Disclaimer: I do not own the following: Sonic the hedgehog, Dragonball Z, Tekken Prince of Persia (the Dagger of time), Batman (the Shadowfox looks like the Bat-Mobil), Pokémon (Lugia's ocarina), He-Man, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City; (I will add more when the time comes.)

Claimer: Bakuda, Dakuba, Dawn, Aura, Tara, Karnak, Adam and 'The Universal Gods', Creculo the hedgefox and Twilight the hedgefox I own. Bakuda was a 'spur-of-the-moment' name a friend and I created for an online game in 1999. I used the name for every game/story character ever since. If you spot anything that may be discreetly connected to another Anime/book/TV show, ECT, it is purely coincidence and not intentional.

I buried both hope and the night today.

Yet somehow, they were with me when I walked away from the gravesite.

Bakuda promised he'd always be there,

Now I know what he meant.

Tails' Diary Entry: A Shadow's Shade

Tails looked over the two large holes in the farthest part of the back yard, small tears continuously falling down his face. The two bodies he was to bury were deep within, their hands lying over their chests and in Bakuda's case, a small smile on the face.

The young fox picked up the shovel again and began placing the dirt he had dug for the graves, back into the holes. But before he could make more than two shovelled, a gentle hand rested of Tails' shoulder; "Hey Tails, let me take over. You go get some rest." A blue hedgehog offered, wishing nothing more than to help his little buddy in his troubles. Yet the young fox shrugged the hand off silently and continued his work.

Covering the faces of the two brothers was hard enough on Tails, though he kept a mostly straight face all the way through. Right to the point where he placed two granite stones in the earth and half buried them for the gravestones.

Everyone that had been in the household had circled around the fox and the two graves he had made. Amy was comforting the young cream but was mostly crying herself. Ella was dressed in black, trying to make it seem like a normal funeral. Tanaka was staring at the graves, unblinking, giving an eerie sense about him. Sonic, after offering to take the shovel and been denied, had stepped back and just watched his friend cover up the bodies of his closest relatives. Chris was standing next Tanaka, both of them not saying a word, all speech leaving him as he looked into the closing graves.

Spraying the last piece of dirt onto the two graves, the fox dropped the spade at his own feet and walked silently back towards the house. No one stood in his way, parting for him. No one knew the extent of how the young fox was feeling due to themselves being nearly on the brink, though Tails had been the closest. They suspected it would have been a year gone and Tails would still have nightmare of his brothers leaving him.

Allowing the twin tailed fox to enter the house alone, Sonic stepped up the graves and bent down in front of them both, staring at the white rocks used to mark the sites;"I'm not sure who could have possibly done this but I'll find out. None of these three deserved this. Maybe Shadow if he went nuts, but not Bakuda and Tails. Remember when Bakuda and Tails were accused of Murder and ran halfway across the country?" he asked with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood up with old memories of the pair.

Ella chuckled slightly, wiping away the tears in her eyes with a sniffle; "Yes, though I would always remember the time both Tails and Bakuda made me a cake when I was ill that one day." She recounted, looking back on that day like it had happened a few hours ago.

Amy and Cream looked towards each other before both spoke up; "Shadow came here for a visit once and when some people tried to kidnap me, he teleported them to the other side of the world with a Chaos Control. He was trying to contain his anger back then." The young rabbit laughed softly. The pink hedgehog beside her agreeing with a nod, though didn't add anything in.

The butler spoke up, which he didn't often do unless he had to; "Bakuda Son taught me how to improve my martial Arts to a much higher level than I ever realised. He was my friend, ally and tutor. He refused to be called 'Master' on any count." He spoke calmly, though the slightest trickle of a tear had spread down his face.

Lastly, the young boy chose to speak. He had been the one that had been shedding more tears than almost everyone there, except for Tails of course, since he had a very close connection to the fox for a reason the others didn't; "He sacrificed his own life for mine. I died because of Metal God and Bakuda used himself to bring me back." He whispered, remembering how the young vulpine had come back as well only by the love of everyone's hearts he had touched, sending this almighty power through the Chaos Emeralds.

Each one of them placed a golden daffodil on the left hand grave and a red rose on the right. Sonic, who had not changed his stance since then, laid his right hand on Bakuda's grave softly; "I'll miss you 'O' Great Fireball'" he said with a small smile, addressing the old nickname he had given to Bakuda a long time ago.

