Hey Arnold and all of its characters and elements belong to Craig Bartlett and Nickelodeon. Sonic the Hedgehog and all of its characters and elements belong to SEGA.

Mr. Hyunh and Silver: One More Chance

"So...this is her?"

"Yes...," an elder, careworn voice softly confirmed for him, "she was only three yea's old then."

Silver gazed closer into the wooden picture frame he held in his gloved hands. His golden eyes shined with curiosity at the little girl shown in the picture that lay behind the protective glass. Only the child stood present in the photo, her smile as evident as the red of her shirt and the tiny cowlick and big, crimson bow atop her sparse hair.

Even considering the events that followed days after this photo's creation, Silver couldn't deny: "She looked so happy."

"She had every reason to be." The Vietnamese fellow looking over Silver's shoulder suddenly became misty-eyed before backing away. His voice rang deep and hollow in the room. "And I failed her."

The tone more than the words startled Silver—so much, in fact, that he almost dropped the picture. Placing the photo back onto the wooden table beside the couch so no harm would befall it, the young hedgehog turned his back on it so he could face the older man.

"Mr. Hyunh, listen to me," Silver slowly approached the Asian male with a gentle, soothing expression. The man looked away from the young face so full of concern, but he far underestimated the hedgehog's persistence. "What else could you have done? Arnold's right! You were saving her life. You were just trying to be a good dad."

"One who let his daughter grow up without him," Hyunh's face, usually meek and sweet, grew dark and stormy. This new, unseen side of the man saddened rather than frightened Silver.

'There's gotta be something I can do for him!' As a time traveler, the hedgehog possessed what one might call a "philanthropist nature." Like Sonic and Shadow, Silver could never turn his back on people who needed his help whenever urgent matters arose, especially if peace was at stake. He shifted his eyes to the floor, lost in thought.

A brilliant idea struck him. 'Of course...that's it!'

With a hopeful smile, Silver eagerly suggested, "What would you say if maybe I went out and tried to—"

"NO!"

If Silver hadn't found Mr. Hyunh's unusually negative face disturbing, he certainly felt that way towards the abrupt answer. He—and he had a strong hunch that anyone else—had never heard the man sound so...aggressive. Even the arguments Silver heard from the boarders from time to time could hardly compare to the volume Hyunh had just used with him.

It hurt.

Keeping his best to keep a straight face, Silver managed to prevent his voice from cracking in injured emotion. "W-Why? What's wrong?"

Mr. Hyunh did not answer, at first. He merely softened his countenance as he shook his head, now aware of his unneeded hostility and how it had affected his young friend. His forehead wrinkled when his thin, black eyebrows knitted together in guilt. He looked so much older now.

"Just no...Fo'get what I said." He raised a hand and looked away, his voice weak with defeat. "An old man's ramblings are no reason to mess with—"

"No, no, no, I didn't mean anything like that!" the hedgehog frantically corrected him, holding out a hand for him to stop. Good heavens, Silver knew better than what Mr. Hyunh was suggesting! "I just meant...if I could dig a little info on where she is and find her for you."

Mr. Hyunh noticeably relaxed yet shook his head once again, his dark-brown eyes still dimming with doubt...or something more definite, perhaps? Silver understood enough to realize that he would need to be more persuasive in getting this man to show some faith in him and his cause.

"I cannot ask that of you. It is not your burden to bear."

Silver balled his hands into tight fists, the gloves squelching in response. 'That doesn't mean I can't choose to bear it. Heck, I wanna bear it! I don't care how difficult finding Mai will be. I want to find her. I have to find her. I won't back down from this.'

No, he would not back down. He could not back down. He should not back down.

Not on this...

Even if he had not known Mr. Hyunh personally or for most of either of their lives, nevertheless, Silver wanted to repay the man for the hospitality shown to him ever since the Mobian's untimely arrival to this time period and to this dimension.

"Please! Just give me a chance! For all either of us know, this could be it—the opportunity you've been waiting for! Don't you want to see her again?"

Almost immediately, Silver cringed and bit his tongue at the insensitivity of his words. What sort of question was that? Of course this man wanted to see his daughter again! He wanted her back more than anything else.

But did Mr. Hyunh have enough hope left?

Silver unknowingly held his breath, hoping against hope the answer wouldn't be—

"Go."

A pin could have been heard in the heavy silence that followed. Still dumbstruck with disbelief, Silver eventually steeled himself and pierced the quiet with one, simple word:

"What?"

Mr. Hyunh had his back to him, his dark brown eyes looking out the window, his hands crossed behind said back, so Silver had no absolutely idea what the man could be feeling right now. Mr. Hyunh's still hunched back and shoulders didn't seem too promising. The sight of them almost made Silver gulp.

But the man's soft tone suggested better—and it and the answered it carried were all the time-traveler needed to hear in order to cast his own doubts and fears away.

"Go. Do what you need to do, Silver."

Sudden slamming into a wall shocked Mr. Hyunh into shooting around with a frightened yelp, his eyes wide and not pensive for once.

Silver, in his excitement, got a little overenthusiastic in starting his Yuletide quest—as evident by the door that shuddered a little from its impact with the thankfully undamaged wall. The hedgehog tossed an awkward laugh, sheepish grin, and brief but sincere apology to Mr. Hyunh before walking out into the hallway, making sure to close the door more gently this time.

"Heh, sorry about that...and I promise. I will find her! You can count on it!"

As the smiling hedgehog closed the door behind him, the sound of his footsteps fading away, Mr. Hyunh did something he'd never thought he'd ever do again for this time of year.

He smiled.

So...how was the ending? Was it great? Was it okay? Did it suck? C'mon, folks, give me an honest opinion here. Don't be shy!