Welcome back everyone!

You have no idea how sorry I am for posting this story so late.

Explanation: My laptop has serious damage to it. Like virus bad. I need a new one. (Which would be more of a suggestion towards my father if he'll be willing to get me one. It's a bit stable, (more or less), but as much as I loved this one, it needs to go. I did try to upload this chapter like 20 in the past 6 days.

You have no idea how pissed & insane I went when it didn't upload. I even slammed my face into my bed, & a wall...

News: I am finally going on my family vacation. Going to Universal Studios in less than 16 hours. Will be returning the 31st.

This would be the part when your hopes start rising, thinking I'll post the next chapter when I get back, right?

Wrong.

I actually still have some reading & (if dad thinks so) cleaning & shopping to do for school. So there really isn't time for me to post chapter 10.

Now don't worry, I still have a game plan for this.

Game Plan: I will post Chapter 10 the following weekend after the first week of school. But here it is in simpler terms- If I don't have chapter 10 up by the 7th, know that it was either a technical problem if I don't get a new laptop by then, &/or homework casted a spell on me.

Reviews- To bearvalley3365: Well, thank you. I just really appreciate having people, well, appreciate my work. It makes me feel like it's worth it.

And my gratitude for the info. They are definitely worthy to be in my story. Anything else I should know? Like how their voices are, any accents, etc.? And any certain jobs, like a waiter, club owner, wrestler, store owner, etc.? I just want to get them perfectly if they are going to fit in the part I have for them perfectly. It's just how serious I take characters.

OK, I'm done flapping my trap.

A/N: Sonic characters belong to Sega.

Zera characters belong to Me.


Chapter 9: Who's Fault Was It?

"OW, Zeren stop, that hurts!" Zera yelped out. Zeren & Zera were inside of Tails' lab. Zera was on the steel examination table with Zeren hovering above her. The doors were firmly shut to block any of their conversation to the others. It was actually a hallway that connected the house & the lab together. The entire lab area was white, with the exception of some blue prints scattered on the walls and desks. Devices and tools littered everywhere as well. Sonic would always complain that Tails should keep this place organized, but the young genius couldn't see it that way. He feels that it IStidy, but only in the way he could see it. Zeren couldn't complain though, he knew what Tails meant. But here's a thing he couldn't handle.

It was hard enough to keep Zera from fainting in his arms as he was carrying her inside when she collapsed after her battle with Eggman. He had to keep shaking her body in his arms every time she was close to fainting when they were headed down the street. [Though, it wasn't that he didn't like it. In fact, he loved that close contact jog with her, without having that feeling she was hating it or him for a change!] But dealing with her complaining at their situation right now, wasn't floating his boat at the moment. Maybe he should have waited until she was ready to do this, it was too fast in the first place...

"Well, sorry, but these types of things aren't gonna be soft like a kitten. They hurt." Zeren explained. Zera gave off a small pout.

"I don't want it to hurt at ALL. Please, be more gentle." She mumbled. Zeren sighed. This is worse with dealing with a 7 year old child rejecting her parents cause she didn't want to eat her vegetables.

"You think I wasn't gentle when we started? I'm always gentle!" He argued. Zera looked up at Zeren, and grew a smirk.

"That's not what Jackie told me." She snickered in a whisper, but loud enough for Zeren to hear. He glared at her for a moment, then went a little deeper inside of her.

"AHHHH~!" She said in a sharp gasp, NOT expecting that sudden shove. Zeren then chuckled in victory. Then again, doing this didhave its perks...

"Watch what you say Zera. Remember, I'm still in charge here." He said, but there was still a soothing tone to it.

"Hmph. For nowechidna, now. But once we get out of here & back at your house, I'll show you what this hedgehogette can reallydo." She stated with a small sly smile. She whimpered when he pressed in a little more. She was panting, & her cheeks were getting flushed.

"Then I can't wait until we get back to ourhome. Don't be modest Zera, you'll be with us for a while. You can call it your home." Zeren said, getting serious for a moment. She shook her head.

"Zeren, I can't call any place, or call this place home & you -OH!- know it!" She had to moan as he purposely went deeper. She glared at him. "Fine, I will...Now do me a favor & PLEASE STOP MAKING THIS SO PAINFUL!"

"OK! Ok! Um...I got it!" He began to stroke her gently and softly. "Skin...looks great, and feels like soft velvet! Ah~" Zeren was in heaven. If only he could pet her charcoal dark fur. Or he beautiful face. Her cheeks. Her legs. Her-

"Ok, get a bit ahead of myself here...Just stay calm, & everything will be okay..."

"Does that feel better now?" He said in a calm soothing voice. She was avoiding eye contact with him, he could now tell. She was staring dead ahead of her. Eyes keen on the white doors that lead to the house. They had a look of begging escape, as if Zera was finding this complete torture. For her, yes, but for him, not at all a punishment. But he didn't like the fact that she was ignoring his question ANDtouch. He started stroking her a little harder. Her silver eyes widened a bit, & bit her lip.

"Oh~, I see now, your trying not to break out in pleasured sounds." He said slyly, his eyes glowing a bit. Her muzzle was bright enough as it is. He stopped stroking her to do a little test. Instantly the searing pain struck back inside her. She let out a tiny, but audible doggy whine escape her lips. Zeren chuckled at this. She truly was a girl of confusing, but innocent character. He started to stroke her again and he felt her muscles relax. He smiled at the female hedgehog underneath him.

"Well, I don't want Sonic or Tails seeing me so...open." "Did that even sound right?" She sighed. Zeren had a configuring look on his face, trying to think of a way to reassure her. He slowly moved his stroking hand on her head, & began to pet her. Her breath began to cut short, but she actually started to purr. He had to smile at this. As much as he knew about his distant cousin species the hedgehog, hedgehogs are also related to cats. They share similar traits. He now fully assumed that purring is one of them.

