Moonlight Visitor

"Well...why don't I tell you a bed-time story?" Mike asked, still smiling at her.

Diana stared at him, curiously. "Hm..? Bed-time story...?"

"Yeah.." He said, looking back up at the ceiling. "But..now that I think about it, I don't really know any good ones..." Mike thought for a bit. Would he have to make one up? What kind of story could he possibly tell her? Would it be interesting enough to satisfy her and let her go to sleep? Or would it keep her awake, wanting to know what happens next? Or would he just bore her to death? He frowned a bit, scrunching his eyebrows as he tried to think of something.

Diana looked worried, hoping he wasn't stressing out because of her. "Don't worry, you don't have to..." She said.

Mike shook his head, and looked over towards the exit of the cave. "Hmm..." His mind drifted off to a few moments earlier, when Percy showed them his family and talked a little bit about himself. "Maybe..I could tell you a little story about me?" He suggested, looking back at her.

Diana's face lit up with interest. "Sure!"

Mike smiled, he had a feeling that she'd be interested throughout the whole thing. He looked up at the ceiling. "Okay...As you already know, I don't really live out here. I live farther up north."

Diana nodded, still sad that he'll eventually have to leave.

"Me and Lina, we live together up in Emerald Town. We don't really have many friends up there, but we're okay." He said. "When we were little, there was one person who lived near us. The best friend we could ask for, the guy we could hang out with anytime, anywhere. We would always go out on our little adventures, just the three of us. We were inseparable." He smiled broadly. "You know him well. It was Gizmo The Cat."

Diana's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yep. Back then, he lived right across the street from us." He said. "We met on the first day of school that year..."

"School?" Diana asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Mike felt his breath stop. 'what.' His sudden pause caused Diana to worry that she asked a stupid question. "Well...School is a place where you go to learn stuff..y'know?" He tried to sum it up as short as possible.

"I see. Sounds fun." She said, smiling.

"It's not." He muttered under his breath. "Anyway..One day, on a weekend, Gizmo came over to visit us. He was really excited; he came to show us his new pet Chao."

"Chao?"

"You've seen em." Mike looked over at her, smiling. "Kitty's a Chao. So's Krysi, the one who hangs out with Crystal all the time."

"Ohh...So that's what they're called!" Diana giggled a bit, thinking that "Chao" was only just part of their language.

"But this wasn't Kitty. Kitty came much later." He said, looking back up towards the ceiling. A distant look of nostalgia came over his face. "That little guy's name was Chad. He was a funny little guy, but very polite and well-mannered. He was quickly accepted as our "fourth ranger", and we played together the whole day." He paused, and let out a sigh. "The next day was school again, and Gizmo brought Chad over to show his friends. He got so much attention that day, that I don't think anyone really focused on school itself." His smile slowly faded. "But then, at recess..the time when we take a break and go outside to get some fresh air n' stuff...Chad went missing."

Diana gasped softly. She was going to ask about it, but waited for him to explain.

"We formed a search party, and spent our entire recess looking for him. Finally, Gizmo came and told us that someone spotted a man kidnapping a chao in a net at the side of the building, and leave the school grounds.." Mike closed his eyes. "We all assumed the worse. Lina especially; she thought we'd never see him again.."

Diana found her eyelids lowering with sadness. What kind of heartless man would steal a poor chao from a little kid?

"That began our first real adventure." He said, opening up his eyes again. Diana looked up at him, raising both eyebrows. "We snuck out of school and tried to find the man." His voice took on a more serious tone. "We asked around, talking to just about every person on the street, until we finally managed to track him down." He paused, and frowned. "We found him at a really dark and gritty alleyway, entering through the back of this reeaally shady building. Though we were skeptical about going inside, we had to follow him. We snuck in after him, trying to be as quiet as possible, and followed him to a desk with another man behind it." His eyebrows scrunched up, the next part he was about to mention did not sit too well with him. "That's when we learned about Chao Hunters..."
Diana's eyes widened at the sound of them.
"Chao Hunters...people who hunt down Chao for cruel and selfish reasons. Some even kill the Chao for sport." Mike sounded disgusted with the subject, but he kept going. "This one in particular was planning to sell him to a far-off lab, for some kind of experiments...ones that would most likely be fatal to the chao."

