He didn't have time to even start processing what the hell just happened because someone else was approaching him - and quite angrily at that. Fortunately for him, it wasn't Knuckles. Unfortunately, that was the most angry he had ever seen Tails get ever.

"What the FUCK did you do?" Jet jumped slightly, not expecting the fox to be so loud. Of course he got the blame for that. Disappointing but unsurprising.

"What do you mean what I did? Shadow was the one that made Amy mad like that! I'm innocent!"

"Oh yeah, sure you are. Like you're ever innocent, you… you thief!" Despite how much taller than Tails he was, the fox still had him backing up against the tree as if he was double his height and had the muscles to match. Or spiky fists, those probably hurt quite a lot.

"I'm telling the truth! Amy started dragging us to the woods to tell Shadow about my crush on Sonic and—" Jet immediately stopped talking and put his hands in front of his beak. The anger on Tails' face dissipated as well, getting replaced with… pity? Sadness? Guilt? Jet couldn't tell.

"Oh. Uh… where did Shadow go?" Tails' voice was much quieter than just a few seconds ago.

"He said he was going to deal with it then ran after her."

"Okay… I guess he's going to deal with it." Tails sighed. He walked to the opposite side of the tree Jet was standing by and sat down with his back pressed against it. "I hope he's discrete about it at least. If Sonic finds out something like that is going on again… it's going to be the end of the trip, that's for sure."

Jet was… out of words once again. Tails had gone from threatening him to acting as like he had received the worst news of his life in the span of less than a minute. Was there some sort of tension between Shadow and Amy he didn't know about? Was it something that Sonic wasn't supposed to know? The more things happened, the less Jet felt a part of the group. Everything was just happening around him and he had no say in it whatsoever.

The hawk finally slumped down on the tree as well, resting his hands on his lap. He couldn't hear either of the angry hedgehogs, only Tails' quiet breathing and the distant sound of water splashing. The wind soon came to shake the treetops and produce a soothing noise, almost as if sensing their distress. It didn't make him feel any better, but it did help him focus enough to find the right wording.

"I thought…" Jet began, initially expecting Tails to cut him off. The fox kept his mouth shut, so he continued. "I thought Amy had gotten better. Sonic told me she was still dealing with, but he made it sound like her deal was… manageable. She's been bugging me the whole trip about this… whatever. Crush. I've said crush already, right? You heard me. Make fun of me all you want, it won't be the first time this week."

"…"

Tails held his breath for a long time. If he didn't know any better, Jet would say he had flied away in silence and left him all on his own again. But he could hear dry leaves crinkling under the younger mobian's fists. Very shy, very restrained.

"…Okay, maybe this wasn't the best way to go about it, I'm sorry. Just… tell me what's going on! I know you're like… not responsible for any of this but you're the only stable person around at the moment."

"…"

"It just feels like I'm getting dragged everywhere even though this was supposed to be my trip! I just wanted to spend time with Sonic and maybe find some loot along the way, but everyone else has their own… thing going on! And it always ends up being the spotlight and leaving me on the sidelines with nothing to do! It feels like I'm not here at all!"

Jet hated just how entitled he sounded. How selfish and whiny. No matter how hard he tried to be a nice person, that's how his words would always come out. Mad at something he couldn't understand. Mad at something that wasn't his business. Mad at something because it wasn't his business.

Somehow, he managed to take a long sigh out of the fox. Which of course, might have not even been his doing because he obviously needed to resume his breathing whether Jet convinced him to talk or not. But resume it did, and his voice followed.

"You promise you won't tell Sonic?"

It was fascinating, Tails had an entirely different air to himself. The way he said that made him sound like a teenager – a real one. The kind that had just broken a vase at someone else's house and was trying his best to avoid a scolding from his relatives.

"If you promise not to tell Sonic I have a crush on him." The words didn't feel quite natural in his mouth, but they came out regardless.

Tails took in another deep breath, another slow sigh. "We… I haven't been completely honest to Sonic. I wanted him to feel like everything was fine because he already has so much going on, but… It just ended like this. He told you about… you know, being a hero and all that, right?"

