Tails didn't remember being young enough for fuzz. His earliest memories already included a full coat of fur, and he was having a hard time adapting to the bristly little sprouts coming out of his back. All the same, it was much better than the open wounds had been, or even the scar cords that he'd spent the last few weeks trying hard not to pick back open. He knew it had been pure luck that the attack hadn't actually broken his spine, and Amy had had to literally sit on him more than once to stop him from finishing the job himself, but as Sonic kept reminding him he always healed faster than he had any right to. No one had managed to get a picture of his injuries and he hadn't seen them in a mirror either, two facts for which the fox was eternally grateful. He'd run some models to figure out how far he could walk, of course, and he was fairly certain there were still a few loose bone flakes sliding around somewhere. Or maybe it was something else, some damaged or knotted muscle, that still made his back ache, and he'd much rather not have a solid mental image of why.

He was down to just one plane now, since Sonic's old Tornado had rusted to uselessness during his absence – he'd been too numb for it to register properly, although he regretted not mourning it properly now – and the Blue Typhoon was, well, gone. That had irritated Knuckles immensely, since that left them with no way to ship all of the diplomats and soldiers home. Not until the actual ships arrived, of course, but even then the fox more than half-expected them to start shelling one another. Oh, Regis and Aki had assured one another that the big cruise liners were only hospital ships, but then again they'd been arguing with each other – and everyone else – for sixteen hours a day without making the slightest bit of progress, so he took anything they said by now with a grain of salt. All they had left the fox with was a promise of a cease-fire while they worked out the particulars, but by now he wasn't remotely confident that they'd come to any kind of resolution in the end.

And that was at least part of the reason why he found himself back in the recharged X-Tornado, with a hyperactive bee and a crocodile who barely fit in the cabin arguing in the backseat, an irritated ninja dangling from the wing, and a wonderfully tolerant young rabbit just behind him. "So Vector, I said I had a business deal in mind, right?"

"Charmy, stop doing that! Oh, um, yes you did, Captain. But I'm not sure what you'd need us for."

Tails rolled his eyes. Same old Chaotix. "I'm not asking you to solve a case or anything. But since I'm dropping you all off in Soleanna I'd appreciate it if you keep in touch from time to time. If there's somewhere that needs help –"

"We rush to their aid, like true detective heroes?" Vector finished for him, and the fox chuckled.

"Sure, no one's stopping you. But if there's a big need – the kind of thing, you know, I could build a machine to figure out or something – just let me know. I figure that if the professors and the commanders can't build the peace I might as well give it a shot myself."

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Charmy's voice still gave Tails a headache, but he appreciated the little bee's support. "Let me know if I can help, okay?"

"That's kind of what he's doing, Charmy." Tails swore he heard Espio slam his head against the wing. "I guess it's not really a job at all then, is it?"

Tails shook his head vigorously, reveling in his freedom of movement now that his cobbled-together brace was gone. "I'm still paying you for it, don't worry! Knuckles agreed to let me work off of a stretch of Angel Island, so you can just leave any messages up with him. I know he likes you guys more than he lets on."

"Certainly." Espio's voice was amusingly tinny in the wind. For some reason Sonic never seemed to have that problem. "Very well, Tails, I think we have a deal. Do we, Vector?"

"Of course, of course. Anything for a friend, Captain!" And that was that.

Cream had been silent throughout the entire exchange. When Vector quieted down she reached up around the fox and switched off the intercom. "Does that mean I won't be seeing you for a while, Tails?"

The fox caught her arm with a tail and stroked it a little before letting go. "Of course not! Heck, if your mom lets you I'd be happy to bring you along. You and Cheese, I mean; you haven't seen the little guy in way too long."

"That's true," she said with feeling. "But I think I need a rest. This month's been exciting but I want to get back to Mom's oven and a nice soft bed, honestly. I thought you'd want to slow down too, that's all."

Tails shook his head. "I can't. I guess it's not all over. Not for me, at least, there's too much I found out about that won't get out of my head." Poverty and politics and power plays. I'm not sure I can just go back to being Sonic's sidekick and home base after all that. He flipped the intercom back open surreptitiously. "Plus, hey, I've worked out a lot of my other problems and I kind of want to see the world while I've got all this energy."

