Author's note:Behold, I have not forgotten this story! .Never! I have big plans for it, and I hope to write all of it eventually. I'm not fully satisfied with this chapter; I have troubles in finishing it. But I'll get there, soon I hope. I just hope you enjoy reading this update.

Thank you to those who reviewed last time! And I hope to hear more of your thoughts!

Love, Amethyst

2 months later

"When will we reach the town?"

Elora looked over her shoulder and gave her friend a comforting smile.

"We're almost there, so stop complaining." Sierra frowned as she tripped over a tree branch. Again…

"I am not complaining, I'm just asking."

"Right." Was her friends sarcastic reply.

Sierra growled and continued fallowing her friends through the deep woods. A month ago, Knuckles saved a man named Hawk inside an old temple ruins. Two days ago, while Sierra was visiting Elroa and Knuckles, they got a call from Hawk, who told them that he had found a Red Chaos Emerald in his home town and insisted that they should come and take it, before anyone founds out that he has one. The next morning, Elora, Knuckles and Sierra boarded the first train to Hawk's town. Sadly the train doesn't go straight to the town. To reach it, you have to go through the forest….on foot.

"So," Elora slowed down so Sierra could catch up with her "Have you found out, who left you a blue rose in your dressing room?" Sierra growled softly. After she told Elora about the rose, she started bugging her about it every damn time she could.

"No, I didn't. Anyone could have entered my dressing room that evening, so how should I know." It looked like Elora wanted to say something ells, but thought against it.

So much had happened during the last two months…Sonic and his team, with the help of the military, had finally managed to beat Eggman and destroy his island base. They found the Yellow Chaos Emerald and managed to retrieve the aquamarine one, which Knuckles lost in Dragon Valley. So now, the whole Sonic Team turned into heroes in the eyes of the people in New York and probably the entire world as well.

Sierra wasn't there when the whole fiasco with Eggman took place; she was away on business with Jack, but Elora told her what happened while she was away. Sonic and his friends are now free to go around town without being looked like they are some kind of monsters or strange beasts from out of space. In fact, after they were acknowledged by the humans, they weren't home that much. They now spend their time exploring the human world and searching for the Chaos Emeralds at the same time.

The last two months for Sierra were a drag, simply put it. She kept herself busy with her concerts, so by the time she returned home she would usually take a shower and hit the bed. So, after a few weeks of overworking herself, Jack gave her a small vacation and told her to relax and enjoy herself. Not really having anything to do on her small 'vacation', she decided to spend her free time with Elora and Knuckles. She didn't mind their company, she enjoyed it in fact. With them, she felt more relaxed and not so tensed up like she usually felt while being home.

Knuckles's presence gave her some kind of comforting and safe feeling, while Sonic's, the exact opposite.

With Knuckles, she could relax and….well…..be herself. He didn't treat her like a criminal, who had to be tied up to a chair and asked thousands of questions about her life. With Sonic, in his presence she felt like a criminal, who was hiding some kind of dangerous secret and he was the police officer who will suck the information out of you at all cost. Not to mention, that his little 'promise' to her, about brining the 'real her back to life' still, to this day, gave her the chills.

The thing she hates to most, about their twisted situation, is that she probably lost count of how many nights she told herself that the blue hedgehog will never break her 'cool mask' but yet, every time she's near him, or he speaks to her….try's to speak anyway…..she feels so weak and helpless, like she is tangled up in his web and he can easily manipulate her emotions. She hates him for that, for making her feel so weak. The thought of leaving the county until the hedgehog and his little friend's return to their home world sounds were tempting to her.

Who would have thought that a thirteen-year old girl can be so heartless?

After another twenty minutes of walking, they finally reach the small town where Hawk lives. It was a small Chinese town outside of New York City. They would probably get here sooner if they only had a car, but…oh well.

While walking down the streets of the small Chinese town, a few people stared at them, like they were some kind of freak show and the other part, looked at them, or at Knuckles that is, in awe and astonishment. Sierra was surprised that the annoying stares didn't bother the echidna at all. He was ignoring the people around him completely and was walking the streets with a face that said 'I don't give a damn what you think people.'

Soon, Knuckles stopped a man and asked, more like demanded, to know where a bar called 'Jack's place' was. The poor scared man led them through a dozens of dirty alleys right to the bar they were looking for.

