Home Again

Shadow and Knuckles didn't remain on the Island very long. It would soon be descended upon by hoards of human press, and both were keen to leave before they arrived, and before the majority of humans could connect Chaos Controlled with Project Shadow. Certainly there were those in the higher levels of human society who knew the truth, but Shadow and Knuckles thought it best to keep that number as small as possible. They abandoned the Island as soon as they had paid Cholra a flying visit in the infirmary.

Shadow and Knuckles returned home to find Sonic and Tails waiting for them. They'd made themselves at home. Shadow and Knuckles were too tired to mind as they traipsed in early that morning after spending the previous day and most of the night travelling, neither had been able to sleep. In fact they perhaps welcomed Sonic and Tails' visit, as it meant someone else to cook for them, and the majority of the neglected chores had been done. Sonic had a major problem with sitting still for any length of time. As it turned out they'd arrived late the previous evening, both attracted by rumours of something to do with them and the Master Emerald. Knuckles told them the story over a very welcome lunch. Both the visitors were sad to hear of Master Ribern's death and offered Knuckles their condolences. He brushed these off with a gesture as though trying to dispel salt from open wounds. They invited Sonic and Tails to stay a few days, seeing as though they already seemed fairly settled. Both agreed.

Sonic and Knuckles were laid in the garden, soaking up some rare sunshine whilst Shadow and Tails played further down.
"Are you happy here Knuckles?" Sonic asked softly
"Since when did you care if I was happy?" Knuckles asked simply, without any clear emotion
"Knuckles I'm supposed to be your friend… I just wanted to know if this was what you wanted"
Knuckles sighed, rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand so he could look at Sonic. "I think so. This is what I've dreamed of for a long time… a normal home, in the mountains, with someone other than the Master Emerald for company, with the facility to explore, live my own life, but always have somewhere and someone to come back to…" Knuckles looked down the slope to where Shadow and Tails were playing. "I have to admit some days are more difficult than others… Being Bound to Shadow is more difficult than the Master Emerald, for reasons you'd probably rather not hear, and reasons I'd be grilled for telling you… but it is more rewarding… and I definitely enjoy it more. Now I'm the person I was always meant to be. Now I'm a true Guardian"
"But don't you ever wish you weren't a Guardian? That you'd just grown up as a normal Echidna?"
"Not anymore. My years at the Training School were, on the whole enjoyable. I enjoy being Shadow's Guardian…"
"I'd kill him"
Knuckles chuckled softly "I'd like to see you try…" He raised an eyebrow "I don't deny that sometimes I want to strangle him…"
"But don't you ever wish that you could just be you, put your needs first"
"I'd consider that selfish… Besides… I'd be pathetically lonely without him. It was the loneliness I couldn't take with the Emerald."
Sonic shrugged still looking up at the sky "I couldn't take it. Being Bound to one person all my life… They'd drive me crazy"
"Sonic, don't ever get married"
Sonic laughed "Commitment scares me, right?"
"Scares the hell out of me"
Sonic turned to look at him "Really?"
"Hell yeah. Why'd you think it took me so long to get up the guts to Bond with Shadow? I was terrified we'd spend the rest of our lives fighting with each other… As it turns out, Shadow's just like an extra limb…" Knuckles looked away "But we have our bad days…"
Sonic wrinkled his nose "Like what?"
"Just things…" Knuckles seemed unwilling to elaborate "Just part of being a Guardian I suppose" He shrugged and smiled, just as Shadow and Tails wandered up to them.
"What is?" Shadow asked curiously, in a voice much changed by laughter and security. "Are you moaning about me again?" Shadow plonked himself down by Knuckles side and pulled playfully on one of his dreadlocks until he was forced to look up at him. "Huh? What you been saying behind my back?"
"Paranoid then?"
Shadow looked at Sonic, his voice lost all its playfulness for a moment and sounded more adult "I have never been paranoid, that was one thing I was not"
"Nah, he leaves that to me… I worry more than enough for the both of us." Knuckles said laying on his back.
"Yes, you should lighten up"
"For once I agree with Shadow" Sonic chuckled.
"Sound's kinda weird Shadow telling someone to lighten up" Tails mused innocently
"When compared with Knuckles… just about anyone looks like fun" Sonic laughed and playfully slapped Knuckles across his prone chest.
"Just remember whose house you're in"
Sonic smirked "Shadow's… and actually we're in the garden."
Knuckles rolled his eyes but said no more.

Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles lounged around the surprisingly comfortable living room. Their choice of furniture had been fairly limited with Knuckles' stubborn ban on flammable substances. In some places he'd been forced to give way, the beds, and a few other trinkets, all things that could be easily replaced. Essential items were forged from the same material as their flame proof gloves, carefully synthesised by Tails. Despite the lack of what could be called "soft" furnishings the room didn't feel cold or utilitarian, it had a kind of warm lived in feeling that more than made up for the harsh lines of the metal and bare stone surfaces. The fire burning in the hearth kept the place comfortably warm at all times, and when Shadow was in the mood could provide an interesting light show. Now Sonic watched with finely veiled curiosity as Shadow carved a bird of ice from thin air, the ice crystals gradually growing where he held out his hand. Shadow's face was a mask of focused concentration, and Sonic didn't get even the slightest impression that he was doing it for fun. Knuckles appeared to be dozing in his metal sprung chair when Sonic looked to him. Then with a frustrated cry from Shadow his eyes snapped open. Sonic looked back to him, the wing had snapped off his bird. With a flash of angry red fire the bird was vaporised, as Shadow said something with venom in a dialect Sonic was unfamiliar with. Knuckles just raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"Sorry… but you did teach me that one" Shadow said meekly
A small smile crossed Knuckles face "You were doing well…"
Shadow shook his head "I made one of those for Maria… and even that horse for the stupid army man's daughter… I can't do it anymore… even with your help"
"Control will come with time Shadowkin… You had an incentive back then…"
Sonic looked confused.
"Making ice requires a great deal of Control from Shadow over his powers… It's more difficult than fire… I'm having him practice it so that maybe he'll have a better handle on the flames when he needs to. Ice, for the time being, is marginally less destructive" Knuckles stood up, yawned, and stretched. "Now Shadow, if you would do the honours with the fire I think we should all go to bed… Or at the very least… I am"
The other two nodded their agreement. The fire seemingly all by itself dwindled almost to its embers. Then, with the various necessaries seen to Shadow and Knuckles bid Sonic goodnight.

Tails was already tucked up in Shadow's bed. Sonic managed to creep in and get into the opposite end without disturbing him significantly, although he did mumble something cryptic about an engine. The human sized bed was easily big enough for the both of them sleeping top to tail, Sonic relaxed peacefully, feeling the cool mountain air brush across his forehead from the glassless window.

The sounds of voices disturbed him in the night. Or not so much a voice as an almost animal moan. Sonic's eyes snapped open. For a moment he thought he'd imagined it, the memory of some phantasm from his dreams. He lay still and silent. He was about to dismiss it when he heard it again, clearly this time. It was like the smothered moan of some desperate injured creature. For a moment he feared it, until he realised it was coming from the room beside him. Sound carried better in a house with no doors. The noise was growing, louder and more frequent. Sonic thought he could hear movement. Then as Sonic listened a second voice joined it, low and groaning. Then after a few seconds the second voice formed into words, though they were too quiet to understand. This second voice spoke over the first, until abruptly the first became silent. The second voice paused, said a little more, was responded to by that same moaning noise, there were more sounds of movement, then finally all faded back to silence aside from the normal night time noises. A little confused, Sonic sank back into sleep with the cricket calls.

