Belle looked concerned about something before she left the other day and she didn't tell me what it was about. I couldn't help but think it was about Metal... She was turned away from me and excused herself in the middle of a conversation we had. I had a feeling she avoided me to hide her eyes, because then I'd know what she was doing...



... He sounded fine earlier that day. I crossed my arms and sighed. I wished I could just send messages to him with my brain... Reaching his communicator with my phone or something was too risky. There was a fun surprise in not knowing when he'd show up I guess... Except this time. I wanted to know he was okay.



I sighed as I helped Nova water the crops in Metal's huge non-flower garden.



"ChaOH!" they snapped, slapping my watering can and changing its direction.



"Huh? Oh." I almost watered too much. "Sorry!"



"Hmph!" Nova crossed their little arms and turned their head up at me. I giggled.



"Oh, you are adopting all sorts of things from Metal." I tilted my head, smiling as I examined the little cutie. "You're just as adorable as him, too!" I leaned down and gently petted them. They didn't really deepen in color like they did before... Either they were staying a bold shade of blue, or time away from Metal made them not change as much. They were getting far bigger, though. I wondered how much they'd look like Metal when it was time for them to grow up.



That heart floated above their head and they made the cutest trill, closing their eyes. I put the watering can down and gently picked up Nova. I sighed and hugged them, and I felt them cling back in return.



"I miss him," I quietly whined.



Nova whined back, nuzzling under my head.



Krr-chunk!



!!! That was a door! Both Nova and I stared at each other. I hurriedly ran out of the room, Nova hopping out of my arms and flying as fast as they could.



Krr-chunk!



As soon as I got into the hallway, I saw the private garden door close. Was it him?! Nova and I went up to the door, then we stayed still, watching closely and quietly. We waited for a few minutes... Nova had a spiral above their head.



Krrshh... The door opened again. Metal was standing there; his eyes were first down towards the floor, but once seeing me, he lifted his head.



"Metal!!" I jumped against him and hugged him. Oh, I missed him so much. He felt so cold; I would take care of that.



Nova cooed excitedly and clung to him at the same time. I gave Metal a big smooch and mercilessly nuzzled myself against him. Nova was on the same page. We would not leave our favorite handsome robo hedgehog alone.



He tightly held me back, pressing me against him. He slightly dug into my back; nothing that hurt, but I was surprised how firm he was. "Rosy," he said back, his voice soft. From his tone, I knew he missed me too.



I kissed him again, then finally let him go. He watched me for a bit, then brought his focus to Nova and gently petted him. Satisfied, Nova floated up to the top of his head. I had a feeling they would not move for a while.



"Ahh! I don't even know what to talk about!" I started, laughing. "I just... I'm happy to finally see you!"



"I'm happy to see you too, Rosy."



My tail would not stop. I hugged him again, then eagerly kissed him one more time. "I know I'm a bit of a worrier... But nothing beats having you here with me," I said with an airy sigh.



"I understand," he replied, bringing an arm around me to keep me close to him. "I intend to spend the entire day with you... if you can be around," he said, his voice still gentle.



"I'm not going anywhere," I huffed. "My Metal...~ Oh, you're here..." I rested my head against him. I didn't have to worry. He was okay.



We enjoyed a quiet moment with one another. Metal used his free hand to touch the side of my face, then played with my quills. His hand slowly fell to my shoulder, down my arm... He went to my waist and pulled me into another tight hug.



I loved his hold... I didn't want to ruin our moment, but I just wanted to catch Metal up to everything: "Nova was very good, so don't worry about that, and they've eaten plenty. I got them some things so they wouldn't be bored around the base, too... Oh!" I leaned away from him a little so I could see his face. He curiously gazed at me. "Come check out the new garden!"



I broke from his hold, then took his hand, eagerly guiding him back through the hall and to the garden with all the crops.



"Nova and I worked really hard! I hope you'll be proud..." We went to the doorway, which stayed open. "Ta-da!"



