With a push of a button, the hedgehog turned on the TV, instantly heading to channel four, where he knew the news would be on. Leaning back in his seat, he watched the box almost emotionlessly as it talked about the day's weather, and the sports. Sighing, he almost headed to channel eight, where something more interesting should be on, when he heard his name.

His name defiantly wasn't uncommon to hear on the square box; but he hadn't heard it on TV for so long…

"Recent news that will freak many of you out. Don't worry," the news reporter, who was old raccoon, chuckled. "This is good news. At about five this morning a call was received here at the news station where a local named Wesley the Weasel, said he had just been awoken by a sonic boom." The news reporter paused for effect, his face shining brightly. "Later in the morning we got five more calls reporting the same thing. And, now folks, we know what the sound was. It was, as we hoped, Sonic the Hedgehog. He has returned."

At this rather profound statement, Sonic laughed, just about earning him a smart smack from his new girlfriend, but she hesitated, remembering he had gone through enough pain for a life time. Tails, who was also in the room, smiled at the two of them.

"Shush, Sonic," she scolded instead, focusing on the TV once more. "Don't you want to hear what they have to say about your return?"

She snuggled into Sonic's chest, and sighed, looking back up at him when he didn't respond. Tails politely looked away, saying something about him needing a drink of water, and he walked out of the room, leaving the two love-birds alone for a while.

"I don't know if it'll all be good, though, Ames," Sonic replied slowly, not wanting to upset Amy, who seemed rather interested in the news report. "I mean, I did kinda work for the enemy for six months…"

Amy seemed about to respond, probably to say it was nothing, but she didn't seem to have an answer, and again looked up at her boyfriend.

"But, you did it for a reason," she murmured softly, and Sonic sighed.

"I did it for you; your safety, and maybe our other friends," he answered truthfully, looking deep into her eyes which were filling with tears. "I didn't do it for the world. In fact, I kinda put them in danger. Not that I wanted to or anything…" He paused, trying to think of what more to say when he saw a tear fall from Amy's eyes. "They're not gonna understand that I did it for love," he finished, hugging Amy closer to himself.

"I understand," Amy sniffled, turning her gaze back to the TV. "Want me to turn it-"

Before Amy could finish her sentence, Sonic raised his hand, telling her with it to be quiet for a minute. Looking puzzled at the blue hedgehog, she realized he was paying attention to the screen again.

"And what do you think of all of this, Mr. Jacamar?" the raccoon addressed to a small, ginger colored dog. Mr. Jacamar was the mayor of the town, and what he said about Sonic had never seemed so important to the cobalt hedgehog.

The mayor shook his head, as if in defeat, and answered, rather slowly,

"I don't know what to think about Sonic anymore. I thought he was on our side, but after he's worked for Eggman until the doctor's death, it makes you wonder. He claims he did it for Amy, who is now his girlfriend in case some of you watching this didn't know, but I don't know. We haven't heard all the details of why he had to do this for Amy. For all we know, Amy's the real enemy."

With this remark Amy felt Sonic stiffen, and she gently reached for his hands, calming him down. No one could say it was Amy's fault; even if it was because of her he left.

"What would you have done, Mr. Mayor, sir," the raccoon continued, "If someone had been working for the enemy that was…normal, like myself for instance?"

"They would be in jail right about now," the mayor answered without much thought, but Sonic knew the mayor was right. If he wasn't famous, if the world didn't-or hadn't-loved him and looked up to him before, he would be treated as any other person.

"But, bear with me, sir," the raccoon continued. "But Sonic says he did it for Amy, because she would've been in danger otherwise."

"Aren't we all in danger?" the mayor speculated. "Why did that one girl get better treatment? Love does not make you turn your back on what's right."

At this, Sonic could stand no more. Being as calm as he could, he reached for the remote in Amy's hand, and pushed the off button. Neither of them needed to be hearing about Sonic making a wrong choice. The two sat in silence for a minute, both of them thinking their own separate thoughts, until Amy spoke.

"Did you do the right thing, Sonic?" she asked bravely, again looking into her boyfriend's eyes, but this time with tears flowing down her cheeks. "Should you have risked so much, for someone as pointless as me?"

"You're not pointless," Sonic replied, making it clear in his voice Amy was not to bring herself down. "They're not the ones in love with you."

Amy blushed as Sonic kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"You really feel that way, Sonic?" she questioned, even though she already knew his answer.

"My gosh, Amy," Sonic chuckled, hugging her again. "How many times do I have to tell you I love you until you get that stuck in your head?" Amy giggled.

