"Do a barrel roll!"

Even before the order came in over the radio Fox McCloud had jammed the control stick to the right while keeping his left foot on the rudder to keep the nose in line. Enemy laser bolts bounced harmlessly off his Arwing's G-diffusor shields as his own lasers continued to charge. The sleek starfighter's nose came back in line and the targeting computer secured a lock on the enemy formation ahead. As another enemy volley was fired, Fox hit the firing button on his own control stick. The charged laser blast shot out and vaporized the lead ship and the resulting shock waves took out the rest of the formation. Fox didn't have time to celebrate. Hundreds of other drone ships still faced him and his small squadron, and drones or not their lasers burned hot and lethal.

The distress call from General Pepper has blasted through the speakers of Great Fox leading to a mad dash to the launch bays. Sensor scans had showed that the main Cornerian Army had fallen for a diversionary force and Corneria City was now under direct attack from legions of drone fighters and tanks. Plotting a course for the heart of the enemy, Fox had led his flight of four starfighters straight into the thickest pack of enemy craft. The sentry ships the enemy had stationed over the ocean had fallen quickly. The city scape they flew over was a filled with smoke from earlier attack runs. Taking a deep breath, Fox kept his hand light on the stick. As his own fighter screamed over the capital his own lasers turned more and more drones into junk. The computer in his fighter kept track of his shield level and his scanners were constantly searching for areas where the underlying rock was venting pockets of the special gas his G-Diffuser could use to recharge his shields. The gas pockets were displayed as silver and gold rings on his heads-up-display to give him an easy target to fly through.

Fox always believed in leading from the front and so flew his Arwing into the heaviest concentration of enemy drones he could find. He wasn't able to shoot all of them down but was confident his squadron mates would be able to handle what slipped through. For their first major action they were performing well. The simulator, with its new FX chip was good, but there was no way it could simulate the feeling of actually flying in combat. This time though, there would be no extra lives, it was just him in his cockpit versus the robotic armies of Andross.

While he was rolling out of another enemy attack, Fox glanced up and saw a huge war machine flying over the hills. Before he could start to track it, his radio blared to life again.

"Follow me Fox!"

Looking through his canopy Fox saw his primary wingman Falco dive to fly under some stone arches protruding from the sea. Shaking his head at the cocky pilot Fox guided his own ship after his teammate. Emerging from the last arch Fox had to squint as he saw the boosters of Falco's ship flare to life.

Fox keyed his own radio. "Falco! Where are you going?"

"I found the target! Try to keep up!" Falco's response was almost washed away as he flew through a waterfall and emerged into a deep canyon. It took all of Fox's piloting abilities to fly a safe path through the canyon that was filled with still more enemies. Finally, the canyon emptied out over the sea again. Before he could take a breath to calm his nerves, the war machine he'd seen earlier was suddenly in front of him. While Slippy analyzed the shields of the huge ship in front of them, Fox checked the systems in his fighter. He was pleased to see they were still in top shape and he had a full rack of smart bombs on board.

The final battle didn't last long. Between Slippy's diagnostics and Peppy's advice Fox was able to target the weak points of the enemy ship. Before long, his own weapon system had reduced it to scrap metal.

Fox nodded with satisfaction and pulled his Arwing into a climb to allow his scanners to search for any new targets. Finding none he keyed his radio again.

"All craft report in."

One by one his squadron reported back to him. Minimal damage only that could be easily repaired once they were back onboard Great Fox. He was about to hit the boosters of his own ship when a new voice came over the radio.

"Jamie! Are we going to go or what?"

With a lurch Jamie pulled himself back into his real surroundings. He shook his head as his score scrolled across the screen and the animated starfighter hit its boosters. He saved his game and turned off the console and TV before turning back to the sound of his sister's voice that had called him from the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm coming Larissa." He stood up from his chair and adjusted the bowtie around his neck.

"Very stylish Jamie," Larissa told him as she pinned a boutonniere to the lapel of his tuxedo.

"You as well," he replied as he slipped a corsage over her wrist.

"You know you still don't have to do this," she told her brother.

