Archive of Our Own

Bittersweet was the only word Blaze could think of to describe this moment.

As Super Sonic held out an encouraging hand towards her, the feline felt a number of emotions bubble up inside of her. Fear was the most dominant of all those feelings. Part of it was because her time with them was about to end and another part was that she was unsure of what would happen next. Sure, Blaze would go home, resume her duties as a princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds, and then rule once she became of age, but was that the life she wanted? The cat knew it was her duty and would never abandon her responsibilities but now she knew that there was more than a solemn and lonely life waiting for her.

Back when her parents were still alive, they would shower Blaze in love. Quick forehead kisses, wide smiles, and kind words were a constant between the three of them. Three would soon be four with the announcement that Blaze’s mother was expecting a son, the future ruler of the kingdom while Blaze would assume her guardian responsibilities uninterrupted. These dreams of a quiet but happy life ended once her mother died unexpectedly of a terrible illness before her brother could be born. Her father grew sloppy as a result of the grief and tragically died only a few months later. Blaze was only 5 when the funerals and kingdom wide grieving had passed, leaving her alone and unsure of what she was going to do all by herself. The young cat got used to the solemn life surprisingly quickly, the former ministry took up making major decisions for the kingdom and classes were scheduled for Blaze in order to speed up her training as both the next guardian and heir. Her purpose then was to serve, to keep her people safe and protect her family’s most precious possessions.

Now, the duties were still there but… visiting Sonic’s world had shifted her perspective.

Cream and Cheese taught her that it was okay to not be strong enough, that everyone started from nothing and that even if pushed down to square one you could still pull yourself again. Knuckles taught her that she wouldn’t be able to prepare for everything, that some things would always be out of her control no matter how hard she tried. Tails taught her that even if she didn’t have what it takes to overcome her enemy, she could still provide help through support. Sonic taught her that she could trust others, that she didn’t need to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

They taught her that life meant so much more than what she was born to be and that thought terrified her.

Casting her attention back to the yellow hedgehog in front of her, Burning Blaze finds herself pressing her lips into a thin line. She was hesitant, would she ever see this rowdy group of people again? Everyone feared her back home for her curt demeanour and affinity for fire. They had decided that since she avoided public events and spent most of her time away hunting pirates that she was something to fear. The people here didn’t know who she was, and even when she treated them poorly they decided to be kind to her. It made her heart yearn for something similar, for a friend or ally back home that would treat her like Sonic and his friends treated her. Maybe one day she would find someone, but today wouldn’t be that day. Today only showed her that it was possible despite the life she had lived up until now.

Letting a slow breath leave her lips, Burning Blaze takes Super Sonic’s outstretched hand. This was it, they had prevented the mad Eggmen from unleashing their ultimate plan and stopped their worlds from colliding. Their parting would be short as the feline felt her dimension calling out to her, prompting her to frown slightly at the thought of leaving everyone once and for all. As if not seeing her distress, the hedgehog shakes her hand with a wide grin. Somehow, his casualness of it all brings her hope. It was almost as if he was saying that their parting shouldn’t be sad because it was almost certain that they would meet again. Blaze wanted more than anything to believe him, that this wouldn’t be the last time she saw him or Cream ever again.

A small smile makes its way onto the cat’s face and a look of understanding passes between them as the pull that both of their worlds have on them grows stronger. Super Sonic places his other hand over their joined ones as they begin to feel their dimensions’ hold increase, Burning Blaze tightens her grip on his hand out of instinct. The two stay like that, staring at each other in a comfortable silence, until the pull that each world has on time becomes too much. The cat looks up at the hedgehog and can tell by the look in his eyes that it’s time to say goodbye. Blaze knows that she’s not ready to go home yet but she knows that she doesn’t have a choice. The grip they have on each other is broken and the heroes are pulled apart, both Burning Blaze and Super Sonic reach out for each other in a hopeless attempt to regain the hold they once had.

A white light quickly engulfs Burning Blaze and her view of her friend fades just as quickly as the light takes her. She tries her best to engrain the image of him and his friends into her brain so that she’ll never forget them. Blaze closes her eyes and squeezes them shut until the feeling of being pulled stops, when opening them she finds herself back home at the Palace of Sol.

It was a beautiful castle that sat at the end of her island, overlooking the capital city and everyone below. Beyond her island was a vast sea which was filled with many different wonders. Blaze had yet to explore it all herself and she doubted if she ever would, but floating high above it all as Burning Blaze made everything seem small. Maybe she would be able to see it all one day.

As she carefully lowers herself down onto one of the palace’s open platforms the Sol Emeralds relinquish their power once she touches the ground. Blaze couldn’t help but smile at the jewels as they hovered around her slowly, they seemed to be at ease now that everything was over.

Her world was finally safe.

When the sun tips below the horizon, a small figure makes their way back to the shore in the fading light of the day. Blaze watches quietly with her arms crossed from the docks, her amber eyes following the movements of Marine and her waterbike. When the raccoon reaches the docks, the cat finds her crying. She’s rubbing her eyes, sniffing softly, and hiccuping every so often. The sight made Blaze’s hard expression soften, worrying her bottom lip slightly as she watched Marine climb up onto the docks.

Hiccupping, Marine quickly folds her arms over her chest and avoids Blaze’s gaze. “Well, that was…” The raccoon quickly breaks down into more sobs.

The feline was conflicted, while she wanted to be a comfort to the other, she didn’t know how to do that. Blaze was reserved, preferring to keep to herself as it made things easier to accept when people feared her. How could she ever provide Marine any sort of peace? Biting back a sigh, one thought comes to mind in what she could do. It wasn’t the best solution but she hoped it would bring the raccoon some comfort at the very least. “I want to apologise to you, Marine.”

The other turns her head back slowly, frowning slightly at Blaze’s words. “What…”

“I haven’t been fair to you throughout all of our time together and I believe that calls for an apology. So, I’m sorry.”

Marine doesn’t respond, just looking towards Blaze with wide eyes. It unnerved the princess that her usually rowdy companion was reduced to silence at nothing but a long overdue apology. She avoided the urge to fidget her fingers, opting to grip her forearms tightest and feeling some peace at the sharp sensation she feels. It felt like forever had passed by twice when Marine finally reacted and Blaze let out the breath she didn’t realise she had been holding. The raccoon smiles wide, wiping the last lingering tears from her eyes before giggling softly. “Hehe, you really are something special.”

Blaze frowns in confusion, tilting her head slightly.

Marine just laughs harder at the cat’s reaction, swinging her arms back as she does. “There’s no reason for that, mate. We’re cool.”

“Just like that? I mean, I made you cry .”

“Yeah, and I’m over it.” Marine shrugs, scratching under her nose before settling a hand on her hip. “You were looking out for me, I think I get it now… So, we’re cool, mate.”

Feeling her own emotions spike, Blaze quickly turns her head away to hide her bashful expression. “Yeah, uhm, cool. That’s cool.” Her feelings were still wild from everything that had happened in the last week. While she knew that it was okay to be open with friends, the feline couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at the unfamiliarity of being so vulnerable.

The raccoon chuckled lightly before making her way over to the cat, hooking an arm through the arm on the side Blaze wasn’t looking at. It was a way for Marine to comfort the princess while giving her privacy until she was ready. “Let’s go get some tucker! I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”

Taking a deep breath in, Blaze steels herself before turning to meet Marine’s gaze. She smiles, and Marine’s grin widens. “Lead the way.”

“Did you check the top of it?”

“No, but–”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Blaze couldn’t help but groan once the other was out of earshot, her narrowed eyes while watching Silver float up with his abilities. If you asked the cat how she thought her day would go, ending up in space with a telekinetic hedgehog would be one of the last things she ever thought could happen.

The Sol Emeralds had woken her up in the middle of the night with a vision of a starry night sky. Due to the fact that she had been asleep, Blaze had woken up rather abruptly and rushed out to reach the emeralds as soon as she could. They were glowing with a familiar bright glow when Blaze got there, causing her to slow down with caution as she approached the case in which the jewels were locked away. It meant that there was something for her to do in Sonic’s world once again, though the Sol Emeralds didn’t seem willing to show her more than a scene of what related to her task. That was how she ended up here, babysitting an overexcited hedgehog from the future who decided that his mission was to waste time by rechecking the places she had already checked.

The specific ride they were currently at was something similar to large swing, instead of a seat in the middle there was a pirate ship. Blaze hadn’t found anything amiss during her first look over the ride alone but stumbling back upon it with her new companion had caused his curiosity to peak. He wanted to search the crow’s net, saying that something could be hidden up there. Of course Blaze had told him that it was very unlikely that there would be anything up there, spending numerous hours with Marine hunting down pirates would lend her that knowledge, but he had insisted on being sure. So now she was standing on the deck of the ride with her arms crossed, peering up at the other as her tail flicked in irritation.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything there…” She hears him call out from his position above, moving his head from side to side as he examines the perch. “There’s a ton of gears and stuff connecting to the mast here,” he pauses to float down a little to be able to talk to Blaze better, “do you think that means anything.”

