Well, it's been a long road to get to this point, but I'm finally here. This is the last chapter of this epic. Please enjoy. By the way, I will not be held responsible for any display of emotions shown after reading this chapter. LOL! Ok, let's begin. I know you're all itching to find out what happened to Rouge and Knuckles' daughter. Well, I'll tell you.

Some time later…

It was early one morning in Soleanna. The sun had just risen from its long slumber throughout the night. It was quiet as kept. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the ocean and the call of the seagulls. On this fine morning, a few civilians could be seen on the beach going for a morning jog, but most people were just starting their day. In one quaint beach house, two new residents could be seen doing just that.

Rouge was clearing the table after breakfast. She took both of their plates over to the sink and began to wash them out. She had made hotcakes this morning; so the plates were extra sticky. She had to be sure to clean them out thoroughly. So far, Rouge's new life had not been so bad. She still had the million dollars that she and Knuckles had acquired on their crime spree, which she used to purchase the beach house that she currently occupied. It was a three bedroom, two bath, two-story house with a living room, kitchen, a den, and an extra room right in the middle of the house. The extra room had been converted into a shrine for the Master Emerald. If Knuckles was there, he probably would've wanted it that way. Luckily, Lara-Su had been able to return the Master Emerald to its original size because her father had taught her how.

"Lara, you're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up," Rouge called out to Lara-Su.

"I'm coming," she replied from her room.

Her room had been outfitted with several toys and various niceties that she and Rouge had picked up in the New City. It was definitely more spruced up than her old room on Angel Island. Rouge had been trying to make her happy especially after all that's happened. She grabbed her 'Dora the Explorer' backpack and came down the stairs.

"Hey!" Rouge greeted.

"Hey," Lara-Su replied with a smile. She was wearing a little pink dress, which really matched her complexion. It was a lot like the dress that Cream used to wear. Her dreads had also been fixed differently on her head, courtesy of Rouge. They were now arranged in short, curly twists. Rouge came over and fixed her clothes so that they fitted correctly.

"And what was taking you so long to come down?" she asked.

"I was just cleaning my room in case Dad comes while we're gone," said Lara-Su.

Rouge couldn't look at Lara-Su and act like nothing was wrong. She knew that she had to tell her the truth. It was only fair.

"Lara…" she started. She looked up at Lara-Su, who was innocently staring back at her. It was not easy to just come out and say it. "Dad's not coming."

"I know, but it makes me feel better if I think he might," said Lara-Su.

It pained her to accept the fact that Knuckles was really gone. She tried and tried to call his number back, but no one could be reached. She could not do anything but assume the worst. In the week that they had spent together, Knuckles had become a part of her. It was hard trying to imagine life without him; yet somehow, she had to live it without him. Somehow. She started to shed a tear in front of Lara-Su, but she quickly changed subjects before she could succumb to them.

"Got your lunchbox?" she asked with a smile.

"Yup."

"Okay, let's go."

Rouge took Lara-Su by the hand and led her down the steps of their new home. In order to get to Lara-Su's new school, they had to cross the beach.

"So how's school?" asked Rouge.

"It's okay," Lara-Su replied.

"I heard that you have a boyfriend," said Rouge.

"Who told you that?" asked Lara-Su.

"I can't tell you that," said Rouge.

"He's just helping me with my Spanish," said Lara-Su.

A few sailboats could be seen sailing in the distance. They walked for a few more minutes and gazed off into the ocean.

"What can you say?" asked Rouge.

"I don't know."

Rouge looked around.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the sea.

"El mar," said Lara-Su.

"Very good. What's that?" This time, she pointed at the sailboats.

"Un velero," said Lara-Su.

"And that?" She pointed at a group of people sitting on the beach. There were two adult hedgehogs and two little girl hedgehogs.

"Una familia," said Lara-Su.

"That's correct. How about that?" Rouge asked. This time, she pointed at a stray dog on the beach. It looked like it had been in the water.

Lara-Su looked in the direction of the dog, but she wasn't really concerned with the dog. She paused in her footsteps when she saw a figure in the distance that was slowly coming into view from behind the dog. Because they lived near the beach, it was a bit foggy as well. From what she could tell, it was a person with a torn wife beater. It was obviously a male. One of his arms was in a sling that appeared to be made out of another shirt. In his free hand, there was an object. It was a toy horse. The horse and white with stripes. A big look of amazement crossed Lara-Su's face.

"Padre!" she screamed.

She dropped her backpack and lunchbox and took off running towards the figure.

"Lara!" Rouge called after her.

Lara-Su did not stop. She continued running towards the figure. Rouge scatted after her. After a couple yards, Rouge looked into the distance as well. When she looked, she covered her mouth and gasped. Were their eyes deceiving them? No, fate would not be so cruel. This had to be real. It was Knuckles. He was completely drenched because he had just gotten out of the sea. That didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was here. Rouge began running after towards Knuckles as well with tears in her eyes. She did not dare hold them back. She let them flow freely.

Knuckles saw them running towards him and started to run towards them as well. Lara-Su had reached him first. He put the toy horse into his injured hand and lifted her up into the air with his free hand. He spun around in circles with her in his arm.

"I told you that I'd always come back for you," said Knuckles.

Knuckles kissed her on the forehead and placed her back on the ground. Once he had done that, Rouge had reached him. She jumped into his arms and loving embrace. She began to cry into his chest. These were not tears of joy, however. They were tears of joy. She felt like she was whole once more. Her other half had been restored. She embraced him so hard that her wing had started moving his injured arm, but that didn't seem to matter at the moment. All that seemed to matter to the trio was that they were finally together and at peace.

Not a bad ending, I'd say. Now is the time for your final reviews on this story. Please, make them good.


By the way, I've put up a new poll to see what my readers would like my next story to be about. The ideas and the poll itself is on my page. Please vote. My next story will reflect your vote; so please be truthful.

ICY KNUCKLES