His sensitive hearing and ability to feel the emotions in the air caused his to wake up when he felt a disturbance in the otherwise quiet night.

... It's probably Dark..." Mephiles frowned a little, sitting up as best he could. He still felt a little weak in terms of standing. After all, he had only woken up from a month long coma just days ago, and was still recovering his strength.

Looking over at the bed next to him (Dark had been allowed to be moved into the room with Mephiles now that the hedgehog was awake...), he found that Dark was sitting up as well, but was slumped forward, and from the look on his face, Mephiles could tell that Dark was experiencing yet another parasomnial episode.

A barely audible whimper was escaping the shadow, and he was rocking and swaying slightly, subconsciously trying to calm himself.

Mephiles' ears perked up and after listening several times, he finally caught what was being said in the shadow's low strained voice.

"... I wanna go home..."

Whatever amount of sleepiness Mephiles had at the moment was forgotten as he was immediately concerned for Dark.

... Shadow and Rouge said he might have moments where he's forgotten that he's been rescued... The hedgehog felt his eyes tear up a little at seeing this. ... Like a really bad flashback...

Dark continued to repeat his statement like a mantra, bringing his hands to his head slowly, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes as he rocked back and forth.

Mephiles couldn't stand seeing him like that, especially since the hedgehog could feel every spike of torment shooting through the shadow's heart like arrows.

Not caring that he couldn't stand properly for very long, Mephiles made his way to the edge of his bed and carefully slid off to touch his feet to the tiled floor, holding onto something (he didn't care what...) for support as he shakily crossed the short distance to the bed where Dark was at, and with quite a bit of effort, he crawled up onto the bed to sit adjacent to Dark, taking a moment to catch his breath.

... I need to be careful. It's probably the same rule as with him sleepwalking... Mephiles contemplated his next move. ... If I move too fast or startle him, he could fight hack, thinking I'm whatever's scaring him right now...

"... I wanna go home... I wanna go home... I wanna go home..." Dark hadn't even noticed that Mephiles had moved to where he was, and continued to chant his words, now starting to sniffle and choke back a sob in his throat, burying his face in his hands. "... I wanna g-go home... I w-wanna go home... I wanna go h-home..."

Cautiously and slowly, the hedgehog worked his arms around the shadow's chest, getting a gentle but secure hold on him. The moment their skin made contact with each other, Dark jolted and froze before squirming uncomfortably, causing Mephiles to hold his breath, waiting to see if he needed to dodge fast if Dark decided to turn around and take a swing at him, thinking the hedgehog was something there to hurt him...

Dark relaxed instead, and slumped back into the comforting hold, curling his hands lightly and drawing his arms and legs in as if trying to curl up his body as well, but only slightly.

... Probably won't even remember this in the morning... Mephiles added almost hopefully, gently brushing the back of his fingers against Dark's cheek to keep him calm. ... I hope he doesn't... I don't want him to start worrying or being embarrassed about it...

It took some time, on account of Mephiles' still having a bit of weakness, but he managed to pull Dark back to where his head could rest on the pillow, and tugged the blanket back over his body, which was shivering feverishly from both what just happened and possibly from the air conditioned room itself... Not that Dark would have minded anyway, considering his preference of colder temperatures.

All the same, Mephiles felt that it would help with giving Dark a more secure state of mind if he didn't feel so exposed in a way similar to a child having left it's favorite stuffed toy behind before an overnight stay...

Without really thinking, Mephiles soon realized that he had just bumped his nose gently against Dark's forehead, and immediately his muzzle flushed red despite no one having seen that, not even Dark.

... That's something Mom used to do when we couldn't sleep... He shook his head lightly, now gently wiping a few stray tears from Dark's face. ... I'm so glad no one saw that... What was I thinking..?


Jumping to a week later, and our boys are showing promising signs of improvement.

Mephiles was well on his way to regaining his natural balance, demonstrating proudly by holding his arms out to his sides and walking by placing each step directly after the one before it, as though walking a painted line on the ground. He faltered very little, and with that, he was beaming with joy.

Nearing the end of the two month regimen to treat his malnourishment, Dark definitely looked much better weight wise than he had in a long time. Though still thinner than his counterpart, it was not nearly as striking of a difference now. Mephiles was beaming at that, too.

The shortened stubs on Dark's head were halfway done with growing back to normal length quills, but honestly, Dark still looked odd without the light blue crystal tipped spines. Something that Dark was constantly aware of like a mouse being watched by a cat. Mephiles tried to assure him that he looked perfectly fine, but... Well, you know Dark by now.

Upon hearing of the young hedgehog's time spent in the hospital and the now arrived stage of nearly done recovering, a box was sent to Mephiles from Tails and Sonic, much to his mild confusion before sliding a claw along the taped top and splitting it open.

In it, there were several things Mephiles recognized from his time spent with the famous duo. Among the most notable were his lifejacket, three unopened bars of chocolate, and the small wooden figure that looked amazingly like Chip.

Dark, who was sitting on the bed next to him, crawled closer to lean over and look into the box curiously.

"... What's all that for..?"

"Some of the things I picked up while I was traveling with Sonic and them..." Mephiles smiled nervously, a little worried that Dark was going to get mad over that again. "See, one place we went to was surrounded entirely by water... Well, a lot of places were, but this place was built on water..."

