Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this reunion… especially for the one who hasn't changed a bit.

~保護者~

REVIEW REPLIES:

Hello, Blazing Winds! Yeah, that was a while ago, huh? Anyway, not surprised that you remember darker of those two chapters, since it's so important and all. I mean, they both are, but yeah.

Hello, MelGamingPlays! Good guess! One of those certainly could be Jet. ;) You'll get your answer this chapter, don't worry. As for who the characters in that chapter were talking about, you'll learn over time. Promise. Anyway, I'm glad that you're on board, too! And I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far. :)

~保護者~

BEGINNING OF PART ONE

"Faces of Old"

~保護者~

It was late in the day when Sonic awoke. Hoping to reclaim the peaceful dream he'd been having, he squeezed his eyes shut a bit tighter. Inwardly, he lamented the end of his nap. It had been so pleasant, and he'd been so tired. That's the last time I stay awake for that long just to help Emi further perfect her racing techniques. Stifling a yawn, he shifted a bit… and gradually came to realize how quiet it was. The inner world of the Master Emerald was always peaceful, sure, but this level of silence was… unnerving. He knew nothing could be wrong (after all, everyone here was already dead), but something told him he should probably go ahead and get up.

With a sigh, Sonic ignored that little voice inside for just a bit longer. Was basking in the sun and enjoying it's warmth in peace really so much to ask? Except… it doesn't feel as warm as before. It took a minute of puzzling for him to actually realize that the world around him was steadily growing colder… and he could no longer feel the grass beneath him. The moment realization hit, he finally gave up on resting and sat up. When his eyes opened, they instantly widened at the spectacle of lights around him. "Holy sh- Ythene! Seriously?!" he shouted into what was rapidly becoming blank nothingness. "The hell's going on?"

The sound the infamous disembodied voice made was one Sonic swore was akin to a soft 'tsk'. "Be calm, Savior of Mobius. You are being revived."

"That much is obvious, but why?" Sonic exclaimed. Regaining his feet, he tried to decide whether he was more excited… or concerned. One thing was certain, though. When I come back, Amy's gonna kill me for not saying goodbye first.

"A time of great darkness has arisen again," was the solemn reply. "An old ally needs your aid again, whether he knows it or not."

Off of the top of his head, Sonic could think of five prominent figures whom he'd once been close to but whom he also knew also weren't in the emerald yet. Only three were male and that meant three distinct possibilities as to who he was being sent to. Something tells me that I'm gonna have to find out for myself who it is, though. It isn't like I'll be told. "You didn't give me a chance to say anything to the others," he groused like the old man he had been when he'd died… and still was. At his age, how could he even do anything to help?

"There was no time," came the only explanation he'd get. "The need is great for you to join the turmoil now, not later."

This news made his stomach churn a bit, even as soothing waves of light washed over him over and over again. "It's that bad, huh…?"

"No," Ythene remarked blandly. "It is worse."

Coming from a being affected only by logic and not emotion… that's… bad. "Ythene, look at me!" he protested. "How can I possibly-"

His words were cut off almost immediately. "Look at yourself," Ythene responded with the barest inflection of tone.

Confused anew, Sonic glanced down and saw nothing terribly different. Bemused, he sought another means of doing what he'd been told when it occurred to him that he was wearing his communicator. Using the dormant screen as a mirror, he looked upon his face for the first time in several months… and was startled to see a twenty-one-year old him staring back. "You- You-" he stuttered, too stunned to formulate an adequate response.

"Magic," was the almost smug response. And then there was silence.

Sonic smothered a sigh in favor of grumbling some choice words under his breath, then switched gears. Pretty sure revival doesn't normally take this long. Actually, I think it's supposed to be more or less instantaneous. Glancing around, he came to a quick conclusion. Something tells me that this mess, whatever it is, will be a lot worse than Ythene bothered to hint at… hence the rush to start reviving me. So why's it taking so long? Thinking it best to try to savor these last few moments of quiet before he was thrown into whatever was waiting for him once this process was complete, he closed his eyes.

That was when the voices started. The first one earned a frown from him, one borne of confusion. The voice was that of a young boy he knew he'd never heard before, and the alarm carried in that tone alarmed Sonic as a result. But what really stunned the hedgehog was the mention of a name - or, rather, a title - that he hadn't heard anything about in millennia. "Guardian! Guardian! The Tel'or are here!"

The second voice, one that Sonic couldn't not know, sent his eyes flying open. "Take shelter. Now."

There was the first voice again, replying with a quick, "R-right!"

An explosion shattered the fragile remnants of Sonic's earlier peace as he was dumped quite unceremoniously into fresh snow. Gah, snow! Must it always be snow?! Scrambling to his feet, Sonic looked around, expecting to see the fight unfolding around him, only to be met with more silence. Uncertainty plagued him as he pushed himself up and to his feet. Snow billowed around him, the frigid winds making him shiver. Already, he missed the warmth he had been enjoying so recently. Hugging himself to maintain body heat, he trudged on through the snow. Following his ears, he hoped to find evidence of the fight he was pretty sure he'd begun to hear before he'd been fully revived - an explosion, the shriek of clashing blades, anything. But there was nothing. Everything was still. Did I… No, don't be stupid, I couldn't have imagined that. But then why is everything so…? A fang found his lower lip. It's too damn quiet.

