Memories

Prolouge

There is a phenomenon that has been recounted by people who experience near death. They say before you come upon deaths doors, your life will flash before your eyes. Those who step past deaths doors recount having an "out-of-body" experience. Felt their souls leave their physical bodies and watched as a mere outsider while everything continued to unfold around them. People who have experienced these states also claim to have seen a bright light, beckoning all those who have laid their eyes upon it.

Amy Rose saw and felt none of these things. Her mind was hazy and everything around her dark as she opened her heavy eyelids. It was a struggle, she felt herself almost fighting to stay consciousness. Part of her wanted to give into the sheer exhaustion her body seemed to be under. Yet, some other strange part of her was fighting and screaming at her to stay consciousness. She began to take note of just how light her body felt. How there was nothing holding her down.

As if she were floating and slowly making her way up, except there was nothing above her that she could have possibly been floating towards. As was there nothing below. Complete darkness surrounded her all around. She struggled to move, to make any sort of sound, but her body simply refused. A mixture of feelings began to overwhelm her, followed by a barrage of questions that she had no answers too.

Was she dead? She didn't recall dying.

Then again, she couldn't recall anything before waking up here...

Where was here?

What had she even been doing just before this?

What did she even remember?

She remembered being with someone then...

The girl felt a twinge of pain that only continued to grow worse and worse with every question and answer she tried to come up with. The heavy exhaustion from before gone, as pain was immediate in its place. Her body jolting forward as the pain became too much to bear. Her head between her legs. She grasped tightly to both sides, willing for the pain to subside. Suddenly, images of people flashed before her mind. She gasped, as it happened all too quickly for her, but the pain had subsided much to her relief. She eased the grip on her head but stayed a while longer in her balled-up state. Finding a sense of comfort.

The images felt...hazy. She could not pick out any sort of particular detail from them, yet the sakura hedgehog felt a familiarity from each one of them; those people.

Friends

Were...those her friends she just saw? The word seemed to linger around in her thoughts, refusing to offer any more then what it had. She continued to question herself then, wondering where those friends were right now. Were they safe? Did they know she was here? Would they come for her? Could they?

Fear griped her heart at all this uncertainty, this isolation. It was suffocating. She was telling herself to be strong but being surrounded by this unknown and absolute darkness that threatened to envelop her completely, made it next to impossible.

Please... She pleaded, her eyes shutting tightly as they brimmed with tears.

I'm scared...

I don't want to be alone...

I want...

Perhaps, as if to answer her cries, a soft bluish glow began to emit from below her. She turned, jade eyes widening in surprise. A massive hole seemed to materialize from nowhere, it was like looking through a mirror or glass panel.

Through it, she saw a familiar looking city. The name would not come to her, but just like with those people she saw flash across her mind, she felt a familiarity.

"They..." She managed to squeeze the words out of her, barely audible to even herself.

"My...Friends." She spoke again, with a bit more sureness in her voice.

"There..." she reached out, trying to will her body back. The image of the city beginning to move farther and farther from her reach. She half questioned whether the image was getting smaller, or she was moving away.

"Back..." She continued to try and squeeze the words out of her mouth, becoming desperate as the sight of the city beginning to vanish. Her body felt heavy, her senses felt like they were becoming dull, and just trying to choke out any coherent wording seemed impossible.

"B-Back!" She choked the words out, more defiantly and louder than all her previous attempts. Sucking in a sharp breath, she gave one final cry out,

"LET ME GO BACK!"

She fought desperately for control of her body, willing it to change in the direction it seemed to be moving. Arm outstretched, she reached out with all her might as if she was expecting someone to take it and pull her down with them. She was beyond frustrated. She was so close and yet it was merely taunting her. She needed for something to change. Needed to do SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

She shut her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth so tightly as the urge to scream her frustration seemed to be the only thing she was capable of doing.

Then she felt it. Warm gloved hands, enclosed around her own.

She blinked her eyes back open, startled, but saw nothing. The city image still in front of her, growing bigger-

Bigger?

A light breeze seemed to blow through her quills, then slowly began to grow stronger.

She realized then; she was falling.

A smile broke across her features as the darkness began to fade. Her body becoming weightless. Blue skies and a vast city waiting for her down below, and with both hands outstretched, she laughed.