"Don't worry Zera, no one else but me will see you like this. I promise." He said in a charming voice. She gave out a moan, then a small mew when he started to stroke behind her one ear. It was either a hedgehog weakness, or her own. He'll have to test this later on Sonic. He was pretty sure the speedy devil would hit him for it though...He never did like anyone touching his ears.

"Ok...I'm ready. You may proceed Zeren." Zera uttered after awhile. Zeren, glad she was finally relaxed, looked down at her again, trying to show a positive side.

"Are you sure Zera? Has the pain gone away?"

"Yes. As you said, the pain is fading away, and little bubbles of pleasure are popping up." She stated.

"Ok...If you feel like your gonna whimper or whine again..." He let his voice trail off on purpose, which thankfully she did catch. She then cut him off.

"Are you kidding? I had to do this before, much to my displeasure...Just not in a while, & have forgotten how it felt." She said slyly. "Oh, that did feel embarrassing to say, & even worse to admit to a mere mortal..."

"Well, start remembering, cause here we go." He said, staring his shoving process all over again. She winced yet again at the surprising strong force, but bit her lip again to hold everything she wanted to let out, stay in. Her face was full of sweat, & even Zeren was getting warmer, small beads of sweat rolling down his face. By accident, the hand that he had been petting her with, had somehow slipped off, and landed on one of her own. Startled and without thinking, she gasped, and jerked forward. In Zeren's case it was bad, for her forehead collided with his in a fast crash.

"Oww!" He yelped, taking his unoccupied hand & rubbing it against his forehead. She only shook her head, trying to burn off the buzzing feeling on it.

"I'm sorry, are you okay? Did I hurt you? I've been told I have a very hard skull." She popped up after the quite literal painful silence, worry staining her silver orbs. He gave her a reassuring nod. He wanted to smile at that. "It's nice to see that she's worried about me, instead of it being vice versa.."

"Of course I am, I kinda forgot I was petting you, since I'm focusing on my occupied hand." He indicated with his eyes to the hand that was working on Zera. "I guess we both overreacted huh?" He had a sheepish grin on his face. Her tan cheeks blushed again, & nodded slowly.

"Indeed..." An awkward pause developed between them.

"So, may we continue without anymore surprising interruptions?" He said, feeling the moment went on long enough. She continued to avoid his gaze, but said a quiet 'yes' letting him know to proceed. He was just about to when-

"Wait!"

"What is it Zera?"

"Um...you can make it smaller, correct?"

"Zera...I honestly can't. It's just the laws of nature for it to be this big. Now please just hold still, I'll take care of everything." He said. Secretly, he wanted to start this again, & only wanted to seem impatient to make Zera give in. She finally connected her eyes with him, and sighed deeply.

"Oh, alright. Just, not too much pressure, & more pleasure, got it?" She commanded. He face still showed uncertainty, but she wasn't going to look like a coward now. He grinned and started to go in her all over again.

Not even 2 minutes later, when they were really getting into it, there was a knock on the door.

"Zeren, Zera, it's me, Sonic. Can I come in?"

"Shit." They both said in their heads.

"SONIC, DON'T COME IN HERE, WE'RE BUSY!" They both yelled at the door. They paused as they stared at each other, after that weird identical outburst. Sonic had a confused look on his face. "Those two are acting really strange since we left them alone...Well, only one way to find out what's happening." He started to open the door much to the other's begging pleas.

"Well, it's been almost an hour & you two have been quiet for awhile. Tails heard a cry, scream, and all kinds of noises in here, then asked me to come help. I brought in some grapes if you guys were hungry and-" He stopped dead in the middle of his sentence when he saw the scene before him. It looked bad from his view of angle.

REALLY, really bad.

Zeren was pressed over Zera, both of them panting and in sweat, bodies too close for comfort. Their hands...well, mostly Zeren's hands were...doing something...He couldn't see what, but he knew he didn't approve. He almost dropped the yellow bowl of red grapes on the spot. "ZEREN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Sonic yelled at the top of his lungs. Instantly, Zera's face was blood red in shock and embarrassment while Zeren peeled off her & started walking towards Sonic.

"Dude, you don't understand. I know this may come to a shock to you but Zera-"

"DUDE, SHE WAS PURE AND YOU SOILED HER! SHE HAS THE BRAIN OF AN 8 YEAR OLD, DON'T BE A-" He paused at the word he probably shouldn't say in front of Zera. He quickly looked at Zera's flushed form. "Well, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING!" Everyone was silent, and slightly scared of Sonic at the moment. The blue hero rarely yelled, so this was quite the sight to behold. Sonic said something inaudible under his breath, much to a disliking to Zera for her hearing could always pick up anything, no matter how low or quiet it was. Maybe he only mouthed his probably pissed statement. Sonic finally moved near Zera, still sending daggers at the confused echidna.

Sonic placed the bowl of grapes next to Zera. "You can go ahead and eat them. I just bought and washed them. Truly fresh." She looked at him, then the grapes, and back at him.

"But...Zeren and I were just-"

"Oh no no no dear, don't talk with your mouth full!" Sonic said teasingly, though his facial expression was the complete opposite as he shoved a few grapes in her mouth. She had a look of complete shock and was taken back. She was just about to open her mouth in protest when sweet juice dripped into the back of her throat. She froze, swallowed, & put a few more in her mouth. Sonic sighed in relief, glad of the distraction. "I'm sorry Zera, but I'm trying to teach you manners to became a proper young lady. That's kind of how it works here if you want to fit in. But that was good enough. Now, I'm just gonna grab Zeren here & have a quick chat with him okay? Enjoy those grapes!" He said in a fake cheerful accent that thankfully Zera was too occupied to notice. He walked over to Zeren and yanked his arm, dragging him away from Zera and just stopped at the door, much to the echidna's protests.

"We shouldn't be a moment!" Sonic sing-songed as he shut the doors. He dragged Zeren a little further down the hall, & stopped a good distance away from the lab so Zera was out of ear shot.