Continuing his slow walk, he gradually found himself impeded by yet more snow. Squinting up at the sky, he read the clouds and determined that a storm was coming. With no shelter in sight, he feared how high his chances of freezing to death might soon get. If the temperatures get too low, I'm sunk. I'm like dad, built for heat. Mom and Silver are better suited for an environment like this. With chattering teeth, he fought to discern anything through the snow flurries, and suddenly made out the faint outline of… a castle?

No way is there a castle out here. He picked up the pace and hurried forward. The illusion, or what he'd first believed to be an illusion, failed to fade. Surprise made Sonic's right ear flick. ...Okay… so there is a castle… but why? Driven by the need for shelter, he made the decision to press forward. With ears strained to pick up any sound, he walked and listened… and walked and listened… and walked and listened some more. Eventually, he was just able to make out a child's voice right as a heavy pair of double metal doors came into view. Though he'd only heard the voice once, he recognized it immediately as the voice of the boy he'd heard earlier. As he stepped closer, he began to make out words… and those words were not the ones he expected to hear.

"Hold on- Someone's… someone's here. I'll call you back."

After that, silence. Question is, is that good or bad? Sonic had only barely began to gather up the courage to knock when, suddenly, the door on the left cracked open. To his astonishment, the boy before him was clearly Babylonian. His feathers were the color of a blue sky near dusk, his eyes the color of pure amber. The outfit he was wearing was, for lack of a better description, a hooded cloak that was long enough to end just above his ankles. It was dark purple and adorned with thin metal-platings that seemed to act both as decoration - and as light armor. The adornments rose up in the pattern of flames from the lowest edges of the robe about midway down the child's shins, golden color glinting in the light. A quick glance to abandoned hood showed that the entire opening was ringed by smaller versions of these dame decorations. Even the boots matched.

The boy's voice called Sonic out of his thoughts. "Who are you? And how did you get here?"

Sonic reached up and ran a hand over the back of his head, fingers running through his hair. "That's hard to explain, um…" He hesitated, but only long enough to recall the other voice he'd heard earlier, he asked, "Listen… is Jet here?" The boy stared at him, shocked and confused, eyes unfaltering in their scrutiny. He seemed… mature, for his age. Frighteningly so. But perhaps that was just Sonic's eyes and mind playing games with him. He repeated his question. "Is Jet here?"

When the reply finally came, it was said as more of a statement than a question. "You're him."

Ears twitched, betraying his lack of understanding. "'Him'?" he echoed.

"You." A finger pointed, accusing, then the hand it belonged to dropped back to the boy's side. "You're him. Him. The one he used to talk about."

"You're… talking about Jet?"

A nod. Curt. Rushing to the point. "No random stranger would know Guardian's actual name, let alone a random hedgehog. It's been ages since he's been back to-" He paused, shook his head, then continued. "You're supposed to be dead."

At this, Sonic managed a wry sort of smile. "I still am, technically. I was revived, sure, but not fully. A person only ever gets about three full revivals, ever. Maybe four. And when someone is revived, it takes a while for their life-force to fully return to them."

The boy shook his head. "I've seen your grave."

"I am still dead. Just not exactly."

"If it wasn't for the fact that I'm used to Guardian's riddles, I'd say that you were being ridiculously confusing."

"Sorry about that." Sonic glanced up at the distant and high roofs of this isolated castle. "Do I have to ask my question again, or…?"

This made the boy shake his head again. "No. I…" He paused, sighed. "No, you don't. I'm sorry. This is just… more than I'd expected."

Sonic could hardly disagree with that statement. I think this is more than either of us bargained for today.

"Anyway, he isn't here. Not right now, at least. Maybe if you'd come earlier…" He moved, stepping away from the door he had opened as though to let Sonic in. "But he'll be back," he stated with confidence, "once it's safe again."

Taking the unspoken invitation, Sonic stepped out of the cold and into the surprising warmth of the castle. "I didn't sense any danger," he admitted. He chose not to mention the things he'd heard earlier.

"Well, they weren't exactly here," was the shrugging reply. The door closed with scarcely a sound. "The enemies, I mean. They were just beyond the barriers, out in space."

"Barriers?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. They're what keeps this place safe." The boy paused, giving Sonic another scrutinizing look. "And usually keep visitors out."

Sonic's hands raised almost defensively. "It's not like I flew here or something. I just appeared here. It wasn't something I could control." That just earned a shrug from the boy. Sonic glanced around the large front room, somehow unsurprised by the extensive collection of books within it and the mild clutter they created. There were quite a number of shelves full of them, a table with several stacks atop its smooth surface, a sort of sofa with two more piles resting on its cushions, and even multiple stacks on the floor between the two pieces of furniture. "Guess he still loves to read."

The boy glanced about as well, as though noticing for the first time in a while the semi-organized chaos around them. "Yeah, but so do I. Some of those books are mine."

Emerald eyes landed on a faded manuscript left open on the table. Words spread across the pages in a language he had no hope of deciphering or recognizing. "Are you a student or something?" he found himself asking.

"More like an apprentice," the boy hedged. "He used to call me a te'naki sometimes."

"Guessing that word itself means 'apprentice', then," Sonic ventured

"In an old language," the boy agreed. There was a lull in the conversation for a time before he asked, "Your name. It is Sonic, isn't it?"

