A/N- Wow, so the reception for last chapter was downright staggering. Really had the same energy as the "I love Emilia" scene from RE: Zero. From all the reactions and reviews, it was great to read. There was also this one person that put a link in a review that I couldn't figure out to open despite my best efforts, so, uh... yeah, don't know what was behind that, but thanks to everybody all the same for the feedback. It was entertaining reading about all the guesses people have for what's gonna happen, too. Not gonna say if anyone was close or not, but you'll all get to read for yourselves what happens later.

So the roadmap for the next few chapters is just a few short ones, and then we get to the portal chapter. Specifically it'll be chapter 61 if I'm counting it right that the portal happens, which is probably the most I'm ever gonna spoil on what's gonna happen in the story in the future in an A/N, so look forward to it.

Recursion Error

Episode 57- Goodbye, Freedom Fighters

Nicole had been true to her word and had gathered everyone. So here they all were- every member of the Freedom Fighters. Gathered in some large room inside of Castle Acorn. And Elias, for some reason, probably because he lived here. Sorun was sitting backwards on a chair, his hands folded over the top of the back of the chair as he looked towards the other end of the room. A long table was what separated him from everyone else, who were all standing around in a group.

The reactions he'd seen when he'd strolled into the room and wordlessly sat down in the seat were mixed, both in everybody's reactions in relation to each other and the reactions themselves. The standard stuff: shock. Disbelief. Surprise. Joy. Worry. A hodgepodge of emotions that couldn't rightly be described from how chaotic the mood felt despite how silent it was. The rundown he'd given them all was the same one he gave to Antoine and Nicole. Now he was merely left sitting here to gauge their reactions.

If there was one whose reaction Sorun was looking for in particular, it was Tails. He was pretty sure the fox Mobian had caught Sorun looking towards him, too, from the way he'd jumped up slightly when Sorun looked at him. He looked the most worried out of everybody there, to the point he could have been sweating. For all Sorun knew he probably was sweating and the fur just covered it. Sorun's eyes remained on the young Mobian for a few moments, and then he faced back forwards at everyone else.

"Well don't all speak at once," Sorun drawled out, making everyone freeze in place. "Go on. Say somethin'."

Nervous glances were passed between everyone. Eventually, all gazes turned towards Sally. She'd of course noticed all the looks, and made a small, defeated sigh and then moved to the head of the table opposite of Sorun. She looked towards the human, looking unsure of how to proceed. He didn't think he could blame her considering it all.

"Well, Sorun, I... I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're overjoyed that you're among the living once again." Her voice was well-collected, all things considered. Even so there was no hiding that nervous waver behind it. "So, uh... I don't... I don't really know what you want me to say..."

Sorun remained silent. He kept staring at Sally, expecting her to continue. But she'd actually shrunk back from his gaze and didn't say anything else. Sorun's stony face, meanwhile, hadn't even twitched.

"Awright, enough o' this." Oddly enough it was Bunnie of all people who got fed up with the quiet looks. She'd stomped her robotic feet to the midpoint of the table and then slammed her robotic limb on the table's surface, using it to lean against the furniture as her green eyes gazed into Sorun's blue. "Now Sorun, Sugah, ah'm glad - beyond glad - yer alright and kickin' again, but ya got us all in this stuffy room an' all yer doin' is starin', so if ya got somethin' tah say then say it an' stop makin' everyone so gosh-darn nervous-like."

"... Forgive me if I seemed hostile in any way, Bunnie. I'm just nervous, too, you see," Sorun explained. "I hold absolutely no ill will towards any of you. I wish to make that clear right now." He glanced to the side. "In fact, I... probably should have done so earlier..."

His statement caused surprise to bloom on the faces of everybody in the entire room. Their stances had grown a bit easier and relaxed, and Sally chose that moment to speak again. "If that's true, then why are you sitting in that chair so threateningly?"

Sorun shrugged. "I dunno. Never had an opportunity to do this before. Wanted to try it. Now seemed like a good opportunity."

