(Mid April, 9:07 am)
The first thing he was aware of was a warm feeling on his face, like a mother's hand caressing it. Opening his eyes, the hedgehog saw bright light shining through a window next to him, and then became aware of a soft bed underneath him, and two other hedgehogs laying next to him while a big fluffy blanket enveloped all three of them, trapping all heat within and keeping them toasty. As if noticing the sunlight, the magenta hedgehog between him and the window shifted onto her side, putting one arm around him and moaning softly as she slept...
This wasn't his room!
Sonia was torn from her dream and flung back to reality when she found herself being thrown off of Manic as he scrambled off the bed, taking half the blanket with him. Remembering the events of the day before was enough to fully rouse her from sleep, but the shock on her brother's face, accompanied by his defensive posture, set off alarm bells in her head.
"Where am I?" hissed the green hedgehog.
Sonia went dead still, knowing right away what had happened, Sonic's confession about Manic's memory from the night before still fresh in her mind.
Sonic's ears perked at the question and he opened his eyes to glance at the foot of the bed and saw his twin brother ready for a fight.
"Manic?"
Why were they calling him Manic? Did they know him? The green hedgehog wasn't sure whether to feel reassured or threatened by that.
"Who...are you?" he asked hesitantly.
Sonic's blood went cold. He had expected his brother to have serious issues- especially after Manic told him he remembered nothing about the family of a kid he thought he was impersonating- but he never expected him to suffer memory loss continually! Amnesia caused by psychological trauma was one thing, and not all that uncommon, but repeatedly losing short term memory was an entirely different league- well out of his own.
"Manic, don't you remember yesterday, when you came home?" asked Sonic, doing his best to sound calm and collected, despite the chaotic helplessness he felt.
They addressed him as if they knew him, yet he had no recollection of them, this house, or anything at all besides waking up in this room. Listening to them might benefit him, but another part of him felt cautious, as if there was something he should be guarding himself against, but he wasn't sure what it was.
"We had cookies and milk!" his sister told him, hoping that might bring back the previous night. Though she tried to look friendly, she was on the verge of tears as the reality of Manic's amnesia finally began to sink in.
Nothing else rang a bell, but something about cookies stood out to Manic; sweet discs that escaped all earthly description, save for tiny pieces of something brown mixed in...
"...were they...chocolate chip?" he asked, saying the words out of habit instead of memory.
Sonia wanted to feel relieved that Manic was already recovering some of his lost memory but didn't want to open herself up to more disappointment.
"They were. And hot and melty from the oven," she said almost monotonously. She was willing to help out but doubted anything would come of it. If Manic's memory was going to fail on him randomly, what was the point in trying to help him recover?
Letting his imagination drift into the realm of familiar sensory, the green hedgehog could almost smell the aroma as the soft, warm treats slid across his tongue. He did indeed remember the cookies- his only indication of having had any past affiliation with the room's other occupants. Perhaps just asking them about the previous day would bring back other memories.
"Tell me more about what happened," he requested.
Sonic breathed deep and began explaining as best he could, starting with Manic's kidnapping 5 years prior, and ending it with them going to bed together the previous night after celebrating his return.
"Does any of that sound familiar?" asked Sonia, nearly shaking with anticipation.
Manic pondered everything they'd told him, but the only thing he could clearly remember were the cookies. However, he felt as if he'd been sitting somewhere cozy while enjoying them.
"Was I sitting somewhere when I had cookies?" he asked.
Sonia nearly jumped.
"The three of us sat on the big comfy couch telling jokes," she replied, "You laughed pretty hard at the one about the laser pointer with a warning label that said, 'Do not look into laser with remaining eye!'
A light went on inside Manic's head.
"That actually sounds familiar," he exclaimed, realization overtaking his features.
Sonic allowed himself to smile as he felt his shoulders getting lighter. They were indeed making progress.
"You remember?" asked Sonia, interlocking her fingers, "Please tell me you remember!"
"I almost feel like you're telling me something I already know," Manic explained. While he was sorely confused by all of this, he took comfort in knowing that these two meant him no harm, or else they would have already attempted something.
Both of his siblings nearly floated off the floor. So accustomed were they to despairing over Manic that they were ready to accept his condition worsening, and yet, he was showing signs of continuing the unexpected recovery from the day before- and much faster than they expected just a minute ago.
"We can do this, Manic!" Sonic encouraged him, "What else did you do while having cookies on the couch?"
Manic thought about it...and thought some more...and finally told them, "I got nothing."
And it showed; despite having just woken up, he looked worn out from the ordeal, so Sonic suggested they go downstairs and eat something. Perhaps nourishment would jumpstart the old memory bank.
"We can make waffles together!" Sonia suggested halfheartedly.
"I guess," shrugged Manic.
He wanted to remember what had happened last night, even wanted to remember who he was, but just trying to comprehend it was exhausting, so a break was most welcome- especially if it involved food.
