Chapter Text
It was a hard time for all.
Clutch, the villainous leader of Clean Sweep, had struck a terrible blow to the Restoration. With its HQ destroyed, all hope seemed lost. To make matters worse, the Diamond Cutters, a team formed to combat threats to the Restoration, had disbanded, and the perpetrator, Mimic the Octopus, had gotten away again. Not to mention that all of the Chaos Emeralds had been stolen by a shadowy figure.
But when all hope seemed lost, things got better. People from all around the world pitched in to bring the Restoration back, and now Jewel wasn't the only leader anymore (thank goodness, she had a VERY large load). On top of that, Mimic, the traitor, was now dead.
Then more good news came, Eggman's plot concerning Clutch and Clean Sweep was found and foiled, and the opossum was sent behind bars. Sonic and Shadow then discovered the thief behind the disappearance of the Chaos Emeralds, a remnant of the Black Arms, a race long thought dead. With all of the heroes' powers combined, the foe was swiftly defeated [plot left ambiguous for future retcon]. During this momentous battle, all of the former members of the Diamond Cutters had reunited with each other, as totally changed individuals no longer held back by the past.
Now that the battle was over, it was time to settle a matter long left unresolved: what will be the fate of the team? Well, after fighting alongside each other once more under a new light and with new confidence, the answer would be simple - for most, that is...
Lanolin was sitting beside her former teammates out in the open, it was dusk, and they were all sitting on logs, conversing about what had transpired since the teams' "disbandment". Whisper, Tangle, and Silver had just finished recounting the events of Mimic's death.
After a long pause, Lanolin finally spoke.
"So, he's finally gone," said the sheep, with an air of unease about her, "That's... a relief." She said slowly and with much uncertainty. She knew that all was forgiven, but she still felt out of place amongst her old squad, especially Silver, the one she had treated much too harshly.
"I know, right?" replied Silver, "I couldn't believe it either. I thought that guy was going to trouble us forever."
"You and me both," said Whisper. To Lanolin's surprise, the wolf was speaking with much more confidence, like most of the hurt inside her had long gone, as if the death of her mortal enemy had finally released her from most of her trauma. "Which is why we are all here. I know that things didn't end... quite well last time we were all together, but it appears that we have each accomplished what we set out to do."
"Yeah!" exclaimed Tangle rather enthusiastically, "The HQ's lookin' amazing Lano!"
Lanolin blushed, "I-It wasn't all me, I barely did anything. The real credit goes to everyone who came to help. I was... very surprised when they all started showing up. Most of them are actually former Resistance heroes, including the new Co-Director."
"Guess things weren't as bleak as they looked, weren't they?" Tangle said with an air of smugness. It was this sort of thing that brought a bit of warmth into everyone, even Lanolin, but this brief moment of happiness was quickly eclipsed by the nagging doubt in the sheep's mind.
Whisper then spoke up, more sure and more confident than Lanolin had ever seen her. She had truly changed since the last time Lanolin saw her. "And to get to the point, I have realized something. After everything that's happened, from finally defeating Mimic to stopping the Black Arms, and fighting alongside you all, it's reawakened something inside me that I thought was long gone, and I haven't felt that way since I was with my old team." Whisper then paused for a bit and looked at her mask and wispon wistfully, but then quickly shrugged it off. "What I'm trying to say is, is that I really enjoyed working with you all again, and I'd like to do it more with a fresh start for all of us, that is, if you want to."
"You know I'm always with you to the end of the line, bestie!" said Tangle with a very heroic-looking grin on her face.
"You can count me in too!" replied Silver, "Blaze isn't going to stay in this world forever, and with the future safe, I figured that not only should I now focus on protecting the past, but I also want to keep myself in good company, you know?"
Lanolin looked at her old teammates, they all seemed so energized, so united, so synched, they were the perfect team, and she didn't want that to be messed up, more specifically, SHE didn't want to mess that up AGAIN. She hesitantly spoke up, "You three have proven yourselves to be an admirable team, and if you want to continue as one - as THE team - I won't object. I won't get in the way."
"Hey now," said Silver reassuringly, "Whisper said a fresh start for ALL of us, that means you too, if you want." Tangle and Whisper both nodded.