“No.” She tells him flatly.

“Hmm,” he hums, though Blaze wasn’t sure if that meant he was considering her words finally or deciding to ignore her again. The hedgehog ends up floating a little higher so that he could drop himself into the nest, disappearing from her sight but still being audibly present with the shuffle of his shoes.

As she had already been on this ride before, briefly bumping into Sonic, Tails, and their new alien friend, there wasn’t much to do apart from waiting for the white hedgehog. Blaze had considered ditching him and running off to look for that specific scene of stars but due to his abilities the feline figured that it would be harder than that to lose him. Silver had the ability of telekinesis, something he explained with a quick summary of his background upon bumping into him moments earlier. While she was apprehensive about making a new companion, the princess decided that it would make things easier and agreed to accompany him to his goal. At the time Blaze hadn’t asked what it was, not partially caring as long as they were on the move, but now she felt like she had some idea of what it might be. Absolutely nothing.

Silver just investigated rides with no clear indication of what he was looking for. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Anything that seemed to be related to Eggman was either investigated to be taken care of but apart from that Blaze had no idea.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a soft cyan light encasing her body. It felt warm and fond. Blaze was confused for a second as to why this was happening, she wasn’t using her powers and the Sol Emeralds seemed calm, but then she remembered what her companion could do and her fears suddenly spiked. Soon enough, Blaze had begun to be lifted up into the air.

“Silver, s-stop!” She calls out to him sharply, panic causing her body to flail as the ground gets further away. As she calls out, the hedgehog stops her ascent and leaves her floating midair, something that was arguably worse.

“What’s wrong, Blaze?” He asks sincerely, though the feline could hardly care when she was dangling in the air.

“J-just,” she hated how quickly she was reduced to a mess when airborne, “put me down, please!”

Without another word, Silver sets Blaze down quickly on the deck and the cat collapses to her knees. She presses her palms down onto the deck of the boat, staring aimlessly towards the direction of the ground while her mind went elsewhere. Her breaths were shaky and her heart was pounding in her ears. After a few seconds Blaze realised where she was and what had just happened, causing her to focus all her will power into taking deep breaths. It took some time but once she felt calm enough to get up Blaze did just that, keeping her arms wrapped around her middle tightly. Glancing over to the deck shows that Silver had flown back down to the ground, watching her with a mixture of concern and terror. His hand was outstretched, almost as if he wanted to comfort her but decided against it.

Suddenly she feels her temperature rising at the quick reminder of what had just happened. Silver had taken her into the air and caused her to have a panic attack. She turns away from him sharply by spinning on her heel and quickly makes her way off the main deck.

“I’m so sorry!” Blaze hears behind her, SIlver’s light footsteps trail along behind her quickly to follow her fast pace. “I wanted to show you the view and didn’t think…”

“No,” she cuts him off and turns sharply on her heel, catching him off guard and almost causing him to bump into her. Silver uses his telekinesis to stop himself slightly. “You don’t think. When I told you that ride was fine and had nothing of worth, you ignored my words and went to check it out anyway. How naive are you to think that we have time to waste and wander around aimlessly? Some of us here actually have things to do. As one of Sonic’s friends, I expected more from you.” She turns away and places a hand to her temple, trying her best to calm her sudden outburst and prevent a fire from starting. “The audacity of those emeralds… sending me here to babysit a child.”

“Hey,” her companion’s tone had changed, turning slightly darker with a hint of hurt. Not that it surprised Blaze in the slightest. “While I didn’t know about how you would react, I now know that I shouldn’t have done that and apologised. That gives you no right to be so harsh to me.”

Her tail swishes with frustration at his words. Blaze doesn’t feel like entertaining this conversation further and begins to walk off again. She hears him huff behind her and then quickly follows along with her brisk pace, choosing to stay quiet rather than spurring her on again. That was ideal, she didn’t want to entertain someone who had little regard for the world around them.

When a horde of eggman robots jumped out to apprehend them, Blaze found herself excited at the notion to cause a little destruction as a way to let her frustrations out.

Dusting her hands off, she takes a quick look around her before her ears pick up a light clacking. Blaze wastes little time in finding the noise, lifting up a charred piece of metal to find two small robots staring up at her. She expected them to dash away at being caught, their size certainly indicated that these robots weren’t made for fighting, but instead they ended up doing something even stranger. “ Oh, hey! It’s some of Sonic’s friends. Hello !” The yellow cube shaped one spoke, throwing up an arm to wave at her as if greeting an old friend.

By this point Silver had finished his portion of the battle and joined her, touching down from the air softly to her right. Blaze folds her arms over her chest and refuses to glance in his direction.

The other one, red and spherical, frowned at its companion. “ Quit fraternising with the enemy !” It complains, then it holds an arm out to point towards the two heroes. “ We’re about to challenge them .”

“ Yeah ? To what ?” The yellow one asks, raising a brow in the red one’s direction. “ Cards ? A game of tag ?”

Deadpanning, Blaze does her best to not let her emotions flare out physically. These two were pathetic, true creations of Dr Eggman for sure. Stealing a quick glance towards her companion, she finds that Silver looks just as perplexed as she feels.

“ Ignore him …” The red one scoffs, turning its attention back to the two heroes standing in front of them. “ Now, face our challenge !”

Blaze rolls her eyes, holding a hand up and letting a flame dance between her fingers. “If it will make you two quiet down.”

“Heh,” Silver smirks, holding his hands up and letting his powers flare out. “I’m eager to see what the robots in this era can do.”

Panic flashes in the eyes of the red robot, causing it to latch onto the yellow one in fear. The cubed robot seemed largely unaffected, almost intrigued by the sight as if it were a spectacle. This causes Blaze to frown, unsure of what was even happening. Did they not see their display of power before when fighting the other, just as pathetic, robots? Truly idiotic. “ Flames and mind powers ?!” The yellow one exclaims, leaning its head closer while the sphere pulls its body back. “ Pretty. Like fireworks !”

This causes Silver to hold back a laugh, biting his lip in order to stop him from erupting into laughter. Blaze, on the other hand, wasn’t amused by the display. The cat was basically wasting her time here when the Sol Emeralds had sent her here to look for the stars. She takes a step forward, her flames begin to dance down her arm when the red one tumbles back, taking the yellow one with it. “ Retreeeat !” It shrieks, rolling away as a ball while pulling the other one away with it.

Shaking the flames out of her hand, Blaze scoffs. “Pathetic.” For all the trouble they caused, Blaze was looking forward to crushing them under her heel.

“Where was the challenge in that?” Silver smiles wryly, turning to Blaze while rubbing his arms. She makes a point to turn away from him again, folding her arms over her chest.

A number of fast footsteps sound out from behind the pair, causing them to turn around to see what it was. Blaze feels some of the tension in her shoulders relax at the sight of some familiar faces. Sonic, Tails, and their shy alien friend were now in front of them, the first flashing the pair a grin while the other two looked concerned. “Are you two all right?” The fox asks, tucking his tablet under his arm.

“Hey guys,” Silver waved with a grin. “You two missed the party.” Glancing over to her white hedgehog companion, Blaze could see him light up at the group’s new addition. Not that she cared about that or anything, definitely not.

“Looks like those two robots of Eggman’s got away,” the cat sighs.

Placing a hand on his hip, Sonic scratches under his nose. “Again?” His tone was surprisingly flat, as if indicating that this was something to be expected. “They’re dim bulbs, but they run away like pros.”

“They popped out as soon as we got close to this ride,” Silver frowns.

“Hmm,” Blaze hums, moving up a hand to cup her chin. “Perhaps it merits a closer look.”

Behind the group was a large candy ship, something that was about 10 times bigger than the smaller ship swing the two travellers had come across before. As soon as she saw the ship Blaze had grown suspicious, from what she learned from Marine ships usually weren’t that big unless they were used for the seas. Around them there was no sea in sight, even the small cola puddles would do nothing to aid the ship. With that in mind, Blaze approached the ship with the intention of investigating it when another horde of robots jumped out to stop them. That led them to where they were now.

The small fox turns his attention to his best friend, pulling the tablet out from under his arm and holding it between his hands. “What do you think, Sonic?”

The blue hedgehog purses his lips into a flat line, quietly thinking over his options before flashing a grin. Holding his thumb up to the sky, Sonic looks towards Yacker and gestures towards the boat. The alien nods and flies over to Sonic’s side. He turns back to the group, “I’ve got this one. I’ll be right back, guys.” And runs off onto the boat within the blink of an eye.

Before anyone can do anything else, Silver’s body begins to glow and he lifts himself up into the air. “I’ll, um, go see if I can help.” And flies off without waiting for an answer.

