章 96: Chapter 96
Sonic smiled, and turned to the white portal. He looked back at Sonja, Buck, and Pico. He winked. Sonja had the biggest smile on her face. Yes! She could be with Sonic and everyone else forever!
"I think I know what I'm gonna choose..." Sonic said, turning to Ivan. He took a deep breath, and walked up to the white portal. He waited for everyone to go in. First, Buck. Knuckles. Tails. Then, Sonja holding Pico. She stopped and looked at Sonic.
"Thank you..." She whispered. Sonic nodded, as she went into the portal with Pico. Sonic looked at Ivan. He was dead. He then looked to the black portal as it closed.
"Bye, Mobius..." Sonic whispered to himself. "... Resistance... Everyone..."
Sonic looked back to the white portal, and hopped in with a BWOOP!
Some time later...
The first thing Sonic and the others did when they got back to Orglace Mansion was clean the place up. Together, they had enough power to take out any stray monsters. Even the goop monsters charged up with Hyper-Go-On-Energy. Soon, it was safe to live there and in the surrounding area. They never found Mr. Smuggles, or the Marlanic Followers. Or the Soul Rings.
Then, to celebrate, they frolicked in the willow forest. They played tag until they realized Sonic was way too good at that game. They then played hide-and-seek, hiding behind trees. But then, it was time to go home to the renamed... Hedgehog Mansion.
Sometimes, they would go to the carnival to play. Everyone loved the now restored rides, but not to the extent Pico did. He had the cutest and most purely joyous smile on his face as he played on the rides. Sometimes he wouldn't even ride the merry-go-rounds, just climb them and have so much fun. Sometimes he'd hide in the teacups at the teacup ride and have Sonja or Sonic find him. He would laugh whenever they pulled him out of the teacup.
Whenever Sonic pushed the boundaries of where he could go, he saw purple mist that was too thick for him to go through. It felt like he was on the inside of a snow globe with no way out. Sonic loved to run around the surrounding area. It was much vaster than the parts he needed to explore for his journey before. He even found a giant loop-de-loop. It reminded him of home, a place he missed dearly. But he never regretted his decision to stay with his friends and family.
Sonic treated Pico like a son. So did Sonja. They were there for every important moment in his babyhood. His first steps. He fell over and bonked his head on the ground after three wobbly strides, but they were first steps nonetheless. His first word that wasn't ma or pa. It was... "Horsie."
Whenever they felt it was time for the holidays, they would pull out the same fake tree from the garage and decorate it with the limited ornaments they had, with a star at the top. Tails would help everyone make presents with sewing machines and other crafting supplies, as there weren't stores for them to go to. Pico loved his first two gifts. One was a model train crafted from wood by Sonic, and the other was an ancient plush white horse ornament from Sonja. Pico named the train "Choo-Choo" and the horse "Horsie."
At some point, they found an isolated Chao Garden in the weeping willow forest, far away from the main path. Deep in the forest. It was full of Chao Eggs that hadn't hatched yet, so Knuckles, who had the most experience with Chao, taught everybody to shake the egg and not just throw it at the wall.
They had mostly stayed here because morale was low after the holidays. For some reason, everybody just felt worse and worse as time went on. Everybody needed something to lift their spirits. And Chao were always just the thing.
When the eggs hatched, everybody saw their Chao for the first time. They instantly got attached. There were just enough eggs for everyone to have a Chao. Pico loved his Chao. He named it "Trumpet." Pico and Trumpet became best friends. When everyone was unhappy, thinking of their homes, Pico and Trumpet would sing for them and enact plays they had made up.
As the years went on, everybody felt themselves grow older. Sonic was the most affected by this. Eventually, his legs wouldn't work like they used to. He could no longer run... but he always kept a smile on his face, seeing his little boy Pico, and all his friends and family grow up.
One day, soon after his 72nd birthday, Sonic fell ill. Sonja heard him cough and wheeze from the other side of the door. Sonic had sworn to never keep his feelings a secret again, but he really couldn't let anyone see him like this. He felt as though he could die with each day that passed by. The worst part is, most of his friends wouldn't be able to be there.
Buck had disappeared one day. Nobody really knows what happened to him. Pico had developed a blood clot in his brain, which killed him peacefully in his sleep. The last things he held to sleep that night were those old, time-worn Choo-Choo and Horsie. Knuckles had his gliding ability go out to old age as he was mid-glide over the cliffs where they had ousted Marmask. Tails too, developed a terminal disease due to rust in his robot parts, which spread toxic metals throughout his bloodstream.
It was hard for Sonic and Sonja both, as the last remaining members of the family. And that wouldn't even be true for much longer.
As Sonja sat by Sonic's deathbed, he coughed and wheezed and hacked some more. Sonic felt weak in his own skin. His own aged, white at the tips blue fur. His now dark emerald eyes had lost that spark in them. That adventurous spark. They were foggy and cloudy. He couldn't make out much in the room, it was all so blurry. But Sonja's figure was completely visible and sharp in all of its lovely form.
"Sonic... are you okay, my love?" Sonja asked, whimpering. "Do you need a glass of water? Some food?"
"I hate water..." Sonic crowed. "But thanks for asking..." He turned to Sonja and smiled weakly, his smile threatening to break at any second. That sweet, precious smile was all Sonja had left. She felt tears come to her eyes.
"Sonic..." Sonja whined. "I'm going to miss you..."
"I'll miss you too, Sonja..." Sonic coughed. Every word took more and more out of him. Every breath. So he had to make each one count.
"I miss Tails... Knuckles... Buck, and Pico..." Sonja broke out crying.
