FicWad

The door creaked open softly and Aura stepped inside, Ryndar on her shoulder, closely followed by Sonic.

She had stated her intent to come here the day before to gather some of her belongings for the room she now occupied at the base in Emerald Hill. Sonic had suggested he come with her, to help pack and get them to Emerald Hill; at least that was how he had worded it to her, but really he was worried about how she might react to coming back here. So far she seemed to be doing fine, running her hand along the wooden cabinet that stood by the door.

"It's just the same..." Aura breathed "I can reach those pegs now" she commented with a half smile, hanging up her coat.

Sonic followed her through to the kitchen, watching as she opened the cabinets, freezer and fridge and found all were empty. Her features were drawn in confusion as she turned to him "Did I get robbed?"

"Nah" Sonic shook his head "I didn't know when you'd be back, so I figured leaving them there wouldn't be a good idea" he watched her expression with every word "I gave them to people who were caught in the attacks"

Aura nodded, but her mind was elsewhere "So...this house is still Kharis'..."

"Well, technically it's being held for you, but belongs to" he paused, scratching his ear "well, me at the moment"

"Why?"

Sonic took a breath, trying to word his answer "We didn't find out about the attack until the day after, and I thought you might come back, so I went to the mayor and asked that what would happen to the house. He said somebody had to own it, so I asked if I could, pretty much to save a lot of questions" he explained. "Your brother did own it, but with no 'surviving' relatives, it would have gone to the city"

"There's some things missing" Aura looked around the room, then the hallway as they left.

"Well, I didn't want them to be stolen, so there's a storage place nearby - they held them as a favour for me"

Aura opened her mouth; speechless, nothing came out at first "Thank you so much" she managed to say, swallowing heavily.

"Hey, it's no problem..." Sonic waved it away, following her into another room.

They left the kitchen, and entered Aura's old bedroom.

"This was my room" Aura told him, a smile tracing her face as she took it all in, running her hand along the desk which had a layer of dust on it "...my workbook" she uttered, picking up a yellow loose-leaf book "This was the work I had to do over that summer...I never did get to do it" She put it down, breathing out gently "I only have an education up till eight years old..." They continued looking through the room, Sonic putting a plastic box on the floor and carefully placing various items in it handed to him by Aura. She opened the chest of drawers, and looked through the clothes "None of these will fit me now, someone else could use them"

Sonic nodded "Hey, and I don't really have an education at all - Kintobor home-schooled me, and then Robotnik appeared, so things were kinda a bit pear shaped to think about school then"

"Really?"

"I did do some education stuff at the base, worked through those books they sell to help kids - so did the others when they joined. Except Tekno, she'd already got through everything till the age people leave, so she didn't need to"

"Do you still have them?" Aura asked "I learnt some stuff while travelling, and I'm okay with literacy, but it wouldn't hurt to test myself"

"I think so, somewhere" Sonic helped with the packing as they talked, folding up the bedcovers and placing them in the box.

"I'm glad we got the whole age thing sorted out" Aura commented, as they moved into the front room and started to go through the video collection she and Kharis had collected. It had been one of their rituals, to have a pizza and a video every week or so, tending to end with her falling asleep and Kharis putting her to bed. Just one of a host of memories, good memories, she had overlooked when he died.

In the morning before coming here, they had gone to the central record office for the mainland. Alex and Sapphire, her parents, had moved to Green Hill when she was a few weeks old. It was doubtful that they would believe her ability to teleport, and could be dangerous, so they settled with a story that the Mettalix had captured her, and performed an experiment on her that had somehow accelerated her age, and also given her the ability to use her electrical power. Aura knew that a big part of the reason they believed their explanation was because of Sonic. All the times he had helped endowed him with a sense of trustability to a lot of people.

"I guess hacking into the computer wouldn't have been such a great idea..." Sonic commented "But we got you confirmed as being nineteen and legally an adult" he paused "So now you are, I can turn this place back over to you"

"I'd like to completely redecorate it at some point" she mused, blowing the dust from a video cover and making Ryndar sneeze "Make a complete break from the past"

"You shouldn't completely" Sonic felt he had to say "You can't just bury the past...it doesn't work, believe me"

"First hand experience?" Aura asked, facing him.

Sonic stopped, trying to consider if he should tell her; the rest of the gang did, and it wouldn't be fair to leave her out of the loop. "Look, since you're a member now, I think you need to know this" he paused "though I think you already know I'm Takashi, right?"

