Alright, here is the next chapter of For an Emerald everybody! Please read and review!


"Sonic!" Knuckles, Rouge and the mentioned blue hedgehog all turned from their meal to see Tails running towards them from the forest. "I saw the Egg Fleet stop here and...thought I would come...help?" Though the two tailed fox finished his sentence he was staring at Knuckles in clear confusion, walking up the steps of the shrine.

"We're fine." She said simply, popping a grape into her mouth and biting it in half before swallowing it. When mechanic continued to stare at the guardian she began to become annoyed. "What?" The red puncher demanded, now glaring at the yellow flier as he reached the top.

"...Knuckles?" Tails asked. Knuckles blinked before remembering that the fox hadn't seen her as a female yet. "Sonic said that you were a girl now but..." The guardian sighed as the mechanic trailed off.

"You didn't believe him, right?" She asked, the young boy nodding. "I don't blame you...it's pretty hard to believe." The red puncher admitted.

"What happened?" The yellow flier asked curiously, the hero looking at her hoping for a better explanation than when he'd asked.

"It uh...has to do with a new guardian and a pure heart...that's all I'm saying right now." The echidna repeated, the hedgehog looking a little disappointed. The fox only looked more confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a child's curiosity. Knuckles blushed at the question.

"You're 8; I'm not getting into this conversation with you." She huffed, popping another few grapes into her mouth. Tails looked at Rouge in hopes for a better explanation, however Rouge shook her head to show that she had no intention of having the conversation with him either.

"So...you guys fought of the entire Egg Fleet all on your own?" The blue eyed boy asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess...I don't remember too much." The green eyed teen said, smiling a little sheepishly at his young friend.

"Actually, Knuckles got-" The blue-green eyed woman was cut off by the violet eyed girl's hand covering her mouth suddenly.

"Ignore Bat Girl." The red puncher said quickly, not wanting the two boys to know of her anger and power. They looked at the girl oddly, but shrugged in the end.

"A pure heart...so, are you looking for someone with a pure heart?" The fox questioned the echidna.

"Yeah, that's right." She admitted. "But I uh...don't know who it is. I just know that they're around my age...and a boy." The girl lied, still unwilling to tell them everything.

"So, will you tell us what's going on if we find this guy?" The hedgehog questioned. The red puncher nodded. "Then we'll start looking for you tomorrow. You and Rouge just stay here, protect the Master Emerald, ok?" The runner said, the guardian nodding. Green met violet and for a brief moment Knuckles couldn't breathe or see, however it was gone when Sonic blinked.

"You two should get back home, you've been here helping me long enough Sonic." The echidna said suddenly, the hedgehog nodding and leaving with the fox.

"...I'm not sure if lying counts as being pure hearted." The bat pointed out after several moments of silence between the two girls. The guardian sighed and grabbed a peach, biting into it.

"I'm already the guardian; I don't need to be completely pure hearted." She pointed out to the thief. "Besides, this gives me time to come up with an explanation to them." The red puncher added.

"I don't see why you don't tell them the truth." The white flier responded with a sigh of her own.

"I can't...not yet." Knuckles said softly.

"Why not?" Rouge asked just as softly.

"Because even with my feelings for him...Sonic won't want anything to do with me when I tell him the truth, and that I'll turn into a guy again." The echidna murmured sadly. The bat's eyes widened at the admittance of feelings, wanting to be upset about it yet being unable to because to her it was all the Master Emerald's fault. How can an object cause so much trouble anyway?

"I'm sure...I'm sure we can think of something. Some way so that he doesn't reject you once you explain it all to him and that he'll even help you with all this too." The thief finally assured, smiling at her friend and trying her best to make sure her smile wasn't sad.

"You really think so?" The guardian asked hopefully, the white flier suddenly feeling a little...sick.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely certain. I may not be pure hearted, but I AM smart Knuckles; I'll come up with something for you." Rouge stated.

"Thank you Rouge!" Knuckle said thankfully, clasping the bat's hands between her own. "You're a great friend Rouge, I'm glad that I have you around to help me." She admitted, smiling sheepishly as she wasn't used to letting her feelings be spoken. The blue-green eyed woman's smile only got secretly sadder.

"It's really no problem Knuckles, anything for a...a friend." The woman guaranteed while the violet eyed girl smiled in a truly happy way. "I'm going to get going, see what I can think of." The thief said, leaving the island.

"Why did I ever want that thing?" Rouge murmured angrily as she flew back to the mainland. "All it does is cause trouble! It's because of that thing that Knuckles is..." Rouge sighed and tried her best not to think about it.


Sadly both of the latest updates for this and Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised are under 1000 words, which is really uncommon for me lately...I hope I'm not getting writer's block. Oh well, see you all soon.