A kiss for Knuckie
It was a chilly night in December. Winds were whipping snow off roofs and swirling it into the sparkly evening air.
White, fluffy snow was softly drifting down into the air, landing on the many buildings, cars and streets of Station Square. Rouge the bat was walking through the glittery, snow-covered city. She'd stopped in various shops just to see all the shiny Christmas decorations and presents.
Rouge wasn't doing much of anything in particular; just simply strolling through the city. She was wearing a hot pink coat with soft puffy white trim at the bottom of it, on her hood, and on her sleeves. On her hands, she wore snow-white mittens. She was wearing her usual heart-tipped boots and blue eyeshadow. Rouge felt good during the holiday season. It made her feel warm and cozy, surrounded by all the beautiful sparkly snow and presents and Christmas ornaments.
Soon, Rouge came out of the city and went into the local park. Not many people were out; the sky was beginning to get dark, and the wind got nippier. Rouge was about to go back to her apartment, when something peculiar caught her eye.
It was Knuckles the Echidna, sitting on a big gray rock bench, a green scarf wrapped around his neck. Knuckles' back was facing Rouge, so he didn't know she saw him.
What's he doing here? Rouge thought curiously. Seeing her spike-fisted little friend, Rouge decided she wanted to poke a little fun at Knuckles. She hadn't seen him in forever since Eggman was defeatedd, and ever since then, Station Square seemed pretty peaceful. But seeing Knuckles all of a sudden like this drew Rouge closer. Slowly, she walked up to his bench, carefully trying to make her heels quiet and not loud like they usually were. Rouge sat down. Her left wing nudged Knuckles' side. He turned around. Seeing those bright, aquamarine eyes, Knuckles was shocked. Were these the same pair of eyes that belonged to his sworn-enemy Rouge the Bat? Indeed they were.
"R-rouge?" Knuckles stammered, scooting away from her a little.
"What are you doing here?"
Rouge smiled warmly at Knuckles. "Hey, Knuckles. How's it going?"
She asked, a flirty tone in her voice. Knuckles was confused. Why was Rouge talking to him? He thought she hated him. What was she up to?
"What are you here for?" He asked.
Rouge shrugged, a cool look on her face.
"Oh, I don't know," She said quietly. Her voice sounded so pretty and soft to Knuckles. He was strangely enticed by it. But he tried to hide it, fidgeting with his scarf.
"I just saw you sitting here, and you looked kinda lonely."
Knuckles wiggled his eyebrows. "Well..." He started, but nothing followed except for a gush of hot air that Knuckles breathed out that fused with the ice cold air outside, making fog. Knuckles found no other words to say. He was a bit flustered, truthfully. Knuckles hadn't seen Rouge in quite a while, and when he did, they would always be fighting. Her being nice to him for once threw him off guard. He didn't know what to say.
"Well," Rouge repeated, mimicking him. She nudged him again with her wing.
"What have you been up to, Knuckie? I haven't seen you in a long time, you know."
Knuckles blushed. "Nothing...much, Rouge. What...what about you?"
Rouge shrugged. "Same here, Knuckles. So spill it. The real question is, what are you doing here? I thought you were going back to Angel Island after Eggman was defeated."
Knuckles shrugged. "Eh, I decided to come back. Pay this old place a visit, ya know? Angel Island gets to be kind of boring once you actually stay there for that long. No one's around, and it's just me. Talk about dull."
Rouge chuckled. "So if you're not over there, then who's watching the Master Emerald?"
Knuckles leaned back and smiled. "It'll be okay," He said, "I'm taking some time away from that thing. I'll go back to check on it eventually, but I decided to come back and just chill out."
Rouge smiled, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head.
"Yeah. I'll bet that island can get pretty lonely."
Knuckles blushed a little. He thought Rouge looked awfully cute. Even pretty. Wind blew, and caused the snow on the ground to swirl up and dance in the cold air. Now, it was completely dark outside, the only light came from the stars outside, and the clear, bright moon. Knuckles' green scarf fluttered in the cold wind. Rouge wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Knuckles turned to her.
"You cold?" He asked. Rouge rolled her eyes, smiling.
"No, Knuckles. I'm just shivering because it's fun."
Knuckles smiled with her. He unraveled his green scarf.
"Here. Take it," He said, handing his scarf to the bat.
Rouge looked shocked. "What? No, Knuckles, I'm okay. Keep your scarf. You need it."
Knuckles, shaking his head, wrapped the scarf around Rouge's neck. She couldn't believe he did that.
Rouge, eyes filled with wonder, started to stare at Knuckles with an expression the echinda couldn't identify. He was staring at her too. Finally both of them realized what they were doing and snapped out of it, quickly looking away from each other.
"Sorry," Knuckles muttered, embarrassed.
"That's okay," Rouge said, her voice smiling. She cocked her head again.
"Thanks, Knuckles." Knuckles nodded.
"Aren't you cold?" Rouge asked. Knuckles shook his head.
"Nah." Rouge sighed. She looked up at the moon.
"Quite a lovely evening, don't you think?" Rouge asked, adding a hint of flirt in her voice. Knuckles painfully nodded, nervously.