Knuckles went first and the two girls fallowed shortly. Inside was a rather disturbing atmosphere. Three men were sitting by the table, drinking bear and playing carts while another two, wearing black coats, were sitting by the window quietly.

A cold shiver went down Sierra's spine from the angry and malicious looks the men were giving them. She could only imagine what dark thoughts they had at the moment.

"It's not too late to turn around and run," Sierra thought as she tried not to look their way.

Knuckles went to the bartender, ignoring the death glares yet again, and asked where Hawk was. The bartender looked lost for a minute and just stared at Knuckles stupidly, not knowing what to say.

"It's not polite to stare," Knuckles said in a low, dangerous voice. That help, because the bartender immediately found his voice, but sadly the only thing he told was 'sorry, I don't know anything.'

Knuckles eyes narrowed dangerously and a frown appeared on his face, "You're lying."

"Hey, the man said he doesn't know anything, so just thank him and get out, or me and my friends will show you the way out." The three men stood up and went closer to the trio.

"Well, maybe you and your friends are the one's who should leave." Knuckles replied in a calm voice.

"Why you-…"

"Stop this nonsense immediately."

Everyone turned to the door and saw a large man walking towards them. When he stopped in front of Knuckles, he looked down at him with an irritated expression on his face.

"What is your business here?" he asked in a heavy accent.

"A guy named Hawk said I could find him here," Knuckles said calmly, though it wasn't hard to notice that his patience was slowly running out, "he has something I want."

The chubby man looked towards Sierra and Elora and with a, almost sinister grin, turned to Knuckles again.

"You must be Knuckles then," he said, his sinister grin still in place, "I was expecting you….fallow me and I will take you to him."

"Lead the way." Was the echidnas reply. After they left the bar, the two mysterious men, with black coats, had left the bar a few minutes later and walked into a dark alley where no one would see and hear them.

"Who would have thought that we will see Knuckles here."

"We have to report this to Doctor Robotnik immediately."

…..

They were walking a good ten minutes before they reach their destination: a small house in some kind of abandoned dark alley. The man led the way as they walked through a half lighted hallway. Soon they reach a door and the man opened it for them, waiting patiently for them to enter. Knuckles narrowed his eyes in suspicions and insisted for the man to go first. To their surprise the man grinned happily and entered the room closing the door behind him.

"What the…." Elora didn't had the chance to finish her sentence, because suddenly a trap door opened and the three of them fell down.

"Quickly grab on to me!" Knuckles shouted to the girls. Elora wrapped her arms around the echidnas neck while Sierra clutched to his waist. Knuckles stopped their fall by punching his fists into the wall.

"Oh my God," Elora moaned as she tried to get over the shock.

"Sierra, can you see what's down there?" Knuckles asked. Sierra looked down, half expecting to find there a tank filled with water and man-eating fish, but saw nothing.

"Aaa…I think it's the ground," she was a little unsure of that, but it was enough for Knuckles, because before the two girls could understand what happened, they were already safe…

...sitting on the hard cement floor in a cell.

"I will share the cell with ya' but don't think I will share the food as well….if you wanna eat you have to wait till tomorrow."

The two girls only now noticed another person in the cell with them. The man had his back turned to them and was eating, what looked like, a bow of rice.

"That's no way to treat a friend." Knuckles said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

The man turned to face them and a sunny grin appeared on his face. Within seconds he was in front of Knuckles, holding his hand in form of a handshake. Sierra blinked in confusion. Did Knuckles know this guy?

"It's so good to see you," the mans voice contained a smile, "how did you get down here?"

"Heh, lets just say I decided to drop in." Just then, the man had finally noticed the two confused girls sitting behind the echidna. A look of pure horror blossomed on his face and he dropped the echidnas hand unnoticed.

"I can't believe those scums had captured two innocent children!" he barked out.

Elora gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the small headache that was slowly forming from the sudden fall and the loud voice of the unknown man.

"Can someone please tell us what's going on?" Elora rubbed her temple to ease the pain. The man blinked and was about to say something but Knuckles interrupted him.

"They're with me." He said simply, "Hawk, those are my friends, Elora Ross and Sierra Edwards." Knuckles pointed to each girl as he introduced them. The men, Hawk, sighed with relieve and the same sunny smile returned on his face.

"Oh, well, nice to meet you, I'm Hawk" Sierra gave him a small wave, while Elora nodded, still rubbing her temple in frustration.

