Christmas on Angel Island

Rated T for mature-ish-ness

By Miz Yin

(Okay, I'm horrible at these...Uh...A quick one-shot about, well, to put it bluntly, our favorite echidna feeling a bit emo and alone on Christmas. Forgive me for saying 'Christmas'; it bothers me a bit, too, but...I'm not going to go all Gaia on you and say X-mas. It's Christmas for the story, whether we like it or not. Boo. Once you get about halfway through the fic, something crazy happens. Major plot twist. Big trouble. Very sad. And it's not suicide. Bah. If only it was that easy. It should be easy to see from the beginning, but...some of you won't see it. I'm sorry. I promise that I'll try to make this story easy to understand. Don't worry; I don't really kill off any canon characters. I'd never do that...okay, I would, but I won't now. Maybe. Okay, will you read it now? Okay, good.)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic franchise. Trust me, if I did, Rouge would be dead and that revolting piece of crap for the 360 and the PS3 would have never seen daylight. That thing reads like a horrible Mary Sue fic written by a horny Sonicphiliac twelve year old...Anyway...on to the story.

(Oh; I forgot to say...there will be no emo cutting. Scouts' Honor.)

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It was cold. In December, that was one of those things you could count on. Even on the floating isle, there was snow everywhere. If anything, being on Angel Island was colder than being down in Station Square, seeing as it was at a higher altitude. But that was beside the point; the point was, it was cold.

Knuckles the Echidna was on Angel Island that night. And he, too, thought it was cold.

But for Knuckles, it was more than just the cold that bothered him.

As he lived at the Master Emerald Shrine, he had no proper bed. He slept in a small nook formed by some fallen rocks. It served him well in the summer; keeping out the harsh rays of the sun, but in the winter, it was practically useless. As he lay there, surrounded by snow, he simply wished for sleep.

It wasn't odd that he wasn't asleep that night; on the contrary, some nights he just didn't sleep. Sometimes he wouldn't sleep for weeks at a time. Tonight, however, he did want to sleep, and sleep just wouldn't come.

Knuckles felt alone that night, more so than he had in a very long time. Now, his friends' absence, or rather, his absence from his friends, was completely his fault; he knew that. That wasn't the loneliness he felt.

"Hey Knux, why don't you spend Christmas with us, at my place? I know it's probably really cold up there at the shrine—"

"No, Sonic, I can't." Knuckles shook his head.

"But Knuckles, it's so cold up there! You'll surely freeze to death!" Tails' eyes looked fearful.

"I don't need more badgering from you too, Tails! I've lived at that shrine, in the same damn place, for my entire life!" his paws were clenched into fists, "I think I can handle a weekend at my own home!"

"But Knux..." Sonic looked worried as well.

"But nothing, Sonic! I don't need to be your charity case! I don't even celebrate my own birthday anymore; do you think I'd abandon my post for a minute just for something as trivial as Christmas!?"

"I think someone's being a bit Scrooge-y."

"Tails, this has nothing to do with Christmas! Come on, are you stupid or something?! I can't abandon my post! I can't leave, even for a moment! I...can't." Knuckles hung his head and turned away, "So just go. Go have your fun. I...have to stay here." Even as he stood there, they could see him shivering. Despite their efforts, Knuckles had refused even a scarf.

Sonic gave a look to Tails; a look of 'what else can we say?' The two turned to leave. Right before the plane took off, Sonic turned to Knuckles, still facing away, still shivering, "The offer still stands, buddy. Come if you want to. If not... see you in a week or so."

"In a week or so," Knuckles shook his head and scoffed at the parting gesture as the two flew off, "They wouldn't even..."

"...wouldn't even...Stay...with...me. Stay...with..." Knuckles awoke to the sound of his own voice. He sat up, confused, "Did I...want that? Did I want...them to...stay?"

Knuckles had always considered himself to be a rather single-minded echidna. Guard the Master Emerald, and that was all. That was all he needed to do. That was his destiny. Do that and he should stay happy and contented. But after he had met Sonic and his obnoxious bunch, just guarding the Master Emerald hadn't been enough. After meeting them, he was never content to just guard. He wasn't supposed to feel that way, but he acknowledged that he did indeed feel that way.

Knuckles pulled himself up on one of the rocks, surprised at how easy it was to get up. He was usually quite stiff when he woke up. He walked over to the pedestal the Master Emerald was resting on. The slight glow it gave off was almost warming; almost, but no real heat came off it. It was still as cold as ever.

Every time he thought of that ache he felt when he was alone, he wondered if his ancestors had felt that way. "Of course not," was always the answer. His ancestors had always had the security of an entire village behind them. There was hundreds of their kind around back then.