"... Like Soleanna..?"

"Kinda, but it was a village rather than a kingdom..." Mephiles blinked, a little surprised at Dark's calmness over it. "... So, anyway, they got me a this thing, which is a life vest, and it's supposed to help me float if I fell in the water, so I don't drown."

"... Does it work..?"

"Yep. And these are bars of chocolate. I don't really think we picked them up somewhere, I think they just stuck them in the box because I said I wanted you to try it..."

"... I don't think I've actually eaten chocolate before..."

"It's pretty good, and it's not spicy or dull." Mephiles' smile got less nervous. "So you shouldn't have a problem with it..."

... What's this..?" Dark reached into the box and pulled out the wooden charm.

"Believe it or not, that actually looks like one of the ones I was with." Mephiles grinned now as Dark was turning the figure around in his fingers. "And the best part? He was actually Light Gaia the whole time!"

"... What..?" Dark said flatly, not exactly comprehending what was said.

"He was the good half of Dark Gaia, so he was the one who was supposed take that thing out." Mephiles reached over to carefully pull the figure free from Dark's hands for a moment. "See, that collar thing had a gem on it that activated something that helped restore the Chaos Emeralds, because they had been drained when Dark Gaia woke up."

"Why did it take so long for him to do anything about it?"

"That Human woke up Dark Gaia before it was really meant to be, and Chip got amnesia because of that, so nobody really knew, not even him." Mephiles explained, handing the figure back. "While Sonic was helping me find you, he was also trying to help Chip find something or someone to jog his memory, because he didn't remember anything at all."

"... Chip..?"

"That's what we called him because he needed a name." Mephiles shrugged with a short laugh. "... He was interesting. It was kinda a shock for all of us when we learned that he was actually a guardian of the planet... We'd been looking after someone who looks after us all the whole time..."

"... Maybe that's why you were kept safe..." Dark handed the wooden figure back, only for Mephiles to shove it back into his hands.

"No, I got that thing for you." The hedgehog explained, shaking his head. "See, it's supposed to be a good luck charm, and in Adabat, they believe that it'll protect you from bad things..."

"It looks like a piece of driftwood that's been stained with pomegranate juice."

"... So knew you were going to say that." Mephiles snorted. "So, you like it or not? I know it's not a square cantaloupe, but at least it didn't spoil before I got it to you."

"... It's really mine..?"

"Yeah."

Dark smiled a little more.

"You still owe me the cantaloupe."

"I know, I know." The hedgehog laughed softly, shaking his head. "I haven't forgotten."

Among other things in the box, there was what appeared to be the collar that Dark had been forced to wear, with a note rolled up and tied to it.

Confused, Mephiles pulled it out of the box and tugged the note off and unraveled it to read.

Reverse engineered it, and figured out how to take out the electric shock part. Remembered that one of you said that heat really hurts him, and winter won't last forever, so use this then. If it ever needs calibrating, or whatever, let me know.

-Tails

"Hmm... I guess that solves the summer problem..." Mephiles looked it over carefully, before handing it to Dark. "... I don't know if you ever want to wear this again, considering... But it does seem like an easy way to keep from getting heatstroke..."

"... Are you sure the shock part is out of it..?" Dark was eying it warily, having not grabbed it yet.

"I'm sure. Tails is supposed to be really smart. He makes workable fake Chaos Emeralds, even. And stuff... I'm sure he took care of it..." Mephiles continued to hold it out. "See? It's not doing anything..."

"... Do I have to wear it right now..?"

"Of course not! It's not even hot out!"

"... I'll just give it some time..."


Another week passed, and Mephiles was finally cleared to be allowed to go back home. Dark could have gone any time for a while now, but he refused leave the hedgehog alone overnight. Who could blame him, after what they both went through..?

Three Chao wasted no time in excitedly greeting the hedgehog, having not seen him in months. Sharpe took his place draped over a shoulder, reaching his mischievous small claws up into a quill clump, while Krystal flew into his arms and nestled against the white fluff, winding her little claws around tiny handfuls of fur, as if to say that she had no intention of letting go of him anytime soon. Kai latched onto a leg, looking up as if to say he had dibs on being held next after the twins got the attention first.

Mephiles looked at Dark, half worried the shadow was going to snap at the Chao for mobbing him, but instead, he was surprised to the shadow reach over to pry the green striped Chao carefully from the hedgehog's leg, smiling slightly.

"Wait your turn... You don't want to overwhelm him..." Dark told the Chao, who was squirming with annoyance.

"No, really, it's okay..."

"Oh, sure, say that now, and five minutes later, you'll be half ready to pass out."

"Dark, I'm not feeling weak. And Chao hardly weigh anything. I'm not overexerting myself."

This back and forth argument went on for a few minutes before they were both interrupted.

Being directed to where the garage was, or rather, had been, the two boys were left somewhat speechless at what sight greeted them.

A new had been built for the house within the garage. The walls and carpet were two shades of blue, as close to the shades on the two crystal hedgehogs as possible, it seemed. There were two twin beds on either side, nearly identical aside from one being done in darkened purple theme, and the other in a light blue.

