Chapter 22: Fireflies

The theme song for this chapter would be "Fireflies" by Owl City, so if you can imagine the tune in your head…because this is NOT a songfic chapter! Thanks!

Flashback…to the beautiful month of Shikakoshi, a summer month after the days of rainy spring of the twins' birthday. Both are just barely five…when a new discovery gives the parents reason for concern. Or, rather, curiosity.

Sonic the Hedgehog had been in pursuit of Snively Robotnik for three consecutive, long days, that felt longer than the 72 hours they were in reality. He'd defeated the rascal's massive flying mecha and traveled home, a task which took up an additional eight hours. More than anything, when he returned home, he was exhausted more than anything.

When the whitewashed house came into view, Sonic was relieved. At long last, he would have a bed to sleep in. He blew in past his girlfriend and children, eating dinner and playing games on the floor respectively and managed to make it to the bed before collapsing into a deep slumber that lasted five or six hours.

A sleep that could only be awakened by his dear girl.

"Sonic, Sonic! Please! You have to get up!" Amy pushed her hands against his shoulders in the darkness. Her voice was a heightened whisper, frantic in nature.

Sonic, who was too overcome with sleep to right away note the worried tone of his woman, shifted and groaned into life, dispelling the deep fatigue written on his bones. "What is it, Amy?" He grunted in question with a massive yawn, blinding himself with one arm and scratching himself rudely with the other. "I thought you put the kids to bed hours ago?"

"I'm not even going to bother with how you knew that, yes I did, and that's part of the problem."

"Problem, eh?" And Sonic yawned again, crossing his arms back behind his head. "Okay, I'll trade you a meat-lover's pizza for one hour of listening time." His eyes were lidded from tire—they were very heavy from slumber and difficult to keep open—but they glinted with his legendary attitude.

Amy, now supported by one arm, put her delicate free hand on her waist. "Sonic, I'm serious."

"So am I. I haven't eaten in at least three days, give or take twelve hours." Despite his statement, Sonic stayed in the same position. Not long after the silence that graced the two forms in bed—one annoyed and the other with alien calm—then a deep grumbling tore through it like a cat's claws through paper. Amy, used to the sound of her boyfriend's total lack of ability to care for his own needs, rolled her eyes.

"Well, you and I both know that's because you have no sense." Amy was back to whispering. "Now look there." She reached over him and pointed.

Sonic rolled over onto his side, amused, and followed her finger's direction.

There was a light under the twins' door. A shadow crossed before the light and, quick as a wink, a button black nose attached to a periwinkle snout appeared, sniffed twice, and retreated. Then, Whisper, dressed in nothing but her white summer nightgown, gracefully stepped out of the bedroom door.

Sonic rubbed his eyes, and saw that in her hand, she carried an old tin and copper lantern. He chuckled. "So, she found my lantern, eh? It's about time."

"Shh! Watch what she does!" Amy whispered, grabbing his upper arm in her anxiety.

Sonic, not at all worried, poo-pooed the worries so common of her personality and looked on.

His daughter lifted the lantern up to eye level. With her free hand, she fumbled for the switch under the tool that would light it up. She found it after feeling around for a few seconds, and then dropped the lantern, now lit with a soft gold glow, to her side, which was really very close to her bare, furry blue feet. Then, in a wisp of blue wind, she was gone. The wind traveled to hit her parents, but not at its full strength.

"Where'd she go?!" Amy hissed at Sonic, as if he would know. But, her father was far from worried. In fact, he was impressed.

"I wouldn't worry about where she'd going. How long has this been happening?"

"When you didn't come home three days ago. I noticed the light being flicked on, and then the same thing happened."

"Where did she find my lantern?"

"I don't know."

"Is she the only one awake?"

"Yes. You can hear Ame's snores, if you listen."

Sonic listened. "Indeed I can. Well!" He plopped back down to the plush sheets. "Question is: Do you want me to find out what she's up to? I'm curious myself, so I'll go anyway. Don't bother answering, I think I know what you'll say, anyway." The blue hedgehog slipped his socked feet into the safe haven of his familiar running shoes and stood with a stretch. "I'll report back, love." He promised, before heading downstairs, quietly and slowly, to see what was occupying his daughter's time.

Amy laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. Even though she knew he was long gone, she whispered: "Thank you, Sonic."

In the kitchen, Sonic nearly forgot about his mission. There was more than one reason he'd not wanted to be disturbed until morning. His hunger was unbearable now, and although he had suffered longer periods of starvation and hunger, he hadn't in a while, which made his practiced body weak. Now, his mind craved it almost as much as his body did.

Sonic worked quickly, preparing a pot of boiling water for the hot dogs and fixing the base for his favorite chili in a separate pot. He knew Whisper liked her chili the same way he did, so feeding her midnight munchies was easy. Whisper hid her hunger well. He noticed the calm in her face that showed no suffering, only happiness. It was a trait he'd seen or heard about that was in himself, and it excited him to see that in his daughter. His prize, his bright light in the darkness.

Speaking of bright lights in the darkness, wasn't that the lantern's glow itself? Sonic peered out the window and then went to the door. He opened this quietly and stood in the doorway, leaning against it in amusement and amazement.

There was Whisper, standing in the grass, her feet pressed firm against the blue-green blades. The lantern sat beside her, attracting tiny moths that looked like fluttering bits of paper or discolored sparks. Though, these were not the center of her focus.

