I have already included my answers to a Guest reader's questions, which everyone can check out, in the comment section. However, just in case that person has missed the response, I am going to put the answers here.

1) In the group, only Sonic and Shadow are (officially according to the game universe) able to tap into the powers of the Emeralds. (Technically, Knuckles could use the Chaos Emeralds to go Super in the game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, but he hasn't demonstrated that ability without Sonic acting as a medium since his debut.)

2) Sonic, being the closest one to Tails at that moment in terms of relationship and timing, is the most qualified to stay behind in order to prevent the fox from going into shock, which is certain to happen when a person is stabbed and losing a lot of blood (from what I gathered before writing this chapter).

3) Shadow (the only one capable of Chaos Control among the four sent to retrieve the Emeralds) is, as clearly described in this chapter, "completely drained". And before you ask why he didn't go Super with the seven Emeralds, he couldn't. The reason for that is also simple - What happens when you turn into Super Sonic in the games when you have no ring? The same answer is applied here. Using the Emeralds can be physically taxing on the users and it takes a lot to maintain the form, which Shadow is currently in no condition to do in this case.

And that's all I'd like to say.

Now then, without further ado, on to the new chapter, which is regretfully not yet the final one. Another shall be put up at a later date for I have every intention of finishing this tale. Thank you for reading. Please enjoy.

Chapter 24:
Homecoming

The heart-wrenching sound of Sonic's unrestrained sobbing continued to echo throughout the spacious chamber, joined by the occasional hiccups of Amy nearby and the angry growls of Knuckles. The remaining members, despite not sharing that deep a connection with the courageous fox, all had a mourning look on each of their faces, which were all downcast and hidden from plain view.

In their mourning, none of them noticed the strange glimmers coming from the gathered Chaos Emeralds, which gradually became brighter and brighter as time passed. It was not until they emitted a brilliant radiance and began to hover in the air that everyone was alerted to the strange occurrence.

"What is happening?" asked Eggman curiously as he began to analyze the mystic gems. His analysis came to an abrupt end when a gasp was heard nearby, coming from Knuckles.

"Sonic, what's happening to you?" the echidna shouted in alarm, causing everyone to direct their eyes at said hedgehog, who had been completely oblivious to the fact that his body had become almost transparent.

Knuckles' voice caught the distressed Sonic to take a look at his being, and he subsequently let out a sharp gasp of surprise.

"Wha…What…" Sonic muttered as his legs began to fade away. The process then continued, causing him to slowly disappear.

"It's Chaos Control" Shadow and Eggman concluded, one from experience and the other from analysis, "Or rather, a forced Chaos Control to be precise. I'm picking up some unusual readings, but there's no mistaking it. Someone is activating Chaos Control from a distant location…" added the Doctor.

"Or a different world altogether" Shadow continued, studying the Emeralds intently, "They are trying to get you back, Sonic."

"NO!" shouted the blue hedgehog, his despaired and cracking tone shocking everyone, "I can't leave yet…Tails…I need to find a way to save him…"

"Sonic…" Amy began, closing the distance between herself and her younger friend, whose eyes were already shimmering with fresh ushered tears, "I hate to say it, but you know as well as we do that…that there's nothing you can do for him now."

"There has to be a way!" yelled Sonic with such conviction that Amy, along with everyone else, had never witnessed from the carefree speedster before. "There must be a way…" he continued, voice lowering a soft, wistful whisper as his body continued to fade into thin air. "It's my fault…all my fault…"

"Don't say that" shouted Amy and Knuckles this time, silencing Sonic immediately and causing him to look at them with a shocked expression upon his features.

"But it's true" Sonic retorted, raising his voice even further, "If I had…"

"Now you shut up and listen, spiky!" Knuckles said, louder this time. Any response or self-accusing replied that were about to be voiced by Sonic died down in the hedgehog's throat. To add more strength into his words, Knuckles promptly stepped closer to where Sonic was kneeling and jabbed a finger into the hedgehog's translucent chest.

