[Sonic's POV]

I nodded to him, actually feeling tears welling up. "Yeah, I-It's me... dad...."

He was frozen, and he seemed to be holding back tears. There was silence between us and I took that time to notice how he changed from how I saw him in my dream.

He was only slightly taller than me, two top quills arched upward while the rest were arched downward, and I noticed that they were slightly longer than they were in my dream. It seems he's undergone his full transformation, no huge jacket or baggy jeans to be seen. Instead, tan fur ran from his chest to his stomach. His shoulders were back, and he looked overall more confident than he did before.

'I'm so proud of him!' Dark beamed.

I smiled and looked to Gray's shocked eyes, holding out my arms. "You gonna give your son a hug?"

At an instant, I felt arms around me, and I gladly hugged back. He pulled away from me, wiping tears from his tan cheeks. "I... I never thought I'd see you again...."

"I never thought I'd see you at all...." I looked down awkwardly with a smile still on my face.

"I've seen you on the news...." He smiled as he let me in. "I'm so proud of you and everything you've done! You're a hero!"

"Yeah, I guess I just saw Eggman attacking and felt like I needed to help." We sat down on his couch.

"I have always thought about finding you again; it wouldn't be hard, the news always tell your whereabouts, but I always stop myself. You couldn't have known who I was, so I probably would've seemed like another fan...." He then paused, remembering something. "How do you know who I am? Did Chuck tell you?"

"Eh... Not exactly...." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

"Don't tell him about me!"

'What!? Why?'

"Yeah, don't you want him to know?"

"I... I don't think it's a good idea...."

'Alright....'

"I did some research...." I lied.

"After sixteen years... What made you suddenly curious?"

I chuckled. "Let's just say I have a lot going on in my life right now, and it led me to start to wonder who my family is, I guess."

He nodded. "Well, would you like some tea?"

I smiled. "Sure."

_________________________

[Knuckles POV]

I stretched as I looked to Shadow. Sonic was right; he looked much more alive.

Maybe they will get their happy ending after all....

I felt myself lean back in the chair Sonic always sat at. I really don't know how he sits there 24/7; my back is killing me!

I groaned as my back cracked with a loud pop. At that moment, the door slid open and Eggman walked in. I glared to him as he walked to Shadow's bed.

"What do you want, Eggman?"

"Now, now, Knuckles. I'm just here to check on Shadow." He held up his hands. I looked him over before simply nodding. He continued to check Shadow's status. "Where's the blue rat?"

"None of your business." I growled out.

"I'm here to help, remember?" He rolled his eyes.

"That's what you say." I crossed my arms and watched him intently. I noticed Shadow's ear flick as Eggman adjusted some things.

He noticed this. "Seems he's finally responding."

"He mostly does around Sonic." I replied.

"Yes, well, there are reasons for that." I blinked confusedly as he said that. He looked to me. "Oh please, you can't tell me that you haven't sensed it."

As soon as he said 'sensed' everything clicked in my head. I tensed up. "I don't do that! People deserve their privacy!"

"Like you weren't curious before." The doctor scoffed as he finished with Shadow, crossing his arms.

I blushed in embarrassment. Being the guardian of chaos has given me a few... abilities. Most of them just gave me an extra sense that I could turn on and off whenever I wanted. One of those gave me the ability to sense the chaos energy coming off of others and how it intermingles. I usually keep that ability off because I feel that it's too personal to others.

Eggman's right though; I do get curious.

"Their chaos energies mix perfectly...." I crossed my arms, not meeting the doctor's smug eyes. "That's why they react well together and why Shadow reacts mostly to Sonic, right?"

"Exactly." I saw Eggman grin from the corner of my vision.

"Ugh, aren't you done!?" I clenched my fists.

He just smirked before walking out of the room. I sighed and leaned back in the chair, my back popping at the movement, causing me to groan.

'Ugh, when's Sonic going to be back?'

______________________

[Lava has ran out of ways to say that this is obviously Silver's POV]

I blinked as I walked through the darkness of my dreamscape. I didn't know where I could possibly be going, but I was going somewhere. I had to know if what I heard last time was true.

"Shadow!? Shadow, are you there!?"

"S-Silver! Help!" Quickly, I made my way towards Shadow's voice.

"I'm coming Shadow!"

I ran as fast as I could until I finally saw him. He was tied up to a velvet red chair, the ropes as dark as the area around us. He saw me, and I could see tears in his eyes. "Silver!"

"Shadow! Where are we!? Why are you tied up!?"

"J-Just get me out of this!" He shook, looking around wearily. I've never seen him like this before.... Well, except for when Mephiles killed Sonic....

Quickly removing that memory from my mind, I tried to untie the other. They didn't even budge. "I can't untie it!"

"No!" He shook frantically looking around. "Silver! Get out of here before the smoke arrives!"

"Smoke?" I wondered before noticing a dark red cloud coming our way. "What is that?"

"Silver! Go! Before it gets you too!"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"It hurts...." His ears flattened against his head, a sign of fear I thought I'd never see from him. "I-It's changing me.... Just go! It's getting faster!"

"But I can't just leave you here!"

"Just go!" He growled out.

I backed away slowly, trying to figure out what to do. But before I could do anything,

I woke up.