Sonic led the trio out of the room and toward the stairs. Manic took in the details of this new home he supposedly spent most of his life in, noting that the creme colored walls, assorted paintings, and various trinkets didn't differ from what he expected them to look like, but neither did any of it stand out to him as if he'd seen it before.
Next came the family room and kitchen area, both of which had a lot of white everywhere, as well as a few crystal dishes decorating green counter tops and wine glasses hanging beneath a cabinet, while in the family room was a glass table, two butter colored chairs in front of a wall sized window overlooking a sun gleamed lake, and a similar colored three cushion couch across the room with a sleeping hedgehog spread out on it.
"This is your uncle, Chuck," Sonia whispered, "He's a cop."
Even if the leather coat worn over his uniform didn't make it obvious, the police hat on the table did.
"Do you know what a cop is?" she asked him in an equally hushed tone, wondering if he retained that general aspect of his memory like he did words and complete sentences.
Manic thought about it for a moment, then replied, "someone who catches evil dudes?"
He remembered basic things, which would make it easier for him to reconnect the dots.
"Close enough," shrugged Sonic, "Let's just give Manic some time to take it all in."
Sonia sighed under her breath, doing her best to conceal her mounting frustration.
"So who is gonna do what? she asked, walking toward the oven and cabinets.
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"I mean who is gonna do the bacon, eggs, and waffles?" his sister clarified as she gathered the materials.
Sonic couldn't help smiling. Turning to a confused Manic, he asked, "You remember how to cook?"
"I might," he shrugged, a hint of curiosity in his response.
"We'll all do it together. Making it is half the fun," chuckled Sonic, strolling over to where Sonia now had the ingredients spread out.
They brought out the dishes and utensils and assembled the waffle mixture. Sonia volunteered to operate the waffle press since she had the most skill with it. Sonic decided to fry bacon on one stove burner while helping Manic scramble eggs.
"Crack em open, mash up the yolks, and stir em around until it's all yellow goop," he explained.
Seemed simple enough. Except for having to dig out a few shell pieces that had fallen in with the yolk, Manic had no trouble with the first step. However, the slimy, yellow mess did a number on his appetite, which he regretted, but at the same time was grateful for, since he had felt as if his stomach were digesting itself.
Sonia stirred the creme colored goop around in the bowl, looking for any clumps of powder that still hadn't assimilated, while Sonic turned on his own burner and greased the pan.
"Is this supposed to get harder at some point?" Manic asked, noticing the absence of any notable changes in the yolk despite feeling heat emanating from underneath the pan.
"Eventually, but it takes a while," replied Sonic as he placed bacon strips in the pan, "While you're waiting, put some bread in the toaster."
Manic eyed a plastic wrapped loaf of sliced bread and asked, "You mean this?" to make sure he and Sonic were on the same page.
"Yeah that," replied blue, "You just stick two slices in the toaster and wait for em to pop back out."
That sounded easier than the eggs, so Manic did as he was instructed, then returned to the eggs, which were beginning to solidify in the pan.
"Better stir em, you don't want them getting stuck to the bottom," his blue bro pointed out.
"Bet I can finish my stuff first," Sonia said flatly, stirring her waffle mix with a rubber spatula.
Sonic's ears shifted. She appeared to be playing around, but she didn't sound too cheerful about it.
Manic scraped the solid egg off the bottom of the pan and waited for more to get hard...and waited some more...
"What's the matter? You getting soft over there?" mocked Sonia, who was already pouring some of the mix into a pan.
Manic felt himself deflate. She was probably just trying to be funny, but there was something about the way she said it that he found himself unable to handle, and the longer the yolk took to solidify, the more anxious he became.
"Am I doing this right?" he asked as he scraped whatever he could off the bottom of the pan, hoping something would surface.
Sensing the agitation in Manic's voice- and borderline hostility in Sonia's, Sonic gripped the handle of the pan with the egg in it and moved it off the burner, then calmly asked for a time-out and said, "I'm aware that we're under serious pressure after all that we've been through, and are still going through, but none of us are going to recover from it if we don't keep our heads on straight."
"And just what exactly did I do?" Sonia asked in a seemingly disinterested voice, not even looking at him.
Sonic knew she was upset that Manic was deteriorating after having done so well the day before, since that made it even harder to tell if he'd ever get better, which meant that despite getting Manic back, there was no way they'd know if they'd ever get back the same brother they'd lost. After five years of worrying about Manic, to see him come back a shell of his former self would have been bad enough, but to have him return seemingly unscathed and then fall to pieces was simply unfair, and he couldn't blame Sonia for being openly disappointed, but that wasn't going to help Manic's condition improve, and if there was a chance they could coax him back to his former self, he'd do whatever he felt was necessary.
"Nothing, just wanted us all to stay in good spirits," Sonic winked, not having a better response, but hoping it would be enough.
Sonia nodded silently, but scoffed inwardly.
'Good spirits?' she thought incredulously, 'as if the only thing that happened was me falling in mud?'