"What and let some creep take my kid sister to prom? Good luck with that." Adopting a mock formal tone raised his nose in the air and held his arm out. "Shall we?"

Larissa only laughed at him but did slip her arm through her brothers. "Let us shall," and they made their way down the stairs of their home.

Their mother met them at the base of the staircase, camera in hand. "It's just so sweet of you to take your sister to her first prom," she gushed. She snapped photo after photo before Jamie was able to get her to stop.

"Mom! I think you've got enough. We need to get going anyway. I told Mark we'd meet him at the restaurant in twenty minutes."

Jamie escorted his sister out of the house and held the passenger door of his car open for her. Together they made their way to Coopers Seafood House. They along with Jamie's friend Mark and his date, Emily, were easily the most overdressed party at the restaurant. They didn't care and we able to just enjoy a nice dinner between the four of them.

Halfway through the meal Emily leaned over the table.  "Larissa, you've got to tell me why your brother is taking you to prom. And don't give me the protective older brother thing. There's got to be more to the story than that."

Seeing that her brother currently had a mouth full of soft-shell crab, and thus unable to defend himself, Larissa's eyes twinkled with mischief. "It's cause he's broken hearted over a girl!"

The two girls immediately started laughing at the reactions of their dates. Jamie had started coughing loudly and almost choked. Mark had just turned to his friend with his jaw hanging on the ground.

Emily thought this was the best news ever. "What?! Aww, Jamie that's so sweet. Just like out of a movie or something. Who was she? Did you take her out? What was she like? Details man!"

Jamie glared for a second at his sister who had a huge toothy grin on her face. Resigning himself to his fate he sighed. "Oh, go on then. Tell them all about it. Maybe this will be the last time."

"Are you kidding? I'm going to be telling this story forever," Larissa beamed back at him before turning to the other two. "So, it was last January and Jamie had just lost a basketball game. He was coming out of the locker room and one of his teammates crushed the glasses of this girl at the school they were at. So, what does my noble big brother do? He's about to hand them back when our older brothers cover him in this stink bomb powder they've cooked up. I was about to go see him but there was no way after that. I mean imagine a cross between a skunk, rotten eggs, and a decaying moose and you'll have an idea of how bad he was smelling.
"Well the girl in question must not have a sense of smell or anything because she was just standing there, looking at Jamie here. Of course, they didn't stay long because Jamie's coach had them heading for the bus right away. But here's Jamie walking backward down the hall, not breaking eye contact, when WHAM! He finally turns around and runs right into the door of the school!"

"I did not run into the door!" Jamie protested.

Emily and Mark were by now seemingly dying from laughter. Larissa just patted her brother on the arm. "Hush brother of mine, I'm telling a story. So, after he gets home he's literally limping back in the door because he can't get this girl out of his head."

"I was limping because I'd spent almost an hour doing wind sprints!"

Larissa by now was ignoring his interruptions. "He gets online and low and behold she's there on this local chatroom and they end up talking online for like hours and hours. What was it you said after that Jamie? 'Why can't all girls be this easy to talk to?'"

"It was only about one hour and I didn't even know it was her when I logged onto that chatroom."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here with your sister and not this mystery girl."

Larissa was about to start the tale again, but Jamie got there first. "I've got it from here. I did try to find her again, but I never could. I only got her first name and then the chatroom got hacked and eventually taken down. What was I supposed to do? Drive across town during lunch and ask around some other school about a girl?"

"It would have been so romantic," Emily told him.

"It would have been creepy and would have probably landed me in jail. I can see the headline now. 'High school basketball star arrested for stalking.'"

"You tell it so boringly," Larissa told her brother. "Anyway, after that there's not a girl he even looks at anymore. I mean, him! My brother, basketball team captain, jock extraordinaire, and all around great guy Jamie Halpert loses all interest in any other girl that goes to our school. And at home? You gotta be kidding, all he does is spend hours playing Star Fox or Goldeneye." She turned to her brother. "Earth to Jamie! You can't spend your life locked in your room pining after The-Girl-That-Got-Away."