Jet nodded, even if Tails wouldn't see it. "Yeah. Said he felt like that was his only trait nowadays and stuff. Pretty relatable stuff."

"Yeah. He has a tendency of just… blaming himself for everything bad that happens with his friends, you know? Like… like how he and Shadow broke up and he felt bad about it for months. Even though both of them agreed that would be the best way of preserving their relationship."

Right. He never did get a chance to have a talk with Shadow about his previous romantic experiences with Sonic. He guessed it couldn't be that bad, since the two were bantering and chatting like old friends back at the ship, but…

"And— and Amy? Chaos, what a fiasco that was. We all thought she was okay, but… she was hiding how bad she really felt from us, just so Sonic could have fun being in her company for once. I feel so bad for not noticing it until it was too late…"

"This wasn't the first fight between her and Shadow. Sonic was there for the first one, and… you can guess what that did to him. I think he's still not completely over it. He barely even talked to Amy this whole trip."

"Why is any of this your fault?" Jet asked bluntly.

"Shadow and Amy wanted to have a… a talk with Sonic, I guess? To sort things out and all that. And they told me to tell Sonic, but I just… couldn't. He had already been through so much, I didn't want to put him through more strain. Being alone in a room listening to those two discussing about how they fought because of unresolved feelings for him was going to destroy the little mental health he had."

"So you like… kept him from going or something?"

"I told Sonic that Amy and Shadow had talked it out already, and I told them Sonic said he thought they could solve that on their own. I thought they could, but now…"

"I think this is the perfect time for that talk."

"Huh?"

Jet could hear the sound of Tails moving until he eventually appeared in front of him. He looked equal parts incredulous and worried.

"But that… that would probably end the trip right here. There's no guarantee Sonic is going to be okay after that. Sonic is just going to hate me if he finds out what I did…"

"Would you rather him find one day by accident or with you telling him?"

"I guess!" Tails blurted, looking embarrassed by how loud that came out. "Wouldn't you rather wait until the end of the trip, though?"

"The sooner it happens, the less likely Sonic is to find out about this whole thing on his own." Jet crossed his arms over his chest. This felt good, he was actually having a say in how things went for once!

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tails sketched a tired smile and offered a hand to help Jet get back on his feet, which the hawk promptly accepted. "Do you want to… y'know, help me talk to them?"

Jet hesitated for a moment, raising a hand to the underside of his beak. "I mean… it's sorta not my business. I want to be there for when the talk actually happens, but right now me being there wouldn't matter a whole lot."

"That's fair, yeah. Oh! You should probably go hang out with Charmy then. I sorta just… left him there. He must be getting worried by now…" Tails bit his lip. "I know we agreed to no more hiding, but… can you not tell any of this to Charmy? I don't want this whole thing to also affect him."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "I thought the lesson was that you should stop hiding things from people. He deserves to know why the trip got cancelled if it does come to that."

Tails let out a loud sigh. "Fine, fine. Just don't make it sound like any of this is his fault. I'll be right back! Oh, Sonic also told me to go grab your board for you, Charmy and I were taking turns riding it before I came here."

"You were WHAT?!" Jet shot him a quick glare and ran as fast as he could back to the master emerald altar.

Just in time to catch the bee doing some sick tricks! He was able to use the makeshift stone pillar bridge's very tiny incline to gain massive height with the help of his wings – and he also nailed the landing. He was speeding up towards Jet with an impressive acceleration rate before he suddenly slipped off the board. Both the gear and Charmy went flying in opposite directions, with the former bouncing harmlessly against the grass and the latter blasting off towards Jet with his stinger facing the hawk.

Jet yelped and managed to grab Charmy by the waist before impact – the stinger coming terrifyingly close to his chest.

"Just what you think you're doing?!" He immediately let go off Charmy and went to check on his board. No scratches or anything, just a depleted air tank. That was good! He then power-walked back to Charmy, who was still on the ground. "You can't just use my board while I'm out!"

"Chill! I know what I'm doing! You're speaking with the Grand Metropolis' three times junior extreme gear champion." Charmy fluttered his wings and got back on his feet, pumping his fist against his chest proudly.

