Chapter 18

Home

DL: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to take so long, but I had the chapter on another computer that refuses to charge, so I had to get the mojo running so I could write a new one! TTmTT Please forgive me! *cries*

Shadowpaw: Geez, baby.

DL: *sniffs* Oh, yeah, and the cast came back from that coffee break. It seems that Cream had broken all of the coffeemakers again. So, umm, anyways, here's the replacement chapter I've written! Again, sorry for the long wait! Today's chapter has to deal with home and friendship, and here's a random quote that seems to fit it quite nicely:

"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend."
~Plautus

(Note: It's been a while since I've written for this story, so I struggled to get into the groove and wrote less than usual. I'll make up for it, though!)

Afternoon of Day Four of the bet . . .

"Shadowpaw!"

The feline sighed at the gray squirrel's voice before asking, "Yeah?" When she got no response, she rolled her eyes to herself at how annoying he was before walking out to see what it was he wanted, finding him standing somewhere down the hall. She stood beside him, looking at his face expectantly, before getting irritated that he wasn't paying attention to her and asking, "Yes?" She wanted to get whatever he had planned over with so she could go back to relaxing in her room.

When she still didn't get a response from him, she mentally scowled at him before deciding to see what he was staring at so intently. It was then that she realized why he was standing there so quietly–there was a random and rather big hole in the wall on the fourth floor, leaving the house open to the elements and the (sadly) big chance that someone would be stupid enough to walk through it. As her jaw dropped and she tried to figure out what had happened, Knuckles stuck his head into the house as he clung to the side and told them, "Yeah, uhh, I'll fix it!"

"No you won't," Kussia told him, and as the other two looked at him in confusion he looked expectantly at his watch and counted, "Three, two, one . . ."

Suddenly, concrete seemed to be growing over the hole, and Knuckles was so surprised he let go of the side as it covered where he had punched through the wall. As the two inside heard a dull thud, only one of them was surprised, as the owner of the house simply walked off, whistling a jolly tune. Shadowpaw walked over and knocked on the place the hole had been, stunned to see that it was as if it was never there, and then ran after him (or was it away from the wall?) to ask what it was he had wanted earlier. She didn't even bother asking about the wall, because either she wouldn't get an answer or it would hurt her brain.

"Oh," he snapped his fingers as if just remembering what he had originally called her out for. "I need you, Shadow and Sly to go do something for me."

"What?" The feline frowned at the idea of Shadow and Sly being together for any period of time, and she told him that as well. "Are you really sure that's a good idea?"

"Hey, you're gonna be there, too. You can keep them out of trouble, I'm sure."

She gulped. "Yeah . . . sure."

He nodded in agreement and then went on with his explanation. "Well, I need you guys to go out and fix that board you and Shadow put up a long time ago."

"The . . . one that tells people that they can find a place to live here?"

"Yeah, that one. I want to change some technicalities on it." He handed her a list of things he needed fixed, and as she looked over it he told her, "Now go get the other two, and hurry, because every second is a second where people are misled! Oh, the agony!" She rolled her eyes as he walked off, repeating "the agony" over and over again for dramatic effect, before turning back around and going over to Shadow's room. Knocking on the door while keeping her eyes on the list, she listened for the door to open and told the hedgehog, "We've got work to do."

". . . Why?" He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, stating without words that he didn't want to do anything.

She sighed and explained what Kussia had told them to do. "And we have to get Sly to come with us, too," she added at the end, almost grinning at the way he groaned in reluctance and his fist clenched with irritation. "Hey, it wasn't my idea, it was his."

"Yes, I figured that." He gritted his teeth. "Can't we just go do it ourselves? We really, really don't need his help."

"Now, that's not very nice," she teased, and as he gave her his "don't-mess-with-me-I'm-pissed" look she went on, "Besides, Kussia knows everything going on in his house, remember? He'll know if we didn't take him." When he grudgingly agreed to that, she smiled and said, "Great! Let's go, then!"

