Bright stars twinkled above, as a milky white band stretched out across the sky. The black cloak of night was well settled, sunset having long passed.

A fox kit with two tails slowly shuffled across dark ground, squinting into the gloom. Branches snapped loudly in the silence, but it was for the moment ignored. He wasn't attempting to sneak around- there was no need to sneak around. Life had been going wonderfully so far- Eggman defeated, Sonic dropping by to visit more then just when Eggman needed to be defeated, Shadow not automatically shooting him on sight… Yep, a wonderful week.

The small fox giggled as he merrily walked along the path- it may be late, but he knew the pathway like the back of his hand-"OUCH!"

He was abruptly and rudely jerked from his happy musings by an especially sharp branch that had apparently decided to grow into the pathway in the past week. He really needed to prune the trees. Maybe some kind of invention…

"Tails?"

"Wha- Knuckles? What are you doing here?" A surprised, but slightly terrified look crossed the kit's face.

The echidna had quite abruptly stalked out of the group, ignoring any and all calls to stop after Sonic had made a wisecrack about Knuckles name. It wasn't anything unusual. Sonic made fun of Knuckles name on a regular basis- the only times when his big brother referred to the echidna by name would be when things were getting serious.

Otherwise it was jokes, laughs, and new ways to twist Knuckles name- or nickname really, much like Tails name was actually a nickname.

But Sonic had gotten distracted by Shadow, and the two tailed fox went home by himself.

Aaaaaannnnnddddd, the echidna was staring at him. Or at least, Tails thought Knuckles was staring at him. It was kind of hard to tell in starlight.

"Knuckles?"

The echidna shook his head, an automatic gesture that reassured the fox- he wasn't mad, just musing deep enough that he hadn't noticed he hadn't answered Tails question. All previous anger had been, for the moment, buried. It would erupt like lava when Sonic appeared again of course, but for now, all was quiet.

Tails smiled up at Knuckles as he practically skipped forward like a little kid. Well, technically he was still a kid, but he was getting into his teenage years, so he really shouldn't be doing that sort of stuff. But it wasn't like Knuckles minded.

"So Knuckles, what brings you around here?"

"Angel Island was passing nearby so I was planning on asking for a lift up."

"Oh." That's right. Knuckles would want to get back to Angel Island as soon as possible. The foxes tails drooped.

Knuckles continued right on, "But it's probably too late tonight and I wasn't exactly certain of where you lived so I was going to camp out here tonight and continue on in the morning."

"Camp out?" Tails rubbed his back- sleeping outside wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, and the fox was looking forward to sleeping in a real bed tonight. "Why not come with me and you can sleep on the couch instead?"

The guest room had been destroyed. Again. By Shadow. Because Sonic had invited him over. Shadow was going to be banned if he kept destroying the spare bedroom...

Tails pointed off in the correct direction, "It's over here!"

The echidna seemed to consider it for a moment, staring off in the direction Tails was pointing in. "Fair enough. Lead the way."

Silence fell, broken only by snapping twigs and shoes scuffing against the ground when rocks abruptly appeared in their way. Tails groped around desperately for a subject to talk about that didn't involve Sonic. "I guess I'm really going have to get this road paved before too much longer- more people are coming around to visit and complain about the bumpy ride."

"Tell them to get better cars if you don't want to pave it."

A rather direct answer- "Yeah, but a lot of delicate equipment is being brought here so I and other researchers can experiment on some of the things we've found. So they're already good cars. I don't mind paving the road… I'll just miss the privacy I guess."

As civilization creeped ever closer to his workshop, it became easier to do grocery shopping- but harder to run experiments that made loud noises. They tended to scare the neighbors.

And he was rambling in his own mind again. "There's the workshop Knuckles."

"I see it."

The normally quiet echidna was even quieter then normal today. Was he still bothered about what Sonic had said? "Erm, Knuckles, about what Sonic said…"

"What about it?" Oh dear, it was ground out through gritted teeth. Tails flinched slightly, both his tails curling around his body in an involuntary protective gesture.

The darkened building loomed before them, silhouetted against the twinkling night sky. Tails hesitantly walked towards it, his voice dropping to a low mumble. "Sonic didn't mean any harm by it."

"He doesn't mean a lot of things, and yet here we are." The heavy words couldn't really be argued- Tails never started any projects that would require lengthy and delicate testing anymore- he observed others, suggested it to others, but always left himself open in case Eggman attacked and Sonic needed him.

Plus, well, a lot of countries actually sent him updates on Eggmans attacks, so he was a regular walking Eggman detector.

"Sonic always wins and puts everything back the way it should be." Tails chest puffed out as he projected all of his courage into the words.

There was a snort from the echidna. Tails unlocked the door and pushed it open, flicking on the lights.

Knuckles flinched, eyes squinting shut at the bright light. "Oh, sorry about that Knuckles!"

Tails quickly dimmed the lights, and the Echidna's violet eyes opened a little further. "Uhm, Knuckles…"

"Yes Tails?"

"Why did you get so mad about Sonic teasing you about your name?"

A red-furred brow furrowed- not in anger, but in the rare thought he sometimes had. Tails left him too it, choosing instead to shuffle items back into proper order- dust danced in the low light, flickering in and out of sight.

It was actually kind of pretty, if a little sad. He was here so few times that it really was nothing more then a workshop then a home. But home was where the heart was, and his home was with Sonic, wherever they may be.

And Sonic's home? Who knew? Maybe the wind, maybe the very planet itself.

