Soon after Eggman had fled Angel Island, Sonic was standing on the edge of the island. He was looking in the general direction that Eggman had flown off into. Knuckles was standing next to the Master Emerald, with one hand on the gem. It hadn't been easy to restore the Master Emerald but now it was fully restored, as was the Island. The Chaos Emeralds were also surrounding the Master Emerald, as things should be. However things would be different from now on. He would no longer be alone in defending the Master Emerald; he had Tikal with him. He never realised until now that he could get used to another person present all of the time. Tikal was the first of his tribe to reappear after several years. He had given up hope of anybody ever returning to him, which would leave him alone for the rest of his life. He had gotten used to living alone but he would now have to change his ways. Tikal had walked over to him. She was happy to be guarding the Master Emerald with Knuckles. She had already tried to defend the Master Emerald before, but only now knew how much difficulty it could be. She had nearly failed before, and would've if it hadn't been for Chaos. Tikal always remembered that incident, possibly the worst day in her life. Now she would be protecting the Master emerald with Knuckles, the man that she loved.
"Well, everything's back as it should be." Knuckles said.
"Yeah, the Master emerald has been restored." Tikal added.
"As has the island."
"But Eggman got away."
"He always does." Sonic called out.
"Sonic, I sometimes get the feeling that you deliberately let him get away." Knuckles replied at that.
"I hope you didn't." Tails added before heading over to the Tsunami.
"Wouldn't put it past him." Amy added teasingly. Sonic just laughed. In many ways, they were right. He always seemed to let Eggman get away. Truth be told, he enjoyed fighting Eggman, no matter what Eggman was doing. He didn't really take his job of defending the world seriously. He just wanted to have fun. Tails was in the control room of the Tsunami. He was getting the sub ready to glide off the Island and back into the ocean. Tails had opened out some caterpillar tracks so the Tsunami could move over the land. He opened the entrance hatch and looked out at Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Tikal.
"Guys, the Tsunami's ready to leave." Tails called out. Sonic ran straight over to the Tsunami and leapt inside. Amy was following him at her usual place. She stopped and called out to Tikal.
"What are you going to do Tikal?" Tikal looked at Amy and smiled.
"I'm staying here." Tikal replied.
"But Knuckles is a loner."
"Let's just say we've discovered that we have a lot in common." Knuckles said. Amy immediately figured out what they had meant by that and smiled.
"Well, congratulations." With that, Amy climbed into the Tsunami. Tails just smiled and followed Amy into the Tsunami. Knuckles and Tikal watched as the Tsunami went to the edge of Angel Island. It then dropped off the Island and landed in the Ocean, with no damage. From there, The Tsunami went off and back towards Tails'' workshop. Knuckles and Tikal were left on Angel Island, with the Chaos emeralds and the Master emerald all in their rightful places. They both looked into the sky. A few birds were flying overhead and the sun was setting over the ocean. There were no clouds in the sly at all. It was actually quite a romantic setting. Knuckles and Tikal were standing next to each other, looking at the sunset. Knuckles put a hand on Tikal's shoulder. Tikal looked at him with a smile.
"Tikal, having another person around on this Island, it's going to take some getting used to." Knuckles said.
"I understand how you feel. You've lived alone all your life until now." Tikal replied.
"Heh, I always wished for my people to return."
"And now I have returned. You finally got your wish."
"It's a strange feeling though."
"Strange?"
"As I said before, I've been alone for such a long time. Now I have some companionship, I'm going to have to get used to it."
"Hey, you will."
"I know." Knuckles held onto Tikal's arms and looked into her eyes. Tikal looked back with the same look Knuckles was giving her; a look of love. They looked into each other's eyes for a couple of minutes.
"Let's do what we were nearly did, twice before." Tikal said sweetly. The two echidnas leant in closer and engaged in their first kiss. They held onto each other and held onto the kiss. It didn't last for very long, only about 30 seconds. When they released, Tikal looked into Knuckles eyes again.
"I love you Knuckles."
"And I love you…Tikal." They looked into each other's eyes and kissed each other again. Knuckles had not only regained a member of his people, he had found true love. This was a new feeling to him, and it would take some getting used to. Tikal was thinking similar lines. She had never been in love until now. She would have to get used to the feeling and help Knuckles with whatever he needed help with. She had already helped him restore the Master emerald and defeat Eggman. She would now be living an entirely different life to what she had done since the Chaos incident. It would take some getting used to but she knew that she would be able to cope.
That night, Knuckles was sitting on one of the steps in front of the Master emerald, as he normally did. Tikal was fast asleep, resting her head on his lap. He was going to go to sleep soon, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep. So much had happened in one day, and his life had changed direction. He had been waiting for so long for one of his people to return, and now that hope had been granted. He did not know whether any more would return, only time would answer that question. He gave a look down at Tikal. She looked so peaceful and angelic. Knuckles knew that Tikal would help him protect the Master emerald from whatever would harm it. Knuckles looked up into the night sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the sky was full of stars. He idly started counting the stars in the sky out of boredom. He didn't need to worry about the Master emerald tonight, as there was nothing brewing, at least for a while. After counting stars for a few minutes, he began thinking to himself again.
"I'll probably be on this island for the rest of my life, guarding the Master emerald from whatever can harm it. The first of my people has finally returned to me. Only time will tell me if any others will return. I shall defend this island and the Master emerald for their sake, as well as the world's. I have also found myself caring for someone else deeply. I will try and protect Tikal, the one I love, with all my strength. I probably won't know the full story of her return, but perhaps, it's better that way. We can now live together peacefully."
After that train of thought, Knuckles gave one final glance at Tikal. She was still fast asleep on his lap. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes, still sitting up, and eventually fell asleep himself. Tikal opened one eye at about this point. She smiled and lifted her head off of Knuckle's lap. She then gently laid him down on the step so he was more comfortable. She then gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.
"Goodnight my love." Tikal whispered. She laid down on the step just below Knuckles and quickly went back to sleep.
END