Rated: Fiction T (Teen) (PG-13) - English - Romance/Drama - Sonic & Amy

Chapter Three – A Glimpse into another Life

The bright morning light filled the bedroom causing Sonic to shift from his current position, turning over so his back faced the window. He let out a tired groan having no desire to wake up just yet. He couldn't help but notice the extra weight he felt on his chest and it became even more noticeable when he felt movement. Arms suddenly wrapped around him tightly and he could feel someone nuzzling their face into the crook of his neck. His emerald eyes shot open to see Amy lying beside him, snuggling into his chest. His eyes widened in shock and he began to look around in a panic. He found himself in an unfamiliar bedroom he had never seen before. "What's going on?" He asked himself as he desperately tried to find an answer. The last thing he remembered last night was going to bed after the Christmas party. None of this made any sense. How did he get here and more importantly how did he get here with Amy. He hasn't even seen her in years. Before he could ponder on his bizarre predicament further Amy shifted her movement and proceeded to hug him tighter in her sleep as though he were a stuffed animal.

"…Sonic…" She mumbled in her slumber with a peaceful smile on her face. Sonic couldn't help but slightly blush from the way she said his name. Before he could think of what to do, the bedroom door swung open startling him and a little hedgehog that could pass as his identical twin jumped onto the bed excitedly.

"It's Christmas!" The little hedgehog exclaimed happily. "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up!"

Sonic's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Daddy…?" He stared at the miniature cobalt version of himself jumping up and down nervously. Amy was aroused from her slumber and let out a soft groan. She pulled the blankets closer to herself in a futile attempt at going back to sleep.

"Come on Mama! Get up! Christmas is here!" The small boy exclaimed as he attempted to pull the blankets back down. Amy let out a small giggle, finally giving up. "Okay! Okay! Mommy's up now…" She said groggily.

"Yes!" The little boy cheered victoriously.

He jumped off the bed and quickly ran back to the Christmas tree downstairs in the living room. Sonic was now convinced he was in some horrifying nightmare. There was no way this could be real. "Come on dad! Get up!" The little hedgehog called out from the living room. Amy crawled out of bed sleepily and looked over at Sonic with a big smile. "I think Dash found your present!" She said playfully. The sudden sound of a baby crying began to fill both their ears. "Looks like Rosie's up now. Go meet Dash in the living room. We'll be right down." She smiled and blew Sonic a kiss before disappearing down the hall. Sonic sat in the foreign bed feeling completely freaked out. This just had to be a dream. There was no way it could be real.

"Dad!" He heard the little hedgehog whine from downstairs.

This was too much for him to handle. In a burst of speed he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs and right out the front door. He found himself standing in a small suburban neighborhood he had never seen before. Where exactly was he? He felt himself beginning to hyperventilate and continued his fearful running right out of the neighborhood.

The first place Sonic decided to go to was back home at Tails' Workshop. Surely this was all just some big prank his friends were all playing on him. There was no way this could be possible. He grabbed the door knob only to find the door was locked.

"Hey! Tails! Open up!" Sonic yelled frantically as he continuously banged on the front door.

After a few moments the door swung opened to reveal a surprised looking Tails in pajamas staring at him oddly. "Sonic, what are you doing here?" He asked as he stepped aside to let the cobalt hedgehog in.

"Tails, ya gotta help me buddy! Something really strange is going on here…" Sonic exclaimed.

Tails looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Sonic took in a deep breath to compose himself. "Last night after the Christmas party…I went to bed and everything was normal…but when I woke up this morning I was somewhere else…and there was Amy…and a bunch of kids…and…" Sonic was cut off by the sounds of Tails laughing.

Sonic stared at him in mild confusion. "What's so funny? This is serious! I don't know what's going on!"

"Very funny Sonic. Did Amy put you up to this?" Tails continued through small chuckles.

"No! You know I haven't seen or spoken to her in years! Is this some kind of joke you guys are all playing on me? Cause if it is…it isn't funny!" Sonic said starting to get a little angry.

