Guilty.
Absolutely guilty.
That was what she felt; all she could feel as she dabbed the wet cloth at his bloody, matted fur. He was always throwing himself into danger for her. Of course, he'd do the same for any of the others, but... It was usually her that needed saving. What could she say? Her talent just seemed to be her innate ability to find trouble, even when 'trouble' was taking a day off. If there was one thing she hated, it was being a chronic damsel in distress. Yet, the pink hedgehog couldn't help but be oddly thankful for her curse of a gift. It was how she met him, after all.
He was her hero; her crush from the very moment she laid eyes on him as he whisked her away from his robotic doppleganger. When he looked down at her with his emerald eyes and smiled that hero's smile... That was it. She swore he was the one. He was the knight in shining armor she'd dreamed about, and she swore she'd never let him go. Something like that was just meant to be. The hero rides off with his princess into the sunset, right?
Boy, was he the exception. Not that she minded. He could run, but he couldn't hide. Not from Amy Rose.
The years following that had been some of the best times of her life. Back then, he was easy to find. He was almost always found lounging out in the same field of wild flowers, underneath the same old shade tree.
Sometimes, she would get lucky and find him napping there, a prize to behold. In his most incoherent state, he was easy to get close to. She could creep up to him and curl as close as she wanted into his warm, furry side until he woke, which was a good thirty minutes of sneaky cuddling nearly every time. But, it was the moment he stirred that she really looked forward to. That was when he would really give himself away.
As soon as he yawned and stretched, he would realize the warmth against him was her. While his entire muzzle painted itself red, she just laid there on him and smiled away, victorious in her efforts. He had to like her. It was just too obvious. Of course, after that, he would wrangle himself free from her and take off in all of his speed, leaving her nothing but the breeze of his escape to hold on to. She passed it off as him being shy. Her heart told her so, and it had never led her astray before.
But, there were some days that he stayed. Sure, he acted like he was rather annoyed by finding her there, enjoying his company without him knowing of her's, but she couldn't help but notice something about the look in his eyes. For someone who spent his time fighting evil- destroying things- he was soft. Not to mention the one time she accidentally dozed off on him, and woke up to him holding her. That was the day she really knew.
Things were different now. They'd grown up.
He was nineteen, still saving the world, and clearly over his shyness; she was going on seventeen, matured, and not so hot on his heels. She learned to give him his space, and it resulted in them being closer than they'd ever been. Now, his visits weren't so rare; they were frequent.
She continued to wipe at the cut on his arm diligently. It wasn't too bad, but, when he got slung across the grass, it got dirt down in the very deepest part. Poor thing was always getting himself injured at the world's expense. What did anyone ever do for him? He was constantly putting himself on the front line for people he didn't even know.
He jerked in pain away from her doctoring. She was always gentle with him, but the rubbing alcohol was really starting to burn. "Gah-ly! Dang, Amy, don't you keep any peroxide in this joint? I mean, really! You've practically got everything a hospital has!" he joked, rubbing at his tingling arm. She looked so upset about him being alittle battered that he just had to try to squeezing a smile out of her. Amy was such an uplifting personality all the time, it was impossible not to feel the weight of her looking so down. In any way comprehensible, he'd do his best to get those jade eyes to light up in their typical Amy fashion.
Instead, her brow only lowered more. She pushed him back into his laid- out position on the couch and set the antiseptic- dipped towelette aside. "With all the brunt you take, I just about have to be running a hospital." She was trying to sound more angry than upset, but her voice broke mid-sentence, ruining her attempt to stay from tears. His look softened at her emotional slip-up. Sputtering, she couldn't keep her face any longer, "Oh, Sonic! Why do you always have to go and get yourself hurt over me?!" She huffed in false agitation, still trying to hold herself together. It seemed stupid of her to be so worked up when he could hold his smile through any pain, but she couldn't help herself. Was it her fault his wounds spoke to her? It was bad enough when he would come stumbling up her steps with tattered gloves and ruffled fur, grinning at how he "wouldn't settle for anything less than the best nurse". She could tolerate his joking then, but when every nick on his body was meant for her... She couldn't stand it. Why couldn't she be more like him? Amy would give anything to share some his strength. " I hate that I'm always getting you all banged up," she sniffed, wiping at the tears fleeing down her muzzle in shame. "It's not right that I can't protect you..."