XxX

"Ok bro, you have 5 minutes to explain." Sonic said in a voice he hadn't used in a very long awhile. Heck, he only used it when he was furious. He's passed that now. He's pissed. And Sonic NEVERgets pissed without a very good reason. This was one of them. Now Zeren looked lost. "I haven't seen Sonic this mad at me, not even after what happened at the Christmas party last year... Sure, he yelled at Rouge, but he gave me the full punishment just for a harmless prank...that might have gone too far..." No, let's not go back to that memory. He needed to focused on why this hedgehog was pissed at him AGAIN, and that was just a loose term on this.

"Explain what? All I was doing-"

"NO NO, I DON'T WANT ESCUSES, I WANT AN ANSWER TO WHY YOU WERE JACKING UP ZERA!" Sonic yelled, perhaps a little too loudly. The house grew very quiet & still. Zeren's face heated up after a moment.

"ONLY IN MY HEAD I DO! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD-...ohhh~..." Zeren quieted down, now seeing what Sonic was getting at. The speedy hedgehog was tapping his foot impatiently, just like he always had, waiting for an explanation. Suddenly Zeren burst out in laughter. "Yo-you actually t-thought that me-e and Zera were...HAHAHAHAHAHA, OH THAT'S RICH SONIC! I NEVER THOUGHT OF YOU TO THINK THAT WAY! HAHAHA!" Thankfully Zeren minimized from full laughter, down to a chuckle. Sonic rolled his eyes, & started to shake the orange echidna around like a rag doll.

"This isn't funny Zeren! Yes, I sometimesthink that way, but thistime it was for a reason! It looked like you guys were getting down to it! If you have a better explanation, I'm all ears." Sonic let go of Zeren, and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

"Sonic, your just jumping to conclusions yet again. You really need to stop doing that, or you'll end up being punched like last time with Amy." Sonic glared at him again as Zeren brought up that past, and chose to laugh at it too. "You didn't even let me explain everything the first few times."

His cheeks turned pink. "We-well, I guess your right..."

"Exactly, now hear me out. You see, when Tails wanted a blood sample from Zera, she flipped out. She has a secret fear of needles even though she's dealt with them all these years...Tails had to leave to get something to get blood from her. But I wasn't waiting, & neither was she. She wanted to do it herself, but I didn't want her to. So I offered to do it myself. Since she trusts me the most, out of all of us. (Not bragging or anything). When I first started drawing blood from her, she was complaining that it hurt. She would whine or whimper if I went any deeper in her arm. She wanted me to make it less painful, so I thought of a way to distract her. With my free hand, I started to stroke her arm & she became relaxed. Though I guess I let it sink in too far, and she let out a cry. So I quickly started to pet her head. She began to moan, and even purr when I went behind her ear. I think that's a hedgehog weakness." He paused, looking directly at Sonic's face, then his triangular ears. On instinct, he folded them against his skull and bared his teeth, making a small hissing sound at Zeren. He didn't like anyone touching his ears, especially Amy after that incident. Even to this day he says that his left ear twitches in fear when it hears Amy come close to him.

"Try me...continue.."

"Well, I guess with all those sounds coming out of her, Tails took it the wrong way. I only managed a solid pint out of her before you came along. That's the story." Zeren finished. If Sonic wasn't red yet, he certainly was now! He completely took that the wrong way! He cursed himself for being so foolish and not trusting him friend well enough to be alone with Zera. He shuffled his feet around in embarrassment.

"Errrr...I'm sorry bud, I shouldn't have assumed anything. I should have known you wouldn't do anything sexual to her. Plus, the fact stands that she might have blown off your arm if you touched her in that matter." He mumbled the last sentence to himself, turning his head away from Zeren. Zeren set a glare at first, then shrugged casually.

"It's fine. To be honest, I didn't know it looked that bad. I was happy she was trusting me, so I wanted to go a little bit further. Besides, I wouldn't even... um, well, you know, do it with her. Only when we get older, when she truly opens up, trusts me, and has the same feelings towards me, then I'll make my move." Well, the old Zeren is back. Sonic had to crack a genuine smile.

"Good, that's a good plan. Until then, no touching in ANYsexual way, no dirty talking or planning what so ever. Got it?" Sonic implied directly. Zeren let out a whine.

"Aww~ but, not even-"

"NO." He stated firmly. "No papers, no lines, no drugs, no powers. NO NOTHING ON THIS GIRL! We want to KEEP HER TRUST, if I remember correctly, & no one wants it ruined with your desires." Zeren was now at a loss at words, & blushed like a madman.

"Fine." He mumbled. Satisfied with that, Sonic started heading back towards the lab.

"I'll only dream it in my head." Zeren thought, licking his lips in a sly smile, & headed after the blue hedgehog.

XxX

"Sorry about that Zera, but now that everything is calm & restored to the right, we can get straight down to business." Sonic said. Zera looked up at the two males before her. The bowl was completely licked clean, with the accepts of a few grape stems littering the bottom.

"I like those... grapes Sonic! I've never had such a delicacy! It was so very sweet, & juicy." Zera said, licking her lips. Sonic had to shift his eyes on his orange friend. Zeren's knees were shaking, his eyes full of hunger at the temptation just simply oblivious in front of him. Sonic sighed.

"Zeren, you sad little pervert, your practically on your knees...Stay strong man, stay strong..." He thought. Zera gave a strange look in Zeren's direction, then looked at Sonic.

"Where is Tails, I'm ready to start my other tests." She said, felling the atmosphere become thick with awkwardness. Was it her just being there, or that she ate all the grapes without sharing? She wanted to give them some, but they were so sweet that she couldn't stop herself. It wasn't her fault she got to eat actual food in so long. Sonic & Zeren gave each other identical looks, then glanced at Zera again.

