Chris:

After we defeated the Metarex, we finally went back home. To Sonic's planet, that is! It was good to rest up and relax after all the battles we fought! I guess you do deserve a little vacation after saving the galaxy! This was the first time we're really taking it easy since Kat and I had transported ourselves here. It seemed like a long time had passed since I left the lab. Almost like it was a dream!

We had a lot of fun during those days, but I couldn't stop thinking of my family and friends I left back in my own world. And none of us will ever forget the brave friend we lost during our final fight with Dark Oak.

...

Sonic zoomed down the road with Penny on his back. The fourteen-year-old laughed as the wind blew across her face. She felt so alive.

Sonic placed Penny down so his back could have a break. The two stared ahead at the huge crater that started the whole adventure.

"I can't believe it's over." Penny smiled softly.

"Yeah." Sonic smiled, grabbing her hand.

...

"Hey, Hiro!" Kat smiled as she sat down next to the red wolf.

"Kat!" Hiro smiled, scooting over. "How've you been holding up?"

"I've been good!" Kat smiled. "Been thinking a lot."

"About what?"

"About Cosmo, Shadow, and Penny," Kat answered, taking a stick and twirling it around. "And mostly about wanting to return to Earth."

"Do you want to go back?" Hiro asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Kat shook her head. "There are a lot of friends I've been missing, but I really don't have anyone back there to end up with."

"So you're saying you're staying here?" Hiro asked, smiling at her.

Kat smiled, taking his hand. "Yes. That's my choice." She said.

The two gazed into the distance.

...

Knuckles stared at the broken shards of the Master Emerald. Chris was there.

"The Master Emerald should return to its normal state once it's power is restored." Knuckles said. Chris smirked and raised his hands. "Why not do your chant?"

Knuckles smirked, raising his arms. "Please hear me, Oh, Master Emerald, and be restored now!" He turned to Chris with a smirk. "Like that?"

"Yeah!" Chris laughed. "Your chant is pretty funny!" He realized what he said and gulped. "I didn't mean that.."

Knuckles smiled. "No offense taken," He turned around and walked towards the stairs. "I think I'll let nature take its course. The Master Emerald helped save the galaxy, so it needs time to heal." He sat on the top stairs of the temple. "In the meantime, I decided to kick back and take it easy. We deserve a rest too, Chris."

Chris smiled, taking a seat next to Knuckles. "I guess so." Chris looked at Knuckles. "Since it looks like I'm going to be staying here, I was wondering how I could go about building myself a house!"

Knuckles gave a start, turning towards Chris. "Huh? What do you mean how? You just go ahead and build it!"

Chris smiled sheepishly. "You make it sound so easy! But it's not so simple. There's a lot to think about. Like, where would I build it?"

Knuckles laughed. "What do you mean where? There's tons of land all around here! Just pick a spot!"

"What if that spot belongs to someone else?"

"In our world, it's first come, first served." Knuckles laughed, then his eyes widened and he glanced at Chris in realization. "Hey! You're not planning on building one here?!"

"Uh..well, I figured living around these old ruins was about as good of a place as any! It's kind of pretty, you know?"

"Sure it's pretty!" Knuckles smirked. "You go right ahead and build! It's just lucky your good friend Knuckles didn't have this spot picked out for his place!"

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, lucky!"

Knuckles glared at him. "That was a hint, kid."

"Hey, Knuckles, I'm really happy for all you guys. Being home and all."

"Yeah." Knuckles smiled. "It sure is nice!"

...

Rouge stared sadly at the place where she first saw Shadow... his capsule.

"I can't believe it!"

Rouge turned towards Eggman. "You're worried about Shadow, aren't you?"

Rouge turned her head away. "Of course not!" She humphed. "I don't give a hoot what happened to that hedgehog!"

"Is that so?" Eggman asked, putting down his box of supplies. "Well, I'm not at all concerned about Shadow! He was designed to be the ultimate creature created by my grandfather Dr. Robotnic! Who was almost as great of a genius as me!"

