Oh my Chaos… I'm freaking out over here! Just because we're almost done! Okay so for the record here's my 'to-do' list.

1. Finish 'Miles from Home.'

2. Start and Finish 'Shattered Thorns.' (Aka- Amy's backstory. Don't worry. It's only going to be about 6-10 chapters. Most likely only 6. It will take hopefully only a month. Maybe two. Sorry, but I want to get it out of the way before moving on with the sequel.)

3. Start sequel to 'Miles from Home.' (Title to be released at later date- try and guess what it is!)

Halo (I'm not typing out HaloEssence111 every time, so from now on my co-writer will be referred to as 'Halo.' at least from me. And she can call me Era.) will be helping me on all of them. And we will be posting a 'sneak-peak' of the sequel at the end of the story, even though it will not be up for about a month and a half or more.

Comments on Reviews:

juancastri11: Oh my Chaos, why in the world is it only your reviews? I'm sorry! And yes, I think your English is getting a lot better. Wish I could say the same for my Spanish. Hablo Espanol muy mal. (And I don't think that was correct grammar…)

Autumn: *blushes* Well that's some pretty high praise. Tails is one of my favorites too. One reason I feel really bad about making him suffer.

Wafflesbelike-NYANCAT: Um… *puts hands up* Please don't kill me!

Guest: Will do. Thanks for the review!

To anyone else who reviewed: For some bizarre reason I can't access your reviews! So I can't see who reviewed or what you said. So if no one else reviewed, I can't tell! What the heck? Fanfiction is sometimes a pain… But if you did review, thanks!

Recommended Songs: Don't You Worry Child- Madilyn Bailey cover AND This Song Saved my Life- Simple Plan

Sonic's POV:

Frank and Bernice made sure that Tails and I were comfortable for almost a full month. I had to admit, they were pretty cool. I felt like they were the 'Fun Aunt and Uncle.'

Frank was very patient with my crazy need for speed. Of course, he would never try and go faster, but simply say something like, "Have a little patience," or "Can't rush everything."

Bernice was one of the best cooks I had ever met. She made everything from Mac and Cheese to Baked Alaska and all of it tasted like manna from heaven.

Then there was Tails. His recovery was very slow, and for once I didn't mind. In fact, I think he was a little annoyed at me 'babying him', as he put it. But hey, I was still feeling guilty for what happened. I knew he had forgiven me, but I couldn't seem to forgive myself. Not yet, at least.

"I kind of always wanted a brother."

When those words had been said, I felt a mix of emotions. Some positive, some negative.

Fear came from the past and what lay in the future. I didn't want to lose anyone ever again. I think I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to take it.

The sorrow was sort of mixed. I had let my guard down and now I had an adopted brother. But I also felt like I was somehow replacing my siblings. My shock was just that. Tails thought of me as a brother? After everything that had happened? I mean, I almost let him die!

But after all that, I actually got a little excited. If Tails wanted a brother then I'd try my best. Warrant, I knew I wouldn't be the best brother in the world. In fact, I would probably be one of the worst ones. I mean, I just couldn't stop fighting Robotnik and the kid wouldn't want to stay behind. So I'd probably have to drag him along and make sure he didn't get killed. Not the best brother if you purposely bring him into danger.

Finally, a wave of peace seemed to just sweep over me. I wasn't replacing my family...just adding to it. Miles needed me and I needed him. There was no way to deny that. That was why I cried.

But that had been almost two weeks ago. Tails had completely recovered with little difficulties or delays and was now helping Frank in the shop again every now and then. Something about finishing a boat that slammed into a harbor… whatever. Not my business.

Meanwhile, I had been helping GUN out with tracking down Robotnik, or at least trying to. So far nothing had come up. Every night I stayed at the Roberts then left before the sun rose completely. I barely saw Tails so we didn't get any chance to talk about...well, anything. So I was sort of surprised when a small knocking sound echoed from the bedroom door as I was relaxing on my bed.

I had been staying out in the barn in a side room that probably was a tack room at some point. Bernice and Frank must have thrown it together at the last minute after I arrived. The bed was simply an old mattress thrown on a plywood plank laid on the floor. It was the only 'furnishing' in the room, and was very comfortable, strangely enough.