"Now listen well and make sure your dumb head memorizes this!" the echidna began, his face softening somewhat towards the end, "Tails…he chose to save us, putting us above his well-being at that time. And as much as I hate to admit it, it's Tails' choice that…" he became silent right then, one hand travelling to the fox's head and ruffling the stray bangs affectionately.

Sonic, even in his hazy vision, could have sworn he had seen some droplets of tears travelling down his friend's cheeks.

"Knux is right, Sonic" Amy chimed in when the silence between the two friends was beginning to become uncomfortable, "I know it sounds sordid, but it's what Tails decided…A noble decision from a noble friend…"

The experienced war hero then had to stop herself there, afraid that speaking any more would result in another mental breakdown. Instead, she kneeled down and gently laid one hand against Tails' bloodstained cheek, softly caressing the genius with all of her heartfelt affection and appreciation for the martyred hero.

Against the two of his friends, Sonic could not say anything anymore. Instead, the hedgehog sniffed and lowered his head to plant a loving farewell kiss on his brother's forehead. The affectionate gestured lasted a few seconds before he looked up again, emerald eyes directly into Amy's own.

"Can you…" Sonic said but never finished his statement.

"Don't worry," Amy replied without missing a beat. Knuckles the wordlessly picked up Tails' body and held the genius tightly against his chest, "We will make sure that his legacy will continue forever."

"Your friends on the other side want you back" Shadow chimed in, looking at the seven Emeralds hovering in a circle around Sonic, "It's time for you to leave now."

Sonic's body continued to fade away into the air. Before he disappeared completely from the timeline, he cast another glance at Tails' despondent form, a tiny smile still apparent on his face. Without the red liquid covering his face and abdomen, one would think that the genius was simply sleeping with a peaceful look on his face.

Suddenly feeling the need to say something before he was forced to leave, Sonic reached out and grabbed his best friend's hand, tears shamelessly rolling down his cheeks once more as he spoke with a trembling voice.

"Please…" Sonic whispered but he was never able to finish his sentence. In response, however, his two closest friends simply nodded.

"We will, I promise" Amy said with a sad smile, "And thank you, Sonic, for everything you've done for us."

Before the hedgehog could say anything back, he was already gone, taken by the Emeralds back to his own world and timeline. The moment Sonic was no longer in the chamber, the seven gemstones dropped down and reverted back to their normal shades.

"Now what do you want us to do, Madame Commander?" asked Master Zik.

Amy shot Shadow a meaningful glance before answering. The dark hedgehog locked eyes with Amy for a brief moment before turning away, casually crossing his arms and nonchalantly muttering "It's no concern of mine."

Amy nodded and turned to Eggman, "When your men arrive, tell them to shut down the ARK once and for all. This place has seen enough tragedies already."

"…Acknowledged" replied the Doctor, deciding not to go against her order this time.

"After that" Amy continued, turning around and placing one hand on Tails' peaceful face, a soft smile on her face, "We're going home. All of us."

In response, everyone simply nodded. When nobody was looking, the pink hedgehog then turned back to face the empty spot where Sonic had once been and gave a bow.

"Thank you" she muttered under her breath, "Do take care of your precious friends, and know that you are never alone. After all, you are the one that taught me that…my dear Sonic."

Shortly afterwards, a portal opened and the troops arrived.

...

Sonic felt like he was floating. He had absolutely no idea how much time had passed, but the only thing he could fully experience was his splitting headache. His head felt like someone was repeatedly banging on it with a large hammer. It took a long time for him to regain control over his senses and functions. One he had, he then attempted to open his eyes to survey where he was, but closed them almost immediately after being assaulted by a burst of bright light.

His memory at the time was completely jumbled up, various incomplete sequences of images popping into his head in a completely random manner. However, the final fragmented recollections that came into his mind ultimately woke him up with a start - a large shadow on fire, a sharp horn, and Tails being mortally wounded.

