Sonic teleported back into his own world, breathing a small sigh of relief as he hid something in his quills. He'd gone to Knuckles' world early in the morning (before the guy had even woken up) and was thankful that he didn't take too long with things.
"Hey, Tails!" he called, holding his hand up to the fox. "Where's Knux? I need to—"
He paused as Tails turned to him with a look of distress on his face. "Sonic!"
He rushed up to the blue blur, pointing into another room. "I-it's Knuckles... t-there was an accident in the lab, and he—"
Sonic dashed into the room without a second thought, finding the echidna crouched over in the corner, staring ahead warily.
Tails frowned and followed, hiding behind his big brother. "He can't remember anything. I even tried just plain speaking to him, but he doesn't understand me!"
Sonic didn't want to believe it, especially on today of all days, so he walked a bit closer to Knuckles and smiled weakly. "C-c'mon, Knuckles. That's not true, right?" He held his arms out for a hug. "I bet you remember me, don't cha?"
Knuckles crawled backwards and even further into his corner, staring up at Sonic nervously.
Sonic retracted his arms, hurt that Knuckles couldn't remember him.
Tails sighed. "J-judgin' by the stories you've told me, it looks like his memory reverted back to what it was before his friends found him on Angel Island. I think I heard him mutter the ancient echidna language, so he knows some things about himself at least."
"Then I'll just have to get his memory back!" Sonic said confidently. He took another step closer to Knuckles, then knelt down.
"What are you going to do?" Tails asked.
Sonic smirked, then waved at Knuckles calmly. "[Hey there. Are you feeling alright?]" he asked, speaking in the echidna's language in hopes of getting a response from him. He'd learned it from his world's Knuckles a long while ago, around when he and the Knuckles in front of him first started dating, due to wanting to be closer to his boyfriend.
Knuckles' eyes lit up slightly, somewhat relieved that someone was finally saying something he understood.
"[W-what's going on?]" he replied softly, glancing around the room nervously. "[Where am I? And who are you?]"
Sonic placed a hand on his chest. "[I'm Sonic, and this is my friend, Tails.]" He pointed to the fox. "[I know you're confused, but you just lost a few years of your memory. I'll explain more later if you need it, but the main thing is that you're not in your own world right now.]"
Knuckles tilted his head in confusion. "['Not in my own world'? What does that mean?]"
"[It's... a little complicated,]" Sonic admitted, obviously not wanting to tell Knuckles about their relationship yet. "[Look, do you mind coming out of that corner? I swear, neither of us are gonna hurt you. We just want to help," he assured.
Knuckles hesitated, not sure if he trusted these strangers or not.
Sonic's ears drooped slightly, but he tried not to let his sadness show. "[H-here, I'll prove it.]"
He sped out of the room, then came back with a bag full of grapes. "[I know how much you like these,]" he said with a small grin. "[Your name is Nakkuru and you're from Angel Island, right?]" He could honestly list Knuckles' qualities all day, as he knew every one of them, but there was no time for it.
Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "[How do you know all that?]"
Sonic chuckled. "['Cause I'm your—]" He stopped abruptly, clearing his throat. "[A-ah, I mean... well, let's just say we're pretty close.]" Again, he had to mask his pain, not wanting Knuckles to know about their relationship so soon.
"[Oh.]" Knuckles frowned sadly. "[I'm sorry I can't remember you...]"
Sonic shook his head. "[Don't worry about it.]"
Cautiously, he took a few more steps forward, being right in front of Knuckles now. With the echidna sitting down, they were pretty much eye-level. "[Do you mind if I take you around to some places though? Maybe it'll help you get your memory back,]" he said.
Knuckles hesitated. He still wasn't sure if he trusted Sonic, but it didn't seem like he had much choice.
"[O-okay.]"
Sonic couldn't hide his frown at Knuckles' hesitation. He told himself that it was just because of the amnesia, but that didn't help matters.
