A/N: Hello once again! Today I bring you a hell of a one-shot that was inspired by a prompt on otpprompts over on tumblr. I'd share the prompt, but it kind of spoils the ending, so if you're curious as to what the prompt was you can find it at the end of the fic!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Sonic series, or the song featured in this fic. (You'll see.)
Again, thanks to otpprompts for the inspiration! Now let's cut the crap and give you your story!
…
Soleanna truly was a sight to behold on a cloudless day. The tourist smiled as he took it in for a moment or two before taking off in a burst of speed. To everyone else, he was a blur passing through the town. But to him, an array of colors flashed passed him with every second, and it was absolutely breathtaking… Just after he crossed one of the many bridges tying the town together, he was getting ready to stop and take it all in again—!
"Hello!" Chimed a familiar face jumping in front of him. Green eyes widened as he clenched his teeth in anxiety as he flailed and scrapped his feet against the ground with a louuuud SKIIIIIIIID to a stop. He regained his balance, and then sighed inaudibly, full of relief. His childhood friend slammed her arms to her sides angrily with her hands balled into fists. Just before he did something similar and put his hands on his hips and glared at her.
"You're looking at ME like that?!" The red dress-wearing teen spoke out. "YOU'RE the one who could've ran me over just now and you still didn't speak! You didn't even shout!"
The blue hedgehog's upper body shook for just a second like he laughed without sound. He lifted his arms up in a shrug with a smug smile on his face, shaking his head as he did so. Amy groaned and started walking off, only for Sonic to jump in front of her and walk backwards while remaining in her line of sight.
It had been this game ever since they were kids. Amy, being the infatuated and lovesick hedgehog she was, couldn't help it. She knew there was a way. After all, Tails had told her once she started questioning things.
Sonic the Hedgehog was a mute. A mute by choice, of course, but still a mute. And the only reason they knew that was because Tails was the only one who had heard him speak. Which were the words "Tails", where the nickname came from, and "I don't want to" when it came to him not speaking. Everyone respected this… except Amy. Debatably. She respected it! She was just… overly curious. And after she explained it after ticking the mute hedgehog off, he grew to find her attempts endearing. To him, it was kinda sweet. How it became a game.
But all games have an end. Though, it wasn't after Sonic's trip to Soleanna.
When he turned into some sort of werehog beast thanks to energy coming out of the planet, Amy tried tickling him to make him laugh. No luck.
She had an entire date with him planned to try and get him to speak next time, but it was ruined by some weird "King Arthur" book trip? No luck there.
Another perfect date place for her and Sonic was ruined the day before it opened officially. Mostly because it was more planet kidnappings and was involved in the abuse of alien life forms, but it was still a loss for her dream of hearing Sonic speak.
And any attempts on trying to get him to talk on his 16th birthday were ruined by Eggman, OF COURSE, just as soon as the party began.
Amy had no points, and Sonic had all of them right then. When trouble struck again with Eggman kidnapping animals and taking them to some place called… Lost Hex? She thought about trying it, but didn't push it.
To be honest, she didn't honestly understand why Tails made Sonic a version of the Miles Electric when he didn't speak, but she understood once she saw him on webcam and he made motions to help her understand him. Once again, his choice to never speak was… endearing.
Even as the sky grew dark, and the air grew cold and dead… his way of speaking made everything easier. At least for a moment.
That moment was taken away. As things got worse, Amy found it difficult to stand. Sit.Breathe. In this moment, she clenched the device her two tailed friend had made and used all her might to press the call button. She didn't know if it was a bad time, and it was… but the hero found a place to stop and talk.
"It's… It's too late for us, Sonic…" As she spoke, his expression as it warped said enough."Save the world… and kick some b-b-butt for all of us…!"
He clenched his device tightly. And when the connection cut off at the worst time possible, his heart imploded slightly, and the only sound to be heard was his wind pipe as he panted in panic and sorrow. Because this was his fault…
… And Zavok was right behind him.
After a long while of fighting and more pain to go through, Sonic the Hedgehog finally made it to the end. The energy of their world was free again… and Sonic just wanted to go home.
Once Tails landed the Tornado, Sonic took off running. He wanted to know that Knuckles was okay. That the flickies were okay. … That Amy was okay.
After zig-zagging all throughout Green Hill Zone in his panic, there was a silver lining.
