A/N: Hi peoples! This is azngirlchibi writing this time (since a lot of you can't seem to keep track XD - just to let you know, The Queen of Aces has been writing odd-numbered chapters, and I've been writing even number chapters...). I am freezing my buns off 'cause it's snowing outside right now, and our heating isn't working... Ah, well, it's Canada. BLAME CANADA! (That song is so addicting XP)

Enjoy the chapter!

Dedicated to Marianne

"He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxers hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his wand… and there she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the cot behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead…"

-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling

"I want you to stay the hell away from me, and my family."

His ears still rang after she had spat those words ruthlessly at him. The doors were still flung wide, wide open, mockingly throwing blinding snow and hail at him.

'Snow…?' Mechanically, he stepped out, going after a girl who hated him a split second too late. The white curtains of frost had already closed after her form and were burying her footprints. Tears froze before they could leave his eyes. 'See…?' A part of him seemed to sneer. 'Even the sky is against you. The whole world is against you!'

'Shut up!' he growled back at it, and angrily wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

It shouldn't matter to him, he thought as he took another step. 'Amy left… because I'm not good for her. I practically sent her away myself! This… shouldn't… hurt!'

"So… so why…" he whispered out loud, his breath clouding his vision.

"Why…" He bit his lip hard, and tasted warm blood.

"Why does… it hurt… so… much?"

But who was there to ask? Who was there to answer him?

No one.

'Except… maybe…'

'No! I can't think about her anymore! I won't!'

And there was only one thing he would allow himself to do.

Run.

Nothing could hold him back, but maybe that was only because nothing wanted to keep him. Snow wrapped itself around him, dragging him forwards. His feet carved a path through the whiteness, and he couldn't see where he was going. But more than that, he could forget about the damnable heart that was somehow still beating in his chest.

After all, he was the wind – and the wind didn't feel. The wind didn't have a heart.

'Stay away…'

He would do well to follow her demand.

He would make sure that he no longer existed in her life – or anyone else's.

He would never stop running.

And Sonic vanished into the arms of the wind.

Two years later…

Two years… two years to forget old memories. Two years to make new ones. Two years to change, to grow, to watch others be happy, to watch the ever-changing colours of the sky, the leaves fall from branches, the snow falling. Two years to hear the sounds of lightening, tears, and anger.

Two years to be in someone else's debt.

These two passing years, Rouge realized, should not have lasted as long as it had seemed to her.

It wasn't all bad either, she mused to herself. She had always hated being in someone else's debt, like the time Knuckles had saved her after their fight over a boiling pit of lava. But… being in debt to a child – a killer – wasn't quite as bad as she had thought.

Then again, that could've simply been because it wasn't her own life she owed, but…

"Momma! Hurry!"

Ruby Ashley. She was two years old and barely went up to her knees. Her hair swung out behind her in a very Knuckles-like fashion, her astonishing aqua-eyes bright and clear with laughter. Her tiny wings could barely lift her a foot off the ground, but the walls of their home was pockmarked with little nail-like prints from her climbing exploits.

And she owed it all to a child who was going to end the world.

"Momma!" the little girl cried again, before slipping on the wintry ice and tumbling onto the pavement of the sidewalk. She picked herself up again, the fall barely fazing her. "It's 2 o'clock!" She suddenly looked very worried and bit the nail of her thumb.

Rouge laughed, a sound that came easier to her now than before. "I'm sure Uncles Tails can wait for us," she said, before bending down and scooping Ruby up in her arms.

Ruby wiggled, her deep, red hair shaking from side to side. "But we're late!" she announced in a sing-song voice. She jumped out of her mother's arms and skipped clumsily down the snow-crusted pavement. "Late, late, late!" she chanted to nothingness.

