Chapter 14

When Sonic was able to stand, he looked down at Robotnik who stayed in the water. "Look, you don't need to come with me. I can go on my own. I'm used to it. I know you'd prefer to stay with Bartleby."

The old man shook his head. "No, I'm staying with you. I'll walk in the water, you take the dry path. If you decide you want to try again, we can."

Sonic looked at the water. It was so clear. He could see little fish swimming around. He envied his siblings for being able to swim and walk across the water. He bit his lip as he heard a voice in his ear. "Water is dangerous, Sonic. You can drown even in shallow water…." He shivered as he stepped back further from the water. "No… water… water is dangerous…"

Robotnik nodded. "Well, we should get going. We want to find that cave before too long." He stayed in the water, letting the cool liquid soothe his aching feet.

Aleena watched from the opposite side, wishing terribly to go to her son but Oracle put his hand on her shoulder. "Your son is a very capable young man. With Dr. Robotnik to help him, he'll be okay."

She sighed. "I guess so but… that should be me over there. He's my son. I should be the one comforting him and guiding him." Her lip trembled. "I should have been the one to teach him to swim. When he was little. I should have known about his allergy to milk. There's so much that I don't know and I don't know how to fix it. I'll never get that time back…"

Oracle nodded gently. "I know. You missed out on their childhood. I'm sorry for it, Aleena. I wish I'd known what I know now. I'm sorry for separating you from your children."

Dingo came over. "Hey, don't worry about it too much. You'll get your chance, Aleena. I know you'll get the chance to be the best mum in the world. At least as good as me own ma."

The queen smiled at the jackal. "Thank you, your faith is most reassuring. We should go and find the cave on this side. I would like to hear about your mother…" She said.

Sonia watched as her mother took her place in the group beside Dingo. She was starting to come around and she was grateful to Dingo for being nice to her. Her husband stood on the bank, watching his father. "He'll be okay. He and Sonic will make a good team."

Bartleby nodded as he turned to join them as the hike resumed. "I know. I can't help worrying about him. He's hasn't been as strong since he changed. I've noticed. He's become less sure of himself. Less confident. I'm worried about him. I'm glad he's changed and for the better… but…"

"We'll meet them at the cave. They will be okay. Sonic can take care of him. As well as he can take care of Sonic. Let's go, my love." She kissed his nose before her belly rumbled. "Oh crap! Sonic has the rations in his pack." She growled in playful frustration.

Knuckles laughed. "Don't worry guys. If you're hungry, there are a ton of fruit trees. But not just any fruit trees." He went to one of the trees and closed his eyes to think. A branch lowered itself with a giant red pomegranate. But when he opened it, a ham sandwich sat there. "See. We won't go hungry before we meet up with them."

Manic chuckled. "Oh, I think I like this. Do you just go up to the tree and think about what you want?" He asked as he went to the same tree and imagined. When he opened the fruit he was given, a plate with a sandwich of peanut butter and strawberry jam waited for him. "Whoo, it worked! I've always wanted to try PB and J."

One by one they each approached a fruit tree. Bartleby was gifted a flaky beef wellington. Sonia got a bowl of fruit salad with a serving of greek yogurt. Sleet pulled a double serving of tomato soup. He laughed. "Hey, I don't need two of these."

Knuckles nodded. "Sometimes that happens. Sometimes a pod will have two seeds in it."

Manic laughed and retrieved another sandwich. "Here. I'll trade you a sandwich for a bowl of soup." He suggested.

The wolf regarded the lad. "Excellent idea. I do like a sandwich with my soup." He gave Manic a mug of the soup and accepted one of the sandwiches. They ate together, sitting down on a rock.

Aleena was thinking about what she wanted when Dingo joined her. "What's your favorite food, Your Majesty?" He asked politely, helping her.

She giggled. "Well, at the risk of sounding common, I love chili dogs. I ate about a billion of them when I was pregnant." A fruit appeared and Dingo opened it for her. "You're very sweet. Thank you, Mr. Dingo. And what is your favorite meal?"

He scratched his head, blushing brightly. "I typically just eat whatever I'm given. I've never thought about my favorite."

"Well, think about it now," She pushed him. "You can have anything you want."

Sleet rolled his eyes. "Make it easy on yourself, Dingo. Get a hamburger. You like hamburgers."

Dingo shook his head. "I don't want a hamburger, Sleet. When I was a kid, our mum used to make grilled pork chops with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes." He smiled when Aleena opened his fruit for him. "Wow! It could even do all that. I like these trees."