Atop the purple bed were two easily identifiable objects of Mephiles'; the beanie dog and his favorite pillow that he often had to fight with Sharpe over.

On the blue one, there was a small stack of spiral notebooks, and Dark immediately looked horrified at the sight of them out of their hiding spot.

"You didn't read them, did you!" He shouted almost shrilly at Shadow, eyes wide open. "I had those hidden for a reason!"

Rouge gave Shadow an "I told you so." kind of look as Shadow scratched his head nervously.

Dark clenched his teeth and looked as though he didn't know whether to be appalled or infuriated, and the slight shaking from his entire body was enough to indicate that it was taking all his willpower not to throw a tantrum over it.

Mephiles had that look he often gave when he sensed that Dark had a strong possibility of launching into a rage fit, ears perked up in alertness and his eyes rounded even more than their usual shape, body tensed in anticipation of either needing to intervene or to jump out of the way.

"Well, it's not like I actually intended to find them..." Shadow tried his best to explain fairly, without causing Dark to get even more ruffled. "I was getting something Tape swatted under the couch, and they were there..."

"But did you read them!" Dark narrowed his eyes, his muzzle igniting in deepened shade of red across the bridge of his nose.

"Uh... F-funny story about that, actually..." Shadow was trying to avoid answering, knowing that Dark wouldn't be very pleased about that, and truthfully, Dark would have every right to be angered by his notebooks being read without his permission or knowledge. "... Honestly, things would be a lot easier if you were more open about what goes in that head of yours..."

Instantly, Shadow knew he had said the wrong thing.

Rouge calmly stepped away from him, hands in the air.

Mephiles buried his face in his hands, groaning: "... Why doesn't anybody listen..?"

Dark's nearly fully grown quills raised on end the best they could. He was breathing quite rapidly, and the shaking was a little more noticeable. Any ambient sounds nearby seemed to just die all of a sudden. Birds outside just stopped chirping. Neighborhood kids stopped laughing and playing, it seemed. The distant hum of lawn machinery stopped as well. All Dark could really hear were his ragged breaths and the pounding in his ears.

"... Y-you... You d-did read them!" Dark screeched when he finally found his voice again, looking agitated beyond all reason, clenching his hands together tightly before snatching up the notebooks and throwing them down to the ground at his feet in a fit of rage, before burying his face in his hands and sinking to the floor, still shaking as he withdrew himself into a ball.

Mephiles looked at him cautiously before turning to Shadow and saying: "... He's... Upset, angry and embarrassed, all at the same time... You should have just said 'No' as an answer..."

"He would have found out eventually, you know him!"

"... Yes, but still..." The crystal hedgehog shook his head exasperatedly, sliding his fingers along the side of his head and sighing. "... I haven't even read them, and that's because they were supposed to be private..."

"How is it that everyone knew about them besides me?"

Mephiles and Rouge both gave him a similar look, both clearly saying "... You can't be serious..."

Mephiles then cautiously approached Dark, who had yet to show any desire about unrolling from the ball he was in. Kneeling down, and carefully reaching a hand to his shoulder, the crystal hedgehog hesitated from going further once Dark jolted at his touch, before the shade calmed down upon realizing who was making contact with him. When Mephiles shifted his touch to sliding both arms around the shadow securely, Dark relaxed, uncurled and slumped against him, pale face flushed with embarrassment, breathing a little heavily.

"... He shouldn't have read them..." Dark mumbled discontentedly, rolling his head back to look up at Mephiles.

"... I know, but I wasn't there to make sure that he didn't..."

"... Hid them for a reason..." Dark closed his eyes, frowning weakly. "... Tired of my thoughts not being kept secret..."

"... I can understand why you feel like that." Mephiles agreed, looking up at Shadow and Rouge briefly. "... But, maybe Shadow's right. If you stop trying to hide everything, that is. You can still have secrets, but you should let us know if something is really bothering you..."

"... I should have mentioned something after the planet split..." Dark shook his head, sighing. "... I knew that was bad right away, but I amounted that to me being paranoid at first... I mean, it happened so soon after the whole Iblis thing, and I just wanted to be left alone..."

Mephiles bit his lip before reaching for a notebook, then pausing to add: "... May I..?"

Dark opened his eyes to look at what he meant and said dejectedly: "... Why not? Everyone seems to have..."

The young hedgehog hesitantly picked up one of the books and thumbed through it, skipping passed the ramblings of how much Dark hated the the idea of writing in the notebook, and the doodles, before settling on the first entry that indicated something was upsetting to Dark.

As he ventured further and further in, Mephiles narrowed his eyes a little before snapping them wide open, gasping slightly at some of the things he read.

"... Are you quite through..?" Dark sounded almost bored, very different than he had been just minutes before.

"... Oh, Dark... I had no idea just how much Dire was tormenting you..." The young hedgehog sniffled as tears sprang to his eyes. "... He did all that, and just reformed back to normal seconds later..?"

"... That's peanuts compared to what he did after I couldn't write in those anymore..."

Mephiles dropped the book and quickly caught Dark back up in another embrace, breathing quickly and trying hard to suppress the cries that were trying hard to escape, leaving them as nothing more than high pitched whimpers and whispers caught in his throat. The tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks.

