(YES … I am still here, unfortunately my Muse has however escaped me … up until now, and even as this tale doth draw to a close, I find I have Mr. Muse firmly locked away in his cage, but enough about him, now let us begin, what I must admit, is probably going to be yet another long rollercoaster of emotion)

"Are you sure about this?"

"Me?, Yes … definitely! Why do you ask?"

"Because … because it … it just doesn't seem-, it doesn't feel right"

"or…."

"I don't know"

"Mmm hmm"

There were many packed streets like this one, spread across a planet, spread across a galaxy, spread across a cosmos, but this one was special. 'Now Why?' you immediately ask yourself, is this street special? Has something happened here? Was someone great or famous born or died here? Did some great event with spawned countless others occur here? … well then if you have al ready consider all of those accounts and settled on a definite then you should discard it. For it was not something great, or terrible, or monumental in the grand scheme of Life and Death and Continuity, just an … occurrence so to speak, the meeting of two and one and many in a crowded place.

To be more specific, this was the planet Mobius, in the year 2055, now as we all know, 50 years can build a city, a world, a cosmos a life as well as they can rip it apart. However these 50 years were special indeed, things had advanced, technologically, philosophically and historically, for both the better and the detrimental. Metropolis now replaced what had once been green fields and groves of trees, Houses and Schools in their masses weighed up against Workshops and Malls and the foundations of new Houses.

"Isn't this a Paradox?"

"Technically … no, different dimension, the you as you know doesn't exist so it doesn't defy intuition, just feels weird"

"It still doesn't feel right"

"That's because … well think of it as something like incest"

"Incest?"

"Yes, your body is naturally repelled by this dimension's version of you, since two you's are not supposed to exist on the same plane of existence"

"But what about-"

"That was an exception, a split-personality I gave two corporeal forms"

"So … we're still one?"

"In a way"

"But if we're still one … what happens if I, or she, dies?"

There was a pause

"I don't know … try not to die then so we don't have to find out"

The crowd around them was mixed, some Human, some Mobian, but predominantly Mobian, a sea of fur and feathers and paws and claws and chatter. It was a Sunday, so everyone would be out shopping for the coming week, others would be working the extra time for the pay, and yet more would just have come out to see what was new and to meet up with friends.

But two beings were not there for any of those purposes, the crowd seems to melt out of their way, bending around them in silent, unknowing acknowledgement of their existence, a simple trick of the mind, they would have stood out immediately otherwise. One of them was black, head to foot, the only area of his body that were not black was a circular area on his chest, and the peaks of his tails, which were white, and his eyes, his eyes were crimson red. The other was roughly the same height as him, purple furred in places, in others metal obscured and replaced the flesh itself, the work of a twisted genius, her eyes were purple two, and her eyes were slightly more elongated then the others, a symbol of some cross-breeding somewhere in her heritage … or a sign that someone had serious fucked around with her DNA.

"Remind me why we're here again?"

"Don't you want to find out?"

"Find out what?"

The Black figure suddenly turned into a shop, immediately recognisable as a bookshop because … well because of all the books of course, but that wasn't what took his Purple companion by surprise, not the sheer amount of books, or the amount of trees her mind would immediately calculate had been destroyed to create them, or the sum total of the number of words in them, but the sign which hung from the ceiling.

"Your kidding me"

"No"

The Purple One rounded on the black one, her face contorted in curiosity, anguish and a small amount of anger.

"Just which dimension EXACTLY are we in?"

The Black One's face grew slightly smug

"Dimension 34.21937293727 Ω128 ∑B"

"Which means?!"

"Basically? … it's the dimension where you" the Black One said, poking her in the chest "were never born … born? … created? … whatever the verb, basically you never existed, and never will" he concluded, grinning a little before looking at the sign himself.

The Sign read, in literate gold letters emblazoned on a pale, sky blue background:

Today only, Siranzan Prower signs copies of her long awaited autobiography

Complete with extracts from her Father, Tails's own Journal

Buy One and get the Other absolutely free

Terms and Conditions apply

His Purple Companion stared at him with what appeared to be wanting a vehement reason to punch him round the face, he winked at her.

