After bidding farewell to J for the time being, Miles had made his way to Metropolis' main harbor, hoping to catch the ferry to Cocoa Island before it left. Thankfully, he'd gotten there with time to spare, and managed to nab himself a spot in one of the less occupied indoor seating areas. It would take him several hours to get back home, but he didn't mind a long and slow journey. He felt like he needed that stretch of time to better absorb everything he'd learned and gone through in the past week.

Just when he thought he'd be in for a quiet trip, however, he heard the cabin door noisily slam open. Miles let out a quiet huff and turned his attention to the window, not keen on whatever rabble rousing was about to happen. He hoped it didn't turn into something where he'd have to step in.

"Can you believe it!?" came an indignant shout from what was clearly a young boy, "after all that grilling, the old guy puts on a nice guy act and he gets to go free!"

The fox perked his ears a bit as he listened in. The voice sounded awfully familiar...

"It cannot be helped," came a mature and obviously adult man's tone, "extensive examination of his behavior after 'putting on the act' showed it to be genuine. And he is not going free so much as he is being sent back home with some additional supervision, which is wise."

That definitely sounded like someone he knew. With his curiosity piqued, Miles turned around to the chattering and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Even if he is faking, he's really convincing," commented Charmy Bee, who was buzzing along near both Vector and Espio. The bee spotted his best friend and let out a cheer, flying on over to greet the fox. "Hey, Miles! What're you doing here, buddy?"

Miles tilted his sunglasses down and smirked. "Oh, you know, I just had an errand to run after my latest adventure, and I decided to take the slow way back home for a change." He then jerked his head at the bee and the two reptiles. "What about you guys? Feeling like visiting your old place, Charm?"

"Yeah, I haven't been back to see Cocoa Island since I moved away," his friend replied, listing back lazily, "and the whole thing with Dr. Robotnik was a bust."

The fox perked up at that news. Last he'd seen the man, he was hauled off to the Metropolis Police and had been in holding ever since. He knew that the Chaotix had been brought in to help with interrogation, but hadn't heard anything after that.

"What do you mean it was a bust?" he prodded, wanting to learn what went wrong.

"While Ivo Robotnik is the man's true name," Espio answered for his companion, "what we encountered was one of two distinct personalities. Extensive analysis revealed that he has what is called 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'. The other personality, Ovi the Tinkerer, showed himself to us while you were away, and we initially believed it to be a ruse."

The name clicked with the fox. "Wait, that's similar to what Sonic called him when we first ran into him!" He scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "So the kindly guy he knew and that mad mechanic are one and the same...but from what I understand of DID, the personalities aren't usually aware of each other."

"Oh, Ivo and Ovi definitely know about each other," Charmy said with amusement, "probably better than most folks know about themselves in general, hah!"

"But yeah, turns out the doc's not so mean," Vector cut in, seeming less bitter than a minute ago, "well, the 'other' doc, I mean. He answered all our questions nice and neat, and once we split up, he asked us to say hi to Sonic for him. He even offered us free admission to his theme park on Christmas Island once it's done!"

This Ovi certainly sounded a lot more pleasant than the guy he and his partner had run into at Metropolitan Industries. Miles thought that maybe paying him a visit could be something he could do in the future, if not to have fun, then to check in on whether the other, nastier personality would pop up. In any event, he was glad that there hadn't been any further trouble on West Side Island while he was gone, as that had been in the back of his mind.

The ferry's horn blared out, signaling that the ship was soon to depart. Miles leaned back in his seat a bit more to get comfortable, resting his head against his arms. The Chaotix filled in the row across from him, with Espio minding his patience as the other two members pushed each other out of the way for the window position. It was a nice surprise to have friends on the trip, as it would make the time go by much more quickly, not to mention there was a lot to catch up on. And if Charmy was up for it, they could truly get the old band back together, even if it's temporary.

"Please wait!" came a young lady's voice from outside.

The trio across from the fox turned their attention to the sudden commotion, seeing a teenage rabbit girl hurry up onto the deck. Fluttering next to her was a small light blue creature with a bulb-shaped head on a teddy bear-like body, dark blue eyes, and two pink butterfly wings keeping it aloft. It had yellow markings on the top of its head, its hands, its feet, and its small circular tail, and a matching orb that floated above its head. As far as its own garb was concerned, it simply wore a little red bow tie on its upper torso, which made it look all the more adorable.

"Ooh, she's pretty cute," Charmy commented as he stood up in his seat to get a better look, "and is that a Chao she's got with her? Wow, it's rare to see one of those little guys outside of the Gardens!"

That had Miles curious, but he supposed he would get a chance to see for himself at some point during the trip, so he was in no hurry to get up. He had several hours to kill, after all, and he'd rather spend them mostly just hanging around with his friends. However, the sound of the door opening, followed by the audible flitting of tiny wings and the clap of shoes against metal, told him it wouldn't be so peaceful.

The fox once more disguised his two tails as one and shifted his gaze so that he was staring out the nearby window, trying to seem inconspicuous. He bit back a growl as he heard his insect friend snicker a bit, muttering something about how Miles was just trying to look cool when the girl walked by. All he was trying to do was keep a low profile, not impress anyone. But sure enough, it was indeed the rabbit that came over to their section, along with her Chao friend.

"Um, excuse me," she said politely in Miles' direction, getting the fox's ears to perk up, "are these seats next to you taken?"

Something about that voice was familiar, just like before he'd recognized the Chaotix. However, it wasn't quite the same as the one he was thinking of, so Miles couldn't be sure it was the person on his mind.

"No, they're free," the teen answered, giving an indifferent wave with one hand, "help yourself."

The bunny let out a happy hum. "Oh, thank you!"

