Chapter 11: Return Of The Siblings

The next day, Shadow, Sonic, and Tails were at home, waiting for Sonic's brother and sister to arrive. Sonic was by the door, pacing anxiously.

What was he supposed to say to them? Was he supposed to greet them when they came? Was he supposed to stay silent and say nothing? They had caused him so much pain in his childhood. Talking to them wasn't gonna be easy. Would he be able to keep Shadow reeled in? The ebony hedgehog was quick to anger, and he blamed Sonia and Manic just as much as he blamed Aleena.

"Sonic, calm down." Tails urged him. "You're running a path on the floor. Everything's gonna be ok."

"How can you be so sure?" Sonic asked him. "What could they possibly wanna talk about? What am I even supposed to say to them?"

"If you're that nervous about talking to them then maybe this is a bad idea." Shadow frowned. "We should just call them back and reschedule."

"I can't, they're already on their way here." Sonic frowned. "And I already said I would talk to them today."

"How are you supposed to talk if you don't know what to say?"

"I don't know!" Sonic cried as he flopped down on the couch beside his boyfriend, hugging him and burying his face into his fur, his voice muffled. "Please, you gotta help me out. Sonia can't be the one doing all the talking."

"Sonic, I don't know how to help you more." Shadow sighed, petting the blue ears. "I'm already helping by promising to stay calm, barely. But one wrong move and I can't promise that I'll go off on them."

Sonic sighed and turned his head out of the black fur. "I know, and I appreciate you trying."

"Look Sonic, if you really don't know what to say, just let them do the talking." Tails offered. "They're the ones that need to explain themselves anyway."

"Tails is right, babe. They're the ones at fault, not you."

"I know… maybe you're right… ok… I'll let them do the talking, and I'll speak up only when I have something to say."

"That would be best." Tails nodded, then looked to the door when they heard a few timid knocks. "It's showtime."

Sonic sighed and nodded, standing up from the couch and going over to the door. He gripped the doorknob, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Standing on the other side were two hedgehogs.

One was an older female, with fuschia pink colored fur and lighter pink hair. She was wearing a dark red dress with a short dark purple skirt and a red sleeveless top. The two sections are separated by a gold belt that forms a pointed shape at the front with a small circle in the center of the belt. Her gloves were long and purple, going up to the elbows rather than the stereotypical white hand gloves. She was also wearing red stockings under dark purple boots, the toes of which are a matching red.

Next to her was a younger male hedgehog. He had green fur and his quills were shaggier than Sonic's and Sonia's. He was wearing an orange vest, black spiked wristbands, white gloves and an orange fanny-pack. His left ear was double pierced in a 'punk' fashion. His blue eyes stared at the ground, not looking up to his older brother, lost and broken.

Sonia took a deep breath, her magenta eyes staring at her younger brother. "Sonic?"

Sonic nodded, his face showing no emotion. "Hello Sonia. Hello Manic."

Manic still didn't say anything, still looking down at the ground. Sonia, however, sniffled a little, and without thinking, she threw her arms around the blue hedgehog for a hug. However, Sonic freaked and roughly pushed her off.

"Get off me!" He hissed, ignoring the hurt look his sister was giving him. "You don't get the right to do that unless I say so. Understand?"

"... I can't show my own little brother some sibling affection?" Sonia said in shock.

Sonic growled at her. "After what you put me through? No. I already told you that you have a long way to go to earn my forgiveness. Just get inside, sit down, and tell me what it is you came to tell me."

Sonia nodded sadly, her ears pinned to her head. She gently took a hold of Manic's hand and led him inside to Sonic's living room. They sat on the loveseat, ignoring the hard stares of Shadow and Tails. Manic pulled his legs up to his chest and snuggled close to his sister, butting his head underneath her arm until she had wrapped it around him in a comforting side hug. Sonic closed the front door and sighed as he went over to the couch and sat between Shadow and Tails. "Alright. Here we are. Together. Now what?"

Everybody was silent, unsure of what to say to each other. The clock on the wall ticked loudly through the silence. The leaky faucet in the kitchen that Tails meant to fix dripped in the sink. Somewhere outside, a car alarm went off.

Finally, Sonia sighed and broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

"Sorry?" Sonic raised an eyebrow in disgust. "You're sorry? Do you think that just by apologizing it fixes everything?"

"No, not at all." Sonia shook her head.

