Chapter Eleven: Greener Pastures

Standing at the train station with Rose by his side filled Sonic with more existential dread than he'd experienced upon waking with no sign of his memory. They carried no bags, because they had no belongings. Sonic's arm kept brushing against his side where a bandage had once been, and each brush of skin against skin was enough to send him stiffening. It felt wrong, unfamiliar, after so much time with the bandage there to protect his stitches.

But the stitches had been removed now. It was time for Sonic and Rose to follow Tails and Knuckles home. Even if the word "home" didn't bear the meaning that belonged to it.

The back of Rose hand brushed against Sonic's hand, and they both jumped away from one another. And then, seeing the other make the same apologetic motion, they laughed. Sonic's heart quickened, but he was unsure the reason why. Unsure why his shoulders stiffened near her, even as his stomach settled. How two incompatible responses could coexist so near one another.

He wished he knew more about her, who they had been to one another before the memory loss. While in the remaining period of rest they'd had back in Crescent Village, fuzzy memories had begun their slow return. Not of Rose but of other things. In his mind, they looked like a windshield buried in snow. He swiped his gloved hand through the snow and brushed enough away that he could see the suggestion of the windshield beneath, even if he couldn't see the interior of the vehicle beneath that.

A brush of green, rolling hills.

A thrill of laughter that poured from his lips as he saw the ground some distance beneath his feet.

The bruise of a fist colliding with metal.

Nothing concrete, nothing specific, but the beginning of many, many things.

When he and Rose settled in their seats across from one another on the train with only the stretch of a window separating them from one another, Sonic asked if she had started to see glimmers of the same thing.

"Kind of," she hedged. She shifted in her seat, like she was snuggling back into it, like she was telling a fairy story before bed on Christmas Eve. "Just glimpses, like you said. Sounds, mostly. And feelings. Like…the sensation of flying, almost?" She shook her head. "It sounds ridiculous, but it's better than nothing."

As the train crawled through its journey toward the home that was supposed to be theirs, an easy silence fell between them. Rose leaned back in her seat and watched the world fly by out the window. Sonic, meanwhile, pressed the side of his head against the window and focused on the rumble the train shook through his body. At least, until a hand fell on his shoulder, and he jolted awake to a smirk on Rose's face as she stood over him. "Looks like we're home," she told him.

-(-)-

Sonic and Rose disembarked from the train to see Tails and Knuckles waiting for them at the Green Hill train station. Tails raised his hand clear above his head to wave at them and get their attention. Knuckles, with his arms crossed against his chest, was not similarly enthusiastic, but he did at least offer them a smirk. "Good to see you're not dead," he told Sonic when Sonic and Rose reached them.

"You wouldn't be so lucky," Sonic shot back, the words coming to his lips as easily as the smirk that also emerged.

"He certainly tried," Rose muttered with a roll of her eyes.

As Tails and Knuckles guided Sonic and Rose from the train station and through the brief tour of the place they supposedly all called home, Sonic found he was grateful Tails and Knuckles had ended up with a reason to head toward Green Hill a little sooner. It meant they had a bit of a lay of the land, which left Sonic with a slightly subdued discomfort, as opposed to what it might have been if they were all experiencing Green Hill for the first time in their memories.

Sonic turned, ready to shoot the comment Rose's way, a joke about how it was a good thing he had run off to the ruin to go after the Amy that haunted his dreams.

Except, then he thought about Amy. Thought about how Rose had decided the connection between Sonic and Amy might be romantic. About how moments later, Rose had pulled her hand away from his.

Sonic's gaze had barely twitched in Rose's direction before he focused it forward again. He told himself the twist at the pit of his stomach was brought on by nothing more than the surreal experience of taking a tour of his supposed hometown.

Green Hill certainly seemed to be an accurate name for the place. The slow rise of hills crested before them until they fell once more into deep valleys. It almost made Sonic think of an amusement park, with the roller coasters trying to fit in as many dips as possible for the increasing acceleration. He could certainly see why it might be fun to run here.

As they were strolling through the many emerald green valleys, Rose asked Tails and Knuckles, "Since you've been back home, has it helped you refresh any of your memories?"

Tails twisted his face into a thoughtful expression. "Here and there. It's not like there are missing persons signs up for any of us, so we haven't been able to find anyone who knows more about us. But I found my workshop. So it turns out, I have a workshop! Though I'm still trying to figure out what I used to do there. It's a bit like a bunch of puzzles to solve, with all the half-finished projects. But I think Knuckles has actually gotten more back than me."

Knuckles grunted, which Sonic took as an affirmative sound, even before the echidna added words. "There's an Emerald. I saw it in my head. And when I found it, I got the feeling it was because the Emerald wanted me to find it. The Master Emerald, it's called, and I'm it's guardian." He frowned. "It doesn't sound like much, but I know it's me."

"The Master Emerald?" Sonic asked. Shaping the word in his mouth left his tongue tingling. Like his body knew it meant something, though his memory hadn't yet recalled what. But all the same, the fact that his body responded to the name made his chest swell with hope. Maybe it would be enough to just be home. Maybe just being in a familiar space would remind his body who he was, and his mind would eventually catch up.

The warmth of possibility filled him from the soles of his feet to the top of his forehead. It was the steadiest he had felt since waking up.

But then there was still…

"Did you find out anything about Amy?" Sonic asked suddenly. His stomach twisted at the reminder of unanswered questions.

"What part of 'haven't been able to find anyone who knows us' did you not understand?" Knuckles snapped in reply.

Rose shot a scowl in Knuckles's direction, though his back was to her. But Sonic didn't miss it, and after a moment, he figured it was for his own sake anyway. Heat rose up his throat at the thought.

Would he ever stop blushing?

He still barely knew Rose. And if Rose was right about his relationship with Amy, then their romantic history should mean more, even he couldn't remember it, than the hint of what he felt now. Though at this point, didn't he know less about Amy than Rose?

Didn't he?

Did it matter?

I hope you've all enjoyed the penultimate chapter! The last chapter in this story comes next month~