-;-:-Epilogue-:-;-
He opened his eyes slowly, feeling them crack from the dried moisture that had fused his lashes together. He wondered for a moment how long he had been out- remembered very little as of yet. The only thing that stuck in his memory and sent him shooting up into a sitting position was the realization that the Master Emerald had been broken.
He cried out, feeling sharp stinging from various areas of his person. There was tightness across his chest and midsection, and in looking down, he found himself to be wrapped practically head to toe in bandages. His hands were strapped heavily with gauze as well, reminding him of the painful searing he had received from the gem. Never before had he pushed himself or the emerald as far as he had, seemingly decades ago.
Wait! What was he doing in bed? Shouldn't he be helping the others defeat the demon? He ignored the sharp stabs in his sides as he swung his feet over the side of the hospital bed, gritted his teeth to muffle the cry of pain as his feet touched the ground.
The bed next to his wasn't vacant. He attempted the act of tiptoeing so as not to disturb the other patient, but made a rather loud noise of frustration and annoyance as he felt the tug of the IV in his arm. 'Damnit, that smarts...'
The other stirred, turning to face the disturbance. He opened his eyes groggily, rubbing at them and blinking stupidly at the bandaged marsupial. Upon seeing him, Knuckles frowned.
"Sonic? What happened to you?"
The hedgehog yawned, sitting up. "What happened to ME? Look at you!" he laughed at him, if not half-heartedly. Themorphine drip he had been receiving all morning prevented him from any further exertion.
"Shut up, will you? I'm tryin' to get the hell out of here!"
He carefully removed the long needle from his arm, cringing. He hated needles.
"Why?"
"Why! There's a battle goin' on and I'll be damned if I'm gonna miss it!"
He began to unravel himself from the various lengths of blood-stained bandages.
"Cool it, dude. It's over."
He froze.
"It is?"
He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of it. "What about the Emerald? Is it safe?"
"Wh..." Sonic scratched his head lazily. His thought process had been slowed considerably by medication. "Which one?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHICH ONE? THE MASTER EMERALD!"
"Wow, no need to yell at me... you're mean..."
He lay back down, pulling the covers over him.
It was all Knuckles could do to keep from tipping the bed over in rage.
"Where... is...the Master...Emerald?"
"Safe. Sally has it." he sniffed indifferently, closing his eyes. Knuckles sighed in relief.
"All the pieces?"
"Yup."
"What about Tarsa?"
"She's in the room down the hall. S'what Karpa said. Shadow's acting funny. Hee hee! ."
Sonic turned and smiled at the ceiling in thought for a moment. "Y'know? I can't believe it's finally-"
In turning to address the echidna, he found himself alone in the room.
"Figures."
-
Tarsa opened her eyes suddenly as she felt an unexpected tight embrace. She sighed happily, realizing it was Knuckles.
"You're alright! I wasn't worried in the least." She smiled weakly at him as he drew away to look her in the eyes.
"How did it happen? How did you defeat her?"
"Well...it's kid of a long story..."
"I'll listen."
She shook her head, then gave him a kiss she had been saving for awhile now. He broke away, giving her a serious stare.
"I need to know."
She sat up, propping herself against the metal headboard. "I was able to escape her after what seemed like an eternity of struggling... You see, each emerald and gem of power has the ability to protect itself in dire circumstances. Each has an embodiment that it can use only after taking a physical body to project its form. When Nupus corrupted the Lumin Emerald, the entity within was changed. Lumina became Itshell."
Knuckles frowned, confused, but listened anyway.
"The emerald had been broken in two, each piece having the ability to take possession of a physical body, but couldn't fully turn to Itshell without both pieces combined. This is why she fused our bodies.
"Lumina couldn't reclaim her existence without help. She spoke to me...from deep within Itshell's core, she still lived. I helped her come to life again- even if I didn't know I was doing so- and she split the emerald, one half being cleansed of the spells and hatred by...well, by me alone I suppose. It's all so unclear right now..."
"And the other half?" Knuckles placed a bandaged hand on her arm.
"It's still contaminated. She told me it was up to Karpa, or someone who had the ability to cleanse it. I guess you could call Karpa and me the yin and the yang, heh heh." She looked past him dreamily for a moment.
