For true fans of Silver the hedgehog, I decided to write his back story, seeing Sonic Team has waited too long for my liking to do so. Henceforth, this is my dedication to Silver- and further proof that he could be a killer storyline. Come onnnn! X3 I hope you all enjoy...

--

The first thing that came to Amy's mind was simple. As she stood glaring wide eyed at the sheets clutched in her hands, a thought became perfectly clear. 'I really don't know if I can handle this.'

Trembling fingers and nervous emerald green eyes stayed alert. Her ears were kept acutely aware of the shuffling of the hedgehog downstairs. She wondered if he'd ever seen these things she was reading, pondered if they were meant for him to discover- or perhaps, meant to be hidden from him. She swallowed thickly, thinking on the harmless mission she was supposed to be on.

"I was going back there, you know. Back where I used to live in the future. Pick up some of my things before I stayed here permanently. Ya wanna come with?"

She'd agreed to accompanying the silver hedgehog because for one, she'd become close friends with him since he'd decided to return back to the past. Now that he would be living there permanently, she figured it wouldn't hurt to know where her good friend had derived from. It was such a beautiful place when they arrived, every bit as luscious and vibrant as the place she hailed from. It had been hard for her to comprehend upon Silver's insisting, it wasn't always breathtaking in this land. She'd spent most of the afternoon trying to imagine the place being anything but beautiful, sifting through old memories and dust layered keepsakes in the attic of Silver's former home. He'd chosen to peruse the basement, the most punishing and tedious area to have to sift through. It had been so serine, so unlike the world that Silver had known and grown up in. He'd mentioned it was like a strange place now, so far from what he'd always known to the point that it was near unrecognizable to him. As disturbing as it was, it wasn't home to him anymore anyway. It was a foreign place. It was sad, that he found it hard to see this place balancing normality with peace. But now... now, this journey through old memories had shaken up ghosts, demons. Something she felt she wasn't supposed to be seeing. She jumped when she heard a thud, a hiss, and a curse emitting from the basement, announcing Silver's clumsiness. Her eyes darted back and forth from the door, as if waiting for him to come, but he continued his shuffling once more to her relief. Satisfied that he wouldn't be visiting for a while, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slow and calming. Her heart was pulsing in her ears, the adrenaline of what she'd found and the idea of being caught reading it was terrifying her, but she was being sucked into another world. She was in a place that was much like the world she was in now, but at the same time so opposite. To her disheartenment, she was learning very quickly about the world that Silver had once lived in, grown up in, was reared in... born in.

As much as it hurt her to read, she couldn't help feeling it. She was consumed, frozen in time at a place where hell and earth intertwined. She saw it through the fearful whispers on paper, belonging to those who lived it with each word, being there...

--

Only Mama Knows

'Only mama knows, why she lay me down in this Godforsaken town.

She was running too... what she ran from I always wondered; I never knew.

Only mama knows...'

Mia A. Fox

Fending for Silver:

The Darkest Surprise

The day was blackness as usual, but the struggle to breathe in fresh air could only confirm one long dreaded burden for us. He was back again. His smog, embers and flame left patterns of destruction, merciless attacks, and even the air was tainted by his malice. Now... he had gotten too close to the resistance to hope to lead him away. One of the largest bases belonging to the Freedom Fighters had been discovered by Iblis, and the only option was evacuation.

The only creatures who remained near the corrupted area now- the only ones bold, brave, strong willed enough to risk their lives as they so often did- were the leaders of the freedom fight. A tag team; a telekinetic duo who had long since proven again and again that they were the hope we had left in this world. Slate and Pearl hedgehog, with many years of experience now behind them in dealing with Iblis, were well aware that he'd be returning. It was a dark age, a time of complete hopelessness, but they always kept their heads above the waves of doubt- and a few steps ahead of the demon himself. The only difference between any other day and today was, things had gotten more surprising. One of the few safe places in the city had been uncovered by Iblis. And it just so happened to be the place that Slate and Pearl had been calling home, since they'd gotten married and started a family. Standing at the corner of her neighborhood after getting wind of the news, Pearl had ceased her searching for Iblis to rush back to her block- the last place she'd expected to find the evil entity, and therefore hadn't scanned it beforehand. Never had Iblis found his way to Freedom Fighter territory. Seeing him there, hovering over the building she'd called home- had shared so many memories in... it was as if the world before her moved in sickening, taunting slow mo.

