"Look out below!" Tails called as he came in to land. Knuckles somersaulted off and landed in a perfect one-kneed crouch on the grass, followed by Auburn.

As Rouge and co landed, there was the rushing sound of three hedgehogs coming to a halt at the edge of the pavement. Sonic, Silver and Shadow high-fived proudly and presently, Mina the Mongoose came dashing and panting alongside the trio.

"Wow! Hello mister bicep!" Tails laughed, flexing the arms that had carried both Auburn and Knuckles.

Cream flung her arms around him. "Tails!"

"Hello, beautiful," Tails beamed, squeezing her lovingly.

"Daddy!" Alba squealed, running up to Auburn and hugging him round the knees.

"Hello, my little treasure!" Auburn smiled, picking her up and putting her on his shoulder. "I've missed you!"

"Did you miss me more than Reed, Dad? Didja? Didja?!"

"I missed you both just as much," Auburn laughed, embracing his wife and baby son.

Silver skidded over to Blaze, arms open.

"How's my princess?" he said, hugging her.

"Your princess is always in good health," Blaze returned with a smile. Then Silver flexed his torso slightly over Blaze's swollen abdomen. He knelt down.

"Hello, baby, did you miss me? Huh? Did you miss Daddy?" he cooed at the bump.

"We both did," Blaze smiled, stroking her stomach.

"Blaaaaaze!" went a sparkly voice, unalike to Amy's for its lack of sharpness to the ear. The black and hot pink mink skidded next to the heavily pregnant cat, her hazel eyes wide with joy at seeing her friend again.

"Magenta!" Blaze smiled, embracing the excitable mink. "How are you?"

"I could not be better! How are you doing here?" she sang, stroking Blaze's bump.

"Can't complain myself."

"Good!"

"Magenta was brilliant in the courtroom," Silver smiled. Magenta flushed.

"Awwh, it was nothin'! They wanted a prosecution, I gave 'em a prosecution!"

"I'd love to hear all about it," said Blaze.

"Manic sure would love to hear about it – his girl sure did him proud this weekend," Silver said kindly. Then he turned to Magenta. "How is Manic, anyway?"

Magenta's mouth went tight suddenly. Her eyes drew towards her pink leather boots and joy very momentarily left her expression. Luckily, Silver and Blaze took the hint.

"I'll ask no further," said Silver gently.

"He's fine," Magenta said hurriedly, a wide smile covering her face once more. "I think he just misses me."

"I can't say I blame him," smiled Blaze.

"SOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!" No prizes for guessing who this was.

"Argh! Hey-Amy-" Sonic gasped as he received the death hug of his life.

"I missed you so much!" Amy trilled.

"Amy, we just spent an entire weekend altogether!"

"I know, but I didn't get to journey home with you!"

"Okay, okay, Amy," said a low but kind voice behind her. "Get a grip."

Sonic squirmed. "I think she's got enough grip in her already!"

Gently, the black hedgehog prized Amy away from the blue one. "Easy, doll."

"Man, Amy, willya get the hint? I'm taken!" Sonic chuckled nervously, emphasising each word as he eased his tightly-hugged muscles back into shape.

"Doesn't mean I can't still hug you!" Amy squealed.

"Shhhh..." whispered Shadow, pulling her into a hug.

Sonic thanked God for Shadow. He was the only one who could really tolerate Amy, twenty-four-seven. Meanwhile, his object of most dear affection, Mina, was still catching her breath by the park's pathway. He walked over to her.

"I can't run," Mina sighed.

"That's nuts," replied Sonic. "You almost outran me."

Mina grinned cynically. "I did not! I can barely keep up with you."

"But you did, didn'tcha?" Sonic smiled, bending his head in towards hers.

"Only because you let me," Mina argued.

"Nawh," Sonic chuckled. "If I let you, that mean's I'd be going slower, and if I were going slower, Shadow would have overtaken me, and if Shadow overtook me, well...let's not go there."

"No, let's not," Mina smiled, her forehead against Sonic's.

"You're wonderful," Sonic smiled.

The couple kissed, only to be interrupted by the small, white hedgehog known as Alba.

"UUUUUURRRRRRRHHHH!" she yelled. "Uncle Sonic and Aunt Mina were KISSING!"

"Ewww, my little brother's got a girlfriend!" Sonia joined in, scooping up her mischievous offspring.

"Fiancée, actually, sis," Sonic quipped. Mina smiled and flashed her necklace. On Mobius, it was a tradition that the fiancée wore the wedding ring on a chain around her neck until the wedding day.

"True," said Sonia.

"Can we have some of Cream's cake now?" Alba squeaked.

"Oh, you cheeky little thing!" Sonia laughed.

