Chapter 10: A Resolution?

Knuckles started up from the couch as he whipped his head over to the hedgehog standing in his doorway with Tails just behind him, trying to peek over Sonic's shoulder with curiousity. Sally and Julie looked over as well as gave Sonic just as surprised expression as the echidna between them. Sonic simply stood there, jaw hanging ajar, unsure what exactly what he had been witnessing. His first instinct had been to pounce on Knuckles and kick the living crap out of him, but his mind was unwilling to process this odd turn of events.

"What's going on?" asked Tails from behind Sonic, "I can't see anything."

Sonic blinked, forced his jaw shut, and turned to the fox. "N-nothing, Tails. Just wait outside, Knux and I need to talk," he ordered his sidekick, gently pushing the kid outside.

"But I-"

Tails didn't get to finish his sentence before Sonic slammed the door in his face. Tails held a finger up as if to argue, but figured it would amount to nothing, and so lowered it and turned around. He took a few steps forward and sat down on the bottom step, internally fuming about being excluded once more.

Inside, Sonic held the door shut by leaning against it as he ran what he had just seen through his mind trying to rationalize it. Here he was trying to apologize for his actions to Sally and thank Knuckles for keeping an eye on her, but his ex-girlfriend was hanging all over the echidna. Worse still, Knuckles was allowing it. He didn't even try to throw Julie-Su into the mix. He was having a hard enough time understanding without Knuckles's girlfriend being involved in it too.

The three would-be lovers stood and shared uncertain looks between one another, unsure of how to approach Sonic and explain it.

At length, Knuckles was the first to step forward. Placing a hand on Sonic's shuddering shoulder, he spoke up softly. "Er, Sonic. It's not what it looks like."

Sonic threw the echidna's hand off his shoulder as he whirled about. The hedgehog's face was livid. "Then what exactly is it?"

Knuckles backed up and stammered quickly. "W-well, me and J-Julie... Sally and-d I... I mean..."

Sally broke in. "What are you even doing here? Didn't I make it clear I wanted to get away from you?" she asked with a cutting tone.

Sonic didn't flinch. "I came to apologize." He turned his attention to Knuckles. "And the next thing I know, my best friend is all over you."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "The last I heard, you and Sal were no longer a 'thing', Sonic."

Sonic clenched his fists. "That doesn't mean you can just swoop in and catch the rebound!"

Sally stepped up beside Knuckles and placed her hands on his arms and shoulder. "Maybe the 'rebound' wanted to be caught by somebody who actually cared," she replied coldly.

Sonic shook his head, not able to fully accept her razor-sharp words. "But, but, Sal..."

"Princess Sally now, Sonic."

Sonic's lower jaw unhinged once again in disbelief. She... she was going to insist he address her like he didn't know her personally any more? He knew he had screwed up, but this badly? This was the closest Sonic felt to shedding tears aside from last night, and yet he was unwilling to break down in front of her or Knuckles. The last thing he wanted was pity. The only thing he could manage to squeeze was a single, "Why?"

"Because, you don't care about anyone's feelings but your own. You think you can do whatever the hell you want and everybody should just go along with it. I'm tired of it, Sonic. I want, need, somebody who is more willing to stand by me when things get tough and not just run off when the pressure gets too intense. You're like a paper boat. You crumble and fold over when exposed to the slighest resistance."

Sonic was at a loss for words. Some of what the chipmunk was ringing too close to home and others just seemed to be hurtful for the sake of being hurtful. His pride, confidence, and worry-free personality had all been diminished so greatly that all that was left was a hollow shell of his former self. Slowly lowering himself to the floor with his back to the door, Sonic hid has face between his legs, almost as if he was preparing for a spindash, yet he remained unmoving.

Knuckles and Sally watched him with a small sense of pity, but knew that Sonic needed to hear it. Knuckles personally thought Sally ahd been perhaps too harsh with how she had worded it, but it was true. Sonic was a loose cannon, always charging off half-cocked and rarely thinking of consequences. It was about time someone put him in his place and made him come to terms with his shortcomings.

Julie was the only one who had not said anything or moved from her position near the couch. Yet, at last, she decided it was her time to play the middle man. Pacing over to Sonic, she placed a gentle hand on his head and softly caressed his spikes. Sonic looked up and was surprised to see Julie nursing his wounded pride. "Huh?"

Julie helped him rise to his feet. "I think what they're saying is, you've been a great hero, but you've also been neglecting your duties, to us." She glanced over at Knuckles and Sally.

The echidna and chipmunk, nodded.

Sonic looked between them and Julie. His throat was closed up, but he forced himself to speak through it anyways. "I- I'm sorry, guys. You're right. I've been a horrible friend," he said looking at Knuckles, "boyfriend," turning his gaze to Sally, "hero," Julie, "and mentor," he finished, looking behind him, towards the door where Tails was waiting outside. Returning his emerald green eyes back to Sally and Knuckles, Sonic continued. "And I'm ready to fix that. The main thing I learned during this conflict is, I should never take my friends for granted like I did with you guys. And I hope, one day, you'll forgive me."

"I already have," said Julie, placing a kiss on the hedgehog's cheek. Not only to Sonic's surprise, but to Knuckles's and Sally's as well. Knuckles uncrossed his arms while Sonic looked at the female echidna in surprise. Sally herself, just watched, unable to say much of anything at the moment.

"W-what... what was that for?" asked Sonic.

Julie smiled. "To let you know how much you mean to us. Knuckles's might not say it, but he really admires and looks up to you, ya know? And Sally, she's really glad she has someone like you on our side."

"And what about you?"

"Me? Well," she made a shy smile, "let's just say, I may of had a crush on you for a while."

