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Chapter 9: Coming Home

Fox and Krystal stood at the base of the stone landing platform in Walled City. Both were dressed in their traditional Cerinian garb: Fox in his simple cream-colored loincloth with a gold border and sandals while Krystal was in her full guardian outfit.

These first 30 days into their marriage had been pure bliss, and both felt it would continue for the rest of their lives and beyond. It had also brought some interesting changes. Over their honeymoon, they had started taking on many of their partner's mannerisms. For Fox, the biggest change had been that he now found himself thinking to his soulmate in Cerinian, and that it felt more natural for him to call her 'Kurisutaru' instead of 'Krystal.' The biggest change for her was that her telepathic powers were now enhanced, much to her puzzlement. She recalled a mental conversation they had two nights before.

They were curled up together in a small glade in the middle of the forest near their cottage after a particularly wonderful love-making session. Krystal was soaking in the ebb and flow of the surrounding wildlife, and even picked up on the thoughts of a few LittleFoot hunting beyond the Krazoa barrier around their sanctuary. Her perception seemed so much stronger now, and she couldn't forget the night before their wedding, when her mental powers had touched their friends, even from the far end of ThornTail Hollow.

"Any idea why your powers seem stronger, Kurisutaru?"** ** Fox thought to her, having naturally been mentally listening in on her.

_"Back on Cerinia, it was not usual for a bonded couple to enhance each other's mental abilities." _ Krystal sat up and faced her soulmate. "But I've never sensed any telepathy from you. So I don't know how my own abilities could have increased like this."

An idea then occurred to her. _"Let's try something." _ She then concentrated on bringing up her mental barriers, and her telepathic perception of their surroundings faded away so that the only mind she could perceive was that of her husband.

Fox shivered slightly. "It's so quiet now."

"That's because you've become so used to hearing our surroundings through my powers. You now know what it is like for me to hear with my sixth sense. So I want you to concentrate on mentally listening for everything around you."

Krystal watched her husband close his eyes and try to 'reach out' with his mind like he had felt her do in the last 28 days. After a minute, he opened his eyes and thought to her. "Nothing."

Still puzzled as to what the source of her enhanced telepathy could be, she decided to try one more thing. Reaching up through her hair, she slid her fingers under her headband and slipped it off, letting her focusing gem fall away from her forehead.

Picking up on her intentions, Fox sat still while his wife slid the headband around the top of his head, between his ears, so that the focusing gem rested on his own forehead. "So you think any abilities I might have could just need a boost?"

"Yes. I'm thinking that any telepathic or empathic abilities you might have may just need a bit of help. Try to reach out with your mind again."

Fox sat there once again trying to tap into this ability his wife thought he might have, but the result was the same. After a few minutes, he open his eyes and shook his head. "I'm still not getting anything. Sorry."

_"You have nothing to be sorry about, Fox." _ Krystal assured her husband. "It just means that there's something else about you that has made my telepathic powers stronger."

Fox slid the focusing gem off his head and handed it back to his vixen. "Do you think one of your Elders might be among the 49 survivors that we'll eventually meet?"

_"I'm certain of it. If the High Elder hoped to somehow save our civilization from extinction, he would have made sure at least one Elder was among the survivors to guide them and preserve our lore and traditions." _ Krystal slid her headband and focusing gem back onto her head and smiled to her soulmate. "And you are correct in thinking that one of our Elders would be able to perceive why my powers are stronger."

Krystal's husband smiled back at her and then gasped when she dropped her mental barriers and let them again perceive their surroundings through her powers. Fox closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. He heard his wife giggle and then felt her use her powers to focus her telepathic perception wherever her husband was focusing. He knew he had no such powers, but was delighted that she would let him use her telepathy to perceive the world like she did.

Fox stood there with his wife holding hands with her, with their fingers interlaced, and their tails curled about each other. He had of course relived that moment with her, and was as puzzled as she was by this inconsistency. The tod was unconcerned though. All that was important to him was that she was with him, mind, heart, and soul, and he mentally reminded his soulmate of that fact, making her turn to smile to him.

In the distance, they could see the transport shuttle approach. With the craft's engines becoming audible, they knew that their ride would soon arrive to pick them up. Tod and vixen turned to their saurian friend who stood at their side. "Tricky, Pal, thank you for everything. Our honeymoon was truly wonderful, and thanks to you and the Krazoa, we now have a second home here."

"It was great seeing you guys, and it's so great t'see you together like this now."

"It was nice visiting you too, my friend."

Together, they watched the shuttle craft continue to approach. Fox thought to his wife, "It reminds me of your Cerinian shuttle craft in which you came aboard the Great Fox that day we met."

Except that this shuttle craft was brand new and of Cornerian design. On the side, they could see the same blue falcon in flight with talons extended that was on the Great Falcon, along with the words STAR FALCO in bold red. "It looks like Falco bought a new shuttle craft," thought Krystal. "Business must be good."

Fox could only nod in agreement and then gazed intently at the craft as it descended. Through his wife's telepathy, he became aware of the mind of the pilot. "Is that Katt?"

"It is. She's really delighted to be seeing us."

When the shuttle touched down and its side hatch started to swing open, Krystal suddenly sensed nervousness from her soulmate and quickly understood the reason. The last time he had seen any of his friends was right after their bonding. Krystal had kept up her mental barriers to give her soulmate time to adjust to that bond without subjecting him to her sixth sense. "Do you want me to bring up my mental barriers?"

_"No....I might be nervous about hearing their thoughts through you, but I don't want you to isolate yourself from our friends like you used to." _ He turned to his soulmate and gave her a tentative smile. "I guess I'll now get to know our friends like a Cerinian."

Katt Monroe leapt out onto the stone platform and grinned at her two friends, and especially at Fox who she could see was wearing his loincloth without being the least bit self-conscious. "Great to see you guys! You two are looking good." She then grinned and winked to Tricky. "Have these two lovebirds been behaving?"

"Oh yes!" Tricky grinned back. "These two mammals have been mating every day." The saurian monarch could see he was embarrassing his friends, much to his amusement. "They told me they did it inside the Ocean Temple, on the beach, under the waterfall, along the river, in the surrounding forest, and in the shallows of the river....oh, and in their honeymoon cottage too."

"Tricky! Spirits! You're having way too much fun at our expense." As one, the blushing tod and vixen turned to the laughing pink feline. "And it's great seeing you too, Katt."

Katt giggled at her friends' behavior. "You guys are still doing the double speaking."

The two foxes just shrugged. "It just feels more natural to us."

Laughing, their feline friend shook her head. "You two are going to drive Falco crazy." She turned back to her shuttle craft, beckoning her vulpine friends to follow. "Let's go." She waved to their saurian friend. "See you around, Tricky."

"See you guys. Have a safe trip."

"Good bye, my friend, until we came back to visit again."

*****

Upon stepping out of the shuttle in the Great Falcon's hangar bay, they met the rest of the Star Falco team, including Dash Bowman, who had joined Falco, Katt, and Fay.

"Welcome back," Falco greeted them. "How are my two favorite Cerinians?"

Dash frowned in confusion. The youthful ape looked to his commander. "I didn't know Fox was Cerinian. Does he have ancestors from that world?"

Falco glanced sideways to his literal-minded protégé, clapped him on his shoulder, and pointed to the two foxes. "Look at them, Dash. Both wearing loincloths and sandals. They even move alike now. I'm surprised that Foxy there doesn't sport tattoos like his ladylove and turns his fur blue."

Dash, catching on to the joke, grinned at the fox he had always idolized, and then blinked when they spoke together, and in the same Cerinian accent.

"It's good to see you too, Falco."

The avian closed his eyes, groaned, and pinched the skin above his beak. "They're still doing the double speak." To his dismay, the two foxes giggled together. He could not tell if Krystal was sounding like Fox or the other way around.

Shouldering their rucksacks, the honeymooners walked up to their friends. "Hey there, Fay. How are you doing? Taking good care of our ship?"

Her tail wagging furiously, the bubbly cocker spaniel threw her arms around both vulpine, pulling them in a hug. "Doing great. Ship's in tip-top shape. You guys look wonderful and so happy. Did you have a good time? Of course you did. What am I saying?"

