Disclaimer: Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are titles are trademarks of Sonic Team/SEGA and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only.' My Life: Anything But Ordinary' is © 2003-2007 to Hamato Kameko. Ki The Echidna is © 2003-2007 to Hamato Kameko.

Rating: PG-13 for language and violence, and mild gore.

My Life: Anything But Ordinary
Chapter XI: Best Friend, Brother, or Something More?

I woke slowly the next morning, not bothering to open my eyes for several minutes. When I finally did, I discovered that it was only dawn – I hadn't been awake this early in... well, I wasn't sure how long, actually. I started to push myself up to my knees, but found that something was restraining me.

In a half-awake panic, I tried harder, and turned my head to either side...

And discovered that Knuckles had thrown one of his heavy, toned arms across my back sometime during the night. Amazingly, despite my movement, he was still fast asleep. I wondered at this – if he normally slept outside, while guarding the Master Emerald, then wouldn't he be a light sleeper? After all, it wouldn't be a good idea to be deep asleep when an enemy approaches. And yet, here he was, in such a deep sleep that several whispered and even a spoken 'Hey Knuckles!' couldn't wake him up.

It occurred to me, then, that maybe he just rarely (never?) felt safe enough to sleep deeply.

Ah, the warm fuzzy feelings. He trusted me. I smiled, squirmed a little to get comfortable again, and soon fell back asleep.

"Miss Ki!!"

I jolted awake a few hours later, and again, found that I couldn't quite get up. After the half-second or so that it took my eyes to focus, I found Knuckles looking back at me, eyes wide. It took me another two seconds to realize that his eyes were only a few inches from mine. In fact... his whole body was rather... close... to mine...

As one, we shrieked (well, I shrieked, he shouted), and jumped away from each other. He flew off his side of the bed and landed – with what had to be a painful thud – at Ella's feet. I just managed to catch myself before falling off my side, sparing myself what would undoubtedly have been excruciating pain caused by landing on my mending tail. After staring down at Knuckles – who was staring up at me with what can only be described as a mortification – for several more seconds, I looked up to find Ella, Cream and Cheese taking in the scene before them.

Ella herself was looking down at Knuckles. Her expression transformed from shocked, to confused, to angry. She looked up at me with a disproving frown. I cut her off before she could speak.

"E-E-Ella, it, uh, i-it's not w-what it l-looks like, I s-swear!! We- I mean I-we-just, um... we were just sleeping, I swear!!"

She looked down at Knuckles. He looked up at her, his expression becoming sheepish. He nodded in agreement. "Just sleeping."

Ella looked back and forth between us for a moment, then nodded slowly. "All right... I trust you." Knuckles and I both let out a breath. I stretched back out on my bed, my tensed muscles complaining as I relaxed again. I stared at the edge of the bed, waiting for Knuckles to appear – he had vanished, and I assumed he was in the process of getting up, but it was taking a bit too long.

"Uh, Knux?"

"Unh?"

"You alive down there, or what?"

Another groan as a paw appeared on the side of the bed. Ella reached down and helped him back up, and he sat there with his arms folded around his knees and looking for all the world like the cat caught with the canary. I giggled at his expression, and after a moment, so did Ella and her mini-entourage. Knuckles scowled, but his eyes squinted slightly with restrained laughter. I sat back up, scooted over and put an arm around his shoulders.

"S'ok, Knux."

He turned his face toward me and winked, wearing a half-smile that only I could see. The smile disappeared as he turned back to Ella to ask about breakfast. Geesh, the guy had practically moved in with us, so much to the point that he wanted to know what we were having for breakfast. Of course, he insisted that he didn't live here; his home was on Angel Island, and he was only here to take care of me. Knuckles is so damn macho, but so incredibly adorable. It's a little confusing, really.

I shook my head, and as the others left the room, I tugged on one of Knuckles' dreadlocks, turning a 'thank you' into a 'thank-yow!' He whirled to look at me, one hand clamped to the spot where the assaulted quills attached to his head.

"What the hell was that for?"

I grinned. "Just because."

He rolled his eyes. "And I thought Amy was weird."

"Hey! Don't you go comparing me to the Little Pink Princess, all right? I've worked too hard to not be overly-girly to have such slander slung my way!"

He grinned. "Oh, I don't know... a little pink dye, a frilly dress... we could fix you up pretty nicely."

I slugged him. He grunted and grabbed my wrists to keep me from doing it again.

"Hey, no fair, leggo!"

"These spikes can kill, you know."

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't let go of me."

"I'm not letting go until you apologize." He smirked.