Tails risked a glance at Knuckles, still quietly staring down at the table before him. "Erm- Knu-"

"That isn't actually my name you know." The echidna interrupted quietly, violet eyes trained on something only he could see. "It's what Sonic decided to start calling me."

Tails nodded. He had a crystal clear memory of Knuckles punching the chaos emeralds out of Sonic, his laughter as he taunted them while working with Doctor Eggman, his scream of pain as he was electrocuted, and the quiet conversation they had in the moment between chasing Eggman and Knuckles dragging up enough energy to open the way for them.

"So then, you're an echidna."

"Yes. Probably the very last one- I haven't seen any others, and apparently neither have you." The rough voice spoke the simple statement without rancor. The small fox kit watched on as the blue hedgehog wound the bandages up the echidna's arm, eyes filled with distress.

"But, what about your family?"

"None that I can remember."

"Oh." Tails small voice piped up. He could see Sonic flinch back at the bitten out words- knew that the word family often brought about dark periods in a way a four year old could only just barely recognize but not understand. "Then what's your name? You gotta know that right?"

"I am not going to tell you-"

"Knuckles then! We'll call you Knuckles." Sonic grinned as he tied a knot on the bandage, rocking back on his heels.

The newly-named Knuckles grunted, slowly clambering to his own feet, gritting teeth against the pain. "Thank you." He didn't sound very thankful. "I should go after-"

"Let us do it. We're the ones who crashed Robotnik on your island anyway, so fairs fair, right? We'll retrieve that big old gem of yours for you."

"But-"

"You couldn't catch a sloth in the state your in." Sonic shrugged, "Besides, I got some payback of my own for Robotnik!"

"Yeah, you sounded like you were about to continue. What were you…" Tails trailed off, his mind making rapid connections. "Wait, you said before then that you didn't remember anything… does that mean your name as well?" His distress was slowly climbing.

It was one thing to be left without past and history; it was another to be left without identity.

Shadow had nearly destroyed the world in his search for his identity. Sonic did his best to bury his former identity. Tails didn't really care about it. Knuckles… Knuckles had accepted the new identity thrust onto him.

"It was…" Knuckles trailed off for a moment, watching the dim light dance across dust motes slowly resettling on the table. Tails waited with bated breath- just talking now would shut down the echidna's slowly opening gates.

Sonic may of said something, but Tails didn't merely waiting and listening. It was enough. "It was the first name someone had called me without being insulting. There were treasure hunters before Sonic you know- Life and death battles to keep the island safe. Eggman crashed on the island, and I remember seeing in the Master Emerald chamber the mecha he was piloting and the golden glowing being fighting it…"

Tails could remember the mural himself; it was gigantic, taking up nearly an entire wall of the room. He also remembered when they had faced off against Chaos, that there had been another mural, showing the exact same thing. It was creepy to know that the echidna's had been able to predict the future so correctly.

But with what seemed like a new prophecy popping out of every corner of the world and Sonic getting caught up in it… "Wh-What did Eggman call you when he was on your island?"

The echidna flinched, body posture shutting down completely. Tails quickly backpedaled, "I don't mean it in a bad way, I just wanted to know how he referred to you if you didn't have a name at that point."

"There was… There wasn't a name he referred to me by. He never did… we didn't see each other much- I still guarded the Master Emerald, and he was in his workshop. When we did meet, neither of us bothered with names."

Did Knuckles want to ask Eggman for a name? Or would it have been a sign of weakness he would abhor?

The echidna sighed harshly, flopping down on the couch. Dust rose up in a cloud, unnoticed by the echidna. The conversation- or really, Knuckles willingness to explain something about himself had once again closed.

Tails took a deep breath, "You know Knuckles, Sonic doesn't mean anything bad by it, and if you actually asked him to stop he would. He doesn't exactly enjoy his name himself after all."

One violet eye cracked open to at him. Encouraged, the fox kit continued to ramble on. "I've only heard it once, but it was long and really embarrassing sounding. And well, he never likes it. Then there's my real name." His nose wrinkled at his name. "I have a pun for a name. I'm pretty sure my parents hated me."

What may have been a quiet hum sounded from the couch. Tails, heartened by the noise smiled bouncily. "In fact, you could announce your new name, or whatever you want to be called right now, and Sonic wouldn't be able to say no, because he was the one who named you."

Tonight seemed to be a night of miracles, for Knuckles smiled slightly. A soft, barely there curve of his lips, in a motion not often seen. "It's fine Tails. I actually don't mind the name. It's… good. Informative."

It has a history of a blue hedgehog, and a fox kit with two tails. A tale of fights to save the world, a pink hedgehog, and white bat. A story written with a black hedgehog, chaos emeralds, and blood shed to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

The words weren't said, but seemed to hover in the air anyways. A little secret between red and gold, sealed by silence.

Tails reached up to the lights, turning them completely off. "Good night Knuckles. Feel free to take anything you want out of the fridge."

A answering grunt from the couch, and silence fell on the workshop.

That night was a dream of friends and family. White gloved hands tucked the blanket in around a sleeping kitsune, and placed a bundle nearby the lightly sleeping echidna. The aroma of grapes freshly plucked, still wet from the early morning dew, filled the house. The lightest of smiles appeared on a sleeping face, mirroring a contented one in a nearby room, and the wide one as bright red sneakers soundlessly worked their way into a bedroom.

And for that moment, the house was home.

a/n: wahoo, yet another one of my rambles, less plot specific stories! Once again centering on Knuckles and Tails. I think out of all of the inter-relationships the characters could share, they probably share the more interesting one. They're not constantly fighting, but nor are they exactly comfortable with each other at the same time. Anyways, please don't forget to drop a review before you go!