Sonic couldn't process that bit of information. He and Julie had had only sporadic contact throughout the time they had known each other and almost never without Knuckles being right there to. Knuckles, on the other hand, was even more startled by the revelation than Sonic was.

"Wait, what?" interrupted Knuckles. "Julie," the female echidna looked over at him, "do you actually mean that?"

Julie nodded. "It's true, Red."

Knuckles shrugged Sally off his shoulders. "But... But we're soulmates," he protested.

"Yes, we are. But so are you and Sally. Maybe Sonic and I are another part of that."

Knuckles shook his head violently. "No way. He's nothing like me."

"And maybe that's what I find so refreshing about him. I love you, Knux, but a girl could use some change every once in a while. You know, a little romance, a little adventure."

"We've gone on adventures."

"Yeah, with Vector, Espio, and that lot. I mean just the two of us. I don't mind the cuddling, the awkward flirts, and days spent with little to do, but I'd also like a little spice in our life. Besides," she added, "would it really be any different from what you and Sally share?"

Knuckles was about to state that it was completely different, but when he thought about it, was it really? No. Julie was right. He still didn't like the fact that when they had been kissing, she may have been fantasizing about Sonic, but on the other side of the coin, when they had, especially when the first started dating, Knuckles had been thinking about Sally. It was strange, but strangely fitting. Maybe the world was even more mysterious than Knuckles had been led to believe. He breifly flashed back to a conversation with his father almost a decade ago.
*

Young Knuckles and his father were having dinner in the cabin near the Master Emerald Altar. It was some cooked poultry Knuckles had caught with his traps and that his father had cooked, along with an assortment of fruits and vegetables that grew on the island. Dinner was usually a somber affair where few words were exchanged, but Young Knuckles had a question on his mind that begged to be asked. Twirling his fork, Knuckles kept his gaze downwards as he spoke.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" asked Locke, looking up from the book he had been reading.

"Where do babies come from?"

Locke sighed and set his fork down. He had known this question was coming for quite some time. Regardless of how isolated they were from the worst influences of society, some questions were just universal and asking how one originated was a common one. Locke thought about it briefly, wondering how to answer the seven-year-old's question without going into too much detail. At length, he decided to be straight with his son.

"Well, it starts when a man and woman loves each other very much. Sometimes it's a man and a man or a woman and a woman who love each other, but we'll get into that later. In any case, the man and woman are usually deeply in love. And when that happens they have... an, um, 'special hug' that they do. Sometimes, a child is created when that happens and that child grows inside his mother. In the case of echidnas like ourselves, the child instead grows in an egg, like you and me. After that, the child grows up, finds someone they love, and the process continues." Locke finished and speared a grape. Pushing it in his mouth, Locke had a question himself for the young echidna. "Can I ask where this came from?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Well, Sally and I were talking about and we-"

Locke nearly choked on the grape as soon as he heard the Princess's name.

"Knuckles," he said firmly as soon as he could breath properly.

The younger echidna looked up.

"No matter what your feelings are for this princess, you must remember that being a Guardian is a unique burden you must carry on your own. I will not always be here and, one day, you'll have to carry the mantle of Guardianship of the Master Emerald. No matter how painful it is, you must realize that our duty is to the Emerald first and our personal needs second."

Knuckles looked a little crushed. "Y-yes, father."

Locke felt bad for the small child, but he was certain of Knuckles's destiny and future significance. Intending to move past the subject, Locke resumed his meal. "Finish your peas, son."

"Yes, father."
*

It was not until many years later that Knuckles had begun to realize that his father had been wrong in that regard. Just because he was the Guardian did not mean he had to be alone. Sometimes, love had a way of finding you, no matter where you hid. And it did not discriminate based on our morals or ideals, it just did what it did best. Bringing people together.

At length, Knuckles nodded reluctantly. "No, it isn't."

Julie looked appreciative. "Thank you, Knuckles. So now then," she continued, looking up at Sonic as she drew closer to him. "What do you say to joining our little triad?"

Sonic hesitated. Glancing around, he saw Knuckles and Sally staring at him impassively and expectantly. After a moment's pause, Sonic looked back at Julie. "I think I could get used to it," he replied as he took Julie's face in his hands and kissed her.

Knuckles clenched his fists, his possesive instincts kicking in, until Sally whispered softly in his ear. "Don't forget you still have one other lover."

Knuckles looked down at her and his frustration erased as he smiled. "Oh yeah," he laughed, "I wouldn't suppose you'd care for a little attention?"

Sally giggled in turn. "I guess I could tolerate a little affection."

Knuckles and Sally stared into each other eyes before their lips met and bliss filled both of them. Sally spared a glance over at Julie who was in turn, still being romantically assualted by Sonic and giving Sally the thumbs up.

Outside, Tails was still pouting. 'What's taking them so damn long?' thought the fox sourly with his chin in his hands. 'Maybe I should go in and see what's going. But... Sonic did say to stay out here. So, I'll give it another fifteen minutes... Or and hour. An hour and no longer.' Tails looked up at the Master Emerald. 'It sucks being left out.'

Author's Note: So here it is! The newly written Chapter 10 of Promises (Remastered). Told ya guys it would be drastically different from the original, didn't I? So any thoughts on this chapter? How did you guys like the pacing? The characters? The ending? Oh, wait, there's still one chapter to go. In any case, share your thoughts and if you enjoyed this tale, then check this other story I started for a reader named Arbmaster 16 that I titled "Dancing Between the Raindrops". It doesn't have anything to do with this story, except having some similar themes. The main characters are Garret the Ferret (who is also debuting in a number of stories either already published or currently being written), Arby the Hedgehog (Arbmaster's OC), and Nocturne the Chameleon (also Arbmaster's OC). I think chances are you guys' will like it.

~Until the next one, TheEpicTales