No sooner did the hedgehog finished, did a single drop of water come onto his nose. Thunderclouds booming overhead. They had been so focused on the graves that they failed to notice that a thunderstorm was rolling in. With no more to say, Sonic turned away from the grave and guided everyone back to the house silently.

The blue hedgehog shook his head slightly as he let out a deep sigh, spotting the twin tailed fox lying down on the couch, though got up once everyone came inside; "Hey Tails, look, I know your quite upset now but I-" he started before Tails cut him off, the tears on his face having vanished though he still had the red veins from his crying.

"I'm not upset anymore Sonic." He stated calmly, though the smile on his face gave the sense he was relieved. Though seeing the confused and rather shocked expressions on everyone, he continued; "Bakuda and Shadow wouldn't want me moping over them so much, they'd want me to fight on. That's what I'm going to do." He explained, relaxing back on the couch again.

Chuck placed his hand on his side with an even more confused expression, though it quickly spilt into a grin; "Don't Worry, Be Happy?" he suggested, earning a few laughs from the people nearby. Even Tails let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so Chuck. I suspect you want to hear what happened too. Well, it all started with the-" Tails began but was interrupted by something, his nose twitching; "Is something burning?"

This question was the result of the following: A cry of distress, a maid barrelling to the kitchen, a wail, a slamming noise and finally a sigh of relief. Only a few seconds of silence issued before Ella called into the room, a few seat drops on her forehead; "Dinner is ready everyone. I saved it." She announced to the group.

A speeding golden blur was all that was needed for everyone to know that Tails heard her and was also hungry, though, when was a Saiyan ever 'not' hungry?

The entire group wandered into the dining room to find Tails bowing his head over the table, his tails swinging from side to side to show his excitement. He had obviously missed Ella's cooking. Amy and Cream giggled playfully as they took their seats, Sonic jumping onto the one next to Tails instead of the usual seat he had next to Chris. Chuck forced to sit next to his nephew.

Tails raised his head and opened his eyes with a smile still implanted on his face; "Smells great Ella." He complimented as he reached forward, taking a drumstick from the turkey with ease. After biting into it, it rallied the rest to grab everything they could in case Tails at it all.

Sonic took hold of an apple and bit into it slowly, his mind not on the food at all. After swallowing, he turned his head towards Tails; "So, where were you the last six months? Last I saw you was at the Tournament. You roughed me up back then." He chuckled, remembering the match they had. He didn't think his 'little bro' had that much fighting talent.

The young fox jerked forward at the question, nearly coughing up half a turkey; "Wh-what?! I've been out for six months?!" he cried, his onyx black eyes wide in shock. His gaze then turned to his feet as he thought about what could have happened.

"Bakuda and Shadow died at the Tournament after it ended. Shadow sacrificed himself and I think Bakuda might have been caught in the blast. Amelia knocked me unconscious when I struggled to help Shadow. I was half asleep at the time anyway, so a single tap at the back of the neck did it. Some scientists took us while we were asleep and studied us, keeping us asleep for as long as possible. I came here as soon as I woke up." He explained, a feeling of dread coming over him. Though it was eased by his partner in science.

Chuck reached over and raised Tails chin, making his look in his eyes; "I'll give you a Check-Up in the morning to see if they did anything to you. But it doesn't look like they did." He hypothesised, sitting back down in his chair and continuing with their meal.

Sonic wasn't too happy about the way Bakuda and Shadow went out, though at least they went down fighting. Trying to change subjects, he looked at the food on the table, nearly all of it had been taken; "Heh, you eat a lot. Just like old times. Hey, did anyone hear that?" he asked. His ears flicking up and to the left, pointing towards the front door nearby.

A soft scratch and a whimper was coming from behind, sounding like a lost puppy.

In a blur of blue and a soft breeze echoing behind the hedgehog, Sonic was at the door and opened it calmly, though what came to his eyes caused him to jump back in alarm; "Whoa! Hey kid, you got a decent Tails costume but the fur colour is yellow, not black." He spoke; about to shut the door on whomever was there, though it was caught by the golden kitsune himself.

"Dawn?"

