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Description
The phantom, a well-dressed mole, paused in the entrance to his home, all of a sudden sensing an unseen presence nearby. Had someone tailed him after he left the opera house?

He looked to the left; he looked to the right.

Nobody in sight.

He double-checked. Still no one.

He almost triple-checked but stopped himself, opting instead to rub his forehead in frustration at his jumpiness and excess caution. He'd gone this route countless times by now, and he'd never been caught once--well, at least not by anyone who would've believed or have been believed to have seen a cloaked spirit, of all things, walking around.

The wariness still couldn't be helped, though. Old habits die hard.

'If I weren't alive right now, this paranoia would've been murder on my health.' The phantom shook his head at the thought. 'Maybe a spot of tea and a good adventure book will calm my nerves.'

That tactic hadn't failed him yet, so why not? Smiling at the idea, the phantom, his steps with more spring than before, proceeded to enter the safety of his home.

Until a small hand gripped his cloak from behind, causing the fabric to nearly choke the startled specter and fall backwards.

Though he managed to pull his cloak out of the grip of whoever grabbed it, he ended up having to right himself back up in a rather undignified manner, stumbling a bit on his large feet as a result.

Alarmed and embarrassed, the phantom whipped his head around, a fierce snarl ready for whatever fool dared to trespass on his territory.

His snarl dropped immediately.

Before the phantom, there stood an adorable bunny girl whose dress looked as if it had been woven from the oranges and yellows of the sunset, the only accessory seeming out of place being a sky-blue bandanna tied around her neck.

Floating just above the girl's head via chubby, pink wings was a blue-and-yellow creature the phantom had seen many times before during his outings into the world of the living: a chao.

Both it and the girl stared at the phantom with wide, glimmering eyes, the latter with her white-gloved hands clasped in front of her.

"Excuse us, Mr. Phantom, but could we have our mother back, please?"

Phantom blinked for a few moments, caught off guard by the request. Once he finally recovered, though, his face twisted into a cross between incredulity and confusion.

The bunny girl noticed the expression. "My mother, sir...we were in the opera house with her earlier this morning, but then she disappeared the moment we turned our backs on her for a few seconds. We didn't see anyone else besides Ms. Amy, and we know she would have never done such a thing, so...we just thought--"

WHOOSH!

That sound cut through the girl's explanation like a sword. She hushed herself, hands to her mouth, her chao ducking behind her in fear, at the firm glare Phantom fixed on her, his navy-blue cloak wrapped around him as if to protect an invaluable secret, an action that instantly reminded the girl of a vampire.

A few moments of tense silence passed before the specter finally spoke, his staccato voice dark and smooth. "Leave."

He said nothing more as he, with another swish of his cloak, turned around and marched down the hall, not wishing to deal with children and half-baked accusations.

'Today's already been stressful enough. I don't need babysitting to be the highlight of my night.'

His wish went unanswered.

"But sir!" the little girl called, her squeaky voice echoing in the halls. She dashed after the phantom, her chao right behind her, until she neared him enough to grab him by the cloak again.

No luck; Phantom made sure to keep it out of her reach this time. "Leave...now."

So focused on being left alone, the phantom didn't notice the little girl trailing behind, her feet planted to the ground by sheer disbelief.

But Phantom did notice the child's voice beginning to hiccup and tremble. Fearing the worst, he round-about faced.

The sight of her tears hit him like a sucker-punch to the gut. As the chao hovered near her shoulder, trying to give chirps of comfort while tossing glares the mole's way, the girl fretfully begged, "B...But why?"

'I at least owe her the truth.'

After all, she'd come all this way to brave an infamous ghost just to save her mother; to disregard her and turn her away would do nothing to improve his standing with the mortals. Besides, if he didn't do anything to help her, his conscience would keep him up all night long.

Phantom walked up to her and got down on one knee so that the two of them were as close to being at eye-level with each other as possible.

"Not here."

The bunny tilted her head in confusion, her doe-like, brown eyes red but no longer teary, ""What...?"

Phantom looked at her then to the side in slight exasperation, rubbing a ham-sized white-gloved hand over his three cowlicks. He doubted she'd understand sign language, so that drawback left him with only one other option. He looked back down at her.

"Never took..." he shook his head, "Mother...," he cradled his hands in front of him then pointed a finger to himself, "Never take...," then he shook his head again, this time wagging his finger, "Never force..."

Hoping that broken up explanation cleared the confusion up, the phantom stood up as the tiny rabbit rubbed her eyes dry, still sniffling. Once again, though, she didn't let him get far.

"W-Wait sir!"

Phantom gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to stomp the ground. He rolled his glowing, white eyes and swiveled his face back in the rabbit's direction. 'Oh what now?'

"Yes?" he asked in a tone of severely strained patience.

