A/N: ... Aww, it hasn't been that long, has it? (shies away from scary glares) Okay, I'm sorry, I promise to be more attentive when it comes to my e-mails and stuff...

And you probably realized that there were no review replies sent out... I have a huge backlog of stuff as most of you probably know by now, and I'm still trying to sort it all out. I did read them on the review board, so it's still all good, right? ... Right DX

I'll save my rambling for later.

Dedicated to Marianne

"Both of them... treasured me more than they did themselves. I laughed and cried with each of them. And then I noticed... the darkness in my heart that was supposed to be unbroken - Was tainted by a warm and kind light. Stop... Don't come into my darkness. Leave me alone...! I love both of you... so please get out of me."

-Aya from Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

azngirlchibi

The air tasted old and moldy here, near the old, depilated jail. The building seemed to lean to the side in a tired sort of way, and the sweet smell of rot drifted to his nose, coating his tongue with the glutinous taste of decay. The sky was a perpetual, blinding black that he hadn't thought possible, even for nighttime, the whip-like wound that was the moon bleeding silent, silver tears that rained heavily on his head and dripped down his back – cool fingers that chilled everything they touched.

"I thought you said that you weren't watching tonight."

A bright, red figure sat beside him, but Shadow only gave him the slightest of acknowledgements. He continued to stare down, his eyes focused on the entrance of the jail.

"… So, you're going to watch, even though you specifically said that you aren't going to?" Knuckles asked him, snapping him out of his staring.

"Hmph." Shadow folded his arms, irritated by the echidna's intrusion. "I changed my mind," he answered as quickly as possible, hoping that this answer would deter Knuckles from interrogating him further.

"Really?" Knuckles asked, looking genuinely interested. Shadow swallowed back a groan. He had really wanted to be alone tonight, of all nights. He forced himself to ignore Knuckles's presence, concentrating, once again, on the peeling double-doors of the run-down building.

"You're not planning on stopping them, are you?" Knuckles probed, interrupting Shadow's thoughts again.

"No," Shadow replied, his words clipped from annoyance. "I'm dead – the dead can only watch." His voice shook slightly. He had always thought it was so unfair that even though he was technically walking, technically breathing, and can still technically feel everything around him, the only difference between him and the living was that the living could – well, the living could do anything they wanted. The dead could only sit passively and watch.

"Tch, you're not the only dead one here, you know," said Knuckles, rolling his eyes. "Besides, if watching annoys you so much, why do you keep watching over them?"

"The same reason that you're watching Rouge every single damn moment of your existence," snapped Shadow. Why couldn't the infuriating echidna just leave him alone? He was like a dead copy of Sonic, with that smirk on his face.

Knuckles shrugged. "Touché." He stretched his muscular arms wide, before plopping down on his back with his head resting on his arms. Shadow noted that there was no stirring of wind as he did – proof that they really were dead. "Anyway, you know as well as I do that the dead don't just watch – they can influence too." Knuckles yawned. "Sending that damn dream to her – what were you hoping to accomplish?"

"Both you and Cream came with me, so you know what we all wanted." Shadow's hands tightened into fists, and he was sure that they'd be bleeding from the pressure if he could still bleed. "Living…" His eyes softened slightly at the very word, as he let it roll of his tongue as if he were tasting flakes of gold. "…To see the ones… that you want to see again."

"Living, huh?" Wind blew past, but of course, even the wind couldn't touch the dead. Knuckles held up an arm, palms out, as if enticing the wind to settle in his palm. "Do you think that they would be happy if we come back to life? Personally, I think Rouge would just kill me all over again."

"What – are you changing your mind?" asked Shadow, temporarily distracted.

"She spent three years getting over my death. Why should I go back, just to remind her of my memory? Why should I destroy all the hard work that she's been trying to do?" Knuckles closed his fists – even his namesakes couldn't affect the living anymore.

"But you'd be alive again – so you're not a memory," Shadow pointed out.

"Really? Can the dead really be brought back to life?" Knuckles turned his head slightly, so that he was staring at Shadow.

Shadow bristled. Why was he asking him this? "Ruby was brought back to life," he pointed out.

Knuckles smiled wryly. "Yeah, and look at how she's doing now. Three years and she's already half-dying." Knuckles flinched at his own words. "Ruby's… already… in danger again… and in the end, the little twerp couldn't do anything at all…" he whispered.

Shadow scoffed. "I don't get you. You sounded like you'd forgiven the little twerps, and now it sounds like you don't." He shook his head, looking disappointed for the first time. "So do you think that you're right or not?"

