School is finally over! (In less than three months I'll be there again, but shhhh)

Anyways, hope y'all enjoy this new chapter!

After everything had been finally explained and she had the time to fully process everything (she had lost so much of Sonic's life, it actually hurt), everyone, besides Sonic, "suddenly" had to "do" something and left her and Sonic alone in the living room (she was 99% certain it was just a way for them to have a much-needed talk, which she very much appreciated).

"I'm sorry you had to be alone for a decade," Longclaw began, looking directly at he- their son, "I thought that staying hidden was the right thing, when-"

"Longclaw," Sonic began, interrupting her, "you don't have to worry about my past. I'm not in the forest anymore. Everything has been great, and I couldn't imagine it getting better, especially now that you're here." He finished with a smile, clearly trying to comfort her.

Sonic is happy now, and she's so glad that's the case, but Sonic had to go through a decade of intense loneliness because of her. The humans and Sonic didn't say much about his past, but she knew. She knew it wasn't as fine as they made it seem. He had to have, at some point, struggled really hard to keep himself alive, to find food, to find shelter, to—she doesn't even want to think about it!

"Sonic", Longclaw began, "I know you're okay. And I'm so thankful you're not alone anymore. But that doesn't diminish what happened to you before, nor does it make it okay. You could have had a family for more than a decade. But you didn't because of what I told you to do." Sonic was opening his mouth, ready to say 'It's okay' or something similar, but Longclaw needed to apologize to her—their son—and needed to say everything Sonic deserved to hear, even if he didn't think so. "I apologize for putting you through so much unnecessary suffering and turmoil. Clearly some humans are trustworthy, and Earth is way safer than I once judged." She finished, using her wings to hold his gloved hands.

"I did get lucky..." Sonic said, holding Longclaw's wings gently and looking to the side... like… he was guilty? Guilty of what?

"I know. But, after everything you told me, I've realized how overprotective of you I was."

Sonic frowned slightly, looking like he didn't fully agree with her.

"You weren't that overprotective. After all… it was my fault that the echidnas got you." Sonic said, guilty invading his voice.

What did Sonic just say? His fault? That thought had never even crossed her mind. Obviously, it wasn't Sonic's fault, and it would never be his fault. She wondered how much Sonic had thought about it. Hopefully, not too much (she had a feeling that probably wasn't the case).

"Sonic… it wasn't your fault. You weren't the one bringing the echidnas, were you?"

"But if I hadn't brought the sunflower, none of that wouldn't have happened!" Sonic said it rather loudly, showing that he was angry with himself.

Sonic definitely thought way too much about this. And he's way too guilty about something he shouldn't even feel guilty about to begin with.

Longclaw reached out and touched his cheek gently.

"Sonic… you were three years old." Longclaw began. Sonic looked at her, still not convinced. "It really wasn't your fault, if anything, I should have protected you better. And, besides, it's in the past—literally. And everything turned out fine."

"Weren't you just telling me that what happened on Earth mattered?" Sonic said it in a less serious and more light-headed way than before. That was a good sign. Sonic was joking. A really good sign, in fact. When Sonic needed comfort, she had known for two- thirteen years that, once he started joking again, he was feeling better.

"Yes…" Longclaw said, laughing slightly, "You're right, Sonic." She hadn't noticed how, in the middle of trying to make Sonic feel better, she had contradicted herself. "However, my point still stands. It wasn't your fault."

"My mo- other mom and my dad told me the same thing, but I still thought it was my fault. But, I guess, I was wrong." Sonic replied, smiling softly at her.

Thankfully, their son finally got it. Clearly, Sonic had been burdened by self-blame and guilt for things beyond his control. It would be a heavy load for anyone, let alone someone who has been alone for ten years and isn't even fifteen yet.

She hugged him gently (trying, once again, her best not to hurt her injured wing) and stroked his quills. "It will never be your fault, okay?"

They embraced for a minute. Longclaw felt incredibly warm inside. While she had lost so much of Sonic's life, she was here again. She will be here with Sonic for more years than she would've been able to otherwise. She was really grateful that while she was "away" (or whatever expression could express the state she was in when time traveling for 11 years), Sonic met, even if just a year and a half ago, really good people that cared about him and a family. She would have to share Sonic now, but perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. However, she still had to ask Sonic about Knuckles. Especially because Sonic considered Knuckles family.

"Sonic, are you sure about Knuckles?" Longclaw asked cautiously.

Sonic slowly nodded.

"I know you have a history with the echidnas." But Knuckles isn't against you—against us, I mean. After all, he's my big brother. And Tom, Maddie, and Tails are my family now, too. They care about me and support me no matter what." Sonic said fondly.

