Chapter 47: Regrets
"Why did I see Jewel?"
And there it was… the question Sonic was dreading.
"… I'm sorry…" Sonic said sadly. "I… didn't mean to keep this from you for so long… I just… don't like talking about it."
Tangle sighed.
"Look, Jewel told me that you had been to Spiral Hill before we met… does it have something to do with that?" Tangle asked, earning a nod in response. "Ok then… start from the beginning… what happened?"
Sonic took a deep breath… and nodded.
"Ok… here we go…"
Spiral Hill, four years ago
This happened about a month after Sonic first met Amy. He was running around the world, seeking new adventures.
Back then, not too many people really knew who he was, which Sonic didn't really mind back then. Not many people bothering me for autographs or anything like that… not that minded of course, but the peace and quiet was also nice.
He happened across a small village on top of a hill, Spiral Hill. So, the first thing he did when I got into was something he made a habit of…
He found the nearest chili dog stand.
"Two chili dogs please! And don't hold back on the spices!"
"Sure thing kid." The rabbit running the stand said. "You new in town? Haven't seen you around before."
"Yeah, but I'm just passing through." Sonic said with a smile. "I just like to check and see what the local chili dog joints got cooking when I come across a new town."
The Rabbit laughed at that.
"Well, I hope I don't disappoint!" He said, handing Sonic his food.
Sonic paid the bill, and walked away, taking a bite out of his chili dog.
"Pretty dang good." He said to himself.
He found a nearby bench and sat down to enjoy his meal.
"Hey, did you hear the rumors?" He heard a cat nearby said.
"Rumors?" The dog she was talking to asked. "Like what?"
"About that village that's around here…"
The dog's eyes went wide.
"Oh yes! The one where they kill anyone with any kind of mutation or deformation?" She asked.
Sonic frowned at that.
'Note to self… keep Tails far away from here…'
"Yes! And what's more, that little girl that showed up so long ago…"
"Oh dear… you think she came from that village?" The dog asked.
The cat nodded.
"Poor thing… that would explain a lot."
'A little girl that showed up a while back huh? Maybe I should try and meet her…'
That could wait a bit though, he decided, as he took another bite of his chili dog.
At that moment though, a large crash was heard, and a giant plume of dirt was launched into the air in the distance.
"Huh?" Sonic asked, confused as to what was happening.
The villagers seemed to notice, as they all began running towards their homes…
He did notice a bear, trying desperately to carry a small girl to his home, but the girl seemed pretty keen to go and see what was going on.
Putting that aside, Sonic knew he had to go and investigate…
"Buuuuuut… I would hate for these chili dogs to go to waste…" Sonic said before finishing off his first chili dog and taking a bite of the second.
A couple of minutes later, he was done, and sped off towards the dust cloud to investigate.
When he got there, he quickly noticed the large robot.
"Oh! Hey Robuttnik! What brings you here?" Sonic asked with a smirk.
"Sonic?! How'd you get here so fast?!" Eggman, then calling himself Robotnik, asked.
Sonic just laughed.
"Fast is kinda my thing, remember?" Sonic asked. "Also, I just so happened to be in that village just now."
Robotnik growled at that.
"Of course you were… NO MATTER! I will destroy you first, and then take over that village to build my new base!" He shouted.
Sonic chuckled.
"We'll… see…"
His voice trailed off… cause he saw something on the ground behind Robotnik's robot…
A family of three, all unmoving and laying on the ground…
"Wha-"
Sonic couldn't finish that thought as he was smacked by the robot's fist and sent flying into a rock.
Sonic picked himself up, and decided he needed to finish this fight fast.
So… for once, he didn't hold back, and completely obliterated Robotnik's robot.
"Wha- HOW DID YOU?!" Robotnik asked, confused on how Sonic beat him so quickly.
"Speed. Is. My. Thing." Sonic growled out. "Now get out of here!"
Robotnik growled at that, before flying away.
Wasting no time, Sonic sped over to the family…
It was brutal… the parents were crushed, not breathing…
Clearly dead.
Sonic then turned to their child, a beetle, very young, with a multicolored shell.
He quickly checked her pulse and breathing…
"Still alive… thank goodness…" Sonic said.
He didn't have time to dwell on things, so he picked up the little girl, and ran back to town.
When he got there, he quickly found the mayor's office, and knocked on the door.
Before long, that bear from before answered.
