Through the Looking Glass: Penance: Epilogue
Epilogue
Two Months Later...
"Land ho!"
The day was brightly lit as the call came out. Tai Lung, Miles, and Cream had been strolling around the deck hoping for a whiff of the morning air when the cry had come out. Miles heard this and looked towards the bow.
Indeed, he and Cream both saw the buildings made of steel jutting out of the land that the look-out had seen. Smiling broadly, Cream looked to Miles and Tai Lung.
"That's it!" she said. "We're home!"
"Wow..." said Miles, rubbing his shoulder as the boat came ever closer to the landmass and some steel ships came into view. "After more than two years, I never thought I'd ever return..."
"Well, we're returning," said Tai Lung as he looked at the land and then at the ships going about. "This looks like a port town itself..."
"And it's more than that too," said Cream. "Unless things have changed, it's also a town where a lot of people visit and have fun..."
The snow leopard raised an eyebrow at this. "Now what use would that be?" he asked.
"Just relaxation," replied Miles. "Trust me, you have no idea how complicated life can be in his place..."
The predatory cat nodded, looking to his canine companion and nodding. "We'll see," he said. "For now, how do we get on there?"
Miles looked back to the crew of the ship working on getting the docking gear ready.
"We'll let these guys figure it out," said the kitsune.
This answer satisfied Tai Lung, and so he smiled, thinking about what it would be like to meet Miles' friends.
The boat had parked a distance away from where the public was. The sailors were mindful of Miles' request that they enter quietly, so they had been dropped off a short distance away from Station Square. The gangplank was sturdy, and then Miles was on solid ground once again. Cream and Tai Lung followed shortly afterwards, and then they all panted.
"Dry land..." said Cream. "The rocking was beginning to get to me..."
Tai Lung turned around, looking to the captain of the ship. He nodded.
"How do you guys plan on getting back?" he asked.
"We'll have to dock anyway," replied the sea captain. "Supplies are running low. If we do wind up staying here longer, which I would think would be true what with these people being new to us, then we'll have to return to China as quickly as we can and report the news that they'll want relations. But if all goes smoothly, we'll be taking this boat back."
"All right," said Tai Lung as the gangplank was taken away. "Thank you so much for your sevices."
The captain nodded. "If you ever need anything and we are in town, you know who to talk to!"
And with this, the crew hoisted the sail open, the boat heading towards Station Square slowly. Miles, Cream, and Tai Lung waved after them for around a minute before they disappeared amongst the boats.
As soon as the boat was out of their sight, Miles nodded to Tai Lung and Cream.
"Well, let's get started, shall we?" he asked.
Cream nodded. "We've got a lot of ground to cover," she said. "Maybe we could run into Shadow and Amy at the mall?"
"The mall?" asked Tai Lung, curious.
"Oh, it's a place with a lot of shops!" replied Cream. "She likes it a lot there, so it would be a perfect place to find her."
Tai Lung shrugged at this. "Well, if you think it's a lead, by all means, lead us there!"
"All right," said the rabbit. "Come on!"
And the girl quickly led Miles and Tai Lung to where she knew the mall would be.
When the three of them entered the Station Square Mall an hour or so later, they found the place was unusually empty. Cream wondered why this was, having not seen a calendar in a while. Miles and Tai Lung followed her, the snow leopard glancing about at everybody as he felt himself getting more accustomed to seeing the faces of things he had never seen before. Glancing to and fro with nervous golden eyes, the cat followed the kitsune, he and Cream, venturing further in.
"This is unusual..." she said, glancing around. "There isn't a whole lot of activity today..."
"You mean more people come here on a daily basis?" asked Tai Lung, his voice conveying some kind of surprise.
"Yeah," said the rabbit innocently. "My mother used to take me here all the time. It's usually much more crowded than this..."
"Oh, fortune..." he said, grimacing slightly. "This place is crowded enough as it is; I would hate to be here at a bad time..."
Miles shrugged. "Thankfully, you won't be in here too often," he said. "I never came in here myself."
The three of them thus continued running around the mall, looking for any sign of anybody they knew. They had almost done a complete sweep of the entire space when Cream noticed a figure out of the corner of her eyes. Stopping, she turned her head to look over to what she had seen. Since the kitsune and leopard had been following her every move, they looked to where Cream did.
