Krystal awoke with a yawn and a stretch, looking out the window next to her bunk on the Great Fox. Of course, there wasn't much to see except stars moving past, same as usual while they were traveling, and the darkness outside made it really hard for her to motivate to begin her day properly, but she got up anyway, swinging herself out of bed and placing her bare paws on the cold metal floor. The feeling made the blue fox wince, her muscles tightening at the shock, and in the process she felt the little bit of liquid already stirring in her bladder. The tea before bed had made its way through her system, but it wasn't nearly enough to go to the bathroom yet, so she instead headed towards the gym to begin her morning routine.
	She got properly dressed and grabbed her staff, then walked along the corridors of the Great Fox, enjoying the small bits of décor the ship had. Despite it being, arguably, a bachelor pad and a mercenary ship combined into one before her arrival, it still felt quite homey and pleasant to be in. She was settling in nicely, really getting used to the layout and the interactions she had with Peppy, Slippy, Falco, ROB, and, of course, Fox McCloud. She blushed a little just thinking about him, a smile creeping to her face. The handsome rogue that had saved her life had quickly made her heart flutter, but she still kept her feelings to herself. The time just wasn't quite right yet.
	She turned the last corridor and entered the spaceship's gym, stepping into the locker room and changing into proper workout clothes. Neither her traditional garb she'd worn before joining the group, nor her flight suit she'd been fitted for that kept her protected in her Arwing, she instead swapped into a simple, stretchy set of tight shorts and a sports top. As she was in the process of changing, she looked over at the bathroom, thinking about the routine she'd be going through and trying to gauge her need, but she decided to skip it. It didn't feel too bad, and what kind of warrior or pilot would be able to stop in the middle of a mission to pee anyway?
	She went into the main area of the gym, doing a small warm up with stretches, some light cardio, and a few very light weight curls to wake up her muscles. With that done, she went into the target range, preparing to go through what she considered her most important training regiment: combat focus. She readied her golden staff, then asked the computer to run the normal course, twirling her staff in her hands.
	Small targets began to rush through the air around her, projected in the room with small holograms, and each one she rolled, cartwheeled, and dodged around before striking them with a flurry of kicks, punches, or sweeps of her staff. The satisfying ding that sounded in her ear with every hit kept her moving forward, making sure her hand-to-hand and staff-fighting skills weren't allowed to get too rusty. After that run, she changed over to the ranged course, transferring between blasts from her staff and more traditional weapons to ping targets from out of the air buzzing all around her.
	She made sure to hydrate before and after each of her runs, and while she was feeling good, she could start to see where she might have made a mistake in judgment earlier. Her bladder was definitely starting to fill, getting a little uncomfortable when she had to roll or do larger kicks. One of her motions had ended with her dropping into the splits and firing her staff in one direction and a pistol the other, hitting both targets at once. She'd succeeded, but she'd been so distracted by thinking she might burst right there in the training room that she'd barely skimmed each target for minimum accuracy. Still, she didn't want to stop her workout now. Again, any moment of weakness could be used by an enemy, and she couldn't let something as simple as a toilet break put her in danger of being captured again. No matter how nice it would be to be rescued by Fox's hunky arms...
	She shook her head, placing her staff aside. She wasn't going to stop her workout just because of a few urges from her bladder. If she needed to go so bad, she decided, she'd just have to power through her workout quickly. She took another deep swig of water and started up the reaction simulations to make sure her piloting skills were in tip top shape. The good news was that she was doing fine, getting through every single course with a passing grade. The bad news was that she was doing a lot worse than normal. She was quickly learning that when a mission was coming up, it was worth it to take the moment to use the bathroom first, as the adrenaline boost from it wasn't worth the distraction.
	She whined a little to herself as she came out of the training room, trying to remember what was left on her regiment. A small set of weight training on a few different machines, then some cardio. She looked at the hallway, thinking about the long walk to the locker room, everything she'd have to do to get out of her outfit, use the bathroom, get back in... by the time she was done, she'd have to warm up again and would lose all of her progress. She could feel the twinge of discomfort as her muscles held firm, but she kept powering through, knowing she could do this. If Fox ended up being the one in distress, or any other member of the team, she wasn't going to let anything distract her, bodily functions included.