A smile tugged at Sonic's lips. So he was told about me. About us, probably. Amy and the others, too. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

Apparently satisfied, the boy nodded. "Mine is Cadora."

"Definitely a Babylonian sort of name," Sonic chuckled.

Cadora gave another nod, this one of agreement. He shuffled his feet, suddenly shy and perhaps uncertain. "Guardian says my mother picked it for me."

Sensing the sudden onset of sadness, Sonic sought to turn the conversation elsewhere for now. "Why don't you just call him by his name?"

"He's always been 'Guardian' to me," Cadora shrugged, "ever since I can remember. And, besides that, it's his title. Sort of like calling a teacher 'sensei'. And besides that, it's isn't as though he's my father or something. There's nothing else really for me to call him."

A memory from earlier tugged at the fringes of Sonic's mind, soft but insistent. Something about the Nocturne War… Ix said something… Something about a… a Sixth Guardian, I think…

"You do plan to stay, don't you?" The question was just sudden enough to startle Sonic out of his thoughts. "Guardian will want to see you. ...Though, he may not let onto it much."

Something about that last comment made Sonic smirk fondly. That sounds like the Jet I remember. "I'm sticking around," he assured. "Trust me, I want to see him, too. We were best friends, once upon a time."

Yet another nod. "He's told me."

Suddenly curious, Sonic leaned against the table and asked, "What else has he told you?"

"Many things." Moving aside some books, Cadora claimed a seat on the sofa's right cushion. "Too many things to recount or remember forever. They used to be just stories to me then, when I was little, so I didn't try terribly hard to keep them in mind. By the time I understood how real they were, I'd let most of them slip pretty far away." He shifted to get more comfortable, then murmured, "It's been a long time since he's told me any of those stories." Sonic tried to think of a response, but stopped when Cadora looked him square in the eyes. "But I do remember one thing."

Emerald eyes blinked. "What's that?"

"That if ever anyone wanted a dangerous break from the monotony of 'ordinary' life, you were the person to hang around."

Silence settled as Sonic took in these words and sifted through their multiple meanings. Then, suddenly, he found a laugh bubbling forth. He could feel Cadora watching him, possibly confused, but his merriment was too great to let it go right away in order to explain. When he eventually could talk again, he offered one lame piece of the explanation the teenager seemed to be wanting. "When he and I were kids, maybe about your age, he and I used to make very similar claims about each other all about the time. Life rarely got boring for us, but when it did… well, we each have always had a knack for finding trouble or otherwise drawing it to ourselves, whether we meant to or not." Slowly, his head tilted back eyes drifted up to the ceiling. Still smiling, he murmured, "It's nice to know that there are things he hasn't forgotten, even after so much time has passed."

"Guardian doesn't forget much," Cadora revealed with an audible smile of his own, though his was smaller. "And what he does forget is usually by choice. Things like nightmares and such."

"He still has those, huh?"

"Yeah. He never says what they're about, though."

"Trust me, if they're still about the same things as they used to be, you're better off never knowing."

"That's what the Lady Mother told me."

Confusion prompted Sonic to look at him again. "'Lady Mother'?"

Cadora shifted again. "Sometimes she's just called the Mother, or the Mother Tree." Expression blank with deepening confusion, Sonic merely stared at him. It was with a sigh that Cadora gave in and divulged, "She's the mother of the Gardenian people, their protector. She used to be the last one of them, but her roots dug deep. Her seeds fostered new life."

"Gardenian?" Sonic asked slowly. The name was unfamiliar to him.

A nod, almost eager. Bright curiosity and enjoyment shone in young eyes. "They're plant people."

In an instant, memories slapped Sonic hard in the face. "Cosmo's people?" he breathed, not expecting Cadora to hear nor answer. But an answer was just what he got.

His own eyes now a touch wider than before, Cadora asked, "You know her name?"

"...She named a descendant after herself?" Sonic asked slowly. "Or someone else did?"

This time, Cadora gave a vigorous shake of his head. "No! Cosmo is… Cosmo. No one else is."

The explanation was sorely lacking in, well, explanation, but Sonic followed anyhow. The implications of it struck him hard, as did the disbelief that surged within him. "She can't still be alive. She's not an Immortal."

"She doesn't have to be," Cadora answered. "Some mortal races have abnormally long lifespans. Your own race, the Tokarians - you know, non-Mobian hedgehogs that live on Mobius - , are an example of that. But some live lives far longer than even that. Her race is one of the longest-lived in existence. And, besides that, there are ways to live for ages beyond your lifespan without that sort of thing on your side, anyway."

Stunned, Sonic could only think to ask, "It's… actually her, then?"

"There's no one else it could be," was the firm reply, "especially since Guardian knows who she is. Really knows. He told me a story once about her, too, something involving robotic enemies named after plants and an evil prince from another timeline and stuff like that. If anyone would know her, it would be him."

Because he's also still alive… and he pays attention to the things that matter to him. Always. Swallowing hard, Sonic dared to ask, "Who else is still around? People from my time."

"I don't know, exactly," Cadora admitted readily. "I mean, I know some of his allies and stuff, but I don't know if any of them lived that long ago." He stopped for a second, then reiterated, "Guardian would be a better person to ask. He'd know."

For some reason, Sonic sighed. "Yeah… I suppose he would."

Cadora slid off of the couch. "Come on, I'll show you were the kitchen is."