With a strangled and anguished yell, Sonic suddenly sprang into an upright sitting position and shouted his brother's name at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately for him, due to the sudden movement, he consequently got hit by a nasty dizzy spell and doubled over, feeling extremely disoriented and nauseated. With effort, he managed to prevent himself from throwing up, albeit barely.

Once Sonic had remotely managed to calm down, he heard the sounds of people shuffling about and multiple footsteps around him, but at that time, he could not bring himself to care about those trivial things. His mind was currently elsewhere. The gruesome image of his best friend lying motionlessly in his arms blocked everything out and left Sonic emotionally wrecked. To make matters worse, his memories continued to bring back the dreadful images that depicted the events that followed in perfect clarity, haunting him with the final moments of the dying fox weakly whispering his final words.

He could feel fresh tears developing behind his closed eyelids and fought to keep them at bay. Crying would not solve anything, after all.

"…nic…" he vaguely registered the fact that he heard someone call his name, voice gentle and filled with genuine concern. However, in his moment of anguish, Sonic came to a bitter conclusion that his exhausted mind was playing a trick – a very cruel trick at that - for the voice that entered his ears was undoubtedly that of Tails'.

'I'm sorry…Please, forgive me…I'm sorry, Tails…Sorry…' the mantra continued to echo in his mind like a broken record.

Sonic then hunched forward and covered his ears, shaking his head violently and desperately wishing that his mind would spare him the agony of having to relive that moment once more - the moment he had failed to protect his family. Unconsciously, the hedgehog began to claw at his own head in an unsuccessful attempt to chase the haunting voice away. It continued regardless.

In his constant twitching, Sonic could distantly feel two strong hands grabbing his wrists and preventing him from causing further damage to his bandaged head.

"…Hold…tight…ckles…" he heard it again, that voice. At that time, a sob escaped his lips and he screwed his eyes shut even tighter than before, vainly struggling against whoever was trying to cause him pain.

Sonic believed he was hallucinating, that his guilt had at last preyed on and taken away the last shred of his sanity. "No…no…I'm sorry…sorry…" he muttered hysterically, trying to regain control of his hands, but to his dismay, whatever holding them away from his head was very strong and persistent.

"…Up…" said that ghostly voice again, only this time, it was accompanied by a gentle touch of two gloved hands upon his damp cheeks. The touch itself was very gentle, kind and soothing. Sonic had no idea how hallucinations could physically affect him, but he had to admit he felt an instant sense of calmness from the touch. His efforts to break free began to dwindle.

"…Wake up…" said the familiar voice once more, this time even louder and clearer than earlier. Suddenly, realization hit Sonic hard, for the voice itself was the same as the one his deceased friend had used, but at the same time worldly different.

This voice sounded younger…much, much younger.

"Wake up, please!"

It was the pleading pitch at the end that ultimately forced Sonic to open his eyelids, going against a tiny voice in his head that told him that everything was simply an illusion brought about by his immense grief and guilt.

Sonic was forced to blink repeatedly multiple times in order to adjust to the almost blinding light entering his vision. The moment he could blurrily make head or tail his surroundings, he spotted two worried sapphire orbs staring directly at him.

"That's it…" the voice coaxed once more, and Sonic felt the sudden need to comply. Soon enough, his eyes were fully open.

And once they did, the hedgehog immediately felt his entire body go numb as he sat still on a soft bed, mouth agape as he stared in disbelief at the being in front of him.

"T...Tails?" Sonic began, voice cracking all over again as he laid his eyes on his best friend – youthful and, more importantly, alive. He also felt the pressure around his wrists disappear a few seconds later.

Emerald eyes continued to stare in complete incredulity.

"Sonic? Can you hear me?" asked Tails as he squeezed the hedgehog's hand slightly. A shaky hand then approached the young fox and soon enough, made contact with his furry face. Sonic's hand then gently caressed Tails' cheek, his movement hesitant as if the fox were made of glass, much to the bewildered genius' surprise.

