Chapter 10: A Second Chance

Blaze's mind didn't fully process what had happened. She saw everything in slow motion. Silver being slashed, Silver killing Ventuss, and, finally, he died. She knelt before his unmoving body, hoping that this wasn't so. She drew closer, and closer, she felt his cheek. He was ice cold.

First came the tears, then came her screams. Everyone gathered around her and the earthly remains of the white hedgehog. Tears began to fill everyone's eyes. After a few minutes of crying, Knuckles picked up the emeralds, and Shadow picked up Silver's body. The group made their slow and silent march to the kingdom. All the while, Blaze was next to Shadow, making sure that her beloved white knight wouldn't leave her side.

Back in the castle, Sonic opened his eyes to see his darling wife looking down on him. They only stared at each other, there was no need for words at this point. Sonic felt something stinging his arm. He looked to see that his arm was bandaged, and he was in the medical wing. Remembering what had happened, he asked, "Where's Silver?".

"Must be helping Blaze and the knights with the battle in the hills. We haven't received word yet."

He was climbing out of bed. Sally tried to keep him in, but he insisted on getting up. Sally gave him a cloak to at least keep him covered. It took a while, but they made it out the front door and made their way to the edge of the forest. The whole time, Sonic felt something strange. It was disturbing and cold. He was worried that something terrible has happened. Call it a father's instinct, even the queen felt it. From the distance, they could see a large group coming their way. The group was lead by a black and red figure carrying a white object.

Sonic could almost guess that the two were Shadow and Silver, the question was why was his knight carrying the young hedgehog? The group came in and he realized that the group had a number of Nazonians in it. He found it puzzling. Especially since the all seemed to have tears in their eyes. He approached Blaze, who was next to Shadow, and asked, "What happened out there? And what is with all of them?"

After wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, "Ventuss has been defeated, the Nazonians have come for forgiveness that Silver said you might give, and … and …".

She couldn't finish, because tears filled her eyes again and she hid her face in her father's chest. Sonic didn't understand at first, then he looked closer at Silver's body. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Silver had a blade sticking out of his back and wasn't breathing. He may have said this in pure sadness, but he didn't care for he said, "For Silver, I will forgive them and have them return to the kingdom."

Now the king has joined in this depressing march back to the castle. The thunder that was heard in the distance had finally ceased. The sun came out, and pointed it's light to the head of the group. A depressing thing it was, but nature and Chaos seemed to thank the young hedgehog.

Silver's body was sent to the medical to have the blade removed, and be ready for the funeral that was to happen the next day. Knuckles was putting the emeralds away, in the chamber of the Master Emerald, so that an appropriate ceremony can be conducted on that day. He now understood what had been shown in the vision fourteen years ago. Peace was brought to the kingdom because of Blaze's affiliations with Silver. The reason that he wasn't in the vision for so long was because of his death. It was a shame too, the pair seemed to get along nicely. If this was all apart the plan that Chaos had thought of, then who was he to question it? As he thought it, he couldn't help but punch the wall while a tear rolled down his face.

In the medical wing, a figure materialized from the darkness, and looked down at the peaceful body the young hero. As the figure's head moved, to see the body thoroughly, a jingle could be heard from the dreadlocks. She stroked his quills, slowly, and began to hum to the body. From the darkness behind her rose the captain of the knights himself.

"Tambourine? Is it really you?" he asked, trying to hide his happiness and excitement.

Surprised, she turned around to look at the black hedgehog in the eyes. "Yes, I've come back. I said I would return when peace was restored and I meant it. I just … I just can't believe that he is …"

"I know. Silver told me not to tell, but he looked up to you like a mother."

"I told him to never think of me like that. But, I guess I should practice what I say because I thought of him like a son." she said this with little rivers flowing down her cheeks.

Shadow approached her and held her close to him. He really was happy to see her, but he wished that the circumstances were better. He didn't really know Silver that well, but he seemed to have all of the characteristics of a knight. He felt the tears from the ebony echidna roll on his chest. At that point, he began to cry for the first time in years.

