"Please, Master, no more." She pleaded with Zik. The girl had completely taken him by surprise. He almost wished he hadn't taught her to be quiet in movement.

Everyone watched as the earth below restored itself with the essence they stole.

Hot tears escaped Jade's perfect green eyes. Her hair was wet and it almost looked like a bright but lifeless fire. "I don't want millions of lives to die just for mine. You all will be fine without me." Her eyes started to drop. He knew this meant bad news. "And I…" She dropped to the floor. He crawled toward the human girl, so pale and almost lifeless.

"Her pulse is fading away." His body shook.

"Knuckles, are you well enough to try to heal her?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Zik couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were going to help him still? Even after all that he had done?

"But we have to get her to a comfortable place. And you have to be willing to do everything I say."

He didn't want to go to such a low position but he had no choice. He put a hand on the young girls cheek then stood, grabbing his cane from the floor. "Zavok, take her and this echidna back to the house."

Zavok looked like he wanted to question his master but he did as he was told. They followed him. As they walked outside Zazz and Zor approached with Tails but stopped dead in their tracks seeing them. "Come along." He told the three.

Sonic was surprised at how sturdy the house was and how quickly the weather changed. It was nothing but a light drizzle now. Knuckles told him, Zavok, and the other four of the Deadly Six to stay behind while Tails checked her out. He wanted to wait till the very brink of death to pull her back but there was still a huge possibility that it wouldn't work.

Sonic messed with a rock while Zavok paced back and forth across the stone path. Zor looked worried to the point of being more depressed than he already was. He'd never seen Zazz so calm, it reminded Sonic of a sad puppy. Zeena wasn't even grooming her hair or checking out her nails or complaining that one of them was so obviously chipped. She was looking down at the ground.

Zavok stopped in front of Sonic. "When can we go in?" He demanded.

"I'm not sure." He said.

Zavok paced back and forth again.

"Would you stop doing that? You're bugging me." He knew it wasn't the right thing to say in that moment but he couldn't get himself to stop saying the words.

"That's too bad." He continued to pace.

The door opened behind Sonic, Tails was there. Something in his eyes was different. It broke Sonic's heart.

"Zavok, she wants to see you." Even his voice was different. It was sad.

Zik stood at the corner of the room, watching Zavok and Jade until Jade waved him over. She tried to hold both of their hands as tightly as she could but it slowly got weaker and weaker.

"My two favorite people are here." She whispered. "Tails said I didn't have…" she choked on something invisible to them. The sheets stained with blood. "I know you two were just worried. Love makes people do crazy things, I know that better than anyone."

Zik squeezed her hand. "You don't have to speak, Jade." He said softly.

"But I want to." It was getting harder for her to breath and talk. "Because if I am going to die I want you two to remember something. Love makes us do crazy things but think about what you're doing before you actually do it." She choked again. "And patient…and pat…" Her eyes fluttered close but it was apparent she wasn't done.

Tails pushed Zavok aside and checked her pulse. "Let's do it now." He told Knuckles.

"You," he pointed at Zavok, "I need space.

Zavok didn't want to move. Zik took his arm still and pulled him to the corner of the room. He could tell Zavok had tears in his eyes but he didn't want them to spill out.

"Be in tune…" Jade breathed out softly, so softly that they almost missed it. Knuckles didn't stop setting up the colorful emeralds. "Tune with emotions…Zavok."

Her body went limp at his name but she never stopped the slow, rapid breaths.

Zavok tensed up.

Knuckles took his place at the foot of the bed and the Chaos Emeralds lit up. Each one seemed to have been picked up by invisible hands and one by one they flew into Jades chest where her heart was.

With each one her body convulsed, she took a breath, and it did it again. It happened seven times, each one entered her body and almost seemed to have passed right through her. Tails almost seemed worried.

Then, the last one was the white one, it flew into her heart, her body convulsed, and she gasped for air but never awoke. The other emeralds dropped lifeless to the floor.

Tails looked at Knuckles, "What happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. One of them is lost!" They started looking around for it. "It looks like it did its job though."

Zik almost had to laugh. "It isn't lost." He whispered to Zavok. "It's merged with Jade."

It seemed to take them a while to figure that out. After thinking about it for a long while the echidna couldn't figure out how it happened or why, just that it did.

Nobody was really allowed to see Jade after that, at least not all at once. One at a time only the less rowdy members could come in, Zazz was the only member that couldn't see her yet for fear he'd disrupt her body. Zik didn't leave her bedside in all of that time.

The only thing Jade could remember was turning off the machine when she finally woke up. "Please, Master," she pleaded in a tired voice. "Please don't kill the earth below."

She felt a small hand wrap around hers. "Do not worry, child. The earth is fine just as you are."

Her eyes flew open. A single lamp next to her bed lit the room, and it showed Zik's tired face.

"What happened? Why is it so dark outside?"

"That's what happens at night." He joked.

She laughed. "Really, Master, what happened?"

Zik explained everything including the Chaos Emerald that bonded with her soul. At the end of it all she smiled. "Patient anger," she yawned. "That was the last thing I wanted to tell Zavok. Have Patient anger and be in tune with your emotions."

The next morning Tails acted as a doctor and checked her out.

"It's amazing! Her lungs have completely healed! There's no trace of the bacteria left." He was fascinated with the power he knew. "Much is unknown about the chaos emeralds. I thought it would increase her lifespan in the very least but nothing on this scale. There's absolutely nothing wrong with her. However, there may be some changes in the next year. I'll be stopping by to make sure your progress is fine."

Jade smiled brightly. "Thanks, Tails." She hugged him and picked him up.

"Um…you're kind of choking me." He coughed in her ear.

She set him down. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I hugged that hard."

Tails laughed. "Maybe not before but now you have full strength back in your muscles so be careful, okay? And if you suddenly have powers don't be alarmed by that either, that may come as a side effect from the Chaos Emerald. And if there are any effects that seem harmful I've left a tablet for you in your nightstand so you can give me a call day or night!"

"Can I see her now?" Jade could hear Zazz demand.

"Not until Tails says you can! I hear you're the most likely to harm her!"

"I won't!"

Tails walked down the hall to the front door.

"Master," she knelt down to Zik's height and wiped his cheek. "I'm okay, there's no need to cry."

Zik smiled. "When you have children you'll better understand why I'm crying."

Zazz tackled Jade from behind. She laughed while he hugged her tightly. "Zazz, careful, she's still recovering!" Tails scolded.

"I'm fine, Tails!" She wiggled around so she could wrap her arms around him. Soon, she felt more arms around her. She didn't have to look around to know it was the Deadly Six.