Iblis was wreaking havoc and destruction in the one place she'd always dreaded seeing him- just outside her front step. It was so unexpected, the middle of the day even... it had been a hasty and desperate move for all the people to get out of there quickly. The attacks were growing more often, more regular now. Worst of all, increasingly unpredictable...

That was when she spotted it. Her reason to keep breathing, and join in this battle- her boost of adrenaline. She saw it clearly, a vibrant shot of a blow that caught the monster right between the eyes, followed by unmistakable fighting skills...

"Slate!" She cried out, a terror gripping her. Was her husband facing such a villain alone?

"Pearl, thank God- Silver, he's not with Mia, he's with me!" The urgency in his voice sent her flying forth in strong bout of fury, her powers bringing with her cement debris that lay around in the wake of Iblis's arrival. She catapult them furiously at the beast, which howled in agony before twisting round to face her.

"Pearl, don't! Listen, check on Silver-" the two hedgehogs abruptly leapt and hit the ground, avoiding cascading flame. "Go! I'll keep him busy-"

"You're hurt!" She snarled. "We can take him, we've been waiting for too long-"

"More than half of the building collapsed in there when he showed, and I haven't gotten in there once since-" he dealt the monster another telepathic blast "it happened! Now never mind sparky here, I've been taking him since he arrived. Check Silver..." He jumped swiftly, taking his wife with him as the ground behind them was reduced to ash. "Please, just so we know he's ok..."

Pearl looked up at her husband, who was now looking sternly up at the monster. He was wincing, dark grey fur singed black along his body in contrasting patches. His long, elegant quills were tainted with soot. But his eyes remained that clear, still, calm crystal blue. She embarrassed herself in the way her eyes stung, and she held to him tightly, as if he were about to slip away. Her nose nuzzled into his mane, and she felt him nuzzling back.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I'm tough."

"I know..." She sighed. Being tough doesn't entitle you to carry everyone's weight... it just so happened to be their burden to bear. She flung her arm out, willing a piece of the road with her mind to accept the flame-encased blow that was heading toward them. "I wish we didn't have to do this... where are the others?"

"The place was evacuated. Everyone's getting their kids out of here-"

"Couldn't they have done the same for ours?! A shelter for him, anything-"

"Pearl, stay alert!" Slate moved them swiftly again, this time dodging an enormous, flaming boulder from the beasts mouth.

"We need to get higher..." She squeezed her husbands waist, which in turn caused his arms to circle around her unconsciously. He knew what she was implying, and he felt her telekinesis lifting their feet from the ground, soon landing on a building just above the creatures eye level.

"You should get better attacks from up here... just be careful, Slate." The beast below them was now spitting flames, enraged that there no longer stood opponents before him. The dark grey hedgehog flashed a grin.

"Thanks for the lift, hun." He winked, then looked reproachful. "Silver being here is my fault... I came back to collect some things, we might have to move if he takes this neighborhood over too... the others will be back soon to fight. I promised them I'd hold him off... dammit, I shouldn't have taken Silver." He mourned, evidently regretting his decision. "It got too hectic, I never-I just didn't want him out of my sight-"

"Don't blame yourself. This isn't anyone's fault but his." She hissed, as the horrible creature turned to locate them.

"I know... and he's just gettin' warmed up." Slate growled, arm instinctively coming between the creature's glare and his wife.

"So are we." She said darkly. "I'll be right back. When I give him a bit of this..." She levitated a piece of the crumbling corner of the flaming building they were on top of.

"I got ya. Careful, babe."

"Aren't we always." She chuckled, hurtling the piece in the direction of the beasts face.

