Aria: Here it is, everyone! The final installment of A Matter of Life or Speed!

Twister: -is sitting on an over-stuffed suitcase- Can you hurry up? We gotta move out soon!

Aria: -looks at him sarcastically- As pushy as always, eh, Twisted Whiskers?

Twister: Humph.

Aria: Thank you very much to Crystalstorm for your last review! You've been one of my most faithful reviewers and we are honored! -curtsies gracefully- However, I don't think you all came to see me yap, so let's start Part Eleven of A Matter of Life or Speed! -snaps her fingers-

(Disclaimer: Aria Zephyr does not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any related material)

Aria Zephyr Proudly Presents…

A Matter of Life or Speed:

An Archie Sonic Fanfiction

Part Eleven: Home Sweet Home

"Sonic! Sonic! Hey, Sonic!" Sally yelled, walking through the Great Forest. "SOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNIIIIIC!" she shouted. "Ouch! Sal, I'm not deaf!" Sonic's voice said. Sally looked up and she saw Sonic sitting in a tree. He grinned at her annoyed expression. "Have you been here the entire time?" she demanded. "Yeah," Sonic replied. He looked up at the trees' canopy, at the bits of sky revealed by the gentle breezes. One such breeze whirled through the trees and played with Sally's hair. She tucked a few loose hairs behind one ear and looked at Sonic again. Her annoyance had melted and she sighed. She climbed up the tree trunk and onto the branch Sonic was sitting on.

"It almost doesn't seem real," Sally said. Sonic turned his head to look at her. "What? That we really are alive and that I really did get my speed taken and given back to me?" Sonic asked. "Somewhat," Sally replied. She looked at Sonic and said, "It doesn't seem real that all of those things could have happened to all of us, but we haven't changed dramatically." Sonic laughed and put an arm around her. "But, Sal, we have changed!" he said. Sal looked at him in confusion. "Let me explain," he said. "Tails is busy learning how he can make himself more alert to danger, so that he can be his own hero. You're more enthusiastic than ever that we'll defeat Robotnik someday. And I'm…" His voice trailed off for a moment. He looked back up at the forest canopy for a moment, before looking to her again with a smile. "I'm careful to enjoy every day," Sonic said.

Sally smiled and brushed a few loose quills out of Sonic's face. "Oh? Now what could have brought about that change?" she said, her voice playful. Sonic caught her hand. His voice dropped to a low level as he spoke. "Sal, I could have lost both you and Tails. I understand now exactly how much you two mean to me…and how I know I'd lose everything without you," he said. "Then, I suppose my mission succeeded, after all," said a familiar voice.

Sonic and Sally turned to see a darkened figure leaning against the trunk of a wide-canopied tree, half obscured in the shade. "Taimat," Sonic said. At her name, Taimat stepped out of the tree's shade and into the small copse. Sonic jumped down from the tree branch, while Sally climbed down the trunk. "Greetings, Sonic, Princess," Taimat said, curtsying elegantly. "Please, call me 'Sally', milady Taimat," Sally said. Taimat looked at her with what seemed to be an approving gaze. "Very well. But only if you call me 'Taimat', Sally," she said. Sally smiled and nodded.

"So, Taimat, you promised us that you would explain everything to us when you saw us again. Well, now you have seen us again," Sonic said. "Sonic! Oh, why couldn't this experience have cured him of his impatience?" Sally cried to no one. Sonic scowled while Taimat laughed. "I am afraid that it is in his very nature, Sally. He, or anything else, cannot change it," she said.

"AUNT SALLY! SONIC! HEY! AUNT SALLY! SONIC!" Tails's voice echoed through the forest. He was flying through the trees, looking around. Finally, he caught sight of them and shot toward them. "Ah! Tails! Wait!" Sonic cried, as Tails barreled into him. When the subsequent dust cloud cleared away, Tails was sitting on Sonic's stomach, his face lit up with animation. "Agh…Tails, do you have to knock me over like a bowling pin?" Sonic asked wearily. "Yup!" Tails chirped.

While Sally was making an effort, in vain, not to laugh, Taimat walked over to the pair, chuckling. "Now, Tails, you don't want to flatten the poor thing, so why don't you get off him and we'll have the talk I promised you all," she said gently. She reached under the fox-boy's arms and lifted him easily off Sonic, who, now freed, sat up and smoothed back his quills. Taimat put Tails on his feet again and straightened up.