"Ugh, for the- Sorun..." Sally palmed her own face in exasperation at the answer. Some grins were cracked all around by the others, too, which Sorun supposed was a good sign. "I really don't think that's an appropriate thing to do given the situation."

"I think after everything that's happened I've earned the right to mess around with you all a little," Sorun countered. "But seriously, no hard feelings."

"That's quite a thing to say seeing as you died," Sonic commented. He was at the other end of the table along with everyone else, leaning back in a chair of his own with his feet propped on the table. "Props to you, though, man."

Sorun looked over at the blue hedgehog. "You don't seem very surprised about all this, Sonic," he noted. He was probably the most normal-looking one of the bunch given his demeanor. There were still hints of the earlier nervousness in his face, for sure, but he seemed nonchalant otherwise.

"Well, I mean... everyone thought I was dead during the whole space thing, then I came back," Sonic began, "then a long while ago Sally took this really nasty fall and we all thought she was dead, but she wasn't, so I had to use a Power Ring to fix that, Knuckles died and came back-"

"I'm glad people dying and coming back to life is so common here that you're able to just take it all in stride," Sorun said. "Can't say I share the same ability, but you know. Good on ya."

And with those words, the nervous glances everyone was sharing among one another before returned. Sally, once again, took it upon herself to speak for the rest of them, and began approaching the spot Bunnie had been standing in while the cyborg herself went to go stand back with the rest.

"I'm still not so sure what to say," Sally began. She stopped right in front of Sorun, and then locked eyes with him. Her expression was just as unsure as her words, and she'd looked down towards her blue boots before she continued speaking. "I feel somewhat at fault for what happened. Well all do, actually. You were only ever put into this position because we dragged you into our problems. We kept encouraging you to gather the Chaos Emeralds when in the end they... well, I'm sure you get it."

And that was the crux of the issue. They all felt at fault for what happened to him. Because they were the ones to vote to use the portal and drag him through. They were the ones that let him be a Freedom Fighter when he in all honesty shouldn't have become one. They were the ones that helped him gather a bunch of magic gems that killed him, and he had to suffer through his entire time here knowing all that while they spent it thinking everything was fine. He'd be shocked if they weren't nervous given all this information.

Well, Sorun wasn't having it. He already made up his mind in this matter on how he felt towards the whole situation.

"Sally, save it. Already said I don't hold anything against ya." Sorun sat up a bit straighter in his chair and leaned back a bit while keeping a grip on the back of the chair. Sally, meanwhile, had looked back up at his face as surprise crossed her features. "Ya couldn't have known. Nobody coulda. And I didn't have to go after all those Emeralds. I could have just run away and avoided it all if I wanted. I did run away," Sorun said, making Sally and a few of the others in the back flinch a bit. "But, well... figured I was never goin' home anyway, so I might as well try and save everyone since the alternative wasn't so appealing. So I came back even if it meant me dying down the line. I knew that going in and still made the choice. It's all your fault for being so likeable, every single one of you." Some smiles broke out at that. "Wasn't a picnic for me, knowing I was dying for months on, but... I dunno. You guys made it easier, somehow. So, er... yeah. Thanks. For being there for me, all of you."

"I still feel a bit responsible for it," Sally admitted, though she was smiling a bit after Sorun had said his piece. Everyone was, really, perhaps at knowing he wasn't so upset over everything that'd happened after all. In truth he wasn't, not anymore at any rate. Seeing as he was back being alive and not dying anymore. He just plainly didn't have the energy to stay upset. "You're a Freedom Fighter, and I was in charge of you. So even if your condition was kept secret from everyone, I should have noticed something and taken some measure to save you. To stop any of this from happening to begin with." Her eyes softened into an apologetic look. "I'm truly sorry for having let you endure this entire experience on your own, Sorun. For us having to rely on a comrade and friend and the expense of his life. I'm happy you forgive us, but if there's anything we can do to even remotely make it up to you, all you have to do is ask us."

