#tired.

The conversation happened so long ago, you almost forgot it happened.

"I played the chao garden in the past... I spent a lot of time there." You reminisced wistfully to Ivo. "It was peaceful and relaxing. To be honest, I miss it a lot..."

"Ah, I do too..." Ivo agreed, his tone low. "It was such a nice place."

"It was. I loved it."

The conversation made you more emotional than you expected.

You thought the conversation was private... But as it turns out, Rewrite overhears a lot in this place.

And they use it to surprise and spoil you.

...

"Close your eyes! Surprise for you!" Rewrite says excitedly, hopping back and forth.

"Hm, alright..." You oblige with a smile on your face, closing your eyes. "But if you prank me by teleporting me above a lake again, I'm going to be upset."

"Gasp! I would never!" Rewrite exclaims in fake offense, verbally saying the word "gasp" instead of actually gasping. "You should trust me more, silly!"

You snort. You can think of at least 3 times they have tricked you and teleported you over a lake.

Still... Sometimes their surprises are genuine, so you end up going along with them anyway.

Rewrite stands behind you and covers your eyes. You hear a distorted buzz in your ears; The sound of being teleported. Luckily, you feel your feet still firmly planted on the ground. They haven't teleported you anywhere suspicious... Yet.

You hear the distinct sound of water rushing on your right.

"Open!" They command eagerly, their hands removing themselves from your face.

As you open your eyes, you're met with a new sight.

It's a small grassy area, flat and with a gentle green palette. Softer than the normal Green Hills you're used to. Several palm trees with familiar, orange fruits dot the small space. On your right is a pond with a waterfall and square cliffs.

It reminds you of something.

Your eyes knowingly dart around, looking for something.

Sure enough, your gaze lands on a large, azure blue egg with white dots.

It is a Chao Garden. Your eyes immediately light up, and you turn to Rewrite. Their eyes meet yours.

"Is that-!" You begin excitedly. "Is this what I think it is!"

Rewrite clamps their hands behind their back and nods proudly.

You step forward and hug them. "Thank you so much!" You exclaim as Rewrite returns your embrace.

"どういたしまして！" They cheer. "Your very own garden, just for you!" There's a slight pause. "...And me!" They add with a wink.

"A secret place just for the two of us, huh?" You ask, still embracing them.

"Yes indeed!" They confirm with a nod, their muzzle brushing against the top of your head.

"Thank you... I always loved the chao garden." You mutter reminiscently. "It's peaceful."

"You will find the same peace here." Rewrite assures you, their head gently resting on top of yours.

You exhale and pull them a little closer, enjoying this moment for just a moment longer.

...Once you feel ready, you pull yourself away from Rewrite and turn to the chao egg. You make your way over to it, but on your journey there, you spot a second chao egg that was hidden behind a tree. This one is a ruby color with pale yellow spots.

You briefly glance at Rewrite and notice them walking towards this red one. You decide to let them do whatever it is they're about to do with it, and continue walking to the blue one instead.

You sit in front of it, gently placing a hand on the shell. It's smooth and cold to the touch, like porcelain.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see the ruby egg flying against the cliff.

"Rewrite!" You call out in shock. In an instant, the egg freezes mid-air, halfway into its breaking animation. Rewrite's head snaps to you.

You stare at them, mouth agape. Their eyes dart from the egg they smashed against the wall to you.

"何？Why are you looking at me like that?" They question innocently.

"Don't do that! Be gentle with them please!" You beg. You pat the ground next to you. "Let's just sit together and wait for them to hatch, okay?"

"Okay!" They chippily agree, their smile returning to their face. The red egg magically repairs itself and floats over to Rewrite as if nothing happened. They hold it in their arms as they walk over to you.

You watch as they make a clear, visible effort to oh so gently place the egg on the ground next to yours. Once they do so, they quickly take a seat directly next to you.

You breathe a sigh of relief.

It's different when you know you'll see real, physical animals.

...As you watch the eggs, Rewrite leans their head against your shoulder.

You eye the blue egg you chose, noticing its azure blue color is similar to Rewrite's color.

"...Would you be mad if I named mine Sonic?" You ask half jokingly, a teasing glint in your voice. Their head rotates slightly to look you in the eyes.

"No. But that would get confusing!" They note. "If you did that, I'd have to name mine after you."

You smile, finding the idea honestly heartwarming.

"I'll name it 'Goober'." They say with a serious, thoughtful tone.

"Goober?" You repeat in disbelief, the warm feeling in your chest being replaced with conflict. You're unsure of how to feel about them indirectly calling you that.

Rewrite looks up and taps their hand to their chin in thought. "Ah, would 'Dingus' suffice more?" They tease.

