A/N: Okay, next in my series of oneshots: Knouge. This one is definatly longer than 'Running' but I think the first might be a bit better. Anyway, before for you bite my head off for getting something wrong; let me just say that the battle scene described is based only on what I have read myself. I never played the game it's from.

Duty

Rule #1: Never fall in love.

That's the first thing they told me when I accepted my duties as Guardian.

At the time I didn't think that it was a particularly necessary rule; I was young, barely nine, females were the farthest thing from my mind. For almost eight years, that didn't change. Until she made her entrance. Don't you mushy romance loving idiots get any ideas; this isn't some stupid love at first sight deal. In fact, if I remember correctly, the first emotion that stuck me when I saw her was hate. Pure and simple hatred because she dared to steal my people's most sacred treasure. It didn't matter if I was the last of my kind; it was my duty, my sole purpose in life to guard that emerald.

The second time we met was just as pleasant as the first. Both of us had searched for the shards of the Master Emerald which I, in a desperate act to prevent it from being stolen, had shattered. By some strange fluke both of us had managed to collect exactly have of the shards and now demanded the others. Of course, she was too stubborn to give up hers and I would never shirk my responsibilities as Guardian. So the inevitable battle began on that iron girder.

Fate must have a cruel sense of humor; for it turned out that the two of us were so evenly matched that gaining the upper hand was impossible for both myself and her. It was a stalemate and we both knew it. But she wasn't going to give in that easily. She took a step toward me; demanding that I give her 'her' emerald. I probably would have shouted back that it wasn't her emerald; if she hadn't slipped.

To this day I don't know what controlled my actions after she fell. All I know is as soon as her foot slipped off I was diving toward her. I made grabbed her hand in my left and the girder in my right. It was only my near supernatural strength that kept me from joining her is a plummet to oblivion. With a titanic effort, I hauled us both back to safety forgetting for the moment I had yet to release my grip on her hand. She jerked it away a few seconds later, calling me a creep that just wanted to hold her hand. I spat back that I'd only done it to save the Master Emerald. She gave the shards back after that little exchange of insults, claiming they stunk like echidnas.

And for the record, I bathe regularly.

I put the emerald back together then and there, but my own chivalry made me turn back and apologize for the previous fight; even though she was as much to blame as me. She didn't respond, just flew away. But, was it my imagination or did she smile at me?

What does it matter; they're just memories, they have no place in the here and now. Relationships are forbidden anyway; forming one would be considered neglecting my duties as Guardian. And even forgetting all of that, there's the fact that someone like her could have any real feelings for another living creature.

I know all this; it's practically welded into my mind, unable to be removed. So why can't I stop thinking about her!?

The answer is as simple as the question, but admitting it-even to myself-would mean that I'd be admitting that I've broken one of the must important rules of my duty. It would mean that I'd gone against everything my father ever taught me; that I was disgracing my echidna heritage; that I wasn't worthy of being Guardian.

It would mean; that I had fallen in love.

A/n: Please review, I have self-esteem issues and it will help boost my confidence. Next couple: The often overlooked Shadikal. :)