"... Why are you crying? I'm the one who was dragged through heck and back." Dark was a little more than startled, now worried for the hedgehog.

"... B-because I'm s-sorry... I c-couldn't d-do anything t-to help..." Mephiles was stuttering between breaths, trembling as well, squeezing his eyes shut and letting the tears drop as he buried his face in the side of Dark's head, against the quills. "... I-I... I'm... I-It's not fair..."

"... It happens..." Dark swiveled his ears back and looked up nervously at the bat and hedgehog watching them. "... Uh... Can you please stop, now..? We're not alone... And this is getting upsetting..."

"... I c-can't... I'm n-not the only one uh-upset..." Mephiles inhaled sharply, shaking his head slowly.

"You're the only one crying..."

"... Yes, b-but I'm f-feeling what you're f-feeling right now..."

"I'm perfectly fine, you're the one freaking out..."

"I know what I'm f-feeling right now, and I know what's f-from you!" Mephiles snapped back, sounding a little irritable. "You m-might be able t-to hide them from s-sight, but I can always f-feel them!"

"Then let go of me, and stop upsetting yourself..."

"No!" Mephiles protested. "Not until you admit it, t-too!"

Dark glanced back warily at Shadow and Rouge, managing to plant a hand to his face in exasperation.

"... Mephy, we were in the middle of being presented this room... We're kinda hogging up the attention..."

"You s-started it by being all angry about th-the notebooks!"

"What did you expect me to do!" Dark growled, bristling his quills and fur, squirming a little. "You know as well as anyone that I hate feeling invaded, and after having a little monster probe around my brain for more than two months, you expect me to be calm about my written thoughts having been looked into? Am I the only one who sees the lack of logic in all of your thinking!"

Before Mephiles could respond, Dark shifted his shape to that he had taken from Tape, and used the flexibility of the feline skeletal structure to slip out almost effortlessly from the surprised hedgehog's hold. Once he was free, he changed back to normal, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes at Mephiles.

"Not that I'm not grateful for how much you care, but it's possible to smother me too much with the attention..." Dark snorted through his nose. "... That, and I can't stand hearing you cry."

"And I can't stand seeing you hurt in any way possible!" Mephiles countered, but Dark held a hand up to stop him.

"Let's just get this room thing done, and then we'll move onto that, 'kay?"

Mephiles, reluctantly, stopped talking, but he still ended up with the hiccups.


The room would take some getting used to, as both boys were more accustomed to having either spread out blankets on the floor, or taking turns with the couch. The past two months, Dark had been sleeping on a bed, and Mephiles had done so in the back seat of a biplane. Having their very own beds seemed almost alien to either one of them.

As if some form of forethought was put into giving the room a "starter" feel, there was a flashlight for each of them, in case they felt the need to shine a light on a particularly unnerving corner of the room at night. Dark seemed like he was going to question how they knew about his uneasiness about absolute darkness, but caught himself before he caused another scene.

Given Mephiles' tendency to get sick fairly easily, and the distance between his bed and the bathroom was questionable, a backup idea in the form of a (clean!) two gallon ice cream bucket (with lid) was available should there be a problem... Likewise, one for Dark as well should he need it (Dark snorted and shook his head lightly at this).

Other things will be explained over time.

We move on to night time, when people tend to be asleep.

Mephiles seemed to have no trouble sharing his new bed with three Chao, despite the one trying to hog his pillow.

Dark, however, was awake and was now reaching around tentatively for the flashlight, finally locating it and fumbling before managing to switch it on, shining it on a corner of the room, and staring at the lit area fixedly, teeth clenched, and body shaking.

The action did not go unnoticed, but before the hedgehog even knew, it was a Chao whose attention was caught.

A soft sound of question sounded off beside the shadow, and Dark broke his gaze to turn his head slowly to look at the source of it, and was somewhat baffled to find the little green striped black Chao sitting next to him, staring up and the emotion dot above his head shaped into a question mark.

It took Dark a minute to realize that the Chao was curious as to what exactly he was doing, as Dark was not accustomed to being the object of attention to anyone other than Mephy (aside from his cat or as of recent, his own twin brother, that is). The confusion held his own attention long enough for the shadow to almost forget why he had been shining the light in corner to begin with.

The glow of the flashlight eventually managed to cause the hedgehog was stir, as the light was bright enough to do so. Once Mephiles started to wake up, he immediately sensed the uneasiness that had been present mere minutes before, and that caused him to be almost fully alert in two blinks of an eye.

"... Dark..? What's up..?"

Closing his eyes to hide the rolling he was doing, smiling faintly, Dark simply shut off his flashlight, causing the room to be washed in shadows and said: "... Nothing..."

Immediately, Mephiles found his own flashlight and switched it on, aiming it at the wall behind him to not blind Dark with the sudden change in light.

"... When are you going to learn that you can't lie to me about things like that?" The hedgehog frowned in concern, folding his arms.

"... Do you have to know everything?" Dark sounded as if he was trying to be annoyed, but only because be seemed to want to force Mephiles to drop the subject for now.

"When you wake up in the middle of the night, shining lights in a corner, I do kinda like to know what's up..." The hedgehog shrugged lightly. "... So, you okay..?"

"... Not used to this room... Just a little anxious..." Dark said without looking at him.