Fox placed a finger on Fay's lips to quiet her while Krystal lightly touched her temple to send a small burst of her affection into the she-dog's mind. "Yes, we had a wonderful time, Fay, and I can sense that you are happy and enjoying working for Falco."

Fay gave her two friends a happy canine grin and stepped back to let them greet her simian crewmate.

From the moment they had set foot back on the Great Falcon, Fox had quietly been taking in his wife's empathic and telepathic impressions of their friends. He had been deeply touched by Falco's joy at seeing his friend so happily married. Fay's mind was as bubbly as her personality, and he could only grin at how happy she was to hear his vixen mentally speak to her. As for Dash, he was not getting anything from his mind, except for a sense of hopeful enthusiasm.

Sensing her husband focusing on the young ape, Krystal mentally said to her husband. "It wouldn't be right for me to read his mind without his permission. Falco, Fay, Katt, and all our other close friends share with us a sense of familiarity that we don't share yet with Dash."

_"Oh yeah. You're right. Still, I see why you had such positive impressions from him just coming through your empathy,"_Fox thought back.

As one, Fox and Krystal smiled at the young ape. "It's good to see you, Dash. Hope you are finding fulfillment in serving on Star Falco."

"Uh...Yes. Falco is a great commander....Why are you two speaking at the same time?"

The two foxes blinked and turned to Katt, Fay, and Falco. "Didn't any of you tell Dash about our bonding?"

Falco ran a hand through his crest and shrugged. "We didn't know how private you wanted to keep that, and figured we'd let you tell him. And will you guys cut it out with double speak?"

Tod and vixen snickered together. "Okay, Falco. Don't get your feathers all ruffled up."

At the falcon's dirty look, Fox lifted his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay! Okay! Sorry about that. It just comes naturally to Kurisutaru and me." He then grew thoughtful, placing a hand under his chin. "Though come to think of it, we probably should learn to make it a habit of speaking individually if we want to keep the nature of our bond private." He then nodded to his wife, who turned to the thoroughly perplexed ape.

"When Fox and I got married, we formed a telepathic bond between us. Our minds are permanently linked together so that we always share each other's thoughts. So we tend to think, and speak, as one mind."

"Woah...." Dash gazed at the two vulpine, shaking his head in amazement. "I can't even imagine what that must be like."

Fox smiled fondly at the good-hearted ape and clapped him on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Dash. I can't imagine life without my mind linked to my Kurisutaru."

"Kuris...?"

"Ku-ri-su-ta-ru." Krystal enunciated slowly. "It's my actual Cerinian name. Ever since Fox and I have started thinking to each other in my native language, he's taken a liking to calling me by that name."

Katt at the moment laughed. "No wonder Foxy is speaking with a Cerinian accent."

Fox placed his hands on his hips and glared at the pink feline. "Accent!? What accent? I'll have you know that I do not have the slightest accent!"

Katt gaped at the tod and turned to his vixen. "Okay girl. That husband of yours better not be making fun of me."

Krystal giggled and then stared at her feline friend. The next moment, Katt heard Krystal in her head. _"My bondmate is categorically denying that he speaks with a Cerinian accent. Though truthfully, he is mistaken, but I love the fact that he sounds like me now." _ Katt was gobsmacked. She had heard Krystal think to her in Cerinian and had understood it.

Fox naturally had heard his wife think those words and laughed out loud, leaving Falco, Fay, and Dash mystified.

Falco declared to his crew. "Okay. As much as I want to know what the heck happened, I rather have breakfast first. Everyone, let's head to the galley." He then eye his girlfriend and the two foxes. "While we eat, maybe you three can let the rest of us in on the joke."

Breakfast for the others was more a lunch for Fox and Krystal, given that the sun had risen over Cape Claw several hours earlier. While she and her husband made themselves some sandwiches, the vixen explained what she had telepathically said to Katt, much to the amazement and amusement of the others.

After everyone had eaten, Fox and Krystal went to their quarters to change out of their revealing Cerinian garb and into more conventional clothes. Fox looked at himself in front of the bedroom mirror in his trousers, boots, and shirt. "Maybe Falco is not far off in thinking of me as a Cerinian. After a month of wearing either just a loincloth or nothing at all, I feel overdressed."

Krystal giggled at her husband's thought. "Now you know how I felt when I first came to Corneria with you."

Fox gave his wife a sideways smirk. She was wearing a nice blouse, long pants that hugged her hips, and a comfortable pair of low-heeled boots. _"Of course, I know how you felt." _ He tapped her on the forehead. "I'm in there with you all the time now."

Falco invited Fox and Krystal to join his crew on the bridge, but Fox politely declined, stressing to his avian friend that this was his command now and that he and his wife were just passengers. So the two snuggled quietly in the lounge and watched Sauria slip out of view when the Great Falcon pulled out of orbit and began the journey back to Corneria.

Falco's crew came and went during the rest of the ship's morning until everyone gathered in the galley again for lunch, which was more a dinner for the newlyweds due to the time difference. With ROB-64 tirelessly attending to the ship's systems on the bridge, everyone spent the rest of the ship's day cycle in the lounge after the meal.

At dinner, the foxes had a very light meal and bid their friends a goodnight. In their quarter's bathroom, they each took turns in the shower, given that it had room for only one. While Krystal showered, Fox brushed his teeth and groomed his fur, and thought of his home's master bathroom. "I am so looking forward to sharing a long shower with you in our home." He then frowned to himself. "That's odd. Why did I not think to you in Cerinian just now?"

"It's perfectly natural, really. We are back among our friends, speaking Lylatian. So we would of course start thinking in that language." Krystal had just stepped out of the shower and smiled under her husband's gaze.

Fox let his eyes wander over the naked form of what he considered the most beautiful vixen in all of Lylat. He took in her shapely legs and thighs and her wide feminine hips. His eyes lingered at her crotch and the glistening slit that would welcome him in again this night. Gazing further up, he drank in her smooth stomach and her soft, inviting breasts, the nipples just showing through the wet fur. His bright green eyes met hers, blue like the sky and set in a beautiful pale blue-furred face and muzzle, framed in dark blue hair and pointed vulpine ears._ "We may be thinking to each other in Lylatian,_ but you will always be my Kurisutaru."

Krystal smiled fondly at her husband and gave him a warm, tender kiss, briefly melding her muzzle to his. She then stepped to one side and focused on drying her fur, leaving the shower free for her soulmate. Her eyes also drank in her tod's masculine beauty while he stripped down to the fur and got into the shower. She loved his lean, muscular build, his beautiful tail, and the soft, tender expression he had for her. The vixen also let her eyes drift to his husband's crotch, the tip of his maleness showing from the end of his sheath, and found herself looking forward to feeling him fill her this night.

While Fox showered, his thoughts drifted back to the last time they had shared these quarters aboard his ship. He had reluctantly agreed to sleep with her only when she agreed that they would wear modest night clothes. It had been difficult for both of them to remain chaste, but she had successfully protected him from his recurring nightmares. Those horrible dreams were a thing of the past now. At this very moment, he could sense his soulmate meditating, her disciplined mind asserting a sense of serenity and calm with each deep breath she took. His heart was filled with a boundless happiness. There was no longer any reason to remain chaste. The honeymoon may have been over, but both of them could still look forward to pleasure-filled nights of the most intimate kind and the most wonderful lucid erotic dreams.

Krystal had just finished meditating, and had of course heard all her soulmate's thoughts, which she shared. Still, this had been a long day for the two of them, given the time difference between Cape Claw and the ship's chronometer. She crawled into bed and lay on her back with her legs apart and waited for her husband to finish drying his fur and come to bed to claim her. The vixen yawned and could feel herself drifting off.

"You're almost asleep already, and I'm feeling sleepy too. We could wait until morning to make love."

_"No Fox. I want you to take me, even if I'm asleep. I want to give you wet dreams tonight and would love to sleep with your knot in me." _ Krystal smiled at hearing the happy whimper coming from the bathroom. She could feel her tod's arousal through their mental link and looked forward to feeling his maleness slide into her already wet slit, even as she drifted off to sleep.