"I have a family, Knuckles... I have a real mom and a real dad... it's all I've ever asked for... and I have you..." her eyes, now sparkling with tears, fixed on his. She threw her arms around him, sobbing into his neck. He winced in pain, but hugged back.
"Thank God for you...I'd have never made it if it weren't for you..."
"Why do you say that?"
She didn't answer. She just relished in the comfort of his warmth, savoring the moment.
"I think I've fallen for you, Knux." She made a sound that was a mixture of a sob and a chuckle. "I think I've found what I've been looking for all my life. I've...found my way...home..." she sighed heavily, snuggling nearer to him. He drew closer to her, climbing on the hospital bed as well, letting her head rest against his chest, ignoring the pain it caused to his many wounds.
"So have I."
--------
Sonic woke again some time later, rubbing his eyes wearily. A vast array of blurred color attacked his vision upon full recognition of his surroundings. Balloons. Flowers. Stuffed animals. 'Oh, Amy... nooooooo... Anything but this...'
He hid beneath the sheets, grumbling into his pillow.
"SOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIC! Feeling better?" chimed the sweetened voice of the pink nuisance.
"Not anymore..."
There was a knock at the open door as Velociti stepped in.
"Wow...I guess I'm a bit late to save you from your stalker..."
She squeaked, dropping the box she had in her hands as she found herself suddenly in the arms of thecobalt hedgehog.
"Wow, you're fast..."
"Please make her go away, pleasepleasepleaseplease"
"But...but Soni-kun... I got you all these get-well presents and..." She sniffled, lip quivering.
"I'm sure if you take them back now you can still get a refund." He informed her, now looking into Val's eyes happily. Amy ran out the door in a fit of tears, a few of them real.
"I heard about the whole mess but I didn't believe it." she began.
"Hey, let's not get into that! The less I hear about it the better." Sonic stepped back to the bedside, sitting on the creaky mattress.
Val stepped gingerly through the piles of gifts, having retrieved the box she came with.
"I brought you some of your favorite snack...since hospital food is processed excrement... And I thought you'd appreciate the gesture." She smiled, handing him the take-out box. Immediately, he recognized that tantalizing aroma...
"Oh, God save the chilidogs!" he opened the box and devoured said snacks eagerly.
She sighed sadly, sitting next to him.
"I had some bad news, though..."
He paused to look at her, some of the sauce smeared on his pouched cheeks.
"I...I got fired. And...well, I also got my eviction notice from my landlord...I have to move uptown with my parents for awhile..." She shook her head, looking down.
"Hey, it's alright. We'll still see each other. Right?"
Her lip quivered as her features withered under welling tears. She quickly shook her head, righting her face to a sad smile.
"My... my parents... they don't want me with just anybody... they won't even listen. They don't even want to meet you. They say they want me to be with someone..." she coughed a wavering sigh, fat tears spilling to her khaki skirt. "..someone at my level."
Sonic frowned, looking to the wallwith an expressionof hurt confusion.
"so...your parents govern your life? How old were you again?"
"You don't understand... my family... I can't alienate my family... it's just...but...I... I just - it's just that... Fun time's over for me now. I gotta get back to real life."
Sonic stared at his hands, brow furrowed, tears misting over his large eyes.
She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard...Life goes on. I'm sure you'll find someone else..." she bit back the urge to sob after this, tucking her distress away.
"Hey, uh, thanks for the chilidogs..." his voice cracked against the lump in his throat.He set the box aside,glaring at the wall.
"For what it's worth... I'm sorry." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, one of her tearsdropping to his forearm.Shedrew back, reluctant. She hesitated, fidgeting, then squeezed his hand, standing.
"Look... I l-"
"Just go."
She stood, gazing at him for a moment, then made her way through the mess of get-well gifts to the door. She stopped, biting her lip as she stared at the metal doorpost.
"I fell in love with you, you know."
She dragged a toe at the tile for a moment... then left- those her words in parting.
He listened for a moment as the click of her heels echoed down the hall.
Sighing deeply, hetossed the box into a corner andfell back hardagainst the uncomfortable bed, the tears beginning to flow silently.