These people were the only people Sorun knew that would go to such lengths to be so apologetic even after he flat-out said he forgave them for everything and tried assuring them it wasn't their fault. For the most part, at least. Part of their charm he'd fallen for, Sorun had mused. They just had to be that nice. It was endearing, in a way that warmed Sorun's heart enough that he had to fight to keep his face straight.

"Well, since you're offering..." Sorun bent down slightly and grabbed at the burlap sack that was at his feet. He lifted it up, and then plopped it right on the table in front of him. "I'll take an express ticket to Earth, one-way."

Sally blinked, and then looked to the side at the bag. Understanding crossed her features when she saw it, after which she turned back to Sorun. "Ah, I see. The Chaos Emeralds. Nicole mentioned they came out of you."

"Mhm." Sorun leaned back forwards on his chair. "Look, Sally, everyone. You're all really great, to the point I'd say you all are the only reason I was able to tolerate this whole ordeal. I mean, I gave my life for you all." He gestured to the bag. "But listen, I got my own life in my own world. People to go back to, a culture I can actually function properly in. I wanna go back to that." He looked back to Sally. "So if you really want to make it up to me, Sally, then I want you to fulfill that promise you made me. It's not broken anymore. I became a Freedom Fighter and helped you all with Eggman, helped you push him back to a destroyed city. So in return you have to send me back to Earth using the Emeralds."

"A way back home, huh?" Humming, Sally walked closer to Sorun, over to where the bag was. She reached towards it and began fiddling with the top of the bag, until eventually she managed to undo the knot holding it closed. She opened the bag up and was then forced to squint a bit when a bright array of colorful lights hit her in the face. "Well, Sorun... I'm not alone in saying that I'd grow to miss you if you left. You've really become a part of the gang over the months with everything you've done and sacrificed." She closed the bag back up and faced Sorun with a smile. "But I understand you wanting to return home, and it'd be selfish of us to ask you to stay. So if that's what you really want, then we'd be happy to help you. You don't have to worry about a thing."

And there it was. She'd given him her word. Not that he didn't expect her too, nor did Sorun expect Sally to go back on her word. In the time he'd gotten to know her Sorun had learned that Sally had so much integrity her word was practically worth gold, formerly broken promise to him notwithstanding. Quality of her being a princess. But it was done: he was going home now.

It didn't feel quite as exciting as Sorun thought it would feel. Maybe that was just the mental exhaustion in him talking. Or the finality of it all was beginning to wear on him. He was still happy to be going back after all his time, but he just couldn't find it in himself to be overly enthusiastic at it. Quiet acceptance and a feeling of content was all he could muster.

"Well, alright." With that done, Sorun finally stood up off the chair. There was at least one single thing he wanted to get out of the way before he walked out of this room, so he'd turned to the front of the room. He began walking forwards, quickly passing Sally who turned to stare after him, along with everybody else as he approached the group of Mobians.

Soon, he reached the person he wanted to speak to. He had to get down on his knee just so he and Tails could be eye level with each other, but he'd done so nevertheless for the fox's sake. Tails himself seemed to have a hard time looking Sorun in the eye, going as far as to shy away slightly and turn his head just so they didn't have to look directly at each other. It was an action that made Sorun feel some guilt, and as a result he sighed a bit before speaking.

"So, Tails. You doing alright?"

Tails had once again jumped up a bit when he heard Sorun's voice. He finally turned his head fully to Sorun, looking like he expected to see Sorun with a scornful look, though all he saw was the human looking at him with an inquisitive look. Even so Tails still looked down at his red shoes. "I guess," Tails mumbled out. "I... I'm sorry, Sorun. For everything."

"How many times I gotta go an' say I forgive you 'fore you finally get it through that big brain of yours?" Against his better judgement, he'd risen his hand up and placed his palm on top of Tails' head just like he'd done in the past. "It's over, it's done with. I'm alright. Quit stressin' over it."

"But you wouldn't have ever had to go through all of this if I'd never made that portal!" Tails argued. His voice sounded a few octaves higher than normal, and he sounded genuinely distressed, making Sorun retract his hand a bit in surprise. "I just... I feel like it's my fault. You got poisoned by the Chaos Emeralds and died just because I'm the one that brought you here..."