"Yeah," He said. The night was cold. Rouge and Knuckles didn't really know why they kept sitting there; the night was freezing outside, and everyone else had gone back to their cozy fireplace-lit homes. But Knuckles and Rouge stayed with each other, sitting on the bench. Rouge's eyes drooped. She was a little tired. Without knowing it, Rouge dozed off into an extremely light sleep, her head resting on Knuckles' shoulder.
Soon, she opened her eyes and looked at where her head was. She knew, but Rouge didn't move away from him. And the strange thing was, he didn't move away from her either. Rouge secretly smiled, snuggling closer to him. Meanwhile, Knuckles was feeling really nervous. He was sort of frozen. He loved the feeling of Rouge being so close to him. He secretly liked her. But he was way too shy to say it of course. But he let her head rest on his shoulder, he liked the feeling of warmth. Also, Knuckles loved the company. He'd been alone for so long on Angel Island. This was much better than spending the holidays on that freezing island, with no one to talk with at all. Rouge had her eyes open, and he had his open too. They both saw it at the same time.
Hanging innocently above Knuckles and Rouge was a tiny, sparkly mistletoe that appeared to be diamond-studded. Rouge opened her mouth, but no words came out. A huge sweat drop appeared on Knuckles' forehead.
Oh no, he thought desperatley, Not a mistletoe...ANYTHING but a mistletoe! Oh, why? Gosh, I just know she wants to kiss me. What am I gonna do now? She's so beautiful...but...oh, shut up! I can't kiss her! what am I thinking? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Still, though...she IS beautiful. There's no denying that. Maybe if I...
Knuckles gulped, totally nervous. Rouge eyed Knuckles and the mistletoe, back and forth. Finally she set her aqua eyes on Knuckles. She had a keen little smile on her face.
"Well, Knuckie," She said quietly, winking one blue-shadowed eye at him, sending his heart into a tornado. "You know the rules..." Was all Rouge said.
Her cheeks were pink. Knuckles couldn't tell if that was because she was nervous and liked him too, or if it was just cold outside. Knuckles was now sweating bigtime. He didn't know what to do; Rouge was now waiting for a kiss from him! Right? He couldn't detect anything else. She had to be waiting.
"Well, Knuckles? You DO know the rules with a mistletoe, don't you?" Rouge asked in an angelic, flirtatious voice.
She crossed her arms. As for Rouge, she wasn't nervous at all. She was excited to see what Knuckles would do. She watched his face. He slowly nodded.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
"So?" Rouge asked, eager. Knuckles took a deep breath. He leaned in. His cold lips met Rouge's. Both their eyes closed, and Knuckles reached up and held Rouge's arms. Rouge, in turn, wrapped her mitted hands around Knuckles'. For that moment, both of them were not in the least bit cold, but all fuzzy and warm. The kiss lasted 4 seconds long. When it stopped, Rouge opened her eyes.
Wow, she thought, That was...amazing. I never knew Knuckles could kiss that good! Who knew?
Now, Rouge really was blushing from Knuckles' kiss. He opened his eyes and anxiously waiting for her reaction. It was 37 degrees farenheit outside, but even so, Knuckles' palms were sweating. Rouge smiled at him, eyes shining.
"Wow, Knuckles," She said, mesmerized by his amythest eyes. "That was...impressive!"
Knuckles chuckled, even though in reality, he was so nervous he could throw up.
"R-really?" He asked, his voice trembling.
Rouge nodded. "Oh, yeah. You're a pretty good kisser, you know that?"
Knuckles gulped, stuck. He was just glad he got it over with.
Me? He thought, How can she think I was good? That Rouge was the good one! She just...I...I don't even know...that was...just...that was breathtaking!
Knuckles was caught up in his thoughts when a white mitten waved in front of his face.
"Hello?" Rouge teased, "Earth-to-Knuckles! What'd you think? You know...of my kiss?"
Knuckles nodded. "That was...amazing, Rouge." He said truthfully. Rouge gasped.
"Really? Thanks, Knuckie! You were pretty amazing too..."
Knuckles started to laugh, which made Rouge laugh too. Who knew a mistletoe could cause Knuckles and Rouge to break the ice like this? Two rivals that used to fight were now laughing and smiling like nothing happened before. They stopped laughing.
"You know, Knuckie," Rouge said, "If you really think I was that good, would you like me to kiss you again?"
Knuckles' eyes got wider. Before he could even say another word, Rouge grabbed his arms, and kissed him a second time. Their lips left each other once more.
"That was special. I don't usually give second kisses." Rouge flirted.
Knuckles chuckled. "You're something else, Bat girl." He said.
Rouge sighed. She thought Knuckles was so adorable. "Aww! Thanks, Knuckie!" Rouge said, jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow.
"Hey!" Knuckles said, rubbing his side. Rouge laughed.
"You're so beautiful," Knuckles said. Then he gasped. He never meant for that to really slip out, but he did mean it. Rouge was caught by surprise too.
"Really? I am?" She asked, smiling. Knuckles nodded.
"Uh-huh." He said. Knuckles was no longer nervous, anxious or fidgety. He was now calm and happy.
"Knuckie," Rouge said softly, looking into his deep indigo eyes. "You're so sweet."
Rouge sat there with Knuckles and fell asleep in his arms on that bench, wearing his green scarf. And from then on, Rouge and Knuckles weren't rivals anymore. They were lovers.
The End.