"Phew!" The feline wiped her forehead in relief, murmuring, "We're finally done!"

Everyone was hot and sweaty and ready to rest, and with the board fixed and up-to-date they were allowed to go do whatever they wanted before they returned to the mansion. Since they were all dehydrated, Sly convinced them to stop at a local café to get some ice-cold coffee, although Shadow got a cup of water instead (here Shadowpaw found out he didn't like coffee). As they sat and snacked at a booth and the sky began to darken outside, Sly glanced around the place and grinned. "Look at all of the beautiful women here!"

"Yeah, whatever," Shadowpaw mumbled as she tried to finish a number-puzzle-game she had found on the table called Sudoku, completely ignoring what was going on around her as she frowned at the boxes. Shadow, however, was paying attention, and he narrowed his eyes as the fox grinned at some of the people there. Getting annoyed because of their perverted companion, he tried to distract him by asking him about what he did normally around the mansion.

"Well, I normally bother Kussia," he grinned, "but sometimes I hang out with the more lovely people in the mansion. Like Periwinkle!"

"The crazy girl that's after Kussia?" Shadow frowned. He doesn't let anything stop him, does he?

"Oh, yeah, she's fun to hang out with. And surprisingly, we both like the same soaps!" At the hedgehog's confused look, he explained, "Soaps. As in soap operas."

With a nod showing he understood, Shadow's eyes wandered around the café in boredom. Now that he had gotten Sly to stop staring at girls, he was bored, and he needed something to do. He considered bothering Shadowpaw but, remembering the bet and the consequences if he lost, he dropped the idea. When the fox continued talking, however, he slowly began to wish he had just left him alone.

"So, buddy," he put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, asking in interest, "how about you?" When Shadow remained silent, he prodded him with his finger. "Huh? What do you do?"

If Shadow wasn't so stubborn on winning that bet, he would have snapped the fox's finger in half.

"Alright, fine. Don't talk." Sly watched him for a while, examining the thin line of his mouth before grinning and continuing on. "Well, I do know that you hang out with Shadowpaw a lot. You guys are like buddies or something."

"Buddies?" The feline's attention was won over at the mentioning of her name, and she gave a small snort as she set the puzzle aside. "No offense, but we argue constantly and are at each other's throats twenty-four-seven. Do buddies do that normally?"

"No," he admitted, but then went on to point out, "but you guys have been much calmer lately! It's like you're trying to be nicer than usual or something."

"Don't get used to it," she muttered, swirling the coffee around in her half-empty cup.

"So," he turned to the hedgehog that had still refused to talk, "does that mean you guys are buddies now?" Shadowpaw was going to respond, but the look in Sly's eyes made her nervous and then curious about what he wanted Shadow to respond for. After all, this was the hedgehog she had grown to be angry at almost all of her stay at the mansion. Why would they suddenly be "buddies" now? Rolling her eyes at the crazy fox, she took a sip from her coffee before putting it down and getting ready to go back to her puzzle.

"I suppose."

She nearly knocked her cup to the floor at his simple response, and she eyed him curiously as the fox grinned. "What?" She was sure she hadn't heard him right.

Shadow turned his maroon gaze from some point in the distance to her, and she was a bit nervous under his scrutiny as if she was an experiment he was fascinated to watch go wrong. Or maybe I'm just looking into this a bit too deeply. Mentally shaking her head at her foolishness, she stared at him steadily, refusing to back down simply because the situation was awkward. She had almost forgotten that he was supposed to answer her, and she almost jumped when he finally did. "We're allies, of sorts." He then returned his eyes to that point again, leaving her confused and even more curious as to where this sudden change in heart came from.

Actually, she realized, a lot of things have changed since taking up this stupid bet. I mean, without me being able to just yell and get out of awkward situations with my fury, I've had to actually think things through. She could just imagine Kussia's voice in her head now, mocking her mental capacity with a "you can think?" or something. Returning her focus to her epiphany, she pondered the clothes she had received, the fun she had, and all that had happened the previous three days of the bet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually pretty glad I made it. And it'll be even better when I win! She grinned triumphantly at the thought, already planning her victory dance around the poor hedgehog.

