There was peace and quiet in the agency the next morning. At least, it was quiet until Charmy starting complaining about boredom.
"I'm bored," he squeaked.
Espio opened an eye. "Why not go outside and play in the snow?" Espio suggested.
The young bee perked up. "Hey, yeah! I can do that, can't I!"
The ninja smirked. Charmy was always easily amused, so it was very easy to keep him occupied... for a little while.
"Hey, Chy! You wanna go out and build a snowman with me?"
Espio glanced over at Cheyenne sitting on the couch, appearing to be in deep thought.
"Chy? CHY! Why won't you answer?!" Charmy started poking her shoulder, finally getting her attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Charmy," she spoke. "Did you say something?"
She must be trying to figure out what happened the other night. No wonder she seems distracted.
"I was just asking if you wanted to go out and build a snowman or something," Charmy squeaked.
"Oh, uh, no thanks," Cheyenne replied.
"Why not? Scared of the snow?"
"Charmy, leave her be," Espio spoke up. "What happened last night was very new to her."
"And no matter how many ways I put it," Cheyenne said, "or how many times I try to fit it together, it doesn't make any sense. I don't think I can piece it together..."
The ninja closed his eye again. "Try not to think about it too much. You might go a bit crazy trying to find the answer."
"Yeah, Kid, relax a little," Vector said. "Loosen up."
A knock on the door perked everyone up. "I'll get it!" Charmy called, buzzing over to the door. A turn of the knob and the door squeaking open, and... "ZEPHYR'S HERE!"
"CHARMY, DON'T YELL!" Vector shouted.
I could say the same to you, Vector... Espio opened his eyes, Zephyr indeed walking into the building.
"There's always something new with the Chaotix crew," Zephyr said as sat down next to Cheyenne. "You know, I heard this really loud explosion last night."
Cheyenne looked away a moment, then looked back at the wolf. "Really?" she spoke.
"Yeah, and when I went to check it out, the trees in the area looked like they were blown away. Silver was there, too. He said that you guys were involved in a scrape with Eggman." He took her hands, not looking away from her. "I just wanted to make sure if you were alright."
Her face turned red really fast. "Uh, yeah, we're alright. I-I'm fine." She looked away from him, a bit embarrassed. "Just fine."
Vector, who had been standing behind her, started snickering. "What's the matter, Kid?" he asked in a smug tone. "Cat got your tongue?"
Cheyenne moved her leg in a quick kick, a successful hit... below the belt. What impressed, yet scared Espio was that she did it without looking. The crocodile groaned in pain as he folded up like a lawn chair, hands between his legs. The ninja glanced over at Zephyr, who apparently saw what happened to Vector seemed to have sweat nervously a bit, though his face didn't falter... much. His ears sank a little bit, for they usually stood erect.
"So, Zephyr," she spoke. "Other than checking up on us tough-as-nails detectives, what brings you by?"
"Oh, well, I figured if you're not busy," the wolf started, "there's this place that I think you'd really like to see, especially at night. You wanna go check it out? That is, if you want to."
"Uh, sure. I'd love to."
He smiled. "Great. I'll see ya later, then." He got up and left.
Cheyenne's face remained bright red as Vector slowly stood back up on his feet, even though in great deal of pain. "I think I'll take a little nap," she said, then laid on the couch, eyes closing gently.
Not only was Vector in pain, he also became angry. Very angry. Espio and Charmy had to quickly pull him to the kitchen before he could try and hurt her in any way.
"Why the hell did she kick me in the crotch?!" he yelled. "What'd I do to deserve that kind of punishment?!"
"Vector, she wasn't even looking," Espio said calmly. "She probably thought she hit your leg or something." He smirked a little bit. "On the other hand, though, I think you deserved it for trying to force them to be together and making fun of her."
"Oh, shut up!" He cringed as the pain resumed. "Let's see how she likes it when I do the same to her!"
The ninja just rolled his eyes as he sighed hopelessly. "I think you need to recheck her anatomy."
"What do you mean?"
"Even though she's human, she's also female. She doesn't have the same parts as we do."
"How could you know that? She could be a hermaphrodite, or a transvestite even."
"What are those?" Charmy innocently asked.
"Well, Charmy, a hermaphrodite and transvestite are-"
"Something you'll learn about when you're old enough to understand," the ninja quickly interrupted. "Now go outside and make a snowman."
"Oh, okay," the little bee said, then went out the kitchen door.
The ninja looked back at his boss, slowly shaking his head. "You really need to stop doing that."
"Doing what?" the crocodile asked. "I'm just tryin' to teach him the facts of life."
"But do you really need to bring in other people's ways of living like that?"
"Hey, you keep saying he needed to learn all this stuff."
"Yes, but he doesn't have the mental capacity to-"
"Ah, whatever. I'm going out for a walk." He walked out of the kitchen and through the front door in the main office.
The ninja just quietly sighed. Another day surviving his teammates. Another day living with a girl who was to be something more than he expected.
As the wintry day went on, Charmy came back inside and unintentionally tracked snow in the building, which Espio had to clean up. Some time after that, Vector came back from his walk shivering a lot and also tracked snow inside, which Espio also had to clean up. All through the while, Cheyenne was still asleep on the couch, laying unmoving, gently breathing.