Mood already lightening back up some, Sonic managed a smile and moved to follow the boy. "Because you're hungry, or because you think I am?"

Unabashed, Cadora replied, "Both."

Chuckling to himself, Sonic followed the young apprentice toward the promise of a meal.

~保護者~

Feeling hazy, Sonic squeezed his eyes shut tighter than they had been and turned his head from one side to the other. It took a rather long period of vague contemplation for him to realize that he could feel something sort of… poky against his face. It took even longer for him to understand what the pokiness really was, an understanding that only hit him when he heard birdsong overhead. I'm… outside? …So… this is… grass? Shifting, he braced his hands on the ground and, with a groan, forced himself to sit up. Once he was up, he opened his eyes.

Sure enough, the ground around him was covered in thick, luscious grass. There were trees all around. Flicky birds flitted about overhead, filling the otherwise empty air with their merry tunes. Some of the haze lifting from his oddly tired mind, Sonic looked around. Where is this? ...A forest, obviously, but… where? This can't be anywhere near that castle, can it? It was extremely snowy there, kind of… everywhere. Rubbing a hand on his head as though that alone would clear it, he stood up and looked around some more. Once he did that, a new thought occurred to him. Wait… Flickies? There was a small pause, then realization slapped him in the face. Those are only on Mobius!

Eyes wide, he dashed up a tree, coming to a stop on the highest sturdy branch he could find. With this new vantage point, he attempted to try to determine where he was. With how long it's been, though, there's no telling how much this place has changed. I can't even tell where I am from here. It's just a forest. He looked around for a moment longer, then zeroed in on a very distant mountain range in the distance. That would make a better vantage point, being higher and all. ...In theory, at any rate. Mind made, he jumped down out of the tree and, after taking a second to snag a fruit off of a low-hanging branch, he took off across the land. Taking a bite, he smiled to himself. There. That feels better.

With a fairly minor increase in speed, Sonic made it to the mountain range in less than three minutes. The timing pleased him enough to make him smile again, but the sight of some snow in the distance made that quickly falter. He was forced to question, of course, how he was here now and not where he had been before. Was that even real? he found himself wondering as he began to ascend the nearest mountain. That boy I met, Cadora… what happened to him? How did I end up here? Now feeling troubled, he reached out to Ythene in the hopes of receiving an answer. But, of course, there was nothing. Of course not.

Sighing to himself, he slowed to a stop atop the relatively small mountain's slightly frosted peak. Hm… looks like this forest is a lot larger than I thought, he decided as he peered down at the land below. He turned slowly and then paused again, squinting in an attempt to see further away. This was a process he had to repeat several times before he actually saw something in the distance. Is that a house? Though he squinted harder, even going so far as to lean forward and shadow his eyes as though that would help, he was unable to make out any useful details of whatever he was seeing. Ythene, did you drop me near someone? Several moments passed, and he sighed. Still ignoring me, I see. Predictably, there was no response. With a huff, he let the matter go and took off.

Before too long, Sonic made it to the home he had seen in the distance. It was nothing especially remarkable, he decided, but there was a young couple working in a garden outside of it so he called out to them. After an awkward beginning and some half-explanations as to how and why he was lost in the woods, the pair genially agreed to provide him with a map so that he could orient himself and determine where he was. It was an amazing piece of holographic technology, as it turned out, and he secretly scanned it into his communicator. Then, with a cheery farewell, they took their map back and he took his leave.

Alone again in the woods, Sonic opened the scan of the map on his communicator. "Looks like it's a map of this whole continent," he mumbled to himself. "It's going by a different name now, but with how large it is… this has gotta be Yueisha. The continent most of us used to live on. It's even roughly the same shape, somehow…" His eyes roamed over the image on his screen. "Jeez, this place has changed… There are cities and towns and even villages everywhere, even where there used to be nothing but nature. Let's see…"

Zooming in with his fingers, Sonic began reading the names of settlements that now occupied the areas where his family and friends had once lived. As he did so, he continued his trek through the forest, which he quickly determined was a new one in a place where there hadn't been one during his time. Namely, it sat smack-dab in the middle of the huge area the city of Station Square had once occupied. That meant he was on the east coast, a detail which helped immensely when it came to orienting himself.

He read for a fair bit of time, reminiscing about old locations and working on memorizing new ones, until one caught his eye. "Century City"... It's right where Future City used to be. Zooming in further, he was able to gain a holographic view of what the city itself actually looked like from above. The appearance caught his attention further. It looks a lot like Future City did… only even more high tech than before, of course. ...Damn… the tower where Wave, Jet, and Storm used to live is even still there. He started to head that way, only to pause when he zoomed back out of the screen.

Not terribly many miles to the west from where he was was the area where little Leaf Forest had once been. It seemed there was still some woods there, but it had no formal name attached to it. Just a nickname in quotation marks. "Iridescent Woods"... It's definitely in the same place that Leaf Forest used to be. He lifted his head, looking that way even though he had no chance of seeing the woods from here. That's where Tails used to live. Teeth sank into his lower lip. He never appeared in the Master Emerald with us. He was still around when I died, and I was the last to go. He did age a bit, but he didn't die because his mutations were keeping him alive. He bit harder, winced at the pain, then quickly released his lip. His mind still raced. What are the chances that he might still be here, let alone there, specifically? Heart pounding, he decided to head there instead of the futuristic city. If there was any chance that there was a friend there, he was going to take it.