"[First though...]" He pulled on one of the thick stems in the bag he held, bringing out a cluster of grapes. "[Here. You're probably hungry, right?]" he asked, though knowing that Knuckles would eat it regardless of how hungry he was.
Knuckles' stomach growled. Cautiously, he took the grapes from Sonic's hands and began to eat them. He managed to crack a small smile. One thing he hadn't forgotten was his favorite food.
Sonic sat down next to him, then turned his head to Tails, gesturing off into the other room to let the fox know that he had the situation under control. Tails left, and Sonic just watched Knuckles closely with a sad smile.
Is that... really all you remember?
After Knuckles finished eating, he glanced over at Sonic.
"[So, um...]" He wasn't sure what to say.
Sonic snapped back to attention, realizing that he'd been zoning out. "[O-oh, right!]"
He stood up, taking the remaining stem, then sped out of the room, returning without either the stem or the bag of grapes. "[C'mon, I'll take you into town,]" he said, gesturing for Knuckles to get up and follow him.
Knuckles slowly stood up and cautiously went over to Sonic. He hoped that he'd be able to find some answers soon.
The two headed outside together, with Sonic keeping only a slight distance between himself and Knuckles. Usually, he'd be much closer, but he didn't want to make the echidna uncomfortable.
"[Just a warning; everyone in town's going to speak Mobian,]" he told him. "[I'll translate anything you want until you remember it yourself though.]"
Knuckles nodded. He felt like he should remember this place, but he just couldn't figure out why.
Sonic walked through town with Knuckles, looking around at all the hustle and bustle going on. A lot of people were talking, and very few actually batted at an eye at the two; Sonic and Knuckles walking together was a usual sight at this point, and the several people who actually stared were probably just shocked that the two weren't holding hands or something similar.
Dear Chaos, did Sonic want to hold Knuckles' though.
"[Any of this ring any bells?]" he asked, staring up at his 'boyfriend'.
Knuckles shook his head. "[Nope, not recognizing anything yet.]"
Sonic sighed, rubbing his head. "[Maybe this'll be harder than I thought,]" he said, slightly discouraged at how nothing looked familiar at all to the echidna.
"[Hey, what's that?]" Knuckles suddenly asked, pointing to one of the buildings. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling there was something in that particular building he needed to see.
Sonic glanced over. "[That's the music store.]"
He paused, then perked up. Of course, the piano!
"[Quick, let's go!]"
He grabbed hold of Knuckles' hand, then started heading for the building.
However, as he realized what he was doing, he stopped, pulling his hand away and rubbing it. He mentally heckled himself; Knuckles was probably uncomfortable enough without him being physical with him.
He gave the echidna a weak smile, then started to head for the building again, just sort of hoping he'd follow.
Knuckles had blushed when Sonic touched his hand, but he couldn't imagine why. He shrugged it off and followed Sonic into the music store.
Sonic headed over to the piano, gesturing to it; it'd actually been the piano that Knuckles played on when he first came into the world. The two had even done a little performance together, though without really realizing.
"[Well? Anything?]" Sonic asked hopefully.
Knuckles put a hand to his chin, deep in thought. He walked over to the piano and pressed a key.
[Wait...]
He pressed a few more keys. Suddenly, something came flashing back to him. Before he realized it, he was playing a scale from memory! His face lit up, an adorable smile appearing on his face as he played.
Sonic's smile became more genuine as he watched Knuckles play.
Beautiful, as always, he thought, letting out a small sigh of relief now that Knuckles had remembered something.
Once Knuckles stopped playing, he stared at the piano in awe.
"[Wow...that's right! I love playing music!]"
Sonic clapped, grinning and leaning against the piano.
"[You haven't lost your touch!]" he exclaimed, though the two were getting a few weird glances from people who couldn't understand what they were saying.
"[Well, at least I remember that now!]" Knuckles said, grinning proudly.