"Calm down Sonic! I don't know what's gotten into you…" Tails said beginning to feel concerned.

"Calm down? I have no idea what's going on! How am I supposed to calm down?" Sonic yelled as he began to pace back and forth.

Sonic stopped momentarily and his expression and voice softened. "Please Tails…quit playing around with me and tell me what's going on." He pleaded.

Tails looked at his best friend and big brother with a worried expression. "Sonic…I don't really know what's going on with you…Did you and Amy have a fight or something? I don't really know what you want me to say…" He told him honestly.

Sonic looked at Tails in disbelief. He couldn't believe what was happening right now. His friends must have all gone crazy overnight. But as Sonic looked into Tails' cerulean eyes he could see his little brother was being honest with him. "I'm sorry I yelled at you Tails…I'm just really confused right now…" Sonic admitted.

"It's alright Sonic…" Tails said with a small smile. "Say, how about I make you something to eat? We still have some time before we go back to your house." Tails suggested.

"My house?" Sonic asked in confusion.

Tails nodded while looking at Sonic strangely. "Um…yeah…" He said simply.

"But I live here with you." Sonic stated.

Now Tails was really worried. "Sonic…you haven't lived here in years. Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to go to the hospital or something…Maybe you hit your head this morning or-"

Sonic cut him off mid-sentence. "No, I'm fine Tails…I…uh…I think I'm gonna go for a run and think for a while." He said.

Before Tails could respond he ran at lightning speed away from the workshop and deep into the Mystic Ruins. After a couple of minutes of running he stopped and took a seat on a rock to try and collect his thoughts. He put his head in his hands and let out a frustrated groan. He was truly confused at this point. He had thought all of his friends had gone insane but Tails was the one looking at him as though he were the one who was out of his mind. Was he missing something? "I think I'd remember if I had gotten into a relationship with Amy and had kids." He thought to himself bitterly.

"Merry Christmas young man!" A sudden voice said.

Sonic was startled out of his thoughts and fell backwards off the rock onto the soft snow. He looked up with wide eyes to see the same elderly man he had helped the night before. He was standing before him waving with one hand while playing with his short white beard with the other.

"I see you had quite the interesting morning already." He said playfully.

"It's you!" Sonic exclaimed while scrambling to get back onto his feet.

The elder male laughed light heartedly. "I know you are probably very confused right now so let me explain. I have decided to help you and return the favor for the kindness you have shown me."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked while walking over to him.

"Well, Mr. Hero, you claimed there wasn't anything that you needed, that there was nothing missing from your life but I could clearly see otherwise. I'm going to help you realize what you are missing."

"But I'm not missing anything in my life." Sonic argued. "And that doesn't explain why I woke up in some strange house with a friend I haven't seen in years and…kids…" He said, hesitating on the last part.

"This is a glimpse." The old man stated simply.

"A glimpse? A glimpse into what?" Sonic asked feeling even more confused.

"That's for you to find out on your own. Until then, you're stuck here." He said with a mischievous grin.

Sonic's eyes grew wide. "You mean, I'm gonna stay here like this?"

The older male nodded keeping his smile. He put his hand into his pocket and took out a small golden bell with a red bow on it. He tossed it to Sonic who caught it with ease and began staring at it curiously. "Whenever you need to speak with me, just ring that bell." The old man told him.

"How will I know when-" Sonic began to ask but noticed the old man had vanished yet again. He looked around quickly hoping the man would reappear but to no avail. He glanced back down at the small bell in his hand and began to ring it. He waited for a couple of minutes but still the mysterious old man had failed to return. Sonic let out a disappointed sigh and began to slowly walk back towards the train station deep in thought. He found himself left with more questions than answers and he was just as troubled as he was earlier.

