Sonic smirked softly, racing along the trail in the woods within the Acorn Valley, the cool air brushing past his face as he gazed up, the stars filling the night sky. Before long he quickly found himself with the city of Mobotropolis and quickly made his way to a small building. He knew why he was here at this bar and although it was to meet up with old friends, it was going to be a tough night for him. But of course not one to wait, the blue hedgehog made his way down the stairs past the door, into the large open bar, smirking softly as he looked around the room spotting a familiar face of his old friend.
"Shadow." Sonic began, walking over towards the bar, taking a seat next to the black hedgehog who was sitting on a stool before his drink, paying the hedgehog little mind. "Surprised you're early."
"You said be here by 10 o'clock. Its 10 o'clock isn't it?" The black hedgehog spoke quietly, gripping his glass and taking a drink.
Sonic couldn't help but roll his eyes and he waved his hand nonchalantly, "Yeah yeah whatever. So where's Tails and Knux? I figured they would be here with you."
"So I came here alone." Shadow sighed softly, turning towards his old friend. "So tell me Sonic, why did you call us out here to his… establishment?"
"Oh come on like you don't know." Sonic spoke with a large grin. "If I remember this correctly this is where we all went for our 21st birthdays to have our first drinks. Well except for you since ya know, you don't age and all."
"Very true." Shadow spoke quietly, his hand reaching out for a bottle before he poured its contents into his glass. "But that doesn't answer my question. Why am I here?"
"Hold your horses Shadow." Sonic said with a smile, placing his hand on the back of the black hedgehog. "We should wait until Tails and Knuckles show up."
"Well we're already here." Hearing these words, both hedgehogs spun around in their chairs, coming face to face with the yellow fox and the red echidna Sonic was speaking of, Knuckles slowly removing his cowboy hat from his head.
"Yo Knux! Tails! How've you guys been?" Sonic asked, giving a small grin as he leant back against the edge of the bar.
"You know, been good and all." Tails spoke quietly, removing his white coat and placing it onto a hanger before both he and Knuckles took their seats next to Sonic, turning towards him. "We got your message and came over as quickly as we could. So what's up bro?"
Sonic quickly wrapped his arm around his little brother's neck, grinning brightly. "What? Can't a guy call a couple of his friends to spend the night out for a bit? Is there something wrong with that?"
"Well… I guess not." Tails spoke quietly, smiling softly.
Knuckles snickered softly, holding up his hand, signaling the bartender. "If that's the case then I need a beer."
"And then you broke both my legs." Sonic spoke with a small laugh as Tails and Shadow joined in leaving Knuckles alone to growl softly with a small blush.
"H-hey! It wasn't my fault! I was infected with Dark Chaos Energy. You know I didn't mean to."
Tails was quick to place his hand on Knuckles' shoulder, giving a small push. "Oh come on Knuckles, you know Sonic is just teasing. I mean after all after you came back from the dead you taught Sonic and me how to access the Chaos Force at will."
"Yeah but I will say that training was intense." Sonic spoke softly, rubbing his temples as he let out a small sigh, having his drink refilled by the bartender. "I mean those three trials… such a pain in the ass man."
"But it was totally worth it for all the abilities we gained right Sonic?" The yellow fox asked as he formed a small glowing white orb in his hand.
The blue hedgehog quickly shrugged, closing his eyes as he took a drink from his mug. "I suppose so. I mean if it wasn't for that, who knows if we would still be alive by this point in our lives. Really makes ya think, ya know?"
"So…" Shadow began quietly, placing his mug down on the counter of the bar before turning towards the blue hedgehog. "What's really on your mind Sonic?"
Hearing these words, Sonic turned towards the black hedgehog, narrowing his eyes. "You sure don't give up do you? Always gotta ruin the moment Shadow."
"Its not ruining the moment if you're trying to get to the moment. You all are curious too right?" Shadow spoke calmly, turning towards Knuckles and Tails. "As… spontaneous as Sonic is, I don't think he would have told us coming to some bar in the middle of the night as an emergency, just to reminisce."
"He's got a point Sonic." Knuckles began, taking another drink from his glass.
Tails placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder, giving a small smile, "Hey we're all friends here. If there's something you gotta get off your chest then its all good."