"Chao hunters..." Diana felt as if her question was half answered. Chao Hunters are the heartless men who would steal a chao from a kid. But...why? She didn't understand it. Why would someone do something like that? Seeing the look on Mike's face, she knew that he was still angry about the concept of the hunters. But she could also tell that it was a bit of a painful subject for him, as well.
"When the man put the chao on the desk, just when he was about to make the trade, the chao noticed us, And he recognized us. He cried out for help." He closed his eyes, and a sly smirk formed on his face. "In that instant, I rammed into the side of that man at full force, knocking him over. Gizmo jumped up and grabbed Chad, and we all scrambled out of there." His smirk turned to a grin. "He never saw it coming."
A feeling of relief washed over Diana's face, she was happy that the chao made it out safely.
"Of course, the guy did chase us for a while, but we were already too far for him to catch up. Especially after we split up and ran down different streets, with Chad himself flying over a building." Mike chuckled a little bit. "He didn't even stand a chance."

Diana smiled. "I'm glad you all were safe in the end." She said.

Mike nodded. "Yeah. We ended up missing the rest of the school day, but we didn't care. Who would? We were just glad that Chad was safe." His smile slowly faded. "That evening, Gizmo did something neither of us expected." His voice suddenly lowered to a soft tone. Diana's smile quickly turned to a look of worry. "He lead us to the edge of the city, near the forest and he said..."

----

The young red cat knelt down in front of the chao, whom he'd set down in front of him on the soft grass. "I'm sorry, Chad..but I can't keep you here anymore." He said. His eyes were filled with tears, just waiting to come out.

"What...?" Mike whispered in shocked.
"B-but...why?" Lina asked.

"It wouldn't be right..having you as my pet." Gizmo continued, as the chao looked up at him from the ground. "I can't explain how guilty it makes me feel. And that guy is still after you..I can't risk him finding you."

"Chaoo..." Chad looked up at Gizmo, somewhat sadly.

"You're free, now." He said, wiping away the tears with his arm. "You're nobody's pet, anymore. You can go wherever you want."

"Gizmo...Are you sure?" Mike asked, softly.

Gizmo nodded slowly. "Yes...I'm sure."

----

Diana was even more shocked, now. "We said our farewells, and Chad left into the forest...and we never saw him again.." Mike closed his eyes, pausing for a few moments.

"I..I don't really know what to say...I'm sorry.." Diana said, sadly.

"Gizmo was pretty down for a long while." Mike continued. "We didn't play nearly as much as we used to, but we still hung out together. But a few years later, a teenaged girl came to his house while we were outside playing...and asked for Gizmo."

"A teenaged girl..?" Diana wondered aloud.

"Yes..she said that she was in the forest, and she saw a gray cocoon forming over a chao. There was another chao in front of it, watching as the cocoon covered his body...The girl was one who could understand and communicate with Chao. When she asked who the chao in the cocoon was, she was told that it was Chad."

"Oh my...What happened to Chad?" Diana asked, worried.

"...when a chao reaches the end of it's life, a cocoon forms around it. If it's pink, then the cocoon will fade moments afterwards, leaving an egg behind. The chao will have reincarnated, and starts it's life over..with all the memories and experiences from it's previous life." Mike explained. "But when it's gray...the cocoon fades like the pink one, but...nothing is left behind.."

Diana gasped softly. "You mean...?"

Mike nodded slowly. "Chad had passed away, leaving behind a message to be passed on to his former master. He told the chao who was with him to tell Gizmo, "If you ever adopt another chao, please take good care of care of them, and remember me whenever you think of them. Farewell, my old friend."..." He quoted.

Diana felt a few tears run down her cheeks. She thought it was heading towards a happy ending, ever since they rescued the chao from the hunter.

"What's more, the very next day, we get the news that Gizmo's family was moving." Mike added. "He did not take that very well." He opened his eyes back up. "Our farewell was even sadder than Chad's. We held a funeral for him, right at the edge of the forest where we parted. The chao who was supposed to pass on the message, was there to join us as well. Apparently he had befriended Chad shortly after Gizmo let him free..." He let out a heavy sigh. And after that, Gizmo was gone. He moved all the way down here, while we stayed up there in Emerald Town.."