Both Tails and Blaze are quiet for a second, everything had happened so fast so the two were a little stunned by the suddenness of it all. Tails seemed like the first to recover, looking down to his tablet to tap against a few things quietly. That didn’t last long, a big grin spreading across his face as he pulled out two chips that had been plugged into his tablet’s side. “How’s Marine doing?” The fox asks, giving the cat his full attention.

She stops herself from frowning at whatever Tails was doing and decides to focus on the conversation at hand. “Heh,” Blaze lets out an amused huff, “same as ever.”

“Has she made any more boats yet? That bike she made to see us off was amazing!”

Letting her hands fall to her hips, a fond smile spreads across her lips. “Most of her projects have consisted of making the pre-existing models more efficient as we found it takes a large amount of fuel to power the ones we currently have. No offence.”

Tails laughs, folding his tablet back under his arm while keeping the chips in his hand. “No, I get that my designs weren’t the best. My priority was to get something built as fast as possible and a bad tank was easier to make than a good one. I’m proud that Marine is taking the initiative to make changes she thinks is right.”

“She’s come a long way from the girl you first saw on Southern Island.”

“Well,” Tails hums, looking rather pleased with himself, “I have a present for the two of you.” The fox holds out the two chips towards Blaze and she finally lets herself frown. “I always try to keep them on me in case I end up bumping into you.”

“What are they?” She reaches out to grab the chips, lifting them up to her line of sight to get a closer look.

“I call them the interdimensional network connectors, or INC for short.” Tails’ namesakes swish happily as he explains. “After visiting your world I figured that we’d all be bound to meet again so instead of leaving those encounters up to blind chance I thought it would be a good idea to make something that could breach those communication barriers. These chips, once plugged into your phones back home, should let you be able to communicate with us here due to the nanotech altering the hardware on your devices.”

Opting to pretend she knew what that was, Blaze hums and pockets the chips into the same secure pocket she kept the Sol Emeralds in. “Thank you, Tails. Marine will definitely be excited to try these out.”

“Heh, it’s no problem.” Tails grins. “You’ll only be able to text people with the same network attachment, which is only me and Sonic at the moment, and you can only text and call us currently. Video calling is a little iffy and I haven’t had much time to perfect it just yet so I’ll contact you about it when I get it right.”

Blaze nods, folding her arms over her chest again.

A gust of wind cuts through the two and suddenly Sonic is back, grinning from ear to ear. The ship behind them begins to explode and Silver quickly shoots out. The white hedgehog lands next to Sonic, huffing out slightly with his hands on his knees. “That was close, whew.”

“Heh!” The blue hedgehog croches down to get in Silver’s line of sight, using his hands to stay stable on his knees. “That was barely a warm-up!”

“Not half bad, Sonic.” Silver chuckles.

Behind them the ship slowly sinks down into the land below, disappearing and leaving nothing but dust. Whatever was on there, Blaze lets herself think, probably wasn’t worth much now. Turning back to the group, her gaze lands on Sonic and she lets a small smile curl her lips. “You’re even sharper now than when we last met.”

“Yeah,” Tails chimes in, “Awesome job, Sonic!”

Standing back up, the blue hedgehog stretches his arms out over his head. “I’m still just surprised at how persistent those robots are.”

Feeling eyes on her, the cat glances around to find Silver watching her. Her smile drops, melting into confusion and irritation at the action of him staring. Noticing her eyes, the hedgehog glances away from her, pretending to have never looked in the first place but the fidgeting with his hands behind his back betrays that notion. She huffs, a little louder than she intended, and turns her gaze away from him.

This interaction didn’t go unnoticed unfortunately, catching the eyes of her other companions. “You’re sure you guys are all right?” Tails asks, tilting his head in confusion.

Deciding that sharing her concerns of the white hedgehog were unnecessary, Blaze avoids the issue of the matter at hand. “I could handle the likes of those two all day.”

“Seriously,” at first it sounded like he was agreeing with her but there was a hint of edge to his tone. His tone would only further lean into this as he continued. “I could take care of those two myself, easy.”

Blaze frowns, her head snapping back his direction. The audacity to reduce her efforts… “I could handle them by myself as well,” she snaps, her fangs threatening to poke out of her mouth. Silver only frowned at her, his yellow eyes narrowed onto her gold ones and the two entered a sort of glaring match. Blaze blamed him for making their feud public so she didn’t try to hide her frustration this time.

To their side, Tails and Yacker were panicking while Sonic seemed almost amused by the scene. “Easy guys,” the fox steps between the pair with his hands out, breaking their line of sight of each other and forcing their gaze on Tails. “We’re all friends here, and you work together well.”

“Yeah,” Sonic chimes in, “you guys were in perfect sync.”

This causes Blaze to pause. They saw them fighting before? Thinking back to the battle moments ago, it did seem like they fought well together. It felt familiar, like in the back of her mind there was a tingling feeling that she couldn’t quite place. Blaze shook her head, she had never met this hedgehog before and regardless of how well they fought together, did that constitute for them to put their differences aside?

Tails moves out of the way when it seems like they’re not going to jump at each other, giving Blaze a direct view of Silver. From what she could see, he seemed more interested in the ground. He was frowning, cupping his chin with his hand as the other arm sat comfortably under the other. The hedgehog from the future didn’t seem upset though, rather he was thinking about something.

Letting out a weighted huff, Blaze decides to let her anger go. Tails was right, they were all supposed to be friends and the feline had let her emotions get the better of her. “Hmph,” she holds out a hand to her side, “I suppose it was an easier fight with your help.” Feeling a little embarrassed for letting a misunderstanding cloud her judgement, she feels a light heat warm her cheeks.

Silver turns his gaze up at her words, his eyes shined with surprise at her genuine attempt at soothing things over. His arms fold over himself, causing him to shuffle his feet a little. “It almost felt like we’ve paired up before.”

He also felt that sense of familiarity? Maybe there was more to this than she had originally thought.

“Wow,” Tails mused with a smile, happy that the situation had mended itself. “Maybe you guys were partners somewhere, some time.” Blaze glanced over to Sonic, finding him quiet in all this. He had a strange look in his eyes while Tails talked, but apart from that his expression was otherwise neutral. This caused the cat to narrow her eyes at the blue hedgehog, though he seemed to ignore her stare. He knew something about her and Silver that neither the cat or hedgehog knew themselves. She’d have to ask him later since he didn’t seem so keen on crossing that bridge now, thankfully Tails had just given her an easy way to get an answer out of their blue friend. “I guess anything is possible!”

“Anyway,” Blaze cuts in, wanting to move things along, “we’ve got this area under control.”

“Right,” Silver nods, “you go on ahead, Sonic.” A warm smile spreads over the white hedgehog’s lips, he lifts up his hands to punch one into the other. “Run straight for that bright future I told you about!”

“Heh,” Sonic scratches his nose with a grin, “will do. I’ve got this world’s problems covered, guys!”

Sonic, Tails, and Yacker ready themselves for the journey ahead, waving their farewells to the other world travellers with a smile. Blaze couldn’t help the small smile that pulled on her face at the sight of her friends running towards the evil that threatened this world. While she had been apprehensive of leaving her friends again after such a short meeting, the cat knew that she would see them again if today’s meeting was anything to go by.

When her long distance friends had left, Blaze found herself alone with Silver. He didn’t move to leave, though he didn’t jump to have a conversation either. He seemed like a mixture between uncertain and uncomfortable, something that the feline could only assure was because of their feud earlier. Unsure of what to do, Baze looks up to the sky to further ponder her answer. She almost gasps at what greets her, it was the vast sky full of stars she had seen in her dream. This was what the Sol Emeralds had wanted, whatever this was.

Unsure, she takes a leap. “I should apologise for how I’ve been acting towards you,” Blaze began, turning away from the sky and towards the hedgehog. “It wasn’t fair of me to snap at you when your intentions were rather pure and you apologised immediately afterwards. While I was still a wreck from my brief moment in the air, you were right, that gives me no right to treat you as harshly as I did. I’m sorry.”

His eyes were wide with shock, obviously not expecting any of her words. After a few seconds of gawking, Silver’s hands move up in front of him to fiddle with each other nervously. “Oh, uhm, thank you for that… I still feel like some of what happened was my fault after further reflection. I wasn’t fair to you either. I ignored you because I really just wanted an excuse to check out that ride… I spend a lot of time fixing the future and,” his words begin to trail off, turning into mumbling as he seems more embarrassed, “this is the first time I’ve been able to come to an amusement park in a while due to my time travelling. I got a little too excited… Not that this excuses what I did! I’m so sorry,” the hedgehog apologised , “I’ll make sure to be more careful—” Blaze cuts him off, holding a hand over her mouth to stifle her chuckle slightly.