"Actually, we should call Tails. He left before we could even tell him the blood test was going on...where is it anyway?" Sonic asked, now that he thought about it. Neither the black hedgehogette nor the orange echidna said a word. Zera just swung her legs awkwardly off the examination table. Zeren just stood there like a lawn gnome. "Oh, how I hate playing this game. I'm guessing Zera knows it well with her history, & Zeren isn't always the first person to speak up. These guys might as well be clones of Mr. Grumpy Stripes.." Sonic let out a deep sigh to ease everything at least a bit more to make the 2 others glance in his direction.

"So, none of you are going to say where it is?" Sonic asked, feeling the awkward power of silence laying above his head.

"No no my friend it isn't like that at all...It's just...Um, well, Zera's blood-"

"Isn't like normal blood...I'm not even sure if it could be called blood anymore..." Zera blurted out before Zeren could finish his sentence. Zeren stared at Zera as she grabbed the small container off of the counter beside her. "Here Sonic, take a goodlook."

Sonic, bewildered by her words, slowly approached the tired looking hedgehogette, & took the small vile out of her hand.

It was filled with...

"Zera, please tell me this is your blood with an odd color, and not Zeren's pee since he can't always make it to the bathroom." He asked. Zeren's face was a tomato, scowled at his friend, and blew a fuse.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD IT BE MY PEE!?" He said. Sonic could only chuckle as he faced him.

"I could've said something else, but there's a lady present. And just remember our little chat earlier, and just connect the dots." He said in a light tone, but still smug. Zeren made a frustrated face & bit his lip at the mention of their chat earlier. He understood it yes, but wasn't going to show it. That, & it would let Sonic win and Zeren didn't like the fact that Sonic always win. "Heh, not this time, jokes on him. AGAIN! Sweet victory has come at last between my rounds with Sonic.." Zeren thought happily.

"Sonic, that is my blood okay? I know it may seem strange that it's yellow but-"

"No Zera, it's not yellow...It's gold!" Sonic said in amazement. Zeren thought this might be going well. He still didn't want to be around when Zera explained it though, she always had a certain look when she told it, & now he had an excuse to miss this mild cuteness.

"I'll go call Tails to come back here." He said as he went to find his communicator and leave the 2 hedgehogs alone. "I just hope she won't destroy him if Sonic goes too far with questions.." Zeren thought.

"But, whyis it gold? Was it some sort of freak accident?" Sonic asked after a few minutes. Zera started at him with bright silver eyes.

"Damn! If she keeps that up, my heart is going to burst! Those eyes...just want to make you tell the truth, cry, then explode with happiness." Sonic thought, feeling his heart twinge a bit. Zera shrugged. It's not like she wasn't expecting that question come out of his mouth...

Just wasn't expecting him to ask that question so soon.

"I don't honestly know. In fact, N.U.G was trying to find that out themselves. They were not successful as they hoped. They gave up & just agreed to state that I was born with golden blood. I wasn't satisfied with that, nor were they..." She quieted it down a bit, remembering about the past. The past she wish she didn't have, or had to live through.

"Oh Zera, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry that out of you."

"No no Sonic, it's fine. You wanted to know & I must be open with it."

"Why, cause you trust me?"

"Well, that's half the reason why. And this might also go for things in the future."

"Hmm? Then what's the other reason?"

"Jackie."

"Ahh~, now that makes sense."

Sonic knew Jackie was a woman of honesty. Speaking of the 'lovely' Groter family...

"So um, what do you think of Zeren?" Sonic asked, changing the subject. Also to see what Zera's feelings on Zeren were so far. He wasn't only just doing it for his pal, but also for himself. He was mildly curious of her thoughts on the orange echidna.

Zera had let her gaze leave Sonic's blue form, & stay on her bare hands.

"Zeren...what do I think about you?" She wondered. True, she was slowly enjoying his care & company far more than she thought she would, but...

"Some thing about me makes him pity me..." She thought. He felt sorry for her, felt that she needed his help. Yes, she doesneed his help, but he was practically babying her.

And she hated it.

She hated him for pitying her. She wasn't weak, she was very strong. He was just...Well, a word she knew for sure, but couldn't describe it.

"Zeren...I can't complain about him. He is a worthy ally." She said truthfully. That was probably the fairest answer she could say about him. "The only flaw he has that goes a bitfar." She stretched the word lightly. "He...needs to stop being protective of me. Did you not see how he acted with me when the Doctor showed up? I actually found it quite humiliating. I'm not stupid, I know things as well as he does! Probably more! I know how to defend myself! It's like he's pitying me...And I despise it very much..."

Wow. Never before had he heard a compliment and a kindinsult mixed in with each other. "And she said it in such a soft sweet voice too." Sonic was dumbfounded.

"Err...Well, the reason he's like this is because he wants to protect you. Yes, he has his overboard moments, and he doesn't always mean that. He was always like this..." He trailed off.

"Oh, really, with what or whom?"

"Errrmm ...Listen Zera, this isn't my department to tell you. It was Zeren's life, & if he wants to tell it to you, then he will. Other than that-"

"You guys, Tails said he'll be here in about a few minutes...Said there's some news on Zera..." Zeren came back from his call with the kitsune. Sonic and Zera could only look at him with worried eyes.

"News?...What kind of news?" Sonic asked. Zeren could only shrug.

"I don't know, I sometimes don't even know or understand what the kid is going on about anyway. Hey Sonic, you guys have any more drinks in here? I'm really thirsty." Sonic had to roll his eyes at his friend snooping around his fridge.

"Of course we do Zeren. We're just hiding them from you." He shouted as Zeren was continuing his search in the kitchen.

"Seriously!? That's not fair! You know how thirsty I get!" Zeren whined.

"And that's why we have to hide them! Whenever you come over, you drink all of our water! Tails has to buy a lot more than we usually do!" You could hear the thirst-driven echidna mumble, "Your just lucky you don't have my kind of condition..."

Condition?...What condition?