"Oh my goodness… is that Jewel?" The Mayor asked.
"Jewel? Is that her name?" Sonic asked.
The Mayor nodded.
"Yeah, I couldn't mistake that shell for anything… please, bring her in!" He said.
Sonic nodded, before going inside, and laying her down on a couch.
"Please, take a seat." The Mayor said.
Sonic complied, and pulled up a chair.
"So… what happened?" The Mayor asked. "Does this have something to do with that explosion outside of town?"
Sonic nodded, before explaining everything.
"Shoot… I knew her family was planning on a picnic out there… I should have gone and helped…" The Mayor said sadly.
Sonic put a hand up.
"No… don't blame yourself… I should've gotten there sooner…" Sonic said sadly.
He didn't like admitting it, but he knew the truth about this situation.
He screwed up.
Fact of the matter was, instead of going straight to the trouble, he lingered in town a bit, wasting time eating a couple of chili dogs instead of going to help.
Sonic couldn't escape the fact that this little girl's family was dead because he didn't go and help right away.
"So… what happens now?" Sonic asked. "I mean… she's…"
The Mayor took a deep breath.
"Well, I am going to take her in." The Mayor said.
"You sure?" Sonic asked. "I mean, that little girl you were carrying before seemed like a handful…"
The Mayor laughed at that.
"Oh yeah, absolutely." He said. "She is, but if I can keep a handle on her, Jewel shouldn't be any trouble at all."
Sonic nodded at that.
"As for her parents, we'll obviously have a burial." The Mayor said.
"… And what should I do?" Sonic asked.
The Mayor smiled.
"Sonic, you don't need to trouble yourself with this." The Mayor said. "You already saved my town today… the least I could do is take care of this burden for you."
Sonic sighed.
"Alright… but I'll be around for the funeral." Sonic said. "… At a distance."
The Mayor nodded.
"This must be so painful for you…" The Mayor said.
Sonic sighed again.
"I thought I'd always win… always be able to save whoever needed saving from him…" Sonic admitted.
"No-one is invincible." The Mayor said. "You made a mistake… learn from it."
Sonic took a deep breath, and nodded.
"Alright… I guess I can do that." Sonic said. "Thanks…"
The Mayor nodded.
"One day, when she grows up… I'll tell her the truth." Sonic said, getting up from his seat. "Til then… take care of her."
The Mayor nodded, and Sonic left.
"And yeah… that's the story." Sonic said, finishing his story.
Tangle stayed silent for a minute, before sighing and lying back in Sonic's bed.
"I remember that day… I also remember hearing the Mayor talking to someone while I was locked up in my room…" Tangle said. "Guess that was you…"
"Yeah…"
Tangle nodded at that.
Then, she got up from her spot…
And slapped Sonic in the face.
"Ow… ok, I deserve that."
"Yeah you do… but not for the reason you think." Tangle said. "Listen, I'll be the first one to tell you that you messed up… bad."
Sonic looked down.
"… But Jewel's parents dying? That wasn't your fault." Tangle said. "Eggman killed them, not you."
Sonic looked up, surprised.
"Your biggest mistake? Not telling us until now." Tangle said sternly. "Sonic… we're your friends now. I can't possibly hate you for a mistake you made, what, around four years ago now?"
Sonic nodded.
"And yeah… what happened hurt her a lot… but again, Eggman did that, not you." Tangle said. "I know it, and I am sure Jewel will understand too."
"… I guess… you're probably right." Sonic said.
"Of course I am!" Tangle said. "There's one more thing though… you've been bottling this up, keeping it to yourself for four whole years now… take it from me, that ain't healthy."
Sonic stayed silent.
"That form… Dark Sonic… I'm willing to bet that it only got so bad because you kept all of this to yourself for so long." Tangle said. "So please… don't do something like that again."
Sonic took a deep breath and smiled.
"Right… I'll do that." Sonic said. "You… really are good at this whole emotional support thing, you know that?"
Tangle laughed at that.
"Just call me your emotional support lemur!" She said with a smile.
Sonic couldn't help but laugh.
"Ok, that's your title now." Sonic said with a smirk.
Tangle began laughing full heartedly.
"So we got The Fastest Thing Alive, and now the Emotional Support Lemur!" Sonic said, also laughing.
The two enjoyed the laughter for a moment, before stopping.
"… You know what you have to do now… right?" Tangle asked.
Sonic took a deep breath.
