It was a quiet evening in the meadows of Mobotropolis. The sun was slowly setting behind the silhouettes of the many buildings of the vast city. The wind blew softly through the blossoming trees, birds twirling and singing their sweet melodies with glee.
All was peaceful.
Sitting under a large, lone tree on a hill far from the city, was an aged blue hedgehog, who sighed in contentment at the peacefulness of the meadow. As he was a king, he was wearing his customary red cape and golden crown. But at that moment, nothing seemed to matter. Not royalty, no royal duties, no priorities …just pure bliss.
It was finally spring time. King Sonic Maurice Hedgehog took a deep breath, breathing in the cleansing fragrance of the blossom flowers falling around him. He felt so tired. During the past few months, he had found himself getting more and more tired and needing to take frequent and longer naps than usual. Not that he minded taking naps, in fact it was one of his favourite past-times, but it always got in the way of his running. Not today though, for he had managed to run quite a distance from the city before finding a lone blossom tree on a large hill to rest under. Now his energy had seemed to have been spent as he sat there, staring at the beauty of the sunset.
There was only one thing that could make it perfect.
And it was climbing up the hill now.
"There you are!" panted a tired but relieved Sally Acorn as she made it to the top of the hill, her long purple dress partly covered in grass stains, but she didn't care. Sonic turned his head to face her, and smiled at the sight of his old, but nonetheless beautiful wife. "I was wondering where you were, and I was getting worried."
"Hey Sally," greeted Sonic, a peaceful smile gracing his lips. "Sorry to worry you, just relaxing under this tree here. Care to join me?"
Sally rolled her eyes and sighed with a smile as she walked to where Sonic was sat. Once sat in a comfortable position, she gently put her husbands' head on her lap, a gesture which surprised him, but accepted without protest. They sat there in silence for a time, staring at the sunset.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sally sighed, gently stroking Sonics' head, whose blue fur had lightened during the years.
"Yeah, so is the sunset" he replied jokingly, grinning when Sally looked down at him in surprise before laughing. "Look at you Mr Hedgehog, pushing sixty and you're sill as flirtatious and immature as you were at sixteen."
Sonic chuckled, lifting his hand and resting it affectionately on Sally's cheek. "I'll take that as a compliment. You haven't changed a bit either Sal" he says softly. Smiling, Sally held the hand on her cheek and then looked back at the sunset. "Sometimes I find it hard to believe we got here," she whispers, almost to herself, "I mean, one minute we were kids, pranking each other and stealing cookies at midnight, next we were teenagers fighting for freedom against Robotnik, now here we are, married, with teenagers of our own and…"
"…old, wrinkled and rulers of Mobius? Yeah, kinda sucks doesn't it?"
"Oh stop it you!"
Sonic laughed, earning a playful shove from his wife, who herself couldn't help but smile. "I'm only kidding, you know I love our kids…and believe it or not, I could never have imagined a better life than this."
Sally smiled again and whispered, "I know. None of us could."
They sat once again in content silence. Sonic began to find it increasingly hard to keep awake and felt weaker and weaker with each passing moment.
'This isn't normal. Something's…wrong' he thought. Before he could do anything else however, Sally's voice drew back his attention.
"Sonic, do you remember that speech you made about ten years ago?"
"Which one? You mean the one where I almost got my head blown off by the Dark Presence?"
"Yes, that one!" Sally laughed, although at the time, she did not find the concept of having a rocket shot directly at her husband very appealing at all. "I just thought," Sally continued, "that you could do another speech. Right now. Only this time, picture yourself sat at a table with all our friends and family. You stand up, tap the glass and say…"
Sonic smiled before clearing his throat and saying:
"Hey, Knuckles, I'm gonna make a speech now, so can you put down those grapes for a second?"
Sally laughed, remembering their echidna friends' love for grapes. Sonic laughed as well before continuing. "First off, I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight, it means a lot to me and Sal to see us all together like this again after so long. Feelin' old yet, Vector? Yeah, I thought so. Heh heh, anyways back to business. Here we go."
Sonic cleared his throat again before taking in a deep breath and beginning:
"Looking around here, I see not a bunch of old geezers eating grapes…Knuckles. Heh, no, I see some of the best friends I've ever known. The best Freedom Fighters, Guardians, Detectives and Techies I've ever known. Yeah Miles, I said techies! We've all had our ups and downs in the past, some people worse off than others, and we've all lost something or someone in the process. But y'know what? Even after everything we've been through, after everything Robotnik, Naugus, The Dark Presence and all the other baddies have thrown at us, we still managed to pull through, right 'till the end. And here we are now, forty years later with our own families and our own kids that may even follow in our footsteps someday.
"We've all been running a long, hard race throughout the years, and believe It or not it's not over yet. But when it is, and we run through that final stretch and cross that finish line, I hope we all win with no regrets. Thanks everyone."
When Sonic had finished, Sally clapped her hands, tears starting in her eyes. "To winning the race" she says, holding up her hand as if she was holding a glass. Sonic smiled and copied the gesture. "To winning the race, Sal" he said.
"That was a beautiful speech, hon." Sally sniffed, still smiling. Sonic smiled weakly at his beloved and winked. "I try" he said softly. Sally leaned over and kissed him softly but lovingly on the lips, a gesture in which he gladly returned.
When they parted, Sally sighed contently before looking back at what was left of the sunset.
Sonics' vision began to blur, his eyelids becoming heavier and breathing more shallow.
He was fading.
Using what strength he had left, Sonic fought to stay awake and utter his final words to his love.
"…Sal…"
"Yes my king?" she replied, not taking her eyes off the sunset.
"…I love you…"
"And I love you Sonic Maurice Hedgehog. So much."
He smiled one last time, before finally giving in, letting his eyes close. He took in a final shuddering breath before a long sigh escaped his lips.
He stilled.
As Sally continued to stare out, a thought hit her. "You know, we should be getting back to the castle. Sonia and Manik will probably wonder where we are."
There was no reply from the blue hedgehog.
"…Sonic?" she says, looking down to her husband and sighing when she saw his sleeping face. "Tired aren't you?" she teased, stroking his head, "And here I thought you were always ready and full of energy my King."
Still no reply.
Frowning in confusion, Sally began to shake him lightly. "Sonic? Sonic, don't you play around with me like that. You know I hate that! Wake up!"
Sonics' hand slid off his stomach and his head fell to the side limply.
Sally gasped, her eyes widened in fear. She stared at him disbelievingly.
He couldn't be…
"Sonic?! Sonic!" she cried, shaking his limp body harder in a desperate attempt to wake him up. Tears began to form in her eyes as she continued to plead to him, praying that this wasn't really happening.
"No…no, no, no this can't be happening! Y-you can't! You c-can't leave me Sonic the Hedgehog! Please! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
She stopped shaking him as realisation sank in, her tears now falling freely from her eyes as she looked down at her husbands' peaceful face. After all these years, his race was finally won.
Sonic the Hedgehog was gone.
"…no…no…" she whispered as she clutched his lifeless body to her chest.
"SONIC!"
She sobbed uncontrollably into his blue fur, pleading for him to come back to her. Behind her, the suns' light had died, revealing now in its place a sky full of diamonds.
As a reward for his final victory, a new star gleamed in the sky, one of a hero, a hero that shall never be forgotten.
Sonic the Hedgehog.