So what's my reason for the delay this time? I was busy with my college things. Nonetheless, I shall give you this chapter since I found time for the break and from whenever I had extra time. Here we get to see my fanmade information about the Seedrians based on actual plant facts, yay! Oh, and also important character-related thoughts.

P.S. I noticed no one guessed at which fanfic I was referring to in Chapter 3 with Cream's gift. It is called "HomeMade Vs Storebrought Gifts", and you can find it under my favourite stories. I already gave a couple of reviews on it, and I'll just say if you were a fan of Archie Sonic in 2003, you should check it out.

Chapter 4: Dinner with Lucas

Constructing the stone houses took a couple of weeks. During those weeks, the Seedrians had to settle with sleeping under trees each night. It wasn't so bad for them, and they could handle the cool nights. Besides, Cosmo experienced much colder temperatures when she was on the planet Blizzard, and she felt okay then. It was the other plants that couldn't survive in drastically lower temperatures then they were used to.

But on New Greengate, their stone structures were complete at last. Granted, rocks were not good at insulation, but at least they blocked some of the winds. Most of the Seedrians just hoped that they would reinvent superior construction before the fall and winter months.

To celebrate their first complete step toward their former glory, they were having a feast in the main gathering building. The stone walls were arranged in a large circle, and gradually each rock was balanced to make a low-rising dome. There was only room for a few long, makeshift dining tables also made from stone (Hector personally enjoyed smashing the rocks to be used).

At the center dining table, the former Metarex Kings sat along one side while Hertia, Galaxina, Cosmo, and a few other close female Seedrians along the other. Cosmo nervously noticed that Hertia was directly across from Lucas, Galaxina was across from Dennis, and she was across from Elias. Perhaps it was just a strange coincidence.

Their appetizer was a freshly made garden salad. For the Seedrians, it was okay to eat plants because the edible ones were not of their own species. The sight of the salad made Cosmo remember helping Galaxina cultivate food back on their refugee ship. Back when her father was the enemy...

"Cosmo? I asked you a question." said Galaxina, bringing Cosmo's mind back to the present.

"Oh, yes?" she replied a bit hastily.

"Do you feel alright to eat?"

"Uh, yes. Of course." Cosmo slowly grabbed a bit of lettuce to chew on, keeping her head low. For a while, no one said anything. The more silence there was, the more Cosmo's mind dwelt on how odd her life still was. Eating with the very ones that tried to kill her friends? Just the thought of it already made Cosmo sick inside. She had to say something to break the silence. "So..." Cosmo started. Everyone at the table was suddenly attentive to hear what she had to say. The truth was, Cosmo just wanted to speak for the sake of speaking. She strained to come up with something meaningful. "Um... when do you think... we'll be able... to have forks?" Inside, Cosmo scolded, That's the dumbest thing I ever said!

"Soon, Cosmo. When someone is able to craft them, that is." Lucas said, glaring at Hector.

Hector groaned with his full mouth, "Come on, Lucas! I'm not one of those super, extra patient crafts guys! Why don't ya get Nicholas to make them? He is leader of Technological Advances!"

Nicholas sighed, "I haven't got our technology back to modern levels yet. If I did, we would have all the forks Hector needs!"

"Wait, as much as I need?"

Elias snickered, "Of course. You would probably need two forks to avoid the mess on your palms."

Hector paused his munching to look at his hands. "Oh, so on our first official meal, you're insulting me, huh?"

"Were you always like this?"

Everyone looked back at Cosmo. Once again, she was in the hot seat. "Uh, I mean..."

"Oh, I get it. She's still used to seeing us as tyrants." said Nicholas knowingly. He turned back to Cosmo and answered, "Yes, believe it or not, we had feelings too when we were Metarex."

Cosmo could hear Dennis grumble, "We also had a better life back then, too."

"I heard that!" snapped Lucas. Back to Cosmo, he added, "The point is, we've always had personalities that identified us. The difference now is that we're focused on making a new, correct civilization as opposed to a universal empire."

"I understand." said Cosmo. She could believe that the former Metarex were always acting like how they act now. She just wasn't sure whether the "new, correct civilization" part was true.

A few other Seedrians came into the room, pushing a large pot of vegetable soup and carrying several bowls. The Seedrians used the bowls to scoop up some soup and then serve it to the ones eating. Cosmo took her bowl and sipped some of the soup. She didn't mind the fact that it was barely lukewarm; to Cosmo, the soup made her remember the times Amy and Cream made their own vegetable soup for her. It was a reminder of how much her friends cared about her and their efforts to protect her.

