ARAAT4: Origins

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A Rose And A Thorn 4: Origins

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Froggy: I am so glad Midnight’s going down well.

Harley: Last chapter was a little bit dull, true, but now it gets rapidly more interesting, with paradoxes - really good ones - and explanations - really crazed ones.

Froggy: We’re better than three stars, aren’t we? Come on, if you read it, review it! It's the only way we'll know how many people are reading!

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Chapter Five: Hurt The Ones You Love

Mirage stirred quietly, but didn't open her eyes. She was warm, and happy, and any moment now she was absolutely certain to find out that she hadn't done anything stupid at all, and Espio hadn't died, and... she gave up hoping, and opened her eyes slowly. The room was almost pitch black, and she could see only because of the low-level lights from the observation window in the ceiling, and her excellent night vision. Somebody was lying with their arms around her.

Quite a lot of memories came back to Mirage in a hurry, and her eyes snapped wide open. She sat up in a hurry, clawing at thin air, her heart pounding.

Beside her, Midnight stirred and mumbled something, but quickly settled back down, still sleeping quietly. Mirage clutched her head. This had happened before - or would happen in the future. Current time disturbances made it hard to tell. Espio had lain with her when she was lonely and afraid too... and the similarities between him and Midnight were getting too close for comfort.

Very carefully, trying not to wake Midnight, Mirage started to get up, starting by unwinding his arms from around her waist.

The blue echidna stirred again, muttering and frowning.

Mirage finished getting away from Midnight. She was still wearing her vest. That was a blessing. She tiptoed over to her shoes - not that it was necessary, she could walk almost silently anyway - and picked them up, preparing to sneak out of the cell quietly.

"You could at least say 'thank you' before you leave,” the echidna said, his eyes still closed.

Mirage dropped the other shoe, "Oh! You are... um... awake," she said, slightly needlessly.

"Yes,” he replied, sitting up and blinking his eyes. Resting his hands beside him he looked up and gazed at her, "How are you feeling?" he asked

"Better, a little," Mirage admitted. She rubbed the back of her neck, "I mean… that is..." her expression was suddenly very empty, "Oh gods it hurts..." she whispered, slumping to her knees.

Midnight crawled over to her, trying to look into her eyes, "He really did put something in your head, didn't he?"

Mirage just nodded, not looking up, "I am... sorry," she said softly.

"What for?" he asked, tilting his head curiously to the side, his dreadlocks hanging down over his face.

"I do not know," Mirage mumbled, keeping her calm with some difficulty, "Wasting your time..."

"I don't understand,” Midnight reached out, stroking Mirage’s cheek, and gently raised her face, "What did he do to you? What did he put in there?” he asked, “You've... changed, and it’s worrying me."

"I told you already... He... made me... remember somebody... raping... me..." Mirage squeezed her eyes shut tightly, speaking with difficulty, "And I... remember it... even though it never happened..."

Midnight sighed and bowed his head. He was hoping that it would disappear, that Ashura's nasty little curse was temporary, but it was obvious that it wasn't so, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have been there sooner."

Mirage didn't answer him. Instead, she rested her forehead against his chest gently.

Midnight paused, tensed up a moment in surprise, but then relaxed and placed one hand on the back of her head, scratching through her fur, "I won't fail you again. I promise."

Mirage shrugged slightly, “Midnight… you could never fail me…” Several seconds passed, and then Midnight heard a new noise from Mirage. She was purring very quietly.

He smiled slightly in the dim light of the cell, pleased to hear her purring. It was an improvement. It meant that she could feel something positive again. He nuzzled the top of her head and scratched her ears, “Thanks for believing that,” he said.

"I am hungry," the feline announced. This came as no surprise, since she'd been sick with everything she'd eaten last night already.

The echidna chuckled softly, “Well, let’s get dressed, and we can go get breakfast. And I promise not to make you eat anything else of mine. Unless you want to."

Midnight felt her nod against him, and then she stood up gracefully, looking at her creased, wrinkled vest, "I will go and change," she said quietly, heading to the door, where she stopped suddenly, "Oh, and Midnight? ...Thankyou..." She left the room quickly.

Midnight took a deep breath, nodded, and went about doing the same.