After turning of his communicator's screen, Sonic took off toward the wooded area he had once known so well. He reflected, as he went, how he had first met Tails in Leaf Forest all those years ago. How fitting it would be to first meet him there and later reunite with him in the same place, but… really, what are the odds? His heart pounded a bit harder. With hope, with anticipation, with stupid, pointless nerves… But more than anything else, he held onto that hope. It took wonderfully little time to reach his destination, even with him not running anywhere near his full speed, and he slowed to a stop.

He nearly froze as soon as he saw it. Standing before him was a blissfully familiar home and workshop, both clearly still in near-immaculate condition. Neither had experienced any degradation or anything else and both showed signs of recent occupation. Both doors were open. Lights were on deep inside the workshop, shining out from the door. Faint sounds of movement were emanating from the house. Though he hardly dare to breathe, as though the slightest exhalation would banish the illusion before him, he stepped forward toward the house and weakly called out, "T… Tails?"

More movement. There was a bump, and something fell. Then there were footsteps. Something near to the door was pushed noisily aside and then… him. Looking nearly as young as ever, maybe a year or two older, he stepped into view in the doorway. Rectangular black-framed glasses rested over bright blue eyes. A flowing labcoat covered his body, doing nothing to disguise the twin tails idly moving behind him. His gloves were white on the backs, but the front halves were black. His shoes were different, too, with the white and red patterns different than before. The tips of his ears had darkened to blackness. Where his yellow fur had once met the white fur of his twin tails was a somewhat jagged ring of more black. A triangle of the same color marked the back of each arm, with the base somewhere under the gloves and the points extending out to about midway to his elbows. The same thing happened on his legs (more specifically, from the ankles to across the shins) with the points ending midway to his knees. He was so different in appearance, and yet… Tails was still Tails.

Clearly in shock, the fox pulled his glasses off. Then, in spite of his shock, he smiled. "Sonic…? Oh my god… it's you?"

Too shocked to say much, Sonic just mumbled a small, "Yeah… Yeah, it's me."

Instead of asking anything else more specific, the inventor just gestured for Sonic to come inside and inquired, "When?"

"Uh… this morning. I think." Lame explanation aside, Sonic really wasn't sure how long he'd been revived. It all depended on whether or not his encounter with Cadora earlier that day had been real or not. And he simply didn't know if it had been. However, he brushed that matter aside in favor of taking Tails up on his offer and stepping inside. They had a lot of catching up to do.

Tails followed Sonic inside. "You're young again," he commented quietly. "How? Ythene?"

"Yeah," Sonic responded just as quietly. He managed a small but wry smile. "Feels nice not being an old coot for a while."

"You were old, but never an old coot," Tails laughed. "Senile and eccentric hardly were accurate descriptions of your golden years. Crotchety, however-"

"Hey, now," Sonic cut in, already laughing as well. Whatever awkwardness and tension there might have been was rapidly dissolving into nothing. "I was never crotchety. Storm on the other hand…"

"You were both cranky old farts," Tails responded in sheer amusement, folding up his glasses in his hands. "Seriously, if you two had been old at the same time and could've found the energy to beat each other with your canes, you would've."

"I never used a cane!" Sonic protested, albeit with another laugh. "And neither did he, come to think of it. He had a staff, remember?"

"Aw, same difference," Tails joked. He set his glasses on a nearby table.

"Hardly." At Tails's unspoken invitation, Sonic took a seat in a nearby chair. He gestured to the glasses while Tails also took a seat and changed the subject. "You actually need those now?"

"Yeah," Tails smiled, "but not for the reason you're probably thinking. See, remember how I developed that weird power not long before you death that allows me to see at the microscopic level?" Sonic nodded. "Well, I still can't always prevent the power from activating by itself which, as you might imagine, causes problems when I'm trying to just see normal things. I use these glasses to keep my eyes focused so that I can see normally when I need to." Tails offered him a smile. "So, needless to say, my glasses look normal but aren't."

"Kinda like how your home and workshop look about the same as they ever did… but almost certainly are very, very different."

"Yeah, exactly."

"And what about you?" Sonic leaned back in his chair. "Your fur, I mean. I can understand the change in gloves and the like, but your fur?"

"Oh, that?" Tails glanced at his right arm. "Well, it's pretty normal for fox fur to darken as we age, but in my case… I think the more dramatic darkening, and the appearance of a whole new color, can be attributed to my mutations. From the radiation, as you may recall."

"Right… that's how you got so many odd new abilities," Sonic murmured thoughtfully. "...And how you're able to regenerate so much that you barely age."

A nod. "Yeah, exactly." Tails offered another smile. He seemed full of those, just as he'd been in the past. It was a wonderful revelation. "So you do remember."

"Yeah, a bit, but you've gotta take into account how long it's been," Sonic replied sheepishly. "And I was old, so my memory retaining abilities were hardly great. Cut me some slack."

"Alright, if you insist." Tails tossed Sonic yet another smile. "It's great to see you Sonic, really. We've missed you terribly. All of you guys."

"'We'?" Sonic found himself immediately questioning instead of commenting on the rest of what Tails had said. "You mean you and Jet?"

"Yes, but not just us," Tails answered.

Right… Cadora said Cosmo's still around, too. ...Assuming that conversation actually happened. Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Tails stood.

