An Absolution
b y W H I N N I E

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DISCLAIMER
All characters owned and are © to Sonic Team and SEGA.
Story is a work of fiction, © Whinnie.
No stealing, otherwise I will HUNT YOU DOWN!
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Sometimes, in the land of dreams, I wish for something. I wish so hard for it to come true. But then I end up back in reality, and I remember that it won't ever come true, no matter how hard I wish. Mayve I'm naïve - too naïve. Maybe I've gone crazy. Perhaps I'm depressed. But still, one day, I hope that there will be an eternal place, the land of dreams and no reality, where I can wish for something impossible, and it will come true.

- author's words -

She rolled down the hill, following the white hedgehog. The warm wind ruffled her pink hair, the grass brushing her face, until she finally came to the bottom, and stopped, lightly hitting the form beside her.

She laughed, actually meaning it, actually having fun. She couldn't remember the last time she had done that.

The white hedgehog grinned. "Wasn't that fun?" he asked her. Although he looked and sounded completely calm, she could tell that he was just as excited as her. Just as happy and free.

When was the last time they had both been happy?

She looked up, suddenly noticing the shadow that had fallen across them. It was a purple cat. The feline gave a sweet smile. "Are you two having fun?" she asked.

Both of them nodded, sitting up. "But what are you doing here, Blaze?" the pink hedgehog asked.

Blaze smiled, lying down beside the white hedgehog. "I'm here to watch the clouds," she replied, crossing her arms behind her head to make a pillow. The white hedgehog followed her lead, lying down and looking at the sun-filled sky.

The pink hedgehog looked around curiously. There was nothing here. Behind her was the hill she had just rolled down. Around her were more hills, all covering each other, forming valleys. You couldn't see anything but the flat, green plains, and the sky stretching on and on forever.

"Where are we?" she asked. Blaze just turned towards her, her yellow eyes gently probing into the emerald orbs.

"Yeah," the white hedgehog added. "What place is this?"

"Look," Blaze pointed towards an oddly shaped cloud. "That looks like a hedgehog," she commented, avoiding the question.

The pink one brightened. "Like Sonic," she murmured.

Blaze smiled. So she was still infatuated with him.

The other hedgehog laughed. "What are the odds that the next cloud we see will be of him running?" he joked.

Blaze grinned. "Look," she replied. In fact, there was a cloud in the shape of a hedgehog zipping past.

It was suddenly all quiet. Blaze jumped up. "Come on," she replied. "Let's go." With that, she walked off.

The two figures, still lying on the ground, exchanged confused looks. What now? Finally, the white hedgehog yelled, "Hey, wait up, Blaze!" before they both jumped up and took off, running.

"Where could she be taking us?" the pink hedgehog wondered. "There's nowhere to go here." Finally, she spotted Blaze, sitting in the shade of a large tree. The purple feline motioned for them to join her. They did, sitting on each side of her.

It was quiet, once again. Except for the whispering branches of the tree, nothing stirred. Not even the grass. Suddenly, the white hedgehog started humming. At first, it was just a soft little tune, but gradually he began singing.

"In the nightlight, do you see what you dream?
All your troubles, are they all what they seem?
Look around you, then you may realize,
All the creatures saw with the light."

Blaze smiled at the familiar song. The pink hedgehog, however, was completely confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"And I might know of our future,
But then, you still control the past.
Only you know if you'll be together,
Only you know if we shall last."

Blaze's smile disappeared, as she contemplated the meaning. The other one replied, "You can't change the past," but of course, he didn't listen.

"In the nightlight, do you still feel your pain?
For the valor, you waited, never came.
If you were able, would you go change the past?
There's a furball, with one last chance!"

At that, Blaze burst out laughing. The hedgehogs just stared at her, wondering what the joke was. "Furball," Blaze explained, sputtering with laughter.

As Blaze continued giggling, the other two just stood there silently, thinking. Finally, the pink hedgehog repeated, "You can't change the past."

"Of course you can," the white hedgehog replied.

"No," she countered, annoyed, as Blaze started to calm herself. "It's impossible. Even if you can travel back in time, you won't be able to change anything. Everything is already set, your life has been planned. It's all because of fate..."

"No," Blaze replied, entering the conversation. She had finally stopped laughing completely, and a very serious look overcame her face. "A lot of people think that's how life works, but it isn't." Her voice became quiet as she went on, "I went back in time once. So did you." She nodded towards the white hedgehog. "The city where I lived in, it was filled with terror and helplessness, all because a certain evil had overtaken the world. So he and I went back in time, to try and stop this evil in the past so he wouldn't exist in the future.

"Well, we did it. We defeated the evil. But I sacrificed myself." Blaze started trembling at this point in her story. "I sealed the evil inside of my soul. I killed myself in killing the evil. And time replaced itself." She paused for emphasis. "So, you see," she told the pink hedgehog, "I went back in time and changed history."

Water filled the cat's eyes. "But, in doing so, I... removed myself. In the future, no one knew I existed. They... forgot me." Tears started spilling down her cheeks.