In the laundry room, Mirage snatched up a clean vest, pushing the dirty one down the laundry chute. All the clothes in her wardrobe were exactly the same. She shrugged, and sighed. Okay, so she liked Midnight. There was nothing wrong with that. He was a nice guy, why shouldn't she like him? The answer was very clear - because she was supposed to be in love with Espio. She was doing all this crazy shit for the chameleon. She cursed a few times, counted the three rings on her tail as a matter of habit, brushed her fur quickly, and left the large laundry room.

Midnight had put on a fresh pair of gloves and his usual brown boots and was making his way back to the canteen he and Mirage had visited earlier. His mind was filled with conflicting emotions: worry for Mirage, anger at Ashura, frustration at the humans who had created them, and also.... a deep fondness for Mirage. Yes, he could admit that. Within a couple of days, his predictable, boring life had been shaken up, and he both liked and disliked it. It was all so... confusing.

He reached the canteen door just in time to see Mirage go through. She was wringing her hands, and had an expression of worry on her face. She was slightly paler than usual too. Hardly surprising, in the circumstances.

Midnight followed quietly after her, slipping inside and drawing minimum attention to himself as he did so. He didn't want to scare her, though, so he made his footsteps louder as he approached.

Mirage was already holding a bowl, which she was busy lining with bread. Once that was done, she filled the bowl with milk, turning it into a kind of milky soup. She turned and smiled nervously. Midnight could see over her shoulder Ashura sitting in a corner with his own breakfast, scowling at them both.

Midnight glared right back, unafraid, wishing he was allowed to pick up a knife off of a table and hurl it right into the green hedgehog's forehead… Shaking the violent thought off, he made himself his own breakfast, consisting of toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon with a tall glass of orange juice. Extra bacon, in case the hedgecat felt like having some. He sat down beside her at a table and ate in silence.

Mirage rubbed the back of her neck and started spooning the milk and milky bread into her mouth. Eventually she looked up, "You know... we probably are not supposed to sleep in the same room," she said awkwardly.

The echidna shrugged, looking up from his food at her, "Probably not,” he conceded, "But if it really bothers our white-coated ‘masters’, they can tell us that.”

"I know... they probably have it on disk already," Mirage muttered, running her finger around the bowl and licking it, "But either way... these last few days have been... interesting."

Midnight snorted quietly and stabbed his fork into the eggs, wishing it was Ashura’s eyeball, "I'd call that quite the understatement."

Mirage was just finishing off her breakfast, when one of the white coats approached them both, "Uh-oh," she muttered.

"Project Mirage? Project Midnight?" the white coat asked them both, "You're both required for testing in conjunction with Project Sonic Speed."

Mirage's sudden relief was evident. Midnight, despite his ability to hide his emotions well, was also obviously relieved. He nodded towards the scientist and stood up, leaving his half-finished breakfast on the table

"We've set up a new lab," the scientist told them both, "We're using the Chaos Emerald for testing. There's only one on board the ARK, and we won't have it again for a month, so all the experiments within our area have to be done today."

The blue echidna raised an eyebrow curiously, "What’s a Chaos Emerald?" he asked.

"We're not certain exactly," the scientist admitted, "It seems to be a source of infinite power that is also an Emerald, but there's so much we have to find out."

"So now we are your guinea-pigs," Mirage said sourly.

"Something like that," the scientist replied.

"Radiating me with energy from some rock with unlimited power doesn't sound very good for my health,” pointed out Midnight, crossing his arms over his chest, just under the pale blue crescent around his neck.

"Oh, we don't know that it will affect you at all," the scientist tried to reassure him, "After all, you're a direct clone. No enhancements. Project Mirage and Project Sonic Speed are different. And we want to see the different effects it will have on you all."

"How do we know that it will not be the equivalent of the ultimate bug-zapper?" Mirage asked him.

The scientist didn't answer this question, since they reached the lab at that moment, "Here we are."

Midnight followed behind, entering the lab after the scientist and Mirage, glancing around at the equipment and what appeared to be a huge hamster wheel. Sonic was already there, leaning against the wall, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Is this going to be important, or is not it?" Mirage asked.

"Yes, it is," the scientist agreed, "Now, Midnight, the is the Chaos Emerald we are using," he produced a grey jewel, which he handled with padded gloves, "And we need to see the effect it will have on an unenhanced clone. Please step in the treadmill, and run as fast as possible." He hooked the Chaos Emerald up to the treadmill.