Jamie knew she was only teasing him based on the overly dramatic way she had clasped her hands over her heart. He didn't regret asking his sister to prom and he had known full well she'd launch into this particular story. "'Tis better to have loved and lost, then never have loved at all," he said while raising his water glass to take a drink.

"Weak defense man," Mark told him. "Get that off a Hallmark card?"

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?" Jamie asked forlornly.

Emily reached across the table and gave his hand a friendly squeeze. "Sorry, no. Might as well just throw in the towel. It is very romantic though. But just imagine telling this story years from now to your wife or kids."

"Yeah, that's just what I'll want to do. Poor girl would probably either run away screaming since I wasn't her one and only love or run to the kitchen for a cleaver and hack me to bits for cheating."

They all caught his sarcastic tone of voice and ended up laughing it off. The conversation soon turned to other topics as they continued to enjoy their evening. It was only later while Jamie was slowly rotating in a circle with Larissa during a slow song that the topic came back up.

"Hey, you okay? You seem a little down." Larissa asked her brother.

"It's just that story. I'd never tell Mark, or anyone else for that matter, but I am a little sad I could never get back in touch with Morgan. She seemed really nice."

"Hey, don't worry about it bro. I'm sure she was really nice. If it helps I'll stop bringing it up so much."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"I'm a little sad too. After all my best big brother is heading off to college next year. I'll be all alone at home. I mean who's going to be there to talk to you about stuff like this?"

"I'll still visit! Penn State's not that far away."

"I guess," Larissa shrugged. "But seriously, I don't want you to live your life in the past. I mean you haven't even gotten a haircut since this whole Morgan thing."

Jamie shook his head playfully. "Oh, I don't know. I think the shaggy look is growing on me."

"Not the point. Just promise me you won't pass on what's in front of you for what could have been."

"Deal," he told her.

"Good. So, how does it feel being big fancy new Jamie?"

He laughed at his sister. "Kinda, weird when you put it like that. How am I supposed to be this new more mature person when everyone is still calling me Jamie like I'm still in first grade."

"Fair enough. James then?"

"No, to formal."

"Okay, well how about Jim. Simple, short, easy to spell, even for you."

"Sounds good. You're a good sister, you know that?"

"Duh! If you haven't noticed, I'm the best!"

Jim laughed again at his sister as the music ended. The rest of the night went by easily for the two before he finally drove her home.

______________________________________________________________________________

Morgan had to admit to herself, she was having a good time. Roy had pulled out all the stops to make her senior prom memorable. The evening had started with a limo pulling up in front of her house. He'd posed for every picture her mother and sister had taken after slipping a simple but elegant corsage over her wrist. The dinner at the steakhouse with the friends they'd met up with had been wonderful as well. He'd even been the one to suggest her family join them to take more pictures at a nearby park after they finished their meal.  There had only been one sore spot in the form of his older brother Kenny.

He'd met them at the park with a camera in hand. "Mom wanted a few pictures," was all he said in way of greeting.

Raising the camera, he tried to get Morgan and Roy in frame. "Hey D.B. could you scoot over a bit more?"

Morgan's mother had never heard her daughter referred to as such. "D.B.? What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Morgan could stop him, Kenny was answering. "Death Breath," he said matter-of-factly. Seeing the shocked looks directed at him he clarified. "You know, cause her name's Morgan. Morgan, morgue, Death Breath."

"Actually Kenny, that's enough!" Morgan was looking at him with a stern expression on her face. "I don't want you calling me that anymore. It's not nor has ever been funny. In fact, I don't want to be Morgan anymore. From now on it's Pam."

Seeing the shocked looks on Roy and Kenny's faces was somehow thrilling. Ever since the disaster that had been their first date Pam had to deal with the derogatory nickname. She wasn't going to stand for it anymore.

"You sure about that honey?" Pam's mother asked.

"Yup," Pam nodded confidently. She turned to her date. "Got that? No more Morgan or Morg, or D.B. or any of those other nicknames you two have called me since January."

The expression on her face told him she wasn't kidding. "Got it," was all Roy was able to say back.

