Work Text:
~Sweet Mountain – Somewhere In Outer Space – Late Afternoon
“We’re almost there, Blaze. Just a few more steps.”
“Oh!”
“A-are you okay?”
“Yeah, I almost tripped over a rock.”
“S-sorry! Here, hold onto me.”
“Heh, what do you think I’ve been doing for the past hour?”
“Right, ha-ha. We should be getting close. Watch your step.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’d love to tell you, but it’ll spoil the surprise.”
"Okay. Do you think you can guide me better? I don't want to trip and fall."
“That won’t happen on my watch. You have my word.”
Blaze smiled at her best friend’s promise as she held out her hand. Silver, with the brightest of smiles, gently took it and kept the other hand over the cat’s eyes. He carefully walked down the path with her by his side, watching for obstacles like a hawk searching for its prey. While the two walked down a rugged brown path, Silver looked up at the warm-colored sky, releasing a breath of satisfaction. As he stepped forward, his heart rate increased by the minute. No, the second. It was going faster than he could count. It could almost rival Sonic’s speed. Silver looked over at Blaze, smiling heavier than before, but he quickly gasped at the sight of another rock. He kicked it to the side, allowing Blaze to continue.
As the two made a sharp right turn, the white hedgehog couldn’t help but be lost in his thoughts. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about how he got here.
Today marked a special occasion and Silver wanted to spend it with someone special.
Hours ago, he quickly rushed over to Tails’ workshop and asked if he had any spare Warp Rings. Luckily, Tails had one in his drawer, and he gave it to him without hesitation.
From there, the psychic hero traveled to another dimension: the Sol Zone aka the humble abode of Blaze. He flew towards the Imperial Palace and asked her if she could join him for a special hangout. Initially, she refused as she was afraid something bad would happen to her kingdom, but her best friend: Marine the Raccoon was nice to have her back as well as Silver's; she insisted on staying behind to not only watch the kingdom but guard the one thing that's keeping her world intact: The Jeweled Scepter.
Silver couldn’t help but feel thankful Blaze tagged along despite some concerns. He was even more thankful for the young sailor’s assistance.
As the two continued down the road, the hedgehog admired his surroundings and kept his same smile. The two of them were on Sweet Mountain: a planet far from their home and one that had an iconic design. There was a reason it had the word sweet in its title. Donuts formed mountainous terrain while cakes, crackers, and cookies made up the roads he and Blaze walked across. Other foods like ice cream, strawberries, and sprinkles scattered the ground and were seen around the zone; all of which had various sizes depending on where they were. Sweet Mountain was not only home to a lot of foods, but it was one of the many planets inhabited by Wisps. Speaking of which, Wisps of several colors flew around and greeted the travelers. Silver was quick to gently shush them so they wouldn’t give away his surprise. Blaze’s ears flickered as she heard them fly around and make little noises, but she shrugged her shoulders and kept walking.
Silver and Blaze walked a few more steps. Both their feet ached from the traveling, but the former knew it would be worth it in the end.
“Silver, would you mind if we stopped to rest?” the lavender cat asked, huffing and puffing. “I enjoy the exercise, but we’ve been walking for a long time.”
“I know and I’m sorry about that,” he replied with a nervous chuckle. “I sort of forgot where I set up the tree.” Realizing what he just said, he immediately covered his mouth.
“Tree?” Blaze raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on here?”
“Just a few more steps and you’ll see.”
With an annoyed sigh, the princess nodded and held onto her friend.
Both of them walked for one more mile before they stopped.
“Okay… are you ready for this?” Silver asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Blaze nodded. “What’s going on?”
“In five… four… three… two… and…”
As he counted down, Silver’s hand slowly left Blaze’s sight. She opened her golden yellow eyes and blinked a few times. At first, she saw nothing but colorful blurs but as soon as she wiped her eyes and shook her head, she looked in front of her and gasped.
A palm tree made of gingerbread stood tall as the leaves were covered in white frosting and green sprinkles. Red gumdrops hung from the branches, resembling the shape of strawberries. Right beneath it was a red and white spotted cloth with a brown picnic basket in the top right corner. Two plates sat across from one another and both of them had triangular-cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Beside them were freshly cut apples, a bag of potato chips, and a brownie.
Gotta have a sweet to balance the savory after all.
Blaze approached the tree with awe in her eyes, amazed by the texture carved into the branch-like cookies. She stroked them gently with her hand and chuckled. Then, she looked down at the picnic basket and saw more goodies inside; oranges, various chip flavors, grapes, and more. She clenched her stomach, knowing well she’d go home with a full one.
Still, the thought got another laugh out of her which made Silver smile.
“This is beautiful,” she said. “Did you carve this tree yourself?”
“I did,” he replied. “It was a little difficult to do. Gingerbread isn’t the easiest to work with. The hardest part was getting those red candies to stay up there. They kept falling off, so I had to wedge them into the frosting.”
