Monday night of the third week. Sonic was awake, though not fully, his mind wandering as he drifted in and out of direct consciousness. He was dying, that much was certain. But…how much? How long? How fast?

His stomach growled, enough to startle him awake in the dark as he stood at his open window, breathing in the night air and shivering in the cold wind. He groaned, mostly out of habit—the hunger was so common to him now, it hardly bothered him—and pressed his forehead against the wall, closing his eyes for a brief moment and enjoying this simple vision of life.

"That isn't wise, you know, Hedgehog," mused a voice emanating from the darkness, "you might catch cold, or let in mosquitoes."

"Heh. Thanks for your concern," Sonic slowly straightened up and turned around to lean against the wall, his feet hardly supporting him as he looked slyly up at his intruder, "but I've had more blood drawn than I can safely think about, and I don't worry about losing a little more…Shadow." He smirked, green eyes alive with the fire of the power of the dying. "You can't seriously be afraid of a little vampire bug."

"Certainly not!" Shadow hissed, straightening with the insult. "I—I simply didn't want you to catch your death and die!"

Sonic's face fell in an instant, so that Shadow had to wonder what was going on that he'd missed. He didn't like paying attention to the doings of Sonic and friends, but when he had to be involved, he liked to know what was going on. And he had to know. "What's wrong?" He demanded. "I cannot have touched a nerve! I was only joking!"

Sonic sighed. "Well, you saved me the trouble of coming to you, I suppose. So you deserve to know what's going on." Shadow settled in to listen, crossing his arms over his chest. Sonic rose from his slumped position against the wall, turning his back on Shadow to close the window. In the moonlight, his form looked eerie and thin as a spindly tree. The dark hedgehog found himself disturbed by this, albeit unwillingly, as he listened to his counterpart's uncharacteristically morbid voice.

"I'm dying," Sonic's voice sliced through the quiet as easily as an arrow flies through the air. "I…I have a rare disease that is untreatable. They—the doctors—have given me medication that'll help me live longer. But…" he cleared his throat, still facing the window, his ears drooping. "…I'm dying. Slowly. But I'm dying." He clenched his teeth together as his body began to shake wildly as if from fever. Shadow knew better than to provide comfort and stood stunned in the dark.

"You're serious?" He asked at last. Sonic nodded. Shadow sighed. "Okay, well…" Actually, he had nothing to say! Shadow the Hedgehog—speechless! Well, it happened often, but still. It was because he chose to be without voice, not because he had his voice stolen from him in surprise!

"What?" Sonic demanded, turning to face him. Now that Shadow could see him clearly, he noticed the dark circles under Sonic's thin cheek fur, and the bones stark on his neck as he breathed shallowly. He really was as thin as all that, though he didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. "What is it?" His voice was softer, a tone Shadow had never heard from his lips, except maybe if he was talking to a child, that is.

"I—I don't know what to say." Shadow admitted. "Is…is there any supernatural cure?"

"None that I know of."

"The Emeralds…?"

"Gone, I suspect. I could never collect them all in time."

"Rings?"

"I couldn't tell you."

"Sonic, are you giving up?"

Sonic jumped. "Shadow…there's nothing I can do."

"Well, then," Shadow reached at his hip and took out a pistol. He loaded it and cocked it, pointing it at Sonic's head. "This'll be fast. Don't move,"

Before Shadow could blink, the gun was out of his hands and on the table, the barrel clogged with white glove. Sonic stood, one hand without a glove, against the window once more. He was lifting his hand up against the moon, the bone easily shining through the nude fur. "I don't want to die," Sonic explained. "I never wanted to die. If—if I had to," he added, "I always swore I'd take Eggman down with me. As it is, I think he's sick, too, but with nothing fatal." He began to cough and moan, clutching his waist. The gun was smoking around the edges of the glove clogging its barrel. "There's nothing I can do…but live." He looked at Shadow, wetness appearing around the corners of his eyes. "So far, I've done impossible things. Days without sleep. Days without a scrap of food." His stomach grumbled loudly to attest to that fact, and he cradled it in acknowledgment. "I don't want to die. But I have to live." He glanced up at Shadow, innocence betrayed on his grown-up person. "Does…does that make sense?"

"As much sense as you'll ever make, Sonic." Shadow replied with a faint smile. He took his gun off the table and held it tenderly in his hands as if he were holding a tiny, fragile newborn kitten. "The world will miss you."

"Don't tell anyone," Sonic whispered, his gloved hand covering his eye. "You're the only one who knows, who wasn't with me That Day."

"That Day?" Shadow repeated with the same inflection.

"The Day I was told." Sonic explained, now lifting his other hand to his other eye and parting his fingers to peek through them. "Promise you won't tell the masses. Promise."

"All right. As much as my word is worth, I promise." Shadow rethought that, and placed his hand over his heart, a bit dramatic for his character. "On Maria's soul, I promise."

Sonic smiled, knowing that an oath on Maria was the strongest oath he'd ever get out of Shadow in any lifetime or alternate reality. "Thanks, Shadow." Then, he began to giggle.

Shadow stepped back, thinking him mad, when a small voice drew him back again. "Shadow?"

"Yes?" Shadow didn't want to linger here. Already, this place, this house, smelled of death and decay. He wanted with all his heart to leave. He was afraid. And he was scared to admit it.

"Do what Maria wanted you to do," Sonic was staring at the moon again, his green eyes reflecting flawlessly the visage of the moon like pools of perfect, clear water. "After I'm gone, do what she wanted. Protect this world. Protect it with your life." Then, weakly—weaker than any words he'd ever spoke in his life, he added: "Please."