"Sonic?" Tails asked again, his voice filled with unconcealed concern and fear for his friend's mental state. Tails had never seen his best friend act like this, so he had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Tails was about to call out once more when suddenly, in an instant too quick for the fox to react, Sonic threw both arms around the unsuspecting fox's neck, promptly pulling him into a tight hug and enticing a squeak of surprise from the younger child.

"You're real…You're real…You're really real…" Tails heard Sonic whisper, but he could not be completely sure due to the hedgehog's cracking tone.

Sonic, at that very moment, could not bring himself to care about anything anymore; all his heart and soul desired was to hug Tails for all he was worth. Muffed sobs wrecked his entire body and new torrents of tears now ran unchecked down Sonic's face, damping the fur on the kid's shoulders.

"Tails…You're real…" he continued chanting.

Though stunned at first, Tails, after a while, began to relax in his friend's tight and protective embrace. The child prodigy then returned the gesture, one hand running soothing circles on Sonic's back while being careful to avoid getting cut the sharp quills.

Oblivious to everything else, Sonic continued to have his breakdown. Thus, he was completely unaware of the other three presences behind him. Tails, noticing the questioning and concerned looks on Amy and Knuckles' faces, placed his index finger in front of his lips and silently gestured them not to say anything.

Shadow, on the other hand, needed no prompt, for he simply stood still where he was, his face completely neutral as always, and keenly watched his counterpart quietly cry his heart out.

"You're alright, Sonic. You're safe. Get some rest now" Tails whispered soothingly into the distressed hedgehog's ears, his calm heartbeat and sweet voice slowly lulling him to sleep.

After willing himself to stay awake for a while longer, Sonic ultimately tired himself out and quickly lost consciousness, almost knocking Tails over. However, even in his slumber, his protective embrace never loosened, and it required the effort of Knuckles to finally break the two apart.

"Let him rest for a while longer" Tails said tenderly and asked Knuckles to lay his surrogate brother down on the bed once more. Without waiting to be asked, Amy quietly pulled the cover up to the unconscious hedgehog's chin and wiped away the few remaining teardrops off his face. 'Oh Sonic, what happened to you?' she asked mentally as she looked at her friend with a heartfelt expression on her features.

Once they had made sure that Sonic would be comfortable, all four then evacuated the room as silently as possible. Once the knob had been turned and the door shut, Tails left to notify one of the nurses working the night shift in the main hall. One of the nurses quickly arrived a few minutes later and disappeared into Sonic's room while Tails plopped down into one of the seats in the lounge, exhausted and looking rather pale himself.

"What the heck happened in there?" asked Knuckles in confusion. He actually had the decency to at least keep his voice down a bit, "He disappeared for a few days, got back here with countless wounds, burns and a huge amount of blood all over his body and slept for eight hours straight. And when he woke up, he practically cried his eyes out!" the echidna continued, hands swinging wildly. "Sonic cried!"

"I agree. I've never seen Sonic this shaken up before…" Amy said silently as she fell into the empty seat next to Tails, physically and mentally exhausted as well after staying up for hours on end.

Truth to be told, the girl had almost suffered from a heart attack and fainted when she saw an excessive amount of blood and burn marks all over Sonic upon his return, but her concern had managed to take dominance and forced her to remain awake to help Tails address Sonic's wounds before rushing him off to the nearest hospital via Shadow's Chaos Control.

Now that the adrenaline was no more, Amy felt like she had aged fifteen years or more after one single day. As she sat, her head began to throb, her limbs and eyes became really heavy, and overall, she felt absolutely miserable, haunted by the dreadful image of Sonic and her own worry for his well-being.

Next to the girl, Tails was faring no better, for he had been the one to directly apply first aid on Sonic. After realizing that the blood was not Sonic's, he had been swept by a wave of relief, but the excessive amount of burns and bruises had worried him to no end. He had made sure to do everything he could to treat the bruises, burns and scrapes before taking Sonic to the hospital.