"I'm sorry I accused you of kidnapping my mother, Mr. Phantom. I was only worried," she paused to shift her gaze down in shame, looking like the lost child she truly was, "and scared."

Phantom couldn't quite put his finger on the reason, but somehow the sight of that child all lost and alone and defenseless struck a cord in the recluse's icy heart. Oh sure, she had the chao for company, but what could that little creature possibly protect her against, especially with nightfall already nearly upon them?

'Great...now I definitely can't turn them loose.' The mole slapped a hand to his forehead. 'I swear I'm too much of a softie for children.'

Oh well, giving these kids a place to stay for the night might shut up the people spouting off that whole "evil ghost" dribble.

Yeah, wishful thinking...

But at the very least, the phantom wouldn't be spending tonight alone, for once. Having company for the first time in...well, ever perked up the mole's spirits a bit. He even dared a smile at the idea.

He looked back at the girl to give her the offer...only to discover that she'd already left.

Though initially stunned, Phantom willed himself to lift his sight up. The girl hadn't left yet, but she was already walking back to the outside, her chao fluttering alongside her.

"Wait!" he called out, rushing out with impossible speed to intercept the young pair.

His reappearance startled the girl after she flinched at his call and turned her head his way. She and her chao stared in confused anticipation, curious as to what else the mole had to say but wary in case he decided to change his mind at the last minute.

Phantom waved a hand to the inside of his home. "C'mon."

One simple word and one simple gesture gave the girl all the motive to suddenly tackle the ghost by the waist and hug her arms around him. Her chao chirped in cheery approval, doing rapid figure-eights in the air.

The mole stood in stark silence, completely unsure as to how to respond. No one had ever touched him like this in years. Yet here was this fearless bunny, practically fraternizing with the supernatural as if it were a friend next door.

And she was hugging him.

It...felt good.

It felt right.

And it felt like it made perfect sense...like fate had brought her and her little friend to him so he could protect them...

In spite of his introvert nature, the mole smiled at the big-eared doe blanketed by his great shadow on one side and blanketed by the retreating sunlight on the other side.

He sighed to himself in content and wrapped both his arms and his cloak around the young one, her small body snug against his bulk.

For the first time in years, the phantom was giving a hug back...and he did not regret it in the least.

'Until the sun comes back, I'll protect you.'

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Cream and Cheese belong to SEGA. The Phantom of the Opera belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Ozzie Burroughs belongs to me.

Description
The phantom, a well-dressed mole, paused in the entrance to his home, all of a sudden sensing an unseen presence nearby. Had someone tailed him after he left the opera house?

He looked to the left; he looked to the right.

Nobody in sight.

He double-checked. Still no one.

He almost triple-checked but stopped himself, opting instead to rub his forehead in frustration at his jumpiness and excess caution. He'd gone this route countless times by now, and he'd never been caught once--well, at least not by anyone who would've believed or have been believed to have seen a cloaked spirit, of all things, walking around.

The wariness still couldn't be helped, though. Old habits die hard.

'If I weren't alive right now, this paranoia would've been murder on my health.' The phantom shook his head at the thought. 'Maybe a spot of tea and a good adventure book will calm my nerves.'

That tactic hadn't failed him yet, so why not? Smiling at the idea, the phantom, his steps with more spring than before, proceeded to enter the safety of his home.

Until a small hand gripped his cloak from behind, causing the fabric to nearly choke the startled specter and fall backwards.

Though he managed to pull his cloak out of the grip of whoever grabbed it, he ended up having to right himself back up in a rather undignified manner, stumbling a bit on his large feet as a result.

Alarmed and embarrassed, the phantom whipped his head around, a fierce snarl ready for whatever fool dared to trespass on his territory.

His snarl dropped immediately.

Before the phantom, there stood an adorable bunny girl whose dress looked as if it had been woven from the oranges and yellows of the sunset, the only accessory seeming out of place being a sky-blue bandanna tied around her neck.

Floating just above the girl's head via chubby, pink wings was a blue-and-yellow creature the phantom had seen many times before during his outings into the world of the living: a chao.

Both it and the girl stared at the phantom with wide, glimmering eyes, the latter with her white-gloved hands clasped in front of her.

"Excuse us, Mr. Phantom, but could we have our mother back, please?"

Phantom blinked for a few moments, caught off guard by the request. Once he finally recovered, though, his face twisted into a cross between incredulity and confusion.

The bunny girl noticed the expression. "My mother, sir...we were in the opera house with her earlier this morning, but then she disappeared the moment we turned our backs on her for a few seconds. We didn't see anyone else besides Ms. Amy, and we know she would have never done such a thing, so...we just thought--"

WHOOSH!

