-Knuckles-
Sonic's awake… That impossible possibility, coming so soon after Rouge said he was dead, turns and twists the world about me until I'm not sure what I can believe. I realise I'm still looking into the corridor where Amy stood, though she's gone now, several minutes gone already, Chaos Emerald in her hand like a treasure more precious than anything. It is, to her… a ray of hope. A single ray, but so much more than we've had for a long time… a shaft of light illuminating a future that could, somehow, be the way life was, years ago now…
I was sitting on the steps of the shrine, more than half asleep, just reflecting on whatever drifted through my mind. There was a distant bird singing, the sound of the wind blowing past the cliff edges of the island. It had rained earlier, but now the sun was shining, everything still glittering with the raindrops scattered all over. I knew something was terribly wrong just before it happened… and snapped open my eyes as it did. That instant of peaceful timelessness before it happened is imprinted on my mind, vivid in recollection as though it was only a few minutes ago I saw it…
The whole island shook, the green glow of the Master Emerald behind me fading in that split second to almost nothing; the bird stopped singing and even the wind seemed to cease for an instant. I drove my spikes into the cracks between the stones to hold me steady as I turned, scrambled desperately to the Master Emerald, which had all but stopped rotating and lost its radiant glow. Holding on grimly to the stone beneath me, I stared into its green depths… but I couldn't believe the image that slowly formed inside.
A Chaos Emerald… cracking, and shattering, shards turning in an instant to invisible energy streaming far from its original form…
As I stared in disbelief, the Master Emerald began to glow again, rebalancing the powers of the remaining Chaos Emeralds against each other. The image within it slowly faded out of existence, and the island began to stop its terrible shaking. Soon, had it not been for what I had seen, everything would have seemed normal, as though nothing had ever happened. But the bird did not dare to begin its song again…
A tap on my shoulder brings me out of my reverie, and I turn my head to look into Rouge's eyes. As if she does not dare believe, but does so anyway, hope and fear, delight and trepidation war on her face.
"Knuckles," she says softly, "we're going to have to move on again soon, aren't we…?"
It's only half a question, because she knows the answer as well as I do. We will. None of our hiding places remain unassailed for too long, so we move on.
"Yes, we are." You know that, Rouge… as do I. Sometimes, I long for my island, but there's no way I can return…
"Then… Amy said Sonic had a plan, to overthrow Robotnik. If he can do that… even if he can't… we should help him. We have to…"
We have to, because you need to hope, after so long without it. You need to know that we're doing our best, that we're fighting back, that we've got a chance, however slight. You've always been practical, but this time, you want to dream… right, Rouge? And you want to live that dream, to try and make it real.
"What do you suggest we do?" I ask her. Let's live that dream… let's fight together for the promise of tomorrow.
"I… Amy only just left. If we hurry, we can catch up with her, go with her, to help them…?"
I nod, turn about, and get the Master Emerald from its recess. She smiles suddenly, briefly, and we leave together, running quietly to catch up with Amy. Enough of regretting yesterday… let's all fight for tomorrow.