Knuckles laughed. "It's not so much the trees themselves but the Chaos Emerald. Nothing here is what it would normally be like on the mainland." He led them off the path to a small spring. "Go ahead. Take a drink." He plucked off a cup growing on the bush beside it and dipped it into the spring. He offered it to Sonia. "Ladies first." He got a cup for Aleena too.

Sonia accepted the cup and sipped. "Oh my! It's lemonade! This place is amazing."

Aleena smiled. "I had no idea this place was so magical. And this is all because of the power of the Chaos Emerald?"

"Yep, the Chaos Emerald just has this power to make everything… chaotic." Knuckled explained.

Manic smiled. "This reminds me of a song Ferrell used to sing to me. Let me see if I can remember it… The buzzing of the bees… in the sycamore… trees… No, that's not right…"

"Peppermint trees, it was peppermint trees according to our father," Sleet said. "We sang that song in the pack."

Manic nodded. "Where the lemonade springs and the bluebirds sing." The more he got to know the wolf, he realized that they had a lot in common. "In the Big Rock Candy Mountains." They chuckled together.

Aleena laughed. "One would think you were friends all your lives."

As they finished their lunch and put their leftover trash in the compost bush that Knuckles pointed out and resumed their hike.

On the other side of the river, Sonic walked quietly. Shame filled his chest. He was slowing them both down because he was afraid of water. It wasn't fair on anyone. "I'm sorry…" He finally said. "I know you wanted me to try. I know you're mad at me for failing."

Robotnik looked at him. "What makes you think I'm mad?" He studied the boy. "Your uncle tried to teach you, did he get mad when you… in your words, failed?" He knew he'd gotten it right when he froze up. "How did your uncle teach you?"

The boy thought about the question. "He… he… He said that the first step was learning to hold my breath and he… he pushed me under and held me there." He turned back to see that the man was stopped and staring at him as though he'd just grown a second head.

"He did what? You mean, he tried to drown you?" Robotnik questioned. Sonic opened his mouth to protest but he held up his hand. "That's what you just described to me. That was not teaching you to swim by any stretch. Tell me about where you lived when you moved in with Uncle Chuck?"

Sonic stammered as he remembered. "On an island in the middle of a forest lake. It was the safest place for him to raise me. SwatBots can't swim either. They short circuit. He would swim out anytime he needed anything for us. There was no boat. He stole one when it was time for us to join the Freedom Fighters."

Robotnik sighed. "I know you don't want to hear this but… he purposely didn't teach you to swim. If you could swim then you wouldn't be dependent on him as you grew up. That was abuse."

"No! Uncle Chuck didn't abuse me! He would never hurt a hair on my head! Uncle Chuck was all I had after… after you roboticized my parents!" He saw the man pull back in shame. "Uncle Chuck would never hurt me."

"No, he would only keep you prisoner on an island surrounded by water and make you so afraid of that water that it still affects your life even today." Robotnik challenged him.

"He didn't keep me prisoner! Everyone acts like Uncle Chuck abused me. Even Mom. But he didn't! He would never hurt me!" Sonic insisted. "And it doesn't 'still affect me'! Look!" He got into the water.

In the shadows, a figure watched as the hedgehog turned human got into the water and stepped up to Robotnik. He was just barely too short to meet his eyes without tilting his head up.

Robotnik shrugged. "You got in but you can't get much further." He said as he went out into the middle. "See, you can't…" Suddenly, the river surged in the center, a whirlpool appearing out of nowhere to drag him under.

Sonic shouted. "Robotnik! See, water is dangerous…" He repeated his uncle's words. "But… But… oh, I have to try!" He went into the middle, desperately holding onto whatever he could find to stay afloat. He put his hand into the whirlpool, seeking out some part of the old man. Finally, he found his cape and pulled against the surging water and got him back to the shallower end. He just barely noticed that the surge ended as suddenly as it started.

Robotnik coughed. "What the hell!" He said as he coughed and hacked the water out of his lungs.

"See, I told it was dangerous. Uncle Chuck was right. And he didn't abuse me. Let's walk on land now." Sonic led them onto the river bank.

Robotnik didn't mention that the boy had just swum to save his life. It was odd that the surge happened when it did. Getting out of the water was best for now until he figured out what happened.

Neither of them saw the figure hiding in the brush, growling with anger that Sonic had saved the bastard. "You will die Robotnik! There won't always be someone there to save you!

AN: Who just tried to kill Robotnik? Will Sonic ever overcome his fear? Will he accept the truth of his childhood and his uncle?