A female's laughter rang out in the metallic hallway she ran down. Her laughter was followed by even more laughter and two more pairs of running footsteps.
"Mira!" One of the voices said, "Wait up!"
Identified as Mira, the female hedgehog stopped to a halt looking back at the human girl who was still running.
Mira beamed, "Come on, Maria! Can't we have just one more race?"
The blonde girl stopped, panting at Mira's feet, "Oh... all right, Mira, but this time... can I just be a spectator? Then you can race with Shadow."
Mira grinned at her best friend, "Sure!" She looked around, but where is Shadow?"
Two gloved hands covered her silver eyes, "Guess who?"
"Shadow!"
Mira heard a chuckle as she removed the hands from her eyes and looked into the crimson eyes of her soul mate, "Hello, Shadow!"
Shadow spun Mira around to get a better look at her and Shadow wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. But they were getting too into their moment of passion until they heard the giggling of their human friend. The two hedgehogs both looked at their creator's granddaughter and blushed madly.
"Oh!" She squealed, "Don't mind me! I'm so happy that Grandfather made the both of you! You two are perfect for each other!"
Mira's normally baby blue cheeks were as red as her boyfriend's highlights. "Maria!"
But she just laughed, "Ha! Ha! Ha! Come on you two, lovebirds! It's almost time for the meteor shower!"
Mira let out a yelp as Shadow carried her to their viewing spot on the other side of the ARK. In the course of two minutes, the couple got there while Maria got them a blanket and some snacks. Shadow set Mira down to get a look at the place that they thought none of the three friends would ever see: the planet Earth.
Mira came up to Shadow as she dusted off her daily attire of an electric blue half sleeve tank top, comfy denim capris, and her dark blue air shoes modeled like Shadow's.
"You know, Shadow, I-I've been wondering... what's it like down on Earth?"
Shadow looked at her, "I can't answer that Mira, only the Professor could and you know that he doesn't like talking about it."
Mira looked towards her silhouette on the wall opposite the window Shadow was looking out of. "I know that, but I really want to go and see what it's like down there." Although she said that more to herself than to Shadow.
"Hey, guys! I'm back!" The couple smiled at their friend who set the blanket up. "I brought us a blanket so we won't get dirty, lots and lots of snacks so we don't have to go back to the kitchen."
"But Maria," Mira said as she plopped down on the smoothed out blanket, "Shadow and me can just run and get more in a minute!"
Maria smiled warmly, "Oh, my little Mira, I did this so you wouldn't have to."
She tilted her head like she usually did when someone explained something to her that she was either too young to understand or didn't understand at all; in this case, it was the first one. As the three were eating, a question popped up in Mira's head.
"Maria?" She asked with a full mouth.
"Yes? And please don't speak with your mouth full."
Mira swallowed, "Sorry."
"Now, what was your question?"
"What is love?"