A little startled, I sat up. "Come in."

The door creaked open and in popped Tails' head. "Hey, Sonic."

"Tails! How are you?" I motioned for him to come join me on the bed. I sat up and put my feet on the floor. The fox plopped next to me.

"I'm good. It's been fun working in the shop. How about you?"

"Ugh. Robotnik just vanished into thin air. It's like he's a ghost! A really annoying, evil, insane ghost." I smiled. "So, what you want to see me for?"

"I don't know…" Tails pulled his knees into his chest. "I guess I just missed hanging out with you." He gave a slight smile.

"I miss our adventures, too." I paused. "Tell you what: Tomorrow we'll do whatever you want. Okay?"

Tails smile grew. "I'd like that. But don't you need to… you know… find Robotnik?"

"Eh. He's not going anywhere. Probably. I don't really know what he's up to these days. But you're the most important thing right now." I ruffled his hair slightly.

"Sonic! Stop it!" He giggled, pushing my hand away.

I pretended to be hurt, but couldn't hide the smile on my face. "Alright, Tails. Anything else?"

"Um…" he scrunched up his face as he tried to think of anything. "Well… I don't know how to break this to you, but the Roberts want to adopt me."

"Yeah. I knew that. They offered to adopt me too."

"Really?" asked Tails, perking up. "That's-"

"I said no."

"Oh." Tails said awkwardly. "Why?"

"I dunno." I said, kicking a little ball of lint on the floor. "I guess… I've been on my own for so long… it'd just feel weird if I suddenly had parents again."

Tails shifted on the 'bed', "I guess that makes sense."

I looked down at my hands. "What about you? What are you gonna do?" I didn't know what I wanted him to do. Part of me was hoping he would stick around, but I also wanted him to be happy and safe, and happiness and safety was exactly what the Roberts could provide him with.

There was a moment of silence. Tails looked at the ground, a million miles away.

"What'cha thinkin about, kid?" I asked.

"Nothing really… Just a dream I had awhile back."

"Oh. So what are you going to do?"

"Well… I think I want to…"

"What? C'mon buddy, spit it out!" The tension was killing me… well, not really, but at the same time it was and- You know what? Forget it.

"... I think I want to stay with you."

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. But in a good way. When I didn't answer immediately, Tails rushed ahead, talking twenty miles per hour (or Miles Prower… heh heh, wordplay. Actually, I probably shouldn't think that… He doesn't like it. I'm done talking now.). "Butifyoudon'twantthatthenIcanalwaysjusttellFrankandBernicethatI'llbemovinginand-"

"Woah! Again, I run that fast. My ears don't pick up sound faster!"

"... I don't think that's how you would say it."

"Doesn't matter. And of course I want you to stay! Sheesh."

Tails smiled. "Okay then. I'll stay with you."

The silence we sat in was awkward and comfortable, as strange as that sounds. I finally forced a yawn just to break the quiet.

'Welp, I'm beat." I said, stretching. "I'm gonna turn in. See ya in the morning, Tails."

"Okay. Night, bro."

"Oh, okay. We use that term now."

"Is...that okay?"

Oh Chaos, I just made this three kinds of weird. Nice going, Sonic. "It's cool. Night, bro. It sounds better when I say it."

Tails rolled his eyes and left. I waited until he had left, then laid back, staring at the ceiling. Little bro, huh?

I could get used to this.


Tails POV:

"Catch me if you can!" Sonic yelled as he ran deeper into the forest.

I spun my tails as fast as I could, but it was rather pointless. "Sonic! I think you're cheating at this game!"

Whose bright idea had it been to play tag? Oh wait… mine.

"I'm not cheating. I'm just winning!"

"You run at the speed of sound!"

"That's not cheating. There's no rule against it."

Sonic had stopped running to talk, giving me the chance to catch up. Just as I reached out my hand to tag him, he pulled away, disappearing in a blue blur. Jerk.

"SONIC!"

"I'm winning, not cheating!"

Keep telling yourself that…

Frank saved me from having to chase him down. "MILES! SONIC! WHERE ARE YOU?"

