SELECTIVE AMNESIA ©
                   by Matt Page (aka, Fallout)

                                   DAY 1

CHAPTER 1

     "How're you doing down there, Sonic?"
     "Yeah, Sonic!" Sally chimed in.  "Having any trouble?"
     "I'm fine!" Sonic shouted, shoving a loose branch out of his face
and picking the leaves from his quills.  He was hanging onto a branch in 
one of the tallest trees in the Great Forest.  Sally was ten feet higher,
and Tails, with his outstanding acrobatic skills, another dozen above that.
Sonic, behind and below both of them, had become the butt of jokes due to
his ineptitude at climbing.  He was four feet above the forest ground.
     "I thought you were supposed to be the fast one!" Sally said
derisively.
     "I'm coming already!" he yelled.  Swearing under his breath, Sonic
reached for another branch, found his grip, held it, and swung his feet up
onto it.  The whole process took him about twenty seconds; it took Tails
and Sally three.  Sonic began to regret agreeing to help placing the sensor
atop this wooden death trap.  Rotor had made it as a prototype and they
were setting it as an extra precaution for detecting SWATbots.  If all went
well, like Rotor said it would, then they could have a small, ball-shaped
sensor atop every tree in the Great Forest, if they wanted.
     Sally held the sensor in the backpack she was wearing.  If and when
the possibility occured, she was to hand it to Tails if she could not go
farther.  Sonic's role was...well, now that he thought of it, he didn't have
a role!  "Hey guys!" he said suspiciously.  "What am I supposed to be
doing here, anyway?"
     "You're here so the rest of the Freedom Fighters can get their fair
share of chili dogs," Sally explained.  "If you're here, then maybe Rotor
can get some sustenance; he's been working on this sensor for two days
straight, with no breaks!"
     "Aw, man!  I'm missing lunch!"
     "Okay, I'm at the top!" Tails shouted.  His voice sounded faint and
far away.
     Where Sally was, the branches had gotten too small to support her
weight.  Since she could go no further, she carefully reached back and opened
the backpack.  She withdrew the sensor.  Looking up, she saw that Tails was
now nearly thirty feet higher than her.  There was no way she could climb
any more.  "Hey Tails, do you think you can catch this?" she called.
     "Sure thing, Aunt Sally!"
     Sally's feet were planted firmly on a branch that was no bigger
around than the width of her arm.  To be able to get the sensor through the
foliage to where Tails was, she would have to lean back and put her torso's
weight on another branch of the same size, two feet away.  She did so, test-
ing it first to make sure it was trustworthy.  "Okay, Tails, here goes! I'm
going to count to three, then I'll throw it!"
     "Gotcha, Aunt Sally!"
     Sally would have to throw the ball-shaped sensor underhanded,
thirty feet above her.  She tossed it up in the air three feet above her
for practice; it came down and landed neatly in her palm.  Good.  "One..."
     Sonic, for no apparent reason, began to climb again.
     "Two..."  The branch cracked.
     "I'm ready!" Tails shouted.
     "Three--"
     The branch beneath her broke.  The sensor flew into the air.
     Sally fell.
     Sonic at first had no idea what was happening.  He was just reaching
for another branch when he saw the sensor rocket up into the air.  Tails
caught it and cried gleefully, "I got it!" Less than a second later, he heard
something like a beginning round of applause: many cracking sounds at once.
He looked up to see a body--Sally--tumbling down.  She was a blur of brown
fur, so Sonic only heard the thud of her skull against what could only have
been the solid trunk of the tree.  She was coming too fast, but maybe....
     Sally flew past him, and--
     "Sally!?"  It was Tails' voice.  "What happened?"
     Sonic nearly lost his grip on the branch.  He had no idea what he had
done, but when he opened his eyes he saw that one hand was curled around a 
branch above him, and in his other hand he held Sally's ankle.  She dangled
in mid-air below him.  Sonic was nearly twelve feet above the surface, which
made the distance between the ground and Sally's head a meager five.
     "Sal...you okay?"
     Sally's head hung straight down, in alignment with her body.  She
did not try to reply.
     "Sally!?"
     She was unconscious.
     Understanding this, Sonic began to descend as carefully as possible.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but were actually seconds, he safely
reached the forest floor and laid her down on her back.  There was a gash
on her forehead at least four inches long; it was bleeding profusely.  Sonic,
wearing nothing besides his shoes and gloves, and knowing nothing else to do,
placed his hand across the wound and pressed hard.
     "Sonic!?"  Tails' voice again.  "What happened?  Where's Sally?"
     "Get down here quick!  She's hurt!"  Without any further explanation,
Sonic checked her heartbeat: she still had one.  Good.  He put his face near
hers and felt a warm breeze: she was still breathing.  Good.  Everything was
fine.  But then why was he worried?
     Tails appeared beside him.  "Is she gonna be okay?" he asked
worriedly.  "Is she!?"
     Sally's eyelids moved.
     "I think that's your answer," Sonic whispered.
     Her eyelids snapped fully open suddenly.  First she saw Sonic,
bending closely over her, with his hand still covering the leaking wound.
He smiled.
     There was a blank look in his friend's eyes that alarmed him.  For
A moment Sonic waited to see what she would say, and then the wait was over.
Very softly, Sally asked, "Who am I?"

