Guess who's back with a new chapter?

First of all, I wanted to thank y'all for your support! I'm glad so many people got interested in my fanfic :)
Also, don't get used to such fast updates until, like, July lol. I'm in my 2 week break before I start the third and last term of school. And the third term of school is very... hectic... Extremely hectic, in fact. So yeah, just wanted to let y'all know.

But anyways, I hope y'all enjoy this new chapter!

Soon, Longclaw was brought to the Wachowskis' house. Well... as soon as you could bring a big owl to your living room, that is.

Maddie was putting bandages on Longclaw's wings and treating her wounds while everyone else, including Sonic, watched her. Everyone was shocked when Sonic told his family that that bleeding owl was Longclaw. The one who had raised him in his first three years of life.

And Sonic's heart... was still racing faster than it ever did before.

Longclaw was alive… hurt, but alive.

And yet he feels so conflicted. He should be happy, and he is! But, at the same time, he can't help but wonder: "Why didn't she come back for him?" He had been alone for 10 years. Robbed of any actual interaction with the world around him. Always trusting what Longclaw had told him he needed to do. But... Longclaw had been wrong!

Yes, there were people—like Eggman—that wanted to use him as nothing more than a mere object or creature. But then there were his parents and the Green Hill residents, who treated him like a person. Who cared and loved him. And he was robbed of that for 10 years because of her! And she didn't even come to Earth to find him! To be there like… a mother was supposed to!

Sonic, immediately, realized that he had overlooked one very important factor. Not only did Longclaw come back, but his mother did, too. His first mother. And now he felt even more conflicted. He knows what Maddie told her. He knows that Maddie being his mom didn't replace Longclaw's place as his first mom. But that was back when he and everyone else thought Longclaw was dead.

Would he be forced to choose one of them, eventually? And would that mean that either Maddie or Longclaw would be replaced? It's- just—he doesn't even want to think about it!

His heart aches just from the thought of replacing and/or choosing one of them. He feels so hopeless, conflicted, and lost that he starts getting out of breath silently. A few blue sparks started flashing on Sonic's back.

Breathe in and out… like Maddie taught you.

Sonic started breathing in and out slowly. Sonic thought that since everyone was so busy with Longclaw, they wouldn't notice him having a big mini-breakdown. However, he was wrong. His mom—his second mom—definitely noticed.

"Sonic? Are you ok?" Maddie asked, worry present in her tone.

Wasn't Maddie just treating Longclaw's wounds? Wasn't everyone observing her? He really had gotten lost in his head, hadn't he?

"…n-no…" Sonic said, looking up at Maddie with small tears on his face, as some blue sparks flashed on Sonic's back.

Sonic's trembling voice and blue sparks made his brothers and dad notice his distress. Immediately, they joined Sonic and Maddie to see what was troubling him so much.

"What's wrong, bro?" Tails was the first to ask. Worry was apparent in his face—well, in everyone's face.

Something he had learned in the past year and a half was that being vulnerable was okay. That talking about what was troubling him didn't make him a burden to his parents or brothers.

"What if she wants to take me back? You're my family, but she's also my family, and I-I." Sonic paused for a moment, as he felt some tears roll down his cheek and some more blue sparks flash on his back. "I don't—I can't choose!"

"Sonic. Bud. Look at me", his dad said tenderly, and Sonic took his eyes off the ground and looked at him, saying, "We'll convince her that it's safe to live here."

"But how?

"Sonic, isn't it obvious?" Sonic looked at Tails, titling his head. He didn't understand how Tails thought it was obvious. But he knew his little brother was a genius, so he was all ears. "Everyone in the world knows of our existence, and yet we are all safe. You have us and people who love you for who you are. We just need to tell her that."

Sonic's blue sparks immediately dissipated. In all of the shock of Longclaw actually being alive and everything that came along with it, he hadn't realized how illogical he had been. Yes, Longclaw had told him to keep running, and he had deliberately disobeyed her, but she had left him on earth, alone, to survive on his own (he was definitely going to have a talk with Longclaw later, after everything was settled, that is). And she was wrong. Earth was safe, but most importantly, Sonic could prove it to Longclaw—their family could prove it to her—that being here was safe! Sonic's fears had been unfounded after all. (Much to Sonic's content, of course.)

After a few more seconds of thought, Sonic's saddening eyes were instead filled with hope.

"Thanks, little bro. I really needed that." Sonic said, with a small smile forming on his face.

"You truly are a mighty warrior to endure such conflicting thoughts." His big brother, Knuckles, said it sincerely. Sonic brightened up immediately. His small smile became bigger and wider.

Something that Sonic had learned these past few months was that, while Knuckles doesn't look like a very caring, vulnerable echidna, he can be and is the exact opposite. Sure, the way Knuckles speaks is somewhat… unconventional. Which can make Knuckles, sometimes, not be able to express how much he cares in a way that Sonic and Tails fully understand. But they still know Knuckles cares, and a lot! Knuckles is always very attentive toward him (like now) and Tails.