"Yeah… you'll be there to help… right?"
Tangle nodded.
"For both of you."
And so, the two left the room, determined to see the one person who needed to know about all of this.
"Oh! Hey Sonic! Tangle! Feeling a bit better?" Jewel asked as the two of them entered the bridge.
Sonic turned to Tangle, who gave him a reassuring smile.
Sonic took a deep breath, and looked Jewel dead in the eyes.
"We need to talk." Sonic said, looking very serious.
This got everyone's attention, and confused Jewel.
"Wait, with me?" Jewel asked. "Did… I do something wrong?"
Sonic shook his head.
"No, this is all on me actually." Sonic explained. "Listen… I told you how I'd been to Spiral Hill before… right?"
"… Yeah?"
Sonic then took a deep breath again.
"See… the thing is…"
And then, he told the story, sparing not a single detail.
Everyone in the room was shocked at this.
Sonic… was just admitting to probably his biggest failure to all of them.
What surprised all of them the most though… was Jewel's response.
"Uh… I'm sorry?" Jewel asked, genuinely confused by Sonic's story.
"… Why do you sound so confused?" Sonic asked. "I mean, I always assumed you didn't remember what happened that day so…"
This seemed to confuse Jewel even more.
"Uh… what made you think that?" Jewel asked.
That caught everyone off guard, even Tangle.
"Wait, hold on… you remember what happened that day?!" Tangle asked. "I always thought… you know, since you never talked about it…"
Jewel put her hands on her hips and frowned.
"That's because it wasn't something I WANTED to talk about Tangle! Not that I couldn't remember!" Jewel said, annoyed. "It was… traumatic…"
That was understandable, everyone thought.
"But still… Sonic, I can tell you one thing… you NEED to hear the story from my perspective." Jewel said.
Now it was Sonic's turn to be confused.
"What? Why?" Sonic asked.
"You'll see… now, let me think… I guess it all started when my parents decided to take me out for a picnic…"
Four Years Ago, Just outside Spiral Hill
Jewel was as happy as could be, spending time with her family.
Her parents were usually incredibly busy, her father being in charge of the local bank, and her mother in charge of a jewelry line, so days out like this were far and few between.
As such, Jewel absolutely treasured the time she could spend with her parents.
Sadly though, they were just wrapping up their picnic, and were packing things up.
Suddenly, a shadow was cast over the trio.
"That's weird… the forecast didn't say anything about it being cloudy today…" Jewel's mother said.
Jewel's father looked up, and saw something strange.
"Wait, what is that?" He asked.
It was large and… round…
And it was getting bigger.
It didn't take long for Jewel's Father to realize that they were in danger.
So, his parental instincts kicked in, and leapt to push Jewel away from the danger.
Jewel fell to the ground, and suddenly she heard a loud crash, as wind began rushing towards her, dust completely blocking her vision.
When she could finally see again, she saw a large machine, walking towards Spiral Hill, with someone laughing.
She turned to where her parents were… and was horrified.
They couldn't get out of the way in time.
They were crushed.
She ran over, and just stared at them, unmoving.
Then, the stress from everything got the better of her… and she fainted.
Sonic… was shocked to say the least.
"Wait… so what you're trying to say is…"
"That my parents died during that initial impact, yes." Jewel said. "I doubt Eggman even realized we were there to be honest."
Sonic was silent, taking a moment to process what Jewel said.
"Then… that means…"
"That unless you were already in that field and knew that Eggman was about to attack, then you wouldn't have been able to do anything, yeah." Jewel explained. "Sonic, you are incredibly fast, the fastest thing alive… but even you aren't fast enough to be everywhere at once."
Sonic's eyes went wide.
"What happened to my family… was a complete accident… and you are in no way at fault for it." Jewel said. "So please… stop blaming yourself."
And that did it.
For the better part of four years, Sonic had truly believed that he was responsible for a little girl's family dying…
And just now, that little girl just told him he was not at all to blame for it.
All of his emotions began to well up, and tears began to fall.
"Huh… he can cry." Knuckles said under his breath.
Normally, he'd make fun of the hedgehog for this display of emotions… but for some reason, Knuckles just couldn't bring himself to do it this time.
Jewel then walked over and gave him a hug.
After a moment, they separated.
"Sorry, I just…"
Jewel put her hand up.
"You must of been tormenting yourself over that this whole time… it's alright." Jewel said.
Sonic nodded.