Jet wasn't so impressed, however. "Junior."

"Well it's not my fault! Your board just gets all wobbly and weird once you go past a certain speed." Charmy puffed his cheeks.

"Of course it does, Wave made it so that only I know how to use it well. My board is custom made and not meant to be a toy for children!" Jet was clutching his extreme gear close to his chest as if it was a baby.

"I'm twelve! And…Is that allowed? I mean, disabling the safety measures so you can go faster." Charmy said with a raised eyebrow.

"Technically, yes. No one got hurt yet so there's no need for regulations against it." Jet shrugged.

"Oh, cool! Do you think Wave can do that to my board if I ask?"

"No way in hell."

"Oh well, I tried."

Jet walked towards the edge of the water and sat down, taking off his footwear before dipping his feet in the stream with his board on his lap. Charmy followed, sitting down right beside him.

"So… Were you and Amy fighting?" Charmy asked, rocking his legs back and forth in the water.

"No, it was Shadow and Amy."

"Oh! Can I see?"

"No. They were arguing, not beating each other up. Not very entertaining."

"Oh, okay. Are they gonna be alright?"

"I hope so, Tails said he'd take care of it. We might have to go back home if he can't do it, though."

"That's alright by me. I trust Tails, he's a responsible guy." Charmy nodded, then got up again. "Can you show me what your board is like at max speed?"

"Only if you defend me from Knuckles if I accidentally mess up his flowers." Jet didn't wait for an answer before he started clothing himself again. Charmy agreed, and they were off to the grassy field again.

"How did you two manage to get this wet?"

Evening had almost arrived by the time Jet and Charmy reunited with the rest of the group. With Knuckles' permission, they gathered enough wood for a small campfire. Tents and sleeping bags had been organized earlier, and if everything went right then Jet would be sleeping with Sonic yet again. He'd be thrilled about that, if not for… everything else going on.

Shadow and Amy were… sitting beside each other, which was already a really big improvement from what was going on between them earlier. Tails sat between Sonic and Charmy and looked like he was trying his hardest to hold it together. Knuckles was rummaging through the food Sonic had brought out of the airship in search of something unfrozen enough to be cooked at the campfire.

"Charmy convinced me to let him ride on my board over the river. He fell in a lot."

"The more you fall, the more you learn!" The bee said proudly, currently sharpening a stick into some sort of makeshift skewer. "That's how it is with most things in life."

"Even with airplane piloting?" Tails interjected, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"You tell me, you're the expert." Both teens got a laugh out of that. The mood was starting to feel much lighter already! Except for those two. They looked like they were trying their best to avoid acknowledging each other. Or keep their eyes on Sonic for too long.

Jet looked like he was holding it together, but he was actually the most nervous of them all. Before everyone grouped up, he had a quick chat with Tails to define how the talk with Sonic was supposed to go. Knuckles was also in on the plan – he would call Jet and Charmy to help him with whatever in some other part of the island. They had initially planned for it to be after dinner, but it didn't look like the two hedgehogs wouldn't be able to hold it together until then.

Jet was having a sort of glare and lip-reading contest with Knuckles as a silent way of arguing. Jet wanted to be able to eat at least one bite of sausage on the stick, but the echidna was having none of that. He decided to use the pot Sonic brought to make stew – something that would take way longer and thus would justify their prolonged absence from the campsite.

"Jet, Charmy. I need you two's help to get some berries for our dessert." That was the best excuse he could come up with? Lame, but Sonic fell for it so it'd have to do. Jet exchanged a brief nod with Tails before he and Charmy got up and followed behind Knuckles.

"So, what kind of berries are they? Blueberries? Cranberries? Pineapples? I know pineapples are berries too, I'm the best at trivia that makes you have an existential crisis." Charmy flew besides Knuckles as they went… somewhere, but got no response.

Jet was getting a bit worried of the group still being able to hear them, so he replied instead. "I'm gonna ignore that last one and say we're going for some strawberries. I've seen plenty of other red fruits out there."

"Did you know strawberries are not actually b—"

"Didn't ask!"

