Patience was a virtue that had been drilled into Blaze from a young age. Truth be told, the feline couldn't think of a time in this second life that she hadn't been waiting for something. The painstakingly methodical process of watching papers be drafted that she was set to sign, sitting in each meeting knowing it'd never be her last and having events be pushed back just as she was prepared to act upon them were all common experiences for the princess of the Sol kingdom. These were pauses and pressures she had just come to accept as part of her role, to be stuck in the palace with things to do but knowing more was always on the horizon. It was the sort of background strain that experience had taught her to handle, like gravity upon her shoulders and tiredness eating away at her.

The present stretcher of her patience however wasn't like the others. There was a certain dichotomy to it, two different waiting states in a cycle that she and its source both longed to break and believed they eventually would. Additionally different, her present waiting had taken her far from the palace; the distance between her and that residence couldn't be so much as calculated by traditional means. The pyrokinetic was sat in a field, floral grassland garden stretching all around her with only one interruption nearby; a quaint little house on a hill, surrounded by a picket fence.

Cool wind blew her right side, but the sun hung beaming overhead. Sunflowers, thistles, dandelions, daisies and clovers claimed residences throughout the knee-high grass, most of them growing tall and proud. The song of flickies and buzz of dopey bumblebees, casually meandering from here to there, had returned to fill the air but ten minutes after Blaze and her companions had taken their places. It was all so simple and picturesque but the grating at her patience wouldn't let her enjoy this moment.

She had visited this area on many occasions, but only this exact site once before. While it had technically been three weeks ago, those weeks since had been spent back in her own world. There was a mark on the grassland, little more than fifteen feet away, where a portal had been opened. Though the patch had somewhat healed, the spinning form had pushed away the grass and left a small dirt trench where-

"Miss Blaze?" A quiet voice stole Blaze from her thoughts and drew her gaze away from the mark he'd left, "Are you okay? You've not got much further with your daisy crown," Cream the rabbit, her long ears half hidden beneath an overlarge sunhat both asked and pointed out.

"Yes, I'm fine, sorry," The feline's eyes flickered downward, reminding her of the small pile of daises in her lap; only six had been folded into the chain.

She took a flower in her hand, looking back up to the standing youth only to find a worried pout on her face, "Are you not having fun?"

"I am, Cream," The youngster's suspicious gaze could not be denied, "I'm just a little distracted, that's all."

"Just give up mate, there's no way you'll get her to do anything right now," A thickly accented voice cut Cream off before she could continue, "She's just way too busy waiting for her boyfriend."

Behind the rabbit, having just slung perhaps the most eclectic and least structurally integral flower sash possible across her shoulder, stood Marine. As was ever so regular, the loudmouthed raccoon was beaming with a certain undeniable confidence. It was the sort of look she often wore when attempting to rile the princess up.

"Marine," Taking on a sternness that sounded more fragile than glass, Cream turned to the shipwright, "Miss Blaze and Mister Silver aren't in a relationship, they told us as much when he left."

"Sure, that's what they said, but what really matters is what they did," The Raccoon proclaimed, "They were making kissy eyes at each other right up until he finally left, and even that only ended after he made some mushy promises about how he'd be back and that he'd miss her. Almost felt like they forgot we were even there."

Before the raccoon could go any further, and long before Blaze would have mustered the will to tell her off, another lightly oversized sunhat entered the equation, this time arriving atop Marine's head. Vanilla the rabbit, dressed in her usual pink and red, had broken from her crocheting to take command of the situation. Though Blaze was a princess, and an adult in her own right, the older rabbit a somewhat intangible latent maturity that seemed to work wonders in moments like this.

"Dearie, it's not nice to tease," Her hand still atop the raccoon's hatted head, she smiled, "Now that you've finished your sash, I was wondering if you and Cream could do a little something for me?"

"It's a bandoleer… but alright, Miss Vanilla," Hearing Marine address the mother with an honorific still stunned Blaze. She'd only use the term princess in jest and most other adult in the raccoon's life never got beyond being called mate, "Whatever this quest is, I'm sure we'll be able to handle it!"

"Of course, it's a bandoleer, how silly of me," Vanilla softly replied, shifting the floral mess to sit more firmly on her shoulder, "I've not managed to find a four leafed clover this year, do you think you two could find one for me"

"Four leafed clover? Why would you want one of those?" Marine questioned, "Aren't the three leafed ones good enough?" Something clicked in Blaze's mind, less than a legend but still rather prolific, that she had only read of in her first life, never the second.

