By the time Cosmo was finished with Amy's house, it was practically spotless. All of the dishes were washed, the laundry folded and put away, and every flat surface wiped and dusted.

Amy had gotten Remy to sleep again, and then the two had started a quiet conversation over tea and cookies Cosmo had made.

"You really don't need to feel like you need to be my maid, Cosmo." Amy insisted, "I am capable of doing my own housework."

Cosmo's smile could have coaxed a flower to bloom for her, "I haven't been around to help you all, and I want to make up for it. I like helping people, Amy. Helping people is what I was called to even as a seedling!"

"Your calling was to save the galaxy from Dark Oak, not from my dirty laundry pile."

Cosmo's smile faded just a little as she sipped her tea, "...I still hear his voice sometimes... Like he's not really gone."

"You think he'll be back?"

"No...He seems at peace now." Cosmo placed her cup down, "...Just like you should be. Just because your life is hectic, doesn't mean your soul should be."

"I just can't stop thinking about him, Cosmo! He was... He was the one, I just know it. But how calm he was going into that fight... It was almost like he wasn't expecting to come back out of there alive."

"I think being at peace with one's own mortality is a good thing... If we spend our entire lives trying not to put ourselves at risk to help people, if we constantly live in fear...It's not truly living."

Amy sighed, "I guess you're right..."

Her ears perked up as the phone rang, and she rushed to answer it before it woke up Remy. "Rose Residence...!" She greeted quickly.

Amy? It's Venice. You remember who I am, yes?

"I remember, Venice...What's up? How's Amanda?"

She's fine... There's someone who was wanting to talk to you and didn't have your number- No you didn't! I called the wrong number twice because of you, Dingwad!

Amy rolled her eyes, "Put them on, I guess..."

She fiddled with her skirt as she heard the phone being passed on to the person who'd wanted to speak with her. There was a long pause of her just hearing them breathe, and then a voice whispered from the other end that made her freeze.

...A-Amy, I just wanted to-

Amy gasped as her grip on the phone loosened and it almost hit the floor before she caught it and pulled it back up to her ear. "Sonic!?"

Cosmo stood up, her eyes as wide as Amy's as she rushed to her friend's side.

S-Sorry! I haven't talked on the phone in a long time...! But you know that, so... He then cut off into some coughing.

"Sonic, are you okay? Have you been in Londoon all this time!?"

N-No...I've only been here an hour or so. It's a long story, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay... I'm going to be home soon, I promise.

Amy's voice was cracking as she tried to fight back tears, "Thank Chaos...! I was so worried, I thought...N-Nevermind what I thought. You're coming home."

I am...Be sure to let everyone else know. I'm sure they'll want to know too.

"Obviously...!"

Okay... I need to get back to helping Venice with something important, but I'll try to call you again later, okay?

"O-Okay... I'll talk to you later, Sonic...! Love you!"

The phone clicked off, and Amy placed it down slowly.

"See? I told you it would be alright..." Cosmo reminded, giggling as Amy wrapped her arms tightly around her neck in an embrace. "It's going to be alright... Sonic's coming home..."

Amy sniffled, just clinging to her friend and resting her head on her shoulder. "Sonic's coming home...!"

"For somebody that hadn't spoken to their beloved in months, that was a pretty short conversation."

Sonic sighed as he looked up from the phone, "...I don't want to tip them off just yet... You guys don't have to be helping me like this."

"Your life is at risk, of course we're going to help you."

"But this puts you at risk too."

Venice shrugged it off, and then turned as the wooden floor creaked under someone else's feet. "Good morning, Amanda."

The winged hedgehog smiled as she walked over to them and gave a nod, "Good morning Venice...Arthur."

Sonic smirked as she called him by the nickname he'd borne in another world...Another time.

Standing next to Amanda was Caliburn, the sentient sword that had served as his mentor and friend, and was also the last living member of the Round Table. He and Amanda were the last known living inhabitants of Camelot prior to it's destruction by time, simply because Caliburn had returned to his stone and Amanda had been cursed with a spell that turned her to stone, until Tails was able to lift the spell in modern day. Sonic had gifted Caliburn to Amanda, naming her his official caretaker, and the pair had been inseparable ever since.

"How're you feeling?" Sonic inquired.

"Much better... But right now, I'm more concerned about you. Why are these cretins after you so?"

Sonic sighed as he got up from his chair, "I was a witness to something they did, and they don't want witnesses. When Eggman was attempting to take over, I guess they decided that they'd let me deal with him and then they'd kill me, but now that he's gone-"

"You are their primary objective." Caliburn concluded, and the hedgehog nodded in confirmation.

"I'm not up to full-strength yet, but I couldn't be away from my family any longer." Sonic overlooked the images on the computer screens, of the ongoing relief efforts around the world. "...Fortunately, the world looks like it's healing."

"It'll take time, but we're getting there."

Amanda placed a hand on his shoulder, "...We will rise up stronger now."

Sonic smirked, "Yeah...Now I just have to find a way back overseas without the hunters noticing..."

"Yes..."

Caliburn hopped up to the screens, "Traveling without your location being known was much easier when the world didn't have those mechanical gliders taking photos at all times."

"They're called Satellites, Cal."

"Right... If it weren't for the fact that I myself am a talking sword, I probably would not have believed such a contraption could exist...Actually, I would not have believed almost everything that this world has created during my time in sleep."

"It has certainly changed... For the better in some ways, and for the worse in others..."

Amanda placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "We'll figure something out... History has shown us all that no matter how impossible the situation, Sonic the Hedgehog always finds a solution."

Sonic grinned, placing his hand over hers. "Right... I just have to use my head this time, and not my legs..."