"Come on," the fox invited. "I have an appointment to keep, but why don't you come with me?"

"Appointment?" Sonic echoed.

"Yep," Tails smiled. He picked his glasses up off of the table and slipped them back on. "I have someone I'm supposed to help today, but you'll want to tag along. Trust me."

Sonic stood up and watched as Tails grabbed a box-like case by the handle and lifted it off of the table where his glasses had been resting. "Okay… why?"

This time, Tails's smile held a sort of secret… and a promise. "You'll see. Now, come on. We'll never get there in decent time on foot, or at least I won't, so we'll have to use a teleporter."

"I can teleport us," Sonic pointed out even as he moved to join his old friend.

"You've only just been revived today," Tails responded evenly, "and I don't want you to push yourself. You might exhaust yourself without meaning to."

Though Sonic sighed, he ultimately decided not to argue that point. "Yeah, alright. Let's go."

In response, Tails walked reached back to the table, grabbed a tiny device, and activated it. Just like that, they disappeared. In less than a second, they reappeared. "Okay, we're here," Tails announced almost cheerily. Pocketing his device, he laid a hand on Sonic's shoulder and turned him around to face a huge military compound. "The people here can be pretty gruff and cranky, just to warn you, but just keep your chin up and don't let them get under your skin. They're not looking for trouble or anything."

"O...kay," Sonic responded slowly. "But why are we here, exactly?"

"You'll see." With this chipper reply, Tails released Sonic's shoulder and just… walked right in.

Gaping, Sonic hurried after him. "Tails, we can't just walk into a place like this!" he hissed. The doors closed themselves behind him and locked firmly.

"Sure we can." Tails started off down a hall. "First of all, we just did. Second of all, I do it by myself all the time." Sonic stared at him. "And if you're wondering how I don't get shot or whatever," the fox continued, "it's because I know the guy who controls this place. And all the other military branches, bases, and everything else on Mobius. He's who we're going to see."

Still unconvinced, Sonic dubiously inquired, "And who's he?"

Once more, the response was infuriatingly vague and simple. "You'll see, Sonic."

Sighing to himself, Sonic opted to continue following in temporary silence. Whoever this person is better not be an ass or I'll have to kick some. Once the thought ended, he mentally paused for a second. ...Guess I'm still a bit cranky. Hm. He gave that some further thought for a few moments and then let the matter go. Side by side with Tails, he walked down innumerable halls, none of which he paid much attention to. His mind was preoccupied with attempting to determine exactly who they were going to meet and why Tails seemed so convinced that he'd want to meet this person. It stands to reason that this is probably some friend of his, or at least an ally. So that's something kind of positive, I guess. "How much further, Tails?"

"Not much," the fox answered. "We just need to get out to one of the training areas. He spends a ton of time in those. We'll go somewhere more private after that."

"And we need privacy because…?"

"Because I have to help fix something that others don't really need to know much about. And probably don't care to see."

Annoyed by the overall unhelpful responses, Sonic tossed his old friend a dour look. "You're being deliberately ambiguous," he accused.

"How very astute of you," Tails smiled. Clearly, he wasn't bothered by Sonic's attitude. "However, I won't be for that much longer, I promise." Turning his head, he gave the hedgehog a playful wink. "I just enjoy surprising people sometimes."

"You're impossible," Sonic sighed, turning his attention back to the front.

"Not at all," Tails responded in kind. "I'm merely improbable."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it."

Before Sonic could even think of a halfway-decent reply, Tails walked ahead of him a couple feet. By bypassing numerous security measures that Sonic honestly couldn't describe, the fox got the doors open and stepped outside. As Sonic followed, he couldn't help but wonder, Why is it that the building itself looks so much like something I'd recognize from my time and yet the tech within is so vastly different?

"Come on," Tails urged when Sonic's steps lagged. "Pretty sure he's out here."

Sonic glanced about the surprisingly huge space. "How can you tell? There's gotta be at least a thousand people out here. ...And that might be an understatement."

"Oh, it is," Tails assured with a small laugh. "And I suppose that it's just a gut feeling. Instinct, perhaps, though I don't think I'm much prone to such experiences." He led the way through the (somehow) very spread out groups of people, not paying much attention as they all trained with weapons and devices Sonic couldn't even begin to recognize. He seemed to sense Sonic's growing confusion and mingling curiosity, but he volunteered no explanations. And, for now, Sonic didn't ask. Instead, the pair just trekked along in relative silence. That silence lasted for so long, however, right up until Tails stopped, pointed, and smiled. "There." Blinking, Sonic turned his head to look… and completely stopped.

Emerald eyes stared as a futuristic gun-like weapon the size of a handgun was lifted and fired three times in rapid succession. Almost holographic creatures fell "dead" with each shot, all sporting holes in the centers of their heads before they vanished in small flashes of digital light and code. But that wasn't why Sonic gaped, nor was it why he stopped walking. No way is that… Twirling the gun idly in their right hand, the subject of Sonic's shocked scrutiny turned smoothly to look at him and Tails. The shoes, hair, and everything else about them were just the same as Sonic remembered. Even his eyes… those crimson eyes… No way is he…

"Hey, Shadow," Tails greeted brightly. That calm yet dark gaze shifted to him. "Look who finally joined us again."

Those eyes slid back to Sonic. "...Hn."