"Apologize, my ass! You deserved what you got and you know it! Now let go before I really let you have it!"

"How are you going to hit me if I've got hold of your hands?"

I let out a sound that was half-sigh, half-growl. His grin became one of victory.

"If I were Sonic, I think I'd say, 'Neener, neener, neeee-ner!'"

I scoffed. "Geez, you are so immature!"

"I didn't say I would say it. I said Sonic would say it."

"You only said that as an excuse to say it!"

"So?"

"Oh for heaven's— Oh, come on, Knuckles, lemme go!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because this is fun."

"Yeah, for you maybe." I pulled back on my arms again, but his grip didn't budge. His expression sobered somewhat.

"I'm waiting."

"...And?"

"For an apology."

"For what?"

"For hitting me."

"Get stuffed."

Another grin. "You get stuffed."

"That's not very polite."

"I wasn't trying to be polite."

"Are you planning on hanging on to me all day, or what?"

"Maybe."

"Fine. I'll just sic Tanaka on you or something."

"Tanaka may be tough, but I'm tougher."

"You're a bigger pain in the ass, too."

"I do what I can."

"You don't let go soon and I swear to God I'll bite you." All things considered, there wasn't much else I could do. Unfortunately, the idea of me biting him seemed to be an idea that he liked. He raised an eyebrow and grinned ever wider.

"You really think that's going to make me let go?"

I think I paled when I realized what was going through his head. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that!!"

"Uh huh, sure you didn't."

"Knuckles!! Let go!!"

"I don't think I want to now."

"You didn't want to to begin with!"

"Then what makes you think I changed my mind?"

"You're starting to piss me off, Knuckles..."

"And...?"

"AND?? Whaddya mean AND??"

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're angry."

What? How the hell was I supposed to respond to that? I couldn't think of a way, so I just stared at him in surprise, my mouth hanging open slightly. Knuckles shot me another victory grin, leaned closer, and before I could react, placed a quick kiss on my lips.

"You're not too bad the rest of the time either," he smiled. I stared at him in shock.

"Uh-uh-uh—"

He let go of my arms and stood up. "C'mon, we better hurry downstairs, or they'll eat everything."

"Y-Y-You—You j-just—"

Knuckles just smiled at me as he reached down to retrieve his shoes, that sweet, true smile that he doesn't share with anyone very often. "Get dressed so we can go eat."

"D-dressed...Oh..." Still stunned, I robotically reached for my gloves, and then my shoes. I just couldn't quite process what had just happened.

"Hello? Anybody home? Ki... Wake up, girl."

"Huh?" I suddenly found myself staring at my half-tied sneaker. I couldn't even remember putting on the first. With a shake of my head to clear it, I glanced up to find Knuckles grinning down at me.

"You need help or something?"

"Huh? Oh, no... Actually, I think I'm finally getting the hang of doing this with my gloves on..." Blushing, I hurriedly finished tying the lace and stood up – and Knuckles made a point of helping me. For the first time, I found myself very aware of his touch. Swallowing hard, I reached for my robe and started to pull it on, trying to come up with normal conversation.

"I-I really need to do some shopping. None of my old stuff fits anymore, and it's getting too hot for terrycloth, even indoors."

"So don't wear it."

I looked up at him sharply. "And go downstairs naked? Are you nuts??"

"Ki." He frowned and leaned against my bedpost, crossing his arms over his chest. "We've been through this. More than once."

I scowled at him, my hands on my hips. "Knuckles, I am not going down to breakfast without my clothes. I'm not walking around all day naked. It just ain't happenin', pal." I had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. He'd clearly decided that this was a good time to force me to get over my modesty issues.

"You won't be wearing any less than I am."

"Yeah, but—"

"Or Sonic. Or Tails."

"B-but—"

"You'll be more comfortable."

"No."

"Besides, Tanaka said something about letting you go outside today, and it's not healthy to wear all that over your fur."

"No!"

Rolling his eyes, Knuckles stepped toward me and untied my sash before I'd even finished tying it, despite my repeatedly striking at his arms to make him stop.

"Bug off!" I tried to retie my robe, but Knuckles was already pushing it off my shoulders. Before I'd realized what had hit me, he was hanging my robe on the back of my desk chair.

"Now hurry up; they're probably waiting for us."

"But-b-but—"

"Don't be a coward."

"Co-but-Hey! Who do you think you are?"

"Knuckles The Echidna. Guardian of Angel Island. Your friend, your teacher, and the hungriest damned Echidna on the planet. Hurry up or I'm leaving you here."

"Bu-"

"Now."