Crops were flourishing. Every planter that had crops flooded with green; some were even flowering already! In the back, two trees grew tall in two big planters. They were almost the height they would be at with full maturity. It wouldn't be long at all until they began sprouting fruit for Nova!



"I see... There is a lot of progress," Metal said, walking further in. Okay, he didn't sound as excited as I wanted him to be. Kinda bummed. "Very impressive. Thank you for watching the garden while I was gone... I didn't have time to set up any kind of watering system to account for my long absences," he said, staring lovingly at me. My face felt so hot...! I felt better...



"Aw, I helped, but it was mostly Nova. I didn't even know chao could speed up growth of plants!" I exclaimed. I guess it made sense, though... they were kind of nature's ultimate answer to, like... nature. Knuckles would have a better answer than me. I giggled, somewhat at myself, but also because I was so happy.



"It's quite a useful skill, especially for the trees. We won't have to wait much longer for Nova to get fruit more suited to their needs." He petted Nova again, causing that heart to appear. Aw...! I could never get tired of that. "Did finding the seeds give you any trouble?" he asked.



"What? Pfft. I took care of it!" I said, flailing my hand in dismissal. I was sweating a little. "Nothin' I couldn't handle. There's way more seeds we haven't planted! I let Nova pick the ones to plant first." I ran over to a table on the side that had a bunch of Metal's gardening supplies. There was a container with carefully stored seeds. Metal followed me, so I showed him where I put the tree seeds. I watched him with sparkling eyes.



"Good Rosy," He said, patting my head.



My face was on fire. I couldn't breathe for a solid three seconds. "Wh... Hhh... I'm... I'm not a chao!" I screamed.



He chuckled, bringing his hand under my chin. I'd pass out if I kept his gaze. "You looked like you wanted praise."



"M... Maybe..."



He slightly tilted his head as he stared at me. He rubbed his thumb to my cheek. "I truly missed you..."



His voice carried so much relief...



And he was too far away. I pulled him in and gave him a longer, slower kiss this time. When my mouth parted from him, I tucked my head under his. "We're together now," I said softly.



When we were done with our moment, I showed him some of the stuff I got for Nova; they liked most of the toys I got, but their favorite was by far the plushie Metal already had. My feelings weren't hurt, because on top of a box in the new garden was the pink heart bed Nova used frequently! He snuggled little-Metal there all the time; eventually, he smuggled little-me into the bed, too. I thought it was really cute seeing our plushies side by side! That being said, neither plushie was there at the moment... they were probably wherever Nova played last. When I was done showing off the chao bed, Nova left Metal's head and settled there.



We caught up as we often did. Metal couldn't tell me what he was doing, which was fine. I noticed he was a little more quiet than his usual, though... We walked down the hall together and I noticed him spacing out. He fidgeted with his hands whenever he was nervous or upset, hiding them by crossing his arms.



"Metal?"



He raised his head at a delay and looked at me.



"Are you... okay?"



"I was just thinking... Are you hungry?" he asked. Um...



He avoided my question, but... I didn't think it was the right time to confront him. "Want to cook together?" I asked back.



He nodded, which made me smile.



"Yay! I'm excited to see Chef Metal in action again."



"Will you be my sous-chef this time, Rosy?" he teased a bit.



"Oh, absolutely." We went to the kitchen together and I hummed as I went ahead and put a teapot on the stove. "I got a few things for the kitchen... Oh, I restocked a little too."



"It feels like you started to move in," he said in a lighter tone. "Do you even sleep at your house?"



"I do! Constantly!" I huffed. "I did stay here last night, though... I was so tired after moving some stuff around," I pouted. Also, I wanted to be around in case he came back during the night. I was hopeless.



"Well... Stay here as much as you like," he gently replied. I took a second to grin at him, then I brought out one of the mugs that was already here at the base. I brought some of my own tea; thought it'd be nice to drink some while we cooked together. He continued: "What would you like to eat, Rosy?"



