Repeating his pattern of sorts from the last few days, Sonic gently eases himself off the tree branch he's been sitting on, and lowers himself gingerly to the forest floor. Pausing, so as to not overexert himself (and gain another lecture on being careful from a certain Princess, and the worried glances of a specific flying fox), Sonic begins his walk around the far outskirts of The Village of Knothole.

The blue hedgehog pauses for rests every few hundred paces, each time he gets a little bit further before feeling the pain in his chest from his still healing ribs. Still, the uncertainty continues to eat away at his spirit, Metal had beaten him. Beaten Him! There wasn't much else to do or say. Even if Sonic were to go for his Power Ring from the get-go, instead of leaving it as a last resort, there was no way Sonic could outmaneuver that killer robot. During the fight (a very one-sided one at that!), Sonic had activated the ring and the droid had still been able to counteract Sonic's enhanced spin-dash. Checking the mortal hero in midair and flinging Sonic from the rooftop with contemptuous ease.

Coming up to the boulder resting in the middle of a section of younger trees, Sonic took one of his many rests to have another sit-down and dwell upon his recent loss further. He went over it and focused on how the others, especially Tails and Sally now perceived him…weak, vulnerable, and no longer strong enough to protect them.

Sonic did this for so long that he ended up not noticing the tread of a pair of blue boots against the forest floor, or the redheaded chipmunk taking a seat next to him until she placed an arm on his left shoulder and quietly asking for him by name, "Sonic?"

Turning his head toward the voice from where it had been staring off into his intertwined, gloved fingers, lost in the depths of his thoughts. Sonic's brown eyes looked into Sally's blue ones. "Hey, Sal, uhhh…where'd you come from?"

"Sonic, why have you been hiding from us lately?"

"Say what?" Sonic asked in what he attempted to make sound like genuine surprise.

It didn't work; he was not a good actor. "Don't play coy with me Sonic! You've been avoiding everybody these last few days. As soon as you could get out of bed you've been hiding from the rest of us?" Sally's tone was upset, but fraught with deep concern.

"I've, just been…ya know…"

"No! I don't know Sonic! You won't talk with anyone! Tails barely gets a word out of you! And you don't seem to even notice when the rest of us visit you!"

"…"

"Sonic, we care about you! All of us care about you! Will you please at least talk to me?" Sally was clearly begging, as she lifted Sonic's head up from where it had sunken in shame and been looking directly down at the ground again. His eyes scrunched up in pain as he failed to put words together and he faced her as her hands tilted his head toward her, but his eyes clearly were not having it.

"What do you want me to say Sal?"

"Anything!" Sally exasperated. "Sonic, please…" She beseeched him.

"I dunno know Sal…it's just that…I just can't do it anymore!"

Sally's face took on a different look; taking his face closer to hers she gave him a kiss. That snapped his eyes back to looking in hers quite quickly. Tenderly she told him, "Sonic, I know the feeling. And the only way we can do this is if we believe that we can."

Sonic's eyes widened tremendously, he stuttered out, "Say what?! Since when do you not know how to do anything?!"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Sonic's mouth clenched open and shut a few times as he took this knowledge in. He'd always thought of Sally as the unshakeable foundation of The Freedom Fighters. She was always confident, she had this aura of leadership around her. For Sally to admit that she was just as scared as he was…it was just dumbfounding. "I always thought that you knew what you were doing." Sonic confessed in stunned awe.

Sally giggled lightly as she dropped her hands from his face and linked her fingers in between his. Their fingers intertwined on their own without any resistance on Sonic's end. "And here I was thinking the most confident one in any room was always you." She admitted with a sigh of relief.

"You mean to tell me we've been tryin' to call each other's bluffs the whole time?!"

"Sounds like it to me Sonic."

The hedgehog started to chuckle, which turned into a roar of laughter that caused his sides to hurt again, but he didn't care. Sally joined in his mirth.

After some time and some more talking they eventually got up and started to stroll back to Knothole. There was still plenty of healing to be done on a multitude of levels, but the worst wounds were now starting to heal. And Sonic could feel like he could take on the world again…and win. Looking over at the princess as they crossed the threshold of the village he simply said, "Thanks Sal…for, well, everythin' I guess."

Right back at you True Blue." She replied while she helped him walk back to his hut where a certain fox eagerly waited for his best friend's true return to Knothole.

End Part 2 of 2