Welcome! To this. 'This' is my first Storm Hawks story.

Oh my.

Yay!

I wrote this a while ago, but didn't like/know where this was heading, so I set it aside for a while. But it is finished now, so here we are!

Note, if you are not very far into the series, there is a spoiler.

Enjoy!

To all of the Storm Hawks fans out there and to the newcomers recently joining.

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks belong to Asaph Fipke.

~•~

They needed to do something.

The atmosphere on the Condor has been tense lately, and they all knew where it was coming from: Aerrow, they noticed, has not been acting like himself lately. He just seemed...distant.

Something was bugging their leader and they had not the faintest idea as to what. But they did know that they did not like it.

And because of Aerrow's change in attitude, they have not been feeling like their own selves. Not that they blamed Aerrow for that, not at all.

But it felt wrong either way. And when it seemed that even Radarr could not chase away his mood, they knew something was not right.

So it was then they decided to confront him. Which is why the found themselves in front of Aerrow's room.

Finn, Junko, Stork and Piper prepared to deal with whatever was bothering their friend while Radarr sniffed at the bottom of the door.

Piper rapped on the door softly. "Aerrow?"

Aerrow snapped out of his thoughts immediately. From where he was sitting on his bed, he cleared his throat quietly.

"Yeah, Piper?" He responded casually.

"Can we come in?" The slightly muffled voice questioned from behind the door.

Aerrow's brow furrowed in slight confusion. We? He stood up, hiding his uncertainty in a welcoming voice. "Sure, come on in."

They did, easing up a bit in the fact that they were not rejected. Radarr scampered up to Aerrow and jumped on his shoulder.

"Hey, Radarr," he greeted, chuckling. He turned his attention to his friends.

"Do you guys need anything?"

"No," Piper answered, "we were just...were wondering if..." she stopped for a moment.

"Wondering if..?" Aerrow prompted.

"If you were feeling alright. That nothing's bothering you." Stork finished for her. Piper nodded, agreeing with his words.

They looked nervous, like they said the wrong thing, Aerrow noted. "Yeah, I'm feeling alright. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just, uh..." Stork trailed off.

"Are you sure nothing's bothering you?" Junko asked the smaller boy, concern not hidden.

"Yeah," Aerrow laughed easily. "Nothing's bothering me. I'm fine, guys."

They did not know whether to believe that or not, but he sounded so certain.

"Is there something bothering you guys?" Aerrow asked his team, his own worry showing itself. They all shook their heads.

"Good," the boy nodded. "That's good."

"Well, if you're sure you're alright..." Finn looked unconvinced. He wondered when their conversations had gotten so awkward. It was like they barely knew each other. Finn inwardly shuddered at that thought.

"We'd best be on our way then," Stork finished.

"Alright. See you guys later," Aerrow smiled.

They all were hesitant to leave, wishing Aerrow would suddenly changed his mind and tell them everything.

That did not happen.

When they neared the door, Junko asked one last time, "Are you sure you're alright, buddy?"

"Yes, Junko, guys, I'm fine." Aerrow's laugh made that sound so convincing.

"...If you say so."

Aerrow smiled and put both thumbs up in reassurance. Fake smiles are always hiding something, Piper sighed.

They all left him alone. Except for Radarr, who refused to leave. They lingered outside the door of their leader's room for a minute.

'Oh, Aerrow. What's bugging you so much that you have to hide from us?' Piper asked herself.

When they were all out of earshot, they spoke quietly amongst themselves.

"He's lying to us," Piper stated disconsolately.

"No kidding," Finn agreed. "I wish we knew why."

"He knows he can trust us, right?" Junko looked up to his friends. They nodded. Aerrow never hides anything important from them.

"Of course he does."

"Well, he obviously doesn't want to talk about it. He will tell us when he's ready," Stork told them gently, but firmly.

They look up to him and then to each other.

"Yeah. Hopefully."

~•~

Aerrow sighed when they left and sat back down heavily on his bed. Radarr looked up at him, making a sound as if to ask 'what's wrong?'

Aerrow looked down at him. "I'm fine, bud."

That earned him an unbelieving-sounding snort.

Aerrow gave him a look, but then turned away. 'I'm fine,' he kept telling himself. It is nothing he could not handle. Just some stupid thoughts. He did not need to burden his team with them.