Sly grew curious at her expression and questioned, "What are you smiling about?"

She gave a small, delighted hum before telling him, "Oh, nothing! Just . . . thinking about home."

Evening . . .

Home.

She hadn't noticed what she had said until long after they had gotten home that day, and she lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling pondering the statement.

Home.

She hadn't even thought about it at the time, the word just slipping effortlessly off of her tongue. And now she was looking at it like it was an alien from another planet plopped down in front of her, instead of a word. She felt ridiculous, analyzing a simple mistake, but that only made her think some more.

Mistake? Was it a mistake? She would never have used the word had she been thinking more, probably replacing it with something like "a joke" or "a book" that wouldn't be as personal. But "home" just . . . seemed to bring in a whole new meaning. "Home is where the heart is," "there's no place like home," "a good home must be made, not bought"–there were so many things associated with that word. She felt she had used it incorrectly because she didn't know exactly what she meant when she used it. The most logical and obvious explanation would be Kussia's mansion, but would that count as her home? She lived there, yes, but . . .

"Mom?"

She sat up quickly as her Chao finally spoke up from the foot of the bed. He had been sitting there watching her since she had got home, occasionally entertaining himself by making faces or playing counting games. His little ears twitched with curiosity, and he flew over to sit in her lap and look up with big, wide eyes.

"Are you alright?"

She smiled and rubbed the top of his head, giving a reassuring nod to the little tyke. "Yeah, brat, I'm fine." She laughed at his scowl before watching him flutter over to her bookshelf, studying the spines of the novels she had recently acquired (with a little help from Kussia's money) with such enthusiasm that his eyes sparkled. Using one of his tiny arms he wiggled a book out from among its brethren and struggled to lift it, eventually making his way to the bed and flopping down beside it, panting heavily. Picking it up and finding it was a collection of poetry, she looked at his expectant face and asked, "What, do you want me to read some?"

"Would you?" His face was so desperate and adorable that she would have never have been able to say no.

"Oh, alright." Rolling her eyes at his happy giggle as he leapt into her lap, she flipped it open and turned the pages over, skimming lines upon lines of the poems before finding one she liked and smiling. "Ooh, this one's a good one.

""The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea / In a beautiful pea-green boat: / They took some honey, / and plenty of money / Wrapped up in a five-pound note."" There was a picture of the owl and feline sitting on the boat, with the former holding a guitar with experienced fingers and the latter watchfully holding a jug of honey. Both looked to be content in their voyage over the calm waters of the sea, and the next picture depicted the owl singing to his "love" his highest praises. ""The Owl looked up to the stars above, / And sang to a small guitar, / "O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love, / What a beautiful Pussy you are, / You are, / You are! / What a beautiful Pussy you are!""" He had a smile on his face that showed faithfulness and passion that even made her envious of the fictional cat.

Feather's ears twitched as he shifted in her lap, and the question he asked was anticipated as he pointed at the picture. "He's singing to his guitar?"

"No, he's singing to the cat. He used "guitar" to fit the rhyme." After getting him to settle down again, she continued. This picture showed the snow white feline to be speaking, her expression dreamy and loving as she stared at the owl. ""Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, / How charmingly sweet you sing! / Oh! let us be married; / too long we have tarried: / But what shall we do for a ring?""" Shadowpaw was a bit curious as well, considering they only had some cash and a jug of honey.

"Buy one, duh!"

"Shh. "They sailed away, for a year and a day, / To the land where the bong-tree grows; / And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood, / With a ring at the end of his nose, / His nose, / His nose, / With a ring at the end of his nose."" Said swine was leaning against a tree, seeming as laidback as Sly (without the perverted drive of the fox's, of course) as he looked at the unique couple approaching him.

