Chapter 1

((A.N.: my second fanfiction, but I really consider it a rewrite of my first .. anyways, I own NONE of the Sonic characters, as they belong to SEGA. Don't forget to review and comment!))

Chapter 1

Crossing my mind

Bored. That's all that could describe the entire day at Sonic's house. His mind would wander throughout the long hours, usually interrupted by a large bang in Tail's workshop. Although he didn't fully understand why, he had had his mind on Knuckles for a while now.

Hm? Why Knuckles, of all people? With nothing else to do, Sonic began trying to work out his thoughts when a loud explosion emanated from Tails workshop. With his train of thought lost, he descended to the workshop in slight worry for Tails.

"Tails! You all right?" Sonic called down the small flight of stairs.

"Yeah" Tails replied a little shaky. "I'm fine. The X-Tornado just backfired, that's all."

"Alright. I'm going to go give our red echidna friend a visit." Sonic said, letting his thoughts flow out. He had no idea why he would want to go there, but something told him it would be a good idea to head that way. Plus he might find something entertaining up there on Angel Island.

Tails paused for a moment. "Okay. How come?" Tails responded curiously.

Sonic pondered of an answer. "No reason, really. Not much happening here anyway."

Tails appeared around the small curve in the staircase. "I'll see you later, then." Sonic left as Tails finished his sentence. What does Sonic want so badly up at Angel Island? Tails thought about it for a moment, then shrugged it off as Sonic's unpredictable nature.

-o-

Sonic darted through city streets, passing by pedestrians at flashing speed. His mind was once again on the topic of Knuckles, deciphering his thoughts as to why he had a sudden need to see the ruby echidna. What is it that makes me want to see him so badly? It's not like we've ever been that close… But then again that could be the reason. Sonic soon found himself at the mystic ruins, heading to the warp zone up to Angel Island. The feeling of being teleported from place to place sheared through his insides. It was never a good feeling, similar to being dropped off the climax hill of a roller coaster, except included a piercing sense that hit you in the chest.

He found himself standing in a small ruined Gazebo, looking over a field with small patches of clouds hovering over the tall, unattended grass. Mountains were visible in the background, as well as an emerald glow radiating from somewhere behind a hill. This is where his destination was. Zooming through the rolling hills, he came upon a large area of ruined echidna temples and dwellings. In the center of it was Knuckles the Echidna, guarding his bright treasure with an argent expression. Sonic decided a stealth attack was necessary for this 'mission'.

Although Sonic was not the best of hiders, Knuckles wasn't the best of Finders. Stalking up on the echidna, he leaped onto a small pillar near the Master Emerald. Jumping down next to Knuckles, Sonic inched forward until his face was inches from his right.

"Hey Knuckle-head." Sonic said rather loudly. He watched as Knuckles jolted up from his sitting position and nearly tripped backwards over the steps leading to the master emerald.

"What the he- What do you want, Sonic?" Knuckles voice went from a playful tone to a serious one as he saw the burst of blue.

"Just thought I'd stop by to see what I could to make your day more miserable." Sonic donned a devious smile.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and grumbled. "I should have guessed."

Sonic simply smiled at him with squinted eyes. "So how's guarding that huge gem of yours been going? No Rouge trouble?" Sonic said with false concern.

"She pretty much gave up on the emerald. Heh, she's more into hunting me than gems." Sonic felt his heart sink slightly at the mention of Rouge. What was going on with him today? He usually didn't feel this way around Knuckles.

"Are you hunting back?" Sonic asked with a teasing shove.

"No, there's actually been someone else on my mind."

"Really? Might I ask who?" Sonic had always thought Rouge and Knuckles were meant for each other, so he was very surprised when Knuckles said there was another he was looking at.

"C'mon, let's go over to my place. It's right around the corner of that ridge." Knuckles swapped subjects. Sonic stood puzzled for a moment as Knuckles walked away.