"Alright… thanks Jewel." Sonic said.
He then turned to the others.
"Well, now that my uh…"
"Emotional turmoil?" Tails asked.
"Yeah, that." Sonic said. "Now that that is… well, getting better… what's the next move?"
Tails then began explaining to Sonic what they were trying to do at the moment, while Cosmo walked over to Jewel.
"Hey… If you ever want to talk about… you know…" Cosmo said. "I know how it feels to lose my family… so…"
Jewel just smiled at that.
"Don't worry… I was very sad at first… but I've been getting better over the years." Jewel said. "Honestly… I should be the one making this offer to you! Tangle too!"
Cosmo looked surprised.
"Tangle… also lost her parents?"
Tangle nodded.
"Yeah, it was… a mess… kinda lost my memories about the whole thing until the guy who had em killed tried killing me back in Chris' world." Tangle said. "I'm… still kinda coming to terms with all of that."
Cosmo's eyes went wide at that.
"I… see… Jewel… how did you do it? I mean… how were you able to recover?" Cosmo asked.
Tangle turned to Jewel, wondering the same thing.
Jewel smiled, as she turned to Tangle.
"I had some help."
Two Weeks after Jewel's family passed away
Jewel had never felt more alone than she did the past couple of weeks, despite so many people wishing her well…
Her parent's funeral was a few days ago, and she had completely locked herself away since, only leaving her new room in the mayor's home for food… she didn't even do that much any more.
The mayor of course kept trying to check on her, but every time she just told him that she wanted to be alone.
She didn't want the anyone's sympathy… she just wanted her parents back.
But that all changed when someone knocked on her door.
"Go away mayor… I said I wanted to be alone…" She said quietly.
"Uh… actually… I'm not the mayor." Said an unfamiliar voice.
They sounded… young… younger than her.
Confused, but curious, Jewel got up from her spot, and opened the door.
A lemur, with grey fur, wearing an orange t-shirt and black shorts.
"Uh… hiya!" She said. "I uh… know the mayor said you wanted some space… but I wanted to see how you were doing…"
"… Terrible." Jewel said as she went to close the door.
The girl stopped her.
"W-wait!"
Jewel stopped.
"I uh… sorry, I should have started with this." She said. "My name is…"
"Tangle, I know." Jewel said tiredly. "You're the only lemur that lives in town… and you live with the mayor so… it wasn't hard to figure out."
Tangle began to sweat a bit.
"Oh! Great! That takes care of that!" Tangle said. "Now come on!"
Tangle then grabbed Jewel's wrist.
"Wh-What are you doing?!"
"Taking you out! Duh!"
This annoyed Jewel.
"I already told you! I want to be alone!" Jewel said.
"No you don't." Tangle said with a grin. "You're only saying that!"
Jewel just got more annoyed.
"And what makes you think that?"
Tangle smiled.
"Well… You're only sad cause you feel alone… right?" Tangle asked.
Jewel tilted her head.
"I mean… that's how I felt at first… so…" Tangle said sadly.
Jewel remembered at that moment the rumors going around about Tangle.
How she just showed up one day, no sign of any family, and suddenly began living with the mayor.
She also heard what that eagle Howard was saying, about how she was freaky and weird. About how everyone should stay away from this girl.
"I… don't remember anything about what my life was like before I came here…" Tangle said. "But… I do know what the mayor told me… that my mom and dad are… you know."
Jewel's eyes went wide.
"I just… when the mayor told me about what happened to you, I remembered how I felt after I woke up here…" Tangle explained. "He said I should give you some space… and I did for a while but… I think what you need more than anything right now… is some company."
Jewel was silent for a moment.
Then, she began to cry.
"Ah! Sorry! Did I say something wrong?" Tangle asked frantically. "I'll just leave! Sorry to bother yo-"
She was cut off by Jewel hugging her.
"No… please stay."
Tangle was right… she was lonely.
She missed her family so much… she wanted them back more than anything.
But… she knew that couldn't happen.
She always knew that.
She wanted her family back…
She needed a friend.
Tangle returned the embrace, and began to rub Jewel's back.
"There there… I gotcha…" Tangle said. "And… if you ever need someone to talk to… I'm just a door away!"
Jewel nodded, and continued the embrace.
"Thank you…"
The two then continued the embrace, as a lifelong friendship was born.
Two Months Later
"HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Howard and his gang turned to the source of the voice, and saw Tangle angrily charging towards them.