"Aw, come on, Tails, that's..." He almost said that wasn't true, but he didn't want to outright lie to the kid's face. Or draw any angry glares at him from the others. "Look, it's all fine now. I undied- undeathed- undid my death- undea- I came back to life," Sorun stuttered out, though he felt a bit glad in making Tails smile a bit from his small speaking blunder. "At the end of the day all I lost was a few months away from my life." And a heap of mental trauma, but he didn't want to bring that up. "And, well... it wasn't all bad. I genuinely enjoyed spending time with you all. You know, once I warmed up to you all. First few weeks there were kinda rocky."

"Heh heh, yeah..." Tails' face brightened up a bit, though his ears had only gone halfway to being straight. "Do you really have to go, though? You can't stay?"

Sighing, Sorun rose up to his feet. "Wouldn't be fair to my mom if I stayed. From her perspective I just disappeared without a trace," Sorun said. "'Sides. I gotta go make sure my friend David didn't do something stupid. Dude's hopeless without me."

"Yeah. I understand." Tails gave Sorun a full smile, and a nod, and then turned around towards everybody else to address a specific Mobian in the crowd. "Hey, Rotor, could you help me unpack all the equipment for the portal machine? We can set it up just like last time to send Sorun back."

The purple walrus gave him a reciprocating nod. "Yeah, sure thing. If I remember right we packed all the parts away, but we should be able to get it all set up by tomorrow."

"You packed the portal machine away?" Sorun asked.

Rotor shrugged. "Well, we thought you were gonna stay here and it was taking up a lot of space in the lab, so..."

"Fair point," Sorun conceded. "We really gotta go all the way back to the HQ, though?"

"For the parts, yeah, but if you really want to we could probably just fly the parts back here to the city to rebuild it." Rotor turned to the side at an empty spot in the crowd. "Hey, Nicole? There a spot anywhere we could set it up?"

In response to Rotor's inquiry, Nicole's form appeared in the empty spot he'd been speaking into. She seemed... better, Sorun had thought. That extremely strange expression she'd wore right before disappearing on Sorun from earlier was gone and had settled into a more neutral look.

She kept glancing at Sorun, though. Minute twitches of her eyes that Sorun wouldn't have caught otherwise if he wasn't looking at her. And every time her eyes landed on him, for just that split second, her expression would change just the barest amount. What it would change into Sorun couldn't tell, because it disappeared almost faster than it took to form. And when she'd gone to address Rotor, her face had gone back to neutral and she stopped doing it entirely.

"I believe that can be arranged," she calmly answered the walrus. "There's an empty space in the science center that should be more than adequate in terms of space."

Rotor nodded. "Alright, cool. Me and Tails will fly out, pick up the parts, fly back and set everything up."

"Great," Sorun said. "So, uh... yeah, that's it," he continued while clapping his hands together. "This's my last day here. After that I'm going home."

"Ah reckon that's the right call," Bunnie said from off to the side. "We'll miss ya somethin' fierce, Sorun, but, well... family's important. And not all of us've got folk to go back to." Her organic hand slipped to the side and intertwined its fingers with Antoine's, who stood next to her. "Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It's been real nice knowin' ya, Sorun," Bunnie finished with a smile.

Antoine mirrored the smile of his wife and and looked towards Sorun. "Oui, we will very much be missing you."

Sorun saw from the corner of his eye that Nicole had glanced towards the hand-holding couple. Her expression changed for a split second once again, and this time he was all but certain it was a sad expression. And like before she'd returned her face to looking normal. He hummed a bit at the sight, and then turned back to the rest.

"Thanks, guys. Means a lot. But I really do have to get back." He glanced over to the other side, where Elias was standing. "In a country where I'm actually considered a legal citizen."

Elias made a nervous chuckle, and then turned his head a bit. "Believe it or not I was drafting some documentation for you before... well, you know."