"Now!" Slate shouted, and his wife parted from the top of the building- sailing down, as his own telekinetic blast met with the diversion. It exploded like concrete fireworks, and the small white hedgehog on the ground remained ignored amongst the blast above. The beast chomped wildly at the sailing debris as she rushed into the mostly defunct building that used to be her home, that held her son. So much was pulsating through her panicked mind, the chaos of the event forcing her to seek comforts within it. What else did she have to draw upon, with everything material in her world seemingly on the chopping block? 'Don't think like that. Not right now, focus. Think on happier times...don't let it win against you...' She clung to the events that brought her small pools of joy in the torrent of black sorrow. As she moved now into her semi-destroyed living room, she was struck with the blanket of memories that came with it. She gasped loudly in relief and reached for her scared, bawling baby, wrapped in blankets in the partly wrecked building. As she clutched him like her last reason, she did the only thing she could to keep from breaking down.

She held on to the moments that mattered most to get her through this...

—

Pearl and Slate watched in amusement as their baby moved the balloon they'd found for him through the air in a perfect arc of grace, which caused him to let out a shout of entertainment as it neared his tiny face. His parents watched with pride.

"He's got the touch alright."

"Looks like Silv leans toward you, hun. Lucky boy." Slate grinned, giving his wife a nuzzle. Then the pair looked startled as they heard a loud pop, and a flash of green light disappeared to reveal a baby Silver's shocked face. The two observers broke into a spurt of laughter.

"Looks like there's a bit of Slate kicking around in there too." Pearl teased, casting a sidelong grin at her now flushing husband.

"The ability to levitate and attack. Wow... and he can't even walk yet! Isn't that crazy? Have you heard of anyone who's been born with both?"

"No... never." She frowned. "But... I have heard of it." Both hedgehogs fell silent then, staring at each other in a muted thoughtfulness. Quietly, Pearl's voice picked up again. "Um, you do remember the legends..."

The two exchanged worried looks for a moment, before turning in unison to look at their son. He was now pouting, grabbing for the shred of balloon just out of reach of his chubby fingers.

"Do you know what this means, Pearl?" He breathed, looking down at his wife again, but she was wearing a pleased, sublime smile.

"We've got a little wonder on our hands. If he's our kid..." She smiled over at her child, who was now inspecting one of his own quills.

"He'll be a true Freedom Fighter." Slate finished with a boastful grin. His expression softened as Pearl rested against his mane, the fire they both hated and needed crackling in the background.

"Maybe he won't have to be, before he grows up." She said wistfully, her hand running down one of her husbands back quills. He tugged her close against him in a one armed embrace.

"Our boy is going to drink water someday, babe. And it's going to be blue for miles. Just like they said it used to be." The baby shouted out to them, and Slate was the first to collect him, lifting him into the air. His wife watched the two boys with a silent muse, her child's fur burning silver in the firelight as he smiled. He was then brought face to face with his father, who stared into the amber orbs his mother gave him.

"And you'll fly through the bluest skies you've ever seen- blue just like the hero they wrote about...maybe someday you'll be known just like him, super touch." Slate laughed down at his young child. Pearl shared his grin, viewing her husband dancing his fingers over the interested golden gaze of his kid.

"The blue blur." She smiled, watching them lovingly. Just then, there were distant cries in the night air...

—

When Pearl came back into the here and now, her husbands strained voice became apparent to her.

"Pearl- Pearl please, I-I need your help..."

"Slate, Silver, he's frightened, we can't leave him in here-"

"You can't take him, Pearl. It's too dangerous. Leave a note for Mia... I've led Iblis far enough away, you know he never turns back-"

"Slate!"

"We talked about this, Pearl, and if it got too risky for Silver... Mia knows about this, honey-"

"I can't, Slate please listen!" Her voice was hysterical now, and the baby cradled in her convulsing arms stared up at her in naive concern. Her teardrops rolled down his spotless illuminated fur, shaking her head against her emotions. "I thought I could do this, but I can't just-"

"You must! We'll all die if you take him out here, now for the love of God spare him!"

