This is a very short interim fic which takes place somewhere between the last two chapters of Secrets of the Emeralds, before Tails leaves Angel Island and before Knuckles heals Sonic. It's been referred to in the sequel to Secrets (Caves of the Ancients) and one reviewer commented that they'd like to read about it, so I thought I'd write it :P It's more of a light humourous fic than anything else. Enjoy!

Knuckles had just finished lunch when Tails came to stand in front of him, regarding him solemnly.

"What?" the echidna said edgily. That was the thing about Tails; you never knew what he was going to come out with, and the more solemn and serious he looked, the worse it usually was.

"Knuckles, where did I come from?"

Knuckles frowned perplexedly.

"You tell me. I only met you a couple years ago, remember? Aren't you from one of the Hill Zones?"

Tails shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I mean where did I come from? You know, at the very beginning? When I was a cub?"

"Oh!" Understanding didn't dawn on the echidna so much as explode, and Knuckles coughed. "Oh...right. Well. Um. Yes. Ah...has Sonic never, uh, never explained this to you?"

Another shake of the head.

"No, I've never asked Sonic."

Then why are you asking ME! Knuckles wanted to wail, but didn't. He got his answer a second later as Tails added, "Besides, I know you're not gonna fob me off."

Was there such a thing as being too honest and truthful for your own good? Knuckles rather thought that there might be.

Actually, come to think of it, what was the fox's life cycle?

"I...only really know about echidnas," he hedged, in the hopes that this would discourage Tails from further questioning. It didn't.

"That's okay. I mean, it's kinda the same all over, right?"

"Well...sorta." Knuckles rubbed the back of his neck. Jeez, where was Sonic when you needed him? Even bitter and crippled like he was now (although he had shown signs of recovery) the hedgehog would be much better suited to dealing with this topic, and if he wasn't then at least Knuckles could have gotten a good laugh out of it. "But...see, echidnas hatch out of eggs and then live on milk until it's time to go onto solids."

"Yeah, and me and Sonic were just born."

"Exactly. See, you do know," Knuckles said hopefully, and Tails promptly slam-dunked that hope into the bedrock by saying, "Well, yeah, I know that the female lays eggs or gives birth or whatever. I just don't know how the eggs and babies get inside her to begin with."

"You don't...oh. Oh. Oh boy. Uh." Embarrassment wasn't something that came very easily to Knuckles, but by the Master Emerald, he was learning, and learning fast at that!

Tails clambered up to sit on the rock next to the echidna.

"So how's it happen? Is it like growing plants?"

"Yeah!" Knuckles pounced on the analogy with a strong sense of relief. "Yeah, it is. See, uh, the female has an egg inside her which kinda acts like a seed, and the male...kind of...waters it with a special liquid and the first, uh, the first drop of the water—"

"—liquid—"

"—right, right, the first drop of the liquid to reach the seed, I mean the egg, well the liquid fertilises it and it grows into a baby...eesh..." The echidna dropped his head into his hands, fully aware of how badly he was screwing this up.

But damn, giving sex education to two-tailed foxes had not been on the agenda for that day!

Tails' face scrunched up in thought for a few minutes, then he said, "Yeah, I sorta see how that works. So the guy waters this egg and the first drop of water to hit the egg turns it into a kid, right?"

"Right." Feeling he was on firmer ground now, Knuckles made the fatal mistake of relaxing. "And then when that kid gets big enough, the mother gives birth or lays the eggs or whatever. You know the rest, right?"

Tails considered.

"How long does it take? For the egg to develop and come out?"

"Uh. Depends on the species of the mother."

"Echidnas."

"Echidnas? Oh...about three months. Puggles are pretty much helpless for another five months though; they live in their mother's pouch until their spines grow."

"So lemme make sure I got this straight. The father waters the egg and the first drop of water to hit the egg turns it into a kid and then after a bit the mother has the kid?"

"Yeah. Exactly." Please, please let that be the end of it, Knuckles pleaded to anyone who might be listening as he took a gulp of water.

Tails was silent for a few minutes, then said, "Knux?"

"Ye-es?" the echidna said warily.

"The egg's inside the mother, right?"

"Ye-es..."

"So how does the father get the special water in there?"

Knuckles choked violently on his own, rather more ordinary water and Tails moved up to whack him on the back a couple of times.

"He...uh..." Knuckles coughed. "Well, uh, you know kissing?"