Dennis, however, thought otherwise. When he took a small sip, Dennis spat it out in disgust. "Blech! This soup is too cold!"

Nicholas groaned and put his hand to his forehead. "We've established that we don't have the technology to create utensils. I'm pretty sure that's enough to tell you that we don't have heaters!"

Dennis retorted, "Well obviously, we should use a fire!"

"No."

Everyone at the table turned their eyes on Hertia, who was standing and glaring at Dennis. Even though Hertia's anger was only directed at Dennis, Cosmo felt uncomfortable seeing her mother really angry for the first time.

Dennis cleared his throat and stammered, "W-well, if we're okay with eating p-plants, then-"

"Then what?" challenged Hertia. "Then it's perfectly alright to kill off our trees just to heat your soup? We spent all day using the natural energy of the sun to heat our meal, because we don't want to make the same mistakes again."

"B-but it-"

"If you only care about the temperature of your meal, then you'll just have to wait until we restore our sustainable way of life." Hertia glanced at Nicholas and added, "Which would likely take several years to do so."

A tense silence filled the next few seconds. Hector looked around the table and cautiously said, "If Dennis doesn't want his soup, I can take it."

"Thank you, Hector." said Hertia, her voice still sounding cold. "Even he appreciates the work we've done just to survive."

As Hertia continued staring at Dennis, his face almost looked guilty. But then Dennis managed to glare back and he sneered, "I can see that I'm not wanted here. Well that is perfectly fine with me." He got up from his seat and stomped his way out of the building.

Hector shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess I'm eating his soup." He grabbed the bowl and sipped it slower than usual.

Hertia sat back down and now her face showed regret. "I'm sorry you had to see me that way, Galaxina and Cosmo."

"It's okay." said Galaxina. "We understand. You just want to make sure we can be a happy civilization again."

Lucas reached across the table to put his hand on Hertia's shoulder. "And we shall help you every step of the way."

Hertia looked up at Lucas and smiled. "Thank you."

Cosmo stared at her mother and the Seedrian that was supposed to be her father. Somehow, seeing them care for each other was as discomforting as seeing Hertia angry.

Across from Cosmo, Elias sighed and said with a grin, "Well, we cannot let that incident ruin our first meal! Come on, let's talk about something completely different!"

"Oh! Lucas!" Nicholas spoke up. "Remember when you were trying to recall what happened when you, well, woke up in this world? I mean, I don't think you told everyone else here..."

"Look, I don't think I have every detail correct, and I still don't know how it would explain how we got here."

"We can share stories!" suggested Hector. "So we can get something to think about." Most of the other Seedrians talked in agreement.

Lucas smiled and said, "All right, all right." The other Seedrians set down their dishes to listen. Cosmo wondered if Lucas' account would be any similar to hers.

Elias prompted, "So explain this again; you were facing the animal creatures trying to stop you-"

"Right, and then as a last resort I tried to create a universe-wide explosion by using the Planet Egg's energy to build a gravitational field." responded Lucas. "I was... very desperate at the time. Anyway, two of the animals couldn't go through the field, and I was confident that my plan would succeed, until..." He looked over to Cosmo. "She floated through the barrier and prevented me from building up the field."

Cosmo remembered why she decided to do that; she received a vision of her mother, telling her, "You can do this. You just have to use your crystal to save your friends and everyone else." Cosmo looked over at Hertia at the table; was that vision just from her conscience, or did Hertia actually speak to Cosmo? And if so, did she know of Cosmo's friends... and love?

Lucas continued, "Cosmo attached herself to me, and since she was without her stone, she quickly grew into a massive tree. I could hear her tell her friends to shoot her, so that I could be destroyed."

At this, Cosmo remembered how she pleaded directly to Tails to fire at her. Lucas must have clearly heard her. When Lucas paused, Cosmo grew anxious. Was he going to tell everyone, right now, that she obviously had a close bond with a fox?

Lucas looked again at Cosmo for a second, then finished, "...And so they did shoot. Right, Cosmo?"

"...Yes, that is right." responded Cosmo. She drooped her head down as she pondered exactly why Lucas refrained from leaving out that rather important detail.

"Now here is where things get fuzzy." said Lucas, which caused the other Seedrians to lean in closely. "I felt the large impact of the shot, but then I noticed my dark surroundings were slowly... cracking open. And yet at the same time, I was in this forest area filled with light. I felt like my mind was finally clear, and I knew that what I have done was opposite to what I truly wanted."

Hertia reached across the table and put her hand on Lucas'. "And so I forgave him."

