The Fox and the Seedrian: Frontiers
by milesprower06
Chapter Eleven
Aside from the fact that it was floating in midair over the ocean, Lily believed that the best case for Angel Island's supernatural nature was the existence of the desert surrounding Sandopolis. There were no mountain ranges that limited rainfall, or air pressures that heightened evaporation or prevented cloud formation. As she took a small swig from her water bottle before putting it back into her backpack's elastic mesh cup holder, she wondered how the island was designed.
Based on what little of Angel Island's ancient history she had learned from her studies, she had her doubts that the regions were as distinct and divided like this when it was still part of the continent to the east. According to her dad's planned route, they would stop to rest near the Flying Battery crash site, then continue on and get to the outskirts of the Sandopolis complex.
Thankfully, having the top of the island's central mountain in view at all times effectively dispelled the illusion of the desert's size, and when they came to the summit of the next dune, they saw the half-buried battery frigate, and about a half-mile after that, the ruins of Sandopolis.
"Looks like a good place to grab some shade, a bite to eat, and a rest," Sonic commented.
"Don't suppose there'd be much good exploring the wreck?" Lily asked.
"I doubt it," her dad replied. "Probably wouldn't get very far before we would have to start digging. But maybe I could talk Knuckles into letting Chris and I make that our next shipbreaking project. If that happens, we could absolutely have you along."
"I'll hold you to that, dad," Lily said with a smirk as they made their way down the dune towards the crash site.
"Here we are, this spot will only get cooler as the sun keeps heading west," Sonic told them, dropping his pack in the shade against the ship.
Lily wasn't sure what she would have preferred more; a spot to eat and rest down here in the shade, or a spot higher up out of the shade, but it would mean not making the effort to not get sand in absolutely everything as she unpacked her food, deciding to settle for just a couple of protein bars for the time being.
"So did you see it come down?" Lily asked Sonic.
"No, it was still airborne when I jumped off into Sandopolis. By the time it crashed I was probably inside the pyramid already," Sonic replied.
"Well," Tails began, also deciding for just a couple protein bars for now. "Let's just hope there's not tons of sand in the tents tonight."
"You said it, dad."
As they settled down for their rest and minimalist lunch, it then dawned on Lily that with Sandopolis being the only direct route to the Hidden Palace on the island, that the inhospitable climate was probably the point.
Helen leaned back on her patio chair, pushing it back into a reclined position on her back porch that overlooked the rolling hills to the north. Having just finished lunch, she was now taking a few minutes for herself before she stepped into the back yard and tended to her garden. As the sun moved slowly west from overhead, she began to recall the greatest thing that had ever happened to her here on this very porch, nearly a decade ago…
Ten Years Ago…
Helen could barely contain her nervousness nor her excitement as she sat in her wheelchair on the back porch of the brand new home she shared with Chris. This day had been on her mind constantly ever since Sonic had made the offer two weeks ago. Now, the day was here.
The question is, would it work? How well would it work?
"Hey, you alright, hun?"
Helen turned and looked up at her boyfriend, who had put his hand on her shoulder. She reached up and took his hand in hers, and squeezed softly.
"Yeah… Just a little nervous… Alright, more than a little, but can you blame me? This could be life changing," she told him.
Chris squeezed her hand back.
"I can't blame you at all."
Though they were both chronologically adults, both of them had become physically younger due to the time dilation between dimensions, and thus they had both decided to wait until they had once again physically become an adults again before tying the knot. Just to stop things from getting weird in the back of their minds.
"Alright, we're here! Is everyone ready?" They heard Amy, as she walked alongside Sonic and Tails over from her neighboring backyard.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Helen told them.
The three of them climbed the three steps up to the porch, and Helen saw the blue and yellow chaos emeralds glowing in both of his hands.
Helen could tell that he was nervous himself, and she couldn't recall when she ever saw him that way.
"Sonic?" She asked, bringing the hedgehog's attention up from her legs up to her eyes.
"Yeah, Helen?" Sonic asked.