Letting out a tired sigh, Tails turned his gaze at the door again, waiting impatiently for the nurse to finish checking on Sonic. 'Please be okay' he silently pleaded with Chaos, Light Gaia or any known deity that at least possessed a heart of compassion to help Sonic get through his plight.

His weary, half-lidded eyes then fell on Shadow, who was calmly leaning against the wall nearby. A tired smile then formed on his face.

"We never got round to thanking you for your help with finding the scattered Chaos Emeralds and helping us to bring Sonic back, Shadow" he said politely and sincerely, "So thanks., but I think we can manage from here, you can go back if you want. There's no need to feel obligated to stay."

Replying with a simple nod, the dark hedgehog then began to walk towards the entrance, but stopped abruptly and turned around for one last glance at the room Sonic was placed in.

"Notify me of any change" Shadow said briefly before taking a pair of Chaos Emeralds with him, as promised by Tails in exchange for his services.

With those parting words, Shadow was gone. Leaning back into his chair, Tails rubbed his temples and shut his eyes for a while.

"You two can go, too if you want" he said, turning towards his other friends and offering them a sympathetic smile, "From the way you look, you must be exhausted already. I would advise that you go home and get some rest, I can take it from here."

"Ahem have you looked into a mirror, Tails? You look even worse than I do. Heck, you look like you'll trip on empty air if you stand up right now. And before you say anything, the answer is no way, man" Knuckles replied instantly, "I'm not leaving until I find out what caused him to act like that."

"Me too. It's scary to see Sonic so…so…broken…" Amy continued, voice softening to a whisper and her eyes clouded with ushered tears. "I want to be here when he wakes up. I want to help…"

"Thanks guys" said Tails after a short-lived moment of silence, "You two really are the best."

"Yeah, well, having me for a friend is a privilege" replied Knuckles with a small hint of humor in his tone, forcing a giggle out of Tails and Amy.

At that moment, the nurse walked out and informed everyone that Sonic's condition was stable, much to their relief and joy.

"But he still needs a lot of rest" she stressed, "So I would advise you to be extremely quiet. And he must not be subject to any stress while recuperating."

"We will, thank you very much, miss" Tails said politely and waited until the nurse left to enter the room, the others following closely behind.

Lifting a chair and moving towards Sonic's bed, Tails sat down and gently grabbed the unconscious hedgehog's hand while Knuckles and Amy settled down on the opposite side of the bed. To the fox's surprise, Sonic, even in a deep slumber, unconsciously tightened his fingers around the fox's.

With a tiny smile, Tails put his head down on the edge of the bed and whispered softly into Sonic's ear, "Good night, bro. I'll be right here when you wake up."

All three friends did not know how long they had been sitting around Sonic, but unconsciousness soon cast its sleep spell upon all of them before they even realized. Even in sleep, Tails still subconsciously registered the fact that Sonic's fingers never loosened their hold.

…

The next day, Sonic, surprisingly, was the first one to wake up.

He jolted awake at the crack of dawn due to a nasty nightmare, or a recollection in his case, and quickly sat up. 'Urgh, my head…' he thought as an involuntary moan escaped his lips.

In his still blurry vision, Sonic distantly noticed that there were numerous bandages wrapped around his hands, and he could feel some wrapped around his head, chest and legs, but at the moment, he paid them no mind. After getting hit by another dizzy spell, he instantly brought one hand up to his temple to try to ease the throbbing headache. The moment he tried to move his hand, however, he suddenly felt something between his fingers and looked down.

His emerald eyes widened in surprise as they landed on the form of the peacefully sleeping Tails next to his bedside, the fox's back rising and falling in a steady pace with each breath. Too stunned to form words or react, Sonic simply sat still and watched the child, and thus, he failed to recognize movement on the other side of his bed. The hedgehog was only snapped out of his trance by a gruff yet familiar voice.