That actually got a laugh out of Knuckles, surprisingly, and they had no issue walking around and… behind the master emerald altar? Jet took a quick glance at Charmy, but the bee didn't look nearly as confused as he was – or at all! Did they plan this beforehand without him? It wouldn't be the first time, but still. Knuckles wasn't even there when they discussed the plan! That was such a dick move, Jet thought.

"Good news, ET. You're getting what you came here for."

It took a while for Jet to notice, but the wall that they were standing in front of wasn't completely smooth. Rather, it had a series of inscriptions carved onto the stone bricks. When gently touched in the correct order, some of the bricks got loose. With a minimal-force punch, Knuckles was able to knock out all the loose bricks and reveal a passageway into the back of the altar into the dark unknown.

"Wait, wait! Right now? I don't… I…" Jet put a hand to his head. Out of the things he was expecting, actually getting the treasure they came here for was definitely not one of them. Charmy was excited to go in, and Knuckles himself looked like he was regretting his decision by the second. But him? He wasn't so sure about it, for once in his life.

"Yeah? So what? It's not like their… thing involves you anyways." Knuckles gestured awkwardly to the stone bricks on the ground around them. "I'm doing all this for you. I could feel something was wrong way before I knew exactly what went down between Shadow and Amy, and you cooperated with everyone without being a selfish prick. The Jet I used to know would never do that."

"But…how…? You weren't even there, you were watering the plants with Sonic or whatever!"

"Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart." Knuckles recited. "The master emerald lets me sense the emotions of everyone inside the island. But even if it can sense guilt, it's not a very good lie detector on its own. That's why I sent Charmy to interrogate you."

"I'm a member of the Chaotix Detective Agency after all!" Charmy reached into his jacket pocket and handed Jet a business card. "I didn't even have to use any of my skills though, you just sort of told me everything! I confirmed with Tails just to be sure, of course."

"It's your choice. We can put the door back together and go harvest some pineapples. Or we go down, take the one hour long lift ride and get you some loot."

"One HOUR?! But… They'll have finished the talk by the time we're back, that's two hours plus however long we take in there!"

Jet felt like he was about to explode from many different emotions. He was angry Knuckles and Charmy were testing him like that. He was happy to be able to get one more treasure out of the list. He was worried about how Sonic and the others were doing back at the campsite. And he was unsure and anxious about what path was the right one to pick.

"I want to be there for Sonic, but…" Jet put his hands in front of his beak – more out of habit than actual embarrassment, "…what if I don't belong there right now? I don't want to risk making things worse, but what if he needs someone to help him cope if the conversation goes badly…?"

His hands went to his eye, trying to prevent a headache he knew was coming. Knuckles remained silent with his arms crossed for a little before placing a hand on Jet's shoulder, followed by Charmy's on the other. He wasn't sure if that was also the power of the master emerald, but that made him feel a little better. Not less anxious or depressed, but more confident in the choice he was about to make.

"I don't deserve to be there right now, let's go in."

Jet led them into the passageway, the stone brick wall reforming behind them after the last in line took their first step inside. The walls were an unnaturally smooth dark gray color, with a metallic smell to match. On them were lines that would soon light up in neon blue to lead them into a wider room with what was unmistakably a lift. An ancient high tech one, but still a lift.

Knuckles got in last, and pressed the only button on the device's control panel. He wasn't kidding about an one hour ride, that thing went slow. That, combined with the silence and the lack of any light whatsoever on the elevator shaft, made it difficult to tell if they were actually going anywhere once the hallway was out of view. Knuckles reassured them that they were, though, as he could feel himself growing more distant from the master emerald.

And what an hour that was. Jet had finished questioning his decision on the first ten minutes of the ride, with the rest being spent on listening to Knuckles and Charmy making berry puns at each other to try and cheer Jet up. It didn't really work, but he was willing to appreciate their effort and even joined in after the forty-minute mark – much to their dismay, since his berry puns weren't the best.

But alas, an hour eventually passed. They could see a faint blue light coming from down below. More lines on more metallic walls, inside an equally tight room. This one was two people wide, so Jet and Knuckles were able to stand side by side comfortably with Charmy flying behind them.