He felt a vibration as the ship started to move, and heard a soft thump as the lapine lass accepted the invitation, taking the spot next to him. Miles suppressed a sigh, knowing that he couldn't spend the whole trip trying to be closed off. Besides, the girl seemed like a considerate sort, so maybe being sociable with someone else around wouldn't be so bad. Heck, if things went well enough, maybe he'd end up making another friend, and one that his oldest buddy apparently thought was attractive.

"I'm sorry if this sounds strange," he heard her say, as though she was scrutinizing something closely, "but you look an awful lot like this one fox I know."

"Oh yeah?" Miles said with a small grin and a smooth lilt.

He finally moved to face the young lady and tilt his shades down so she could see his eyes. But once he got a good look at her, his confident smirk changed to an open-mouth expression of shock. Miles hadn't been mistaken when he'd initially believed her voice was one that he knew; it had simply changed and matured since last he heard it. And while its owner had also grown quite a bit, to the point she was only half a head shorter than him, he recognized those cinnamon-brown eyes and that Princeton-orange hair and markings anywhere.

"Cream," the fox said slowly, lifting his sunglasses with one hand and subconsciously undoing his tails, "is that you?"

The rabbit's face lit up with joy as she spotted the twin appendages, her present smile widening even more upon hearing the older boy addressing her by name. Her Chao's pom shifted into a question mark for a moment as it glanced between her and the vulpine teen, curiosity written on its innocent face.

"Miles!" Cream cried out happily, leaping forward to hug around his shoulders, "oh my goodness, it is you!"

Miles was a bit stunned at the sudden affection from the girl he hadn't seen in a couple of years. He peeked over at the other three Animals, who had their own various reactions. Being the kid he was, Vector was a bit disgusted at the display, and he certainly wasn't shy about showing it. Espio had his arms crossed and his head bowed with his eyes closed, which meant he was either meditating or he was pretending he didn't see anything. Charmy was silently, but not so subtly cheering him on, wildly miming him to return the gesture.

"It's wonderful to see you too, Cream," he told her earnestly, gently hugging around her upper back, "it's been almost three years." He leaned back after a few moments, both of them parting the embrace. "And I can see you've grown quite a bit. You look great!"

The rabbit girl covered her cheeks and giggled. "You've gotten a lot bigger yourself, Mr. Prower, and handsome too, if I may say so."

"Aww shucks," Miles muttered humbly, not used to being complimented on his looks. He then peered over at the Chao, who seemed happy that its owner, or whatever Cream was to it, was happy as well. "Who's your little friend?"

Cream gestured for the Chao to introduce himself, which flew forward, put its hands together, and bowed its head respectfully.

"This is Cheese," she said on its behalf, "we met a few months ago near the Chao Garden by my home. I tried to leave him with the other Chao, but he seemed more content to follow me, and has been ever since."

Miles nodded at that, feeling eager to hear more about what she had been up to since last they met. A pointed clearing of the throat from Vector, though, reminded him that he wasn't alone with Cream.

"Well, since you introduced me to your friend, let me introduce you to some of mine," the fox offered, diverting her attention to the Chaotix trio.

"Hi there, I'm Charmy Bee!" Charmy exclaimed, reaching out and getting a handshake, "Miles and I go way back, so we've got lots of stories to share!"

"I'm Vector the Crocodile!" interjected as he shoved the bee to one side, "the boss of the Chaotix Detective Agency! I may not know much about the fox here, but I can say he's a good guy!"

Espio sighed at his companion, then gave a light bow of the head. "I am Espio the Chameleon, the de facto head of the Agency. I've only recently acquainted myself with Miles, and he has proven to be a kind and honorable soul."

Miles rubbed at the back of his head bashfully, while Cream simply giggled.

"So, Cream," he segued, "aside from meeting Cheese, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you?"

"Whoa now!" Charmy butted in, "come on, Miles, I wanna hear how you two met!"

Miles shrugged with a smirk, then looked at Cream. "Do you mind if I regale the guys here?"

"Not at all," she replied merrily, "as long as I get to tell parts of it, too."

The fox chuckled softly. That was certainly amenable, and he welcomed the opportunity for another perspective on one of his adventures.

"Well, it all started almost three years ago," Miles began, "I was exploring the mainland near the Archipelago, wanting to get in a couple more days of travel before I headed back to Cocoa Island for Christmas. After flying over several mountains and running through numerous valleys, I eventually arrived at a massive lake with sprawling grasslands and high plateaus around it. I soon discovered that it was none other than Never Lake, and floating a couple of kilometers above its surface was the natural wonder known as Little Planet!"

Charmy and Vector let out an "ooh" of intrigue, while Espio politely sat and listened. Cream decided that was a good point to jump in, though she looked a little embarrassed.

"It's silly," she said shyly, "but a big reason I ended up going to find Little Planet myself was due to a fortune my friend Amy's mother had made. She said that if I went to a place that most people knew about but couldn't reach, I would meet a brave person that would change my life."

"And you believed that place was Never Lake?" the chameleon asked her.

Cream nodded affirmatively. "A lot of people know about Never Lake, but getting there is a different story. Amy wanted to go with me no matter how hard the journey was, and neither her mother nor mine were able to talk her out of it." She then smiled brightly. "I think Mother expected us to give up and turn around at some point, but while it was a bit difficult at times, I was able to get the two of us there without much issue!"

"Imagine my surprise when I found out that I wasn't alone when I got there," Miles remarked with a wry smile, "even more when I realized that Cream and Amy had seen both of my tails, not to mention spotted me flying with them."

"Who is Amy anyway?" the crocodile wondered, "you've mentioned her a couple times now."

Both the fox and the rabbit looked at each other, then laughed a little bit.

"Amy Rose, to use her full name," Cream explained, "is a pink hedgehog girl. She's eight years old and follows me around like a little sister, and while she is a handful sometimes, she's generally nice."

"Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it?" Miles commented, getting knowing grins from the boys but a confused expression from the young lady and the Chao. He couldn't help sporting an amused look himself. "There's a lot to catch up on, Cream, but a blue hedgehog boy named Sonic that's around the same age has been tagging along on the past couple adventures I've had."

"I bet he and Amy would get along!" She then cleared her throat and composed herself, with Cheese mimicking her, much to the others' adoration. "Oh, but back to the story, I was really shocked to see someone at Never Lake just like Amy's mother said. I'd certainly never seen a fox, or really any Animal, with two tails before, and being able to get to the valley wasn't for the faint of heart, so I assumed he was brave, too."

The amber teen took a moment to puff out his chest fur proudly and flip his shades up to rest between his ears. "I wondered what the two could possibly be doing out there, and when they told me, I'll admit I was a bit dumbfounded that they'd risk going so far for a vague fortune. But, I had to hand it to them that they must have been made of tough stuff, or had some convenient way of getting there like I did. It turned out to be a bit of both."

The Chaotix were curious by what the fox meant, and even more when Cream got up from her seat. With a soft grunt, the bunny girl began to flap her ears like they were wings, and to their astonishment, she actually started to ascend! Not only that, but she proceeded to fly around the edges of the room for a good short while, showing that she could maneuver herself pretty well, too. Once satisfied with her demonstration, Cream touched back down in her seat, getting a small round of applause from Cheese, Miles, and the rest.

"I bet that really came as a surprise!" Charmy exclaimed to his old friend.

"It sure did," Miles affirmed, "but seeing what she was capable of, it only emboldened me to try and reach Little Planet. After introducing ourselves, I'd proposed the idea of us working together to get up there, since it was pretty high. And while she was understandably hesitant at first, Cream came around. Amy egging her on may have helped, too."

The young lady giggled. "She does have a way when it comes to encouraging others. But yes, thanks to Miles' idea, we were able to get onto the surface and start our adventure, which was a first for me and Amy!"

"We first came to a subtropical area," the fox continued, "there were sharp mountains and scattered waterfalls nearby, but most of it was made up of grassy hills, star-shaped plants, and palm trees with sweet pink berries instead of coconuts. While we didn't meet any other people, there were a number of Critters just peacefully milling about the region. I asked some of the local Flickies if there was any trouble, and while they said there was nothing bothering them, there was something that they told me to keep an eye out for."

Cream pointed at Cheese, or more specifically, at his little wings. "Miles said that the Flickies said that there was a very colorful monarch butterfly that flies across Little Planet every so often. Amy and I really wanted to see it because we thought it must have been really pretty, while Miles was more interested because of how rare it sounded."

"How can a monarch be colorful?" Vector asked, looking rather disbelieving, "I thought those things only came in black and orange!"

"I was fairly skeptical at first," Miles answered, giving the croc the benefit of the doubt, "but Flickies don't lie, so I had to find out for myself what they were talking about. We went to a dense forest on the edge of a lake that seemed to be in perpetual autumn, and was filled with many blue-white machines, neon signs with indecipherable text, and pipes that ran throughout. In a place like this, I thought for sure we'd find other Animals or maybe humans, but there weren't any present in that area, either. We didn't even find any hints as to what sort of civilization could have made it all."

To the Chaotix, it sounded like an investigation worth checking out. That was, if Miles and Cream hadn't yet discovered what it all was themselves.

"Did you guys find the butterfly?" Charmy asked.

"No, but we came across a flooded temple at the base of a volcanic range just beyond the woods," the rabbit replied, "one full of pipes that helped carry the water through the whole underground system. It got dangerous and kind of scary at a few points with some of the ruins crumbling, not to mention the water-filled passages. But, we were able to navigate through that cavern and ended up in a new and different one."

"A mine bustling with machines made for extracting and transporting the countless crystals inside," the fox elaborated further, "there were points where it opened up in the mountain, and from there, we could see the first couple of regions that we'd passed through on the way there. With no sign of any workers or our quarry, however, we had little choice but to keep on moving forward. We exited the mine and arrived at a factory that was settled in a rusty red canyon, though the complex itself was well-maintained. It sure had a lot of weird and abstract mechanisms, though, like randomly floating platforms, a floor that could bounce you to great heights, and structures shaped like atomic nuclei that were meant to help exhaust some of the excess power the place produced. Still, it was pretty cool..."

Miles' eyes lit up a little bit, appearing ready to launch into a lecture about the workings of the factory. But he held off on it and motioned for Cream to carry on.

"It was getting dark when we arrived at a bright and lively looking city," she told the others, a dreamy look in her own eyes as she reminisced, "highways made of gold with reliefs of instruments built into them, eye-catching signs and billboards, and beacons of light like those you see at big premiers. I'd never been to such a place before, so I was a bit star-struck by it all. Amy was getting pretty tired, though, so we were ready to try and find a place to turn in."

"But there were no people there," Vector surmised.

The two storytellers both nodded.

"We still managed to get some sleep," Miles continued, grinning broadly, "and the first thing in the morning after we were refreshed, the butterfly we'd spent the whole previous day searching for fluttered right on by. It had a mostly whitish base with the usual black colorations, and every so often, there were glimmers of prismatic light refracting off of its form."

"It flew away when we tried to get close though," Cream added, sounding a little heartbroken for a second, "and it was really fast!"

The fox hummed and folded his arms. "I actually had to try a little bit to keep up with the thing, and I was worried that Cream wouldn't be able to follow. Even when carrying a sleepy Amy, though, she did pretty well. By the time we could finally catch a break, we came to the doorstep of a sprawling crystal palace. Translucent architecture that, much like our mysterious friend, shined like a rainbow as the sunlight hit it.

