaming."

Sassy stopped in front of a door. She pulled a card out of her pocket and slid it through

the slot by the door.

" Come on you stupid piece of shit." She said just loud enough for him to hear. She slid

the card through again, this time the door opened. She went in with Falco closely behind her.

The room had a musky smell to it. Sassy ran her hand along the wall until her found a light

switch. When the lights came on, her eyes fell upon a bloody snow tiger that lay on a table in

the center of the room.

" Bret!" Sassy called out. She ran over to him, her eyes rimmed with tears, " Oh Bret,

no." She checked his pulse.

The snow tiger began to stir, " Sassy…"

" Shh, Bret." Sassy answered softly, " It’s me."

" You shouldn’t be here…" The snow tiger struggled to breath, " It’s dangerous…"

" I’m not leaving you here to die." She undid the bonds that held his wrist and ankles,

" I’ll get you out of here and we’ll go home and everything will be alright."

" Sassy… It’s to late… you can’t do anything…"

" Bret, don’t talk like that." Sassy fought back tears. She knew he was right though. He

had lost too much blood, he wouldn’t make the long trip home.

" What should I do?" Sassy asked. A tear running down her cheek, " I can’t just let you

die."

" Don’t cry…" He reached up and touched her face. Sassy brought her hand up to his.

" I don’t think I can do that." Sassy laughed a little, even though it was muffled by sobs.

She sat down on the table, holding his hand.

" Don’t cry…" He said again, " Do you want to know what I wish…"

" What Bret?"

" I wish…" He started, " That I could spend… one last night with you…" He took off the

key necklace and opened her locket with it, " I’m so sorry Small Lady…" He put the key into her

hand.

" Bret," Sassy sobbed, " No."

" I love you so much Sapphire… There is something I’d like you to do…"

" Anything, Snowy."

" Kiss me one last time…"

Sassy did as she was asked. It wasn’t easy for her because she knew it was the last

kiss they would share.

" Shy kisser…" He smiled up at her.

" Bret." Sassy took him into her arms, " I don’t want you to go. Please don’t leave me."

" I’m sorry…" Bret reached up to touch her cheek again, wiping the tears away with this

thumb. " I’ll always be with you… no mater what…" Bret’s eyes slowly closed and he fell limp in

her arms.

" Bret," She called to him, " Oh Bret…" She hung her head and cried not letting go of him.

Sassy’s only love was gone.

Falco stood in the back ground and watched as the scene went black. He was puzzled.

Why had he had a dream about Sassy?

" Falco, how could you cheat on her?" A voice said.

Falco looked around. There was no one around him.

Suddenly, a snow tiger appeared before him. Falco looked at him in shock, " I just

watched you die."

" No shit." Bret answered, " Why’d you cheat on her?"

Falco still looked at the tiger in shock.

" Now answer my question before I have to get violent."

" I don’t know why I did it!" Falco exclaimed, " I was mad at her! I got mad at her!"

" It’s guys like you that make me worry about her so much." Bret walked up to Falco, "

That’s why I defend her." Bret took hold of Falco’s collar and lifted him up off the ground.

It was around six when Fox awoke. Sassy was still sleeping in his arms. He

remembered last night clearly. He’d seen another side of Sassy he didn’t know existed. The side

he had seen last night was more gentle and shy, but a little unsure about herself since Bret

died. He like the Sassy he had seen last night.

Sassy yawned and looked around, " Fox? You awake?"

" Yeah, I’m up."

" Did we actually sleep out here last night?"

" Yep." Fox thought a moment, " We use to do that when we where little."

" I know, but we where five." Sassy sat up and stretched, " It just seems weird now."

Sassy put her feet on the floor, " Oh crap, what the hell is that?"

Fox looked, " You stepped in the ice cream." He laughed, " Sit here, I’ll get something to

clean it up with."

" I’ll get towel." Sassy sighed.

" No, I don’t want you tracking ice cream everywhere." Fox went into the kitchen and

came back with a few towels. He stepped over the melted ice cream and knelt down in front of

Sassy.

" Let me clean off your foot first." He took hold of her ankle and cleaned off the ice

cream.

