Feather prower tried to sleep. He really did. The hour was early, and his lids were heavy, but ultimately he simply couldn't bear it any longer.

The fox's eyes snapped open, blinking several times to clear themselves as he glared at the bottom of the bunk above.

From the top bunk, a great snore rattled long and loud, and Feather finally decided that enough was enough. He simply wasn't going to sleep any longer, and so he released a frustrated sigh and swung his legs out of his bed.

The fair-furred fox retrieved his purple gown from a nearby chair and slipped in, his ears perking as his bunkmate snorted and muttered with the motion.

"Whu'z'ap'nnin?!" Blitz Prower, half in and out of his covers and on his stomach while he hugged his pillow, raised his head and cast a dumfounded look around the small room, eyes barely open and ears askew. "Feav?! Whu'ya doin', you'wok me up..."

"Oh well, I do apologise..." Feather replied haughtily, fastening his gown around his slender form, "did I interrupt your little snoring session?"

Blitz grinned, eyelids still partially closed at different altitudes. "Sorry princess..." he said, stifling a yawn, "Did I rouse her highness from her royal slumber?"

Feather choked back a laugh and instead grabbed a cushion to throw at his twin. Blitz deftly caught the cushion in one hand and wore a lopsided grin.

"You sound like a jumbo jet taking off..." Feather said, crossing his arms and glaring mock-sternly, "with something caught in the turbines..."

Blitz set the cushion behind his head and rolled onto his back, arms and legs splaying in different directions. "You have my sincerest apologies, your worshipfulness..."

Feather sighed and cocked his head, long head-fur trailing over his shoulders. Blitz didn't know it, but the effeminate fox couldn't help but feel validated by his sibling's comments. Feather allowed himself a small smile and cleared his throat, lightening his tone.

"I'm making breakfast..." the fox said, hugging his gown around him, "what do you want?"

"Zzoszagjeszz..."

Feather shook his head and turned to leave. "I'm going to assume sausages..."

"Thnkzzz..."

The robed fox left the room and entered the hall, the pads of his bare feet softly patting the floor. He reached a door furnished with a crude drawing of an aeroplane and gently lowered the handle, slowly creaking the door open.

He stuck his head through the crack and perked his ears, noting the small and unmoving lump bundled beneath the cloud-patterned covers. Feather smiled as he heard the light breathing of his smallest brother, Squirt Prower safely dreaming in his bed, surrounded by his toys and posters of aircraft and machines.

Feather felt a wave of maternal affection for the small fox, a warm smile softening his face.

"I..." the slender fox hesitated. Feather wondered if... the emotions running through Feather's heart were correct, if the words caught in Feather's throat should be uttered.

"I..." Feather whispered, swallowing their nerves and sadly looking over the sleeping bundle, "I love you, baby..."

The bundle didn't respond, Squirt Prower happily lodged in his dreams.

Feather sighed sadly, blue eyes looking over their brother with care, before they retreated and closed the door with a light click.

Feather wandered down the hall, a sudden fixation in their brain. They stopped dead in the hall, playing with their hands as they dared to internalise a sudden thought.

I want to be a mom.

Feather suddenly felt light headed, raking a swift diversion into the bathroom and locking the door. The fox gripped both sides of the sink with shaking hands, a feeling of shame sitting deep in their chest.

Why did I think that? What's wrong with me?

The fox forced their eyes up to glare at their reflection in the mirror, cursing themself for their slip.

And promptly spun around with a gasp, as they saw somebody else in there, another pair of blue eyes peering just over their shoulder.

Feather found nobody else in the bathroom. None of the other foxes had followed them in there.

Feather swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, and turned to look back in the mirror. No eyes this time, though they couldn't help but feel a presence in there with them... the sensation of a very familiar person right there by Feather's side.

"Tails?" Feather whispered, scanning the bathroom in the mirror, "is that you?"

Feather didn't receive a direct reply from the fractured intelligence... though felt the response in their heart.

When are you going to tell them?

Feather gripped the sink and sighed, searching in their own reflection for any sign of the fox they all had once been. "What if they hate me?" Feather said, as though talking to themself, "what if they think I'm a freak?"

They're your brothers, the response felt clearer this time, and Feather couldn't help but feel as though the presence shift, as though moving around the bathroom around the fox, why would they hate you?

"I don't know..." Feather said lightly, closing their eyes and releasing a sigh of melancholy, "I guess I'm just scared..."

There was no response this time. Feather opened their eyes and scanned the bathroom mirror, finding that the presence - Tails - had gone. It seemed his brief period of autonomy, such as it was, had come and gone.