Fireflies. Millions of them. And they were blinking around his daughter, enveloping her in otherworldly flickering lights. For a moment, it looked to be the faint outline of a soap bubble, flickering with soft yellow insect light. Sonic watched as Whisper extended her arm slightly outward, hand limp and accepting as the fireflies landed upon her knuckles and fingertips, kissing her tenderly before flying away. As if in a trance, she turned back and looked at her father.

The presence of another broke the spell.

The fireflies dispersed, and went about their simple insect business as if nothing had happened. Whisper bent and lifted the lantern in one hand, swinging it at her ankle level as she walked along. When she got to the door, she looked up into her father's eyes. Her testy bangs had long been tied back, and swayed gently in the breeze like the wings of the fireflies.

"So," Sonic murmured, bending to his daughter's level and touching her periwinkle cheek. "They talk to you too, huh?"

Whisper gazed deep into her father's eyes, and, without breaking the gaze, gently touched her free hand to her father's, as if to hold his large tan hand to her face. She nodded once, and then glanced over his shoulder inside. She could smell the chili.

Sonic stood and let her past him. She floated into the room like a ghost. Her father went to stand at the stove, stirring the chili. Whisper pulled the stool out of the corner and let it rest beside him. Then, she pulled herself up and rested against the counter at about the level of her father's belly.

Sonic looked down at his daughter, and noticed her discomfort. He gently pressed a hand against her chest and ran it down to her belly. There was a distinct hill drop as he reached the end of her ribcage, which he could feel beneath her nightgown and fur. Whisper shrunk away ticklishly from his touch, but Sonic knew her secret now.

"So, without me to watch you, you don't eat, eh?" He chuckled to himself. "Do you intend to let your brother keep the appetite? He may be a boy, and he may be older, but you need to eat more than he does. If you like your speed, you'll eat. Do you understand me?" Whisper nodded, and Sonic was satisfied with that. He went back to cooking while Whisper moved against his belly and put her ears to it. She ran her hands from the base of his ribcage to his thigh, frowning.

"Yeah, do you hear that?" Sonic asked her, giggling because he was ticklish, too. "I'm hungry, too. I don't take care of myself. But, listen, I'm not at a vulnerable stage. And one day you'll get there, too, but right now, eating is the best thing you can do. You'll get stronger that way, you hear me? So eat when you're hungry or when you're dizzy. Food will cure just about any illness you've got. You hear me?"

It was hard to tell whether or not Whisper in the Wind Hedgehog heard her father or not that night. She pulled away from her father's stomach, and smoothed one hand down it before poking at it with a finger. Her father bent, and she laughed softly. "Yes," he muttered, disgruntled, "you've found my kidney. Congrats." That only seemed to make Whisper laugh even more.

When their midnight snack was done cooking, Sonic served himself a decent number of chilidogs, about seven or eight. It would be enough to get him back to sleep. He served his daughter a large bowl of chili.

For a minute or so, Whisper poked at the chili with her spoon, stirring it in silence. When she came to terms with her own hunger, though, she ate ferociously of it, and asked for more. Sonic gave it to her, and she ate still more. Watching her polish off bowl after bowl was making Sonic's mouth water, and he fixed himself seven more chilidogs while his daughter polished off her eighth bowl.

She sat there, studying him as he wolfed down his chilidogs ravenously. She picked some beans out of her bowl with the tips of her fingers. When her father was nearly finished, she burped, covering her mouth with her hand, and yawned, patting her belly contentedly. Sonic smiled, stuffing the last two chilidogs into his mouth. As he lifted her into his arms, he felt that she was fuller. Her small tummy was round and warm, like her brother's was after a hardy meal. Perhaps this was the first time she'd really ever felt full. Whisper was naturally sick and pale, always. Being the younger twin, she'd been used to picking up leftovers her brother didn't take from their mother in the womb. Now, she was still getting used to the idea that a full stomach could be a good thing. Before, where she might've shivered in his arms from lack of internal warmth, now she rested heavily upon his shoulder, her small body warm from her full tummy.

As Sonic laid her in her bed, he kissed her cheek and her forehead and turned out the light. "Now then," he whispered in her ear, "doesn't a full belly feel good?" As he said this, he turned away to yawn himself. "And speaking of full bellies, I'm thinking I'm stuffed! At least for now," he added for his own benefit, knowing he could wolf down twice as many chilidogs, but that his body was simply more interested in sleep than anything else now. But, he had to give this to himself—a full stomach helped immensely!

He climbed back in beside Amy, who was awake in seconds, wanting to know details.

"Habitual insomnia." Sonic responded to her mad quizzing.

"What?!" Amy hissed.

"No need to get in a clover field about it, love," Sonic teased her, giggling in his weariness. "I suffer from it, too."

"Well, how do we cure it?"

"You kill her."

"What?!" Amy nearly shouted, and instantly went at the throat of her boyfriend. Sonic gently grabbed her wrists in his strong hands. "We are not killing our child!"

"It was a joke, Amy. I love her very much as well. You must see this." His gentle reasoning caused her mothering instincts to stand down.

"Yes. So, what of it?"

"The lure of the night soothes her restless mind. Fireflies in the summer, midnight rain in the spring, dancing leaves in the fall, the ghosts of early snowfall in the winter. She'll see it all. And, it's because she wants to, Ames."

"But…?"

Sonic chuckled. "My love, there are some things only an insomniac sees clearly. Now, let me get some shuteye and we'll talk more in the morning. Your insomniac isn't working now, so please let him be."

"Sonic, you…?"

"Yes, love!" Sonic laughed, turning over. "Where on the planet do you think she got it from?! Shadow?!"

That was going too far, for both of them.

"I can't believe he's really…"

"Goodnight, Sonic."

"Yeah. Goodnight, Amy."