                                 - - -

CHAPTER 2

     Sonic ran back to Knothole in panic.  He had left Tails by the tree
without telling him what he should do or where to go or how to help.  He
simply forgot.  And besides, the fox cub was old enough to think for himself.
Tails found himself following Sonic by air the best he could, but by the time
he got halfway to Knothole, Sonic was already there, slowing down and
entering Bookshire Draftwood's hut.
     Without asking permission, he laid Sally down on Bookshire's personal
bed.  Immediately, without having been asked, he said, "She fell out of the
tree, and...and she can't remember who she is."
     Bookshire, having little time to react, instantly found a rag and
moistened it.  He handed it to Sonic.  Sonic took off the glove he had been
holding over the gash and tossed it somewhere.  It was dyed completely red
from the blood.  He put the warm compress her Sally's head and pushed down
hard, but most of the bleeding had stopped.
     "Haven't I ever told you not to smoke in my hut?" Bookshire asked
dryly.
     Sonic was confused.  "What?"
     "Your sneakers.  They're quite hot."
     "Oh."  Sonic started taking them off.
     "There's no need for that," Bookshire said.  "What I meant was for
YOU to leave."  He turned his attention to Sally.  "Close your eyes and try
to breathe normally.  You're going to be okay."  He motioned for Sonic to
leave.  Slowly, Sonic turned and walked out.
     It was the hardest thing he had to do in a long, long time.
     Outside, he saw that Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor had gathered around
Tails and were asking him questions.  Sonic heard some of his answers.  "No,
she's fine, I think." "Yes, I got the sensor placed right." "How am I sup-
posed to know if it's working or not!?" "Yeah, I think she slipped and fell."
"Well, she said somethin' but I didn't hear it.  Maybe Sonic did."  All eyes
turned toward the blue hedgehog as he approached the other Freedom Fighters.
They seemed hopeful and inquisitive.  "She said...she said, 'Who am I?'."
     "Sonic!" Bookshire called.
     He shrugged, gave them a vague look of apology, and re-entered
Bookshire's hut.  He noticed that a bandage had been applied to Sal's head.
"What's wrong, Doc?"
     The doctor led Sonic to the corner of the room farthest from Sally
and said in a voice that was scarcely above a whisper, "She won't talk to
me or anyone else, she says.  Her demands are plainly from distrusting
paranoia, but resisting them would be the wrong thing to do.  Physically,
she'll be fine; she has a minor concussion, but it'll clear up in a matter
of days.  She needs time to think.  It's best that she's moved to somewhere
secure while we figure out what to do."
     Sonic swallowed.  "So...I take her to her own room?"
     "Yes.  Just give me time to explain it to the others, then you can
escort her there herself."
     "Alright, Doc."
     "And Sonic?"
     "Yeah?"
     "Don't let her on her feet, even if she insists," Bookshire said 
firmly.  "She's not ready to confront...everything, yet.  If she panics, 
and runs away..."
     "I get the picture." Sonic gave the other a reassuring smile. "Hey,
I can handle it.  It's me!"
     Bookshire slapped his friend on the shoulder and walked out, leaving
Sonic and Sally alone.  Sonic, not sure what to do, sat down next to where
Sally was lying on her back, and re-stated the frequently asked question of 
the day:  "You okay, Sal?"
     Her blue eyes avoided his.  "Who was that?"
     "His name's Bookshire Draftwood.  If someone gets hurt or needs some
extra intellect, they go to him."
     Sally swallowed, her eyes still not meeting his.  "And you are?"
     That was one of the hardest things Sonic had ever had to hear in his
life.  But he wouldn't cry. He wouldn't.  "They call me Sonic," he said wryly.
"Because I'm faster than sound, and..."  The rest of the introduction stuck
in his throat.  He couldn't bear the fact that his best friend of more than
a decade did not remember him.  He slumped off the side of the bed and held
her hand as he cried.  When he got his tearducts under control, Sally's hand
was sore.
     "Yes, I know you're fast, Sonic," she said quietly.  "I was awake 
when you carried me here."
     Shocked, Sonic looked up.  "You know my name."
     He was surprised to hear her laugh.  "I'm not deaf either," she 
