Last Dance

The sweet August air enveloped me. Wind that I had lost the companion of in this nightmare welcomed me. And with each bound of my feet I fell deeper into that feeling. It was freeing, even if just simply a mental escape.

It was like I was fifteen again, dashing past trees and tearing through rippling fields of wheat. I could move with such ease and accuracy that I never broke a single stock. But it was that feeling of the stocks bowing at my movement that tickled my senses.

Fences I bound over, creeks I zipped through, splashing water into my fur. The summer heat could kill, but it was the heat that held me. I love summer, I always did.

I blinked, threw my arms behind me and leaned into my speed till it was all a blur. Images of the past bubbled into my vision. Racing into battle against Metal Overlord, racing to rescue the Wisps, racing through time itself, battling Shadow for that one Chaos Emerald.

At some point I lost where I was at and the fuzz in my mind had a new tone to it. I stopped and caught myself exploring this new feeling. It was familiar… Had I felt like this before.

The scenery was different. I was atop a mountain looking over a cliff into a rocky valley. The deep divot between the mounds of stone took my breath away, it reminded me of the rush of adrenaline I craved so much in my youth.

The situation at home was distant both mentally and physically. And like that the perspective changed.

“Sonic, there you are!” The voice was just a bit too close. 

My eyes shot wide, “Silver?” I turned around, it certainly was him, the silver hedgehog alight in blue ethereal glow. He landed on the ground, the look on his face let me know that he was stressed.

“I came back to the house to look for you and everyone said you just bailed. What happened?”

The fuzz took hold, “Pfft,” I tossed my hand, “Shadow and I got into it. You know how it is, that guy can get on my nerves.”

Silver squinted his eyes at me, “Got into it about what?”

“Oh, Shadow, he can be such a pessimist. I have been trying to keep the team afloat. We keep our heads in the game, eyes on the goal and we get out of it unscathed like we always do. But he’s ready…” I blinked, “He’s ready to just throw the towel in.”

I grinned and thumbed my nose, realizing that I must have had wild eyes. No, relax, don’t over think it, I told myself, “I know, Shadow is just being self-loathing like he always is. He just needs something to get his butt in gear and remember that he doesn’t just give up when things get hard. That’s not him. I have seen him go through some shit, but he’s always come out on top. We just need to get back up and keep fighting. We never let the enemy win. This… This isn’t any different.” I shook my head.

“You’re not acting yourself.” Silver raised a brow.  

“What do you mean? I’m fine.” I shrugged.

“You’re rambling and you’re talking like this is some battle against Eggman or Black Doom.”  His words felt like a tin in my ears.

“Is it not?” I turned back to the view and forced myself to lose focus again. This time looking over the trees that scattered the landscape, dark pine crafting dark gashes in the green grass. The sun bowed into the distance behind the clouds.

“It’s not over until we give up. I’m not giving up. Why is he giving up?” The words came out more of a mumble than I intended.

“Hey, I recognize the signs. The fear and anxiety are getting to you. This whole situation has been a living hell. I’ve seen more than my fair share of messed up shit in my time travels.”

“No, really, I’m fine. I just need to get another strategy. I can fix this… Time travel.” I snapped my fingers.

 When I looked over to Silver who was now standing beside me his eyes widened and he shook his head, “Are you asking me to time travel fix this?”

“Why not? That’s what you do. All you have to do is go back in time and prevent Anthony from giving Shadow that disease.”

Silver closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The fluff of his chest fur seemed to welcome the air in his lungs as well, “Your head is not in the right space to be having this talk. If you want to hear what I have to say about all of this, I need you to agree to slow down.”

“What do you mean? I’m just standing here.”

“You’re pacing.” His eyes dropped half shut.

I looked down and saw that I had worn a hole in the dirt. Was I pacing this whole time and unaware of it?

“Meditate with me.” Silver sat himself on the head of the cliff I was overlooking.

My muscles twitched and begged for movement, but I needed Silver’s help. If he needed me to calm down before he would consider helping, I had to bite the bullet and do it.

I sat down in front of him and crossed my legs. He crossed his legs too.

 Usually, Silver was like a child to me, wild, eager and bright-eyed. This was the first time I slowed down enough to really watch the way he held himself. He was deliberate, calm, and in his gold eyes I saw not years or decades, I saw lifetimes.

With his hands on his knees he directed me to close my eyes and breathe.

            Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4.

            Hold, 1, 2, 3, 4.

            Exhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

 We did this three times. Then he asked me to listen to the sounds of nature.

The birds sang. The squirrels chattered. The wind brushed the trees and rippled them into wooshes and crinkles.

“How does your body feel?” He then asked.

“Tired… Old…” I slouched a bit.

“Shadow has been putting you through the wringer. You have permission to be having a hard time, but you have forgotten to take care of yourself.” His voice was matter of fact.

“What are you saying?” I asked.

“You look like walking death, about as much as Shadow does.”

 “I feel like I am dying.” I sank even deeper.

 “Tails told me that you haven’t been going to therapy.”

 “Damn it. Did he just sic you on me to be my therapist?” I groaned.

 “No, actually I was looking for you because you have the on Chaos Emerald I don’t have, and Sage is on the verge of burning the whole world down.”

I grumbled and rubbed my eyes at the coming headache. That’s just one more stressor that I don’t need to be thinking about right now. I called up the energy entwined in my being and manifested the gem in my hand. Dark blue glimmered from my palm and I handed it over to Silver.

He took it and let the last emerald fade into his own energy. It was fascinating to watch. It takes a lot of self-control to hold all of the Emeralds and not take on the super form. But Silver did it, there was some strain in his eyes, but the glow never fully took him.

I sighed and sank deeper into my melancholy. Having the Emerald at least took the edge off my exhaustion, “So I take it you don’t want to go back in time and save Shadow?”

Silver’s eyes were thoughtful, and his half smile was light, “Time is a fickle thing. I think my time in the Time Stream really completed my understanding of it.” Then he squinted his eyes, “I think…”

He shook his head and found the train of thought he wanted, “Regardless, time is fickle. Life moves in cycles. Everything happens for a reason. Some things can and should be changed and other things cannot. Being a guardian of time is a massive responsibility and I have already had to make some incredibly tough decisions.” Silver gave a gentle smile and leaned toward me, “Have you ever wondered why I never used time travel to save my parents? Or that Shadow has never asked me to go back in time and save Maria?”

            “You know, I am surprised I have never questioned that.” I rested my elbow on my knee and my head in my hand.

“If I didn’t lose my parents, I wouldn’t have been motivated to go back in time to save the world. If Maria didn’t make that dying promise to Shadow, Shadow would have never chose to use his powers for good. Shadow was angry at the world because of what it did to him and those he loved and because of that, he met you and the rest of his friends. We all became more than just friends, we are a family.”

His words brought a much-needed smile to my face, “I never thought of it that way.”

“Pain shapes us. Suffering is necessary for what sets us free. I think we all have had to realize that it’s not our tragedies that define us, it’s what we choose to do with them. You have known your whole life that when something bad gets in the way, fight it till your last breath. That is something to be proud of, you don’t quite, you don’t give up. But I know you know that nothing lasts forever. At some point you need to accept when it’s time to let go.”

“How do you know so much?” I reeled at Silver’s plethora of wisdom.

“Time. When you can sit back and watch all events of every possible timeline, it changes you. I guess I have become omniscient now. Some formless being in the void told me that I am some kind of being of hope? Maybe I’m a time god? I don’t know, it was hard to make out, all of it was in some ancient language that I barely understand.” There was that wild look I saw in his eyes a while back. I suppose he still had a long journey of self-discovery ahead of him.

I rested my face in my hands still feeling the headache, but at least I felt grounded. And Silver’s words gave me something to chew on.

“You’re saying all that there is left to do is find acceptance?” I grumbled.

Silver closed his eyes, and I saw a blue glow emit from them when they opened. He sat there for a moment or two and when the glow disappeared he came back to me, “I think there are still loose ends that you and Shadow need to tie up. I can hold off Sage for just a bit longer. It won’t take me long to get the Emeralds back anyway, I know exactly where they are going to go. I want you to take them. Go to Shadow. I won’t tell you what to do with them, but I will trust that the timeline will play out as it should.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I’m sorta omniscient now. I’m sure.” He smiled.

Silver and I clasped hands, and he transferred the power over to me. The energy radiated, filling my body with the energy that I desperately needed. My body healed where my self neglect had wilted me. My skin and fur glowed, turning the blue into a brilliant yellow. My blood was electric, my muscles burst with life, I felt more alive than I had felt in far too long. Silver had so much more self-control than I did. The super form was all too easy to assume. But I guess enough deprivation will make it next to impossible to resist the Emeralds power.