And that's when Pearl realized, morbidly, that she was most likely about to die with this battle. She had no choice but to abandon her baby, or take him to the grave with her. What a dark world it had become, for a mother to come to such an ultimatum. Swallowing down a sob thickly, she stared into eyes that so much reflected her own, that had once belonged to her father. The glowing amber eyes of her son held tears of uncertainty, and he moaned a little cry of fear at seeing her like this. He could only sense the darkness, but never fully understand it until he was much older. She nuzzled him, breathing in his newborn scent for one of the last times, and pushed herself back, clearing her voice.

"Iblis won't touch him." Her voice carried strong and harsh, startling the child, and she caressed his small head for comfort. "I'll make sure of it. Hang in there, I'm coming Slate..."

"Will do, hun. It's gettin' kind of hot out here but listen, I'll hold him off... say a proper goodbye to him for both of us..."

She almost wished she could get up and run. She didn't know if she could take her only child into her arms before it even got past it's first birthday, and say goodbye. But she knew she'd never leave this place without making sure she did, either. It could be her very last chance to do so. She bent herself forward again, arms finding him numbly in her misery. She rocked her baby back and forth slowly, sobbing. To go out there meant one thing.

She had to let her child go.

They probably wouldn't make it back out of this battle- they were going to take this demon from their son, or die trying. Iblis was too close to do anything but now/

'Only mama knows...only mama knows...'

"Silver... they'll come for you, don't worry ok? Mommy would never..." Her voice hitched, and she hiccuped in discomposure. "Mommy wouldn't leave you alone out here." She slurred, fingers dancing in his face, and his large golden eyes merely blinked against the tears that hit his blanket. "I love you so much... I hope you understand when you're older...oh, I wish I didn't have to let you go." She moaned, her arms melding the child to herself. "I want to know you when you're older. You're so beautiful now, I can only imagine..." Her voice tapered into thin air, shrill and pinched by tears. She breathed in and out fiercely, whistling the air from her lungs to try to steady herself. "I bet you'll be handsome, like your dad." She teased, wiping her eyes furiously as she gave her boy a watery smile. "Goodbye, Silver. I'll see you again someday, if not here in this world." His mother kissed his forehead for the last time, fleeing as she burst into tears. Her heart was breaking, and she couldn't bear to look back, couldn't stand to see her baby growing smaller in her vision as she went into certain doom. The only thing best for him, was to leave him behind.

'I was found in the Transit Lounge of a dirty airport town...what was I doing on the road to ruin?

Well my mama lay me down... my mama laid me down.'

The pain was deep, a burning pang. It brewed and stirred a magnitude of strength within her- like some unseen, furious vibe. The more she suffered, the more determined she was to free her child from the burden of this sick, tainted world. She remained alive with the one thriving thought of herself, her husband, rearing their child in a world fit for them to live in. She'd had dreams, things she'd always liked to see come true, and they bubbled to the surface in the space between her child and the beast. Maybe Silver would have a sister, bearing the eyes of her father... and it kept her going.

Squeezing her eyes shut tight for a moment to ward off another onslaught of tears, she composed herself for battle as she saw that Slate had indeed led Iblis further from the neighborhood- far enough to keep their son out of harms way... but many others were still in danger.

"Slate, I'm coming! Don't worry!"

"Never was, hun! He's getting weaker, I think he's losing his will!"

"My God Slate, you're incredible!" She marveled, leaping up to join her husbands side on the edge of an apartment building.

"Guess that's why you married me toots-" For a moment, the blast was all you could see. He'd abruptly grappled her, about the front as if he were her own life jacket, concealing what he could in the short time he could manage. It was seconds before the burn set in. She didn't know what hit her at first, all she felt was the incredible pain, the burning, and there wasn't even a scream. Just a long, ragged gasp- more terrible than the viewing of a thousand tears, more painful than years of mourning, worse than the harshest cutting words. She felt his arms around her, felt the heat burn a trail up the fur of her arms, and somehow, they'd gone from the top of a building to the rubble at the foot of it. Windless, searing, she tried to speak his name, but nothing came out when she parted her lips. She dared herself to open her eyes. When she could see again, she wished she'd been lucky enough to be the one who couldn't. If fate had been so kind to her, she wouldn't have lifted her weary eyelids, to find her vibrant, lively husband still. Burned. Dead.