Just then, one of the candies fell and landed on top of Blaze’s head.
“Oof,” she mumbled, rubbing the spot it fell on.
Silver gasped and groaned in annoyance. “Perhaps I should have used more frosting.”
Blaze shook her head. “It’s okay.”
“Why don’t you have a sit down? Your feet are probably tired from all of that walking.”
“Sure thing. Thank you.”
Silver gently took her hand as she sat down near her spot. He walked across from her and got down on his knees. The two of them picked up their sandwiches and started chowing down.
An hour went by, and their plates were squeaky clean. A few crumbs were scattered on the cloth, but their picnic basket was mostly empty. The stuff remaining was a half-eaten branch of grapes, peeled orange skins, and several opened bags of chips. Silver and Blaze were lying flat on their backs, gazing upon the orange-beige colored sky. Several Wisps flew through the clouds, waving and greeting one another with a wave. Some of them approached the two Mobians, sharing the same gestures.
With their bodies full of food, Blaze released a loud yawn and spread her arms out, feeling the soft cloth seep into her hands.
“That was delicious, Silver,” she said as she leaned over and turned to him.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said, wiping his forehead. “Cream helped me pick out fruit and Vanilla made the sandwiches. Their robot friend was kind enough to lend me a picnic basket. They helped out with most of the stuff. I asked Knuckles if he could lend me some grapes, but he was hesitant. He gave them to me once I told him what I was doing. Amy baked the brownies and the Chaotix gave me some chips.”
“Who would’ve thought this would send you on an adventure?” she joked.
“Heh, yeah. But it was totally worth it,” he winked.
“Thank you for this picnic, but if you don’t mind me asking,” Blaze leaned upward and shrugged her shoulders. “What’s the occasion? My birthday is three months from now and the holidays are far away.”
Silver rolled over and stood up. He brushed some frosting off of his legs and cleared his throat. “I know, but I wanted to celebrate a different occasion. Which reminds me.”
He used his psychokinesis to summon the picnic basket onto his palms.
Sticking his left hand inside, he dug around while looking to the side.
“Let’s see,” he mumbled under his breath. “Where the heck did I put it again? I swear, I stuck it in here. I hope I didn’t leave it at Amy’s apartment. She was gushing over it for an hour straight.”
Noticing a confused look on his friend’s face, he nervously cackled and kept looking. “Sorry. I guess it’s buried underneath the chip bags.”
A few seconds passed before he yanked something out of the bag.
“I found it!”
Widening her yellow eyes, Blaze looked at the item in Silver’s hand; a light blue box tied with pink string and a red bow. He kindly handed it to her with a warm smile. Blaze stared at it for a bit before she gently took it and analyzed it further.
The pink string had circular details on it, reminding her of the markings that were on Silver's gloves. Wondering where he was able to find material like that, she untied the strings and slowly opened the box. A piece of red tissue paper was found, so she moved aside and looked at what was inside.
Within a split second, she gasped and covered her mouth.
Silver gulped and clenched his stomach, wondering if that was a good gasp or a bad gasp.
Blaze stuck her hand in the box and removed the present inside, a candy necklace with a piece of purple string keeping them together. The candies consisted of seven different colors shaped like emeralds, which reminded Blaze of a certain set of relics from her world. Each color shined against the light, but the middle was what caught her attention. She gently held it between her fingers, noticing it wasn't sticky like the other ones. Instead, it felt like rich solid gold. She analyzed until she noticed a strange latch on the right side. Gently pushing it, part of the trinket opened and revealed a blast from the past.
In other words, she saw a tiny picture of her, Silver, Sonic, and Tails as they stood on top of a pile of busted robot parts. Orbot and Cubot were at the bottom of the scrap pile as the blue hedgehog held the camera and had his arm wrapped around Tails' shoulder. Silver and Blaze weren't too far in the background, and they shared both a wink and a fist-bump.
The lavender princess smiled and made a fist where her heart was. Closing her eyes, she sniffed and remembered the exact moment they took this picture. She kept them shut for a few more seconds before she opened them and saw something to the left. A piece of paper stuck out and she grabbed it with her left hand. Unfolding it, she saw a note and read it to herself.
“Thank you for being a great friend,” ~ Love, Silver the Hedgehog.
Smiling at what was written, she closed the locket and looked at Silver with tears in her eyes. She wiped them off of her cheek, but more kept coming down.
“Silver, this is so sweet,” she sniffed.
The white hedgehog grabbed a napkin and gave it to her. She thanked him and wiped her eyes.
"Apologies," she said with a shaky voice. "Normally, I don't get so emotional over presents but… this means a lot to me."
“Of course,” Silver nodded.
“Although, I’m afraid you didn’t answer my question. What is the occasion?”
Silver chuckled. “Silly goose, it’s our anniversary.”