"We stalked after the butterfly further in, and when we got to the center, instead of finding a throne room, we instead walked into a chamber that somehow shut out everything else around us. It was like a white void inside, save for seven multi-colored pillars around a central dais, each of which had a gem atop it in a half dutch rose cut. All of them had the same colors as the Chaos Emeralds except for two that, rather than being magenta and white, were purple and orange."

Espio's eyes opened a bit more attentively. This also caught the attention of his two comrades, who hadn't expected him to seemingly know what the fox was talking about.

"Another often repeated story involving Little Planet," he filled in for the rest, "is that there is a set of gems that have the power to control time itself."

"Aptly known as the Time Stones," Miles quipped, obviously not too taken with the name, "but as for whether they can do what legends say, we weren't given a chance to figure that out."

It was Cream's turn to fold her arms and bow her head contemplatively, with Cheese taking after her. "Mr. Butterfly told us that Little Planet was going to disappear soon because its month in our world was almost up. He said he'd see us again in the future, then there was this bright flash where we couldn't see for a bit, and when we could see again, we were back on the shore of Never Lake."

"Hold up, the butterfly could talk?" Charmy interrupted.

The fox didn't blame his friend for being confused. It had been a rather surreal experience.

"Well, we assume it was the butterfly," he said with some uncertainty, "there wasn't anyone else around besides it, and we all definitely heard a voice. Not in our ears, but in our heads, like how telepathy is often portrayed." He shrugged. "And just like it said, not long after we ended up near Never Lake again, Little Planet shot up towards the sky and disappeared, going wherever it goes during the other eleven months."

"Miles accompanied Amy and I back to the edge of my hometown, then went on his way," the rabbit concluded, perking up and giving him a sheepish smile, "Mother was quite angry with me for being away as long as I was, even more so because I'd also worried Amy's mother so much. It wasn't until last month that she started trusting me enough again to travel without her."

Miles didn't quite understand how it was to have a mother fret over him like that. Or at least, it had been a very long time since he'd experienced anything like it. Guen was a wonderful surrogate, but she didn't fuss over him in the same way that Cream's mom apparently did for her. He'd already been living pretty independently before being adopted into the Wolf family, and they were well aware of certain differences between them and foxes. As a result, unless he did something to rouse her ire, which was difficult to do (but terrifying when it happened), he'd rarely been restricted or coddled.

Still, he couldn't help but be a little envious. Although, he was more curious as to why she was headed to Cocoa Island. It couldn't have been just to see him, right?

"So, any particular reason you decided the first place to go was where I call home?" Miles asked her, deciding to be forward.

Her bashful demeanor only appeared to get more blatant with the question. "I told my mother that I was going to visit and thank the nice young man who helped keep Amy and I safe."

Miles felt his cheeks heating up beneath his snowy muzzle. Even if what she said wasn't exactly an exaggeration, he was flattered. Cream remembered that he'd told her where he came from, and even if it took a while, she was willing to go out of her way to come visit him. He wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Dude, she's totally got a crush on you," Charmy whispered to him, having stealthily changed to his flight mode.

Miles nearly leapt out of his seat from the sudden commentary in his ears. He snatched the miniaturized bee out of the air and squeezed him in one glove, leering down at the tiny insect.

"Don't be ridiculous," the fox hissed quietly, "you're reading too much into it."

"Buddy, I'm just telling it how it is," the other teen said simply. He gave his pal a sly wink. "And hey, if you guys still have a drum set for me, we can get the band back together. Then you can really show off for her."

The fox really wasn't sure how to feel about his friend trying to hook him up with a girl that he didn't know that well. It was true that he had been thinking about having some time to himself with the rabbit, just yesterday in fact. But was that really what he wanted, or was that just his adolescent hormones trying to convince him that was the case? He was rather keen on the idea of a "Miles and Friends" reunion, though, and Cream would get to see him display some musical talent.

"That's neat you can do that, Charmy," the bunny girl giggled, then tilted her head, "but, what are you two whispering about?"

Miles let go of his friend and chuckled nervously. "Oh, well...did I ever tell you I can play the guitar?"

It was clear that he hadn't, if the curious, but delighted expression on her face was any indication.

"No, you didn't," she replied, giving him a coy smile, "you're not just saying that to impress me, are you?"

"It's true!" the bee backed him up, returning to normal size, "I used to be the drummer in the band we had, too! You see, it all started when..."


"There he is!" Sonic exclaimed as he saw the ferry pull up to Cocoa Island's tiny port, "alright everyone, get ready!"

Once the ship had docked, the first people to disembark were the workers hauling cargo to the island. Next came a few locals that were returning from visiting other parts of the Archipelago and the mainland, glad to be home. And last but not least was the fox that the hedgehog had been expecting, though he saw that Miles wasn't alone. The Chaotix had come with him, as had a Chao and some rabbit girl, the lattermost of which he was currently talking to in an animated fashion.

'Trying to impress the ladies, big guy?' he thought with a smirk, 'she'll get blown away by this then!'

"Ready?" he called out to seemingly no one, "one, two, three..."

Just as Miles and rest stepped down from the ferry's ramp onto the boardwalk, he saw Sonic, Gadget, and Gizmo, as well as Gob, Guen, and a gaggle of other townsfolk from around Puru Puru Village there to greet him.

"Welcome Back, Miles!"

The crowd cheered, some so enthusiastic they threw their hats and head-wear into the air, while others whistled his way. Charmy laughed excitedly at the welcoming committee, hovering over and giving his friend a nudge with one elbow. The other members of the Agency stood there taking it in, having never been a part of such a celebration before, even vicariously. The fox himself was stunned, but not so much that he didn't notice the newfound admiration that Cream and Cheese seemed to have for him.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were a local hero back home!" she remarked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the crowd, but not in a bad way.