"Oh great, speaking of the freak…" Howard said.
Tangle reached them, and tackled Howard to the ground.
"How many times do I have to tell you jerks?! Leave! Jewel! ALONE!" Tangle shouted.
Howard kicked Tangle off of him, and stood up, with Jewel stopping Tangle from attacking him again.
"You both know what'll make it stop." Howard said. "Come on guys, let's go."
And with that, they left.
"Jerk." Tangle said, kicking a pebble on the road. "You alright Jewel?"
"Y-yeah… I'm alright." Jewel said sadly.
Tangle sighed.
"Why… do you stick with me…?" Tangle asked.
Jewel's eyes went wide.
"What?! Why would you ask that?" Jewel asked.
"I mean… you know that they'll leave you alone if you stopped being my friend… and it's alright." Tangle said. "I'd rather you not have to deal with them than be my friend…"
Jewel responded by hugging Tangle.
"Tangle… you being my friend… it's so important to me." Jewel explained. "When I am with you… it's like I have a family again…"
Tangle's eyes went wide at that, and turned to look at Jewel.
"You… really mean that?" Tangle asked.
Jewel nodded.
"… Alright then…" Tangle said. "I have an idea then… maybe it'll get them off our backs… at least a bit."
She then looked to her tail.
"I… am gonna stop using my tail…" She said.
Jewel was surprised by this.
"What? But… you always loved using it… you said it made you feel like you had a super power!" Jewel said.
"Yeah… but it's not worth you getting hurt because those jerks don't like it." Tangle said. "So… for now, I am stopping…"
Then, she got up on a nearby crate.
"Then, when I get older, I'm gonna leave this town! Go out and see the world! Use my tail to help people, and be someone with the power to protect the ones important to me… to protect my friends and family from jerks like Howard and his band of creeps!" Tangle said dramatically. "I may be weak now… but one day, I'll have the power to protect everyone that's important to me!"
Jewel laughed.
"Just like Sonic the Hedgehog?"
"JUST LIKE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" Tangle shouted.
The two looked at each other, and began laughing.
Then, Jewel flew up and began sitting on Tangle's shoulders.
"Well, since we are shouting out our dreams… I am going to open a museum! I am going to show the whole world just how beautiful our planet is! Because…"
Jewel took a deep breath, and smiled.
"Because the beauty of this world… it is what made my parents the happiest, and letting others see that as well is what I know they would want me to do!"
"BZZT! Wrong! YOU were what made them happiest! The world comes second!" Tangle said matter of factly.
Jewel laughed a bit.
"Right!"
"And we'll reach these dreams together!" Tangle shouted.
"YEAH!" Jewel shouted.
The two then began laughing hysterically.
Things… really were great.
Present Day
Jewel couldn't help but smile at the memory, as Tangle was hysterical crying as she realized that Jewel had just called her the reason that she was able to move past her parents passing.
Tangle, the girl that achieved her dream, and was helping Sonic save the universe.
Tangle, who was going to stick with her, and help achieve her dream as well.
Jewel may have lost her parents that day… but she gained a sister.
She missed her parents terribly, every single day…
But she wouldn't trade what she had now for anything.
End of Chapter 47
This was a tough chapter for me to write. Like I said last chapter, I had written this out but wasn't happy with came out, so I scrapped that original version and put a new version here.
I think the reason why I didn't like that old version was because I kinda made it out like it actually WAS Sonic's fault that Jewel's parents died. It was originally that he kicked a laser blaster aimed right at him point blank, and it happened to fire straight at Jewel and her family. I honestly didn't like that too much, and couldn't think of a better way to write it until we got to this point.
Making it out to be just a MASSIVE misunderstanding on Sonic's part I feel was a lot better: We get him being down about it, and yet it is not at all his fault.
Originally, the end was just going to be Jewel saying that she's happy now, and that she couldn't really fault him for a mistake he made when he was so young, just so you know.
Also, I took the opportunity to expand upon how Tangle and Jewel became friends/sisters. They've always considered each other family in this story, but actually calling each other sisters is a fairly new thing for them.
Straight up btw, I had a whole part of this author's note dedicated to explaining my plan for the release of the rest of the story and how far along I am… only for me to finish writing the story before the previous chapter and well… yeah, you already know the situation LOL
Anyways, next time, we take a trip to the fortune telling world! See you then!