Shadow was the one late getting home that evening. He and Sonic had run about every street in downtown Station Square and even run through some of the forest and valley areas. Shadow was a little jumpy whenever he thought he saw anyone in orange, which Sonic found to be a little odd. The two had actually had a good time. The kids hadn't really had a chance to see their fathers in action, and both Blitz and Maria seemed to enjoy the thrilling speeds. Who needed a roller coaster when your father was a lot faster and safer to travel with?

Sara was the serious one that night for a change. It seemed Orangeboy had pressured her enough for her to ask about showing him around. "Shadow...umm, this guy...he was a friend of mine...well, he's in town and he wanted to know if I could show him around Friday." She bit her lower lip, awaiting an answer. Shadow was just staring her down wordlessly. "I mean, if it's no, that's fine! Really!" She gave a nervous laugh.

Shadow took a deep breath but remained silent. He'd done nothing but think about the billion ways he wanted to say "Hell no." She was even giving him the ability to say no. He twitched an ear.Any really confident guy would be okay with it, right? Somehow Shadow didn't think there were many men on either Mobius or Earth who would like their mates/wives going out with a "male friend" they knew nothing about. "So how long have you known this guy?" he blurted out finally.

"Oh...he and I grew up together on Mobius." There was a bit of a spark in her eye as she said that, and Shadow didn't care for it. "We liked playing games together. Hide and seek and stuff...then video games. We were collecting Pokémon cards before it was popular." She laughed a bit.

"...You really want to see him?" One of Shadow's ears stuck out to the side.

Sara looked a bit unsure. "I don't know, actually...I mean I want to...but it's been a while." He twitched his ear and remained quiet. Sara looked even more unsure of herself; that was rare. Even when she was stressed, she knew why and focused on it; he'd hardly ever seen her indecisive. "You know? I mean, he was my friend and all...but I don't know if he's changed in the last two years, or if we could even be friends...and...well he's a hedgehog so I thought you might...get jealous or something, and I don't want you two fighting."

Shadow thought back to Sara's father briefly. He'd always let her make her own decisions, and she had ultimately chosen him as her mate. He wondered if the old man would have been for or against this orange one. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and pulled her into a hug, lightly licking her behind the ears while he thought about it. She was actually shaking... Why?

"So what if you missed this chance to see him?"

"Huh?"

"...It's important to you..." He stroked her quills gently, ready to withdraw his hand if she tensed up. "You've obviously thought about this a lot...right?"

Sara was quiet a minute, enjoying her mate's gentle touch. "…Yeah...more than I want to."

"Then go ahead. It's just one day, right?" He felt her nod against his chest. She relaxed into him considerably, having been given permission. He wasn't entirely happy with it; he would have to work Friday, so there was no way he could spy on her. Asking Amy or Sonic to do it for him also didn't settle well with him. The next best thing, though, and an idea he was particularly keen on, was making sure his scent was all over her. Since he had her so relaxed, it wouldn't be hard to lavish a little extra attention on her... Make that a lot.

Sara arranged for Chuck to take care of Maria that day, to which Shadow had surprisingly agreed. She then arranged to meet Duo, the orange hedgehog, at the South Street entrance to the Regal Mall. She'd put in a couple brightly colored dragonfly hair clips, and was in a lavender V-neck shirt with her denim skirt. Her socks and sleeves were dizzyingly bright rainbows, and she'd even put on a little lipstick. She wondered why she didn't do that more often around Shadow.

She sniffed the air for signs that Duo was in the area, and after about twenty minutes she caught sight of him. He had spiky bangs and was wearing a denim vest, white armband, and black sneakers. His gloves were pretty basic, and his eyes, a burnt umber. He smiled brightly at Sara.

"Hey! Sara! Is that really you?!" he chuckled.

"Yeah! Duo... Oh wow…." She took another look at him. He was several inches taller than her, a new feature since the last time they'd met. Otherwise he seemed about the same. She did notice his belt, though; a gun was holstered at his side, that was a new accessory.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about the mate part." He took a sniff of her, Shadow's scent overpowering her natural fragrance. "You bathe in his scent glands or something?" he joked.

Sara laughed a little. "No, he's just affectionate."

"Could have fooled me." He shrugged. "Anyway, you said there's an arcade here, right?" Sara nodded. "Then what're we waiting for?"

"Right...but don't expect me to lose to the likes of you! I'm pretty good on heavy mode now!" she said in reference to DDR.

The two spent the first half of the day at the mall. They hit up every game store in the place, and Sara's extensive Odnetnin SD collection jumped about five games. Both she and Duo got copies of Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Party DS. He also treated her to a couple of manga at Borders books.

After hitting up Hot Pot, a new oriental restaurant at the mall, they stopped back at the apartment to drop off her things. She showed him around the place briefly and they were back out on their way to Twinkle Park.

Sara couldn't help laughing herself sick when Duo's bumper car rammed hers fiercely for the eighth time. "Let...me...move!" She just laughed as his car hit hers again. She tried to drive, but couldn't move an inch without bumping into him. "Whiplash...come on! Give me a break!"

He laughed similarly, "No! I know you're better than that, this is cutthroat bumper cars!"

