Who's ready for another chapter? :) Writer's block sucks. :( I think it's easier to write chapters for my other story. Does that make sadistic? Yes. Yes it does. At least I think so.

anime2videogames: glad you like the story

: I already told you. IT WASN'T CHILD ABUSE, SO LAY OFF! …I'm not going to comment about Chuck Norris.

KeizerGodzilla: um…I have no comment, except for this: I've already said I respect your opinion.

HyperShanic01: I had the feeling you would like that. Why did you say that Shadow being a ninja is "itself a feat"? Shadow could be a great ninja. He's quiet, and he can blend into the darkness around him, so he could be used for assassination.

Well, hope you guys like this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the story.

Chapter 8

It was past midnight, and Sonic couldn't sleep. He was in his own bedroom this time, which almost looked the same as his father's, except everything blue was a shade lighter. It was also on the other side of the hall from his father's room.

'I wonder if dad would notice I was gone if I were to go outside to gat some air. Ah, he's asleep, what are the odds of him noticing?'

Getting out from under the covers, he was about to run outside, but remembering his little feat of using Chaos Control, he decided to do that instead. Closing his eyes, he envisioned himself outside the house, and he felt some kind of energy flowing through him. When he could smell the fresh air, he opened his eyes and saw it worked. 'Hehe, cool.'

He wasn't going to go anywhere far, just run around for a while. He ran and ran, until he noticed it was already sunrise. "Holy shit. I didn't realize how long I'd been running. Better get back," he muttered to himself before using Chaos Control to get back to his room.

Slipping back under the covers, he managed to feign sleep for about 30 minutes before his father knocked on the door. "Are you awake?" his already quiet voice came through it before he opened the door to look in on his son. It was then that he noticed Sonic's shoes, which had been carelessly kicked off, had fresh dirt on them. 'That's strange,' he thought, growing a little suspicious.

Making sure to sound as tired as he possibly could, he replied, "Sorta."

"Well, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. If you don't come down, I'll know you're still asleep, so I'll save something for you," Shadow said, going back out and closing the door.

His stomach growled. Sonic now had to decide whether to get up or not. Sighing slightly, he sat up, running his hand through his quills to smooth them out from the short time he'd been in bed.

He didn't bother putting his shoes back on. After walking out of his room to the stairs, he decided to have a little more fun. He got on the railing, and promptly slid down on it. Of course, it was short lived as the abrupt ending caused him to land on his stomach before involuntarily doing a series of somersaults. He managed to stop right when his head was just millimeters from hitting the wall. "That was close…"

"I agree."

Somehow, Sonic had known Shadow was going to come, even if he didn't hear his footsteps this time. As he picked himself up from the floor, he gave his father a slightly sheepish grin. "Uh, good morning?"

"Is there a reason as to why you slid down the banister?"

"Yes. I didn't want to take the stairs. So, what's for breakfast?" he asked, completely changing the subject, peeking into the kitchen.

Shadow, however, wasn't going to be distracted again so easily. "What happened to your shoes?"

Sonic nearly panicked. 'Shit, I should've made sure there wasn't any dirt on them!' "I didn't feel like wearing them."

'So you say,' Shadow thought. He saw the brief flicker of panic in his son's eyes. He thought nothing of the fact that Sonic was lying, though, seeing as he had also done it himself a couple days earlier, and he knew that he would find out eventually.

"So, what is for breakfast?" Sonic repeated, his stomach growling again.

"I'm having a light breakfast, just toast and fruit."

"What kind of fruit?" Sonic immediately asked. There was really only one kind of fruit he ate.

Shadow smiled. "You didn't really think I wouldn't remember your favorite fruit, did you?"

"Well…maybe!" Sonic said, before racing past his father, ignoring the fact that without his shoes, the friction of his speed would burn his feet.

"Don't eat them all at once," his father called after him.

Since Sonic was already eating, he didn't give a response. Ever since he was little, he liked to put as many blueberries as he could onto a piece of toast before eating it.

'Maybe he hasn't changed too much over the years. By now, he probably has blueberry juice around his mouth,' Shadow mused, entering the kitchen as well.

Sure enough, Sonic did have a ring of blueberry around his mouth…as well as on his hands, and somehow his forehead. He'd only eaten 3 pieces of toast before seeing his father walk in. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, only to get his hand stuck. He tried to get it unstuck, but to no avail.

"Why don't you go clean up?"

"Fine…" Sonic jumped off the chair, and head upstairs to the bathroom to shower, still trying to get his hand unstuck along the way.

Glancing at the table, Shadow noticed that there was blueberry juice all over the area that Sonic had been eating at. 'Looks like he hasn't changed a lot over the years. Who'd have thought?'

Roughly 15 minutes later, Sonic came back down, slightly damp, and water was still dripping from his quills, but nonetheless clean.

When he saw that most of the table, and floor, was still covered in blueberry, he looked at his father. "…I gotta clean that up, don't I?"

"Yeah, you do."