Even after Sonic's explanation, she would still keep an eye on Knuckles (just in case). However, at the same time, Knuckles was Tom and Maddie's son and, most importantly, Sonic's brother, and she supposed he did deserve a chance, being the last in his species like her.

"But you're my family too," he continued sincerely, looking at her and holding his hands in her wings. "You always have been. I don't remember much of what happened in Mobius. But I do remember that you were always there for me, that you always took care of me, and that you always loved me." Sonic looked up, looking directly into her eyes with love and gratitude. "I'm so grateful that you're here again!" Sonic finished with one of the sweetest smiles she had ever seen on his face.

Longclaw couldn't help but replicate the smile Sonic was giving. That was… just incredibly sweet of Sonic. A few tears welled up in her eyes as she finished processing everything their son had said. Even after more than a decade, his love for her hadn't diminished even a little bit.

"I'm so grateful that you're here too." Longclaw replied, smile so bright it could light up a whole room. "I love you, Sonic."

"I love you, too, mom."

Longclaw knew Sonic considered her mother, but hearing Sonic, for the first time, call her mom made those welled-up tears of hers start to drop.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked, his concern evident as he noticed Longclaw's tears.

Longclaw managed a smile through her tears and replied, "Yes, Sonic. I'm more than okay. In fact, these tears are tears of joy, my dear son." It was the first time she had ever called Sonic her son, and the significance of the moment wasn't lost on either of them.

They held each other in a tight embrace once again, the constant physical contact serving as a powerful reminder of their deep bond and how much Sonic had missed her.

"Well…" Sonic began, once out of their embrace, eager to make the most of their time together, "Since we have some time to kill and I'm a human and Earth expert, I'll show you all there is to know about Earth!" Sonic's words were infused with charisma and a hint of playful confidence.

Longclaw couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Sonic really hadn't changed a bit.

And so, Sonic began telling and showing everything he possibly could about Earth. He showed her their house, the things he owned, the different rooms, and everything in between. She couldn't help but smile at her-their (she supposed she would have to 'share' Sonic, now) son's excitment, couldn't she deny being somewhat fascinated by, as Sonic had called it, "technology", "television," and other types of weird devices(?) they had around the house. He also wanted to show their (since it was shared by Knuckles and Tails) attic, but Longclaw was a little too big (because of the bandages) to properly get there. Sonic also "confessed" what she had already strongly suspected. His parents and brothers left conveniently at Sonic's request, so they could have a conversation together (which she very much appreciated).

"The house tour", as Sonic had said, also led Sonic to confess a bit more of what had happened in the past and everything that he had gone through while she wasn't and couldn't be here. Most of what Sonic told her wasn't… very good… to say the least. She already suspected that, but hearing it confirmed by her ow- their own son—was, honestly, depressing. Hearing Sonic talk about his experience really put into perspective how much he had to go through at such a young age. Before she came across Sonic, she had been all alone for a few years as well. But she was almost an adult at that point. Sonic was a toddler struggling to find food and shelter, solely relying on what she had taught him and nothing else. She really wished she hadn't said what she did when the echidnas appeared. His childhood couldn't have been so much better. But she tried to cast the guilt and those thoughts aside as Sonic, with bright eyes that displayed how excited he was, showed his 'Flash collection' (a comic book about super-heroes, apparently). After all, it wasn't worth it to focus on 'what ifs' and 'what I could've done better', it wouldn't get her anywhere.

Eventually, after Sonic was finished with "the house tour", everyone came back, and, in the blink of an eye, nighttime came around. After eating dinner (and Longclaw eating some more delicious mice), their son and their kids got ready to go to bed, while she would crash on the couch for now. Longclaw was telling the kids good night when Maddie mentioned reading a bedtime story for Sonic and Tails. Which made Longclaw very confused. She would understand why they would read a bedtime story for Tails. After all, he's not even eight years old. However, their Sonic is fourteen. She did tell him bedtime stories all the time, though. But that was back when he was a little hedgehog.

"Bedtime story? Isn't Sonic a little… too old for that?" Longclaw asked Tom and Maddie, once the kids got into the attic, somewhat carefully.

Maddie sighed. "Technically he is, but... he spent 10 years alone, so we are just trying to make up for lost time."

Longclaw frowned. How could she not realize it sooner? Of course they would do that. It was the right thing to do, in fact. Their son needed that.

"Right. I apologize for my ignorance." Longclaw spoke, her cheeks slightly red from the embarrassment of something so seemingly obvious flying through her head.

"It's alright. I had the same reaction when Maddie suggested we do that", Tom replied, "but she's right. Sonic has been through a lot. He needs time to just be a kid. Our Knuckles too." Longclaw briefly frowned at Knuckles' mention but quickly replaced it with a neutral expression and a small nod. She needed to treat Knuckles the same way she treated everyone else in this household. Their Sonic deserved that, at least. "Even if he has an 'I'm too old for that' attitude, he secretly enjoys it." Tom finished, smiling fondly.