The father of her child, the man she'd vowed to share her last breath with, her best friend, her confidant, her protector. Had exchanged his own body as a shield for a blast that could've killed them both. He was still clinging to her limply, silent, his last effort to keep her alive. And it had been a fatal attempt. Iblis was now screeching his successes into the polluted air, bearing down on Pearl and the corpse of her husband. It was at this time I arrived at the end of the street we used to walk up and down as teens, to find her- my best friend- pinned beneath her former husband. The shock of that sight still keeps me up at night.

"PEARL!!" I screamed her name with the power to awaken the dead, bursting forth on a crest of fear- I couldn't lose both of them. They meant too much to our world- too much to me personally.

But I didn't know she was just lying there, stewing in what had happened. Marinating in her own rage, hurt and depression. Suddenly, the girl I grew up with- always so sweet, so dainty and warm- released a terrible cry of anguish. It tore through the air like a bitter blade, so unlike her own voice, so consumed in despair. She was levitating now, glowing in the trained power of her abilities, and what happened next was unbelievable.

"YOU BASTARD!! My HUSBAND! The FATHER OF MY CHILD!!" The sob tainted roar accompanied a blinding, vibrant turquoise blue light. It encompassed Iblis, like a calm fire burning it's way up and over his huge, dangerously blazing body. I've never seen her like that, and I never would again. She floated in mid air with her golden eyes burning orange, her beautiful face twisted with pain from being burned, of leaving Silver, of losing Slate...

A rage like that only comes once a lifetime.

My dear friend was attacking this brute, single handedly. "Go back to HELL!!" With that final scream from Pearl, her burned body heaved violently, and she collapsed to the ground in a heap as Iblis was sent on a wingless journey through the air- like an invisible sling shot had sent him hurtling from the city. I ran to her side. Blinded by confusion and amazement. I held her then, looked down at her slipping away in consciousness, stunned that she was still alive.

"Pearl, you just- I-I've never seen anything like- you just... you threw him! Like a cheap pawn... you saved our neighborhood, darling." I curled my soft, plush fox tail around her, the fiery orange a strong contrast to her white, sooty fur.

"Not without a price..." Her voice was so small now. Even smaller than usual, more-so a mere croak as her own tears stung her. She reached a weak, trembling arm toward her husbands face, fingers curling around his cheek as the edges of her vision turned black. "Mia... S-Silver's...inside..." And as she blacked out, I leapt to my feet, running into what used to be the home of heroes...

'I was crying, left to die in this Godforsaken place, this Godforsaken place...'

--

"Everyone else is safe. Nobody got hurt during the evacuation." It was a piece of good news I could share with her, when her lovely amber eyes opened once more. There was also bad news- horrible news, that I had yet to tell her. But I both couldn't accept it, and couldn't tell her. I didn't have the heart to.

"So- Silver? I-is he?" She stopped as everything came into focus, and she saw me kneeling beside her, the baby devoured in blankets and peering at her from my lap. Her lip trembled, and she marveled at him. "My beautiful...oh, God, I thought I'd never see you again...we tried so hard to keep you safe-"

"You more than tried." I laid the baby close by her face, where she'd have the strength to reach out and embrace him. "You caused the strongest telekinetic blast any Mobian has ever produced. The Doctor said-"

"You mean Sherman?"

"Yes, Dr. Sherman was in here to see how you were... he says your body took quite the beat down. He's stunned that you were able to conjure attacks, let alone one of that size..."

"Oh, my poor Slate... all I could think of then was Slate and Silver." She whispered, her distraught face pressed against her child's blankets. "I'd do anything to keep them safe..."

"I'm sorry, Pearl. He tried everything he could to revive Slate..."

"Slate knew what he was doing." She said morosely. "He knew what would happen to himself if he did that..."

"You know he trusted you to be the one to finish the job. You survived, Pearl...it's amazing you did."

"I fear for not much longer." Pearl's gentle smile was a sad one, and she winced. "I don't think Slate intended for me to reach any harm, but there's only so much you can do seconds from death."