Rouge smiled again. It was hard not to, in front of Ruby. To think that she could've never experience this… to think that she could've never experienced a love so strong…

And Knuckles wasn't here to see it. Nor was Shadow, her best friend. They never got to see her sit up for the first time, or flap her tiny wings tentatively to take off into the air, or when she had taken her first steps, or when she had found a love for sparkly things that could rival her own mother, or the need to protect everything and everyone around her like the Guardian of the Master Emerald himself…

She sighed. "Oh Ruby…"

Ruby seemed to falter, and turned around to face her. Her large, triangular-ears swiveled towards her to catch the sound of her voice before looking at her face, confusion etched in her eyes.

Rouge laughed again. "We're here! Where are you going?"

Ruby looked back to see that she was several houses ahead of Tails's. "Oh!" she giggled in surprise, before launching herself back with her wings. She crash-landed on her mother's leg and hugged it tightly.

Letting her hang there, she rang Tails's doorbell once. "Ruby, remember what we said about taking Uncle Tails's things…"

Ruby stuck her tongue out and grinned mischievously, her sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. Her tiny scarf wrapped itself around her mouth, as if to hide the smile. "Umm… " Her face screwed up in concentration.

"You can't play hide-and-seek with Uncle Tails's things!" Rouge said firmly. Then she leaned down and added in a whisper, "… as long as Uncle Tails doesn't know, that is…"

"Ahem."

Rouge straightened up. Tails was at the door, his arms crossed and tapping his foot.

Rouge smirked. "I'm kidding, of course." She winked at Ruby, who laughed and ran at Tails.

"Uncle Tails!" she squealed. Tails picked her up and spun her inside his tiny workshop, and she laughed in delight.

"How's my favourite niece?" he asked rhetorically, setting her down. Ruby was also quite aware that this was a rhetorical question, and just laughed, waving away the question. She toddled away from him into some other room, leaving wet, snowy footprints as she did.

Rouge observed all this while leaning against the doorframe. "Don't tell me that she's grown since the last time you saw her, because I know better than you that she did," she said, before Tails could open his mouth.

Tails blinked at her, before giving her a tight smile. "You read my mind."

"Hmm… did I?" She pushed herself off the doorframe and peeled off her winter jacket. She threw it carelessly aside, clearly at home at Tails's. She saw the fox tense, his eyes growing immediately wary. Rouge smirked again. "You're keeping something from me," she observed idly.

Tails looked away. "No… it's nothing… just… well, you know that today is…"

"I'm well aware," she replied dryly, cutting him off. "But the past is the past, and there's no use mourning anymore."

Tails's lips thinned. "Not everyone is doing as well as you, Rouge…"

Rouge felt before she actually saw the glimmering of pain in his eyes. Immediately, she dropped her idle manner, her expression softening. "I'm sorry, Tails…"

"This isn't about me," Tails muttered. His scuffed his shoes together nervously. "It's been exactly one year since Cream… you know… and… Vanilla came to visit today…"

"Oh," was Rouge's only reply. She should've known.

"Vanilla's been acting really weird…" Tails pressed on. When he still didn't get an answer, he continued. "You don't think she'll…"

Rouge's brow knitted together. "You mean, if Vanilla's planning to off herself?" She frowned. She paused, thinking. "No… she wouldn't. Not yet, at least."

"Not yet?" asked Tails, raising an eyebrow.

"There's still one little thing keeping her mind from being totally at peace, isn't there?" she asked. "Amy."

Tails breathed out. He rubbed the fur on his neck. "You mean, revenge?"

"…" Rouge looked up at the ceiling. Vanilla - revenge? It didn't seem likely, but… she had asked herself that question many times before. And even if she knew her own answer – and wasn't ready to share it yet – she thought that she might know Vanilla's.

"I think she might want to… ask Amy a few questions," she said as carefully as she could.

"Questions?" he asked, pressing her on.

"Yes…" she said, slowly. "Questions about… Nathaniel…"

"You think she can bring Cream back to life?" he asked, a little too quickly.