Sorun's eyes widened a bit in surprise. He hadn't actually known that, nor even cared enough to make a note of it. Well, it was very considerate of Elias, even if it was a bit useless now. He still gave Elias a small appreciative smile though for his efforts, the king seeing it and nodding back in turn.

"Awww, do you really have to be going away so soon?" Sorun turned towards the new voice, and saw Amy standing near him. The pink hedgehog had a small pout on her face. "We're not gonna have enough time to plan a going away party or anything for you!"

"Eh, one party was enough, I think," Sorun said, holding his hand up and giving her a bit of a shy grin. "I honestly don't think I have the energy for a party at any rate. But thanks anyway for the thought, Amy."

"Yeah, you're welcome." The pout faded away from Amy's face and was replaced by a small smile. "Bye, Sorun. It was really nice having a weapon buddy."

"Can't really call me a weapon buddy anymore," Sorun reminded her. "Don't have the sword anymore, remember?"

Amy shook her head, surprising Sorun a bit. "Nope! Weapon buddies for life, sword or no sword."

"Don't argue with her over it, Sorun. It's a losing battle," Sonic called out, the blue hedgehog still reclining in his chair. "Just accept it and move on with your life."

Sorun rose an eyebrow at the reclining Mobian. "I'm sure you'd know all about that, huh, Sonic?"

"What was that thing you said that one time? 'I have no recollection'?" Sonic tilted his head towards Sorun and flashed him a grin. "I have no-"

"That's not grammatically applicable given the current context; you saying 'I have no recollection' is you essentially saying you have no memory of Amy chasing you around, which I know is false," Sorun corrected. Sonic's grin fell away, Amy began pouting again, and everyone else began grinning towards the trio. "It'd be more appropriate if you said 'I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about' or something along those lines. I told you that if you want to battle somebody with wits you need to learn how to speak correctly."

"..." Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Sonic relaxed his head so that he faced the ceiling and reclined even further in his chair. "I don't even have a comeback for that one," he mumbled. "Just had to get the last word in, huh?"

"You know me."

"Yeah, now I do. I'm almost glad you're takin' your fancy speak back to Earth-"

Sonic was interrupted when the doors to leading the room everybody was in burst wide open. Everyone had jumped up a bit in shock, and Sonic had fallen out of the chair he'd been reclining in due to the loud bang! of the doors opening. Sorun had turned his head towards the now-open doors to see who it was that had just opened them, and then felt all the blood drain out from his face when he recognized the Mobian standing in the doorway.

She was standing right at the entrance to the doors, legs spread wide and arms held to the sides to hold the doors open. She was panting, heavily, like she'd sprinted all the way here, and her golden eyes were locked right onto Sorun. The human himself had gone as far as to take a step back from the sight of the manic-looking yellow cat looking straight at him, looking almost frightful.

Before Sorun could react in the slightest, Honey ran headlong into the room barreling right towards him. She hadn't even let the table stand in her way, and had jumped right on top of it just to sprint across it without losing momentum. When the cat Mobian reached the end of the table, she'd jumped yet again to dismount the table, landed on the floor still at running speeds, and then barreled straight at Sorun...

... Only to then run a short distance past him and completely stop. At the same time, Sorun found himself feeling just the slightest bit lighter right when Honey had passed him. He looked down, and realized that his white coat was missing, leaving his tattered black shirt. He blinked, and then looked behind himself to see Honey just standing there. Holding his nearly-destroyed white coat in her hands, looking at it mournfully. He could have sworn he saw tears threaten to form in her eyes.

"You didn't even have it for a week," Honey mumbled in a voice so quiet Sorun barely heard her. "I poured my heart and soul into this coat, and look at what you've done to her..."

Sorun slumped his shoulders. "It's nice to see you too, Honey. Dunno if you know this but I died. Came back, by the way. Thanks for worrying."

She waved a hand in Sorun's direction. "Ah-huh, that's nice, Sorun, but could you please explain to me-" she turned towards Sorun so fast with such a distraught look Sorun stumbled back in shock at the speed, "- why the beautiful coat I gifted you out of the kindness of my heart is nearly FALLING TO PIECES!?"