"So," Rouge asked, frowning at Eggman as she walked out. "Where do you think he is?"

Rouge frowned at Eggman's facial expression. "He knows something..."

"Well, Rouge, it's time for me to bust a move!" Eggman grinned, locking the door to Shadow's room. "I'm going to scrap this ship soon. I suggest you find new living arrangements."

...

Chris and Kat smiled as they walked through the forest together, hand in hand.

"Hey, kids!"

Chris and Kat looked up to see Bokkun flying towards them. "I've got something for ya!"

"If it's from Eggman, we don't want it!" Kat snapped. "So back off, you little pile of bolts!"

Bokkun laughed as he landed, for once not crying over the insult. "How'd you know? I think this is my most explosive delivery ever! You three will get a real bang out of it!" He opened his bag and handed the two kids a letter. "Here.." His expression frowned when he noticed Chris and Kat were hiding behind a tree. Feeling offended, Bokkun yelled, "Come on over here!"

"No way!" Chris snapped.

"It's going to be something explosive like you said!" Kat grumbled.

"I promise you three it's not a trick! Dr. Eggman's sending you a present!"

Chris and Kat looked at each other, stunned. "Really?"

...

Penny and Sonic smiled to each other as they rested against a tree. Cosmo spoke to them. "Sonic, Penny, send a message to all of my wonderful friends. Tell them... I'm all right! I'm with my mother. We have found a new home, filled with peace and tranquility. Harmony rings dear, and we are as one with nature. Tell them all that they are noble and good, and because of them, the darkness has been vanquished! Tell Tails to look to the trees and the sky. That is where I will be."

Sonic smiled. "I will tell him." He promised.

"Me, too, Cosmo." Penny smiled softly. "You've been a great friend to me."

Sonic stood up, pulling Penny to her feet. "And hey, I know I'm not much for getting mushy or anything, but I want you to know, Cosmo," He turned around and gave the air a thumbs up. "It was sure great having you around!"

He smiled, grabbing Penny in his arms, bridal style, startling the girl. She laughed as she grabbed onto his neck, clinging to him as he ran.

Cosmo smiled softly. "Goodbye, Sonic and Penny. Goodbye."

...

Chris and Kat walked up together towards a strange-looking aircraft with three seats. Beside it, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun smiled at them.

"What's this all about, Eggman?" Chris smiled, holding up the letter.

"It's exactly what I wrote there. I assume that you and Kat read it, didn't you?"

"Sure." Kat hummed. "It says it's a one-way ticket home!"

"Never underestimate the superiority of Dr. Eggman's intellect," Bocoe said.

"He gave his brain cells a real workout this time!"

"Uh..." Chris said, turning towards the ship. "You mean this ship?"

"Yes, it will instantly transport you back to your own world!" Bocoe said.

"This will be its first and only voyage," Eggman said. He and Bokkun said together, "So pack your bags, and let's blast off!"

"There's only enough power in its engines for one trip, after that, the machine will be useless! But it should be adequate to return you to your world!"

"I can't believe you went through all of this trouble just for us, doctor!" Chris said, stunned.

Eggman chuckled. "Don't thank me yet, kid. Once you learn the full story, you may not want to go!"

"Huh?"

"I'm not absolutely certain it will return you to your planet, but I have no idea how old your body will be when you get there!" Eggman explained.

"I have confidence in you, doctor." Chris smiled. "I'll take that chance!"

"Th-thanks, Eggman," Kat said nervously. "But I think the one who really wants to go back home is Chris." She said. "I've made my choice to stay here with Hiro, and that's my choice. Penny has the same choice, too."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked, putting a hand on Kat's shoulder.

Kat nodded, taking a step back. "I'm sure." She hurried over to give Chris a goodbye hug. "Take care." She whispered. "I'll take care of Penny, don't worry."