As soon as those words come out of their mouth, you flinch away from them and playfully shove them away. "No! Absolutely not!" You protest as they giggle at you, their hand covering their mouth.

"Goober it is, then!" They gleam with a teasing smile. You furrow your brows and give them a 'Really?' look.

Before you can protest more, there's movement out of the corner of your eye.

The blue egg hops and shakes. It's hatching.

As the crack forms around its base, you lean forward curiously...

...The top half of the eggshell flies off like a bullet. You flinch back, seeing it ricochet off the side of a cliff and then land on the ground like a bag of bricks.

Your attention snaps back to the chao that crawls out of the egg gently and calmly. Its black, beady eyes blink as it stares forward. Its head has a sharper point to it, and has a white gradient instead of a yellow one. Its emote ball floats above its head, jiggling and bouncing.

It looks like a chao... But different.

Then, it looks up at you with a curved smile.

"á" It says.

You immediately scoop it up into your arms. It's warm and soft... And weirdly squishy.

"It's so cute," You gleam as you turn to Rewrite with a smile, them returning your gaze with an even wider smile.

Then, their ruby red egg begins to hop and shake too. Their gaze turns to it.

...The egg shatters into a million pieces. A red and yellow chao sits where the egg used to be, staring blankly into the distance, ignoring the egg shards on its head.

Rewrite brushes the egg pieces off and picks it up.

"Here they are! Goober! Aren't they adorable?" Rewrite announces, presenting the chao to you. It has no mouth, and its black, beady eyes stare at you.

"Yes- You're really going with that?" You ask, honestly thinking they were just teasing you.

They nod as they pull Goober closer to them, mimicking the way you're holding your chao. "Yes! It fits perfectly, don't you think?"

You narrow your eyes at them, feeling as though that was meant to be a teasing jab that you don't get.

"Sure. Well, then, I'm naming mine Sonic."

Rewrite looks down at Sonic (the chao).

Their smile widens and their pupils lengthen dangerously.

"Whoa, hold on-" You protectively hide Sonic (the chao) away from their deadly gaze. "I know that look. What are you planning?"

"Me and Sonic the Chao will have to fight to the death to claim the rights to the name." They explain casually and cheerfully.

"Oh my god." You say exasperatedly without thinking. They tilt their head at you and their stare intensifies.

"I- That- That's not necessary." You stammer under their scrutiny, realizing what you just said. You can't tell if they're amused or angry. "I'll name them something else, just- Just one second."

You hold the azure chao in front of you, observing them closely. They blink at you with a cheerful, oblivious smile.

"á" It says to you.

...

A stupid smile spreads across your face.

"Sanic." You declare.

Rewrite snorts... You think. You have no idea what the noise they just made was supposed to be, it sounded like an engine breaking down.

"Sanic it is, friend!" Rewrite gleams, apparently accepting the new name.

...All of a sudden, though:

"Oh no!" Rewrite yells, dropping Goober to the ground as they put their hands on their cheeks in surprise. Goober bounces a single time before crawling away uncaringly. "I completely forgot!"

"What?" You inquire, brows furrowing. You can never tell if they're serious or not... But it's usually safe to assume they're not.

You watch as Rewrite slips into their classic, "one hand-on-hip, the other wagging a finger" pose, indicating they're entering Game Mode.

"Doctor Robotnik kidnapped the innocent animals of Green Hills! We must save them, friend!" They explain dramatically.

"Oh no!" You exclaim, trying to sound distressed, but you're not honestly worried at all. You know this is part of their game. The animals are most definitely going to be taken back to the garden with you, as animals are integral to the chao garden... Of course Rewrite would make a whole adventure out of it.

"Let's a-go, friend!" They hook their arm around yours and begin to drag you away... While you're still carrying Sanic. You have to hurriedly place him down as gently as you could, while Rewrite whisks you away, out of the garden.

...

The adventure was simple, actually. All you had to do was find a cage full of animals, destroy the Botniks around it, and then break open the cage.

Once you broke it open, all the animals swarmed around you and Rewrite, cheering and squeaking happily.

"Wow! They're so pleased to have been saved!" Rewrite said, staring down at the little critters. There were Flickies, squirrels, tiny pigs, penguins for some reason even though you were in Green Hills... All of them were incredibly small, small enough to be held.

Rewrite kneels down to one of the squirrels, cupping their ear as the squirrel squeaks into it...

"Did you hear that? They said they want to help us as a thank you for saving them! What do you think, friend?"

...It was all a very obvious ploy to have a reason to drag a bunch of animals into the chao garden, but you can't complain. It was sweet to watch Rewrite make a game out of it.

And so, the two of you were back in the garden. You spend the day there together.