"Come on … don't tell me you DON'T want to find out"

His companion was, for the first time in her life, at a loss for word

"But … But … But-"

"No things won't be different"

"Then Ho-"

"Not sure … Time is a complex thing, small things can have big effects, but generally, GENERALLY, most major and minor events normally stay them, unless the changed event, or subsequent events would change that event(s)"

She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, one of her fists clenching on reflex.

"Okay, okay, I ask for an explanation, not a lecture on Physics"

"But that's what Time Travel is"

"But THIS ISN'T Time Travel"

"Fine, Inter-Parallel-Dimensional Spatial Oscillational Transportation, but there almost the same thing"

"ALMOST"

"Well … the only real difference is-"

At this point, she did hit him, and before you jump to conclusions, in the shoulder, rather then the face, he made a small face as the slight bruise faded almost instantly.

"That hurt!"

"Well I'll tell you what, how about you stop lecturing me, and I'll stop hitting you, Deal?" she said, holding out her hand

The Black one looked at it, then winked at her

"In your dreams"

"Wouldn't have it any other way"

The bookshop was quiet, almost empty, despite the Sunday rush outside, there were a small amount of beings inside, most of them Mobian, since the humans couldn't bear having to reach down to pick books off the shelves, but there were some who were welcome to having small bookshelves.

The stall had been set up in a corner, tactically you could call it the rooms 'Power Position', from there you could directly see anyone who entered, yet be enough out of the way so that a little incentive was required to find its location, which meant that only people who actually want to buy or look would be able to find it.

"So we're here … to buy BOOKS?"

"Yes?"

"WHY!?"

"Like I said Sír, don't you want to know what happened?"

"Happened? … what do you mean happened?"

"The Wedding of course"

Then the penny dropped

"Wedding? .. whose?"

The Black one said nothing, just grinned and began walking towards the stall, with his purple compatriot storming behind him, as he half-lectured, half-explained to her as they went.

"Well you know what Tails is like, well, in this Dimension, Tails is his OFFICIAL name and Miles is a nickname, but where you come from, he sort of let the 'Miles' fall into disuse, especially after his Identity Crisis, of course, he still had that Crisis here, except you didn't drag him through Time and Space …

"What happened then?"

"I did"

"You did WHAT!"

"I had to, like I said, MAJOR events stay the same, that part of his life is considered MAJOR, and I really didn't want to have ANOTHER Siranzan on my hands, so I cheated, and that was before his unfortunate disappearance .. I still ahven;t worked that out yet"

"You bastard"

"Yes I am, I don't know who my Father is"

The Purple one, said nothing, just severely resisted the urge to punch him again, this time in the jaw, right across the jaw she'd hit him, just to make sure it hurt, and to shut his lecture up, but the Black one seemed to be immune to the ominous feeling as he continued lecturing calmly.

"Of course certain things happened after that, then I brought him back and then he-" The Black One paused, and winked at Siranzan "Well I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, but the difference between this Dimension and yours is very slight, so most of the facts should be more or less the same"

Leaving his companion fuming like a burning house, the Black one stepped to one side a slide a copy of the bound book from the shelf, placing it under his arm her stepped into the line, comprised of one person other them himself, a chipmunk wearing a red hoodie with the hood down behind his head, who picked up his book and left, and the black one caught a glimpse on what was on the front of his hoodie and almost died laughing.

"Well I wonder where that idea came from" he thought to himself as he stepped up to the Stall.

This Siranzan was definitely different to any of the others. Her fur seemed to have less of that glossy sheen and more of a somewhat fluffed up weariness to it, her eyes were a little bloodshot and there were bags under her eyes and she slouched a little, leaning on one elbow tiredly.