"Four leafed clovers supposedly bring good fortune. They're regarded as a source of good luck, in this world at least," Blaze explained.

"Oh, yes! You try to find a new one every year, right mum?" Cream piqued up.

"Yes, and it's getting a little late in the year. I think two sets of fresh eyes might stand a bit more luck than my single set," Vanilla explained.

"Oh, so it's a treasure then," The raccoon's eyes lit up, "Not to worry, I'm sure we'll be able to find you one!"

"I have every faith you will," The mother pointed across and to the right, toward her home and away from the area the group was currently situated, "I believe I found last year's over on that hill, it might be smart to start your search there."

The light in Marine's blue eyes had gained a chaotic glow, it was an occurrence that Blaze didn't usually enjoy seeing. At least it was being channelled in a positive direction for once, "Right, I'm on it! Come on Cream!"

Before the little rabbit could so much as respond, her raccoon friend had shot off and was already out of earshot. With a subdued laugh, Vanilla had gone back to her crotchet-work, on her way to completing a second stuffed chao to sit with Cheese and Chocola in her lap. Due to the rapid procession of events, Blaze had rather been left behind. Though she'd been on board for a while, the mention of good luck charms had roused certain thoughts. It took Cream learning into her vision to snap her out of it.

"Here," From behind her back, the little rabbit produced a daisy ring from behind her back and crowned the princess, "Now when you finish yours, it can be for Mister Silver," Despite having just defended Blaze from Marine's claims, the soft smile on the bunny's face felt somehow teasing, "O-Or maybe you can make him a ring or something."

Without a second of hesitation, Cream ran off after the raccoon, not quite as fast but clearly intending to avoid any kind of reprimanding. She'd learned well. Marine truly was a bad influence.

Blaze's eyes drifted back down to her lap and the cluster of daisies upon it. A sigh slipped beyond her lips as she reached down and resumed what she had reccently abandoned. The process was simple, looping stem around stem until a cluster was formed, then a band and finally a full crown. It was supposed to be relaxing, so Cream had frequently repeated, but Blaze found the busywork only led her mind to drift.

It hadn't been a clover, but a good luck charm had sealed her fate and ended her prior life. She had learned of good and bad luck as a child through an old book discussing legends and lore of the long-destroyed world. While four leafed clovers had been touched on in less detail; there had been a focus on a certain series of crystals.

In her mind's eye, the feline could see two scenes. On one side was the sacrifice she'd succeeded in enacting, taking Iblis into herself: leaving for another dimension and leaving him all alone. On the other was an event she knew was less dramatic but was more pressingly worrying; Silver three weeks ago, generating a portal and stepping through to the future of this world. Both events bound by chaos emeralds and their separation.

Though she couldn't remember so much as its title, an old tome had told her a lot about the chaos emeralds. Making the heart's true desire reality, both through intentional channelling and otherwise. She recalled being no older than ten when she'd found out about the emeralds and opting not to tell him about them, knowing that the naïve hedgehog would get so devoutly attached to the concept that he'd risk life and limb to seek them out. That choice had proven to be foolish of course, those very emeralds had been vital to saving the future, but it'd been based in something she still found understandable.

Up until they'd encountered the blue emerald on that snowy peak, where she'd explained their power to him, she hadn't believed in any of it. She hadn't believed in four leafed clovers, she hadn't believed in magic rocks, and she certainly hadn't been in a position to believe in luck. Well, that latter truth had one exception.

"He'll be here soon, won't he?" Vanilla's voice interrupted the feline's train of thought, she looked up and locked eyes with the rabbit, "You seem rather nervous, Blaze."

"It's just the waiting," Blaze admitted, looking down to find she'd fumbled with her daisy chain, "I'm happy to be doing it with others this time but, truth be told…"

"The distractions aren't helping," She correctly concluded, "You just want him to be back, and until he is things just won't sit right. Waiting's always at its hardest just before you think something is going to happen."

"I have every confidence that he will return, so that worry isn't a part of it," Blaze sharply corrected, fiddling to sort the arrangement in her lap. Immediately flushed with foolishness, she continued, "You are right, the wait is still difficult," Speaking was only amplifying that feeling, the princess balled her fists in her lap and concluded, "I-I just want him beside me again."

"It's quite alright dearie," The mother smiled, seeming to intuit her status and regret, "I sent those two away for a reason. Now you don't have to worry about teasing."