"'Am I right'"? Knuckles chuckled. "I wasn't so sure at first, but luckily, being dead and having nothing to do gives you a lot of time to think."

"Ha!" The black hedgehog stood up in a sudden, fluid motion, startling Knuckles into a sitting position. He turned, his strained smile looking more like a baring of teeth. "I like to hear this." He laughed contemptuously.

Strangely, the echidna smirked. "Alright, I'll tell you." Knuckles stood up, much more slowly than Shadow, and faced away from him. "I'll give Sonic and Amy credit – yeah, I see their justice and love crap. I know what it's like to love someone so much that you want to die for them. I know what it's like to see injustice and wanting to stop it. I understand their reasoning. I understand why they think they're right." He laughed softly at some unseen memory. "But… I always questioned if I were not right as well. I wanted to save the world – I wanted the most amount of people to live. That's not wrong, is it? I mean…" Knuckles whirled around, pointing at Shadow. "That was what the dream was all about, right? You just want to live."

Shadow raised an eyebrow coolly. "And…?"

"And… and what?" Knuckles spread out his hands, shrugging. "And… in the end, we were all wrong. Or was it… we were all right? Who knows. I'm dead, as you've so aptly put it, so it doesn't really matter what I think."

"Of… of course it matters!" Shadow suddenly blurted out. Knuckles looked at him oddly, but Shadow found that he didn't care. "Of course what we want matters! What we want… what the dead want…" He refused to believe it! He refused to believe that as much as he wanted something – as much as he wanted to be alive, so much that it pained his long-stopped heart, as much as he could swear that he was alive again, he couldn't have it. That he couldn't undo what couldn't be undone, like trying to spark a fire with wet wood.

"The dead and the living are two separate worlds – sure, we have memories, sure we can watch… but we can't do much else." Knuckles cast his gaze towards the door again, it's stillness almost eerie.

"Says who?" Shadow muttered angrily. "What's the point of being dead and making us watch anyway?" he added, fuming.

"Who knows? It's like asking, what's the point of living if we're just going to die?" Knuckles fiddled distractedly with his glove. "We don't know why, but we do it anyway."

"But… there has to be something we can do…" Shadow pulled a quill, still angry, his heart constricting with desperation.

"… Shadow…"

"What?" he snapped, turning to face the echidna.

"We can't do anything for them. Not Tails, not the twins, not Sonic… and not Amy."

"God damn it!" Knuckles didn't even look fazed at Shadow after his sudden outburst. "You… you really don't know anything!" His whole body shook, his quills rattling loudly in the gloomy silence. "I just want to help her! I just want… I just want to see Amy again… I – You already left life fulfilled! I didn't even get time…" He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to let anything fall, even as he felt as if his body was trying to strangle itself. "… I didn't get any time to gain the things I've lost… No time at all…"

"… No, you had plenty of time. You just never used it well."

Knuckles cold words filled him with an icy hate, his skin freezing into a bitter frost. "What do you know?!" he screamed, punching him as hard as he could.

Nothing.

Shadow opened his eyes. 'What… how come…'

"Shadow… you always had plenty of time, but you were just too greedy." Knuckles's wine-like eyes followed Shadow's arm, which had gone right through the echidna's chest. "You wanted to keep them both, didn't you? You wanted to keep Amy because you loved her… but you wanted to keep Sonic because he was the first friend that you had in a long time."

Shadow opened his hand slowly, just to make sure it was really still there. Slowly, he drew it out of Knuckles's chest, a slight tingling sensation the only indication that Knuckles was really in front of him. He stared at his gloved hand for a long time. "I…"

"It's too late to do anything now. We can't even affect each other." And as if to illustrate this point, Knuckles made a grab for Shadow's arms, but he ended up going through it and clenching onto thin air.

"I…" Shadow put his hand down delicately, as if it was a piece of glass that he could shatter at any moment. "I…" Why couldn't he get anything out of his mouth?

He breathed in deeply. "Why… why does she love Sonic so much?" he asked, a question that had been on his mind for far too long. "I… I wanted to be loved that much…" He put his hand over his chest, where his heart used to beat. "When I first saw them together, I thought to myself, 'If only I can have that love – than I would be truly happy.'"

"That's probably why." Shadow looked up, and met Knuckles's piercing eyes. "You only wanted love – love, and nothing else. Sonic wanted her love – her love, and anything that came with it. And she in turn, wanted his."

"What makes you say that I only wanted love?"

"… It used to be Rouge, for a while, wasn't it."

"…" A statement, not a question.