Unconcerned by the lack of significant reply, Tails suggested, "Shall we head inside?"

This time, the response he was given involved actual words instead of just a vague hum. "Yes." Walking past Sonic, Shadow simply told him, "Close your mouth before a bug flies in."

Somehow, this managed to snap Sonic out of it. "W- Hey! The hell kind of a 'hello' is that?!" he demanded, jogging after his half-brother. Laughing, Tails hurried after the pair.

"A better one than staring like a fool," Shadow snipped.

"You're seriously calling me a fool?"

"I know you didn't go deaf in your old age. You heard me."

"Look here, you rotten bastard-"

"Shut it."

Sonic huffed and crossed his arms. "And Tails said I was crotchety…" Tails covered his mouth to hide another laugh.

This time it was Shadow who huffed. "Because you were. And apparently still are."

"I am not," Sonic glowered.

"And you've given me no reason to believe that," Shadow returned smoothly as the three of them went back inside. They entered through the same doors Tails had opened earlier. He tossed the fox a look then and added, "I told you to stop shutting off the security protocols on my doors."

"Sorry," Tails smiled sheepishly. "It's just faster that way, and he was getting impatient."

"Oi, don't blame this on me," Sonic cut in. Shadow didn't deign to comment and, for a time, there was silence. They turned a corner down an unfamiliar hall and started down it. Only when they turned into another corridor did Sonic pick up the dropped thread of conversation. "By the way, I seem to recall that you have always been crotchety yourself, Shadow."

"Rumors," Shadow responded immediately.

Much to his amazement, Sonic couldn't tell if his half-brother was being serious or if he was actually… joking. "No, I don't think so. I witnessed your supreme moodiness myself, remember."

"By your seventies, you were by far among the crankiest people in the group," Shadow retorted. He cut Sonic a glance as Tails once more stifled some laughs at their expense. "Evidently, that hasn't changed much."

Body of a young adult, mind of the same old coot who died in bed nearly alone… Thanks, Ythene. "I bet you just missed me," Sonic declared haughtily, though he was mostly joking. Yet, Shadow didn't outright deny it, choosing instead to just look ahead again and continue walking. Astonished by the implications, Sonic let his arms drop to his sides. "Wait, did you?"

Apparently realizing his small error, Shadow replied with an immediate and firm, "No."

Tails finally piped up again, this time taking Sonic's side. "I dunno, Shadow," he grinned, "you don't hesitate to deny things normally, especially when your answer really is 'no'. Hesitation can often be a rather clear sign of someone lying."

Now Shadow gave them both one of his signature glares. "Drop it, or I'll vaporize you both."

Tails waved him off. Literally. "Eh, I'd just regenerate eventually. And I doubt you'd have the heart to use one of your fancy guns on your own family." Now Sonic was smirking, feeling triumphant.

"Shut it," Shadow muttered, choosing in the end to not say anything else about it.

Sonic decided that, while it was strange as all hell that Shadow was so mellow and open now... well, it was actually sort of a nice change. Who knew the day would come when the words "Shadow" and "mellow" could exist in the same sentence without "is not" separating the two? Smirking just a touch wider, he wisely decided to hold his tongue and not share that little thought with either of his companions.

Together, the pair walked into a spacious room that, to Sonic, looked a lot like one of Tails's old workshops. Or even Wave's. When he asked about it, Tails told him, "Oh, that's because this is mine. It's the space I work in when I'm here. I design and build a lot of the things that these armies use, including but not limited to weapons, ships, defensive technology, and medical devices. Kind of like I used to do for you and the others, way back in the day." Turning to Shadow, he added, "Come on, let's get this done. I'm willing to bet you have other things you'd rather be doing."

"Hn," Shadow allowed vaguely, taking a seat on some kind of a nearby chair.

While Tails busied himself with setting down the case he'd grabbed earlier and opening it, Sonic opted to lean against the table Shadow was sitting at. "So what exactly are you two doing?"

In response, Shadow set down the weapon he'd been holding and stiffly released it. He turned his hand over so that his palm was facing the ceiling. "I am a sort of cyborg, as you may recall," he said, voice a touch quieter than normal. When he attempted to open his fingers past their resting position, Sonic heard a painful sound like metal grinding harshly against metal that made him wince. Shadow's fingers failed to extend like they should have. "As with any… machinery… the parts in me need to be maintained and, at times, replaced." Though Sonic knew this, the reminder was welcome. It had, after all, been a very long time.

Frowning, Sonic walked over and, taking a chance he knew he at least would survive because they were family, he lifted Shadow's hand in one of his own. "Damn… that sounded bad. How long has your hand been like this?" He inspected the hand closely, noting just how stiff and inflexible it currently was.

"He told me it's been weeks, with it steadily worsening day by day." Tails walked over, usual smile gone in the face of a stern frown. "I still say that, trouble or no trouble, you should have called me immediately when this started happening. It'd have been more manageable early on."

"I hardly had the time," Shadow retorted. He pulled his hand away from Sonic, though not roughly, and set it back on the table. Sonic opted to turn away, not wanting to watch as Tails set about carefully opening up Shadow's hand to get to the problem.

"Next time, make time," Tails scolded, "because you had better believe that you'd be facing a far harsher tongue lashing right now if it was Jet who'd gotten your message and not me. You're lucky that he's been so busy."

