The sky above her head could not have been lonelier. The stars twinkled and the moonbeams danced across the leaves, but the night remained silent. While the crickets were singing and the frogs were croaking, as they did every summer evening, she heard nothing. Not a single beautiful note reached her small rosette ears.
Amy pushed herself up to better see the lake in front of her, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Her hearing had been fading for a while now, thanks to the constant explosions they were exposed to. For whatever reason, the last mission she went on had snatched the beautiful song of life from her hands. She had been considered "legally deaf" for twenty four hours now. Ever since the doctor "told" her, she had been here at Station Square Park, watching the water, the sun, and everything that passed by in complete silence.
Her main concern now was how to go about the rest of her life. How could her friends spend time with her when they would have to repeat everything they said until she learned to read lips? Would they bother to learn sign language? For that matter, would she ever grasp the concept? Tails had figured it out long ago, but had promised to let Amy tell the others on her own time. The person she dreaded finding it out the most was the love of her life: Sonic.
They had grown so close, but she could not help but fear he would leave her for her disability. She absolutely despised calling it that, since she was still physically capable of all her usual tasks, but it was true. Would he bother to love her when she was so different? How could she live without hearing his voice, anyway? She would never be able to go on another adventure with him, either, since her deafness left her a liability and a hindrance to the rest of the team. The thought of never running off with Tails, Sonic and Knuckles made the tears finally flow.
How could this possibly happen to her? Why her, of all people? Why must she suffer a world of silence while everyone else listened to the lifesong of the earth every day? They didn't even appreciate it! It simply wasn't fair. Amy cried out her sorrow and struggles beneath the willow tree, blissfully unaware of how loud her cries seemed against the soft cricket song of the evening. The tears continued to flow, pouring from her eyes and streaking down her muzzle. All she wanted now was to hear Sonic's voice telling her everything would be fine; but she knew that could never happen. Never again would she hear the words "I love you." She would never hear anything.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her back. She jumped and turned to see who it was. A familiar blue hedgehog stood behind her, smiling softly. She saw he was saying something, but merely burst into tears again because no noise reached her ears. Surprised and concerned that he had somehow done something wrong, Sonic sat down beside her and embraced her, nuzzling her hair and hoping that simply being there would comfort her.
With her ear pressed tightly against his chest and her eyes closed to the world, she was completely alone with him. Without sight or sound and only touch and scent, she knew she was with him in the park in the summer, and that was all that existed. She felt his soft, steady breathing as it moved her ear slightly back and forth. She felt vibrations a little while after he took a noticeably deep breath. He was talking, and she couldn't hear a thing. Taking a deep breath, she said words she could not hear. She knew he would have to know eventually. She could not hide it forever. "Sonic… I don't know what you're saying… I… I'm deaf."
He gently held her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. She was worried she would see anger, disappointment, or resentment, but she saw none of those things. Rather, she saw a burning passion and a love she had never seen towards her, or anyone else, ever before. A small smile tugged at his lips as he gazed at her. He reached over to his left and picked up a scrap of paper out of a small box, something she had failed to notice before.
After he handed it to her, she opened it to find three small words scribbled on it: I already knew.
Her hand flew to her mouth and she looked up at him with shock. He simply handed her another piece of paper. This one was a bit longer: I still love you. I still need you. I will never leave you.
She looked up at him again, her jade eyes sparkling in the starlight. Once again, his eyes were just as alight as hers. Gently he took his hand and caressed her cheek, laughing softly as the touch caused her to tremble involuntarily. Amy could not help but smile as well. Something about his smile, his laugh, even if she could not hear it, made her happy again. He still loved her. He held her hand within his, and squeezed it slightly, hoping to make all her pain and sorrow would have worked if she had had any sorrow left.
Amy's heart was simply aflutter with the idea of being loved, and her tears were now tears of joy as she embraced Sonic with all her might. She felt him laughing and hugging her back. It surprised her how much they had said without saying a word, and how real it was. It was the most sincere moment they had ever shared, and they said nothing at all.
Just a short one-shot inspired by the song "When You Say Nothing at All" by Alison Krauss. I highly suggest it. (It's not as bitter as I made it out to be.)
The other stories are coming, all. Be patient. I promise, they're coming.