Sonic paused for moment, staring at the countertop before him before he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small gift box, fumbling with it in his hands as his friends turned towards the box, growing just as silence as he was. "I'm asking her to marry me…"
Just as before, everyone reminded quiet as the four sat at the table, all turning forward before Knuckles let out a small snicker, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Wow. Never thought I'd see the day where the blue blur settles down." The red echidna slowly turned towards his friend, smiling softly. "I'm happy for ya Sonic."
"Thanks Knuckles…" Sonic began, looking over the box.
"When did you decide this?" Shadow ask quietly.
"Well… when I went to Solaria and stayed with Blaze for a couple of weeks. There her mom told me that soon Blaze was going to take the throne and that she wouldn't have the time to freely come see me whenever she desired. And to make matters even… well weirder… if I do marry Blaze I'll be marrying into her family, not the other way around but if I do, I'll become the next king and I'll get to stay with Blaze." Sonic let out a small sigh, a smile growing on his face. "There's a whole new world out there for me to explore and with this one safe, I feel I'm ready to go. I know as long as you guy are here to protect everyone in my place then nothing bad will ever happen and it's the reason why I feel ready. I know I can count on all of you. Mobius doesn't need me anymore and I don't want to lose Blaze. I know I'm being selfish but I feel that this might be for the best."
"Wow…" Knuckles spoke softly, a small grin showing on his face as he chuckled softly. "I didn't know you held us at such high regard. Sounds to me the blue blur is getting soft in his old age."
"Bite me Knuckles." Sonic said with a large grin as the two chuckled softly with Shadow smiling.
"So when will you be leaving?"
Sonic gave a small shrug as he turned over towards the clock hanging on the wall. "I'm asking Blaze to marry me tonight at midnight which is in about 30 minutes and if she says yes, I'll leave just after my 25th birthday." Sonic sighed softly, leaning forward, turning towards his younger brother, noticing his silent demeanor and sad expression shown on his face. "Tails? You ok buddy?"
"In a few months you'll be leaving us for good…" The fox spoke softly, gripping his glass tightly as Knuckles and Shadow turned forward, closing their eyes. "Being a king isn't some cake walk. If Blaze will be busy then so will you and you'll be worlds apart from us…"
"Yeah but its not like I won't come and visit you guys!" Sonic said with a bright smile. "I mean come on, how could I just leave you guys alone. You're all gonna have to be there to meet my kids and to goof around with me when I get bored and plus…" Sonic's smile began to fade as he noticed his friend turning from him. "Tails… buddy… you know I won't forget about you."
"Yeah… I know…" The young man spoke quietly, sighing softly as he gave his friend a smile.
Knuckles turned over to the clock, looking it over before he closed his eyes. "Sonic, think its time for you to go. Don't want to be late to your own proposal."
"Pfft please Knuckles!" Sonic said with a grin. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog. I can be anywhere I want in a supersonic second!"
"You should take this more seriously." Shadow spoke quietly, turning towards his friend. "If you want to be there for her, start doing that now. Go. Its time for your future to begin."
"Always so melodramatic." The blue hedgehog said with a smile, pushing himself away from the counter, standing up as he placed a hand in his pocket, turning away from his friends. "I'll be seeing ya all soon." And with that, a gust of wind blew by as the blue blur vanished from their sight, the three friends turning back towards the countertop.
"So… this is it huh?" Knuckles asked himself quietly, shaking his head. "Sucks…"
Shadow turned towards the two, noticing the yellow fox biting his bottom lip, his eyes clenched shut as he sat quietly next to Knuckles. "I don't want to see him go either…" Shadow began softly, gaining the attention of the red echidna. "Sonic changed us all. He wasn't just another person in this world. His very existence gave new life and purpose to everyone he met and although there were some, like me, who didn't share his way of thinking, in the end we all shared his dream. He was our friend." Tails slowly turned towards the black hedgehog as Shadow closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh. "But he's going to a different place, a different world and while that is something in which saddens us, it doesn't mean he'll be gone for good. After all Tails, no one understands dimensional travel better than you do."
Tails slowly turned away, his eyes slowly gaining focus as he clenched his fist… "You're right Shadow… You're totally right!" Then Tails suddenly pushed himself up and off the stool before he raced over towards the doorway, grabbing his jacket.
