"You two..." Silver stared at the super-powered hedgehogs in amazement, "you're the ones I was dreaming about. I knew you would come."

"Eh?" Blaze looked at Silver. "How?"

"Heh, the emeralds are kind of funny," Shadow shrugged. "Ready to go back to your time?"

"I wish we could've had more time to get to know each other," Blaze put in. "I think you would like the future...well...without Nega, at least."

"Looks like the past is in good hands." Silver smiled.

"Okay, running out of time here, it's now or never," Sonic said, the emeralds separating from his and Shadow's bodies, the glowing gems swirling around them in a ring.

"Thanks for all your help." Blaze smiled.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll meet again." Silver blinked as the emeralds that had surrounded Sonic encircled him and Blaze. "What...?"

"Enjoy the future," Shadow said calmly. He and Sonic raised their palms skyward, the visitors from the future lifting with their set of emeralds to the sky. The emeralds of their time spun around them, spending their energies outward. After the two had slipped behind the portal to the future, the future's emeralds sealed the way behind them. The energies from the two hedgehogs expanded over the globe.

The landmarks that had not long ago become one slipped back to their own time and place. Knothole Kingdom vanished from the landscape next to Station Square; the Floating Island resumed its orbit over the true Mobian landscape. People, places, and things were returned to their original locations as the pair spent the emerald's power reforming the worlds.

As the emeralds flew apart from the hedgehogs, whose fur returned to their normal colors, the World Gate was restored. But not one…. Six new gates opened where the emeralds landed, the gemstones returning to their home on Mobius. Shadow and Sonic exchanged grins as the energies faded away, and the two passed out.

Shadow's eyes opened and glanced around the room. It was one of the guest rooms in the Thorndyke house. "Mnnn..." He glanced beside him, seeing Sara's head resting on the edge of the bed. It was pretty dark out, so he must have been asleep a while. His mind recalled all the chaos that had happened earlier that day and looked around for Maria. He didn't have to look far, as she was curled up on the pillow beside him, one of Sara's hands lightly resting on the child.

He sat up slightly and gently traced Sara's face with his hand, "Hey..." he said in a hushed tone.

"Hmmm?" Sara yawned a reply and stretched a bit before opening her eyes. "Shadow!" Her arms fell around him in a tight embrace, practically tackling him back down onto the bed.

"H...hey!" He couldn't help but smile. He had worried her a bit, hadn't he? As ready as Shadow had been to take on Nega, he seemed helpless against Sara's onslaught of affection.

Maria was roused by the sudden activity; her little arms trying to hug around Shadow's head was a bit too much for her yet. "Papa!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm home. Big deal," Shadow said softly, stroking his daughter's head lightly and trying to fend off an overzealous mate.

"Yeah, it is a big deal." Sara backed off him a bit and sat with her feet over the edge of the bed. "After the stunt you and Sonic pulled...and wow, you know there's seven gates now?"

"No." He finally collected himself and sat up, drawing Maria to his side. "How's Sonic?"

"He was out like a light too. Asleep in the next room," Sara said in a bit more collected tone. She looked him over as if it were the first time she'd ever seen him before.

"...What?" He ran his fingers through his quills, making sure everything was in place.

"You had me worried." She smiled a little bit. "Even seeing you like that, I wasn't sure if you'd come back to me."

He wrapped his free arm around her and held her close. "Of course I would." He closed his eyes a moment, taking in her familiar scent. He was home; everything he wanted or needed was right within his grasp, right there.

"Oi! He's up too!" Chris called from just outside the guest room in the hall. He'd opened the door to check on them.

"Could you knock next time?!" Shadow flung a pillow at Chris and sighed. Sara laughed at that.

"So, does this mean you're going home to Mobius?" Sara asked her father at breakfast the next morning.

"Ahh...I don't know. I was thinking of moving the business here," Charles hedgehog said as he collected a couple of pancakes to his plate that Ella had offered. "Thank you."

"We enjoyed having you." Chris' grandfather smiled, taking his own plate of goodies.

"Looks like everything turned out all right." Sonic grinned.

"Yep!" Chris chimed up.

"You don't mind me staying now, do you?" Charles hedgehog addressed Shadow.

"Huh? Well..." He glanced over at Sara and then back at the light blue hedgehog. "No...as long as you get your own place."

"Right well..." the hedgehog smiled a bit, "you really have done well by Sara...I'm proud to call you my son." Shadow smiled a bit at that.

"More good news." Amy smiled as she spooned some baby food into Blitz's mouth. "Sonic and I are having another little one!"

"Wow! That's great!" Chris brightened at that.