"Chao chao!" Cheese cried out happily, enjoying the positive atmosphere.

Miles modestly rubbed at his ears and waved back to his friends, family, and the rest of the villagers before tentatively moving forward to meet with them.

"Welcome home, boyo," the patriarchal wolf told him as he brought him in for a powerful hug, one that was thankfully less bone-crushing than usual. Those that weren't as close with the teen chose that moment to give him and his adopted family and friends some privacy. Gob set the fox down and then fixed a lupine grin on Charmy. "Well lookit here, it's the wee bee Charmy! Ye've really...not grown all that much, to be honest."

The bee took the jab on the chin and waved at Gob. "The world's just bigger for me than most, Mr. Wolf! And it's great to see you and the other islanders again!"

"Still have that optimistic spirit, I see," Guen remarked with a smile, then turned to the rest, "are all of you friends of Miles, too?"

Espio bowed respectfully with his arms pinned to his side, bending over a fair bit as he did. "I am. My name is Espio the Chameleon, head of the Chaotix Detective Agency."

"And I'm Vector the Crocodile!" the young reptile piped up, leering at the chameleon irritably, "the boss of the Chaotix!" He then cleared his throat and stuck out a hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

Once they got those introductions out of the way, Cream stepped forward herself. She was prepared to curtsy, only to remember that she wasn't wearing a dress or a skirt today. Instead, she folded her hands in front of her and bowed, Cheese following her lead.

"Everyone, this is Cream the Rabbit," Miles announced, gesturing with both hands to help present her, "I don't know if you remember, but she's one of the girls I met during my visit to Never Lake and Little Planet." He then did the same for the others as he turned to Cream. "Cream, these are my adoptive parents and siblings. Gobán and Guendolyn are the green and blue couple, and then the red and teal twins are their biological children, Gad and Giselle." He then made an extra fancy motion of introduction for Sonic. "And last, but certainly not least, my good friend and partner in adventuring as of a couple weeks ago, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Oh, so this is the lass ye mentioned before!" Gob exclaimed, holding out a hand to her and getting a timid shake. He either didn't notice or paid it no mind, simply smiling down at the bunny. "Lovely to make your acquaintance, Cream! I hope my boyo hasn't been causing you any trouble."

Guen playfully shoved her husband's shoulder. "Oh, love, you know he wouldn't." She dipped her head to the bunny. "A pleasure to meet you, Cream. It's wonderful to finally put a face to one of the friends Miles has told us about."

Meanwhile, Gadget and Gizmo shared a glance, then looked back to their adopted brother with a glint in their eyes. The fox suddenly didn't feel as confident as he did a moment ago.

"I was wondering when we were gonna meet your own girlfriend, little bro," the teal twin sniggered.

Miles growled low, his fur puffing up at the comment. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"I don't know," the red twin said with facetious skepticism, "it looks like you two are pretty close already. Take it from someone who knows."

The two wolves shared a small laugh, which rose a bit when the fox crossed his arms and huffed indignantly. After a few seconds, though, Miles couldn't help but crack a tiny smirk on one side of his muzzle. They both dropped the teasing and adopted a more easy going demeanor.

"Honestly, it's lovely to meet you," Gizmo told Cream, giving her a little bow of her own. She then laid eyes on Cheese, and like a light switch, her mood suddenly flipped. "Oh my goodness, is this your Chao?" She reached forward to pet it, and to her delight, Cheese rather seemed to enjoy the attention from this new face. "It's so cute, and that little red bow tie just adds to it!"

Cream giggled, pleased to see that her companion already had an admirer. "Thank you. His name is Cheese."

"Cream and Cheese, how precious!" the wolf nearly squealed. She leaned in to hug the creature, nuzzling at its forehead. "Who's an adorable little teardrop baby?" Her smile went from ear to ear when she got a joyful and infantile sounding babble in response. "Aah, my heart! That's right, you are!"

Sonic was a bit perplexed at what he was seeing. The self-proclaimed wrench wench that liked to get stuck in with the boys was fawning over something cute! And he could tell that she was enjoying the moment, given the slant of her ears and how hard her tail was wagging back and forth. Not that he didn't like Chao or anything, but he really hadn't been expecting such a display from a relatively rough gal like her. Quietly, he slipped over to Gadget's side and tapped him to get his attention.

"What's up with her?" he murmured, watching Gizmo play "upsy-daisy" with Cheese, who let itself fall into her hands even though it could fly.

Gadget chuckled softly.

"Sis has a weakness for things she finds cute," he explained, "when Miles was a little kit, she used to cuddle him close like a teddy bear as often as she could get away with." He then went up to the rabbit and folded one hand over his torso as he gave her a bow of his own. "It's nice to meet you. Forgive our earlier teasing, we were just messing with Miles."

The girl beamed up at him. "Oh, it's okay. I can tell that you all really care about him."

That made the family smile. They figured she must have been raised under a good roof herself if she could see the love through the jabs and jesting.

Once everything was squared away at the port, the group split up with the parents heading back home, while the twins and Sonic joined the five Animals (and one Chao) that were fresh off the boat. Seeing as it was new territory for a few of them, Miles decided to give them a short tour, as it was starting to get late. They began with Puru Puru Village, winding around in a loose circle, starting from the port, moving on to the scrap yard, through the market, and then out to the limits of the town.

He pointed out Puru Puru Lake, from which the village got its name, and Mt. Pori Pori, the highest peak among the modest mountains on Cocoa Island's northern border. A few minutes later, they arrived at the southwestern corner of the island, where the fox's cabin stood a stone's throw away from the beach, and close to the entrance of Poroi Forest.

"It's not much, but it's home," Miles said modestly as he opened the door and showed off the interior.

Charmy took a gander and grinned. "Yep, hardly any different from the last time I saw it. Nice to see a lot of things around here haven't really changed."