Sonic sighed & caved in. "Water is behind the bag of mixed vegetables..." Zeren chuckled in a clever way, happy he broke Sonic.

"Sonic, what does he mean by condition?" Zera asked with interest. Sonic didn't even look at her. He was completely ignoring her. Yet, he felt her powerful stare on him, and it was starting to freak him out. He exhaled, & finally looked at the curious girl.

"Look Zera, the thing is-"

"Hey guys, I'm home! And I bought water just in case Zeren drinks the rest of our supply!" Tails shouted just as he entered the house with a large bag full of water bottles. He took his keys out of his pocket & skillfully locked the door. He walked into the hard floor kitchen, and started unpacking the bottled water into the chrome fridge.

"TAILS, YOUR BACK! THANK CHAOS IN THE SKY YOUR BACK!" Sonic was practically screeching at the small kitsune. Tails peeped his head into the hallway that lead to the lab slowly, only to spy a blue hedgehog and a black hedgehogette, sitting with each other with awkward faces. Though Sonic had relief in his eyes. Sonic was just that tempted to run over and give his little brother a hug, as he was his savior at the moment from getting him out of revealing quite the personal story about the thirsty orange echidna.

"Umm...yeah, the line wasn't long, so I got home faster than I expected...Err, did something-"

"Tails, you said you have news for us. What is it?" Zera reminded him. Tails, never a child to forget anything, nodded.

"I do. I was passing by the T.V isle at the store and I saw...news that could be risky for us." His voice was in a dead quiet tone. Wasn't even the good kind.

And that made Zera veryuneasy.

"Tails, where is your...T.V?" She sounded confused when she pronounced T.V. Tails noticed her tension, & tension lead to anger, which could lead Zera to go all monster again & trash their house like she did with Eggman. He quickly lead them to the living room.

Chocolate brown couches lined up in the fair sized room. 2 white recliners were perfectly in the center, that was in a good distance away from the huge flat screen. Being world renowned heroes have their benefits when it comes to living style. Tails grabbed the remote & turned it on.

"Here, take a look at this."

"Again, if no one has gotten the messages, we'll replay it again." The newswoman of about 25, a grey wolf herself (which immediately made Zera sick to her stomach), had said. A small video finally came up. It was a G.U.N soldier.

"Hello New Mobious. I am a soldier in the organization of G.U.N. We have come to report terrible news. A child of our organization, has been lost. We fear she either ran away, or was captured by our opposing government."

Right then, a picture showed up beside the man talking. It was a picture of Zera, before her haircut, & wasn't so beat up. Maybe a scar or 2, but not enough for people to worry about.

By bad timing, Zeren came in to join them, chugging down his 3rd bottle of water.

"Hey guys, what are you all-..." Zeren just saw the picture of Zera on the screen. He himself was stunned.

But his mouth wasn't.

Sadly, the orange echidna was in front of the T.V, & did the world's longest spit take.

Literally 2 minutes.

Sonic & Tails gave identical looks to each other, then made a face at Zeren.

"DUDE, SERIOUSLY?! That's beyondover the top, don't you think?" Tails exclaimed. He went off into the kitchen to get some paper towels. Zeren didn't even hear the young senior's expression. He was completely glued to the screen.

"Zera..." He finally said, trying not to raise his voice. "WHY, is your picture on the T.V?" She gave him a fake face of stupidity.

"Oh, I don't really know, maybe G.U.N doesn't want to hunt me down anymore for Jade, and think I'm cute. So if they think I'm that cute, they put my old picture on the news..." She said in a sarcastically sweet voice, but the cold glare she was giving him had the complete opposite meaning, & probably effect. Zeren though, challenged her since he saw where this was going. He glared back.

"Well excuse me for worrying! If anyone from school sees this, & remember seeing you, your cover is blown! Then they'll come & get you, & maybe the rest of us can go to jail for attempted kidnapping! Zera, I am NOTmade for jail."

" Oh Zeren, you overreacting. Look at the photo. I look completely different in that picture! My quills are longer, my bangs are messy, & if you haven't noticed this in the picture, but my eyes are blue!"

Back and forth the 2 argued, hurling insults and sadly good points on most of their cases. Sonic and Tails were stunned with fear. Tails finished cleaning the T.V. of Zeren's accident, & looked at Sonic.

"Should we do something? Like, break up their little fight? It almost seems pointless. In fact, I'm positive it is."

"Tails, after seeing what Zera did to Eggman in less than 5 minutes, I don't think we should upset her even more than she already is."

"...Uh...ok Sonic.."

"Zeren, I'm not a kid! I don't need protection like this! I know what I can do if people think it's me!"

"So, what are you going to do? Bash their skulls until their memory fades away? When I first met you, you said your powers were just truly awaken. Your stillhaving problems controlling not only your powers, but your emotions! And really, your not a kid? You have the mind of a fucking 8 year old!" He hollered. Oh, no he didn't.

Zeren had crossed the line.

"I'm older than anyof you could imagine. Age does not matter in these kinds of circumstantial games. What matters is strength & awareness. YOU, ZEREN, HAVE FAILED TO UNDERSTAND ME AT ALL!" She was surprisingly talking quietly until the last sentence. Zeren's glare turned into a sad face.

"Zera...I didn't mean-"

"We interrupt this program with some breaking news. 72 hours ago, G.U.N announced the news of a missing child from their organization."

Both Zera & Zeren paused their argument and looked at the spit free screen once again.

"Now, the man that runs G.U.N, Commander Ron." And it was none other than the person Zera hated the most besides Jade, (And at the moment, Zeren.) The man looked the same the first time he met her. Pale skin with a few wrinkles in some places,, dark brown eyes, & thin grey hair. A still kind of handsome that Zera isn't proud to admit. Ron walked on to the microphone stand. He smiled at the cameras, and began to speak.

"Hello, my fellow friends here in Marnt. I'm Commander Ron, leader of G.U.N. Thank you all for listening to the news about our missing girl. We want to have her back home as soon as possible, were she can finish her job again."