"Finally awake I see," Knuckles said in a whispery tone so as not to disturb Amy and Tails, but it was still loud enough to capture the hedgehog's attention.

"…Knux…" came the speedster's shaky and hoarse reply, "Where…"

"Central City Hospital."

"What happened? Ouch, my head…"

"You remember the incident in Eggman's lab? The one that involved a reality-altering machine?" asked Knuckles with an unusual amount patience. Sonic had to search his memory for a while before that particular piece came to mind. When Sonic nodded in confirmation, the echidna let out a sigh and continued.

"You stopped the machine with Chaos Control, and disappeared for days. Tails had to recruit Shadow to help find all seven Emeralds that went lost due to the explosion. After Tails somehow pinpointed your location in some weird alternate world, Shadow used Chaos Control to bring you back here. And you've been unconscious ever since."

Knuckles deliberately left out the parts where Sonic had been half-lucid during his brief waking moments, crying and sobbing uncontrollably while clinging on to Tails like the fox would disappear if let go. The hedgehog looked really exhausted and miserable already, so he did not want to add more to the stress, remembering the nurse's advice.

Despite having tried his hardest to tread carefully, Knuckles was never truly prepared for what happened afterwards.

At once, the dreadful memories of his time in the other world entered Sonic's mind, causing the hedgehog to visibly flinch and backward. His movement accidently jolted Tails awake when his hand slipped out of the fox's fingers.

"Wha…" Tails mumbled sleepily and looked confused for a moment before his eyes were set on Sonic. Any sleepiness or fatigue he was feeling was instantly replaced by a sense of relief at the fact that the hedgehog was finally up. However, he could not help but worry when he saw Sonic shivering a little, a look of sheer terror and something akin to guilt present on his face.

"Sonic?" Tails asked carefully and softly so as not to spook said hedgehog any further than he already had. Sonic, however, continued to look at the young fox with wide eyes filled with remorse and shame.

Nearby, Amy, having been woken up at some point during the commotion, attempted to say something, but Tails was quick to stop her with a subtle gesture.

"Amy, Knuckles, go get the doctor," he said softly. After a short moment of internal conflict and hesitation, the two nodded and walked out of the room, leaving the brothers alone.

The fox and the hedgehog continued to lock eyes with one another in complete silence for a while longer, neither making any move or sound. It was not until the atmosphere had become too tense for Tails' liking that the fox decided to break the ice.

"So Sonic…How are you feeling this morning?" he asked gently, making no move to stand up.

"…Fine…Thanks for asking…" came the hedgehog's reply as he diverted his gaze away from Tails, opting to look at anything other than the very being whom, in his mind, he had failed to protect back in the alternate world.

Even though he knew full well that the alternate Tails and his Tails were two completely different beings, he could not help but feel an enormous sense of guilt gnawing him from the inside whenever he looked at the fox.

In Sonic's mind, he had failed his sworn duty to protect the prodigy, and he no longer deserved the privilege of being near Tails again.

"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything, anything at all?" Tails continued with the same hushed voice, trying to coax Sonic to speak. It hurt him greatly to see his brother in such an emotional and fragile state. Unconsciously, his mind brought back the horrible sight of Sonic upon his return, wearing a strange futuristic suit and looking all bloody and battered. However, Tails quickly shook his head to get rid of such thoughts and focused on the present.

"I'm fine" Sonic replied again before coughing violently, doubling over. In an instant, Tails was already by his side, one hand rubbing circles on his back in a comforting manner and the other holding a glass of water. Sonic shakily grabbed the glass and slowly drank the liquid, feeling the cool substance travelling down and soothing his dry throat.

"Thanks…" he muttered when he was done with.

After placing the glass back to its position, Tails helped the wounded hedgehog lie down, carefully making sure to avoid touching the bandages and ascertaining that he was comfortable. While working, Tails could clearly feel Sonic's gaze lingering on him every now and then, silently studying him, but he did not know the meaning of that gaze – one that was filled with so much sadness and sorrow. That was so unlike the Sonic he was used to, and it really scared him.