reminded him.  "I heard everyone calling your name; if I didn't know it
by now then I've lost more than my memory."
     Sonic was hesitant about his next question.  "So...uh...how much
DO you remember?"
     Sally's eyes seemed to drift off, as if in concentration.  "I
remember...we...we were five.  I don't remember much--just emotions, really.
Fear, confusion, utter panic.  Before that...nothing."
     "What about after that?"
     Sally shook her head.  "Nothing."
     "You said you remembered when you were five," Sonic probed.  "Do you
...do you remember who you were with when that happened?"
     Another shake of the head.  "I don't even remember what happened.
It's like..." She trailed off for a few seconds.  "Well, picture time as a
ribbon.  Right now, let's say it's twenty years long.  The beginning of it
is white and cloudy, with hardly no memories at all.  At five years, there's
like a pit of darkness and all the negative emotions.  I feel them...I just
don't know why.  After five years, for the rest of the ribbon on, it's black,
but a different type of black.  It's like I'm looking straight ahead at it
and it goes outside the field of my vision, and I can't turn my head to see
it."  She sighed, and her gaze totally disappeared.  Her eyes were wide
open, but at that moment, she was not anywhere on Mobius.  "For some reason,
I know that I've never experienced that type of darkness in my entire life."
     "You haven't," Sonic assured her.  "And by the way, we're sixteen."
     Sally seemed surprised.  "Really?  I seem older."
     "Tell me about it," Sonic groaned.
     "You do too."
     It was Sonic's turn to be surprised.  Sally had always joked about
how young and immature Sonic could be in varyingly Serious situations, so
naturally he wasn't expecting to hear that type of compliment.  "Well,
thanks...I guess."
     "You got someplace for me to rest awhile?" she asked abruptly.
"This bed's kinda...uh, messy."
     "Yeah."  The bed did look messy; between the amount of blood and
sweat and tears on the sheets, it was enough to make anyone uncomfortable.
"C'mon, let's go see your room.  Maybe you'll remember something else."
     Sally allowed Sonic scoop her up in his arms willingly.  She wasn't
exactly in the best condition to protest.  All the Freedom Fighters flocked
toward him as he carried their battered princess across the village to her
hut.  Midway through the grave trek, Sally caught sight of Bunnie and
shrieked.  Sonic at first didn't know what had happened, but then he followed
Sally's gaze down to her roboticized legs and arm.  "Oh, don't worry about
her," he said.  "She's one of us."
     Sally's mouth was close enough to Sonic's ear that he would have
heard anything she said at the smallest whisper.  Sally knew this, and
breathed, "It's a robot...they were...when we were five..."
     "Yeah, there sure were SWATbots," Sonic said dryly.  "But she isn't
one of them."  He looked at Bunnie with an apologetic expression.  Now he
wasn't the only one whom Sally had forgotten. "She's one of us.  Close your
ears."
     No one who had heard the last thing Sonic said would have been able
to guess at his intent.  After Sal had securely covered her ears, Sonic
shouted, quite loudly, "What're the rest of you gawking at?  There's a meet-
ing at my hut in a few minutes!"  Of course there wasn't a definite scheduled
time for the meeting, but since Bookshire hadn't made one yet, this would
serve as an excuse to get everyone out of his face for a little bit.  The
Freedom Fighters took one last look and regrouped in Sonic's hut.
     By this time, they had entered Sally's hut.
     "So this is my room?" she asked thoughtfully.
     "Yeah."  Sonic laid Sally down on her bed.  "You can...well you can
do anything you want in here!  It's your room!"
     Sally did her best to feign a smile for him.
     "I gotta go for now.  You think you can handle it by yourself?
     "Of course!  I didn't fall out of a tree just so I could die in a
nice warm bed!"
     The hedgehog tried to smile, but he didn't think it was the least bit
funny.  As he turned to go, he had an urge.  He might've been able to resist
it under other circumstances, but under these, she wouldn't remember it by
the time everything was back to normal.  He gave into temptation by kissing
his princess on the cheek.  Then, without another word, he left.
     Long after Sonic left, Sally's mouth was still curved in
a smile.