"I read the report of what happened in the South Island takeover, and how you said Kintobor's adopted son Takashi died in an explosion in Emerald Hill, and you had been staying with them. I figured you were Takashi, because of the way you interacted with Kintobor when I met you in the past, but I don't understand..." Aura hesitated.

"...why I made it up?"

Aura nodded.

"Not something I'm proud of, but I had a hand in his creation, and so in all the things he's done. I know it isn't all my fault, but back then I was a scared kid, I didn't have anywhere to go, and thought if people knew I was connected to Robotnik in that way, they would hate me" Sonic sighed "And that terrified me; the ironic thing is that now, if I told them they probably wouldn't believe me" he scoffed "I mean, the great hero creating his nemesis; so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place"

"Well" Aura considered her reply "We just made up a story about me, so I guess I'm kind of in the same boat"

"You don't think it was stupid?"

Aura fixed him with a look "Sonic, I ran away when I was eight, ran pretty much for over a decade and only just came back...you might think it's stupid, but I don't, and I know what it's like to be a scared kid with nowhere to turn. Did anyone else know?"

"Only Johnny" Sonic ran his hand through his quills "He was pretty much a lifeline" watching Aura pack something else into the box, he blinked suddenly "Did you have anyone to talk to?"

"Sometimes, but I didn't like to; a lot of the time I just thought about it, and that was a lot of thinking time" she mused "maybe, if I had, I would have come back sooner, but I don't regret travelling, it was fun, and I learnt a lot about myself..."

"...just the reason why?"

"Yeah..." Aura uncurled her hand, studying it "I could have stopped it all - if I'd told you then that this would happen to Kintobor, then none of this might have happened"

"Did you know about the ROCC?" Sonic prompted "Did you know about the seventh emerald?"

"No..."

"Then it could still have happened - Kintobor wouldn't have stopped the ROCC project going ahead, but he might have stopped me helping and then he could have been even more evil" He crossed the room, placing a hand on her shoulder "Anyway - you could also have told me how your parents died, or how Kharis dies, but you didn't"

Aura looked up at him.

"But you didn't, and that makes you strong; I've had more experiences with time travel since then, and no matter how much you want to, you can't try to change the future"

Aura smiled sadly "That's what Spock told me as well"

Sonic nodded, lifting the box "We've done all the rooms I think"

"Except one..." Aura said, walking quickly out of the room. Sonic followed and saw her disappear into another room. He followed her, placing the box on the floor, and looking up, knew immediately whose room this had been.

"You okay?"

Aura nodded, swallowing "Just a bit shocked...I half expected to start crying, maybe I am over it"

Sonic wasn't sure, but helped her look through the room. It was tidy and she didn't take much. For the moment, she said was going to leave it as it was. In the bottom of the wardrobe was a wooden chest "I forgot he had this..."

"What is it?"

"Mom and dad's chest - like a memory chest; Kharis said it belonged to my grandfather on mom's side and he gave it to her when she and my dad married. They used it for things about Kharis when he was growing up, and stuff from when I was a baby"

Sonic caught the tone in her voice "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded, but inclined her head and gently opened the chest. It was around three-quarters full, with a blue cloth covering the contents. "That's the blanket he bought me when I went to stay with him" she explained to him "I remember it was like a security blanket...always wondered where it went"

The only thing on the top was a folded piece of paper.

'Hey Sparky. No peeking till you're 21, got it - I had to wait, and so do you. Make sure you drag me along when it's time though - xxx Kharis'

"He's right" she finally said after a long silence "I do want to read it now"

"But you won't?"

"No...except when do I read it?" She put the letter back in and brushed her hand along the cloth "In another year and a half, when I'm 21 physically, or in 2012 when I should have been?" The record office had put her age as nineteen and a note informing anybody of what had happened. However, they couldn't change her birthdate since there were a lot of things tied to it, so technically she was right. It had either been that or a whole new identity, something Aura didn't want.

"I think you should decide that" Sonic told her "Nobody else can"

"I think you're right" Aura nodded, standing up "But I'd like to take it with me, if that's okay?"

"Sure, maybe you can use it as a chair?" he suggested with a smile.

Aura returned it "A few cushions, a cover, and maybe it can"

Sonic looked out of the window "It's dark now, you ready to go?"

Aura nodded "I've sorted out what I want to take with me, and the rest can be taken care of at the base, right?" she asked.