"Yeah, looks like I'm hot stuff, eh?" Sonic grinned proudly. A round of congratulations shot up around the table.

"Master Chris. There are a number of reporters around the house. What shall I tell them?" Mr. Tanaka said from the dining room door.

"Oh no! Not again!" Chris rolled his eyes. It was bad enough his mom and dad got such publicity, but he knew Sonic didn't really want the attention. Laughter erupted around the table.

"Ahh.. What do we do? They have us surrounded it seems," Amy mused, wiping some spilled baby food from her infant's mouth.

"Hope they go away?" Shadow said dryly. He watched Sara spoon feed Maria to similar results.

"They probably want to know what happened and thank you guys." Chris replied, taking a big bite of his pancake. "Mmm! Delicious, Ella!"

"I'm glad you like it!" Ella replied.

The wrinkled old human Charles glanced at his furry friend. "Ahh...I guess we can see if we can head them off, eh?"

"You know they don't want the scientific view on things," the hedgehog Charles replied with a grin.

"Yeah, but it'll save the kids some grief." He shrugged.

"Fine. After I'm done with my breakfast." The hedgehog smiled good-naturedly.

The news frenzy was hardly abated by the two scientists telling their account of the story. Sonic and Shadow had managed to speed their families back to their apartments with the diversion made by the two gentlemen, but that didn't mean the reporters stopped trying. It would be at least a couple weeks before the families were left alone, and meanwhile special news reports and documentaries cropped up like weeds. Shadow was quoted for saying "This is why I don't like saving the world." In any event, things eventually went back to a normal pace.

The bell on the door to Vinnie's Pizza chimed, signaling a customer's entry. "Vinnie's Pizza! We heat 'em, you eat 'em! Hey...Shadow! Long time no see!" Tony, the caramel-haired human, smiled down at his favorite customer.

"Hi." Shadow held the door open, allowing Maria to toddle in after him.

"Aww. Bringing the little one? She's adorable!" he said brightly, coming around the counter as he usually did when the hedgehog paid a visit.

"Yeah." Shadow's eyes were reflective and he glanced at the photo of Tony and his family. "You know, I can't stand you."

"Heh. Yeah, I got that impression when we met." The man smiled anyways. "What's ya point?"

"You're like Sonic too much. Don't have a care in the world, yet you have everything." He pulled something from the collar of his glove and smiled a bit at the piece of paper he'd pulled out.

"Worries add years and fears, my friend. What's the sense in that?" He shrugged. "So what's that?"

"I finally got everything." He offered the page to Tony. "Can I get a double cheese to go?"

"For a hero? Anything." Tony smiled. He went behind the counter again and handed off the pizza free of charge.

Shadow left with it moments later and Carlo turned to his boss with a questioning gaze. "Well? What'd he give you, Tony?"

"A great treasure." Tony smiled and headed back around the counter. Next to the picture of him and his family, he placed the photo Shadow had given him: a picture of his family. "He's still not great at conversation, but I told ya he'd do fine."

An icy wind cut the air like a knife, crisp brown leaves falling to the ground. Maria giggled and chased after the wind strewn leaves in the park while Shadow and Sara watched her from a few feet away. "Hey! Not too far!" Shadow called after her.

Sara hung on his arm with a smile. Publicly, he still tended to be short on affection, but he didn't mind the way she clung to him. "She's not going anywhere."

"Yet... Just wait 'til Blitz gets out here." He sighed, running a hand through his quills lightly.

"Ahh...you keep thinking Blitz is like Sonic." She smiled and took a seat on a park bench.

"Like father, like son? That's what they say, right?" Shadow remained standing, ready to reign in their little girl. Her motor skills had developed rapidly in the months since the world disaster was averted.

"What does that mean for Maria?" Sara held her arms open and the baby toddled toward her mother.

Shadow sat next to her when Maria was scooped into her arms. "It means…." He tilted one ear outward and just looked at the mother and child. "I don't know."

Sara smiled. "Thought so." She leaned against Shadow, who slipped an arm around her since nobody else seemed to be around.

"I love you." The words slipped softly from his lips to her ear. "I love you and Maria both."

"I know. I love you too." Sara smiled contentedly. He loved seeing that contentment on her face.

"Love you, Papa!" Maria chimed up. Shadow was pleasantly surprised at his little girl's response. For a moment he thought he saw a glimmer of the human she was named after in her eyes. Illusion or not, he knew what he had was real. Not everything was perfect in his life, and it never would be...but he felt pretty confident he'd weathered the worst of life's ups and downs already. Nothing could be more satisfying than that.

...The End