Yin-Yang; the ancient Chinese philosophy in which everything has its opposite. Nothing is unbalanced- life and death, night and day, hot and cold. These contrary forces are utterly dependant on one another, and if on fails the other will surely falter.
This is the story of a young girl trapped between two opposing forces; yang, where her loved ones are, and yin, where she can trust no one.

~0~ YIN-VERSE ~0~

Two doves circled each other, flying up and down throughout the trees lining the peaceful stone road.

"Sonic! Good morning!"
The birds fluttered down into a tree, watching as a carefree girl skipped down towards the object of her affections. He was sitting at one of the small cafe tables that littered the plaza, chowing down on a couple of chili dogs.

"Hi Sonic! How are you- oh. Good morning, Sally. How are you two today?" Amy's smile faltered a bit at the sight of the brown-furred princess, but didn't die and in fact got brighter when the blue blur answered.

"Oh, heya Ames. I don't think I've been better since the last time I had chili dogs!" He gave her a small smile and she felt her heart flutter. The butterflies died, however, when Sally spoke up.

"Oh, Sonic, you ate five chili dogs just this morning!" The chipmunk flicked her hair back over her shoulder, smiling that weird smile with too many teeth she so often wore when Amy was around.

"Ah, yes. There's your answer, Amy! The same as I was when I woke up and man did I wake up in a good mood." He picked up the next dog on his plate and took another bite.

"Oh, good! I was just-" Amy was cut off as Sally gave a loud laugh and playfully swiped at Sonic.

"Sonic, slow down! That chili dog isn't going to go anywhere."

"Well, Sal, with my luck it's either gonna burst into flames or run away, so between you and me I'd rather eat it before that happens. You know what I mean?"
The two burst into laughter, and before Amy could speak up again Sally took on a gossipy tone and began to lecture Sonic on the very latest in castle happenings.
Amy, well versed in all things Sonic, knew that the twitching of his ear was a sign he was frustrated. Trapped. Sally knew this . . . but Sally didn't care.
Amy cared.

"I, um, I have to go now. Things to do. People to see. Uh- goodbye." She took a few hesitant steps backward. Neither of the two at the table noticed.
"I'll see you later, I guess."
She retreated, walking faster than she should've, and up above the two birds flew off- no longer singing their happy tune. In less than a minute, Sonic and Sally were left alone with their lop-sided conversation.

"Good morning, Amy!"

"Good morning, Vector."

"Hello, Ms. Rose."

"Hello, Miss Hershey."
As she made her way across town, weaving her way back home, she met many of her acquaintances.
None of them friends, none of them someone to talk to. And none of them someone who would understand.
Amy wasn't a 12-year-old, not really. She'd been born eight years ago, but she'd gone through a ritual- one known to drive people insane- in order to grow old only a few months ago. Using the Ring of Acorns and not having royal blood was a sure recipe for disaster. And Amy, while a magnificent baker, was no match for something like that.
She'd done it in a vain attempt to match up with her crush. He'd saved from Metal Sonic, he'd rescued her from Little Planet. He'd taken her here, given her a home, been her . . . friend.
Kind of.
She knew she should be grateful, but she just couldn't shake the odd feeling she was doing the wrong thing. That somewhere along the line she'd messed up and now she was paying the price. Little Planet, barren wasteland that it was, hadn't felt like a home, so she had always assumed this feeling was due to that. It wasn't.
She had been so hopeful when Sonic had first presented a small cottage to her, 'a home sweet home', as he had called it. Finally, she would make friends. Finally, she would have a family, a chance, a life.
But fate was a horrible, horrible thing to put faith into.
Amy Rose didn't belong anywhere.
A few hours later, Amy was just finishing her simple dinner and Sally decided to make her move.

"Sonic, dear, I've been thinking . . ."

"'Bout what?" Sonic was rubbing his ear. Reflexive twitching was a horrible thing to have.

"About Amy! She's much too young to live on her own."

"She's the same age as we were when we first came to Knothole."

"Not in her head she isn't. Why did you give her a house of her own? She should be in the Children's Home . . ."

"Sal, we were fighting Robotnik at eight, and if I remember correctly you said you wouldn't set foot in the Children's Home if your life depended on it. Why would Amy be any different?"

"Because she's- well, she's not exactly able to take care of herself . . ."

"She can cook, she can bake, and she makes a pretty good living telling fortunes. You know this, Sally- heck, you were the one to tell me this! I don't know why you're so worried about it- she'll be fine."

'And that,' Sally thought darkly, 'Is exactly what I'm worried about."

