Chapter Text
Her stomach felt twisted, pulled like fresh taffy.
That dreaded day had unfortunately come, and the backpack over her shoulders had never felt heavier. She’d everything to her name with her, her hat upon her head and her air broom hanging by its straps from her other hand. It was dark, save for the lights from Tails’ vehicle–which he’d transformed from plane to some form of car. The others were gathered around it, Knuckles clutching his Master Emerald in its altered size in an arm as he stood against the vehicle. He had plans to return it to the island of his late tribe–the next safest location at which to house it.
They were still awaiting Shadow’s arrival. Rouge stood with Omega, holding soft conversation with him to confirm Eggman wouldn’t be a problem for them in the future. The strongest of the E-series robots claimed the man “incapacitated” and without any of the Chaos Emeralds. He wouldn’t be able to pursue them for the gems’ power. At least, that’s what they’d thought. And due to G.U.N.’s betrayal, Omega deemed them unworthy of his assistance in the future. He chose to accompany his team mates instead.
“Anybody heard back from him yet?” prompted Sonic, who had made himself comfortable along the back of Tails’ vehicle. “I figured he’d be here by now.”
“The other hedgehog IS taking more time than expected,” Knuckles agreed. “Do you suppose he’s been apprehended?”
“Hm! Not on your life,” Rouge hummed in amusement. “If I know him as well as I’m convinced I do, he’d stop at nothing to be by his partner’s side. We already suspected something upon receiving the orders to split up. Lucky thing I had Omega. No need to worry; Shadow can handle himself.”
Tonya paid no mind to her mentions, silently occupied with taking in the last sights of her homeland for the previous 20 years. They were within the field she’d last visited with Werehog Shadow to see the fireflies, signs of civilization distant and absent. She wished to see them one more time. It made her wonder…did their next destination have fireflies of its own? Warm, lazy Summer fields, barren of any disturbance in nature? She’d miss the family, these quiet spots during equally-quiet nights. But if where they were bound had its share of seclusion, she could pretend to be home when its sickness grew too great.
She hoped her family would meet them before it was too late. She’d yet to properly say her goodbye…
There was a flash of light nearby, gone just as rapidly as it had manifested. In the space it left behind, the barely-illuminated form of Shadow stood. The presence of light from Tails’ machine drew his focus first, then it shifted to the blue eyes of his mate. Stiffened shoulders were allowed to fall; she was okay! He barely caught her relieved grin before she dropped her belongings and ran to embrace him. His arms returned the gesture almost automatically, his Chaos Emerald still clenched in hand.
“Ah, what did I tell you? You had nothing to worry about,” Rouge smirked at the sight of the pairing. “Perhaps you should award me that jewel of yours as a consolation prize?” she nodded towards the gem in Knuckles’ possession.
“Not even if the fate of the world depended on it, bat-woman,” he rejected. The Master Emerald was going back to its shrine, regardless of any comment SHE made!
“Does this mean we’re all accounted for, now?” Tails finally spoke up, peering away from his radar. “We really shouldn’t wait around for too much longer.”
Slight panic struck the vixen as she separated from Shadow. “But the family still hasn’t caught up yet, Kitsune. I haven’t gotten a chance to say goodbye,” she excused.
“Something none of us have had a chance to do, Tonya. Don’t get me wrong, I wanna see them before we go too. But with all the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald in such close proximity to each other, there’s no way G.U.N. won’t detect us on radar. Especially since Shadow’s rejoined us. If we’re going to meet one last time, they’ll have to show up, soo–”
Tails barely finished his sentence before a gold portal ring opened nearby, allowing the bright beams of headlights to pour through. The rev of an engine followed, four tires halting on the earth below them. The lights of the family’s SUV remained on, granting them all visibility as they exited the vehicle. Grandpa Maelstrom and Josephine left the driver’s and front passenger’s seats respectively, while Mordecai and his sons hopped out from the back. Despite this possibly being the last time they’d meet, they all greeted the Mobians with smiles.
