Chapter 1: Blank Spaces

She could hear movement behind her, but couldn't comprehend why she hadn't been caught yet. It was terrifying knowing he was just feet away. She didn't dare glance back in case she tripped.

"I'm coming..." A voice echoed around in her head. The voice chilled her to the bones.

Suddenly the forest she had just entered began to wither and die, as a menacing laughter filled the air. Out of nowhere a root stuck out of the ground tripping her, she looked back just in time to see the murderous gaze of the one she loved as he descended upon her.

She could hear the stark beeping of a heart monitor and it confused her. 'Why am I in a hospital?' She couldn't find the strength to lift her eyelids.

"I'm so sorry," a voice close to her whispered. "Maybe if I'd been smarter...faster it wouldn't have turned out like this."

'Why does Tails sound so sad?' She didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. 'Everything is fine.'

"I wonder if they'll find him," he gave a short gasp. "It's all my fault."

Suddenly her heart beat increased slightly to the point it was noticeable to Tails.

"Amy?" He sounded hopeful.

'I'm trying,' she tried her hardest to wake up and assure her young friend everything is fine. Suddenly her body felt like a huge weight was lifted, and she moved a finger.

"Please...please remember," he whispered his voice tortured.

'Remember?' Her breathing increased as she tried to pull herself into consciousness. "Tails..."

"I'll be right back!" He said joyfully.

She struggled to open her eyes, even the tiniest fraction. When she was able to, the first thing she noticed was metallic silver, instead of stark white.

'Where am I?' She closed her eyes once more because it hurt her head to keep her eyes open. She heard the door open and three sets of feet entered.

"She said my name," Tails said breathlessly.

"Hmmm... It would seem her memories might be intact." She cracked her eyes open again. She saw Orion looking at her, next to him was Tails and Dr. Eggman?! Her eyes flew open as she flung herself backwards, her heart monitor going nuts.

"Amy...Amy! It's ok!" Tails tried to assure her.

"B-But Eggman..."

"I am here to help, little Rose," he said snidely. "In case you turned out like your beloved Sonic."

"Turned out like...Sonic?" She turned to Tails, her eyes terrified. "What happened?" The fear must have been evident on her face, Tails held out his hands in a placating manner.

"Nothing bad," he assured her.

"Then why does...it sound that way?" Her eyes welled up. "He didn't..."

"No...it's not bad...but it's not good either," Tails said sadly. "He-he lost his memories."

Amy's eyes widened as the tears that were trapped sprung forward. "Wh-where is he?"

"Rouge, Knuckles and Shadow are out looking," Tails sighed. "But it's been two weeks since he woke up and we haven't seen him."

Then the question that burned through her, bubbled up. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Two months," Tails replied.

"Amy there is something else you should know," Orion said, his voice tense, before she could say anything. "We've been monitoring your condition throughout these last few weeks," he sighed, trying to be gentle about it. "And well, you're approximately two months pregnant."

"I'm...what?" She gaped at them, then her last night with Sonic popped into her head, causing her to blush. "A-Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent," Eggman said with a smirk. "Your friend Sarah did the exam."

Amy looked down at her stomach, placing her hands over the still flat surface. It was a creation of love, and she'd find Sonic and remind him of that love.

"How's Stella?" She asked softly.

"She's been pretty lost without you two," Tails admitted.

"We've been taking care of her," Orion said with a smile. "Like you asked." Amy motioned for him to come closer, when he was close enough she pulled him down and hugged him, kissing his cheek.

"Thank you so much," she said with a bright smile.

"It's so good to see that smile again," he said, his voice relieved. "We've all missed you so much."

Eggman had disappeared the moment it got mushy.

Amy looked down at her stomach again, with a smile. "I wonder who he'll be."

"You think it's a boy?" Tails asked with a smile.

"Hmm I guess I do." She smiled brightly. "Could you have Stella come see me?"

"Of course." Orion left the room.

"Could you get me something to eat?"

"Sure, anything in particular?"

"A chili dog please," Amy said, her voice heavy.

"It's been two weeks," Shadow complained. "How much longer am I obligated to look for faker?"

"It's not an obligation if you're friends," Rouge snapped.

