Rudolph stared peacefully into the bright moon that illuminated the night sky. He felt a soft yet cool breeze upon his face and a small smile began to form. "Finally." Rudolph sighed.

"Peace and quiet." As the small breeze tickled his face, he began to hear footsteps from behind. As he turned to the direction of the sound of the footsteps, he saw none other but Tikal.

"Tikal, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She said as she sat down next to him.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Rudolph questioned with worry.

Tikal turned to him with a smile. "I couldn't sleep. If I'm bothering you-"

"No, no, not at all. I was just concern, that's all." Rudolph said as he motioned her to stay seated.

All stayed quite between the two as they stared at the moonlit sky until, "Rudolph?" Tikal asked catching his attention. "I never did say thank you, did I." Tikal asked as her head began to droop.

"There's no need. I was just doing what is right." Rudolph responded simply.

"Knuckles told me about why you're doing this." Tikal said quietly causing Rudolph to turn to her. "He told me how you wish to bring me back to repent for coming to my kingdom. I just want to apologize for how my people have treated you." Tikal said as she brought her knees to her chest and began to hug them. "I just wish I could change the way my people see things in life… and the way they treat others… to show them that we're all the same."

Rudolph turned to Tikal with a look of despair in his eyes, "Please don't apologize for others. It's not fair for you to put the weight of others upon yourself. And either way… I'm used to it." Rudolph said quietly as he turned away.

"NO!" Tikal said with tears in her eyes. "No one should be treated like… like…"

"A monster." Rudolph finished.

Tikal turned back to the moon, "At least you have your village. A place where you can be safe from harm. Where you have the warmth of others who care for you."

"They hate me too, princess." Rudolph said quietly causing Tikal to look back at him.

"But… but why?"

"Just look at me." Rudolph said as he took off his glove and held his brown hand up to his face. "I'm the only brown echidna in the entire world, I stand out everywhere, and I fit in nowhere. I have no place in society, neither yours nor mine." Rudolph said as his hand formed into a fist.

Tears soon began to fall down Tikal face as she looked at Rudolph in disbelief.

"Rudolph… I…"

"Don't worry about me, Tikal." Rudolph said as he turned to Tikal, "I'm more concern about your safety than my feelings."

"Rudolph, why is it that you threw yourself in harm's way for me?"

"I…" Rudolph stared in Tikal's eyes, even he didn't know why, but it was an old feeling that pulled him towards her. "I… just wanted to protect you."

"Rudolph…" Tikal whispered as the two stared into each others eyes.

"Princess…" Rudolph whispered.

Tikal said as a smile formed on her face. "You can call me Tikal, Rudolph."

"I'm sorry." Rudolph said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief and gently began to wipe the tears from Tikal's eyes. "You really should try to at least get some sleep. I don't want you to be tired for our journey tomorrow."

Tikal's smile widened as she looked at Rudolph, "Ok, I'll try." Then she stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek causing him to blush a full-blown crimson red. "Thank you again." Then she walked back to her sleeping bag and began to fall asleep.
As Rudolph took his ungloved hand and placed it to his cheek, he began to feel warmth flow throughout his body. 'I can't believe it.' Rudolph thought with a smile. 'She's exactly like I remember.'

Flashback

"So this is where my dad goes. I always wondered why he always tells me to never come with him." The young brown echidna said to himself as he stood outside the Echidna Kingdom.

"Hmm. Now how am I gonna get inside?" Then he looked to his left a saw a small hole under the wall, "That's the way!" the young boy shouted with joy as he quickly dug himself under the wall and out the other side to see the amazing golden brown kingdom that lay before him. "Wow!" He said as he looked around at the people and buildings. "The people here seem friendly, not like my people. I don't know why dad told me to stay away from this place."

"Hey you!!!" Came a voice. The brown echidna turned to see four tan teenage echidnas that were glaring over to the young boy. "What the fuck are you doing here!? Don't you know you don't belong here!?"

The brown echidna took a few steps back as he stuttered, "I-I-I'm here to find m-m-my dad."

"Find your dad!? Ha!" The first echidna laughed.

"I say we help him find something else." The second echidna grinned as the slammed his fist together,

"So how about it kid?" the third echidna grinned. "Wanna have a little fun?"

The brown echidna took a few steps back and tried to turn and run but the forth echidna was already behind him. "What's your rush kid?" He laughed as he pushed him to the ground. The young boy look up terrified as the four echidnas crowded around him and began stomping and kicking him.

'NO!' Rudolph screamed in his head. 'Why!? Why does everyone hate me?'

"STOP!!!" Someone shouted causing the group to turn to a small, young, tan, female echidna. "Stop attacking him! He did nothing wrong!"

"Nothing wrong!" the first echidna shouted.

"This filthy Southern Tribe trash shouldn't be here in the first place!" the second echidna yelled.

"He is NOT trash!" The young girl yelled. "He is an echidna just like us!"

"Like US!?" the third echidna shouted. "He is nothing like us! You of all people should know that princess!"

"Leave him be, or I'll tell my father." The girl threatened causing the boys to flinch.