There was a moment of silence. Diana was greatly saddened by the ending of the story. "As the years went on, Lina and I mainly just hung around at home, when we weren't at school. Without Gizmo, things just weren't the same..." He continued. "Then...Last year..I went back to that shady building where the chao hunters were trying to sell Chad. I then discovered that they were still doing dirty business back there. In order to avenge our old friend, I began to repeat the same thing I did the first time. I would ram into the man making the trade, and steal the chao away from them. I'd then free them, either in the forest or help them find their homes."

Diana managed to smile after that statement. She looked up at him, with watery eyes, thinking of how vigilant and noble he was even before she came.
"Eventually, Lina found out, and she decided to put an end to it all by calling the police over there. They shut down the whole thing, and all the criminals were put to justice." Mike smiled slightly, "We called Gizmo and told him what we had done. I don't think we'd ever heard or seen him happier. I think we had put a piece of his heart at ease..."

"I'm sure you did..." Diana rested her hand on top of his, still smiling at him. Mike blushed a bit, but didn't even bother to hide it.

"Yeah...His next chao was Kitty, and I heard he found him passed out on the beach the day they arrived in Green Flower City." Mike said. "I don't remember what exactly had happened there..." He looked over at her. "I guess we'll have Gizmo tell us that story. But I can tell you this. History repeated itself; Gizmo freed Kitty, just like he did with Chad."
Diana's eyes widened, as she realized what could have happened to Kitty if history really did repeat itself..
"But Kitty, out of his own free will, decided that he would stay with Gizmo anyways. That, was when their true bond formed." Mike finished, with a smile.

Mike was caught by surprise. He found himself blushing even harder now. But somehow, he felt much calmer than before. He He smiled warmly at her, and put his arm around her as well. "Sure.." He said softly, as he began to stroke her hair. "Whatever makes you comfortable."

As Mike stroked her hair, he smiled as she slowly fell asleep next to him. "Good night, Diana.." He whispered softly.
'Ever since I met her, I've felt this strong connection between us.' He thought. 'When I looked at her, I felt like I was in a daze..like, under some kind of spell, or influence. I couldn't keep away from her; I felt like a magnet being pulled towards another, more powerful one. Eventually I started to regain control of myself, but that strong connection I felt..still stayed. No, it grew even stronger. This bond we share now, it's one that none of my friends could explain. Nobody understood it, and they ended up tying it to Lina's dream. Even I wasn't sure at first...but now, I think I'm starting to understand...It has nothing to do with a monster, the necklace, or anything like that.' He paused his thoughts, as he began to hear a light snore coming from her. He smiled fondly at the purple rabbit, 'Maybe one day...they'll understand too...'

(Interesting that you'd mention the mountains. In SpTH's world map (so far) The only mountains are to the west of the forest. In fact that cave might have been inside the base of one.)

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, Smash walked outside into the back yard. He stretched his arms out and yawned as he walked into the middle of the yard. 'This is it.' He thought. 'Looks like it's gonna be a beautiful day, too. Pity, what a waste.' He turned and faced the house, and began doing some stretches. 'It might have been a good idea to wake everyone else up...Huh?' He rose his eyebrow as the back door opened. Pearl walked out, dressed in her training outfit.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, smirking a bit.

"Well, as long as you're up, Sure." Smash said. "I take it Luna's making breakfast?"

"Yep. So I can focus on training my muscles instead of my "culinary artes"" She said jokingly, as she walked over to join him.

"Haha. Well, glad you came early. I just got out here." He continued doing his stretches, as she positioned herself next to him.


Meanwhile, Gizmo sat on the couch in the living room, going through his equipment. Kitty laid lazily on the arm of the couch, "trying" to stay awake. (Or so he claimed.) "I think I've gotten just about everything we'll need.." Gizmo muttered. "But I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something..."

"Chaoo..." Kitty mumbled, sleepily.

Gizmo was the first to hear her cry out. He immediately jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs, nearly knocking Kitty off the arm of the couch. He rushed into the room where Lina was sleeping, only to see her still in bed. He relaxed, seeing that there was no danger. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Gizmo asked, standing by the doorway. Kitty caught up to him, peeking over his shoulder worriedly.