When Fox stepped out of the bathroom, he did find his beautiful wife sound asleep, laying on the bed naked with the covers to one side. His heart was filled with love for this vixen, knowing the she would never deny him, knowing that she had deliberately laid on her back, leaving herself open for him. He crawled onto the bed between her legs, and seeing that her nethers was already wet, slid his erect maleness into her without delay.

Fox sighed happily at feeling himself once again fully buried in his wife's warm, silky depths. He carefully laid his weight onto her, resting his head on her shoulder, and started making slow, languid love to his sleeping vixen. Feeling sleepy himself, Fox drew the bed covers over them, closed his eyes, and let his hips continued to undulate, sliding his length in and out, and eliciting whimpers of mounting pleasure from her. He could see in her mind that her dream had taken on an erotic quality. The idea that he was making love to his wife while she slept was very arousing to him, and in no time, his knot began to swell. Feeling his vixen's mounting pleasure through their bond, he ground his swelling maleness against her sweet spot.

Krystal was dreaming lucidly, imagining herself at Cape Claw while waiting for her soulmate to join her once he fell asleep, when erotic feelings began to bloom within her. Intense pleasure radiated from her crotch outwards through her hips and lower extremities until she suddenly woke moaning loudly, her chest heaving under the weight of her mate. In the midst of her climatic pleasure, she also experienced Fox's throbbing ecstasy while feeling his essence jetting inside her.

Once awake, she became aware that her tod's knot was firmly lodged within her. With a delighted murr, Krystal slid her arms up and around Fox's back and wrapped her legs about his hips, pulling him tightly against and deep inside her. She giggled quietly when she realized that her lover had already fallen asleep and let herself drift off, happily exhausted from their nocturnal love-making.

The next morning, Krystal woke to find herself sprawled partly on top of her sleeping husband. As would sometimes happen after a nocturnal coupling, he had slipped out of her while they slept. Thinking of the pleasant and often erotic dreams they had shared brought a smile to her muzzle. It had started with a snuggle on the beaches of Cape Claw and ended with him again taking over the dream and imagining himself washing her in the luxurious bathroom shower that awaited them at the McCloud Family Estate.

She recalled again the brief but wonderful moment when her sleep had been interrupted. Being awakened from an erotic dream by a tidal wave of climatic pleasure, brought on by her lover's knot grinding against her sweet spot, had been a divine experience. Krystal gazed at the relaxed countenance of her husband still deep in REM sleep and decided to wake him up in a very special and wonderful way. Keeping tabs on her lover's dreams, she quietly slipped out of bed and went to his nightstand drawer.

Like any lonely male that her vulpine had been, he had a few adult toys he had used to relieve his sexual tension. She of course knew of them, just like he knew of the toys made for vixens that she had herself. Naturally, neither had made use of them since they had gotten back together two months ago, and certainly not since their wedding day, finding much more satisfaction in drawing pleasure from each other.

She now opened the nightstand drawer and quickly found what she was looking for, withdrawing a thick silicone sleeve made specifically to fit around a knot. With the silicone toy lubed and in hand, she quietly crawled back into bed and slipped into his dream, taking control of it...

Fox was at home, laying in the massive king-sized bed he shared with his wife. He looked to her side of the bed and saw that she was not there with him. He didn't know where she was, but could sense that she was nearby. He gazed towards the bathroom door, wondering if she was there. When he looked again to his side, he was surprised to see his vixen was there in bed with him. "Oh! Hi there. Didn't see you come in."

Without saying a word, Krystal snuggled up next to her husband and latched her muzzle onto his in a deep kiss full of love for her vulpine, a love she again poured into his mind. Fox let out a whine of happiness into the kiss, which then turned into a heart-felt moan when he felt her fingers encircle his crotch. When he tried to roll her over on her back to make love to her, his wife broke off the kiss and gently pushed him back onto the bed. "You've been so wonderful to me last night, I want to do something special for you."

Fox felt her first kiss his neck and then nuzzle and lick her way down his chest and knew she intended to suck him off again. Krystal had been giving him blowjobs almost daily since they had gotten married, and he already considered each of them very special. She was already so good at fellating him. He couldn't imagine how the oral pleasuring could be even more fantastic.

Krystal had now reached her goal and, laying her head over his stomach, eagerly took his erection into her muzzle and started to nurse on him. She knew from his thoughts that it was uncommon for females to orally pleasure their mates, but couldn't imagine why any of them would not enjoy doing this for the one they loved. And she loved how he filled her muzzle and could not get enough of the smell and taste of his maleness and seed. Mirroring her actions in Fox's dream, she continued to suckle on his entire length and cupped the soft furry pouch below.

At times, Fox could hardly believe how insatiable his wife was when it came to orally pleasuring him, and every time she gave him a blowjob, he promised himself to never take such a wonderful gift for granted. He laid there and groaned in bliss at the sensation of being fully engulfed in her warm, suckling muzzle. When his knot started to swell, the tod knew that she'd have to back off. Having his knot trapped in her muzzle, pressing against her teeth, was not a sensation either of them wanted to experience.

Krystal did pull back, but went further by letting his maleness slide completely out of her muzzle. She then turned and smiled fondly at her soulmate. She licked her lips hungrily, winked to him, and turned to take him back into her muzzle.

Fox breathed deeply at the incredible sensation of her lips tightly sliding down his length, again engulfing his maleness as it sank deeply into her muzzle. To his astonishment and alarm, he felt her continue further down over his knot until her nose was pressed against his crotch fur. With his knot swelling, he briefly panicked and tried to pull out of her muzzle until he heard her reassuring voice in his mind. _ _"Relax. You'll not feel my teeth."_ _

Relenting, he went limp and surrendered himself to the incredible sensation of feeling his knot being tightly engulfed in the warmth of her muzzle. He could only stare in wonder and astonishment at the sight of her cheeks bulging out from the knot swelling to its full size within. It looked and felt like he had orally knotted his wife, but even though she now seemed stuck, his vixen still had no problem breathing through her nose and continued to suck on his length. Feeling her give a throaty murr while swallowing around his length and feeling his knot being squeezed tightly in her muzzle was proving to be too much. With a heart-felt grown, Fox felt the first strong spasm rush through his groin.

And awakened to find himself throbbing his pleasure down his lover's throat. His hands immediately slid around her head and dug into her hair. With a firm hold on her head, he couldn't help but thrust up into her muzzle with each spasm and shouted out, "Oh Spirits! You wonderful vixen!"

Krystal murred happily while swallowing successive mouthful of his essence. Feeling his hands grip her head while he drove his length up into her muzzle only excited her further. Wanting to keep up the illusion she was giving her lover, she kept the end of her muzzle pressed firmly against the silicone toy tightly wrapped around his knot. Even after his final spasm, she didn't pull off his length, making Fox think that he had truly orally knotted her.

Never had Fox awakened from such an incredible wet dream. He was so beside himself at such a wonderful experience that he at first didn't even realize he was speaking out loud instead of thinking to his wife, and doing so in Cerinian. "By all the Spirits of Cerinia, that was the most wonderful way you've ever woken me up!"

With the last cobwebs clearing away from his waking mind, Fox became aware of the impossibility of the situation. It was only when he noticed the silicone sleeve tightly encircling his knot that he understood what Krystal had done. He caressed the side of her head and murmured, "You are incredible."

Krystal closed her eyes and sighed happily under her tod's caressing hands while contentedly nursing on his length, keeping him hard. She did not release his length until his knot had finally shrunk. She then crawled up his front and engaged him in a passionate muzzle-locking kiss, only to be interrupted when Fox flipped her onto her front, making her squeal in surprise and delight, and immediately mounted her from behind and gave her a serious pounding. It was near lunch time when they emerged from their quarters, fully refreshed. By the spring in their step, none of the Great Falcon's crew needed to ask why they were up so late.