"You-you wouldn't, right princess?" the forth echidna pleaded.

"Leave him be." The girl said quietly.

The four echidna boys looked at each other then walked away.

The young girl watched the boys walk away, then turned her attention to the curled up brown echidna who was still shaking from his previous encounter. She slowly walked up to the boy and knelt down next to him. "Excuse me." She said quietly as she tapped his shoulder. His body quickly tightened as he felt her hand but she didn't move away. "Don't worry," she said in a quiet and soft voice, "I won't hurt you." He slowly began to show his face to her and she began to smile. "Hi there, I'm sorry for all the trouble they caused you and although you don't seem too damaged, I think we should get those wounds bandaged up."

The young boy slowly unclenched his body as he stared at her. "O… ok." He stuttered.

"Here," she said as she offered her hand, "Let me help you up." The boy stared at her hand, then at her smiling face. Then slowly, he reached for her hand and the two began walking. "Oh yes, I almost forgot." The young girl said causing the boy to look over to her, "My name is Tikal, what's yours?" she asked with a smile.

The young boy began staring towards the ground, "My name… my name is Rudolph."

"Like the reindeer from the old stories?" Tikal asked.

"Yeah… I bet you think it's stupid, don't you?" he asked as a frown appeared on his face.

Tikal stared at him with confusion, "No, I think it's a cute name." she said with a smile causing Rudolph to look up at her with disbelief, but seeing her smile caused a small smile to form on his face as well. Soon the two reached a small house and Tikal opened the door and turned back to Rudolph who just stood there, staring at the door. Tikal walked over to Rudolph and took him by the hand and led him inside the house. "Grandma." Tikal called over to an elderly female echidna sitting in a chair.

"Hello Tikal," she called happily as she hugged Tikal, "How's my favorite granddaughter?"

"I'm fine, but my friend here isn't." she said as the two turned to Rudolph who was still standing by the door.

"Well hello dear." Tikal's grandmother called over to Rudolph, "What's wrong?"

"He was attacked by other echidna's grandma." Tikal stated causing Rudolph to look at the ground

"He was? Well come on over here." The elderly echidna called with Rudolph slowly walking over to her. After a few minutes, Rudolph's wounds were perfectly wrapped and he was ready to go.

"Thank you." Rudolph said as he bowed his head.

"Do not worry about it, dear." Tikal's grandmother smiled.

"Grandma." Tikal called. "Is it ok if Rudolph and I go over to the flower fields?"

"Sure." She smiled.

"Thank you!" Tikal yelled with gee as she grabbed Rudolph and the two began to walk out of the house.

"Have fun you two!" Tikal's grandmother called after them.
Soon both Tikal and Rudolph came across a wide field full of flowers of many different kinds, shapes, and colors. Tikal stared into the field, then turned to Rudolph, "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

"No, not ever." Rudolph said to Tikal with a smile.

"Do you want to go down there?"

"A-are we allowed?" Rudolph asked.

"Of course silly! Didn't you hear my grandma?" Tikal laughed as she grabbed his arm and ran down into the field. The two spent hours in the field talking, laughing, and staring at the clouds, having fun as time flew by.

"Uh… Tikal…" Rudolph called over to Tikal.

"Yes?" Tikal asked as she turned to Rudolph.

"Here… I picked these out for you." Rudolph said as he handed Tikal seven different color flowers of; red, yellow, blue, green, white, cyan, and purple.

Tikal took the flowers from Rudolph with a smile and kissed Rudolph on the cheek causing Rudolph to blush and scratch his head in a grin. "I love them, thank you Rudolph."

"You're welcome." Then Rudolph looked up at the evening sky, "It's getting dark," he said as he turned to Tikal. "I should get home before my mother begins to worry about me."

"Will I ever see you again?" Tikal asked.

"Yeah."

"You promise?"

Rudolph stared at Tikal with a smile, "Yeah, I give you my word as an echidna that I'll come and find you again."

Tikal couldn't help but smile. "Ok good-bye Rudolph." She said as she turned away and ran back to her kingdom.

"Good-bye Tikal!" Rudolph called after her.

"And don't forget!" Tikal called as she turned around. "You promised!"

"I know! I won't forget!"

Flashback End

'That was eleven years ago,' Rudolph thought as he stared into the night sky, 'And I never forgot my promise… and I've fulfilled that promise. Now I must bring her home safe and sound. But… the kingdom is miles away… and now that Robotnik knows where we are,' Rudolph thought as he turned his attention to the sleeping Tikal, 'He'll come for her, I know it. We need to find a safe place to hide her… at least until it's all over.' Rudolph thought as he turned back to the sky until his eyes widened. 'Wait… why is Robotnik looking for Tikal in the first place!? Could he…? No. There's no way he could know of the Chaoskey's true power… could he!?' Then Rudolph slowly shook his head. 'No, no, that's impossible. The only ones who know are my father's family, and I'm that last of his bloodline so that's impossible… but… no way… he couldn't have found that place. It's surrounded by a fog and only my tribe can navigate through there. Maybe that's the best thing we can do for now, at least for Tikal. As long as she's safe, then nothing else matters.'