Author's Note: Just little ol' me as usual. This theme has been one I was looking forward to writing. Since a lot of Sonaze has been mostly platonic outside of Love [Even then, it felt one-sided cackles], this one will have some more implied of the shipping~ So enjoy~ If its not obvious yet, I love angst and cuddling in stories~ I am excited to express some of my head canons for Blaze here in this theme~

Disclaimer: If I did own this, Blaze would totes appear as a playable main character more often, heehaw~

The Peanut Gallery~

Dstortion: It warms my heart to know I made you laugh~ Humor is something I feel awkward writing so you have relieved me with such a compliment~ Thank you for your crumbs, they leave me very satisfied and wanting to write more for you and everyone in-between~ I just realized you wrote Power of Bonds. I feel like fan squealing, I love that story so far~ Faints happily with a swoon~

Ghostkid33: Yea, I got another laugh out of that little scene, hee hee~ I really feel accomplished now~ and yea, I wanted to explore a friendship between Shadow and Blaze, since someone once said they were pretty alike. So I was like, ya know what, let's throw in some interaction and BAM, here we are because I can't deny that. Also, your crumbs are delicious~ licke licke~

To all my quiet readers, I thank you too for checking these little stories out~ Don't be shy, I do not bite~ I hope you all continue to read, laugh, cry, favorite and follow Never Alone~! Continue to leave me crumbs and you shall feed my inspiration to update more and more~

Theme 5. Seeking Solace

She couldn't believe how many years had passed since her ascent to the throne. She wasn't a child anymore but a grown woman, flowering gracefully into her nineteenth year. Many were congratulating her for accomplishing such a rough feat from a tender point of her life though by no means had they been patient or soft.

At the age of five, a young Blaze was left an orphan and in the care of a emotionally detached, harsh grandmother. The people were left without a king or a queen, panicking as they declared the girl needed to take her position as ruler far earlier than her time. This grandmother was the legendary Fumus Impetus. In Blaze's stead, she retook the throne as a regent.

Blaze sometimes struggled to rake her mind of those early days, back when her parents were alive. She didn't know how they died exactly but she remembered there being a harsh fire in the castle grounds one winter night. Blaze vaguely remembered conking her head on something heavy, the ceiling falling down upon her as everything faded to black.

Blaze put the pieces together as she had grown older and older, staring at hands that held blood she could not see. Her people sometimes pointed fingers at her over their demise but they knew she had been a child, not yet able to control her power of the royal fire. Even then, they were all too willing to traumatize the kitten further and further. Fumus protected her and taught her to never grow attached to things around you, as their curse would only take them away.

Like they had Blaze's late parents and eventually, including even Fumus herself.

By twelve, the older cat had stepped down, the almighty queen Fumus deciding Blaze would take the throne. It didn't help Fumus was slowly dying at the time, from a disease no doctor had a name for. Fumus' instincts told her time was running out and she wanted to waste none of it more. She made sure the ceremony was down as quickly as possible, the old cat even attending it despite how thin and ragged the once powerful Fumus became. Her legs would shake with every step and she adamantly refused to stay confined to a wheelchair. At the ceremonial temple's alter, Fumus stood beside Blaze, an illusion of strength and fortitude stuffed upon a shell.

Blaze remembered Fumus well, loving her grandmother so much despite being held at an arm's length the entirety of life by her. Pictures painted of the former queen didn't do her justice, only leaving behind blank eyes made of acrylic and a path toward uncanny valley.

At Fumus' deathbed, Blaze tried to replace the hollow face with one of a earlier time, when the elder had been not a skeleton of what once was but a figure of great authority and power. She had taken her grandmother's hand in her own, feeling the strength fading in sync with Fumus' pulse. Blaze could feel her spirit leave and the newly crowned female bowed her head in deep sadness.

"Grandmother…"

"Blaze, I have told you many times before… I am to be F-Fumus to you… wheeze… "

"F-Fumus, you can't…"

"I must go. My own flames… they are finally flickering out."

"Its not fair, why did They give us such power?!"

"N-no one knows for sure, Blaze… perhaps They have a sick sense of h-humor, giving mortals such power, such things b-beyond our c-control… wheeze… "

"I would give anything to trade my curse away, just to keep you here, Fumus."

"N-never say such… such… things Blaze… we are cursed as… as royalty. Like They we are… are meant to be… untouchable… that… that is why we have the royal flame… Sigh…"

"Fumus…?"

"…"

"Fumus!"

Blaze could not believe her grandmother was gone six years now. On her finger tips, she still felt the remnants of the elder queen's life. Like with many on the night she became an orphaned princess, Fumus' life blood was stained in invisible ink on the imprint of her hand. No matter how much she washed her hands, even to the point of them being raw and itchy, she still felt it. Even after all the lives she saved in her country and even beyond this dimension, she could not escape the guilt. It was like she was constantly dunked further and further into the depths of a horrible putrid pit.