"Sleepless night?" He asked politely, stepping out into the visible spectrum and holding out a copy of the book, which she accepted with apparent gusto, but her tone conveyed a craving for sleep and yet a sort of bulging excitement

"Yes, been really looking forward to today … but" she looked around, and gave a small sigh

"Not a lot of people seemed to have turned up so far" she said sadly, flipping the cover of the book open to the first page and pulling a biro out from somewhere.

"To?" she asked hesitantly, almost as if expecting him to reconsider buying the book and walk out

"Miles Prower" Miles finished, a small smile curling at the edges of his mouth, in her excitedness, it took a few moments for the effect of those to sink in, she muttered to herself a little as she signed the book.

"To, Miles Prower, I hope you enjo-" … then the words sunk in, she stopped, her face went a sort of palsy white and the biro fell from her hand and hit the floor with a small clatter, rolling away across the floor. She stared at him with a mixed feeling of bewonderment and astonishment and shock, Miles kept his face straight and picked the book up from the stall and closed it, tucking it back under his arm.

"How is your Mother" he asked, with a slight note of longing in that voice, there was something he wasn't telling, but whatever it was was beyond her comprehension.

Siranzan took a long drink of water before speaking, suddenly finding her throat as dry as dust

"F-fine, still … the same" she admitted, Miles face didn't alter, but his eyes did, the crimson glow behind them flickering sadly a little.

"Next time you see her-"

"I will" she interjected, knowing what he was going to say before he mentioned it, she guessed that he already knew … well it wouldn't be the first time.

"Thank you" Miles said with a slight, respectful inclination of his head, he turned and walked around the corner out of her sight, that look of shock was still etched on her face like a carving. He glanced around, then beckoned to the Purple Siranzan, who sauntered over, her expression mildly curiously.

"Why don't you go meet yourself?" he recommended "I think she's in need of some comforting at the moment"

"Why can't you do it?"

Miles shook his head "Too much … emotion" he said bluntly "and besides I need to get going"

He glanced at his wrist, except that there was no watch there, but he apparently seemed to read something in the gesture.

I'll come pick you up in a few … years" he said jokingly, pushing Siranzan a little towards her Alternate "Try not to change History TOO much"

Siranzan was about to object rather strenuously, but then she felt the pair of hands leave her back … and found that her bastardised parental figure had vanished, like he had such a habit for doing so and she bit back the urge to scream explicatives at the empty space he had been in for several hours, that would have been what she had done, had not 'coincidence' struck first.

There was the sound of plastic rolling along would, and she felt a pen gently touch her foot with a silent clang! Bending down, she picked it up, a biro, and look of incomprehension crossing her face, then she felt a tap on her shoulder and shuddered, then she realised who was standing behind her.

"Excuse me .. could I have my Pen back?" asked Siranzan, looking at herself with a slightly odd expression. "Don't I know you?"

This time the moody purple Kitsune couldn't hold it back.

"Bugger!"

-----

There was an awkward space between them now, far from dispassionate, more like a tender embarrassment, even being in the same room together made them both turn an indescribable scarlet. It was weird really, after being so close, so so so so so close, in both a literally and physical sense, now they would rather lose a limb then be in the same room as each other like they were now.

They sat on the soft, at opposite ends, squished against either arm in a desperately failing attempt to get away, Vanilla hadn't said a word to Tails, just pushed her through the door and close it again, but she was still there, waiting outside, guarding most of the ways out of the house, she was waiting for something, but Tails wasn't sure what.

He coughed distractedly, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Uhhhhh Cream? .. do you want a drink?" he asked about as tentatively as he dared,

"No thank you" her reply was very high-pitched, and just as tentative and nervous as his was, well at least they could both still talk, good.

"Look here, Cream, about the last couple of days-" he started, but was cut-off by what he could describe only as a hiss from Creams lips. Now for those of you of whom have ever met Cream the Rabbit, then you will know that generally, 99.9% of the time she is a calm, caring, well-mannered individual and extremely cute, its that 0.1% of time which you really need to steer clear of and, so very unfortunately for Tails, he just happened to now meet Little Miss Zero Point One Percent.