Meanwhile, Tails stared at her in fascination. "You're strong!" he said. Sonic, having gotten to his feet, walked up behind him, saying, "She'd have to be, to be that powerful." "Quite right, Sonic," Taimat said. The three turned and stared at her. "You see, to acquire powers like mine, well, you have to make sure your body is strong enough to handle them. A weak body would easily be torn apart by the mere effort to posses them," Taimat explained. Further stunned, they continued to stare at her. Sally was the first to recover, and she asked, "Why don't we start from the top? Taimat, who or what are you?" Taimat laughed richly. "Yes, that would be the best place to begin, now wouldn't it?" she chuckled. "Very well. As you wish," Taimat said, reaching up with both hands to the hood of her cloak. She dropped it with a simple gesture, and all three of them were shocked to see Taimat herself.

She was a fox. If you didn't know any better and only gave her a cursory glance, she'd look quite normal. However, she was unlike any other fox; her fur was snow white, so pure that it looked as if it had been spun out of moonlight, her eyes were a clear, sparkling, impossible amethyst; a circlet, which kept her short, chin-length hair down, seemed to be made of gold and silver warmed together, but not mixed, so that the swirls they made were clearly defined. Taimat unclasped her cloak and revealed a loose, flowing robe of lilac, belted at her waist with a leather belt and silver buckle. Any rich lord or lady would have scoffed at such simple dress, had they not seen the wearer clad in them; but, Taimat was astonishing.

It was a long time before any of them could speak. "Wh-wh-who are you?" Tails asked. Taimat smiled and knelt down before him, her skirts billowing out around her. She tugged off her gloves and took hold of Tails's chin. "Will you believe in everything I tell you, no matter how strange?" she asked. "Yes," Tails managed. Taimat looked at Sally and Sonic and they agreed as well. Taimat looked back at Tails and got to her feet again.

"I am a member of an order of enchanters and enchantresses. Before the coup, members of our order would travel to the ends of Mobius, searching for young and hopeful Mobians who showed promise of learning the arts of magic. These young ones would be trained in our hidden caverns, until they could no longer learn anything more from our order's teachings, and they could go about the world, to learn life's lessons," she began. She turned and looked significantly at Sally. "When the coup occurred, I was one of those members who set out to find new students, and one day I found myself strolling through the bustling streets of Mobotropolis." Her eyes glittered for a moment, but she continued.

"However, I was not alone. You see, at the time, I was eighteen, and in our order, at that age, marriage to another order member is considered by our elders. Oftentimes, if an order member is an emissary, as I was, they often pair two emissaries together, whom they feel would make a compatible couple. As such, I had been given a partner, another fox, whose name was Ichiro," she continued. Abruptly, she paused and looked down. When she raised her eyes again, they glittered once more. "Perhaps, I should explain to you what Ichiro was like?" she said, more to herself than any other.

"He was…tall, studious, and intelligent. He was a very skilled enchanter of nineteen, and was very good student and teacher. He had learned swordplay and fighting skills from a wise, old sensei, and he made sure to keep those skills keen. And, he was blindingly handsome!" Taimat described. "With his silky black fur, deep, chocolate eyes, well-toned body, suave style, and alluring charm, he was every vixen's dream. I hated him!" The trio looked at her, startled. Taimat merely smiled, before continuing.

"Oh, and how I hated him! I had disliked him ever since I was a young kit, just barely learning how to float a feather. He was always polite to everyone, including myself, but…he and I, we were like clashing titans. We competed with each other over everything. If I found a new book, he'd get it too and read it faster. If he planted an herb for spells, I'd plant one too and mine would grow larger and healthier. It went on that way for years, right up till the elders called us both to the Great Hall.

"At first, we both thought that the elders were going to give us an exam, to see which of us was progressing faster, but not so! The elders told us that they'd read our applications to become emissaries, and we both admitted this. The elders told us that we were both of marrying age, and we both admitted this. The elders told us that we were both to receive a partner, who was under consideration for our life mate, and we both admitted this. That was when the elders told us that we had been approved for emissaries and that we would be each other's partner. Needless to say, our reactions were predictable and in unison. 'WHAT! HOW CAN YOU CONSIDER THAT CREATURE FOR MY LIFE MATE!'" Taimat quoted. "But, we had no choice: when the elders decided to give a new emissary his or her partner, they had a trial run of a year. If they were not a compatible couple after that time, or they simply did not feel anything for one another, new partners would be found. And, so, I was paired with my arch-nemesis for an entire year.

"Now, this would be relatively easy; simply tolerate each other's presence without saying anything, right? Not so. The rules of this partnership required partners to sleep in the same bed with each other. And, when a group of experienced magic-makers lays down this kind of rule, they make sure you follow it. So began an already rocky beginning. The first few days, Ichiro and I spent shooting evil looks at one another, arguing over every little thing, and giving dire threats to each other when we went off to change or bathe. Oh, and we also slept as far away from each other as possible, with our backs facing each other.

