Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tails was pleased to see that the couch was unoccupied. Unfortunately, so was the fireplace. With a puff of flame, he fixed one of these problems, then sat down to fix the other. "Well he's really smart. Miles taught him all his life," he said. "I guess you wouldn't really think so though. He likes running around outside naked. He says starkers. He used to be shy around girls, too. He wouldn't be caught dead being naked around them. In fact, Alex had to pretend she was a boy to get him to let his guard down."

He never bothered to think about what kinds of implications one might draw from that.

"Yeah, he does. Before you came along, he spent more and more time with her. I mean, it makes sense, I guess. He's thirteen now, boys are supposed to like girls, and they both like playing in the mud. Me, I..."

Tails pursed his lips as he thought about what Tristen had asked. He didn't know any of the girls around here very well and they all, at any rate, seemed too old for him. "Not really," he finally said. "If you were a girl, maybe things woulda been a little different. I dunno. I only tease Blizz about wanting a girlfriend. But...

"You know, there is someone. Was someone."

"No, it's okay. It's from when I was full Pokemon. It's still not clear to me, but...you might have seen her around. Nal. The Pokemon that's Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon? I knew her back then when she was just an Eevee. She was older, nice, and her tail was so cute. I was too young to know about romance, or liking-liking people. If those experiments never happened, I guess I woulda evolved whenever she did. You know, if we ever got together. I don't really -know- that much about her anymore."

Instead of passing the letter to Tristen, Tails scooted aside him so they both could read. Miles' writing in particular was strange. Many of his letters looked familiar in that they were his region's variant of the letter. Tristen would, perhaps, recognize them at least. Some words were spelled differently, a few characters he didn't recognize at all, the words only making sense by context and familiarity.

"Letters always begin with 'Dear', and whoever you're writing to," Tails said. "It's like saying hello. I'll read slow so you can keep up, alright? I can't believe Blizz can read this thing so fast."

"Naw. Even Blizz used to say how hard it was to read Miles' native writing," Tails answered. "I can read it, but it'll just take me tripping up a lot.

"I...understand this leth...letter has been a long time incoming..."

If anyone ever told Tails that one hundred years ago it would be unthinkable that a common child could read this, Tails would have believed it. But read he did.

It was a new day. I sat in the living room with Articuno. This bird was a changed one, really. Years ago, Articuno was in dire need of recovery. Humans shunned this bird, blamed for Celcius's deeds. Jaded, naive people...

Through those years, I had tried to get this bird soaring again. And once I did, it was too scared to leave. Now I actually got it traversing regions, if for anything, just to simply send a letter back and forth between Miles and I. It was traversing the world, at least with a purpose...I was proud of this bird over the progress it has made. I stroked the side of its head. It knew I was proud of it. Though this still left me to wonder... "You still are not wanting to go free, aren't you?" I asked.

"Arrrri?" Articuno asked.

"Well, its not that I don't want you around, Articuno. You've been with me for years, fearing the world. Now you're going out and about, if at least to make a direct run from here to Hyda and back again." I told him. "Articuno, I think you're ready for a coming out. Explore the world...hell..." I made a bit of a laugh. "Maybe pick up ladies." I said, giving a nudge.

"Arrrrrrrri!?" Articuno replied. The thought of that? That was...well...beyond it.

"I kid, Articuno. I kid, but seriously. It wouldn't hurt, you know?" I said. "There's more to this world than just whats between here and Hyda."

The bird remained silent.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Arrrri..."

"You like doing this?" I asked. "You like being a mail carrier?"

"Arrrrri."

"Well, yea, its something to do, but-"

"Arrrrriiiirrriii." The bird then spoke.

I gave a sigh, then a shrug. "Ehhh, alright." I said. "If that's what you want."

I looked back. I sensed another presence close by. "Hey Tails. Whats going on? Come on over here." I said to him.

"Ah, the anticipation is killing you." I said to him.

"Arrri." The bird spoke up.

"If they come, they will." I said. "I'm sure they'll give some sort of heads up, for sure. Mikey is bound to be in the same boat as you are, actually." I told him.