“I think we’ve both apologised enough for today, don’t you?” She glances around the area around her and remembers how far away from home she is. Now that Sonic, Tails, and their alien friend had left to deal with Dr Eggman, was there anything left for this new duo to do? They could afford to let their guards down a little if they were watching each other’s back. “While the others are busy taking up Dr Eggman’s time, I believe we could look at a few rides to pass the time. So long as they don’t include anything that lifts up.”

Silver takes a second to respond, somewhat off guard by her change in subject. “Well, I was looking into a ride that claimed to be a ‘ride to the future’...” The hedgehog seemed more relaxed now, smiling a little at the memory of the ride he had been on before. “It’s nothing like what rides from my time look like, if anything it’s pretty lame. I was so excited too…” He pouts playfully.

Amused by his response, Blaze crosses her arms. “Would you mind showing it to me? I’ve never been to an amusement park in this world before so it’s hard to make that kind of comparison. I would assume that they’re different from the ones back home.” Not that she was going to mention that she had never been to one back in her dimension either.

Silver’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, he seemed immediately excited at the suggestion. He tried not to seem too happy about it though, pressing his smile into a thin line. “Sure, we could go do that, but what about keeping the area secure…?”

“Secure from robots that fall over on their own?” Blaze smirks, “I’m sure this place will be fine. If anything, the focus will have shifted with Sonic’s departure.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” The hedgehog smiles, and for some reason Blaze couldn’t help but smile along with him. “The ride will be pretty bad, by the way. So, like, imagine something 100 times better than what you’re about to see and that will be what the amusement rides in the future will be like.”

“I’m looking forward to it, lead the way.”

The sound of the door to her office opening causes her tail to swish a little. Gardon had left her side a little while ago in order to grab himself a light lunch before coming back to watch over her as she reviewed the ministry’s newest documents. This usually meant that he would also bring her lunch, something that Blaze would constantly chastise him about but he’d still do it anyway. So she paid no mind to the sound of the door opening, though the feline did look up when a hand tapped against the wood of her desk.

Her brows raised at the sight of one of her ministers, Mihos was the former guardian of the Sol Emeralds who retired his role shortly after Blaze was born, making him her uncle and last remaining relative. The royal life was never for him, the cat enjoyed the exploration that came with chasing evil and tearfully left once he believed that the kingdom was safe enough for him to take an overdue vacation. Because of his departure, Mihos was away when his younger brother and sister in law had died and didn’t hear about it until he returned home for a visit years later.

Struck with grief and guilt, Mihos decided to stay and dedicate his life to making sure that Blaze would have someone to fall back on. Due to her uncle’s lifestyle, the two were never close and she continued to keep to herself after his return for the reason of who he reminded her of. Despite this, Blaze let Mihos join in with discussions during ministry meetings and eventually they would make him an official minister. Thinking logically, the princess decided that it would be a good idea despite her grievances. Mihos was the former guardian of the Sol Emeralds, his knowledge would be invaluable to the ministry. As well as that, it kept her uncle busy so that he’d have less time to pester her.

The white cat looked down towards Blaze with his typical goofy grin, she knew that he tried his best to fill the role of the ‘fun uncle’ whenever he was around. It wasn’t appreciated. “How’s my favourite niece today?”

Her lips flatten into a thin line. “Is this a minister issue or are you bored again? Might I remind you that I’m in the middle of work.”

Mihos cringes a little but doesn’t seem to be overly affected. “I suppose you could say I’m here on behalf of the ministry, your highness . A hello would be nice, though.”

Blaze deadpans. “Hello. What does the ministry want?”

The older cat chuckles, lifting his arms up to pull out the tie at the back of his head and using his free hand to make sure his mane of fur doesn’t puff out instantly. He begins to speak while adjusting his ponytail. “Well, we’ve been discussing your recent adventures to the other dimension and the ministry has a few… concerns.”

The feline resists the urge to cringe. She knew that this would be a popular topic since the first time she disappeared, causing panic as Blaze was gone for a few weeks. Since then the guardian had left her dimension a few times, but at most her visits would last a day. Blaze had never talked to the ministry about this yet but she was dreading the conversation when they did what to talk about it. Would they stop her from going again? Tell her that she needed to stay here? The ministry tended to play things safe by choosing the option that ensured safety for everyone. Blaze knew the risks when leaving and was prepared to make that choice.

“Concerns?” Blaze echoes cautiously, placing her papers down on the table in front of her.

“Yeah, they’re not exactly, well, pleased to put it nicely.” Mihos finishes tying up his hair and crosses his arms across his chest. “They believe that these visits will end in tragedy due to the unknown nature of the other dimension. With the Eggmen and what they also did at Southern Island… their impressions aren’t exactly high. Maybe, just maybe, you should tell them that there’s nothing to fear.”

Blaze grimaces, her fears were coming true. “What would my words mean to them when it seems like they’ve already made up their mind?”

“The only thing they know about this other dimension is that two insane doctors came into this one and almost ended our world. If you told them why you keep going back,” the cat’s eyes glance over to Blaze’s down turned phone, “and why you keep in contact with them, then I think they wouldn’t be considering the option that you and I both know that they’re currently considering.”

The younger cat glances down to her desk, mulling over the options. The ministry never asked anything of her before, just to read over their documents and then sign them for finalisation. Even now, this wasn’t them asking her to make a choice, it was her uncle filling her in on the new meeting gossip. Blaze wasn’t sure if they would even listen to her. “Why does this matter to you? I don’t see why you would do anything other than what the ministry wants.”

Mihos chuckles. “Promise me you’ll think about it? I’m not saying this as a minister but as an uncle who wants what’s best for his niece.”

“Uh, okay?”

The white cat smiles and turns to leave, quickly sidestepping the door as it opens for Gardon to walk through, stopping with one hand pushing open the door while the other holds a large paper bag that was filled with his lunch. The koala’s eyes widened with surprise at Mihos’ appearance. “Minister Mihos, I wasn’t expecting to see you here, otherwise I would have brought you some lunch.”

Waving him off, Mihos chuckles. “It’s quite fine, Gardon. I was just leaving anyway.”

Frowning, the koala steps out of the way and further into the room. “If you’re sure, sir.” He then places the paper bag down to the side on Blaze’s desk, looking towards the feline to get any sort of indication as to what he missed. Blaze just shrugged.

“Remember, little Blazey, think about what I said.” Mihos said as he moved towards the door and into the doorway. “I want you to be happy, and those people in that other dimension seem to make you very happy.” Without giving her a chance to respond to that, Mihos closes the door and leaves the two in a still silence.

After a few seconds of quiet, Gardon takes his moment to break it by opening the paper bag and diving in to pull out a takeaway box. “I think you should listen to him, your highness.”

Blaze groans and slumps to rest her head against the table.

Gardon chuckles, setting the box in front of the feline and then taking out a wooden fork for her to use. After he’s set her lunch out, the koala picks up the bag and makes his way over to his desk which sits a little way away from hers. “I’m not entirely sure what the two of you were talking about but from what he said I can assume that it will affect your happiness, so I would advise some reflection.”

“Reflect and revise, I know.” Blaze lifts herself up to sit back in her chair. Her gaze wanders over to the takeaway box and she pulls it closer to her, using her other hand to grab the fork. “Uncle Mihos is just so…”

Opening her box, she finds that Gardon had gotten her favourite mixed salad. It was a mixture of vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and pumpkin, and other various items such as nuts and chicken. Blaze wasn’t a fan of greasy food but there was one cafe in the main town of Sol that made really nice salads. She couldn’t help but smile at her bodyguard's antics as she stuck her fork into the box, lifting her sombre mood for just a moment.

“Uncle Mihos is so much like father, and I don’t like it… I don’t like seeing him and thinking that it’s my father because my father’s dead.”

“I know,” Gardon hums, digging into his own meal, “even so, are you really willing to risk losing all those good people just because you don’t want to take Minster Mihos advice?”

Blaze doesn’t answer, opting to eat her food quietly as she thinks things through. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but she knew that she could bide her time until the ministry called for her attendance.

Eggman Nega. Johnny. Silver. Marine. Babylon Rogues. Hurt. Hurt. Helpless.

Blaze wakes up with a short gasp, her hand quickly grips the armrest of the small woven chair Marine had sitting out the front of her house. She briefly hyperventilates, mind racing with the words and vision that had been blessed to her by the Sol Emeralds. Questions roar in her mind. What did these visions mean? Why were they shown to her? What did the emeralds need from her and how soon?

Stopping herself, Blaze took a deep breath in. She forced herself to focus on the world around her. The soft grass that fluttered in the wind. Dirt melting into sand and the ocean stood close enough to see from where she was. The waves crashed quietly into one another, careful as if they wanted to avoid waking her up from her nap.

A nap… She didn’t remember falling asleep this time but naps weren’t uncommon for her.

