Well, this is it. The final chapter. I had hoped to get this up earlier today, but I lost my notes on it, but luckily I found them in time. Phew. Thanks for all the awesome reviews and I hope you enjoy the final instalment.

I own nothing.

31: Light In The Darkness

"The Commander will see you now." One of the GUN soldiers guarding the door announced to Tails who stood outside the office waiting.

The young fox nodded to the guards as they allowed him into the office inside the new GUN headquarters. He strolled in, looking slightly unsure as he approached the desk of the new GUN Commander who was stood by the wall length window, overlooking the city of Station Square. Tails cleared his throat to announce his presence although he knew there was no doubt that Shadow knew he was there.

"I need a status report." Shadow said, cutting right to the chase as his face turned away from the window to watch the fox. "The doctors here have been trying everything, but Sonic remains pretty closed up about everything. You're one of the closest people to him and it's important that we assess his condition so we can trust him outside of surveillance."

Tails sighed. "You're all being overly cautious. He's not going to go dark again unless he's near chaos energy."

"Be that as it may," Shadow huffed, "We just need to be sure. Who knows what stupid things Faker will do given events that have happened."

Tails remained silent for a few seconds before deciding to share information about his best friend. "He appears to be somewhat improving. Although he still won't go into too much detail, even to me. I try my best to talk to him and it's clear he's been deeply scarred by what has happened."

"Yet we have revealed little information to him about what he has done." Shadow noted. "Is it possible that the normal Sonic was conscious through the whole ordeal?"

"I'd say so." Tails fought back tears at that horrific thought. "He's definitely not the same. When I'm in the office with him, he twitches and paces, but this is different. He pulls on his quills and every now and then he'll become completely still and looks as though he is somewhere far away. I'm sure he'll talk when he's ready though, until now, I recommend we don't pressure him."

Shadow turned to stare back out the window with a deep frown appearing on his face. "There's uproar in the cities you know. News has got out that we have kept Sonic alive and that I have taken over as Commander. This whole mess isn't over by a long shot."

"I heard and I've made sure that Sonic has stayed away from populated areas." Tails replied solemnly. "He doesn't like being restricted, but it's almost like he doesn't care anymore. When I told him this, he didn't even say anything; just sat there."

"Where does he wander off to anyway?" Shadow asked.

"His usual favourite places, but I've noticed that he visit's Eggman's grave a lot."

"Interesting." Shadow mumbled in reply before speaking up. "You may leave now, thank you for your assistance."

Tails angled his body to leave before he gazed at the completely still black hedgehog again.

"By the way," Tails added, "How exactly have you been dealing with things?"

Shadow turned to face him again before walking over and placing his hand on his desk. "Eggman's bases have been raided for any potential dangerous weaponry and his machines have been shut down to prevent anything from going into meltdown. Many of his weapons will be kept in storage here and any other of his assets will be sold off for the benefit of the public. Orbot and Cubot will now be working for GUN."

"Orbot and Cubot took Eggman's death hard."

"They're robots, they'll get over it" Shadow rolled his eyes before adding, "Sonic and Amy will remain here under observation until we are absolutely sure they have both recovered from the impact the negative energy had on them."

"I see," Tails nodded.

"While that is happening, you are free to visit them any time you wish and your assistance with their recovery will be most appreciated. I sent Rouge to help Knuckles find the shards of the master emerald."

Tails smirked and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Knuckles will appreciate that."

Shadow ignored his comment and sat down at his desk. "In any case, I have a lot of things to sort out." He hinted that he now wanted the fox out of his presence.

"One more thing though, Commander." Tails spoke the title in confusion. "What made you take this position and create a reformed GUN?"

Shadow's red eyes darted up to meet Tails' blue ones before he stared back down at his computer. "I made a promise to protect the people of this planet. This seems the best way I can do so…interesting." He suddenly noted in frustration at the end.

"What is it?" Tails asked curiously.

"The doctors are still unable to find any conclusive evidence as to how Sonic and Amy survived being linked together in such a way."

Tails couldn't help but smile as he remembered his conversation with Knuckles all those weeks ago and how utterly ridiculous his theory was.

"I can offer you a theory as to why Amy survived from what I have discussed with her in regards to the negative energy being removed from Dark Sonic." Tails offered.

Shadow looked back up at him in interest.

"The positive energy of the chaos emeralds." Tails began to explain. "Chaos emeralds are fascinating and mysterious objects that sometimes seem to have a consciousness of their own. However they do act on the feelings of whoever is in control of them. The negative energy acted on and brought out Sonic's deepest desires and his worst traits. The positive brought out his best. The positive energy shot at Dark Sonic must've acted on Sonic's purest desire: to save Amy. In that moment it acted on Sonic's desperate love and affection and healed her permanently. Like I said, chaos emeralds are incredible gems."

Shadow's expression remained as hard as always before Tails continued.

"What is fascinating though is what Amy explained to me happened before she fired the energy at him. Apparently Dark Sonic just stood there, almost as if he wanted her to do it. As far-fetched as this theory seems…maybe Sonic knew that Amy would survive being so in tune to the chaos energy as he is. "

Shadow seemed genuinely surprised by this observation. "So, could the normal Sonic have been trying to fight back all this time? That would certainly explain when he attacked me…he almost seemed…scared of what he was doing."

