Hello, flashyhero! I'm glad you thought so. :) Yes, you're absolutely right. It has been hinted at, especially in the Ruined Future Arc, particularly in that small scene in Ross's POV just before Sonic and Jet's race. I agree that seeing it said a loud, at least in a way, was nice. :)

Hello, Nagato911! Well, more like thousands, but I agree. XD

Hello, Meadow of Sparkling Starlight! Yeah, it was. ;_; That was the whole idea. I wanted it to be a mystery 'till the very end of the chapter. YOU'RE WELCOME! XD

~英雄の物語~

The morning was warm and sunny and the sunshine was pouring into the house from various windows when small, excited feet came hurriedly down the stairs. An equally small and excited voice preceded the sight of the child as he ran down the short hall and turned the corner into the living room. "Dad, Dad! Guess what, guess what!" Almost as soon as he was done speaking, young Jet hopped up onto the couch beside his father, smiling widely and clearly very pleased about something.

Thoroughly amused, Ross set aside his book for the moment and indulged his small son. "Alright, I give. What?"

"Arthr moved back into his old house!" Jet beamed. "Can we go visit him, please? We haven't gotten to play in forever!"

Ross found himself smiling a bit wider than he had been before. "Three months isn't 'forever'," he corrected rather gently.

"But still!" Jet exclaimed. "It felt like forever!"

Ross let out a small chuckle. "I suppose it did. These last few months have been pretty boring, haven't they?"

"Yes!" Jet exclaimed again, seeming pleased that his father finally understood. Then he immediately returned to his original question. "Can we go now, Dad? Please?"

Ross feigned uncertainty and a desire not to get up. "I don't know... This couch is pretty comfortable..." He laughed a bit when Jet suddenly began pushing on him with all of his minuscule, childish might.

"Come on, Dad!" Jet said a she continued to try to push his father off the couch. "It's not even that far and it's been forever since we've been there! Please? Please?"

Still laughing a bit, Ross gently pried his son off of him and set the child down on his feet on the floor. "Alright, I'm coming. Go get your shoes on and we'll go."

"Yes!" With this small but no less loud and victorious cheer, Jet turned and raced back out into the hall and up the stairs to his room to pull on his shoes as he'd been told while Ross put his book on the coffee table and walked to the door to wait for Jet. He didn't have to wait long; Jet was racing back down the stairs before Ross could even reach the door, and he was outside it before his father even really had a chance to blink. "Come on, Dad! Hurry up! You're taking forever!"

Ross briefly contemplated walking slower for a moment just to mess with him, but Jet was already looking so excited, and Ross knew that if he took too much longer his son might really take off without him. "Hold on a second, I'm coming," he assured as he shut and locked the door. The world was safe enough now that most people didn't bother locking up anything, but this place was different. This was a community of thieves, nice though it was. Not all of them were Rogues, but some were. Still, the majority of them knew what they were doing when it came to stealing, so it was best not to take any chances.

Jet was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the three stone steps leading up to their front door. The moment he saw that Ross was following, he grinned and began hurrying down the nicely paved street toward his equally young friend's house. As Ross watched, he couldn't help but notice the many similarities between his child and his deceased wife. He certainly has her energy... and her wide capacity for knowledge. The boy's already piecing together ancient tech and making gadgets with it, not to mention reading the literary works by people who've studied said tech for their entire lives... He's even improved on some of their theories and designs. It never ceased to amaze him to see what his son was capable of in an intellectual regard. Jet displayed it in more ways than just reading and building, too, and Ross was always filled with pride by each new accomplishment his son made, no matter how small. Just the thought of what his son might one day achieve brought a small smile to his face.

And then there was her happiness... He has that, too. It always struck him as incredible how Jet and Selena could always seem to manage to stay happy no matter what life threw at them. Of course, being as young as he was, Jet had yet to experience anything truly terrible (And may it always be, he privately thought), but that was beside the point. The fact of the matter was, his mother's happiness was there inside him, ready for him draw from whenever he needed it. That thought was always comforting and was also a source of hope that, should his son ever experience true hardship, he would still manage to be okay in the end.

It was Jet himself, of course, who suddenly pulled Ross out of his somewhat random thoughts. "Come on, Dad! Why do you have to walk so slow?"