Blaze stands up from the chair and looks towards the open door of her best friend’s house. Thinking back on it, the cat had just finished a fight with Johnny somewhere near Southern Island and decided to make her way here since she knew Marine was here. It took a lot out of her to make it back to shore on her own without falling into the water, though she didn’t think she was that tired. Shaking her head, Blaze scoffs. Regardless, the emeralds took this moment to inform her of a future disaster. One that, while the ministry would be unhappy, looked like it would be taking place in Sonic’s dimension.

Sighing, Blaze quickly makes her way inside to find the living room empty. That wasn’t unusual, so she dismisses the absence and continues her way through the house until she reaches the raccoon’s bedroom. Once outside the door, the feline hears the sounds of tinkering, broken up by a whistle and then more tinkering. Knocking on the door twice, Blaze waits for her friend to give her the go ahead before opening the door. “It’s open, mate!”

She opens the door to find her friend working on a clunky looking glove. The colour of the gauntlet reminded Blaze of Machine Labyrinth Island, copper mixing with gold and silver in an interesting fashion. Over the time Marine had taken on more projects, the appearance of each item would come last over all. The raccoon wanted to get things right before adding her own special flair and until she was confident in her own abilities things would stay this way. “I’m sorry for falling asleep, I didn’t realise how tired I was…”

Without turning to greet her new companion, Marine waves a hand up over her shoulder before bringing it back to her work. “Don’t worry about it, you looked kinda cute curled up on my chair like that.” She chuckles to herself, using a screwdriver to twist in a screw sitting on the back plate of the glove. “Those guys never stop, do they?”

Humming in agreement, Blaze makes her way over until she’s standing besides Marine at the table. “You’re working on something new?”

“Yep!” She finally turns to meet the cat, grinning widely as she does. “So far it's been a bit of a slog, the materials were… hard to come by, but I did it.”

Blaze frowns, “where were they from?”

“Oh, you know.” Marine quickly turns back to her work as if she had something to hide. “Some bronze from Machine Labyrinth, silver stuff or whatever from the Haunted Ships, uhm, black materials from Pirates Island… And Iron from good ol Whale point.”

“You went to Pirates Island on your own?!”

“Well, uh,” Marine seemed to shrink on herself, glancing away from Blaze in the hopes that her friend would disappear entirely. “I can’t manage the Deep Typhoon all by myself so… Deikun and Norman came with me. I wasn’t by myself, I promise!”

Holding a hand up to her temple, Blaze sighs. At least her friend had a trained warrior with her on her journey to the most dangerous place in the northern seas. “Regardless, please let me know when you want to go collecting materials, Marine. I will always have time to help you despite my responsibilities,” memories of her recent dream came back like a hard brick wall, “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“That’s why I’m doing this, mate.” The raccoon turns back to face Blaze with a pout. “This glove here,” Marine points to it, “is going to fix all your problems! It’s supposed to be an enhancer doohickey thing, I don’t know what it’s called but I read something in a book when I wanted ideas for improving the Ocean Tornado. It said something about enhancing the thrusters? And then I thought, ‘mate, what about you enhance yourself?’ At first I was like ‘nah, mate, how does that even work with people?’ But then I thought about it and here we are.”

Letting her hand fall to her side, Blaze tilts her head in confusion. “Enhance… yourself?”

“Yeah,” Marine picks up the glove and holds it in front of herself. “So, this is prototype 2. Prototype 1 kinda exploded… The aim is to make me stronger so I can punch things, kinda like that red fella from Sonic’s world.” Carefully, the raccoon slips the glove over her hand and gaps between the material begin to light up in a soft green colour. Flexing her hand, Marine turns back to her desk to find a rusty can she kept some pencils in. Tipping it out, she holds the now empty can in her gloved hand and squeezes it. Instantly, the can crumples and the raccoon lets it fall to her desk. “The glove is pretty weak right now so I can’t actually use it in battle yet, but just you wait, mate. Once I add all the things I’ve been planning, you’ll have a crime fighting pal to watch your back!”

Baze lets herself fall silent. Despite Marine’s roundabout way of saying it, the feline understood what the other was trying to say. The raccoon wanted to fight by Blaze’s side, to be able to hold her own without the cat’s help. While the idea of Marine fighting didn’t sit well with her, practice and dedication would mould the raccoon into a capable fighter. If her best friend knew how to fight then it would put her mind at ease a little. “A crime fighting pal, huh?”

“Mhm, Captain Whiskers will be shaking in his boots when he sees what I can do!” Marine pulls the glove off of her hand and continues tinkering with it.

“I think I like that idea,” Blaze folds her arms over her chest and learns against the empty side of the table.

The duo fall into a short silence, Marine tinkering away as Blaze watches with a soft smile. It hadn’t been long ago when Sonic and Tails first came to her world, meaning that it hadn’t been long since she had met Marine. The two had a rough introduction, both due to Blaze’s reserved personality and Marine’s carelessness, but now they were closer than ever. Blaze had learnt to be kinder, to be more considerate when people didn’t understand as much as she did. Marine had learnt to be cautious and thorough, thinking over decisions despite the temptation to jump right in. Both girls had grown since their first meeting, and Blaze liked to hope that they would become closer still.

A grumbled hum breaks Blaze out of her daydream, causing her to glance back at Marine in her chair. The raccoon stuck her tongue out, frowning at the glove in front of her. It was a little amusing but Blaze bit back a smile. “Is there something wrong?”

“Nah, mate, everything’s fine,” she whines sarcastically. Turning towards her friend, Marine notices Blaze giving her a look and shrinks back again. “I just realised that… well, I don’t know how to make it stronger. I probably need more bronze and black materials but… making things from scratch is hard!” Marine slumps in her chair, dropping the glove on her table and folding her arms over her chest.

“Come now,” Blaze put a comforting hand on the raccoon’s shoulder, “look at what you’ve done so far. You’ve made a glove that is very powerful already, if you can do that then I’m confident that you can actualise what you want for it. Just as long as you let me know what you’re doing before you run off to Pirates Island again, I don’t mind if you go with Normen or even Gardon if I’m unavailable.”

Glancing up, Marine stays quiet for a second to consider what Blaze had just told her. “I’ll never be as good as Tails, though.”

“No one will be,” Blaze smiles, “but no one will be as good as you. You’ll never be Tails because Tails is Tails, you are you, Marine. While Tails may be good now, he’s older than you. You’ll catch up.” Marine turns her head away, hiding her expression from Blaze. The cat didn’t think her friend was upset, but more embarrassed about the feelings she had about the situation. One day the raccoon might see herself the way Blaze does. When it seemed like Marine wouldn’t say much more, lost in her own thoughts, Blaze decided that what they needed was a change in scenery.

Pushing herself back from the table, Blaze takes her hand off of Marine and flattens out the wrinkles in her attire. Marine snaps her head back to the cat, as if suddenly broken out of a spell, and frowns at her sudden movements. “What are you doing?” She sniffs.

“How far have you gotten in practising your powers?” Blaze asks instead, folding her arms over her chest.

“Uhm,” Marine glances away quickly before looking back up at Blaze. “I’ve been practising. I can pick up like, eh, a ball of water? Mate, it’s-it’s going.”

“Well, since I’m here now, did you want to try practising outside?”

Marine’s eyes light up almost instantly, though it’s obvious that she’s trying to be cool about it. “Yeah, mate, we could do that.”

Being enough of an answer for her, Blaze begins to make her way out of Marine’s room and into the living room. Behind her, Marine jumps up from her chair and hurries along behind the cat. Eventually the two are out by the shore, soft sand crunching beneath their shoes. The feline keeps her distance from the waves while the raccoon runs up to the water despite wearing shoes. At this point, Blaze assumed her shoes were waterproof. “Show me what you can do now and I’ll provide feedback on what you can improve on.” Standing cross armed and tall, Blaze gestures to the water with the tilt of her head as she talks.

“Right.” Clapping her hands together, Marine closes her eyes and channels deep within her to grab onto the waves around her. After a few seconds, Blaze watches as droplets of water drift upwards into the air and collect into a decent sized mass about eye level to the raccoon. Cracking her eyes open, she grins at the ball of water she created. “Good-o, she’s a real beauty, huh?”

“I’m impressed,” Blazes cups her chin with one hand, the other stays wrapped around her waist. “The size is good, timing good, it seems that you are able to channel it a fair way aways from yourself, and even after the initial try the water seems to keep together well. I have a few tips and advice about some things but overall it’s pretty good.”

“Alright, mate.” Marine’s grin seems to morph into something mischievous, making Blaze frown. “Keep going, I want to hear what you have to say.”

Still confused, the cat steps back. “Well, keeping your eyes open when—”

Marine launches the ball of water directly towards Blaze, hitting her face and causing the feline to be hit to the ground due to how fast it was. Stunned, Blaze stays laying on the ground as she blinks the water out of her eyes.

“Strewth! I didn’t think it would hit that hard…” The raccoon rushes over to check on her friend, popping into Blaze’s vision with a concerned expression. “Blaze…? Mate? Your highness ?? Oh my god.”