I released Silver and rose to my feet, feeling my being ready to vibrate through all As someone who is Shadow obsessed. Shadow 05 is supposed to be the turning point where Shadow shows that he is protecting the world because he wants to, not because he is fulfilling Maria's wish. In my Grey Fur story, I put emphasis on Maria's wish because in my mind, Shadow would abandon his duty under enough duress. At some point Shadow is under enough pain that he would prefer death over fulfilling his "purpose" which is Maria's wish. For someone who is as deep in Shadow lore as I am needs to be informed that Shadow's mental state is in a seance that he is still uncertain of his purpose. space and time. It had been years since I gathered the emeralds, let alone held them all at once. It felt good. Really, really good.

It was time to make things right.

“Go get your man, Sonic.” Silver looked all too proud of himself. 

The fuzz became a background noise as I flew over the mountains. I was unsure of where I was but in this state, I could feel Shadow. His energy, despite his waning health, kept the same sharp tones. It was like outreaching spikes that found me and as long as I kept my focus on the blade-like sensation, I could find my way home.

More importantly, the feeling of his energy was a reminder that he was still alive.

In spite of the exhaustion and pain of the past several months, I couldn’t help but take delight in the energy now pounding through my veins. The electricity in my being could ignite me, turn me to a burning white hot light, and yet the familiarity kept me intact. I knew the emeralds well, each one giving off their own flavor. Together, they coalesced into stars radiating from within, dancing along my soul. My ears filled with the sounds of life around the world, the hums of energies in the atmosphere. My eyes saw colors invisible to the normal eye. All the while, I focused only on Shadow’s blades.

That energy. It was always so thick and volatile. Flame and knife. Darkness cast and the shimmer of night sky. The rippling reflection of moonlight on the ocean’s surface. His energy hadn’t changed, he was still Shadow, after all this time.

Then I came to awareness. I had been wandering. Voices in my head sang a chorus of conflicting feelings. Was I avoiding going home? Had I allowed myself to truly be alone with my thoughts?

That was the great thing about the Emeralds. When you had them all, they gave your mind space to clear.

I was avoiding going home. I could teleport and find myself in the yard without another thought. So, what did I want?

At my core, I wanted Shadow. Dear Chaos, I wanted to tie his ass down and force him to stay. If I could tether his soul to my side I would. The love I felt for him was agony. He tormented me with making me powerless to watch him struggle and slowly die. It was a wound he caused me that left me bleeding profusely. And he had the audacity to suggest that I kill him. He tried to bait me into…. My gut lurched at the thought. Yes, it was true, I hated him. I hated him because I loved him. That hate had a validity of its own along with my undying love.

But as I let the hate burn away my mind cleared further. What did it look like from his point of view? He made it clear. He kept secrets, but he never lied.

These things were true:

He saw death as an escape from the immortality that he resented. I knew he resented his immortality from the start.

He needed to feel in control. Something that had been an issue for us in our relationship, but I had to learn to respect it.

He felt like a burden, to me and everyone around. Did I make him feel that way?

The thought was a gut punch. Again, the thought ran through my head, it wasn’t fair.

The Emeralds sang, it was as if the Emeralds were listening to my thoughts and wanted to be closer to Shadow. Did the Emeralds want Shadow?

Then it occurred to me. The Emeralds missed Shadow. They had a sentience that I never paid full attention to and only now, as I was communing with them, did their thoughts become evident to me.

Would the Emeralds miss Shadow when he is gone?

It ignited, the white-hot flame that I had kept at bay. The Emeralds and I had the same desire, so why not act?

            And in a blip…

…I was gone.

           

My flesh and being tingled in the break in space time, and everything hummed as I reappeared in the still ruins of our front yard. My eyes flashed towards the pale-yellow home.

I can’t describe the feeling… the best way I can put it is it was like butter in the sun. A raging inferno that came with a melting fat dripping into my mouth. It had a taste like savory cooking oils, and it went down my throat like engine grease. All the desire in me found its escape.

“SHADOW!” I shouted, my fangs bearing and that oily feeling settled into my stomach.

Knuckles violet eyes peaked out the screen door, “Sonic?”

“I’m here for Shadow.” I hissed.

“How did you get the Emeralds and why are you here with them?” Knuckles stepped outside.

“It’s none of your business.” The flames of energy pulsed within me. “SHADOW!”