"I think it looks quaint and cozy," Cream opined, Cheese chirping in agreement.

The fox fox appreciated the compliments, though since the sun was starting to set, that brought him to another matter.

"By the way," he wondered aloud as he turned his gaze to the Chaotix and Cream, "I don't exactly have space for all of you, so...did you have any plans for lodging?"

Cream gave him a thumbs-up, which made him feel a bit better about her trip out here; at least she seemed to have something in mind. As for the trio of non-mammals, Espio appeared to be the only one that had any sort of contingency.

"Charmy informed us that we could stay at the local inn," he informed the fox, "we have saved up enough that a week or so should be manageable."

"Mother lent me some Rings if I needed them," the rabbit chimed in, "enough for a couple of nights here and then the trip back home."

That, at least, settled things for the time being. Miles didn't want to seem like a bad host, but he really didn't have a way to accommodate any of them. He'd have offered the guest room at the Wolf's house, but he assumed that the Chaotix wanted to stick together, and he wasn't sure how comfortable Cream would be sharing a room with a boy, even a young one like Sonic.

A short time later, when the sky was shifting from red and orange to deep blue and purple, Miles invited the newcomers and the returning Charmy over to the Wolf family home for quite a feast. It was nothing that Gob and Guen weren't accustomed to when extended family paid them a visit, so they claimed, and they made sure that everyone got their fill.

Come tomorrow, however, the real fun and celebrations could begin.


The next day, Miles, the twins, Sonic, and Charmy all went into Gob's panic shelter turned storage unit. The canids and hedgehog each grabbed their respective instruments, making certain they were all properly tuned before getting them ready to take topside. As for the bee, he was elated to see that his old electric drum set was still around.

"Bass, snare, toms, and all the cymbals too," he said happily, giving each of them a strike with a stick. He was quite satisfied with what he heard. "Hey, they sound better than I remember! Have you guys been keeping the parts up to date?"

"Whenever I can find the time," Gadget replied as he tested his two-tier keyboard and synth setup, "I learned some of the basics while I was at it so that I could make samples. It's convenient, but not as nice as having a real drummer."

Gizmo hummed thoughtfully as she tuned her 12-string bass. "What should we play for our reunion gig?"

"I don't know what we should close with," Miles considered, "but I want this to be our opening piece."

Everyone gathered around as he brought up a projection of some sheet music for himself, his siblings, and the bee. After studying the notes and progression, there was a murmur of agreement among the original four members, while Sonic scratched his chin curiously.

"Never heard of that one before," he muttered, "any parts for an electric fiddle or a singer?"

The fox patted him on the shoulder as he showed his partner that he had accounted for both of those as well. "Don't worry, everyone gets to sing in this one, Sonic. You can be my main compliment when it comes to the strings, though you better pick it up fast!"

"Hey, no problem," the kid said confidently, "just run me through it a few times and I'll be good!"

They spent as much daylight as they could getting practice in, discussing the set list between songs. The latter took them longer than it did for their youngest and newest member to pick up their final piece, as they realized there were quite a few that they could do with the group they had. Eventually, they settled on an order that would give each of them time to shine for at least one song, just so nobody was left out.

And come the next sunset, just about everyone in and around Puru Puru Village had gathered in the village square, where a stage had been set up for the band. Given their association with the members, the Chaotix, the Wolf couple, Fuchsia, Cream, and Cheese all got front-row treatment, not that anyone would have denied them.

"I'm so excited!" the cat all but yelled to the rabbit over the rumbling of the crowd, "I haven't seen the gang all together on stage in years, and now Sonic's with them too! This is gonna be great, Cream!"

"Everyone certainly seems to be hyped up," Cream said, looking around at the villagers.

"Still wish they'd let me up there," Vector grumbled as he stood with his arms crossed, "keys and vocals are my jam!"

"Perhaps next time," Espio told him, "this is Miles' night, after all."

All eyes were on the five that had stepped up. Miles took center stage, with Sonic to his right and Gizmo to his left. Charmy and Gadget were in the back row with their drum set and effects deck, respectively. The front three all had a standing mic as well, while in the latter two's case, they wore headsets that sported their own mics. Each of them tapped and spoke softly into their wind-guards to test how well they were being picked up, satisfied when no feedback offended their ears. With that, the fox grabbed ahold of his mic and removed it from the stand as he flipped his shades up.

"Good evening, Puru Puru Village!" he called out to the crowd, which cheered in response, "it's been a long time coming, but you know what tonight is?"

"Your birthday!" one of the citizens shouted, which was followed up by numerous "happy birthday" proclamations from among the many gathered.

Miles scratched over the back of his ears shyly as the rest of the band snickered softly. "Well, yes, but we're saving that celebration for the after party!" He received more hollering, then continued once it died down. "Tonight is the comeback performance of Cocoa Island's local band, Miles and Friends, now with a new member: Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The boy waved to everyone, wearing his ever confident smirk as he took a few bows here and there. Not wanting his partner to hog all the limelight, Miles cleared his throat rather loudly.

"Alright," he segued, lowering his sunglasses, "we've got a few classics and covers for you all, but also a pair of new pieces we came up with just for tonight! I hope you'll forgive a bit of self-indulgence with the first one, but we think it'll help set the mood for what to expect!"

He set the mic back in place and tapped his right foot a few times to start the rhythm. Right out of the gate, Gizmo struck at the higher pairs of strings on her bass, and one of Gadget's hands sailed over his synth while the other sprinkled in a few notes here and there on the keyboard. Charmy filled the space between them with the thumps of the bass drum, the snaps of a hi-hat, and the occasional rap of a snare and other component drums. All three of them increased both the tempo and intensity after a couple of repeats, Miles and Sonic joined in with some strumming of their own, and the band as a whole leaned in close to their respective mics.