A glance to the hill on the right showed that Vanilla was right, Cream and Marine were presently preoccupied by their grass scouring endeavour. Perhaps unknowingly, though her status as a mother brought that into question, Vanilla had utilised a stratagem to control Marine that it'd Blaze years to formulate. By allowing the youngster to believe that something was a quest or adventure, she could be tricked into enacting all manner of chores at least once. Usually the method only worked once per specific objective, but the right encouragement made the world of a difference.

"Thank you, Miss Vanilla," Blaze managed to quietly respond.

It was lessened, but discomfort was still prodding at her back. The wait was just so agonising, so many variables were at play. While she did hold every confidence that he'd return, him returning unscathed was another matter entirely. It was to be expected that he'd be filthy on his return, clean running water was not common to post-apocalyptic worlds, but other aspects of his state were much more variable. Would the meals they'd packed be enough for him and, if not, would he have been able to gather food in the other world? How injured would he be? Last time he had returned with a patch over his left eye and his nose wrongly twisted, somehow originating from a world overwhelmed with overactive plants.

This future's state was just so variable, perpetually in flux. The living plants of its prior incarnation would almost certainly have disappeared but, seeing as the hedgehog hadn't immediately returned, a good world likely hadn't taken its place. The worst-case scenario would be something akin to their first childhood, where monsters and lava rivers freely flowed through the city, but that much was unlikely. Usually what he encountered was more mundane, a planet overtaken by machines who had themselves died to time or a world war-torn beyond sustainability. Neither was ideal of course, and both were as far removed from their goal as each other, but the pattern of destruction was becoming mundane in Blaze's mind.

What made the wait for him the worst kind of wait Blaze commonly experienced was how all-consuming it was. Usually, an afternoon spent in a field like this would be something to relish; being out of the stuffy palace rooms, feeling the cool wind through her fur and simply being among friends was a unique circumstance. Unfortunately, his absence hung like a cloud over the entire affair.

That thought brought her to snort. Her perspective was made so much drearier for the lack of him, she frankly found it embarrassing. Thinking of Silver's absence as a cloud was ironic considering his love of clear blue skies. It was doubly fitting truth that his presence was enough to brighten a day, but the concept that his absence allowed darkness to encroach would surely upset him.

Other waits were passive, Blaze had grown adept at ignoring those clocks ticking down, but Silver was different. Despite having spent much of this second lifetime without him, his absence now left a void that pestered her more than Maine ever could. That earlier capacity to ignore his absence was owed to her unknowing state; if she had known of Silver and the still be in a destroyed world, things wouldn't nearly be the same.

Not having him within arm's reach, able to act as everything from the most trustworthy of confidante to her comfiest pillow, kept her in a certain low-level state of discomfort. Panacea that he was, with uniquely difficult withdrawal symptoms, the hedgehog really could part the grey whenever she needed him. She doubted he even truly understood his position, he probably just thought what he was doing was normal or the right thing.

Unarguably, it was neither, but he was too naïve and stubborn to accept any explanation like that. Dreary was the correct state for Blaze to be in, if she was enjoying herself then she wasn't taking her position seriously enough; that was a mentality she had never been able to shake, no matter how foolish it was. Whether they were lounging around in the library with her head rested against his chest or going walks about town with him hanging off her arm, it would end the same way.

It typically wasn't until the aftermath, or at least after he did something much too saccharine, that such a realisation would dawn on her; she'd shed burning wave after burning of embarrassment as she'd realise that there were more important things she should have been doing rather than flit around with him. Equally however, she knew they'd find themselves in this same position again soon. To think of anything surrounding the pair of them as normal, in or outside of their relationship, was equally farci-

"Forgive me for asking," Once again, and thankfully before her embarrassing thoughts could reach some sort of crescendo, Vanilla's voice redirected Blaze's attention, "While it is lovely that you're so concerned about your friend, and his job, I don't recall it being mentioned when you first visited. Yet, the future he visits is that of our world rather than yours, correct?"

Being entirely forthcoming with her and Silver's history, or even their shared present, was a difficult thing. While many of their friends were warriors in their own right, taking on adventures and more than their share of woes, the inherently distressing topic that swaddled their self-proclaimed purpose was one they avoided broaching. Reminding people of their future death over and over, let alone the loss of worlds, was a taboo she resisted breaking. Vanilla's understanding of this whole situation was undoubtedly limited, all she knew about Silver's current venture to the future was that he was its protector, not its restorer. That being said, Blaze wasn't sure what would have slipped its way along the grapevine, especially with Amy as Vanilla's primary source regarding the pair of them.