The three of them saw a bat with white fur walking around. She seemed to be donning a maternity dress, and was holding only a small purse. Next to her was a bear in the most ridiculous-looking yellow shorts Tai Lung had ever seen in his life, and he was holding what he guessed was two shopping bags full of goods. Strapped to his back was a blue rucksack in which a bird was perched, smirking down at the bear beneath her.
"It's Rouge..." said the kitsune.
"It is!" exclaimed Cream suddenly, walking over to where the bat was. Miles and Tai Lung glanced at each other, the two of them shrugging before following the rabbit over to where she was headed.
Rouge seemed to notice the rabbit coming too, for then she turned her head slightly to catch sight of the party of three. Seeing them there, her eyes lit up, the bear looking down and noticing this.
"Cream!" she said excitedly. "You've returned!"
The other four in the party seemed to smile down on them as the rabbit bowed down.
"And I managed to get him back, too!" said Cream.
Rouge did not need to be told however, for the sight of the kitsune by her seemed to tell her everything she needed to know. She came over to the kitsune, kneeling down in front of him.
"I'm back," said Miles softly, feeling regret come rushing in. "I... I'm sorry..."
"Tails, you're back!" she said, grasping his shoulders. "Amy's gonna be thrilled!"
"And your mom's gonna be thrilled too, Cream!" chimed in the male bear. "It's going to be great!"
"I just wish coward face over here could've come back sooner," quipped the bird in his rucksack.
Miles shot a glare in the breegull's direction. "I didn't think you guys cared..." he said. "I thought you'd hate me for what I did..."
Rouge shook her head, Banjo kneeling by her. "Tails, we could never hate you for what you did," she said.
"Yeah!" added the bear. "It wasn't your fault that Eggman forced you to kill him! We can't hate you for that!"
"Until you run off..." added Kazooie sardonically. "But still, it's nice to have you back."
The two-tailed fox nodded. "Hopefully, I'll stay this time," he said. "Just because."
Tai Lung was feeling a little left out by this point. Thankfully, Rouge had spotted the snow leopard out of the corner of her eye. Standing up, she looked at the man, the bear standing up as well as Miles looked over.
"And who might you be?" asked Rouge, topaz eyes examining the snow leopard.
"Oh!" said the cat, nodding and holding a hand out. "I'm Tai Lung. I'm a friend of Miles."
Upon not hearing any kind of anger coming from the kitsune, Rouge and Banjo gave each other an odd glance before looking at Tai Lung.
"That's odd," said the bear suddenly. "I thought Tails hated that name..."
The kitsune shrugged as Tai Lung blinked uncertainly. "I did, once," piped up the fox. "But now... it doesn't sound so bad..."
The bear nodded. "In that case..."
To the cat's surprise, the ursine gripped the cat's head. "I'm Banjo," he said. "And this is my wife, Rouge." He gestured to the bat. "And my friend Kazooie," he added again, pointing to the bird.
Cream's eyes seemed to bulge wide at this statement. "You... You guys actually got married?" she asked.
"It was shortly after you call with Amy," replied the bat. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you!"
"That's incredible!" said the rabbit girl.
At this, Tai Lung chuckled, shaking Banjo's hand. "So I take it you knew Miles, then," he said.
"Don't think too much of it, spot face," retorted Kazooie as she crossed her wings in front of her, red feathers seeming to glow in the lighting of the mall. "We actually only met him just before he pulled his disappearing stunt on us!"
"Kazooie!" reprimanded the bear harshly.
Tai Lung glared at the breegull, yellow eyes seeming to bore holes into her skull as he turned his attention back to Rouge. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rouge."
"Likewise," replied the former G.U.N. agent. "You guys want to sit down somewhere and talk a little? Maybe tell us why you decided to come back?"
"Sure," said the kitsune. "Food court sound good?"
"Nah," replied the bat, waving her hand. "I've got better spaces than that. Come on."
And the bat walked away, everybody following her as Tai Lung glanced at Cream uncertainly.
Rouge had taken them straight to her club, of course. Cream realized she should have seen it coming, but when they had gone into Rouge's private quarters and sat down to have a meal, the conversation had gotten great. When the food came in, Tai Lung was quite surprised when he took the first look at a cheeseburger. Looking down at it, he blinked uncertainly.
"How are you supposed to eat this thing?" he asked, pointing at it."
Miles chuckled. "You hold it in your hands and you bite into it," he replied.