And how true it was.

"So… you're saying that they're better off left alone?" Shadow asked him.

"We're about to find out."

Knuckles pointed to the distance in answer to Shadow's unasked question. One lone figure was running by itself, rapidly closing the distance between it and four other tiny figures, like a knot being tied much too fast.

Shadow stared at one particular dot for the longest time. He watched it run, watched it's determined face, it's chest going up and down in a motion that only the living really needed to feel. He could hear it's footfalls echoing loudly, feel the air of confidence grabbing him and throwing him up like a toy, rattling him until he couldn't stand it any more.

And then, there was the lone figure – Small, from where he was standing, like picking out a single blade of grass in a meadow that stretched as far as the sky. A single blade of grass whose roots never failed it, no matter how much the wind blew, no matter how hard it pushed against it or tried to rip it out altogether.

Something that could survive the volatile wind.

"… Hmph." He turned around, walking away.

"Not watching any more?" Knuckles asked, sounding surprised.

Shadow felt a slight tug at the corner of his lips.

"I changed my mind."

She probably would've missed him altogether if it wasn't for Rouge's sharp eyes and her alarmed flinch.

But maybe he would've come to her anyway. Maybe she had finally gotten her long-lost wish – for him to run to her because he wanted to. Not because he had to – and the irony was sickening.

She stood, frozen, as slowly, like a magician dramatically sweeping away his cloak, he suddenly appeared. The powdery shadows blew themselves away, uncovering his face, his body, his hands, his eyes…

"Sonic…" she breathed, her eyes wide. "You…"

"It was a lie!" Sonic blurted out, before Amy could get another word in. "Tails tricked you into coming – he… he wants Nathaniel and Naomi. He probably wants me to come too, since he was so sure that I'd be watching too. I-"

"Do you know us?"

Amy turned around, and saw Nathaniel staring at Sonic, a hostile look written all over his face. "You know my name," Nathaniel stated, backing away slightly much like a cornered animal. "You know Naomi's too. Why?" he demanded. "How do you know us?" He held tighter onto Naomi, who winced slightly in pain, but buried herself closer to her brother nonetheless.

"I-" Sonic looked hurt, but why shouldn't he, thought Amy. Hadn't she always secretly hoped – no, she had known that the twins would forget. After all, memories wore away over time, everything wore away over time. She had wanted them all to herself. She had wanted them to love no one but her.

It was her right.

"I'm a friend. A friend from a long time ago."

Amy stared at him, eyes wide. He glanced, with a friendly disinterest at the twins, smiling slightly. "I'm just a friend. Like Miss. Rouge over there."

"Oh…" Nathaniel relaxed, loosening his grip on Naomi.

Sonic nodded again. He turned, as if he had decided that he had lost all interest. "Anyway, that's… that's all I wanted to say." Amy saw him glance at the twins, then at her again. Amy quickly looked away. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to feel? She had been so sure that she would've hated to see him, to yell at him, hit him, hurt him at first sight.

Instead, she was standing stock-still, every part of her numb, uncomprehending. 'Sonic is in front of me,' she thought to herself. 'He is safe. He is in front of me, and he isn't hurt.'

"I should be leaving."

'Leaving? He's leaving? Why is he leaving?' She should ask him – she wanted to ask him, the words on the tip of her tongue and begging to spill, but nothing wanted to obey her.

"Leaving? Where to?" Rouge asked for her, her voice sounding far away.

"I'm going to visit Tails." He backed away, turning around slightly. "He's bothered us enough, don't you think? And there's a certain little girl in there who might want to see her mother again."

"Sonic… I…" stuttered Rouge. "You would really…"

"You know, our one day time limit is almost up." Sonic cut in. He looked at Amy again, as if wondering why she didn't say anything. "I should-"

"Don't go."

The words shocked them all into silence, the first words that Amy spoke. Amy felt her mouth, still half-open; waiting for more words to be pulled out of the silence to fill her voice, but none came.

Sonic spoke first.

"Why…?" he whispered, so softly that even the moonlight hitting the floor was louder than he was.

'Why?' Amy asked herself, trembling. 'Why?'

'I don't want you to die.'

'I want you to stay.'

'Please don't go.'

Whatever she could think have sounded laughable – words that were emptier than the silence, words that would hurt him, words that she didn't deserve to say.

'Whatever I say won't work. Whatever I say… anything I say… No, there's nothing I can say. Nothing at all.'

But she had to try.

For some reason, she just had to try.

"You don't need to go."