“What in Chaos is going on?” Rouge followed after Knuckles. She tucked her wings in and reeled when she saw my form, “Are you out of your mind?!”

“Chaos damn it! I will go in there and drag his ass out here!” My muscles quaked and coiled the deeper into frustration I fell.

“Sonic, I swear to Chaos and Gaia!” There he was. The object of my ire and desire. 

Little eyes poked out of the living room window as Shadow hobbled with his cane down the porch steps.

Shadow looked his age, old and tired. It was strange to think that all this time it was easy to forget that he was forty years older than me. I always told him that fifty years in stasis didn’t count.

“I’m not letting you go without a fight!” I growled.

He groaned at me leaning into his cane, “You’re being ridiculous, how on Gaia did you get the Emeralds?”

A wave of adrenaline hitched inside me as I realized that I was riding on the high of the Emeralds will, “It was Silver’s idea.”

Shadow’s eyes rolled up in frustration, “That kid is the reason that the world will always end in ruin.”

It felt like I had bubbles in my throat.

“What are you going to do with the Emeralds, Sonic? Did you think for a minute what you would do with them?” Shadow’s eyes glazed.

The white-hot flame turned into a simmer, and I allowed myself to sink back to the ground.

“Do you need us?” Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Shadow.

He turned back to Rouge and Knuckles on the porch, “I got this, I can reason with him.”

“Are you sure?” Rouge placed a hand on her hip, “We can hang close if things get out of hand.”

“Just go, I will handle it.” Shadow waved the two off.

Knuckles shrugged and Rouge shook her head as the two reentered the house. The door gave a click behind it as if to punctuate our stalemate.

It burned me that he was talking about me as if I was acting like a child. I was not. I had every reason to be furious and hurt and…My mind made a desperate grab at ideas.

Shadow and I were alone in the yard. The little eyes disappeared back into the house. I fell back into the growing tension inside. I found my thoughts.

On the surface, desperation is what it is. Shadow wouldn’t listen to me, but I could poke his buttons. And getting a rise out of him was something that I loved doing. Something that I missed doing.

“I could use the Emeralds to heal you.” My eyes lit and my words poured out just a bit too fast.

“You are out of your Chaos damn mind!” He straightened his stance.

“You know I could. Any illness can be cured when the Emeralds are together.” I reignited. When I said I wasn’t letting him go without a fight, I meant it.

“SONIC! You know better!” His eyes burst with fire. I loved that fire. It was his anger and rage that I craved.

My fur and quills stood on end, “I don’t care.”

“REALY?! Tell me, Sonic! What are the commandments of the Chaos Emeralds!” Shadow was full into his fury. I wanted more of it.

“Never use the Emeralds to kill.” I sneered.

“Don’t play games.”

“Or what? What kind of pain have you put me through that you haven’t yet?!”

“Don’t you think that I am hurting too?! I don’t want to do this to everyone.”

 “It feels deliberate to me!” The rage grew. The Emeralds took, incinerating me from the inside. I was ready to throw the power out to Shadow, do what I threatened to do, but I hesitated.

Shadow’s shoulders dropped, “I have been saying sorry a lot, but it isn’t enough if I keep hurting everyone.”

I lifted a handout to Shadow feeling the urge to cave to the whim.

“Sonic, I mean it! Don’t! What are the commandments of the Chaos Emeralds?”

 A wave of anger washed me, “Don’t use the Emeralds to subvert the natural cycle of life.”

“What happens if you heal me?” His brow furrowed, revealing pain.

“You become immortal again.” Guilt caught up to me. Why did I let these feelings get the better of me?

“And if I become immortal, that subverts the natural cycle of life. You know the consequences of misusing the Emeralds.”

“I become unworthy of the Emerald’s power and can no longer use them.” The glow of the Emerald withered down into a smolder.

“You’re angry. You are lashing out at me because I have done nothing but cause you pain. You need your connection to Chaos more than I need one. The world needs you so much more than it needs me.”

The thoughts that had been playing in my head, words that I refused to say, forced their way out like they came from my stomach, “I HATE YOU!”

Shadow looked like I had bashed him over the head, but then he smiled, “If hating me makes this easier for you than so be it.”

“I… I don’t mean it.” My ears fell back wanting to eat my own words.

“You have every right to.” He rested the cane against his leg and reached his hands up around his neck, his fingers lacing onto the chain clasp behind his head, “Just give me permission.”

