I know I haven't updated in ages….but I forgot for awhile, then had both an artist block and a writer block! I am almost finished with this story gratefully, so I'll go back to my others! So….yeah….on with the end of the story already!

Sonic grabbed a sword off the mantle, along with two pairs of metal gauntlets and ran to Metal "Here….these are your gauntlets and your weapon for training." Metal examined the blade "A fine sword it is Sonic!" Sonic nodded "It is a sacred sword man….It is the sword of the sky….it has the power of the winds in it." Metal grinned "Hm….sounds appropriate for me!" Metal put the gauntlets on his hands, following Sonic and Caliburn outdoors. Metal and Sonic had the babies put in covered cribs nearby, to keep an eye on while training. Harmony woke up, petting her mother's face. Metal giggled "Harmony is having fun poking me apparently…." Sonic grinned and poked Harmony in the wing "Ah….but I poke back!" Harmony giggled insanely at this, choosing to poke him back, getting poked in return, starting a poke war.

Caliburn shook his head "She is battle ready so soon? A pity she is too young to train yet…" Metal cocked his head at this "You may train her when she is older if you wish Caliburn…I have heard…many good things of your training methods!" Caliburn nodded "I can train almost anyone to be a knight…Sonic is proof of such a feat!" Sonic laughed nervously, leaning on his sword and shaking his head at him. Caliburn drew Raikurea from its scabbard and held it in front of him "Ready Sonic?" Sonic narrowed his eyes and dashed at Caliburn, the two of them fighting at high speeds around him.

Lancelot was there shortly afterwards, teaching Metal about chivalry, then going into sword techniques, showing how to do a move properly, then letting Metal do it, forcing him to do it until his form was perfect. Metal was then instructed after a few hours of training to come at him and show what he learned to Lancelot, eagerly accepting a challenge and proving himself to be a fine student in the art. Shadow and Mephiles joined them later, showing off his axe skills to Galahad, who he kept off balance by swinging it closely to his face. Galahad finally backed off, surrendering to his skill "Thoust is highly trained Mephiles….you surprised me a bit. Thoust should be proud of thine's own ability!" Mephiles snickered "I worked hard to gain my power Galahad….many years after Soleanna in fact!" Shadow was on the sidelines, watching Caliburn and Sonic have at it, changing his sight to look at the other two pairs every now and then.

Shadow shook his head "Even I didn't know you were so skilled Mephiles….I've never seen you fight before!" Mephiles smiled proudly "I do it on my own time….mostly at night if I can't sleep!" Shadow sighed "Yes…I'm not the only one who has trouble sleeping most of the time…." Sonic cocked his head at him "I sometimes have problems with sleeping…not sure why though….." Shadow put one hand on his belly, as the babies were kicking, and kicking pretty hard at that. Shadow growled "I think the babies are jealous….wish I could train with you…" Lancelot cocked his head at him "When Thoust is normal….then we shall train!" Shadow snickered "Then we'll see who kicks who's ass!" Lancelot smirked at him "Indeed we will, so called ultimate one!" Lancelot went into a fighting stance "Ready for another round then Metal?" Metal nodded, coming at him with a fury of attacks, which Lancelot was finding hard to defend against, his sword finally being knocked from his hands by Metal. Lancelot bowed to him "Thoust hath me surprised….but I am not defeated yet….you must pin me!" Lancelot tried to roll for his sword, but was stopped cold and forced to roll the other way to prevent injury. Metal acted quickly, not giving Lancelot the chance to regroup and grabbing his shoulders and pinning him to a tree, his sword to Lancelot's throat "I win Lancelot….surrender." Lancelot laughed heartily "Indeed you have triumphed Metal…I commend you for such skill!" Metal nodded "I needed to get that out of my system…"

