After the three properly introduced themselves to each other, Tails noticed the cuts and bruises on Skylar and began examining them. There was nothing too bad, but Tails believed it would be best to bandage her up. He told this to Sonic, who only gave a pensive look.

"Where are we going to get bandages?" he asked. Tails smiled nervously.

"I could ask Amy-"

"No."

"Flat out, no?"

"Yes. I mean, no, uh- Look, what if she follows you?" Sonic's head already began to hurt just from thinking about her hugs and her questions and her death glares.

"Who's Amy?" Skylar asked curiously. "Girlfriend?"

"No!" he exclaimed a bit angrily. "Just an annoying fangirl."

"Look," Tails cut in, "I'll tell her the bandages are for me… For a friend! And I'll tell her she needs to borrow some clothes, too." Skylar blushed, crossing her arms over her excuse of a shirt.

Sonic looked at the girl. The bandages probably weren't top priority; he had plenty of cuts and bruises he never treated. But Tails was right about her needing clothes. Her shoes were probably the only thing that didn't have rips and tears in them, while her gloves and shirt shared those qualities, tattered and dingy. He sighed, shaking his head softly.

"Just make sure she doesn't follow you back, alright?"

"I'll try," he replied, and with that, he flew off, leaving the two to watch him in silence.

"So, um… What do we do now?" Skylar questioned, nervous about the sudden silence. Sonic looked over at her with a grin.

"How about we find out what you can do?"

"Huh?"

"Think fast!"

He kicked in the direction of her face. Just as he had hoped, she brought up crossed arms in shock, the light red barrier returning and blocking his sudden attack. She flinched, and then glared at him.

"What are you doing?!"

"Testing you. Attack me."

"W-What?"

"Attack me!" Skylar stared in slight shock, the barrier blinking away.

"I… don't… want to," she mumbled lowly, taking a few short steps back. Sonic kicked up again, Skylar blocking it as usual. He kept kicking, she kept blocking, until they were both frustrated.

"Look, I don't want to fight someone who saved my life," Skylar said.

"You're going to have to fight back some time, Skylar. Do you know what's lodged in your chest?" He pointed a finger at the glowing sphere. Skylar blinked, placing a protective hand over it.

"Well… no," she mumbled the reply.

"It's an emerald. A Chaos Emerald. There are only supposed to be seven, but you've got an eighth one, a more powerful one. A normal Chaos Emerald can power up big machines that wouldn't be able to work because of the amount of power they use up. When all seven come together, they can rip through the fabrics of space."

"Wow…"

"One of those is keeping you alive, and that robot that came after you was sent from a man who has his eyes on the Emeralds. If he got ahold of you, he'd rip that thing from your chest and kill you. He wouldn't hesitate." He tightened his jaw, taking in the look of fear on her face. "That's why you have to learn how to fight back. Metal will get used to your barrier and find a way to break through it. You've got to learn what else you're capable of."

Silence blanketed over them again. Skylar inhaled deeply, trying to take in what Sonic had told her. It was only the truth, but it really did sting. It was like the thing keeping her alive was suddenly a huge weight on her chest and shoulders.

She curled her hands into fists and nodded.

"Alright. But I won't hurt you," she finally said.

"I won't either," Sonic replied, throwing the first punch.

Feeling daring, she clashed her fist against his. The impact was intensified by a sudden burst of flame that soon enveloped her fist. Both of them pulled back immediately, Sonic staring with wide eyes, and Skylar shaking her arm furiously. The flame disappeared with a sudden poof, and her fist was unharmed.

"D…Did I do that?" she asked shakily, her heart beating rapidly. After she was done being completely afraid of the sudden flames bursting from her fists, she smiled widely. "That was so cool!" Sonic laughed at the sudden change of reaction.

"Try again!" Sonic shouted, bringing up his fist. They both punch forward, and the flames enveloped her fist quicker. She pulled her fist back before she could punch Sonic's fist, and put the fire out without shaking her arm this time.

"This is really amazing," she breathed. "Maybe I can do this with my legs."

"Why would you want fire legs?" Sonic asked.

"I'll demonstrate," she offered, kicking in the direction of his face. He ducked quickly, and when he looked up, her leg was covered in flames. She brought her leg back, the flame poofing away.

"This is awesome!" She began to summon up balls of fire, punching the air and watching the fire jump up and poof away when she pleased. She even puffed up her cheeks, blew out, and a small ember flew out. She pouted, knowing she'd have to work on that.

"Alright. Use all of that to fight me," Sonic said, taking up a fighting stance. Skylar narrowed her eyes.