They were led to what appeared to be a door, highlighted by the same wall-lights but in their deactivated state. To their left was something akin to a bowl or a sink, with some sort of metallic pipe running through the wall in front of them.

"Did you know this was here the whole time? And you never figured out how to open it." Jet raised an eyebrow at the echidna.

"Trust me, I've tried. I've tried putting pretty much everything in this thing, including the juice of every single fruit in this island. I was hoping you could help me figure out what that means," Knuckles pointed at the side of the receptacle with his fist, "it's probably our best bet for unlocking this door."

Indeed, there was something engraved there in a language that Jet easily recognized as ancient Babylonian script. He tried to see if he could translate it from memory, but then remembered Wave's translation orb that was still wrapped around his neck.

All he had to do was gently wave the orb in front of the inscription. It started glowing as soon as he did, and within seconds a small holographic screen projected itself from the device, with only three possible translations available.

Blood. Bloodshed. To shed (blood).

Jet and Knuckles simply stared at each other for a moment.

"There you go, that's the one thing you haven't tried. Do you think it needs uh… Echidna blood maybe?" Jet finally stammered out.

"The Babylonians built this place, it would make more sense if it required the blood of one of them." Knuckles shrugged.

"I-I mean, do we even know if we really do need to put blood on this thing? What if we accidentally end up jamming the door with it?"

"If it can take orange juice with extra pulp without jamming, it can take blood. And it does look kind of like a funnel, you can't deny something liquid is supposed to go in it." Knuckles gestured towards the receptacle.

"Oh my God if you two pussies don't bleed on that sink then I will and I'll tell everyone you made me do it." Charmy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

That seemed to do the trick for Knuckles. Without warning, he took off one of Jet's gloves and made a small cut on his own arm with one of his talons. He quickly brought his arms above the receptacle and let the drops pour in one by one. It took about ten seconds of painfully slow dripping before something happened. The lines running from the pipes to the wall started glowing a faint red, and the previously locked door started to move.

Inside was a pedestal, and upon it was a golden circlet adorned with a crescent-shaped gray gem. Jet carefully entered the cramped chamber and examined the place for traps before confirming they were free to take their (debatably) hard-earned treasure. But he wasn't so sure about it.

"That's… not a part of the set." Jet furrowed his brows, taking the circlet it in hands. It had a smooth texture, with no rust or cracks despite how old it was supposed to be. The gem looked… fake? Like a synthetic, lab-grown gemstone. Or a gem-shaped LED display.

"What are you talking about? It's ancient and it's Babylonian, how is this not what you were looking for?" Knuckles stared at him with disbelief.

"Yeah, but it's not like… one of the treasures we thought we were chasing after. I hope it works as intended, at least…" Jet took the object and put it over his head. Despite it being noticeably too small for anyone to wear when it was in his hands, it seemed to have subtly altered its shape so that it was a perfect fit. "Do you have like… a chant or something that's been passed down to the echidnas?"

"Woah woah woah! Slow down! You're saying this is the wrong treasure but now you want to use it?" Knuckles pointed a gloved fist at him.

"It's not going to make me explode or anything like that, you slow down! I just want to see if it works." Jet rolled his eyes. "It's been under your temple for like, thousands of years and you don't even know what it is? How's that possible?"

"Echidna tales very rarely refer to objects themselves, only to their power." He huffed, crossing his arms. "If you tell me what it does, I can figure out what it is. Simple as that."

"Yeah, I wanna see Jet's head explode too!" Charmy chimed in, getting a "not now" mouthed to him by Knuckles in return.

"It's supposed to make my head hurt so you can control me or something, I've only heard about it in the tales. I'm not supposed to die, that much I'm sure of. Now come on, say something. The door opened to you, it should listen to you as well."

Knuckles was reluctant, but after constant bugging from Charmy he finally agreed to try it out. He took a few steps back – urging the bee to do the same – and started reciting Tikal's prayer:

"The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."