Lucas smiled and went on, "Hertia let me come with her, and a bright light emerged, enveloping everything. And then I woke up in this world, met all of you again, and here we are."

Hector clapped his hands and sniffled, "That's a very good story, Lucas."

Nicholas added a little more cynically, "Yes, but it still doesn't make it clear how the rest of us came to be in this world."

"But what matters is that we have something to go on." reminded Elias. "I too think that I saw a bright light shortly after I died. And it certainly wasn't from that blast that blew my head off." Some other Seedrians nodded.

Galaxina looked over at Dennis' empty chair and added, "I guess we can assume Dennis saw a bright light too."

Cosmo recalled the bright light she experienced, but she didn't see her mother right before it happened. She just had a moment with Tails, only she felt like her younger self. Cosmo was pretty sure she reverted back to her young state during that moment, and every time she looked at her reflection in the water, she certainly was her younger self as opposed to her grown-up self.

The only thing was that she no longer had the stone that prevented her from instant aging. In fact, no one had such a stone. But she remembered having it when she went to have one last meeting with Tails, trying to comfort him...

"I believe we're finished with the food, Hertia." said Nicholas before he picked up his bowl. The other Seedrians picked up the rest of the dishes and took them and the empty soup pot outside, where there was a small river suitable enough to provide cleaning water. As Cosmo washed her bowl, she considered what Lucas had said of what happened to him; if it was true, then all of the Seedrians might have been brought back alive at the same time, if they all saw a bright light.

Galaxina finished washing her bowl and asked Cosmo, "Do you want to come back with us to sleep for tonight?"

"Uh... not yet." said Cosmo. "I think I'll stay here for a while. I need to think..."

Galaxina was a bit confused on Cosmo's reasoning, but she nodded and advised, "Just be careful not to get into any trouble. We still can't be sure if the males are to be trusted."

Cosmo nodded and slowly started walking along the river. As far as Cosmo knew, the river stretched on toward a small lake a few minutes away from the homes. She kept walking along; Cosmo tried comprehending the events that occured upon her death, if she really died in the blast, and how she was able to see Tails soon afterwards. However, it was too confusing for her, and Cosmo sat on the grass to rest. She looked into the river and again saw her reflection, looking just like how she appeared throughout her adventure. Well, without the stone.

She looked up to the night sky and all the stars. Tails' home must have been further away than the smallest star was; even if the Seedrians reconstructed space travelling vehicles, Cosmo would have no idea where his planet would be. Or if they would be willing to let Cosmo search for it at all.

Cosmo heard some footsteps in the distance. She turned around and saw Lucas' silhouette walking through some trees. He seemed to be going in the direction of the river. Cosmo wondered what he would be doing out here. Was he also wondering about his death? She cautiously stepped behind a tree and watched him.

Lucas stood among the tree cluster, apparently in deep thought. He put his hand on one large tree and sighed. Lucas' head perked; had he heard Cosmo standing nearby? Lucas turned around and, as if he heard something, stepped toward the middle of the cluster. He noticed a faint white glow on the area he was standing in. Lucas also seemed to see something, but Cosmo couldn't see what it was.

A few seconds later, Lucas appeared surprised, then stubborn. "You who controls the light... is this what you wanted?" he said outloud, even though no one else was there.

Those first words "You who controls the light" slowly made Cosmo remember about the legends she learned of Sonic. Was Lucas actually speaking to him?

Lucas continued looking stern and continued, "You never change, you guys... You destroy planets and you try to destroy space and provoke its destruction." With a prouder look, he added, "Our descendents will correct this; in the future they will try it." He paused, and his pride faded before he said, "But with everything, you still try to oppose us..."

For a moment, Lucas appeared to be closely listening. Maybe Sonic was making a defense in his typical confident manner. After a few seconds, Lucas smiled and chuckled. He walked out of the glowing spot back toward the stone homes. "Good night, indeed." Lucas sighed as he continued walking away.

Cosmo looked back at the spot, but it was no longer glowing. She leaned back on the tree, perplexed again. The whole night raised several questions for her, but Cosmo was too tired to ponder them. My family is waiting... I should go back to them... Cosmo thought as she headed back to her home.

Maybe tomorrow night she'd come back to contact Tails.

I hope I didn't create too many plot questions in one chapter. Rest assured, answers will gradually appear in Cosmo's subsequent chapters. Anyway, in case Lucas' talk at the end didn't tip you off, we're reaching the time period at the very end of Sonic X. In the meantime, please review and tell anyone else to review this story as well. (It could motivate me to update faster!)