A/N - Hello again everyone. I've got the newest chapter here. There aren't many chapters left. We're actually very close to the end now. It amazes me that that's the case after all this time working on this story.

As always, standard disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor Sonic the Hedgehog belong to me. Doctor Who is property of the BBC. Sonic The Hedgehog SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only things that are mine are the story itself and any original characters I might come up with. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.

Extra Disclaimer: Sandman (specifically Destiny) does not belong to me. It belongs to DC / Vertigo Comics.

97 – PATHS FORK AGAIN

It was only a few minutes later when the Doctor brought the TARDIS in to land at their assigned guest room at the Academy.

"Now that we're here" said the Doctor, "how long do you want to stay?"

"A few days?" said Tails in a tentative manner, "long enough to see my friends but not so long that we get sick of each other."

"Very wise" said the Doctor, "you know what they say: guests are like fish – after a few days they start to smell."

"Okay," said Tails a little dubiously, "I didn't need to know that."

"Just a little common wisdom" said the Doctor, "now go find your friends."

Tails didn't need any more urging. He walked out of the TARDIS to find himself in a room very much like the one he had used when he was a student at the Academy but this one was a bit more luxurious and was obviously not meant for long term occupancy. Well he had been told that it was a guest room so he supposed that made sense. He only looked around for a few seconds to take in everything in the room before he opened the door and went out into the hallway.

The long hallway of the Prydonian house had not changed at all, not that Tails had expected it to as there was no reason why it should have. Here and there he saw students coming and going in both directions, some he even recognized. They greeted him with surprise but seemed pleased to see him there. Apparently he'd made enough of an impression during his earlier visit that they were glad to see him back.

When he exited the house into the main plaza of the campus he saw that there were a lot of people outside moving between buildings. Obviously some classes had just let out and people were heading to either to their next ones, or back to their houses, or just somewhere else. He looked around at all the students (and a few faculty) milling around and smiled. Yes, it was good to back at the Academy.

"Tails!" a voice called him and he turned around to see who it was, recognizing the speaker at once.

"Caltec, hello" said Tails holding out his hand Caltec came running up to him.

"When did you get here?" asked Caltec as they shook hands.

"I just arrived with the Doctor" said Tails.

"You should have told me you were coming when I spoke to you earlier today."

"I didn't know at that time that I would be coming here" said Tails, "it was a very last minute thing."

"Have you come back again as a student?" Caltec asked.

"No" said Tails, "I just wanted to see you and our other friends. I'll probably only be here for a few days."

"Oh" said Caltec, "well I'm glad to see you for however long you're here. Come on, I'll take you to see Xeras and Taliasanian."

"Cool" said Tails.

The next few days were taken up with Tails seeing his friends again and reconnecting with pretty much everyone he knew from his time at the Academy. In addition to his friends he saw his old teachers who all took some time to review things with him (this included Chancellor Borusa who spent some time with him going over his mental abilities and seeing how they had grown). Even Dar popped by at one point to say hello.

The one downside to his visit was that Tails couldn't forget what the 9th Doctor had said about the Last Great Time War. It was still far in the future in the here and now but it was coming eventually. The very worst part was that Tails couldn't say anything about it without potentially causing A LOT of trouble which probably wouldn't make any difference anyway. It was hard to have to live with that and there were times when Tails just had to get away from his friends and be alone to keep from spilling the secret. As he said to himself (not for the first time) time travel really did suck some times.

Tails had been back at the Academy for about a week and he knew that the Doctor would be returning him to Mobius very soon. He wasn't ready to go back. Of all the places he had been to during his travels the Academy was one of his very favorite and a large part of him wanted to stay longer. But he knew that wasn't possible; with the deroboticizer having just been put into successful operation there was too much work to be done back on Mobius. He would have to go back there, at least for now.

This day he was alone with his thoughts in a plaza in a secluded corner of the Academy. This out of the way spot contained a low stone maze that students occasionally would wander in. Of course being as how this was the Time Lord Academy it couldn't have a mundane name such as "Campus Maze" or something like that. No, to emphasize all the different paths a life could take depending on the choices one made this maze was known as "The Garden of Forking Paths." It was fun to wander around it even if it wasn't all that complicated of a puzzle, and since the walls were low people could always just step over them if they got tired of trying to find their way through the maze the normal way.

It was while he was wandering the paths of the maze that Tails began to notice something odd happening. The paths seemed to be changing and the whole maze was stretching out until he was sure it was larger than it had been when he first entered it. Next he noticed that the walls were growing higher the further he walked until they were over his head and he could no longer see outside of the maze.

"What the – ?" Tails murmured to himself. He turned around and looked back the way he came but could not see where the maze had started to change shape.

This is weird, Tails thought, what is happening? This can't be normal or there would have been some sign outside warning people about this. What do I do now?

He turned around and tried to walk back the way he came but none of the turns he took led to anything familiar. In fact the maze continued to change the more he walked. He turned around and headed further into the maze again but before going too far he decided to fly out of the maze instead of walking. He spun his tails and lifted himself up until he was well above the walls and able to see where he was. He didn't recognize the area at all. He had entered a small maze with low walls. He was now hovering over an absolutely enormous maze that stretched in all directions as far as he could see.

