Sonic was lounging on the beach, wondering what he should do. He'd been to every place in the world, and there was nowhere else to go. He wished that there were more paces to explore; less ocean, more land. He'd even like the planet to be bigger. It would be nice to explore the surface of a planet the size of Jupiter. He sighed as he watched the clouds change shape.

"This is nice and all, but I need more excitement, more adventure," he said to the sky. "Eggman's been vanquished, and now there's nothing to do. I sure wish Shadow were still alive; we could go racing like we always did. And, of course, calling each other fakes."

He laughed. He and Shadow sure didn't get along very much. Shadow was convinced that Sonic was a fake and that he was the real one. And even though Shadow had seemed to hate Sonic, the blue hedgehog always smiled when they raced. There was nothing more exciting to Sonic than a good rivalry.

Then he wondered how everyone else was doing. He hadn't seen Amy and Cream in a long time, and his best friend Tails stayed in his workshop all the time. Knuckles, of course, had just dealt with it and moved on; and Rouge, poor Rouge, she had been absolutely devastated—broken even. Sonic heard from Knuckles that she liked to hang out at The Pier or under a peach tree on top of a big hill.

He thought about going to visit Rouge, but quickly excused that idea. Rouge would be way too depressed for a visitor. And Sonic would just make it worse; after all, he survived and Shadow didn't. He sighed again.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him by his neck and dragged him to a dark alley. He struggled to get away, and when the person finally le him go, he jumped to his feet and readied himself to beat the stranger senseless. The person pulled back their hood and revealed cherry red hair, sky blue eyes, and soft features.

It was a female chipmunk—Sally Acorn!

Sonic eased. "Sally! What are you doing here? I thought you died."

"I disappeared," the princess corrected. "Anyway, I missed you. I want you to come and be king with me."

"But didn't Mobius get destroyed?" Sonic said.

"Oh, yes, I forgot," Sally replied, a bit of pink appearing on her cheeks. "But we can still rule together."

"By the way, mind telling me the story of your disappearance?" Sonic asked.

"Well, you already know the first part, but after everything was over, I woke up in a strange forest," she began. "I wandered around until I came upon civilization. I got a job so I could get money for clothes—because, boy, was it cold out there! I stayed in that town for a long time, then I remembered you. So I searched for you. It's been years, Sonic."

"Yet you still look exactly the same as when I met you," Sonic said, and Sally blushed again. "But, I don't understand, why did you have to hide your face when "took" me."

"Well, Sonic…I don't want anyone to recognize me."

"Why not?"

"Sonic, I'm a princess," Sally said, and Sonic nodded.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Sonic asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what I can do," she answered. "I mean, I can't really go anywhere without wearing my hood, because everyone knows who I am."

"How about you get some sunglasses or a hat?" Sonic suggested. "That would help."

"Well, I could do that," Sally said to herself. "And I did see the cutest hat on my way here."

"Um, Sally? You still there?" Sonic said.

"Oh, of course, Sonic."

"Great. Now let's get out of this alley. It stinks here," Sonic responded.

They started walking down the street, when a pink female hedgehog spotted them. She sped over to Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic," she said cheerfully, but lost her cool when she saw Sally. "Oh, hey, Sally. I thought you were dead."

"No, Amy, I disappeared," Sally corrected again.

"Hmph," Amy uttered. "Well, I'm glad you're back, but…Sonic and I are engaged."

"What?" Sonic shouted.

Sally didn't seem at all impressed. "If you and Sonic are engaged, then where's your ring?"

Amy was caught; her face fell. "Um, I, uh…I left it at home."

"Amy," Sally said, "I know you. If you and Sonic were really engaged, you'd be wearing your ring all the time."

"But…I…you…" Amy stuttered. "UGH!"

She stomped off and added, without turning her head, "You've won this round, Sally Acorn!"

Sonic turned to Sally and said, "She's hopeless."

Sally chuckled at that comment, then they continued walking. Sally saw Knuckles walking on the other side of the street and quickly flipped up her hood. Knuckles always made a big deal out of everything, and if he saw that Sally was alive…

They passed him and walked into a small store. They walked around and Sonic found the perfect pair of sunglasses. They fit Sally's eyes perfectly, and shaded them, so that no one would know who she was.

Sally also planned to dye her hair. Maybe brown, maybe black, she hadn't decided yet. So they went to a hair stylist and she dyed her hair a sunshine color, and even got it styled differently. Now there was no way of getting recognized. Sonic even went the extra mile and bought her some new clothes: a white tank top and a black mini skirt with black sandals.

She even changed her name: from Sally to Stacy. It was different while still being close enough to her real name. Now she was ready for the world. And the only ones who knew she was there were Sonic and Amy—then again, Amy hadn't watched her change her appearance, so only Sonic knew who she really was.

They went back to the beach where Sonic had been earlier and set up a picnic. They ate sandwiches and apples, cookies and grapes, and talked a while. They had a few laughs and Sally finally said, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," Sonic said.

They smiled at each other, then leaned in for a kiss.