A/N: Hey. I'm taking some time to think about where this is going due to the much appreciated constructed criticism of another fanfiction user by the name of Wingless Rain. And (ATTENTION: This will be of some importance as far as characters go, so read it!) For better or worse...I'm going to drop Omega and the Chaotix from this fic. I'll take some time in the end to cover that before anyone jumps up to ask my why. (sorry to all of the Omega and Chaotix fans out there!) Anyways, let the story commence! (and expect a revision of the first chapter in a few days.)

Disclaimer: I don't own sonic, sonic team, or any of that other random crap that you people already know.

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Amy Rose. She always seemed to have an inner light. Something that would elucidate every fiber of her being and caused her pink skin and emerald eyes to burn brightly around friends. It's a simple feeling really. It's something so simple that most of us tend to over look it and try to find a more complex meaning for such behavior.

It's just that one word.

Friendship.

Friendship can mean many things; anger, sorrow, hate, desperation, need, want, trust, hope...love. The basic emmotional status of most people.

But now it seems to be lackluster.

The flame of passion that once completed her look, the spring in her step, the shine in her eyes...It's all gone.

Maybe forever.

But I'm hoping that isn't true.

---

As she walks down this empty street in search of answers that seem to be evading her, she's hardly paying attention to where she's going. What's going on? What's happened to her life? One second it's there, the next it's...

Gone.

As she...as WE walk down a desolate path of lies and illusions. Who can we trust but ourselves? Who can we turn to but eachother? More importantly...WHY are we together?

The way everything is happening...

I feel like I'm walking for her.

Taking every step that she takes, feeling all of the pain that she feels.

I make sure that she's avoiding every obstacle in our paths. I make sure that she doesn't wander too far away in fear that she may never return. I see everything for her. I am a true friend that was there in her time of need. When she was afraid, she came to the only person she could think of; the only person she KNEW would be there...

Me.

---

Sonic is there for her too.

Sometimes.

He'll do what every hero needs to do.

He'll seek out injustice and bring it down. He'll seek out the anti-hero; the villain, and bring them to their knees to save their one true love. That's not quite how it works with Sonic.

Sonic is a free spirit; coming and going like the wind. He doesn't have time to be bound by the chains of eternal love.

Somewhere in his mind is something we can't understand no matter how long it's been told to you. No matter where you are, or how many times you think it through, it just can't be done. Sonic always has a grin plastered on his face from the outside...but it's not like that on the inside. I'd know. He's told me all about it.

He's told me all about why he continues to chase Robotnik across the earth.

---

He has so many friends and he's chosen to tell only me.

Underneath his idleness and his outgoing nature is a hatred that burns stronger than the gates of hell itself. Sonic, to the passing stranger, is a good-natured, every-day, optimistic hero who is thwarting evil for the good of the planet.

Not completely true.

That's only part of the reason. But deep down are his own selfish motives. Why does he do it, though? What compels him to stop Robotnik from taking over the world time and time again? Heck, what makes him stop other outworldly beings from destroying the world itself? In a sense...what is it that drives him?

It all boils down to one point.

Revenge.

In a way, Sonic's not much different from Shadow. The reason Sonic keeps others from destroying the world? To get at Robotnik. But...why does he chase Robotnik? What kind of revenge and utter hatred would make him chase the man anywhere he could possibly go in order to exact that revenge?

Robotnik killed his family.

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He hasn't told me WHY Robotnik whas after his family though, so I can only imagine.

It was a typical day at his house. Aparently everyone had just been preparing for breakfast when it happened. "when will you ever learn that you can't hide from me Tanya?" The voice had cackled. The female purple hedgehog had a look of utmost horror when she heard it. "No..." The frying pan was dropped in an instant. Clattering noisily to the freezing wooden floor, before she started to run.

Ever since 5 years back when Tanya's husband had been killed shortly after she had given birth to their son and daughter and had returned to their home, she had moved somewhere she hoped Robotnik would never find her. The frozen forests of the Ice Cap. She had prayed that she would be able to continue to raise their children in peace there. She couldn't have been more wrong.