First thought: Robotnik had been spotted. I sucked in a breath to call Sonic, but he beat me to it by zipping by and plucking me off the ground.

"AHH!"

"Sorry, Tails!"

We zipped back to the Roberts. When we arrived at the runway, Frank was nowhere in sight. I cupped my hands over my mouth, "Frank!"

"Miles, I'm in the barn! Get over here, quick!"

Oh, Chaos. Okay, let's be logical about this- First possible situation: Robotnik was back and he was heading this way in an indestructible robot of pure terror. Not good. Second situation: Frank and Bernice had planned a wonderful surprise for Sonic and I. That sounded much more pleasant. All the way to the barn, I kept thinking, Please be option two, please be option two…

Sonic pushed open the door and poked his head in as if to check if the coast was clear. "Frank?"

"Come in kiddos! I got a surprise for you!"

Yes! Option two! It's the best day ever!

With much more enthusiasm, Sonic and I ran into the building. Frank was standing near a tool bench, nervously cleaning off some engine grease from a large wrench.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked.

The old wolf put down the wrench and motioned for us to follow him. He lead us over to a large canvas covering something. With a simple tug, he yanked the covering off to reveal the biplane. "I have a small problem. The wife is getting a little annoyed with all of the space my plane is taking up. She says if I can't find a 'good' purpose for it then she'll scrap it herself." He shrugged. "Usually I wouldn't pay attention as she isn't usually serious. But she's already called in a guy who owns some junkyard WAY down south to sell and haul the parts. So…"

My heart picked up a little bit. "Are you saying…?"

"You two want the plane? It's not safe here anymore."

Sonic held up a time-out sign. "HOLD IT! Why is your wife trying to get rid of your plane?"

"Technically it's not really mine."

Now the hedgehog looked really confused. I took pity on him and explained. "Frank got it from an Echidna about two or three years ago. The guy hasn't come back, so he's sort of taken unofficial possession of it."

Sonic stiffened up slightly. "An Echidna? Was he red?"

"Yes…" Frank frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"...No reason. So the plane: what if the owner shows up and wants his plane back? What'll you do then?"

"Sonic, the man hasn't come back in three years." said Frank gently. "If he does end up coming back, which is highly unlikely, it wouldn't matter. I have a year renewal in my shop. If you haven't picked it up in a year, I legally own it. But I usually don't actually 'take ownership' of it, but usually scrap it for parts or sell it. If I kept everything...well Bernice would have already filed for divorce."

I raised a timid hand, "Then why haven't you done that?"

"Eh… The guy seemed pretty nice. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus it's an awesome plane."

"True." I nodded. Maybe a little too eager I turned to Sonic, "Can we keep it? Please?"

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "I don't know Tails… You sure you want it?"

"YES! BY CHAOS, YES!"

"Okay, okay, be my guest. But if we're keeping it, it needs a paint job."

"Done." I ran over to a giant pile of paint cans. "May we?" I asked Frank.

He smiled. "Be my guest."

"What color?"

"Blue. Then it matches me." He smirked arrogantly and crossed his arms, a little amused by my reaction.

I rolled my eyes but complied anyway, grabbing a can of blue paint. "You're so superficial."

"That has 'super' in it, so I'm choosing to take it as a compliment."

I've mentioned that the hedgehog is an idiot? Right? Because he is in the best possible way.

With another eye roll, I grabbed a can of yellow paint. "There. Now we're both superficial."

"Yeah! We're super!" Sonic zipped over and stole the can of yellow.

"First of all: You grabbed the wrong can. Second, I'm getting you a dictionary for your birthday."

"And I will burn it. Now come one, this thing needs painting! Let's get started!"


Sonic's POV:

Have you ever tried to wash paint out of your quills? It's not pleasant. I had to take three showers and still didn't have all of it off. To add insult to injury, it was yellow paint (I may or may not have gotten in a short-lived war with Tails that involved us flinging paint at each other. But at least now he was blue).

"So what should we call it?" I stepped back and admired our handywork.

Tails brushed his hands off. "Well… We could call it, Maurice."

"No. How about Miles?" I said.