Ross chuckled again and even went so far as to smirk. "Oh, just to enjoy the scenery," he replied easily. Then he teased lightly. "You know, it looks a lot nicer when it's not a blur because you're running by it."

Jet gave a little childish huff. "So?!'" he demanded with a sort of pout. "I don't care about that! I wanna go to Arthr's house!"

"We'll get there soon enough," Ross responded calmly. "Just be patient."

"But I don't wanna be patient!"

"Sometimes you just have to be, whether you want to or not."

"But I don't want to!"

"And why not?"

"Because it's hard! I suck at it!"

Ross chuckled to himself again. "So this will be good practice."

Jet crossed his arms in a childish huff, another small pout appearing on his lips. "Hmph."

Yet another chuckle escaped him as the house they'd been walking so quickly to came into view. Well, so much for him taking the time to be patient. He supposed that was a lesson for another time, anyway. There was no way Jet was going to focus on it right now, and he was so little yet besides. He has plenty of time. For right now, it was probably for the best that he be allowed to just play and be a kid. Besides, it'll give him a chance to burn some energy.

Having spotted the house mere seconds ago, Jet suddenly brightened again. He ran up to the door immediately and knocked several times in rapid succession. The woman who answered the door wore a knowing smile on her face as she looked down at him. "I was wondering when we'd see you, little one. Arthr's in his room waiting for you. Why don't you go on up and say hello?"

"Okay!" Jet agreed happily. Without waiting for any further invitation, he slipped inside past her and ran down the hall, shouting Arthr's name all the while.

The woman and Ross both watched him go for a moment before returning their attention to each other. "He's as energetic as ever," she commented, her amusement plainly obvious on her face as she let him in.

"He is," Ross agreed, his own amusement apparent. "It doesn't help that he's been moping around the house most of the time lately. He hasn't been burning any of that energy off."

"Neither has Arthr," she replied. "Those two just can't be happy without each other, it seems."

"I suppose not," Ross agreed. "But, really, we should't be so surprised. You know what they say about best friends."

"That's very true," she smiled. "How silly of us to forget." The two adults walked into the living room and sat down on two separate arm chairs. Once they were seated and comfortable, the conversation resumed almost as though it had never been dropped.

"Jet was ecstatic when he learned that you two were back," Ross commented, noting with his eyes the many boxes filling the space around them. Surprisingly enough, many of them were already unpacked. "He kept saying how it had been 'forever' since he'd seen Arthr."

"Oh, I know," the woman laughed. "Arthr was doing the same thing. He just couldn't wait for the chance to get out of here and find Jet to have a play date."

"It's almost like they think they're going to be six for the rest of their lives," Ross mused, his amused smirk never fading.

"But it's sweet," she replied, eyes sparkling. "It almost makes me wish that they were capable of such a thing."

"Perhaps," Ross conceded. Then he added, "But, at the same time, I look forward to seeing what they accomplish when they get older. Neither is going to fall into the cracks in society as just another face in the crowds. They're going to stand out and do big things that will leave an impact, a lasting impression that will never truly fade, and I can't wait to see it."

Her smile only grew, and her happiness along with it. "I couldn't possibly agree with you more.

~英雄の物語~

"Say, say, is it true?" Arthr asked excitedly as the two little boys rummaged through his boxes, looking for his toys.

"What?" Jet asked, tossing aside a small book that he'd pulled out of a box.

"Did you really get a skateboard for your birthday?" Arthr asked, jealous but also visibly excited.

"Uh-huh!" Jet grinned. "I have to wait until I'm older to use it, though. It's too big."

"That's still cool!"

"Well you have a bike."

"So?! A skateboard's cooler!"

"Totally!"

They grinned at each other for a moment before resuming their somewhat chaotic search for the missing toys. It was Arthr who soon broke the silence again, changing the subject entirely and without any warning. "My teacher at school is being weird lately."

"All adults are weird," Jet replied with childish simplicity. "Dad, too. I had to shove him to get him off the couch earlier because he decided to turn into a feathery sack of potatoes."

"No, I mean she's being really weird," Arthr insisted. "Like, not normal weird."

"So don't go to school," Jet responded. He once again tossed something he'd found aside just moments before his friend did the same. "I don't."

"I know, but my mom wants me to. Your dad's different. He thinks your fine without it or something like that."

"So how's your teacher being weird?"