"It's supposed to be pretty cold tonight... Maybe some hearty soup! I think we have ingredients for that..." I put a tea bag into my mug, then searched through some cabinets. When I turned around, Metal already had a bunch of ingredients out on the counter. "Ooh, efficient."



"We're making--" He paused. "... I can't send you the recipe," he grumbled. "I've been cooking either by myself or with other machines."



I giggled. "Just tell me what to do, Chef!"



Oh, it was so fun cooking with him and I could tell he learned a lot. Unfortunately, the kitchen didn't have a cute apron I could put on him... I knew exactly what to bring from home, hehe. I checked on him some... I think he enjoyed himself, but...



Occasionally, he would stare off or he would stop doing something and just stand there for a few seconds. He didn't have any other signs of being overloaded or anything. He didn't feel warm, either. Not until I touched him.



The meat was done cooking separately, so I diced it up to toss into the main pot of soup. He was just kinda staring at the pot, watching the ingredients swirl around. This was a good time to confront him.



"Metal, you've been pretty unfocused. Please talk to me."



He lifted his head and looked at me. Shortly after, he slightly turned away. "... You do not need to be concerned."



"Come on, you know I won't buy that."



"Rosy..." His posture suddenly relaxed, like he was giving in. He rubbed the side of his head. "I don't really know what to tell you."



I frowned. "Just tell me how you're feeling."



"I have trouble describing..." He crossed his arms. "I'm... Confused. But I can't tell you why. And... I'm afraid. But not like when I was afraid before..."



"Afraid?" I repeated, furrowing my brows. "What's different than when you were last afraid?"



He was quiet for a while. I gave him time. He eventually stirred the pot in front of him with a ladle. "I never feared anything physical before..."



My eyes widened. "Something physical scared you? Like a person?"



He eventually put the ladle down and slightly angled his head towards me. His eyes focused on me. "I... I don't know why it brought me fear. That bothers me." He returned his attention back to the pot. "Or maybe I just don't want to think about it." He was quiet for a long time again. "... Have you feared me?" he asked.



"I did before I understood you better," I replied.



"What do you mean?"



I clicked my tongue as I tried to think. "Well... Like... I think it's very easy to fear what we don't understand. I get a crush on some little blue hedgehog and I get snatched by a pointy robot hedgehog with red eyes. That would scare anybody." I shrugged my shoulders. "I did learn more eventually and I've lived through enough experiences to realize killing wasn't your end-game in fights, but it wasn't really until I found out you were my secret admirer that I realized how much I needed to actually learn."



He fully turned his head towards me, surprised. He was quiet for a while longer. "I treasure our bond, but I don't want you to conflate me as being a better person than I am," he eventually said, quiet. He turned away again.



I sighed. "The point is, I feel safe around you where it matters, Metal. I trust you; I don't feel fear when I look at you anymore. And... when I do feel fear, it's because I'm worried about what you can't control. Like when you ambushed me at the park near my house that night. Does that make sense?"



He gave a single nod.



"Why did you want to know if I've feared you?" I asked.



Total quiet. This moment of silence stretched on way longer than it actually did. He opened his palms and stared at them... He finally answered: "I don't know."



I was really curious what happened to him, but it didn't even seem like he fully understood what happened yet. I didn't want to push him anymore. "Thank you for talking to me, Metal," I said with a slanted smile.



He gave another slight nod. After a second pause, he stepped away from the stove and leaned against one of the kitchen counters. "I can relay some information I learned over my absence... I'm trying to think of how to phrase it."



I cleaned up some of our trash as I waited for Metal to continue his thought. I didn't want to rush him.



"I was already confident that Carillon Rose was not intended to fight against your cause because I wouldn't design anything nefarious with your likeness. Now I'm certain," he explained. He changed the subject, but that was fine at this point. "When her core is fixed, I have a suspicion that Belle can hack into her. I don't believe I can. Her systems are likely malicious towards Eggtech."



"Whoa. That's good news, right? That Belle could get access?" I asked.



He nodded. "I won't be able to transfer her to my old body like I planned, though... Not without better understanding her code, which is still a mystery to me. If Belle can connect to her, we'll be able to dig into her code, though."