Everyone in the room had gone still, looking towards the cat like she'd lost her mind. All except Sorun, who just stared towards her with a flat look, like he wasn't at all surprised at her reaction. That seemed to make everybody watching the two grow even more confused.

"... I died," Sorun blandly stated.

"Excuses!" She threw the tattered thing at Sorun, who fumbled to catch it. "It's always excuses with you! 'Oh, I'm fighting giant killer robots who keep trying to stab me and set me on fire, ooh, I'm more busy trying to stay alive than make sure the best clothes in the world that are better than what I deserve don't get scuffed up', it's always the same thing! Do you take joy in torturing me so!? Some sick, sadistic pleasure!? Is that it!?"

"Woman, I-!"

The pair's voices became indiscernible as the both of them began drowning each other out in a shouting match. The Freedom Fighters gathered around looked at each other with confused, bewildered looks, with none of them sure how to proceed. Sorun and Honey didn't even seem to notice them all staring at the two as they continued shouting at each other.

"... I always thought Sorun was kidding around when he said the clothes lady he got his stuff from was nuts," Sonic mumbled out to Sally after finally having picked himself up off the ground. He stepped to her side and found his eyes completely transfixed at the exchange between the two.

"Yeah, I know," Sally quietly agreed, her own eyes uncontrollably affixed to the pair. "I kind of feel bad since I was the one that introduced them."

"Should we, uh... should we do somethin'?"

Sally shook her head. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to get in between that, Sonic."

"You just don't have any respect for me!" Honey screamed out. "None! None whatsoever! I slave over a sewing machine for you and for what!? For this!?"

"I got stabbed through the chest! What more do you want from me!?" Sorun yelled.

"Oh, boo-hoo, you're fine now, aren't you!?" she snapped. "I don't even see a scar through the hole in your shirt! Yet another quality product you've ruined I might add!" Her eyes shot downwards, where she then saw the hole in Sorun's blue pants where he'd been stabbed through the thigh by a lance. "The pants, too!? What, did you get stabbed through the leg!?"

"YES!"

"IS THE CONCEPT OF DODGING TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND!?"

"E-excuse me..."

Somehow, beyond all reason, that small voice had been enough to get through to the two and get them to stop shouting. Their eyes immediately traveled to the side and downwards towards the source of the voice, along with everybody else in the room who hadn't even noticed the new person enter due to being too distracted by Sorun and Honey's shouting. The newcomer everybody was looking towards was Cream, who was standing right next to the pair and looking up at them with sad eyes. Her pet Chao with the bowtie was floating on her right side, while Virgil was floating on her left.

Sorun was the first one to react. "O-oh, Cream, hi there," he softly greeted, nervously smiling at her while his eyes darted to Honey. "Hey, you know the rules. No shouting in front of kids."

"Of course, of course," Honey immediately agreed with a nod.

The rate at which the two had synced up and quickly agreed with each other right then and there after all the shouting was an act that went on to mystify every single Freedom Fighter who bore witness to this entire exchange.

Nervously smiling, and completely ignoring the wide-eyed looks everybody was giving him and Honey, Sorun turned and looked down at the small rabbit. "Was there something you needed, Cream? How come you're all the way out here at the castle?"

"W-well, it's kind of a long story..." she said in a shy tone. "My mother and I were at Ms. Honey's store because my mother wanted some new clothes for me." She looked towards Honey, who, for some reason, froze up a bit. "Ms. Honey seemed really sad, and when I asked why, she just said she missed you, Mr. Sorun! And I remembered earlier when Ms. Amy was at our house having tea with us that the nice computer lady appeared and said everybody was gathering here, and she mentioned your name, too! Ms. Amy seemed really surprised and left before she could even finish her tea, and later I told Ms. Honey what happened and she ran all the way here, so I flew after her because I was worried!"

Sorun blinked at the long-winded explanation, and then he tilted his head curiously at the little girl. "You... flew here?"

