𝙰𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎

      Vector with the guards, children and Alina herself were allowed into Shadow's house. More precisely, to the house of Shadow and Amy, since now she lives with him and has fully decided to become his wife just like that, without official marriage and the consent of any priests. Striped, although he was a hermit, accepted this entire crowd of uninvited guests. Luckily there was enough food. There was even ice cream, which he distributed one cone to each child. Well, was that even possible? Yes — I’m so glad I came back for you and found you. Now we can make up for all your lost childhood with your beloved mother. Sonic silently and offendedly looked at his own mother: — You abandoned me. — Bluey, I’m ashamed to admit, but after your father and I quarreled and broke up, and he took all the wealth for himself, leaving only you to me, because he didn’t care about you, I couldn’t raise you in such poverty. I didn't thrive without your father and I couldn't feed you. — Don't feed me? How much food did he need? — Amy indignantly intervened in the conversation, biting a carrot. Alina continued to repent to her son: — Trust me, Bluey! I myself didn’t want to send you to that house and wanted you to stay with me. But I was sure that they would take care of you there. — Are you taken care of? ARE YOU TAKEN CARE OF??? — Sonic could not stand it, climbed onto the table to appear taller than his own mother and looking at her from above, shouted at her: — I SAT IN THIS HELL FOR FIVE YEARS, LIKE ALL THESE CHILDREN. THE DIRECTOR OF THE SHELTER HIMSELF WAS WORSE THAN THE FATHER, WHOM I DON’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT!!! WE WERE FORCED TO CHOCK ON PORRIDGE AND WORK FOR FOOD, EXPLOTING OUR LABOR. WE WERE EVEN FORBIDDEN TO GO OUTSIDE FOR A WALK SO WE COULD COMPLAIN TO SOME OF THE GUARDS OR TO THE KING HIMSELF ABOUT HIM AND THE WAY HE TREATED US!!! YOU SENT ME TO LIVE IN THIS PLACE AND THOUGHT THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF ME THERE??? I CAN'T STAND THE HOW WE ALL WERE TREATED THERE, I WAS SORRY FOR THOSE WHOM PARENTS ENTERED THERE THERE JUST LIKE YOU THROWED ME THERE, AND THEN I CAN'T STAND ALL OF THIS AND RAN HERE TO LIVE WITH SHADOW!!! HE AT LEAST HE LOVED ME, CARED ABOUT ME AND DIDN’T LEAVE ME UNLIKE SOME!!! — at the last cry, Sonic himself was ready to cry. Any reasonable person or Mobian would probably consider such a child to be crazy, since he yelled at his mother like that. However, the children, Vector, as well as Alina herself and the nagas perfectly understood the hedgehog and his mental pain. Therefore, he was partly correct in everything he said. Even her own mother understood this and fully deserved these screams from her own child to herself. He has every right to hate her and scold her for it. — Is it true, Mister Naga? — Vector asked Shadow a little hesitantly. — Yes. True, at first I treated him the same way as I treat all of you. I was a hermit and preferred to live alone. I didn’t even want to be friends with anyone. I don't trust people and Mobians after what they did to me and my parents when I was just a baby. And when the only person I loved and trusted died, I completely stopped mentioning my name to everyone. What is there! My name is not Shadow at all. I made up this name for Sonic to just "Heck off!" him to answer the question What is my name? It’s true that he didn’t notice how much he got used to his new name. — while Shadow was explaining this, Sonic looked questioningly at Shadow, and he also turned to him. — You weren’t the only one, Sonic, who had two names. Me too. — Then... What is your real name, dad? — asked the hedgehog. Striped sighed heavily and introduced himself by his real name: — Blackired. — Blackired?... Also a rarer name. — Sonic thought out loud and turned to Amy, who was still eating carrots during their chat. — What’s your real name? Alisa Selezneva? Amy laughed and calmed down and said: — No. My real name is Amy Rose. I didn’t invent any names or surnames for myself. Honestly! — she answers and takes another bite of carrot. — E. FYI, Bluey or Sonic or whatever your name is? Doesn't matter! In general, everything has changed for us. Ever since that same egoist disappeared and I was chosen to replace him in that shelter, everything changed there with my arrival. — Vector explained. — It's true, Sonic. — answered the hedgehog Silver. — Vector is a good director. He did the opposite and now things are good in the shelter. Not like before. Now, if you want, of course, you can come back to us and live with us again. Now there you will be well taken care of, fed and taught, and read fairy tales before bed, just as they began to do to us. Sonic found it difficult to believe these words. He turns to Alina again, and she spoke to him again: — Bluey, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I understand. Our separation from you was a great tragedy even for me. But now that my life has improved, while I myself was trying to survive and scrape together pennies, our family can be reunited. I thought so, when I return to that same shelter for you and pick you up. But since you are angry with me and hate me because I did this to you, then I understand everything. I would never forgive myself for this if I were in your place. But I'm really terribly ashamed! Trust me. During all these five years, while I was earning money and trying to make our home better, I was bored and thought only about you. I even cried at night, wondering how you were doing. A million years probably