ashamed.

“They won’t do anything when the cops are involved…” he said bitterly. “And things were getting dangerous enough for me without the cops on my tail. There were bad people on the streets, at first they seem nice but once they get what they want from you, they never give you another thought. They took what they want after I helped them get in to steal stuff and then they abandoned me, leaving me to fend for myself against street thugs and cops.”

Chris wrapped his arms around Kit, who was close to tears and hugged him tightly. Just the story alone was enough to give Chris nightmares. So his brother had it very bad growing up and by the sound of it, he had been used and betrayed more than once or even twice. Chris was astounded by how great Kit turned out after all the harsh hardships he had endured.

“…I stowed away on a cargo plane, taking a ride out of Freeport. The plane was half way to Greenport when we were attacked by Air Pirates.”

“That must have been scary.” Chris said, with a hand on Kit’s head, pushing it to his shoulder, inviting Kit to rest his head there. Kit nodded and laid his head on Chris’s shoulder, allowing himself to be comforted while Chris massaged the back of Kit’s head and his ear.

“It was,” Kit affirmed. “Gunfire and bullets were flying everywhere; I took refuge in one of the cargo crates. The pirates got onboard and they took everything that was valuable. Then, I was discovered by Dumptruck as he grabbed the back of my sweater and lifted me up out of the crate. I thought I was a goner… and then, their captain, Don Karnage took an instant liking to me and said that I had the potentials to be a great pirate. He took me from Dumptruck and carried me off to his plane and flew me to the Iron Vulture.”        

“You—you didn’t join the Air Pirates, did—?” Chris fell silence; the glum expression on Kit’s face was answer enough.  

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” Kit said miserably. “It was either I join them or be thrown off the Vulture way out at sea… At least they gave me some food and a cabin to myself. I spent one year with them before I finally got sick of ‘em and escaped. That’s when I met Baloo, I sort of…crashed into him during a cloudsurfing landing and then I hitched a ride in the Sea Duck. Baloo and I became fast buddies; he hired me as his navigator on the spot when we landed here.”  

Kit took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.

“I’m not telling you everything, sorry, I missed a little detail. Before I escaped from the Air Pirates, I took what I thought was a ruby from Karnage. Well, Baloo was broke and he was behind on payments for the business and the plane, so I told him about the ruby and offered to split it between us so he could buy back his plane.”

Chris chuckled. “I bet he didn’t believe you when you told him about the ruby.”

Kit stared, wide-eyes at Chris. “Are you kidding me? He thought I was talking about a bottle cap collection before I told him it was a big glowing jewel! Even then, he didn’t believe me. I had to remind him that the pirates couldn’t have come after me for nothing…that convinced him… oh yeah, Baloo and I were chased by pirates a few times,” he added. “Sorry, I forgot to mention that.”

“It’s okay, Kit, but what happens next?” Chris asked intensely.

“Well, before we got to the place where I hid the Stone, it was too late.” Kit said. “Papa Bear lost the business and the plane to Mom. He pretended to go along with being the staff pilot so he could fly us to the place where I hid the Stone. It all went well, even if Molly did stowed away with us…we got the Stone but the pirates came after us, we managed to evade them with a mixture of Papa Bear’s genius flying skills and my cloudsurfing…”

“What is cloudsurfing, exactly?” asked Chris curiously.

“I’ll have to show you sometime, but you won’t be able to do it, not as long as you’re acrophobic. What you do is you skim on the clouds on an airfoil while holding on to the towrope attached to a plane. The Sea Duck is equipped with a towrope line. “

“Oh, kind of like waterskiing behind a boat, except it’s with the clouds and a plane, right?” Chris said. “No wonder they call you Cloudkicker, it’s beyond me why I’m even a Cloudkicker.”

“Chris, you can’t help which family you were born to.” Kit said gently. “I bet that if our birth parents were here, they would be just as proud of you as they would be of me, and they would love you no more or less than they would love me. Being acrophobic is something you can’t help, but you’re still my brother… you’ll always be my brother and I love you.”        

