Wash

The hiss of the faucet filled the bathroom. With the door shut, Sonic waited outside in her bedroom, occasionally pacing. His gaze flitted across the walls, finding banners with the Acorn emblem and framed photographs. A fine layer of dust had accumulated over her tables, chairs, and dressers. Sonic assumed Maximillian and Alicia didn't want anyone entering their daughter's room while she was incapacitated.

He ran his fingers through his quills. He listened to the water splash and the faint squirting from the soap dispenser. It had been more than a tiring day, but in the end, Sally was alive. She was right on the other side of the door, needing a moment for herself instead of engaging with her family and friends.

Sonic understood why. Eggman had tortured her in a way he never saw coming again. He thought gunning her down was horrible enough, but with his Genesis Wave and her sacrifice, he transformed her into a robotic killing machine. Sally had been his strongest soldier, weaponized, Eggman's tools digging through her metallic exterior and inserting ammunition wherever he could locate the space.

Sonic shuddered. Sally had been roboticized for weeks. What she had done under Eggman's control churned Sonic's stomach, how she had used her intellect and strength against the team she called a family. Callous, cold, and calculating words had driven into his heart and speared through Tails and Amy. And though he tried to push their fights to the back of his mind, he still felt her chilling, sharp claws digging into his gloves when they clashed.

But the Freedom Fighters had saved her. It was an arduous battle that had taken multiple coordinated strikes from all sides. When the smoke cleared, Sally was de-roboticized, and Eggman lost, fleeing in his decimated Death Egg, his Dark Egg Legion running for the hills.

Celebrations were supposed to have happened. They didn't.

Sally had broken down. She wept into her hands, her fur singed, her body bruised. Heavy, dark circles lined underneath her eyes; Sally hadn't slept in ages. She was a haggard, weary mess on the verge of collapse, a nervous breakdown the likes of which Sonic had never seen.

Now, by her request, she was in her private bathroom, and all Sonic heard was the water. He kept an ear to the door, but any sound from Sally was nonexistent. A pang ran from his chest to his toes. Eyes widening, concerning thoughts swimming in his head, Sonic knocked on the door.

"Sally, are you okay in there?" he called.

She did not answer.

He knocked harder. The door budged, creaking. Sally hadn't locked it, much to his surprise. Taking the doorknob, he quietly pushed it open, the hissing water a torment on his brain.

In the dim bathroom, Sally was scrubbing her hands. If someone glanced at her, they would have thought she was normal. She grabbed a bar of lemon-scented soap and ran it over her knuckles.

The water struck her. Steam rose from the sink, and in the vapor Sonic, gasped. Bits of chestnut brown fur fell out as she dragged the soap across her palms. And when she thrust her hands in the water, it threatened to overflow, her expression grimacing in pain.

He rushed forward, seizing her forearm. "What're you doing? Sally, stop."

She didn't. A quick shake of her head denied him.

"Sally, no, stop," he urged, shifting to the side. He took her elbows, trying to pull her away, but Sally ground down on her teeth. When she struggled to push her fingers back into the water, he shouted, "Stop! Cut it out!"

Sonic grasped Sally's wrists. Scalding water splashed on his chest. He winced, sucking air through his teeth. The temperature wasn't boiling but hot enough to hurt any Mobian. And at his cry, Sally froze.

Her hands emitted heat. They twitched, water droplets dripping onto the tiled floor. Sonic turned off the faucet and pulled at the toggle, the water beginning to rush down the drain.

"I'm - I'm so sorry, Sonic," she whispered, focusing on the single visible bead of water that remained on his chest.

Disbelief coursed through him. Sally had been washing her hands to the point where fur was coming off; a dribble of hot water on him hardly hurt in comparison. He didn't want to acknowledge her exposed skin now raw and red, physical traces of her anguish.

Sonic managed a weary smile. "Don't worry about me. We need to cool you off."

He guided her away from the sink and out to her bedroom window. Opening it, breathing in the fresh cedar scent of the outside world, he asked Sally to dangle her hands out. She glanced at him but followed his request. He watched her shudder as a cool breeze brushed against her, hoping it would soothe her, but the perplexed scowl of an expression she wore told him otherwise.