"C'mere, you!" Sonic laughed, taking his niece and spinning her around in the middle of the grass. Alba squealed in delight as Sonia and Mina stood by contentedly, laughing at the sight.

"Beautiful day for a hero's return," Knuckles declared, drawing the fresh summer air deeply into his lungs. "The sun is shining, birds are singing, and you can almost still smell the smoke from the burning of Eggman's butt we did!"

Nearby, Rouge watched as the scarlet Echidna flaunted their success. Her wings folded slightly as her posture sharpened. It was her hobby to watch Knuckles get high and mighty and then cripple him with her wit.

"Hey, Knux!" Alba squeaked, landing her tiny fists against Knuckles' side. "How did you defeat Mr Eggman?"

Knuckles grinned and showed off his best moves to the little girl hedgehog. "I planted my fist in his side, like this." He demonstrated. "Then I got him while he was down and landed my super-clobbering fist into his other side which flung him right the way round!"

"Wow!" Alba cheered. The pair had now gained an audience as they all sat down under the oak tree. "Then what? Then what?"

"Then I pummelled the back of his head so he went flyin'!"

Alba laughed loudly, rolling on her back and kicking her little feet in the air.

"And that's how I defeated Dr Eggman for sure!" Knuckles finished in a dramatic martial-art style pose, as if waiting for applause.

Rouge clapped sarcastically. Knuckles' eyes went a little wider.

"Bravo, Knuckles, you're an idiot. Now stop embarrassing yourself – Alba's the only one around here who is young enough to take you seriously," Rouge smirked.

Knuckles tensed. That bat had a way of winding him up. He turned to her.

"Are you still here?" he said gruffly.

Rouge feigned flattery.

"Charming," she said. "So that's your way of getting a woman's attention, is it? Are they always this disappointed?"

"Uh, actually, I think they're only disappointed if they expect me to be nice to them after they've been a pain in the butt all weekend."

"Ouch," Rouge hissed tauntingly. "Someone's got their tail in a knot. Seriously, you need a girlfriend. Oh, but wait – you're a grumpy loner who sits by a giant ancient stone all day." She sighed. "Dang. Virtually a woman-repellent in dreads."

Knuckles flinched slightly. Was it fair, he thought, that she of all people would make jabs about his private life in front of everyone?

"Better than being a skanky jewel thief," he muttered.

By now, others who were busying themselves with unloading the picnic had stopped to take cautious note of the argument. All eyes were fixed on Rouge and Knuckles.

"Game on," Sonic and Silver muttered together, opening a bag of chips between them.

"That's hardly an insult," Rouge smirked back. "Past records state that your definition of 'skanky' equates to girlfriend material."

Knuckles blushed. "And never again will I make the same mistake!"

"So, you don't like skanky women anymore?"

"No I don't!"

"So, what, you like men now?"

"I don't like anyone!" Knuckles spluttered hurriedly.

"Well, thank god for that," said Rouge.

Silver guffawed, his mouth stuffed with chips. It was met with a nudge in his ribs from Sonic. Knuckles ground his teeth. He couldn't STAND that egocentric bat!

"You're enough to make any guy celibate," Knuckles tried once more. "It's not something to be proud of."

"Neither are your deprived social skills with anything that isn't an inanimate, glowing object."

"I give up, Rouge. You're such a cheap shot!"

A beat.

"Cheaper than the flowers you sent me last Valentine's Day?"

Sonic and Silver omitted a chorus of 'oooh!'. Knuckles went hot and cold all over, blood rushing to his cheeks. "That's your way of saying 'thanks'? I was just trying to be a nice guy for once! A nice guy who would treat you kindly and do the right thing for you!"

"Ohh, that is so hot!" Rouge groaned sarcastically.

"Forget it! See, this is why men would happily stay away from you!"

"And I'm the cheap shot, am I?"

"And a childish, self-righteous one at that," Knuckles completed.

Rouge pursed her lips for a second, then smirked once again. One thing that aggravated Knuckles so much about her was her arrogance. Rouge, however, acted like she was perfectly fine with never being close to a man. No-one to spoil her jewel-stealing ploys. She smiled satisfyingly, spread her wings and glided up towards the highest canopy of the oak tree.

"Ending with a personal jab, are we?" she called out. "Classic Knuckles."

There was a pause, then Knuckles turned around smugly.

"Ho-ho boy, that showed her!"

He was cut off by a mass of wide eyes and slightly agape mouths, slices of cake frozen halfway to them.

"What?" he said stiffly.

Sonic cleared his throat. "So...Rouge, 1. Knuckles, 0."

"I won that argument!"

"It was a cheap shot," Sonic grinned mischievously.

Knuckles clamped his jaw. He knew if there weren't little kids around, he would have sworn very badly.