"Yes, it's the future of this world rather than mine, though they are often connected," Blaze elaborated, but quickly came to realise what the elder was actually asking, "Silver's from this world."

"I was thinking as much," The elder hummed, hands still shuffling as she crocheted, "It is lovely to see that you've got such a close companion now, but it's so surprising to see you like this. Despite him not being here then, I don't remember seeing the look you're wearing now."

"There's a look on my face?" Blaze's response came out just a little too quickly for her liking, she attempted to tone it down but still felt the need to pry, "What kind of look?"

"I'm not sure how to describe it, you almost look…" The rabbit hesitated, in her work and speech alike, "Forlorn? It's certainly understandable that Marine and Cream had noticed it."

Just as naïve was a codeword for so many things, Blaze could easily parse that by forlorn the rabbit meant lovesick, "I see."

"There's nothing wrong with that, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Blaze took that as meaning she'd gone as red in the face as she felt, "I'm just rather surprised to see it from you. Cream was insisting to me that Blaze had a boyfriend before I'd even seen him, though I suspect her assumption originated from Amy rather than Marine," Ah, that would be how far and quickly information had made its way along the grapevine, "I feel as though there must be some sort of a story there, especially as he's not from your world."

The progression of time since he'd returned was a rather peculiar thing; while it had only truly been half a year since the feline had first come to this dimension, she had recalled over fourteen years of lived experience in a single moment between then and now. That meant, from her point of view, that'd all happened rather long ago, and Silver was the better-known addition to her history. From Vanilla's position, the princess could see why it would look a little strange. The issue was, how plainly should she broach the reality?

"Well, um," Blaze's throat felt dry, "We certainly aren't like you'll have heard thirdhand from Amy," She managed to answer but tore her gaze from the mother, this all felt so childish. It was probably best to just give the story of how they'd reunited, "I found him on one of the palace rooftops, entirely unconscious and covered with injuries. I was restless with worry that he was an omen of something worse on its way, so I found myself walking the garden well past midnight. I was on my way back when I noticed him, back up on the roof, looking up at the stars," That concluded the relatively normal half of the story, from then on it was them making contact and instantaneously recalling 14 years of shared trauma, "I suppose, to paraphrase what Sonic or Amy might say, we hit it off from there."

"That is certainly a strange story, but…" The older lady seemed to catch herself, or perhaps a newly embarrassing look hung on the prokinetic's muzzle, "I'm sorry if I'm overstepping by prying like this, Blaze."

"Not at all, Miss Vanilla," The cat half lied.

"Like I said, even if you're forlorn now, I'm happy to see you've forged such a close bond," Vanilla fretted, "But I'm just a little surprised you formed such a bond with him, he seems even further away from you than the friends you made here when you first arrived."

"I suppose that is a little abnormal," Blaze hesitantly concurred.

"When Cream first brought you to meet me, I was certain you'd gradually open up to us all," Vanilla recalled aloud, "But only a couple of months later I hear about this Silver and you being inseparable, proof of which I've now seen," Hot tension was swirling around Blaze, yet the mother looked so pleasantly calm, "I suppose I'm just a little lost regarding the nature of your bond. What actually are you to each other?"

"Silver is," It embarrassing to think about the concept she was lingering on, let alone vocalise something so childish to someone she considered to be so mature. The patience of the older woman, her kindly smile so free from judgement, was too much to resist. Blaze's eyes fell to the grass and a much too fitting metaphor entered her mind, "My good luck charm," The moment those words slipped her lips, Blaze felt herself implode with embarrassment, "O-Or at least the luckiest thing to ever happen to me… me meeting him was that, as in."

"And what do you mean by that?" The soft curiosity that had lingered in the rabbit's voice had piqued up to reach a new height.

"He…" Blaze hesitated, tongue tied by thoughts she'd already weighed, "I don't know if I believe in luck really, but when he's around everything just feels so much easier. It's as if, no matter how difficult things get, I know we'll be able to manage it," That didn't sound quite right, it wasn't enough, "I just feel a lot more confident in things I'm uncomfortable dealing with when Silver's around. He knows how to take the weight off my shoulders in just the right way, even if he probably doesn't realise he is. When he's not here, it feels like something's missing."