Knuckles was staying silent, because he didn't dare cross his girlfriend. Not when she was this irritated.

"Who said we were friends?" Shadow grumped.

"I know it's all we've been doing lately...but if Amy wakes up...she will want to see him." That statement sent a pang through Shadow, because he realized he was still not over her. "Besides, the world needs Sonic."

That's when she caught sight of something blue, darting between the buildings.

"Look." She pointed towards the blue shape.

"I'll go," Shadow took off skating as quickly as he could. He finally got near enough to notice it was Sonic, and he looked awful. "Hey." He said his voice was gruff, but soft.

Sonic jumped and spun around, his eyes terrified. "Wh-who are you?"

Knuckles and Rouge finally caught up. "Sonic," Rouge gasped. "It's ok, we're your friends."

"Friends?" Sonic was wild eyed, looking like a terrified animal trapped in a cage. "I-I don't even know who you are."

"Come with us," Rouge pleaded softly. "We can help you."

"I-I don't..." Sonic dropped to his knees. "Can't..." Rouge looked to Knuckles, who nodded and walked over to Sonic and rapped him over the back of the head hard enough to knock him out, he then slung the limp hedgehog over his shoulder.

"Well, you could have been gentler." Rouge sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"Gentler or faster?" Knuckles smirked. Shadow shook his head as they started to head back.

Shadow hung back, now that they found Sonic, he wouldn't even be able to look at Amy, let alone talk to her. Soon the bickering voices of Rouge and Knuckles were gone, and he was alone again.

He sighed as he went in the opposite direction his friends had left in. He had only made it a hundred feet when he heard a yell, followed by screeches. 'What in the world?' He hurried in the direction of the yells.

"Take that!"

'A girl?' He wondered incredulously.

The scene he came upon was a little strange. A female hedgehog about the same size as Amy was fighting off some crazy creatures. She was a lime green hedgehog, her quills reached the middle of her back, with her bangs covering her left eye.

She wore a white midriff tank top, with a mint green denim jacket rolled up at the sleeves, a black mini skirt with a gold circular belt and black knee-high boots with cut off black gloves. She was wielding a sword which blazed with fire.

She knocked back the creatures, whom he realized were citizens gone nuts. She looked like she was starting to get overwhelmed.

He decided to see if she needed, or even wanted help. He skated over and could hear her labored breathing.

"Who're you?" She asked, her brow was quirked, he noticed her eyes were a pretty scarlet color.

"Not important right now," he said dismissively. Up close he noticed a small resemblance to Amy and had to shake her from his mind to stay focused. "Need help?"

"Only if you can back me up," she said seriously as the creatures rose again. She ran at one of them swinging her sword, the blunt edge first, she was trying to avoid killing them, but it wasn't working they just kept getting up. One of them suddenly engulfed in flames and came charging at her.

Seeing this Shadow swept in and knocked her away, throwing a chaos spear at the creature who shrieked and suddenly turned to ash.

"Wow." She said slightly impressed as she dusted herself off. Suddenly more of them began to appear. "We gotta go!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him off, they were completely outnumbered.

Tired of the slow pace, he swept her up and skated off.

"Wow, you're fast too?" She said in wonder. "Just full of surprises, this one." She muttered to herself.

They could just barely hear the hum of shouts behind them, Shadow then jumped up into a tree and stayed put on a high branch, out of sight.

He set the green hedgehog next to him. He watched the ground for signs of the creatures but didn't see anything. He stood near the trunk, while she gave a sigh and sat down.

"Sooo...got a name?" She wondered, he glanced back at her, but ultimately ignored her. "Rude." She huffed, crossing her arms. "Well, my name is Aurelia, Aurelia Rose." His head swung in her direction quickly, his eyes wide.

"Your last name is Rose?"

"Yeah why, you heard of it or something?" She asked, her brow arched.

"It's just," he sighed, rubbing his face. "My friend's last name is Rose too."

"It wouldn't happen to be Amy Rose, would it?" Aurelia asked hopefully.

"You know Amy?" Shadow asked.

"Yep, she's, my cousin." She said, smiling brightly. "We were like peas in a pod."

"She's never mentioned you." Shadow said bluntly.