In an instant the side of the house was torn to shreds. Standing there in his latest creation, a large walker equip with all sorts of missiles, rockets and guns, was Dr. Robotnik. "Give me the children and I'll let you live Tanya. Don't be foolish." He had told the mother hedgehog. "Never!" She spat at him, before running to find her children who were playing further in the forest.

"CHILDREN!" She cried. "Right here mom!" Sonic said, zipping over with his baby sister (only 3 years old) holding onto his hand. "Children please...you must run from here!" Tanya sobbed. Sonic gave her a questioning look. "Please? Will you do this for mommy?" She asked with tears in her eyes. "We'll meet again." She told her son. "Promise?" He asked. "...I promise." Tanya started to smile in relief but a missle exploded very close to where she was standing; knocking her off of her feet.

"MOM!" Sonic yelled, hurrying over. "I-I'm fine!" She called. Tanya had been startled by the missle, but her fur had only been slightly singed. Robotnik was gaining. "Take Amy and run!" Tanya told him. So, biting back frozen tears, Sonic picked up his younger sister and headed for the village.

---

That was all that Sonic had told him so far. But he had a fair guess as to what had happened to Tanya.

The one thing he couldn't understand, was why Amy didn't remember any of this. How had they gotten separated? Why didn't he explain this to her? Was it because he was the only thing she had left to love? Was Sonic her last thread of sanity? I wasn't sure when any of these questions would actually be answered.

What I DID know was that Amy was the one who needed him now. She had unveiled haunting images in her sleep because she trusted me. Much like Sonic had unveiled haunting images of HIS past.

I'd never actually stopped to consider whether or not any of this mattered to Sonic. About whether or not Robotnik was dead.

I'd though it was all fun and games to him.

But not now.

Now it was evident from just that one portion of a memory...That Sonic wanted Robotnik dead for what he'd done. Robotnik had ruined the peaceful life of a loving family; and now he was going to pay the price. An eye for an eye. A life for a life.

---

Amy and I continued to walk along the road. I had been so absorbed in my thought that it felt like we had just been walking in the same spot the whole time. But I knew that, that wasn't possible.

"Amy..." She looked up, hardly even aware that I had existed there before then. She wasn't taking care of herself, and that was bad. If she didn't take care of herself then she wouldn't get better. "T...ails..." She said my name meekly, like a whisper on the breeze. It was barely audible. "Please try to stay strong." I insisted. She nodded absently. She wasn't listening to a word I was saying. I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was detatched from the material world. And...was she in pain? Was it the voices she had told me about earlier taunting her? I would never know. I'm not inside her head.

We stoped. An ocean.

She closed her eyes. A sigh from within.

Safety from the darkness of her inner demons.

I wondered how often Amy had stood before this vast expanse of water and dreamed of sitting next to it with Sonic holding her closely... probably too many to count.

It was about 4:00. 3 hours since we had started to look for answers. 3 hours of doing nothing but contemplate exactly how our lives had gone up until this point. And where it had started to spiral out of control. 3 hours of walking on one spot.

Alone.

I decided that's how everyone must have been before meeting up with eachother.

Knuckles was alone because of his duty to the master emerald, Amy was alone because she had lost her memories, Sonic was alone because his family was gone, Shadow was alone because he had lost his only friend, Rouge was alone because she had no one to love her and I was alone because no one accepted me for who I was.

We were all wandering souls, and we had all been brought together by fate. By destiny.

And now...

We are closer than we ever were.

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A/N: Okay, since we all deserve explanations for the first notice, here's how I figure it works: I don't completely know how I would incorporate Omega and the Chaotix into the story. I mean, why would THEY help Amy? That and it's a good way for me to develope characters for this story...and a lazy excuse for me to not use characters I don't know how to use. Well, you've got my explanation. Please R&R! I'll accept compliments, constructive critisizm, flames and praise. thanks again to wingless rain for helping me think things thorugh! (I hope the format is better too.) Ciaozies. (Oh, and the story I made up about Sonic's life is mine!)