Tai Lung glanced at the sandwich before picking it up nervously, his eyes examining the burger as if he was eyeing it for something suspicious.
"People here have really odd eating habits..." he said.
At this, Rouge laughed good-naturedly, Banjo chuckling. "You'll get used to it," she said.
"Besides, it can't get any worse than those people in those contests where you try to eat as much as you can," added Kazooie.
The snow leopard sent a glance at the breegull just before he was about to take a bite into his burger. "What?" he asked.
Banjo shook his head. "Now that's something that a lot of other people find wierd," he replied.
Tai Lung wrinkled his face, his whiskers dancing in the air before turning his attention back to the burger. Without hesitation, he bit into the burger, fangs sinking into the juicy meat inside. Chewing it, he nodded, closing his eyes.
"Actually, this tastes rather good," he said. "For not being good for your health, that is..."
"My cooks try their best," replied Rouge with a nod.
Cream nodded as she worked away at a salad. "So how are Amy and Shadow?"
"Oh, you came in just in time!" said Rouge, smiling. "They're getting married tomorrow."
Miles nearly sputtered, holding the glass of water he had been drinking from and nearly spraying it all over his food. He swallowed, and looked on with disbelieving eyes.
"What?" he asked, clearly shocked.
Banjo nodded at this. "Well, she felt that Shadow could make a great father figure for her twins..." he replied. "And I don't blame her. Shadow's great with the boys."
Cream smirked, rolling her eyes as she tried to envision someone who she remembered being as distant as Shadow frollicking with two blue hedgehogs. Catching Cream's drift, the kitsune smiled.
"You do have to admit, it's a pretty jarring image..." he offered with a slight chuckle.
"You would think," replied Rouge. "But I know him better than that. And I really don't think Amy could've asked for a better husband myself."
"That's good to hear," said the snow leopard as he ate his food. "So I take it I'll meet everybody else then?"
Miles nodded. "I'm sure," he said. "I was hoping I'd run into Amy and Shadow today, but I think it'll be the best thing she could ask for on her wedding day if we showed up unannounced."
"And uninvited," added Kazooie as she pecked away at some birdseed.
The bat shook her head. "Well, not really, when you think that they wouldn't object to his presence at all..." she said.
"All right," said Tai Lung, smiling at the married couple. "So, aside from you three... Who else do I get to meet?"
"It's a rather large group, so I'll just let Cream introduce you as we run around," said Rouge. "We'll try to keep you being here a surprise."
"And hey, meeting new people is always nice," added Banjo. "So when they see that Tails here did make a friend on his travels... well..."
Miles nodded, remembering the events that transpired in the Devil's Mouth before they had rescued Cream. "And one whose friendship saved both of us, no less..." he added.
The snow leopard nodded in agreement. "I'm thankful I ran into him," he said. "I hope Sonic appreciated the fact that he had such a dedicated friend by his side while he was still alive."
"I'm sure he did," said Banjo, standing up and taking some of the empty plates to the sink.
"If he didn't, he's getting a piece of my mind when I meet him in the afterlife," replied the cat, unsheathing his claws with a smirk.
Rouge, Miles, and Cream all chuckled at this, Kazooie glancing nervously to the side. Nodding, the bat stood up. "Well, tomorrow's going to be a busy day for the bride-to-be, so I think we should turn in early."
"Ten bucks says spot face is gonna get the floor!" shouted the breegull.
"Kazooie!"
The next day, Cream, Miles, and Tai Lung had all risen rather early. The three of them, along with Rouge, Banjo, and Kazooie, had all gotten up in some fairly nice clothes (even if Banjo had to go clothes hunting for Tai Lung), and they were walking over to the chapel slowly. Miles seemed a little nervous as they moved, and as soon as he saw the cross up in the air, he turned to Tai Lung.
"Hey, you'll be fine," he said. "I'm sure these people will be overly glad to see you again."
"They will," added Rouge. "Don't worry."
"Still, I have some doubts about what is going to happen..." replied Miles. "It can go any direction, you know."
"Hey, they never would've let me go on my own if they hadn't forgiven you..." pointed out Cream. "Think of it that way."
Miles looked on uncertainly, walking towards the chapel and suddenly noticing that they were the first ones to arrive. "Hey, where's everybody else?" he asked suddenly.
Banjo chuckled. "We thought it might be a good idea if you got to talk to the bride before anybody else did..."
The kitsune nodded, understanding. "Well, that takes some stress off," he said softly.