~0~ AMY-VERSE ~0~

Darkness.
That's the first thing she saw. As one with the Sight, she knew that dreams were nothing to take lightly. And a dream about darkness signaled very foreboding things indeed.
Wait, no, not darkness. How could she have made such a mistake- why, right over there was the brightest light she'd ever seen. It pulsed and changed, like sunlight on a cloudy day, and standing right there in the center of it was the figure she knew so well.
Or, at least, she thought it was Sonic. She'd spent so much time with him, thinking of him, hoping about him. This off-looking Sonic must be a result of her using the Ring of Acorns. Maybe she had gone mad, after all. Long quills, very long, curving down in sharp, dangerous spikes. The Sonic she knew had stubby spines running all down his back, and paler fur. This Sonic looked like he'd formed out of a chunk of open sky. Oh, he was turning.

"Amy!" He ran towards her. How odd. A dream of Sonic running to HER? She stood stock still in the darkness as he left his patch of sunlight and grabbed her by the shoulders. His eyes- oh, his beautiful eyes- were nothing like the Sonic she knew outside this dream-world. Green swirled around, emerald fire contained in such a small, powerful space. The other- no, the original Sonic had black eyes, the same as Sally, the same as every one else.
Amy stood, entranced, until the new Sonic spoke again.

"It's really you, isn't it? Amy?"

"W-who are you?" She stuttered a little. His voice was deeper, kinder than the other Sonic's. This Sonic cared.

"Why, I'm Santa Claus." Sonic grinned, pushing at her shoulders playfully. She stumbled back. "C'mon, Amy, it's me! Sonic! The blue blur! Your oldest friend in the whole wide world!"

"I- I don't- you can't be Sonic! Sonic doesn't look like that . . ." She brought a hand up to her lips, confused.

"Look like what? Rugged? Handsome? Undeniably delightful?" She smiled, pushing back at him.

"No, silly! Sonic isn't taller than me, and he certainly doesn't have quills like yours."

"Aw, Amy! I am Sonic!"

"No . . . no, you most definitely are not." She'd wouldn't tell him this, but the real Sonic would never let her call him silly, or push at him, or call himself her friend. He'd run.

"Ouch . . . never thought getting rejected by you would hurt." He rubbed the back of his neck before bringing his hand back down and smiling down at her mischievously. "But I think I can think of a way to remedy that . . . "
She laughed, letting a smile fly back onto her face. Real Sonic would NEVER flirt with HER!

"Ah, there's that smile. I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to see you smile." He grinned, relieved, and she felt herself relax. This Sonic may not be Real, but at least he was hers . . . her friend. She meant friend. She pushed out at him again, still laughing a little.

"Hey, come on now. That's not a very nice way to say hello . . . don't I get a hug?" He wrapped his arms around himself dramatically, pretending to be disappointed.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Huh?" He stood up straight, arms falling to his sides. "Doing what?"

"I mean, why are you being so nice to me? You never do that . . ."

"I admit I wasn't always there to talk to or take you shopping but I've always been nice to you . . . heck, we've been great friends since the day we met! You're confusing me with the Other Sonic. Now that guy is a bonafide-"

"What? How- Huh?" She couldn't even find the right words, she was so confused.

"Uh-"

"How- No, what do you mean, 'Other Sonic'. You're just a part of my dream and the real Sonic is . . . well, real. If anything you would be the other Sonic."

"Amy . . . uh, well, do you believe in other Worlds?"

"Yes. Little Planet, the Moon, Mars-"

"No, I mean like whole other universes. Other Worlds." He gestured with his fingers, making fists and splaying them back out.

"Oh. I . . . guess I do?" He wasn't making very much sense. She'd have to look up what it meant if one dreamt of insane crushes.

"Good, because you don't belong in this one."

"Obviously. I don't need a figment of my imagination to tell me that-"

"No, no, no. That's not- Amy." He looked her dead in the eye, and, the smallest hint of a smile on his face, spoke, "You belong in my world."

~0~0~0~

Hey, it's nice to see you all! I'm afraid I kind of lost where I was going with my other stories, so if you have any suggestions for those just message me.
I'm taking over this wonderful story from v-16-v, who deleted the original story or I'd ask you to read that one first. Then again, no one really wants spoilers. And I know Sonic is a bit too flirtatious and OOC, but I'm trying to exaggerate the difference between the two. One [the one that's here in her dreams] is supposed to be SEGA Sonic, whereas the bland one dating Sally is Archie Sonic. Yin-Verse is the Archie world, Amy-Verse is within her dreams, which will soon be explained.
Go ahead and review- it's a great idea. Trust me.