"... That's not the whole reason." Mephiles said carefully. "... I sensed something else..."

Dark hesitated before saying: "... It's not really anything worth worrying over..."

"... Last time you said that..." Mephiles started before sighing and letting the statement fade, knowing there was no point in bringing that up now.

"... The world isn't going crazy again, if that's what you're worried about." Dark finally looked at him, smiling nervously, absentmindedly putting his hand on Kai's head. "... I just... I was kinda... I honestly don't know what I was really doing a moment ago..."

Mephiles hummed as a response, nodding slowly just as Kai, who had seen the whole thing anyway, decided to help elaborate by reenacting the basic idea.

Grabbing Dark's flashlight, and sitting down on the edge of the bed, the little striped Chao switched the light on with his paw, shone it in the corner and imitated what he had seen Dark do, by making his mouth wobble, his eyes wide and staring, shuddering, and, to help further confirm that this was an action of fear, Kai made the sound that Chao made when scared.

The twin Chao watched as well, Krystal making sound that indicated a question, and Kai responded by looking at Dark, who immediately froze at all the attention placed on him.

Then, quite quickly, Dark snatched the flashlight from the Chao and turned it off, shoving it under his pillow, growling lowly.

"I wasn't acting like that!" He shouted in a furious whisper, pale face flushed, before pointing at Kai, who flinched. "And you stay out of this!"

Mephiles frowned a little in concern.

"... Did you have a nightmare..?"

Dark flinched this time, and was quick to avoid eye contact.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about..." Mephiles tried to assure him, trying to keep him from shutting off. "... After what happened, I'd be more worried if you didn't."

Dark folded his arms and looked down, lowering his head.

"... I mean, I have them almost all the time-"

"You have Night Terrors. Totally different." Dark snapped irritably. "You get to be lucky enough to probably forget more than half of them before you even wake up, and even more of them within minutes of doing so..."

"I wouldn't really call it lucky..." The hedgehog shook his head, folding his ears back nervously. "... Especially when I usually throw up afterwards..."

"And yet, it hardly affects you hours later..."

"I can't really explain it myself..." Mephiles shrugged a little. "... I just happen to have people calm me down really well..."

Dark just snorted through his nose.

Mephiles sighed lightly.

"... Can you at least tell me what keeps scaring you so much..?"

Dark didn't answer.

"... Please..?" Mephiles added desperately.

Dark glanced at him, but still didn't answer.

"... You're afraid he's still there, aren't you..?"

Dark stiffened ever so slightly, it was a wonder how Mephiles had seen it at all.

"... He's been put back in the center of the planet, so by the time he gets back out, we won't be around, y'know." Mephiles tried to assure him. "And even if he did, he can't come near you, since that camera pretty much nixed him from you, anyway. You're completely protected..."

"That would be easier to believe if not for the horrible luck I always have..."

Mephiles huffed in exasperation, knowing Dark had a valid reason to believe that.

"... I wish I could so something, anything, that would make you not have to worry about anything anymore..." Mephiles shook his head sadly. "... But even if I could, there's no way I can be convincing enough because I'm just a hedgehog who can't even fight back..."

Dark blinked and lifted his head to look at Mephiles.

"... You'd stare death in the eye if you thought it meant I'd never have to..." Dark unfolded his arms and let them drop to his sides, blinking again before looking down. "... You're the bravest coward I've ever seen, honestly..."

"That's not bravery, that's me desperately trying everything I can to stop something bad from happening..." The hedgehog laughed nervously. "... And, as you can see, it results in me getting knocked the heck out, and scaring the bejesus out of you..."

"... At least you didn't run off and leave me behind, or just hand me over without even trying..." Dark smiled back feebly.

"Never would dream of it." Mephiles said proudly, smiling back.


After what was thankfully a peaceful remainder of the night without much incident, seeping into the late morning, with the light starting to spread into the room, an ear flickered as Dark snorted softly, yawned widely and lifted his head from the pillow, looking around the room blearily.

Half asleep, he noticed that Mephiles' bed on the other side of the room was empty, and he dropped his head back to the pillow before a thought crossed his mind while he was still waking up.

... Mephy's gone...

This was followed immediately by his eyes snapping wide open and him sitting up quickly with a harsh cry of fright.

Normally, he would have rationalized that the hedgehog merely left the room to start his day, perhaps even currently seated in the kitchen with his customary mug of sugar doused in coffee. But instead, his half asleep brain decided not to work at full capacity and repeatedly chime that simple and yet terrifying statement over and over again, until he was half ready to start shrieking.

... Mephy's gone... Mephy's gone... Mephy's gone... Mephy's gone... Mephy's gone...

Practically falling his way out of bed, Dark half tripped to the door, and wrenched it open, startling himself out of the state he was in the moment the door hit the wall.

"... D-Dark..?"

Dark jolted at the sound of his name, and blinked before looking at who said it, who was none other than the hedgehog who he had been fussing over.

Mephiles was standing dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway, holding a half empty box of what was labeled as chocolatey toaster pastries in both hands, as if he had been intent on either sneaking them back to the room, or was bringing them to share. He blinked twice and stepped forward.

"... Are... Uh... Are you alright..?" The hedgehog said hesitantly, sensing enough to know right away it was otherwise, but didn't want to assume.

