Author's Note:

As always, I will start with thank you. Thank you to everyone who has read Gone (NOTE: This is a sequel. You should read Gone prior to this). My thanks also goes to anime . rules . XD for following, anime . rules . XD and Skyefall O. Bunnymund for favoriting, and werewolf99 and Eggman hater for reviewing. It's always way past cool to be appreciated for your efforts, whether it be writing the story or reading it.

I especially want to thank Eggman hater for following up with on the PM I sent him/her.

Now on with the story!


Remember When...

Chapter One: December 13th


Disclaimer: This is a non for profit work and does not claim ownership for any characters or locations in this story. All that is claimed to belong to the author is this story. Sonic the Hedgehog and all canon material is owned by Sega. Sonic Underground is not part of canon continuity, but shall be treated likewise and, while the author is unsure of who owns said unofficial continuity, knows it is not her.


Angel Island felt incredibly empty today.

It's not that it didn't usually feel empty, but this cold December date, especially tended to remind him how lonely the island really was. The temperature felt sharper, the snow felt colder, and the wind always seemed to whisper her name, 'Sonia... Sonia...'.

Yet, at the same time, the crystals hanging from the trees were so much more beautiful today, too. They shimmered and shined as the light ran through them, like little twinkling stars set out on display.

That's why she had chosen this rather bleak December day, and that was also why he hated it.

Sonia... Sonia...

A chill coursed up the red echidna's spine, more so in pain than in cold.

It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. Why did he have to keep on living, if his mate couldn't be there with him?

...

He named the island Angel Island in her honor. He never shared this bit of information with anyone, and nobody here would ever be able to piece this together. Except Sonic. If the blue blur ever managed to connect the two, however, he never brought it up.

Sonia... Sonia...

Knuckles so badly wished this day could be over. Every day he lived without seeing her felt like a year, and each time this date came around, it was like the new year would never come.

'No. No sulking,' he chided himself as he wiped some droplets of moisture away, mindful of his glove's sharp spikes, 'They'll be here any second. Sonic won't be crying today, and neither will I.'

He told himself this, but he knew it was a lie. He and Sonic would both lose their fair share of tear droplets today, just as they suffered for the last three years, but not until they knew Tails was gone. He knew if he started now, the water works wouldn't stop until long after the young kitsune had figured out they were hiding something from him.

He didn't know what excuse the hedgehog had given his little brother, but he was glad it had been working as long as it had. Neither he, nor Sonic, wanted to talk about it.

Whoosh.

The sound of Tails landing the Tornado.

Sonia... Sonia...

The sound of wind rustling against the frozen landscape. Knuckles tried not to cringe, keep up the picture of toughness he had always assumed.

It always took every iota of strength to keep up his usual facade when this date rolled around.

Before had even realized it, the red biplane was gone and the blue blur was sitting low on the bottom step of the shrine with his head between his legs, still as a log. Every other day of the year, this body language was completely foreign to the hedgehog. If they could see him, it would have probably scared his siblings out of their wits.

If they were around, however, he wouldn't have stayed as still, as reverent, as he'd been since arriving.

Sonia... Sonia...

Sonic did have respect for the sacred green gem, just not the same way Knuckles did. He respected the Master Emerald by keeping the Chaos Emeralds out of the evil doctor's hands, not by being still. This still, stone like reverence wasn't towards the shrine, or the ancient relic that it held.

No, rather it was for the date, and what this meant for him and knuckle-headed friend.

It meant never fulfilling the prophecy. He had never won the battle. He hadn't lived to see the day when the kingdom of Mobotropolis was restored, freedom and all.

It meant never meeting his mom. Knuckles had met his mom once, years ago, but he couldn't remember what she looked like. Even if he could, a simple description of what the exiled queen looked like would never fill the void in Sonic's heart.

It meant never seeing Sonia and Manic ever again. This is what crushed them the most, especially on this date, December thirteenth, the three year anniversary of the wedding day that never came. That shook Knuckles to the core, not being able to see his beautiful Sonia.

Three years and a day since they had last seen their home, their Mobius. This wasn't their Mobius, even if it shared a lot of similarities with their home world. It made them wonder if this is what the world had looked like before Robotnik, now known as Eggman, had overthrown Sonic's mother.

Slowly picking himself up, Knuckles made his way to his would have been brother in law. They had a long day of tears ahead of them, and the sooner they got going, the less likely it was Tails would find them crying.

"Sonic," his words got out as a whisper, but sounded as loud as a shout against the near silent landscape, "You ready-"

"Yeah," he didn't let the red echidna finish. He knew what his friend was going to say.

It was painfully ironic how slowly the blue hedgehog got to his feet before following Knuckles to the place where they battled the egg shaped tyrant.

Any other day of the year, Knuckles would have agreed with that statement, but this day wasn't the other three hundred and sixty four. It was December thirteenth, the day that he was supposed to be wed.

Sonia... Sonia...