won’t be enough for me to apologize to you. But I want you to understand. I had no other choice. I simply could not raise you then, because I became poor, and with my then current salary, I could only pay bills and buy food only for myself. — Well, yes. This is already a problem of politics that spoils many people and Mobians. But not me. — Vector supported Alina. — By the way, she also spoiled the egoist who was the director of the orphanage so much that he became like that. By the way, he got lost somewhere here too. But where is he? — That grumpy one? — Shadow asked and stroked his stomach. — So I ate it. — Really? — asked the young gray hedgehog Sammy. He and all the children were shocked at first and seemed to be scared by the news. But then they smiled, and that hedgehog, waving his hand, replied: “Well, okay!” It serves him right! — Yes. He will know how to offend little ones. — Silver supported his words. It seems that the children hated that director so much that they didn’t even care if he died. — Aren’t you going to eat us? — asked the two-tailed fox, among the children. — What do you? I only hunt animals, like a beast of prey. And if I eat anyone among people and Mobians, it’s only the bad ones. — Blackired assured. — And I don’t eat meat at all. I'm a vegetarian. — Amy answered, finishing her carrots. Sonic looked at his own mother again and asked: — So what are you going to call me now? Sonic? Bluey? Or will you give me some other new name? You know what... I've gotten used to my new name and prefer that everyone calls me Sonic from now on. — he said. — Sonic, aren’t you ashamed to talk to your mom like that? — Rose asked him. — Sorry, mom! — Sonic apologized to her. — You tell her that! — the nun pointed her hand at Alina. — Did you call her mom? — Alina was surprised. — Yes. And what? — Sonic didn’t understand. — Mrs. Alina, you will forgive us for interfering in your conversation with your son. — the striped one spoke to her. — After your son ran into the forest and began to live with me, he got so used to me that even I began to take care of him. He probably dreamed of having a father like me while he lived in an orphanage. He even dreamed of a family every new year and even asked a certain Santa Claus for it, but he did not fulfill this for him. — Because it doesn’t really exist. We understand everything. — Sammy intervened in the conversation. Shadow and Alina looked at him sternly. — Oh! Forgive me, I thought that you would still repeat that there is no Santa Claus, but at the same time keep silent, thinking that this will ruin our childhood. Although in reality this is not the case. Blackired continued the conversation with Alina: — We would gladly give you your Bluey. That is, Sonic. But... He is unlikely to want to leave us for you, because he himself decided this and got used to us. He believes that we are family to him. Then Amy joined the conversation: — Exactly! No matter how much you love your son, you must be able to let him go, since he does not want to come back to you. And he understands this perfectly well, but he can’t tell you about it... Either out of resentment, or because he himself doesn’t want to upset you even more. After all, Sonic will still have a scar on his soul that he has had since infancy and which will never heal, like a scratch or an ordinary wound. — Resentment that I left him? — Alina lowers her head. — I understand. But I’ll still tell him. Sorry! — with tears in her eyes, she stands with her hands above the table, goes up to the hedgehog and kisses him goodbye on the forehead, which shocks Sonic. — Goodbye! With these words, she heads towards the exit and is about to leave. Before that, she said goodbye to the nagas. — Take care of him! Love him as I would love him myself! And most importantly, allow him to sometimes come to the village, visit his friends, the boys and girls whom he missed. — Certainly. We promise. Don't worry! — Rose saluted. — I'm sure you'll get through this somehow. — Shadow assured her. — I know. Farewell! — said the hedgehog, opened the door, slowly went out and walked home towards the village, along the same path. Luckily she remembered the way. — Well. As I understand it, that says it all. Have you, Sonic, firmly decided that you will stay with the nagas? — Vector asked and Sonic nodded silently, thinking about something. — Well, well, no need to cry! Chin up! If you want, you can come to our shelter at any time, at least to visit your friends and play with them. Our doors will always be open for you, even if you decide to return to us. — the crocodile reassured the hedgehog, hugged him goodbye and also got ready to leave. The guards and children also followed them, for it was time to return to the village. — Thank you for the treats, hospitality and everything we didn’t know about yet. And yes. Forgive us that we burst into your place so suddenly without an invitation and didn’t even warn you that we were coming. We didn’t know that anyone lived here in the forest. — Nothing. It's my own fault. — the striped snake smiled. — Next time I will continue to be just as polite and hospitable. Just promise us that if someone in the village or even the king himself finds out about us and what you learned here, then it is advisable that they know that we are not dangerous and that the naga hunters will never touch us! — We promise! — Vector salutes. — Bye, Sonic. Come visit us from the first of September. We will study together. — Tails said goodbye. — Fine. Necessarily! — Sonic waved goodbye to the children and closed the door behind them. It