Isaac had been going through his physical therapy for the past two months, steadily regaining his lost strength. Dante had been helping him with regaining his powers, since they are linked to Isaac's physical and mental wellbeing. The Sonic Team had been preoccupied with two new people to their team, having been unable to visit him, Lily, and Sally. But from what he heard, these two could be the key to stopping Eggman for good!

Isaac was in the courtyard with Dante and his physical therapist, performing strength exercises and stretches. Isaac had just recently regained his overall flexibility, able to maintain a split for extended periods of time. The physical therapist was impressed that Isaac had been able to recover so well in such a short amount of time, usually such results having to be the result of many months of intense physical therapy.

"Alright Isaac, switch to push-ups. Try to do as many as you can in a minute, comfortably." The therapist instructed, Isaac getting out of the stretch and assuming the push-up position. Isaac began pushing himself up and down, keeping a rhythm. Isaac's personal best used to be one hundred fifty-two in a minute, but since his atrophy, Isaac considered himself lucky to be able to get to above forty in a minute.

As Isaac was struggling with the last few push-ups, Isaac looked up from his position, seeing a strange group of people. People he had never seen before. A tall, male violet walrus, a female cyborg rabbit, and a brown, pale yellow male coyote, a French rapier fixed to his belt. All Mobians, of course. While he had never seen them before, their physical traits were familiar to him. Isaac believes that Sally may have talked about them before, at some point. After Isaac was done doing push-ups, he brushed himself off, walking towards them.

'Someone you're looking for?" Isaac asked, stopping a few feet from the group. The three noticed him, seeing that Isaac was standing tall.

"We're here to visit a friend of ours. You might know her as 'Princess Sally'." The Walrus answered. Isaac nodded, feeling that was the reason they were here. Isaac stepped forward, an open hand towards them. The coyote didn't hesitate to shake his hand, Isaac feeling a tight grip. After shaking a few times, the coyote let go. The cyborg rabbit walked up, shaking Isaac's hand as well, using her non-bionic arm.

The walrus shook Isaac's hand as well, but he wasn't careful with his grip strength very well! Isaac clenched his teeth, before tightening his grip as well. After a few moments, they both let go, the walrus massaging his hand a bit. Isaac was doing the same, his strength still not yet having been restored.

"What are your names?" Isaac asked.

"My name is Antoine D'Coolette. The beautiful woman next to me is my wife, Bunnie D'Coolette." Antoine answered, his voice laden with a French accent.

"Nice to meet the both of you." Isaac said, bowing. Isaac stood up straight, seeing the walrus.

"Oh, sorry! My name is Rotor. I'm the engineer of the group! If you need anything fixed, I'm your guy!" Rotor said, introducing himself.

"Thank you, I'll keep that noted. But is there a reason you're here to visit Sally? She didn't tell me you were coming." Isaac asked.

"She didn't know we were comin' over, hun. We decided to make it a surprise." Bunnie answered, speaking with a Southern accent.

"Isaac, when you're done talking, get back over here and start doing sit-ups!" Dante yelled out, getting his attention.

"Training day?" Rotor asked.

"Of a sort. Listen, I need to finish up what I'm doing. Go inside, but please, don't just try to surprise her too much." Isaac said.

"Wait, why?" Antoine asked.

"When you see her, you'll understand." Isaac answered, walking back to Dante and the therapist.

"Listen man, I didn't mean to sound like an asshole, but you need to focus on strength training right now. Now, get on your back and start doing so sit-ups!" Dante said, Isaac lying down on the ground and proceeding to do sit-ups.

After a few sets, Isaac's back hit the ground, the maroon hedgehog breathing heavily, his abdomen pulsing from the exercises. The physical therapist wrote down Isaac's progress into her clipboard, before signing it off.

"Alright Isaac, looks like we'll be calling it a day. So far, you've added twenty reps into your push-ups and thirty-four into your sit-ups since last week. Now, as before, drink plenty of water, get plenty of sleep, and make sure you're getting enough protein and amino acids in your diet to help your body recover." The therapist said, before tucking her clipboard under her arm, walking away.

"See you… next week… doctor." Isaac said, still breathing heavily. As she walked away, Isaac saw Dante staring as she walked away before the therapist walked into the castle. Isaac slowly got himself back up, Dante's gaze still fixed on the door the therapist had went through.

"Dante." Isaac said, Dante quickly snapping back into focus. Dante looked back to Isaac, blushing lightly.

"Yeah?" Dante asked.

"I saw you staring at her. I can tell you have feelings for her. Why don't you tell her how you feel?" Isaac asked.

"What?! No! I… I'm just working with her to help you recover! That's all!" Dante responded.

Isaac scoffed at his response, stretching out his sides. He knew what infatuation looked like, and Dante was a classic case!

