Yikes, I feel like it's been forever! That, or a lot has happened since last time: a classmate's death (may he rest peacefully), homecoming, buddy senior pictures, and of course, homework galore! Damn school!
Anyways...
arianahewitt, Sara lovelymusic, FireWitch25, thanks for the reviews!
I own Amara and this story. Sega or Archie own the other characters.
Chapter 11
Amy's P.O.V.
As I watch Sonic reunite with his family, I can't help but to be filled with sorrow. Sure, my family will be happy once I return, but it won't be long before they forget about me again. No, it won't be long before they make me marry... Scourge. Just thinking about marrying him, let alone thinking his name, makes me nauseous. I don't want to go back. I have nothing there for me anymore. No close family, no love, not even my best friend. She's found her love, and she's sticking with him. I wouldn't let her stay with me anyways, now that I know what happened.
God, to face him everyday after what he did to her, unable to say a thing, just for my safety. Amara is the best friend I could ask for, and that's why it's killing me so. I would figure out a way so that I don't have to go back, but I have two obstacles in my way: where would I go, and what happens if I don't marry Scourge? I can't stay with Sonic's crew, I doubt Sonic would let me stay, and I have no other family that I know of. I would be completely on my own. Then there's what Amara told me- '...you'll be a great queen! If you died, then the kingdom will be robbed of a bright and happy future.' I didn't think too much of it at the time. I figured Scourge would be able to rule just fine without me, but now that I know what he's capable of, can I let Pallertha be under his complete control? Can I jeopardize people's happiness just for my own?
I jolt out of my thoughts as a green hedgehog, his brother I'm guessing, walks into the kitchen and greets Sonic. At first glance, because of his color and my current thoughts, I thought he was Scourge. Once I took a closer look, however, I quickly realized that to my relief, he wasn't. His green fur is lighter than Scourge's, his eyes are brown, he has multiple quills sticking up and set in a messy style, and he has two gold-hoop earrings in his left ear. He also has that same cocky smirk Sonic has too...
"Now Manic, your brother just got home." Sonic's mother fixes Manic with a disapproving look.
"Yeah, Manic. This is my greeting after two months?" Sonic's voice sounds hurt, but as Aleena, if I remember her name correctly, keeps her eyes on Manic, Sonic childishly sticks his tongue out at his brother. Manic shakes his head and chuckles.
"Whatever. How about we eat now?"
"Oh!" Aleena eyes the rest of us worriedly. "I wish you could have told me you were coming first, Sonic. I do not think I have enough food for everyone."
"Ah, don't worry about it Mom. We can get food from the market." He shrugs. Aleena scrunches up her face.
"No. As hostess, it is my duty to serve my guests."
"It's really no trouble, ma'am." I speak up, feeling like I should say something. "We'd hate to burden you to feed us when we can easily go get food ourselves." The others nod in agreement.
"Why, who's this beauty? I know I've never seen your pretty face before." Manic walks over to me and takes my hand.
"Amelia Rose, but you can, uh, c-call me Amy." I stutter and blush as he kisses my hand.
"Lovely name. The name's Manic, in case ya missed it." He winks and straightens up. He's very similar to Sonic.
"Come on, Amy." Sonic abruptly grabs my hand and takes me over to his mother and sister, his grip tight and a small frown on his face. I frown at him as disappointment fills me. I guess he doesn't like me talking to his family. So much for thinking we are on better terms now.
We stop in front of his mother and sister as he introduces me to them, his frown nowhere to be found. "This is my mother, Aleena, and my sister, Sonia." Or maybe not...
"A pleasure, Amelia." Aleena smiles at me. Aleena has light purple fur with long, violet quills and has the same green eyes as Sonic.
"Hiya Amy!" Sonia grins cheerfully. Sonia has dark magenta fur with pink quills, a shade darker than mine, and she has hazel eyes.
"Who is the other young lady, Sonic?" I look to where Aleena gestures and see Amara.
"Amara Vipsin, Ma'am." Amara nods politely.
"Also Shadow's girlfriend." Sonic adds with a smirk. Shadow calmly looks at him.