"That didn't answer my question!" He called. Knuckles tried to act like he didn't hear him, but it was obvious he ignored the call.

Both walked into the doorway of a small but rather lavish house. The first sight that greeted them was a full entertainment center and a stereo to its right.

"Wow Knux, how do you afford all this?" Sonic stared agape at the wide selection of music on a rack.

"My duty is to guard the master emerald; you don't think my family would leave me hanging with such an important task, do you?" Knuckles leaped onto the sofa and flicked the TV on to a random channel.

Sonic remained in the doorway, standing with a confused expression on his face. Knuckles turned to him and saw his puzzled glare fixed on him.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing." Sonic replied and sat down next to him. He wasn't sure what he was watching, but he quickly got entwined in the Cinematic expertise of it.

-o-

Sonic's eyes were heavy with sleep. Whatever movie premier that had been aired was pretty long. He looked away from the credits rolling up on the screen to the clock, which clearly read Nine O'clock. Had he really been there that long? Either way, he was too tired to run back to Station Square, but he really didn't have much of any options.

"Hey Knuckles, I -" He cut off his own words after looking at Knuckles sleeping on the arm of the couch, Dreadlocks in every which way. Sonic smiled, and promptly slapped him across the face.

Knuckles jolted from his apparently pleasant slumber, placing a hand over his cheek. "Wha…?" He wasn't even fully aware he was awake yet.

"Have a nice nap?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

Knuckles glared at him for the rude awakening. "And you really sat through that boring movie for almost three hours?"

"Aww, you just have no taste." Sonic teased. "On a more serious note, I've still got to get home and I really don't want to run back this late."

"You could spend the night here." Knuckles suggested quickly.

Sonic tilted his head. "Wasn't planning on staying over, I don't have anything to sleep on. Not that I mind sleeping on the couch."

"Then are you staying?" Knuckles responded rather fast again.

"No need to get rushed!" Sonic popped back. "Yeah, I guess. I'm too tired to start heading all the way back to Station Square. And I hate warping." Sonic yawned out the last parts of his sentence.

"Well if that's settled, then I'm going to bed. Don't turn on anything loud, keep out of my bedroom, and keep it down."

"Right, right." Sonic blindly replied and laid back on the couch. He listened as Knuckles locked himself up in his bedroom. "Cool, fridge raid." Sonic smiled slyly to himself and tiptoed to the freezer.

A wave of cold air rushed across his legs as he opened the refrigerator door. And what a surprise. Three bowls of grapes and a whole bunch of healthy drinks. Damn Knux, you're a grape whore AND a health nut. Finding nothing that even sounded like it tasted good, he left his post in the kitchen and headed back to the living room. He reached for the stereo out of second nature, and then mentally slapped himself for being so careless.

Now standing in the center of the room, he scanned around for something to keep him occupied, which was nothing more than a lot of books and the TV. Sighing, he grabbed a nearby comforter and laid down onto the sofa once again, flicking through channels on TV.

His mind began to wander again. Why was Knuckles so hospitable today, he just realized. On all his past visits he'd been antsy and anxious simply because Sonic was nearby. Maybe he'd been visited in a dream by the ghost of Emerald-past. Sonic chuckled softly to himself as he concocted this theory.

It had just hit him that Tails didn't know he wouldn't be home until tomorrow. In an act of laziness (and protection of his ears, many backfires and ear ringing explosions emanated from Tails' tinker town) he simply sent him a text message that he was staying the night at Knuckles rather than coming home late.

Now with the bigger of necessities out of the way, Sonic preceded to look through the channels until something caught his eye. Being way up in the sky, Knuckles received MANY different stations and channels, although most of these were shopping networks and Shows in foreign languages.

He put down the remote upon finding something that sounded interesting, but either way, the Sands of slumber soon found their way on top of his eyelids.

((ahh, end of the first chapter. I'm rather pleased how this went; looking back over it feels like a literary work of art! But I digress, Rate and review! It's not perfect and its up to you to make it better! ))