It states it in the first sentance, but there is a two year timeskip between this chapter and the last. We're coming up on the end of the story soon too, so I hope you all enjoy and read and review!
"Da-ddy!" It had been two years since the Master Emerald had brought Femur back, and as Tails had thought the girl's undead body had aged...she was a little on the small side, but that was alright. As Rouge had suggested long ago, Knuckles had decided to stay female after her daughter was born. The little hybrid, dressed in an oversized cobalt shirt as a dress with loose white shorts and mixed boots, jumped from the shrine towards the familiar blue hero.
"Yo!" Sonic said simply as he caught his daughter, hugging her as he always did when he returned to the island. While his need for adventure had caused him to return to his place as world hero, he always returned once or twice a week to see the girl and her mother. "Where's Mom?" He asked the little girl, who suddenly began to frown.
"Mu-mmy under shrine...she act odd." Femur stated, her ears drooping a bit as a sign of sadness. Sonic blinked before messing up his daughter's dreadlock-quills, causing her to laugh a bit.
"Then I'll go check on her, bring her up. You stay here, alright?" The hedgehog asked the girl, who nodded. The one day guardian would always do what he told her; she wanted to prove that she was 'responsible' to him. "When I get back I'll give you your present too." The other thing the runner always did when he returned was bring a present for the girl, usually a toy of some sort.
"Okay." The green eyed girl smiled cutely, walking dutifully back up to the Master Emerald and sitting in front of it with her arms crossed like she'd seen her mother do every day. She didn't need to look for danger; with her connection to the giant emerald she'd notice the moment someone set foot on the island, thanks to the unseen bubble of Chaos Energy around it...for that matter, she'd been waiting for her father to reach the shrine since he had landed.
"I'll be back soon." With that the green eyed male dashed off for the entrance to the underground cavern, to the place he had first made his promise.
"...You don't have any intention of telling them, young guardian?" Pachacamac asked the current guardian as she sat between the caskets of her parents.
"What would be the point?" Knuckles asked, thinking of her daughter and Sonic. "It's not like it'll change anything...it's the natural way of things for a guardian, there's nothing they can do about it."
"But the young hero will try to save you, as he has before, and share the same fate. Is it truly 'fair' not to tell him of such?" The old spirit pointed out, causing the woman to smile sadly.
"I'll do everything I can to stop that from happening...he's not even an adult yet, to let that happen would be unfair to him and the world that relies on him so heavily." The echidna stated, knowing it would be hard but she had to try...she wouldn't let Sonic share her fate just so Femur would protect their charge without complaint.
"Knuckles...do not do anything foolish, anything that you will regret." The spirit warned.
"I have no intention to do that either." The violet eyed woman assured him, the ex-chief nodding slightly and disappearing as the two heard quick footsteps.
"Talking to someone?" Sonic asked once he entered the cavern.
"Chief Pachacamac." Knuckles responded, the hedgehog nodding.
"...Femur's worried about you." He stated, the echidna suddenly taking a sharp breath. Did her daughter already know? ...No, she couldn't, she would have said something by now.
"I've been here talking to my ancestors quite often recently, trying to get Femur used to protecting the Master Emerald...she is the next guardian after all." The woman pointed out, dusting herself off and standing. The boy wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug...she'd never thought of him as the 'hugs/cuddles' type, but like many things since she'd been turned into a female; he had proven her wrong.
"She's only two Knux...don't you think you're forcing her to grow up a little too fast?" The runner asked, the red puncher huffing. He was one to talk; he'd 'forced' Tails to grow up pretty fast too.
"Her mental age is older than her physical age." The guardian reminded him instead, she didn't want to remind him of the life-and-death situations he'd put the little mechanic into over the years.
"Yeah, but you'll be around her teach her how to be a proper guardian for a long time." The hero said as he pulled away, giving her that smirk of his...she forced a smile in return; how was it that he called her naive and gullible again?
"...I'm not a proper guardian." The violet eyed woman said after several moments, it was all she could say. A sudden crashing noise caused them both to become alert; Femur and the Master Emerald were in danger. Picking up the woman like a bride, as he had many times before, the green eyed boy dashed from the cavern.
"Why not die already, crazy old man?!" Femur called up to the old human angrily; standing atop her mother's charge, if not for some rather clear differences you could probably mistake her for the woman.
"Ho-ho-ho!" Eggman laughed, clearly not intimidated by the hybrid.
"No laugh!" The undead girl growled at him, glaring at him dangerously...mind you, she was still only two, so it didn't have much of an effect. Finally annoyed she pulled more energy from the Master Emerald into her body, bouncing from it like it was a spring. Two spikes of pure green Chaos Energy appears on each fist, and only then did the man see that she was indeed a threat. She punched, but just barely missed the Egg Carrier and landed soundlessly on the ground, spinning around on her toes. "No belong!" She called at him.
"Femur!" The girl turned at the voice, seeing her parents and smiling.
"Mu-mmy! Da-ddy!" She called to them, the mad scientist also turning to look. Imagine his surprise to see the female Knuckles and Sonic headed towards him; Femur's existence wasn't well known by the world encase someone came after her and the Master Emerald to get to Sonic, also none of their friends had been sure how the majority of the world would take her birth considering Knuckles having once been male.
"You pesky hedgehog! I've found your weakness!" The doctor laughed loudly, pushing a button on his Egg Carrier. The claw that had been trying for the Master Emerald suddenly turned, grabbing the hybrid girl as she screamed and raising her to him. He pulled her from the claw and grabbed her around the neck. "Another step hedgehog and I snap her neck." He smiled evilly, the blue hedgehog skidding to a stop with wide eyes along with the girl's mother...he really had found the weakness of the earlier.
"Femur has nothing to do with this Eggman!" Knuckles yelled at the man, the blue carefully putting her down.
"On the contrary, Knucklehead, she has EVERYTHING to do with this. A child must always pay for their parents' decisions." The human responded coldly. A heavy gust of wind blew behind the two teens, causing them to take a step forward...and the mechanic's evil smile to only grow wider.
"Femur!" The guardian screamed as the sickening snap of the little girl's neck echoed through the island, her body becoming lifeless.
I said this before and I'll say it again; please don't kill me! It's Eggman, blame Eggman!