Zera snatched the remote in anger away from Sonic (having no memory suddenly of him taking it away from Tails), and swiftly she turned up the volume to hear Ron's words. She knew what he was reallyimplying.

"So please, if you have any hints, leads, or know where she is, please contact G.U.N. And to our precious girl, if your watching this." The camera zoomed in on him dramatically, much to Zera's anger, for she started to crush the remote in her hand. You could hear the small crunching noises it was making under the angry hedgehog's pressuring hand.

"If your watching this, well & free, or captured and broken, break free. We're sorry if we scared you. Now we are doing everything in our power to find you. We're coming for you. But, just please come back to us. Certain people miss you." Ron did the most sinister smile he could ever make. To most people, it would seem nice & sweet. But to Zera, she saw the true purpose and evil to it.

"Aww~, what a sweet man, caring so much. Thank you Ron. And to all of you watching this at home, please be on the lookout for this girl. She means the world to them. We'll keep updates on this case every day. This is Wanda Wolden from Channel 110 news, signing off." Zera had turned it off, no longer wanting to hear this shit. All grew quiet as the 4 friends stayed lost in their own thoughts on what just happened.

Zera was anything but pleased. Her hand began to glow an ugly red. The remote soon began to sizzle, and melt. Steam began to rise from the dissolving remote. Tails, being the creator of that remote, screeched in utter terror.

"ZERA, STOP IT! CALM DOWN! JUST-" But that made it worse, and made Zera angrier. Flames began to form & engulf the poor remote. Tails wanted to faint at this, but was only completely frozen. Sonic stared in fear, & Zeren just had no emotion to display.

"Zera, now do you know why-"

"GGGRRAAAAHHHH!" The pissed female hedgehog actually threwthe melting remote at the surprised echidna. It made contact with his bottle, & it burst into pretty colored flames. The hot mess of melted remote & exploded water bottle fell on the floor, & started to melt in with the carpet. Sonic quickly picked it up before it could permanently stay in the carpet. He then regretted doing this action, for it burned through his glove, & singed his palm.

Never before had anyone heard the speedster scream. Especially like a 5 year old girl throwing a tantrum for a new doll.

Sonic ran out of the living room, into the kitchen, & right into the sink. He put his toasted hand (somehow his burnt glove was blown off of him in the rush), under the faucet, & let the cool water rush over it to ease the pain. Sonic let out a sigh of relief as the stinging on his palm began to fade away.

Tails, on the other hand, was still trying to cope on what the hell just happened.

Sonic's hand was burnt. (Surprisingly, this wasn't the first time it actually was).

Zera had thrown a fireball remote (not to mention that it was his re-created remote control that she destroyed) at Zeren's bottle.

Leader of G.U.N makes a grand appearance for Zera.

Zeren and Zera started fighting.

The clues were coming together.

Zera started getting mad.

Tails turned on the T.V.

Tails finally put the puzzle back together.

It was Tails fault for starting all of this. If he hadn't said that he had news from the T.V, this all wouldn't have happened. Sonic wouldn't have a burnt hand, Zeren & Zera wouldn't have fought, and most importantly, Zera wouldn't have blown up his remote.

No one dared to say a word, especially to the female hedgehog. Her eyes had turned into a faint red color, indicating there was still dangerous anger bubbling inside her. Not quite ready to explode, but was just waiting for someone to push the button. Tails looked at her, then Zeren, then back at Zera. Seeing that neither of his superiors where going to do anything to fix this argument, he sighed and took the echidna's hand. Much to his surprise, Zeren didn't do anything to stop him, but merely let his form be carried away to the Lab.

XxX

"Zeren, are you okay?" Tails asked when he was positive the two hedgehogs were out of hearing to their conversation. Zeren was leaning against the examination table as Tails was sitting on it next to Zeren. Zeren couldn't even look at Tails, nor do anything else. Tails was about to give up trying to have a conversation with him when he heard a soft, but pained voice call out to him.

"Did you see the way she looked at me? Like, I was the enemy...her enemy..." Tails paused, and slowly looked at his older friend.

"Well, did you really nee to say all of those things to her? Even I would think harshly of you!" Tails stated. Zeren finally looked up at the young kitsune.

"Who's side are you on?! If they know that she's here, then it will only be a matter of time for them to check all the neighborhoods, all the houses, and take Zera away from us!...From my family...from me..." Zeren got very quiet after that. Tails was stunned. That was a very good point. But it wasn't a good point to yell rude comments at her.

"I'm on bothof your sides Zeren, I really am. But making an insane criminal chick you have an out of control crush on (which still makes me wonder WHY you do), ticked off with you, I must say I'm on Zera's side today. In her defense andmine, you took that too far."

"I had to! She wasn't seeing my point! I want to protect her, and she's failed to see it..."

"No, SHE HASN'T!"

That shut both of them up. Zeren stared at Tails with hurt and shocked eyes. Tails was even surprised he shouted. He took a deep breath, & stared down on the orange one.

" You know as much as we, & probably even she knows, that she's still unstable, physically and emotionally. She knew how worse the situation got when that announcement came on. Yelling that at her didn't help in both of your cases. But this is something I can't fix for once. You and Zera need to fix this all by yourselves. You both need to forgive, & apologize." Tails said. Glad he made his point, Tails hopped of the table, and left the lab.

Zeren's gaze was glued to the floor, thinking over Tails words. Was he right? Did he take it too far? Did he not have to say those things at her? Should he just go to Zera and make things right?

"I don't want her to be mad at me forever..." He thought, for that was the complete opposite of what he wanted to bewith Zera, and have her...well, words he wouldn't think he understood to say, or thought he would actually feel. He knew now what he must do. But, how could he even say it? This, might take awhile...

XxX

"Z-Zera...are you alright?" Sonic asked nervously as Zera was bandaging his hand. On a more positive & safer note, her eyes showed the regular, beautiful silver glow they had, meaning she was finally calm.