"Sonic!" Knuckles called between and past a few trees. Sonic skid to a stop, and changed direction immediately. Already, he saw that a few flickies were fine, as Knuckles waved at him. It was enough to change his expression and give him a wide smile. He held onto his red echidna friend with a tilted head, and the echidna knew as well as anyone that knew Sonic that this meant — are you okay?
"Yeah. I'm not the one you should be worried about, blue…" The words Knuckles said froze everything for the hero of the hour. He reluctantly moved his eyes over to his left side, his heart turning as cold as ice when he saw what Knuckles was getting at.
"… It's Amy."
Green eyes shrunk as his mouth hung open silently. She was just… lying there. Motionless. He rushed to her side as she was still lying on the ground with the Miles Electric besides her. Tails had finally landed, and waved hi to Knuckles when he saw it, too, and was taken off guard. He… he shook slightly as he hesitated before moving her. Tilting her onto her back to shake her lightly. He opened his mouth, and closed it. Opened his mouth, and closed it.
As Tails moved closer to see him try it a second time… he saw that he even moved his lips to what he wanted to say…
Amy. It couldn't have been anything else.
After the third try, he looked up at Tails for advice. Oh, those eyes hurt the two tailed fox to look at. Eyes so coated with guilt and fear.
"Sonic, calm down.. She's still breathing. But the fact that Knuckles got up before she did leads me to believe something more is going on than just a nap.. Now c'mon. There's a hospital around here, isn't there? Let's go get help!"
…
It didn't take them long to get help with Sonic's legs and the Tornado. The nearest hospital, albeit small, but the Team Sonic Trio didn't really care at the moment soon had Amy as their patient.
As they ran tests on her, the trio waited in the waiting room like everyone else. Knuckles had a staring contest with the floor because of the two people next to him that made it hard to try and be positive about the situation. Tails twisted his tails and fiddled with them out of anxiety, like he'd always do, but it was worse. Because of Sonic. Who was pacing the entire waiting room.
It only took a half hour for the door to her hospital room to open up again. A duck with an eyepatch stepped out, holding a clipboard.
"Boys." He spoke clearly, "Please. Come in. I'll explain what's going on."
Despite the panic running through the hedgehog's veins, the entire team walked into the room together. Knuckles shut it firmly. And the doctor sighed to himself. It was obvious he hated breaking bad news to people.
"… Your friend is in a coma." The doctor finally breathed out. The air became stiff the instant that reached the team's ears. "We suspect simply because of the stress her body was put under, from what you've told us. We have no idea when she'll wake up; like most comas. Probably just… when her body naturally rests enough to get rid of the stress."
The hedgehog to blame clenched his fists tight. His face warped into anger… self-hatred… he quickly lowered his head, and his best friend asked something on his behalf after watching his movements and having it hurt his heart even more.
"… Will we be allowed to visit her? A-and told when she wakes up?" He asked quietly.
"Well, of course you can visit. And we'll notify you right away. Don't worry."
Tails patted his best friend on the shoulder, making green eyes look at him with that same guilt and now? Sadness. The two tailed fox gave the hedgehog a sad smile, hoping it'd give him some hope.
"She'll be okay, Sonic… she'll be okay."
…
The hope Tails tried to give the group lasted only a month. And the team, and more of Amy's friends, visited her often. Hope was dwindling that she would come back to them soon. Only the most optimistic kept waiting. Everyone else was stuck back in despair.
".. Amy's been asleep for a while…" Mumbled Tails as they left the hospital, out of words to say as Sonic nodded. "Even the Doctor looks unnerved at the fact that she's been in a coma for a month…
"If only there was something we could do to wake her up…"
And with that little comment from Tails, Sonic's face lit up with an idea. Smile and all.
"What's up, Sonic?" The fox kit asked, tails twitching happily at the fact that he smiled… but then he was grabbed and dragged along for a ride to make the hedgehog's plan work.
…
The two brothers-in-soul, a month later, barged into Amy's hospital room with Sonic pirouetting and jumping to music. Music coming out of a CD player Tails was holding as he marched in after Sonic. The hedgehog moved and danced to the music with perfect timing, ending with a big finish— a move keeping him on his toes until the music stopped… and a pose! A big, flashy pose!
His twin tailed helper pressed the stop button after as the twinkletoed hedgehog wobbled. His smile was fading, but he fought to keep it on as it tried to melt it's way off.
