Slam422: All right, remember how I said that this chapter was gonna finish up the Ice Village arc? Well, as I started this chapter, I realized that the way it was going I was going to have to extend the arc by at least one more chapter to avoid a drop in quality. And hey, look at the bright side; you guys all get another chapter much sooner than it would be normally! Because of that fact, however, this chapter may be much shorter than it should be. Sorry if that makes anyone upset, but it's the way it's gotta be.

NOTE: This chapter contains a VERY small bit of matureness due to a very brief & vague depiction of nudity. Small as it is, it's enough to make note of it.

As always, the Disclaimer is at the bottom, so let's get things started!

Chapter 16: Consoling a Friend

It had been three hours since Rouge and Crystal escaped Frosta's clutches, and so far things aren't looking too bright for our heroes. Crystal, believing that no one would like her anymore now that she and the rest of them knew about her being half dragon, went off to go hide somewhere in the base. She left so quickly after getting back, that not even Rouge was able to catch up to her before she disappeared.

Deciding to just let her be for the time being (despite Rouge's surprising protest against this notion), the five of them (Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, Glacier & Shard) decided to return to the briefing room to discuss the events of the day before deciding on a course of action. Or at least; that's what the others did. Rouge, on the other hand, couldn't keep her mind off of Crystal. She was distracted at the thought of what would happen to her should she be left alone in her current state of depression. Her mind was so filled with concern for the poor girl that she jumped a bit when Knuckles snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Hey, Rouge," Knuckles asked, "you okay? You seem kinda out of it right now."

"Huh?" Rouge replied, snapping out of her thoughts, "…wha? OH, oh, yeah… I'm fine… I'm just…worried about Crystal, is all…"

"I still can't believe that Crystal is really half Ice Dragon," Tails said in disbelief, "Why didn't you ever tell her?"

"I assure you," Shard confirmed, "there hasn't been a day that we didn't want to. Both Glacier and I had wanted to for the longest time, but…"

"…but?" Knuckles prodded.

"…But we were sworn into secrecy by her mother," Glacier finished. "You see; as a mother, Her Highness was a bit…overprotective of Crystal. She was so afraid of what would happen if the people found out what happened between her and Blizzard, especially considering her future husband and all…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Knuckles interrupted, "…she was engaged?"

"It was an arranged marriage," Shard informed. "It is a law that has been in effect for generations; the ruling monarch of the Ice Echidna city be arranged for marriage to an eligible bachelor, or bachelorette, of noble birth so that an heir to the throne can assuredly be conceived."

"…That's not right," Tails commented.

"I agree," Knuckles added, "What's the point in getting married if you aren't in love?"

"That's exactly what Her Highness said," Shard added, "She had tried her hardest to abolish the law so that she could marry for love instead of the pompous jerk she was being forced to wed. She was lucky that the war happened when it did because if it didn't, then she would have been married at the time Blizzard defected, and Crystal would never have been conceived."

"But that still doesn't explain why you all hid the truth from her!" Rouge snapped. "It doesn't explain what gave you all the right, the audacity to hide something as important as who her real father was! If I were in Crystal's position right now I'd probably…"

Everyone jumped from Rouge's outburst. When Rouge paused, she closed her eyes and gripped her fist tight as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"I…I'm sorry," Rouge apologized, "That was…uncalled for."

"Is something wrong, Rouge?" Tails asked, "You really haven't been yourself lately."

"Yeah," Knuckles added, "usually you wouldn't care about what happened to someone like Crystal, and now you're getting upset over it. What's going on?"

Turning her back to the table, she walked towards the door to go outside.

"Rouge," Knuckles called, "where are you going?"

"To find Crystal," she answered, "she needs someone to talk to right now."

"Rouge, please," advised Shard, "just let her be. She'll come back once she's calmed down a bit."

"Funny, I remember saying the same thing to Glacier not that long ago, and look how well that turned out."