"Mhm! With my ears!"

"I'm ignoring that." Pushing Cream's statement completely out of his mind, Sorun turned towards Honey. He saw that her eyes had darted away from his, and the instant he saw this, he found a small smirk playing across his lips. "Aw, Honey... don't tell me. You were actually sad I was gone?"

"W-well... ugh, of course I was!" she replied in an indignant tone. The yellow cat crossed her arms while keeping her whole head turned away from Sorun. "You were gone! How was I supposed to feel!?"

"Mah, mah, Honey, there's no need to be upset. I get it." Chuckling, Sorun held up the tattered white coat to her even though she still refused to look his way. "It's aaaall clear now. You didn't wanna look all emotional in front of me so you pretended to be more upset at the coat to hide it. It's understandable you'd be too shy to show that side of you. Almost sounds like something I would do, actually."

It'd all been said in a teasing tone, which seemed to visually irritate Honey based on how she began to growl under he breath. Before Sorun could say anything else her hand shot out, and she snatched the coat out from Sorun's hand, and then turned her back to him fully.

"Tch. Who do you think I am? I have an image it maintain." She turned her head to Sorun, angrily glaring at him. An angry glare that by now was much more subdued. And if one looked hard enough there may have been a smile there somewhere. "And I am upset about the coat. I really did put a lot of effort into this one."

"Yeah, I know..." Sorun began rubbing the back of his head while making a slight chuckle. "Sorry about that, Honey. I tried my best not to ruin your gift to me so soon after getting it."

"... You're impossible to stay mad at, y'know?" Sighing, Honey tossed the coat over her shoulder and then turned fully to Sorun. "I suppose I could overlook it this time and file this instance under extenuating circumstances. Just this once. Given your...-" she glanced at Cream, and then looked back at Sorun, "- trip? Trip. It's a shoddy excuse, but I'll take it."

Sorun's response was to make a light chuckle at Honey, while also giving her a small smile. She'd blinked in surprise at the action, but then she gave him almost the exact same chuckle and smile at seeing Sorun's reaction. By now everybody watching had calmed down as well and began smiling again. Nicole, too, thankfully enough. It was something that caused a nice feeling to well in Sorun, though it was interrupted when he felt a soft tug on the leg of his pants. He looked down to see Cream was trying to get his attention.

"Mr. Sorun? Did you go somewhere?" she asked him. "You never came back to check on Mr. Virgil, and everybody seemed really worried and sad for you."

"Ahh, right, that." Sorun got down on one knee and addressed the Mobian child with a calm smile. "Yeah, I had to go somewhere alone for a bit. I'm back now, though."

Cream's ears straightened up in understanding. "Oh! Where did you have to go?"

"Super special Freedom Fighter mission, top secret, can't tell you a single thing. Sorry." The explanation caused a small whine to come out of Cream, as well as her large rabbit ears to lower somewhat. Sorun once again chuckled a bit at the sight, and then looked over to the side. He caught Virgil looking at him with the same scowl he usually wore. "Glad to see you're happy to see me."

"Chao."

"Don't try and say you weren't worried. I know for a fact you were sadly staring out a window, all forlorn-like. You missed me."

The accusation seemed to shake the Chao a bit. He did a double-take on Sorun, growled out a bit, showing his sharpened teeth, and then turned his head away from Sorun while grumbling out, "C-chao-chao..."

"You're allergic to feelings, I get it. Missed you, too, buddy." A sudden thought came to Sorun, which made him pause as he continued staring out at the Chao. With him returning to Earth, Virgil would essentially be losing out on an owner. He couldn't just go and take him back with him. A strange, mystical creature wouldn't last two days on Earth before something bad happened to him. At least that's what Sorun's paranoid mind told him. "Maybe I could... nah."

Internally, Sorun shook his head. He didn't want to put his Chao at risk by bringing him back, or separate him from his homeworld. He'd have to stay on Mobius. Which meant that he would need a new owner. He figured asking Cream wouldn't be too terrible of an idea considering she seemed to already have a handle on caring for Virgil. And he honestly doubted anybody else was up for it.