That sound cut through the girl's explanation like a sword. She hushed herself, hands to her mouth, her chao ducking behind her in fear, at the firm glare Phantom fixed on her, his navy-blue cloak wrapped around him as if to protect an invaluable secret, an action that instantly reminded the girl of a vampire.

A few moments of tense silence passed before the specter finally spoke, his staccato voice dark and smooth. "Leave."

He said nothing more as he, with another swish of his cloak, turned around and marched down the hall, not wishing to deal with children and half-baked accusations.

'Today's already been stressful enough. I don't need babysitting to be the highlight of my night.'

His wish went unanswered.

"But sir!" the little girl called, her squeaky voice echoing in the halls. She dashed after the phantom, her chao right behind her, until she neared him enough to grab him by the cloak again.

No luck; Phantom made sure to keep it out of her reach this time. "Leave...now."

So focused on being left alone, the phantom didn't notice the little girl trailing behind, her feet planted to the ground by sheer disbelief.

But Phantom did notice the child's voice beginning to hiccup and tremble. Fearing the worst, he round-about faced.

The sight of her tears hit him like a sucker-punch to the gut. As the chao hovered near her shoulder, trying to give chirps of comfort while tossing glares the mole's way, the girl fretfully begged, "B...But why?"

'I at least owe her the truth.'

After all, she'd come all this way to brave an infamous ghost just to save her mother; to disregard her and turn her away would do nothing to improve his standing with the mortals. Besides, if he didn't do anything to help her, his conscience would keep him up all night long.

Phantom walked up to her and got down on one knee so that the two of them were as close to being at eye-level with each other as possible.

"Not here."

The bunny tilted her head in confusion, her doe-like, brown eyes red but no longer teary, ""What...?"

Phantom looked at her then to the side in slight exasperation, rubbing a ham-sized white-gloved hand over his three cowlicks. He doubted she'd understand sign language, so that drawback left him with only one other option. He looked back down at her.

"Never took..." he shook his head, "Mother...," he cradled his hands in front of him then pointed a finger to himself, "Never take...," then he shook his head again, this time wagging his finger, "Never force..."

Hoping that broken up explanation cleared the confusion up, the phantom stood up as the tiny rabbit rubbed her eyes dry, still sniffling. Once again, though, she didn't let him get far.

"W-Wait sir!"

Phantom gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to stomp the ground. He rolled his glowing, white eyes and swiveled his face back in the rabbit's direction. 'Oh what now?'

"Yes?" he asked in a tone of severely strained patience.

"I'm sorry I accused you of kidnapping my mother, Mr. Phantom. I was only worried," she paused to shift her gaze down in shame, looking like the lost child she truly was, "and scared."

Phantom couldn't quite put his finger on the reason, but somehow the sight of that child all lost and alone and defenseless struck a cord in the recluse's icy heart. Oh sure, she had the chao for company, but what could that little creature possibly protect her against, especially with nightfall already nearly upon them?

'Great...now I definitely can't turn them loose.' The mole slapped a hand to his forehead. 'I swear I'm too much of a softie for children.'

Oh well, giving these kids a place to stay for the night might shut up the people spouting off that whole "evil ghost" dribble.

Yeah, wishful thinking...

But at the very least, the phantom wouldn't be spending tonight alone, for once. Having company for the first time in...well, ever perked up the mole's spirits a bit. He even dared a smile at the idea.

He looked back at the girl to give her the offer...only to discover that she'd already left.

Though initially stunned, Phantom willed himself to lift his sight up. The girl hadn't left yet, but she was already walking back to the outside, her chao fluttering alongside her.

"Wait!" he called out, rushing out with impossible speed to intercept the young pair.

His reappearance startled the girl after she flinched at his call and turned her head his way. She and her chao stared in confused anticipation, curious as to what else the mole had to say but wary in case he decided to change his mind at the last minute.

Phantom waved a hand to the inside of his home. "C'mon."

One simple word and one simple gesture gave the girl all the motive to suddenly tackle the ghost by the waist and hug her arms around him. Her chao chirped in cheery approval, doing rapid figure-eights in the air.

The mole stood in stark silence, completely unsure as to how to respond. No one had ever touched him like this in years. Yet here was this fearless bunny, practically fraternizing with the supernatural as if it were a friend next door.

And she was hugging him.

It...felt good.

It felt right.

And it felt like it made perfect sense...like fate had brought her and her little friend to him so he could protect them...

In spite of his introvert nature, the mole smiled at the big-eared doe blanketed by his great shadow on one side and blanketed by the retreating sunlight on the other side.

He sighed to himself in content and wrapped both his arms and his cloak around the young one, her small body snug against his bulk.

For the first time in years, the phantom was giving a hug back...and he did not regret it in the least.

'Until the sun comes back, I'll protect you.'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cream and Cheese belong to SEGA. The Phantom of the Opera belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Ozzie Burroughs belongs to me.