     
                                 - - -

CHAPTER 3

     Having conversed with the other Freedom Fighters and drawn out the
basic situation for them, Bookshire Draftwood, during the meeting in Sonic's
hut, told them all he knew of amnesia, which wasn't much.  "Assuming
this IS amnesia," he said gravely, "she'll still have her common
knowledge.  Just not her memory.  Amnesia can last days, weeks,
months...years."  He swallowed.  "It could last for...for awhile.
We're all going to have to pitch in overtime until she gets over
it."
     Sonic and Tails then proceeded to tell the tale of how it
had originally happened.  Sonic left out no details, and Tails pitched
in when he could.  Sonic had seen most of it; what Sonic left out in
visual information Tails aided in auditory.  When they were done,
there seemed be nothing to do but ask if anybody could help in
one way or another.
     "Ah have an idea," Bunnie spoke up.  All eyes turned towards her.
Giggling softly, she went on.  "Ah'm surprised you didn't think of it
first, Bookshire!"
     Bookshire Draftwood looked ashamed.  The thought that Bunnie had
possibly outsmarted him made him look out-of-place in his profession.
"Well, what is it, Bunnie?" he prompted.
     "We can just bonk her on the head again!"
     Sonic rolled his eyes.  Antoine saw this and asked, "Why would it
cease to be working, Sonique?  It is sounding do-able!"
     "Thanks, Ant," Bunnie said, stifling another giggle.
     Bookshire let out a brief laugh and said, "Bunnie, Antoine, the 
odds of that working are a hundred to one."  He shook his head.  "If it
didn't work, which is the most probable case, we'd only worsen the damage
to her cranium."
     "Huh?" Tails asked.
     "We'd give her another bump, big guy," Sonic translated.
     "Oh."
     "Does anyone else have any bright ideas?" Rotor asked hopelessly.
     Bunnie and Antoine shrugged.  Tails shook his head.  Sonic hung
his head in apology or shame.  Bookshire did nothing for a few moments,
leaving the hut in dead silence.
     Finally he said, "I'll look through my reference books and Nicole
and see if I can find anything about treating amnesia, but so far as I 
know, there hasn't been much research done in that field.  Rotor, Antoine, 
Bunnie, Tails, since she's not as familiar with you as she is with 
Sonic, it would be best to avoid her for now to prevent any further 
confusion."  Silently, the four agreed.  "Now Sonic, as much as I'd like
to help, it's all up to you now.  Sally won't communicate with the rest of
us.  She could use a good night's sleep, but tomorrow morning I want you
to show her around, see if anything jogs her memory."
     "Okay, Doc," Sonic said perkily.  He seemed relieved that some-
thing was being done to help the situation.  He paused, and perhaps he
blushed, but it was too quick for anyone to notice.  "Doc?"
     "Yes, Sonic?"
     "What do you mean by, 'she could use a good night's sleep'?"
     "Well, first off," Bookshire said quickly, "she shouldn't sleep
in her hut with Bunnie.  And--"
     "But Ah didn't do anythang!" Bunnie protested indignantly.
     "Yes, I know," Bookshire said patiently.  "But you saw how Sally
reacted when she saw Bunnie as half-robot.  It's not going to do her any
good to be near someone that would frighten her.  No offense, Bunnie,"
he added.
     "That's okay, Doc.  Anything to help Sally-girl out of this so I
can get back to bein' a friend and not a monster."  On the verge of tears,
Bunnie dashed out of the hut.  Tails, sending disapproving glances at the
others, followed her.
     "Oh dear," Antoine sighed.  "This is not to be going well at all."
     "Well," Bookshire continued as best as he could, "what I mean to
say is that Sally should sleep with whomever she feels the most comfortable."
     A silence passed between the freedom fighters.  All eyes now turned
to Sonic.
     "Me?"  This time, Sonic's blushing was no more invisible than the
sun was during midday.
     Bookshire Draftwood nodded slowly.  "You can sleep in Sally's hut
with her, and I think Bunnie should sleep in Sonic's hut with Tails."
He looked out the window.  Tails was sitting on the ground in the middle
of Knothole, hugging his assumed aunt as she cried softly.  "Yes, I
think that should work."
     "Okay, Doc," Sonic said, trying to hold back the smile that was
forming on his lips.  "Whatever you say."
     Rotor rubbed his forehead.  "Doc, tell us the truth," he said
bluntly.  "How long do you think it'll be before the Princess recovers?"
     Sonic saw the doctor do something he had never seen him do before.
He turned his back on Antoine, Rotor, and Sonic, and said very, very softly,
"I don't know.  But if Sally forgets that she's the next rightful ruler of
Mobius, then we're in for some trouble.  With that in mind, I suggest that
our war against Robotnik be temporarily postponed."
     Everybody moaned.
     "Aw, man!" Sonic wailed.  "We'll fall so far behind that we'll have
to work for months before we get back to where we are now!"  With that, the
enraged hedgehog slammed his gloved fist down on the table.
     Bookshire turned around and nodded at him.  He said nothing.
     "I am knowing something that we can do," Antoine said timidly.
     "Whoa, this is a first!" Sonic remarked.
     "Let me be reminding you that this is not the first time I have 
been having an idea!  Now," he resumed, "Missiour Walrus and I can be sending 
messages to the other freedom fighter groups, to be asking them for their 
assistances."
     "Good idea, Ant," Rotor agreed.  "We'll start tonight."
     "Is that it, Doc?"  Sonic asked, his eyebrows still sharply dis-
playing his anger with the situation.
     "Yes.  And do try not to be your usual self when giving her the
tour tomorrow, Sonic."  He favored the hedgehog with a wan smile.  "I
don't think that any more physical stress would help."
     Shockingly, Sonic laughed.  "Yeah!" he said cockily.  "She'd
never be able to keep up with me!"