For a moment, nothing happened. Jet was about to be really bummed out that, on top of being the wrong treasure, it was one that didn't have the mystical properties it was fabled to have. But then, the gem in the middle of the circlet started to glow a faint emerald green color. It filled the gem from bottom to top, almost like a loading bar.

And when it was done, Jet fell to his knees while clutching his head, groaning in extreme pain. Possibly the worst pain he had ever felt and would feel in his whole life. It was all he could focus on – he was forced to focus on it. He could barely even keep himself breathing. The little willpower he had left was spent trying to take the object off. It looked like he was putting his full strength into it, but the circlet still wouldn't budge.

Charmy was the first one to snap into action. He grabbed onto the circlet's gem and tried to fly away with it as hard as he could, but once again it simply wouldn't budge. Knuckles quickly joined in after gently pushing the bee aside. He prepared himself to pull that thing off as hard as he could… but was met by little to no resistance.

Jet immediately stopped clutching his head and fell onto the ground while panting heavily. As sudden as it came, the pain was gone. He had barely even a memory of what that felt like, and would have doubted he actually felt any pain at all – if Charmy and Knuckles weren't looking at him like they saw a ghost.

"Are you alright?!" Knuckles was torn between helping him up and letting him rest on the ground for a couple more minutes.

"I feel I got my brain thrown out of the airship and then replaced with Storm's." Jet stared at both mobians with a blank expression. "Did you figure out what that is?"

"Hm… I think so. I heard stories of some people trying to replicate the master emerald's powers. This must have been one of the attempts – and a pretty good one at that. I couldn't sense you at all."

"Sense me?" Jet inquired, deciding to get on his feet.

"I told you I can feel people's emotions with the help of the master emerald. I couldn't feel you at all. It was like that thing drained you of all your chaos energy. It could be powerful enough to even destabilize a super form…" Knuckles raised a hand to his chin, pondering.

Charmy took the opportunity to snatch the circlet out of his other hand and put it onto his own head – again, a perfect fit. He looked rather proud of himself. "So, if you don't say the thing, then it's just a tiara that can fit on everyone that tries to wear it? Sounds like a pretty big treasure to me!"

"Charmy, take that thing out of your head!" Knuckles groaned, pointing a fist at him.

"Why? It's not like you can recite the entire prayer by accident." He stuck his tongue out. Knuckles slowly lowered his first, as he couldn't argue with that.

"Are you letting me keep it?" Jet asked. He was trying not to sound too hopeful, but it was still really apparent that he wanted to keep the magical tiara that gave him the worst migraine in the world. "I mean… this was obviously here for a reason. And it was meant to be opened by the echidnas too. Maybe in case something happens with the master emerald?"

"I'm tempted to say no," Knuckles began, "but right now, I have no use for it. The master emerald is whole, Eggman is MIA and nobody is abusing their chaos power for evil, as far as I can feel it. You go ahead and keep it in case you need an instant headache for whatever reason."

"Are...are you sure, though?" Jet looked almost sad. "This is not another test, right? You're not gonna punch my beak off if I try to keep it?"

"The fact that you're asking me if you can keep it is already a pretty good indicator of your worthiness. Like I said, nothing like the Jet I used to know." Knuckles gave him a reassuring smirk.

"Can I even use it though? I'm not sure if echidnas are the only ones able to activate it with the prayer."

"Only one way to find out, Flicky!" Charmy taunted.

Needless to say, the hour-long small talk on the lift ride back to the surface was completely devoid of Charmy. He was curled down on the floor recovering from the experience, even if all the pain was interrupted after only two seconds of him wearing the circlet.

The stone bricks were still closed once they reached the surface, but that wasn't something a "gentle push" from Knuckles couldn't solve.

The cold outside air brought Jet back to the real world. The world of airships, campsites and hedgehogs. The world he had abandoned for two hours just so he could get one last thrill before going back home and cramming himself up in his apartment to never leave until his racing ban was lifted.

That's what Jet would do, right? At this point, not even he knew. That single massive burst of pain cleared him of all his anxieties, but also his ambitions. He was a blank slate, ready to be painted with whatever was most convenient for its painter.