"I'm so scared..." Feather whispered, hugging their gown around themself and shivering as their padded toes scrunched over the cold tiles, "I... don't know if I can do it..."

The fox took a final sad look at their own reflection, before turning tails and leaving the bathroom. It was time to make breakfast.

"Feather!"

Feather turned and grinned as a short orange figure tore into the kitchen and launched from the floor, the taller fox easily catching the smaller in their arms.

"Hey kiddo!" Feather said, hefting Squirt into a more comfortable grip, "you come to help with the breakfast?"

Squirt looked hungrily over the pans filled with sausages, the straps of his usual leather flight helmet dangling and swaying with them motion of his head. "Yeah! Can I test the sausages?"

Feather chuckled and set the smaller fox down on the kitchen floor. "They're not cooked yet, kiddo! Why don't you go make some bread and butter? We can have sausage sandwiches!"

Squirt grinned and scampered toward the fridge, reaching up on tiptoes to retrieve the butter and bread.

"Move it, short stuff."

Feather turned their attention from the sizzling sausages to find a very haggard-looking Blade reaching over Squirt's head and grabbing a soda from the top shelf. Squirt pouted and shoved Blade in the ribs. "Dun't call me short stuff, edgy boy!"

Blade scuffed Squirt's head, skewing the helmet and causing the smaller fox o squeak with irritation.

Feather set their hands on hips as Blade retrieved a bag of chips from an overhead cupboard. "You're up early."

Blade shrugged. "I haven't been to bed yet."

Feather watched disapprovingly as Blade tore open his chips. "Not joining us for breakfast?"

"This is my breakfast."

"No, Blade. Chips aren't breakfast." Feather said, reaching over and grabbing the bag from their moody brother's hands. "You're having a proper breakfast and that's final."

Blade folded his arms and scowled. "Says who?"

"Says your si... bling," Feather responded, just about saving themselves from saying something they'd regret. They set the chips down and pointed to the kitchen table. "Now sit your butt down and wait!"

Blade rolled his eyes and fell into one of the chairs. "Whatever you say, princess..."

Feather smiled as they returned their attention back to the pans filled with sausages. Once again, the slender fox couldn't help but feel validated.

"Man!" a far more chipper voice than Blade's sounded from behind, Feather casting a look over their shoulder to find Blitz entering the kitchen, head fur spiked up in his usual manner. "Something smells good!"

"Blitz!" Squirt piped up, holding up a plate of messily-prepared bread and butter, "I helped Feath with the breakfast!"

"Awesome, little dude!" Blitz replied with a thumbs-up, "Yo Feath! You training the squirt to be a chef?"

Feather chuckled. "Chef Squirt. I like it." They took the pan and scraped the contents onto a plate, the now perfectly cooked sausages sizzling in a pile as Feather turned with the plate in hand. "Now somebody go and get Doc. I swear that boy would forget to eat if we didn't remind him..."

The five siblings had gathered around the kitchen table, a bleary-eyed Doc Prower having joined the other foxes for his breakfast. As Feather had predicted, Doc had declined to eat since breakfast the preceding day, and Feather had to almost force him to sit down and eat.

"Man..." Blitz leaned back and patted his belly, grinning at Feather. "That was some real good grub, bro!"

Feather smiled in return, though the smile didn't quite reach their eyes. The fair-furred fox reached out and began gathering the empty plates. "Well I'm glad you boys enjoyed it..." they said lightly, taking the plates to the sink and running the tap, "somebody has to take care of you guys..."

"Yes, it was quite filling..." Doc said, raising his goggles and rubbing his bloodshot eyes, "thank you, Feather."

"Feather's the best cook in the world!" Squirt said, the little fox's face smeared with ketchup, "even better than Amy!"

"Don't let Amy hear you say that!" Blitz chuckled, "I don't think she'd be happy knowing she has a little competition!"

"Yeah..." Blade snorted, a mischievous smirk warping his face, "Feath-head sure knows how to handle a sausage or two..."

The foxes jumped with a start as Feather harshly deposited the plates on the counter, the purple-gowned fox now hunched over the sink with ears drooped.

"Uh, Feath?" Blitz said carefully, "you okay there buddy?"

Feather slowly turned around, arms folding over their chest as they glared at Blade. "What..." the ordinarily gentle-mannered fox hissed through grit teeth, "do you mean by that, Blade?"

Blade shrugged. "Come on dude," he grunted, "we all know what you're like."

"Blade..." Blitz said sternly, glaring at his brother, "drop it..."