The journey back to Corneria proved to be quiet and uneventful. While Falco and his crew moved about the ship and attended to business, the two foxes spent most of their time during the day snuggling together in the ship's lounge or sharing a meal with their friends in the galley. In the evenings, they would sit with their friends, share stories, and generally converse together about anything and everything until they went back to their quarters and made love until they fell asleep. Almost every morning, whoever woke up first would lick or suck the other until he or she awoke and climaxed. This was then often followed by passionate love making.

It was while they were two days out from Corneria that the sad news reached them. General George Pepper had passed away in his sleep due to his fading health. Though it was not unexpected, the sadness resonated throughout Lylat. Everyone aboard the Great Falcon made arrangements to attend the funeral, but their spirits were not dampened. All knew that the old dog would not want them to cease living their lives to the fullest on his account.

*****

After a journey of nearly two weeks, the Great Falcon decelerated to insert itself into orbit over Corneria. In their quarters, Fox and Krystal were packing most of their clothes, possessions, and mementos. Fox also removed his flight suit and combat fatigues from their closet and packed them as well. He then removed his wife's dark blue and purple flight suit and ran his fingers through the smooth, resilient fabric, his mind again dwelling on how good she looked in the skin-tight garment.

He felt her hand on his shoulder and turned to gaze into her azure blue eyes. "I remember that first night after you had given Falco the captain's quarters and moved in with me. You seemed a bit nervous about me hearing your thoughts on how sexy you thought I looked in my flight suit."

"I've loved how you looked in this suit and the boots since the first time I saw you wear them when you joined Star Fox. I was just a bit nervous because I didn't want to disturb your meditation."

"Well you know now that your random thoughts are not a problem." Krystal saw his vision drift from her boots in the closet to the flight suit he was caressing._ "And I'll happily wear them for you again."_ When she felt his arousal swelling in his pants through their mental bond, she sent her tod a burst of her love.

Fox inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, briefly surrendering himself to his wife's telepathic powers to bask in her love surging through his soul.

"In fact, I'll wear them when I join you to teach at the flight academy."

Questions about their post Star Fox life and careers distracted the tod from visions of his wife in the form-fitting flight suit and boots. "Is that what you really want to do?"

Krystal took her flight suit from Fox's hands and set about packing it. "Even before our minds were linked, I loved to fly. And now that we are bonded, it his highly likely that I match you in skill and knowledge when it comes to combat in an Arwing. I'd even wager that you match my own abilities in the Cerinian staff now too....I was there mentally when you were instructing Falco, and shared your enjoyment in the act of teaching."

Fox resumed his own packing while he mentally conversed with his bondmate. "What about when you have children? That might put a damper on the flying and teaching." Fox grew pensive at the prospect of his upcoming fatherhood. "Come to think of it, I cannot see myself leaving you behind to raise our pups by yourself while I am off flying."

Krystal was deeply touched by her husband's desire to be a good father._ "While I do look forward to joining you at the flight academy, I find myself wanting to be a mother even more. We'll figure out how to share in the upbringing of our pups."_

With those thoughts, they focused on finishing off their packing and were soon in the Great Falcon's hangar bay, where they met up with Falco and the rest of his crew.

The avian mercenary leader smiled fondly at his two vulpine friends. "Fox, it was great seeing you and your ladylove again, but we'll have to keep this short and sweet. I just landed a lucrative contract to hunt down some pirates that have been harassing the space lanes between Papatoon and Corneria. So the moment the CDF shuttle arrives and leaves with the two of you, we are breaking out of orbit."

"That's great to hear, Falco....Thank you for everything, and for being such a good wingmate all these years." After a moment's hesitation, Fox lunged forward and gave his avian friend a heart-felt hug.

Falco in that moment was overcome with emotion and returned his vulpine friend's hug with equal fervor before getting a hold of himself. He cleared his throat, gently extricated himself from the tod's embrace, and gruffly voiced his own affection. "Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. You can be so emotional sometimes." He then turned to the vixen he was coming to think of as a sister-in-law. "Take care of yourself, Blue, and cover his six for me. You're his wingmate now."

"I will, Other Blue." She then gave Falco a chaste kiss on the beak and gently ran her fingers along the side of his head, sending him a burst of her affection through his mind._ "Such an emotional bird, always trying to hide his feelings....Don't worry. Your secret is safe with Fox and me, though you should know you are not fooling your crew, and especially not Katt."_

Falco gave a chirp and blinked back the tears that were threatening to embarrass him while Fox and Krystal turned to Katt.

"You've been a good friend to us, Katt. It's up to you now to cover this bird's tail feathers whenever he gets too cocky," Fox said to the pink-furred feline while grinning towards Falco who was rolling his eyes. Krystal then reached up and lightly placed a hand along Katt's temple. _"Falco may have his flaws as you know, but I sense in him a good heart....And Fox says you're his wingmate now just like I am Fox's." _ Fox and Krystal as one gave Katt a warm hug while the vixen sent a burst of her affection into the pink feline's mind, eliciting a mewl from her.

Fay was grinning a canine grin, with her tongue hanging out in an excited pant while her tail was wagging furiously, when her vulpine friends turned to her. Among all of Krystal's female friends, this bubbly, white-furred cocker spaniel had become the closest. Besides Fox, she had been the first to let the telepath touch her mind since the destruction of Cerinia.

Krystal lay a hand against Fay's temple and channeled her affection for the she-dog into her mind, making her whine happily. "I haven't forgotten the experience I shared with you when you recalled going down that water slide." Krystal then went on, speaking out loud. "The moment Star Falco stands down for some R & R, we hope to join you and Bill for a day at that water park."

"Oooh. It will be so fun. I'm sure Bill will want to as well. Will you want to go sliding too, Fox?"

"Oh yes. A day at River Rapids waterpark with you and Bill will be so much fun." He then kissed her in the cheek. "In the meantime, I'm counting on you to help Falco take good care of my ship."

Fay embraced her long-time friend and promised. "We will."

Fox then turned to the youngest member of Star Falco. "Dash, it's been great getting to know you these last two weeks, and I'm so happy to see things are working out so well for you in Star Falco." He placed a hand on the young ape's shoulder. "And I can say that I'm proud to consider you a good friend."

Krystal placed a hand on Dash's other shoulder and said to him in a quiet, sincere voice. "I've sensed emotions of shame from you whenever Andross is mentioned, but to any who may ask, I can say that you are nothing like him. You are a brave, conscientious soul with a caring heart, and Falco and the rest of us all think highly of you."

Dash swallowed a lump in his throat, at a loss for words that could convey his gratitude for their acceptance and friendship. When he saw the telepathic vixen raise her hand to his head but stop short of touching his temple, his eyes met hers, and he nodded, giving permission. The moment he felt her hand rest against the side of his head, he felt her soothing presence, and her affection flow through him.

Everyone then turned towards the hangar doors when ROB announced the arrival of the CDF shuttlecraft. Soon, the vulpine couple gave a final wave to their friends and boarded the craft to return home.

*****

To their surprise, they landed on the military side of the spaceport, the shuttlecraft settling down inside a hangar. Peppy, resplendent in his CDF general's uniform, greeted them when they disembarked. "Welcome back."

Fox embraced his long-time mentor, followed by Krystal doing the same. The two foxes then looked around, unsure of what to do next.

"I suppose you two are wondering why you've landed here instead of at the main terminal."

"Yeah. You could say that. What's going on, Peppy?" Fox asked.

"About a week ago, the tabloids finally figured out that no wedding would take place on Papatoon. Apparently, you were right in thinking that we were being watched from afar when we boarded the Great Falcon." The hare then showed the couple a datapad with the screen open to one of the tabloid websites, showing an article. In it was a telephoto image of all of them boarding the ship with the title, 'Famed leader of Star Fox off to Papatoon to wed Krystal in big public ceremony.'

Fox grinned and laughed. "I'll bet they were everywhere on Papatoon, waiting for us too."

"That they were. Thankfully, flight plans are not public record. So when the Great Falcon never arrived at Papatoon, they started searching to see if you were making stops along the way. They were never able to figure out where we disappeared off to, and when no records could be found of wedding plans, they realized they'd been duped."

Krystal wondered. "Have they figured out that we are already married?"