[I just wish I remembered who you are...]
Sonic nodded firmly. "[Yeah! One memory down... a bunch to go!]" He laughed sheepishly.
"[Yeah...]" Knuckles suppressed a sad sigh. "[So... what else do I do?]"
"Hmm..." Sonic thought for a moment, trying to think of other things that might spark Knuckles' memory. "[How about I take you back to my place?]'" he asked. "[We could play some games and I could tell you more about what you've forgotten on the way there.]"
"[W-well...okay,]" Knuckles replied. He still wasn't sure what to think of Sonic, but he seemed nice enough. And besides, he was the only one that he could communicate with now. "[Lead the way.]"
Sonic nodded, leading Knuckles out of the music shop. The people were still talking a lot outside in Mobian, so Knuckles couldn't understand, but Sonic didn't feel the need to translate; it was hard to even hear himself over the crowds.
"[Alright, so...]" He paused, thinking about how to explain things to Knuckles. "[First off, back in your world, a different me and his friends found you on Angel Island. They took you back to a place called 'Bygone Island', and you picked up their language pretty well. They also called you 'Knuckles' because of your hands.]" He pointed to Knuckles' spikes.
"Kn...'Knuckles'?" Knuckles repeated, staring at his hands. It sounded similar to his name, 'Nakkuru', so it kinda made sense.
"[Yeah. Us Sonics call you 'Knux' a lot though,]" Sonic told him.
"Kn...'Knux'..." It sounded so familiar. "[So, wait... there's more than one Sonic?]"
Sonic frowned slightly, not wanting to get into that.
"[Well, see...]" He debated for a moment on whether or not he should tell Knuckles about his old crush on the other Sonic. "[Some... stuff happened, and you basically got sent to this world. You, uh... took a liking to it, so my Tails - yeah, there's a version of Tails in your universe too - gave you that—]" He pointed to the device on Knuckles' wrist. "[—so you can travel between both worlds. I've got one too,]" he explained, showing Knuckles the machine on his wrist.
"Hmmm..." Knuckles gazed thoughtfully at the device on his wrist. Something was stirring at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.
"[Anyway, here we are,]" Sonic said, though with a little less enthusiasm than he meant to show. He unlocked the door to his house, then walked inside.
Knuckles followed him inside. "[Wow... your place is really nice!]"
He didn't know why, but saying that gave him a weird 'deja vu' feeling.
"[Well, it's got your own little touches, that's why!]" Sonic exclaimed. He picked up a potted plant, seemingly at random even though it wasn't, then showed it to the echidna. "[These are from your world,]" he told him. He paused, a small smile coming to his face as he lightly stroked the petals, remembering when Knuckles and him had gone off to the other universe to pick the flowers together.
"[Oooh, pretty!]" Knuckles replied, smiling.
Sonic nodded, then set the plant down and walked over to a small gaming console in front of the TV, promptly sitting down. He actually hadn't played games often until Knuckles came along; they had become so much more fun with him there.
"[Let's see if you still remember how to play!]" Sonic said, tossing a controller to Knuckles and putting a fighting game at random into the system.
Knuckles stared at the controller. He had no idea what to do with it, but he figured he'd give it a shot.
Sonic waited for Knuckles to sit down next to him, then observed how he was holding the controller. "[Oh, ah... no, not like...]"
He hesitated, not wanting to physically touch Knuckles or make him uncomfortable, but eventually reached over, placing his hands over Knuckles' and guiding said hands into the right position.
"[O-oh, sorry.]" Knuckles blushed at Sonic's hands touching his again. He wondered why that kept happening, but he decided to focus on trying to remember how to use the controller he was holding.
Sonic then started up the game, picking his character and promptly helping Knuckles pick his. Afterwards, the battle began, though Sonic was careful to go easy on Knuckles so the echidna wasn't likely to give up before he got around to remembering the controls.
