A/N: Couldn't close this out without a classic time jump :)

All Sonic characters belong to SEGA. OCs are mine.

Epilogue

ZONE: PRIME

YEAR: 3335

Sonic hadn't meant to make Shadow drop his coffee beans. Honest.

During his morning run, he chanced upon the dark hedgehog and figured he would stop by and say hi. It'd been ages since they last saw each other and Sonic thought their friendship was developing greatly. His (alleged) twin went from a genocidal madman to a mysterious anti-hero in a matter of weeks. They joined forces for the greater good and could stay in each other's company for more than 30 minutes before Shadow got irritated.

That was a phenomenal improvement in the blue teen's eyes. They were basically pals at this point!

With that in mind, he didn't think twice before speeding up to the Ultimate Lifeform and tagging him on the shoulder with a loud greeting.

So enveloped by the much-needed taste of pure ground coffee beans from his favorite farmer, Shadow was caught unaware and admittedly jumped when the speedster tapped him. His relaxed grip on the bag fell through his fingers and spilled across the dirt ungracefully.

Moments passed by as the two hedgehogs stared at the beans. Sonic's eyes flickered between the frozen teen and back to the ground two times before he nervously shrugged.

"Uh...that was my bad," he chuckled lamely.

Sweat pooled at his temple when Shadow's eye twitched. Red-striped spines began to expand and Sonic instinctively felt his leg muscles tense.

"Shadow?" he tried again. "I'm happy to buy you another—"

"That was her last batch for the month."

"Good thing April's 'round the corner. Right?"

Shadow felt his hands shake and he all but growled out his next words. "When I get my hands on you..."

Crimson eyes snapped up, and Sonic was gone.

Shadow was not far behind him.

(0...)

The midnight blue teen held her mother's hand as they strolled to the fruit stands and quietly observed the foliage around them. It was nice to get out and feel the sun again. After months of winter, the rain ushered in the fresh smell of Spring and oranges.

Her adoptive mother was seven months pregnant and craving citrus. Due to the snow and the aches of growing a 90th-percentile baby, she was often stuck in bed and without her favorite fruits. With Spring in full tow, they took the first chance to visit the farmer's market.

"No, honey. I am not bending down," she assured, squinting her eyes and leaning further towards the stack of fresh tangerines and oranges. Sage rolled her eyes as she picked out a few good options. Her mother smiled with satisfaction as she placed them in her basket.

"No, I am not lying."

Blessed with insanely excellent hearing, the 14-year-old girl heard the string of frustrations from her adoptive father. However, they were both used to it at this point. Pregnancy made him more vigilant than he already was. You'd think seven months in, he'd lighten up, but it only got worse.

Chelsea folded her lips to stunt her laughter. Her brown eyes lit up with mischief and she adoringly listened to Noah list off 101 very not good things that could happen if she were to overexert herself.

As he explained the probability of the baby coming out leg first, Sage's ear twitched as she picked up another sound. There was rapid beating against the ground. Faster than she'd ever experienced. Then there was a—

"I SAID I WAS SORRY, SHADS!"

"GET BACK HERE, FAKER!"

Her reflexes activated faster than her brain. Rotating her mother further into the tent, she swiveled her leg back, sticking it out in time for the azure hedgehog to trip over it and fly over the fruit stands and into a nearby bush.

Sonic yelled in the air before unceremoniously falling on his head. Folks nearby winced from the sound and were about to investigate before they observed the near demonic anger radiating from the black and red hedgehog stalking towards him. Most folks cleared the area.

Sage felt her heart drop. Painful memories of a past life she hoped to forget ran across her vision at the sight of the familiar ebony teen. The threads of peace she worked so hard to sew for her family uncomfortably pulled at her heart. She went to grab her mother to leave but swiped at air.

Oblivious to the scene, Chelsea hurried to the boy, drenched in concern. "Are you alright, honey?" she asked. Her eyes flitted over his body, checking for bruising or broken bones.

Luckily, Sonic's durability was more than able to handle a little fall. Once he shooed the metaphorical Chao away, he was able to respond to the kind voice. He took the hand that was offered to him.

"Heh, that was a doozy! I'm good. Thanks..." his words trailed off when emerald met coffee-brown.

It was weird. He was sure he'd never seen her before, yet Sonic felt a strange familiarity deep within his heart. Nothing came to his sharp mind, but his body leaned forward as if it wanted to get a closer sense of who this woman was. His brows furrowed ever so softly as his bottom lip hung open in wonder.

"Chelsea," the ebony hedgehog finally answered.

"Sonic," he replied. She smiled and pulled him to his feet.