Cotton candy, roller coasters, mini-games. Sara was pretty good at darts. Duo wasted far more money than necessary, getting a huge toy cheetah. "You didn't have to!" Sara blushed as he handed it to her.

"Give it to your girl, how about that?" He smiled warmly at her.

Twinkle Park really started to shine as evening came around and the lights went on. Sara and Duo sat on the ferris wheel with Fluffy (the stuffed cheetah) taking residence between them. "Ahh...! I haven't done this in forever." Sara smiled at the view of the carnival area. She loved the smell of the popcorn and hotdogs and candies...! And she could see the twinkling lights on every ride stretched out before them. It reminded her of gazing at the city lights with Shadow.

"What was that about grabbing treasure?" Duo asked even though he'd heard what she said perfectly.

"I said I haven't done this in forever!" She laughed.

"Ohhh... Yes, I love the weather too!" Duo beamed. He put an arm around Fluffy, knowing full well he would brush against her hand doing so. She quickly withdrew her hand. "Hey! Fluffy's going to fall if you don't!"

Loaded up with carnival trinkets and Fluffy, the two hedgehogs headed back to the hotel where Duo was staying. He kept bringing up the past, mentioning a few of the stunts he'd pulled and how he'd managed to rope Sara into going along with him. She laughed a bit at that.

Thinking back on things, he was pretty much the ringleader of their group. While Sonic was playing with the princess, Rotor, Antoine, and Tails...Sara was playing with Mina, Tiara, Ray, and Duo. Ray was always on the timid side, so he was never the decision maker, and Duo was always coming up with ideas that would get them all in trouble. But Duo had a very endearing side, probably why Chuck hadn't forbidden her from playing with him.

"So...had fun?" Duo smiled as he tried to get the key card from the hotel to unlock his door.

"Oh yeah...I should really get back to Shadow, though," she said, holding onto one of Fluffy's paws.

"Aww come on. He can wait a few minutes, can't he? I forgot I brought you something from Mobius." Duo smiled in triumph as the hotel door unlocked.

Sara sighed a bit. "Ahh, all right...just a minute then." She nodded and followed him inside. The hotel room was very plush, much more than a single guy needed. The bed had to have been a King size, and she was pretty sure plasma screen TVs weren't in the budget rooms. "Oh wow..." She set the plush aside. It was...really nice.

"Yeah. Nice, isn't it?" Duo smiled. "I stay in style."

"How are you affording this?" she queried.

"I'm part of the KTF, pays pretty well." He shrugged. "We have great dental too, see?" He gave her a broad, toothy grin while heading over to a large duffel bag.

"KT...ohh...Knothole Task Force?" She went over to the bed and tested its firmness. It was very springy and soft, softer than the bed she shared with Shadow by far. "Bet you get a good night's sleep on this, eh?"

"Yeah. I'm one of their sharp shooters." He indicated the gun at his side. Sara hadn't given it much thought 'til now. "Bed's a bit soft for my tastes, what do you think?" He rummaged through the bag, maybe longer than he needed to.

Sara hopped up on the human made bed and tested it out. She lay back on it and stretched out, laughing. "Ahh... Yeah, it sort of sucks you in. I think this is a little too soft even for me."

Duo took a moment to look her over on the bed. He wished the skirt she was wearing was just a speck shorter... "Ahh...found it." He stood and walked over to her with a small wooden box as she righted herself.

"Oh don't tell me that's a ring..." Sara made a face at that.

"No no, just, in case you lost the first one..." He opened it up, and a teal and purple friendship bracelet was inside.

Sara's ears went back. "Ahh thanks, but..." She held up her left arm and showed off the one Shadow had given her.

"Ohh... From your mate?" he asked softly. Sara nodded. He managed to smile a bit anyway. "It's just a piece of string."

"Thanks anyway, but I think I should be going now." She hopped off the bed but found one of his arms loosely penning her in.

"I missed you…." Duo said quietly in her ear.

She suddenly felt very uncomfortable around him. "Duo...I told you…I have a mate…."

"Yeah...I know..." His arm constricted around her waist, and he began stroking the small of her back. Normally her quills would have been standing on end, but he knew her well enough to avoid startling her. He remembered having to pull a few quills from his arm the night they almost became mates. "But we were almost..."

Sara's breathing became shallow and panic began to well up in her. One hand tried to dislodge his arm while the other pushed against his chest. "Almost is almost! I told you, I have a mate!"

"Right...Shadow..." he said calmly. "I think I could handle him."

Sara's eyes flew wide in alarm and she used both arms to push him away. "He'll kill you!"

Duo proved the stronger between them, putting both his arms around her and pulling her close. Her insistence he'd be killed didn't seem to phase him. "I know all about Shadow...probably more than you do... I have access to all the reports on him..." He noticed Sara's eyes welling up with tears and her cries getting more insistent. "You don't know the kind of things he's done... He's not good for you…." He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I promised I'd be your mate some day."

"No no! You can't! Nooo!" Sara sobbed. Fear gripped her as she felt his tongue on the back of her left ear. "...No..." She realized he hadn't been honest with her...why he'd come...and the gun... "Please no..."