Bound by Music

A Song of the Past

A/N: 700 votes?! Thank you guys so much! Love you all! You are all amazing!
...

Sonic was strangely quiet that night, and he ate very little of the chili dog handed to him at supper. No one said anything about it, even as they sent worrying glances his way. He would try to hold a conversation when any of them tried to talk, but it would inevitably fall flat. Eventually, they just began talking amongst themselves, and Sonic would fade into the background.

    I wonder what's wrong with him, Manic thought to Shadow, Do you think it has something to do with that abandoned village we found?

    That village wasn't abandoned. It was destroyed, Shadow clarified, But you're right. It could very well have something to do with Sonic's mood.

   "Sonic?" Amy asked tentatively, "Are you sure you're not hungry? You've been going all day."

    "I'm fine," he replied curtly and stood. "I think I'm going to hit the sack early tonight. Wake me if you need me."

    "I wish he wouldn't push us out like that," Sonia commented as she watched him go.

    "What did you guys find that's got him so upset?" Knuckles asked.

    "He found an old town," Rouge explained, "If I had to guess, it looked like it'd been through a pretty heavy raid from a certain doctor."

   Shadow abruptly stood and turned away from the group. "I'm going to go talk to him."

    "Can I come with you, Shadow?" Tails asked, abandoning what was left his food. The onyx agent stared at him for a moment and then nodded.

   "He'd probably listen to you more than me anyway. C'mon, kid."

The unlikely pair found Sonic leaning against a tree on the outskirts of their makeshift camp ground, arms crossed and head tilted upward to watch the stars.

"Did you know we have our own stars, Shads?" Sonic began without turning around. "It's a sign that we will beat Eggman one day, find Mom, and become the Council of Four. But lately, it's been harder to find them up in the sky."

"Sonic," Tails whispered and reached a hand out to his surrogate brother. The blue blur didn't acknowledge him. "Sonic, please tell us what's bothering you."

"I met Cream's dad today," he continued, "He had been in the airstrike that destroyed that little village. He didn't make it out. No one did..."

"Then how did—"

"—They were ghosts, Shadow!" Sonic snapped, "Remnants of souls bound to this world. They asked me if the war was over, and I..."

"You think it's your fault. You feel guilty," Shadow stated like it was fact. Tails shuffled closer to Sonic and hugged his arm, waiting for his brother to say something. The azure prince stiffened but didn't turn around.

"It is my fault. I was supposed to stop Eggman before something like that could happen."

    "You're wrong," Shadow replied bluntly. Sonic spun around and glared sharply.

"Excuse me?" he breathed, and Tails flinched. Shadow, on the other hand, remained unaffected.

"Their deaths weren't your fault. It was Ivo's choice and his alone. Blaming yourself for his actions doesn't change what happened. It only hurts you. Trust me."

Sonic rolled his eyes but said nothing as Shadow continued.

"I know what it's like to blame yourself for a tragedy, and it took me falling from space and an alien invasion for me to finally let go and accept what happened in my past. I don't want it to take something that drastic for you to understand that what Eggman did was not your fault."