"Not unless one of them looked up the court records where your marriage is recorded, with your name now listed as 'Krystal McCloud.'"

"So what now?" Fox asked. "The Great Falcon must have been seen when it arrived in orbit for us to be dropped off."

"I had another shuttlecraft waiting very close to the Great Falcon. It flew in very close formation to yours for a short while after you left, and then veered off to land at the main terminal while yours landed here."

"And it fooled them?" Krystal asked.

"That it did. Many are waiting for you there now. I also took the liberty of having your ground car taken out of storage in the wee hours of the morning and brought to the CDF HQ parking lot. We best hurry. I don't know how long we'll have before the paparazzi realize they've been fooled again."

Shouldering their duffle bags, Fox and Krystal quickly followed Peppy through the base. When they reached CDF Headquarters, the couple couldn't help but grin at seeing their ground car in a reserved parking spot with the sign, 'CDF Flight Instructor' spelled out on it.

Peppy clapped the tod on his shoulder, his eyes shining in merriment. "I'll give you two a week to settle in, then I want you to report early on the eighth day to start teaching Bulldog and Husky Squadrons how to fly those Arwings."

"Thanks for everything, Peppy." They said together.

"You two best hurry now. I can't spare agents to run interference anymore. The higher ups above me reminded me that it's considered a misappropriation of resources."

"We understand. We'll see you in a week." Fox assured his old mentor. The two foxes then quickly got into their ground car, and sped off.

Just after they made it past the gate to the CDF base, the car's comm announced an incoming call. A quick glance at the screen in the dashboard made Fox smile and quickly accept the call. "Fara! How goes things in the Phoenix Corporate Empire? When did you learn we were back?"

The fennec vixen laughed. "I asked Peppy to send me word the moment you got back. If you check your car's center console, you'll find your home's access keycard."

While Fox continued to drive, Krystal quickly checked and found the keycard where Fara said it was.

"Thanks. That saves me the time of having to stop by your place on the way home. So far, there's no paparazzi following us, but it is only a matter of time before they figure out we gave them the slip."

"Yeah, I kind of figured you'd want to get home ASAP. You'll be happy to know that your home defense system is installed and operational."

At that moment, Krystal's sixth sense picked up the several drivers intent on pursuing them, which Fox also became aware of through their link. Glancing at his rear-view mirror, Fox sighed. "Looks like we'll need that home defense system sooner than I would have liked. They've found us."

"Yeesh. They didn't waste time tracking you down. I'll let you go then. Let me know how the system works out."

"Sure, and thanks." After Fox terminated the call, he thought to his wife, "I'm going to try and stay as far ahead of them as I can. Send Peppy a message to let him know."

Fox quickly accelerated, glad he had purchased a high performance vehicle. Thanks to the high torque put out by their ground car's motor, they quickly left their pursuers far behind. While their vehicle sped along, Krystal quickly typed out a message on her personal communicator. They soon reached their residential neighborhood where Fox was forced to slow down for the sake of safety. The vulpine knew it was only a matter of time before their pursuers caught up with them.

Just as he was turning down the final cul-de-sac, he saw them in his rearview mirror. He quickly sped down the street, sending out the coded signal to open the gate. Once through, he stopped and watched the steel gate close right behind his car, making sure none of the paparazzi and tabloid reporters followed them onto their land. Once the gate was shut, Fox drove up to the mansion and veered to the right to the separate, detached 5-car garage and drove into the left-most one. Fox stopped the motor and turned to his wife. "Welcome to the McCloud Family Estate, Missus McCloud. Welcome home."

Krystal leaned over and kissed him affectionately and the two foxes had a brief make-out session before breaking off. They got out of the car and made their way down the stairway to the underground passage leading into the basement of the mansion. When they reached the main spiral stairway, they could hear a quiet hum from the double doors behind the central stairway column. They walked over and Fox opened the doors. Inside, they saw in the middle of the room a compact fusion reactor with a deuterium storage tank next to it. Fox grinned to his wife. "Let's try out those turrets."

They quickly went up the stairs to the main floor and straight to the master bedroom. Inside the study, Fox and Krystal found a new control panel had been installed in the corner. The panel comprised of four small screens clustered together next to a larger screen and a keyboard below. Next to each of the four screens was a trackball. After quickly studying the controls, Krystal activated the four screens, each showing a targeting reticle at the center. "This must be the view from each of the turrets," she thought, playing with one trackball to make that turret pan towards the front gate outside.

Fox mentally agreed with his wife's assessment while he examined the larger screen. It showed a wide-field view from the front of the house. Accessing the menu, he was able to toggle to views from each side of the mansion and also the back. In each view, at least two of the turret reticles could be seen moving as Krystal experimented with the turret controls. Fox brought up the front view again and zoomed in on the front wall and gate to their property. They could see the tabloid photographers already camping out in front, just beyond the gate. Many had already mounted cameras on top of the stone wall.

Activating passive scanners at the front corners of their large property, they quickly identified all the paparazzi. Some even had ladders leaning against the front wall. Fox placed a fingertip on the screen, causing one of the reporters to be highlighted. "Nice! We can pick out our targets like this." Fox gleefully thought to his wife.

Soon each person was targeted. Krystal also marked out each camera and recorder, and for good measure, their vehicles as well. Fox switched the targeting from Manual to Automatic, and then brought up the weapon system. Two sets of eyes widened in astonishment at the arsenal at their disposal. The turrets could emit laser and high-powered phaser beams, plasma bolts, and disrupter blasts. "Damn! The guns in each of these turrets can put out more power than a Landmaster tank." At the bottom of the list was a Stun setting and Electromagnetic Pulse. Fox selected the EMP setting, and set the output to full power.

_ _

At the gate of the McCloud Family Estate, Jack Conley and his fellow photographers and reporters were setting up to stakeout the couple. His right wrists had just been taken out of its cast a week ago, healed from the fracture when Fox had broken it during their last encounter. He was determined to get back at the vulpine, who had cost him a fortune in ruined photographic equipment. The beagle had spent even more on this camera, having it custom made to be hardened against radiation.

So he wasn't surprised when some of his fellow photographers shouted in dismay when their recorders and cameras suddenly died just as loud thumping sounds were heard from the mansion. They had foolishly set up on the top of the wall, leaving their equipment a target. His colleagues who had also encountered Fox at the apartment complex two months ago were very well aware that their target loved to use EMP against them and had parked their vehicles and equipment behind the protection of the stone wall surrounding the property.

But the thumps heard from the mansion continued, and even those behind the wall were shocked to discover that their cameras were not protected by the stone barrier. Nearby vehicle motors also stopped working. Then two, simultaneous loud thumps, seemingly coming from each side of the mansion, echoed through the neighborhood, and even Jack's own radiation-hardened camera fizzled and died. With a growl, the reporter threw his ruined camera on the ground, smashing its useless components in many directions. "This is fucking unbelievable! He's done it to us again!"

"Believe it!" they all heard. As one, every single reporter and paparazzo looked up to see Fox McCloud standing atop the thick, stone wall. With his arms folded, the fox glared contemptuously down at the tabloid reporters below him. "This is my private property, and I will not allow any of you to simply camp out in front to try recording what I and my wife do in the privacy of our own home. And you can all expect your recording equipment to be destroyed each time you try to intrude."

They all stared at the vulpine in stunned silence for a few seconds before it finally sank in. He had referred to his blue-furred vixen as his wife. They then start shouting out questions. "How long were you married? Where was the wedding? Where was the honeymoon?"

Fox raised a hand and with a snarling bark silenced all of them. "We have been married for six weeks now, and where we married and had our honeymoon is none of your damn business. Now, given that all your vehicles and all your equipment is ruined, including your communicators, I've done you the curtesy of calling several towing services."

"You are going to pay to have our ground cars hauled away to be repaired?" Jack Conley asked.

"No. I just called for them since you couldn't, and because I don't want any of you here. The cost of their removal is your responsibility." When Fox saw a few sullen expressions, his voice took on a hardened edge. "Consider yourselves fortunate that this and having your vehicle electronics replaced is all it will cost you. Next time, I'll blow them up outright!"