On the outside, Tails offered Sonic a smile. On the inside, he was horrified. However, Tails elected not to voice his thoughts aloud. 'Sonic needs as much rest as he could' his mind rationalized.

"…Tails…I…I…" the bedridden hedgehog suddenly spoke, but Tails simply laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Easy, Sonic. You don't need to tell me anything right now. Just concentrate on getting better first. When you're up and running again, we'll talk, okay?"

Under the young cub's soothing tone and calming presence, Sonic only nodded before closing his eyes once more, allured by the wonderful prospect of sleep. Before his mind completely shut down, he felt Tails' hand against his forehead and unconsciously leaned forward to the touch as if relishing it.

"Rest well, bro…" Sonic heard a whisper before his final thread of consciousness left him.

Once Tails was sure his friend was out, he let out another sigh. It seemed he had developed a habit of sighing too often during the last few hours. The young caregiver then pulled the blanket up and covered the slumbering hedgehog's body, tucking him in.

'What happened to you, Sonic?' he asked mentally as his calm façade finally crumbled and slid off his face, revealing an expression of concern and utter helplessness. 'Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you so scared of me?'

After a while, he reached the conclusion that thinking too hard about it would solve absolutely nothing. The only way to get answers to his numerous questions was to get it out of Sonic himself, but Tails was more worried about his health than getting the answers he wanted.

He would make sure to stay true to his words and give Sonic all the time the hedgehog needed before the hedgehog was fully healed and ready to share his story. For the time being, the best thing Tails could do was to sit next to his brother and make sure that his rest would not be disturbed.

While tending to Sonic, Tails did not notice the people standing outside the room and peeking through a barely noticeable crack.

By the door, Amy and Knuckles had been standing and watching the two inside along with a doctor. Seeing that Tails had managed to keep everything under control, Amy turned around to thank the doctor before closing the door and allowing the brothers a much-needed moment of peace and tranquility.

"I'm worried about Sonic" she admitted to Knuckles, "I wonder what happened to him when he was gone…I can't even begin to imagine…"

"Whatever it was, it must have been something traumatic enough to...Sigh…" Knuckles replied, stopping when he remembered Sonic's reactions.

"What can we do?" Amy asked with a desperate tone.

"Right now, the best thing we can do is to wait until he's willing to open up. There's no use rushing him into telling us his story…That would only be disastrous. That being said, I must admit I really don't like that particular look on his face" Knuckles said with a frown.

"What look?"

"The look he had when he looked at Tails yesterday and a while ago…I've seen that look before, and I hate it."

"Where?"

"…Myself…when I learned that I was the last of my tribe" the echidna replied before turning to walk away. 'And Shadow when he was still gung-ho about exacting revenge…' he added in his mind.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked, curious.

"Back to Angel Island. I need to resume my duty as the guardian of the Master Emerald. I've been away too long already."

"What about Sonic?"

"Right now, Tails is the only one that can help him, and the only one he needs. We'll simply be in the way. I say we give them some time to sort things out first before we do anything else."

After that, Knuckles was gone, leaving Amy alone to her thoughts. Releasing an audible sigh, the girl opened the door quietly and took another peek inside the room to see Sonic in bed with Tails sitting patiently by his side.

Realizing that Knuckles was right for a change, the girl caught Tails' attention and waved goodbye to the fox to announce her departure, a gesture which Tails politely returned. In Amy's mind, she continued hoping that Sonic would soon make a full recovery.

After waving a goodbye to Amy, Tails settled down again, patiently waiting for the next time Sonic would be up and about. He could not find it in his kind heart to leave his surrogate brother alone in his current delicate state. Thus, with great patience and determination, Tails would continue to sit silently by Sonic's bedside and ward off any nightmares that haunted the sleeping hedgehog.

And he would continue to do so for days on end, up to the day the hedgehog was physically healed and discharged.