Kindling the Fire

Tiffany came out of the bedroom. "Knuckles, Tikal is asking for you, she wants to speak with you, privately." Knuckles walked onward. Tikal was sitting up in the bed, waiting for Knuckles to arrive. She didn't look sick at all, but she did look worried.

"Knuckles… I remember you." Knuckles smiled a little.

"Well that's good news; we can build from that…" Tikal interrupted him.

"No, no that is not good news. I cannot remember anyone else. I remember… playing in the park every afternoon after school. I remember watching you fight in some sort of tournament." Knuckles laughed at the memory.

"The Chaos Tournament, that was one of the greatest fights of my life, I remember how proud Elder Echidna was of me; he told me that I was his greatest student." Knuckles' eyes were now looking at Tikal, but he was looking much deeper, back in time. He became lost in the memory of his friends; friends that he had forgotten. Tikal could see what he was thinking, but couldn't think of anything to say. For some reason, she found comfort in Knuckles' presence.

"Knuckles… what do you remember about me?" Knuckles snapped back into reality. He held Tikal's hand.

"I remem…" Katrina and Tiffany suddenly fell through the door. Tiffany stood up, enraged.

"I'm sorry; I know you wanted to talk privately." She now looked at Katrina. "But someone insisted that they barge in here and see what all the fuss was about!" Tiffany stood up and protested.

"I just wanted to know who everyone was talking about." Knuckles and Tikal looked at each other, then at Tiffany and Katrina, who stepped back.

"Oh… sorry, I hope we weren't interrupting anything." Knuckles lowered his head and cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed.

"No, you weren't interrupting; I was just getting ready to leave." He turned to Tikal. "Get well soon." Knuckles left with much haste, leaving everyone wondering why he was in such a hurry. Tikal looked down and smiled to herself.

Nightlife-Tails and Tiffany

Tails looked up at Tiffany, staring in her glistening eyes. "I got you something." Tiffany smiled and leaned back on her hands. They were laying side by side at the edge of a cliff, admiring the view. Tails pulled a small box out of a basket. Tiffany's eyes widened at the site of a beautiful necklace. She picked it up and immediately put it around her neck. She then reached over and hugged and kissed Tails, who blushed. But something caught Tails' eye. While looking at the moon, he saw someone, a female; jumping a very large distance. Tiffany noticed him looking outward.

"What are looking at?" Tails shook his head; remembering when he saw something similar to it, while he was collecting a note the few nights before. TR ran up behind them, scaring and making both of them jump.

"Hey, have you seen Knuckles and Tikal? They went to try and help her remember some things, but they've been gone nearly two hours!" Tails and Tiffany shook their heads. "Aw man, that Knux is always blinded by something, I bet he lost track of time. Anyway, I'm going to go looking for them again, they gotta be on this island somewhere." TR left before anyone could say anything.

Nightlife-Knuckles and Tikal

"Ok, so you remember the city, good." Tikal nodded, as she looked at the wild flowers. "Next thing is to get you to remember what you used to know about the Chaos Emeralds." Tikal was not at all that concerned with her lost memory, this showed when she picked up a flower and gave it to Knuckles.

"For you." Knuckles took it, confused. He then shook his head.

"You don't understand the importance of this, do you?" Tikal continued looking at nature, something she was known for doing.

"Nope." She said this flat, as if she had not a care in the world. Knuckles let out a sigh. It was hopeless for him to try any longer.

"Well… since we're here, I might as well show you the island. Follow me." Tikal nodded and smiled, taking his hand. Knuckles looked down at his hand, then back up at her with an awkward expression. He led her out of the forest and into a mountainous region, where a hot spring sat between four mountains. Tikal was breathless at the sight.

"Wow! This place is beautiful!" Knuckles looked at her, as if to say something; but kept his mouth shut.

"Come on, this way." He led Tikal into a cave. "This is where TR, Elder Echidna, and myself hid one of the Chaos Emeralds." Tikal looked around, almost ignoring him. Then she suddenly turned around, took his hand, and pulled him deeper into the cave at a running speed. "Hey, wait!" Tikal didn't listen. Soon they were on the other side, looking over the forest. Tikal looked at Knuckles, but quickly looked back. Both of them had something brewing in their minds, but refused to say anything. TR came into view as he jumped on top of the trees, calling out for them. They hid from his view. After a few minutes, he was gone. "We should get going, it's really late out. I bet even Tails and Tiffany are on their way home." He smiled at his own joke. Tikal looked sad, and nodded. "We can come back again sometime." Tikal ran to the edge of the wall. "What are you doing?" Tikal didn't answer; she was focused on whatever it was she was doing.

"There!" Knuckles walked over to her. On the wall was one word. "I declare this mountain, T and K!" Knuckles stepped back and was a little embarrassed.

"We, we have to go."

Elsewhere

"Ha, yah, hi-yah!" A small explosion could be heard.

"Jesus, what'd ya have to do that for?" Another voice defended.

"I'm training." The other one shook its head.

"I just don't wanna come crashing down because of you." There was no reply.