Shadow wagged his tail "You got whooped by Metal Lancelot!" Lancelot gave him an interested look "Thoust has much boasting for so little a show of skill Shadow…." Shadow shook his head "Okay master of the knights….one who was beat by a rookie!" Sonic laughed "Not the first time either….right Caliburn? I was a rookie too and beat him…but only cause he underestimated me….he was difficult the second time, cause he was done playing around!" Shadow laughed at this "And you're the strongest knight of the round table?! Don't make me laugh!" Shadow felt another jab, this on being more painful then last he felt it, causing him to pause. Lancelot stared at him, wondering what cut his boasting off "Something is the matter?" Shadow sat on the nearby bench "This kicking is annoying me to hell…." Lancelot swept Shadow into his arms, his hands around his stomach "I…feel it…seems like it would be annoying to have happen…"

Shadow nodded "It wakes me up in the middle of the night sometimes….so annoying!" Lancelot nodded "I suppose it would be Shadow…feeling like your insides are being kicked in!" Shadow laughed "Kicked in? I had one of the babies kick a rib….I ended with two broken ribs on the left side of my chest cause they're so strong!" Lancelot went wide eyed "T-they did that?! Good heavens Shadow!" Shadow whimpered "It took a month to heal from that Lancelot…and I've made sure it doesn't happen again!" Lancelot nodded "I would assume so Shadow…sounds painful!" Mephiles sighed "Shadow eats every three hours because of it…" Shadow grinned widely at him "Better to prevent it anyway I can Meph."

A few hours later, they all stopped for lunch, Sonic and Caliburn cooking this time. Shadow was sitting alone, rubbing his stomach often for some reason. Galahad glanced at him, curious as to why he was so distracted, walking over to assure himself that Shadow was okay. Galahad tapped his shoulder, one ear flattened in concern "Thoust is okay Shadow? Thoust seems..distracted." Shadow turned to face him, a pained look on his face "I hurt is all Galahad…" Galahad cocked his head at him "Does Thoust with me to alert Mephiles?" A whimper from Shadow was all he needed as his answer, Galahad rubbing Shadow's shoulder "Thoust shall alert Mephiles for you then…is that okay?" Shadow nodded at him and laid down on the bench he was sitting on.

Galahad walked quickly but calmly to Mephiles, who was sharpening his axe "Mephiles….something is wrong with Shadow…he….is in pain…more then normal he said." Mephiles glanced over to Shadow, who was shaking in pain now "Very well Galahad…thanks for telling me." Galahad nodded "Glad to be of assistance Mephiles." Mephiles quickly walked to Shadow "You okay Shadow?" Shadow shook his head and whimpered "I am in sooo much pain right now….It's never been this bad before!" Mephiles ran his fingers down Shadow's face "It will be okay Shadow..it is…time to go…" Shadow nodded "I-I guess it is then…" Mephiles quietly warped the two away to the hospital.

Shadow was quickly put into a room, the labor beginning quickly. Shadow couldn't believe how much pain he was in…in fact, he couldn't even think straight, relying on Mephiles to guide him instead. Shadow whimpered in pain, Mephiles holding his hand in an attempt to comfort him. Shadow was sweating, gasping for breath. Mephiles kissed his forehead lightly "You will make it love…." Shadow nodded "I would hope so…the sooner this is over*grunt* the better Mephiles!" Shadow started doing the breathing he learned in the childbirth class they had been in earlier that month. Mephiles nodded "You're doing well so far Shadow…keep it up!" Shadow nodded, pushing the second he was prompted to, using all his might. Shadow stopped to catch his breath, then pushed again.

A few hours later, Shadow had, by this time, birthed his first and was working on his second. Shadow stopped briefly, giving himself a few seconds time to try to regain his strength, then pushing again, in a pattern he had been doing since the beginning. The first of the three, named Malice, who was a boy was born only ten minutes after he arrived at the hospital. He was sitting in a crib in another room, waiting for Shadow to finish, sleeping through his mother's whimpers of anguish, not seemingly bothered by all the noise. He finally managed to birth the second, a beautiful girl Mephiles named Laetit, which Mephiles explained, meant happiness in French. Shadow nodded, resting briefly, steeling himself for a final round of pain.