Dark inhaled sharply and caught him by the shoulders, dragging Mephiles towards him, causing the hedgehog to drop the box of Pop Tarts.

"Don't leave me alone like that! Do you understand, me!" Dark shouted, shaking him slightly, his eyes squeezed shut as Mephiles stared back with wide ones. "The last thing I want to do first thing in the morning is wake up and wonder where the heck you are! The least you could do is leave a note or something!"

"... B-but I was j-just-! I-I haven't even l-left the house..." Mephiles stuttered, confused as to why Dark was acting this way.

As Dark continued to chew him out, gradually sounding more and more hysterical as Mephiles continued to attempt to assure him that it was not the case, and that he hadn't even opened the front door yet, let alone actually left... Mephiles realized that Dark was actually exhibiting some form of an anxiety attack.

Thinking quickly, the hedgehog swiftly pulled out of the shadow's grip and threw his arms around him, locking Dark's arms to his side as the young shadow creature squirmed and shouted as he was pulled and half dragged to the couch, and set down as the hedgehog tried to calm him down gently.

The careful touch of fingers to an ear, softly rubbing behind it helped Dark realize what had happened, and almost embarrassedly, he tried to turn away, pale face blushing furiously.

"... S-sorry..." Dark mumbled before lowering his head, staring fixedly on the floor.

"... It's nothing to worry about." Mephiles reassured him, smiling feebly as he squeezed him gently in a hug before starting to get up off the couch.

Dark panicked and quickly grabbed the hedgehog's arm, looking up with a worried and questioning expression.

"... I'm just gonna pick up the box I dropped in the hallway..." Mephiles explained, carefully prying himself free. "... And if you want, I could get you some tea or something..?"

Ears perking forward, Dark nodded slowly, smiling back faintly, before asking: "... Are... Are we the only ones here..?"

"Yeah. Shadow and Rouge couldn't get out of work together today after all the missed days lately..." Mephiles laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "... So it's just you and me until evening..."

Mephiles disappeared for a few seconds to grab the box and came back to hand it to Dark, who looked up at him in confusion.

"Try one. They're pretty good."

With that smile, Dark couldn't say no.


"No."

"But, Shadow-!"

"I said no. You are not going out there by yourself again so soon after what just happened." Shadow shoved the model motorcycle he was having to fix, for the countless number of times, aside on the table to lean forward and stare fixedly at Mephiles, who was nervously twiddling his fingers. "Last time you went out on a trip into town with Dark, you almost got killed."

"Th-that was really m-more of an isolated event..." The younger hedgehog tried to reason with him. "... A-and that was b-because of the planet being sp-split and all..."

"We have no way you can contact us if you get in a situation like that again, and I do not want to find your blood smeared all over an alley again, and wonder what on Mobius happened."

"Th-that's a bit of an exaggeration..." Mephiles stuttered, biting his lip and looking up at the ceiling. "... It w-wasn't all over..."

"... It k-kinda was..."

"N-not helping..."

"What could you possibly be so intent on doing anyway, that you have to go all the way to the park for?" Shadow frowned, eyes narrowed. "That's ten blocks away, and you of all people do not like to be going out in wide open places like that, Meph."

"It's f-for Dark." Mephiles lowered his gaze back to look at Shadow. "We're meeting s-someone there, actually..."

"Nice try, but who could he be interested in meeting with besides you?" Shadow folded his arms. "No offense, but he doesn't even like people knowing he exists."

"... He's got a point..."

"Oh, f-for the love of-! Fine! We were g-going to meet up w-with Shu!" Mephiles finally shouted, getting desperate and uncharacteristically irritated.

"... W-we are..?"

"Yes, and I w-wanted to s-surprise you with it, noooo, Shadow wanted t-to-!"

"That hedgehog back when we found you two?" Shadow blinked. "Wait, you were unconscious when he showed up, even Tails said so."

"Um... Email..?" Mephiles said quickly, his quills bristling a little before smoothing. "... He k-kinda looked after Dark while we were s-seperated, and I kinda wanted to th-thank him, and he's kinda D-Dark's friend now, too, so I th-thought it would b-be kinda nice if they could k-kinda get to stay f-friends... Kinda..?"

"... It's covered in snow out there this time of year. Why the park?"

"... Wh-why not..?" Mephiles blinked, trying to control his stutter, wringing his hands. "It's an open area w-well within v-view of everyone, and if s-something happened, people would s-see right away..."

"Look, all I'm saying is I'm not too keen on letting you go out on your own after we almost lost you..." Shadow raised his eyebrows. "It feels too soon for that, y'know?"

"I won't b-be alone!" Mephiles shook his head, persistent as ever. "Dark will be with me!"

"See, that's exactly the same reasoning that happened last time, and both of you were overwhelmed." Shadow shook his head as well.

"That's not f-fair!" Mephiles snapped back. "What were the ch-chances that that would have h-happened? It's not like it's a c-common occurrence!" Blinking, the hedgehog lowered his tone sheepishly. "... Please? Shu is the only p-person Dark has met outside of our circle, and..."

"It's odd that you're the one asking so much, and yet Dark hasn't said anything about this..." Shadow said, holding back a grin at this. "Alright, what's up with this then?"