"You said you found a Chaos Emerald?" Knuckles asked in a serious tone. With him it's all business.

"Oh, yes it a red big stone, about this size….." he showed them with his hands. Sierra noticed how the echidnas eyes widened. Yes, obviously the man had found what they were looking for.

"That's it, it's a Chaos Emerald," Knuckles whispered. "It's one step closer to going home." He said more to himself than the others. But by the look on Hawk's face, he was confused by this statement.

"You need the stone to get home," he scratched his neck in confusion, "I thought you need it for money, like I did." He confessed.

"That doesn't matter now," Knuckles turned to Hawk, arms crossed over his chest, "I assume they took the Emerald when they put you here."

Hawk blinked and gave him a relaxed look, "Don't worry, I was smart enough to hide it before they came for me."

While the two talked, Sierra scanned the cell, wondering how long was Hawk sitting here all alone. A shiver went down her spine, the atmosphere in the cell gave her a bad feeling. She was happy to know that those men, who were after the Chaos Emerald, only captured Hawk and put him into a cell. They could have easily beaten the poor man so he would give them the location of the gem, but they didn't. Why?

Turning to the other wall she noticed something strange. It was small, too small to notice at first sight, round and it looked like…

"I put the Emerald-…."

"…-You know the food in here isn't that bad," Sierra interrupted Hawk before he could finish the sentence. The other three turned to her in confusion. What was she talking about?

"I don't remember the last time I had rice, but it sure wasn't as delicious as here." Sierra pointed to the wall behind them, while continuing to talk randomly about rice. Knuckles walked over to the wall and finally noticed the small round microphone which was implanted into the wall.

"Yea, you're right," Knuckles played along, as he slowly clenched his fists angrily, "the food is good here."

"Yea, can't argue with ya there," Hawk entered their little game as well "and this cell isn't half bad, it's kind of cosy when you get use to it, don't you agree?"

"IT'S SURE IS!" Knuckles shouted right into the microphone. Whoever was listening to their conversation had probably gone deaf.

Knuckles didn't wasted any time, he smashed his fist into the wall, creating a hole big enough for them to escape.

"Come on, lets get out of here before they show up," he called out to them, going through the hole first.

It was already dark outside and Sierra wondered, just how long were they sitting in that stupid cell. The streets were surprisingly empty, trash was scattered everywhere, the windows and doors were broken almost in every building that they passed; it gave the feeling like they were running through a ghost town. Hawk noted that this was the old factory district. This part of town is long since abandoned, that's why he chose to hide the Emerald here of all places, so no one could find it.

After another five minutes of running, Hawk stopped them near the abandoned underground subway. "I hid the Emerald down there." He pointed down the way they should go. Knuckles nodded, but before going down, he turned to the girls; a serious expression covered his face.

"It's best if you two stay here and wait for us," he turned away from them and called over his shoulder before disappearing with Hawk underground, "If you see someone coming this way, call us."

"What will we do, when the time comes for Knuckles and his friends to go home?" Elora asked as soon as Knuckles and Hawk disappeared from sight. Sierra watched her, unmoved, before turning her gaze back to the messy streets.

"What do you mean, what will we do once they're gone, we continue to live like we did before, what ells," She told her.

Elora's shoulders slumped. "Do you actually think that after all we've been through, we can continue living like we did before?"

"I don't see a problem here." Sierra replied simply.

Elora looked away. She wished that she could read Sierra's feelings and thoughts, so she could understand her friend better.

"He worries about you, you know," Elora said in a quiet voice.

Sierra turned back to her, her expression didn't change, but Elora could tell, she was interested.

"Who?"

"Sonic...he wants to help you, but you always push him away." Elora's voice was so plaintive, so saddened, that Sierra hesitated speaking again.

"You silently hurt him every time you give him the cold shoulder. I don't know what happened between you two, but I don't think it was something so awful, that you have to avoid him everyday." She looked down, her voice cracking as she spoke next. "If you got hurt in the past, don't hurt people around you today, it's not their fault."

Sierra did not respond. What could she possible say to that? Elora already knew that she was right, so why bother lying now?