"Ten, ten, he's back again!" the red wolf barked.

"Nine, nine, it's finally time!" the teal twin yipped.

"Eight, eight, it must be fate!" the bee sang.

"Seven, seven, you're in rhythm heaven!" the hedgehog whooped.

"Six, five, he's going live!" both wolves belted out.

"Four, three, it's the place to be!" the two smaller Animals chanted.

"Two, one," the fox trilled, "it's time to run, so–"

"LET'S GO!" the band shouted in unison.

Miles' playing took more of a central role, as did Sonic's fiddling, with Gadget providing the underlying melody. The drum and bass still stood out, but not quite as strongly as the other three.

"Two-Tailed Flying Warrior! Two-Tailed Flying Warrior!" they all yelled together.

"When the final hour's at hand, he's got the power to free the la-and!" Gizmo sang.

"Take a little chance and slip on through," Sonic rapped, "you gotta survive no matter what you do, 'cause it's up to you!"

"Two-Tailed Flying Warrior! Two-Tailed Flying Warrior!"

"The power is deep in his mind, to beat the bad guys and save the world in time, yeah!"

Miles played a short riff on his guitar, while the others built up the intensity even further.

"Two-Tailed Flying Warrior, fights until the end!" Sonic descanted, "Two-Tailed Flying Warrior, fights for all his friends!"

"He'll never retreat, his will just can't be beat, 'cause when he tries, he can do anything!" Charmy buzzed.

"Two-Tailed Flying Warrior, here to save the day!" Gadget carried on, "Two-Tailed Flying Warrior, here to show the way!"

"You can do it too, 'cause he knows that it's true that if you try, you can do anything!" Gizmo howled.

They circled back to the first bridge and omitted most of the lyrics this time around. Once they reached the climax again, they repeated their respective lines and arranged the instrumentals in a slightly different manner. Everyone but the red wolf ended on one last crash and rift, with the bespectacled fellow adding a couple of seconds of tremolo until he, too, ceased playing.

The town erupted with applause, whistles, and shouts. Miles felt like curling in on himself from all the praise, but he willed himself to stand strong and accept it with poise. He flashed his signature peace sign to the crowd, then waved at them for a good short while along with the others. Man, did it feel good to be there again.

The following three songs each gave focus to Sonic, Charmy, and then Gizmo. The hedgehog went with a hard rock tune where his violin replaced the lead guitar, while Miles served as the rhythm. Aside from accompaniment and beat, the other three didn't shine as much, but they didn't mind, as they'd get their turns.

The bee chose a metal piece that allowed him to really thrash on his set, as well as let the fox and his sister display just how intense their riffs could get. The crowd got to see their local hero and all the rest bang their heads, and truthfully, not everyone was taken with it. But, so long as they and most of the people were having fun, that was all the quintet cared about.

The teal wolf went with a spin on the classic Stayin' Alive, where she employed a faster tempo and got to flex what her fingers could do. She improvised here and there, but played mostly to the lyrics, which Miles, and occasionally the other guys, sang simultaneously. Sonic didn't get to flourish much, while Charmy rarely got a break, and Gadget got a chance to break out a couple of synth solos halfway through and near the end.

Then came the time for the finale, the red twin making a few adjustments on both instruments while Miles played to the crowd.

"Alright, everyone!" he clamored, "after this next one, it's time to party, so enjoy one last song to serenade you!"

Gadget took in a deep breath as the other spotlights went out except for his own, then let it out as he pressed into the keys of his synth. For about half a minute, he started with a soothing and peaceful melody, lulling the listeners into relaxing in their seats. Charmy's spotlight flickered on as he delivered a couple of short measures, then the other three lit up as well, revealing that Sonic and Miles had done away with their instruments. Gizmo provided a simple and catchy bass line, while the bee's drumming was near-constant, yet relatively tame in this piece. But, the real star was Gadget, who was more deftly handling his two sets of keys than he was in any of their other songs so far.

"Whoa, teleportation yeah!" the quintet chanted, "Za-ba-doo-bap-bap!"

Cream and Fuchsia glanced at each other, then back at the stage with curious expressions. It certainly was sounding a little funkier than they'd expected the last song to be.

"Whoa, teleportation yeah! Shibby-doo-boo yeah!"

"Not bad," Vector commented.

Like with the first transition, Charmy got to lay into his drums, particularly the snare and rack toms for this particular section. Both hedgehog and fox stood back to back, or at least as well as they could given their height difference, both of them starting to shake to the rhythm.

"In the end, who's on your side?" Sonic chanted in a rap, jabbing his free thumb in the fox's direction.

"Who can you trust, in the middle of the night?" Miles replied in kind, pointing over his shoulder at the kid.

The two spun around to face each other and put on exaggerated despairing faces.

"Where will you be, if you can't find you?"

"There's no place to go, nothing to do!"

They changed to a more confident and hopeful demeanor.

"If you gotta do something, gotta do something!"

"Believe in yourself!"

"Yourself! Yourself! Hey!" the pair echoed at the same time.

A brief interlude on the drums and a strong chord on the keyboard gave way for Gadget to take the reins on the lyrics.

"Extraordinary things can happen if you believe in yourself!" he crooned, "you've got to have some faith in yourself if you want respect from your friends!"

"How true," Espio murmured, nodding his head.

There was hardly any time between the last warble from the wolf and the heroic duo jumping back to center stage, keeping everyone, listeners and players, on their toes.

"Don't re-arrange, no need to change!"

"Stay like you are, keep it all the same!"

"But as you move along in your life."

"Keep an open mind and don't forget."

"That if you gotta do something, gotta do something!"

"Believe in yourself!"

"Yourself! Yourself! Hey!"