"No you look here Miles Prower" was about as civilised as the rest of it, and left Tails wincing at the use of his first name, if she was anything like her mother then-

The next … 14 and a half minutes were not particularly very pleasant for Tails, a detailed and heavily censored transcript of which can be found in his Diary if you happen to own a copy, however I cannot repeat it here personally for Copyright Reasons, and the fact that it contains enough explicatives, insulting metaphors and generally angry conversation, by a normally polite individual, to fill a black hole. The words, "irresponsible", "blockhead" and "IDIOT" being some of the more nicer things she called him, she even went, in mid-monologue, as far as to suggest that someone in is parentage might have gone as far as to marry someone who was mentally retarded, which is not a very pleasant thing to say about anyone.

Now of course you can immediately imagine Tails expression, a mixture of shock, horror and general OMFG! …. WHAT WAS THAT, and of course, he had just had to change his entire perspective of the way he looked at the little Rabbit for the second time in so many days, it was sort of refreshing really, it showed that he didn't know EVERYTHING about her, not yet anyway.

Cream finished her oration as suddenly as she started, turning from a towering pillar of angst, rage, sadness, passion, love, anger, fury, spite and generally rabid emotional crap, back into a peaceful little rabbit in a matter of a single moment, where she stood smiling at Tails, who had quite literally pressed himself back into the sofa as far as he could, and hoping every second that the Sofa would transform into a monster and swallow him whole, which would have been preferable to enduring the verbal onslaught.

The Rabbit sat herself back down on the sofa, this time directly next to Tails, causing him to flinch violently, and resist the temptation to scramble out of her reach, she reached up, and gently, ever so gently, kissed him on the cheek, which made his heart skip and beat … several beats, so many beats her thought for a moment his heart and stopped, but then the next beat came and he realised that perhaps, just perhaps, he had deserved every word she had just said … well, MOST of it anyway.

He felt a sudden urge in his chest, which was immediately overruled by a deep-rooted sense of self-preparation … which surprised him, he felt like he was about to drop off a cliff into a pit of … Cream?

It was when she very carefully placed one hand on his knee that he decided that maybe, just maybe she was trying to seduce him but … something didn't ring right, something was out of place, and he wasn't quite sure what, it was at that moment he decided that he didn't want this going any further, not with her mother outside the door.

"Ah, errrr Tea, Cream?" he asked hastily, noting the hint of disappointed in her eyes as she adjusted herself more comfortably on the sofa, clutching a cushion across her chest.

"Aww … okay" she said, and you could almost feel the disappointment in her voice, mumbling something of an affirmative, he almost sprinted into the kitchen, pausing for a moment, hiding himself behind the central column in the middle of his kitchen, Tails could feel an odd taste in the back of his throat, and immediately paused himself a glass of water.

Feeling the cold, clear liquid down his throat made him feel much better, and it cleared his head a little, downing half of the glass, he flicked the kettle onto boil and set about finding some tea mugs. He climbed up on the counter-top and began rummaging around in the shelves and cupboards up high, muttering to himself about getting the shelves moved down so he didn't have to climb up and get anything he need to.

Reaching right tot the back, past a variety of spices, pots and pan, some pasta and a stray screw, he eventually found some mugs, pulling them from the back of the shelf to the front he examined them, blowing the dust off and examining the patterns on the enamel surface.

He remembered buying this one, there was something about the patterns, dozens and dozens of thick black letters place atop each other in an apparently random pattern which appealed to him. He blinked as a small piece of dust flew into his eye, rubbing his eye frantically, he almost lost his balance, regaining it just on the edge of the marble surface, he looked back at the cup to make sure that he hadn't broken it … and he had to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

It was like a pattern, as if … there was no longer a randomness to the letters, but a sequence of chaos, organised chaos, which seemed to have once transcended comprehension, now made sense, perfect, clear, pure sense. The letters seemed to move, forming patterns … no, not patterns, words! Which wound themselves around the cup in a long, single strand, almost like a letter.