He felt bad for lying to them about how he felt. He also realized his attempts at reassuring them were only making them worry more, which made him angry with himself.

Then there was the fact that his friends have not been acting like their selves lately.

Radarr, not liking the silence that has overtaken them, the look on Aerrow's face and sensing the discomfort from the young Sky Knight, decided to change that.

He ran around the boy's body, around his shoulders and torso, causing Aerrow to lift his arms and stand up quickly.

"H-hey! Radarr, that tickles!" Radarr stopped and hopped down, gabbing onto Aerrow's pant leg and tugged, chirping and clicking at him.

Aerrow laughed, pushing aside his troubles for the time being and complied with his co-pilot.

"Alright, I'm coming. Let's go."

~•~

Piper found Aerrow by himself a few hours later. 'Okay,' she thought determinedly, 'I'm going to settle this.'

Walking to her leader, she greeting him. "Hey, Aerrow!"

Said boy looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, Piper. What's up?"

She smiled back at him before replying,"Oh, y'know. The sky. And you?"

Aerrow looked up to humour her and smirked. You've already asked me this today. "Well, that's true too. I'm fine."

Yeah? Tell me how 'fine' you really are.

"Aerrow, I need to ask you something." Piper turned to look at him.

He already knew where this was going. He knew right from the start of their conversation. "Shoot."

"I need you to answer this honestly," Piper eyed him carefully. "Is there something bothering you?"

Aerrow looked away. "Piper, I already told you guys; I'm fine."

"Are you really? You haven't been yourself lately, Aerrow," Piper told him. "We're worried about you. We want to help."

"Piper-"

"Please, Aerrow. We're here for you. Whatever's bothering you, we are here." Piper assured, voice softening.

Aerrow considered it. He knew it was not healthy to keep emotions stored away, but he really did not want to troubled anyone with them. His emotions or his problems. It was his own personal issue to deal with. He can handle it. That, and he was the leader: he had responsibilities.

But he knew that his friends, his family are here for him, whenever he needs it, and vice versa. And they probably will not drop this anyways. Which is why he needed to decide.

"...Okay." Aerrow nodded, finally agreeing after a few moments. "It's just that...recently I've been wondering - a lot, actually - about my status as a Sky Knight."

Piper nodded slowly, unsure of where he was taking this conversation. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well...what if I'm...not good enough to...to be a Sky Knight?"

Piper stared for a moment. "What?"

Aerrow repeated about three words before Piper interrupted him, "No, I heard you. What I mean is why would you ask that?"

"Because I...because of..." He was stuttering. Aerrow stopped, trying to find the right words. "A few weeks ago when we stopped in Atmosia, I ran into a group of people. They...they told me that I'm not qualified to be a Sky Knight."

Piper did not know what to say. Aerrow. A Sky Knight. Doubting himself as a Sky Knight. She knew that was not uncommon thing at all; those with titles like that doubted themselves all the time. Or did not, depending on personalities.

But this was Aerrow. The last descendant of Lightning Strike. The boy who was the only one who managed to defeat the Dark Ace and survive. The boy that seemed to have so much confidence that it was endless.

It was hard to think that Aerrow would be one to doubt himself, but when she really thought about it, should she be so surprised? It was not like he was immune to insecurities.

But where had he heard those lies from? He was one of the most - and considered one of the most talented Sky Knights in all of Atmos. And to be considered one of the best, you need people to agree with such a statement. And people do.

So where had he heard that from? Villagers or travellers, she thought, who judge without reason. Thought he was too young, or not mature enough. Age had always been a problem for all of them. Not only that, but had the nerve to say something like that? She would like to see them become a Sky Knight.

But what do they know? Aerrow's probably the most mature boy she has ever met, when he needed to be. And they have never seen him in battle. They have never seen him fight. They do not know how he thinks, or how he commands, or simply, how much he cares for others.

To her and her friends, Aerrow's most definitely qualified to be a Sky Knight and has definitely earned to be one. Who cares what everyone else thought, they say.

His father would be proud. She was sure of that.

"Do you think I'm capable of being one?"

Aerrow's question immediately returned her attention back on him. "Of course I do! Aerrow, you're the bravest Sky Knight I've ever seen."

Aerrow looked unbelieving. It reminded her that even Aerrow had insecurities and doubts.

"I don't know why you would listen to them, Aerrow. You know it's not true."