Huffing, Blaze sits up, using her hands to wipe any leftover water off of her face. Unfortunately her clothes hadn’t been spared and the top half of her was completely drenched as well.

“Blaze? I’m really sorry…” Marine swings her head from side to side around the cat as if looking for an angle that would let her see more.

Pressing a hand over her purple royal coat, she almost lets her powers activate when an idea pops into her head, causing her to drop her hand down into her lap. Blaze looks up at her friend, keeping her expression neutral. Two could play at that game. “Firstly, that was impressive. I could barely react to the speed and it packed a punch.” She pulls herself up, grabbing onto the hand Marine offered when the raccoon attempts to help her. “Secondly,” still holding onto her friend’s hands, Blaze begins to drag her towards the water.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Marine quickly understands what is about to happen, laughing nervously at Blaze’s antics. “You’re not gonna throw your bestie in, are ya? I don’t want to get wet, Blaze! I said I was sorry!”

The cat smirks, still pulling Marine even as she tries to resist the princess. “You should have thought of that before hitting me with your powers.”

“Blaze, Blaze, Blaze, please!” When the two of them get to the shore line, the water curiously parts back into in front of them. Blaze puts that information away for later and keeps going. While Marine can control water, her powers were fairly weak while they were still new. As the cat predicted, the barrier of water preventing anymore from making its way towards them begins to wobble and breaks before soaking both Blaze and Marine’s shoes. “Blaaaaze… please, a captain must go down with her ship, not without it!”

When they were further enough in, water creeping up her waist, the cat lets go of her friend and stands there quietly. Marine blinks, wrapping her arms over her dry upper body and seems stunned that her pleads had worked. Before she could think of running back out, Blaze uses her tails to flick water at the raccoon’s face while she’s distracted. Sputtering back, Marine wipes at her face frantically before huffing and looking at Blaze with fire in her eyes.

“You are so on, mate. You don’t even know how much trouble I’ll put you in.” Marine grins, swinging out her arms and flexing her hands.

Placing a foot behind to steady herself, Blaze smiles. “Looking forward to it.”

“Well, ya could go.” Marine hums from her place leaning on the bannister of the ship. She watches her best friend fight the robots crawling out from the bowls with a bored sigh, using the hand not gripping the railing to scratch the back of her head. “Who’s going to stop you? The emeralds seem to be keen, mate.”

A stressed groan answers the raccoon first, Blaze was in the middle of flipping over a pirate robot by using its head as a pedestal. Once the cat had two feet back on the ground, she threw a punch towards the robot, lighting her fists in flames and knocking the now crispy pirate to the ground. “It’s about responsibility, Marine. Sonic’s world is not my responsibility, this one is.”

“Yeahhh,” Marine drags out, “you could listen to what those fancy pants ministers say but if the emeralds want you to go then I’d say it's fair dinkum.” The raccoon shifts her stance so that she’s leaning back on the bannister with both elbows. “The Sol Emeralds are your responsibility, right? Then go, you obviously want to see our friends again.”

Blaze’s head snaps towards the doors to the hull to watch the Ghost Pirate crawl out with a wicked grin. Despite its overwhelming size and the fact that it seemed to be able to repair itself, the cat had bigger problems on her mind.

The Sol Emeralds had called out to her again without a vision, those were more common than the dreams would sometimes get. Waking up at the crack of dawn, Blaze got dressed and walked out of her royal chambers to find a letter sitting on the floor. She looked around quickly before picking up the letter, it seemed to be addressed to her. Opening it carefully, the princess found a letter inviting her to the ‘Ultimate Test of Racing Skill’. As she read further down the letter, the cat found that the competition would be taking place in Sonic’s dimension. Perplexed by the sender and the fact that the emeralds had woken her up for this, Blaze pocketed the letter before moving onto her tasks of the day.

The ministry had finally sent their letter calling for her attendance. The first meeting she attended felt more like a conference where instead of getting to answer any question, Blaze just had to sit and listen to the questions being thrown at her. The gist of things were that they were concerned for her safety and were looking to finalise the decision that would prevent her from travelling to Sonic’s world. Blaze knew that this was coming and she felt helpless to stop it. The ministry said that they were in the process of planning an official meeting with her attendance where she would be able to provide counter points before making their decision final. Much to her displeasure, it was seeming more like Mihos’ suggestion would be the only way for Blaze to continue her visits.

Deep inside the feline felt like it was pointless. The ministry had done a good job of protecting their world so far so maybe it was for the best… Blaze had responsibilities and maybe the life beyond that she had dreamed of could never be for her. Marine was quick to notice her change in mood shortly after the meeting had concluded and had been adamant ever since that Blaze was wrong. Still, if even one person believed in the dream she had, did that make it right?

“It doesn’t matter if I want to go or not,” Blaze steps back to allow the large robot room to crawl out. Once fully out, it stands up, peering down at the cat with a cold, unnerving grin. “I shouldn’t leave again for something as trivial as a race, I don’t have a car for it anyways.”

“I’ll make you one, mate. It shouldn’t be too difficult…” The raccoon watches the scene with a frown. “Make this quick, will ya? I’d like your full attention when I’m drilling in important information.”

“I was listening,” Blaze lets her fire consume her hands, flexing them in their new found heat. She quickly jumps back as the robot slams it foot down towards her, if she was any slower the pirate would have hit her. “Maybe I’m listening too much to you…” The cat grumbles while sidestepping an attack with its sword.

Marine huffs, pouting as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I thought I was the difficult one. Your ‘duties’ lie with the Sol Emeralds first and foremost, that’s what you’ve told me.” The raccoon cringes as she watches Blaze get hit by one of the pirate’s fireballs, though it did little due to the cat’s affinity to fire. “This is what’s going to happen, I’m going to draft up a plan for your car tonight and then I’ll begin to make it tomorrow. If I’m low on materials I’ll just rip 'em out of the stuff I’m already working on. You’ll get your car by the end of the week and you’ll make it in time for the race that your duty wants you to go to.”

“Marine…” Blaze frowns, kicking the pirate’s head and causing it to fly away to the crow’s nest up above them.

“I’m not taking no for an answer, mate.” Marine brings a hand up to rub her chin inquisitively. “I’m already thinking of names… Ooh, I could so make it look like one of those fancy cars you see on the TV! Hehe, how do you feel about rockin’ a royal chariot?”

The cat bites her bottom lip as she scales the mast of the ship, jumping up to charge right at the core of the robot. While she was up here it gave Blaze a moment to think, even as she was precisely dodging fireballs, blasts of energy, or steel swords. Would it be so bad for her to go? Marine was right in saying that the Sol Emeralds would more than often prompt her to go. Even if the ministry prevented her from leaving their will would be nothing if the jewels she guarded took matters into their own hands. As well as that, Blaze was the leading monarch. She should have more of a choice in the decisions concerning her future regardless of whether or not she was of age to rule.

The cat hums, she had forgotten her mother’s key advice. Reflect and revise. The feline felt rather silly now making a big deal of things that could have been easily solved.

With her mind made up, Blaze sends one last kick to the robot’s core and smirks at its horrified look as it collapses into a pile in front of her. The princess had no idea how it kept coming back after each defeat, it irked her to no end when she approached another ship teeming with its robotic signature. At first she believed that it was something the Eggmen had built into it but after dismembering the robot and tossing its parts into the sea, something Blaze felt weird about, it managed to pull itself back together again. This time, she won’t make the same mistake.

Snapping her fingers, Blaze lights the pile on fire and makes sure the robot limbs burn to ash. Once she’s done, she jumps down to meet an expecting raccoon. “So?”

“I’ll make sure you’re reimbursed for all the materials you use.” Blaze turns her head away, embarrassed a little. “I know you had some saved up for the gauntlet you were making.”

Marine squeals, quickly jumping towards Blaze to give her a big hug. The cat is stunned by the sudden embrace but returns the affection briefly. “Mate, I’m so excited for you!” Stepping back, the raccoon mock sniffs and pretends to wipe a tear from her eye. “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

Blaze only frowns in amusement, trying not to smile at her friend’s silly antics. “I guess they do.”

“If you don’t bring back the gold cup then I’ll be mad,” Marine smiles, “my car will be the best and you not winning would be a disservice to all my hard work.”

The cat can’t help but smile, finding herself softening at her friend’s words. “Of course, I’ll make sure Sonic and his friends taste my dust.”

Standing out the front of Cream’s house in the dark, Blaze peers into the night sky with fondness. Today was filled with too many emotions, even if the spotlight wasn’t on her, the feline felt as if she had been caught in the whirlwind all the same. The feline knew that she didn’t have the whole story with the small bits of information Silver had told her, but she really hoped that he found the answers that he had been looking for. He was someone who deserved to be happy.