"Why are you holding Amy's hand, Faker?" My eyes widen and I realize that, sure enough, my hand is still in his. Sonic quickly lets go and rubs a finger under his nose, muttering something along the lines of 'stupid' and 'no fun'.
"Faker?" Manic looks at Shadow curiously.
"Boy! I sure am hungry!" Sonic interrupts, rubbing his stomach.
"Alright, that is enough chatter for right now. Set up the tables out back and I shall serve as much food as I can." Aleena shoos all of us out the door Manic came through earlier, leading out to the back yard.
"Seriously, what's with the name 'Faker'?" Manic asks again as we're ushered out, not dropping the subject.
"Well, you see..." Knuckles starts explaining with a smirk as they go to retrieve some tables. Feeling like my assistance won't be needed by them, I turn and go back to Aleena before she can go back into the kitchen.
"Please, at least allow me to help you." I just met her minutes ago and I already like Sonic's mother. I also don't like the thought of her making all this food by herself.
"Yeah, Mom. The guys can handle the tables." Sonia walks up to us, motioning for the other girls to come back over as she does.
"Oh alright. Thank you." Aleena smiles appreciatively at us and leads the way back into the kitchen. Blaze and Sonia heat up the leftovers, Amara brings the food over to Aleena and I while we make the plates, and Rouge goes and serves the food out back.
"So, Amelia, how have you come to know my son?" Aleena asks me as we make the plates.
"Well, he, uh, kidnapped me and Amara about five days ago, actually." I smile nervously, not sure if Sonic wants her to know. Too late now, I guess.
Aleena whips her head towards me, wide-eyed. "He kidnapped you?" Uh-oh. I hesitantly nod. The purple hedgehog frowns and silently continues to make the plates. I do so as well.
"I don't hate him." I say quietly after a few moments. "He has treated the both of us well, and I know he's doing this to get ransom so he can help others." I suddenly feel bad for tattling on Sonic. With this feeling, I have to stop myself from chuckling out loud. Things have definitely changed if I'm defending my kidnapper now.
"Oh? So you're okay with being taken away from your family?" She glances at me, her voice hard and her face challenging. She's definitely not happy.
"Well, not at first." I admit. It's all I can say, really. She already knows what I basically felt about being kidnapped. "I understand and am okay with it now, though." It's the only thing I can say to soften it. Aleena shakes her head in disappointment and I keep my mouth shut for the rest of the time we make the plates, afraid of accidentally upsetting her more.
After we're all seated out back and we all have food in front of us, Aleena speaks up.
"Sonic," His mother keeps her gaze on her plate as she stabs a piece of steak with her fork. "what did you tell me was the reason for you deciding to become a pirate six years ago?" He looks questioningly at her.
"That I wanted to help the poor people?"
"Yes," She nods. "and what did I make you promise me?"
"To keep the innocent out of it."
"Right again. So tell me then," She looks up from her food to his face. "why did you kidnap Amy and Amara?" Everyone stills, not even the sound of chewing can be heard. Sonic throws me a hard glare. I look back guiltily. "Well?"
"Mom, you don't understand. Amy is engaged to Prince Scourge." I cringe at the last part. He's still planning to give me back to Scourge. Well, I guess, why wouldn't he? It's not his problem that I now despise my fiancé.
"Prince?!" Aleena gasps. "Sonic, what have you done?" Worry quickly replaces her anger. "And Amara?"
"Just her poor friend. Amy refused to go anywhere with me without her, so I had no choice but to take Amara as well."
"Oh, son. It's one thing to pillage ships, but to kidnap people? Especially one of them being a prince's bride." Aleena shakes her head, worry still the prominent feature on her face.
"Don't worry, Mom! I'm just using her for ransom." For some reason, a quick, sharp pain hits my chest. Just ransom. "We've been careful to avoid any royals, and they're obviously fine!" Sonic gestures over to me and Amara. Aleena shakes her head.
"Just be careful, Son. This is not something to be treated lightly." She warns.