Being the last of her kind, in her final teenage years, she had been forced to adapt to being alone and not depending on anyone. Sure, she knew some people, but that was all they were—acquaintances, nothing less, nothing more. She couldn't risk them being secret enemies. And because of that, she would have to learn how to trust other people (besides Sonic) all over again.

Despite all the hectic changes that have happened in more than a decade, one thing that hadn't changed is Sonic's heart of gold. And since Sonic trusted them, she was going to try her best to trust them (besides Knuckles, for now).

"We better go upstairs. We can't keep Sonic waiting for too long." Maddie said, followed by Sonic asking why they were taking so long.

"He's still the same Sonic he was when he was three." Longclaw said, chuckling softly at Sonic's antics, amusement present in her voice, her body "shaking" in laughter but with her wings stiff (so she wouldn't hurt herself). Tom and Maddie joined soon after.

"We would invite you to come to the attic with us, but… er…" Tom paused, clearly not able to find the right words.

"I'm too big right now?"

"Yeah…" Tom replied, somewhat embarrassed.

"You can stay below the attic if you want." Maddie suggested.

"That's fine for me." Longclaw replied. "And... thank you for taking care of Sonic and being there for him when I couldn't. I can tell you've been doing a great job. I appreciate it."

Tom and Maddie both gave one of the biggest and brightest smiles the owl had ever seen on a human. Even though she had only seen a handful of humans in her lifetime) In what seemed like a day, her reality changed tremendously. Sonic had grown up without her. Humans knew of their existence, and it had gone... a lot better than she could ever predict. And surprisingly, Earth, all things considered, is a relatively safe place to live now. It would be hard to adapt to this new reality, but everything would be fine eventually. She was sure of it.

Once all the kids were sound asleep, Tom and Maddie told her they needed to talk to her about something important. About Sonic. And, so, they began talking about the rules Sonic and their kids had to follow, asking her if she agreed or if she wanted to add any new rules or remove any of the established ones. She had found the rules they had established to be fair and quite good, to be honest. So, she really didn't have any problems with that. They also talked about everything that had happened to Sonic during the last year and a half. The good and the bad, how he adapted to having a family again, how Green Hills accepted them, and the trauma he had to go through and how it affected him led to them suggesting putting Sonic (and their kids, too) into "therapy". Which, as Tom and Maddie had said, 'it was to help Sonic heal from trauma'. Longclaw told them that, while she had to learn more about "therapy" to understand exactly what her son would get into, she wasn't opposed to it. One thing was obvious: they really loved Sonic (and their kids). The way Sonic talked about them and the way they talked about him spoke for themselves.

Eventually, they also told her they wanted to integrate their parenting approach with her own. In other words, co-parenting Sonic. She was totally on board with it. It would be the best for all of them, especially for Sonic…

At the same time Longclaw, Tom, and Maddie were talking, 'The Guardian Units of Nations' were having an urgent meeting about Longclaw. Commander Walters was at the epicenter, leading the meeting with the key members.

Commander Walters listened closely to the description the G.U.N. agent was giving of the sudden appearance of a new alien creature on the Wachowskis' home. She appeared to be a big, brown alien owl.

Once the G.U.N. agent finished describing everything he had observed during the now-monthly 'observation' of the Wachowski's house, the aliens were now deemed safe enough to be last watched by the government, after multiple descriptions given by the agents and him to the government. And also because that blue alien hedgehog, Sonic, wouldn't stop catching their G.U.N. agents, Commander Walters started speaking.

"Alright," Commander Walters began, crossing his hands, "we can't capture her, at least yet, for obvious reasons… so, what ideas do you have regarding how we should tackle this situation?"

One male G.U.N. agent raised his hand.

"Yes?" Commander Walters asked, interested in what he wanted to say. This agent always had good ideas and sometimes suggested doing things he hadn't even thought of.

"I know this isn't related to the alien situation, Commander, but should we add a side thread of the new owl alien to the ones we have from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles?"

After the second time the aliens pretty much saved the country, and their lives, Commander Walters and the military understood that capturing them wouldn't be a good idea, especially after the appearance and rise of groups that defended and advocated for alien's rights. So, approaching the alien owl had to be done in a somewhat sneaky manner.

"Make a new one." Commander Walters replied, showing clear satisfaction with the G.U.N. agent's quick and good thinking.

After the male G.U.N. began using his computer, presumably to create the new thread related to the new alien, one female G.U.N. agent raised their hand.

"Yes?"

As the G.U.N. agent began suggesting the idea she had, Commander Walters smiled. Her suggestion was perfect. It was exactly what they were going to do…