Sonic, by this time had noticed Shadow's absence and was told by Galahad why they had left. Lancelot seemed upset for some reason, while Caliburn, as usual, was worried. Metal closed his eyes in thought I must do something…the others are nervous of Shadow's safety…perhaps there is some way to break the tension…Metal glanced around the group, Lancelot pacing nervously, Caliburn having his ears more flattened then normal, Galahad seemingly distracted. This caused Metal to form an idea of how to break the tension in the air "I know something we can do while we wait to hear word of Shadow…" Lancelot stared at him expectantly "Thoust has an idea?" Metal nodded "We can play a game….who wants to try and guess what Shadow's three babies are in gender?" Lancelot nodded "Ah…it sounds like a grand idea Metal." Metal got enough scraps of paper out for everyone to put their predictions.

Metal nodded "Okay….now…everyone, there are three babies. I want everyone to write down what you think the babies genders will be. I will write down what I think…I think there will be all boys." Sonic nodded "I get it….let's all make a guess!" Lancelot nodded, and the others joined in, writing their predictions on the scraps of paper. Metal gathered the slips of paper and put them in a plastic zip bag. Metal grinned "Now….when Shadow and Mephiles bring the triplets, we will bring the slips of paper out again. The ones who are correct will get one of these." Metal held up a package of candy "The winners will get three pieces of candy from this bag." Lancelot cocked his head at this "What kind of candy is that?" Metal looked at him, letting his long quills fall in cascades down his face "These are caramel pecan nut candies Lancelot….these are specialty candies you can only get at one candy shop on Mobius."

Back at the hospital, Shadow was almost done with the third, but was beginning to lose motivation, not doing anything anymore. Shadow whimpered "I-I c-can't keep going Mephiles…" Mephiles sighed in exasperation "Shadow….I know you are tired….but the pain will not stop until you are done love." Shadow sighed, glancing around the room, his ears flattened "Aww….but…I'm tired!" Shadow whined. Mephiles shook his head "I don't care…I know you are tired…but you aren't getting out of this…finish what we started Shadow…." Shadow growled, seemingly hoping Mephiles would let him have his way "Fine….but you owe me some food..we didn't get to eat food like everyone else is!" Mephiles laughed "You deserve it after all this trouble love."

Shadow tilted his head at him, then nodding "Fine…I will finish then…" With that, Shadow took a few deep breaths, then pushed as hard as he could afterwards. Mephiles nodded approvingly "Almost there Shadow!" Shadow took another deep breath, giving one final push, birthing the last baby, another girl. Shadow fell to his pillow in exhaustion, panting heavily, but having a proud look on his features. Mephiles smiled at Shadow "I am proud of you Shadow…you did very well love." The nurse handed Shadow the baby girl, the one who still was in need of a name. She was a beautiful little baby, being black and having short, soft crystals that were silver in color. When her eyes opened, you could see she had beautiful red cat-like eyes. She looked at Shadow calmly, giggling at him and grabbing at his locket and turning it in her tiny little hands, examining it carefully.

Shadow snickered slightly "She sure likes the locket Mephiles…." Mephiles nodded "Perhaps we should get her and her siblings their own lockets." Shadow nodded "Aww…but she needs a name….hm…" Shadow observed her, noticing a strange birthmark on her forehead. Shadow brushed her long quills aside to see the mark better. It was in the shape of a rose…in fact, it looked as though she had gotten a tattoo. Shadow stared "Mephiles…look at this symbol!" Mephiles glanced at the marking "Hm….never seen such a strange marking on a newborn before…" Shadow nodded "I think I know her name…her name is Rose."

Mephiles nodded "I hope the others aren't too worried about us…" Shadow held Rose and sighed happily, letting Rose fidget with his locket, Rose trying to take it off Shadow's neck even! Mephiles was smiling widely, petting Laetit, her giggling at him and grabbing his finger and sucking on it. Malice was in the corner in his bed still, sleeping away. Mephiles smiled, glad everyone was okay and relieved for the labor to be passed. Shadow closed his eyes in thought Wow…the three of them are so perfect….it was painful and long, but it was worth it all….I would do it again in a heartbeat! With that, Shadow closed his eyes, falling into a happy, yet exhausted sleep.