"I miss them too..." Sonic sighed. He looked over to the family photo they had taken together in the carnival when they were much younger. It had to have just been a few days after they beat Ivan. Wait... Ivan! The dirty cheat had damned them to this fate. Sonic was glad he was dead... he deserved i--- Sonic's thoughts were interrupted by another cough. This is when he realized this wasn't time for hatred. These were the last moments he'd get to have with Sonja.
"Why do you all have to leave?" Sonja whimpered. "I'm going to be alone again, Sonic. I don't want you to go. Please don't go..." The tears flooded freely from Sonja's eyes.
Sonic looked up at the ceiling, his vision growing hazy. "Nothing lasts forever..." Sonic sighed. "Friends come, and friends go. There's nothing we can do about that. What we can do is make sure our memories of them last. Make sure to make memories that will last..." Sonic looked to Sonja, smiling. "Wouldn't you say we did just that for a while there?"
Sonja smiled through the tears, and nodded. "Yeah..." She whispered. "Yeah, I think we did."
"So, Sonja..." Sonic sighed. "When I go, don't forget me. In a hundred years, or a million. Or ever. Don't forget Tails, Buck, Knuckles or Pico."
"I won't."
"Good."
"I love you, Sonic."
"I love you too, Sonja."
Sonja clutched the grass by the cliff between her fingers as she remembered Sonic, lying there dying with new yet old gloves and shoes. His other, more iconic ones had given out years prior. He always did love those shoes. And he always did love her.
"Sonic? Do you believe in Heaven?" Sonja had asked.
"Well, of course..." Sonic replied. "You should have seen Mobius, Sonja. It was about as close to Heaven as we can get." Sonic smiled reminiscently.
Sonja had looked away at this point. This was not the answer she had been hoping for. "Do you think you'll all come back as ghosts sometime? Like me?"
Sonic frowned, looking to Sonja. "Sonja..." He clutched her hand in his. Sonja in the present day still felt his hand touching hers. "What happened to you was a miracle. Not many people are lucky enough to live on after death. Life has a habit of dealing me the worst hand. I usually get out of it, but death is inescapable for people like me. I don't want to get your hopes up."
Sonja felt the tears come down once more as she tore the grass from the dirt in violent sorrow. She saw Sonic's face in her mind. Smiling at her as his last words repeated over and over in her head. "Life is like a good run. You start off slow, gain momentum, go on strong, without a care in the world! Then, it gradually slows down. Then, you get tired. And then, it ends. But you still enjoyed it to the fullest... Sonja... wouldn't you say we had a good run?" Sonic rested his head on the pillow fully as he stared up at the ceiling.
Sonic had closed his eyes then, as his breathing slowly came to a stop. "Yes! Yes, we did have a good run!" Sonja had wailed. But Sonic couldn't hear her. He was already dead.
Sonja buried him by the cliff in the forest along with the others. He was right between Tails and Pico, as he would want to be. Sonja knew she wouldn't be joining them. Ever. God, she wanted to join them. She wanted to die... she wanted it so badly. She wanted to die and join them all in the dirt under that ring of rocks.
Nothing really felt right after that. Sonja tried going about her daily routine in the mansion, but found there was nobody there to talk to. No babies to feed (it had been like that for a long time,) no destructively busy mechanics to ensure the well being of, no bodybuilders to work out with, no card players to play with, nobody to run with.
She pulled out the old Christmas tree and decorated it. Horsie had been buried with Pico along with Choo-Choo, so it felt like there was something missing. When it came time to open gifts, Sonja found none under the tree. You can't give gifts to yourself, silly old Sonja! She thought, chuckling hollowly. She took all those precious, fragile ornaments off the tree and back into their packaging. She put the tree back in storage.
She tried going to the carnival, but the rides weren't as fun as when she could see the happy faces of her family. She was just... left feeling empty by the end of that. She felt lonely with nobody to turn to.
She was floating back from the carnival, when she heard something in the distance. Something familiar. "Oo, oo!" It called. No. Could it be Pico back to a sweet little baby? Sonja, irrationally thinking this after months of being alone rushed through the treeline to pursue the sound.
She found the Chao Garden. This was always Pico's favorite place to be. But... Pico wasn't there. Instead, she saw Trumpet and the rest of the Chao, all running up and greeting her. They had been here all this time, even her Chao, Baby! Tails' Chao, Buddy... Knuckles' Chao Chuckles... Buck's Chao, Chuck. And Sonic's Chao. Blue.
Chao are curious creatures. They take on characteristics of what they're exposed to most. In these Chaos' case, that meant that everyone's Chao looked somewhat like them. Blue had Sonic's blue color and spikes. Chuck had antlers. Chuckles was red and had dreadlocks. Buddy had two tails and was orange in color. Trumpet had a trunk and two furry ears like Pico.
Sonja couldn't help but see these Chao like her family. Maybe... this was meant to be like in a storybook. A sign from the Heavens. Sonic and Tails had always said that everything happens for a reason. Maybe this was one of those things.
Sonja picked up the Chao in her arms, including Baby and hugged them tight. She put her forehead against Trumpet's, as he let out a happy trumpet sound. It was different from Pico's. She knew these weren't really those people, but she didn't mind. She had new company now. And though nothing could ever fill the hole in her heart that was left by Sonic and the others, she could learn to love these little Chao too.
Sonja took them from the Chao Garden to the graveyard, the solitary private patch where the others were buried. She looked down to the ring of stones as she held the Chao close to her.
"Thank you Sonic..." She whimpered, smiling. "For everything..."
The end
Normal ending reached: "Our Precious Memories"
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