" Thank you." Sassy said when he had finished.

Fox smiled and started to clean the floor. Sassy picked up the empty carton and through

it away. Then she helped Fox clean up the mess on the floor.

Peppy walked into the den, " What, you two have a slumber party last night and didn’t

invite me?" He laughed.

" I guess you can say that." Sassy smiled, " More like a late night therapy session."

Peppy shook his head and went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Sassy looked at

Fox and tilted his head up, " Hey, thanks for listen’ last night. I really think I needed a friend to talk

too. I really haven’t told anyone about that." She hugged him tightly, " I trust you though."

" Anytime, Sassy. You can always talk to me. I’ll listen." He put an arm around her, "

You shouldn’t be so afraid to talk to people."

" I know, I know. I’ve been hearing that forever." Sassy sighed and stood up, " I’m gonna’

go take a quick shower. See ya’ in a few." She walked out of the den. Fox went into the kitchen

and washed his hands.

" So when ya’ gonna’ break the news to Falco?" Peppy asked.

" What news?"

" That you’re taken his girl."

" What!" Fox turned and looked at the old hare in shock.

" I saw the way you where looking at her." Peppy mocked, " Just admit you have a

crush on her."

Fox sighed, " It’s only a little crush."

" Still a crush. We all know that Sassy and Falco are done for. We saw the bruise he

had. So why don’t you ask her out?"

" I can’t ask her out." Fox plunked down in a seat across from Peppy, " She works on

my team and she just broke up with Falco. Besides, he’d kill me."

Peppy looked at Fox, " That’s not it, is it. Your afraid to ask her out, aren’t you."

Fox didn’t answer, instead he played with a napkin on the table.

Peppy sighed, " Fox, you need to not be so darn shy. What do you find so intriguing

about her anyway?"

Fox leaned back in his chair, " You promise not to tell anyone."

" Fox, you know me better then that."

" Alright, I don’t really know what I like about her. She’s just so different from anyone I’ve

ever known. I like the way her eyes light up when you look at her. Last night… last night I saw

a completely different side of her I never knew was there. The more time I spent with her, the

more I liked her." He paused and sighed for a moment, " I really can’t explain it. I’ve never felt this

way about anyone I’ve had a crush on before."

Peppy smiled, " Fox, it’s not a crush. You’re in love with her."

" No, it’s just a crush." Fox said firmly, " I’d know if I was in love."

" Whatever you want to call it." Peppy laughed. He now had something to tell James.

Sassy walked out of her room feeling a little better know that she was cleaned up. She

knew what she had to do. She went to Falco’s door and knocked.

" Come in." She heard the mumbled reply.

She entered the room and found Falco sitting up in bed, " What the hell happened to

you?" She asked seeing the bruises he had.

" You wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

Sassy sighed mentally, <Thanks a lot Bret. Now I feel worse.> "Fal, I need to talk to

you."

" Sassy before you say anything, I just want you to know I’m sorry for what I did to

you."

Sassy sighed, " Falco it’s not just that. You… you hurt me. I don’t think I can trust you the

way I did."

" Sassy, what are you saying?" Falco got up and went over to her, gently touching her

face.

" I don’t think I can go out with you anymore."

" Sassy you can’t mean that." Falco looked for a hint of a joke in her eyes, but found

none.

" I’m sorry Falco." Sassy said softly.

Falco swallowed the lump in his throat, " I’m sorry too."

Sassy left the room. She went back into the kitchen. Fox saw her and knew she was

upset. He went over and took her into his arms.

" You broke up with him, didn’t you?" Fox asked sympathetically.

Sassy shook her head, " I feel like crap now."

" How’d he take it?"

" Not well. He’s mad now." She sighed, " I hope he’ll be okay."

" He’ll be alright." Fox reassured her, " Are you gonna’ be okay?"

" I think so." She looked up at him.

Peppy watched the two foxes silently. They did look cute together. He kept his thoughts

to himself and went back to his coffee.

* * * Sapphire Swanson is a charater that I created, If you want to use her you can e-mail me at sassy_swanson@hotmail.com