Lanolin was struck dumbfounded, none of this made sense to her! Why would they want to be with her AGAIN? After everything? She stopped, with a mix of confusion, doubt, pain, and sadness all spiraling within her, unsure what to say. "Wh-wha - WHAT? Why? Hu-?"
"Yeah, Lano," Tangle said, "It's time for a new start."
Lanolin stammered, "I, I-uh... whuh, buh... I don't... why... how..."
"Lanolin?" asked Silver, noticing her predicament.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE?!!" Lanolin suddenly shouted, catching everyone off-guard. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she started violently shouting while crying. "I treated you ALL like TRASH! I was so blind and so STUBBORN, a MONSTER broke into this place and ruined EVERYTHING! A monster that HURT you so BADLY! And it's MY FAULT! And yet, EVERYONE just acts like it never happened, and they just forgive me all the time AND I DON'T DESERVE IT! I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANY OF IT!" She then just collapsed, sobbing excessively.
Lanolin then felt a warm, fluffy tail wrap around her back and side, slowly and smoothly. She looked up, and Tangle then put a hand on her shoulder, and then said "You never intended for ANY of that to happen. Everyone makes mistakes that they never mean to make and can never shake off. I mean, come on, don't you remember how this team got its name?"
"Yeah." added Whisper, eyes wide open, "I've also done things I regret, such as leaving this place and everyone behind, including my best friend. What I felt after I realized what I had done, it was the most horrible feeling I have ever felt in my life."
"But you gotta get back up in the end, right?" said Tangle, "If people have forgiven you, then it's time to get up and keep moving, with a whole new perspective."
"I-I-I kn-know," Lanolin said, wiping her face, "I just feel so AWFUL, and I don't feel like I deserve to even stand beside you."
Silver than spoke up, "I learned a lot of lessons when I was traveling with Blaze, and one of those things was that the hardest person to forgive is yourself, you'd easily forgive one of us if we did the same as you, right?"
"Well, y-yeah, I think so." said Lanolin.
"But it's harder for yourself, but while it's hard, you still need to do it to move on."
"Yeah," Tangle chimed in, "But know that if you decide to rejoin us or not, we'll be there for you every step of the way."
Lanolin could hardly speak, she felt such... she couldn't describe it, but it was the first feeling she felt since the incident that wasn't sad or self-pitiful, she then did the unexpected and hesitantly fell into Tangles' arms.
Tangle chuckled, "You know you don't have to ask me for a hug, right?"
"I-I thought you were still mad?" said Lanolin.
"I was, but that was days ago."
Lanolin then slightly chuckled as she pulled herself up from Tangle's lemur hug and composed herself. She then finally spoke, "I... I will take you up on your offer, but I won't put all the pressure on myself to lead this time. I CAN'T, because that's where everything went wrong. It's... something that I've learned while being here in Emeraldville."
"Wait," said Tangle, "Then who'll lead then?"
"What I meant was that I won't try to be as strict and as bossy as before, and I'll let you all in on the decision making, I know that you all have forgiven me, but I still need to make sure that what happened before doesn't happen again."
"Ohhhhh," Tangle said, "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea."
Silver then looked a bit tense, "Wait, d-does this mean we're doing this? W-we're really bringing the team back together?"
Whisper chuckled, "Yes, Silver, calm down."
"Whew!" said the white hedgehog, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was really worried for a minute there!"
The four then stood up, and they all did a power-bump, ready to face any new challenge in the future together, with bonds as strong as diamonds.
Lanolin then said "Firstly, I want to move to lift the hard count on the number of group hugs, all in favor?"
"AYE!" everyone shouted as Tangle pulled them all in, Lanolin feeling a massive wave of relief.
That was, until they all realized how sore they were from the battle.
"Uh..." Silver began to say, "How about we all take a bit of a break before we start doing missions and stuff?"
"YES," said the others in exasperation. "Yes PLEASE," Lanolin added, "I feel like I was run over by a truck."
And so, they all decided to take a breather in their respective homes, (as for Silver, he stayed to work on his new orchard).
Now that the team is back, what adventures will await? What stories will unfold? Will it be smooth sailing from here, or will things turn bad once again?
THE END (of Chapter 1)