"Listen, my knowledge on your unique physiology was detriment in your recovery! If I didn't work with her, your recovery wouldn't have been as swift as it has been as of late." Dante argued.

Isaac rolled his eyes, knowing that was nothing but a falsehood. Isaac's physiology was the same as any other Mobian's. Isaac hadn't even tapped into his powers since he had come back to the Kingdom of Acorn. Of course, it wasn't for a lack of trying. It was as if his powers were in flux! Every time Isaac had attempted to use one of his powers, the act of trying was enough to exhaust him!

"Listen, whether you wish to be truthful or not, the longer you wait, the more you risk losing your chance. And then you'll be wondering 'what if'." Isaac responded.

"Whatever. I'll talk to you later, Socrates." Dante jokingly said, walking away.

"Socrates? I've always seen myself as more like Plato than Socrates…. Maybe Aristotle… but Socrates?" Isaac muttered to himself, before walking towards the main entrance to the castle. Isaac pushed open the door, the cool air from the air conditioning hitting him. Isaac walked from the entrance, the door closing behind him. Isaac walked towards the Grand Staircase, looking around. He knew the group of people that came by were here, but he didn't know where exactly they were.

Isaac climbed the stairs, keeping his ears open. His hearing was still keen, able to pick up faint voices. He could hear Antoine's voice through the walls, along with Bunnie's and Rotor's as well. Isaac approached the chambers he shared with Sally, their voices coming from behind the door. Isaac took in a deep breath before pushing the door open, seeing Sally sitting at the foot of their bed, her hands resting on her enlarged stomach, talking to the three visitors. They quickly shifted their vision towards him, not having expected to see him so soon.

"The very topic of conversation." Antoine commented.

"You were all were talking about me?" Isaac asked.

"Only good things, I promise ya!" Bunnie responded.

Isaac closed the door behind himself, walking over to Sally. He sat down beside her, instinctively holding onto her right hand. He soon rested the left side of his head onto her stomach, hearing his unborn daughter's faint heartbeat.

"Iṉṉum aintu mātaṅkaḷ, eṉ pokkiṣamāṉa makaḷ (Five more months, my treasured daughter.)" Isaac whispered, gently rubbing Sally's stomach.

"You know, I think it's so sweet you're lookin' forward to bein' a dad!" Bunnie observed. Isaac took his ear from Sally's stomach, sitting up straight.

"I am still quite new to all of this… but my experience with raising my sister has prepared me beyond measure." Isaac said.

"You raised your sister?" Rotor asked. Isaac nodded, clearing his throat.

"When our parents were killed, I had to raise her with our traditions. Trading pelts for formula, fletching arrows for hunting, I did everything my parents taught me to raise her." Isaac answered.

"My God… that's horrible!" Antoine responded.

"The people that killed them are either dead or in prison. For eight years, I had to hide us from them… but then, I had met Sally, and the tide of our fortune had turned. No longer were we hunted, but in our stead, they had become the hunted." Isaac explained.

Before Isaac could have a chance to continue, Sally let out a small gasp of excitement, her hands retreating to her stomach.

"Isaac, she kicked! Here!" Sally exclaimed, retrieving Isaac's hand, and placing it onto her stomach. Isaac was speechless, feeling the movements of his unborn daughter. A small tear shed from his eye, an overwhelming sense of love washing over Isaac. But not just love towards his unborn child, but also love towards his wife, and everything she has done to help him through his hardships.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Rotor asked. Isaac's eyes widened, realizing they hadn't even thought of a name yet!

"I… I do not believe we have." Isaac answered. He looked to Sally, who looked not at all concerned they haven't picked a name for their unborn child as of yet.

"We still have five more months, Isaac. We'll have a name before she's born, I promise." Sally reassured. But as soon as she had said that a sharp rapping came from the window, Isaac's hand instinctively going towards his belt, where a lack of throwing knives came to greet him. Isaac hadn't had to carry knives since mid-March. But his reactions were all the same.

Bunnie walked over to the window, looking through. She couldn't see anyone there. Hesitantly, she opened, before a white-and-grey blur zoomed around the room! The blur spun around before stopping, revealing Lily on her Extreme Gear board! She moved the goggles from her eyes, placing them onto her forehead. She hopped off of the board, tucking it under her arm.

"Lily! What have I told you about riding that thing inside?!" Isaac scolded, getting up from the foot of the bed.

"I'm sorry, alright! I came to tell you guys about the strange ships I saw out on the Mobian Sea! I just couldn't waste time running upstairs!" Lily defended.

"The Mobian Sea? What were you doing out there?" Isaac asked, not knowing why she had broken his restriction of riding the board only over land.

"I didn't go out onto water! Everyone could see it from the shore! It looked like a fleet of longboats! With red-and-white sails and dragon figureheads! They're headed for here!" Lily explained. Isaac only blinked a few times, before sitting back down next to Sally.