"I'm sure you can figure something out," I replied with a big smile.



He gave me a softer look. "I think I have an idea of what might have damaged her. I'm not entirely sure. There is a lot more I need to think on..." He tilted his head, tapping one of his feet. He was quiet for a long time, then glanced my way. "Rosy?" he asked, averting his eyes again.



"Yeah?"



"Do you think we would be as close even if I didn't have a voice?"



"Wh-- Of course we would!" I exclaimed, frowning. I had no idea where his question came from. "Most of our connection was with flowers and letters. It's like asking me if I would kiss you more if you had a mouth."



His gaze dropped down towards the ground. "... Would y--"



"I'd kiss you the same amount! Because I kiss you as much as I want!" I shouted, blushing. "Because I find a way! I don't care that you don't have a mouth. I wouldn't care if you didn't have a voice. I've learned how to listen to you either way. I'm still learning."



"You mean that?" he softly asked.



"Of course I do! You're gonna piss me off!" I huffed. "You made me fall in love without saying a word to me. I love hearing you speak, Metal, but that's not your whole voice."



"... Did I offend you? Admittedly, I'm heartened."



I turned my nose up at him. "You offended me a little, but you're cute so I forgive you."



Ah! He hugged me. I didn't realize he walked up to me. I blushed more and fidgeted a little in his hold. He bumped our heads together...



He really was cute...!



He slowly let go of me and allowed our gazes to meet. "Even though you would love me the same regardless, I'm thankful I get to speak to you this way." He gently touched the side of my face... He made me feel so... ugh!! I loved him so much...



"Well... Your voice is still cute, so..."



He chuckled. "You amuse me, Rosy."



Ahh, my favorite laugh! I smooched him a few times to get out my excitement. "Do you feel a little better?" I asked, my voice also more cheerful.



"More than I expected... You make me feel normal." He kissed me back and gently fixed my quills. I would refute his claim that he wasn't normal, but hey, I wasn't normal either. We lovingly watched each other for a moment.



Frrrrssshh...



Both Metal and I jerked our heads to the stove. The soup was boiling over!! We scrambled closer, Metal hurriedly moving the pot out from the burner while I reduced the heat.



I laughed. "We got a little distracted, huh?"



"We did not have this problem the first time we cooked together..." He mumbled as he checked the soup. "Hopefully it's not ruined..."



"Nah, the soup will be great. Don't worry!"



We cleaned up and made some final touches on the soup, then we sat together while I enjoyed the fruits of our labor. It was so good, oh man... I was definitely going to take half of it home so I could have some great leftovers, keeping the other half here.



"Do you have feedback?" Metal asked me.



"Yes."



He leaned in and waited for me to continue.



"I need more of everything, please~!" I offered him my empty bowl.



He rolled his eyes, but took my bowl and stood up.



"Hey! That was my feedback."



"That was a request," he mumbled, walking over to the simmering pot of soup. "... You like it, then?"



"I love it, it's delicious. We did a great job!" I beamed. He returned to me with a filled bowl, so I happily ate more.



Metal lovingly stared at me and offered his hand over the table. I took it and laced my fingers with his.



"Don't you get bored watching me?" I teased.



"Never..." He leaned his head into his other hand. "I love watching you."



I playfully rubbed one of my legs against his. "What's next when you're done watching and I'm done eating?"



He tapped his claws against the side of his head. "I will need to check on Nova. Afterwards, maybe we could--" His gaze became unfocused, breaking from mine. He quickly stood up and gently moved his hand from mine, instead holding his palm towards me, telling me to wait.



He walked away and I heard him speak in machine tones.



I was confused at first, but with how suddenly he walked off, maybe he had to take a call. I swung my legs in my seat and enjoyed the rest of my food.



...



He was gone for several minutes. I finished eating and washed my dishes, then put away all the leftover soup. I glanced at the doorway out into the hall... What was he doing...?



As soon as I walked out, Metal stepped right in front of me. We both caught each other a bit of a surprise.