As they left the house, Sonic was impressed at how she had kept herself together. When he had first met Aura, it would have been just a few years after losing her brother and she was scared, nervous and very emotional at having to confront a much younger Kharis than she had ever known. She seemed a lot stronger now, but as she stopped after locking the door and walking to the gate, he knew she was still vulnerable. After she didn't speak for over a minute, he put down the box and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Aura?"

She jumped and whirled around, eyes wild with fear; then she seemed to notice him, and her entire expression relaxed. "Oh...Sonic, I'm sorry, it's just..." she stopped, a slight shake of her head "It's okay, I guess I just spaced out for a second"

She forced a smile and started to walk towards the hover jet, but Sonic wasn't about to let this go. He ran after her and stopped, their faces separated by inches. "No, something's bothering you, and if I'm going to tell you about a problem I had, then I expect you to do the same" his voice softened, and something inside clicked "Look, somebody once taught me that bottling stuff up isn't good and you need to face your fear"

She smiled wryly "Someone did, didn't they"

"I still remember what you said"



"Listen, we all have things we're afraid of. So you're afraid of water... lots of people are. Don't think you're weak because you have a fear of something. Fear is sometimes a good
thing."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Well, fear tells us when it's safe and not safe to do something. Like when you're in the water... fear tells you that it's not a wise thing to do in, for whatever reason. Fear is a part
intuition. You have to trust your fear. You have to appreciate it. Fear is part of wisdom."

"But what if I need to go into water...what if Kharis got in danger and we had to go in"

Aura smiled "We have to get past it, if we care enough for our friends, we can get past our fear"



"I should listen to my own advice, shouldn't I..." Aura laughed slightly.

"It worked for me" Sonic told her, sitting down by the kerb and waiting for her to sit down as well "So what happened?"

"It reminded me of the night Kharis died" Aura took a breath, hesitated, then plunged in. "It was dark then as well, we were watching a movie, I fell asleep and woke up when Kharis was shouting something at me. I thought we were leaving so I got dressed, found my backpack and left the house. I'd never even noticed it was dark, and when I opened the door there was so much noise...and Kharis was fighting with this robot" Her voice was trembling, but so far she was doing a lot better than both of them expected. "He shouted at me, told me to run, and I did...I always blamed myself for not listening more closely, because all the stuff I was carrying weighed me down and I couldn't run fast enough. I stopped when one appeared right in front of me" she swallowed, clutching Ryndar tighter.

'I've never told anybody exactly what happened...' Aura realised "I thought I was going to die...and then"

This was the hardest part.

"Then he was in front of me, shielding me, and the Mettalix fired this laser blast..."

Sonic knew he had been hit with some sort of laser, but he didn't know that Kharis had been shielding Aura. No wonder she was shaking and scared enough not to come back...

He listened, she was still talking. It seemed to have opened some sort of floodgate, that now she had started talking, she couldn't stop. It was a good thing, as far as Sonic was concerned; if he hadn't had Johnny to talk to, about his past as Takashi, then who knows what he would have been like.

"He pushed the energy back...maybe he had some sort of power as well, or maybe he was just lucky" Aura shook her head "I don't know, but the Mettalix fell to the ground.. Then Kharis did as well. Firstly I thought he was dead, then I knew he was alive...and then I realised he wasn't going to make it...something in his eyes..." Ryndar burrowed against her, sensing her uneasiness." He told me he was proud, that I was going to be fine, and he'd tell mom and dad about me" she brought the pendent from under her coat "then he gave me this"

Sonic nodded "I remember he had one when he came to collect you after I defeated Robotnik, but I didn't make the connection"

"Then he told me to run, made me promise to do that, and then...then he was gone" her voice was slightly hoarse, and some tears were glistening at the corners of her eyes, but she wasn't doing what she had expected - to break down completely. She really had learnt to cope without him, talked about that night with a reaction that seemed right. "Then I ran, I wanted to get away, and my teleportation did that"

Aura looked up, the sky wasn't filled with the Mettalix, or the storm clouds that had been behind them, like then; it was filled with stars. It seemed fitting. Sonic stood up, offering her his hand, and they made their way to the hoverjet. As they loaded her belongings, she looked to him "Can we go home now?"

"You just called it home" he remarked, loading the last box into the back "Do you think this could be home again one day?"

"I think so..." Aura nodded, climbing into the left hand side "Not right away, but I think it can"

She looked out the window as the jet lifted into the air.

'One day'



~ fin ~