Sonic's head snapped to face Tails. "You've been in contact with Jet?" he demanded sharply.

Tails chanced a quick glance up at him. "Yeah, off and on over the years. But it's been quite a few decades since any of us have last heard from him. Like I said, he's been busy."

"'Any of us'...?" Sonic questioned, breathless.

"Not all have died," Shadow told him softly. "A few remain."

Though he hardly dared to ask, Sonic did so anyway. Because, though he felt like he should have known, it wasn't like he did. Considering the fact that a person's soul could "sleep" (so to speak) for so many eons or longer after death - as both of his parents' souls had when they had first died in ancient times - before appearing within the Master Emerald, and that the inside of said emerald was as large as Mobius itself… there was just no way for him to know for certain at any point who was dead and who wasn't. Not while he himself was dead. "...Who…?"

"Aside from us and Jet, there really are only a few," Tails told him. "But we all do have a reason for being alive still, if nothing else. For us three, it should be obvious. Jet's an Immortal, so the chances of him dying permanently are… well, slim isn't near a strong enough word. I'm only still here because my radiation mutated me enough to give me new abilities, as you know, thus allowing for things such as regeneration. And Shadow's a cyborg, so as long as all the implants in his heart and brain and whatnot are kept in working order and replaced whenever better technology comes around… well, there's no telling how long he might be able to stick around. Really, there's no telling how long any of us might be able to keep surviving."

Unable to think of any adequate reply, Sonic nodded. That all makes sense, but…

Not yet finished, Tails continued. "Aside from us, Wave is still around, as are her father and younger brother. Not sure if you ever personally met either of them. But you do remember what her dad is, right?"

Honestly, Sonic did vaguely recall that Wave wasn't pure Babylonian, but his memories from that long ago were kind of hazy at best right now. "Not… really," he admitted. "Something that looks Babylonian but isn't is all I remember."

"The term is 'Hexan'," Tails supplied, "so named because of that race's notoriety for their love of hexes and extreme magical ability and might, among other things. They also happen to be among the longest-lived mortal races in existence."

Understanding came easily with that statement. "Like Cosmo's people."

Blue eyes glanced up at him briefly. "Yeah, exactly like them. Though, one does live longer than the other. Not sure which one."

"The point is," Shadow cut in, "even being half-breeds, Wave and Alec have immense lifespans as well. They are young yet."

"Are they here, too?" Sonic asked quickly. "On Mobius, I mean."

"As often as they are not," Tails answered. "Wave and Alec tend to spend a lot of time in Han's, her father's, home realm. It goes by the popular nickname of 'The Lost Hex'."

While still processing this, Sonic risked a glance down at what Tails was doing. His stomach churned slightly at the sight of his friend carefully working in and around tissues and whatnot to repair whatever was wrong with Shadow's mostly mechanized (on the inside, at least) right hand. Amazingly, Shadow seemed to feel no pain from the procedure. Sonic quickly looked away again. "Is that everyone who's left?"

Tails and Shadow traded a look so quick and so brief that Sonic nearly missed it. "Not quite," the fox started to reply.

Shadow cut in and supplied the answer. "Espio is alive."

Memories of his half-brother's old friendship with the chameleon flooded Sonic's mind, as well as memories of Espio's crippling injuries and his numerous lost memories. But nothing came to mind that could even remotely explain him still being alive. "How?" he breathed.

"That… we don't know. Not exactly." Tails frowned slightly in concentration. "Jet's sort of explained it before, but only vaguely. We really just don't know."

"Is there any chance that we could go see them?" Sonic questioned, beyond hopeful.

"Yeah, just let me finish up here." Tails tossed his friend a smile. "It'd be fastest for us to see Espio first, so we'll do that."

Sonic was satisfied and even pleased with that answer, so he nodded. "Where's he at these days? And, for that matter, where is this?"

"Espio still lives up in the mountains of the far north, where old Hyale used to be," Tails replied. "And this place is where one of the old G.U.N. bases used to stand in White Jungle. Though, this place isn't called that these days."

Well, it's no jungle anymore. It's barely even much of a forest. Emerald eyes cut a glance at Shadow. "You used to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with White Jungle and all its mud and bugs and shit. I remember you trained here as often as you griped about the whole place. What made you stick around?"

At this, Shadow offered a one-shouldered shrug. "Familiarity can be its own comfort."

This comment made Sonic's eyebrows draw together in thought. "...Which, I'm guessing, is why you both opted to to live in buildings that look so much like the kind we'd all be able to recognize from the time before myself and the others died." Shadow nodded. Sonic posed a new, more lighthearted question a few moments later. "That also why you haven't bothered to change your outfit after all these years?"

"Oh, he has," Tails cut in. "He just switches back sometimes."

"Ah." Sonic turned his head to gaze out a nearby window.

"Anyway," Tails continued, "I'm nearly finished here. Just give me a few more minutes and we can go."

"Alright."

In the ensuing silence, Tails really got to work and Sonic, for now, allowed his mind to drift. There was much he had to process. Might as well take advantage of the peace and quiet while it lasts.

~保護者~

9,000 words this time. Whew this was a long one! It was gonna be even longer, too, before I took the next few scenes off the end of this chapter and made them their own chapter. Lol. XD Hope you all enjoyed! Posted (at about 7:00 a.m.) 10-29-18.