“You didn’t really think ya’ll were leavin’ without partin’ words, did ya?” Mak spoke first, he and his brother initially approaching. Tonya returned a smirk as she proceeded to give them both hugs. “Was scared we were gonna have to, but I’m glad ya’ll made it,” she admitted, the firm hold both of them held her in pulling emotion to the surface. This was likely the last time she’d get to embrace them. Best to make it count. “You stay outta trouble in your new home, ya hear? Keep your mischief managed,” Jake told her as they hugged. A notion Tonya snickered at, “That might be hard to do. I DID grow up with ya’ll, after all.”
A few humbled chuckles ensued before their mother and father neared for their turn. And it was in their arms that the vixen emotionally cracked, a few tears escaping her. She honestly did not want to leave, did not want to consider the possibility of never seeing them again. Theirs had been the first faces she’d met after her memory had been erased, the first she’d come to know as ‘family’. The thought alone of potentially never seeing them again hurt her, inside. But it was as they’d said: there was no future for them here. Mankind would always attempt to stick their noses in the Mobians’ business; they’d never know true peace. Not unless G.U.N. was convinced to let Shadow go–and that was unlikely to happen.
“Nevermind what they’ve said about ya in the past, you’ve always been a blessing to this family,” Mordecai said when it was his turn to embrace his daughter. “An’ we’d do it all over again in a heartbeat,” added Josephine as she rubbed her daughter’s back. They granted her time to cry, shedding a few silent tears themselves. They’d always known this day would eventually come, as the world was uncertain whether or not to coexist with creatures like the Mobians. But they also knew not everyone would. And where there was someone who wouldn’t, there was the threat of enslavement. They did not wish this for THEIR daughter. At least this way, she’d be kept far from any cage and chain.
The last to see her was by far the most important, since HE’D been responsible for bringing her into the family from the start. Grandpa politely knelt as Tonya was set down, freeing the rest of the family so they could say their goodbyes to the others. The elder had removed his hat, an action Tonya repeated as she tossed hers back to hang from around her neck. “I, uh…I don’t think I ever properly thanked ya for lettin’ me be part o’ your family. An’ I didn’t wanna leave without sayin’ so. So…thank you, Grandpa,” the vixen stated, wiping another tear from her face.
He returned a smirk, his moustache curving with it. “Would do it all again, if I could. Vee would’ve been proud o’ the person you turned out to be. Everyone present here is.” He was briefly interrupted by the pained cry Mak then emitted, the two of them looking to comprehend that he’d tried shaking hands with Knuckles. A mistake on his part, as the others laughed. “What? I had to try at least once!” he excused, smiling through a wince as he favored his aching hand.
“Best family I could have ever asked for,” Tonya commented, turning once more to her adoptive grandfather. “You’ve raised some good people.”
“Well…that means the world to me, Kid. Wish ya’ll could have stuck ‘round, a lil’ longer. But this ain’t y’all’s paradise anymore. It’s high time ya’ll found one to call your own. Just don’t be a stranger, ya hear? You call us when you have the time,” Grandpa replied, awaiting her compliance before pulling her close for a hug.
All three of Team Dark’s members had waited close by while the family shared their final exchange, but before they were divided once more, Josephine knelt and gestured both Tonya and Shadow to her. Each had a hand gently held as she gave them her final words. “Really wish things could’a been different…but just as with the dragons in TonTon’s animated movies, our world doesn’t deserve ya’ll. Yet. Ya’ll deserve a future together, but the rules o’ mankind will only rob ya’ll o’ that if ya stayed here. Ya’ll look after each other, pick each other up when ya fall. An’ don’t give up on each other when times get hard, okay? Ya’ll made it this far together. Cherish the time ya’ll have. Maybe one day, our trails will cross again. Until then…” She spared a sly glance at Tonya. “Don’t give your man too much trouble.”