Turning to Manic, Sonic told him, "Whatever you're feeling, don't take anything too personally. We were all worried sick about where you were and are still getting used to the idea of having you back after missing for so long."
The green one shook his head, "It's not really her or the eggs; I'm trying very hard to remember anything about myself, but it's all so fuzzy, like it's there but I can't quite see it. I know I've been in this house before, but it still feels so alien to me, so...foreign!"
Understanding the problem better, Sonic placed his hand on Manic's shoulder, looked him in the eye, and said, "That's not unexpected; you'd have a hard time getting used to all this even if you did remember it. Don't worry about fitting in, just enjoy life with us, because that's what we've been waiting to do with you."
"...thanks," breathed Manic, starting to feel better for the first time.
Watching her long lost twin regain some of the life he'd had the night before, Sonia had to admit that while she still felt burned out from her earlier disappointment, she was secretly impressed with Sonic's ability to control the situation. Lord knows it would have gone in a very different direction if she'd been the one to take charge.
It was right about then that she noticed an unpleasant odor. Turning to where it was coming from, the only thing that caught her attention was the toaster Manic had put bread in, and judging by the high setting the knob was turned to, for whatever reason, it didn't take much brain power to figure out what the problem was.
Manic quickly caught on and lunged at said toaster, pulling the handle up and springing out charred remains of the bread slices he'd dropped in only minutes before. He stared in horror at the blackened toast lying on the floor, knelt down, and picked them up like a toddler holding a dead pet.
"You okay, Manic?" Sonia asked him, noticing the unusual manner in which he clutched the ruined food.
"This...he...I'm in so much trouble!" stuttered Manic. Without another word, he scurried silently out of the room.
Exchanging glances, Sonic and Sonia went after him. They heard the door to the foyer closet clipping shut, so they didn't have to search for him, but after pulling the door open it took them a moment to discover Manic hiding in a thick winter overcoat he'd put on and then hung up with himself curled inside. A rather clever way to conceal himself, which suggested he had experience doing it. And both sibs had a pretty good idea who he'd hidden from before- and was still subconsciously hiding from.
"What are you doing in there?" asked Sonic, eyebrow raised.
He looked like he was searching for the right words, until he settled on, "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
He didn't sound as frantic as before, but he still said it in a fearful whisper that hinted at the reason for all the hide-and-seek experience he appeared to have.
"...no," both sibs replied awkwardly.
"...is someone mad at me?" Manic asked just as nervously.
Sonia held in whatever sarcasm she wanted to throw his way while Sonic took charge yet again and said, "Remember what I told you earlier; you were kidnapped by Robotnik who was cruel to you, but now you're safe here with us. No one's going to hurt you, because you're more important to us than a piece of toast."
Manic shuddered inwardly at the mention of that name.
"Robotnik..." he said under his breath, curling up in the coat even more.
"Yeah, we told you about him earlier," Sonia reminded him.
"I didn't remember anything about him then," countered Manic defensively.
"Do you remember him now?" asked Sonic curiously.
"No...but his name sounds familiar," said Manic, speaking under his breath once more.
"Well, we're nothing like him," said Sonia.
That brought Manic some relief- which, coming from Sonia, was unexpected, but he welcomed it all the same.
"He's...not...here?" whispered the green hedgie, slowly uncurling until his feet touched the floor again.
"He's far away from here, and this whole neighborhood is one of the safest places you could be in, right now," assured Sonic.
"How safe?" asked Manic a bit more normally.
"You need a password to get into the neighborhood, and if he somehow got in, the cameras and security patrols would nab him!" stated Sonia, matter-of-factly.
Security. That was actually somewhat inspiring, knowing that he had some real muscle on his side.
Slipping out of the winter coat, Manic then asked, "And he won't know about the toast?"
Sonic and Sonia busted out laughing before promising him that the fat man would never know about it, and that seemed enough to coax Manic from his makeshift cubby hole.
"Now that that's settled, let's go finish making breakfast," suggested Sonic.
"Okay, I'm ready," affirmed Manic, having fully regained his composure.
"That's more like it," said Sonia, cracking a smile for the first time that morning.
"Hey do you smell anything?" asked Sonic, looking concerned.
Another smell had filled the air, similar to the burned toast, only this time it was more pleasant to the senses. The triplets went back into the kitchen just in time to see a cop catching a piece of freshly browned toast as it jumped out of the toaster.
"Smells like you were teaching Manic to cook. Thought I'd help out," chuckled Uncle Chuck as he began to butter the piece in his hand.
Then it was Manic's turn to smile. He didn't immediately recall interacting with this man, but he knew he liked him.
I apologize for the unusually long wait, and the shorter than intended chapter, but I was experiencing the worst writer's block I've ever dealt with, due to a months long legal case that I wrapped up two days ago (and would prefer not to discuss it). It was mainly due to the support I got from Insanity Allegra that I was able to finally complete this. No promises, but the next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long. Lemme know what you think of this one. :)