He was always first up. Force of habit he supposed. He was stood in the kitchen in time to watch a dewy sunrise, smiling to himself.
"What do you have to be so pleased about?"
Knuckles nearly leapt out of his skin.
"Sonic! Don't creep up on me like that!... What the hell are you doing up this early?"
Sonic shrugged "Couldn't sleep…"
For a moment Knuckles looked like he was going to say something, but then changed his mind.
"Besides… I wanted to talk to you"
Knuckles raised an eyebrow "Uh oh, must be serious"
Bringing a mug of steaming liquid with him Knuckles followed Sonic outside. For a moment they stood and watched the sunrise.
"So Sonic, how long's it been since you were awake in time to see a sunrise?"
Sonic laughed softly but didn't answer. For a long moment they just stared ahead, as though Sonic had forgotten what it was he'd wanted to say, or was perhaps, looking for the right words.
"How dangerous is Shadow really?" Sonic asked suddenly.
Knuckles was surprised by the question. For a moment he couldn't answer. "Urgh… Depends how you mean"
"You know what I mean"
"Well… He's not so much a danger… as… a liability" Knuckles said honestly "He's as much a danger to himself as to anyone else… That's why he needs a Guardian…"
"Is he a danger to you Knuckles?" Sonic asked evenly, with poorly veiled frustration.
"Don't start that again Sonic!"
"It's an honest question Knuckles! Despite what you seem to think I am your friend, I want to leave here knowing you're safe and that you'll still be here when I come back to visit. I do care about you Knux… I just don't want to see you hurt that's all" Sonic looked away
"You still don't trust Shadow do you?"
Sonic groaned softly "Its not that I don't trust Shadow… It's just… I'm not sure I trust him with you"
Knuckles was deeply touched by Sonic's words. Before he could formulate an answer Sonic had turned and was looking at him.
"You know I see Tails as a kinda kid brother, you know that right?"
Knuckles nodded "We both do"
"Well since I met you, and we became friends… I've always thought of you as a big brother…" Knuckles raised an eyebrow "I always looked up to you… Even though we seemed like complete opposites… I admired you maybe" Sonic was starting to go red "Until the ARK you always seemed to be able to handle yourself… then after that… I to watched you get… weird… When Shadow turned up… I was… worried about you… I thought I knew more about Shadow than you… and that it was my duty to protect you, coz he seemed to have you fooled into thinking he was a nice guy and all that… Wait, I aint finished… I didn't want to see you get hurt Knuckles… I know I know it wasn't my place to choose your friends, and it turns out I was wrong, at least in part… But… I've seen a side of Shadow you haven't. I know you've seen a side I never will but… I can't stop myself thinking that Shadow could be more dangerous than you realise." Sonic sighed "Did any of that make sense?"
Knuckles smiled "Yes and no. …I understand what you mean Sonic, and I'm touched, I really am, but you have to understand, I wanted to be Shadow's Guardian… And now that I am, we can't go back on that. I don't think he'd hurt me intentionally… I know he wouldn't"
"But unintentionally?"
"Sonic that's the risk you take when you become friends with anyone! You go into any relationship accepting that you might get hurt."
"I… I heard you last night"
"Oh, sorry 'bout that, Shadow had a nightmare… summin' about the Biolizard or summin' I dunno…"
"A nightmare?"
"Yeah, he was crying in his sleep so I woke him up…"
"He still has them then?"
Knuckles nodded
"So as I was asking… Shadow's power… you have some control over it right? Is it in check?"
"More or less. But Shadow hasn't got really angry since we've been together… So… I dunno… I think we have it under control between us… but we've yet to put ourselves really to the test."
"You think you can control him?"
Knuckles turned serious and looked out at the landscape "Heavens, I hope so… because if I can't…"
"That doesn't fill me with confidence"
"I think I can. Shadow has his bad days, but so far it's not been anything we can't handle. We have our little accidents, but so far the most spectacular only resulted in a few scorched trees and burned dinner…" Knuckles smiled "No worries Blue… I can handle your black counterpart. We're in control"
"You know Knuckles you talk in plurals a lot at the moment"
He smiled and put on a grand voice "For a Guardian there is no I and me, only us and we!" He descended into laughter "They make us memorise that right at the beginning. I always thought it was a bit of a joke with the Emerald… back then there was no us, only it" For a moment a scowl crossed his face "Four years of my life I wasted" he muttered resentfully. "Four years Sonic… It was like being a prisoner… I was as trapped as Shadow in his glorified freezer…"
Sonic couldn't help but laugh, and in turn his laughter spread to Knuckles. Once their giggles were over Knuckles spoke
"So where you been since we last saw you"
"Oh, you know, here, there, everywhere, all at supersonic speed!"
Knuckles grinned "really… coz I was wondering if you could recommend any nice interesting spots we could visit, show Shadow some of what Earth really has to offer… I'm afraid I'm a little ignorant myself"
"Well…" Sonic began.

Sonic gave Knuckles a fairly extensive list of all his favourite places in the world. Knuckle's mind boggled, somehow he doubted they would ever manage to visit them all. Up until now, for Knuckles, the world had been a very small place indeed, no bigger than Angle Island and the places she happened to wander over. In four years, aside from the times he'd been helping Sonic, the farthest Knuckles had been from the Emerald Shrine was six miles. For Shadow the case was much the same. Of all the places Sonic described the most intriguing sounded like an island far to the north of the planet, formed mostly of ice, where lights danced in the evening sky. How Sonic had managed to get to that island, not being able to swim was beyond Knuckles. Another place Sonic described was a beach even the humans had failed to find at the edge of a thick forest where the sands were white and the only sentient life was a family of hedgehogs, who so far had always welcomed Sonic, on the pretence that he didn't reveal the location of their home to the masses. Sonic assure Knuckles that as his friends he and Shadow would be welcome. By the end of their conversation Knuckles was growing increasingly optimistic of the opportunities the world presented, and was even beginning to consider taking Shadow to one of the smaller human cities where he was unlikely to be noticed, or feared. The world had become an intriguing place for him; he understood why Shadow had spent so long standing at the ARK window watching it turn beneath him.

Sonic and Tails left later that day, Sonic on foot to continue his wanderings, Tails in the Tornado, both reassured that though not entirely recovered from the shock of Ribern's death, and the removal of the Master and Chaos Emeralds neither needed their help. With a fond wave and well wishing both departed happily.

With Sonic and Tails gone peace returned to Shadow and Knuckles' home. They went back to the quiet life they were both slowly growing used to. Knuckles found himself watching the light slowly fade from the eastern sky out of the kitchen window. He sighed softly to himself, this was the kind of life he'd always wanted, peaceful, natural, quiet. He looked down at what he was doing, the simplest of tasks, chopping vegetables. He looked up at Shadow, standing in the garden in his usual spot, watching the humans' village, the first of the stars just appearing around his head. If he'd told his younger self where he was now he would never have believed it. His life had changed so much in the last few months, for that was all it had been, a few months, a few months since the ARK, since he'd met Shadow. It seemed like years. Happily he listened to the birdsong in the trees all around him, everything was peaceful. A nagging little voice in the back of his mind told him it couldn't last…