	She grit her teeth and stepped up to the various weight training machines, doing her reps to make sure her body was toned and ready for the rigors of fighting and space flight. She wasn't the only one on the crew to do this: Fox and Falco made sure to come in here daily, and even Peppy made sure he was able to handle the strain of his ship, even if he wasn't flying it nearly as often. Only Slippy came in less than once a week, and normally that was because he was busy in the hangar fixing things. While Falco liked to make fun of the toad for being a little flabby and slow, the machinery he carried around while fixing ships proved he was still a force to be reckoned with, if he really wanted to be.
	Still, Krystal liked to get her workout done before anyone else got in, so she could practice some of her traditional techniques and keep her mind and body honed. She got distracted if anyone else was in. Falco was always loud, playing music she wasn't really a fan of, and Fox... well, he distracted her for very different reasons. She bit her lip as she set the barbell back in place, moving onto the last machine before her cardio: the adductor machine. She got into position, spreading her legs apart to work her thigh muscles, and felt the strain as she was opened up, her bladder pushing right near its breaking point. Every squeeze in helped, but the second she pushed back out, she could practically feel the liquid trying to trickle its way out. She whined a little, but kept going, pushing through the entire workout as quickly as she could.
	As she climbed out of the machine, she placed her hands between her legs, her knees buckling slightly as she felt a wave of desperation. Her tail tucked between her legs, the banding keeping it more manageable sliding right under her lower lips, as though letting the middle puff of hair be ready for absorbing anything that leaked out. She breathed deeply, focusing much like she would for her telepathy to get her body back in line. It took a couple of moments, but she managed to get it to pass, standing back up and stretching. She only had cardio left. It was fast, easy, and if she did it mostly on the treadmill she wouldn't have to worry much about holding anything in... So despite the fact that she usually did the full obstacle course, she went over to the treadmill, turning it on and letting this be an exception to her normal routine.
	A few minutes on the treadmill and she had almost forgotten about the discomfort brewing inside her, but right as she reached the end of her run she felt it coming back with a force. She finished cooling down, then got off of the treadmill, heading over to the training room for her staff when it hit again. She buckled her knees, both hands clasping between her legs as she sank to the floor, whining. She knew for a fact that the next person through the door would be Fox. Probably within the hour. There was no way she was going to let herself leave a puddle in this room, no matter how badly she had to go. His sharp nose would be able to pick up on it immediately. So she focused once more, gathering up all of her energy and pushing back the feeling long enough to stand up. She was a little worried about long strides, but she was sure she'd back it to the locker room. She got her staff, then headed to the hallway, ready to finally give herself the relief she needed.
	As she rounded the corner where she could see the locker room door her face filled with relief, but it quickly shifted to panic as she saw who was standing in front of it. Fox's orange fur was clear as day while he stood in front of the locker room, the door half open in his hand. Her ears flattened back, her heart pounding in her chest as she focused on holding everything in in front of her sexy superior. She was starting to back up when he noticed her, a friendly smile spread quickly across his face. “Hey Krystal! Good morning! How are you doing? Get through your workout?”
	She held up her staff, smiling as she used it to lean in the hallway, crossing her legs and doing her best nonchalant lean despite the warning sirens practically blaring in her head at an impending overflow. Despite her needs, there was no way she was going to walk past him as he was changing to use the bathroom with him just a door away. It was awkward enough that there was only one locker room now that there were two genders on the ship. “Good morning Fox. I'm doing just fine. I was just heading to the fountain to refill my water bottle to keep going.” She shook her nearly empty water bottle, the sound of water splashing in it making her shift her legs subconsciously to keep everything in. “How about yourself?”
	He chuckled. “I'm just going to get ready, though I might change up the usual routine today.” He shrugged, then waved at her. “Well, good luck with the rest of your workout. I'll see you out there in a minute.” 
	He went inside, shutting the door behind him, leaving her whining a little, a frustrated growl escaping her muzzle at the horrible timing. “Of course he'd show up now...” She paced in front of the door, her tail flicking back and forth behind her in annoyance as every step turned into more and more of a waddle. More than once she found herself leaning against the wall, her hands between her legs as she whined, trying to focus and keep it back. But even that was getting to be too much, her eyes feeling like they were floating within her skull from all the liquid she had inside her.
	She contemplated other bathrooms, wondering what would be taking Fox so long in there, but the closest one was just too far. There was no way she was going to make it. At this rate, there was no way she was going to hold on for Fox to change, and the idea of the huge puddle she'd be leaving on the floor of the hallway had her starting to panic. Her muscles strained, and she was sure she could feel something starting to leak out.
