"It's beautiful," Bella sighed.

"Sure is," replied Sonic. "Well, we oughta take you to your new place of residence."

He walked with the four of us a long way. After what seemed like days, we finally came upon a red, 2 story house.

"Like it?" asked Knuckles.

Bella was staring in awe. She remained dead silent, so I decided to speak for the both of us.

"We love it," I said.

"That's great," said Sonic.

"I'm bored," said Bella. "Can we go meet people?"

"Yeah, let's go do that!" exclaimed Sonic. So we were walking to town when I remembered something awful.

We had forgotten our pets.

"Uh, Sonic," I said. "I think we forgot our pets at Wilfre's fortress." Bella gasped.

"Already got it taken care of," said Sonic. "They should be at your new house by the time we get back."

"How?" asked Knuckles.

"Remember?" replied Sonic. "He teleported there to go get them."

"Oh," said Knuckles. "Right."

"Who's he?" I asked curiously.

"You'll find out in time," said Shadow.

"Yeah, he wouldn't leave," said Sonic. "He's been going on and on about how he wanted to meet you two." He whispered "Especially Zathia."

"Yep, he'll probably be waiting there," said Knuckles.

I blushed a bit as things were piecing together. That was when we came upon our first new person.

Purple, those boots, no fur? It was Espio.

"Greetings," he said.

"Hello," said Bella. Then he simply walked away.

"He's not really in a friendly mood right now," said Sonic. "How about we meet Tails? Then we can go home."

"Sounds good to me," I said. So we walked some more until we finally encountered the two-tailed fox.

"Hello," I said.

"Hi there!" said Tails. Then in less than 5 seconds, he and Sonic were engaged in a deep conversation.

Have you ever had to wait for an older relative to end their chat with someone they haven't seen in a while? Well, that's how we felt. We had to stand there and wait. I swear I almost fell asleep.

When they finally said their goodbyes, it was dark. Bella yawned.

"Sorry about that," said Sonic. "He always is tinkering with machines, so we rarely talk."

"Sonic," I said. "I feel like I don't belong." Sonic gave me a consoling look.

"I knew you'd say that," he said. "Even if you were human, you'd fit right in. Animals fit into Earth, don't we?"

"That reminds me," said Shadow. "We can't take them to their new home yet."

"Why not?" whined Bella.

"Trust me," said Knuckles. "You'll know."

We walked past our new house and walked until we were in an empty field. Pretty soon, we were holding hands again. Shadow used Chaos Control, and we were in a dark place. Underground, I think. Ahead of us were 2 chambers, lit up with the same light blue as Wilfre's transformation walls.

"Is this gonna hurt?" asked Bella.

"It's just like Wilfre's transformation system," said Shadow. "You'll see it happening, yet you won't feel a thing."

So, with much uncertainty and nervousness, we each picked a chamber and climbed in. Before I could blink, the windows were obstructed with light blue fog.

Then, the changes took place. Nothing was happening at first. A little later, going completely against what Shadow had said, a woozy gas filled the chamber. My last thought before passing out was "Heck with not feeling anything."

From what I was told, I wasn't out for very long. I woke, still in the chamber. The obstructive fog remained on the walls. I got up, without an ounce of difficulty, and looked down. I was wearing cool looking magenta and gold shoes, white pants, and a magenta and gold dress that went down to my shins. My hair was pulled back into 3 different ponytails, bunched together, and I was wearing white gloves.

The most major change? I looked back and felt myself up a bit (please don't take that as something perverted). No longer did I have a feeling of not belonging. I had animal ears and a tail. No longer was I human.

I was a pink fox. My hair was pink, and except for my clothes and the bottom of my face (which was white), I was all pink.

So I walked out. Sonic and Knuckles took one look at me and were in awe for a few seconds. Shadow, on the other hand, was watching Bella walk out.

She had a white cheerleader's outfit on, and her blue hair was pulled back in a basic ponytail. She was also wearing plain white sneakers. She was a blue hedgefox. Shadow looked like he had fallen in love.

"Shadow, snap out of it," said Bella. "and let's go home. I'm DEAD tired."

So Chaos Control happened again, and we were back above ground. We were pretty much silent until we reached the house again.

"Bella the Hedgefox and Zathia the Fox," said Sonic. "Can I come in with you guys?" There's food in there." And yep, right after he said that, his stomach growled in longing. Everyone but Shadow giggled.

We walked in. While Sonic went to make a sandwich, I just looked around a bit. Bella went upstairs and found her room almost immediately. Instead of silence, there was joyful screaming.

"Lola! Rosie! Simba!" she squealed from within her room. "I'm so happy to see you!"

My curiosity had me walking, absent minded, upstairs. That hallway was LONG, and I walked 10 steps until I reached the room at the end. There was a sign on the door that said "Zathia." Duh, I thought. This is my room.

I opened the door to black walls and a white ceiling. My bed was to the side, with magenta colored blankets. There was a huge closet in the northwest corner, and a desk in the wall opposite of my bed.

Now, I walked in on 3 living things as well, and they all looked up at me when I opened the door. The first two were pets who are very close to my heart. The tuxedo cat, Joey, and the Sheltie, Ellie. I was really overjoyed to see them, but I almost burst when I saw who was sitting on my bed.

He had the color of grayish white, and chest fur of the same color, yet it was about a shade lighter. Yellow eyes. He was wearing those really futuristic boots. It was a jaw dropping conclusion, but I soon identified him as Silver the Hedgehog. I was soon blushing like mad. He was staring right at me.

"Y-You're Zathia, right?" he said.

"Yeah, that's me," I managed to say. I worked up the courage to sit down next to him.

"I have been looking forward to meeting you," said Silver. "How much do you really know about us?"

"Well," I said. "I know that you and Blaze came here to save the future from Iblis." He was pretty surprised by my knowledge.

"I also know," I continued. "that Knuckles guards the Master Emerald and Espio is a ninja. I also know about a horrific event that has scarred Shadow for life."

"You do?!" asked Silver.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"Please tell me," he said. "Shadow can sometimes be a huge emo, and I never found out why."

So I told him all the details that I could recall. I talked about Maria, and how she was killed. For the finale, I told him about the promise Shadow had made to her.

"Well, I learned something new tonight," said Silver. "I must go now. Until we meet again, Zathia." I caught him blushing a bit before he teleported out.

I really wasn't tired, so I walked out, barely noticing that Bella had been standing there the whole time.

"You liar!" I said jokingly. "I thought you were asleep!"

"I heard your conversation and just knew I had to eavesdrop," said Bella. "And me thinks you have an admirer."

"That can't be right," I replied. "He loves Blaze, doesn't he?"

"That's what the media wants you to think," said Bella. "I could hear it in his voice. Take my word for it. He likes you." She winked and walked away.

For the next few hours, I played with Ellie, really contemplating what Bella had told me.


Author's note: "That's what the media wants you to think." It was written here almost 2 years ago, but it still makes me smile.