That doesn't mean her face, voice, & body language couldn't show her emotions after what happened earlier this late afternoon.

"I'm just peachy Sonic." She said smoothly, yet there was a sour ring to it. She was anythingbut peachy right now, but Sonic didn't want to argue nor disagree with her. Plus, he didn't want her to rearrange his handsome face. She sighed as she finished her work, and sat down one of the couches in the back.

"Zera, I think there's more to it." He said, slowly following her. Her gaze fell upon the blue hedgehog which made him panic & wonder how far he could run before she'd catch him, or she'd catch him & beat him to a bloody pulp. She saw the worry (and sad fantasy he just had) in his eyes, & her face grew softer.

"No Sonic, I'm not going to beat you to a bloody pulp. I'm just...confused..." She said tiredly, looking over to the coffee table next to the couch, which held a vase of water lilies, & a picture. She picked it up, and looked more closely at it.

It was Sonic, Tails, &...this one girl that was different shades of green, except for her eyes. They were just a bright and blue as Tails. She looked so much like a plant, all leafy & green. She even had 2 pinkish rose buds on her head. Sonic was patting Tails' head in a brotherly way. Tails had both of his arms around her waist, as she wrapped an arm around him too, both full of smiles. The girl was smiling shyly and blushing slightly. "It looks like she's looking at Tails..." Zera thought as she studied it. She felt the couch shift a bit as Sonic plopped down next to her. Sonic's bandaged hand came into view as he pointed to the girl who was hugging Tails.

"That's Cosmo, over friend we met years ago with our battle with the Metarex..., and Tails' first love..." Sonic said quietly. Ah. So thiswas the Cosmo they had mentioned at lunch today. They did seem happy together, judging how they held each other in this photo.

"You never told me she was a plant."

"Heh, all I could tell you was an alien friend who helped us defeat the Metarex."

"Oh, right..." They both grew quiet. "Tell me what happened, the day you guys lost her...the day Tails lost Cosmo..." Sonic, surprised that she asked that out of the blue, looked over at her.

"Really? You sure want to hear it? It's a pretty gruesome story." She nodded. "Well, alright then, don't say I didn't warn ya.." Sonic cleared his throat, & began to unravel the tale.

"It was the final battle with the Metarex. The whole team, the Chatiox, & even Eggman joined us to fight against their leader, Dark Oak, in his most powerful form ever. We had given our all, but nothing seemed to work. We thought all hope was lost. Not until-

XxX

"I must go out there myself, & face Dark Oak..." Cosmo said. Tails and Chris looked at Cosmo in bewilderment.

"Cosmo, are you crazy?! He'll kill you!" Chris yelled at his green friend. Tails could only stare at her.

"On the contrary Chris, I can do this. Since he merged with the planet, I could probably combine into him & could hold him out of his own control long enough to..." She stopped herself. Tails finally snapped out of the small trance, and gave Cosmo a look of curiosity.

"Long enough to what, Cosmo?" Her pause had worried him even further than before. She didn't look at him. She couldn't look at him. Her hands shook violently. "Cosmo, before what?" His voice began to rise. She turned to look at him, tears starting to appear. Tails froze.

"Long-...long enough so you can shout us...Dark Oak would finally be destroyed, & I could see my family again..." She said. Tails and Chris had a look of horror on their faces. Tails got out of his seat, and grabbed Cosmo.

" NO, WE AREN'T DOING THAT! WE CAN'T SHOOT YOU COSMO, YOUR OUR FRIEND! WE CAN'T DO THIS! MAYBE WE CAN THINK OF ANOTHER PLAN!"

"TAILS, WE ARE OUT OF OPTIONS! WE ARE ALMOST OUT OF TIME! DARK OAK'S PLAN IS ALMOST COMPLETE!" She shouted back. She was right though, Tails couldn't disagree with that. Dark Oak was almost ready to break & explode time & space. There really wasn't that much of a choice left for them. Chris could only look at the two, and sigh deeply.

"Ok Cosmo, we'll do it. We'll use the Super Sonic Cannon to shoot Sonic & Shadow at maximum power...We'll need to get all the power we can get from Eggman's ship as well." Chris said. Tails glanced sadly at his human friend as he released Cosmo from his surprisingly strong grip. The human boy (who was really 18 back in his world, but due to the transportation when he came back to Sonic's world, he was put back at his 12 year old body, the way the Master Emerald remembered him), gave him a sorry look before he left the 2nd control room.

"Tails..." Cosmo's voice made Tails' head turn back at her. She finally made a small smile. "It will be okay Tails, don't worry...After all, the mission comes first..."

"Ok Cosmo, I believe you..." Tails said softly. "Just promise me that you'll come back to us safely." She brightened her smile, and embraced him in a tight hug. He held her back, tears he didn't know he made pouring out of his eyes. She finally let go, wiped the tears from both of their eyes, and ran out to face the enemy that wiped out not only her entire clan,...but also wiped out her family, her mother...but that wasn't the worst part. She was about to face her...

"Father...I'm sorry your insanity had caused you to do all of this...Caused me to do this..." She said as she flew out of the Blue Typhoon, & out towards Dark Oak.

XxX

Sonic and Shadow were in their super form, trying to break through the grid Dark Oak was using to shield himself and the expanding planet seed from their attacks.

"Sonic, Shadow, stand back.." They heard the soft voice of a young girl. They both looked above them to see...a different from of Cosmo.

Her buds had finally bloomed to beautiful flowers, her leaves bigger & brighter. Her amulet was no longer blue, but red. She passes through the grid with ease. Shadow & Sonic stared in amusement. Sonic took heed on Cosmo's words, and headed back to the ship. Shadow only flew back a little bit. Something just wasn't right...

XxX

"Tails, Chris, what's going on?" He shouted. Just then, the Super Sonic Cannon came out on the main deck.