With it being the eve of her coronation and the death of Fumus, that weight pressed onto her all the more heavier. It was funny how she went day by day, she was able to shoulder it in stride. Everyone suspected she carried such a body count over her head, her kingdom keeping a safe distance as they only regarded her as a vassal. She kept them safe and ruled them with a wisdom beyond her age, but it didn't stop how they saw her openly as a ticking time bomb. They would bow to her, worship and pray for her prosperity and honor, once she had her back to them, they would be whispering. Whispering words her country thought Blaze was deaf of, when in truth she could hear everything. So she too kept them at an arm's length if she could, picking up load after load to prove she was worthy of the throne. She served them instead of they serving her.

The queen took to wandering the garden in the castle courtyard. She didn't tell anyone of where she was heading, knowing she needed time to herself, which meant to keep her servants, nobles and high council away. The high council in particular were being fairly pushy lately with her but frankly, upsetting them was the farthest thing from a worry for Blaze.

The garden was a large place, almost the size of a small forest. It was made to be like a maze, stretching in all directions in the shape of a neat box. Exotic flowers clung to hedges all over, all very colorful and full of intoxicating scents. Blaze took a moment to literally smell the roses, the feline grabbing a bright red one between her long fingers. Plucking it, she continued to walk, nose pressed into its silky petals. Its fragrance was comforting and with her eyes closed, she walked blindly down a random path in the garden. Even with a sharp thorn imbedding itself in her thumb, she felt that pain was more preferred than the mental and bodily scars she had marred upon her being.

Heels clicking against the cobblestone, she eventually came across the heart of the garden after much walking. She glanced up from her feet to find herself standing before the courtyard's fountain. It was a very beautiful piece of artistry, made of the finest stones. It had been built a long time ago and so Blaze never knew the individual who did the design of the marble fountain. It was shaped like a giant ring, looping around and curling. One would expect such a shape to be attached to the ground almost as if it were a bowl, that was not the case. It stood up in the air with its shape, water spraying out from the top of the loop. It pooled beneath the structure, the water seeping out and misting all over into different ruts in the ground below. The way the water glinted in the moonlight made it look as if the stars were falling down.

Blaze stared at it for awhile, simply motionless as she let the cool fountain water mist against her face. There were footsteps behind her and Blaze could hear the clicking of heavy armor. They were rounding the path she had come from to get here and Blaze wished they would go away. Ears flattening as her somewhat good mood was in danger of being threatened by the outside world, she turned on her heel. She was expecting a palace guard who had been sent down to fetch her, as if believing the cat required the watchful eye of body guards twenty-four-seven.

Clenching her fist, she crushed the flower she had been holding so delicately a moment ago. She was too frustrated and it burnt to ash in her palm.

Instead, she found someone all too familiar. Sure, he was dressed oddly with a metal tunic and gauntlets over his palms but it was him. All blue, cool and fancy free as usual. In her state of mind today, Blaze forgot all about his presence here in her dimension. She felt ridiculous for letting it slip her realm of thought, Blaze wasn't one to let anything or anyone be disregarded. If it was on her premise, Blaze was the get go woman to handle the matter reasonably. Usually, it was some sort of political threat or something involving Ivo Robotnik Negative.

Of course, he wasn't deemed one of these two things. He was far from it. He was playing around with the cuffs a bit finicky, no doubt not used to such constrictive covering, let alone so heavy. Blaze crossed her arms as she faced him.

"You know, as cool as these things look on everyone else, they sure aren't breezy. I feel like a walking tin can! And running? Forget running, these things are way too clunky!"

She raised her brow. "Then what in the world possessed you to dress in such a fashion, Sonic? You aren't part of the guard, let alone a solider for the army."

"Want the truth?"

"No Sonic, I want you to lie to me," Blaze replied, sarcasm thick on her tongue as she rolled her eyes.

Sonic smirked as he let himself step closer to his friend. "Well, someone's got a sense of humor tonight." Once he was next to her, he continued, "Your certain advisor, Mr. Stick-in-the-mud Gordon said I would look more… ahem… 'You shall contain the poise and grace appropriate for walking beside Her Majesty's arm.' I wonder just what he meant by that…" Sonic said the final bit rather sing-songy, drawing the phrase out as he shot her a playful look.

"The wardrobe clearly didn't fix that attitude of yours," the majestic feline grunted to him, eying his suit of armor. "I swear, Gordon tries much too hard to keep up a status quota that isn't even necessary when it comes to me anymore. Especially when you have done plenty here before…"

Sonic didn't seam to mind as he suddenly began tugging his dimensional counterpart by the arm, silently asking her to walk with him. Blaze couldn't refuse his company, his visits, no matter how accidentally, were always welcomed and rare. He was speaking but it wasn't until he gave her a light jab to the ribs did she realize she hadn't been listening one bit. She was too focused on looking at him, lost in her thoughts and distracted by what tomorrow would bring.