With those final words, Fox turned his back on the reporters and leapt off the wall, disappearing from their view. Smiling to himself while he walked along the long driveway back to his house, he was again amazed at the duality of the telepathic bond he shared with his wife. It seemed so natural now for him to look down from that wall at the reporters while at the same time seeing himself on the surveillance monitors where Krystal had been sitting in their study. Just as he was walking through the front door, he could hear a convoy of flat-bed trucks arrive and see them through his vixen's eyes watching their approach on the console screens.

While the paparazzi's ground cars were in the process of being loaded upon the flatbed trucks, Fox and Krystal went about the house and made a shopping list for food, toiletries, housewares, and so forth. By the time they were done, the tabloid reporters and their disabled vehicles were gone. They made their way back to the garage where Krystal stopped at the rear of their ground car. "Fox, as much as you like keeping a personal arsenal in your car's trunk, we are going to need all this space for everything we are going to buy."

"Yeah. I can't disagree there." Fox, with Krystal's help, set about emptying the trunk, hanging each weapon on racks on the garage back wall, with the exception of his sniper's rifle and a small case of grenades. "These already came in handy. I think we should keep them just in case."

Fox also kept his personal blaster between the front seats while Krystal always kept her Cerinian staff with her. Both smirked to each other, thinking together_"Once a mercenary, always a mercenary. _ Once a guardian, always a guardian."

Together, the vulpine couple went out on a shopping spree. Their first stop was downtown Corneria City. There, they bought for their bed two sets of silk sheets in a deep, passionate red. They also acquired thick, plush towels, scented bath soaps, and fur shampoo. Fox also found a large, circular matt and scented candles that he knew would be perfect for his wife's meditation room.

Being so well-known, it was of course natural that other shoppers would notice them, especially given how Krystal's unique cerulean blue fur stood out amongst the rest. But since they tended to not linger long at any one location, fans and well-wishers never had a chance to accumulate around them. Their foray into the downtown shopping district was also brief enough that tabloid reporters didn't have a chance to accost them. By the time word had gotten out that Fox and Krystal McCloud were out shopping there, the couple was already on its way back to their neighborhood.

They stopped at the East End Market, which was their local outdoor market, where they found flowers and other knickknacks to decorate their home with. At the local nursery, they purchased gardening supplies, plants, and seeds for vegetables to start landscaping and gardening in their large backyard. It was while Fox was making arrangements to have contractors install a greenhouse in their backyard that they became aware of a small number of tabloid reporters watching them discreetly from the other end of the nursery. Word had gotten out by then of the vehicles and expensive recording equipment Fox had already ruined with EMP blasts, and many knew that the retired mercenary had broken Jack Conley's wrist when the beagle had violated the angry fox's personal space weeks before.

While they were loading up the trunk of their car, they could see photographers at the far end of the parking lot recording their actions. Fox inwardly sighed, "I guess it's inevitable they would be recording us. At least, they are keeping their distance and not crowding around us and shoving their cameras and microphones in our muzzles."

As one, both Fox and Krystal looked up from loading the trunk of their car to gaze directly at the reporters across the parking lot. Their stalkers briefly stopped photographing them, and Krystal sensed a momentary spike of fear from them. "They are afraid of you."

"I can see they have boom microphones too, for all the good it will do them." Fox thought back. They finished packing their goods, got into their ground car, and Fox drove off to their final stop on their shopping spree while the tabloid media reporters followed them at a distance. When they arrived at the East End Farmer's Market, the photographers still kept their distance, setting up with telephoto lenses and boom microphones at the far end of the parking lot along a wall while Fox and Krystal went inside to do their grocery order.

Deciding to make it quick, they split up and started at opposite ends of the market, each filling their baskets while mentally keeping track of what the other was selecting off the shelves. While they were filling their grocery order, Krystal sensed that they were being watched by more than just other shoppers. Fox growled quietly to himself, realizing that one of the tabloid reporters was trying to blend in with the other customers.

In short order, they were soon done and waiting together to pay for their large order of food. While they stood in line, Krystal's senses again picked up the malicious intent of their stalker. "She's near. I can sense her watching us avidly."

"There are many around who are watching us." Fox thought back while nodding politely and smiling to their fellow customers.

"Yes, but this one is actually familiar. I sensed her presence before, at the cemetery two months ago when you brought me to your parent's grave."

Their turn having come up, Fox began unloading his cart to have each food item scanned by the cashier while mentally conversing with his wife. _"That Priscilla Kane bitch? She's here?" _ Krystal's gaze drifted around to the other market shoppers around them, and briefly settled upon a female pug before continuing to wander on.

Fox continued focusing on checking out his grocery selection to not arouse suspicion from their stalker, but saw the puggish reporter through Krystal's eyes. Though she had dyed her fur a dark brown to hide her original cream color, it was indeed Priscilla Kane. The reporter had an unusually large purse over her shoulder, which she kept angled towards the foxes. "I'll wager there's a hidden camera and microphone in there."

"I agree. We're going to have to do something about this." The vixen grinned to herself upon reading in her husband's mind what he intended to do, and added her own idea to her husband's plan. They finished checking out their grocery order and once paid for, Fox and Krystal pushed their carts towards their ground car. With their stalking paparazzo watching them from several vehicles over, they carefully loaded their trunk, making sure that the sniper's riffle and grenades were still accessible.

Priscilla Kane kept her hidden camera focused on the two vulpine, her mind already filled with lurid tales she could make up to go with the video footage. She would use the fact the two weren't talking to each other at all and not showing any affection to make it look like they didn't like each other and were not on speaking terms. All she now needed were some video of Panther Caruso to write a scandalous tale of cuckolding in a love triangle. She gleefully angled her purse towards Krystal when she stepped away and walked past her several ground cars over.

She was completely turned around, having been tracking Krystal, when she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. Priscilla whipped around and found herself muzzle-to-muzzle with an angry, snarling Fox McCloud. Petrified under the tod's hateful gaze, she was unable to back away before Fox snatched her overlarge purse. "How stupid did you think we are, not to notice your crude disguise, Miss Kane?" Krystal said from right behind her.

The reporter yelped in surprise and turned around again, this time finding herself muzzle-to-muzzle with a snarling vixen, who exuded some sort of indefinable aura about her that made the Cerinian even more terrifying. She wanted to run, but was unable to move under her gaze. She saw Fox walk around her to stand next to his wife. Other nearby shoppers by now had stopped and were watching in rapt fascination the confrontation between the famed couple and the reporter.

"Not only did I find a video and audio recording unit, but a transmitter." The moment they saw the pug make a nervous glance towards the other paparazzi at the far end of the parking lot, Fox and Krystal immediately knew where the receiver was.

Leaving the transmitter untouched, Fox removed the recording unit's memory chip while speaking loud enough for those around them to hear. "In the past, I tolerated your ilk, and even laughed at the silly stories you wrote about me during my career in Star Fox. That changed just before the Anglar Blitz when Krystal and I broke up over our misunderstanding. Even though my wife and I reconciled and are happily married now," he then gazed directly at the other tabloid reporters across the parking lot, "I will NEVER forgive ANY OF YOU FOR THE HURTFUL LIES YOU POSTED about MYSELF, MY WIFE, and even Panther!" He then looked to the other shoppers around them who were watching Fox. His gaze took on a saddened cast as he briefly met eyes with each of them. "And shame on any of you who subscribed to their publications and were gullible enough to believe the tripe they wrote."

Fox noticed a few of the onlookers break eye contact with him with contrite expressions. He then turned back and faced their would-be stalker. "And as for you, you are going to hand over any additional memory chips you have of recordings of myself and my wife."

The tabloid reporter nervously shook her head. "I...I don't have any..."

"LIAR!" Krystal cut her off. The telepath could easily tell that the pug was being deceitful. In a flash, she came forward until her nose was almost touching the reporter's flattened muzzle. The Cerinian's sense of ethics would not allow her to invade the bitch's thoughts, but nothing stopped her from projecting her fury into her mind while bearing her teeth in a snarl full of rage.