Tails sighed. "Of course until Sonic opens up about what happened, we can't be fully sure. This is just a theory."

Shadow remained silent before getting back to his main point. "So you have no theories on how Sonic and Amy survived the link?"

Tails smirked. "No, none at all. Good day Shadow." He said before walking out of the room without another word.

He knew it was crazy. He knew that it was impossible, but it was the only logical explanation. To survive such a connection like that…a connection that would kill anyone else…maybe it was simply because Sonic and Amy were soul mates.

Tails continued walking down the corridor, ignoring the stares of everyone around him as he laughed out loud at his own theory.

.

Sonic threw his head back slightly as he ran through the never ending open field. It was so blissful. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He threw his arms out at the side of him and let out a fun filled yell. It echoed in the vast open wilderness. This was paradise.

He looked ahead of him again and began skidding to a stop when he saw a familiar figure standing in the middle of the open field. A pink hedgehog in the distance. He could just about make out the smile on her face as she stared back at him. Amy. The unbearable urge to have her in his arms overwhelmed him and he began running towards her. Only she didn't seem to be getting closer. She was moving further and further away.

No!

The scenery grew darker and darker as thick clouds blocked out the sun's rays. The wind picked up and a dark mist began surrounding him. Sonic began panicking as he stared down at his blood stained gloves. The fresh blood seeped between his fingers, dripping off him into large puddles beneath his feet. Sonic choked, sobbed and gagged at the sight. No. He didn't want to hurt anybody. He couldn't do it. He closed his eyes tight, refusing to see anymore.

"Just take a quick peak." His own voice taunted him. "It is the blood you spilled. You should be proud."

"How can I be proud?!" Sonic shrieked into the roaring wind, his eyes still tightly closed. "Look at the devastation I caused!"

"Yes, the devastation you caused. Just look. Look beneath your feet. I think you'll see something you like."

Sonic couldn't resist the temptation. He slowly opened one eye before they both shot open in horror. Right in front of him, face down in the pool of blood, was Amy. He cried out in sorrow as he ran towards her and collapsed on top of her pale body, wanting to die right there with her.

"You see?" His own voice teased him again. "You really hurt her. You're never going to get away from what you've done."

No. No. No. No.

NO!

"Noooo!" Sonic cried out as his eyes snapped open. He panted as a cold sweat dripped down his body as his guts felt like they were being twisted around inside him. His eyes darted around the familiar simple room he was staying at in GUN's facilities where he was being kept under surveillance.

It was just a dream. Another night terror.

He had been having a lot of those since…everything that had happened. Often similar in content that he never dared tell anyone about. He couldn't look weak. Not in front of the people he cared about. The doctors and nurses here, they poked him, prodded him. Acted as if he was time bomb waiting to go off. He hated it. But he endured for the sake of their reassurance…and his.

His breathing finally began to calm, but he flinched slightly as the door to his room slowly opened. He sighed in relief as Amy poked her head through and softly smiled at him.

"Hey," She whispered as she timidly entered the room with worry in her eyes. "I heard you screaming in your sleep again. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Sonic managed to choke out.

Amy nodded as tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of Sonic in such a state.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" Sonic managed to ask after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Amy nodded again without saying a word before she approached him, sat on the bed and slowly curled up next to him. Sonic quickly wrapped his arms around her, latching onto her as if she was the only stable thing around him. He pressed his face into her quills and inhaled her sweet scent. His body began to stop shaking as Amy wrapped one arm around his torso and pressed her face against his chest. She wished they could stay in this position forever. Where they could just comfort each other in their embrace forever.

"I'm so sorry Sonic." Amy whimpered as her tears soaked into his fur.

Sonic gently shushed her before resting his chin on the top of her head. "It wasn't your fault. You weren't know any of this would happen. None of us did."

"Now things are never going to be the same." Amy tried to contain her sobs.

Sonic took a while to answer. "No I suppose not…but things will improve. Everything has a funny way of making itself right again. Kinda like a cut. It might not be the same skin that covers that hole again, but at least the damage has been repaired."

Amy sighed. "Except that it leaves a scar."

"But those scars only prove how strong we are." Sonic replied. "They're symbol of survival."

"So we're going to get through this?" Amy asked, looking worried again.

"Together, yes." Sonic answered as he kissed the top of Amy's head. "Because you're my light in the darkness."

THE END

So…yeah…that's it. Before any of you ask, no I won't be doing a sequel to this story, sorry. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and added this story to their favourites list. It's what inspired me to keep going. And even if you're just an invisible reader, thank you to you as well. I don't care if it's years in the future, still feel free to leave a review.

Now onwards I go to future projects! Information about that is available on my profile. If anyone has checked my profile recently, then you'll know that I'm a member of the group 'Sonic Overdrive'. We have just created a fanfiction profile where my collaborations with my good friends Jowy Avilon and aliixo will be published soon. In the meantime, feel free to check out their solo work and also my older work if you crave more Sonic and Sonamy. Thanks again!