"How are you feeling?" someone was talking to me. It was my yellow hedgehog friend.

His voice was coming from above my head for some reason. That's strange. I know he is taller than me but shouldn't I be floating above him?

"You feeling better?" he asked again.

Feeling better...? Why, was I sick? Wait, something is wrong with my body. My arms and legs are gone! My whole body was gone!! I don't even have a neck!! I was just a fluffy ball of smoke right now!! What happened??

"You took a big fall... I wasn't sure what would happen to you in that situation..."

Big fall? Oh! Oh... That's right... I was trying to break the sky barrier by smacking myself against it... Probably not my brightest idea... I see... So I hurt myself so much that I ended up losing a bit of mass in the process.

"I'm fine..."

"... You don't look fine..."

"I just need to rest a bit... I'll be back to normal by tomorrow..." I reassured.

"If you say so..."

"..." I decided to stop chatting. Wasn't feeling in the mood to talk anymore...

I can't go back... I hurt that girl and I can't go back to apologize... All I want is to apologize to her... But I can't return to the sky ever again... I will never see her again... Why was I acting like that towards her...? Why did I have to scream like that? Ugh... This sucks...

"You, huh... Need someone to talk to...?" my hedghog friend asked.

"...!?"

"You looked like you were really desperate to go back to the sky... Did you really regret coming down here this much...?"

Regret... I did have one regret... But it wasn't about leaving the sky.

"... I have no regrets about coming down... This is the first conversation I have had in years where someone would ask me how I was feeling..."

"... Is... That so...?"

"Even my parents don't care about how I feel... No one did... They all just acted like I was a nuisance they wanted to get rid of..."

"..." he kept looking at me waiting for me to say more. Were we in a therapy session?

"Every day a bunch of dumb clouds would come after me to make fun of my condition... They acted as if I was some kind of monster... No one would talk to me, no one would listen to me... I hated that place..."

"I'm confused... Why do you want to return then?"

"I don't... I don't want to see that place ever again... I just wanted to leave without having any regrets..."

"... So hurting that girl is really tearing you inside huh...?"

"It feels terrible... She didn't feel like the others... She looked at me as if I wasn't some kind of mistake that should be erased... She looked like she just wanted to be my friend..."

"... And then you attacked her..."

"... And then I attacked her..."

"It's not your fault..."

Not my fault? I was starting to wonder if he was making fun of me by this point.

"That so...? Maybe another cloud showed up right at that moment and attacked her and I just assumed it was me who did it by mistake?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"You were in pain, girl... People in pain do stupid things..." he said.

"..."

"Do you feel good about hurting that girl...? Did you enjoy lashing out on her? Would you do it again if you could?"

"Of course not..."

"Then it's not your fault... You were in pain and you made a mistake... Someone got hurt in the process, but that's just how life is..."

"So should I just forget about it?"

"Of course not... Mistakes are only worth anything if you learn from them... Just try to be better next time..."

"Next time?? Were you not listening? I can never see her again!!"

"But there are still others you can see down here right?"

"...!?"

"This island is the home of many creatures who have no other place to go... You could try your luck and get along with them... You're the second nimbus to ever come here so I'm sure they will be curious about you..."

"Wait... Second...? There is another Nimbus here?"

"There used to be... But she wasn't very social and just vanished one day... Nobody knows where she went..."

"What about Mr. sea-serpent? Doesn't he knows everything?"

"The boss only knows what he has seen throughout the years... Unless he managed to see how that nimbus disappeared I'm not sure he will be much help... But asking doesn't hurt..."

"I'll try it later then..."

"Suit yourself... So what's your plan now?"

"For now I'll just wait for my body to return to normal..."

"So you just going to wait...? Won't that be boring...?"

"I had to spend a lot of time back at home sitting still and doing nothing so I wouldn't bother anyone... I'm used to being bored..."

"Come on... This is your second start at life... Try thinking of something you want to do!"

"Something I want to do...? Mmmm... Oh! I would like to see the black-hole girl!"