"I was traumatized, Sonia. It took me forever to start trusting people again. I bounced from foster home to foster home because nobody wanted me due to my attitude. I had nightmares for YEARS about HER. About YOU. Just recently I found out that I can't have kids because when she stabbed me and refused to take me to the hospital it completely destroyed my uterus. I'm terrified of water because of her bathtub treatment. I have sores in the back of my throat because of her gas chamber. I eat too fast because I have PTSD from her snatching food away from me. And I'm constantly craving for love and attention. And all you can say to me is 'I'm sorry'?!"

Tears were running from Sonia's eyes as Sonic yelled at her. Shadow and Tails sat back, their arms crossed over their chests as they let the blue hedgehog rant, not bothering to stop him. Sonia deserved to feel this way.

Tears were running from Sonic's own eyes. He wiped them away and hung his head. "You're my big sister. You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to say that everything is alright… that someone would save me… but you didn't. Instead, you took her side and joined her in hurting me and humiliating me. You and Manic both."

"Sonic." Sonia sobbed, yearning to reach out to him but holding back. "Nothing can make up for the years of pain we caused you. I know that. There is nothing else we can do but apologize. And we are so very sorry."

"I hear you apologizing, but I don't hear the other one." Shadow frowned, staring at Manic.

Sonia hugged onto Manic, gently petting his ears. "He hasn't said a word since Mother has been arrested. He wouldn't even tell the police what she has done to him."

"What did she do to him?" Sonic asked.

Sonia hung her head. "Everything she did to you and more."

"Define more."

"... The reason why he hasn't spoken is because he can't… his vocal cords are shot from the screaming of pain… he uses sign language and writing to communicate now."

Once again, the room was silent. Sonic's eyes were wide as he stared at his little brother, who continued to hug onto their sister, not meeting his eyes. "Why is he holding onto you?"

"... I learned my lesson after you left. I tried to protect him as much as I could. I tried to help him. Mother would smack me too if she caught me… I was the one who called the police."

Sonic sighed. He didn't know what to say. He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, going over to the sink and getting a glass of water. As he drank from his glass he leaned against the counter, his back turned to the doorway. A million thoughts and more were running through his head, but he couldn't focus on a single one of them.

Suddenly, he felt a timid tap on his shoulder. He turned around, surprised to see Manic behind him. The green hedgehog still refused to look at him in the eye, but it was obvious he wanted to say something. "What is it, Manic?"

Manic timidly dug his toe in the floor before he unzipped the fanny-pack and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He clutched it in both of his hands and held it out to his older brother. Sonic frowned and took the piece of paper, unfolding it and looking at its contents. What he saw made tears come to his eyes.

It was a beautiful detailed drawing of him, Sonia, and Manic, all hugging onto each other and crying tears of joy. There was a title written above that said REUNITED, and words on the bottom said THE PAST MAY HAVE PULLED US APART, BUT THE FUTURE CAN PUT US BACK TOGETHER. The piece was honestly so good that Sonic thought that Manic could get a scholarship in art if he wanted to.

The blue hedgehog that heard a sniff. He looked up from the drawing, his ears lowering when he saw his little brother softly crying, trying to wipe his tears away. "Manic?"

Manic sniffed and finally brought his ocean blue eyes up to meet Sonic's emerald ones. He closed his right hand into a fist and brought it up to his chest, rubbing it in circles. Sonic has seen this sign multiple times to know what it means. His own tears finally fell down his cheeks as he hesitantly wrapped the green hedgehog in a hug.

"I know you're sorry… and so am I… I'm sorry for leaving you and Sonia behind."

Manic softly pulled away. He pointed at himself before brushing the fingertips of his right hand onto the palm of his left hand twice, then he pointed at the Sonic. He then pointed at Sonic again, did the same fingertips to palm brush, then pointed at himself.

Sonic was at a loss. He tried to think about what Manic was trying to say before the green hedgehog nodded and reached into his pack again, pulling out a pad and pen and writing on it. Once he was done, he turned it around to show the blue hedgehog.

"I forgive you. Do you forgive me?"

Sonic's breath caught in his throat. As sweet as this moment was, he still couldn't get himself to forgive so quickly. He sighed and lowered his ears, nodding his head as he laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I still can't forgive so easily, Manic… but I can try."

Manic smiled and wrote some more on his pad before showing it to him.

"That's all we ask, big brother."