Tikal's Love

Tails had just woken up to find Tikal sitting on him. Tails jumped out of bed; startled, awaking Tiffany in the process. "HOLY CRAP, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Tikal smiled.

"I made breakfast." Tiffany had just gotten up when she realized what was going on, at that instant she pulled the covers over her, blushing.

"WOAH, HEY!" Tails looked over at Tiffany, then to Tikal.

"Could you give us some privacy, please?" Tikal; still smiling as if nothing was wrong, nodded and left. Tiffany was breathing hard, embarrassed. "It's ok, just calm down." Tails said this in a kind of humorous way. Tiffany; however, saw no humor in it.

"That's easy for you to say, you're not naked!" Tails let out a small laugh and smiled. Tiffany narrowed her eyes, and spoke in a non-serious demanding tone. "Go get breakfast." This made Tails laugh even more. Tails got dressed and went into the kitchen. There on the table was a nice plate of bacon… woohoo, and eggs. Tiffany soon followed, still shaken up. Tikal bowed and left for the outside world, leaving Tails and Tiffany alone at last. Tiffany stared out the window at Tikal, as she planted some flowers. "I bet she thought nothing of what she saw, I bet she'd call it 'nature.'" Tails laughed at this.

"She's an Echidna, and damn smart one too, of course she'd call it nature, that's why I said calm down, it ain't no biggy for her." Tiffany was still staring at her.

"Yeah… doesn't she seem lonely to you though?" Tails tilted his head.

"No, she seems perfectly happy, she's always happy." Tails stopped and thought about what he just said. "Yeah, I guess she does seem kinda lonely, why else would she be so friendly with everyone?" Tiffany saw Knuckles come into view. Tikal gave Knuckles another flower. And yet again, confused dear old Knux. Tiffany then gasped. Tails looked up. "What?" Tiffany smiled.

"I think someone has a certain something for someone." Tails looked completely perplexed, and in a joking voice said,

"Good god women, don't talk to me with your techno mumbo jumbo!" Tiffany laughed, as Tails always made her do.

"No, I mean, I think Tikal likes Knuckles." Tails' eyes widened.

"What? You serious? Wow, never thought Knuckles would be the kind of guy." Tiffany shook her head.

"No, I don't think Knuckles feels the same way about her." Tails continued eating.

"You never can tell what Knux is thinking, sure he may talk every now and then, but he's like rock, not to many facial expressions are downloaded into his systems." Tiffany finished her food.

"Yeah, that's true." She stepped outside and joined Tikal and Knuckles. Tails got up and watched TV… good ole TV.

The Meeting

Artail was standing outside Tails and Tiffany's house, knocking. Finally, Tiffany answered. "Hi Artail, what ya need?" Artail; as usual, couldn't stand still, and was moving back and forth.

"Is Tails here?" Tiffany shook her head.

"No, he's out meeting someone, I have no clue when he'll return." Artail jumped on top of their house yelling back.

"Ok, bye, bye." He was gone just as fast as he came. Tiffany closed the door and began to wonder if the person Tails is supposed to meet will show or not. Meanwhile, Tails was waiting on Island 1. He looked nervously side to side. He heard something. When he turned around, he saw the outline of a figure, the very same figure that he saw the other night.

"Hello." Tails squinted, trying to see the person. She then came into view. "I'm glad we can finally meet, my name is Jewel, Jewel Cent." Tails stepped back, lost for words. "Well? Are you going to tell me your name?" Tails shook himself back into reality.

"Uh, my name is Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails." Jewel smiled.

"That's a nice name." She looked around, seeing if anyone else was around. "Can you please tell me where the ultimate life form is?" Tails tilted his head.

"Umm… if you mean Shadow, we uh… we don't know where he is." Jewel's smile faded.

"You don't know where your own friend is? That's funny." Tails didn't reply. "Well, if you see him, tell him I'm looking for him. I'll be in touch, bye." Tails stepped forward.

"Wait!" It was too late, she was gone. Tails stood wondering for a few minutes before heading home. It had been a while since he last thought of Sonic and Shadow. He knew they were alive, but he didn't have a clue as to where they would be. All he could do was wait. He returned home with almost no speed, he was now thinking heavily as he walked. From time to time he heard voices of late nighters, but nothing could tear him away from his thoughts. When he walked through his doorway, Tiffany was up watching TV. She turned to him.

"So, did you meet them?" Tails nodded.

"Yeah, her name is Jewel Cent." Tiffany asked more.

"Well, what did she want?" Tails shrugged as he sat down in a chair on the other end of the room.

"Not much, she asked for the ultimate life form, I told her we don't know where Shadow is." Tiffany was consumed by deep thought.

"Any clues as to who she is?" Tails shook his head.

"No, she came and went pretty quickly." Tiffany then asked a question that threw Tails way off guard.

"Was she pretty?" Tails looked at Tiffany in disbelief.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Tiffany nodded.

"Of course I am, is she pretty?" Tails was silent for a few seconds.

"Well… I guess… yeah… why?" Tiffany shrugged.

"I dunno, I just wanna know if I'm gonna have any competition." Tails smiled and focused his attention on the TV. The words "Jerry, Jerry!" could be heard in the background.