The mug now read:

So Yeah, I Figured you'd EVENTUALLY need to find a Tea Mug for some reason, basically, break this after reading it, and you'll find something which will come in useful in a few minutes, enjoy

M

After reading and re-reading the message twice, he thought for a moment, M? … M? … M?, M? then, for the second time that afternoon the cogs in his head very slowly began to move again, churning and whirling to eventually produce something not very dissimilar to a cognitive mush … but at least it was working, and Tails suddenly felt a small chill run down his spine as he unequivocally fitted letter to individual and swallowed awkwardly.

"Tails?"

A the sound of Cream's voice, Tails jumped a foot in the air, there was a loud, and possibly distinctly hollow, thock! as Tails felt the back of his head collide with the marble worktop, and as everyone knows, when it comes to rock versus skull, rock wins.

Tails spent approximately a moment in complete agony, clutching at the back of his head before he finally felt suitably within his pain threshold to uncurl himself from his ball like position, had Miles actually intended that to happen, or indeed, if he had seen it coming he could have at least warned him, oh well.

It was at that point that he realised that something was clutching his hand, clutching it very tightly indeed in an almost vice-like grip, almost crushing it. He looked up, momentarily forgetting where he was and wondering who was holding his hand with such compassion.

But before he could, his eye caught something, something shiny in the wreckage of the broken mug.

---

Whilst all of this had been unfolding, and indeed even before that, a pair of chocolate brown eyes had been watching with an astute view of everything, after all it was a mother prerogative to make sure nothing untoward happened to her daughter, no matter how *ahem* … aroused or emotionally unstable she may feel.

It was not, however, Tails's, perhaps justified, lack of response that surprised her, but what happened next, peering through the Kitchen, she noted the scene with a small amount of amusement, but that little 'Mother's' instinct in the back of her head tingled slightly … something didn't seem just quite right about this whole situation, there was just a little too much … coincidence.

"You're the first person to catch onto that you know Vanilla" a voice said behind her, which caused the rabbit to freeze, she very carefully turned around, the voice seemed … familiar, although she couldn't quite think where she had heard it.

To Miles, her expression was just about as unblinking as it had been when he had apparently first 'met' her, locked away in a corner at the back of Tails's mind, unable to do anything but watch, and there had been something about her that had impressed him, for all that kind and fluffy rabbit she could be VERY firm indeed.

"I assume that your Miles then"

Her voice was cold, just a little cold, which made him shudder a little, and shee had one eyebrow raised at an angle which seemed to be aiming in his general direction, a very serious weapon indeed.

Miles raised his gloves-clad paws in a mock form of surrender.

"Peace ma'am, I'm not here to cause trouble"

"Then what are you here to do then?" her voice was like ice, thick, cold, sharp ice which you would find on the edge of a dagger which was made of ice, and would be very sharp indeed. However, no matter how much this caused him to wince, a small, mischievous grin slipped around the edges of his lips.

"Why to watch of course"

"Watch? … watch what?"

"Events unfolding"

Miles nodded towards the window, curious, Vanilla turned back, watching with a sort of intentness at the situation unfolding through the glass.

---

Tails knelt on the floor and gently moved a curved shard of broken enamel to one side, the letters now stilled and no longer moving, he felt his hand touch some cold, something metal, and there was the faint sound of something metal grinding against the stone floor. Pulling the item out, he deposited it in his gloved palm, observing it gently.

It was a ring, simply designed, there was no mark upon it to distinguish it in any way, shape or form, it was just a simple band of silver metal bent perfectly into a band and circle, small enough to fit on a finger … finger …. finger?