"Sonic, glad you made it back. Listen, we need you & Shadow to go in the cannon to shoot Dark Oak. The blast might be powerful to end him..." Chris explained on the comm.

"But...Cosmo is still out there, we can't fire it yet, I have to get her!"

"...We know Sonic...She is willing to sacrifice herself to hold Dark Oak long enough to destroy him...and Cosmo..." Tails voice came out completely shaken. Sonic's eyes widened, and looked back at the huge tree form of Dark Oak. It was Cosmo, spreading all over him. He nodded swiftly. He couldn't believe they were all going through with this drastic plan of action. But, as he knew, that's what it's like to be a hero. After all, sacrifices are to be made...

"Got it. Shadow, come on man, we got a universe to save!" He shouted to his darker double. Shadow looked at Sonic's form heading inside the cannon, then the tree, then at the cannon. Seeing no other choice, he Chaos Controlled to the cannon, and in front of Sonic. They both gave each other identical smiles, and did what they did best. (besides running). They curled up into balls, & spun around the walls of the cannon.

"Sonic & Shadow are in the cannon. Knuckles, do your thing." Chris said. The red echidna nodded, and began to chant to the Master Emerald that was connected to the cannon for power. It began to glow vibrantly, taking in all the power from not only the Blue Typhoon, but also from the Egg Drive. Sonic & Shadow were pushing themselves at the edge. Chris was watching the cannon's power rise.

"Alright, cannon at full power. Tails, get ready to fire."

"Roger..." He gripped the lever. He tried to pull it down, but couldn't. It was like a someone was holding him back. And that was himself. Tails looked at the tree, where Cosmo and Dark Oak were.

"Cosmo...I can't do it. I can't shoot you." He said weakly.

"TAILS, FIRE THE CANNON!" Chris said. Tails stayed frozen. He was a rock.

"Tails listen to me. I promised you that I would be alright. And I will. The world...no, the universe, needs you to do this..." I need you to do this.." This was the voice of Cosmo. Tails quickly looked up at the tree, and saw a thin image of Cosmo. She was smiling, her eyes twinkling brightly at him. He smiled back, tears streaming freely down his face. Tails nodded ever so slightly.

He pulled down the lever.

"SUPER SONIC CANNON FIRE!" He shouted. Sonic and Shadow blasted out of the cannon at speeds greater than ever in a bright flash of light. They started to swirl around each other until the contact was made as they went straight in the heart of the tree.

A hideous roar was let out of Dark Oak as he lived his final moments. An explosion went up so high above them all, light blinding them.

It was over.

Everything around them dimmed down then. Amy, Cream, & Cheese burst into sad sobbing after the loss of their dear friend. Everyone else had sad looks and glances. It all grew quiet.

Tails sat alone in the cockpit, weeping hard at what he had just done.

"I've just killed my love, I've just killed my love..." He muttered over and over.

"No Tails, you didn't kill me." Said a sweet voice. Tails looked up to see a ghostly Cosmo before him. "I am now one with the land now, where I truly belong. My seeds will spread across the galaxy, and grow new life on all the dying planets Dark Oak stole all the Planet Eggs from. This, has always been my destiny, & you've helped me fulfill it. Even if you can't see me, I'll always be with you all. In the sky, in the earth, the breeze, & in your hearts." She slowly got closer to him, & kissed him gently on his mouth, and disappeared.

Tails didn't move, or do anything at first. He understood now. Cosmo was still with them, and always will be. He ran outside to the very battered deck. Sonic was already there back in his blue furred glory, looking off into the distance. His ear twitched when he heard Tails come behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at him & slowly began to walk at him.

With an unhappy face.

Tails took 2 steps back at this. "Look Sonic, I know your mad at me for not firing the first time, but-" Sonic was just in front of him now. He took Tails' hand, and placed a small object in it. Curious, Tails opened up his hand, and he stared hard at the object.

It was a seed.

"I'm sorry buddy, I tried to find Cosmo...but all I could find was one of her seeds...& Tails, I know how much she meant to you..." Tails couldn't hold it in. He unleashed more tears than earlier.

"OH WHY SONIC, WHY DID SHE DO IT!?" Tails cried out, his one fist holding the seed protectively, while the other was beating into Sonic's peach chest lightly. Tails was leaning his head into Sonic's chest as he cried. Sonic could only let him.

XxX

"We went home after that. Tails took out an old vase of mine, filled it with dirt, and put her seed in it. He grew it in the lab at first, & I had yelled at him that Cosmo wouldn't like that..." Sonic had an off, but strong smile as he went deeper into the memory. "We argued so much about it and soon so many other things, that he locked himself in that lab for a few weeks...It was terrible, I felt really bad at what happened between us in that short time and wanted to apologize to him, but he never let me in...After about a month, he came out and put the growing seed out. He pointed to the vase in front of them. "We made up that day, and I won't ever forget it." Sonic said quietly, finishing his tale. Zera looked over her shoulder at him.

"I see... I am so very sorry for the loss. Tails must have made a hard struggle to get over that feeling that he killed his only love..." "Sadly enough, I know exactlyhow it feels to kill a loved one...Tails and I were both traumatized..." She thought sadly.

"So, you see the point?" Zera snapped out of her head as Sonic spoke. "I'm saying that you & Zeren can't act like how me and Tails did...You'll regret it, for it will haunt you for a long time in your life..." Sonic said in a small voice. She gave him an odd look, stood up, and left to find the orange echidna.

Her final description on Sonic?

He was creepy when he was being very emotional.


And there you go, a well written 42 page chapter if I do say so myself. I hope that satisfied your fill.

I want to apologize about the flashback. I haven't seen Sonic X in years. If I made it wrong, or a bit dramatic, then I'm sorry.

Join in next time for Chapter 10: How It Works.

I also hope everyone had a blasting summer. I know I kinda did.

Until next time. Cyya'z! ~Ari