Fight for Freedom

Chapter 3: New Name New Home

After getting off the island, Sonic had called up Amy and Tails and explained what had gone down. Arriving back home, Tails had immediately cleaned off the table for Zero to sit on and Amy had brought a med kit with her to treat Zero's wounds. At first, Zero was scared to be touched by strangers but with Sonic's reassurance, she was able to sit still long enough for Amy to wrap bandages around her wounds.

"Poor thing, you must have had such a hard time living with Eggman. And look at those marks on her neck! I swear, if I ever see that Egghead again, he's got a hammer to the face coming!" Tails agreed with her silently as he got some water for Zero. Sonic and Knuckles were in another room, waiting for Amy to finish with Zero. Knuckles watched Sonic pacing around anxiously. "Calm down Sonic, I'm sure Zero is okay." Sonic stopped his pacing to look at Knuckles.

"It's not just that. Knuckles, I...I hurt a kid. I hurt an actual child!"

"Sonic, you didn't know. I didn't know either. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Knuckles stood up from the chair he was sitting on and walked towards Sonic to place a hand on his shoulder. Even with the reassurance from Knuckles, Sonic can't help but have that twisting feeling of guilt in his gut. Even though Zero was created by Eggman, she was still a child...or was she? Sonic didn't even bother to ask her age, does she even know how old she was?

"Why would Eggman even create her in the first place if he was just gonna toss her away?" Knuckles asked.

"You know Eggman, once he invents something, if it becomes useless to him, he throws it away." Knuckles only grunted in annoyance.

"Typical of him. Even to a child, he shows no mercy." Sonic agreed. A few minutes later, Amy had called the boys into the room, saying she was finished tending to Zero's wounds. When they came into the room, Sonic saw that Zero was now covered in bandages but she looked a bit better than she did before. Amy had cleaned her up a little bit so her quills and fur were a slightly lighter shade of brown. She was also wearing what appears to be a purple shirt with a heart on it, and a light blue skirt. She actually looked...kinda cute.

"Aww! You look cute, Zero." Sonic said. Zero didn't say anything, but she blushed at the compliment. She tried to hide it by taking another sip of water from her cup that Tails had given her. Everyone in the room had the same thought. 'I want to keep her' Tails was the first to snap out of his trance as he started to explain Zero's biology.

"From what I have gathered from her blood sample, it looks as if her blood is actually real mobian blood. The only strange thing is that her DNA is almost close to Sonic's." At those words, Sonic's eyes went wide. "What are you saying Tails?"

"I'm saying that Zero has about 25% of your DNA, which makes her...your half sister." Sonic was silent with shock. He looked at Zero, who looked back at him confused. He walked towards her with a smile. "Wow, I have a little sister."

"What's a sister?" Zero asked. Everyone gave her a look.

"Zero, do you not know what a family is?" Amy asked, Zero just shrugged.

"Father sometimes doesn't like it when I call him 'Father', he sometimes tells me to call him 'master' or 'sir' because he created me but that's about it." She explained. Everyone couldn't help but feel sad about her explanation of family. Knuckles grunted angrily and mumbled under his breath, something about punching Eggman in the face. Sonic reached up and gently ruffled her quills. "Zero, a family is someone you are related to and spend time with. You make happy memories together and you show your love and appreciation for them." Zero looked down on the ground.

"Father never showed any love or appreciation for me. All he ever does is scold me, yell at me, or shock me with shock collars." Amy gasped in horror.

"Sweetheart, he uses shock collars on you!?" Zero nodded as she hesitantly touched her neck as she recalled the unbearable burning pain in her neck. "He would sometimes do it when he thought I needed 'extra' punishment." Amy's eyes started to tear up while everyone else was fuming. Sonic slowly reached around Zero and hugged her tight. Zero tensed for a moment, not familiar with this type of touch.

"Don't worry, he won't be able to hurt you anymore. You will stay with us for now on. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise" At those words, Zero felt something warm go through her stomach. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but not an uncomfortable feeling.It was strange, yet welcoming. Zero wrapped her arms around Sonic, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks Sonic..." She muttered quietly into Sonic's shoulder. Sonic chuckled softly.

"No problem...I'll protect you, Zero." Zero then noticed that there was a small scratch on Sonic's shoulder.

"You're hurt." Sonic released Zero from the hug and saw the small cut. "It's nothing." Zero ignored him as she took the cup of water, raised her hand up and focused. Suddenly water from the cup rose up and she formed it into a small ball. She placed the small ball of water on Sonic's shoulder where the cut was. The water glowed for a minute before she took her hand away. The water disappeared along with the cut on Sonic's shoulder. Sonic looked shocked at the results.

"Woah! That was amazing! What did you do?!?"

"I healed your wound." Zero simply replied with a shrug.

"Thank you!"

"It was my pleasure," Zero responded as she gave Sonic a smile. Sonic smiled back. Amy, Tails, and Knuckles looked at Zero in bewilderment. "Zero, how did you do that?" Tails asked.

"I've had elemental powers since I was created. Father only wanted me to be fast, but for some reason, not only could I run fast, I could also bend anything that has to do with the elements. Including fire, earth, and air." Zero explained. Sonic was speechless with amazement, he really wants to keep Zero. She reminds him a lot of himself when he was little, except the elemental powers part.

"That's incredible! How come your father just tosses you away? Your amazing!" Zero frowned. "It's because he still thinks I was a mistake. To be honest...I'm not even sure if I like living with him anymore. I don't even like the name he gave me. He only named me Zero because that's what I was to him. A complete zero."

"Oh no, Zero! That must be awful! I'm sorry he treated you badly!" Amy exclaimed. Sonic thought for a moment before an idea came into his head. "How about we give you a new name? How does...Sana sound to you." Zero's eyes brightened a bit at the name.

"I love it!" Sonic smiled brightly at Zero. "Okay, so Sana. How about we take you to your room and see if there's something for you to wear until tomorrow. We'll try and figure things out for the next day. Sound good?" Sana's eyes widened.

"I get my own room? And I acutally get to sleep for once?" Sonic frowned.

"Sana, do you not sleep at all?" Sana looked sheepish. "Not really...Father always made me train all day, everyday. He wanted me to be stronger. Sometimes he would use the shock collars to keep me awake. And whenever I did have a break, I never had a room. He always made me stay in the cage."

"Cage?! Why would he make you stay in a cage?" Sonic questioned. Sana sighed sadly. "He used to say that I was a freak and said that's where freaks belong." Sonic's frown turned into a glare. "You're not a freak. Not to me." Sana smiled sweetly, but then she frowned. "Are you sure that it's okay to keep me here? Father might change his mind and try to take me back. I-I really don't want to go back." Her ears lowered down at the thought.

"Hey, it's okay. I won't let Eggman do anything to you okay? He can't hurt you anymore, I promise." Sana looked up at Sonic and saw that he was serious. Sana couldn't help but smile. No one has ever made her feel like she mattered, nor did anyone make her feel safe. She still wasn't sure about what her father would do if he ever decided to come back. But right now she didn't want to think about it. All she wanted to do was stay here forever with her new friends.