Kit pulled Chris into a comforting embrace.

“Th-thanks.” Chris sobbed, a single tear sliding down his furry cheek before he snuggled himself against Kit in the embrace. “I love you too.”

“You’re welcome,” Kit said, massaging Chris’ head. It seems that they were taking turns comforting each other. “Back to my story then. We managed to evade the pirates, but the next day while Papa Bear and I went to see Shere Khan about the Stone, the pirates came and kidnapped Mom and Molly.”

“What?” gasped Chris, looking scared for his new Mom and sister. “How did you get them back?”

“We went to Pirate Island and rescued them…” Kit said, he pushed Chris away and turned his back on Chris, hugging his knees. “But the rescue mission came with a price. Papa Bear and Mom were about to take the heat from the pirates for me and Molly, but I couldn’t let them, I didn’t want them to get hurt because of me. So, I pretended to rejoin the pirates and betray Papa Bear and Mom…Last time I did that trick where I make a key vanish behind my back…I did it while I was acting like a betrayer!”

Chris hugged Kit from behind, trying to comfort Kit, who was on the verge of tears. Now Chris could tell that Kit didn’t like to do that trick anymore, it reminded him of how he had to act like a betrayer.

“They ran for it, leaving me behind. Baloo…he thought I really did betrayed him.”

“Oh, Kit,” Chris whispered, hugging his brother tightly. “There was nothing else you could’ve done. But don’t you see? Because of you, Dad, Mom and Molly are safe, you saved them.”

“I know,” Kit said, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. “But I’m still reminded of that day every time I do that trick.”

“Well the way I see it, it was because of that trick that they’re still here.” Chris said gently. “Have you ever thought of that?”

“No…”

“Then you should,” Chris said firmly. “You saved three lives with that trick; the trick should serve as a reminder of how brave you were to risk your freedom from the Pirates and your friendship with Baloo to save him, Mom and Molly. Don’t think of your act of betrayal when you do the trick, think about how things turned out because of that trick.”

“Yeah…” Kit smiled weakly, and then his face brightened. “Yeah! You’re right, Chris, I never thought of it that way. Thanks.”

“Heh, heh, you’re welcome.” Chris said, smiling broadly.

Just then, Rebecca appeared at the doorway to their room.

“Hey, Kit, I just got off the phone with Aunt Melissa.” Rebecca said, and Kit’s face brightened at the mention of his favorite aunt. “She wants you and Chris to come downtown, she’s dying to meet Chris and she got a surprise for you both.”

“What is it, Mom?” Kit asked.

Rebecca chuckles. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Now hurry up and get Baloo’s lazy bum out of that hammock so we can go.”

Kit grinned mischievously. “Okay, Mom. C’mon, Chris.”  He grabbed his brother’s hand pulled him outside. They reached the beach, under the wooden dock. “Keep an eye open for a crab, I want it to prank Baloo with.” He said, scanning the water until he saw one, he grabbed it and stood up.

Suddenly, he heard several yelps and cries of pain, he turned on spot to see that Chris was covered with crabs, hanging onto his ears, nose, arms and legs.

“Ow, ow, ow! Get ‘em off me, get ‘em off me!” Chris yelled, stomping his feet in the water and swinging his arms around as though hoping to throw them off.   

“Chris, hold on!” Kit shouted, and rushing to Chris’ side, he batted the crabs off of Chris. When that ordeal with over, Chris stood glaring at Kit, no longer cheery.

“This prank has better be worth it,” he growled, poking Kit in the chest. “I don’t want to have been attacked by crabs for nothing.”

“It will, it will be worth it.” Kit assured him. “Trust me.”

Back on the dock, Kit and Chris moved silently and stealthily toward Baloo. When they reached the hammock, Kit started to hold the crab beneath hammock, its’ pinchers snapping toward Baloo’s behind.

“Don’t even think about it, Kit…”

Kit was so startled; he dropped the crab and leapt backward in shock, the back of his heel landed on Chris’ toes.

“Ow! My foot.” Chris cried, clutching his