=Chapter Twenty One=

"Reika. Reika, look here!"

The twins were sitting by a small plush mat, where Amy's 3 week old hoglett laid wide awake on. May and Cynder were gently dangling small toys above the baby's head, trying to entertain her. Reika's little ruby orbs followed the toy and she lifted her arms to try and grab onto the toy. After watching the twins laugh cheerfully and lifting and lowering the toy, Reika began giggling herself.

In the room watching the children were Amy and Blaze. A few minutes later, Rouge and Tikal carrying Satoshi, came to join them. Satoshi became curious about what May and Cynder were playing around with and went over to them. Then he met his younger half-sister.

"...is this Amy-san's baby?" he asked. The youngster had frequently told that the sakura hedgehog was expecting.

"Yes, Satoshi." Cynder giggled. "Meet Reika."

"...um..hullo, Reika..." the auburn echidna awkwardly greeted.

The hoglett, gazing at him curiously, raised her little arms towards him.

"She wants to hold your hand." May snickered.

Satoshi's face went red.

"S-she does...?!" he stammered.

"Go on and hold her hand, ma nuke!" May retorted while slightly elbowing him.

Satoshi then extended his hand to Reika and she promptly grabbed ahold of it and stuck his index finger into her mouth.

"Gah! She's eating my finger..." he cried.

The twins started laughing as Satoshi looked around for some sort of assistance. Amy got the gist and went over to help him.

"Behave, Reika..." she softly scolded.

The cherry-pink female gently removed the youngster's finger from the infant's mouth. However, Reika wasn't quite happy with losing a makeshift sucker and started to whine a bit, prompting Amy to pick her up and give the hoglett her own finger. Satoshi watched curiously like a 5 year-old to a TV set.

"Why does Reika like eating fingers?" he asked.

"She's not eating them, Satoshi." Amy replied. "She's just sucking them."

"Why?"

"It's just what babies do."

"You used to do the same thing, for a while, Satoshi." Tikal told her youngster.

"I did?!" the auburn echidna exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yes, you did my little koishī."

Suddenly amidst the lighthearted atmosphere, a guard came rushing in.

"Begging your pardon, royal ones..." he rasped. "...but Lord Shadow has issued a state of evacuation. You are all to be escorted to the pier at once."

An expression of shock and surprise came across the faces of the children and the royal wives.

"Why? What has happened?" Rouge asked.

"Forgive me, your Imperial Majesty, but there isn't time to explain." the guard replied. "It's an emergency."

XXXXXXX

The Royal Family-including the Prince-was escorted to the pier of the Imperial City. There were troops and samurais pouring in every direction. The Family was boarded on a ship that went into a different channel that went more inland. Shadow remained behind until the very last minute.

Mainlanders that managed to breach through the protection of the Empire's naval ships, were just about to enter the confines of the Imperial City. An evacuation was necessary so that the intruders wouldn't be able to capture or destroy anyone or anything important. Townspeople were also trying to leave the area as fast as they could, taking whatever they could carry. All that would be left for the Mainlanders to encounter, was Imperial troopers.

xxxxxxx

The ship that was transporting the Royal Family away from the danger landed in a river where the foot of a mountain chain. As soon as the passengers disembarked the boat, they were then transport by a guarded carriage all the way up the peak of the mountains. All the while Amy was anxious about the whole thing. She clutched Reika close to her and the hoglett started to slightly whimper. Then Amy remembered that it was nearly time to feed her.

"Rouge-sama? How much longer until we get there?" Amy asked quietly.

"Not much longer, Amy-san. We're almost there." the ivory bat replied.

Rouge had been to this palace once already. When Black Doom was in power, he had sent both her and Shadow there shortly after they were wedded. The late Emperor was paranoid that someone would assassinate the newlyweds and since Shadow was the crown prince and his only son, he didn't want anything to happen to him.

The carriage finally came to a halt and allowed its passengers to leave. Amy found herself in an area where she was surrounded by other mountains with fog and clouds slipping over the peaks. The high altitude made the young flower's ears pop a little. Ahead of them was a castle built alongside of the mountain. Although it didn't look it, the building was completely stable and it wasn't all that high up either. It faced away from the deep chasms that would make one feel dizzy when looking down.

Amy followed her peers inside the Mountain Palace where she was able to feed Reika. Both Blaze and Tikal put their little ones down for a nap. Rouge and Damien met with a general and discussed the situation. Thus far, the Imperial forces were keeping the Mainlanders at bay in the Royal City. Shadow was well on his way to the mountains, but not without giving his armies commands to keep the other areas secure.

The Imperial City might have to be occupied for a while, but once the reinforcements came in, they would be able to drive the Mainlanders out and out an end to this conflict once and for all.

XXXXXXX

Hours later, Amy was alone in a room with burgundy and scarlet colors being brilliantly reflected by the light of the setting sun. Reika was sound asleep on a plush mat. Poor Amy was extremely nervous and stressed out, almost to the point where her hands were shaking. She was worried about what would happen them. The sakura hedgehog just barely had her child and already there was a chance that it might not see its first year or lose her father. Or both. Amy hadn't seen Shadow all day long either, and she was worried about him terribly.

She tried to keep herself together like a grownup. She didn't want to pass any of that negative aura to the others. But Amy couldn't help but feel really, really scared.

Reika let out a yawn and started moving about in her sleep. Amy delicately stroked her quills to keep herself somewhat busy. Then a few minute later, Rouge came into the room to check up on her.

"Amy-san?" she called out.

"Hai?" Amy softly called back.

