A young hedgehog jumped on her bed, laughing as she played with her parents.
"I am the pirate queen!" She shouted, standing on her father's back. "Kneel before me!"
Her father chuckled, despite the soreness in his back. It was all worth it to see her happy. Across the room, his partner giggled as well before taking their daughter off his back.
"Ok, Nikki, don't break your father's back." He said, tucking Nikki into bed with a gentle smile and his green eyes beamed with love for his daughter. The hoglet pouted.
"But I'm not tired!" She exclaimed, flailing her arms wildly to convince her papa. "Please! One more game!"
"How about a story?" Nikki's father, rubbing his back, suggested. Nikki's pout vanished and she bounced excitedly in her bed.
"Oh oh! Please let it be about pirates!" She shouted. "I love pirates!"
Her parents both chuckled softly. Nikki doesn't have too much to ask for, only a good story about pirates. Luckily, they knew a few good stories about swashbuckling pirates.
"Alright," Nikki's papa began, tucking her under the covers again, "a long long time ago..."
A majestic ship sailed the seven seas. Her captain graced the ocean with a legend, a name that would live on through every pirate who knows it. Shadow the Hedgehog was the greatest pirate who ever sailed the seas, and everyone who's met him knows it is true.
Shadow had a gentle heart. He would never leave an innocent life stranded or lost, he would always step in to help, even if he would get hurt. And it was this kindness that guided him to meet-
"A bad guy!" Nikki guessed, shooting up from the bed again. "Shadow dealt with him, right?!"
Her papa shook his head.
Shadow's kindness pushed him to save a life he never knew. He leapt into the ocean during a summer day, and from the waters, he rescued a pirate just like himself. Shadow pulled the stranger aboard the ARK, saving him from a terrible fate. The mysterious thanked the captain and promised to do what he could to repay the debt. Shadow didn't ask for much, only a name.
And it was Goldheart.
"Because he had a heart of gold!" Nikki shouted again. "The new pirate must have be nice!"
Her father smiled gently, nodding.
"He really was." He said, whispering so his daughter didn't hear him.
Together, on the 'ARK', Shadow and Goldheart were unstoppable. They fought mighty monsters and evil pirates, defending the 'ARK' and her crew. And with every day they spent with each other, they grew closer together. Shadow liked Goldheart a lot. Goldheart made him happy. And Goldheart was happy to be with Shadow too.
But the years went by, and the 'ARK' grew old. She could no longer sail the seas with her beloved crew. Shadow and Goldheart left the ship behind, leaving their memories behind.
"Did they stop being friends?!" Nikki asked, distraught. "I thought this had a happy ending!"
"Well..." Her papa answered. "Not exactly?"
Nikki's father sighed softly as he settled the hoglet down again.
"Here's what happened." He said.
The 'ARK' rotted away, becoming one with the seas she's sailed her entire life. Her crew all went on to build lives of their own. Shadow and Goldheart included. They didn't stop being friends, no. They went together. And they only grew closer.
Nikki, at long last, yawned. She lay on her side, hugging her teddy-bear close as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Goodnight." She said, muffled, and finally went to sleep. Her parents smiled softly and left her be, turning the lights off as they left her room.
"What a wonderful story, Goldy." Her father, Shadow, whispered. A cocky grin appeared on his face as they walked down the hall to their shared room. "Reminds me of the old days—swashbuckling on the seven seas."
"Yea," Goldheart replied, sighing, "sometimes I wish I could go back. Rebuild the ARK. Find our crew."
"Sure, we could." Shadow smirked. "If you plan on telling Nikki who we truly are."
Goldheart sighed again, closing the door to their room now that they were both inside.
"One day," he said, "one day."
With that, the two ex-pirates shared a goodnight kiss.
Then the lights went out.