"That's so sweet," While Vanilla's voice was always soft, a certain wistfulness hung in her tone, "There's nothing quite like those feelings, the power and excitement companionship brings. Judging by his state upon departing three weeks ago, I imagine he must feel the same way without you."

Red heat continued to boil on Blaze's muzzle as she recalled countless similar statements from him, each blunter and more heartfelt than the last. In a failing attempt to calm her nerves, the knitting of daisies resumed, "I'm quite certain he does."

"Forgive me if this is a dire question but what will being away have been like for him? You brought and asked me to prepare quite a lot," Vanilla pointed out.

This was true, at the mother's side rested a large wicker basket that was stuffed to the brim with both picnic and medical supplies. Blaze had opted to request Vanilla prepare the food, having tried her hand at making a picnic for his last few returns and never being content with the outcome. The first aid equipment however, that she had been more than capable of gathering and was equally prepared to use. The correct application of bandages, slings and even stitches was somehow a lot easier for the feline than the supposedly simple task of frying an egg.

"The past three weeks will have been difficult for him," Blaze was willing to admit as she fiddled with the flowers, "I don't know what the world he'll have encountered will be like, but it likely won't have been fully safe. Otherwise, he'd have returned to this field almost immediately," She couldn't keep lying, but she could at least sugar coat things, "It's likely that he'll try to play off whatever it was like and the things he's experienced these past weeks. It will have been tough, but he'll make it back to me. He always does."

"I do recall him saying something to a similar effect," In Blaze's mind's eye, she was again reminded of his departure, the heartfelt babbling about returning that refused to cease falling from his lips. Though she'd undoubtedly been briefer, the thought of the parallel sent another rush of warmth throughout her frame and set her tail to spike, "You clearly have a lot of faith in him."

"I-I suppose," The redness on her face grew overwhelming as birdsong reclaimed the air and Vanilla's claim lingered in her mind. Unable to stand it, she felt the need to justify that truth, "I-It's foolish I know. He's a naïve and overly open and much too honest. I've told him as much, but he refuses to change."

Soft laughter sounded from the rabbit. If it were Marine or Amy in Vanilla's position then the heat on Blaze's face would surely have redoubled, but the elder rabbit's more knowing and genuine aura was somehow adept at wringing out her need to be serious, "I get the feeling you rather don't want him to."

Blaze fumbled for another flower and was forced to look down at her work. The crown was progressing much faster than she'd anticipated, no wonder Cream had noticed that she'd been distracted. After only a few more loops the circle would be complete, then came the matter of weaving the ends together.

"Well, maybe that's true," Reaching up, the princess adjusted the crown on her own head.

With a soft, bordering on knowing, smile, Vanilla reached into the basket and drew out a stopwatch, attached to a long chain, "He promised to return by midday today, correct?"

"Yes, but his actual arrival usually varies," Blaze explained, "Our methods of travel aren't perfect, there's usually come kind of disparity between when we aim and when we arrive. I'd not be surprised if he was five or so minutes late."

"Well, the initial threshold is approaching now," The pocket watch was closed and returned to holding, "Your wait is almost over."

Her eyes were again drawn across to the hill, Marine's was tearing clumps out of the grass while Cream was being ever so slow and gentle in her examination. The young rabbit had taken up a dandelion when they'd first arrived, blowing its many seeds off and into the air. When it successfully took twelve breaths to remove every ounce of fluff from the stem, she'd claimed it was a sign that he'd arrive on time: high noon on the dot. This had of course prompted Marine to claim such a concept was nonsense and that she could blow the seeds away in a single puff.

By the time the raccoon had given up, the local dandelion population had been more than halved. Of course, by the redness of the raccoon's cheeks and her constant panting, Blaze had her suspicions that, at that point, Marine had just picked up one of the cleaned stemmed and presented it as a success. Either way, Cream and Vanilla had seen fit to humour the chaotic bundle of energy. It was a bizarre situation, but Blaze couldn't deny she thought Cream and Vanilla's presence was good for Marine, even if she was perhaps a bad influence on the ever so innocent bunny.

Breaking from the pair and looking down, Blaze found she'd reached the end of her daisy chain. She took the crown off her own head for comparison; Cream's was plainly neater, owing to her practice, but the difference wasn't especially great. The closing of the loop however looked to be just a little more complex, the ending of one end's stem had to be slipped into the initially crafted loops.