Midnight mumbled something to himself about being incinerated and stepped onto the treadmill as instructed. Staring ahead at the emerald, the echidna started to run.

Mirage looked at the speedometer attached to the treadmill. She had to elbow her way through the other scientists. Behind her, Sonic was jogging on the spot, clearly bored already.

"Faster!" one of the scientists shouted at Midnight.

Midnight glared at the scientist, shook his head, and ran faster, pushing himself as hard as he could. He didn't feel any change, any tingle of energy, any increase in his performance, but to his grey eyes... the emerald seemed to glow.

"He can't build up the kinetic energy needed to spark off the Emerald's power," one scientist pointed out.

Mirage started to growl. The Chaos Energy in the room was making her edgy, and couldn't they see that Midnight was trying as hard as he could? He'd burn himself out in minutes at this rate, and he could be really hurt... "Is this actually necessary?" she snapped, her ears back and her tail flicking. They ignored her.

Midnight, however, seemed determined to prove them wrong, pushing himself harder, his lungs burning, panting hard for breath. He kept staring ahead at that glowing stone...

Mirage was twisting her tail in her paws now. Her ears were almost flat against her head, but she couldn't take her eyes off Midnight, who was by now dripping with sweat. The subsequent thoughts running through her head made her blush, humiliated by them.

Midnight's heart was hammering in his chest and his lungs felt like they were on fire, but he kept pushing, kept running, angry at those scientists and their stupid tests. They were so absorbed in their pointless work that they failed to see that their ‘experiments’ had thoughts and feelings of their own, that one of them had been horribly abused in her own cell. His anger brought fuelled his body, giving it greater strength. His vision clouded over with red... and he charged forward at the command of his chieftain and uncle, leading the men forward, bellowing a war cry and shaking his flint spear at the sky. As one, they rushed forward, trampling the frail creatures beneath their feet, rushing up the stone steps towards the glowing stones that would give their people ultimate power... Midnight gasped, slipped, went around the hamster wheel thing three times, and fell out of it, as it tossed him to the cold floor.

"Midnight!" Mirage dashed forward to him, "Are you okay?!" The echidna had screamed something odd and undecipherable, and probably foreign, just before he had broken his limits and tripped. To her own private rage, she could hear the scientists congratulating each other on how an unenhanced clone could do so well. Bastards, she thought, furious, "Midnight, are you okay? Can you hear me?" she repeated louder, wiping sweat off his forehead.

The echidna blinked his eyes and looked coolly up at the feline. He muttered something quietly which she couldn't understand, something in another language, perhaps, and it sounded like a question.

"Midnight?" Mirage shook his chest, "Midnight? Are you okay?" She took his face in both hands and turned him to look at her. She could sense Sonic looking over her shoulder, concerned, "Are you all there?"

The echidna blinked again, seeming to look past the hedgecat. Reaching up his chest, he ran one finger along the crescent of lighter blue fur around his neck, muttering, "Quilla... Quilla..." Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he passed out.

"Midnight?!" Mirage looked up at the scientists, "You... jerks! Look at what you have done to him!"

"He'll be fine, Project Mirage," a scientist assured her, "He's just unconcious. Here. You'll need this."

He handed the feline a necklace with a small green gem on it, which she snatched from him and hung around her neck, "Damn right I will! I am going to... I am going to..." she calmed down somewhat, "What?"

"Get in that treadmill and run as fast as you can," the scientist told her, “Break your own personal record.”

Looking confused, Mirage stood up and left Midnight's side, got in the treadmill, and started to run, slowly at first, then picking up more speed. The Chaos Emerald in front of her stopped glowing and became dull and useless. The Master Emerald Shard around her neck began to glow, increasing her stamina somewhat, and she gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder.

Soon enough she had just tuned out. She had no idea how fast she was going, or of anything else. Just that she had to run. There was sweat pouring down her quills, and her lungs burned from running.

"Whoa,” said a surprised brown hedgehog, who pushed off of the wall and walked closer to get a better look, watching as the emerald seemed to lose its power... while Mirage was only getting stronger.

Despite the Master Emerald Shard around her neck, Mirage was slowing down, her body burning out. Eventually, one of the scientists called for her to stop, and she jogged to a halt, panting fiercely. The speedometer clocked her top speed at 120mph.