Knuckles glanced over at Sonic, trying to copy what he was doing. After a little while, he felt like he was getting the hang of the controls again.
Sonic increased his own difficulty as he noticed Knuckles getting better, knowing that he was bound to lose if the echidna's full memory for the controls returned. Knuckles had more practice, especially back in his own world, where he'd play against Sonic's blue-armed counterpart.
Knuckles smiled confidently as he gradually remembered the controls. Maybe he could actually win this!
As Knuckles' memory improved, Sonic noticed his advantage slipping. The health bars began to even out, and his suddenly dropped below Knuckles'. Before he knew it, he'd lost.
"[Good game!]" he exclaimed. He leaned up towards Knuckles for a moment, but realized what he was doing quickly and sat back down. When the two had first started playing, they made a rule out of it: loser kisses the winner. Sonic heckled himself for getting so excited over the thought that he'd neglected Knuckles' amnesia.
"[That was fun!]" Knuckles said. "[I guess that's another memory I have back now.]"
Sonic nodded. "[Yeah... one less memory to remember!]" he exclaimed. "[So, are you hungry?]"
Knuckles nodded. "[Yeah. Do you have any more grapes?]"
His words gave Sonic an idea. "[Oh! Yeah, hold on a sec!]"
He changed the channel on the TV so Knuckles would have something to keep him entertained, then passed the remote to him (despite knowing that he probably didn't remember how to use it) before promptly rushing off to the kitchen.
Knuckles couldn't understand what anyone on the TV was saying of course, but he was still enjoying watching the cartoons that were currently on.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Mister Sonic! Knuckles! Are you home?" a voice rang out from the other side of the door. If Knuckles had enough of his memory back, he'd recognize the voice as Cream's.
"[Uh, Sonic, I think someone's at the door!]" Knuckles called.
"[Oh, that's Cream!]" Sonic told him from his place in the kitchen. "[You can get that. I bet you'll remember her in no time!]"
"[W-well, okay...]" As Knuckles went to get the door, he just hoped Cream could forgive him for not remembering who she was.
The second he opened the door, he was nearly knocked down to the floor as the young rabbit bounced up and hugged him. "Sibby hugs!" she exclaimed, the phrase being used often whenever the two hung out, as Cream considered Knuckles the 'big brother she never had' while Knuckles thought of Cream as a little sister.
Knuckles let out a startled yelp, but calmed down when he realized it was just a hug.
[Aww... she's so cute!] he thought, giggling softly.
Once she realized she wasn't being hugged back, Cream frowned, pulling away slightly and staring at Knuckles. "Is something wrong?" she asked sadly.
Knuckles was saddened by her change in tone. He wished he could explain what was going on, but he couldn't even understand her language anymore, so what could he do?
Sonic walked into the living room, frowning a bit. "Sorry, Cream. Knux lost his memory this morning and forgot how to speak Mobian." It pained him to say it.
Cream stared up at Knuckles sadly. "You don't remember me at all?" she asked.
Sonic looked over, translating for her. "[She's asking if you remember her at all.]"
Knuckles shook his head sadly. "[I'm sorry.]"
Sonic relayed the message to Cream, who tried not to show how sad she was.
"Oh..."
She shifted awkwardly, hands behind her back as she gazed down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry for hugging you then."
"[She's sorry for hugging you; she figured she made you uncomfortable.]"
"[No no, it's okay!]" Knuckles replied. "[You didn't know.]"
Cream smiled weakly as Sonic translated. She didn't enjoy the language barrier at all, but what was she to do?
"So... does he remember you, Mister Sonic?" she asked.
Sonic's forced smile faltered. "Ah... no, he didn't even know my name."
Cream's eyes widened, shocked at the news. "B-but, you're dati—"
Sonic sped over and quickly placed a hand over the rabbit's mouth. Upon remembering that Knuckles couldn't understand her however, he retracted it.