They stood in silence. What was once comfortable was infused with worry. Sally looked beyond the kingdom to the Great Forest where they had once run freely as children. Sonic pursed his lips, focusing on her, feeling so distant, unable to verbalize everything he wanted to say.

When she drew in a shaky breath, Sonic quietly asked, "Why would you do that?"

"I…" She swallowed. "I needed to feel."

Confusion thundered in his head. He wanted to yell that she didn't need to burn herself for that. But he held his tongue, her suffering palpable.

She stared at her hands. Slowly, she traced her thumbs against her palms and swept fur over her wounds. She still quaked even as she brought her hands together, a ragged gasp escaping her.

He wanted to take her hands. "Sally, what are you-?"

"There was oil in me, Sonic. It pulsed. It flowed." She lifted her gaze, leering at the clouds that swayed in the sky. Her eyes crawled toward him, haunted by what Eggman had done. "There was only oil. I needed to scrub myself clean."

Realization dawned on him. His words pushed out of him in a slow drag. "Oh. Oh, Sal."

Her eyes had seen the end. She had experienced something so traumatic beyond the scope of his understanding. While he had been roboticized before, it was nothing compared to the nightmare Sally endured for agonizing weeks, her body mangled with machinery, the valves of heart pumping with electricity in heavy wires.

She was Eggman's puppet, dangled by strings and forced to dance for his regime. Sonic would never offer him mercy again.

"You did nothing wrong," he quickly said, taking her shoulder.

Sally sniffled. "Then, why do I feel like I did?"

She drew away from him. She found solace in the shadows of her rooms. The poor lighting cascaded across her, obscuring her as if she would disappear if he looked elsewhere.

Sonic reached out. He held his hand out limply, his usual strength failing. He pleaded with her to stay.

"I said and did so many horrible things. I hurt everyone. My people, my friends, you. I can't even look at them without this - this feeling." She clenched her eyes shut, her voice aching. "I can't - I'm not - I'm sorry, Sonic."

She cracked. She lost the strength in her legs. Her knees hit the floor, and she bowed her head. Tears slipped down her cheeks, a true sign she was a Mobian, but she'd never see it that way.

Sonic darted to kneel in front of her. He moved with purpose. He took in her trembling state, the camel's back having snapped under the weight of her transgressions. Even if she hadn't been in control, even if Eggman had ordered her to attack, Sally internalized it. It was all her fault.

And Sonic, as free as the wind, wouldn't accept that.

He scooped her into his arms. She gasped, her breath brushing against his ear. He refused to release her when she struggled, slowly falling into his embrace. He kept her close, lowering his voice for only Sally to understand.

"You're not Eggman's robot. He used you after you paid the ultimate price for us," he promised, leaning back and cupping her face in one hand. "You're Sally Acorn, and everyone loves you so much."

She hiccuped, her teeth chattering as she asked, "How can they love me? How can you love me after what I-?"

"Because they know you. I know you." Sonic peered at her hands. "And none of us want you hurting yourself over this when you protected us from the start."

Sally let his words sink. Her vision blurred, overflowing with emotion, her entire body rattling. Sonic tightened his grip, hoping to affirm to Sally that she was alive. She no longer needed to live in fear of the monster Eggman had molded from her image.

She was Sally, and she needed to find herself again.

She buried her face into the crook of his neck. Sonic threaded his fingers through her hair, the unbrushed locks lank. Her bruises, results from their prior battles, had nearly browned and melted into her fur, but they still existed, remnants of her despair.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you, Sonic," she choked out, her words muffled.

He told her it was okay. If she had to apologize, he listened. As many times as her grief and gratitude had to be said, Sonic accepted Sally's every word.

And in the privacy of her bedroom, as she drew in quiet, calming breaths, Sonic whispered, "I love you, Sally."

Sally met his gaze. Her eyes shone as she replied, "I love you, too. Always."

"Always."

For them, it was a start.