Still deep in his stupor, he stumbled a bit, but she laid another hand on his arm for balance. Chelsea chuckled before returning her gaze to his own. This time, she paused as she studied his features closely, nose and brows scrunched with thought. They both slightly tilted their heads, mirroring one another.

"Have we met before?" she questioned.

"I—"

"Sonic? Hey! I knew that was you I saw catapulting through the air!"

The azure hedgehog turned to see his friend Silver fly towards them with a crateful full of produce.

"The one and only! What's up, Silver? Long time no see!" Sonic said cheerfully. "Whatchya got there?"

"Some fruits and vegetables from the garden. This year's harvest went so well, I've got extra produce I won't get around to using myself. Blaze and Espio suggested I give them away at the market," the telekinetic teen replied.

"That's a great idea!"

"Are those Blood Oranges?" Chelsea asked suddenly, stars in her eyes. "They look so good!"

Silver puffed out his chest with pride. "Yup! And they're the perfect amount of—"

"WHERE'S THAT BLUE HEDGEHOG!?"

Their heads snapped towards the angered voice and Sonic paled.

"Uh oh," he gulped.

Silver gave his friend a deadpan expression, not at all surprised about the situation. "What'd you do to piss him off this time?" he sighed.

"I might've, accidentally, made him drop his coffee beans," Sonic chuckled nervously.

The younger teen face-palmed.

Beyond bewildered, Chelsea was about to raise a question when her arm was tugged. Sage's golden-yellow eyes glowed with seriousness and a hint of desperation as she attempted to pull her mother away from the crowd.

"Huh?"

"Mama. Let's go."

The young mother's eyes widened. Her daughter's use of her voice was limited. Although her vocal cords were sore when they found her, they were still functional. So it wasn't that she couldn't speak, she was just very quiet. Selectively mute the doctors said. Any time she spoke, it was a big feat on her part.

"But why?" she asked. "What's wrong, Sage?"

The midnight blue hedgehog frowned with slight panic at her mother's reluctance and confusion. However, it was too late to get away when Shadow flipped over the tent, landing before the group with a powerful thud.

Pointing a threatening finger at the blue speedster, he snarled, "You."

Sonic jumped and held out his hands. "Let's talk about this, Shadow. We can handle this like mature adults."

"You're going to pay for ruining my morning," he snapped.

Before he could think about it, Sonic jumped behind the confused pregnant woman, peeking from behind her with unease. "Come on, Shads! I'm really sorry!" He jumped back and forth as Shadow tried to match his movements from the other side. "I said I'll get you two bags next month! I swear!"

"Come out and face me like a real man, hedgehog!"

"I wanna keep my face, thank you very much."

Chelsea lifted a finger. "Uhh, boys?"

She went ignored as they continued their game of cat and mouse around her before Sage intervened. Having enough of the panic and confusion, she side-stepped in front of the Ultimate Lifeform and bared her teeth with threat. Shadow, taken aback, hummed in shock. Sonic stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner and popped it right back in when the same glare was thrown his way.

"Alright, alright. Chill out already, you two," Silver interrupted before anything more could occur. He landed on his feet and tossed his friends an unimpressed stare. "Maybe don't fight around the nice heavily pregnant woman? Have some decorum."

The two blinked and noticed Chelsea's very round belly. Embarrassment drowned their cheeks with color and they stepped a healthy amount away from the hedgehog. Suddenly, the burning glower from the dark blue girl didn't feel so out of place.

Shadow cleared his throat. "Right...apologies."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Sonic said, ears flopping halfway.

"I'm sorry if we caused you any stress, Miss Hedgehog," Silver spoke.

Sage huffed in anger but Chelsea waved her hand. "None at all. You three gave me a good laugh today." She looked at her daughter's pleading eyes and finally relented. "Although, that's probably enough excitement for me. Want to avoid cramps and all. We'll be on our way now. I hope you two sort it out. You seem like great friends."

Sonic winked at the dark hedgehog and he rolled his eyes.

"As if," Shadow muttered.

Before they took their leave, Silver grabbed some oranges from his cart. "Here! Take these. For the trouble."

He carefully filled her basket. Chelsea grabbed the last one from his hand, grazing her fingers over his knuckles. Silver paused as he observed the warmness on her face.

She had a pretty smile.

"That's quite sweet of you," she said softly. "Thank you."

"Of course!" he laughed, cheeks bright and pink. He then turned to his friends. "Shadow, I've got some coffee beans that are ready to harvest back at my place if you want some?"

Shadow perked up at that before nodding. "That would be nice."