"Well, she wouldn't," Aurelia's face turned slightly sad. "Ever since she was swept away into Sonic the Hedgehog's world, we haven't seen each other...that was five years ago now." She sighed heavily. "But I saw in the news that she was near this town, so I'm kind of looking for her...didn't think there'd be this many freaks here though."

"Usually there aren't." Shadow replied just now thinking how weird it was that those creatures had shown up. The two sat in silence for a while.

"Shadow."

"What?" Aurelia looked at him as if he'd grown another head.

"My name," he said bluntly. "Is Shadow."

"Oh." She blushed looking away. "So um, since you know Amy...could you take me to her?"

"She could use some good news." He sighed. He looked down and made sure they weren't followed.

"Why does she need good news? Last I heard she was a hero." Aurelia said softly.

"It's not all sunshine and daisies as the news would have you believe." He offered his hand to her, but instead she gracefully leapt from the branch landing with bent knees on the ground. He followed suit. "Wanna walk or..."

"No way am I walking, not with a speed demon like you!" She winked at him. He rolled his eyes at her as he swung her up into his arms again, before taking off.

Estella lay on the couch with an arm draped over her face, she sighed heavily.

"What's wrong dear?" Sarah asked from the other end of the couch.

"I just...I miss my mom and dad." Stella said her voice shook; she had been holding her emotions back lately.

"I know honey," Sarah gently touched Stella's leg in a comforting gesture. "It won't be forever." Suddenly the door to the living room swung open to reveal a happy, yet slightly out of breath Orion. "Alan what-?"

"She wants to see you Estella," his smile was contagious as Sarah's face lit up. Estella stared at her foster parent, unbelieving. "What's wrong?"

"It's been two-I just—I can't-" then the dam broke, and the little lavender hedgehog broke down. Orion bent next to her, in time for her to fling herself into his arms.

"All will be right soon, little one." He patted her back trying to slow down her sobs. "Let's go see your mother." He lifted her into his arms and walked out of the room.

Sarah's smile dropped just slightly as the two disappeared. "I hope you are right." She sighed as she went back to her book.

Amy had just finished her chili dog, when the door opened, and the sounds of sniffles could be heard. Orion placed Estella on the bed at her mother's side.

"Stella." Amy opened her arms and the little girl flung herself at her mother. Both embraced fiercely.

"I missed you!" Stella cried; her face buried in Amy's chest.

"I would never willingly leave you," Amy rubbed a hand down the back of her daughter's head. "I'll always fight to come back to you." Amy pulled back from the hug and smiled down at Stella. "I have to tell you something, provided they didn't tell you already."

"I haven't been told anything." Estella sniffled.

Amy took Stella's hand and placed it on her stomach, confusing the young hedgehog.

"What-?"

"Use your powers," Amy said slyly.

Stella concentrated hard and felt a small flutter. "Mom, what was that?" She looked up at her mom alarmed.

"That," Amy chuckled. "Is your baby brother."

"Really?" Estella smiled from ear to ear. "When will he be here?"

"In about eight months." Amy smiled.

The door opened revealing Eggman once again. "All right Rosie, time to check your vitals and see if you're strong enough to be taken off the iv."

Stella snuggled into Amy's other side, relishing in the fact that her mother was awake. There was still a pang of sadness in her heart, since Sonic was still missing.

Shadow stopped about a block from the house, where he could see Rouge and Knuckles going in. He set Aurelia on her feet.

"What a rush." Aurelia said giddily. Her quills looked windblown; her cheeks rosy.

"There's something you should know about Amy," he said solemnly.

"That sounds bad," Aurelia said, her brow scrunched. She started walking in the direction of the house assuming that's where they were headed.

"Well, I just think you should be wary," he sighed. "She's not the same Amy you remember, she's been through quite a lot in the last few months."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She waved her hand dismissively. "It can't be too complicated."

"You have no idea." Shadow muttered, but she wasn't paying attention as she'd started bouncing excitedly.

"I can't wait to see Ames again!" She squealed in a manner that reminded Shadow of Amy, it made him smile slightly.

They made their way into the large house, as they entered the living room Sarah's head snapped up.

"Harris-oh Shadow? Who's your friend?"