Sonic was a little annoyed. "Why?"

"You made the mess, therefore it's your responsibility to clean it up."

Sonic rolled his eyes, but he grabbed a dish towel, wet it in the sink, then started to clean up the mashed blueberries. Though, as he was cleaning, he started to feel the effects of staying up all night. Luckily, he managed to clean it all up before he slumped, asleep before Shadow caught him to prevent any more head trauma.

"Sonic?" Shadow grew worried when he didn't get a response. 'What happened?' He thought of any possible thing that could've caused this, but then he noticed the deep, even breathing. 'He fell asleep?'

Sighing, he carried his son back up to his room. Again, he noticed the dirt on the bottom of Sonic's shoes. Glancing between his son and the shoes, it only took a second before it clicked. He mentally facepalmed. How could he have forgotten? Whenever Sonic was younger and couldn't sleep, he'd run around to burn off the excess energy. Four times a week, he would find his son sprawled out on the floor.

Sighing again, he set Sonic down on his bed and tucked him in. He managed to back away before Sonic could grab his arm again. Though, immediately afterwards, he felt a pang of guilt, especially after seeing his son frown and move his hands around the way a child would whenever their favorite stuffed toy fell to the floor during the night.

In this case, it wasn't a stuffed toy.

He suddenly had an idea, wondering how Sonic would react when he woke up later. Chaos Controlling to he storage room, he searched through the piles of Sonic's various childhood items that he had managed to salvage after the fire. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for. It was a stuffed replica of a neutral speed Chao that, ironically, almost looked like Sonic. Sonic had always wanted a speed Chao, and had appropriately named the stuffed one "Speedy".

He Chaos Controlled back to his son's room, and placed Speedy near Sonic's still searching hands. It was an instant reaction. As soon as he felt the soft plush, Sonic grabbed Speedy and held him close.

Shadow smiled at the scene. Leaving his son to get some sleep, he went down to the den to read.

Later…

Dual-colored eyes opened, and Sonic found himself in his room. 'When did I get here? Did I fall asleep? Wait a minute, what am I-' "Speedy?" he whispered. It had to be a hallucination. It had been so long since he'd seen the Chao plush. He thought it had been destroyed in the fire. Clutching the stuffed Chao close to his chest, he got up and went to look for Shadow.

He thought his father would be in the den, so he looked there first. Of course, before he even entered, he hid Speedy behind his back. "Dad?"

Shadow looked up from reading an extremely long book. "I was wondering when you would wake up."

"Why, what time is it?"

"8:45. You've been asleep for almost 12 hours."

Sonic blinked in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. What are you hiding behind your back?"

If that wasn't the most random thing to ask, he didn't know what was. "Uh…nothing?"

Shadow hid a knowing smirk. "Then show me you're other hand."

Acting quickly, Sonic switched hands, now holding Speedy with his left hand instead of his right. "Nothing in this hand, either."

"Well, then, show me both hands."

Somehow Sonic managed to balance Speedy on his tail before showing both hands at once.

'He's clever, I'll give him that. He really doesn't want me to know he's carrying Speedy.'

"So, you're sure there's nothing behind your back?"

"Positive!"

Shadow wasn't fooled. He could see a small part of Speedy sticking out from behind Sonic's back.

Seeing that his father wasn't convinced, Sonic sighed. "Alright, fine. I am hiding something behind my back. I'm not sure how, but" he took Speedy off his tail and showed him. "when I woke up, I found Speedy with me."

Shadow was still hiding his knowing smirk. "Did you now?"

'Why is he acting like…? He knows?!' "You know?!"

"Of course I know. I was the one who put him there."

"Huh? You did? Why?"

"Because while you were sleeping, you kept moving around searching for something to hold, and I didn't want my arms to be held captive again. Speaking of which, why did you suddenly collapse earlier?"

Sonic had enough grace to look sheepish. "I, uh…couldn't sleep last night, so I ran around outside. Though, when I finally stopped, it was dawn. How did you find Speedy?"

"When I heard about the fire, I went to the house to see if you were still there, but you were already taken away, so I went through the rubble and saved whatever I could. Speedy wasn't too badly damaged, but I still found someone who could fix him."

Sonic stiffened at the mention of the fire. He'd lost so much because of it.

Seeing his son go rigid, Shadow regretted talking about the fire. Setting the book down, he stood up, walked over to his son, and pulled him into a comforting hug. Sonic leaned into it, and soon, his shoulders were shaking with silent sobs.

'He never got to properly grieve…' was the only thing that went through Shadow's mind, before he, too, started to shed tears.

They spent the rest of the night grieving the loss of a loved one…

T.B.C.

Okay…I know there wasn't a lot in this chapter…I blame writer's block. But…more bonding! Technically…

Who else can imagine Sonic wanting to get a neutral speed Chao and naming it Speedy?

And, yes, Sonic's mom did die in a fire. More of what happened will be revealed soon.

Leave a comment/review!

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