I struggled forcefully then with my own selfish emotions. I couldn't imagine a life without Pearl, without her outrageous sense of humor, her husband and his booming laugh, the two of them facing danger with confidence at our side...I couldn't imagine a life without my best friends, and their baby orphaned...

When I looked up I found that she was looking at me, eyes alight with the slightest traces of joy.

"I know how stubborn you feel, Mia. As stubborn as always. I don't want to go anymore than you want to let me. But without Slate..." Her eyes began to darken. "The state I'm in..."

"I know you can't imagine living without him. I feel so strange right now, sitting with you both and not hearing him...I feel like he's here..." my voice cracked with a dip of emotion, and it was then that Pearl extended her hand to her lovely boy.

"Silver made it, though..." She caressed his head, and the baby reacted with an affectionate coo.

"Now everyone will see Slate's righteous 'do..." Her laughter was weak but hearty, if not a bit bittersweet, it's thickness betraying her emotions. I saw the glimmer in her eyes, her baby oblivious, giggling as he tugged on her fingers.

'Never, ever, will I ever see my father's face- see my father's face...

Only mama knows...'

I felt my own eyes burning, desperate for a way to keep her with me. She'd been through enough. She'd endured too much. I felt helpless, watching her suffer and waste away, wanting so badly to have nothing more but a few more moments with her son.

Wasn't there some form of justice out there, to say enough was enough- to call it a day?

These years are far too cruel for such mercies.

"I only wanted to speak with him." Her eyes spilled then, and the salt of her tears bit the burns. "I only wanted to hear his voice calling out to me one night." She sniffled. "Call me ridiculous, Mia... I wanted to be called Mom. It's all I've wanted since I'd known he was coming...and now..." My lip was biting back with pain as I chewed down, tilting my head back to avoid the tears. Not while she needed me most. I wouldn't cry. "Mia... when he comes of age, I need you to give him something very special to me." Her voice was broken, but she was steadying herself, and I attempted to collect myself to respond.

"Pearl, I will protect it with my life till that time."

"My gloves... they were my fathers, when I started training he- they've always helped me..." She winced, nibbling on a charred lip. "When he goes into training..."

"He'll have them, Pearl." I wiped her eyes gingerly, kneeling beside my lifelong friend, a true hero, a person we all looked to when times were dark in our world. What a grave moment, to lean over someone and watch them expire, knowing they took with themselves one of the greatest Freedom Fighters our world would ever know.

"Take them when I've..." Her eyes flickered up to me in a slight panic, unable to say it, then back down at her son. "The pain is much to great for me right now to remove them..." She whispered, and succumbing to my tears of sorrow for her, I took her gloved hand softly, and her other found the fanned quills of her baby. Her breathing slowed, and she looked worried then, as if she knew the time had come. "I love you, Mia. I could... never thank you enough for... you're my closest, and...he'll be a good boy." Her eyes moved slowly down toward his young face as she blinked with effort, and he was wrapped beside her, watching her unwaveringly. "Silver..." And I closed my eyes against the wave of pain, the wave of tears, as her hand tightened around mine briefly before it fell limp. That was the day my best friend walked into the arms of God, leaving behind the only thing she'd fought to live for all this time, the son in the spitting image of herself and her love.

I looked over at her beautiful baby boy, whose eyes were wide in innocent confusion. He had the same eyes, those same golden eyes, the ones that stared lifelessly at me from the floor. I closed her eyes with reverence, saw the youthful face I was approaching through blurred eyes.

He was all that remained of our selfless leaders- leaders of the freedom fight, fallen.

The little one sensed something morose. Children always feel it, even if they don't understand it. He began to whimper. His Silver fur brilliant, the first coat of a child so young... now without his parents. I felt a wave of grief for my friends. They never even got to celebrate one of their only child's birthdays. Finally, I held my head in my hands, and broke down like I never had before.

God, give me strength. Give us strength in these dark, unforgiving times.

'I'm passing through, no fixed abode... and that is why, I've got to try, to hold on...

I've gotta hold on...Got to hold on...