"My turn!" called out Sonic, who leapt forward eagerly, practically bouncing up and down next to the treadmill.

"This..." Mirage panted, clutching her aching chest and glad for the first time that she was flat-chested, "Should be interesting..."

"Now, Project Sonic Speed, RUN!" a scientist commanded him.

Giving the hedgecat a cocky grin, Sonic hopped onto the treadmill, barely giving the scientists time to get ready, and starting running. He was obviously better built for running than the two before him, managing to sprint without even looking tired. Still, the scientists looked on at him with expressions of disappointment. He wasn't what they wanted, and that just pushed the brown hedgehog to try harder. He looked ahead at the emerald that Mirage seemed to draw strength from and focused on it, willing it to give him its power, as well. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then it started to glow.

Mirage edged over to the Chaos Siphon that was inhibiting how much of the energy of the emerald went into the occupant of the treadmill. Then, with a casual flick of her paw, she turned the siphon off, allowing the full power of the Chaos Emerald to be released.

The glow got brighter and brighter, and anyone looking at the hedgehog's eyes would have noticed them going from a brownish colour to emerald green, "This is cool!" he shouted, his feet moving faster and faster, becoming a red blur below him. The white-coats looked around at each other and their instruments in amazement, muttering to each other. Faster and faster... the glow from the emerald seemed to surround Sonic now, as well as a vortex of kicked-up wind. His quills were slicked back by the wind, an electrical current seeming to flow through him. The glow became too bright to look at, and then... A massive sonic boom filled the air. Parts of the treadmill went flying backwards, and Sonic was engulfed in light.

Mirage sidled away from the control panel and looked up at the wreckage of the treadmill, and of quite a large number of other machines, including a speedometer that was stuck bleeping on 340km/h or 760mph. She looked up at Sonic, and ranked this as the 11th worst day of her life. I have just distorted the entire space-time continuum horribly, she thought. Sonic was standing there, slightly charred all over, grinning wildly, and most importantly, cobalt blue.

Resting his hands on his hips, a silly grin across his face, Sonic asked the scientists, "Did I do it? Huh, huh, HUH?!"

"Oh, you did it alright..." Mirage muttered.

The scientists looked at each other and started cheering. Sonic gave them a bow, and Midnight groaned quietly and shifted.

"Has anybody got a mirror?" Mirage asked. She knelt back down next to Midnight. One of the scientists pulled Sonic out of the treadmill and showed him himself in a mirror.

"Heeeey!" said the hedgehog, looking over himself in the mirror, "I'm all blue now! Hmm... I look good in blue..."

Midnight groaned again, rolled onto his back, and slowly opened his eyes, looking up at Mirage.

Mirage rolled her eyes upon hearing Sonic's words. Anybody else would be throwing a fit now, but Sonic's hyper-confidence would have let him feel good about himself if he'd turned bright pink. She returned her attention to Midnight, placing her cool hand on his forehead, "Are you okay?" she asked him, "Can you hear me, Midnight? Are you all there?"

Midnight said something too soft to hear, and then he said it louder, "Yeah, I'm here." He blinked his eyes and brought one hand up to rub his head, "Where is here, anyway?" he asked.

"We are in the testing lab. You pushed yourself too hard running and you went all..." Mirage waved a hand around vaguely, "Weird. And then you fell over in the treadmill."

"The ARK,” he said, "We're still on the ARK..." The dark blue echidna shuddered under her touch, and he gave a sigh of relief.

Mirage glared at the scientists, who were paying a whole lot more attention to Sonic than they were to Midnight, "Hey, can we go now?" she shouted at them.

"Yes, of course," one of them told her.

"Come on, you look... Well, you do not look so good," Mirage told Midnight. She helped him sit up.

"I'm alright,” he assured her, slowly getting to his feet, "Just a little... shaken up. I'll be fine."

Mirage stood next to him. She looked at the blue Sonic, feline curses welling up in her brain. Well, at least I was right, she thought, But if I made Sonic blue, and I only tried that because I knew he would become blue… how old am I really?

"Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Midnight said, placing one hand on Mirage's shoulder. The echidna didn't seem to be badly hurt, but he looked shaken up and drained of energy.

Mirage nodded and walked out with him, "You do not look right," she said quietly, "You should probably have a lie down or something..."

"I'm fine,” he insisted, a little more forcefully this time. He shook his head slowly, "Sorry... I'm feeling a little edgy right now."