Shadow nodded. "I will, Sonic. I will."

As Shadow left, he pried Sonic's glove out from the barrel of his gun and threw it away, doubting Sonic would want it back.

Sitting on top of the garbage, the white glove fluttered like a ghost.

What its owner would too soon become.

Colder than Ice

The World falls apart

Cold like a Stone

The spell on the Souls

Colder than ice

Your hand on my Heart

A world made of stone

Let tenderness freeze

"Arrgh, Amy!"

"Please, Sonic. Just one more bite."

"Amy, I can't. I—"

"Sonic," Amy's eyes teared as she pleaded with him. "Please."

Sonic stared at the silver spoon of watery soup hovering a few feet from his reluctant lips. The soup had some lentil and beans in it, which he was highly allergic to. His throat began to burn just from imagining the sensation…! But, he wanted to please her. With a huff, he opened his mouth, closing his eyes as he felt the spoon go in, his lips automatically closing as the spoon was withdrawn.

Sonic swallowed without bothering to chew and immediately began to cough violently, holding his throat over the sink. Amy set the soup aside for now as the blue hedgehog chased down the food with a glass of distilled water or five, gasping for breath now that he could breathe easily again.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," Amy looked at the floor, wringing her hands. "I thought it would do you good."

"The last three—spoonfuls, didn't—do me, any good," Sonic panted "what, made you, think—one more—would?"

Amy smiled apologetically, drawing him close for a hug. "Instinct? C'mon, Sonic. We both know you're starving. A little pampering aught to do you good."

Sonic rolled his eyes. As true as the fact of his starvation—and the feeling of his immense hunger—was, he couldn't be expected to eat much, now that he was allergic to nearly every kind of foodstuff. He pulled her against him and leaned forward to kiss her deeply, his lips tingling because of his allergy to her lip-gloss. He smiled within the kiss, feeling Amy melt against him, so he was startled when the girl pushed him away sternly.

"All right," Amy brushed herself off. "That's enough of that."

"…Amy?" Sonic was so confused right now, he could've rolled over and played dead like a possum. What exactly was she up to? His confused look faded when she rounded on him in anger.

"Sonic!" She shouted. "It's Tuesday!"

"So?" Sonic flattened his ears, shy of being yelled at. "Does that mean it's 'yell at Sonic' day? Ow."

"Sonic!" Amy stomped her feet. "Be serious!" He raised an eyebrow. "How do you feel about me?" She demanded of him, her hands on her hips.

The kitchen was silent. Sonic drew her close to him, despite the tingle in her fingers that meant she was hungering for her hammer, and cradled her cheek in his gloved palm. "I love you," he said simply. "I always have, and I always will."

"Great. Then will you get off?" Amy snorted.

"Wha…?" Sonic tried to kiss her again. "I thought this is what you always wanted—"

"Ah ha!" Amy held up a finger to his lips to keep him from coming at her with them. "There we go! Those are the keywords!"

"What are?" Sonic cocked his head until all of his quills fell sideways.

"What I always wanted," Amy indicated to herself.

"So? Isn't that the point of all this?" Sonic was getting angry himself now, his fur tingling. "I'm doing everything I can, Amy! For you! For all of—!"

"That's exactly it!" Amy roared, pulling herself violently from his arms. "That's precisely what I mean!"

"You're making zero blasted sense, woman!" Sonic yelled, quills flaring like an enraged spider in his passion. "I try so hard to please you, and this is what I get in return? Nice, real kick-bombing, nice!"

"There you go again!" Amy screeched. "I have a mind to tear out your heart so at least you'll listen!"

"Buzz off! I could spindash you to pieces if I had the—"

"Nothing but an oversensitive—"

"—back-stabbing pink woman—"

"—and if I had a nickel for every time that—"

"—but you just don't seem to get that—"

"I'M DOING THIS FOR YOU!" Both hedgehogs growled at each other at precisely the same exact second. Each then retreated to their opposing corners, ready to continue the battle. Sonic instead tried a different approach.

"What do you mean by that, Amy?"

The pink hedgehog, perhaps thrown off guard by this gentle approach, turned around and ran into his waiting arms. "Sonic, it's just that…" she sighed, "you do everything for us—you've been doing—everything we want to do. And, honestly, that's just not who you are twenty-four-seven."

Sonic's eyes grew wide as a fly's and he opened his mouth to protest, but Amy cut in. "You're a great person, Sonic, with a heart of gold like no one else's. But you wouldn't be mortal without being a little selfish. I know you're dying, but…" Amy rested her head against his chest, listening to that golden heart beating beneath his skin, bones, and fur. "Be a little more like yourself. Run a little and enjoy yourself. Before long, you may not have the chance to."

Sonic felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Amy," he mused, his voice dreamy and already a thousand miles away, "you just set me free." And Sonic did what he was born to do.

He ran.

He ran all the way around his planet several times. He visited some of his favorite places. He picked flowers, enjoyed the smells of exotic foods, talked to old friends. He jumped over lakes, ran over oceans, and slid down the sides of snowy mountains. He learned the different time zones and memorized languages and customs until he was sick. He did everything he could to enjoy life.

And all because one girl had finally set him free.

Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling

Do you feel my heart beating?

Do you understand?

Do you feel the same?

Am I only dreaming?

Is this burning an eternal flame?

Lyrics:

Fairyland-Angelzoom

Eternal Flame: The Bangles