She heard Rouge's cry of disbelief, the twin's murmurs of confusion. She saw herself in her mind, darkness falling down on her like snow, burying her deeper and deeper until she couldn't claw herself out anymore, until it reached so deep into her that it grabbed her heart and laughed.

"You… You only came because you thought we were in danger, didn't you?" she asked quietly. "You came because you wanted to make sure the twins and I were alright, didn't you? Well, we are… so you don't need to go in."

A twig snapped, and Amy's face shot up. Sonic stepped back, revealing broken wood under his shoe. "Amy…"

"Don't get any ideas," she managed to growl. "It's just… you and I…"

'You and I? Where is this 'you and I' coming from?' The darkness hissed. 'If he wants to go in, let him. He is a fool for walking into death – let us live. Let us live… happily.'

"Amy…" A twig snapped again, followed by a footfall, but Amy refused to look at him. "How can you trust me to come with you?"

"Don't… don't come with us! But just don't go in there either." She was inclined to add, "please," but held her tongue.

"I thought there wasn't a, "you and I."

"So what?" Amy cried out. She shook her head. "So what if there's no 'you and I'? Is surviving not so much more important? Don't you want to live?"

A few moments of tense silence passed.

Then there was a sigh, and she heard him suck in a deep breath. "You shouldn't be worrying about my life. It doesn't matter, anyway."

"W-What are you talking about?" Amy asked in disbelief. "If you die… then something terrible will happen. I thought you knew!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who told you this?"

"I-" She stopped herself. "… I… had a dream about it…" Her voice trailed off, the absurdity of her statement catching up with her. Who would believe that she had a dream about three dead friends? She had barely believed herself.

"…" Sonic's lips twitched up into an infuriating mocking smile. "I see."

"Wait… a dream?" Rouge rounded on her incredulously. "We were going on a wild goose-chase for Sonic…because of a dream?"

"Shut up!" Amy spat. "You just wanted to ask him to save Ruby, didn't you?"

Rouge glared back. "Yes, so what? He wants to go in, so why are you stopping him now? Do you honestly believe in some figment on your imagination?"

"I…" She clenched her fist in despair. "They wouldn't lie…"

"Huh… well, I guess I don't blame you for trusting three dead friends," said Sonic, still sounding amused.

"…" Amy stared at him. "… How… did you know who was in my dream?"

Sonic made a choking sound in the back of his mouth. "W-What?"

Realization dawned inside her. "You knew?" Amy stepped towards him, grass flattening in the sole of her boots. "You knew that… If you died… the twins might… Nathan and Naomi will…" Her voice cracked.

Was her heart supposed to still feel like it was being crushed? This was what hate was, wasn't it? Someone who could crush your heart so easily from the inside was an enemy – that had to be it.

"Amy…" he said, softly. "You're reading too deeply into the dream."

"What?" she asked, sharply.

"Who said anything about whether I live or not?" He paused, letting it sink in. "He just said to find me, didn't he? Well, here I am. You found me. Your job is done. It doesn't matter whether I live or not now."

"Wait-"

"'How did you know I was looking for you'?" he asked for her. He paused. "… Let's just say that you're not the only one who dreams. And I know that he said we needed to 'join forces,' too," he added. Amy shut her mouth again, not sure if she found his mind-reading annoying or unnerving. "But that could mean any number of things… but one of the key things were to 'protect the little boy,'" he finished, emphasizing the last part. "So as long as he is safe, it's okay, even for you, isn't it?"

"So you're just going to go in there and die?" shouted Amy incredulously. "Why?"

Sonic just turned away. "I already told you, it doesn't matter."

Amy reached forward, grabbing his shoulder and whirling him around until they were face-to-face, his bewildered green eyes staring into hers, every single muscle tightening under her fingers. "Why are you going in?"

"Why do you care?"he shot back, starting to look angry as he tried to pry himself away from her iron grip.

"I…" She bit her tongue. Everything was screaming at her in confusion, her emotions starting to swirl around and grab at her…

She swallowed. "Fine. I don't care." She let him go, her fist suddenly feeling empty. "At least… at least tell me why you're going to go in there and die."

A corner of his mouth twitched as he rubbed his shoulder. "Am I supposed to have some sort of heroic reason?"

"You are known for it…" she muttered under her breath.

He chuckled dryly in response. "Okay… but you'll laugh." He stopped, looking like he was gathering his thoughts, as he bit on a corner of his lip. "If you think back, there were two key parts in what they said." He held up one finger. "One is that the little boy stays alive." He held up another finger. "Two is that… you stay alive."