Sierra looked up at the night sky, as she thought about Elora's words. Just how much did she hurt the hedgehog? And did he even care about her? She mentally scoffed, knowing that of course he would care; he let her know that on the day they build the new Tornado. The truth is, she always wanted to be spoiled with sweet and comforting words, always wanted to have an older brother, who would protect her from everything and everyone and offer her some advice when she needed it the most. She knew that she will never have someone like that in her life. People are not like that in real life. Sure they care; they help, but not in the way she wanted, needed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash coming from the alley.

"What was that?" Elora jumped a mile at the sound of the crash. Sierra looked around, but saw nothing.

"I don't see any-..."

"Behind you!"

Just as Sierra turned around, someone gave her a painful strike across the face, sending her backwards against the wall. The cut stung like nothing before, the blood running down, into her mouth. She could now taste the coppery taste of her own blood. The taste made her dizzy, relaxing back into the wall, sliding down to sit on the ground to just look helplessly up at her attacker and do nothing. Her eyes were barely open...the blood was running over them, blurring her vision. She heard Elora scream, but she couldn't move, she felt like she was about to faint. She could feel a heavy haze settle around her, slipping away into the realm of unconsciousness. She was hardly able to react when someone kneeled down in front of her.

"Hang on, I'll help you, hon." Sierra looked up, her vision blurry and unfocused, to see a dark figure hovering over her. Suddenly she was being lifted to her feet, then off her feet. She felt cold wind on her skin, and shivered uncomfortably.

Soon she was back on the ground, her back pressed against the wall. Someone was attempting to clean her face up. Sierra opened her mouth but didn't say anything, she was still to dizzy to think properly. Somehow the thought of her friends in trouble came to her and she tried to explain it to her saviour.

"E-Elora...Knuckles...in trouble...in...in the sub-subway..." she managed to murmured weakly. The person sitting next to her gasped softly, and she felt a gloved hand on her cheek.

"Knuckles, as in a red echidna?" the voice was female, but it was unfamiliar to her.

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes just to make the dizziness go away. The person said something to her but she couldn't hear them, because everything went black...

...

The sun had been up for a long time when Sierra woke up. She opened her eyes, then closed them sharply again. She didn't want to wake up. She felt a sharp pain in her head and put her hand to her forehead. There was a heavy bandage there.

"You're finally coming around," someone came to her side and touched her bandaged head. "How are you feeling now,Sierra?"

Upon opening her sapphire eyes, she was met with aquamarine ones. Sierra blinked a few times, her vision slowly returning to her.

"Awful," she murmured. When she finally saw who was standing next to her she almost jumped in surprise and shock. There was a girl, animal...animal girl, with big ears and white fur.

"Who are you?" Sierra demanded. The girl sighed and sat down on a chair next to the bad.

"Don't be afraid, Sierra, I'm a friend of Knuckles', my name is, Rouge the Bat. I was the one who found you and brought you here." The bat girl explained.

Sierra slowly sat up. Her head hurt badly, but thankfully she wasn't dizzy anymore. She scanned the room, which wasn't much: a bed, a small table and a closet. Where was she exactly?

"Where are we?" she turned to the bat girl, who was patiently sitting on the chair.

"I man named Hawk lives here, he was with Knuckles when I found him." She answered. Before Sierra could ask anything ells, a loud crash was heard outside the room.

"What was that?"

Rouge sighed and looked down at her feet sadly. "While I took you to safety, the other girl was captured by Eggman's robot. Knuckles was furious when he found out, and I guess he is still 'spiting fire' outside. "

Sierra's eyes went wide after hearing this. Eggman had Elora? Sierra jumped to her feet, ignoring her injured head and went for the door. Rouge went after her, shouting something about her injury, but she ignored her, she had to know what happened after she fainted.

Sierra rushed into the room, where Knuckles apparently smashed a table into pieces, and stopped next to a shocked looking Hawk.

She took a deep breath. "What happened?" Everyone turned to look at her. There was a strange glint in her eye, and she looked extremely nervous. Knuckles understood at once.

"Eggman captured Elora and his robot attacked you!" Knuckles he cried out, looking nothing short of furious.

Sierra winced from the echidna's loud voice. "What will happen to her now?" Her voice was shaking. Knuckles shook his head, clearly not in the mood to go into details, turned around and left the small house, slamming the door on his way out. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and Sierra looked down at Rouge for help. The bat sighed and took her back to the bedroom.