Amy sat back, tears glistening in her eyes. Her hand was placed across her mouth in mortification, willing herself not to cry. What had she just found?

'She was running too, what she ran from though I always wondered...

I never knew. Only mama knows...

Got to hold on... got to hold on...'

"Amy? You ok?" Silver's voice so near to her made her jump, and she turned to look at him abruptly by reflex. She regretted that harshly the moment she realized what she was doing. Instantly, his yellow eyes- which now made her eyes sting more- caught the glimmering stones of sorrow in her own.

"Amy..." His eyes softened. "Is something wrong? Did you hurt..." He trailed off, eyes landing on the smudged, aged sheets of paper in her trembling grasp. She recoiled shamefully, face flaming as she shoved the sheets into his hands.

"I-I'm sorry, you wanted me to check the- clear out the cupboards..." She offered up weakly.

"So you found some of Mia's pages." Silver's eyes now looked affectionately down at the sheets in his hands, before tucking it into a box by his feet that he'd placed down. "That's a keeper. I didn't know pages of that book were lying around up here. They were lost for ages! Never really had time to look...she, uh...she actually wrote a book, about how the future came to be...well...what it was before we changed it. The last part she got from my mother, before she- she never meant for me to read it, I just...one night..." He stopped for a long moment, the weight of the sheets he'd just put away setting in. "If you're wondering, I have read them all. It was...difficult, to do that. I just...I had to. When Mia passed, I found them, I couldn't help myself..." he rubbed a hand back against his quills. "It's hard, to uh...sometimes it's too real. I knew I shouldn't have read it. There was a reason she kept them from me..." He swallowed, and Amy couldn't help but notice the trembling of his lips. Amy took his hand, rubbing a finger over the patterned gloves he sported.

"They're your mothers..." She murmured, and he nodded, unable to keep the brimming weight at his eyes from cascading over his cheeks. He accepted the strong, loving hug that Amy delivered, comforting him, a hand stroking over his quills in a soothing pattern, and they found themselves sitting, just crying out the darkness of what the letters of paper bore. Silver had never in his life found himself comforted in his times of despair, unless Mia had been there. He hadn't always had Mia. When she died, from both age and the fight, it had left such a deep hole in his life, an almost never-ending loneliness. Even when she lived, rarely did he allow her to fight with him in her old age. Often did he find himself alone or harmed in his own desolate world. Having Amy there felt like a saving grace, that the heaviness in his heart didn't have to be permanent. He could start clean again, without Iblis, without the weight of the world, without the demons of what had happened in this world.

"Silver... you are the reason this world had another chance. Do you realize how proud your parents are of you right now?" Amy slurred, thumbing away tears as she held his face. "You've done all those people justice. Not just in this world, but in mine too."

"It's what keeps me going. I avenged what happened to them. But it matters most that I finished what they started. Now that's it's all said and done..." He wiped away at his face with a wrist, using the other hand to dry her face. "I just want to be happy. Plain and simple."

"Don't worry... I'll make sure of that." Amy sniffled with a watery beam, stroking one of his ears affectionately. "I'm glad you picked me to go on this trip back to the future with you. I've learned so much..."

"My deepest secrets." Silver flushed, eyes attracted to the floor. "I've never told anyone..."

"You should know you can't hide things from me. I have a way of getting into things." Amy flushed, looking down with a bashful grin before chancing a glance back up at him. "Um...Silver... if you don't mind me asking-"

"No, no, you might as well. You know it all now..." He paused abruptly at her horrified expression of guilt "-n-n-not that there's anything- really, Amy. I'm not upset. I-I just meant- uhh...ask away."

"Um... I uh- I wanted to make sure...were you raised by the lady who wrote this?" Amy asked cautiously. She felt stupid for doing so, he evidently knew something about her... she was just curious to know wether or not he was close to this woman-if he'd known her as he grew older- her importance to his past.

"Yeah, I knew her well. Mia, she was a fox. But still, she was kinda like a mom for me..." He rubbed the back of his head. "She was a good friend of my mom's. Dad too, just..."

"She knew your mother first?" Amy smiled, and Silver shared it.