"A worthy cause," Vector boomed, causing Cream to jump and then pout at Tails. The fox looked over his shoulder to grin back at her and dipped the wings playfully.

Amy and Cream had been there for him – for everyone, and that what made it work – all through the repair work after the siege, and the little rabbit was probably the single biggest reason he was still smiling now. He'd messed up, of course, but that always happened. What mattered this time was that he and his friends had been ready to pick up the pieces, and Cream's reward for doing that was long past due.

Now hopefully Vanilla would enjoy their story, rather than skinning them alive for all the risks they'd taken. Maybe she'd just settle for skinning Vector if he proposed to her at the right time. The fox's grin widened at the thought, and he let Cream play with the new fur on the tips of his tails as he turned his eyes back to the horizon.

"So how's she settling in, Tails?" Amy asked almost the instant the fox clambered down from his jet. She and Knuckles were next up for a flight elsewhere, and after that Tails was closing up the workshop for a while. There was no one else around to use it, and he had better things to do than sulk over the ruins of his old machines.

"Oh, Cream? Just great. I think I've still got flour in my whiskers after she and Cheese started baking." The chao had thought it would be funny to upend an entire two-pound sack of the stuff over the fox's head, and if it hadn't wound up in his nose and especially his ears he probably would have enjoyed it as much as they had. "She's kind of lost her touch, though – but Vanilla's good as ever."

"I guess there are compromises everywhere. She saved your life how many times last month, Tails? I guess it's only fair that she kills you with a pie."

The fox chuckled. "She wasn't that bad, Knuckles. It's just – savory pot pies should not be able to rot my teeth!"

"Oh, Cream's just being sweet." Tails just looked levelly at Amy, who kept a straight face for all of two seconds before collapsing into a giggling fit. Man, I thought Sonic's puns were bad.

Knuckles shared the sentiment. "I'm not sure stand-up comedy's a good career path for you just yet, Amy." As she glared, Tails made a mental note to – quietly, very quietly – check the X-Tornado for concealed hammers before takeoff. "So, shall we get moving?"

"What, and leave your favorite hedgehog buddy behind?"

Tails wheeled and pounced on the newcomer, a kit again for just an instant. "Hey, Sonic!" They went over in a tangled heap, Tails quickly rolling off of Sonic's stomach as his brother woofed in surprise.

Then he started laughing, and the onlookers joined in. "Looks like you've got your touch back, big guy." That was…very satisfying. I haven't had the chance to do that since we left, have I?

"So what's up? You were seeing Sally and the others off, weren't you? I thought you'd be gone for another day at least."

Sonic tossed his quills as they both stood up. "You only thought that because you assumed I'd move at their speed both ways. Come on, the hike did them all good." It probably had; Sally in particular had been furious enough to singe the fur off of passers-by when the other diplomats finally left.

"So, did we ever figure out who the skunk was really working for?" Knuckles asked. Tails frowned. Oh, right, he wasn't with us that night and we've all been too busy for it to come up since then.

"You want to answer that one, Sonic? I mean, I probably could but I want to hear about your trip."

The hedgehog waved his arms for dramatic impact, which as always fell flat. "As it happens I did learn a few juicy bits out along the coast. He and Sally kept talking like he was on her side all along. I mean, it seriously sounded like everything that happened to us was part of some crazy master plan. Bigger than anything Egghead ever tried, that's for sure." He paused. "Bunnie wasn't buying it, though."

Tails wasn't sure he was either. Maybe it was just because of the skunk's jerkish behavior, but he didn't feel like giving him the benefit of quite that much doubt. "Yeah, I think Eggman kind of called it. Geoffrey wanted to help Sally win, sure, but he spun it out so that no matter what happened he'd be the last man standing. Downunda's top agent, Spagonia's, Acorn's – he was even working for Eggman right up until they betrayed each other at the exact same time." The fox laughed. It was all just so absurd, and he frankly hoped he'd never end up thinking like that. "He was set to win no matter who came out on top."

"Yeah, but you've got to think," Sonic told him.

Knuckles grunted a laugh of his own. "That's a first for you."