She tried again. "You're dating. Boyfriend and boyfriend, right?" she asked.
Sonic sighed. "I-I know. I... haven't told him yet," he admitted.
'Boyfriend'...?
The word was so familiar to Knuckles, and it made him feel a lot of emotions... but he just couldn't remember what it meant.
"T-told... told me what?"
Wait, did I just speak their language? ...Whoa, I'm thinking in it too! Weird...
Sonic's ears perked on alert. "Wait, you... understood that?" he asked.
"I... think so," Knuckles replied. He was just as surprised.
"You remembered!" Cream exclaimed. "Do you remember me yet then?" she asked, pointing to herself. "Cream? I've got a chao friend named Cheese and you come to visit me and Mama sometimes!"
Sonic remained quiet, glad that Cream changed the subject and hoping that Knuckles wouldn't repeat his earlier question.
Knuckles put a hand to his chin. "Hmmm... you do seem kinda familiar..." He sighed. "Man, why can't my memory come back faster?"
Cream grabbed Knuckles' hand excitedly, bouncing up and down. "So you at least remember me a little!" she cheered.
Sonic was surprised at that. He could vaguely remember Cream, but not him? He knew that Cream and him were close, but...
Knuckles smiled softly. "Heh, I guess I do!"
Sonic left for the kitchen without a word.
"Oh, oh!" Cream exclaimed. "Now that we can talk, maybe there's something you can ask me! Is there something you wanna know that Mister Sonic hasn't told you yet?" she asked.
"A lot of things," Knuckles admitted. "The only things I really remember are that I play the piano and video games, and that grapes are my favorite."
"You're also really kind and super strong!" Cream exclaimed. "And you played with me the first time we met. 'Member?" she asked.
"Hmmm..." Knuckles thought hard. "I'm trying to remember... ugh, why is this so hard?" He sighed in distress. "I just want my memory back."
"It's okay!" Cream exclaimed. "You just hafta give it time!" she assured. "It'll come back soon enough!"
"I hope you're right," Knuckles replied.
"Hm..." Cream tried to think, then snapped her fingers as she got an idea. "I know! Hold on for juuuust a second, okay?"
She left the house, then flapped her ears and flew off.
Knuckles sat down on the couch, waiting. He wondered what Cream was up to.
When Cream returned, she was holding a large binder, which she brought to Knuckles after going inside.
"Mama's been working on this photo album for years," she said, sitting next to Knuckles and opening it up. She skimmed through the pages, then smiled and handed it over to him. "Here's where you start showing up in the pictures!"
Knuckles gazed at the photos thoughtfully. Maybe some of his missing memories were in there!
Cream pointed to each picture one at a time, able to recall everything leading up to the photo being taken. Some even contained the Knuckles in this universe, which Cream was happy to explain to him.
Knuckles watched as Cream went into detailed descriptions for each one of their friends, but she never once mentioned why Sonic and himself always seemed to be right next to each other in nearly every photo, either holding hands, hugging, or making some sort of physical contact.
"Hey, I think I'm remembering some of these things!" Knuckles said excitedly.
But why can't I remember who Sonic is?
"That's great!" Cream cheered. "I'm glad I can along to help!"
She paused, then sheepishly put the book down and frowned, reaching her arms up to Knuckles. "Y-you remember sibby hugs now, don't you?"
Knuckles smiled. "Of course I do!"
Cream's face lit up at that, and Knuckles was quickly bombarded with one of her hugs. Knuckles giggled, hugging her back.
At that moment, Sonic walked in, carrying a tray of grape desserts. He'd done this before for Knuckles multiple times, so he hoped this would spark something.
"Hey, Knux!" he called, setting the tray down on the table. "For you!"
Cream smiled. "Ohh, you've been practicing, Mister Sonic!"
"Oooh, thanks!" Knuckles began to eat one of the desserts, making an "mmm" sound as he did. "This is good!"