"Okay, I know I didn't say much down there, but that. Was. Amazing!" Charmy suddenly exploded with happiness, forcefully yanking the metaphorical mental paintbrush away from Jet for a moment.

"...You think so?" Was all the hawk managed to say in response.

"Yeah, totally! Solving crimes as a detective is nice and all, but it's nice to have something like this once in a while. Like a… Like a premade adventure!"

"I don't think I get the analogy." Knuckles chimed in, having finished reassembling the stone wall to its most solid state.

"Like… Vector says the job of a detective is to put together clues in order to make up a path to the truth." Charmy gestured as if he was building something with Lego.

"But this? Like, treasure hunting and stuff? It's like the path is already made, you only have to blow the dust off it! It's like a lighter version of detective work."

"I see… That does make sense. Like the ancients themselves have set up a millenia-long game of hide-and-seek. You only need to sharpen your senses enough to hear someone giggling from being a tree about how clever they think they're being." Knuckles' analogy got a laugh out of Charmy.

"Chaos, you're the ancient around here. But yeah, just like that" Charmy nodded happily. "Um… You okay, Jet? You haven't said anything in a while."

Jet was busy having the biggest epiphany he's had all week.

All this time, Jet has been trying to separate the old Jet from the new Jet. The old Jet liked adventure, risks and rewards. The new Jet prefers the safe thrill of competitive racing, of comfortable friendships and warm hedgehogs. Both versions of himself seemed like complete opposites to him at first glance, but now he realized that wasn't the case.

They are simply two different ways of coming across the same path. The path of freedom, independence, speed. The path of self-improvement and personal identity. The path to belong somewhere and be someone.

And the thing was: those paths were parallel to each other, but not far apart. He could freely travel from one to the other whenever the one he was trailing didn't feel like the right way to go anymore.

To master the wind, one should learn to not get carried away by it. But instead, to use its momentum to achieve a goal in the same direction as it blew.

It sounded like a pretty good metaphor to him, at least.

"...You think we should put the headache tiara on him again to snap him out of it?"

"No, he's probably like this because of that thing. I think we should just knock him out and let him get some shut-eye."

"I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE NOW DON'T TOUCH ME!" Jet blurted out, jumping back a fair distance away from the two mobians. "I was just thinking, okay? I really liked your analogy, Charmy."

"Really?!" Charmy's eyes lit up. Jet offered him a warm smile and patted his helmet.

"Really, I think it's gonna help me a lot from now on." He then turned to Knuckles. "We should probably go see how the others were doing."

Knuckles nodded, and so the three of them were walking back to the campsite. The echidna was halfway through saying something about how he had eaten all of the pineapples when they noticed there was no one there. The campfire looked like it had been put out recently, as it still had a faint smell of smoke. The tents had been undone, and neither the hedgehogs nor Tails where anywhere to be found.

That instantly filled Jet with anxiety, multiple worst outcomes crossing his mind at once. But he was relieved to hear Knuckles could sense something from where the airship was. And so they went once again, crossing the woods towards the edge of the island.

Amy and Shadow were standing in front of the airship's lowered ramp. They were talking and smiling! That instantly washed all of Jet's anxieties away… Even if Sonic was nowhere to be found. They were quick to notice the approaching group, turning to face them with melancholy in their expressions.

"Let me guess, Charmy started a two hour argument on what is and isn't a berry." Shadow said with a smirk. It would be hard to tell he was joking without it.

"Something like that, yeah!" Charmy giggled, retrieving the circlet from is jacket pocket and placing it onto Jet's head. "Bow down to the new king of the echidnas."

"So you did find something, huh? I'm glad." Amy had a small smile on her face.

"Is everything alright?" Jet wasn't in the mood for slowly threading his way around the elephant in the room. He wanted to confront it.

"Everything's sorted. It took a while, but it's done." Amy nodded, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Where's Tails and Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Tails went to bed. We have decided to go back home, right now. I hope Jet doesn't mind piloting for us—"

"Not at all."

"And I hope you don't mind our sudden leave, Knuckles. I deeply apologize for having caused such a ruckus while visiting your island. You must be able to feel just how tired we are, certainly."

