Happy February, everyone! January may have felt like a year by itself, but at least we can kick off February with another new chapter. Enjoy! We've got some fallout to deal with...


1/17/2012

Dear Journal,

I'm surviving on borrowed time. When my friends saved me, I thought it was a second chance. I could be free and alive again. We could take the Metarex down cuz that's what we do.

But then I screwed up in the battle. And the one before it. And before that.

It's time to face facts. I know what I've got to do. I

A Chaos Emerald dropped onto Sonic's notebook in the middle of his sentence, breaking Sonic's thoughts. He shoved an arm across his words and shifted his eyes upward to see Nova standing there. She had one eyebrow up and an almost-smirk on her face. "You're a novelist now?" she said.

"Stole the idea from Tails," he replied. He shifted the Chaos Emerald out of the way and closed his notebook before Nova caught sight of what he'd written. He stretched out one of his legs, leaving the other leg up with a knee near his chest as a platform for his notebook. Majyk's sun warmed his fur despite the winter air.

He swung one arm over the back of the bench and twirled the Chaos Emerald in his fingers. "Is this your way of asking me to do something with this?" he asked.

Nova shrugged. "Use it against the Metarex. Figured that would be obvious."

Sonic swung his legs around to drop his feet on the pavement beneath the bench. "Where are they attacking?" he demanded. He tried to ignore the fear already stiffening his body.

But Nova shook her head. "They're not attacking Majyk; that's not what I meant," she said quickly. "I meant in general, in fighting the Metarex."

Relief swept across Sonic's skin, and Sonic worked to not let it show on his face. "Thought that's what we were doing here," he said with a smirk.

Nova rolled her eyes, wings fluttering behind her in her irritation. "Do you just not want the Chaos Emerald or…?" She let her voice trail away, gesturing like she wanted Sonic to fill in the space she left behind.

"No, I'm happy to keep this one safe for you." Sonic tossed the Chaos Emerald into the air just to snatch it back into his grip. "But I didn't expect you to just give up something you could use to protect your planet."

"Can, yeah," she said. "Should…probably not."

Sonic frowned. The Chaos Emerald warmed in his hand, as if to note its indignation of being unwanted. He tried to process what Nova could possibly mean…and failed. So he just looked at Nova quizzically.

"I've never used Chaos Control before," Nova admitted. "Chaos Emeralds, yeah, obviously. Not much but I thought I knew what it felt like to use that Energy. But Chaos Control…" She shook her head. "That nearly knocked me out. But you and Shadow acted like it was nothing."

"To be fair, Shadow's eighty percent Chaos Energy," Sonic pointed out.

"Are you though?"

"Nah; that's just plain old experience."

Nova held her hand out in front of her as if to say 'exactly.' "We're not in a practice arena," she said. "It's best to give our best tool to the one who can use it best." Sonic opened his mouth, but Nova quickly added, "Don't even start with me about Tails. And anyway, that's for your whole crew, including Tails. I know he can use those in his ships. I actually already gave him the one that he and I retrieved."

Sonic closed his mouth just so he could smirk. Then said, "I was actually just going to point out that Shadow could use them too."

Nova's cheeks flushed, surprising Sonic. Sonic wasn't aware Nova could feel anything remotely close to embarrassment. She explained, "Shadow's planning on staying on Majyk, actually, to help us eliminate the remaining Metarex armies. They should just be small skirmishes, so there really isn't any need. After all, your crew is even leaving. But…"

Sonic grinned. "I get it."

Nova's blush deepened, but she attempted rearranging her features into indignant anger. "What?" she demanded.

"I've known Amy for years," Sonic explained. "She plays it way more obvious, but you still kind of learn the whole subtle game."

"What subtle game?" she said, enunciating each consonant sharply.

The subtle game where Shadow wouldn't stay anywhere for anyone. He literally walked away from Sonic and his friends back on Mobius when he was the one who sought them out. But he wanted to stay here. On Majyk. With Nova.

Shadow was one for actions, not words.

Sonic's grin just widened. He shrugged, pushing himself to his feet and stretching his arms up toward the sky. "Anyway, you're not going to hear me complaining about Chaos Emeralds. Just wanted to make sure we didn't cut you short."

Nova crossed her arms against her chest, cheeks still hot with color. She didn't look at Sonic but rather toward Majyk's castle, the castle that looked nothing like a castle and even less like a home. Lots of light, Sonic would give it that. But the only plant life in Light Shale City was this greenspace and the weird magical flowers he'd seen inside. But still, it was the weird castle that drew Nova's eyes.

Just when Sonic thought she wasn't going to say anything after all, Nova finally spoke. "I still think all of you are the best chance we've got against the Metarex. Which means it makes the most sense that you hold on to the Emeralds. And now…" She breathed a slow sigh Sonic could barely hear. "…I hate to say it, but I'm starting to see what you mean."

Sonic frowned.

And then she added, "About Tails."

He smirked but his toothy grin was gone. "Come to your senses then?" he said.

Nova narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't ruin this."

Sonic shrugged. "Hey, it's not like he needs your approval. The Metarex already signed the warrant for his arrest."

Nova's narrow-eyed glare grew into a dead stare. After another moment, Sonic sobered. "He changed your mind then."

Nova pressed her lips together, looking back again at the peculiar architecture of the castle. "He threw his ship in front of mine and took a bullet meant for me."

Sonic nodded, but then Nova added, "Then he battled the Metarex hand-to-hand after he crashed."

Sonic's eyes widened. It wasn't that Sonic didn't know Tails could fight like that. He knew. But for some reason, hearing Nova say it, hearing anyone say that they saw in Tails what Sonic always saw…that made it real.

"Of course, that's not the same thing as you using the Chaos Emerald," she said. "But the selflessness, the fight…I don't know, it's different than what I expected of him." Her eyes snapped back to Sonic's face. "And know that it takes a lot to convince me I'm wrong."

She looked away and muttered, "And more for me to admit it."

"Next time, just believe me and we won't have to have these awkward moments," Sonic said, just to see if he could make her crack a smile.

And she did. It was paired with a roll of her eyes but still. "I'm going to walk away. Before you decide to say anything stupider than that," she said.

"We're leaving tonight. Do you really want to miss the last chance you might have?" he called after her.

She didn't bother to look back at him. The only indication that she heard him at all was an irritated flutter of her wings.

Without Nova's eyes on him, Sonic's smirk faded. He stopped trying to put on a show as he lowered his eyes to the notebook he pressed against his side. The words he'd been writing before Nova interrupted rang in his mind. Chaos Emerald warming his palm or not, he was running on borrowed time.

Maybe he was no longer the only one who believed in the same future he did, but his hands shook and the Chaos Emerald's glow stuttered in response, as if it knew what he planned to do, as if it wanted to reveal him. But none of his friends were around to see.

Good.

He couldn't let them know.