"I don't think she's ever going to believe it," Tails answered, as he walked back into the living room, holding a glass of water. Smiling, he sat down near them on a green arm chair. Sonic didn't release his grip on Amy like he would've a year ago, making Amy's heart practically sing. "You're going to have to prove it to her about a million times. That's what you get for ignoring her up till last year." He smiled again, not meaning his last sentence to be cruel, and the two hedgehogs understood. Sonic did indeed have some catching up to do.

"Well," the navy hedgehog continued, "After having risked my life for the past six months," he looked down at his battle wounds given to him by the laser,
"I would hope convincing you won't be as hard as it would've been otherwise."

Amy smiled gently at her boyfriend.

"I think you've made your point to last about-"

"A life time?" Sonic asked anxiously, and the three of them laughed.

"Well, I don't think our love will ever fail now," Amy admitted, gazing lovingly at her boyfriend. "Nothing can separate us."

"We'll be in love forever," Sonic finished, kissing her lightly on the nose. Amy's cheeks turned pink again, and she inched herself out of Sonic's arms, although reluctantly.

"So, Tails," she began. "How's the Tornado III coming along?"

Tails chuckled lightly as he realized Amy's embarrassment. She obviously wanted to change the subject. When Sonic wrapped his arms around her waist again, however, she didn't even flinch. Smiling, he began his speech about the plane that he already knew would bore them.


"I do not see a point in staying here, do you?" the robot asked, and he looked down from the walls of which he was staring at. "This place is not home. It never will be."

The robot's companion, a short and round grey robot nodded his head slowly.

"You are right, Decoe," he responded, turning to face the other. "With Eggman gone, and no work for us to do, we mise as well leave." He turned to look at the tunnel behind him. "Where's Bokkun?" he questioned.

"I do not know," Decoe replied. "He said he would come and leave with us. Maybe he thought we were not stating the truth."

"I am sure Bokkun wants to leave as much as we do," the grey robot replied, and he suddenly nodded at the sound of small padding feet coming from the other side of the tunnel. "See, what did I tell you, he's coming," the robot explained. He looked over towards the other side of the tunnel, where Bokkun was not coming and where an exit lay nearby, his brain circuits dreaming of a new freedom he had never known before. Bokkun panted up to the other two, hunched back as he gasped for breath.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I had a last minute errand to run before we left for good."

The other two robots looked at him curiously.

"Errand?" Becoe asked, cocking his head in confusion. "There is nothing to be done anymore. Eggman is dead."

For the first time in a week since Eggman had died, Bokkun grinned mischievously, a look of glee dancing in his eyes before it suddenly died out, going back to a look of emptiness.

"Eggman specifically told me," he started, "to run this errand for him. He told me on his death bed, when you two were supposed to be helping me care for him." The robot rolled his eyes in disgust. "But of course, you two were too busy sleeping to be of much use."

Decoe seemed about to respond, in not the kindest way no doubt, when Becoe cut him off by saying,

"And what kind of "errand" was this, Bokkun?"

"Hey," the robot snapped, moving ahead of the other two as he headed towards the exit. "If I and or Eggman wanted you to know, don't you think we would have told you?"

With this said, the robot jogged off, the thought of a real freedom pushing him and the others away from the only life they had ever known. As they passed room by room, they gazed up above them, noting the dimming light bulbs for the first time. When they reached the end of the tunnel, and prepared themselves to face the harsh world without a master by their side, Decoe was the one who turned off the lights. The underground base suddenly became very still, very quiet, and very dark. As the three headed up the deep whole, memories of their previous life played over and over again, and they couldn't help but get teary eyed. Their lives had changed so quickly. It would never be the same. Somehow, and they didn't know how, they'd have to survive in the world without anyone being on their side; without having anyone who knew they could be good at heart, if given the chance.

The sun gleamed into the elevator as it opened, and the three blinked rapidly at the sudden bright light. Trees and plants met their eyes, and the sound of a few random birds that had braved the harsh winter made them shiver. Slowly, Bokkun took his first step towards freedom, feeling the white powder beneath his feet crunch down into the ground with an eerie sound. He smiled for a second, wondering if this sudden feeling of being lifted from a huge burden was normal. Turning to the other two, he nodded vigorously at them, as if to say, 'Hurry up, you slow pokes. The snow is not going to bite.'

"Besides," he said out loud, as if he thought the other two robots had read his mind earlier, "This is freedom. And, this is an opportunity one could not give pass by."


So yeah, that's the first chapter of the new version of "Forever Love". As some of you already know, this story will be remarkably different then the old version, so if you liked the old, be prepared this new one doesn't follow the other nearly as closely as my last remake did. I'm not exactly sure what I plan to do with this story as of now, so it might be a few days before I have the next chapter written. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and, Happy Holidays! Reviews like usual are appreciated.

~Ksonic~