Shard merely backed down when Rouge said this.

"But do you even know where to look?" Tails asked, "She could be anywhere by now!"

"I've a pretty good idea of where she'll be. When I was up on the observation deck before, I saw the entrance to a glacial cave just south of here; that's probably the best place to start looking."

Glacier sat there for a moment, his eyes closed in though, before getting up and approaching Rouge.

"Are you that dead-set on going to find her?" He asked.

"…Yes, I am. Why; are you going to try and stop me?"

"Heh, we both know I couldn't even if I tried. I just want you to give this to Crystal when you find her."

Glacier reached into his parka and pulled out what looked to be an old envelope. It was somewhat wrinkled, and looked like it had a coffee stain on it, but it looked like it hadn't been opened yet. He handed it to Rouge, who just looked at it with a confused expression on her face.

"This is a letter for Crystal written to her by her mother," he explained, "being a close, childhood friend of the Queen, she entrusted me with this letter and instructed me to give it to her should something happen to her and that she learn the truth about her heritage. I really should be the one to give it to her, but I've got to get to work on planning a strategy for the upcoming siege on the city."

"Siege on the city?" Shard asked, somewhat nervously, "You aren't honestly thinking…?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking! Now that we know that her Highness is alive, we MUST take action if we want to rescue her and defeat Frosta once and for all!"

"NOW you're talkin' my language," said Knuckles as he cracked his…knuckles, "I've been itchin' for a good fight!"

"I'm counting on you, Rouge; bring my goddaughter home safe and sound."

"Don't worry, Glacier," Rouge promised, "I will."

"Good. Oh, and stop by her room before you head out to pick up a new outfit for her; I noticed that the clothes she was wearing were somewhat torn."

"…Yeah, I'll be sure to do that."

It was a few minutes later when Rouge was flying over the snowy plains near the glaciers. It had started to snow again, so she was getting worried that if Crystal hadn't been there, then it would be hard to find her with her trail buried under the freshly-fallen snow. She had the cave in site, and was headed down to have a look when she saw something sparkle in the snow.

Flying down and landing a few feet outside of the cave, Rouge found a gold necklace lying in the snow. The clasp was broken, signifying that it was probably ripped off; Rouge recognized it instantly.

This is Crystal's necklace, she thought as she glanced over to the cave entrance, looks like I was right about her being here. I'd better go in and get her before she does something stupid.

Rouge put the necklace in her pocket as she cautiously approached the mouth of the cave, and took a quick glance around before entering. As she walked through the long tunnel, a faint 'tinking' sound could be heard, which slowly grew louder as she went on. As Rouge just approached a large cavern near the end of the tunnel, she heard something crunch under her feet. She looked down to see the shredded remains of Crystal's sweater vest, which was partially frozen to the ground. Looking up, she saw a trail of shredded, half-frozen articles of clothing leading up to Crystal, who was sitting stark naked on an ice chunk. She was holding onto an icicle that she was poking and prodding the collar on her neck with in hopes of removing it.

"C'mon you stupid….GRAHRG!" Crystal growled in anger as the icicle snapped in half. She threw the piece she had on the floor before cradling her head in her hands and breaking down into tears.

"Uh, Crystal?" Rouge softly called to Crystal.

Crystal jumped when she heard Rouge's voice and turned back to look at her, only to end up giving her a neutral look of acknowledgement and turning back around.

"Uh…," Rouge said in an attempt to get Crystal to talk, "…so, I see that, uh…your clothes ripped off…"

"…I took them off," Crystal responded in a flat tone, "Dragons don't wear clothes."

"I see…"

Crystal held out her hand, and breathed an icy mist into it; creating another icicle that she proceeded to use to pick at the lock on the collar.

"…What, uh, what are you doing?" Rouge asked

"…Trying to pick the lock on this collar," Crystal responded as she broke the icicle yet again.