Priscilla Kane was frozen in utter terror, transfixed under the angry vixen's gaze. Something about Krystal McCloud left her quivering in fear. Fox now also moved into the pug's personal space and matched his wife's snarl. "Hand over all of the memory chips!......NOW!"

The reporter promptly lost control of all bodily functions, both wetting and soiling herself. She quickly emptied her pockets of every memory chip she had containing all recordings made of the McClouds, and threw them on the ground before turning tail and running. Priscilla Kane, famed tabloid reporter, would never again attempt to get near to either of the two foxes.

Having dealt with the tabloid bitch, Fox turned his attention to the other reporters watching from a distance. He leapt onto the roof of his ground car while Krystal went to the still-open trunk and opened the sniper rifle's case. Hidden from view of the paparazzi long lenses, she lifted the rifle out of its case, verified that it was still set to EMP, and activated it.

Hearing the building whine of his weapon charging up in his wife's hands, Fox stretched out his hand behind him while fixing his gaze on the reporters watching and recording him from afar. When the weapon was fully charged, Krystal slapped the stock into her husband's outstretched hand.

Ignoring the shouts of alarm from onlookers around them, Fox swung the end of the rifle's long barrel in an arc over his head and down level in front of him, letting the forestock slap into the open palm of his other hand. Before it could even register in the minds of any of the photographers that Fox McCloud was aiming a weapon at them, the retired mercenary quickly brought the scope up to eye-level, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Shoppers and market workers all gawked at the sight of Fox McCloud shooting repeatedly at the tabloid photographers, who had just barely started to dive for cover when the vulpine sent the final electromagnetic pulse towards his last target. In the weighty silence that followed, Fox handed his sniper's rifle back to his wife, who put the weapon back in its case, and then closed the car's trunk while her husband jumped down to the pavement next to his vehicle. He gave a chagrinned smile to all the surrounding onlookers. "Sorry for all the commotion folks."

While Fox and his wife got into their ground car and started to drive off, expletives could be heard from across the parking lot as the tabloid photographers discovered their recording units were once again rendered inoperative and wiped clean of all video and audio recordings.

From within his ground car, Fox placed a call while he drove. Once the connection had been made, a feminine voice answered. "Good afternoon, this is Lylat News. How may I help you?"

"Hello. This is Fox McCloud. May I speak with Walter Kent?

"F-Fox McCloud? Yes Sir! I'll see if he's available," came the excited reply. After a brief interlude, the receptionist came back on, sounding breathless. "Patching you through." A moment later, they heard the news hound's affable voice. "Mister and Missus McCloud. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Greetings Mister Kent. My wife and I want to thank you for the nice article you posted of our interview with you two months ago."

"Just reporting the facts, as any self-respecting reporter would, Mister McCloud. I am pleased you found my article to your liking." A chuckle was then heard before the hound continued. "I can't say that Miss Kane was very pleased though."

Krystal laughed and replied. "She'll be even less so with what we have for you. Mister Kent."

"Oh? How so?"

Fox grinned. "Let's say that we highly recommend you come to the West End Farmer's Market and ask to see their security camera recordings of what transpired a few minutes ago."

At the Lylat News office, Walter Kent was already sprinting towards the exit. "It sounds to me that you've just handed me another news scoop, Mister McCloud."

"Right in one! Have a good day, Mister Kent."

"A good day to you too, Mister McCloud, and thank you."

Fox closed the connection to Lylat News and grinned to his wife.

*****

In short order, Fox and Krystal were back at their home. Parked inside their five-vehicle garage, Fox thought to his vixen. "I think the time has come to activate the house-keeping droids. Come with me."

Reading from his mind what Fox was wanting to do, Krystal followed her husband down the underground tunnel from the garage to the mansion. In the droid's room, they stood before ROB-16, ROB-32, and ROB-48. The three house-keeping robots, all predecessors to ROB-64, had remained dormant in their alcoves ever since Fox had left his old home following the death of his father. With his return to the McCloud Family Estate, the time had come to re-activate the automatons. Prior to doing so, Fox had one task to do. As he had done with ROB-64, he now pried open the panel of each robot's head and accessed the top-level menu. Three names were listed giving top-level command authority over each robot: James McCloud, Vixy McCloud, and Fox McCloud. He now added a fourth name: Krystal McCloud, having his wife enunciate her full, married name for each robot.

Once the robots were activated, they each recognized Fox and Krystal as the master and mistress of the McCloud Family Estate. They were immediately set to work, removing all the covers from the furniture through the house and cleaning everything to make their home livable again, and helping where needed as Fox and Krystal spent the day setting up house.

After a month-long honeymoon on Sauria being either naked or nearly so, Fox found himself more comfortable moving about in the privacy of their home in just his fur. Krystal was of course delighted to see her husband shed off his clothes and quickly stripped off her own clothing as well. By late in the day, they were in the kitchen, working together to make their dinner and wearing nothing but aprons over their fronts.

Once their meal was ready, they hung their aprons on pegs and sat together in the circular breakfast nook in the nearby corner of the mansion. While they ate, Fox glanced over at his naked wife. All afternoon, they had been so focused on making this huge mansion into their home that sexual thoughts had been pushed to the back of their minds. His eyes now wandered over her alluring form as he chewed on his food, and his desire for his vixen welled up in him like a tidal wave, and was reflected back to him by her own desire for him.

While they ate, Krystal reached under the table and wrapped her fingers around his arousal and gave it a firm squeeze. Fox closed his eyes and groaned blissfully while slowly eating his dinner. Sensing that it brought emotional comfort to her husband to be so intimately touched was enough reason for the vixen to maintain her grip on his maleness while she ate. When they finished their dinner, Fox got up from the table with his wife standing with him, still keeping a hold of his erection.

Fox whimpered and panted. "Oh Spirits, do you intend to keep your grip on me all the way to our bathroom?"

"Why do you ask? Do you want me to stop groping you?" Krystal thought back, the vixen being both amused and affectionate.

"My dear sweet Kurisutaru, you know how much I appreciate being fondled by you."

"Then let's get to the bathroom. I want to experience all those shower jets with you." Krystal thought back and then started walking, giving her husband's maleness a gentle tug.

Fox happily complied, letting himself be led by his wife in this erotic manner. The two walked together past the kitchen, through the ballroom to their bedroom, ending inside the master bathroom. Fox took hold of the waterproof remote and activated the shower, directing water to every nozzle, the waterfall, and rain shower and the two separate showerheads, and setting the water to a steamy warm temperature. Once the water was heated up, he set the shower to recirculate 90% of the water through the drain filtration system and had all the water come through the waterfall over the bench along the back wall.

The two of them then sat under the cascade, letting the soothing warm water soak into their pelts. Leaning towards each other, their muzzle came together in a slow, sensual kiss while their hands wandered over each other. Krystal dug her hand into his chest fur and continued to fondle and squeeze her mate's erection, making him whine happily. Her own whimpers joined his when he lovingly caressed one breast while dragging his finger through her slit with the other hand. When Fox began sliding his finger past her folds, the vixen arched her back and started breathing heavily. Through their telepathic link, he could feel her pleasure building to a boil, and brought her to a crescendo dragging his finger against her sweet spot. His heart swelled with happiness, her cries of joy music to his ears, even as he moaned himself, reveling in experiencing her female orgasm.

Once she came down from her peak, Krystal broke off their kiss and started nibbling her tod under his chin and neck while her hand began to move up and down his wet, slick length. Fox's breath deepened, becoming groans of mounting pleasure when he felt her gently grope his sac with her other hand. Upon feeling his knot begin to swell, he knew it wouldn't be long before he jetted his essence onto the shower floor. "Kurisutaru....Please....Stop."

Krystal paused in her stroking of her mate and gazed questioningly into his eyes. _ _ "Is something wrong, my love?"

"I don't want my essence to just go down the drain." Fox thought back to his soulmate. "It just feels like it would be a waste if it ended up anywhere except inside you."

"Aww. That's so sweet." Krystal cooed out loud. She then licked his nose and thought. "Well, you haven't had a blowjob yet today." With adoration in her eyes, she gazed up at her lover even while sliding off the bench to kneel between his legs.