Rouge couldn't help the surge of pity that rose in her chest as she looked at his bright, shining eager eyes. For a second, she could see the old Tails, ready to leap and jump at every opportunity, not this new Tails who seemed to work with a silent purpose in everything he did, never willing to move unless he absolutely had to.

She missed the old Tails, even if she had never known him truly well until recently. He was still just a kid, after all…

She closed her eyes, choosing her answer carefully. "Maybe…" That was the only answer she could provide, for now.

He didn't look satisfied, but let the matter drop. Rouge was grateful – it was starting to go towards uncomfortable grounds…

Sometimes, the life given back towards her daughter could be a blessing and a curse. She was happy that Ruby could be alive with her… but now that the idea of bringing dead beings back to life was in Tails head, it seemed to consume his very being, even bringing him to a point where he had asked if he could "test" Ruby for "different energy patterns" that may "hold the secret to life." Or something like that. When she had vehemently refused, he never brought the subject up again.

"So… why did you call me?" she asked, to break the usual uncomfortable silence that settled between them whenever Cream was brought up.

"Oh… yes…" he said, suddenly intensely interested in a hole in his glove. "Umm… I just wanted to ask about… Eggman… and Ruby…"

Rouge froze. "W-what do they have to do with one another, exactly…?" she asked, trying to control the sudden glitch in her breathing.

"N-nothing…" He tried to look up at her, but shied away from her scorching gaze. "Nothing really…"

"'Nothing really?'" she repeated. "'Nothing really?'" She took another step towards him, but he didn't move. "What's going on?"

"Eggman told me… that he might be able to find them… if he can… do some tests on Ruby…" his voice trailed off feebly as Rouge quivered with rage.

"Don't tell me you sold us to Eggman!" she nearly screamed in anger.

"No! It's not like that! I just thought that if it'll help our chances of finding them in any way…"

"Hah!" Rouge laughed scornfully. "Is this really about finding them anymore?"

Tails tensed. "I…"

"This is about bringing people back from the dead now, isn't it?"

"Don't…"

"This is only about Cream now, isn't it?"

"Don't!" Tails suddenly burst out, his fur quivering.

Rouge sneered. "I won't agree with it, Tails! I won't give you my daughter for your own selfish reasons!"

Tails stomped his foot. It was extremely childish, but he didn't seem to care. "Damn it, Rouge! If you won't give him your daughter… then… then you're just like them! You're as selfish as we all are!"

Rouge breathed in sharply. "Well – that… who or what I'm like doesn't matter at the moment!"

"What about Knuckles? Don't you want to…"

"Damn it!" Rouge swore loudly. "You see, that's the difference between you and me! The dead should stay dead! The living… the living need to move on! I can't… I can't mourn for him… for the rest of my life…" she suddenly found herself whispering.

"Mommy? Uncle Tails?"

Both looked up. Ruby stared at them, wide-eyed. She tilted her head, confused by their yelling, her eyes plastered to her head. "Was Ruby… naughty?" Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"No… no, Ruby, it wasn't you…" Rouge turned around for a split second to walk towards her.

Something cold – metal – touched her back.

She couldn't move.

"I'm sorry Rouge… but…"

Something like lightening ran through her back, and she screamed. She could hear Ruby screaming with her, trying to run towards her. 'No, stay back!' she wanted to shout, but all she could do was scream as lightening forced itself down her throat and tore her apart from the inside.

She fell slowly, slowly, her body hitting the floor with a strangely soft 'thud.' He could see Tails standing over her, a taser in his hand and suppressed horror written all over his face.

Her vision faded away even as she struggled to keep herself conscious. She couldn't move, couldn't think…

She couldn't save Ruby…

She was high, high up above the snowy ground, where the sky could reach out and touch her and the cold laced itself around her face. She couldn't fall, because someone – maybe the wind? – would be there to catch her.

There was so much, so much that Naomi could see from this high above. She snuggled down in the bare branches of the old, weathered, but sturdy tree, and could almost hear an ancient heartbeat pulse under her fingertips.