There was something about that word 'finger' … something … important … but he couldn't remember what, but it was REALLY important, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really IMPORTANT, but what it was escaped him. An image flashed in front of his mind's eye, several images … hadn't he seen this ring before … yes … yes he had … but when? … he couldn't remember when, but he had seen it before…

Hadn't it been … no … yes … no … maaaaaaaaybe … yes, he had seen it before, another image flickered across … wasn't … wasn't this Cream's … no … why would it be in his house … no wait … he hadn't seen this in years … LOTS of years … yes … she was wearing it when she first came round … and … and he hadn't seen it since … and … and hadn't he always wondered what happened to it … n- … yes … yes he had, he had always wondered what had happened to it.

His mind now made up, if still a little dizzy, Tails beckoned oddly to Cream, who had been standing in the doorway, watching him curiously. Feeling a little … dis-jointed, in a completely innocent gesture, Tails very gently took a hold of her left hand in his.

"I believe this belongs to your Cream" he said, then he slipped then ring on one of her fingers.

There was a pause, and Tails watched almost stupidly as the small rabbits brown eyes flicked frantically from the ring now on her finger, to his eyes, and back again, lots of times, he could see confusion there, confusion and emotion and … surprise … what would she be surprised about … all he was doing was … giving … her … her …. ring …… back .............. Bugger!

At the same moment as that last thought crossed his mind, Cream seemed to swell a little, then she jumped on him, kissing him soundly on the lips, Tails wasn't sure how much time passed after that, everything seemed to be sucked toward and into that moment, she wasn't being 'tentative' or 'reserved' now, there was passion and fire and urge in that kiss now, then things seemed to suddenly fast forward and all he remembered hearing next was the front door slam with an audacious bang! … and Miles 'Tails' Prower realised he may have just started one hell off a BIG misunderstanding.

---

Miles leaned back against the side of the house, he didn't particularily like to screw with peoples memories, but this was a very special occasion, memories are precious, and messing around with them can have serious side-effects if it isn't done carefully by a professional, and Miles was more then qualified, he watched a smal, fluffy cloud pass in front of the sun, cast a small amount of darkness on what should have been a happy moment for him.

"Was it worth it?"

Miles had intended to keep that intensly personal comment to himself, but somehow it was almost as if Vanilla could read minds, or that he just happened to vice that aloud without realising it, her eyebrow went just a little higher as she rounded on him.

"What does that mean?"

"Oh its nothing ma'am"

The eyebrow crept up another millimetre, causing Miles to flinch

"Okay, okay settle down Vanilla" he said, clutching his heart momentarily to stop himself from having a heart-attack, God that woman was scary as hell.

"Well then would you care to elaborate on that comment Mr. Miles" Vanilla requested politely, although it was still cold.

Miles sighed, there was no getting out of this one.

"You want the Truth?"

"The Truth, the WHOLE Truth and NOTHING but the Truth"

"Okay then"

Miles sat on the grass, his expression pensive, thoughtful, and one could almost say … remorseful, he snapped his fingers and made a small, curious gesture, the world around them seemed to flicker suddenly … and then it stopped, Time itself had frozen around them, a private thinking space you could call it. Miles shifted uncomfortably for a moment, and then he began his epithet.

"Basically ………. it came down to a choice" the emotion was etched into his voice with a hammer and chisel, emotions which any creature should deserve pity for possessing.

"A choice?"

Miles sighed again

"Yes ma'am … a choice"

"between whom?"

"Don't you mean between what"

The eyebrow crept up a little more again, and now Miles was mildly sure that Vanilla must have a forehead of elastic to have eyebrows that can go that high, he gave another sad sigh and then continued with his melancholy repertoire.

"I- I-I-I- was given a choice"

"Between what then"

Miles sounded more like he was at the Nuremberg Trials being tried for a war criminal, attempting to justify the horrors committed in some long forgotten war which everyone had forgotten but he felt that he needed to bring to light, and as much as he sounded like he wanted to reveal it, there was a still a desperate ingrained need to not reveal in, as if it seemed to cause him some sort of physical pain .

"Don't- Don't make me say it, please"

He was on his knees now, almost begging now … yet Vanilla was unyielding, very unyielding, that eyebrow crept up again and the black fox writhed a little on the spot … the attack seemed to stop as quickly as it started, but he was sweating heavily, his face was ashen.