"I know, Mom. I know." He pats her hand with a sincere smile. She tiredly sighs before looking around the table.
"He has been treating them well, correct?"
"Mom-" Aleena silences Sonic with a raised hand.
"Not at first!" Charmy snickers. "He made Amy work for us and made Amara Shadow's slave!" Aleena's eyebrows rise.
"I volunteered, actually," Amara speaks up, also not wanting the older hedgehog to be more upset. "and I'm obviously not unwillingly under his control now." Shadow leans his head close to her ear.
"Obviously." He says in a low, husky voice, causing her to blush and elbow him away from her.
"And I thought I would do Amy a favor by making her learn what work is, her being the daughter of one of Pallertha's richest dukes and all." Sonic explains.
"Sonic, you above all people should know that not all rich people are the same." Much to my confusion, Sonic's ears twitch and pain flashes across his face before it's gone. Aleena gives him a small, sad smile and pats his arm before turning her attention back to the rest of us.
"It seems there has been quite a lot I have missed since the last I have seen you all. Do you mind informing me?"
The crew launches into telling what they've been up to these last two months, and I go back to my thoughts.
What to do...
XXXXX
Dascoun is a lot more crowded than anywhere I've ever been in Pallertha. As I follow Sonia, who weaves effortlessly through the sea of people, I bump into someone every three seconds.
"Yeesh, there sure are a lot of people here." I hear Amara grumble from behind me.
"Perfect for pick-pocketing if you ask me." I turn to find Rouge eying a man's wallet located in his back pocket.
"Rouge..." Blaze warns with a roll of her eyes.
"What? I wasn't referring to myself." The white bat says defensively.
Aleena sent us girls to get groceries for dinner later tonight while the guys... well, who knows? Sonic was reluctant to let me go without him, but Sonia reassured him that she'd keep an eye on me and that it wasn't worth the risk of him being spotted by a royal guard or a loyal Robotnian. She also pointed out that no one here would recognize me, since there are no posters with my picture anywhere that she's noticed. I know he was worried about me running off and about keeping a low profile here, yet a small part of me can't help but to wonder, maybe Sonic simply didn't want me to go?
Whoa. Backtrack, wrap that thought up, and store it away to be dissected later. This is hardly the place for me to get lost in my thoughts. Especially about that.
Sonia stops in front of a produce cart and I nearly run into her. "Hey Amy, grab two pounds of potatoes please." She goes to the others to tell them what to get. Luckily I've been shopping with Amara and her family, so I know what to look for and how to measure it. I wouldn't have had a clue without those trips, to be honest. Sonic would've got a kick out of that.
As I fill a sac full of potatoes, I notice a poster on one of the cart's posts:
WANTED
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ALIVE
REWARD: 2 MILLION RINGS
-King Marcus, King of Pallertha
There's also a drawing of Sonic, but it's not very good. It's like a young teenager drew it. Nevertheless, seeing the poster makes me uneasy. Sonic may trust the people here, but I don't. This is a lot of reward money, and people do crazy things for money...
"Hey," I jump as Sonia steps up to my left. "you alright?"
"Uh, yeah." I glance at the poster again. She follows my gaze and nods understandingly.
"It's weird seeing his face on these, portrayed as some criminal, but don't worry. He's safe here just as long as he keeps his head low. Believe it or not, almost everyone here knows him." She gestures around at the crowd of people.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. With that speed of his, zooming to wherever he pleases all his life, how could people not know him?" She grins and shakes her head. I chuckle, easily believing it.
Sonia looks over my shoulder and her smile drops, her face darkening. I turn to see what she's glaring at, and I see a older chipmunk couple. From their apparel, it's easy to tell they are rich. That, and from the vibes of superiority they give off. Both of them return Sonia's glare as they pass, the cold exchange actually giving me chills.
"Who are they?" I ask once they've passed.
"No one important, regardless of what they think." Sonia grumbles. Seeing that she isn't going to elaborate, I continue to fill the sac with potatoes and weigh it. The other girls return with their assigned produce not long before I finish with mine.