With a scowl, I started toward the door, stopping as soon as he turned away from me. I grabbed my robe again, hoping he wouldn't notice.

He did.

"Damn it, Ki!" Knuckles yanked the terrycloth from my hands (nearly ripping it in the process) and stalked toward the French doors that led out onto my balcony.

"Knuckles! What are you doing?? Have you lost your mind??" Holding me back with one big paw braced squarely in the middle of my chest, he shoved through the doors and pitched my robe over the balcony railing. I could only watch in dismay as it floated down to the lawn below. To make matters worse, the sprinkler system chose that exact moment to turn on. Knuckles turned toward me with a smirk.

"Problem solved." He let me go. "Now let's go eat."

I stared at him. Then I snapped. "You creep! You go get that right now!!"

"Maybe after breakfast. Besides, it's all wet now." He strolled past me and back through the open door. I followed him, fuming. When he paused to turn and look at me, I shoved him, as hard as I could. He stumbled back a few steps and grinned at me. "I was right. You are cute when you're angry." If my quills weren't so heavy, they would have been sticking straight out from my head. My fur was already standing straight up – I'm sure I looked pretty funny; something like a cat does when it's spooked. He chuckled.

"With you looking like that, I'm going to have to start calling you bottlebrush-butt. Get a load of your tail."

"B-t-you—That does it! I'm gonna KILL you!!"

"Yeah? Gotta catch me first." He stuck his tongue out at me and ran out of the room. Without thinking, I chased after him, then skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs. Knuckles was halfway down the stairs when he heard my shout. I had overbalanced and, to my horror, found myself falling headfirst toward the staircase. I flailed for the railing, and then the posts, just managing to catch one of them as my shoulder hit the corner of one of the stairs. Then, to my confusion, I came to a complete and instant halt.

Knuckles pulled me to my feet and looked me over. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I was still reeling from my tumble, and it took me a moment to realize that I wasn't falling anymore.

"Ki? Answer me. Are you all right?"

I looked up at him, then down at the stairs, and started shaking. "I-I'm okay... just freaked me out... I-Is my shoulder bleeding? It really hurts..." Making sure that I was holding on to the railing, Knuckles let go of me and examined my arm, carefully looking beneath my fur for damage.

"No... Gonna be a hell of a bruise, though... You think you get hurt often enough or what?"

I pouted, wiping tears out of my eyes with my free paw. "'S'your fault. If you hadn't thrown my robe outta the window, I wouldn't'of chased you."

He picked me up like he would a child – there was no denying I was acting immature – and cradled me in his arms. Frowning at me, he started down the stairs. "That's right. Blame it all on me. Everything that happens to you is all big bad Knuckles' fault." I squirmed in his arms – feeling his body against mine without even the barrier of clothes was... awkward, but not altogether unpleasant. I hadn't paid too much attention before, but since... what had happened...had happened... Noting my struggle, Knuckles looked down at me, one eyebrow raised.

"Do you want me to drop you, or what?" I blushed.

"It-it's not-I mean-I-uh..."

"You're still embarrassed, aren't you?"

"Uh..."

"I never realized humans were this uptight."

"We're not—I mean, they're not—darn you!"

"Uh-huh. So..." He rearranged his grip. "...how would you react if I did... oh, I dunno... this?" He stopped walking and bent his head down, nuzzling my neck affectionately – I had the feeling this was something akin to the way humans make out, and it rather startled me. I gripped his shoulder, and my eyes widened so much that they started to water.

"Kn-Knux-Knuckles-I-I-uh...wh-wholly g-geez..."

He chuckled into my fur before straightening up and grinning at me.

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought."

I started pouting again. "You're such a jerk. ...God, what was I thinking…?" The grin vanished from his face like it had never been.

"...You... You don't really mean that." He looked as if he thought I might. Realizing what I'd said and instantly regretting it, I shook my head and smiled at him, cuddling into his chest.

"No, I don't mean it."

"Good."

"But you're still a jerk."

He rolled his eyes and carried me to the door of the dining room, where he set me down. "Think you can make it to your chair without losing a limb?"

"Don't make me hit you again." He smiled and followed me into the room. The first thing I heard was Sonic's complaint about our tardiness ("About time! Ella wouldn't let us eat till you got here!"), and then a yelp from my grandfather. I looked up to find several pairs of eyes staring at me (mostly human), and I felt my face grow hot as I remembered why.

"Uh, morning everyone..." I shrunk down in my seat as far as I could without hurting my tail. Knuckles, however, grabbed my upper arm and hauled me back up before turning to address the others – mainly the humans – at the table.