Knuckles' ease at being vulnerable also surprised Sonic. Sonic still vividly remembers Knuckles casually telling him one day how he had to bury his parents and tribe... like it was the most normal thing in the world! While he knows it's okay to be vulnerable, he still finds it somewhat complicated to be like that.

"And don't worry, brother", Knuckles continued, disrupting Sonic's thoughts while putting a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "While owls were the enemy of my tribe, that won't make me act hostilely towards your first mother."

Sonic had been so anxious about what would happen to him that he forgot one obvious thing. The Echidnas being enemies of his first mother. At least Knuckles would be civil with Longclaw, so that was reassuring.

"Unless, after we explain everything, she isn't civil to me."

Well… half-reassuring.

"Thanks, Knux." Sonic said, smiling, his eyes filled with even more happiness. His parents gave Knuckles a glare for what he had said, leaving a confused Knuckles wondering why they were looking at him, like that.

Sonic knew Longclaw would be civil with Knuckles once they explained everything. After all, he knew Longclaw… right?

Except that he actually doesn't know Longclaw anymore. It had been 11 years since she abandoned him. Sonic thinks she will, at least, act respectfully towards Knuckles, but Sonic can't know if that will be the case. But, perhaps, Longclaw deserves Knuckles not being very "welcoming" towards her... After all, she left him alone for 10 years...

… Or, maybe, she had a reason to leave him. Sonic really hopes that was the case. But that didn't matter right now, after all.

"See, Sonic. Everything will be fine", Maddie said sweetly, looking directly at Sonic, "We'll always be here for you. And your brothers, too." Maddie finished putting her hands on Sonic's gloved hands.

"T-Thank you."

Sonic started crying, but this time not from sadness but from happiness. The family of five hugged each other tightly. Sonic finally felt at peace, with the realization that, with his family, he would be able to get through everything. He wouldn't need to replace anyone. Longclaw could and would be with them, and he wouldn't need to go anywhere.

Once they broke their 'group hug", Maddie went back to the couch where Longclaw was and picked up... an arrow?

"Is that an arrow?" Sonic asked Maddie, somewhat perplexed. That arrow... looked like the same one they had used when they shot her all those years ago...

"Yes, I found it stuck by her side. It looks really recent." Her mom explained, oblivious to Sonic's confusion.

"Mother, that arrow looks like..." Knuckles said, getting closer to Maddie to inspect the arrow, "The ones from my tribe?" Knuckles continued, mostly to himself at this point, analyzing the arrow in front of him.

Everyone stopped for a second. So, it was an arrow from Knuckles' tribe after all, but how?

Knuckles was the last echidna. and obviously it wasn't him! So... how did she have an arrow that came from the echidnas? It doesn't make sense!

"But... aren't you the last Echidna, Knuckles?" Tom asked, getting closer to Knuckles and being the first to speak up after the silence that had followed earlier.

"Yes, I am…" Knuckles replied, still as confused as before.

"I'm pretty sure that was the same arrow that got Longclaw all those years ago..." Sonic said, as he reaches to Knuckles to take a careful hold of the arrow he has, Sonic raises it toward his face to make sure he isn't imagining things.

Everyone looked even more confused than before. Sonic was starting to develop a small headache. None of this made any sense. Suddenly, however, unnoticed by Sonic, Tails' confused expression became one of realization.

"What if it was time travel?"

"Time travel?" Maddie asked, looking confused at Tails, "What do you mean?"

Exactly! What does Tails mean by time travel? Sonic's seen some movies where that concept was present (especially these last few months, since he and his family were showing Knuckles what films were and why they were so entertaining), so he knows exactly what it is, but why did Tails bring it up?

"Back in Mobius, I remember reading somewhere of the possibility of rings allowing someone to travel to the future or the past under very specific circumstances. And since, obviously, Knuckles is the last Echidna and the arrow is the same one that hit Longclaw all those years ago, time travel is most likely the only plausible explanation for all of this. She had to come from the past." Tails answered.

Everything just made sense! How didn't he or anyone else think about it before? That also meant... that Longclaw hadn't actually left him! If that was true, Longclaw wouldn't have been any different than he remembered. She was literally the same! His little brother was so smart. Sonic was so proud of him!

And, most importantly, Sonic felt a lot more relieved. At least he still knows who Longclaw is, and she hadn't left him alone after all. He had wasted so much energy for literally no reason!

"At this point, I'm not even surprised." Tom said, snickering to himself.

"So, the owl is still the same as she was 11 years ago? Similarly to what we saw in some moving pictures?" Knuckles asked, still trying to wrap his head around all of this.

"It's called movies, Knux. But yes, most likely." Sonic answered.

"She's definitely going to have quite a shock when she wakes up and finds you all grown up, isn't it?" Maddie joked, smiling at Sonic.

"Tell me about it!" Sonic said, laughing lightly.

Now all Sonic had to do was wait.

Wait until Longclaw wakes up...