The white hedgehog looked down solemnly. He didn't really understand her pain, but he knew that something sad had happened.

The pink hedgehog started crying as well. "Blaze, I didn't forget you," she replied, in a broken whisper. "Neither did Sonic, or Cream. Knuckles and Tails still remember you. You promised you would come back to our world one day. Remember? Please tell me you didn't die..."

For once, the pink hedgehog wished that Blaze, the girl who she thought was hitting on Sonic, was alive.

Silence pierced the air. For once, everything was still, as if someone had frozen time with Chaos Control. Only the sounds of Blaze crying and trying hard to stop could be heard.

"And I might know of our future,
But then you still control the past.
Only you know if you'll be together
Tonight..."

The white hedgehog was trying to sing that song again. Oh, the song. In the midst of all the sadness, they had forgotten the song.

"'Cause every night, I will save your life.
And every night, I will be with you.
'Cause every night I still lay awake
And I dream, of an absolution."

The white hedgehog was about to continue, when he heard another soft, far off voice.

"'Cause every night, I will make it right.
And every night, I will come to you.
But every night, it just stays the same
In my dream, of an absolution..."

It was Blaze. She was trying to sing and still not crack. Her voice was choked.

"What's an absolution?" the pink hedgehog asked, trying to keep Blaze from breaking down again.

"I think it's like freedom," her silver counterpart replied softly.

"Wish I could be free sometimes," Blaze muttered. "Free from the world. Free from the evil."

"I know," the pink hedgehog replied.

"In my future," Blaze recalled, "it was... like a living hell. There were flames everywhere, and they wouldn't go away, no matter how much you tried to beat them out. There was barely any water. They stopped the rain from coming, somehow. And there were no blue skies, no puffy white clouds like these - the only clouds were made of smoke, and the sky always stayed red, flashing with thunder. All the cities were destroyed, and the remaining streets were filled with corpses."

"That must've been horrible," the white hedgehog commented, sadly and quietly.

"It was," Blaze agreed. "But most of all... there was no more happiness. No one smiled, or laughed, or even talked about the things of the past. They didn't live, only existed."

The pink hedgehog started crying once again. "I can't imagine living in a world like that..." she whispered numbly.

"Well, it's all over now," Blaze replied solemnly. "In fact, it never happened, since I prevented it from occurring."

Quiet, once again. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the pink hedgehog questioned, "Don't you ever wish you could walk on clouds?"

"Yeah..." the white hedgehog replied dreamily. "I wish so hard. But then I remember that it won't ever be possible, and I feel sad. Even though I could use my telekinesis and bring myself up there, I'll probably die from lack of oxygen, or get hit by an airplane or something."

"Of course it'll be possible!" Blaze retorted stubbornly. "You'll see, one day." Then, she laughed. "You guys are so naïve. But then again, that's what I like about you, it's what can keep you going. Naïveté is what I never could have..."

She sniffed, trying hard not to cry another time. "When you're naïve, you can be free whenever you want. I've always wished that I could be like that, just like you two."

"Aww, come on, Blaze," the white hedgehog said. "It's not easy for me, either. Sometimes, I get so entranced by those things I believe in, and I wish so badly that they could be true... but of course, they aren't."

"And then, when you get out of your land of fairytales and make-believe things, reality hits you hard," the pink hedgehog continued softly. "That's when I start crying."

Blaze wiped away another tear. "Well, one day, your dreams will come true. Even the impossible ones. Trust me," she replied, trying to sound confident. "And you won't end up with cruel reality, shattered wishes, history that has never happened before, or tears... just freedom, happiness, and absolution."

Amy Rose slowly opened her eyes. "No," she murmured out loud. "Please, don't go!" she pleaded to the fading figures of the feline, the white hedgehog, the rolling hills... When she realized that it was utterly hopeless, she stopped thrashing around in her bed, trying to figure out just what had happened.

"Blaze," a voice inside her head reminded her. "And Silver, too."

Silver the Hedgehog... the name seemed just right, and the person sounded familiar, as if he was a long-lost friend. But yet, she knew no one by that title, no one that was a silver hedgehog.

"Or do I...?" Amy mused to herself. She remembered a bit of what Blaze had said, about history being replaced or removed or something... What was it? Why couldn't she remember?

"Maybe I knew him in another dimension," she told herself, trying to make sense of the situation. "Or another time. Maybe I'll meet him in the future... Is that what Blaze meant?"

Suddenly, she heard something. Crying. And the sound seemed to be coming... from her.

"Wha...?" Amy was completely confused now. Why was she so upset? She shifted her hand around, and, even through her gloves, felt the wet, salty tears on her pillow.

Blaze's words came rushing back to her head: "When you're naïve, you can be free whenever you want. I've always wished that I could be like that, just like you two. One day, your dreams will come true. Even the impossible ones. Trust me. And you won't end up with cruel reality, shattered wishes, history that has never happened before, or tears... just freedom, happiness, and absolution."