"Rosy," he said, serious. "I need you to hold some things for me."



"Sure, but... What's going on?" I asked. He took my hand and hastily guided me to our bedroom. He checked around, making sure we were alone.



"I will be gone for a while."



My eyes widened. "What? For how long?"



"I don't know. It could be a long time. Belle will not be able to message me... Hold out your hands." He opened the compartment on one of his forearms and took out the good luck charm I made him, placing it into my hands.



"... You're... You said you wouldn't give this to me unless it was really important."



"It's really important." He placed the old letter from his arm into my hands, too... I was, uh... I didn't know what to think. "Rosy, Nova takes my things and I have not yet combatted their strategy. Please keep these safe until I return to you. I trust you." He placed the house key I gave him on top of everything else...



"I... Um..." I stared at the objects in my hands and... I felt... A lot. "You're freaking me out, Metal... Can you please tell me anything else?"



"I can't. I will be back, my Rosy..." He gently pressed his muzzle to me in a kiss. My heart ached...



"I just got you back..." My voice trembled.



"I am always yours."



"D... Do you have to leave now?" I asked.



"Yes," he said, soft.



I stared at him and my vision began to blur. I carefully put his stuff in my dress pocket and tightly hugged him. He returned my hold just as tightly.



"I love you more than anything," he gently continued.



"Stop! Don't say that!" I cried out. "That makes it sound like you won't come back!"



"I am stating a fact I want you to know..." He smoothed his hand over the back of my head and gently stroked me as I cried over his shoulder. My heart was aching. I felt sick. I didn't want him to go already. "It's okay, Rosy." His voice sounded weaker, too.



I vigorously shook my head. "Th-then why do you sound like that?"



"Because I will miss you just as much..." He nuzzled against me. "You are my true love... I do not want to cause you such worry."



I began bawling. It sounded like he was saying goodbye forever. I didn't want him gone for even a second. A second was too long.



"My Rosy... You are worrying too much," he said, his tone lighter. "Your tears made me sad at first... But now I find it very amusing. It's cute. Are you sure you're not a chao?"



"Shut up!" I blubbered.



He laughed. The beautiful sound made me perk up at attention and quiet down into sniffles.



He wiped my face with the smooth part of his arm and lovingly stared at me. "I promise I will return to you as the very same Metal you love." He offered his pinky.



I begrudgingly intertwined his with mine. "I'm... I'm going to have a lot to say to you if you don't..."



He tilted his head at me. "I expect nothing less."



"You're my true love too," I sniffled, wiping my own face this time. "You're my Metal," I whimpered a little quieter.



He chuckled again, gracing his hand under my chin. "I need to take my voice processor out, and then I'm leaving. Will you accompany me?"



I nodded very quickly.



He took my hand, and together, we walked down the hall. I tugged him back and jumped into his arms to be carried.



When we got to the garden door, he gently put me down and blocked my view of the keypad to tap in the code. The door opened...



...



And he shut me outside of it. Weirdly, that made me feel so much better. Nova fluttered up to me, blank stare. They took a second to catch up to my emotions and realized something was happening.



The door opened again--



I was pushed back to the wall. Metal pinned me there, muzzle pressed to my mouth, chest against chest, hips against hips. His arms wrapped around my waist and tugged me even closer to him. I felt a pleasant jolt through my whole body. My knees buckled, but he fully supported me. I... Did... Did he use his turbine? Just to speed over to me?



He took my breath away...



He very gently separated his muzzle from me and gave me a deep stare. I believed him... I knew he would come back to me.



He slowly let go... And he petted a similarly upset and confused Nova. He shut the garden door, then walked towards the entrance.



I snatched his hand and followed him. I didn't let him go until he left the mouth of the cave, out into the open. The sun almost completely set.



Metal gave me one final look. I waved at him... I couldn't help but cry more. His turbine started up and he flew into the air, the streaks of his engine blending in to the warm and cool colors of the sky.



The sun was gone and there was no trace of him.



...