As tenderly as she could, Blaze attempted to conjoin the ends. The end result was admittedly less pretty than Cream's well-crafted halo, but it was much better than it had any right to be. Considering the lack of attention she'd given it, how her eyes and mind had so freely wandered throughout, the lack of broken stems and damaged petals was frankly a miracle. A quick tug proved to her that it was stable too.

She softly returned Cream's crown to the top of her head, allowing her eyes to drift back to the rabbit. The pair of children seemed to have met in the middle of their two methodologies, working much faster in their scanning procedure but not tearing up great fistfuls of grass to examine. They hadn't gotten far, only to the far side of the hill they were on, and success plainly hadn't arrived yet.

How long would it be before Marine attempted to craft her own four leafed clo-

The stench of ozone overwhelmed that of flora and earth in an instant, the twitter of flickies was blown away by a quickly loudening whir and sudden shift in air pressure. Blaze's eyes were pulled to the dirt trench with its clipped grass. Just over half a dozen feet left of Vanilla, a good metre off the ground, a blue vortex no larger than a baseball was spinning in the air. When she first sighted it, the movement was slow, but its speed went from that of a lazy pinwheel to an industrial buzzsaw as it expanded. Vanilla, smartly recalling what had happened as he left, picked up her hamper and quickly moved toward Blaze, putting a little more distance between herself and the widening portal. With much the same thoughts in mind, the feline rose and took a few steps backward.

This proved to be wise as, just when the rabbit reached the princess, the edge of the sphere hit the ground. Soil was launched in most every direction, blades of grass and shredded daisies were taking to the air like a swarm of tumbling butterflies. It looked as though, in the future, the hill they were sat on had maybe been damaged or shifted slightly, the portal had formed substantially lower than the one he had left through. Dirt and mud had now come to fill the air, both as a cloud of brown dust and meteoric larger clumps.

This all came to a head as Blaze watched a cyan hued form emerged from the blue only to be immediately caught in the shrouding maelstrom of dirt. Spluttering immediately followed his arrival, that psychic light having quickly faded and the circle portal spun itself to nothingness. Moments later he emerged, fur riddle with brown dust and leaflitter, the same bulky bag he'd left with on his back and a smile on his face. In his hand was a familiar dark blue emerald, today was just riddled with coincidences.

"Am I late?" Silver asked, so very nonchalantly, seemingly totally unphased by how he'd just muddied himself.

"You're just on time dear, welcome back," Blaze felt a gentle push at her back as Vanilla gave that greeting, "Are you okay?"

If it wasn't for him newly dirtying himself, Blaze would have some answer to that question almost automatically. Though his posture was its usual overly straight form, there was every chance that half-healed injuries lay beneath his fur or obscured by mud. Following the elder's indication, setting the crown she'd crafted in the basket before taking it from Vanilla, Blaze made her way across to get a better look at him.

"Welcome back," She stoutly greeted, still pruning over him with analytical eyes, "I take it you were able to handle whatever the new future threw your way."

Why was she being so stern, so tense? The heat on her cheeks was probably the reason. While she had thrown a glance up and down him her eyes had come to rest on a particularly filthy patch of chest fur only just shy of his right shoulder. It was taking moderate effort not to reach out and dust him off, half berating his entrance all the while. Somehow, along with the mud and dirt, he'd managed to spread a not insignificant mass of plant matter across his person. In particular, the stem and leaves of a dandelion had found its way to rest among his quills.

"Yep, it was really weird this time though. It was like the whole world had been paved over. Everything was perfectly flat, Eggman did it as part of some plan to crush everything and restart on top of it all. I guess that was why I clipped the hill so badly getting back here; it's not really there in the future," He briefly looked down at himself, his hand reached up to pluck free the dandelion that had been bothering him, "I missed you."

Even through the filth on his face, Blaze couldn't help but notice but focus on his grin, even if only for a second. Her eyes returned to his shoulder as she pushed closer still, the incline of the hill putting them at almost even height. Despite the world he'd faced, despite the undoubtedly gruelling experience he had endured, his grin lingered on his face and in her heart. When she'd claimed he was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to her, moments like this truly showed her why. While yes, when faced with an immediate problem he'd shout and fight and growl at it until it was gone, the psychic could find comfort and beauty in even the most tragic of locations. To her however, he was the beauty in those desperate places.

"You're so naïve, you missed me? I was the one sat waiting for you, prepared in case you didn't make it back," That was a lie, Vanilla behind her would surely piece that together. She'd already expressed her certainty that he would return, "W-Well, it's good to see you're in one piece," It was only then, in this close, that she noticed he wasn't truly unharmed, "Well, almost."