"Okay." Chris smiled.

"But you only have a three-minute window!" Eggman said as Chris walked into the ship.

"That isn't much time, doctor!" Decoe said.

"Can't we make it three days so we can throw him a goodbye party?" Bocoe asked.

"Impossible!" Eggman said. "The quantum alignment that makes travel possible between our worlds will only last for three more minutes! This is the only time when travel can occur! After that, Chris would be stuck here!"

"Can Chris return?" Kat asked.

"It's difficult to say. I'm not sure when the alignment will reoccur! It could be a week or not for ten thousand years!"

Chris's eyes widened. "You mean the fact that Kat and I were able to travel here was just a fluke and I may not be able to come back?!"

"It would appear so," Eggman hummed. "The universe has its own set of cycles. No matter how advanced our technology is, we can't change that!"

Chris smiled at him. "I see. So then I guess this is goodbye, doctor, Kat. Kat, tell Penny and the others I say goodbye and sorry for rushing off like this."

"Will do." Kat smiled, taking a step back.

"You've been a terrifically and a worthy enemy. Good luck." Eggman pressed the button to the ship, and the door closed.

"You could stay here with us you know!" Bokkun cried. "I'm sure Dr. Eggman will offer you a job if you asked him! We can always use good help around here!"

"Take care, Chris!" Bocoe called.

"Say hello to your family for us!" Decoe added.

"Bye!" Kat called, waving to him as the doors closed.

The ship took off.

"All right, then!" Bokkun yelled, running up to the ship. "I'll tell Sonic and the rest of your pals...you were SMILING when you left here!" He looked up. "Are you sure you wanna go?" His ears dropped. "That's too bad. We just got to be friends!"

Kat patted Bokkun on the shoulder as he cried. "GOODBYE!" Bokkun screamed.

Chris smiled as he looked out the window of the plane, but his expression faded when he thought about his friends and sister. "I wish I didn't have to rush off like this. I hope the others don't get mad at me!"

He imagined his friends' reactions when Kat told them that Chris had left.

Knuckles: "I sure am going to miss that kid."

Amy: "Me, too!"

Cream: "He didn't even say goodbye!"

Tails: "I'm sure he wanted to, but maybe he didn't have enough time!"

Blaze: "I understand Chris's motives for leaving. He misses his family."

Silver: "Yeah."

Tangle: "It was a lot of fun having the kid around!"

Whisper: "I'm happy he chose the right choice for himself."

Cloud: "It was great having him around again. We had a good time together."

Hiro: "I agree with Cloud."

Penny: "I trust Chris to make the right decisions for himself. I'm glad Kat stayed behind with me. But I'm really going to miss my younger brother."

"Goodbye, everybody..." Chris thought in his head. "Goodbye."

Something blue caught his eye. "Huh?!" Chris gasped, looking out the window.

Sonic, He was keeping up with Chris's ship with Penny in his arms. The sight made Chris cry.

"We'll be seeing ya, Chris!" Sonic called.

"Bye, little brother!" Penny called as well. "I'll miss you!"

"Goodbye..." Chris sobbed. "Sonic...Penny...Kat..."

The ship zoomed faster. Chris watched as Sonic kept up with the ship until it disappeared from view.

"Sonic..Penny...Kat..." Chris muttered in his head.

Then he was gone.

Eggman chuckled, and Kat shot Eggman a glare. "Now that Sonic's team is down by one annoying little pipsqueak, we can finally get back to building the Eggman Empire!"

"ALL RIGHT!" The three robots cheered.

"No way!" Kat snapped at him. "You're still doing that? Not on our watch!"

...

Sonic smiled. "Life never stays slow around here for long! Right, Penny?"

Penny smiled at him. "Right, Sonic!"

"Thank goodness!" Sonic grinned. "Watch out, Eggman. I'm coming 'atcha full speed!"

Penny smiled happily. To her, this was the perfect ending.