Reaching into the pocket of her coat, Blaze pulls out one of her Sol Emeralds. While not glowing, the red jewel sparkles from the light of the stars above. Whenever Blaze got homesick, she would peer into the vastness of an emerald and think about home. With everything that she had been feeling lately in regards to the ministry and the upcoming meeting, it made the princess grow tired. This small adventure of hers had been a nice break despite her cautious leap into it. Marine was right, duty didn’t have to be so constrictive. No matter where she was, Blaze would always serve her people and kingdom with pride. It would be okay if she was away for a little while.

That brought the cat back to the brief conversation she had with her uncle. She frowns, any thought of him brings up unpleasant memories. Regardless of how she felt about him, Mihos was indeed right. If she wanted to prove to her ministers that what she was doing was in the interest of the kingdom then she would need to tell them exactly why she kept going back. Considering that no date had been mentioned for her upcoming attendance, Blaze knew that she would have enough time to collect her thoughts into something fit for an official meeting.

Pocketing the emerald, Blaze spreads her arms out as she prepares to go home when someone behind her causes her to stop. “Wait, Blaze!” She hears Silver call out to her, and when she turns to greet him she sees him halfway out the doorway.

Letting her arms fall to her sides, Blaze walks over to meet the hedgehog in the middle as he rushes over to her. What she doesn’t anticipate, however, is the tight hug he uses to steal her embrace. She stays stunned for a moment before returning the gesture, letting her tired head rest comfortable on his shoulder. They stay like that for a little bit before he pulls away, and Blaze finds herself missing his warmth. “Uhm, sorry, I should have asked if that was okay first…”

“It’s fine, Silver.” She reassures him with a soft smile, letting her hands join together in front of her. “We’re friends and I trust you.”

The hedgehog sighs, letting out the breath he had been holding. “That’s good, uhm, and I trust you too, Blaze.”

The cat chuckles, her eyes flutter close for a brief second before she looks back at Silver expectantly. He seemed to be watching her soundlessly, staring at her with a warm gaze. Blaze worries her lip a little, unsure of why her friend wasn’t saying anything. He had stopped her from leaving to return home, he must have wanted something. “Silver?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Did you want something?”

“Oh!” His eyes widen and his mouth falls into a small o shape. “Right, sorry, I guess I got distracted.”

“That’s okay.”

“Well, I just wanted to thank you again for what you said.” Silver smiles, his eyes seem to shine from the light of the stars above. “Even now, I feel a lot better about everything. There’s still a lot for me to think about obviously but right here, right now, you really helped me. So, thank you.”

Caught off guard, Blaze’s eyes widened. It was just like him to catch her off guard like that, Silver always seemed to want to make his stance known. Back when they first met he was quick to apologise for triggering her acrophobia and now, not even two hours after he had opened up to her and confided in her, he was thanking her for being there for him. It was sweet. “Of course. We’re friends, Silver. Friends help each other.”

“Yeah,” the hedgehog smiles, “they do.”

Returning his smile, Blaze holds out a hand towards her friend. Handshakes as a farewell were one of her favourite parting gestures. “See you later, Silver.”

His eyes glance down to her outstretched hand but looking back up to her face. Silver’s smile widens and he grabs her hand in both of his. While it wasn’t the conventional handshake, Blaze wouldn’t change it. “Stay safe on your way back! Well, I’m sure the Sol Emeralds will keep you safe but you know…”

Blaze finds herself chuckling at his words and squeezes his hands fondly. “I will, thank you. Stay safe on your travels, also.”

The hedgehog nods, squeezing her hand back gently before letting the cat go.

Taking a few steps back, the feline holds up her arms and channels the powers of the Sol Emeralds. Silver also takes a step or two back, holding his hands in front of him as his thumb rubs over his knuckles. When the emeralds heed her call, Blaze lets the flame of her soul consume her body and encase it in bright fire. The feline slides her heel to the side before twirling and raising her arms up into the air. A bright light consumes her vision and she finds herself leaving the world as Silver watches on with awe.

“Thank you for taking the opportunity to sit down with us, Princess Blaze.” One of the ministers says to her with a smile, her hands move up as the wolf speaks. “We briefly explained our concerns in a prior meeting but as this is an official meeting please allow me to lay out all of our concerns in full.”

“Of course, Minister Lyall.” Blaze resists the urge to bite her lip. “Proceed.”

The day of the acclaimed meeting was upon them and the princess now sat at the head spot at the semicircle shaped table. On the straight edge there was a small cut out where the current monarch would sit and discuss kingdom matters with the ministers. Blaze was too young to join the table, so she would be officially invited when she was crowned as Queen at the age of 18, but because of that it made her feel like she wasn’t heard. Not that they asked her for her opinion anyways, but today would be the day where that changed. She took a quick glance in Mihos direction to find the older cat already looking at her, causing her to turn away bashfully.

“About a year ago, you disappeared into thin air along with the Sol Emeralds for a total of 2 weeks and 5 days. During that time, the ministers had heard no news of where you went nor what you were doing. After the time I had mentioned prior had passed, you returned to us in a form unachieved by previous guardians. We heard little about your time away, but what we did find out was that you had been taken into another dimension by the Sol Emeralds and helped that world defeat the ones responsible for it. A few months later, the trouble of that dimension found its way here and our world was put at risk. Ever since then, you have been travelling between dimensions either by choice or by the will of the emeralds and have faced more trouble that you are forced to overcome. Is that correct so far, Princess Blaze?”

Finding that it was the only thing she could do to vent out her nerves, Blaze carefully stretches her foot out in her shoe in a back and forth motion. “Yes, that is correct.”

“Good.” Lyall looks down to the booklet of paper in front of her briefly before looking back up again. “Now that we're on the same page, I will go over our concerns on behalf of the ministry. Our first concern is your continued visits to this other dimension. They come at random, we don’t know how long you’ll be gone for, whether or not you’ll take the emeralds, if you’ll get hurt or even die there, etc. The list goes on, Princess Blaze. We also believe that your continued visits will attract more danger into our world purely by association. Those mad men were close to harming our world once, who knows what they could do again? For now, those are the concerns that were present to you. Do you wish to counter any of our concerns?”

Taking a deep breath in, Blaze nods. “Yes, thanks to the ministry’s briefing I have been able to prepare some points I would like to make clear.”

Lyall seems to beam at the feline's response, almost excited at what the princess has to say. “Proceed, Princess Blaze.”

“Thank you, Minister Lyall.” The feline takes another breath in and takes another quick moment to hype herself up. Her mind drifts back to Marine and Gardon who met with her earlier that day, wishing her luck for the moment that would most likely change her life forever. “First I would like to admit my shortcomings and apologise for the mistakes I have made. After returning from my first visit to the other dimension I failed to make any sort of statement on the matter. Upon being asked I would give vague descriptions that would lack details. While I believe that what happens during those adventures should be something I share with caution, as ministers I believe that you should be aware of these events and from now onward I promise to submit a statement in instances when my life, the life of my people, or the safety of the Sol Emeralds are put at risk.”

“Well,” Mihos chimes in, “that sounds reasonable. Ministers?”

“Hmm, so you will not be reporting all your instances of departure?” An old rooster asks, frowning in confusion at the princess’ statement.

“A good question, Minister Rocket.” Blaze hums, feeling a little bit more confident in herself now that she has gotten the ball to start rolling. “Not all my visits end with my life at risk, quite a few of them are to strengthen relationships I have will allies over in the other dimension. Those instances I believe should be kept between me and the allies I’ve made.”

“Ah, that would be a lot of paperwork to go through.” Lyall chuckles, smiling at the feline widely. “Keeping up relations with allies certainly is a good use of your time. One of the ministers had previously mentioned that you would go off to ‘mess around’, but I can see that this concern is unfounded.” Turning her attention back to the entire group, the wolf looks to each minister expectantly. “Do anyone have any more questions for this part of Princess Blaze’s counter?”

Around the table, each minister shook their heads.

“Good,” Lyall turns back to Blaze, “we accept your apology and compromise. Princess Blaze, you may proceed.”

“Thank you.” The young cat smiled, feeling a little giddy about how well this was going. “Another concern you mentioned relates to what I said prior about the allies I have in the other dimension. I would be more than happy to supply details on each of them with their permission but in short I trust them to protect me and the Sol Emeralds if I find myself unable to fight. You may ask several witnesses on Southern Island about the arrival of Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Tails Prower, two allies from the other dimension who found themselves here due to the emeralds’ influence. Together, with the added help of the Coconut Crew, we stopped the world from being harmed when the Eggmen tried to assume ultimate power again. Sonic and Tails have a long history with Dr Eggman and have won against him every single time. My faith in them is unwavering.”

The ministers are quiet once Blaze finishes, and the cat isn’t sure if this is a good or bad sign. She turns to see her uncle’s reaction, wanting to gauge if what she said was good or not, and finds him winking at her with a quick thumbs up. The younger cat looked away again, still sheepish but the tense of the silence had relaxed slightly thanks to her uncle.