"It's not an issue. If anything, I'm glad I was able to help somehow. Sorting one's emotions out in the presence of the master emerald is considered an honor to its guardian." Knuckles rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Very well. And Sonic is…" Shadow trailed off, unsure of how to word it. Amy picked up after him.

"He has a lot to deal with right now." Amy turned her gaze to Jet. "Usually, I'd say Sonic needs to be alone for tonight. But I think you might be the thing he needs right now."

Jet's heart was almost melting at that wholesome little sentence — until he had a realization.

"Wait… DID YOU GUYS TELL SONIC ABOUT—" Amy rescued out to force Jet's beak shut with a and, bringing the other to her lips to shush him.

"You're going to wake up Tails!" Amy released his beak once he had calmed down enough. "No, we specifically avoided telling him about your crush on him. We didn't want to ruin your confession, it's supposed to be a very personal moment."

So Tails kept his promise, huh? That was nice.

"Just don't do it now, if you can help it." Shadow quickly interjected. "He already has a lot on his mind."

"Don't worry. I do too." Jet nodded.

They shared goodbyes, and everyone except for Knuckles retreated into the airship. The first thing Jet did after retreating the ramp was standing in front of his bedroom door. He knew Sonic was in there. But he needed to put the ship in motion first. So he did, manually piloting until the opportunity to activate autopilot came. Then he was right back at that door.

Jet didn't know what compelled him to open the door so quickly, but that was what he did. A blue figure was sitting by the floor next to the bottom bunk, facing away from the door. Jet could hear little sniffles coming from him, but those stopped as soon as he closed the door behind them. Both of them were left in complete darkness. It took a little while for Sonic to realize who had just entered the room.

"Oh, hey Jet." He could make out the sight of Sonic wiping his eyes. "Busy night, huh?"

"Very." Jet, respecting Sonic's need for space, decided to go straight for the top bunk after removing his shoes, gloves and the circlet off.

"Are you… doing well?" It felt foreign, to ask how Sonic was doing. To want Sonic to be alright. The words didn't feel right in his mouth just yet.

"I'm managing. You know what they say, the first step to fixing your problems is admitting you have 'em. And oh boy do I got an armful." Sonic let out a weak snicker.

"It's progress." Jet replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on the right path now. No more avoiding, no more hiding. It's finally time to deal with it and carry on."

Sonic paused.

"Hey, you know. I'm really sorry for ruining the trip and all that. I'm like, a really big mess right now. Maybe if—"

"Shut up."

Both of them fell into silence after that. Jet hurried to explain himself as soon as he realized the words that had just left his mouth.

"I mean, don't say that you idiot. The trip isn't ruined."

"It's not?" Sonic asked. Jet wasn't so sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, until he spoke up again. "You know we're going home, right?"

"I know. I'm taking us there." Jet insisted. "It's not ruined, I promise. I had a lot of fun. Did you?"

"Yeah! I mean, it's been a fun almost-week. It's been almost two years since I've been in an adventure. I was craving for something like this."

"Then it was a good trip."

They fell into silence once again, but this time into a comforting one. The slight hum of the airship's engines filled their ears just enough to be soothing instead of annoying. They had passed through a gathering of clouds, and the moon was now visible through the bedroom's tiny window, shining its comforting light into the space.

"Hey, Jet?" Sonic began.

"Yeah?"

"I think I need some time for myself. After this." He paused. "It's not like you're not fun to hang out or anything, nothing like that! It's just…"

"I get you." Jet replied once Sonic's voice trailed off. "Take as much time as you need, Sonic."

"Thanks, Jet. I'm glad you understand." Sonic let out a sigh. "How about… a month? That's when our next race would be. I'm still up for it, are you?"

"What do you mean? Of course I am." Sonic could almost hear the shit-eating grin that was manifesting in Jet's face. "I'm not supposed to taunt you since you're not feeling well, but you know what's up. You're gonna eat dust."

"You wish!" Sonic blurted out as if all of his energy had returned just so he could pronounce those two words.

"That's the spirit" The two shared a laugh over that, and started to slowly drift off to sleep.

"... Hey Jet?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't wait."