Blaze’s eyes popped out of their sockets and her heart jumped out from her stomach; she was taken aback by what he said. She leaped back and clenched her stomach with both hands.
“W-what!?” she screamed. “S-Silver, I… I didn’t know you felt that way about-“
“What?” Silver raised an eyebrow before a realization kicked in. “Oh… Oh, OH! OH GOSH! Blaze, I’m so sorry! No, no, I didn’t mean that kind of anniversary! I mean, I like you, but that’s not what this is! No, no! Today’s the anniversary of the day we first met.”
Calming down, Blaze regained her composure and stood still. “Oh?”
With cheeks as red as a tomato, Silver sighed and began to say, "A few years ago, I came from the future to check on how things were here. I was walking through Central City when I saw an advertisement for Dr. Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park. Knowing Eggman, this wasn't some change of heart like he claimed it was. I traveled to Sweet Mountain where I met Sonic and Tails. Both of them were investigating the kidnapping of several Wisps and after I helped them fight several robots, I met you. You and I were going to go on a ride together when were stopped by Orbot and Cubot. Heh, those two were scared as soon as we showed off our powers. Then, we helped Sonic and Tails fight off a Badnik Horde that was kidnapping a bunch of Wisps. They said we worked well together, and I agreed. Since then, you and I have become best friends.”
He paused for a moment, allowing Blaze to soak in everything.
She looked at the locket again, remembering Sonic and Tails’ exact words from that day.
“In the future, I’m mostly alone,” Silver continued, scratching the back of his head. “I reside on Onyx Island where I work to stop Dr. Eggman Nega from accomplishing his goals. He’s gone now, so there isn’t much for me to do. The future’s peaceful: it’s brighter than I ever could have imagined. But, I’m still alone. I chat with the Animals every now and then, but they can’t speak as well as we do, ha-ha. I’m friends with Sonic and the others but there’s something about that makes me feel special. Whenever you and I hang out or go on an adventure together, I feel happy. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I enjoy being around you, Blaze.”
Blaze's jaw partially dropped to the ground after hearing all of that. Her heart rate began to increase, and more tears dropped from her eyes. Using the napkin to wipe them off, she looked down at the present once more and smiled.
However, that smile was short-lived as it slowly morphed into a deep frown.
The hedgehog raised both eyebrows and tilted his head to the left. "Are you okay? Did I say something bad?"
“Of course not,” Blaze replied. “I love being around you too, and this is the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten,” She paused for a moment, releasing a deep sigh. “But I can’t help but feel ashamed.”
“Why?”
She remained silent for a split second before replying with, “Because I didn’t get you anything.”
“Huh?”
"Silver, I love everything you said. You're someone I'll cherish for the rest of my life. I'm happy whenever you and I get to see each other; however, I was foolish. I remember the day we met, but I feel bad that I didn't do anything for you. You went through all this work to set this up for me, yet I didn’t do anything for you. I should have remembered today was a special occasion," she stopped to breathe in and out. "I'm sorry, Silver. Please forgive me."
The psychokinetic hedgehog stood still before he gently laughed. Blaze looked at him, confused. Silver kept laughing before he noticed she still had her sullen look.
“S-sorry,” he said worryingly. “I didn’t mean to laugh like that. That didn’t come out the way I intended.”
Silver cleared his throat and said, “I laughed because you already did get something.”
“I did?” she asked curiously. “What is it?”
“You.”
Blaze exclaimed a short breath. “Huh?”
Silver gently took her hands and gazed into her golden eyes. “Our friendship is the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The fact you and I are friends is the only I need.”
The cat smiled brightly as she pulled the hedgehog in a tight hug. “Thank you, Silver. Here’s to more years of our friendship.”
Silver hugged her back, sharing her sentiment. “Likewise, Blaze.”
The two hugged for a while longer before they released each other.
As they stared into each other’s eyes, Blaze grinned and chuckled. “So… being friends with me is the best day of your life, huh? What about the time you defeated Eggman Nega?”
“Oh, that was a great day,” Silver cackled. “But Espio and I had to fight a Chao-eating demon that scared the crap out of both of us. He’ll never admit it, but Shadow was scared of that thing, heh. You and I meeting each other was much nicer and less frightening.”
“Hehe,” Blaze replied. “It was definitely better than the times I had to fight Eggman Nega and Captain Whisker.”
“Captain who?”
“Ha-ha, I’ll have to tell you some other time.”
“Or you could tell me now,” Silver smirked, extending his hand. “Would you like to join me for a walk down memory lane?”
Mirroring his expression, she took his hand. “Sure thing.”
From there, the two packed up their stuff and walked along Sweet Mountain’s colorful trails – sharing stories of their greatest adventures. Laughs were heard, jokes were made, and a new memory was created.
Despite being worlds apart, a friendship like theirs would last forever.
END OF STORY