The ring… It represented his tether to life and…

“STOP!” The Emeralds burst with new flame, “I SAID I WASN’T LETING YOU GO WITHOUT A FIGHT!”

His ruby eyes ignited with a level of rage that I hadn’t seen since before we were together. He threw his arms back down, his hands became fists at his sides, “THEN WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

I gnashed my teeth. I cried, but they were tears of fury, “Do I have to spell it out for you, you jerk?! I miss you.”

My breath didn’t want to escape. I didn’t want to inhale. I quivered as I realized the truth of my statement, “You’re not even dead yet, and I miss you.” The tears came down in a heavy wave, “I miss our battles. I miss running with you. I miss going on adventures with you… It’s not just me, Shadow. The Emeralds miss you too.”

His face softened and melted into realization, “They talked to you?”

“They want you, just like I do.” I sank further to the ground.

“I miss them too.” His smile was weak and sorrowful, “So what? Do I take the form with you then? You aren’t ready to let me go but...” He tilted his head slightly, “If using my powers makes the disease progress faster. Taking the form might kill me. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I don’t know what I want.” I admitted in defeat, “I just know what the Emeralds want.” Then I considered it for a bit, still communing with the varying energies that dazzled my being, “If it’s that much of a risk?” I squinted my eyes shut and forces out a sigh, “Fuck it. I just want things to feel normal again. Even if it’s just for a little while. Even if it’s the last thing we do together.”

I held out my hand to him, “Come on, for old time’s sake. Remind me how it feels to fly with you.”        

He smiled, his eyes still projecting the depth of his sadness, but it was a comforting sadness. And as he stepped forward the cane fell to the ground. His knees threatened to buckle but I got to him first.

Hand in hand.

Eye to eye.

Reverberating on the same wavelength.

We held each other, palms interlocking, thumb over hand, just like we had done many times before.

And the energy. Took. Life.

The Emeralds knew their way. Balancing between us. Like equalizing pressure in the air. All became one.

Same breath. Same beat. Same measure. Harmony, reason, rhyme. The notes of a song strung together forming the perfect cords. And like a song from a distant time, our hearts sang, of the lessons learned from life lived.

His rubies pierced right through me with the same power as when we first met. His smile revealed fangs like daggers. Grey fur set ablaze in a palladium white gold, and his dull maroon burst with the radiance of blood drenched diamonds.  

 He pulled away from me, shot into the air and glared down at me with a predatory stare, “FUCK! I missed this!” He shouted, throwing his head back in satisfaction. He was bare, only his inhibitor rings on his person. I loved seeing the paw pads of his feet. Shadow hated it when I called them cute.

I caught up beside him, sharing in the elation, “It’s incredible!” 

“Chaos fuck! It is.” His chest heaved and I watched his eyes take on that hue that I adored so much. 

Not just rubies, but the heat of hell's fire. 

His smile, not just coy, but daring, fierce and taunting. 

He flipped around in the air, making full circles and stretched his arms like he was presenting himself to a new world. 

Shadow could blaze right through me with his gaze. He could rip me to shreds with his teeth. He could throw me across the universe if he could will a big enough blast…. 

“Hey Sonic,” His voice held a power it didn’t hold before and sent chills down my spine, 

He held out a hand and summoned an orb of energy, “Catch.”

As he threw it at me, I whipped around and clutched it out of the air. My energy coursed into it, building it larger and more powerful.

In my hands it became a beam, blasted directly at Shadow. He blipped.

“Pathetic.” He whispered in my ear. I shot into full bristles, adrenaline tingling every part of me. I threw a fist at him, and he caught it in his own hand. The way he looked at me filled me with liquid nitrogen.

I choked on my breath.

“Are you still taking it easy on me?” He revealed the full length of his fangs, causing me to swallow.

“I don’t need your pity.” He twisted throwing a bare foot into the back of my head. The emeralds absorbed the blow for me, preventing me from feeling the full force of the pain, but Shadow still launched me. I curled and caught my own bare feet on the roof, pushed off and rocketed towards him.

He shot back at me. The two of us collided, sending a shockwave through the air around us. I heard the sound of glass shatter and shingles sluff off, blaping onto the ground. Chaos damn it, I just got that window replaced!

“You two are going to destroy the house! Take your feud somewhere else!” I heard Knuckles shout, and I turned my head back to the house.

“You bring him back to me alive or I will skin you alive.” Rouge shoved her head out the door to threaten me.