A partial laugh escaped the vixen as she reached with her free hand to set her hat back on her head. The both of them were brought close for a final embrace, the last that Tonya would cherish as they separated. “Go on, now. Ya’ll got somewhere to be,” her mother figure smiled somewhat playfully, at last standing to rejoin her family.
“Radar signal detected. Military units approaching,” Omega informed the group, confirming their time to depart had come.
With that, the two groups divided, Sonic perching himself atop Tails’ machine as the yellow fox climbed back into its cockpit. “If everyone’s ready…” the hedgehog announced, giving the signal to Tails to open their portal home. Shadow proceeded to gather his wife’s bag, while Tonya collected her broom. “Stand by, everyone,” Tails instructed, producing one of their portal rings and giving it a firm throw in front of his vehicle. In the light of the SUV, the portal rapidly expanded, filled with a white glow. One by one, each of the Mobians entered its bright void, Tonya and Shadow among the last as they cast the Maelstroms final glances. Tonya politely tipped her hat to them. “I love ya’ll,” she said, silent tears dampening her muzzle fur as she and her spouse crossed through their passage home.
Military units would arrive too late to stop their departure, but just in time to catch the Maelstrom family’s open mockery of them as their SUV drove through their own portal ring back to the farm.
**********************************************************
“Restful” was the furthest term to describe the hybrid’s night.
He and his team had been permitted to stay at the HQ, one of its couches having been pulled out into a mattress. While Sonic and Co slept soundly in a conjoined room, Shadow remained awake and sat at the edge of the futon, red eyes trained on the monitor in the opposing room. Omega stood at the computer’s control panels, not requiring sleep and unwilling to sit idle when he could be keeping himself busy.
As per Rouge’s command, he observed Tonya’s condition throughout the night. For now, vitals indicated she was sleeping. While soft snores seeped from the trio’s room, faint beeps were emitted from Omega’s. Tonya’s heartbeat. All that Shadow could focus on. It wasn’t enough to know his mate was alive and well–she needed to be home with him! In another world, another timeline, when he wasn’t there to keep her safe…
When all he could do was observe her through a layer of glass, never able to reach her…
It was all too familiar.
Someone important to him had been separated from him by a glass barrier, stolen from him when he’d been stripped of his ability to protect her. That’s how he’d lost HER. He hadn’t an idea of what he’d do if he lost Tonya as well.
He shifted himself to rest his head in his palms. This wasn’t the same as the situation on the Ark, as Tonya’s life was no longer in peril. But in knowing there wasn’t a thing he could do if she was faced with danger?
He felt so helpless. And he HATED it. If not for Eggman’s theft of his Emerald, he could have sought out the remaining gems and turned Super, perhaps using its strengths to warp through time and space and rescue her, himself. Probably not before dropping the “evil genius” in a lava pit, somewhere.
“You really should get some rest, handsome,” came Rouge’s voice, for now lacking its flirtatious tone. “You won’t be as efficient, sleep-deprived.”
His motions must have disturbed her slumber.
He exhaled through his nose and lifted his head, eyes once more on the distant screen. Nothing about his mate’s condition had changed. “...How can I?” he began. “The only thing that matters to me now is far beyond my reach. My protection. And what’s worse is, I have no way of predicting what threats may come her way.”
He felt the bat’s movement as she sat up behind him.
“Omega’s keeping a close watch over her. Besides, she said so herself: she’s safe for now. And correct me if I’m wrong, but you’d already told her to avoid danger until you could be reunited. Didn’t you?” she responded.
The hybrid didn’t speak, mind abuzz with potential worse-case-scenarios. What if whoever helped Eggman steal her had plans to eliminate her? Since they’d failed to bag Sonic, what if they took out their frustrations on HER? Captured her, tortured her, forced her to track those stones for them? Eggman knew well of her tracking ability, and she’d no special powers with which to defend herself.