"What will that madman do to her?" Sierra asked the bat, trembling. Rouge sat down on the same chair, near the bed, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sure Eggman won't hurt her, he wants us to give him the Emerald-..."

"You found the Chaos Emerald?" Sierra cried out at this. Rouge nodded, her hands were folding in and out of each other in her lap.

"Yes, the red one," she said. Sierra waited patiently for the white bat to continue her brief explanation. "We will try to rescue your friend without giving him the Emerald."

Sierra nodded slowly and lied down, putting a hand to her wounded head.

"Knuckles mentioned that the others are living with you at the moment." Rouge suddenly said. Sierra nodded, too tired to reply.

"Thank you for helping my friends, I can tell you're not like other humans." At this Sierra turned her head toward Rouge. She raised her eyebrow quizzically.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one thing, you got Sonic to trust you," the bat explained, giving the girl a playful smirk. "When it comes to his friends, he could be 'a bit' overprotective, and seeing that he never came across other humans, except for Eggman, who brings nothing but destruction to our world, you somehow managed to gain his trust."

"What makes you think that he trusts me?" Sierra asked sternly.

"Because he agreed to stay at your house, without really knowing you."

"That is probably because I've saved him." Sierra turned away from the bat and stared at the ceiling.

"Saved him?" Rouge asked.

"From drowning." Sierra finished. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rouge smile widely.

"….I see," Sierra's frown got darker and Rouge's smile got bigger.

Sierra closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Maybe if she took a short nap the migraine would disappear….

…..

The bright ray of the morning sun glimmered all throughout the secret garden, gracing its rose-hedge, and everything else within its grasp, sufficient warmth and nourishment. From the centre of the magnificent garden, lay a table, where there sat a beautiful echidna girl lavished in white.

On the table, in front of her, seven beautiful gems were lying in a circle.

Blue, yellow, red, purple, white, green and cyan.

The girl stood up and treaded her rose-filled garden as the bright sun glazed upon her white dress.

From a bush she picked seven colourful roses and returned to her table. From her arms, she picked a blue rose and placed it next to the blue gem.

"Sonic"

Then came the yellow rose, which was placed next to the yellow gem.

"Miles"

Then the purple and cyan roses.

"Blaze and Rouge"

Another pair was added next to the green and white gems.

She then placed the last red rose next to its matching gem.

"…..Knuckles"

She held her chin and studied the position of the roses.

"In order for peace to continue, the seven Guardians must reunite once again," the girl said softly."But, how?"

Suddenly, a gentle, yet strong wind blew through the garden, carrying millions of different flowers on its way. The flowers flew above the rose formation, on the table, and then dropped gently to the ground, with only one flower landing in the centre of the gem circle.

The girl walked closer and a bright, hope filled smile, blossomed on her face.

Among the seven roses and gems, lay one pink lily.

The girl picked up the flower and examined it closely.

"Ah, but of course, the lily, a flower which symbolise both purity and passion," the flower was put back in the circle, gently. "You will be the chain, who will bound everyone together, you will be the light next to their darkness and the undying flame for their love."

The garden was slowly disappearing into the bright light and only the sound of the gentle wind was heard...

...

It was past midnight when Sierra woke up. Knuckles and Rouge were preparing to go meet Eggman, while Hawk would stay home and wait for their return.

"Are you sure?" Sierra asked. "What if he grabs the Emerald and won't give us back Elora?"

"Don't worry, hon, Eggman doesn't know that I'm around," Rouge said. "I will grab the Emerald, while Knuckles rescues Elora."

Sierra sighed and leaned into the couch, feeling tired once again. "Just bring her back...and come back safe." She added the last part just above a whisper.

"We will," Rouge promised and left the room. Knuckles went for the door as well, but suddenly stopped and turned to Hawk.

"Look after Sierra for us."

"Don't worry, she's safe here, you just bring back the other girl." Hawk said. Knuckles nodded and was about to leave, but Sierra's voice stopped him.

"Knuckles..."

His amethyst eyes met her sapphire ones and she continued.

"...use the power of the Red Chaos Emerald." She said weakly. Knuckles' eyes widened.

"What?"

Sierra tore her gaze away from him and turned to the window instead.

"Just do it...trust me."

When she heard him leave, she turned away from the window and stared at the place where he stood just moments ago.

"Maybe it's stupid to follow a dream, but would it hurt to try?" She thought to herself wearily.

To be Continued...