Fox groaned in anticipation._ "I can't get over how much you love to suck me like this."_

"I love the taste of your essence and hearing your moans. That alone makes me want to suck you every day, and feeling your pleasure through our link makes it even better."

With thoughts of shared pleasure, Fox eyed the nozzles to body jets on each side of his kneeling wife. Seeing how they were arrayed vertically, the tod smiled as an idea came to him. Krystal's heart quickened in excitement when she read that idea in her husband's mind and saw the two lowest body jet nozzles next to her through his eyes.

Krystal dropped down onto all fours and inched back towards the body jet nozzles while Fox slid off the bench to kneel in front of his prone vixen. Dropping down onto her elbows, she hiked her rear, raising her tail high over her back, and opened her muzzle to let Fox slide his erection into her waiting maw. She closed her eyes and began to hum happily while suckling on his length.

With a groan of pleasure, Fox grabbed the shower remote. He turned off the waterfall and activated the rain nozzles in the ceiling above them. With a pleasantly warm downpour raining down upon them, Fox redirected some of the water to the two lowest body jets behind his wife, directing one stream of water at her slit and the other at her other opening, just under her tail.

Krystal stiffened and gave a throaty moan around her tod's maleness before resuming her oral ministrations. Fox sat back on his feet and close his eyes under the warm shower, basking in the oral pleasure his wife was giving him, while also feeling the water jets impinging under her tail and against her crotch. Breathing raggedly through her nose, she continued to suckle on her husband's length and groaned with him in their growing mutual pleasure.

Sensing that his vixen was again close to her peak, Fox turned off the rain nozzles above them and redirected all the water to the two body jets, setting them to pulse. Like a tidal wave surging up a narrow river, an intense, powerful climax raced through her whole body, making the vixen scream loudly around her muzzle-full. Fox also was overwhelmed. This was by far the most intense female orgasm he had ever experienced through his telepathic bond with his wife.

Soon though, Krystal began to whine and squirm, trying to move away from the powerful water jets, and Fox could feel why as her nub had become hypersensitive. He quickly turned off both body jets and restored the flow to the rain shower heads in the ceiling. Krystal let her mate's erection slip from her muzzle and rested her head on his lap, murring happily. "Spirits, it felt as if a Nova bomb exploded in my crotch."

Fox caressed his wife's head while she lay sprawled on the shower floor between his knees. He scratched her behind her ears and thought to her. "I never knew a vixen could orgasm so strongly. It felt incredible. Feeling that jet against your tail hole was amazing too."

"You should experience it yourself." Krystal then thought of the opposing body jets behind her tod, and pictured in her mind what she wanted him to do while she took the shower remote in hand. By then, she had recovered and grinned while gazing up at her wide-eyed lover. "I sense you like the idea."

"Oh Spirits, yes!"

Krystal giggled at her lover's eagerness and rose up from his lap. Fox promptly got down on all fours and move into position, arching his tail over his back. She then activated the second body jet from the bottom, sending a stream of water to splatter against his rump. Fox shifted over slightly until he could feel the water striking at that perfect spot right under his uplifted tail. The tod at once started rocking back and forth against the impinging jet.

Fox glanced down to see his vixen crawl under him. Krystal got into position and lifted herself up onto her elbows so that her muzzle was level with his crotch and wrapped her lips around his needful maleness, which immediately bucked forward, sinking fully into her muzzle. The vixen hummed in delight. "That's it, Foxy. Hump my muzzle, and don't stop until you've fed me your essence."

The tod groaned and nodded, happy to do as his wife asked. He placed his hands upon her rump to lift his chest higher and give her a better angle and continued thrusting into her warm, suckling muzzle. The vixen kept a tight seal around her husband's length, pressing it up against her palette with her tongue while sucking firmly. Before long, he felt his knot starting to swell and had to shorten his thrusts into his vixen's eager muzzle. With her lover's knot now bumping against her lips, Krystal knew he wouldn't last much longer. Moving her finger over the shower remote, she turned off all flow to the raining shower head above them, leaving all the warm water with only one place to go, and gripped his knot tightly with both hands.

With the strong water jet impinging against the puckered opening to his back passage, Fox felt that delicious tightness quickly build to a crescendo, and with a loud, drawn-out grunt, gave a hard thrust forward into his wife's muzzle, throbbing his pleasure strongly against the back of her throat. Krystal was actually caught off guard by the strength of her vulpine's climax and briefly gagged and coughed when the first blast of his seed rushed down her gullet. She immediately recovered and was quickly swallowing the rest of his essence.

Fox remained frozen in place, gasping with each strong spasm that rushed from his anal passage to his loins. It felt like the strong, pulsing water jet drilling between his rump cheeks was driving his climax on. He had briefly gagged at the feeling of his seed splattering against his wife's throat, but that unpleasant sensation had quickly gone away when she immediately recovered. He continued throbbing deep into her muzzle for a while longer until with a final spurt, he felt truly drained.

Krystal turned off the water jet and redirected the flow to the waterfall, and let his shrinking length slide from her muzzle. Fox shakily sat back up and helped his wife up to her knees. The two tired, but sated foxes helped each other up onto the bench to sit under the cascading water. They leaned against each other, soaking up the warmth of the water pouring down onto their backs.

"That felt amazing." Fox thought. "We should get some anal toys."

Krystal giggled and thought back. "Should I get a strap-on dildo too?"

Fox thought of the hidden room underneath their bedroom and study and immediately recalled the image he saw in his wife's mind's eye of himself strapped down to a bench being mounted by his vixen wearing a strap-on. "Oh Spirits! Yes! I so want you to take me."

The vixen nuzzled her husband affectionately. "Then we'll get one." Nothing made Krystal happier than to pleasure her soulmate and give herself completely to him. The fact that he not only wanted to pleasure her as well, but also give himself just as completely to her, was a big reason why she loved him dearly.

After having rested a bit, they stood up together and under the two main shower heads washed each other, using the fur shampoo they had bought that day on their shopping spree. When they were ready to rinse off their soapy fur, Fox turned off the recirculating pump and turned on all the body jets on each side of them and the two enjoyed their massaging pulsing streams against their bodies while the water washed out all the shampoo from their fur.

Once done, Fox turned off the water and the two stood there together in the middle of the shower, dripping wet. In the next moment, the fur dryer activated sending warm air rushing through the shower stall. They spent the next few minutes brushing out each other's pelts and tails until they were fully dry and refreshed. The couple went through their evening routines at each of their respective sinks in preparation to going to bed.

Once in their bedroom, Krystal veered to the left and headed to attached circular alcove at the corner of their house which Fox had decreed would be Krystal's Meditation Room when he had first shown her around, two months ago. While she knelt on the matt, Fox lit some scented candles around the room. Krystal closed her eyes and started breathing deeply. "Oh yes. This room is perfect. This corner is so well isolated from the rest of the house, and we have so much land around our home leaving us just as isolated from the outside world."

"Glad you like it, Kurisutaru. I'll wait for you in bed." Fox smiled while watching his wife for a moment longer, feeling her mind slip into a deep meditative state. He then turned around and headed to the main bedroom and crawled under the luxurious red silk sheets and lay back to wait for his soulmate. Fox thought back to the past two months during which his life had changed so much. He had gone from a heart-broken and lonely fox tormented by nightmares of love lost to a happily married husband bonded to the love of his life in the most deep, intimate way possible. He also thought of his soulmate, just as heart-broken and lonely, emotionally scarred by the trauma of seeing and feeling her entire world die in a horrific cataclysm. In those same two months, her broken heart was mended and filled with renewed happiness. Her mind was purged of long-repressed grief over her terrible loss and her heart was filled with hope at the prospect that her race would rise again.

Krystal, having now finished meditating, joined her husband in bed. After an intensely pleasurable shower together, both were feeling well sated and content to curl up together under the silk sheets and warm comforter. Cuddling together, with their tails curled about each other, the two drifted off to sleep. Two months ago, they were each wandering among the stars aimlessly in a meaningless existence, fighting one battle after another. Now, they had found meaning in their lives and a reason to live, and had finally come home.