"Ha ha, very funny. Not on your life. We could call it The Blizzard." Tails made a dramatic gesture with his hands.

"It's not snowing."

Tails shrugged. "Well, it is November. It should snow soon. Well it should have snowed by now, but it has been a dry year."

"We're not calling it that." I tapped my foot in thought. Suddenly, it came to me. "I got it! We could call it, 'The Chilly Dog'!"

Tails just stared at me. "You're serious."

"As a heart attack."

"No. Just, just… no."

"Well then, what do you suggest, smart guy?"

"Hmm…" Tails rubbed his chin in thought. "How about… The Twister?"

Now I was confused. "Isn't that, like, a board game or something?"

"Fine. How about The Tornado?"

I paused and thought about it. It certainly sounded pretty cool. "Why The Tornado?"

"Well… Our relationship has sort of been a Tornado of emotions."

Okay, had to give him that. "That and it does sound pretty cool."

"So that's a yes?"

"Why not? The Tornado. Nice job, Tails."

After naming the plane, Tails painted the name on the side in white. Then he started to mess around with the engine and other parts. When I asked what he was doing, he simply told me it was a surprise. Then he ordered me to do something useful by cleaning out the cockpits. Finding nothing better to do, I reluctantly complied.

The first cockpit wasn't too crazy. Just ID papers in the glove compartment (yes it has a glove compartment...why not?) that confirmed my suspicions of the previous owner. "Where are you Locke?" I wondered briefly why he hadn't come to pick up his plane yet. Maybe something delayed him? Or perhaps some worse fate had fallen upon him.

With that happy thought, I moved to the second cockpit. With no glove compartment, I resorted to looking under the seats for loose change. All I got was a handful of lint. Well that was a waste of time.

I went to stand up but ended up banging my head painfully on the bottom of the console making a large ringing noise. "OW!"

"You okay, Sonic?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I rubbed my head and pulled out. As I was recovering from the bruise I noticed that I had bent a piece of metal out of place. Great...Tails is gonna love this. Well, maybe he won't notice if I bend it back in place.

I pushed, but nothing happened. Ugh… perfect. I pushed harder and harder, but the piece refused to move. Suddenly the metal rod popped out of the socket, making a large square completely detach. "Great…" I muttered, slapping my forehead.

"What was that?" asked Tails.

"Nothing, Tails!" I reached down to grab the metal square when something shiny caught my eye. Curious, I reached up and grabbed it. A wave of energy and strength seemed to surge through me; I felt like I could do anything. My emotions seemed to just jump all over the place, from fear to anger; from anger to peace. It felt...chaotic. Out of the hole popped a green emerald, glittering brightly.

"Holeee Chaos," I muttered, staring at the emerald in my hand. I got up to tell Tails, but stopped myself. The exclamation caused my memory to be triggered.

"I don't know exactly when or how but a really long time ago, my ancestors, an ancient clan of Echidnas, were tasked with the responsibility of protecting the Chaos Emeralds-"

"Wait, there's more than one?"

"There are eight counting the Master Emerald. None of them are as big as this. The other seven can fit in your hand. They're a less powerful."

Could this be a-?

"Sonic! Bernice just called for dinner." said Tails, cleaning off his hands with a rag. "You coming?"

"Yeah. Hang on a second." I put the emerald back in the compartment and shut it up with the rod. If Locke hid it, there must be a good reason. Also, I really did not want to find out about that 'Dark' form Knuckles described.

"What about the other seven?"

"They went missing a long time ago. I doubt you'll ever see them, let alone find one."

Just my luck. Wonder if Locke even knew about the emerald…

"Sonic!"

"Coming!" I ran out of the barn. I really needed a chili dog after all of this…

Well that was fun! So I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Halo and I enjoyed writing it together.

For the name Tornado, I couldn't really come up with a good reason on why that name was chosen so Halo and I put our heads together and that's what we came up with. Not the best, but hey. What else could we do?

Also, the emerald is really not that important. I just wanted to introduce the smaller emeralds to the hedgehog. So sorry if anyone was super excited about it.

Next Chapter: We explain why the heck Sonic can keep a seven year old. And then we end with a fun little finale scene. Next time.

Review please!