He felt his heart prick painfully. It was like this nearly every time, and it hurt to know she blamed herself for his screw-ups. Truth was, he always held a certain pride in keeping her out of harm's way. He was never good with words, not with her. There was just something about those eyes that made his voice stick in his throat and his heart race. But, what he failed to display verbally, he always tried to make up for in acts. She wasn't just that little girl in the tutu chasing him down anymore. They weren't those two crazy kids sprinting across Mobian fields; blue fleeing pink. She meant more to him than that as he grew up. He was learning to bridge the gap that kept him from accepting her as something more than just a friend. One step at a time. "Ah, heck, Amy... C'mon, don't say that. If it wasn't for you, my butt woulda been grilled up an' barbequed a long time ago." He half laughed at all the insane times they'd been through together. If he ever needed help, she was the first to throw her lot into the mix, not to mention her hammer. "What about that time on Earth at the Emerald Coast Resort?" he reminded her. She looked at him curiously, unsure what he was getting at. "You saved me from drowning," he stressed humorously, "don't tell me you can't remember that one!"
She cracked a smile at the memory. "Yeah, I remember." Poking playfully at his side, she giggled teasingly, her mood lifting, "That was the day you got all mushy with me~! You told me how brave I was for saving you~!" she laid on thickly. His muzzle was starting to show a subtle amount of red, and she grinned to herself. "Then you leaned in a-"
"WHUT?! Nu- Nuh-uhhh!" he barked in a stutter, interrupting her romantic bantering to make her explode into laughter at his defensiveness. His whole face felt like it was on fire. Man, how did always do that? At least he'd gotten her to cheer up, even if it was at a cost to his pride... Still, not to be subdued, he mumbled under his breath as he sank deeper into the couch cushions, "I didn't do nuthin'..." She was getting way too good at reading him. He'd let her in on so many aspects of his life that sometimes he forgot how to hold back. Truth was, he liked having her around. He liked having someone who could understand him and the way he was. Someone more than just a companion...
Amy wiped at her watery eyes with a fleeting giggle as she managed to suppress the mirth that nearly threatened to overtake her again at his shameful disposition. He'd always been so absolutely embarrassed at the very idea of kissing; it was just too funny an opportunity to pass up. She reached for his arm again to treat, but he twisted out of her reach with a phony pout. "Sonic!" she laughed, "quit being a big blue baby and give me your arm!"
His mouth pulled up into a crooked grin as he swatted her hands away. "What do I look like- your date? Puh!" he snorted. "Ye ain't gettin' this hog's arm! If I give ya an inch, the next thing ya know, you'll be tryin' tuh get it in marriage!" He stuck his tongue out in mock disgust.
She raised her brow at him comically. "Well that proves what you know! It's a hand in marriage, not an arm."
"I knew that!" he fibbed, plastering on a look of insult as he readjusted himself into a more comfortable position on his back. "Who do I look like? I mean, c'mon now, Amy, I'm not Knuckles." He chortled at the thought of his hot-headed companion. The guy let his fists do all the thinking, not to mention half his talking. Dude was a great friend, sure; he was dedicated, just alittle lacking when it came to mental capacity. A few technical terms out of Tails were enough to drive him up the wall.
"Ouch!" he barked out. Swinging his head left to look at his now bubbling cut, he blew out an irked breath. "Alittle warning would be nice!" Her eyes did a slight roll at his sensitivity. You'd think that someone like him would be used to having antiseptic dumped all over his body by now. Seeing an opening to tease her, he dove right in. "Don't you know you're supposed to alert the patient before ya go pokin' around? Gah, are they even teachin' out there?" His muzzle stretched to accommodate the massive sprawl of a grin that forced its way onto his face when she groaned.