"Oh boy" said Tails to himself. He now knew that he was on another adventure and he'd just have to see it through. He started flying in a straight line trying to find the edge of this maze but no matter how far he flew the maze just stretched on and on without changing its style or look. It occurred to him that this adventure had started while he was walking in the maze. It could well be that he would have to set himself down and start walking again through the maze before he would make any progress towards wherever he was supposed to be going.

He landed back in the maze and began walking again. His theory that he needed to walk in the maze was soon proven right as the stone walls around him began to change. Before long they had transformed into wooden walls. Not long after that the wooden walls changed into hedges. Here and there the occasional garden statue started to show up, things Tails knew for a fact were not part of the original maze he had started in.

More changes happened as he walked through this incredible maze. The hedges gave way to dense stands of trees and he could hear animals in the forest. Ahead of him the path he was on lead to small wooden bridge that went over a stream that crossed the path. Tails followed the path over the bridge and looked around. There was a dim red sun in the sky. The path ahead of him divided into new paths, which divided again, and again, and sometimes joined up with other paths. Now he recognized where he was.

"Destiny's Garden" Tails said out loud, "how did I get here?" He looked back the way he had come but the path he had followed to get here was gone. All around were the dividing and joining paths of Destiny's Garden. Somehow, some way, walking in the maze at the Time Lord Academy had brought him back here but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Where's Destiny? Tails thought, he must know I'm here. He probably brought me here. I have to find him.

Tails considered calling out for Destiny but decided against this. Destiny would show himself in his own good time whatever Tails did. He remembered that the last time he had been here Destiny had met him in front of the statues of the seven Endless. Maybe he would find Destiny there this time. It was a place to start at least.

Once again he took to the air and flew straight up. As he ascended he turned his body around 360 degrees so he could see the land all around him. It wasn't until he was very high indeed that he finally saw the seven big statues far away at the edge of the horizon. He turned and flew towards them as fast as he could. Even at a high speed it took several minutes to reach them but when he got there he saw that his instincts had been right. Standing in front of the statues and looking up at him was Destiny himself.

"Welcome back Miles "Tails" Prower" said Destiny in his dry voice as Tails landed in front of him, "I have been expecting you."

"I had a feeling you were" said Tails, "how did I get here?"

"All mazes are one maze" said Destiny, "and they all meet at the center."

"Oh" said Tails and as he looked around Destiny's Garden of Forking Paths it did make perfect sense.

"Thank you for letting me come back here," said the young fox, "but why have I come back?"

"You have a question" said Destiny.

"I – yes" said Tails, a little uncertain, "is that why you brought me here? Just so I could ask you a question?" Destiny just looked at Tails without saying anything. His hood still shadowed his face so that Tails could not see it well but he had the distinct feeling that if he could see Destiny's full face that the Endless would be looking at him with one raised eyebrow. There was a short silence before Tails decided to just go for it.

"Is it true? About the Time War?" Tails blurted out, "Is Gallifrey really going to be destroyed?"

"That is three questions" said Destiny without any trace of humor in his voice whatsoever, "it is true. The Time War will happen."

"And – " began Tails but Destiny cut him off.

"As far as the Doctor knows, yes" the great being said, "but you both would do well to remember that things are not always what they seem and not even the Doctor knows everything."

"What should I do?" asked Tails, not really knowing what he meant by that question. Destiny seemed to understand though.

"What do you want to do?" replied Destiny, "your life is your own, your choices are your own. As the Doctor told you the Time War is centuries in the future from where you're standing. It won't happen until long after your time. Make of that what you will."

Destiny then turned and began walking away from Tails without another word, not even a good-bye. Tails watched him go. He didn't call after him because he knew it would make no difference. The Endless had said what he had to say and that was all there was to it. Tails also didn't worry about how he would get back to Gallifrey. Destiny had brought him here and Tails was sure that Destiny would send him back the same way he had come, traveling back through the ever changing mazes until he arrived back where he'd started. All he had to do was start walking.

However before he began his journey back he turned and looked up at the statues of the seven Endless. Though they looked mostly the same Tails could swear that some of them had changed positions just a little bit – with one big exception. The third statue, that of Dream, now looked very different than when he had last been here. Then the statue had held its face in its hands as if suffering from a great sorrow. Now the statue was standing with its head up and looking straight forward with an optimistic expression. It was not quite as tall as before and its manner of dress had changed from a long plain robe to ones that were more elaborate. It was as if it was a new person standing there – one very closely related to the previous one to be sure, but not quite the same.

Maybe, Tails thought to himself, whatever problem Dream had been suffering from had been solved and he had been completely renewed by it. Tails found that to be comforting somehow as he turned around and began walking. It was time to head back.

(To Be Continued)

A/N - Okay there's one more chapter to this arc, followed by the epilogue, and then we're done. Hope you come back next time...