As we finish our shopping, I decide that I like Sonia. She's kind and cheerful, which is why it's hard for me to forget that chipmunk couple. What could've happened that causes Sonia to loose her kind demeanor at the mere sight of them?
We return to Aleena's house and take the groceries to the kitchen. It's when all the groceries are inside that I notice just how much food we bought.
"This is a lot." I gape at the mountain of food.
"Well there are nine men." Aleena chuckles.
"It's not fair." Amara pouts. "They can eat all this food and not get fat while we get fat from just eating half of it?!"
"Just another sacrifice women make." Blaze sighs. Silver walks into the kitchen and snags an apple from the table.
"Well maybe if women worked as hard as..." We all glare daggers at the ivory hedgehog, daring him to continue. "I, uh, can't wait for dinner, you amazing ladies!" He nervously smiles and quickly retreats out of the kitchen.
"We should make him cook." Rouge glares at the empty doorway Silver just went through.
"That would be a good punishment, but I actually want to eat a good meal tonight." Blaze smirks. The rest of us chuckle.
"Wait," An idea forms in my head. "what if we made not only Silver cook, but the rest of the guys too?"
"I think you're onto something, Amy." Rouge grins evilly at me.
"We made lunch and got the groceries while they just lazed about. They can at least make dinner!" Sonia agrees. Aleena smiles and laughs softly.
"Who can argue with that logic?" With nothing holding her back now, Sonia leads the way to the living room with a sly grin, where the guys are.
"Hello boys." She casually greets as she plops down on the couch, right between Sonic and Knuckles. "You can start making dinner now."
"Dinner's already done? Sweet!" Silver jumps to his feet, discarding his apple core, while the rest of the guys start standing up too.
"Nooooo," Amara sits next to Sonia and places her feet on the coffee table before her, leaning back into a relaxed position. "she meant you guys can start cooking. We made lunch and got the groceries, now you can make dinner while we girls relax."
"What?! You serious?" Manic exclaims. We all nod, taking the seats the guys occupied moments before. "B-but we're going to screw it up!"
"I taught both you and your brother how to cook, and I know Vector here cooks as well. You, gentlemen, shall be just fine." Aleena states as she makes her way through the males and takes a seat with the rest of us.
"You got Mom too?" Sonic's shoulders slump in defeat as he glares at Sonia. She just grins and makes a shooing motion at him.
"Go on. Time is a-wastin'!"
"What about us? We're just kids!" Tails and Charmy look at us with puppy-dog eyes.
"Oh no you don't." Sonic grabs both boys by the back of their necks and steers them towards the kitchen. "If I'm cookin', you're cookin' too." The two groan in complaint, and the group of males trudge into the kitchen. We start laughing once they're out of sight.
"Oh, we have to do this more often!" Rouge wipes a tear from her eye.
"Did you see their faces?" Blaze snickers. I giggle too, the image of Sonic's disbelieving face and frown reappearing in my head.
"You do realize they're going to get us back, right?" Amara grimaces. Rouge's smile instantly drops.
"Now why'd you go and say that? Now I'm going to be paranoid around Knuckles all night!"
"I have to be careful too you know!" Amara points out.
"Only Amy and Aleena have nothing to worry about." Blaze groans.
"No," I shake my head. "I have to share a room with Sonic, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Heh, so it's just Aleena that's safe." No one would dare cross the mother hedgehog. Not anyone with a brain, that is.
"The perks of being in charge." The older purple hedgehog winks at us and links her hands behind her head, reclining back into her seat as she does.
"OUCH! Damnit that's hot!" We hear Knuckles curse from the kitchen.
Yes, the guys definitely should cook more often.
XXXXX
I release a tired sigh once I enter Sonic's old room, stuffed. The guys managed to pull off a really good meal: salmon, a salad produced by Aleena's garden, and some slightly-overcooked-rolls. Very yummy. Just the whole experience of this dinner was wonderful. Everybody talked, laughed, joked, and just had a good time, no one in a rush to end it. It made me truly see what my family is missing. Maybe I can change that...