"Very funny, Knucky." He blurred under the echidna's playful punch, which drove a six-inch hole into the wall behind him. "Seriously, bro. All that's true, but if he wanted to help Sal out even if everything else went wrong? He'd be perfectly set up to do just that." Tails scrunched up his face as he worked through that. Yeah, that's true. But still, he didn't feel like being too charitable to Geoffrey just now. Maybe after a couple more rounds of being archnemesis he'll be just as much a friend as Eggman.

"Enough about him," Amy complained. "What I want to know, Sonic, is what you're up to."

The hedgehog dodged the question physically as well as verbally. "Oh, um, I didn't really have any plans. Just going back to travelling, I guess. What about you guys?"

"Some of us actually have jobs to get back to, hedgehog," Knuckles observed. "Angel Island, where else?"

Tails nodded. "I guess I've got a job now too, although I'm just starting up."

"Oh? First you've said anything to me." Sonic's tone was suddenly guarded, and all their talk of fear and loss on Angel Island came flooding back to Tails.

"No, no, I'm not leaving you or anything! But…you remember that greenhouse I built for that town in Shamar? That was honestly the best I felt all month, maybe even longer. And I figure since the people at the top can't figure out how to end the war, I might as well just hop around and help people out here and there. I'm not going to gouge – heck, I kind of want to do it all for free, no reason for me to be greedy – but I might get some spending money from the better-off places too."

Sonic clapped him on the back, tickling Tails's back with the bristly new fur. "Good for you, buddy. And hey, mind if I tag along? I figure I was going to go sightseeing anyway, and it's easier to get around when you're flying me." Tails laughed. He knew the real reason Sonic wanted to come along, and…well, no, come to think of it vacation was probably a pretty good one too.

Amy leaned in close to Sonic, who edged slowly away. "I had been going to settle down with Cream and Vanilla somewhere, or maybe start my own shop like I tried back on Earth, but if you two are staying together I think I have a better idea."

"Tails, save me!" Sonic squawked as he ducked behind his little brother. Tails just kept laughing.

"No reason you two can't both come along. I mean, I don't think I'll be going to the most romantic places or anything –" He dodged Sonic's desperate lunge as Amy leaned in even closer to both of them.

"Trust me, Tails," she whispered, "I'll find the romance just about anywhere."

"I'm, um, sure you will." Addendum: check for hammers before and after takeoff. Every takeoff.

Sonic ran a quick lap of the room, then his little moment of terror passed. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I've got something I need to take care of before we all go flying again." He waited just until everyone looked curious. "I'm feeling a little hungry."

"When aren't you?" the other three chorused in unison.

The hedgehog pointedly ignored them. "I remember there was a fairly nice chili dog place a few miles from here. Want to go see if it's still standing?"

Author's Note: And there you have it! My first fic completed, at three times the page count of my previous record. I took inspiration and distraction in equal measure from every author on my Favorites list, in particular DC111, Taranea, and the legendary JudasFm. But I need to offer special thanks to Exploder for not just giving me something interesting to read but also for following along from the beginning with reviews, commentary, and a reason for me to keep writing. I've revised entire chapters on his advice, and I'd like to think this story wouldn't be anywhere near what it turned out to be without his feedback and friendship. In particular, the second half of Chapter 24 was almost spur-of-the-moment in reaction to some of his comments on the chapters right before it. So again, thank you very much, and to everyone else - scurry over and read all the names I've mentioned. Shoo, shoo!

If I end up making any noteworthy edits in the future, I'll delete and re-upload this chapter with a tally of significant (read: non-proofreading) edits below. I've already got ideas for a sequel, plus there's a related story I started and need to get back to (thanks to Pyre-Vulpimorph for my inspiration on that one). So that means I'll be seeing you all around!

Major Edits Since 9/28/13:

9/28/13:

Word choice edits and minor tweaks to Chapter 25

Chapter titles established

9/29/13:

Summary issue corrected (thanks to the site staff)

9/30/13:

Modifications to some chapter titles

Story category changed from "Adventure/SF" to "Friendship/SF"

Substantially edited parts of Chapter 4 to put more weight on Tails's key emotional issues

10/04/13-11/20/13:

Added additional detail about and weight to Tails's injury in Chapters 24 and 25

11/22/13:

Added substantial early foreshadowing to chapters 4 through 12 regarding the events in chapter 15 and reuploaded