"She's not my friend, I just met her," he said gruffly. "She's here to see Amy."

"Oh well you're in luck, she just woke up." Sarah smiled brightly at the two. "I'm Sarah, a friend of Amy's."

"I'm Aurelia," the green hedgehog smiled. "I'm Amy's cousin. Could you direct me in the right direction?"

"Of course, follow me dear." Sarah stood from the couch, setting her book down.

Shadow stayed put unable to think properly, she'd woken up and Sarah seemed happy, so it meant she remembered. He suddenly felt a bit dizzy and fell onto the couch, his head in his hands. All the emotions swirling crazily around his brain. That's when he noticed the book she'd been reading, 'what to expect when you're expecting.' It made his stomach drop, he couldn't explain why, but he knew that was because of Amy.

No one noticed he'd left, and he hoped he could stay away undetected for a while

Knuckles and Rouge finally made it back to the mansion they were given to take care of Sonic and Amy, since the two heroes had saved the planet once again.

"Can we get inside? He's not exactly light." Knuckles complained.

Rouge shot him a dirty look as she opened the door for him. "As if," she sighed as he slipped past. "Whine all you want, bring him to the empty room next to Amy's...strap him down."

"Yeah, I got it," he called over his shoulder as he headed to the east wing of the large house. Rouge followed but stopped in to check on Amy, who to her surprise was up and laughing with Estella completely free of tubes.

"Amy," her eyes filled with tears at the sight of her best friend awake. She suddenly flung herself at Amy wrapping the smaller girl in a hug. "Oh, Amy I'm so glad you're awake."

"Hi Rouge," Amy giggled, patting the bat's back.

"Y-you remember?!" she wailed happily.

Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in and join the hug fest!" Amy giggled; the door opened revealing Sarah.

"Amy, there's a young lady here claiming to be a relative of yours." Sarah said.

"What?" Amy said confused, her mind foggy, she couldn't really remember her relatives. In walked a lime green hedgehog and it clicked. "Reli?!"

A large smile spread across Aurelia's face as she ran over and hugged Amy.

"It's been too long." Aurelia laughed. "Wow he wasn't kidding; you look rough darling."

"Well, if you had the year I did," Amy laughed. "Wait who told you I was rough?"

"Oh, this guy I met, he said his name was Shadow." Aurelia answered dismissively.

"Mom, who's this?" Aurelia's head snapped to Estella.

"Oh my-so-cute!" She squealed. She turned to Amy. "Did she call you mom? She looks a bit old...when did you have her?" She couldn't help noticing the little girl looked to be about four, maybe five.

"Believe it or not about four months ago." Amy said, squeezing Anais. "Stella, this is my cousin Aurelia. Aurelia, this is my daughter Estella."

"Nice to meet you," Estella said politely, she held out a hand for Aurelia to shake.

"Come on now, we're family." Aurelia said, swinging the young girl up into a warm hug. "I can't believe you had a baby!" She squealed. "I hope the daddy is still in the picture."

"Well...that's a bit complicated right now." Amy said her demeanor darkened instantly. "I'll explain later." She noticed the questioning look from Aurelia. "Let's get out of this room."

"Are you sure you should be moving around so much?" Rouge asked worriedly.

"Dr. Eggman cleared me," Amy smiled reassuringly. "I'm gonna go crazy if I have to stay in this room any longer than I already have."

"Ok, what do you want to do?" Rouge asked, smiling, knowing Cream would be ecstatic to learn the pink hedgehog was finally awake.

"Well first I have to use the bathroom," Amy laughed. "Then we go look for Cream. I have some news I have to share with you all." The bright mischievous smile that lit Amy's face caused Rouge to fill with suspicion.

"Ok."

Amy went into the bathroom and Rouge turned to Aurelia.

"So, if you're Amy's cousin, why has she never said anything about you?" Rouge asked curiously.

"Well, being part of a world-famous superhero group, it probably slipped her mind." Aurelia said, looking down. "I've been searching for her, grandpa is looking for her."

"Well, tell her later when everything is a bit quieter." Rouge said, placing a hand on Aurelia's shoulder.

"Right," Amy appeared again. "Ready to go?"

"Let's go."