It was early noon when Sonic stepped off the train in Station Square. He quickly realized he had no idea where his supposed home was having forgotten where he had run from and was now lost. He remembered it was a short run from the train station and it was a small, quiet neighborhood outside the city. He quickly began running and making his way out of Station Square and soon the city skyscrapers began to disappear and turned into small homes and trees. Sonic slowed to a jog when things started to become faintly familiar to him.

"Morning Sonic! Merry Christmas!" A neighbor said with a cheery smile.

Sonic jumped in surprise at first before looking to see an unfamiliar neighbor taking out the trash. He waved back awkwardly, unsure of what to really say. "Uh, same to you!" He replied simply.

"Sonic! There you are!" A familiar voice called. Sonic looked up and to his relief it was Knuckles.

Knuckles rushed on over to him and placed an arm around his shoulder. "Hey man, are you alright? Where have you been? Amy's worried sick!"

Sonic wasn't sure exactly what to say. "I, uh, I needed to get some air for a while."

"I think I know what happened. You woke up this morning thinking to yourself, how did I get here, right?" Sonic looked at him in mild surprise.

"Y-Yeah…" He admitted. Did Knuckles know what had happened to him?

"It's alright Sonic. Everyone goes through a mid-life crisis sometime in their lives." Apparently he didn't.

"Even I went through this a month ago when I first found out Rouge was pregnant."

Sonic's eyes grew wide. "Whoa, Rouge is pregnant?"

"Not so loud idiot! Rouge and I wanted to make it a surprise, remember?" Sonic merely nodded in agreement.

"What I'm trying to say is you just gotta remember all the good things in your life. Don't worry Sonic, you'll be fine." Knuckles said as he began leading his hedgehog companion back towards his home.

They entered the house through the kitchen side door and Sonic began to feel butterflies dancing in his stomach. He looked around his foreign home anxiously, unsure if he was ready to face Amy just yet.

"Come on Sonic, this isn't like you." Knuckles said, noticing the hedgehog's discomfort.

He led the nervous hedgehog into the living room where Sonic saw a Christmas tree amongst toys and ripped apart wrapping paper that littered the floor. He took in a deep breath as he tried to prepare himself for the unknown. He could faintly hear all of his friends conversing in another room. That must explain why Knuckles was at his house seemingly waiting for him and why Tails had mentioned coming over earlier.

"Amy! He's home! I found him!" Knuckles announced, alerting all of their friends.

Amy came running into the room with tears in her eyes. "Sonic! Where have you been? I was so worried!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around him.

Sonic froze the moment he felt her body pressed against his own. He had no idea what he should do or say. He was still trying to accept the fact that in this world she was his wife and they had a family together. To him, this was his first time seeing her in five years and he couldn't deny the fact that he was happy to see her again. He really did miss her and that thought alone scared him a little.

"I'm sorry Amy." He said apologetically. It felt good to finally tell her he was sorry even though in this world he never broke her heart.

She hugged him tighter. "You left so suddenly…I thought something happened. I checked the news to see if Eggman had attacked but there wasn't anything and then Tails called me and told me you came over and were acting kind of strange."

She pulled away wiping the tears out of her eyes and looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

Sonic wasn't exactly sure what to say. "Yeah, I'm fine…I was just…a little confused…"

"About what?" She asked, still wiping tears away from her jade eyes.

"It doesn't matter. I'm alright now." He tried to reassure her.

"You missed it." Amy said with a sad smile, gesturing towards the Christmas tree.

"Huh?" Sonic looked at her in confusion.

"You missed Dash and Rosy opening up their gifts. You never got to see the look on Dash's face when he saw the bike you got him." She told him.

"Oh." Sonic said plainly.

Amy pulled Sonic into another strong embrace and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "I'm just so happy you're home and safe. That's all that matters now." Amy said with a small smile.

Sonic felt his cheeks flush and had to resist the urge to pry Amy away from him in a similar fashion to when they were kids. He was beginning to feel his very freedom being sucked right out of him. But what was terrifying him the most at that moment was the fact that he liked her innocent kiss a little more than he should have.