"N-nothing!" Mephiles shouted almost too quickly, causing Dark to look at him incredulously. Mephiles stammered before catching himself. "Dark and I have been either stuck indoors or inside the hospital for ages now, and Dark's hasn't actually enjoyed the outdoors in even longer. You say so yourself that we can't hide in the house forever..."

"... If you go, I go with you." Shadow folded his arms.

"... If it gets us there, I don't see why not..."


Standing in an area that was untouched by the snow, which was under the tree that had served as many times an important place for our boys... Y'know, the large tree that Mephiles buried his family under... Well, Shu was waiting for them.

Looking up from the ground, with nothing to watch in particular, as most of the critters that inhabited the park were hibernating this time of year, he saw the group of hedgehogs and smiled, waving.

"I wasn't sure that you'd be allowed to come, considering how long you've been in the hospital." He said, knowing that he was going to have to be careful as to what to say while Shadow was around. "Both of you look a lot better than last time I saw you..."

"Well, I finally regain nearly all of my ability to walk properly..." Mephiles grinned his nervous smile, reaching over to grab Dark's arm and push him forward, as the shadow seemed a little anxious about this arrangement. "And Dark's actually been eating more regularly now, so he's not as thin anymore."

"... It wasn't that bad..." Dark mumbled nervously, fidgeting with the new scarf he now had, which was a slightly darker blue than the last one.

"I remember it completely different..." Shu said flatly, earning a squeak from Dark, which caused the odd green hedgehog to quickly say, waving his hand as if to try and sweep the tense feeling away: "But that's great to hear that you're doing better! I bet that means your quills are getting tougher now too? Not brittle anymore?"

At that, Dark nodded in response to the positive note the comments and questions had taken, smiling a little.

"... Not at all..." He let go of the scarf. "... And Mephy and I have our own room now, so we don't have to sleep on the floor anymore, or fight over the couch..."

Shadow watched as the three odd hedgehogs chatted back and forth between them, absolutely perplexed as to how Dark could be so somewhat comfortable with conversing with Shu, considering how distrustful and aggressive Dark tended to act to others who were not of the very small group that lived in their house... And sometimes not even that.

Despite the cold weather, this meeting continued for at least another hour and a half before Shadow spoke up.

"If you don't mind me asking, why choose such a wide open area this time of year to meet up?" He started, scratching his head. "That's all good in the summer, with the warm heat and all, but I would think someplace indoors would be a better choice, don't you think?"

"... I wasn't sure if you'd let us bring him home..." Mephiles said in a small voice, dropping his gaze to the ground.

"Why not? If he's really your friend, I see no reason why he can't." Shadow shrugged. "It's also a lot less snowy inside, and this is perfect weather for something like tea or coffee or whatever..."

"Oh, yes! Can we?"

This happened to have been said by all three of the younger hedgehogs at the same time, which caused them all to look at each other and quickly start laughing at that.

Shadow blinked in confusion.

"Okay, you're starting to weird me out..."


Upon arriving at the house, the first thing to note that happened was that Tape froze and stared at Shu with a low growl, which quickly made the green hedgehog uneasy.

"... Oh, he kinda gets the wariness of strangers from me..." Dark tried to quickly cover that up, picking up his cat, who squirmed in his arms restlessly. "... I'm sure he'll get used to you if you gave it some time..."

Tape hissed loudly, tearing free from Dark's arms, bristling his fur and holding his tail up high, taking off down the hall and into the open door to Shadow and Rouge's room, presumably under the bed.

"... Well, that's not a good sign..." Shu, who had flinched the moment the cat jumped, having half expected it to leap for him and attempt to maul him... slowly lowered his arms from his face. "... Maybe it was a bad idea to come here..."

"No, it's fine! Tape just doesn't know how to meet new people!" Dark tried to justify quickly. "I'm sure he'll like you after a while! Especially if he sees that I like you!"

Shu inhaled as if to respond, but a quick glance to the side that reminded him that Shadow was there deterred whatever he had planned originally.

A shrill cry from Mephiles, who had taken off to check on the cat momentarily, sounded off from, surprising the others enough to cause them to all stop talking, all worried in varying degrees. The reason for the shout became clear seconds later, as the young hedgehog was now shoving a large pinkish cocoon across the floor out of the room, looking absolutely frantic.

"Oh, geeze! What is this thing! It looks like the one Krystal and Sharpe were in before they evolved, but it's pink!" Mephiles shouted, shoving the large dollop shaped item into the living room by sitting behind it and throwing his weight into it to move it, as it was just too smooth and wide to keep a good hold on it to carry. "Has anybody seen them? What about Kai! They've already evolved, so what in the world is this thing!"

"Uh... Meph..?" Shadow started, setting down the hot mugs of tea he had in his hands on the coffee table. "... That's... Um, you know how Chao can live more than one life sometimes?"

"But mine are still really young! They can't be hardly a year yet!" Mephiles' eyes were already tearing up.

"Krystal and Sharpe maybe..." Shadow looked away, really wishing Rouge had day off like he had, as she was a lot better at handling this sort of stuff than he was. "But, remember that you picked up Kai as an already evolved Chao, who was abandoned at the gardens... We have no idea how old he is, honestly..."