Sonic was just about to make his leave before—

"Great! And Sonic can help pick them out and clean them to repay you!"

He wilted, head and shoulders curved towards the ground in defeat. The azure teen dragged a hand down his face before plastering a tight smile on his muzzle. "Yeah. Right. Sure. Happy to do that," he forced out.

"I'll go leave this with a friend and then we can head back to the garden. Come on!" Silver exclaimed, floating towards the field of tents. Before he got too far, he waved to the two other hedgehogs. "Have a good rest of your day!"

"You too!" Chelsea called back out. Serein took the full basket of fruits from her mother as they prepared to walk back home.

Sonic lazily picked a daffodil from the ground before handing it to the young mother. "Congratulations, Miss Chelsea. The kid's blessed to have an awesome mom and a really strong big sister with super-fast reflexes."

Sage didn't appreciate the wink, but she agreed with him this once.

"Thank you, Sonic," Chelsea smiled.

He nodded, staying a moment longer to take in the small family preparing to run. There was no use investigating that weird moment from before. He had a feeling they'd cross paths again.

"Well. Gotta blast. See ya!" Sonic grinned.

Then, he was gone.

That left the black and ruby hedgehog who awkwardly stood to the side. The teen girl raised a curious brow over how the older one seemed to battle with whatever thoughts were in his head. Crimson irises jumped from their feet to his own before slowly rolling up their faces.

"Saltwater."

"What was that, baby? Or, Shadow, was it?"

Shadow felt his cheeks grow hot over the pet name. He would not acknowledge what that did for him. Nevertheless, he quickly pushed out his remaining thoughts. "Saltwater baths are known to help with cramps. Perhaps visiting the beach would be helpful. You would like that."

Chelsea blinked with surprise. "I love the beach. How'd you know?"

When Shadow froze, Sage went still alongside him. She studied his micromovements as he pondered over the simple question. She felt her heart begin to beat rapidly against her chest as a light of knowingness flashed across his red irises. Then as quickly as it came, it left and Shadow was stuck with puzzlement that turned into frustration.

"I...don't know," he answered honestly. Shadow lifted his gaze and frowned. He shook his head and walked towards where his friends were. "Whatever."

"Well, thank you too, Shadow. I'll be sure to try it out."

With a final look over his shoulder, he caught the young mother's curious eye and hummed. "Good luck," he said, before parting ways.

Leaving nothing but the wind and trees, Sage finally let out a sigh of relief. She hooked her arm around Chelsea's and the two walked back to the safety of their cozy home. It was already mid-morning. If they worked hard, they could have freshly squeezed orange juice by lunch. The thought made the girl's mouth water. The oranges they picked out were perfectly ripe.

She went to show her mother their pickings but blinked as she took in the faraway look in the older hedgehog's eyes. As if knowing the question on her mind—as she always did—Chelsea spoke with a loving lightness in her voice.

"I don't know why, but somehow, I feel like I've seen those boys before. It was like, when I first found you, Sage." She watched with uncertainty as a glint of purple flashed across Chelsea's dark irises. "Like I've always known you."

The girl's yellow stare softened into concern again as she stared at the child inside her mother's belly. Her ears flattened against her skull when those haunting memories rained over her thoughts.

She alone was burdened with the memories of an unfortunate life forced upon them, and she wanted to keep it that way. There was no need for anyone else to remember. Especially not her dear mother and father. That life had passed. It was done. They had completed their path and sacrificed their lives for the greater good.

Or rather...three greater goods.

However, deep down, Sage knew there'd be a day when the truth would be revealed. If not by their own doing, then by the ways of the universe—or whatever chaotic powers granted them a second chance to be a proper family.

That time may be steadily approaching, but she would do her best to prolong their peace. Sage thought it was only fair that if those three got a redo, they deserved the same.

Sage, leaning her head on her mother's arm, looked up at her and was relieved to find those same warm brown eyes back to their normal hue. Chelsea gave her a loving tap on her nose.

Then the phone rang.

"Geez, there goes your father again—seven missed calls!? 15 messages!?" Chelsea pinched the bridge between her nose and her daughter held in a laugh. "We'll be lucky if this rant only goes on for an hour."

She reluctantly picked up and Noah's voice burst through the speaker.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was!? What if you went into labor and the hand came out first!? What then!?"

"Oh brother," Chelsea rolled her eyes before grinning at the girl.

Sage mirrored the same smile her mother unknowingly gave to her and decided that no matter what came their way, she would protect that happiness forever.

Even if it had to be alongside her brothers — if that day ever came.

A/N: Finale. For real this time.