Tails looked revolted. "What, he spits down her throat?"

It says something for the echidna's discomfort that he seriously considered saying yes, if only to shut the fox up.

"Not quite," he said helplessly, cursing his innate honesty. "It's kinda...well, a little like that, but lower down." When Tails looked bemused, Knuckles gestured towards the groinal area.

Now Tails looked completely and utterly repulsed. "Eurgh! He pees on her?"

"No, he...well, he has a..." Knuckles coughed again. "See...the female has a...a sort of..." His mind raced frantically for an analogy. "Well...it's a kind of...like a special slot and the male..."

Tails bit into a pella fruit while scrutinising the echidna thoughtfully.

"So...is it kinda like those shapes I used to make as a kid? You know, Insert Tab A Into Slot B, that kinda thing?"

"That kinda thing, yeah."

"And then what? He pumps the special water into her?"

"Well...that's one way of putting it, yeah."

"What's it like?" Tails asked curiously.

"How the hell should I know? I've never—" Knuckles broke off rather abruptly and cleared his throat a bit too loudly. "What does that matter?" he said instead.

"I'm just curious. Where do you get these pumps?"

The echidna stared at him. "Tails, you're not honestly thinking of—"

"No way! I don't want kids ever! But I'd just like to know in case I change my mind when I'm older."

Knuckles took a long, deep breath. "If it comes to it, Tails, you'll find one."

"But it'd be much easier if you could just show me—"

"No!" Damn it all to hell, Knuckles thought wearily, how did he get into these situations?

"Okay." Tails scrunched noisily at his fruit. "So the male pumps some special water into the female who then grows a baby from the first drop of water and the seed inside her which is really an egg. Right?"

"Pretty much." Knuckles didn't dare relax, not yet.

"So why're you so embarrassed 'bout telling me?"

"It..." Knuckles coughed. "It's not the sort of thing that some people like discussing in polite society."

"Yeah, but you don't have any society, polite or otherwise," Tails said bluntly.

"You'll understand when you get older." It was a copout and Knuckles knew it, but he couldn't think of any other way to explain. Tails heaved a sigh.

"I wanna understand now, Knux! How'd you find out?"

"My mother explained it to me." In fact, explained was too kind a word; when Knuckles had asked the same question aged about five and a half, Lara-Le's exact words had been, "Two partners screw each other and when they're done there's a baby inside the female. You know the rest, Knuckles. Now get your behind back to the shrine right now; it's your duty to guard the Master Emerald and I've done my shift for the day." It had been Mighty who had finally helped the echidna fill in the gaps some five years later.

"Your mother? So you can't've been older than six 'cause that's when she—"

"—died right next to me, Tails, yeah, thanks for reminding me," Knuckles said waspishly.

"Sorry. But you understood it when you were six, and I'm eight so I wanna understand it completely."

"I didn't understand it completely, kid, not until I was about ten."

"Ten." Tails fell silent, musing. "So does that mean you're gonna be a bit more explicit when I'm ten?"

"Yes, probably." Knuckles would have said anything to get out of this conversation, although he made a mental note to keep well away from Tails on the kid's tenth birthday unless Sonic was back with them again.

"And you'll tell me where I can get one of those pumps?"

Knuckles closed his eyes with an inward groan. Sometimes, Master Emerald or no Master Emerald, sometimes it really was not worth getting up in the morning...

Okay, that's it. Just a bit of light fun, but if you read it, please review :D And a big thankyou to those who have reviewed so far:

SaffraEchidna: (blushes) Thanks; I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

TurboTails23: (happy smile) Thanks :D

PyroHedgehog4Ever: You did:P Great! (Well, not great as such, but...oh hell, you know what I mean ;))

Awdures: Yes, Tails does have a knack for that, doesn't he? ;)

Kj: Thanks :)

Ryopon: Thanks; yeah, I felt for Knuckles all the time I was writing it (weg)

Matt Lans: Oh yeah, Knuckles was red alright ;) Poor guy...

TC Chan: (blushes again) Thanks; I'm glad it was okay ;) And yes, I loved the 'pee' part as well :P

ShadowIsCool: Heh...okay, I won't ;) Thanks for reviewing, glad you liked it :D

The Kitsune Warrior: (smiles) Thanks :D

Rivic:D Thanks; glad you liked it!

XTailsX: Heh, thanks ;)