As he ate, he thought to himself, Me and Sonic were always hugging and stuff in those pictures. We must've been really close. Man, now I really wish I remembered him...
Sonic waited a few minutes, then grinned sheepishly, pointing into another room with both hands. "So, uh, should I leave you two to do your thing?"
Cream frowned. Mister Sonic...
"Aw, you don't have to go," Knuckles replied. "You can stay! Right, Cream?"
Cream nodded. "Of course!"
Sonic hesitated, then walked over and sat down. It felt odd to feel like a third wheel with the two despite being Knuckles' boyfriend.
Knuckles tried to hide the twinge of sadness he felt. He didn't know how close he and Sonic had been, but he knew that the hedgehog was clearly hurt by him not remembering.
After Knuckles had finished his desserts, Cream looked up at the clock and gasped. "Oh, that's right!"
She hurried over to the door. "I need to go! Mama's going to take Cheese and I out to a flower garden today. We're going to pick a lot of pretty flowers!"
That gave Sonic an idea, and he turned to Knuckles with a tilted head. "Hey, why don't we to one ourselves?" he suggested; the two usually picked flower gardens as a place to relax and have a nice date, so maybe Knuckles would remember him then?
"I don't see why not!" Knuckles replied. He wanted to try as many ways as he could to get his memories back.
"Alright!"
Sonic seemed excited, but his grin slowly faded and he turned to the door, which now lacked Cream since the rabbit had flown off. "Uh... I usually carry ya whenever we need to go to a place far away. That okay?" he asked.
Knuckles blushed lightly, though he wasn't sure why. "S-sure, go ahead."
Sonic, though hesitant, picked Knuckles up and rushed out the door. Determined to make him remember, he took Knuckles to the nicest flower garden he could think of that wasn't too far away, setting the echidna down and gesturing to the flowers.
"How's that for nice?" he asked with a smile.
"Oh, wow..." Knuckles gazed at the garden in awe. "It's beautiful!"
Sonic picked up a flower gently, then offered it to him. "Bring back any... memories?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
Knuckles blushed a little as he took the flower, but like before, he couldn't figure out why.
"Hmmm..." He gazed thoughtfully at the flower, his face lighting up a little. "Well, I remember that I love nature!" He sniffed the flower, a small smile on his face.
Sonic's expression deflated a bit. He was certainly happy that Knuckles remembered something, but his love of nature was not what Sonic had in mind.
Should I just tell him? ...Nah, I wouldn't wanna make him feel awkward.
He hid his sigh, then smiled up at the echidna. "Wanna stay here until we get tired?" he offered, seeing that Knuckles was enjoying himself.
Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to!"
He's all sad again. Stupid memory, why can't you just come back?
He suppressed a sigh and decided to just try to enjoy the garden.
The two spent the next hour or so enjoying the flower garden. They had very little to talk about, but they still enjoyed the fresh scent of flowers.
Sonic then took Knuckles back to his house, leading him into the bedroom. "This is your bed," he told him, pointing to said bed.
"Really?" Knuckles frowned. "But then... where do you sleep?"
"Oh, I, uh..." Sonic jabbed a thumb back into the living room. "just sleep on the couch." It wasn't a complete lie, as Sonic had slept on the couch a few times before, but he still felt bad for not telling the whole truth.
"Ya sure?" Knuckles replied. He felt like he was having some sort of deja vu moment, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Y-yeah!" Sonic grinned weakly. "We agreed on it and stuff. You don't remember?" Okay, that was a complete lie, but he knew Knuckles well enough to know that he wouldn't accept anything else. "The couch was too small for you to really lay on, so you sleep on the bed."
"Oh. O-okay..." Knuckles yawned suddenly, his eyes drooping.
Sonic waved. "G'night."
He then left and laid down on the couch. He missed Knuckles' warmth next to him, but knew it wasn't an option right now. He sighed, then drifted off to sleep.