seemed that everything seemed to be partly correct. After all, his own mother was partially punished and felt ashamed, and also, realizing all her guilt, let her son go, allowing him to live with someone with whom he would always feel good and who would never betray him. Only something inside was bothering him. After that kiss on the forehead, he felt warmth and maternal care inside him. And the real one. And considering that she really was ashamed and she was not pretending at all, he himself felt ashamed for yelling at her and treating her negatively. — So, Sonic, what will you have for breakfast? Cutlets with mashed potatoes or pies with meat and honey? — the striped naked one joyfully asked the hedgehog, and he stood silently and looked somewhere in the corner, still thinking about his own mother. Striped immediately became worried, realizing that something was wrong. — Sonic! What's wrong with you? — I... I don’t know... What’s wrong with me... I think... I’m so ashamed that I... Yelled at her... And she... Of course, Shadow and Amy immediately understood the first time. He is already starting to miss her, even though they saw each other a minute ago. Apparently his own child has finally found his own mother and does not want to part with her. True, they did not despair, but on the contrary, they calmly accepted it. Of course, they also love the hedgehog, but if the baby so suddenly and quickly changes his mind about his birth mother and wants to return to her, then they will have to let him go so that he can return to her. After all, for example, any chick sooner or later flies out of its nest. This means that if they themselves love Sonic, like mom and dad, then they will not keep him like a prisoner in a cage, but will let him go and allow him to go to his own blood. Amy, with a smile on her face, walked around Sonic first, bent down in front of him, took him by the arms and said: — Sonic, dear! Shadow and I think that you would probably be better off in the village. — Mom, please! I have already told each of you about this so many times. There's no way I can. And besides, how will you manage here without me? I am very attached to you, just as you are to me. I can't leave you. Sonic almost burst into tears. However, Amy calmed him down and wiped away his tears. — So you won’t leave us forever. We believe that sooner or later you will come to us. At least visit us. — she explained calmly. — Besides? You love your own mother more than us, right? — Shadow asked also smiling. Sonic looked questioningly at the striped one. — What? — How did you see your own mother and immediately feel a kinship with her, would you like to forgive her for everything that she did and would like to live with her as much as you missed with her, since you love her? — Blackired asked, also smiling. The hedgehog looked at the closed exit door from the house, turned his questioning gaze to Shadow, and then to Amy. The latter added: — Run! Sonic stopped crying, smiled too, and hugged Amy goodbye. — Most importantly, don’t forget about us. Afterwards, Sonic also hugs goodbye to Shadow, who finishes: — And we will never forget about you either. Having said goodbye to the nagas, the hedgehog ran out of the house and ran at supersonic speed. He was lucky that Vector, the guards, the children and Alina were still not far away. — MOM!!! Alina suddenly stopped crying, turned around and saw that her son himself was running towards her with outstretched arms, smiling at him. — Bluey! Bluey runs to his mother, jumps into her arms and hugs her. — Forgive me, Bluey. That is, Sonic. — No, mom. You sorry me! Of course, Alina forgives her son, takes him in her arms and they return to their home together. Now their family was together again and they would never be separated again.

***

      Life for both families became much better after that day. Alina, as promised, kept her words. She began to grow with Sonic, a lot of things they missed while he was growing up, they played together and she herself fed him, preparing food. Moreover, he also kept his promise not only to his friends from the orphanage, but also to the nagas. He not only began to visit his foster parents in the forest, but when the first of September arrived, he went to that same orphanage to study with the others at the educational institution. Vector and his guards, of course, couldn’t stand it one day and accidentally spilled the beans to many in the village about the real nagas, but when the king himself called them to him as witnesses, they explained to them everything they had learned about, but most importantly, they confirmed that those nagas were not dangerous at all , since they cared about that little hedgehog and didn’t want to eat it at all. Therefore, the king ordered the hunters of those nagas to leave them alone and not to touch them with their descendants. Even their lives became better. For example, Vector himself, even before he became the director of the orphanage, was still a priest. Therefore, one day he came to visit them when they called him and he officially married them. In addition, Rose laid a pair of eggs for the first time, and Blackired and Amy subsequently had their own cubs that resembled themselves. It was triplets. One looked like Shadow. Only instead of red stripes she had pink stripes and she was a girl. The other two were boys. One was completely black and the other was pink. The children took after their parents and grew up good under their upbringing. The ending, although it looks a little naive, nevertheless, everything ended well for everyone.