"WHAT? B-but, you can't! Don't you remember; if you remove the collar you'll…"

"…Go feral; Yes, I remember, but what's the difference? Either way it still doesn't change the fact I'm a monster that everyone hates. The way I figure it; if I'm feral, I'll at least be able to forget the pain."

"Now stop that! You aren't a monster, you…"

"LOOK AT ME!" Crystal roared as she got up and faced Rouge, whom only came up to about her waist at this point. "I'm a freak; how can you NOT call me a monster in my current state?"

Rogue simply looked Crystal in the eyes, took a deep breath, and approached her.

"I am looking at you," she said, "and do you know what I see? Not a monster, that's for sure."

Crystal kneeled down to look Rouge in the eyes as she grabbed and cradled the half-dragon's hand.

"…I see a lost child; one who just found out what she was, an extraordinary, kind-hearted, faithful, powerful & beautiful person gifted with a loving family, before she was ready to learn the truth. And I know it's true, because I've seen that both Glacier and Shard care for you deeply…"

"…A nice sentiment, Rouge," Crystal said, having calmed down a bit, "and I thank you for it, but if they love me so much, then why are you here to console me and not them?"

"They're strategizing and planning for the inevitable siege to reclaim the Ice Echidna city, and to rescue your mother. Glacier really did want to be here, but he did give me this to give you."

Rouge pulled the letter out of her hammerspace and handed it to Crystal. Crystal took a good look at the envelope before recognizing the writing on it as her mother's. Almost instantly, she ripped the envelope open and began to read the letter aloud.

My dearest daughter, Crystal

If you are reading this, then you have discovered what you are & I am not there to explain. I am sure that you have many questions, so I hope to do my best to answer them for you.

I am sorry for hiding this from you, but I did so for your protection. You see, war can leave scars, both physically and mentally. With the Dragons being the ones to start the war, even if it was a Shadow Demon conspiracy, the trust of the Echidna people to them was shattered, and our two tribes drifted even farther apart than the war ever could. But I want you to know that, even though he was a Dragon, I loved your father with all of my heart; with not a day going by that I miss him.

When you were born, you were of an Echidna form. In a sense, I was both relieved and terrified: relieved because you would have a chance to have a normal life, but terrified because I knew that, as you grew older, you would start to take on more and more of a Draconic appearance, and I feared that you would be rejected by the entire city and banished by the council. I do not know if hiding the truth from you was the right thing to do, but whether it was or wasn't, it was a decision made out of love for you.

No matter what happens, and no matter what the future may bring; I always have, do, and will love you with all my heart. Nothing is more certain in all my heart and soul than this.

With endless love, Mom

A super-cooled tear fell and froze on the page as Crystal finished the letter. She couldn't believe it, and yet was so relieved and happy at the same time. Despite all the doubt and fear she held, she finally knew once and for all that her mother loved her, and that was all she cared about.

"See," Rouge said, "what did I tell you? Your mother does love you, whether you wanted to believe it or not."

"*sniff*," Crystal sniffled, "…Yes, I know that now. Thank you, Rouge; I can never repay you for what you've done for me."

"Ah, don't mention it!" Rouge said; a smile wide on her face.

But that smile soon turned quickly into a look of sadness

"…if anything, I wish I had the love of my parents like you have the love of your mother…"

"…Huh? What…do you mean?"

"…It's just that…well…Ah, never mind; It's not important. Here…"

Rouge pulled out the new set of clothes that she brought with her, and tossed them at Crystal, who wasn't able to catch them all properly.

"…Put these on; we wouldn't want anyone getting any ideas. Or would you rather give those lucky guys a treat for their manhood?"

Disclaimer: Knuckles, Tails, Rouge & any related character, item or theme are all ©SEGA™ and Sonic Team™. Crystal, Glacier, Shard & the rest of that stuff all belong to yours truly; Slam422 (MasterofChaos in certain circles).

Slam422: I promise: next chapter WILL close out the arc! Until then, Later Days!