"How are you settling in?"

"I'm...I'm alright."

Now the ivory bat would've let that go, but she could sense that not all was well. She walked over to Amy and sat down next to her.

"Were you able to nurse Reika alright?" Rouge asked again.

"Hai." Amy replied. "She's sleeping now."

There was a pause.

"What's happening out there?" the cherry-pink female inquired.

"I think we should save that for another time, Amy-san." Rouge answered after noticing the shaky sound of her voice.

Amy didn't respond. She stared hard at the floor, trying to clear her head.

"What's wrong?" the Empress asked in a low voice. "You're trembling."

"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm trying not to." Amy stammered.

Rouge let out a sigh and drew closer to her and began rubbing Amy's shoulders comfortingly.

"There's nothing to worry about." the snow white female assured her. "We're safe here. No one in our history has been able to conquer this place."

That hit Amy's weak point and she started tearing up. She quickly put her hands to her face to hide the tears. Rouge knew Amy was feeling upset, she took the young flower's hands and put them back in her lap. Then Amy began openly crying.

"Watashi ga obiete iru, watashi wa obieta yo..." she whimpered.

"Shhhhh...Soko ni, soko ni, watashi no aisuru." Rouge cooed.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, Shadow arrived at the Mountain Palace unscathed. The Imperial City survived the invasion, but it was still too dangerous to return for a time. The Mainlander forces that instigated were regrouping and planning another attack on the Emperor.

Imperial troops chased them into the forests and it was there where they took to hiding. So the Royal Family for now, was safe in the mountainous chain in the inland area of the island. The mood in the palace was relaxed after that bit of good news. Amy especially felt better since Shadow came back.

After breakfast that morning, Tikal helped the sakura hedgehog give Reika her first bath. Even though the water was comfortably lukewarm, the hoglett didn't like it too much. The warm fluid felt rather strange and wet and Reika didn't fully calm until she was being dried off by her mother.

"My, what a fuss you made." Amy cooed to her daughter to which the infant whimpered.

"Don't worry, she'll get used to it." Tikal assured her.

"Did Satoshi act like that during his first bath?"

"No, in fact he was really funny. He got so relaxed by the warm water that he went limp."

The two ladies giggled at the story and got up to leave. Reika still whimpered from being in a damp towel and tried snuggling up to Amy's chest. Then when the hoglett was finally put into nice dry clothes, Reika's attitude softened and she snuggled up to mom when Amy started cradling her again. Later, the cherry-pink female and the terra cotta echidna went into another room where Blaze and Rouge were having tea.

xxxxxxx

That afternoon, Shadow got word that after regrouping, the Mainland forces were headed towards the Mountain Palace. But there was a catch. From that direction, they would have to cross a great bridge. The Emperor had an idea. If he and some of his soldiers could place explosives underneath the bridge and detonate them, that would surely put an end to the Mainlander's campaign once and for all.

Meanwhile everything else was kept quiet. The Mainlanders were still a few days away from the anyway.

xxxxxxx

For the first time since Amy had been with them, the Royal Family, including Shadow, ate supper altogether. Amy thought it was really neat having the ebony hedgehog with them at dinner time. However, the young flower noted that the atmosphere was really, really quiet with him around. Maybe things weren't discussed at the table in his presence. The children all tried to sit up straight and use the correct table manners. Amy thought that was kind of amusing.

Afterwards, Amy carried her slightly fussing Reika to her room. The hoglett was hungry again and pawing at her mother to be fed. Amy undid a part of kimono and started nursing Reika, making the infant quiet down a little. A retainer politely knocked on the door a few seconds later.

"Milady, will you be needing anything?" she asked.

"No thank you." Amy said she gently cradled her infant.

Giving a bow, the retainer took her leave. As Amy continued to nurse her little one, Reika completely relaxed in her arms. Moments later, the sakura hedgehog had her switch sides. Then, Amy's ear twitched to the sound of footsteps which caused her to curiously turn her head. Coming into her room, was Shadow. He hadn't seen his infant daughter in the past 48 hours, and he wanted to check up on her.

"My lord..." Amy murmured softly.

"Good evening, Chisanai." he greeted.

The crimson-splashed male sat down right next to her and wrapped his arms around her. Amy purred as he nuzzled her quills and neck. Reika meanwhile continued nursing away on mother's milk, not even noticing that her father was there. Shadow didn't seem to mind and was content to just watch her. Then, Reika became full and attempted to snuggle into mom's chest before Amy had a chance to wipe her mouth. Reika let out a yawn being tired from being active all day long. Shadow gently took the tiny hoglett from Amy's arms and cradled her in his own.

Reika began grabbing and picking at the tassels on her father's kimono in sheer curiosity. Since she already had a full belly, the pale rose furred female didn't have the urge to stick anything into her mouth. After allowing her to inspect the collages of thread and yarn, Shadow gently grasped Reika's little hands.

"Those aren't to play with, sukoshi shin'ainaru..." the midnight clad Emperor softly scolded.

Amy couldn't help but giggle at her daughter's 'naughtiness'. Reika, after being deprived of the stringy tassels, she went instead for Shadow's fingers. Then she fell right to sleep. As soon as the hoglett dozed off, her father started rocking her.

'Shadow's such a wonderful father...' Amy thought.

Translations:

ma nuke=goof

koishī=dear

Watashi ga obiete iru, watashi wa obieta yo...=I'm frightened, I'm frightened...

Soko ni, soko ni, watashi no aisuru=There, there, dear

sukoshi shin'ainaru=little dear