He thought of the first time he had seen that village, in a memory given to him by his ancestor, Tikal. He obviously had no memory of the village before then. He wondered who his mother was; if she had been somewhere in that memory. "Of course not," was the answer again. He had been born long after that time, and knowing his perpetually cruel destiny, she had died right after he was hatched, or maybe even right after his egg was laid.

He wondered if Tails or Sonic remembered their mothers. He knew Cream did; her mother was still alive and kicking; he had even met her before. Tails probably remembered his mother; for all he knew, she could still be alive, and she could be at Sonic's house right now, giving him cookies or something disgusting like that.

He wished his mother had given him cookies.

He'd heard stories about Sonic's mother. Supposedly she looked a bit like Amy; she was pink, at least. Knuckles wondered if his mother was pink, or maybe gold, like Tikal. He'd never heard anything about Sonic's father, though. In fact, he'd never heard much about any of their fathers. Maybe they were all deadbeats that left their mates after breeding.

Mansluts. Men should mate for life.

He wondered if Amy had a mother or father, and if so, were they proud of her? He wondered if Shadow had ever thought of someone as a parent. He doubted it, but it was possible. If not a parent, was Professor Gerald Robotnik ever proud of Shadow? Were the other's parents proud of simple achievements, like learning to walk, or their first words? He had always been proud of himself...but nobody had been there to be proud with him. He wondered if Rouge remembered her parents...

He thought of Rouge. God, he hated her. But it was a special hate. He didn't hate her like he hated Dr. Robotnik, or like he hated The Tails Doll. He didn't think he could really hate a real someone like he hated The Tails Doll. Besides, Rouge had a nice rack. Not that he ever looked or anything. "Celibate," and he smacked himself on the head. He didn't even feel it. "Too numb, I guess."

He hated her because she was free. She could go anywhere she wanted, just like Sonic...And Tails, "I guess I hate them all, then. They're all free, and I'm trapped here."

"You could end it, though. You could be free, by your own hand."

The thought disturbed him. It didn't even sound like it was out of his own head. He'd never think something like that. He wasn't THAT desperate for escape.

"But you ARE desperate for escape; you'll admit that."

"Well of course I'll admit that! I'm not a fool! I—" Knuckles looked around, "Who am I talking to?"

"Yourself."

"No I'm not! Who are you?!" Knuckles was getting worried.

"Just call me...fate."

"Look behind you."

Knuckles was afraid to turn around. Even so, he twisted his head around just far enough to see what was behind him.

It was his body, lying covered in frost, under the rocks. It wasn't moving. Snow covered his hands; the only part of his body extending outside the nook.

"Impossible...Am I..." His eyes were wide with fear now, "Did I...freeze...?"

"No, not yet, but you are close to it."

"I...I don't want to die."

"I thought you wanted an escape. I thought you wanted to be free."

"I'm close enough to being free as it is! I don't want to die!"

"This is the only way that you'll be free, Knuckles. Don't you want to see your family? Your brothers and sisters? Your mother and father?"

"I don't care about them! I want to live! I want to live to go on adventures! To stop every one of Eggman's plans until he blows himself up! To live to get Rouge into bed!!"

"So much for being celibate. You know, you don't really care about all of that. The world would be better off without you. Your place lies with the past, not with the future. If you die, the Master Emerald will go on. It will lack a guardian, but it did for many years. A new one will always show up. If you want, you can dwell inside the Emerald with Tikal. I'm sure you are familiar with her. You see, this was all part of your destiny. Your fate. Not going to Sonic's house was the best thing you ever did. It sped the process up. You were meant to die. Move on, and the world will as well."

Knuckles tried to sprint to his body, but he felt like he was trying to run through water. He tried to swim, but then it felt like he was trying to swim through rock. Then he couldn't move at all. A gust of wind lifted the snow around his body, stirring his dreadlocks slightly and piling snow over the frost that was already there.

"We're all meant to die...but..."

"I don't..." He took another step.

"Want to..." He was pressing against the invisible barrier as hard as he could.

"Die..." The barrier wasn't budging.

"YET!"

Everything went white.

Knuckles was floating in a room of white. All he saw around him was white. There were no shapes, no colors, nothing. Only white as far as the eye could see.

He sank to his knees, "I didn't want to die! I didn't want to! I want to go back! I wasn't supposed to die! I know it! I didn't even have a choice! I want to go back! Please!" he started crying, "Please...someone...help me."

There was something going on below him. It was as if there was a small window beneath him. Knuckles stopped and peered inside.

It was the shrine. He could see the Master Emerald, and in its light, his body. His body looked so cold and alone. Of course, he didn't feel anything; all he felt was sadness and a desire to go back, no matter what the cost. Why hadn't he gone to Sonic's house? Why hadn't he taken them up on those offers to go to the movies? Why had he always denied them when they offered him winter clothes? All of these what-if's could have saved him...But now he was dead dead dead and nobody would ever care, or even notice...