Gadget belted out the same stanza as he did before, though it was no less enthusiastic. And this time, as he extended the last syllable, Charmy brought them into the true third act of the finale.

"When you feel tight, look at yourself!" the five sang out to the villagers.

"Inside your heart, you will find a special place to unwind!" Gadget followed up.

"When you feel right, look at yourself!"

"Inside your mind, you will see, cosmic eternity!"

After that, they let the sounds of their instruments fill the air. Several seconds passed, and they let their performance seemingly stutter as if going for a sudden ending, only to pick right back up. The red wolf launched into a solo that primarily made use of the keyboard, which was tuned to sound like an electric piano. Gizmo shook her body as she strummed on the bass, while Sonic and Miles got down with some fancier moves.

They gave one last delivery of the final few lines, then tapered off into a real ending. The cheers they received were proof enough that their comeback was a hit. For Miles in particular, it was all the evidence he needed to know that what he did for the sake of others was worth it. And even if it was only for a night, it allowed him to forget about all the stressors that had been on his mind.


"Happy Birthday, Miles!" yelled all his friends and family.

The fox inhaled deeply and blew at the sixteen candles placed atop the massive mint vanilla pound cake that Guen had baked for him. Everyone cheered when he managed to snuff them all out in one breath, and soon afterwards, slices were passed out to Miles and all the rest. Even after most of the food and drinks were gone, the celebration near Miles' cabin lasted long into the night.

There came a point, though, where everyone eventually started feeling the fatigue of the day. Vector insisted that he wasn't tired, even as he was slung over Espio's shoulder and dragged off to their guest quarters, with Charmy following after. Gadget and Fuchsia were the next to take their leave, and the fox had a pretty good idea of what they were really up to. Rather than think about it, he ushered Sonic off to bed, with Gizmo escorting the hoglet back to the house.

That left Cream, Cheese, and his adoptive parents. He went up to the latter two and brought them both in for a group hug.

"You guys are the best," he told them, letting himself feel like a little kit in their embrace for just a moment, "thank you, for everything."

Guen ran a hand through his bangs. "We do what we do for you because we love you, Miles, and we couldn't be more proud."

"Aye," Gob affirmed, nuzzling the fox between the ears, "you're growing into a fine young man, boyo. Brings tears to my eyes."

Miles chuckled and just hugged them tighter, then let the both of them go. "I love you both, and Gad and Giselle, too."

With that, the couple excused themselves and left their vulpine son to his own devices. He turned to Cream and Cheese with a smile.

"So, uh," he stuttered, rubbing one arm with the other hand, "did you enjoy the show?"

The both of them nodded firmly. "I enjoyed it very much! Cheese and I were quite impressed, weren't we, Cheese?"

"Chao!" the little Chao replied positively.

"I'm glad to hear that." He paused for a bit, then folded his hands together a little more bashfully. "Um, Cream?"

"Yes?" she asked him sweetly.

"Thanks for coming out to see me. It means a lot."

"Aww, I'm glad to hear that!" the bunny girl replied cheerfully, "and thank you for the wonderful time. I wish I could stay a while longer, but Mother will worry about me if I'm away for much longer."

Miles bit his lower lip. "Yeah. Well, I know your birthday is coming up in a couple of months, so I was thinking..."

He felt his heart start to beat more rapidly. Why was he freaking out like this? It wasn't like he was asking her specifically out on a date with what he had in mind! Although, it could easily be seen that way, so he found himself stumbling to try and word what he wanted without suggesting anything of that nature.

"W-would you like to go to Never Lake and explore Little Planet again this year?" he proposed, almost gagging from the edge of his throat drying up, "no Sonic or Amy...just you and me."

Cream's eyes widened a little and her lips went neutral, making him fear that he might not have been tactful enough with what he said.

"I don't think Cheese would like being left behind," Cream answered softly, "he's rather protective." But before he could feel the pang of disappointment, the fox saw a smile return to her face, albeit a more subdued one. "If you don't mind him tagging along, though...I'd like that, Miles."

"Oh, great!" He let out an awkward cough. "Well, the first ferry's pretty early, so I should let you go. Good night and sleep well, Cream."

Miles was ready to head to bed himself. He was spent from both practice and the earlier performance, not to mention the after party. He was going to sleep well tonight, that was for sure.

But right as he was about to leave, he felt a tap on his two tails, turning around to see that Cream had gotten rather close to him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and stood up on the tips of her toes, and she cut off a gasp from him as her lips met his muzzle. His eyes slowly drifted shut, humming as his arms came up around her waist and brought her in closer, his tails swishing softly behind him. It was a simple, chaste kiss, but it made him feel warm in a way he'd never experienced before. He wanted to just keep living in this moment, but he knew it couldn't last forever.

After a few moments, their lips parted and they let go of one another. Cyan-blue eyes stared into cinnamon brown, and the two couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Wow," was all the fox could say at first, "what was that for?"

"I thought it might help you relax and sleep better," she told him cheekily, her smile softening a bit more, "but really, I just thought you deserved it. You're a wonderful guy with many people who love and respect you, Miles, and I'd like to get to see and learn more about you."

He mirrored her expression. "I'd like that too, Cream. We should have some time for that when we make our trip."

"Definitely!" she exclaimed, giving him one last hug for the night, which he returned with gusto, "good night, Miles."

Miles let her go and watched as she headed off to the inn in the village. Once she was out of sight, he went into his cabin and promptly flopped onto his bed with his face in his pillow, sporting a huge and toothy grin.

'What a night,' he thought, pulling sheets over his waist as he curled up, 'a comeback concert, the biggest birthday party I've ever had, and then my first kiss. For now, at least, it seems like the future's looking bright.'

As thoughts of what his adventure with Cream would bring filled his head, Miles slowly drifted off to sleep, his ruminations continuing on in his dreams.