Aerrow's eyes met hers. "Yes, but-"

"But nothing. Aerrow, you've got a whole team and friends that will agree with me," Piper declared confidently. "In fact, let's go ask them right now."

Aerrow's eyes widened, "Piper, we really don't need to-"

"Yes we do," the tactics specialist cut in quickly. "Don't be stupid." Grabbing onto his wrist, she yanked him up and dragged him along.

They reached the bridge, where the rest of the team was. Radarr was the first to notice them, and again for a second time that day, scurried up to Aerrow.

"Hey team!" Piper greeted rather loudly. It was then Aerrow knew how much of a big deal Piper was going to make out of this to prove her point.

"Hey, Piper," Finn responded with a grin. His grin grew bigger when he saw who was with her. "Aerrow!"

"Ah, ah, ah. We have a problem." Piper let go of Aerrow's wrist and put her hands on her hips.

"What?" Junko asked worriedly.

"This idiot," she gestured to the red head who responded with a 'hey!' while Radarr sniffed at him. "Let some people who said very stupid things get to him, and now he believes he's 'not good enough' to be a Sky Knight. Thoughts anyone?"

"What?!"

"Aerrow, that's not true."

"No way!"

Radarr, making a series of intense growls and sounds, slapped Aerrow upside the head for him thinking such things. Aerrow rubbed the assaulted area sheepishly (ow, not cool, Radarr), and looked alway almost ashamedly.

Piper looked at him smugly. "See? I told you they would agree with me. You're just crazy."

"Aerrow," Junko began, serious,"why do believe what they think of you?"

Aerrow took a moment to answer - he had to get over the blanket of embarrassment that was draped over him."Because...well, what if they're right? I mean, compared to the other Sky Knights, I'm a-"

"Don't be stupid," Piper interrupted him again. Aerrow gave her a pointed look.

"Do you believe what they said?" Junko asked the boy.

Aerrow, when he put it into full consideration, did not know how to respond to that. He thought he knew; it had been plaguing him for weeks. Did he really think so? Or is he just second guessing himself? Since when did he start caring about what people thought of him?

"I don't know, I just...I don't know."

"Exactly. I don't know what's going on up there in your head, but stop it. It's not true; we said so. You know so," Junko ordered.

Aerrow shrugged slightly, nodding.

"Seriously," Finn broke in. "Don't let those kind of people get to you."

"You would be wrong to listen to them," Stork reminded him.

Radarr nodded sharply in agreement.

"You're right," Aerrow sighed. And they were - of course they were. Don't take everything to heart, he mentally scolded.

"See?" Piper nudged him, teasingly,"I told you you were wrong." She grew somber. "I know they said it directly to you. And that's serious. It's hard to let stuff go when it is. But remember, Aerrow: you're Aerrow. Those people are wrong, anyone who says that are wrong. We say it's wrong."

"You are worthy enough - more than worthy enough. You are dedicated, hard working and are our leader. No one deserves to be a Sky Knight more than you. "

"You're the best leader, friend, Sky Knight, whatever anyone can ever ask for."

Aerrow turned away, blushing at their endearments, but also felt flattered. He had not realized how much he meant to his friends. "Thank you. That...that means a lot."

"Of course, Aerrow," Stork said quietly.

"Well," Finn started,"now that we have that cleared up, and hopefully someone has learned something," he stopped himself and turned dramatically towards his leader.

Aerrow rolled his eyes, but smirked good naturally.

"let's get on with it!" He cheered.

"Get on with what?" Junko questioned.

Finn shot out his arms,"Why, a friendly round of sky racing, of course."

"I would have known. But you are on!"

Piper shook her head, grinning. "Coming, Aerrow?"

"Definitely," he replied, running ahead with Radarr on his shoulder, smiling also.

The feelings of doubt, uncertainty and discouragement did not seem as powerful and insistent as they were before. Yes, he was sure he would be coming back to them here and there. But he was also sure that it would not be bringing him down like they did any longer.

His friends would be sure of that and he was glad for them in his life.

~•~

And how's that cheesy ending for you? Cringing? Shaking of the head? Feeling of disappointment? An "Oh, c'mon"?
You're welcome!

*

Original publish date:
October 14th, 2016.

Edited:
January 20th, 2017.

Second Edit:
June 4-5th, 2017.

Third edit:
March 27th, 2018.

More to come.

BC, out. Peace.