The next picture showed the owl in a pose of pleading and hope at the sight of the ring around the pig's nose. """Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling / Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will." / So they took it away, and were married next day / By the Turkey who lives on the hill."" An extravagant wedding took place on this page, showing the bride and groom in their proper attire in the pose where you can tell they were about to kiss. She quickly dismissed it to go on, knowing Feather wouldn't like to dwell on the "mush-gushy" part.

""They dined on mince and slices of quince, / Which they ate with a runcible spoon; / And hand in hand on the edge of the sand / They danced by the light of the moon, / The moon, / The moon, / They danced by the light of the moon.""

Shadowpaw stared at the picture of the happy couple for a while, running across the sand with their fingers intertwined and satisfied smiles on their faces. Her Chao copied her, squinting and tilting his head to try to find out what it was that fascinated her mother in the book. Seeing the name "Edward Lear" but being unable to read and understand it, he ventured to say, "And they lived happily ever after?"

"Yes, they did." Giving him a noogie and grinning at his protests, she motioned to the bed and asked him, "Shouldn't you be sleeping or something?"

Feather blanked at the suggestion. "Uhh . . ." Pouting when she pushed him over to a pillow, he reluctantly snuggled under the blanket and tried to stifle his yawn. When she got up and walked to her door, though, he spoke up with curiosity that could rival hers. "Mom, where're you going?"

"Just for some milk, I'll be right back." Smiling as he went back to huddle under the sheets with a sour expression, Shadowpaw tiptoed down the hall in order to keep her presence hidden (although why she wasn't sure). Passing the living room where a few of the mansion's residents were watching some movie, she snuck into the kitchen and glided over to the fridge, her footsteps soft and muffled because of her socks. Opening it and wincing at the glaring light inside, she plucked the carton from the door and closed it to grab a glass from the cabinet.

"Late night drink?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin and dropped the milk as she twisted around to see the black hedgehog of all people standing there. A bit disturbed that she hadn't noticed or heard him enter, she nodded politely before returning to her task, barely aware of him going to get something out of the refrigerator as well. Trying to ignore him as she quickly guzzled down her drink, she kept her eyes away from him as her thoughts returned to her previous meditation. He didn't seem to want to let her, though, as after he grabbed his own glass (she found it a strange sight, seeing Shadow holding the carton of orange juice) he turned to her and proceeded to start a conversation.

"So, what's new?"

She kept her expression neutral, although in all reality she wanted to snap back with a "none of our business". "Nothing much. And you?" It still felt weird being so extremely civil to him, but it was what she had to do for the bet.

He gave half of a shrug in reply, choosing to sip at his drink instead. She had a growing suspicion that he had only gotten it to linger in here and bother her, but she had no real proof. Gulping down her own quickly, she contemplated leaving before deciding that would be stupid and pouring herself another glass. "It's almost been a week." When she gave him a questioning look, he elaborated, "Since we've started this bet, I mean."

She nodded in understanding, but then a song came to mind that made her smile. Ignoring his confused expression, she sand, "It's been one week since you looked at me, cocked your head to the side and said, "I'm angry."" She put the glass down to point at him, grinning at his puzzled frown. "Five days since you laughed at me, saying, "Get that together, come back and see me.""

Suddenly, Sly was there singing along, and strangely she didn't mind as she was in such a good mood and grinned as Shadow scowled behind their backs. "Three days since the living room–I realized it's all my fault but couldn't tell you."

"Yesterday," she went on, Sly joining at the end,"you'd forgiven me–but it'll still be two days 'til I say I'm sorry!" She laughed with him then picked her cup back up as he attempted and failed to sign the fast-paced part of the song. It was rather difficult and could probably only be done by the seasoned singer, so she didn't tease him for it as she cleaned her cup and placed it in the dishwasher. The fox chuckled and bid them both good night after getting himself a beer, leaving her alone with Shadow once more but in a lot better mood. Turning to the hedgehog, Shadowpaw asked him, "Did you need to talk about something?"

"Is the idea of being friends that hard to accept?"

She blinked at the unexpected question, eyeing his serious expression. "Well, it's not hard, but . . ." She shrugged when she couldn't find a satisfying answer. "I guess I was surprised, is all."