"H-hey!" Knuckles called out towards his friend in confusion. "Where you going?"
"Sorry Knuckles, but there's no way I can just sit by and let my best friend just leave. I'll call you guys later." The two could see a small grin showing on the face of the young man as he headed out the door, leaving Knuckles to stare blankly.
As Knuckles slowly turned back around in his chair, he watched as a small smirk began to form on the lips of Shadow's causing the echidna to grin. "No way… was that a pep-talk just now?"
"I figured he needed one." Shadow spoke as he closed his eyes, chuckling softly.
Blaze stood quietly under a large oak tree posted at the top of a large hill that allowed her to overlook the serenity of a peaceful valley filled with a thick, lush, natural forest. As she gazed up towards the bright full moon high in the night sky, she let out a small irritated sigh, closing her eyes slowly. "Sonic… ugh… why in the world would you ever call me out to a place like this in the middle of the night…?"
"Now that is a good question Blaze." The princess suddenly opened her eyes, whipping her head around to come face-to-face with a grinning blue hedgehog as he stepped forward. "And don't worry, all your questions will be answered soon, I promise."
"Good." Blaze barked, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes. "You better have a good reason for this. I was sleeping when you woke me up and you didn't even give me a chance to ask you what the hell is going on."
"True." Sonic snickered lightly, walking past the lavender feline as he looked over the large valley, his back to her. "Blaze, can you tell me how long have we been dating?"
Taken back by this question, the princess blinked several times in silence as her arms slowly fell to her side. "Well… right now, we're both 24 years of age, you will be 25 in three months time and we've been together since I was 16, you 17 so I would say roughly around 8 years or so. Why?"
"Well… I know you're going back home soon and the truth is, I hate it." Sonic paused for a moment, closing his eyes as Blaze turned away from him. "I mean I know you have duties to uphold and I can't keep you from them and your people need you there to protect them incase terror strikes. Heh, listen to me, I sound like the opening sequence of an action flick." Sonic chuckled softly as he turned back to face the princess with a smile.
"Sonic… I know what you're going to try and say but you know I can't…" She closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. "I can't stay here with you. I need to return to my home. To my family."
"Whoa whoa whoa, weren't you listening to me?" Sonic asked, chuckling softly as his girlfriend turned to face him. "I don't want you to abandon anything or anyone. You have a job to do and I respect that. All I'm asking for is if I can tag along for the ride?"
"Sonic…" Blaze spoke quietly, shaking her head. "You know you can come and visit me whenever you wish so I don't know why you bothered asking."
"You're just not getting it Blaze." Sonic spoke quietly, stepping before the princess before he slowly got down onto a single knee, taking the lavender cat's hand into his own, causing her eyes to widen. "I don't want to visit you or make appointments or any of that nonsense. I want to be with you. I love you more than anything else I can think of. Hell… I love you more than I love chilidogs!" Sonic spoke with a small laugh as he reached into his pants pocket with his free hand, pulling out a small box. "So Blaze, will you marry me?"
The feline stood quietly before the hedgehog for a long time, silent, watching his eyes as his smile never falter before she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "You're such a fool…"
Hearing these words, Sonic's smile quickly faded as he blinked several times in confusion before he began to rub the back of his head. "Well… that wasn't quiet the reaction I was hoping for…"
Blaze quickly pulled her hand away as she turned her body away from the hedgehog, sighing softly. "Sonic, your place is here on Mobius. You have your friends, your family, your kingdom, you have too much to lose by coming with me and I don't want you to give up anything to be with me."
"Wait, are you kidding me?" Sonic asked, quickly getting onto his feet. "I'm not giving up anything. If anything, I would be giving up you if I don't go with you and I don't want to do that."
"You're the protector of this world Sonic!" Blaze shouted as she turned back towards the blue hedgehog. "You're the one person everyone in this world looks up to and respects and calls to. Are you just going to leave this place completely unprotected?"
"Did you forget that Knuckles, Shadow, Amy and everyone else is here to defend the world? Hell, Tails is here. Did you forget about him? He's stronger than all of us including me. This world is safe. That's why I feel confident to leave this place behind because I know its in good hands."