“If you could,” Lyall breaks the silence, “we would appreciate profiles on each of your allies. It would aid the statements you’ll eventually submit and keep our nerves low in knowing if they are able to keep up with your level of skill.” Turning back to the group again, the wolf watches each person. “I think she covered everything but as per protocol does anyone have any questions for Princess Blaze in regards to her counter?”

The ministers shake their heads, seeming much more in agreement than before.

“Good.” Lyall smiles, holding her hands together in front of her. “I believe that covers all of our concerns, thank you Princess Blaze for—” Before the wolf can finish, the princess quickly cuts her off.

“Actually, I do have something else I wish to propose to the ministers while all of you are present.” Blaze finds herself cringing at interruption, but she needs to be able to say this next part or she’ll regret it for years to come. “As you are all well aware, my father, Khaki, late King of the Empire of Sol, used to be here in the ministry during his time as the leading monarch. With his passing, his place in among the ministers would be passed onto me when I become crowned as Queen. However, because of this, I believe that as a Princess I am not heard or considered during the discussion of the kingdom currently, hence why we ended up meeting for your concerns today. If I was a part of the ministry I would be able to explain my point of view when concerns are brought up rather than waiting for months when an official meeting is finally able to be organised. Today I ask you, the ministry, to let me take up my late father’s spot so that I can be included in discussion going onward.”

“Hm, do you believe that you are mature enough to start taking part in decisions concerning the kingdom, let alone have enough free time for it?” Lyall asks, propping her elbows against the table and leaning her chin against her connected hands. “There is a reason as to why the first born in the royal family is made the guardian of the Sol Emeralds while the second born becomes the leading monarch. Each role comes with many responsibilities and having to execute both at once would be a lot for someone in your position. Are you really going to be okay?”

Blaze takes a moment to think over her next words. It wasn’t because she was scared or worried about how her next words may affect the audience but it was because she hadn’t planned this far ahead. The princess expected questions about her capability but not a question already assuming that she was capable, just if she was going to be okay. The truth was that she might not be okay, but even if she had a sibling to take away some of that burden Blaze believes that she might not be okay regardless. “I can’t promise that I will be, but I know in the end that things will all work out as I have many people supporting me. I will have you, the ministers, my allies from the other dimension, my trusted guards, and my best friend, Marine. Without you guys, I don’t think I would be able to do anything.”

Lyall hums, closing her eyes to take in Blaze’s answer. The feline holds her breath, feeling like the act of breathing would be loud enough as to shatter the good streak she had going today. She didn’t want to risk ruining anything. Opening her eyes, the wolf looks to her fellow ministers once again. “As per protocol, when deciding whether or not we shall accept a new member into our ranks we hold a vote. On the count of 5, if you believe that Princess Blaze should be allowed to be a part of the ministry you will hold your hand up, if you do not believe this keep your hand down. Are we all clear on the rules?”

The ministers give Lyall a nod, even Blaze finds herself nodding due to the nerves.

“Good.” The wolf claps in front of her, smiling warmly. “Alright, let’s begin. 5… 4… 3…”

Blaze can’t help but close her eyes, worrying her lip as she’s afraid of being rejected by the ministry. If they decided that she couldn’t join then, while it wouldn’t change much, she might end up in another situation such as this. The princess just hoped that her lucky streak would continue.

“2… 1…”

It fell quiet for a moment and Blaze did her best to fight the temptation to open her eyes. Her head was reeling with all the different possibilities. What if she didn’t get the votes she needed? What if they decided that she shouldn’t be a part of the ministry at all due to her role of being a guardian clashing too much with the role of a monarch?

“Princess Blaze?” Lyall’s voice interrupts her inner spiral, her tones sounded… hopeful. “The results are unanimous, I think you should see them for yourself.”

Slowly and hesitantly, the feline opens her eyes only to have them widen in shock. Everyone had their hands up, meaning that everyone was in agreement that she should be in the ministry.

“Congratulations, Blazey.” Mihos grins, leaning back in his chair as if he was having a blast. “Welcome to the ministry!”

With the flick of the raccoon’s hand, a palm sized ball of water appears easily above Marine’s fingers. Blaze can’t help but smile with pride as she watches her best friend handle her element with ease from her spot on the shoreline.

Yesterday Blaze had officially been made a part of the ministry, though an official ceremony was being discussed to take place later that month. It would mean she would have to dress up and appear in front of her people but for some reason that thought didn’t scare her as much anymore. The cat was also considering inviting her friends from the other dimension, it would be a good way to introduce them to the ministry and a good excuse to see them all again.

Marine was especially excited about this idea as she had never seen them apart from their first adventure and a few pictures she had received from their INC chatroom. The raccoon was persistent in denying Blaze’s offers to travel to Sonic’s world, wanting to make a device that could do it itself. She had told Blaze about her proclamation to their friends and how she had said she would find them again if it was in her own power to. That thought made the princess smile, she would still offer the option to travel but ultimately would respect her best friend’s choice to find her own way to the other dimension.

The two of them had come a long way in the year that they had first encountered Sonic. Blaze felt more adept at handling things with a more open mind while Marine took things more seriously while still being able to flaunt her usual charm.

A soft noise interrupted her thoughts, it was coming from her phone. Blaze pulls it out from the pocket of her coat and frowns to find that Tails had added an unknown number to their chatroom. Unlocking her phone, the cat opens the chat to see both Tails and the new number typing. Her mind briefly wanders back to the worries Silver had lamented over and questions if this was anything related to it. Blaze doesn’t get enough to think it through as the first text comes in to confirm her thoughts.

Tails: Hi everyone! I know it’s an odd time but I’ve been able to get Silver hooked up to our network since he’s staying in the past now. Please introduce yourselves when you can since it’ll take me too much time going over everyone’s numbers.

Blaze finds herself smiling. So he did come to a conclusion, she was happy for him.

Unknown: Hey! Yeah, I’m staying in the past for good now. It’ll take some getting used to but I’m happy to be here :)

Quickly adding his contact, Blaze returns to the group chat to read the unread messages.

Sonic: We’re happy to have you, Silv! See you later at home, man.

Rouge: Welcome to the past, hun

Amy: OMG SILVERRRR!!! <3

Charmy: omg, i’m telling espio brb

Tails: Guys, tell him who you are please. I’m pretty sure I already mentioned that..

Amy: Sorry Tails! It’s Amy <3

Rouge: I’m the master emerald’s favourite person (Rouge)

Amy: Also idk if Tails mentioned it but Cream uses Vanilla’s account to talk here but they always make sure to let you know who you’re talking to <3

Silver: Haha, thanks Amy! I’m pretty sure I’ll be a mess until I get used to things here lol

Amy: Wait

Knuckles: You are not the master emerald’s favourite person @Rouge

Knuckles: Also, I’m knuckles

Charmy: espio and vector are out rn :( (i’m charmy btw)

Amy: Blaze, I see you reading the chatroom

The cat feels her eyes widen at being called out so blatantly like that. It wasn’t unusual that she would watch them talk before occasionally chiming in herself but maybe it was seen as rude to not say anything in the presence of a new person.

Blaze: My apologies, I was reading through the stuff I had missed. Silver seems to be rather popular.

Blaze: I’m glad to know that you’re feeling better now, Silver.

Silver: Thank you Blaze! I couldn’t do it without you

Rouge: I am, actually @Knuckles

Blaze felt her cheeks warm at his open declaration, slightly embarrassed to be so openly praised like that. This action caused her to not notice the large but faint shadow quickly covering her entirely.

Blaze: So naive, it wasn’t just me who helped you. Everyone did, I’m sure.

Silver: Haha yeah, you played a big part of it though. Thank you for that :)

The feline groaned, though before she could type out her response she finally noticed the looming shadow casting her in darkness. Looking up, her mouth opened in shock at what she saw. It was an overwhelmingly large mass of water that seemed to be the size of a car floating above her, a quick glance over to where her friend had confirmed her suspicions about what this was about. Marine grinned as she giggled, one hand was held out to control the mass while the other held the raccoon’s phone. Without a word or the chance to get away, the sea captain drops the mass of water down on Blaze and sends her crashing to the ground. The sand below her was wet and clung to her face, causing her to spit out anything that went into her mouth. It was at times like these where Blaze thanked Marine’s foresight into making their phones waterproof, but she felt like it gave her friend an excuse to get away with doing things like this.

“Mate, don’t get distracted while I’m showing you my stuff! Like, it’s not every day your bestie shows you her moves.”

Standing up, albeit a little wobbly due to the force of that attack, Blaze takes a deep breath to school her emotions into something approachable. After she feels herself calm from the sudden spike of adrenaline, the cat rushes over to tackle Marine with the intention of pushing her back into the sea.

“Blaze! W-wait, I’m sorry! Don’t do this again-!”

“You never mean it when you say it,” the princess laughs, “so I’m getting even.”

“Hehe, yeah, but also NOOOOO!”