A whirl of motorized blades, and the blue plane came into view. "KNUX!! ARE YOU THERE?!" a familiar voice shouted, and then another, "KNUCKLES!! KNUCKLES!!" "Sonic?" he murmured, "And Tails?"

Another voice, "KNUCKLES! YOU HAD BETTER BE OKAY!! OR YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT!!" "A...Amy?" "MISTER KNUCKLES, SIR, YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE, OR WE'LL GET REALLY WORRIED!!" A small voice, hardly noticeable to a living creature, echoed, "Chao, chao!!" "Cream?! And Cheese?!"

Someone jumped off the plane and began to glide towards the island, almost faster than the plane itself. Instantaneously, Knuckles knew who it was, "Rouge! Rouge, can you hear me!? It's Knuckles! I'm up here! Rouge!" Her head didn't even turn, "She can't hear me..."

The Bat and the plane landed almost simultaneously. The snow was kicked up wildly as everyone scrambled to get off the plane, while Rouge ran ahead. The group was running frantically around the area, looking all around but not seeing the bit of red poking out of the snow in the little nook in front of the Emerald itself.

Sonic was the first to discover him, "No...No! NO!" Everyone ran to the body, gasping in shock and crying in grief.

"But I'm not dead! I'm not dead! I'm right here! Can't you hear me, you idiots!? I'm," he pounded on the floor, "Right," he hit the floor again, "HERE!" He half-expected the floor to cave in, like most surfaces would in such an instance. But it didn't.

The scene faded out, leaving nothing but white again.

"No, no, NO! I am NOT going to give up!!" Knuckles began to pound on everything in the room around him; the walls, the floor...he even managed to float up close enough to the ceiling to hit that. But it did no good.

"I'm...not...going...to...die...that...EASILY!!"

The window on the floor faded back in, showing a hospital, with his body lying on the bed. Knuckles quickly went back to the window, watching anxiously.

Doctors hastily surrounded his unmoving body. For some reason, Sonic was among them, clad in the mask and smock like the rest of them. "Hold on buddy; I'm not going to let you die!" As the doctors went to work, Sonic looked about as squeamish as possible, but he never turned away. "Dedication..." Knuckles smiled. At one point, even Knuckles had to look away; some things are just too unnerving to watch, even for the owner of the body.

Knuckles felt a sucking sensation, like he was being pulled down through the window. He didn't resist; he knew that the doctors had succeeded, and he was going back. The feeling was so pleasant. He had heard that going back to your body would be frustrating, but he assumed that it felt pleasant to him because he wanted to go back. It didn't matter if he was stuck guarding the Master Emerald. It didn't matter anymore. What mattered was going back, and being with the only people that had ever cared about him.

"I sound so mushy..."

Knuckles realized his eyes were closed. Naturally, he opened them.

The people around him gasped as he did so. "Kn...Knuckles?" "H...Hey Sonic."

"Knuckles! Don't you EVER, EVER do that again! If it gets that cold out again, you better come to my house, or I'm going to kill you!" Sonic realized what he had just said, "Oh, I mean, I, uh..." Knuckles spoke suddenly, but weakly, "I'm sorry...I didn't go to Christmas at your house." "Knuckles..." "Does your...offer still stand?" "My offer? Oh, about Christmas? Oh, yeah! Of course!" "How about...the scarf?" "Knuckles..." Sonic laughed, "Of course you can have the scarf. You can have five. Just rest for now though."

Knuckles closed his eyes again. "Don't think you cheated me. You just had to prove to yourself that you wanted things to stay the same. You had a turning point tonight. Don't forget what you just learned." "The Master Emerald can hold it's own for a while," he thought, "It has in the past. It doesn't need a 24/7 guard. It's been broken before; I've left it alone before. I've left it alone for months at a time even. That's no reason for me to not have a life. I am 19, after all..."

"I am free..."

And a realization dawned on him..."Since when did the rule say...?"

"Holy crap! I'm NOT celibate!"

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MN-Miz Notes-

Oh yeah. I went there. So, this is my comeback fic...I abandoned my old account for stuff like this. Better stuff. Stuff that...I don't know, makes me happy to read after posting it.

I, uh, I want to sort of advertise here...

If you liked this fic, keep an eye out for my big project, Head of the Class. It, too, is a Sonic fic...I'm, uh, in the process of writing the first chapter...

So, if you liked this...comment, and say whether or not you'd ever read another by this author?

snigger Knuckles thought he was celibate...chuckle I'm sorry, it was too easy to play on that.

Miz Out!