Epilogue

Past:

"Sal? Sally, hey! Can you hear me?"

The young princess groaned, and she put a hand to her throbbing head. As she managed to crack open her eyes, she could see a blue hedgehog a year older or younger than herself looking down on her. He seemed very concerned.

"S-Sonic?" she slurred. "Wha…where am I?"

"You're under our tree." Sonic said. "The one we used to climb when you needed to sneak outta the palace for a while. Did you fall out?"

Sally looked up. It was a tall redwood indigenous to Knothole, and indeed it was the one she and Sonic had visited plenty of times in the past. But…that wasn't what she had been doing. She had gone to Robotropolis to look for clues on her father.

Hadn't she?

"That's some bump on your head." Sonic said as he looked his friend over. "Come on. I'll carry you back to Knothole, and Rote can give you a look."

He helped Sally to her feet, and he hoisted her onto his shoulder. They started walking back to Knothole, and Sally was given the chance to think. She had gone to Robotropolis. She knew she did. She must have! But, if that was the case, then how in blazes did she get back? Vague flashes of memory surged through her mind. There was…someone. A swishing cloak and a courage the likes of which even her father's greatest knights didn't wield. Somewhere out there was someone fighting Robotnik's evil. If just one person was fighting, then maybe more were willing. Hope was still there, and it was worth fighting for. She'd never stop looking for her father, but the time had come to stop hiding.

They would plan.

They would train.

Then, they would fight back.

Just like that phantom that had saved her life.

Present:

Fiona had just finished drying herself from her shower, and she was getting ready for bed. Bathing with the ankle bracelet had been a pain in the neck, but she had made do. It was a pain, but it was worthy of her peace. She had moved back into Mask's cottage proper, and she had made the lower room her own. The old man, for his part, didn't complain. In fact, he looked uncharacteristically giddy. He was in hog heaven now, and that just made Fiona smile all the more. The old codger had really started to grow on her, and she looked forward to spending more time with him.

She had just sat down on her bed when there was a soft knock on the door. She looked up to see her mother as she walked in, and Fiona noticed that she put a hand behind her back.

"Hey, mom," she greeted. "What's up?"

Stella grinned, and she removed her hand, revealing a new, yellow bow.

"Happy birthday, button!"

Fiona's eyes brightened, and she squealed like a four-year-old as he mother brought the gift over to her child.

"Mom, it's beautiful! Did you make this yourself?"

Stella grinned.

"Yep. I noticed that your other one was destroyed. I wish I had of kicked that stupid lynx in the groin before he left. I know it's not actually your button, but I waited forever to give you that gift. I'm only sorry it took over a decade to deliver it."

Fiona smiled, and she pulled her into a big hug.

"You could have waited until I was one hundred years old, and I still would have loved it. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

They parted, but Stella noticed that her daughter's smile faltered.

"You miss him, don't you?"

Fiona nodded sadly.

"I really don't have much luck with men, do I?"

"I blame myself, sweety. I mean, your father was a real piece of work."

She gently stroked Fiona's cheek.

"Don't fret, button. If you truly love something, then let it go. If it comes back to you, then it is meant to be."

Fiona did her best to grin.

"I hope so. I think…I think I'd really like to get to know him. Maybe I will see him again someday. Someday in the future."

Future:

Scourge was screaming until he finally hit dirt. Or, rather, bush. A rose bush to be exact, and all of the thorns seemed to find just the most tender parts on his body. It took him a few minutes to break loose, though he came up looking like a cactus rather than a hedgehog.

"Darn that Fiona!" he hissed. "I'll make her pay for this humiliation."

He started to run, only to fall flat on his face.

"GAH! That's right! I run out of steam after going super! I swear, that blue jerk gets all the breaks. Why if he were here right now I'd…"

Just then, he heard giggling. Keeping to the shadows and the bushes, he slunk around until he spied a pair of children. One was a girl chipmunk with red hair, and the second was a blue hedgehog. Scourge had to double take for a moment, but sure enough his eyes weren't playing tricks.

"Holy smokes! Those rocks I tried to fence from that black-haired weirdo musta been time stones! Those things are real?"

He continued to watch the children play in the garden, and a grin slowly started to cross his lips.

"Say now, if those two are who I know they must be, then this is just the golden opportunity I've been waiting for. I could snag those brats, brainwash them into my own personal servants, and then I could…"

"You could what?" asked a voice behind him, and Scourge could hear the sound of knuckles popping. Big knuckles.

He spun about to see an echidna girl about his age, and she didn't look none too pleased to see him.

"What the…who are you?!" he stammered.

"Name's Lara-Su." The echidna woman said. "Guardian of Angel Island, and babysitter for King Sonic and Queen Sally. If my history lessons are to be believed, then you must be Scourge. You disappeared there for a while. Maybe you'd oblige a lady on just where exactly you've been, what you've been up to, and your opinion on prison stripes."

With his strength spent and no allies to take the fall for him, Scourge could only tremble in terror as Lara-Su's shadow eclipsed him and his chances of escape.

"Oh, man." He mumbled. "What did I do to deserve this?!"