Ever since the first time she patched him up, he'd refused to quit making jokes about what a good nurse she was going to be someday. Oh, yes, she was sure that one day she would be running a huge medical center where the only necessities were peroxide and bandages. He was such a dreamer. "Oh, I know," she reassured him in a professional tone. "You're just my guinea pig."
"Hedgehog!" he corrected in his pestering know-it-all voice, grin still present on every aspect of his features. "Imma hedgehog! Jeez... get it right!"
She took up a sarcastic display of surprise. "No, really?! I always thought you were a badger!"
His ear flicked in comic annoyance, one eyelid lowering to produce a goofy expression.
Amy breathed laugh, and went back to sorting through her box of medical supplies, which was all but reserved for him. For his next birthday, she was so getting him a first-aid kit. She couldn't keep from amusing herself with the image of him laughing and sticking smiley-faced healing agents all over his tanned muzzle. His voice was as clear as day in her head. "Hey, look, Amy! I think I'm startin' to get the hang of these things!" He'd say that, but, in the end, there was no doubt in where he would go to remedy his lashings.
She pulled out the roll of stretchy cotton wrap that was hiding under a box of Q-tips. "Ah, here it is!"
He went ahead and offered out his arm; it was no use in resisting her. She'd find a way to strangle a bandage on him no matter how long it took. The years had done nothing to tame her stubbornness. If anything, she'd gotten even more hard-headed. The girl knew how to assert herself these days. She didn't need him to hold her hand through every little step, though she most certainly wouldn't object to it. Amy was definitely her own person now. When she came up in conversations, they didn't revolve around her being an unwavering shadow behind him. In his own mind, that was what she'd been for a long time. Then, the next thing he knew, she'd fledged into something far greater.
Once, out on the Blue Typhoon, she reasoned, "...behind every hero is a great woman guiding him." When Tails tossed him a befuddled look and questioned whether or not it was true, he'd just shrugged. Her perspective was overly romantic, like always. All that she'd ever done by being behind him was just pestering. What in the world could a woman do just by being behind a guy?
Now, he knew.
A woman was more than her everyday chores and labors. She meant something. She was the force that could keep a hero running, even when he'd been pushed past the point of exhaustion. She was what made the world a worthwhile place. She was the light in his darkest hour, willing him forward to overcome any obstacle that stood between him and victory. She was what made the sun rise over his horizon.
No challenge too great. No enemy too strong.
"There." She looked on proudly at her handiwork. "How's that?"
He gazed down at the white fabric, flexing his arm to test if it would hold. "Great! This oughta last me a while." She took a seat next to his knees and smiled brightly, and he couldn't help himself. "Well, you know, at least until you go outside again." She gave him a playful glare, smacking his leg in return for the jest. "Do me a favor and just bake something tomorrow. It's, like, a zillion times safer," he snickered, putting his arms behind his head.
"Sonic!" she cried, making him jolt. Her eyes were already starting to water over. "Nooooo..."
Shooting up to comfort her from whatever trouble, he took her thin shoulders in his hands, "What? What's the matter?" She grabbed his wrist and used it to raise his right arm up over his head. He leaned over to get a better view, and spotted the liquid red stripe across the underside of it. "Oh.." It took everything he had not to laugh as Amy collapsed miserably into his furred chest, rambling on about how much it was her fault. For the second time.
Here we go again, he thought, half grinning as he held her. But, man...what I wouldn't give for more times like these...
Yay for mah first post! ='3 I know that I probably messed up somewhere and missed fixing it, but I'm so proud that I have something to post up! It was intended to be put up on deviantart, so you might find some weird things like this in there: i /i. Thanks for readin'!