"No Blitz, let him speak..." Feather snapped, raising a hand to silence the spiky-haired fox, "what do you mean, Blade? What am I like?"

"You want me to fuckin' spell it out?" Blade said defensively, suddenly appearing less sure of himself under his sibling's scrutiny, "we all know you're gay, dude. And nobody gives a shit."

"Blade!" Blitz snapped, "leave him alone!"

"I'm not gay..."

"What?" Blade said incredulously, "everybody's thinkin' it, I'm jus' sayin' it!"

"He is correct however..." Doc added, "I have more important matters to worry about than the sexual orientation of my siblings."

"What's sexall or... oruntention?" Squirt piped up, looking confusedly around his brothers.

"I'm not gay."

"Guys, just leave it okay?" Blitz said, trying to bring some order to his brothers, "if Feath's gay, then that's up to him to come to us! We don't just out somebody like that-"

"I'm NOT. GAY!"

The foxes fell silent, turning to find their sibling glaring with fists clenched, tails whipping like angry snakes.

Feather glowered at their brothers with angry eyes, before finally settling their venomous look on Blade. "I'm not GAY, Blade!" they said with contempt, voice shaking as they swallowed their nerves, "I'm... I'm a girl."

Feather's brothers cast awkward glances to one another, sudden realisation settling in their chests.

"Ah..." Blitz said, "right..."

"So there you go, boys..." Feather said, tears suddenly forming in her eyes, "now you know..."

Blitz scraped back his chair and rose to meet his sibling, the purple-gowned fox fiddling with her hands in shame. "Feath..." Blitz said gently, "you wanna talk about this?"

"No..." Feather turned away, recoiling from her brother. "Just... just leave me alone..."

With that, Feather positively ran from the kitchen, smacking a hand over increasingly tearful eyes.

The four brothers remained in awkward silence, Blitz directing an exasperated gesture to Blade. "Congratulations, Blade..." he said irritably, "congratu-fucking-lations. You upset her."

"I was jus' sayin' what everybody thought..." Blade muttered, gloomily staring at the table with his arms folded.

"Yeah well..." Blitz replied, hands on hips as he glowered at his brother, "looks like you screwed up, huh?"

"I din't know Feather was a girl..." Squirt said uncertainly, big eyes looking pleadingly up to his bigger brothers.

"Yeah, little buddy..." Blitz said, reaching down to ruffle his little brother's head, "neither did we..."

"Well..." Doc said, adjusting his goggles as he stood from the table, "the question now, is what do we do?"

Blitz hummed, looking around at the piles of unwashed plates and pans. "well first we clear this mess... Feath fed us, it's the least we can do..." he turned to Blade and frowned as he thought. "And I think we need to do something special for our sis..."

Blade Prower leaned his head back and groaned, his flap of black-dyed hair flopping over his right eye as he stood before the door to Blitz and Feather's room. He raised his hand and prepared to knock, hesitating before his knuckles touched the wood.

He'd fucked up, he knew. Dumbass, running his mouth and upsetting his siblings again... all he was good for, it seemed.

The moody fox glowered, looking down to his black and white sneakers. He wanted to just run away right now, run away and hide from the others... but he knew he couldn't Blade had screwed up, and now he needed to square things with his... sister.

The fox raised his knuckles and rapped the door, before turning the handle and sticking his head through the crack.

"Yo, uh... Feath?" Blade said, scanning the room for his sibling, "y'in here?"

Feather, lying face down on her bed and cuddling her pillow, offered bloodshot eyes to the intruding fox. Blade flinched as he noted the tearstained fur around his siter's face.

"What do you want, Blade..."

Blade shrugged, ears drooping as he forced himself to meet Feather's eyes. "I jus' wanna talk..."

Feather shuffled into a sitting position, still clutching the pillow close to her chest. "Whatever..."

Blade took that as the most welcoming response he was going to receive, and walked over to set himself down beside Feather. He fiddled nervously with his hands, staring through the floor. "M'sorry..." he mumbled, shrugging uselessly.

"Oh..." Feather said dismissively, "that's okay then... it makes it all better, right?"

Blade looked up to his sister's face, noting as though for the first time how effeminate his sibling was. He wondered how long Feather had been feeling this way, and why none of them had figured it out sooner.

"I dunno..." Blade said hopelessly, knuckling his temples, "I just say stuff sometimes that upsets people... I dunno why I do it... I'm so fuckin' stupid..."