Face glowing red like a cherry tomato, Blaze wrung her hands out in front of her absently. This wasn't like her at all. "Pardon?"

He was smiling at her and laughing softly to himself, throwing an arm over her shoulders fondly. "I said I was looking all over for you."

"I apologize," Blaze quickly said. "I should have left you something to identify where I was going, truthfully I didn't know I would be gone here so long."

Sonic waved a hand in a dismissive manner at her apology. "Don't sweat it, Blaze. It wasn't so hard to find you, really."

Part of her was scared to ask as she glanced his way. "…how so?"

He flicked her nose playfully before reaching down to hold one of her hands. "Easy answer there, kitty," he replied merrily. "I just poke my head anywhere that's quiet. Being quick makes it easy to scope you out too."

She shied a look down at their intertwined hands, her friend swinging their arms together as they walked in the garden. "I see…" Blaze commented, turning to face him.

She couldn't get over how casually he regarded her, no caution or anything. It was far different than what she was used to, so weird if you were to ask her personally. Blaze liked this though, she preferred to be held close like this by her friends. She was always thankful to have him in her life as a constant, always loyal and full of love for those close. Even the ones who fought him he still cared for, reaching a hand out despite being wronged. Yet, she knew in the end he would always have to leave her behind. If she were in his dimension now, she too would need to leave him behind. They didn't belong this way and it stung so badly. Blaze and Sonic tempted time and space so often, crossing that bridge just to see the other. The first time had been catastrophic when she found her way into his world in pursuit of her Sol emeralds…

She was forced to leave so much behind when that adventure finished, her new friends and a place the regarded her warmly. It reminded her of what Fumus always told her, that her curse would force the ones she came to love away. There were no exceptions and this was why a holder of the royal flame could never become attached. Heartsickness was a constant companion, one she wanted to trade away to keep Sonic.

So she adamantly fought fate by holding his hand tighter, threading their fingers together so they stayed palm-to-palm. Sonic cocked an eyebrow, smiling after in some sort of pride that she was intuited further contact. She leaned her head against his, eyes falling to their feet as they walked in sync.

"An anniversary is coming up," Blaze murmured.

"Oh?" Sonic sounded curious. "What's the occasion?"

"The day I officially took the throne as queen," she told him. Sonic looked a little worried and Blaze copied his expression once she picked up on it. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, for one, you're always easy on the eyes," he teased, perking back up. "Anyway, that's not what you wanted to hear obviously… Its just, the way you said it…"

"How did I say it?"

"You were talking like its something to be ashamed of. I never thought you'd ever feel that way about it. You always seem so passionate about it, ya know?" His mouth tugged at the corners as he gave her a small smile.

She wasn't looking at him anymore but down at their interlocked hands. All she could think of was all that innocent blood she shed and here he was, holding her palm tightly with their fingers knotted. Blaze thought she hid her feelings better, she was usually like stone, however, she also learned from Sonic that she wasn't stone. Her heart could beat, she had lungs to breathe and legs to let her run… She also had a burden she didn't want to carry with her anymore.

Sonic would never judge her and that comforted her immensely as she breathed a shaky sigh. "Its… it's a long story Sonic," Blaze murmured.

"I got all the time in the world, so long as we don't hold still of course." He raised their hands up, grinning boyishly behind them. "And don't think I will let you get off that easy. You managed to snag my attention after the word 'story.'"

"Is it… is it alright if we don't speak of it right now? I just…" Her voice trembled and she could feel her eyes burning as she looked on to a suddenly blurry world.

He pulled her against him so she could wrap her other arm around him. Sonic did the same, resting his head on her shoulder. "Aw Blaze, don't cry. I don't like it when you cry…"

She sniffled quietly and spoke below her breath. "I really… I really tried Sonic…"

"Let it out, I got ya…" He gently rubbed circles into her back and Blaze held him tightly, as if he were a life line. Sonic really was a life line and he kept her grounded to the earth in this tough time, the eve of her ceremony as queen and the passing of Fumus.

"My hands are ugly, why do you hold them?" Blaze breathed, wiping her eyes with her hand. She attempted to pull away but Sonic didn't let her. He tugged her back close to himself, arm tightly woven around her mid section as he pressed his muzzle against her hairline.

"If you got ugly hands then I got ugly feet," he told her, his breath was warm against her brow as he looked her in the eyes. Everything about him was warm and it just reminded Blaze of what she couldn't have. So for the evening, she let herself hold onto him and he onto her. Sonic was considerate and truthfully was very pleased that she trusted him so much as to cry in his presence.

"T-thank you… S-Sonic…"