"That all said, Cream..." Sorun began, turning back towards the child rabbit, "I need to go on another trip. Unfortunately, this one's going to be a permanent trip."

"Permanent?" Cream repeated, growing a bit sad as a result. "You're leaving again?"

"'Fraid so. I gotta go home to my family, you see. And my home's so far away that I won't even be able to ever visit. So can you do my a favor and keep Virgil for me?"

The question seemed to surprise Cream a bit, who'd widened her eyes at Sorun at hearing the question. Virgil had reacted, too, though while he was surprised as well, he also didn't seem too happy about what Sorun just asked.

"Chao-chao!" The black and blue Chao floated right in front of Sorun, shaking his head in denial while angrily gesturing to Sorun with his arms. "Chao!"

Sorun sighed at the sight. "Virgil, there's no Chao back where I'm from," he said. "I don't know what would happen to you if you came back with me. Things, uh... things don't work back there like they do here." The explanation caused Virgil to pause a bit, and while the anger began to rapidly fade from his features, he'd still lowered his head down to the floor while the rest of him seemed to go slack, save for his V-shaped wings that kept him aloft. Breathing heavily through his nose, Sorun reached forwards and gently poked the Chao's head hard enough to pick his head back up. "I'd take you with me if I could. But I can't. Besides, it'd be a bit too cruel of me to take you away from your home." He removed his finger, and Virgil found it in himself to keep his head lifted up at Sorun. "Keep an eye on things here for me, okay? I won't be able to do it anymore."

"... Chao." Reluctantly, Virgil gave him a nod as a look of understanding crossed his eyes. Sorun nodded back at him, smiling once again, and then turned back to Cream. To his relief, she was smiling back at him.

"Don't worry, Mr. Sorun! I'll take good care of him!" she promised. "I, um... I hope your next trip goes well! I'll miss you!"

"It'll go fine, Cream, don't worry," Sorun said to her. "Now, uh... maybe you should go back to your mom? You kind of made it sound like you kinda just abandoned her at-"

"Oh dear! Mother!" She seemed to reach the same vein of thought as Sorun did from the way realization flashed over her eyes, along with her features morphing into a worried look. "She must be worried sick over me! Sorry, everybody, but I need to go back now!" Much to Sorun's confusion, Cream's ears began to... flap. They were moving up and down like a pair of wings. "Goodbye, everyone!"

After that, with Sorun staring blankly and with a straight face, Cream's body began to lift up all the ground. Her ears, acting like wings, carried her all the way out through the doors she and Honey had come in from, with her own pet Chao Cheese following after her. Virgil followed as well, but then had stopped at the open doorway to the room. He glanced back at Sorun, looking straight into his eyes, and gave him a nod. Sorun nodded back, after which the Chao turned around and followed after the other two.

"... Just to be clear we all saw that, right?" Sorun suddenly spoke up after the three finally left. He got back into a standing position, and then looked to the side at Bunnie, who was looking out towards where Cream had flown off to. "Bunnie, are rabbit Mobians supposed to do that?"

"... Ah know ah can't..." she mumbled in answer, seemingly looking just as surprised as Sorun at seeing the rabbit girl flying away with her ears. "Well... huh. Ain't that a thing?" Chuckling a bit under her breath, she shook her head and, with a small smile, looked towards Sorun. "Guess ya ain't leaving without one more surprise, huh?"

"Evidently," Sorun dryly responded with a grin of his own. "So now that the goodbyes are out of the way, what do you all want to do now?"

The next hours were spent with everyone just talking. Sitting there in that room, hanging out like any normal group of friends would. It was nice, Sorun had felt. That he was leaving things in such a state like this. Where everybody was happy and okay. And he was glad to get this much in with everyone before he'd finally be leaving. He was glad to have stayed and spent this time with everyone. Enough that he'd eventually left the room smiling.

For the first time in what felt like forever, he didn't feel too shy about other people seeing him smile.