"And is that a concern?" Isaac asked.

"Brother, come on! You used to get excited for trading opportunities! If these are Vikings from Glacier Peaks, they might have some interesting things to trade!" Lily answered. Isaac groaned, stretching out his back.

"Lily, I'm not in the mood for trading. I just don't have the energy right now. Maybe next time." Isaac said, before lying down on the bed, kicking off his boots.

"Isaac, please! I don't ask for much! And we haven't done anything fun together since we found you in May! Please?!" Lily pleaded.

"You know, I don't think that's too much of a bad idea myself! Here, I'll go with you, Lily." Sally said, getting up from the foot of the bed. Sally slid on her shoes before looking back at Isaac. Isaac was snoring ever so lightly, indicating he had fallen asleep. Sally sighed, herself noting Isaac had been having trouble keeping his energy as of late.

Sally picked up the covers from her bed, draping them over Isaac. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before walking towards the bedroom door.

The Docks (20 minutes later):

Sally and the others were watching the Vikings of Glacier Peaks unload their cargo, Mobian and Human alike. One of them, a human, was heavily tattooed with Nordic Runes and symbols, many of them running up his arms and down his chest and back. He had a short beard and a shaved head, runes tattooed onto the sides of his head. He only wore a pair of handmade leather shoes and flax linen pants.

"Ar ye sure ye haven't seen anither ane o us ere, Princess?" He asked, setting down a crate. He and Sally have been talking the past few minutes, mostly about an exiled Viking that he was looking for to bring him back home.

"Besides the trader that was here in December, no one else from Glacier Peaks has been here." Sally answered.

"Well, if ye see him, a brown hedgehog wi Jormungander on his arm, tell him te come hint hame! many o us miss him!" He explained.

"Why'd he leave in the first place?" Sally asked, looking at some of the knives on display.

"No by choice. He haen tae much heart te dae what we dae. Refused te pick up a weapon when ordered te. Oor Gythia, she sayed he wad niver gae te Valhalla, his refusal te fight." The Viking explained.

"Valhalla?" Sally asked. Sally heard of Valhalla, but she herself didn't know more than it being the Afterlife of the Viking people.

"Valhalla: the realm o the Aesir. Odin, the raven king, presides ther. Yinlie those who die fighting, an enjoy fighting te dae sae efter death, will gae ther." He explained.

"And if they don't?" Sally asked. The Viking cleared his throat, a grimace on his face. He didn't like talking about the other option.

"The dishonored dead gae te Helheim, a death realm o cold, bitter winds sae cold that no e'en Odin cuid survive for lang ther!" He answered.

"Dishonored? You mean criminals?" Sally asked.

"Aye. Criminals, those who die o auld age an disease, that sort o theng." He answered.

"It's dishonorable to grow old?" Sally asked.

"Niver tae auld te gae oot fighting i suppose. I dae no question the will o the Gods. But unfortunately, Eirik questioned the Gods. An that di no sit well wi oor Jarl." He explained.

"Eirik?" Sally asked.

"the ane we ar searching for. Eirik bjorgulfsson. When the Jarl caught wind o him refusing te fight, he at first wanted te leave him te his ain devices, no mak tae much o a deal oot o his questioning o the gods. But his lady wife… she haen a bit more pull in his final decision, if ye understand what i am saying." He explained.

Sally rolled her eyes, having an idea on how the Jarl's decision was swayed.

"so… sent wi an auld longboat an auld fuid, Eirik wis sent packing frae glacier peaks, an we hiv no seen him since." He finished.

"If it's been done, why are you looking for him?" Sally asked.

"Unfortunately… the Jarl's lady wife nou wants te put him through trial for heresy. O course, we're trying te fin him first te help him hide oot till the heat dies doun. Hopefully… he'll be able te return te his homeland soon." He answered.

Sally nodded, before a strange knife caught her eye. The blade was engraved with a scene from Norse mythology, two dwarves forging the hammer, Mjolnir, while the God of Mischief, Loki, watched from afar. But what truly caught her eye was a strange engraving on the other side of the blade. She had seen the engraving before, but she couldn't quite recall from where.

"Now, that's a nice piece! gat it frae a Forgemaster aamaist twenty years ago! She engraved it wi a scene frae oor legends, where the dwarves, Brokkr an Sindri, forged Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, while the god o mischief, Loki, plans his attempt te sabotage thaim! A beautiful piece!" He said, seeing that she was studying it.

"How much?" Sally asked.

"For ye, Princess, uh… what dae ye hiv?" He asked. Sally went and took out a pouch full of rings. As she began counting through, Lily walked over to the knives, seeing the aforementioned knife. Her eyes went wide, realizing that it was one of her Mother's! Lily quickly slammed down a large handful of rings, intent on buying it! The Viking's eyes widened at this, never before seeing a child be so aggressive in buying an ornamental knife!