"What does 'Quilla' mean, anyway?" Mirage asked him.

Midnight seemed to stiffen at that word, "I don't know,” he told her

"But you said it when you were acting funny... when you were not looking at me right," Mirage replied, "You looked... not quite like you."

Midnight glanced away from her, still putting distance between them and the lab. After a moment of silence, he said, "I don't think I was."

"What do you mean by that?" Mirage asked him. There was a brief silence, "You know you can trust me."

Midnight sighed and came to a stop, looking down at the ground, "That Chaos Emerald did something..." he said. Looking back up and facing her, he added, "I think I had another memory."

Mirage took his hand, looking into his eyes, "Do you want to talk about it in the garden?" she asked. He nodded yes, and let her lead the way, "I just hope it does not rain again," she smiled slightly as they entered the artificial jungle. She settled on the bench, sitting carefully so that she wasn't sitting on her tail, "Tell me about it. I will not judge you. I cannot judge you. I do not have the right kind of brain."

Midnight paced back and forth in front of her, "I was... leading a group of other echidnas, holding a spear... We were warriors... and we were charging forward towards these stone steps, and we were trampling these little blue animals beneath us. We were running towards these glowing gems, just like that Chaos Emerald, but there were seven of them... and then it ended."

"And that was a memory from your last life?" Mirage asked him, her face perfectly open.

Midnight stopped and then faced her, "I didn't like what I saw, Mirage, and I certainly did NOT like how I felt!"

"How did you feel?" Mirage asked him.

"I felt as if... as if I ruled the world and had every right to do whatever the hell I felt like to everybody else,” he told her, trying to describe it. He stopped pacing and took a seat beside her, “Like I was allowed to take what I wanted and do what I liked and just be a total asshole and nobody could stop me…”

Mirage touched his cheek very gently, looking into his grey eyes, "But you are not like that now?" she asked him gently.

The echidna nuzzled his cheek against her hand, closing his eyes, “No,” he said softly. Reaching up slowly, he returned the gesture, caressing her face.

Mirage swallowed, feeling her heart speed up, "Whatever you were in a past life, it is not what you are in this life. I have said it before, and it applies to everybody - there is the past, and there is the future, and everything in-between is... life..." She swallowed again. She could feel his breath on her face. A very soft whine rose up in her throat, "It is just that..." she managed, her mind swamped by the peaceful scenery, and Midnight's scent. She managed to break her gaze, her hand dropping to his shoulder, “It is just…”

His other hand reached up to cover hers, and the echidna opened his eyes, gazing at her, "What is it?" he whispered.

"I... My past... my future... I do not know which is which anymore," Mirage said softly.

"You said it yourself,” he replied, gently rubbing her cheek, "Right now is life."

Mirage winced, "I... I did, did not I?" She looked down, "I... It is just..." Now she was blushing. How the hell was she supposed to tell him about Espio? And more to the point, did Espio even matter? Instantly she hated herself for thinking that, “I am so scared right now…” she admitted in a whisper.

"I know,” he whispered back, "It’s only natural to be. But things will turn out alright in the end. I just have to ask you to trust in me."

"I do trust you," Mirage said instantly, "I am just not sure I trust myself..."

The echidna frowned, "Why not?" he asked her quietly.

"I just..." Mirage looked into Midnight's eyes, "I feel strange things for you... I should not feel them. Not for you. But I do..."

The echidna's frown deepened, "Why not me?" he asked, sounding somewhat offended by her answer, "What’s holding you back?"

Mirage tried to find her voice. She didn’t want to lie to him. She didn't want to hurt him. She didn't want to lose him, either. The three desires clashed rather badly, "Midnight, I really... really like you," she said quietly, unable to look away.

At that, the frown on Midnight's face melted away, replaced by a smile, "Well, I like you too, Mirage."

"And... I..." Mirage choked on the words, "I do not want to lose you."

"If you're worried about Ashura, don't. I can handle him,” he assured her, "And I'm not going anywhere."

"I do not know what happens next..." Mirage gazed into his eyes, "I do not remember... my memory does not always work backwards when I am around you..."

Midnight nodded, giving her cheek another rub, "Neither does anyone else’s, but we know where this all is going. That gives us the advantage."

"Why cannot I remember you?" Mirage asked him, "How could I ever forget someone like you?"