Amy staggered back in shock. She had completely forgotten.

"See… nothing about whether I stay alive or not."

"So… it is some sort of stupid heroic reason!" She shook her head in disbelief, her flying quills stinging her eyes. "You're just… you're just doing this for me… For us…?"

"Hmm…" Sonic tapped his chin in thought. "It's not really a heroic reason if saving you equals to world destruction, does it?" He spread out his hands. "I guess I'm just naturally a really good villain," he said wryly.

"I… Sonic…" She reached out a hand hesitantly, her fingers already tingling in unwanted anticipation. "What's the point of saving me, anyway?" The tip of her gloves touched his shoulder lightly, and she felt him stiffen underneath them again. "If you die… I…" She felt her face heat up, a trickle of sweat running down her neck. "I… mmph?!"

Her words were lost as Sonic's mouth swallowed them. His chapped lips were on hers… he was kissing her… She was shaking under him…

'No…'

Why was he touching her? Her skin was crawling, his fingers icy where they touched her cheek. She was gagging from his scent, her eyes burning from the closeness of his open eyes… his eyes that were too unnaturally green to be real.

'No!'

She shoved him, gasping when his lips were severed from hers. She choked, her face feeling strangely hot. "No…" she managed to utter. "No… don't… please…" She shook her head wildly, but the buzzing in her mind didn't clear. "Don't touch me!" she screamed.

Sonic did not move, his silence disturbing. His expression did not look hurt – there wasn't even anger in them.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Through her daze, he saw his expression, suddenly alive with sadness. "I'm sorry for being so selfish. I'm sorry for trying to protect you but wanting things that hurt you at the same time. Just…" he hesitated. "If I'm about to die… I want you to be the one to kill me, okay? Just promise me that… Amy."

He left her, his running bending the trees and waking up the dead leaves on the floor, making them swirl and rustle in a miniature tornado that ripped up grass with a tearing noise.

Rouge stared at her for a moment. "Amy-"

"No."

Rouge stared. "What?"

"Hell no… that promise…" Amy shook, falling onto the ground as she touched her mouth lightly. "No… Sonic, you're so unfair…"

She closed her eyes. Was she crying? She touched her face. '… I am…' Her gloves were getting soaked and starting to smell of salt.

'Why are you like this, Sonic?'

She clenched onto the debris on the ground – leaves, grass, twigs, just-sprouting baby trees, their leaves only just beginning to peek from the dirt.

'How can you still kiss me like that?'

The tiny trees were dripping, soaking in her hot, crystalline tears as they flowed in gossamer strands off her face.

'Don't kiss me like you still love me.'

The three behind her watched in silence, too stunned to move.

'Don't touch me like I'm the only one who can save you.'

Her shoulders were shaking, as if they were about to collapse from some invisible weight.

'Don't say my name like I'll always be there for you.'

She couldn't take it! She wanted it to stop – her heart, her breathing, her thoughts. She just wanted to stop… for this long-winded adventure to end.

'If you really love me… why can't you just say so?'

She wanted an answer.

'If you love me… why can't you just tell me the truth?'

She wanted a real answer.

'If you don't love me, then push me away. Gently push me away and smile. If you can't do that… if you can only hold me away at arm's length… then I will have to hate you. I'll have to hate you, Sonic.'

Her lips were pulsing, as if it was now sharing the heart beat of another.

'Don't try to heal me. Don't try to say comforting words to me. Don't touch me.'

The monster… when did it's eyes turn green?

A/N: Once again, really sorry about the delay. It's all good now... cause it's March Break! YAY! The only bad thing is, it's been snowing where I live for two days straight... Ugh, I have a washroom down in the basement where it's pitch-black because the snow is covering up all the windows. ... That's how I knocked over the bottle of bleach. So I smell like an indoor swimming pool now.

Anyways, you might've noticed that I reverted back to my old writing style where I use only one line per paragraph at some parts of the story. I don't remember why I stoppped doing that... personally, I think it gives more of an impact when certain lines are isolated into one paragraph. It makes it stand out more. But that's just me... honestly, I only started doing that because I read another story from like five years ago (the author STILL hasn't finished it, by the way...), and I was almost always more shocked by the emotional value of a particular sentence when it was isolated into one paragraph.

... Gods, I sound like a math geek. "Isolated..." (shudders) Reminds me of arithmetic.

Also, I want Brawl. But I can't get out because I'm basically snowed in. Great, couldn't have snowed during school and made it a snow day... DX

Thanks for you patience and your support!

The Queen of Aces

azngirlchibi