Suddenly, Amy realized she felt... peaceful. For the first time in months, maybe years, if not a long time. Then, she started humming. She had no idea what the tune was, but there she was, singing the next few words, as if her voice had a mind of its own...

"In the nightlight, do you still feel your pain?
For the valor, you waited, never came.
If you were able, would you go change the past?
There's a furball, with one last chance!"

At that, she realized - she had seen what she dreamt. She had dreamt freedom, happiness, and absolution... and she had been freed.

Her dream - the impossible one - really did come true.

In the future, Silver the Hedgehog was staring up at the starlit sky. He had just woken up from a very bizarre dream, trying to bring some sense out of it.

The two animals in the dream... Amy Rose and Blaze the Cat... he felt as if he had met them before, and they felt very close to him, but yet, he had no memory of ever seeing a pink hedgehog or purple cat around Crisis City, let alone talking to them about naïveté!

His hand absentmindedly brushed the grass beside him. Strange; there were a few drops of water, like teardrops, yet it hadn't rained. Had he been crying?

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. He observed the place where he had decided to stop and rest for the night. Rolling hills, covering each other, formed valleys. A tree stood out in the distance. But, other than that, nothing else was visible but the stretching, night sky, and the flat, green plains.

Wait... wasn't that from his dream?!

He groaned. Maybe he had made the whole thing up. Maybe he had thought too much, last night, about being naïve, and the result was a really wacky dream. Maybe his imagination had even created Amy and Blaze.

Then, he realized something - he felt strangely calm. Not like before, as in serious-calm, but just calm. As if he had nothing in the world to lose, he could take his time, do childish things, just... be naïve.

Suddenly, he remembered Blaze's words in his dream...

"When you're naïve, you can be free whenever you want. I've always wished that I could be like that, just like you two. One day, your dreams will come true. Even the impossible ones. Trust me. And you won't end up with cruel reality, shattered wishes, history that has never happened before, or tears... just freedom, happiness, and absolution."

And the song... his favourite song, the one called Dreams of an Absolution, the one he had made up one day when he was bored... he had sung it in the dream. And Amy had said that you couldn't change the past, but then Blaze said that she actually had, and...

No, it couldn't be... It was too good to be true.

Suddenly, Silver gave a bright smile. He had dreamed of freedom.

He had found his absolution.

At the same time, high up in the heavens, was a purple cat, dancing on the clouds. She was completely happy. All the seriousness, all the sadness, was gone, drained out of her.

At the edge of the cloud, she stopped, and looked down into the sky's blue emptiness below. She sensed that Amy and Silver had awoken. Although they were both from a different place and a different time, they had both experienced the same dream, were feeling the same confused effects. And they had both found peace, freedom, happiness.

She had given two people the freedom they never knew they needed. They had let her find the naïveté inside of her which she needed. But most of all, all three of them had found what they'd been searching for at the end of the day.

...An absolution.

I know some of you are probably a bit confused. You might ask, "Why is Blaze taking all the credit for defeating Iblis when it was Silver who did the work?" or wonder, "How do Silver and Amy know each other?" You're probably screaming, "This story is screwed! Blaze is still alive! Just look at Sonic Rush Adventure!"

Well, Blaze does tell Silver a bit of him going back in time to defeat the 'evil', but if she tells him the whole story, she might revive his memory of defeating Iblis, which isn't suppose to happen. And Silver doesn't know Amy and Blaze, and Amy doesn't know Silver, only their dream forms do. See, Blaze died after the Sonic the Hedgehog (next-gen) game, she got the power to create dreams. So she made a dream, put Silver and Amy in it, and there they were, all chatting like long-lost friends... which they really are.

And the thing with Sonic Rush Adventure... well, let's just pretend it won't ever get out, okay? XD Okay, fine, if that doesn't suit you, just think of this as an alternate demension, where Sonic Rush Adventure won't ever occur and Blaze is still dead. :

I apologize if any facts associated with this story were incorrect. I haven't played Sonic Rush or the next-gen Sonic the Hedgehog video game, so I don't know a lot about Blaze or Silver. Once again, sorry!

Anyway... nice - but confusing - story, ne? I finished it in a record 3 days. O.O Wow, last time I wrote a oneshot, it took me around 2 months to complete it. Heh, something must've taken over me while I was writing this... or maybe I just find angst easier to write about than romance, or I was just in a hurry to let other people feel the same sadness I've been feeling something. It's so strange, being sad for no reason... Well, anyway, thanks for reading! How was it; did you like it, hate it, did it make you cry? (Yeah, I kept crying althrough out the whole thing...) Review and tell me, ask your questions; I accept flames, anything is better than being depressed everytime...

Once again, thanks for reading!

- W-H-I-N-N-I-E -
Fri., May 20th, 2007

You don't always get what you want, but you always get what you need.
Maybe, one day, I will get what I want. All I want is for impossible wishes to come true.
Maybe, one day, I will stop ending up with shattered dreams, cruel reality, or tears.
Maybe, one day, I will get true happiness.
...Maybe, one day, I will find my absolution.