"Eh? Almost?" He blinked, seemingly totally unaware.

Despite how filthy he was, a deviation upon the time traveller's face had caught the princess' eye. Not so gingerly, Blaze took the hedgehog's shoulder and brought him in much closer. Ignoring his eyeline, she took her left hand and brushed her thumb along his right cheek. The wince that rushed along his brow was undeniable, beneath the grime she'd managed to unearth a graze that stretched just beyond his muzzle and into the fur behind it.

"Oh, that," He seemed to realise, "I got that about a week ago, I went into one of Eggman's old bases to look for clues. A few of his robots had survived the centuries, I found them in a much better state than I'd expected to. Most of them were easy enough to handle, but the last managed to give me that," He pointed to the cut, "It was one of those robot versions of Sonic, I think. It was all rusty, so I wasn't expecting it to be so fast. The cut is already practically healed though."

Behind them, Blaze heard the thudding of footsteps and undeniably familiar shouting. It seemed that Marine, and likely by extension Cream, had given up on their task of finding a four leafed clover in order to greet the returned hedgehog. Vanilla had stopped the small troupe before they could fully rush over; Blaze couldn't tell if she was happy with that. On one hand it meant a moment of peace with him, on the other it meant they had an audience who plainly held some embarrassing perspective on what was happening.

The mark didn't look especially large, and it did look to be well on its way to healing, but it gave Blaze an opportunity to tear her focus away from the others. Rummaging through the hamper, she quickly managed to find a box of plasters, alcohol wipe and tube of antiseptic cream. A square package was drawn and levered from its paper casing; her eyes flickered up to meet him only to be sucked into his shinning yellow eyes for the first time in three weeks.

She broke away quickly by taking hold of his chin, turning his face as to get a better view of the injury, "Practically healed you say?" A tutting, teasing, tone entered her voice, "So it's not fully healed, yet you opted not to properly bandage it and now it's all dirty."

"I-I bandaged it when it happened," He winced as she began to, again not quite gently, drag the moist towelette across the supposed site of the injury, "It'd stopped bleeding by the evening and the bandage was fiddly, it was keeping me up."

She hummed questioningly as her scrubbing revealed the wound to be something of a laceration, made by some sort of a pointed implement, and quite a bit deeper than she'd anticipated, "And just how many injuries, sustained in the last three weeks, have you treated in such a manner?"

"Just that one, it's the only time I got hurt," Out the corner of his wincing eye, Silver must have caught the incredulous look she was shooting him, "I tripped a couple of times too but nothing worse. I only really had to fight one out of the twenty-one days I was away."

He bit his lip as she reached the middle of the wound, Blaze tried to be just a little gentler, "Well, I'm glad things weren't too hard," She sighed, now more than a little lost in her task, "I take it you've got everything we need to change the future and inform the others?"

"Yeah, I've got some old newspapers, maps of Eggman's new base and some of his old notes. It was pretty easy to find his stuff, they were the only buildings on the surface of the planet," He explained through gritted teeth, "Everything underground was more difficult, took me ages to find Station Square."

With a final rub, and a little more face twisting from the hedgehog, the right side of his muzzle was sufficiently cleaned. Judging by the length and assumed depth of the wound, she'd be surprised if a little scar didn't remain after it'd finally healed up. It'd be the freshest addition to the score of marks spread across his body, another she'd surely become accustomed to.

After stuffing the dirtied alcohol wipe back in its torn pouch, she dropped it back into the basket at her feet. Next, she drew out the plaster and applied antiseptic cream to it. More gingerly, with the best accuracy possible, she applied the tan covering. It looked to be just big enough and no more.

Behind the feline, the whining of Marine was growing louder again. Soon they would have to face her and endure the kindness of the rabbits. This was likely the only moment of true peace they'd get until this evening, taking advantage of this moment was a must. Quickly, she set down the basket by her feet.

"Hold still, I'm going to sort your quills out at least, you're really did make yourself filthy," She now fussed, reaching up and pushing her fingers through them, "I'll have to rebandage that cut after you clean yourself up properly."

"I managed to find an underground lake to bathe in while I was away, so I'm not actually all that dirty," He informed her, but didn't resist as she ran her fingers through the fan of quills on top of his head.