"Okay… I just hope I don't burn you," she snickered and ran forward with a fire fist up.

-…-

Tails flew back in a rush, and when he saw the two hedgehogs lying on the ground, beat up and panting, it didn't calm him down.

"Sonic!" he shouted, landing and running towards them. The two sat up, looking at him with confused looks.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Sonic asked. Tails sighed in relief, smiling.

"I just thought something happened to you guys… Anyways, I have the bandages!" he kneeled down next to Skylar and set down the roll of bandages and a set of clothes. He examined her arms, and noticed the new bruises. "What were you guys doing that you guys got bruised up?"

"Oh, uh, we were training. We tried not to hit each other, but Sonic punched me and I punched him back before he could apologize and… it went on like that," she laughed. Tails rolled his eyes, wrapping the bandages around her arms.

"Do I have to bandage you up too?" Tails asked Sonic.

"Nah, I'm good."

When Tails was done bandaging Skylar's arms, legs, and stomach, Skylar grabbed the set of clothes and changed twice in the nearby cave, only because the first time she walked out with her shirt on backwards. She was wearing a black shirt that had a v-neck and fit her a bit tight, but she liked it because it still fit her snuggly and she could move around in it quite well. She had on brand new white gloves with black cuffs and light jean shorts. Now that she thought about it, all of the clothes seemed brand new.

"Well, Amy said she'd give me a set of clothes she never liked," Tails responded when she had asked him. She frowned, lying down on her back.

"She doesn't like these? I like these clothes."

"Well, she wears mostly frilly pink things, so…"

"Ah."

Night rolled by quickly, and Skylar couldn't sleep. She simply stayed there on the soft grass, head rested behind her arms, staring at the sky. The stars were bright and beautiful, and she didn't know how she remembered, but she knew they weren't the same back home. She brought her hands up and let her finger produce a small flame, like a lighter. She wouldn't be able to do that back at home either.

"Can't sleep?" Sonic asked, lying down next to her. Skylar shook her head, snapping her fingers so that the flame would disappear.

"Not really. It's my first night here, you know."

"Yeah, I guess it's tough on you… And, I'm sorry for being tough on you, too. About the whole Emerald thing and the fighting back. I'm a really chill guy, but… sometimes you have to force things, you know?"

"I know," she replied with a half-smile. "It's okay, though. I'm glad you told me about the danger I was in, that way I could know better."

"Yeah, but you looked really scared when I told you, and now I think you think I'm a jerk."

"Nah, you're really cool, Sonic," Skylar smiled. "You don't hold back when a girl punches you." Sonic immediately placed a hand over his shoulder.

"You punch hard," he whined, punching her shoulder softly. She laughed, looking up at the stars.

"I miss them," she whispered out suddenly.

"Who?"

"I don't know… who they are. But I miss them." She suddenly felt her heart throb with a home sick feeling. She had no idea what it was like back home, whether she had it good or bad, but she suddenly missed it dearly, and she had no memory of it at the same time. It made her head hurt, and her stomach ache, and her face pinch with tears.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes… No," she sobbed out, covering her eyes with gloved hands and letting the sobs bubble her throat. She felt arms wrap around her shoulders, and that only made her feel worse somehow. She wrapped her arms around Sonic's neck and cried into his shoulder, letting her fears come out.

"I don't know where I am! I'm abandoned and alone and this place is different. I want to go back home! But- But I don't know what home is, where home is, what it's like, if it'll be for better or for worse! And I could kill myself easily right now! Anyone could! I could just grab this stupid Emerald everyone wants and toss it at them, and it wouldn't be so unnerving anymore! There wouldn't be anyone chasing me, there wouldn't be anyone trying to kill me, there wouldn't be anyone going out of their way to help me! I don't know what I'm doing; I don't know where I am. I don't know anything and it's confusing and scary and-"

"Calm down," Sonic cooed, rubbing her back softly. "I know it's scary but now you can defend yourself. You're a strong girl, Skylar, and I know you'd put up a great fight. You just need to trust yourself, and trust us. If you can do that, everything isn't scary anymore."

Skylar shook her head but took in the words he said. Trust herself and trust them…

She didn't know how, but she fell asleep in his arms, despite the soft sobs, her shivering body, and her mind trying to figure out what she should do.

Nara: I went back to school today x_x What a drag, right? Ugh...

You know what I like about sad scenes c:? How I can mess with my own emotions at the same time xD That's writing for you :3

Anyways, I hope you liked it n.n Thank you for reading; please review n_n