"Okay … okay, I …. I was given a choice between-"

Then a single tear rolled down his cheek, hitting the grass without a voiceable sound, Miles look … could you say broken? … well, no in a physical sense … an emotional sense. The Irony was not lost upon him, seeing how he had come into existence in the first place. Vanilla's facial expression didn't change, it didn't need to, not at all, she was going to stand there until she got an answer out of him and he knew that, he knew that all to well, and that was what pained him even more.

"Between?!!!" Vanilla's voice was almost like thunder, demanding and as unalterable as stuff itself.

"It was … s-s-s-stupid r-r-really, I mean, it w-w-w-was for the b-b-best, I mea-"

"Between?!!!"

"CREAM!"

The word tore itself from his lips like a Force 12 Hurricane, there was frustration and despair and anger and hopelessness etched into that 5-letter name, the name of the person he loved. The single tear that had seemed so … gentle, now unleashed a stream, they were pouring down his dark cheeks, he fell forward on his hands, as clear tears now dripping from his crimson eyes, running down his cheeks before falling onto the grass.

"Cream and Power"

The words hurt coming out, hurt so much, to admit the bare fact of what he had had to do.

"Eithe- Either I could … I could leave all this behind, t-t-transcend all of this" he said with a weak wave of his hand

"leave it all and wander Time and Space and Stuff for all eternity, on and on and on, ad infinitum, to gain the power of a God, of Gods, that mere mortals would dream for, that the richest would give all their wealth for, Faustaus would give his Soul for, that Lucifer himself would desire to overthrow his Creator, the very understanding of the matrixes of Stuff … or … or" the stream of tears doubled and redoubled, the fox was shaking now, sobbing with despair and sadness and regret, deep, deep regret, he swallowed and looked up at Vanilla, he had to do this, admit this to himself … finally … finally put her out of his reach … for … for all of his eternal life.

"or … I could be with … be with her"

Then he bowed his head in shame and anguish and continued crying, there, he had said it, but even as the that final word left his lips, he felt damned, and a small part of him wished that the ground would open up and swallow him and consume him and drag him to Hell, which actually existed, he had been there, not a very pleasant place to say the least.

Then Vanilla did something unexpected, Miles had predicted maybe a slap at the very least, but she didn't … instead she picked up the fox, and hugged him, a comforting, motherly hug, which only a caring mother could give. Yet … as much as the black fox almost seemed to relish that embrace, the feeling withered and turned black and died … yet, still he found it soothing all the more.

The tears of regret and remorse and sorrow soon dried on his cheeks, but those crimson eyes now seemed … hardened? … yes, they had adapted, evolved, something that immortals were supposed to be unable to do, yet had had somehow done so, mentally if not physically as well. As he was released, he caught her hand gently.

"Thank you" he said solemnly, kissing her hand formally, he seemed to flicker slightly as he straightened and released her hand, almost like interference on a television, then he slowly faded out of existence, off to some plane of existence of which is beyond comprehension or understanding of any being on any realm of reality, yet to one who has no home upon them, they are their home perhaps, yet Vanilla could have sworn he was still crying inside, even as he vanished, not for the last time either, as Time began to, very slowly, move forward again.

(Anyone else feel pity? sad? Some form of emotion for Miles, if not, then spare the poor bastard a thought, the decision was already made up he had no hope at all, of course, what you've just read is only half of Miles tragic tale, as for the other half … well your going to have to wait and see, and he isn't the only one with a tragic tale, Siranzan has one too, but which one? once again you will have to find out … oh and in-case you haven't figured it out, there's going to be a wedding! Yay! … which means there is going to be one hell of a party, and even more of a hell of a bumpy road BEFORE the wedding, I have some serious/comedical moments planned for this, so hold onto your hats ladies and gents … no seriously, Chico has a thing for hats, and MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW!

~Siranzan)