Chapter Seven
"Uh, Silver." Knuckles walked up to where Silver stood looking out a window.
"Hey, you remembered my name." Silver laughed.
"Uh, yeah… anyway, Icefire wanted you and her… to uh…" Knuckles started, scratching his head.
"To uh what?" Silver raised an eyebrow.
"She wanted… y'know… you and her…. Ice-cream… and all."
"So, you're saying she wants me and her to go out for ice-cream?"
"Yeah, exactly." Knuckles grabbed Silver on the shoulders and started pushing him towards the door. "Get out there and make me proud."
"I'm supposed to go with Icefire."
"Uh, yeah. She'll be out in a moment." Knuckles opened the door, shoved Silver out, then closed the door and went to fetch Icefire.
"You got a boring flavor." Icefire sat licking her cinnamon cocoa ice-cream cone.
"Well, hey, vanilla's a classic." Silver started nibbling on his own.
Icefire shrugged. "I guess."
There was a pause as they both continued to eat their ice-cream.
"… Sorry about running away."
"A lot has happened, so I guess I can't really blame you." She said. "Even though it was rude leaving me there. Alone. In the dark."
"I don't remember it being dark."
"I was in bushes, okay?" She lightly punched him on the shoulder.
Silver jumped, causing his ice-cream cone to slip from his grasp.
"Crap!" He lunged after it and caught it before it landed on Icefire.
"Good catch." Icefire laughed.
"Thanks." Silver straightened back up, his hand brushing against Icefire's.
"May I join you?" He asked. She nodded her head in reply and he sat down next to her. There was a moment of silence before Icefire broke it.
"Can't sleep?" She asked. This time it was Silver who nodded. She turned back to the fire then absent mindedly pulled out her L-Emerald. She started to fiddle around
with it while still watching the flames. Silver watched her toss it back and forth between her hands then turn it around and around.
"Is that an L-Emerald?" He asked fascinated at its beauty.
"Huh? Oh, yeah…" She said looking down at it then back at him.
"It's beautiful…" Silver breathed.
Icefire smiled then handed it to him. "You want to look at it?"
Silver nodded eagerly and took it. Then he said, "It looks almost like the one in Eggman's ship… the one that Lizzy said not to touch…"
Icefire, confused, looked at Lizzy then back at Silver. Then it hit her, and she laughed.
"Oh, that's Eggwonna's L-Emerald!" She said.
"Really? Why does she have one?" Silver asked.
"Well," Icefire said thinking about what Lizzy said about Eggwonna giving Eggman her L-Emerald, "it's now Eggman's."
Silver looked confused, "Oh…" He handed her back her emerald.
"Keep it." She said. Silver looked at her, perplexed.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
Icefire nodded and answered, "I want you to have it."
Silver jerked his hand away.
"What's the matter?" Icefire asked with a concerned look.
"It was…" Silver shook his head. "It was nothing."
"You can tell me."
"I… I saw you… and an emerald." He shook his head again. "It was just nothing."
Icefire ate the last of her cone, and then pulled out something wrapped in cloth.
"What's that?" Silver asked, also finishing the last of his ice-cream.
She put it on his lap and unwrapped it. "All that is left of the Silver I once knew."
Silver looked down and saw pieces of what once was a purple emerald.
"What happened?" He looked back up at her.
"You need to remember."
"I… can't."
"You need to." Icefire insisted.
"No." He wrapped the pieces back up and handed them to her. "Not yet, anyway."
Silence.
"We should be getting back." Silver stood.
"Yeah." Icefire agreed quietly as she pulled herself up. "We should."