A/N
Truth be told this isn't the first time I've done an STH fic like this, my first 'aftermath' SatAM oneshot being All's Well That Ends Well. Still, with a different character being the focus of the story and admittedly a degree of inspiration taken from Terminator, Star Wars and my own morbid imagination, hopefully it's different enough.
Candle
If they win, they'll be remembered. The Freedom Fighters. The heroes of Mobius, the saviours of all that's decent and good (which isn't much nowadays, courtesy of Robotnik's rule). They'll be remembered for their missions into Robotropolis, of defying the odds. Of defeating armies of machines and saving innocents from the roboticizer. How they liberated robians from slavery, how they protected the vestiges of their former culture.
Of course, that's if they win. History is written by the victor after all.
Funny really, how Sonic is the one who'll be getting most of the credit should this occur, yet thinks about it the least. She's never thought of him as modest, but the future doesn't interest him. If history will be written, others can write it, thank you very much. She can be one of them if she desires.
She supposes she will. She's used to writing, or at least as far as writing up missions plans goes. Could she do her friends justice? Perhaps, provided that she focuses on what's deemed historically relevant rather than what's truly important. The sound of their voices, their hopes, their dreams, their personalities...If freedom is achieved rather than her becoming one of Robotnik's metal slaves, perhaps she'll take a shot at it.
Once again, there's that key word..."if." And although Robotnik is on the ropes, Snively having let most of his empire fall apart while his master was in the Void, he's not going down without a fight. Robotropolis is still a ruined city, but for reasons other than the havoc the Destroyer wrought a decade ago. Lasers, bombs, mines...scorched earth is the order of the day. If Robotnik can't control something, he destroys it. Simple as that.
Things calm down during the night at least. They hold hands then, watching as yet another SWATbot factory is destroyed. They don't talk, but they dream. Both of them. Together.
Some things change. Some things don't. Sonic going out on unannounced trips is one of them, making her annoyed officially and worried unofficially. Tails often goes with him, having become a recognized Freedom Fighter. A bonus in some respects, but a drawback in others. Without Tails in Knothole, who's she going to tell bedtime stories to? True, the fox is a bit old for them nowadays, but still...she misses it. She misses innocence.
And as her outbursts of "where the hell were you?!" fail to hide when the two return, she misses Sonic especially.
She shouldn't be worried. The hedgehog seems to lead a charmed life. If he's ever been seriously injured, she can't remember it. Sure, the last ten-plus years have been monotonous, but Sonic being in a state other than "way past cool" isn't something she remembers. A shame really. Not only would that give her more ammunition in her lectures about not going adventuring without telling the Freedom Fighters where he is, but it would have prepared her for what's coming. In the old days, Robotnik took prisoners for roboticization. Nowadays however, attrition is the order of the day. And with a united mobian front pouring into Robotropolis, the doctor has shown to be equally adept at taking life as he was when it came to altering it.
And she thought nothing was worse than roboticization...
"Aww come on Aunt Sally. You won't die. There's too much for us to do."
She can't help but smile at that. Even now, Tails can hold on to his innocence. Lucky bastard. Oh sure, her friends provide her with words of comfort, but they're all hollow. Kind of like this war really. Hollow. Robotnik's lost, so he's intent on making sure as many "vermin" go down with him.
Knothole is alight. Not aflame like many sections of Robotropolis, but with candles. One for each death. Dulcy lights them, her flame the fastest and most effective way of lighting them all. There's just so many...
Didn't Robotnik control most of Mobius? Given the amount of mobians battling against him, perhaps this was an exaggeration. A shame really. It would cut down on their losses.
Do SWATbots have dreams?
In the past, if she'd heard such a question, she'd ask a question of her own. Something along the lines of "what? Of course they don't!" But now however...
Robotnik's been defeated. The fight was long, the fight was hard, but in the end, he bit the bullet. Or laser technically. Impaled by his own sword so to speak. After all, he was always careless with his technology...
SWATbots included.
It's crawling towards her. It's lost its legs, an arm (the one with its wrist-laser thankfully) and its visor, usually light red, is dim. It doesn't have much time left.
"Anything in there?" she asks.
It doesn't say anything. No orders of "surrender all hope and prepare to be roboticized in the name of the Great Doctor Robotnik," no exclamations of "Priority One! Hedgehog!". It simply crawls.
"Do you want to live? There's still time you know. Rotor would love to work on you."
No answer. It just crawls.
"Well?!" she shouts. "Do you even care?!"
In the end, it expires on its own accord. Privately she's grateful. It's the closest way to let nature take its course. But the questions remain. Was it afraid to die? Could it even process such emotions? There was never even a shred of evidence over the years for such a thing, but if by some remote chance Robotnik had seen fit to give his creations emotions...
...well, suffice to say there'd be many more candles in Knothole.
Even after the war, they look to her.
They don't live in Robotropolis of course. Too polluted, too dark, still too dangerous. Besides, Knothole's been their home for so long, it's hard to let go.
She looks around. Far more children than there were when the war ended a decade ago. People are far more willing to bring a child into the world now that the world is so much safer. Society's being rebuilt from the ground up and they want to give birth to a new generation who can experience that. But someone needs to lead this generation and as heir to the Throne of Acorn and with no chance of getting her father out of the Void, she's that individual. Someone has to direct the reconstruction efforts.
Not that people can't have fun now. Rotor's free to tinker away in his workshop, Dulcy can practice her landings without fear of hover units, Bunnie can reap the benefits of a fully-functional de-roboticizer and Antoine can live in a world where his lack of courage isn't so much of an issue. As for Sonic and Tails...well, Mobius is a big place. They're always able to find a new adventure.
A good life, to be sure. But still different from the one the next generation will lead. They won't have to live in fear. They won't have to fight against machines. They won't...well, they won't have to do a lot of things. She's happy for them, but slightly envious too.
A new dawn has come for Mobius and even in the dead of night, writing the history book she swore to so long ago, she knows it. Not from the light of the stars, of a sky free from pollution, but from a smaller source of light. A candle. The same design as those to honour the dead, but for a different reason entirely. A reason that she's reminded of every time her dearest friend, that good-for-nothing hedgehog returns, the two repeating their actions after the fall of the Doomsday Project.
It's a reason that allows her to move on. A reason that, despite all she's seen and done, despite the loss of innocence, allows her to live her life. For both of them to live their lives. A reason that is given by the candle.
Because for all the power of the dark, its lingering influence, its destruction of innocence, in the heart of its strength lies one weakness. One lone candle is enough to hold it back.
Love is that candle. And joining Sonic and Tails at the table with a platter of chilli dogs, of generations both old and new, an image of past and future combined, she knows that candle will never die.
After all, love is more than a candle.
Love can ignite the stars.