The shadow Godling of Joy wasn't so joyous. His fur was soaked so that it was completely matted. His ears folded against the side of his head while the poor cub cried with whimpers escaping his throat; "T-tails... Do y-you have a-any f-food?" he asked softly, his voice cracking like he hadn't spoken in a while.

After a second inspection, Tails found that Dawn's stomach was as thin as it could get. His clothing torn enough for a clear view. If Tails was out for six months, Dawn certainly hadn't been. Without Dusk or Dakuba alive, the question of how Dawn survived this long was beyond the golden vulpine.

Without hesitation, the fox picked Dawn up by the shoulders and gently guided him in, much to Dawn's astonishment; "You mean... You're actually helping me?" he asked softly, his onyx black eyes stained with tears.

"Of course. We may have been enemies before. But that can change right? Who said Shadow's had to be enemies with the original?" he asked, giving the small black fox a reason to smile weakly.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still at the door, holding the door open and letting the cold come in. An eyebrow raised in confusion; "Uhhh... Ok." He muttered to himself, unable to get what just happened. "Wait a second, was that really Dawn?" the hedgehog wondered to himself as he followed, slamming the door with his foot to show off.

Amy and Cream gasped as one when laying eyes on the pair of vulpine, more so on Dawn of course. As soon as he came into sight, the pair of girls jumped off their chairs and helped guide the poor fox to a spare chair to sit on.

This was overwhelming the fox kit, who had no expected such a warm welcome from them. Though he smiled at them all at once and with a small amount of urging from Tails, reached over and took a piece of turkey happily.

Sonic and Tails sat back down, next to each other while Amy and Cream did the same. Turning to the stunned faces of the human's in the room.

Chuckling nervously after taking a few bites, Dawn blushed heavily; "Uh, Hi. I'm Dawn, a friend of Tails. I have been looking for him for a while... Though only found him now." He spoke softly, bowing his head slightly as he hoped they would believe his lie. Choosing not to speak, Tails merely nodded with a smile.

Chris, buying the lie completely, waved to him; "Hi Dawn, My name is Chris. If you didn't know, this is Amy, Cream, Sonic, Tanaka, Ella and my uncle Chuck. How did you get in such a bad shape? Did someone hurt you?" he asked in a concerned tone, getting worried that their new guest had been in a fight recently.

Looking up from the second piece of chicken, Dawn blinked in confusion before removing the turkey piece from his mouth and swallowing the piece already bitten off; "No, I just have nowhere to stay. Sleeping on the ground does that." He spoke, his voice coming back now since he had something passing through his throat.

Chuck waved his hand at the statement, a wide grin coming to his face; "Well Dawn, I'm sure you and Tails could share a room. We have more than enough room." He offered, not ready to deny this young kit a safe and warm place to rest his head.

"REALLY?! THANK YOU!" Dawn cried at the top of his lungs, throwing both hands into the air in celebration. Earning a few smiles all around. Even Tails was happy for him.

Though before much more could be said, the clock on the wall smiled ten times, bringing Tanaka forward; "It is time for bed. I suggest you all get some sleep for we start looking for the Chaos Emeralds at dawn." He instructed, ignoring the groans of protest from Amy and Cream, as well as Chris and Chuck.

Sonic ignored curfew anyway so he didn't care.

Tails hopped out of his chair and wandered over towards Dawn, who frowned at Ella taking most of the food away to be washed up; "Hey Dawn, I'll show you our room. Oh and by the way. I noticed." He said with a smirk, helping the fox off his seat since he was still a bit weak.

Walking by his side, Dawn got an equal smirk. Knowing full well what he meant; "Yeah, I know. Not sure how it got there, but looks like we are our own people now." He shrugged, though spoke quietly so no one but them could hear the conversation.

As they walked, shadows danced behind the kitsune's because of the light overhead.

Not one, but two.

No wonder I'm a bit sleepy, oversleeping makes you sleepy. But how does more sleep make you sleepy when you just had more than enough sleep to try and prevent being sleepy when you were first sleepy?

Ugh... Headache.

Having Dawn around is going to be tough, since we are supposed to hate each other's guts. But all that's changed since he has his own shadow now, instead of sharing mine.

I have Sonic and the others yet Dawn now has nothing but his memories.

But...

He's one of us now.

A Friend and Ally.

He's family.

Elise was removed from this story, new idea!

Edit Chapter.