Author's Note:
After a month hiatus, I return with chapter four of Remember When. This chapter is not the finest, and I explored some new ideas (notice anything strange with Knuckles?). I might even decide to up and replace it when I start on the next chapter. Don't worry, we're getting to the good stuff soon!
Thank you to anime . rules . XD for following Gone, Arnia the fox and anime . rules . XD for favoriting Gone, werewolf99 and Eggman hater for reviewing Gone, anime . rules . XD, JacetheHedgehog, and Toko Apple for following Remember When, anime . rules . XD and Arnia the fox for favoriting Remember When, and, lastly, Eggman hater and Ghostkid33 for reviewing Remember When. Oh, and Ghostkid33 gets a million rings for guessing my inspiration!
Remember When...
Chapter Four: We Remember
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.
The walk to the clearing, the clearing that had at one point been ready to house a wedding, was met with silence, only being punctuated by the crunching of ice beneath their feet and the sound of the breeze as it caused an upset in the branches.
Sonia... Sonia...
A heavy blanket of silence continued to fall over the two friends as they stood, candles in hand, around a stone vigil. Two pictures rested on top of the cold ore, one, a beautiful fuchsia Erinaceinae dressed in a casual outfit of denim jeans and grey t-shirt with her hands on her hips, obviously giving the camera person a death glare, the other, another hedgehog, this time a charming chartreuse fellow wearing an equally laid back tan vest and spinning a pair of drumsticks between his fingers. Underneath each picture was a small golden plaque, addressing the two pictured mobians.
Princess Sonia Angelica Hedgehog
March 4th, 1986
Loving Sister, Loyal Friend
…
Prince Manic Wylie Hedgehog
March 4th, 1986
Caring Brother, Outspoken Friend
It was uncommon that the memorial's floral arrangement were of white roses, the flower of remembrance, not lilies and carnations, the flowers most associated with death and mourning. Not by any means unheard of, but still uncommon.
It was unusual that the only date listed was their birthday. Still not unheard of, but unusual.
It was different in that the ones commemorated were still alive.
That, while not unheard of, was barely a whisper in the wind.
Sonia... Sonia...
A grimace passed the red echidna's face and an instinctive grunt of pain escaped his lips before he had a chance to stop it, if only for a moment. It didn't matter whether it was a second or a sonic second, the fragile blanket of silence was shattered like the ice beneath their shoes.
Sonic breathed. Not sobbed, not sniffled. Just breathed.
Then came a quiet whisper, as if it were another person talking, "We aren't ever going home, Knux."
It was the straw that finally broke the echidna's spines. His eyelids couldn't hold back the salty liquid from breaking through. He could no longer keep up his inner resistance against his whatever-it's-called that controls sobbing.
Sonic was fairing little better. Even with his vision blurred by tears, Knuckles could see his friend was hunching over in defeat to his own sorrows, and his ears had nothing to obscure the second set of sobs.
Sonia... Sonia...
He wasn't sure when the crying stopped the quiet sniffling began. He wasn't sure wether he stopped before Sonic or Sonic stopped before him. He wasn't sure about a lot of things on December thirteenth. It hurt too much to think.
He was sure about one thing, however.
After the sniffling had faded back into its original silence, Sonic was the first one to break it.
"I remember," the blue hedgehog started, his voice breaking as he spoke, "Meeting Sonia and Manic for the first time."
He heaved back a sob and continued, his tears almost droning out the words as he spoke, "It was at an underground club. We just fell in sync. Sonic Underground had performed its first gig before we said more than four words to each other."
The cobalt hedgehog flicked a droplet out of his eye and laughed, a 'this really hurts but laughing hurts less' laugh, but a laugh none the less. Knuckles knew he had more to say, but didn't push the issue.
Then Knuckles started laughing, and it wasn't till the whole meadow was full of insincere laughter. Each burst of mirth was wrong, silently screaming, 'it hurts, it hurts!'.
Sonia... Sonia...
Soon fits of laughter evolved into bursts of melancholy, though he wasn't sure when.
He wasn't sure about a lot of things on December thirteenth. It hurt too much to think.
The tears began running down their faces to better match their heartache.
Knuckles was the next to utter a word, or so he thinks. Everything blurred together.
"I remember watching the sunset with Sonia. You know, right after we retrieved that chaos emerald from Sleet and Dingo." the red echidna wasn't sure if he cried, laughed or something in between, "Then she kissed me and-"
He laughed. Against all things, he started laughing like there was no tomorrow. Sonic ended up dragging the red guardian's laughter-ridden body back to the shrine.
Sonia... Sonia...
He wasn't sure what happened after that. He wasn't sure about a lot of things on December thirteenth. It hurt too much to think.
The next thing he could recall was being on top of the shrine. Sonic was there, too. Knuckles looked into his friend's eyes and knew what hurt too much for words to say:
'We remember'
It hurt too much to think.
It hurt too much to remember.
Sonia... Sonia...