Time passed by as the sun started to set in the cloudy sky. It was also the time when Zephyr had returned to take Cheyenne somewhere she would like. Espio was a bit suspicious about those words, but was also certain that she'd be safe.
The wolf didn't have time to even knock before Espio quickly opened it. "We've been expecting you," the ninja spoke calmly.
A yawn came from behind him. Cheyenne woke up just in time, he thought.
"Oh, Zephyr, you're here," she said, quickly getting to the door. She laughed a little. "Seems I took a longer nap than expected."
"You look refreshed," Zephyr said, then looked at the detectives. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing bad happens." The two walked into the wintry night.
Espio closed the door before too much of the cold got in.
"While those two are out," Vector spoke, "I'll be making us some hot chocolate."
"Yay! Hot chocolate!" Charmy cheered.
"That sounds fine," Espio said. Then a thought occurred to him. "Didn't it seem suspicious?"
"Huh?" Vector questioned.
"Zephyr said he talked to Silver about part of the forest getting destroyed the night before, and then he comes here worried about Cheyenne."
"That's perfectly normal. Now if you excuse me, I'm making the hot chocolate."
Although the hot chocolate was sweet, Espio couldn't shake the bitter dread looming over him. It was about half an hour when Vector and Charmy retired for the night, leaving Espio alone to wait for Cheyenne's return. As he waited, he thought about Zephyr's motives. It seemed a little strange that he would show up out of the blue like that. The illusion that he was worried about her felt a bit rehearsed. He probably knows who Cheyenne really is, and is waiting for her to make a confession.
After another hour waiting, the ninja saw Cheyenne and Zephyr approach the building. The two hugged before going their separate ways. When Cheyenne entered, she appeared soaking wet. Her hair and clothes were darker than they should have been. The ninja kept the main light on just in case she would have gotten back later than expected.
Cheyenne finally turned to Espio, a smile on her face. "Oh, hey Espio," she said. "You're still up?"
"What happened?" the ninja asked. "Why are you wet?"
"Well, we were walking to the place Zephyr was talking about, but then he stops, and that made me stop. That was when he was about to confess his love for me. Trust me when I say that he was being so mushy about it, saying I was the total package, blah blah blah. But before he could say the official words, Eggman showed up, again, and he starts attacking us. Zephyr tried his best defending me, but he ended up knocked out for a while as Eggman threw us over a cliff with jagged rocks and cold water. We were somehow spared from being skewered and were in cold, cold water. But with Zephyr out of it, I swam us back to shore. When he woke up, cold and soaked, we agreed to just be friends."
"Weren't you cold when you got out of the water?"
She thought a moment. "No, actually. I think it's because I have a fire element Immortal for a parent is why I can't be cold."
"Hmm. Interesting." He paused. "I'll let you sleep, then."
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"I told you. I barely sleep through the winter. Not because I like the snow so much. It's mostly because of me being cold-blooded."
"...Espio the Chameleon, you need to sleep, and that's that." Her tone had turned sharp and stern, which made Espio a little surprised. "I get you don't like wintertime, but you shouldn't be forcing yourself to not sleep. I mean, how can you not be tired?"
The ninja opened his mouth to speak.
"And don't you dare say that meditation is a good substitute against insomnia."
He closed his mouth again.
"Now, march up those stairs and sleep in your nice, warm bed. Got it?"
He blinked a couple of times in astonishment, then he coolly slipped into a small smile. "I guess Vector was right about you."
She raised a curious eyebrow. "Right about what?"
"You've grown tougher. In fact, you've grown all together."
She glanced at the ground, shuffling her feet a little. "Gee, uh, thanks." She looked back up at him.
He felt his smile grow a bit. "Goodnight, Cheyenne." He turned off the light, then headed up the stairs. Vector and Charmy slept peacefully - well, if you counted Vector's snoring as peaceful. He slipped under the covers of his bed, and slowly drifted to sleep.
The snow was thick and heavy outside the dojo. As the other kids were outside playing, making snow angels and snowmen and having snowball fights, the young Espio stayed inside, looking out the window. He let out a tiny little huff.
"Something troubles you, my student?" Master Fumio asked as he made some tea.
"Sensei, is there something about me that I can't go outside when it snows?" the young chameleon asked.
"It is because you're cold-blooded. Your species is that of the chameleon. You wouldn't go so long in colder temperatures. Not as long as the other students, that is."
"What about Zander? Isn't he cold-blooded? He's a bullfrog."
"Yes, Zander is cold-blooded. But he's also bigger and older than you. He can withstand the cold longer than you can."
He stomped one foot. "That's not fair! He should be in here, too!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, really I do, but that's how the world is. We cannot change it no matter how hard we try."
The young ninja let out a heavy sigh. "This stinks. I guess I'm still not gonna have any friends."
The old master placed a caring hand on his shoulder. "That is not true. You have one friend."
"No offense, Sensei, but I'd like friends closer to my age."
He chuckled a little. "No, Espio, I meant that there is someone out there in the world as alone as you are right now. They wish for a friend like you do."
Espio looked up at his master with hopeful eyes. "Really? You think so?"
The master nodded, a smile on his face. "Of course."