"Amy, Amy! Look! Sonic knows ballet!" He cheered. "He learned it for you!"
… No response. Same old heart monitor beeping away to make sure she was still alive. Same old chest rising and falling as she breathed. Sonic broke out of his flashy pose with his mouth hanging open and defeat and upset written on his forehead in sharpie. Tails sighed, and grabbed Sonic's hand to drag him out of Amy's room all over again before the depression settled in.
"Come on. Let's go talk to Dr. Quack.." He said.
And the news they heard was more grim than ever before.
"… Our medical staff have all lost hope in this being a quick recovery, boys. I'm sorry that I had to tell you that after Sonic learned ballet for the poor girl, but.. it's the truth. We're expecting her to be staying here for a while. Years? As long as her lifespan? Who knows.
"You boys and everyone else can still visit, of course. But don't… expect a response."
… For once, Tails couldn't stay positive for his friends in this situation. For once, he was the one who fell into despair. His ears drooped. His posture slumped. And Sonic was close to crying.
Letting go of his brother's hand, Miles "Tails" Prower walked out of the hospital for the umpteenth time in the last 2 months. While Sonic… stopped his tears.
"Come on, Sonic…" Said the downtrodden fox boy. "Let's go home.."
… The hedgehog nodded, but planned to use his speed to his advantage. He glanced down the hallway again, clenching his hands tightly into fists.
No. He wasn't going to give up here. There had to be something. Something he could do to bring her back to them. He rushed to her room, standing in the doorframe with a hand resting on it as he listened to her heart monitor and watched her sleep.
There had to be something he could do to wake her up. Bring her back.
… And his eyes widened when he finally figured out what. He bit his lip. Fidgeted and paced as he hated hated HATED the idea of doing that…!
… But he turned around, looking at the sleeping beauty of the room again before looking at the floor.
… If it'd bring her back… he'd do anything.
…
This dream felt like it was lasting forever. Amy had no idea how long she had been in this haunted house, but being in this old formal dress was starting to annoy her. And dancing day in and day out was growing old. It was always late in the day when she had to dance, not all the time, but she was growing tired of it.
It was always the same type of dance, too. A rotational waltz where every time the song repeated, you had to get a new partner. She was one of the starting dancers. Every time.
At least this time she danced with a friend. The two girls bowed to each other, then started the steps. The same old steps… The girl she was dancing with was still happy about the ritual she was apart of. While Amy was just… apathetic. She wanted it over. In her head, right now, all she heard was the same turned out music. It was synonymous with "yadda yadda yadda".
She went through one partner, and another partner, and another partner. But suddenly, grainy music, like… music from a radio separated itself from the victorian age tunes. It sounded… modern. Like something from… home. She didn't know why, but she closed her eyes and mumbled to respond to it. She followed the music, letting it lead her as her partner to be left her as if they were all automated and not real…
She followed the music to find a mysterious stranger sitting on a chair against the wall. She couldn't make out his shape… it was like the dream she was in couldn't attach a face to him… and she'd soon find out why.
"I'm not a perfect person…" He sang out, softly. Almost like a whisper. The voice had her completely taken by surprise. Who was this…? She'd.. she'd never heard it before! The teenager in awe wanted to step forward, but couldn't. It was as if her feet were stone. Kept in place.
"I never meant to do those things to you…" He continued to sing. Amy decided to close her eyes and just listen since she couldn't move. She questioned why, but her concern faded with the music.
"And so I have to say before I go….
That I just want you to know….!
I found a reason for me…" The more she listened to the lyrics.. the more she felt like, from how they were being sung.. there was some sort of meaning behind them? Oh, who did this poor man hurt…? Whoever it was, he cared about them a whole awful lot… hopefully whoever he was singing this for in his heart would forgive him for whatever he did. Amy was buried in sympathy as she listened to the stranger's song.
"To change who I used to be…!" Was he getting louder and stronger with his lyrics, as well? Or was she just getting more skilled and tuning out the fancy party behind her?
"A reason to start over new…!" She decided not to think on it too hard and just ease into the stranger's song, more and more.
"And the reason is you…" .. It was almost like this stranger was tugging her away from the prison she was in at the moment….
"I've found a reason to show…!" … Now that she thought about it… she WAS tugged away from the dancing purgatory she was in…! She couldn't hear that music anymore! Just the stranger's…
"A side of me you didn't know…!