Earlier, everybody arranged it so all of us wouldn't have to stay here at Aleena's: Vector, Espio, Shadow, and Amara went to Manic's house, Blaze and Silver went to Sonia's, and Knuckles, Rouge, Charmy, Tails, Sonic, and I are staying here at Aleena's. Naturally, Sonic and I get his old room. I expected to see his room fairly empty, since he's been sailing for the past six years, but I find myself to be wrong once I see his room. He still has a bed with bedding, a dresser with random knickknacks on it, and a couple other of his belongings. Curious if he still has clothes here, I go over to his dresser and open it.
I am greeted by the sight of his boxers and socks. With heat rushing to my face, I am about to slam the drawer shut when I notice a corner of a picture frame sticking out from underneath one of his clothes. Curiosity getting the better of me, I grab the corner and tug the frame out, trying my best not to touch Sonic's boxers. I flip the frame over once it's free.
I behold a small painting of a young, female chipmunk in a elegant dark blue dress. Guessing from the amount of detail, this was done by a professional. The chipmunk has both light and dark brown fur, her hair is colored a dark auburn, she has bright, sky-blue eyes, and she looks to be in her later teens. The artists did a marvelous job; her beauty is evident even in the painting.
Who is she? She looks kind of familiar, but I can't recall her face from anywhere. What does she mean to Sonic if he has a picture of her? The thought of him being taken never crossed my mind. Why should it? It's none of my business, yet I can't help but to envy her a little. What guy couldn't fall for her?
I am about to put the picture back when the door opens and Sonic walks in.
"I hope you know I still plan to have you train tonig-" His smirk drops once he spots the framed painting in my hands and his face hardens. "What the hell are you doing?" He growls and storms over to me. I flinch back as he rips the picture from my grip and places it back in his drawer, slamming it closed. "Well?" He demands with an angry look.
"I-I just-" I cower as he looms over me. I've never heard his voice nor seen his face this cold before. It's scaring me. "I'm sorry." I whisper.
"What gives you any right to look through my things?" He hisses, slightly baring his teeth. I almost whimper, but I stop it before it could escape.
I will not be dominated. Not now, not ever.
With that thought, I straighten up and throw my own glare at him. "I have no excuse. I already apologized."
"So that makes it okay?" He sneers. What's his problem? It's just a picture! It's not like I ripped it or anything.
"What more do you want from me, Sonic? I just looked at it, that all!" He glares at me a few more moments before sighing harshly and turning away to leave. I'm not letting him get away that easily. Not after exploding on me like that. He's going to tell me who she is.
"She's beautiful." I state. He hesitates. "If you're worried about me hurting her or something, don't. I would be quite offended you thought that, actually." I cross my arms and watch as he stops with his hand on the doorknob. "Whatever the case, there's no reason to snap at me like that." I can't help but to lower my ears as his angered voice and face replays in my mind. Sonic turns his head to look back at me. I must've had some sort of expression on my face because his features soften after he analyzes my face.
"You're right." He sighs after a while and releases the doorknob. He turns to fully face me, and I swear I've never seen him looked so exhausted before. "I'm sorry for reacting that way." Seeing him like this makes my annoyance dissolve.
"It's alright. I shouldn't of snooped." I admit and uncross my arms. Damn hedgehog. He's always doing that to me: making me feel things like being annoyed one minute and the next, guilty.
After a few moments of awkward a silence, I softly speak up. "Can I at least know who she is?" He narrows his eyes at me and I tense, prepared for another one of his outbursts. Instead, he watches me, a conflict clearly raging in his head, before he sighs again and he drops his guard. The cocky hedgehog I've come to know dissolves and a tired, wounded hedgehog appears.
"You don't have to talk about it." I say gently, regretting having even asked him and hating seeing him this morose.
"No, I... I want you to know." He locks eyes with me and offers me a small, pained smile. He takes a seat at the edge of his bed, and I sit besides him, fearing what grieves him so.
"Her name is Sally Acorn."
Hehe, rotten place to stop, I know. ;) Some of you already guessed who she was a while back, but did you guess her story correctly? Find out next chap!
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