In the tallest tower in the castle, on the full moon lit night, the purple feline was sitting in a fettle position. She had been up there since they arrived at the castle. All she could do was cry. The door to the room she was in opened to show her mother entering. She went next to Blaze and held her as she cried. Sally then said, "Why weren't you down at the medical wing? I thought you wanted to see ..."

"I don't to be any where near him! I hate him! He left me!" was she could say before she went back to crying.

"Blaze, how could you say that. He was your closest friend."

"No. he was more than that. He was my … my …"

"Oh, I see. Maybe you would care to share,"

Blaze dried her eyes, took a deep breath, and retold how they had met. She told in great detail and mentioned the bond they made.

"A what?" Sally asked with much curiosity.

"I know it sounds silly, but when we met, I lit my hand with flame, and he with his aura. We took each others hand and made a wonderful display. He called it our bond of flame. I laughed at it, but looking back at it now, I think it was every bit as serious as our feelings for each other." she said with a small, and barely noticeable, smile on her face.

"See, I think this is the Blaze that he wants. The happy cat that he met all those years ago."

At that Blaze lightened up and walked with her mother to the bedrooms. She would try and get some sleep. Maybe things will be different, but they don't have to be all bad.

It was day time, the seven gems were hovering around her. In front of her was a white hedgehog with golden eyes, her Silver. He was smiling at her warmly, and said, "You know Blaze, I was destined to kill your family and begin a dark rule. And you were destined to rule alone in your own kingdom."

"What's your point?" she asked trying to hold back tears.

"I'm saying that if I can defy the hands of destiny, maybe you can too. I know you'll figure it out, you are the smart one after all."

The light from the emeralds began to become blinding to her and she was enveloped in it. She woke up with a cold sweat. The dream was so wonderful that it saddened her for it's end. Then she remembered that the dream said something weird to her. Defy destiny? What did it mean? She didn't even realize that she was getting ready to leave until she was already out the door and running to the medical wing. She went to the bed that Silver was laying in, and saw the blade that they had taken out of his back. She then took her love in her arms, feeling the cold and heavy weight, and headed to Knuckle's house.

It was difficult, but she managed to get to his house before morning came. Getting into the house with out waking the shaman was to easy for her. She jumped to the window, went through and opened the front door to pick up Silver. With his body in her arms, she went down stairs to the room of the Master Emerald. The emeralds' light was dim, but it was very inviting. Laying Silver on top of the Master Emerald, she assembled the seven smaller Chaos Emeralds to put around the larger emerald. The glow became slightly brighter. She put her hands together and on her chest in a prayer. Concentrating hard on what she wanted, she even began to cry a little. The light became so bright that she kept her eyes closed. The light went back to their normal glow, but she dared not open her eyes. A soft voice broke the silence saying, "Blaze, why are you crying?"

She opened her eyes to a white hedgehog who was sitting on top of the Master Emerald with a concerned look on his face.

"You're back!" she shouted with joy.

Silver only smiled and said, "I told you so. If I could do it so could you too."

The two embraced each other and kissed. They didn't want this moment to end, but Silver wanted to say something, "Thank you, looks like I owe you a big one." this he said in a serious tone.

"Well, do you know how you can repay it?"

"How?"

"Staying with me forever."

"You know what? I think I will."

With that said they made their way back to the castle, hand in hand. Anyone who saw them was astonished to see that Silver was alive, and Blaze was holding his hand. When they got to the castle, a worried blue hedgehog was there to greet them. When he saw Silver, he couldn't even speak. He could only look in utter shock. Both smiled at the perplexed king, they knew that there was going to be a lot to talk about.

A/N: Writing this was a lot of fun for me. I hope that you have enjoyed the story even if almost everyone seemed out of character. For those who want me to make a sequel to this that involves their kids, please don't hesitate to PM me. Review if you can, and thank you.