The girl took a deep breath.
"If this doesn't work, I just want you to know… I won't blame you or think any less of you. It means the world to me that you're even trying this."
"We had the best dinner and breakfast I could think of; for a good night's sleep and plenty of energy in the morning," Amy said.
"Just to keep expectations realistic here…" Tails began. "Chaos Regeneration is very rarely instantaneous. If this works, you're likely looking at months of physical therapy, so your body can get used to using the muscles in your legs again."
Helen nodded in understanding.
"I'll just take it a day at a time," she replied to the two-tailed fox.
"Alright, if you're ready, no time like the present…" Sonic said.
The hedgehog reached forward, and offered her the yellow chaos emerald, putting it softly into her hands that were resting on her lap.
Sonic took a long, slow breath, bringing himself into focus, before saying "Chaos Regeneration," on the exhale, and the glow of both emeralds began to intensify. The blue emerald began to float out of Sonic's hands, and the hedgehog moved to gently place them on the girl's legs, just above the knees.
Helen felt a slight tingling feeling, coming from both the emerald she grasped in her hands, as well as where Sonic was touching. A few moments later, she had to close her eyes to shield them from the ever-increasing brightness from the emeralds. Now that she had one last sense to focus on, she concentrated on the tingling more, feeling as it moved from her hands and Sonic's hands as it moved up her arms and up her legs, and met at the bottom of her spine.
She wasn't sure what to expect next, but the next thing she knew, the tingling faded, as did the near-blinding glow from the emeralds, allowing her to open her eyes. There was Sonic, kneeling in front of her, breathing deeply, and looked a bit winded, having caught the blue emerald before it had clattered to the ground.
"Whew… Well, do you feel anything?" Sonic asked, holding up his empty open palm, waiting for Helen to give him the yellow emerald, which she did a moment later.
The girl took a quiet breath, and realized that the tingling had not quite stopped, even after giving the emerald back to Sonic. It felt like what one of her arms felt like if she accidentally slept on it through the night. She looked down at her shoes, and concentrated just a bit, and felt herself wiggling her toes, seeing the tips of her shoes twitch in response. She moved her knees apart about an inch spread her feet. A smile slowly spread across her face as she looked down and to the left at the side of her wheelchair, double checking to make sure the wheels were locked, before gripping the armrests tightly, and pushing herself up; a task she had done countless times before whenever she got into bed, bathed, or used the bathroom. But this time, she shifted her weight forward ever so slightly as she lifted her feet forward and placed them on the painted wooden planks of her back porch.
In one unstable motion, she finished pushing herself up out of her wheelchair, took one unsteady, fumbling step forward, before dropping to her right knee, and brought her right hand up to the pillar support just before the steps to the backyard to keep herself from falling completely over. Chris came over immediately, with a hand on her back.
Sonic was also there in an instant, with a hand on her left shoulder to steady her.
"Whoa there, you okay, Helen?" Sonic asked. The hedgehog was unable to hide the look of disappointment on his face.
Helen looked down at her legs, then to Sonic, and couldn't help but give him a smile.
"I'm glad Tails warned me about it not being instantaneous. I… I can feel them, Sonic. I took a step. I can feel them…!"
With that, she threw her arms around the blue hedgehog and squeezed him tightly as she began weeping with joy.
Sonic's look of sorrow vanished when he saw how happy Helen was at the small amount of progress she had just made, and he returned the hug.
"I'll make a call, and get you scheduled for some physical therapy sessions as soon as possible," Amy told her, as Chris joined in on the hug.
"Congratulations, Helen," Chris whispered. "Congratulations."
Helen had never forgotten that day, that very first step. Just like she hadn't forgotten her second step, or her first physical therapy session, or the very first time she hadn't needed her wheelchair to get around the house.
Now, nearly a decade later, she was walking miles every single day, to and from work at the flower shop, as well as leading nature walks into the forests and hills around Topaz Harbor.
And she owed it all to taking a chance with the man who would become her husband, and jumped with him into a new life here on Mobius.