"Yeah, they were best friends since... well, she said forever when I asked. Here..." He offered his arm, which she took as she got up off the floor. She dusted herself off. They stayed arm in arm as they walked from the attic in silence, both unable to muster words for the stirring emotions in the atmosphere. Amy walked with him to the outdoors, blinking against a brilliant blue sky and a blinding sun, pumping herself full of courage for her next question.

"Silver..." He simply waited, not responding, knowing something was attached to the mention of his name. "I don't mean to seem... I hope you don't think I'm being too..."

"Stop being so scared of me, pinky." He egged, willing her to carry on. She flashed an amused grin toward him before continuing.

"It's just... you seem to have... I don't know, it's like you've come to... like... an acceptance, about what happened. Not that you think it's ok, just... you weren't angry when you saw I'd read it. It surprised me. I thought you wouldn't recover for days once you found out what it was..."

"You mean you think I may have under reacted?" Silver chuckled, and her eyes grew wide with distress.

"No no no!-"

"Listen, Amy. The thing is... when we set things right in this world, Sonic Shadow and I... when I returned, I saw that this place was flawless, beautiful, like your own world, as if nothing ever happened. And I thought..." Silver looked to her then, smiling wetly, sniffling slightly at his next thought. "I thought maybe, somewhere out there in this world... maybe they're ok, you know? Maybe it never happened to them, and they're still alive, because I changed things... like Blaze. She's ok, now that it's all been altered and... maybe I gave them back that too. They could be anywhere. Maybe they don't know where I am..."

"Silver..." Amy couldn't control her own wave of tears then, snuggling into the soft puff of fur at his chest as she was overcome with emotion. "What a beautiful way to look at things... maybe you'll meet them again one day, maybe they are here, who knows? So much has been changed and given back to this world... I never thought of it that way." Silver comforted her with an embrace, gloves stroking over pink quills. "I never met someone who was more positive than me." She allowed a watery giggle, and he smiled to himself, staring into the clear, perfect sky that hung above them.

"I have to be, Amy. Sometimes, it's all I ever had. Right now, it still is." He sighed softly, thinking on the idea of meeting with his parents one day with longing. It was then that Amy took his hand firmly, demanding his amber eyes to meet her kelly green gaze.

"No, Silver. Not any more. Until then, you've got me. You're stuck with me." She snuffed, squeezing his hand, and the grateful, touched look on his face encouraged a sweet smile from the girl. "And even if we don't track down your parents..." Her gloved hand met silver fur in consolation. "We'll have adventures just as great as they did. You'll have plenty to tell them when you see them later. And it'll all be good news." She whispered, and with that, Silver squeezed her smaller hand back, overcome with emotion as he managed a few small words.

"I've waited all my life for someone to say that to me." His voice was small, moved. "So, what are we waiting for now, Ames?" And the Silver hedgehog didn't hesitate to scoop up the surprised girl clasping his hand, her gasping before letting out a long peal of happy laughter. As the both of them shouted happily into the born again clean air, the world they were in had never known laughter- had never known joy such as this for so long. It was as if they were awakening the ghosts of pure, innocent happiness in this place again. The block had never been painted with laughter like this since two hedgehogs had claimed it as their stomping ground many years ago, madly in love, with both each other and a need for justice- the same that ran through their orphaned child's veins.

He was a hero- their hero, their memory, their spirit. Through him, wherever they resided, their legacy had come full circle. Their battle had been won.

'Our boy is going to drink water someday. And it's going to be blue for miles. Just like they said it used to be... And you'll fly through the bluest skies you've ever seen- blue just like the hero they wrote about. Maybe someday you'll be known just like him, super touch.'

-Fin

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Well, I hope all you Silver fans out there are pleased at my attempt- I always wondered how a young hedgehog like Silver could have been reared up with such a strong sense of justice alone. So, let me know your thoughts on my interpretation of Silver's background with our friend the purple button. ;3 If you're curious about Slate and Pearl, I did up a drawing of them on my DA. I might be adding more later. (Shazam26 on DA) Much love, till next time Sonic fans...