The two of you evenly divide the animals amongst Goober and Sanic. You jokingly say Sanic will one day run faster than Rewrite, after absorbing all of these squirrels. Rewrite glares daggers into the little chao.

"Not if I have anything to do about it." They muttered, tone weirdly serious. You couldn't tell if they were joking or not.

To your surprise, Rewrite handles the chao with great care. They don't throw Goober or Sanic even a single time. You honestly expected them to... Maybe you yelling at them earlier scared them into behaving themself. They even take care of them, feeding Goober when he gets hungry.

...Though, they did scare the hell out of you once.

"Rewrite! What are you doing?!" You yelled up at them from the ground. They're on top of one of the cliffs, putting Goober down on top of it.

Rewrite innocently looked down at you from the top of the cliff. "Goober wanted to be up here!" They claimed, though you have no idea what the hell they're talking about. The chao don't talk.

"What if he falls?! And hurts himself!"

Rewrite blinked at you.

And then... They picked Goober up, and chucked him over the edge.

"Rewrite!" You shriek in terror, averting your eyes as you expect something terrible to happen.

...You heard a comedic "boing" noise. When you looked back, you saw Goober... Mid-bounce. They landed on the ground unharmed, and with a smile on their face. That was fun for them, apparently, and Goober doesn't look hurt.

"The chao of this world aren't hurt by falls. I made sure of it!" Rewrite finally explains. You shoot a glare up at them, and they're looking down at you with a cheerful, oblivious smile.

"You really should have started with that, Rewrite!"

Despite the moments of horror where Rewrite threw Goober's egg at a wall and baby Goober off a cliff, your time in the garden was peaceful.

The sun felt warm, the birds chirped and sang songs. The waterfall gave a white noise that helped your thoughts fall into peace.

Eventually, you found yourself just sitting there, watching Sanic, or watching Rewrite do their thing with Goober.

Rewrite sat at the edge of the pond, staring out into the water. Sanic swam through it, paddling and splashing. You smiled at Rewrite being apparently extremely transfixed onto him.

...Then, Rewrite stood up. Your eyes followed them curiously as they walked over to Goober, picked him up, and then trotted back over to where Sanic was swimming.

Rewrite placed Goober in the water, next to Sanic, and then took a massive step back. They crouched on the shore, just watching the two of them paddle.

You squinted in confusion, wondering what they're doing. Goober and Sanic swam in the same direction, heading to shore.

...Slowly, Goober reached the shore first, and crawled onto it.

A victory jingle emitted as Rewrite hopped up, raised their arms dramatically, and did a cheer. They were racing the two of them.

Slowly, the sun starts to set. An orange light begins to befall the chao garden.

You watch the sun set, just letting your thoughts wander as the water rushing fades into the background of your mind, settling it. Sanic sits next to you. You notice him yawn out of the corner of your eye. You look at him... And watch as he immediately throws himself onto his back and falls asleep on the spot.

You smile.

You go back to watching the sunset for a moment, listening closely to your surroundings. You notice the birds have started to go quiet as dusk comes. Now, all you can hear is the flowing of the waterfall.

...It's making you kind of tired, and you want company.

You look around for Rewrite, and notice them laying under a tree, hands resting behind their head to prop it up. They're facing the sunset as well.

You push yourself up and walk over to them.

As you walk closer, you see Goober is sleeping on their chest.

Zs float from Rewrite's head, emphasizing just how totally asleep they are. You smile and chuckle to yourself, knowing that Rewrite doesn't actually need to sleep. They're just pretending... Just to further sell the relaxing "vibe" of this area. They really want it to be as peaceful for you as you said it was, in the past.

Your heart feeling warm, you walk over to them and sit down next to them. As you expected, they immediately open their eyes and turn their attention to you. The Zs floating from them all pop and disappear.

"Hi." You quietly greet them to avoid waking up Goober.

"Hello!" They greet you back in a hushed yet cheerful whisper.

You lay down and shimmy yourself closer to them, leaning your head against their shoulder. Rewrite's arm wraps around your side to support you.

"Thank you for this..." You begin earnestly and softly. "I love this place."

"I knew you would!" Rewrite gushes, pulling you into a half hug. "You're welcome."

You smile up at Rewrite. They close their eyes and shoot you a cheeky grin.

Then, you cozy yourself up against them, and watch as the sun begins to disappear under the horizon. Slowly, the oranges and browns get replaced with soft blues, as darkness begins to overtake the garden. Crickets slowly begin to chirp around you.

...Your eyelids feel heavy.

The crickets, distant waterfall and soft breathing of Goober lulls you in further.

With a deep breath, you allow your eyes to close.

"...Goodnight." Rewrite says softly to you.

"G'night." You mutter out sleepily.

...

...

Rewrite closes their own eyes, and pretends to sleep.