"Yet," Taimat said, pausing. "After some time, Ichiro and I stopped snarling at one another; then, we stopped glaring at one another every breathing moment. It eventually boiled down to the fact that we no longer hated each other, but were actually staring to be very close. By the time the year had passed, we were glad for the elders' choice and were looking forward to being life mates."

"So…what happened to you two when the coup took place?" Sally asked softly. Taimat immediately looked down. "I was about to get to that," she said. "Ichiro and I were heading toward the center of the city, to announce ourselves and our mission to the king, when all hell broke loose. We heard screaming, wailing, shrieks, crashes, all manner of cacophony. It wasn't until we heard the terror in those cries and the announcement that creature made that we realized what was going on."

Sonic shivered, but said, "It was the Roboticizer, wasn't it?" Taimat nodded. "But, that wasn't all. Despite our power and training, our order hadn't prepared us for that; it was something it had never dealt with before, so its effects took us by surprise." A sob escaped her. "It was…horrible! We could only stand and watch as terrified people fled and were overtaken. It would have done the same to me as well, if it hadn't been for Ichiro… He had always been skilled at wards, so he threw up the most powerful one he could muster around us. He only had enough time to tell me…to tell me that he loved me and to ask me to find him…no matter what…" Taimat raised her face; shining tears were dripping down her cheeks. "He used the last of his energy to send me away, far away…so far…that the Roboticizer could not harm me…"

She tried to brush the tears away and Tails plucked at a fold of her robe. "You don't need to tell us anything more, Taimat. Please don't cry," he begged. Taimat smiled brokenly at him and ruffled his hair. "Such a sweet fox-boy you are, Miles. I can see how much you mean to these two," she said, her voice low. She looked up at Sonic. "Do you remember the roboticized fox you fought in the core?" she asked. Sonic stared at her for a moment. "Of course, but what has that got to do with anything!" Sonic spluttered. "Let me explain," Taimat said.

"After the coup, the order, most of them having avoiding the disaster, set out to finding a way to reverse the Roboticizer's effects. They perfected a spell that works, but it is complex and only a well-trained enchanter or enchantress can perform it without being killed by the energy loss. It's a slow way of doing things, but it's the best we have," Taimat said. "But, what does that have to do with the fox?" Sally asked. Taimat smiled slightly. "That creature is my Ichiro. After years of desperate and hear-breaking searching, I found him again," Taimat said.

"And, I wanted to thank you for leading her to me," said a deep, mellifluous voice from the forest shadows. A black fox strode forward, clad in a ruby-red robe. His chocolate-brown eyes flickered with amusement at the astonishment clear on Sonic, Tails, and Sally's faces. He bowed to them. "I am Ichiro, and I thank you deeply," he said. Taimat smiled at him and he slid an arm around her waist.

"Hey!" Tails piped up. "How come you were around after the factory blew up, Taimat?" Taimat looked at him sweetly. "I was searching for clues about Ichiro when Sonic happened to bumble into the next clearing. Does that answer your question?" she asked. She reached to ruffle his hair again, but he scurried out of the way and flew off. "He doesn't like being petted," Sally said with a shrug. Taimat smiled and said, "It's all right."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Sonic asked. Taimat started to speak when Ichiro cut her off. "I'm going to do what Taimat has waited ten years for: I'm going to marry her. But, before that, we have to go back to the order to see how the other four victims are doing," he said. "We'll try to visit every so often," Taimat said. "Who knows? Maybe someday we can help your half-robotic friend and your uncle?" Ichiro said.

"I guess we'll see you later, then," Sonic said, flashing a grin. "Thank you so much, for everything!" Sally said. The pair smiled at them. "Farewell," they said in unison and vanished.

"What a strange pair," Sally remarked. "I doubt they're any stranger than us," Sonic said with a wink. Sally elbowed him in the ribs in retaliation. "Hey! I'm innocent, I swear!" Sonic yelped. "Sure you are!" Sally said, running off into the forest, toward Knothole Village. "I'm gonna catch you!" Sonic said, chasing after her. He caught up with her easily and picked her up. Sally shrieked and laughed, as Sonic spun her around, heading for home.

The End

Twister: How the heck did you keep these people hooked for over eighteen months!

Aria: Authoress's secret.

Twister: Bleh. -leaps off suitcase pile and snatches up a catnip mouse- I'M READY!

Aria: Almost finished. -plunks down onto a suitcase to close it- Ready!

Twister: FINALLY!

Aria: Farewell, dear readers and loyal reviewers! You've been great!

Twister: Later.

Aria: This is Aria Zephyr, signing out. -grabs Twister- Bye! -vanishes into whirlwinds-