                                 - - -

CHAPTER 4

     When they exited Bookshire Draftwood's hut, the freedom fighters
saw that night had replaced evening, and Tails and Bunnie were well into
conversation, with Bunnie giggling intermittently.  She seemed to be in an
oddly light mood, even before she had run from the hut.  But Sonic didn't
spend the time or energy pondering on it, so he gave it up.
     Bookshire explained to the fox and rabbit their sharing of a room,
and neither of them minded.  They were still chatting garrulously when they
walked hand in hand to Sonic's hut and the light was turned off.
     Sonic rejoined Sally where he had left her, in her hut.  She was
sitting on her bed, wearing only her vest and a large white bandage, on her 
head, swinging her legs against the side of the bed and staring at Nicole 
in her hands.  She seemed as if she HAD made herself at home as he had
casually suggested; her boots weren't side by side--they were nearly in 
opposite corners of the room.  As Sonic stood in the doorway, she saw him.
She immediately closed Nicole and stuffed her under the covers.
     "And what were YOU doing?" Sonic asked wryly, folding his arms over
his chest.
     "Nothing," Sal replied.  She'd replaced the guilty expression with
an expectant look.  "So what did you guys talk about?"
     "Quid pro quo, Sal," he said slyly, crossing the distance to the bed
and sitting down next to her.  "Tell me what you were lookin' at."
     "Oh, nothing, I guess.  Just trying to find out who I am."  She
swung her legs up onto the bed and faced away from him, hanging her shoulders
in confusion.  She seemed to be exhausted with stress.  Several moments
passed, and when Sally remained silent, Sonic gently put his arm around her.
"Its just...I..."
     "Can't remember anything?"
     "Exactly!" she cried fiercely.  "It's so frustrating!"  She turned
with a suddenness that almost startled Sonic, throwing her arms around him
and burying her head in his shoulder.
     Sonic didn't know what to say.  Instead, he waited, until he recalled
her question.  "The others say," he told her, stroking her head softly, "that 
tomorrow I should show you around and see if you can remember anything.  And
tonight...well...I'm staying with you."
     Sally seemed to stiffen.  "Really?" she asked.
     "Really.  If that's okay with you, of course."
     Sonic thought he could feel her smile.  "Of course!  I don't know
what I'd do alone.  It's like...like...I don't know!  I don't know what
to think of anything or anyone!"
     "Relax, Sal," Sonic soothed.  "There's nothing more we can do tonight.
Let's just get some sleep, and then we can think about it in the morning.  Is
that cool with you?"
     Sally's embraced loosened and she seemed to calm down a little as she
let go of him, flashing him a rueful smile.  "Yeah, that's cool with me."
     Then she took off her vest and threw it aside carelessly.  Sonic
looked away, embarrassed.  He could see Bunnie through the window, in his own 
hut, staring at him with a smile.  She seemed to be having a hard time 
keeping a straight face.  Sonic frowned and yelled, "And just how long have 
YOU been watching!?"  That did it.  Bunnie burst open with laughter as she 
walked away from the window, covering her mouth in a futile attempt to keep
from re-awakening Tails.
     "There's something funny going on with her," Sonic thought, but again
he dismissed the idea.
     That night, as Rotor and Antoine wrote until they got too tired
to continue, as Bookshire Draftwood looked through every book he had,
as Tails slept soundly beside a rabbit that couldn't keep from giggling
perpetually, Sonic and Sally slept wrapped in each other's arms, wearing
nothing but smiles.