"You better believe it," replied the red breegull. "Now let's pick it up here. Heart skin's been waiting for a moment like this forever!"
With these words ringing in his ears, the kitsune adjusted the tux jacket he was wearing to calm his nerves, and when they entered the chapel, he took a deep breath.
She was in the dressing room, tending to her quills when Miles found her place within the chapel. The white dress had already been put on, and from where he stood the kitsune could make out a smile on her lips. She had not noticed the kitsune entering, and so Miles, Cream, and Tai Lung all entered slowly. Rouge, Banjo, and Kazooie had stayed outside, hoping to give them some time.
"Amy...?" asked Miles, uncertain of how to begin.
One of the hedgehog's ears twitched suddenly, and then she turned her head, emerald eyes looking onto the kitsune.
"Tails...?" she asked. "Am I...?"
"No," he said simply, shaking his head.
At this, the pink hedgehog almost jumped out of her chair, but she tackled the kitsune, the two of them winding up in a heap on the ground at Tai Lung and Cream's feet.
"Tails, you're back! You're back!" she cried, sobbing tears of joy as she hugged Miles tight.
"Amy... need... air..." wheezed out the fox.
Thankfully, Amy had gotten onto her knees for the fox to sit back up. "It's been so long..." she said, shaking her head. "Tails..."
"Amy..." replied the kitsune. "I'm sorry. For everything."
The pink hedgehog simply shook her head, reaching a hand out and patting Miles on the head as a tear slipped down her cheek. "That doesn't matter," she said. "You're finally back. And that's more than I could've asked for today. It... It made this day so much better..."
The kitsune smiled softly, nodding. "Thank you," he said. "For forgiving me..."
"It was never your fault," she said, patting his shoulder. "Just, where's Cream?"
"Right here!" piped up the rabbit.
Amy and Miles both stood up, the hedgehog looking down at Cream. "Oh, you're here too!" she said. "You're going to have to meet my sons!"
Cream giggled at this. "I'd love to meet them!" she exclaimed.
It was then that Amy noticed Tai Lung's presence in the room. Emerald eyes glancing over the snow leopard, she smiled.
"Oh!" she said. "And who might you be?"
"I'm Tai Lung," replied the snow leopard, bowing politely. "I'm a friend of.... of Tails here..."
Miles blinked uncertainly. "That's the first time you've ever referred to me by that name," he said.
"Hey, it's a catchy name," replied the snow leopard jokingly. "Has a ring to it..."
Amy giggled, figuring things out. "I'm Amy Rose," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Tai Lung."
"Same here," he said. "I hope I get to meet the husband-to-be sometime today."
"Oh, trust me, you'll meet him," replied Amy. "He's been getting a lot more social since he began helping me with the children."
Miles laughed. "Speaking of which..." he said. "How much like Sonic are they?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "They're exact matches," she said. "Already I can tell they've got his free spirit."
"That's great," said the kitsune. "I can't wait to meet them."
"They'll be ecstatic to meet their Uncle Tails, that's for sure," said the pink hedgehog.
With a laugh, the group then continued to converse before the wedding.
And from behind a clouded veil of water, three figures were watching in a vast expanse of empty sky sitting over a layer of clouds. Spirits were flying freely to and fro, but at the foot of one of the wells into the mortal world, Sonic, Shifu, and Oogway all watched the events unfold.
"So he did go home after all..." said the blue hedgehog. "That's great!"
"I can only imagine," added Shifu, nodding. "I wonder how Tai Lung must be feeling about having set foot in a new world..."
"Eh, he'll get used to it," replied Sonic. "Tails is the greatest friend a guy could ask for, honest."
"They have both found their redemption," said Oogway. "All that is left is to adjust to the new life, and all shall be well again."
The other two nodded, smiling down on the scene.
"I'm just glad Tails finally went back home," said Sonic.
"Destiny has been fulfilled," observed the red panda. "And there is one more trial that awaits them..."
"But it won't be there for a few years, right?" asked the blue hedgehog. "I mean... it'll take a while to get there. It's got... how far a distance?"
"Distance matters not," replied Oogway. "Tai Lung will be able to save as many people as he can. I have faith in him."
"Then we'll see how well things go, right?" asked Sonic with a wink.
With this, the conversation ended. Looking down as the four people continued to converse, the three of them knew that things would stay much like that for quite some time afterwards.
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