Amy – or mommy – both were one and the same to her – was far, far below her, a wrinkly scarf wrapped around her neck as she looked at Nathaniel. Her brother was having fun in the huge snow piles and trying, with little success, to make a snowball. Naomi giggled, her long hair whipping around her eyes. Amy turned around at the sound and smiled at her, waving. Naomi's giggling abruptly stopped, and she looked away. Amy seemed sad… so sad…

Why was Amy so sad? Naomi frowned, puckering her face in concentration. How come every time Amy smiled at her, she could feel her sadness? Her thoughts were as scattered as snowflakes caught in a storm, her emotions fleeting as quickly as a frightened bird's. Naomi wanted to know why. Why was mommy so sad all the time? She picked listlessly at a hole in her glove. She wanted mommy to be happy!

She shook herself. Maybe, if she could get it, then mommy would be happy! Yes, that made sense. Everyone loves presents.

She looked up. Mommy had not seen it yet – she was too busy watching Nathan.

She reached up, her frosty glove sticking to the bark of the next branch. She heaved herself up, her little legs dangling in mid-air for a moment, before they swung up and knocking icicles off into the snow. Nearly there – two branches to go.

She breathed in deeply, letting air rush to her lungs. It was quite unfair that she wasn't as strong as Nathan, that even his quills were a deeper, healthier green than her sickly, pale ones. But at least her eyes were prettier.

Reaching up, she clung onto the next branch, and looked down. She was so high up! She laughed. Nathan would never be able to climb as high as her.

Finally, one more branch, and she had it in her hands.

It was really pretty. It was big too – she had to carry it with both her arms. Pure white, like snow, only shaped into a jewel, it shone with her reflection, and yet it refracted light into a million different colours. A warm, soft light seemed to beat inside it. It was something that mommy would want, wasn't it?

She let it drop onto the snow way below her, since she needed both her arms to climb. As she reached the last branch, she took one last look around her, just to see again how high up she was, and dropped to the ground, landing beside the big jewel.

She picked it up, looking at her reflection one more time. "Momm-Amy!" she called, fixing her mistake just in time. Amy would always get even sadder when she called her "Mommy."

"Yes?" The pink hedgehog turned around and smiled at her. Amy was pretty too, even prettier than the big jewel she had in her hands. Even when it was pitch dark, her skin and hair would shine, and she always had a smile for both her and her brother.

If she could make Amy happy… make her happy just this once…

"Look!" she shouted in excitement, racing towards her and holding the white jewel high.

Amy's smile suddenly froze, and Naomi stopped dead in her tracks. Confusion shone in her eyes. Did she do something wrong?

And Nathan… he was looking at her too, his eyes suddenly turning weirdly white. She backed away from him, fear suddenly making her heart beat loudly. "Nathan?" she asked.

Nathan's quills flared, and she couldn't sense her brother anymore. He was something else.

He looked at the white jewel again, and his lips stretched into a greedy smile.

"Mine…" he whispered. He blinked his white eyes again, and stepped towards his sister…

A/N: Hmm... hope you guys like this chapter. I'm not quite sure what to make of it myself... it's a bit different from what I'd usually write, so I'm kinda confused about it... Ehh... well, you guys might've liked it at the very least, and that'll make me happy too :) Getting Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games would make me really, really, really happy... ecstatic, even... I've been dropping hints like the U.S drop bombs... 'Cause I really, really want it... Really...

Or maybe I should just go to bed and make sure my head is screwed on right. That might work too :)

Also, if anyone has any Sonic fanfics that they could recommend, I'd appreciate it, even if it's your own. And it'd be nice if the author actually updates it too (cough, cough)

Anonymous Reviews:

DeniedLuv: YAY! AN ANONYMOUS REVIEW! Yeah... The Queen of Aces did a nice job with the last chapter, didn't she? Glad you like it :)

The Queen of Aces

azngirlchibi