Midnight didn't have anything to say to that. He reached up and placed his other hand on her face, cupping it and drawing it closer to his, grey eyes locked with crimson.

Mirage's fingers brushed against his dreads as he leant over her, casting them both into the shadows. She could feel her heart pounding away in her chest, her head spinning slightly.

They could both feel the heat of their bodies as Midnight moved in to nuzzle her cheek and rub his nose against the feline's, his eyes roaming her face. He softly breathed in her scent, sighing against her cheek, feeling his own heart begin to race. Finally, he understood the feelings he was having for Mirage, his desire to stay around her, to get closer. Closing his steely eyes, he travelled that final inch between them and kissed her.

Within seconds, Mirage had lost herself in the kiss. It didn't shock her or scare her; it felt so natural... She could feel his heartbeat, their chests were pressed against each other, and it was as fast as her own, and the whole feeling that nothing else in the whole universe mattered utterly swamped her mind, "Espio..." she whispered through the kiss, without even thinking.

Midnight ended the kiss, his lips barely separated from hers, and the echidna softly breathed, "What?"

Mirage opened her eyes, "Midnight..." she hesitated, "Whose name did I say?"

He opened his own eyes, "Whose name..." he repeated, frowning deeply, "You said 'Espio'."

You did not tell the truth, and now you might lose him. Nice going, bitch, "Oh, right..." There was a difficult pause, "Fu’sht."

Midnight's expression became blank, neutral as he put some distance between their faces, "What is it you’re not telling me?"

Tell him the truth. If you do not, I will, and I am nowhere near as nice, "Espio... was... or will be... some guy I used to... or will..." she stopped before her brain exploded, "There was this guy called Espio. But everybody I have ever cared about seems to get hurt, and the more I care, the more they get hurt. And he died. And it was my fault, and I wanted to change things... which is why I came back."

Midnight continued to gaze into the hedgecat's eyes, taking in this revealed bit of her history in a surprisingly calm manner. It didn't take a genius to understand what was being implied by her and her actions. She and this Espio were quite close. Very close. Possibly so close that you couldn’t wedge a matchstick between them, "Well..." the echidna finally spoke, "This is quite awkward."

Mirage looked down, "If I fail, he will die, and if I succeed, the circumstances under which we..." there was a distinct blank space here, "...They will never happen. I am so sorry, Midnight, I wish... I wish I knew... whether you remind me of him, or whether he reminded me of you... I shall go now," she stood up and started to leave.

"No, wait!" he said, standing up and taking her hand, "Wait,” he said, his voice softer, "I... I won't lie to you, Mirage. I'm not comfortable with the idea that you came back through time to save some other man you loved. Not at all. And honestly, I don't know what that means for us and our future,” he gave her hand a squeeze, "I don't like it. But it doesn't change my feelings for you. I know what my choice is. Yours, however... I can't make up your mind for you."

Mirage turned, "I do not want to hurt you," she said quietly, "But I do not want to lose you either... I have lost so much already..."

The echidna just gave her a slight, warm smile, "I told you already, you are not going to lose me. I really don't want to be lost."

Mirage wrapped her arms around the echidna and squeezed him tightly, not letting go, "Please... just... promise me one thing..." she managed, "Promise that... if it all goes wrong... you will make me remember..."

Of course, he knew that was a promise he could not reasonably give. He could not predict all things, could not control all outcomes. But a little lie wouldn't hurt, "I promise,” he told her, hugging her back.

Mirage nuzzled his cheek. She knew also that it was an unreasonable request... but either way, he made her feel better... safer... stronger... "Thankyou," she said softly, nuzzling his cheek again.

He returned the nuzzle and kissed her cheek, whispering, "You are very welcome." And he knew that things had changed, that his life was starting down a new, unexpected path. Now he had someone to share things with, someone who could understand where he was coming from, someone to hold onto.

Mirage cuddled closer to the heavily built echidna, burying her muzzle in his neck. Maybe she was right. Maybe the only thing that really mattered was now. In which case, this was just fine... or maybe it was better than that.

Yes. Things were just fine.

~~~

Harley: So that’s our question for now - just how old is Mirage? Will she ever find out? Unlikely, because it’s one of those beautiful paradox things. Maybe she has no age. Either way, life continues to get complicated in Chapter Six, so Read and Review.