"She keeps telling us to 'think about our futures' and to 'figure out our dreams' and stuff. Like, all the time."

"Oh."

"Who cares about all that, though? It's so far away."

"Yeah. Like I said, all adults are weird."

Arthr sat back on his heels for a moment before finally sitting down entirely, moving out of the crouch he'd been in for the past few minutes. "I did think about it for a little while, though."

Jet sat down where he was, too. "You did?"

"Uh-huh?" Arthr nodded. "I dunno what I wanna do or anything, though. I just know that I like rocks and building and stuff." There was a slight pause before he posed a question. "Do you know what you wanna do?"

Jet was suddenly grinning again. "Yeah! There's lots of things I wanna do! And I'm gonna do 'em, too!"

Arthr grinned back, infected by his friend's shift in mood from childish seriousness to equally childish excitement. "Like what things?" he asked, his interest piqued.

Jet grinned even wider and pushed his goggles up on his forehead a bit. "I'm gonna race!" he declared. "I'll be one of the best racers in the world! I'll have my own team, too!"

"And I'll be on your team!" Arthr exclaimed excitedly.

"Well duh!" Jet responded energetically. "You have to be on my team! You're my best friend!"

"We'll be the best racers ever!" Arthr cheered.

"Yeah!" Jet agreed happily. "We'll be unstoppable and we'll take the world by storm! I won't have it any other way!"

Arthr beamed at him as he added, "And you'll be the best inventor in the world, too! You're always building cool stuff! You can do it!"

Jet's grin remained as enthusiastic as ever. "And you can help! You're really good at it, too!"

"But more than anything..." Arthr said slowly, a knowing look on his still-beaming face, his eyes alight with surety in his friend's success and hope for his friend's dreams.

Jet caught on to his meaning and grinned even wider than before. "More than anything... I'm gonna be the greatest thief in world!"

Still grinning widely at each other, their focus abruptly shifted and they suddenly resumed their search for Arthr's toys.

~英雄の物語~

"Come on, Jet. It's late. We need to get going."

Jet immediately looked up from the pile of toys he and Arthr had been in the middle of playing with right at that moment. "Aw!" he complained loudly. "But Da-ad!"

"No," Ross responded firmly, though gently. "No but's. Let's go."

"Five more minutes!"

"I said no, Jet."

"Please?"

Arthr's mother spoke up from just slightly behind Ross, her amusement audibly coloring her tone. "Even you can't resist that hopeful little face, Ross," she murmured.

Ross let out a small sigh, though he was smirking slightly as he did so. "I hate the fact that you're right," he replied quietly. Then he said loud enough for the kids to hear, "Alright, five more minutes. Then we're leaving."

"Yes!" the boys cheered at almost the same time.

Ross shook his head in amusement and walked back out of the room and down the stairs with Arthr's mother not far behind. Those two... I swear.

Back in the bedroom, Jet began helping his friend clean up the mess they'd made. Jet was pouting a bit. "I don't wanna go home yet," he mumbled.

"I don't want you to, either," Athr agreed just as miserably. However, after a couple minutes of thought, he was suddenly smiling again. Jet took notice of this and opened his mouth to ask a question about it, but Arthr cut him off. "We'll always be friends, won't we?"

Jet nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Always."

"Forever and ever, right?"

"Well duh."

Athr smiled even wider. "Then that means we'll always see each other again, even if it takes a long time sometimes."

Jet suddenly found himself returning his friend's smile. "I hadn't thought of it like that."

"'Course you didn't," Arthr grinned. "'Cause I'm the smart one."

"Nuh-uh!" Jet retorted.

"Yeah-huh!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"You're crazy!"

"No!"

"Yeah!"

"No!"

"You are!"

"I'm not!"

Downstairs, the adults heard the argument and shook their heads, both laughing quietly in amusement. "Well you know what they say about best friends," Arthr's mother said. "'A best friend is a sibling not related by blood and with whom a person is destined to fight. And yet, a best friend is also someone you'll always share a bond with.'"

Ross smiled a bit again as he slowly inclined his head in agreement. "Forever."

~英雄の物語~

2,624 words this time. I think this might be the longest oneshot I've written so far. Cool. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this sneak-peak into Jet's past, back when his home life was actually good. I personally thought that the majority of this was absolutely adorable. X3 Posted 11-09-15.