"Something wrong?"

Grandpa stuttered for a moment before managing to form words. "Where's your robe?"

I tried to sink in my seat again, but Knuckles had a firm grip on my arm – fortunately not the one I had smashed moments before, which was throbbing terribly. "Uh... It's, uh... It's in the back yard." I finished sheepishly. I crossed my ankles and tried to make myself as small as possible. I felt inordinately silly, wearing shoes, socks and gloves and not a thing else, despite the fact that I wasn't really flashing anything to anyone. In fact, this was much more comfortable than wearing the robe – physically at least, if not socially.

Grandpa shot me a funny look. "In the back yard? What on earth is it doing there?"

"Um..." They all stared at me expectantly. Well, except for Sonic, who was too busy scarfing down his breakfast to notice much of anything else. "Uh..." Finally, I just pointed at Knuckles.

"He did it." Geez, I sounded like a four-year-old.

All eyes turned to look at the other echidna. He shrugged. "It's too hot for heavy clothes. She wouldn't come down without it, so I threw it out the window." He started eating as if nothing were out of the ordinary. I started eating just to occupy myself with something other than the stares I was receiving. I was halfway through my second pancake by the time grandpa spoke again.

"I really think you should be wearing something."

Tails piped up out of nowhere, stating matter-of-factly, "She's wearing shoes."

"Yes, but-"

"And gloves," Amy added.

"Yes, but-"

Ella cut him off. "Charles, I don't see anything that I shouldn't, do you?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I didn't think so. Eat your pancakes before they get cold."

"Yes, but-"

"If she's comfortable that way, then leave her alone. She's earned that much, don't you think?"

"Well, I suppose, but-"

"You've never said anything about the boys' attire."

"But that's different!"

"How so?" Ella wasn't even looking at him; she was speaking between bites of melon.

"Well, she's—and they're—oh, it just is!"

"I think you're being silly. What do you think, Tanaka?"

I was beginning to feel like a sideshow freak by this point. I tuned out the adults' conversation and glanced across the table, only to find Cream watching me with interest.

"Uh... morning, Cream?" It came out more like a question.

"Wouldn't you rather wear something?" Cream queried abruptly.

"Huh?"

Looking up from her meal, Amy clarified for me. "So people don't think you're a boy."

Knuckles snorted into his scrambled eggs. "I don't think there's much danger of that happening. People usually only get confused about gender with children; the difference is a little more apparent after puberty. Granted, it's not always as obvious with echidnas as it is with a lot of other species, but I think any Mobian with a nose and half a brain cell would be able to tell Ki's female. And if humans can't tell, that's their problem."

I learned something just then. Something I wasn't likely to forget anytime soon.

I learned that having orange juice in your sinuses is not fun.

By the time I'd recovered, the matter of my clothes had more-or-less been settled. Everyone was occupied with their meal – except for Sonic, who'd cleaned his plate and was now cleaning his teeth with a toothpick from his sausage. I rolled my eyes, grinning.

"Sonic, your table manners are downright appalling."

He yelped and pressed a paw against his lip – he'd apparently speared himself with the toothpick. He gave me a sideways glare and flicked his toothpick down onto his plate.

"Gee, I'm sorry. Wouldn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities."

I only just managed to swallow my mouthful of pancake before my jaw dropped in shock.

"Wh-what—"

Knuckles growled from where he sat on my other side. "Don't be an asshole, hedgehog."

"Don't talk down to me, echidna."

"G-guys—"

"If you're going to treat Ki like this, you don't deserve to be spoken to as an equal."

"Knuckles—!"

"Me treat her like this? What about her? She nearly knocked my head off last night!"

"Sonic—!"

"You should know better than to provoke her! She's not used to being an echidna yet! She doesn't know how to control her instincts!!"

"Boys—!!"

"It wouldn't have even happened if you hadn't woken her up last night!!"

"STOP IT!!" I screamed at them, on the verge of tears. But they were tears of anger – my two best friends were nearly at each other's throats, and I felt certain that they'd expect me to choose between the two friendships if this went much further.

Both boys abruptly stopped snarling at each other and stared at me, startled and wide-eyed. They (and everyone else in the room, who had been watching the suddenly vicious exchange in silent confusion), watched me as I carefully got down from my chair and made my way to the doorway.

"Sonic. Knuckles. Outside. Now."

Stone-still, they turned their heads to look at each other, then obediently slid down from their chairs and followed me. No one else said a word; I think they were all too shocked to really react. Willing my battered body to support me long enough to reach a chair, I led the two offenders out the kitchen door and onto the patio. Sinking into a chair, I pointed to the remaining empty seats around the table.