“Don’t tell me you doubt that fox of yours…? Because that means you’ve no confidence in her,” Rouge resumed, accepting she wouldn’t be getting a reply out of him.
“...She’s not trained for combat. Nor does she possess any Chaos powers to assist her in tight spots,” Shadow eventually clarified. “And currently, she exists in a world where magma titans apparently reign supreme. I’m not…I’m not there to…” He felt his throat tighten and ceased talking. He also hated when his mind ran wild like this. It did so a time or two in his early days on the Ark, when he wasn’t certain he’d keep Maria safe. An enormous responsibility had been placed upon him like a weight, when he’d only just awoken for the first time! And THAT responsibility, he’d…he’d failed.
Because he hadn’t yet mastered his own abilities.
Because of a wall of GLASS…
“...She’s smarter than you give her credit for,” Rouge resumed. “She’s aware she’s more vulnerable without you. Mischief might be a part of her character, but she’d never purposefully endanger herself. On top of that, she’s not alone. You said locals had stepped in to save and shelter her. She knows well enough not to wander alone in a world she’s unfamiliar with.” She’d receive no remark, but noticed his hands tighten in fists against his knees. There was more to his concerns than he was letting her in on. “...But I’ve a feeling this runs deeper than Tonya. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Silence. Just the trio’s soft snores and the beeping from the computer.
“...It’s a reminder, isn’t it?”
She saw him grow tense.
“...Has this to do with Maria?”
He visibly shivered, then allowed himself to calm. “...It’s too much akin to when…” he muttered, uncertain if he should finish his claim. “When I knew she faced inevitable danger, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to…” He refused to let himself relive that memory. Although he’d made peace with it and the fact he could never change it, it occasionally still haunted him. ‘What if history repeated itself?’, for instance. What if what happened to Maria ended up happening to Tonya, in a world in which he wasn't present to defend her?
She was THIS "dragon’s" remaining treasure. He couldn’t fathom losing her too!
There was more movement. A hand set itself on his unmarked shoulder. “I know well enough that fox won’t let that happen,” the hand’s owner said over his other shoulder. “As she even said herself, she’s a gremlin in orange fur. She’ll take care of herself until you can get her back. I know it may seem like a repeat of Maria’s circumstance…but if she trusted Tonya enough to leave your care in her hands, then you should trust her enough to fend for herself until the two of you are brought back together. Afterwards…start training her yourself, if that’ll make you feel better. If you don’t approve of Knuckles’ methods, take it upon yourself. But I promise, Omega’s going to watch over her in your absence. She’s not alone, and for now, she’s sleeping soundly. Just as YOU should be doing. The better rested you are, the more efficiently you can find the other Emeralds to bring her home. Have a little faith in your girl.”
A bitter pill to swallow…but she was right. Tonya wasn’t a meek child who needed constant protection. While not built for combat, she COULD defend herself in a pinch. And she DID promise him her safety until he could reach her. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad suggestion to start training her, himself. He could do that during his free time outside his military service. At least improve her evasion skills. He just had to decide WHEN would be the best opportunity to do so.
Well, when she was safely back home, of course!
“...I can’t help but worry,” he softly admitted, his snout pointed at the floor.
“Nothing wrong with that, either. You care about her; it’s understandable. And I’ll do everything I can to help you bring her back. But if you don’t rest, you won’t be well enough to do just that. Do try to sleep, alright? We’ll be up early to begin our round.” The hand left his shoulder, and he felt movement shift to the other side of the futon. Rouge had gone back to sleep.
Perhaps she was right for him to have faith in his partner. Tonya had stuck with him for a couple years, by that point. She was no child who didn’t know any better. And if Maria had confidence in her…
Perhaps he should stop making the mistake of not having that same confidence. He finally allowed himself to lay and rest, eyes closed but ears still tuned to the monitor’s beeping.
So long as he heard THAT sound…
In time, he drifted off to sleep.