"And you're saying..?" Mephiles said slowly before his eyes shot wide open, shaking his head quickly enough that his crystal quills hit against each other and made that certain sound. "No! Nuh-uh! That's not fair!"

"Wait a moment. What color does that look like to you?" Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose.

"... It's pink. I don't see what that has to it..." The younger hedgehog sniffled.

Dark caught on right away, sharp mind that he had.

"There's three colors Chao cocoons come in..." He explained, smiling slightly, much to the bewilderment of both Mephiles and Shu. "Aqua is simply evolution. Gray means that's it, it's over. But pink... That means you get another chance, because the Chao was very happy with it's life."

"... W-wait..." Mephiles blinked, perking his ears up. "... So... He's not d-dead..?"

"Well, technically, he still died..." Shadow reasoned. "But he gets to start over again. You get to raise Kai from an egg now."

"... You sure..?"

"Have I lied to you about serious things before?"

"... N-no..." Mephiles scratched his head nervously, flattening his ears.

The cocoon started to become transparent, and inside it was the large spotted egg that was common among most Chao species. A squeaky cooing sound from beneath the pile of throw pillows on the couch announced that Krystal was present, poking her head out from the cushions as Sharpe drifted to the cocoon, looking at it questioningly before deciding it would be a great idea to smack at it with his claws.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Mephiles grabbed Sharpe and pulled the mischievous, squirming little Chao away from the surrounded egg. "How would you like it if someone started banging their hands against your egg while you were still in it?"

If any of the hedgehogs (or hedgehog shaped creatures...) could understand Chao, they might have recognized Sharpe's look as: My egg had two of us in it. Believe me, anything to crack it open faster is greatly appreciated...

But, no one besides Krystal caught it.

... It wasn't that bad... Was it..?

You were sitting on top of me. Sharpe huffed as he was put down on the couch away from the egg.

... You just happened to be on the bottom... Krystal drew back under the cushion pile cautiously. ... Besides, I weigh less, so it was better if I was sitting on you anyway... The girl Chao adjusted her pillow cover to make an air pocket to breathe from comfortably. ... So, Kai's gonna be a baby now..?

Yeah. That means Dad's gonna hafta pay more attention to him if he's gonna evolve right.

... I like Kai the way he was.

Cuz you got a crush on hiiiim! Sharpe cooed teasingly, rooting under the cushions to grin widely in his sister's face.

I do not! He's like our brother! That'd be so weird! Krystal shoved him away.

No, I'm your brother. Sharpe waved a claw in a correcting manner. Besides, he's got a crush on you too.

Really? Krystal said almost too fast, before she realized that Sharpe caught her. ... Aw, darn...

Meanwhile, back at the plot...

"... If you don't mind me asking..." Shu said, having seen the twin Chao before they disappeared under the pillows. "... Why are those two alike but different at the same time?"

"Well, they're twins, to start off..." Mephiles shrugged. "... They came out of the same egg, which is really rare. Krystal is the girl, and Sharpe is the boy... And they both ended up on either end of the alignment spectrum..."

"... The girl looks very timid..."

"She takes after me..."

"What about the other one..?" Shu blinked. "He's got a bit of a mean streak, it looks like, but you don't look like one to have it..."

"Naw, he's not mean, he just likes to cause trouble." Mephiles laughed nervously.

"... With this one being an egg again, you may want to watch out..." Dark spoke up, not looking away from the egg.

"I'm sure I can figure something out..."

"... That also means..." Dark started up, but swiftly ended the statement before it sounded complete, catching Mephiles' attention as he turned away, folding his arms in an agitated way.

"... What..?"

"... Nothing..." Dark grunted, not even look up from the floor as the cocoon disappeared and left the egg sitting unguarded. "... Forget I even started it..."

Mephiles immediately sensed a twinge of jealousy once the words faded. Confused for a moment as to why, a quick glance at the egg clicked something into place.

... Aw, crud... This happened at a really inconvenient time... Mephiles told himself just as Shadow glanced at him for a silent reason for Dark's sudden mood change. Green eyes shifted to the egg briefly to sum it up for the oldest of the group. ... Dark's been worried and waiting for me to be alright for months now, and just as we could even be close to being back to normal... I have a baby Chao that needs probably my full attention if I want him to turn out eight... And Dark doesn't like to share me...

Awkward silence. Even Shu seemed to want to back away and not be noticed.

Then an idea hit him. A great one. One that seemed to be a perfect solution for both a compromise and reinforcement.

Picking up the egg carefully and moving over to where Dark was, Mephiles paused, thinking it over carefully as the other two had their eyes on him before he inhaled slowly and started his plan.

"... Would you like to help with raising Kai this time..?"

Dark lifted his head and looked at Mephiles with mild confusion.

"... What..?"

"... It's something we can do together, and..." Mephiles paused, remembering that his wording had to be careful, not only to keep Dark from getting upset, but also so that Shadow didn't catch on to who Shu really was, and that Shu didn't feel offended. "... If anyone has a good idea about second chances, it's you the most... The most recent..." Mephiles managed to catch himself on that one. "... Plus, Kai's kinda started to seem to like you, if the other night was an indication..."

Dark blinked.

"... He's your Chao..."

"... I can share..."