"Sit."

They sat.

"Ki—" Knuckles began, but I cut him off.

"Just what the hell did you two think you were doing in there?"

"Ki, I—" Sonic tried to calm me down before I cut him off as well.

"Shut up! Just—Shut up! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you talk to me the way you did in there! You have no right to treat me that way!"

"She's right, Soni—"

"And YOU!" Knuckles' eyebrows shot up into his quills as I turned on him. "You aren't helping anything by fighting with him! Look, I know you two will probably always have this stupid macho rivalry, but leave me the hell out of it!! You're my best friends, and I am not going to just sit by while you two fight about me, so knock it off!!"

We sat there in silence for several minutes, and neither Knuckles nor Sonic dared to move. I glared back at them, making eye contact with both in turn, and staring them down until each finally looked away. After about ten minutes, and after I'd calmed down from my initial burst of anger, I spoke again, quietly.

"Knuckles, why don't you go finish your breakfast, ok? Sonic and I need to talk."

Knuckles didn't say anything, but he did look at me carefully, as if trying to make sure that I would be okay. I gave him a tired smile and cocked my head in the direction of the kitchen door, shooing him back inside. He stood, nodding, and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze as he walked by. I turned to watch him go, ensuring that he'd actually return to the dining room and not hover inside the door to spy on us. Satisfied that he'd gone back to breakfast, I turned around and settled back into my seat.

"You, sir, have a lot of explaining to do."

Sonic slunk farther down into his chair.

"But so do I," I added, and he looked up, confusion plain on his face. I continued. "I'm really, really sorry I tried to hurt you last night. I... I don't know what got into me. It's just... one second we were talking, and then..."

"Don't apologize. It's my fault. Knuckles…" He grit his teeth and forced himself to say it, "Knuckles is right; I provoked you. I'm sorry. I just... I don't want anything to happen to you. And... and when I thought I'd lost you... and it was my fault..."

I stared at him, furrowing my eyebrows. I started to speak, but he spoke first, continuing his confession while staring emptily at the glass tabletop.

"...I never should have left you. I should have known better. I should have known you'd tell me to go..."

"Sonic, its okay. You did the right thing. I told you to leave me, and I would have been angry if you hadn't. But I'm not angry that you did leave. Sonic, it was my own damn fault, all right? Not yours... Not yours."

He looked up at me miserably. "But... if I hadn't—"

"I told you to. So it's okay. Stop beating yourself up. I mean, look at you; this isn't the Sonic the Hedgehog I know. I don't blame you. Nobody blames you, Sonic. You may be fast, but you still can't be in two places at once. It's not your fault."

"It's just... when I heard you screaming... screaming for me... t-to come save you... and... and I couldn't get to you..." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I thought you were dead..."

Sonic's voice cracked slightly, and I felt tears stinging my eyes. I got to my feet, ignoring the twinge in my tail as the tip of it hit the seat of my chair, and rounded the table until I stood next to Sonic. I put one of my paws on his shoulder in reassurance.

"But I'm not, Sonic."

"I thought... I never would have forgiven myself..."

"Sonic. I'm alive. I'm okay. I'm recovering. I'm gonna be fine. Please stop blaming yourself..."

He looked up and swallowed hard, then stood and turned to me. "Ki..."

A memory flitted back to me as he spoke my name, then. A memory of falling, endless falling, and Sonic calling out to me. No, not just calling, but screaming. Anguish, that even with his great gift of incredible speed, he couldn't reach me in time. A sound of pain, because he was certain that he was watching me die.

I thought you were dead... I never would have forgiven myself...

Suddenly, I understood.

"Sonic... I'm so sorry..."

His mouth fell open. "Wh-What—You're sorry? B-But—"

"I'm sorry I was so stupid – I-I never meant to hurt you, I-I j-just—When I saw you lying there, I-I had to do something! I couldn't just... I couldn't just leave you..."

Sonic listened silently, uncomprehending of the sudden role-reversal. When I trailed off, tears starting to spill down my cheeks, he shook his head and hesitantly reached up a paw to wipe the moisture from my cheek.

"Ki... No... No, Ki, you didn't... I... You..." He gave up, and finally whispered, "Thank you..."

I'm not sure how, or even exactly when it happened, but the next thing I knew, I had my arms around him. Sonic embraced me, almost crushing me with his strength, his face lost in my dreadlocks. One of his hands rested against my back, the other behind my head, his fingers lacing into my quills as he held me close, so close, as if he never wanted to let go.

I hoped he never would.