A reason for all that I do…" … And now she found it hard to open her eyes at all..! She wanted to see if her mind could put a face to the stranger yet… but she couldn't move, couldn't see… she struggled to fight for her sight…
"And the reason is you…" With that last line… she put in more of an effort. This stranger sounded closer. Louder. Saddened. She wanted to help whoever it was so badly…!When….
"… Amy…" The stranger muttered. "Please come home…"
It was then when her struggles finally had weight. She moaned. She groaned. She tossed a little, turned… her body felt heavy. She felt like she had slept forever…! She heard her serenading stranger gasp audibly… just before she opened her eyes to see..
"… Sonic…?" She mumbled tiredly. "What're you doing here…? What happened to the zeti…? Your stuff on Lost Hex…?"
Sonic didn't respond at first. Old habits. He smiled. A small smile, but… he smiled! It grew in his excitement. Especially since… the thing that did it was…!
"Amy…!" He spoke, "You're back…!"
The pink hedgehog blinked, a little late on the uptake.
"… Y-you've…" Sonic hesitated again, before he walked up to her bed to stand there by her side to have Amy grab his hand and hold it instead, besides the uptake lag. "You've been in a coma… for 3 months. According to the doctor… your body couldn't handle the stress Eggman's machine put you under so you slept until you were better? Something like that…"
Amy blinked again. Sonic kept talking. There was a buzzing noise… a very quiet radio playing on one of her in-tables.
"Man. Me and the gang tried so many things to get you to come to… none of it worked. … You have any ideas on what got through finally?"
Instead of blinking, her eyes went wide. Sonic tilted his head instead of just… asking what was up. He wasn't used to this whole… talking thing.
"… Oh my god…!" Said Amy, her voice raising in volume and her spunk coming back.
"… what?" Sonic finally asked.
"You're…! You're TALKING!" Amy shouted finally.
"…Yeah!" He responded enthusiastically. "I thought that'd get you to come to! … Was I right?"
She nodded several times, her mind waking up more and more. And then something else clicked.
"… That singing! That… "side of me you didn't know" song—!"
"You heard that, too?!"
"That was YOU?!"
"Y-yeah!" He nervously answered, SO not used to talking. He blushed a little bit at the fact that Amy just heard him sing. "It came on the radio and I like the song so I just… went for it since I was already here to talk to you, so…"
"S-S-Sonic, you're… you're TALKING! You sung, you talked, you're talking…!" She stopped, then put her hands over her heart, "And you did it to wake me up…?"
The hedgehog wanted to nod a few times, but… he stopped himself and spoke instead.
"… Yeah. I… figured, if anything would get you up, it'd be my voice, so… I went for it! … I'm glad it worked, Amy. I'm glad you're home."
Tears formed in Amy's eyes as she sniffled. Sonic kept smiling, stuck in an endless sea of nervousness and happiness.
"… My voice probably isn't anything you were expecting, huh? It's not… annoying you, is it?" Sonic asked, nervousness taking over.
"No no no!" Asserted Amy as she sat up, reaching over to the blue hedgehog as quick as she could.
"Take it easy on yourself, Ames—!" Sonic said quickly.
As a response, the pink hedgehog slowed down for him, wrapping her arms around his neck gently. Hugging him.
"I love your voice!" She said happily, her tears finally dripping down her muzzle. Sonic breathed out a laugh, his heart going 90 miles per hour and his muzzle almost as red as her usual dress and keeping from from returning the hug until about a second later. She sniffled into his shoulder, and Sonic enjoyed the hug for a good while.
After that, Sonic used his voice to tell the hospital staff Amy had woken up, much to their surprise that he was speaking. He also used it to tell his friends to get the same reaction out of most of them. Also a frequently asked question — "What made you want to speak, Sonic?"
And his answer was simple.
"If it saves one of my best friends, then I'm never gonna mute myself again!"
…
Original Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP as a mute-by-choice, and hasn't spoken for years due to some even in their past. Person B is determined to hear their voice for the first time, and tries everything they can think of, including yelling, to try to get them to speak. One day, Person B is in an accident and falls into a coma. For weeks/months/years, Person A visits. The doctors say it's hopeless and Person B will never regain consciousness. Person A, determined not to lose their love, practices speaking until they feel they've gotten it right, and goes to Person B in hopes that they'll finally give Person B what they needed to wake up again.
- otpprompts
DATE WRITTEN: December 14th, 2014