Sonic and Blaze floating in space looking at each other

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or Blaze the Cat, or any other character of the franchise. They belong Sega, Sonic Team, and Dimps. Not me. Like my previous request, there are some quotes from the original game near the beginning of this fic, but I take no credit for them either.

A/N: This was requested by Orange-Appeal…a long time ago. Again I apologize profusely for the wait! The request was for a SonicXBlaze oneshot. This reminded me of that silly little rumor which stated that Sonic and Blaze kiss at the end of Sonic Rush. Now anyone who has beaten that game knows that doesn't happen, but I figured I'd write something along the lines of what it would be like if it did. I hope my requester and readers enjoy!

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"How was that?!"

"Take this!"

Slam! Fall back, and an explosion! And that was it.

Sonic spread his arms to help himself slow down. As he came to a halt he spotted Blaze the Cat stop just to his right. She took a little longer to lose her speed and stop. Her tail flicked as she watched the two Eggman's abomination crash and shatter into pieces.

What a relief. One Eggman was bad enough. Two was insane, never mind that Eggman Nega was far more sinister and calculating than his counterpart. As fun and appealing as this adventure had been, Sonic would prefer to face only one Eggman at a time in the future.

Blaze turned to face him, still red hot in her Super Form, and she did something unusual. She smiled at him. Sonic smiled back.

The air shook slightly, and Sonic spread himself to remain upright. There was another, smaller shake, only this one lasted longer. Sonic looked up to see Blaze with her eyes shut. They both knew what these vibrations meant.

"This is it…" said Sonic.

"…Yes, it is," Blaze replied.

"Everything will be back to normal."

"I've got to return to my world, as well," Blaze explained, her arms to her sides in submission. "The Chaos and Sol Emeralds cannot exist in the same world. It would cause another crisis."

"I guess it's time to say…good bye," Sonic continued. He wasn't entirely sure what to say. It was all a little sad. "Cream will really miss you."

"…I have no choice."

"No words from you?"

"It's better this way. I first came here as a stranger out of nowhere. I think it's appropriate I leave the same way," the cat described. She raised her eyes to meet the hedgehog's. "Sonic…thank you for your help."

Her tone was clearly tinted with sorrow. She didn't want it to be so, but Blaze was never very good at goodbyes. She didn't want to leave, yet her duties as princess and guardian of the Sol Emeralds took her away from this combined world. From the place where she had friends…she turned away.

"Bye."

"Wait…"

Blaze spun around again to see Sonic reaching for her. He grabbed her arms and pulled her to him. She looked up into his eyes, normally green but now a deep fire red color when powered by the Chaos Emeralds.

"This isn't really goodbye," he said, smiling as Blaze noticed he always did. "It's more like 'until next time!'"

"Next time…" repeated Blaze, unsure at first. "Next time."

The air vibrated again, forcing the pair to hold onto each other to keep their balance. The adrenaline from the recent battle was finally leaving Blaze's body, and she rested her head against Sonic's shoulder. He let out a sigh as the fire from her power warmed his glowing form.

"I'm going to miss you, Blaze," he whispered to her.

"It's the same for me."

They stayed there for a while, coming down from the fight. Blaze enjoyed having Sonic's long arms around her; it was oddly comforting, and something she was unused to.

"Um, Blaze?"

"Yes?"

"You're burning me…"

Blaze released her grip, and was sad to find Sonic's shoulder to be a little red compared to the rest of his yellow body. She gently pressed her hand against it.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away and looking down. "I'm—"

"Cursed, I know," Sonic interrupted, pulling her back to him. "I just prefer burning somewhere else."

Blaze met his eyes again as he pulled her closer to close the gap between the two of them. His kiss radiated with the energy he received from the Chaos Emeralds, and the cat found herself breathless. It was amazing. Blaze had difficulty allowing herself to make friends; this sort of emotion overrode all her senses. She could see another reason why Cream described Sonic as being "like the wind." She could feel wind power coming off of him. If he had elemental power, it obviously would be that of air.

The kiss ended and Sonic sighed. Blaze chuckled as steam came out of his mouth, a result from her fire. He didn't know what she was smiling about, but he was happy to see that look on her face.

"I don't know where that came from," he admitted.

"That's fine," she replied. "…Must have been the heat of the moment."

"Yeah." And he reached to kiss her again.

This one was shorter than the first, because they started to really feel their two worlds pull apart. They broke the kiss and floated apart, holding hands until the last minute.

"I'll see you again, Blaze!" Sonic cried out.

"Yes!" Blaze yelled back. "Until then!"

Sonic watched as Blaze turned and flew away. He kept his eyes on her until she was out of his sight. Despite only knowing Blaze for a short time, he was really going to miss her.

He didn't even know what prompted him to kiss her like that; he just had the urge to do it. There was something about Blaze that made Sonic want to move. And anything that made him want to move was something he wanted to explore.

Sonic would just have to wait until that next chance came. He hadn't just been comforting her when he said that they would meet again. With the way Sonic traveled, he always ended up running into the same people more than once, alternate universe or not.

And next time, he wouldn't blame his actions on the heat of the moment.

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