"Oh don't give me that bullshit." Blaze hissed, turning away from Sonic once again, pacing towards the large oak tree. "You just want an excuse to go to Solaria to goof around and explore."
Sonic couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he wiped his nose. "Hehehe, well there is some truth to that."
"See!" Blaze shouted as she huffed softly, folding her arms. "I can't believe this… using a proposal as an excuse to continue dating me to leave this world completely unprotected and completely unguarded and-" But Blaze was cut short by the blue hedgehog quickly reached out, taking her by her shoulder to turn her around to face him, his face showing a sternness rarely given off by Sonic. "S-Sonic…"
"Blaze… I know you're scared. Deep down, you don't want to leave because you know what would happen. You know with you back in your dimension holding up your throne while I stayed here and continued being me, we would drift apart and you don't want that." As Blaze fought to turn her head away she found Sonic's hand gripping the bottom of her chin, turning her face back towards his. "The truth is, I don't want that and believe it or not, I've been planning this for a long time, ever since I talked to your mom."
"You spoke to my mother?" Blaze asked softly as Sonic gave a quick nod. "Then you know my family history and you know what my family has done and that the Kaji are is a clan soaked in the blood of others and bathe in reckless abandonment and senseless pride in war and violence. Its who we are…" She turned down, closing her eyes as she spoke. "Sonic… if you were to marry me, you would become a part of my family. You would become a Kaji and so would our children… there's no escaping this fate and I want to spare you from it. I don't want to see you suffer and nor would I want our children to suffer and I-" But before she could finish she found her lips firmly pressed against Sonic's causing her to pause for a moment as tears began to well up in her eyes.
As Sonic pulled away, he smiled softly, gently caressing Blaze's cheek as he pressed her head against his own. "Blaze I'm well aware of all this and I'm even more aware of your plan to change all of that." Hearing these words, Blaze's eyes quickly widened as Sonic smirked softly. "Yeah, you're mom told me what you plan to do and you know what, I'm sick and tired of telling you this but I suppose once more couldn't hurt. You don't have to do everything alone Blaze. I'm not just another hedgehog, I'm your friend and I want to help you no matter what it takes and frankly, you need my help. When you get stressed you can't even tell your left from your right so you totally need me around to help keep you cool as me."
"Idiot…" Blaze spoke softly, biting her bottom lip. "Why… why me? There are so many other women in the world you could love… why are you so fixated on me?"
Sonic took a deep breath, smiling softly. "Well I could get coy or sarcastic or say something stupid but instead I'll tell you the truth. Amy, as cute and loving as she is, doesn't understand me. She continued to try and force me to be something I'm not for the longest time. Sally… she was my very first love and I will always hold a piece of her in my heart but like Amy, she continued to try and force me into positions I didn't want to be in. All those other girls… well… it just wasn't meant to be." Sonic chuckled softly as he closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Blaze with the feline watching the hedgehog closely, their forehead still pressed against each other gently. "Blaze… you're the only person who's ever seen me for what I am and accepted me for it. You've never once tried to change me or never once tried to subjugate me and my ideas. You've always supported me and even when we had our arguments and fights, you would do your own thing and let me do mine and that's what I love and respect about you the most. You want to be seen as you and not your title and I want to be seen as me and not as some prince that needs to follow the orders and ideas of others and people who don't agree with us and don't support us can piss right off, right?" Sonic asked, chuckling softly as Blaze stood quietly, listening to Sonic speak. "So… yea. Not sure how else to say it Blaze. You love me for me and I love you for you and while we may find each other annoying at times, neither of us want to change the other person to better suit our needs and that's why I'm so attracted to you. No one and I mean NO ONE has ever understood the way you have… well at least no other female has but you know what, if it's a crime for me to love a girl and want to be with her because of how beautiful she is on the inside as well as the out then you might as well lock me up in jail right now baby because that's not going to change."
"You're… You're still a fool…" Blaze let out with a small smile, closing her eyes. "And I love that about you. Truly. Its as you said, you're the only person who has ever accepted me for me and love me for being who I am and more importantly, you've never once tried to tell me what I should and shouldn't be other than happy and I truly, deeply, love you from the bottom of my heart…"
"Ditto." Sonic couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Blaze wrapped her arms around his body. "But, you never answered my question Blaze."