Feather looked to her brother, Blade suddenly appearing vulnerable as he stared gloomily at his feet. "You're not stupid, Blade..." she said calmly, "it's just... this is really hard for me... I've felt this way for as long as we've been split, and... I'm scared you're all gonna hate me for it..." She shrugged. "Maybe it's me who's stupid."

"Dude, come on..." Blade began, a spike of guilt shooting through him at the pronoun. "Sorry..."

"It's okay."

"I mean... come on, Feath..." Blade said, "it's like what Blitz says, yeah? We're all a team right? We're a family. We'd never hate you for somethin' like that..."

Feather chuckled, sniffing back fresh tears. "Thanks Blade," she said, "I'm sorry I snapped at you..."

"I'm sorry I upset you," Blade replied, the generally moody fox struggling with his words. "I know I'm an asshole sometimes but... I love ya, sis."

"I love you too, bro."

Blade jumped as Feather leaned forward and wrapped him in a hug, but relented as Feather sniffed over his shoulder.

"Anyway..." the black-haired fox coughed, Feather releasing him and sitting back with a happy gleam in her eyes. "The guys wanted me to come get you... they wanna chat about stuff..."

"Oh..." Feather sighed, looking sadly to the floor, "I suppose we'd better get it over with... can you give me a minute to change?"

"Sure..." Blade shrugged, standing from Feather's bed and making to leave the room. "See you in a minute, sis."

Feather Prower smoothed off her denim dungarees, nervously adjusting her garment as she left her room.

It was done. It was out. Feather was a she. A her. And now she had to talk to her brothers about it.

And despite what Blade had said... she was still terrified. She loved her brothers dearly, and was terrified of their rejection... but she had to face up to it.

Please don't let them hate me... she thought, ears drooping and tails tucking close to her legs.

They won't hate you... that little voice came again unbidden, and Feather felt as though a presence took her by the hand and lead her onward.

"I wish I had your confidence, Tails..." she whispered, understanding that Tails had come to her once again, "this is just so scary..."

I know, but you're a part of me right? the voice said, And we can do anything if we just believe in ourselves!

"I guess..." Feather sighed, "thank you Tails... thanks for helping me..."

Feather felt the presence withdraw, and found herself stood before the door to the living room. She didn't know what to expect, but steeled herself to face her brothers... she took a deep breath and reached out, cranking the handle and opening the door.

"SURPRISE!"

Feather jumped in shock, ears flattening against her head as a multitude of voices cried out. All of her brothers, including Sonic, were gathered around the coffee table, a collection of knick-knacks and snacks arranged on the wooden surface. She didn't know how to react, and didn't have much time to think before a fluffy orange cannonball slammed into her midsection.

"Feather!" Squirt cried, beaming up at the taller fox, "the guys said you're a girl now! Does that mean you're my sister?"

"That's right, buddy!" Sonic said, the blue hedgehog moving over to ruffle his little brother's head, "Feather's your big sis now! So you behave for her, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Squirt yipped, grabbing Feather's hand and pulling her into the room. "Feather! Feather! We got you presents!"

Feather's eyes fell on the table, finding a cake surrounded by various girly trinkets. "Is this... for me?"

"Sure is!" Blitz said, the spiky-haired fox wandering over and nudging her on the arm with a wink, "we figured we'd put together a little 'coming out' party for our sis! I made the cake myself!"

"Incorrect," Doc said, adjusting his goggles and clasping his hands behind his back, "Blitz bought the cake from the baker's. We all pitched in to find the gifts."

Feather suddenly felt fresh tears welling in her eyes, as her brothers gathered around her supportively. "I... I don't know what to say..." she said, running her fingers through Squirt's head fur, "Thank you, boys..."

"Hey, what are brothers for?" Blitz replied, wearing the same lopsided grin as Sonic.

"You were always safe with us, sis!" Sonic said, resting his arm around Feather's shoulders.

"Thank you..." Feather whispered, smiling and wiping at her face, "thank you so much, boys..."

"Yeah, I hate to break up this sappy emotional mushy stuff..." Blade spoke up, a large knife held hungrily in his hand, "but are we eatin' this thing or just lookin' at it?"

"Yeah! I wanna eat cake!" Squirt squeaked, racing around the table.

"Hold on, little buddy!" Sonic chuckled, "Feather gets the first slice, right?"

Squirt drooped disappointedly, fiddling with his tails. "Okay..."

"Come on, sis..." Blitz said, taking his sister by the arm, "let's eat!"

Feather Prower smiled as she allowed her brothers to fuss and fawn over her, for the first time since she had been 'born' feeling... valid.

And from the sidelines, watching like a ghost, Miles Prower observed his strange family... and wished he could join in himself.