"Black-hole girl?"

"Yeah! She was some kind of black-hole with eyes covered in blankets... When I was exploring the island I bumped into her and got scared when I saw her face for a second... She probably got upset so I want to make up with her..."

"I see, I think I know who you're talking about... I can take you to her...Can you move in this state?"

"Yeah I will just make the wind carry me... No problem."

"Then let's go... Let's help you make your first new friend!"

We walked around for quite a while. Well, he did at least, I was just being carried the whole time. We saw some other weird creatures along the way. A weird bird with crystals instead of feathers, a snake surrounded by black smoke, a little boy made out of rocks who kept falling and spreading himself all over the floor, only to pick himself up later in just a few seconds.

"I've never seen so many different species before... They all were kicked out of home as well?"

"Some were... Others are like you and decided to leave on their own... A few simply heard how much of a nice place to live our island is and just choose to live here for fun. This is meant to be a place that will welcome anyone."

"I see... That's good to know since I have nowhere else to go..."

"You should probably have thought about that before running away from home..."

"Yeah well, my home should have thought about that before giving me a reason to run away from it..."

"We are here."

We were standing outside of a huge cave covered in vines. I got tired of using the wind and decided to simply rest on Mr. hedgehog's head.

"Welp, your turn, go in there and talk to her..."

"Is it ok to just barge in? That's her house right?"

"The whole island is everyone's house... Just try to take it slow..."

"Ok... Slow... I can be slow..."

"That's the spirit, good luck!"

Mr. Hedgehog started to spin around like a drill and entered the ground. Before I noticed, he was completely gone with nothing but a hole below me from where he used to be.

"He can do that??"

As I slowly started to fall I kept staring at the cave wondering what I was even supposed to say to the girl. "Sorry for screaming after seeing your face, my bads... Wanna be friends!?" or something like that...?

"Maybe I should return tomorrow..."

"Huh... Hello?"

Sweet heavens!! If I still had a lower body I would have had a heart attack. Someone just approached me from behind without giving any presence. I turned around and saw the black-hole girl behind me.

"Oh, it's you again!"

"Huh... Can I help you...?"

"Oh... Huh... I just wanted to apologize for my reaction from early..."

"Reaction...?"

Oh that's right... My body was still gone so she didn't recognize me... Right now I'm still just a little ball of smoke... Should I explain who I was? Wait, maybe I can use this to make a fresh start!

"Never mind that... My name is Chloe... I'm new here and was wondering if you would like to be friends?"

"Oh...!! Nice to meet you...! I'm Balla! I would love to be your friend!!"

Eh... That was easy... Shouldn't Balla be a little more reserved about a total stranger showing up at her door and asking to be her friend out of nowhere? No, wait... Mr. Hog said this island welcomed anyone... Maybe she is friends with everybody and is just used to it by that point...

"Thanks Balla! I hope we can have fun together!!"

"Same here!! You said you were new here right?"

"Yeah that's right!"

Balla started to approach and stretched her hands to hold my head. I couldn't actually see her hands because her entire arm was covered in blankets.

"So that means you don't have any friends right?"

"... That's right?"

Well, Balla seems nice. I don't know why Mr. Hog just left me alone with her. We could hang out together or something.

"So that means I'm your only friend right now... Right?"

"... ... ... I guess so...?"

Wait... Something is not right...

"Then... Then... Doesn't that mean I'm your best friend by default??"

"... ... ... Huh..."

"Best friends... Right?"

She grabbed my head and placed it closer to her face. This was starting to get scary...

"Suuuuure..."

"Best... Friends!!!"

"Hey Balla...? How many friends do you have aside from me...?"

"I don't have many friends actually..."

"... ... ... Is that so...?"

"That means... You are my best friend too!!!"

"Huh..."

"Right??"

"Suuuuure... Best friends..."

"Best friends!!"

"Best... Friends..."

Reminder to myself. Next time I see Mr. Hog, throw him at the lake...