Blaze let out a small sigh, nodding as she kissed his forehead and nodded, stepping back. "Ask me again." Sonic nodded quickly, smiling softly as he quickly got back down on a single knee before Blaze rose her hand. "But ask me the way a prince would."
Sonic blinked in confusion before he gave a small grin and nodded. "Hehe, sure-"
"And you have to have to use your real name."
"Hehehe well alright if you want me to be formal but-"
"I'm talking about your REAL name." Hearing these words, Sonic's smirk quickly faded as Blaze giggled softly, showing a smirk of her own. "Before you ask, your brother and mother told me."
"Damn them…" Sonic spoke, letting out a small growl as his fist began to shake. "I told them never to tell anyone. How long have you-"
"Since we were 20 years old." Hearing Sonic's groan, Blaze giggled softly, "Look, I know you hate it but it's something I love about you. I like that name and I wish you did too and you know what, if you're going to propose to me, you need to do it the way I've always envisioned it.
Sonic let out a small sigh as a blush began to show on his cheeks. "Do I have to?"
"Do you love me?"
The blue hedgehog was ready to make a retort but seeing the happy smile shown on Blaze's face, stopped him in his tracks as he smiled and let out a small sigh. "Ok… Princess Blaze Lily Kaji, would you please take my hand in marriage, the hand of Prince Olgilvie Maurice Hedgehog as your husband to love and cherish until long past our days of this world?"
Blaze nodded with a small smile as Sonic slowly opened the small box, showing a diamond studded, 24k gold ring. "Yes… yes of course I'll marry you you dummy."
"Yeah well I'm your dummy for now and ever ever." Sonic let out with a chuckle, removing the gloves from the princess's hands before slipping the ring onto her left ring finger with a bright smile."
"You know, because you're marrying into my family, I was supposed to be the one to ask you to marry me."
"Well I beat ya to it." Sonic said with a smile, standing back up.
"Yes… yes you did…" Blaze spoke softly, looking down towards the ring as tears began to flow down her cheeks, her body shaking slightly. As Sonic watched the feline before him, he slowly began to raise his hands to comfort her before finding himself wrapped tightly with the crying arms of the princess, their lips pressed firmly against each other causing the blue hedgehog to give a bright smile as he wrapped his arms around her body, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around slowly in the kiss. As the two broke the kiss, both laughed softly in the moment with Blaze nuzzling against Sonic gently. "I love you Sonic."
"Heh, back at'cha Blaze."
A brown raccoon gave a small yawn, covered in a large white shirt as she wiped her eyes, walking quietly down the hallway leading towards a light coming from an open door. As she neared the entrance, the countless different sounds echoed throughout the hallway, causing the female to hold her hands to her head, growling softly before she stepped through the doorway, looking down the stairs spotting a yellow fox standing before a metallic archway, taking a glowing blue energy drill towards the machine.
"Tails!" The female called out, cupping her hands around her mouth, receiving no reply, "Tails! Ack Damnit!" She growled softly, raising her hands, flicking the lights on and off rapidly as she continued shouting. "Tails! Ay yo! TAILS!"
The fox blinked as he quickly wiped his head around towards the basement staircase, spotting the brown and black raccoon standing at the top, calling for him. He sighed softly, turning off his drill as he stood up, turning completely towards her. "Hey Marine, seriously don't do that. I could have seriously damaged myself with that drill you know."
"Oy!" The raccoon shouted, folding her arms as she narrowed her eyes, making her way down the stairs. "Hey it ain't my fault! You're the bloke that's keepin me up all night with all that racket! It's like what, 2 in the A.M. Look, a sheila's is grateful and all for letting me crash here but I do needs sleep foxie."
Tails blushed gently as he let out a small sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah sorry… I just rushed straight here and started working. I didn't mean to wake you up."
"Ugh well I'm awake now." Marine stated with a small groan, looking up at the large hollow archway. "What the hell are ya building anyways? Don't know what it is but it looks like a beaut'!"
Tails nodded with a small smile as he folded his arms, turning towards his machine. "With this, we won't need the emeralds to cross dimensions anymore…"