He snorted. "What, that I would ever have friends?"

"No," she corrected him, "that you would ever consider me as one of them." Watching his frown to look for any changes in his expression, she finally told him, "But, if it helps, being friends doesn't sound too bad."

He didn't respond to that, simply standing there with the half-full glass in his hand, and she finally told him good-bye and walked out of the kitchen. As she walked back the way she came to make sure Feather was sleeping, she hummed to herself, "I can't help it if I think you're funny when you're mad–trying hard not to smile, though I feel bad . . ."

"Ah . . ." Rouge sank back in the couch and closed her eyes, enjoying her foot massage as she mumbled, "I should accept your bets more often, Knucklehead . . ."

"Oh, shut it," he grumbled, a humiliated blush on his face as he cursed his gullibility. "You tricked me into making that bet!"

She shifted slightly, accidentally bumping his nose with her foot. "I did no such thing. You're just that stupid." She smiled at his dark mumbles before piping up, "Oh, wait, move down a bit–ah, that's better. Ooh, that's heavenly." She closed her eyes and sighed blissfully. "When you win a bet, you can ask for me to do something."

He paused, a thought coming to mind, but he shook his head and continued massaging her feet, blush still on his face.

"Stupid bats, with their wings and big feet and big–oww! What was that for?"

"Watch it, Knucklehead."

"But I wasn't going to say it that time!"

"Sure you weren't."

Cast Commentaries

Knuckles & Rouge: *arguing in background*

DL: Ahh, you've got to love "One Week" by The Barenaked Ladies. Such a wacky, confusing, crazy song! *clears throat* And now, finally, here is the commentary where we try to answer your questions! Unfortunately, it looks like I've lost most of my fans because of irregular updating, so I only have some of AmyAddict1's questions to answer. *sweatdrops* Yay . . .

Shadowpaw: *clears throat* Anyways, let's see here . . . *mutters* This one's from forever ago . . . "Did Shadowpaw forget that she was lost? Cause she could have followed Shadow to get out of the maze." Back from chapter eight, of course.

Kussia: She did forget she was lost in the confusion, but she eventually fond her way out, obviously. With a little secret and discreet help from moi, of course.

Shadowpaw: *snorts* Right, whatever. *reads on* "But what will happen if they both do win? Will they really just call it a draw? Or will something else happen?"

Shadow: Well, AmyAddict1 (what a weird penname . . . *smacked by Shadowpaw* Oww!), if we both win (or if neither of us loses, to be precise), there are no conditions we have to do, so essentially nothing will happen.

Shadowpaw: Of course, we won't call it a draw, with how stubborn we are. *grins* And then I'll win!

Shadow: *rolls eyes and scoffs* Right.

Shadowpaw: *sticks tongue out* Alright, more questions! "What if they both crack at the same time?"

DL: Can we skip that one?

Kussia: Err, why?

DL: Because it's obvious that they'd have to both uphold their part of the bargain.

Kussia: Oh . . . that does make sense. Okay, let me see that– *snatches paper from Shadowpaw, ignores protests* "Is Shadowpaw becoming just a bit more girly?" *grins, turns to her* Yeah, Shadowpaw, are you?

Shadowpaw: *blushes, glares at Kussia* No.

Kussia: That's a "yes", then!

Shadowpaw: What? No! I'm not–

Kussia: "Why is everyone on such a long coffee break? How long does it take to get coffee?"

Sly: When Cream has somehow broken the coffeemakers and you're forced to share a microwave and a fire-and-pan-system between our crazy group of people . . . a long time. So, *grins* does that mean you missed us?

DL: *pushes Sly aside* Down, boy! Well, that's all the time we have today! Hope you guys read and enjoy this update, and please add any questions you have in your review. It's good to be back, ladies and gentleman! (Song cue!)

~Back in black!
I hit the sack!
I've been too long–I'm glad to be back!~
"Back in Black" by AC/DC