"Is this enough?" Lily asked.

"Uhh... aye, that should dae it." He responded, taking the rings and sheathing the knife, handing it to Lily. Lily handed it over to Sally, wanting her to be the one to give it to Isaac.

"This should help Isaac get out of his rut." Lily said, intending this gift to help motivate Isaac. Sally hooked the sheathed blade into her pocket. After a few more minutes, the others were done trading, wanting to go back to the castle for the day. The Freedom Fighters themselves were tired from traveling for the day, the journey from the Mainland to the Westside Island being a tiring one.

"Hun, if you don't mind me askin', why's your husband stayin' cooped up inside, nappin' the day away?" Bunnie asked, something that had been on her mind.

"I know Isaac says he's just tired, but I'm really worried that he's depressed. Ever since he started doing physical therapy, struggling to do things he used to do without a problem, something in his eyes changed. Like he's not the same person anymore." Sally answered, showing her concerns.

"Well, if we consider the fact that Isaac is still recovering from a crippling and traumatizing event, it wouldn't be unreasonable to surmise that Isaac is also suffering mentally." Rotor interjected.

"Wait… that makes a lot of sense, actually! Isaac's been unable to use his powers since he came back! We've been helping him physically, but he hasn't recovered mentally!" Lily concluded.

"Guys, we can't just say Isaac is suffering mentally! That's not something you just realize out of the blue! It takes in-depth psychological and physical evaluations! Both of which Isaac undergoes regularly! All we can do for now is to be supportive of him while he recovers!" Sally exclaimed, not liking where their conversation was headed.

They soon were inside the castle, the others headed for their rooms. Sally's hand was on the knife Lily had bought for Isaac, her thumb rubbing the rough texture of the leather sheath.

"Alright guys, I'll see you all in the morning. Isaac should be in better spirits by then." Sally said, bidding the others a good sleep. Sally climbed the stairs to her chambers, her hand firmly grasping the stair rail, keeping herself secured as she travelled upstairs.

Harold Yurani was there to greet her, opening the door to allow her entry into her own chambers. Sally thanked him as she passed him, Yurani closing the door behind her. Sally kicked off her shoes, her feet in relief of not being confined. Isaac walked to the bed, seeing that Isaac had changed sleeping positions sometime after they had left. Sally hopped onto the bed, crawling over to her side next to Isaac. She sat herself down beside him, Isaac subconsciously reacting to the shift of the bed, his left arm reaching out towards her.

"Isaac… I need you to wake up for a little bit…" Sally calmly said, Isaac responding by his eyes flickering open. Sally put the knife from her pocket into her husband's hand, Isaac slowly sitting up, his tired eyes focused on the knife.

"What is it?" Isaac mumbled.

"It's a knife the trader was selling. Take a look of the design." Sally informed him. Isaac obliged, unsheathing the blade, seeing the engraved design. Isaac soon recognized the engraving as belonging to the Nordic religion, seeing the forging of Mjolnir by the Huldra brothers. Isaac soon turned the knife over in his hands, his eyes soon shooting open, seeing his Mother's engraved signature into the opposite side of the blade!

"This… this is my Mother's work! She made this knife!" Isaac exclaimed, suddenly invigorated by this discovery! Isaac soon clung onto Sally, kissing her as he put the knife back into its respective sheath. Sally was giggling, relieved to see Isaac so happy! Isaac soon dug his face into her neck, playfully biting it. Sally was blushing furiously, having a hard time remembering when Isaac was last intimate with her since they had brought him back home!

"Man, I should bring home knives more often!" Sally said aloud, excited. Isaac responded to this by pulling her down with him onto the bed, continuing to love her long past the time the moon had reached its highest point in the sky.

The Next Morning:

The Freedom Fighters and Lily were already eating breakfast, almost 9:00 in the morning. Isaac and Sally were nowhere to be seen. As they were thinking of checking on them, the door to the Dining Room flew open, Isaac having kicked it open, carrying Sally bridal-style. He walked to the table, shifting a chair from the table with his right foot, gingerly setting Sally down on it. Isaac soon pulled a chair out for himself, sitting very close next to Sally, wrapping an arm around her, kissing her cheek.

"You two sleep well last night?" Antoine asked, seeing that the two looked extremely happy. Isaac nodded, giving a subtle wink towards Sally, causing her to blush brightly. Bunnie soon recognized the look Isaac was giving Sally, a look she herself had received from her husband, Antoine, many times before.

"He's givin' her 'the look'." Bunnie whispered to Antoine, himself soon noticing.

"Probably not the only thing he gave her." Antoine slyly commented, Bunnie lightly punching him in the arm in response.