He sat up as he heard those same footsteps, now hastened and growing louder. She changed her mind?
He looked up to see the worried and flushed face of Sally, now looking around at the gifts in bewilderment.
"Amy." He explained, turning on his side after finding who it was.
"Oh. Hey, you ok?"
"Enough hydrocodine and a saline drip and anyone's ok, I guess." he wiped at his face, tugging the blanket around his midsection.
She laughed breathlessly, leaning against a rather large stuffed rabbit while she regained her wind. She obviously didn't realize his misery.
"I hear you'd gotten hit pretty hard... something about internal bleeding..."
"Hell if I know, I've been out cold for who knows how long. Look, I-"
He was interrupted by a kiss. His eyes widened at this in shock.
She broke away and grinned at him silently.
"What?"
"I'm just so glad you're ok."
------------------
"I feel like I've been here before..." Shadow stated as he walked alongside Karpa out the Station Square Medical Center doors.
"Some saw this place totaled. Nothing left but a cloud of dust. You think it was the emerald?" she asked him, absently touching a hand to her chest.
"Maybe... How long was I unconscious, anyway?"
"Not long." She chuckled inwardly at his actions earlier. That was most definitely NOT Shadow. Shadow would have never danced about the waiting room with a plastic flower in his mouth like a four-year-old. He was fortunate to have not remembered a thing.
"So, what now?" he asked, turning to set that scarlet gaze on her. She shivered lustily, but put those thoughts away for later.
"Your cave or mine?" she asked, grinning tauntingly. He shook his head, grinning as well.
"I'm not the kind of guy to settle down..." he looked out at the blue horizon of the ocean as they walked toward the beach.
"I'm not asking you to settle down... Well, not entirely..." she seized his arm as an idea struck her. "I'll take you to meet my parents!"
"Uh...why?" He tugged from her grip, looking at her uneasily.
"Well, I need my father's consent..."
"...f...for what?"
She laughed, hooking her arm in his and continued the stroll to the shore.
"Oh, you'll see."
-------------------
"I DID WHAT?"
Tails sniggered, tears of mirth settling in his blue eyes.
"You kissed her... but only after tackling her and pinning her to the floor in a rather questionable position..."
"hell no."
"I have pictures."
"HELL no."
The enraged hedgehog snatched the photos from him, looking through them, staring on in horror.
"Well, hell, at least it wasn't MY body. I'm worried for Shadow. He might have contracted some fatal disease..."
He threw the thin stack of evidence to the side, covering his face with a hand.
"How indescribably gross... And why were you taking pictures anyway?"
"..." Tails just grinned guiltily, backing to the door.
"You're sick, you know that?"
"Yes." And with that, he made his escape down the hall, giggling all the way.
"God, he hit twelve and lost his mind..."
-----------------------------
Tarsa sighed heavily, slinging her backpack farther up her shoulder as it was slipping.
"Flight 309 to Tuskanon is now boarding numbers one through nine..." The flight attendant announced.
"Hey, I'll be here when you get back... It'll be ok..." Knuckles said, giving her a comforting squeeze.
"Yeah, but...I don't know... I mean, they're the ones who put me through hell in the first place... putting me up for adoption... Sticking that... thing in my chest..."
"I'm sure they didn't know any of this would happen." He kissed her on the forehead. "You go on. Have a great time with Karpa. Hell, someone has to keep Shadow in line!"
"And it won't be me." Karpa added.
"Hey, it's our turn. Let's get a move-on." Shadow stated, picking up the two heavy carry-on bags which both belonged to the golden-hued heiress.
Knucklescupped her chin in his hand, looking lovingly into her green eyes.
"When you get back, you'll know where to find me."
"Yeah..." She hugged him tightly, then-standing on tiptoe- she placed her hands to his cheeks and kissed him deeply.She gave him a final shy smirk,then hurried after the other two, already boarding the plane.
He watched her go, saddened at her departure, but comforted by the fact she'd soon return... Right now, he belonged elsewhere. Back to his duty. Back to what he knew.
"I guess I should go home, then..." he said aloud to himself. He smiled, turning on his heel, heading for the terminal...and Angel Island.
-.-.-FIN-.-.-