“Stay out of this!” Shadow sneered at her. This was my chance, she had him distracted. I threw a hand up to Shadows’ neck with enough force to feel a crack and watched his eyes bewilder. And in the same motion, I sent the both of us soaring into the sky. Swirling like fireworks, spinning into the lower levels of the stratosphere.

I let him go and he looked pleased with himself. More than that, he looked proud of me as he felt how hard I clenched his neck.

His eyes tore into me with challenge. His grin grew sadistic.

I felt aroused.

For Shadow and I, fighting was our foreplay and damn it, I missed these games.

Together we could spur on the storm, raining all manor of Chaos Energy down on each other, swirling and spinning in a graceful and deadly dance.

And just as we crafted a storm above, a storm brewed below us, building clouds of billowing white until they darkened with the weight of their growing moisture.

Clashes.

Shadow and I would fly full force into each other and the full force of out power detonated a break in the sound barrier. The boom and rumble of the storm.

 Quakes.

The air rippled around us as one would rip energy from the air. Pull it from within. Harness it in our hands and shatter the atmosphere around as we hurled it at each other. The shaking of the earth.

Strikes.

Electricity stood our fur and quills on end. Making every movement feel like it tickled and tingled, even down to our very souls. Forces of nature, in tuned with each other, set against each other. The push and pull. The riding of the tied. The force of lightning…

Even above the storm the sky darkened. Had the sun set? How high in the sky were we?

My eyes set on Shadow, glowing in the distance as if to call up the powers of the lightning flashing below. Shadow could cut through reality itself, all time and space was at his hands and he showed it in his stance.

His eyes shone only red, searing into my heart. Arms to his sides, palms turned towards me. One leg pulled up in front of the other as if to ascend into the realm of the gods. To become one with the divine itself.

Shadow had been one to take my breath away, but never like this. I fell limp, letting the power of the Emeralds keep me afloat.

Shadow dashed me. Ran headlong into me and caught me into his claws. They tore at my flesh, pulled fur out of my chest. And I adored the pain. And the way he looked at me… I was his toy. Like a dog with a bone.

We shot further into the sky till the air pulled thin and there was nothing left to breathe.

As long as we had the Emeralds, we didn’t need to breathe.

Honestly, before Shadow lost his immortality, needing to breath wasn’t something he had to think about. Now that he was mortal, it was hard to tell what would eventually be his end, between his tendency to be self-destructive and the growing fragility of his state. I did often treat Shadow like he was fragile even when he wasn’t. I think I always knew the universe would take him from me at some point.

There it was.. the tittering of the Emeralds. 

                 Shadow.

*                                                         Return to us.*

*      *

*                                                                   Lightning.           *

*                                 Son.*

*                                                                                               Destined.*

*      His power.*

                                                                        Wind.

* *

* *It stung. I misunderstood what the Emeralds meant when they filled my head with longing. They did miss Shadow. They wanted him back.

“Did you hear that?” I said.

We slowed till we were drifting through the out of the atmosphere’s bounds, and Shadow’s ears drooped as he loosened his grip on me, “Yeah… I did.” His grin was both wry and pained and his eyes scrunched at the sides, “I suppose I was created from Chaos Energy. Not exactly the same way everyone else’s souls were crafted. I always felt so out of place, and I never entirely understood why.”

“Gerald used a Chaos Emerald to make your soul, didn’t he?” I asked as we continued to float above the atmosphere.

“Yeah.” He scrunched his brow, “So, I guess that means that when I die, my soul returns to the Emeralds.”

I gave a huff, the kind of laugh that you give, not because something was funny, but because the situation seemed odd. All of the pieces were falling together. I was in love with the ephemeral, “All of this time, you never belonged to me.”

“But I belong to you because I chose you.” He smiled at me, his eyes melting into sadness, “I still choose you. I meant what I said, whatever lies for me beyond this life, I will wait for you. No words can describe how much I love you, Sonic.”

We held each other. Two bodies adrift in the vacuum of space, turning lazily, our hearts pounding together as we pressed into each other as hard as we could. He buried his head in my shoulder, “That didn’t ruin the mood, did it?”

“No, I want you more. Fuck.” I pulled away so I could give him that hungry look.

“Look at that view, babe.” He pointed out to the earth below us. The earth we both loved, with its swirling blues and bursting greens. The clouds that wafted over it in thick fluff to speckled patterns. It was home and a place of life.

“Do you know what would make this view even better?