Feels good standing up for myself for once. Who ever said a girl needs a guy to rescue her? Pam thought as Roy's arms circled her waist for a few more pictures. She was also pleasantly pleased that Kenny had somehow found the good sense to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the pictures. Soon she and Roy were back in the limo and heading to the ballroom her school had rented for the prom.

"You sure you're sure about this whole name thing Morg-I mean Pam?" Roy asked her.

"Yeah, I am. After all Morgan's my middle name anyway. My parents once told me they started calling me Morgan after my sister Penny was born so they didn't have to worry about two girls with "P" names."

Soon their limo had dropped them off. Roy checked with the driver to confirm what time he would be there to pick them up after the dance. He held his arm out of her and they made their way inside. Isabel rushed up as soon as she saw the pair.

"Hey! Oh, wow Morg! You look great! And you finally got those contacts! When were you going to tell me?"

Pam was about to tell her friend of the recent name change, but Roy beat her to it. "Actually Isabel, she wants to be called Pam from now on."

Isabel leaned back in surprise. "Whoa! New dress, new look, new name! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"It's still just me, just different me," Pam told her friend.

"Right," Isabel said skeptically. "Sorry Roy, I know you guys just got here but I'm going to steal her away for a moment. Girl stuff." Without waiting for an answer Isabel hooked her arm through Pam's free elbow and led her away to the ladies' room. "Ok, dish," she demanded once they were inside.

"What's to dish?" Pam shrugged. "It's not like I'm asking to be called something that's not my real name."

"In all the years I've known you, you've always been the quiet, shy, predictable girl. There's something going on here. Oh my gosh, you haven't started sleeping with Roy, have you? Is that what this is about?"

"God no," Pam denied. "You've met my meemaw, she'd kill me if I ever did anything like that. If you must know it was actually because of Roy's brother."

"Finally got sick of being called Death Breath then?"

"You try being called that for four months every time he sees you and see how long you last!"

"Fair enough."

Pam turned to look in the mirror. Her hair had always been naturally curly, but this was the first time she'd taken the time to accentuate those curls with her sister's curling iron. She was still getting used to the idea of being able to see clearly without her glasses. To her eyes her face looked empty without the frames. Isabel caught her gaze in the mirror.

"For the record, you look great without the glasses. You've always been so pretty it's time to let everyone see what you were hiding under those things."

"Thanks, I'm still getting used to all this though."

"So, has Roy actually asked you to be his girlfriend yet? This is what like the third of fourth date?"

"It's our second first date," Pam told her.

"You're going to have to explain that one to me."

"Remember that hockey game you set us up on?"

Isabel looked down. She'd been the first to hear of how badly it had gone. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Well ever since then Roy's been trying to apologize for it. Flowers, notes, cards, you name it. Well it was finally getting to all be too much. I told him that he could take me to prom on a few conditions. Stop trying to apologize so much and to never take me to another sports game."

"So, wait a minute. You haven't had a second date with the guy, but his brother has been around enough to call you a bad nickname enough to drive you to the point you want to change your name with only a month and half left of school?" Isabel was confused.

"Oh, did I not mention that every time Roy would show up at my house to apologize Kenny was there too?"

"That's...kind of sad actually. Isn't Kenny like three years older than Roy?"

Pam had was touching up her make-up as she answered. "Yeah. That was another one of the conditions. If we were going to go on any more dates, no more Kenny."

"Good for you!" Isabel was proud of her friend. "Ready to head back out there?"

"You bet!"

Together they left the ladies room and quickly found their respective dates. She'd been prepared to resent Roy based on all the conditions she'd set down for this date. As they song after song was played she reflected that even confronting Kenny in the park and changing her name had made it a special night. Finally, the DJ called out the last song of the night. Pam recognized the opening chords to "You Were Meant For Me," as Roy led her back out onto the dance floor.

He smiled down at her as his hands went around her waist. "Having a good time?"

She smiled back at him. "I am. Thanks for taking me."

"You bet."

They stared up at each other for a few more seconds until Roy leaned down and kissed her. The rational part of Pam's brain tried to make sense of this new development, but the romantic part of her brain promptly told that part to shut up. She broke off the kiss as he pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to turn in slow circles as the song played on.