	At her limit she looked around, trying to find a place to hide the oncoming accident, and noticed a door she almost always just walked past. Just beyond the locker room was the door to the Great Fox's pool. It was hardly used, as the idea of being caught unaware in it during a battle was much worse than being stuck in the gym, and if the gravity turned off, that was just a horror show waiting to happen. Plus, even at the best of times, wet fur was a pain to deal with. The only team member who used it much was Slippy, and even he tended to mostly use it for testing designs like the Blue Marine or try to modify the Arwing thrusters to work underwater.
	She thought for a second, wondering if it was really any better, apart from nothing to clean up, to pee in the pool than on the ground. After all, what if someone swam in it, even with the chlorine to mask her scent? But as she was thinking about it, her body clenched, another drip forcing its way into her panties and making her decision for her. There was going to be a lot of liquid, one way or another, and she felt the decision was made for her. She ran her way into the pool, getting right to the edge of it and ripping off her tight workout shorts and panties, barely getting them free of her leg and tail before she felt the dam burst. She held onto her staff and shuddered, squatting down and giving herself the relief she desperately needed.
	She let out a sigh that turned into a moan of sheer pleasure as her discomfort disappeared, a high-pressure stream of her urine, spiked with the smell of her sweat from her workout, arced in front of her and splashed loudly into the pool. The rush of bliss from finally answering nature's call had her fur standing on end, her whole body relaxing and feeling better than from even the deepest massage. The steady, powerful stream that hissed from between her legs made her groan loudly, but after a moment she caught herself, looking over her shoulder back at the door. Would Fox's keen ears be able to hear her? The locker room was just through that one wall... What if the splashing and the hissing was getting through it? Or what if he walked outside, seeing the open pool door and hearing the sounds inside?
	She wrapped her tail around herself, already making excuses in her head and fearing that his handsome face would peek around that door any second. But even if it did, there was no stopping her body from emptying itself, everything from last night and this morning flushing through her system and into the clear, rippling water of the pool. 
	She swore she was peeing for minutes, her breath caught in her throat, sure she'd be caught at any moment. She felt she had to have been in there even longer than she'd been waiting for him to come out, sure he'd be done and hear her at any second. And yet, after what felt like an eternity to her worried, adrenaline spiked mind, he didn't appear, her flow finally tapering down. She leaned forward, pushing out the last little bit and anything that dripped behind it, then stood up, quickly slipping her clothes back on and walking out like nothing had happened. By the time she reached the hall again, she was sighing, happy she'd gotten away with her desperate act.
	She actually started to fill her water bottle from the fountain then, and it wasn't until she was done that Fox finally came out, his orange and white fur and toned muscles on display. He was wearing nothing but a set of swim trunks the same green as his usual pants, and he had a towel wrapped around his neck. “Hey, you must've finished up already. Sorry I took so long, Slippy and Falco called me about some argument they were having, and then the locker was jammed... it was a mess.” His tail sat dejectedly behind him, but it perked up as he smiled. “Anyway, I was going to go for a swim, and since you're here... maybe you'd like to join me?” He was blushing slightly, looking really hopeful as he asked.
	However, Krystal's eyes were wide, a blush on her own face as she stalled, her mouth caught open where she was about to respond to his apology about taking so long. She remembered the eon she'd spent in the pool, her stream arcing out and splashing into the clear water, disappearing into it... Her scent was all over that room, and the idea of jumping into the water right after she did that... She shook her head, her blush deepening further. “Oh, um, sorry Fox. I can't right now. After the last flight, I, uh, needed to recalibrate a few things on my Arwing, and I want to make sure that's done. But maybe some other time?” She smiled sheepishly, hoping her excuse would be enough without letting him down too harshly.
	He looked a little disappointed, but just shrugged. “Oh, alright. Well, I'll be in there for a bit if you want to join me later, but it's really good you're so careful about your ship.” He smiled warmly, then walked towards the door to the pool.
	Krystal ducked into the locker room, shutting the door and groaning to herself as embarrassment rushed through her. She glared at the door to the toilet, as though it was the plumbing's fault she hadn't used it earlier, before she took a deep breath and started to change. There was nothing she could do about it now. She just had to hope his sharp nose didn't pick up her smell in the pool.