The filth was all surface level, relatively easy to dust off, but it'd coated him so thoroughly that there was no way she could remove it all quickly. Even still, despite what he'd claimed, she doubted the pebbles she was finding were the result of his arrival. At least he didn't reek like he had after returning from a future where Eggman opted to use all the junk in the ocean to create a series of ludicrously effective robots. Instead, the scent of sweat clung in his fur, a sign of his efforts.

Somehow, the grass and chunks of plant were giving Blaze far more bother than the dirt. Maybe it was because of how fluffy he was and how widely spread his quills were, in the three weeks he'd spent away they had substantially grown. She'd cut them just before his departure, just to make sure they didn't get caught on anything and were easy to manage. It all just grew out at a ludicrous pace. Between his second and third quills was a mass of green so-

Blaze blinked as her hand fell on that grassy clump, she didn't believe what she'd just seen. She took the mass in her hand and quickly picked through it, flicking away blades of grass and errant leaves. Within the small pile, at the bottom, she was confronted with the very thing she thought she'd seen. It was small and a little rough around the edges but, as she picked it up by the stem, the plant was exactly what she'd thought it was.

It was truly ludicrous, frankly unthinkably so. Just as his departure had cleaved the grass, his return had generated the same effect and revealed the fortuitous plant. A smile landed on her lips; her own bashfulness only just allowing her to smother laughter that truly longed to escape. That crooked, fundamentally foolish and embarrassing, grin was something that only he could prompt from her. It better resembled a bent wire than the supposed perfect smile of a princess, as it was so marred by undeniable embarrassment and a half-hearted attempt at suppression.

"You're so naïve," She couldn't help but tut, still failing to beat back her grin.

"Eh? Do I have another cut that I just didn't no-

She put her forefinger to his nose, turning his face and gaze toward her. It took a moment for him to recognise her redirection; his eyes first flickered up to meet hers before, seconds later, dropping down to what she held between them. She was holding a simple clover, stout and a little pale but with four leaves.

Immediately, his eyes lit up with surprise, "Was that in my fur?"

"It certainly was," Blaze half whispered, the coincidence of it all was still too much to contain; her tail was flicking as if it were a snake attempting to contain an uproarious laugh.

Her eyes hadn't returned to the clover since his eyes had flickered down to it. He looked so surprised and yet so happy. The clover embodied so many things that captured the hedgehog's awe, being the direct overlap between the natural world he sought to protect and a fundamental of civilisation, superstition. To see him like this, so soon after living somewhere so very difficult, brought her warbled smile to smoothen.

His eyes flickered up, "It matches your crown."

Blaze blinked, "My-

Reaching up, she remembered the wreath of flowers Cream had sat upon her head just in time for him to say, "It looks really pretty, you look like a princess from a fairy-tale rather than the usual sort. It really suits you!"

"W-Well hold this, I've got something for you," Setting the clover on top of the blue emerald, she drew his crown from its stowed position within the hamper. Ignoring the dirt still lingering in his fur, and the irony of returning plant matter to his quills, she gently set the crown on top of his head, "Th-There, I made it myself," That seemed to catch him by surprise, but Blaze tried her highest to ignore the blush on his cheeks, "You look more like some sort of forest spirit than a prince, the soil is certainly helping with that," She'd already rambled but still felt the need to give a compliment in kind, "I-It's not a bad look though, certainly."

"Thank you," His smile was even brighter than it had been before, despite the embarrassing claim she'd made.

Her gaze dropped to the emerald he was still holding between them, still topped by the clover, "You're welcome, I'm glad it fits."

"I love it," His smile still lingered in her mind's eye and was carried on his voice. His choice of words certainly hadn't helped her embarrassment, it was time to get back to the group, "Between this crown and both of these good luck charms in the same place, it's a wonderful start to my return. We'll fix the future for good this time, I can feel it!"

"All three good luck charms in one place," She parroted as she reached down and reclaimed the hamper, "Come on, you must be famished. Vanilla made a picnic for your return; we shouldn't keep her and the kids waiting."

Just as she turned to leave though, she heard him call out, "All three? These crowns aren't good luck charms, right? Cream hasn't mentioned that before…"

It was only then that Blaze realised what she had said. Rather than stop and explain, the feline kept moving; eyes now locked on the small group sat on the hill. Cream looked to have distracted the young raccoon by adding various flowers to her daisy bandoleer. Blaze could only hope that Marine's hyperactivity and inevitable annoyance that they had found a clover first would distract from her misspeaking. Perhaps she'd admit that was how she saw him one day, but today certainly wasn't it.