This is a remake of my story from several years ago "Amy the Beloved Thief", but the title sucks so I made a new one.

It was one of my most popular stories (somehow), and I'd like to do it justice, since it wasn't a bad idea for a one-shot! If you please, I would recommend going back and reading the first story after reading this, and you'll definitely see the difference.

It won't stick exactly to the same plot...I'd like a much more in character Sonic.

Heart Snatcher

"My legs...led me...here?"

Standing outside of a small cottage decorated rather lavishly with flowers, Sonic the Hedgehog sighed deeply before scratching his head. It was a morning like any other in Mobius, the sun beating down on the world, while the wind contrasted the sun and caressed the hedgehog with a cool moisture that was exclusive to the morning.

As the wind swept past the cottage's flowers, the moisture clung to the petals and began to sparkle in the radiance of the sun. Sonic couldn't help but smile at how well kept the flower beds were.

But when he remembered exactly who tended to these flowers, his smile lessened a bit; it wasn't that she was a bad person, or that he didn't like her, but something about her made him...uncomfortable? Yet at the same time, there was something alluring about her that constantly had the blue hedgehog finding himself outside of her home in this exact same manner, admiring her flowers and taking a quick peek inside at the life of the pink hedgehog.

So of course, to continue this tradition, Sonic approached her window. 'I am way too used to watching her through her window...doesn't that make me a stalker?'

A cry pierced through Sonic's thoughts, to which he responded to by instantly jumping through the window and shouting Amy's name. His eyes scanned her house for the source of the cry, and his heart began to race in anxiety.

"Sonic?"

"Amy!" Sonic's face was filled with relief as he looked her over, ensuring that nothing had been done to her, before asking her: "Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine...why would you think otherwise?" Looking rather confused, Amy turned towards the blue ball of stress and placed a hand firmly on her hip. Her stern expression seemed quite forced, especially being that Sonic was in her home, here to visit her, despite the strange circumstances. A smile finally replaced the angry pout she donned, and she sighed happily.

"I don't care why you're here but...you're here!" To grab her hero and embrace him was sheer instinct by this point in time; so of course, she did just that.

"Alright, alright," Sonic chuckled, and quickly separated himself from his pink admirer. Coming back to reality, Amy straightened herself out and allowed a proud smile to form on her muzzle. She gestured to Sonic to follow her through the rooms of her house, and for reasons unknown to him, Sonic followed obediently.

"I'd like you to meet someone!" Amy giggled, cooing at what Sonic thought was himself at first, but soon realized she had been talking to a smaller version of himself, a blue chao with small quills. "I found him lost this morning when I went for a jog," she sighed, then picked up the small creature, cradling him in her arms.

"Wow, someone sure looks like a good mother," Sonic joked, but instantly wished he could take them back. 'I'm just setting myself up for-'

"Thinking about our kids?" Amy smirked, and did a small twirl in her living room with the chao in her arms. A heart shaped orb appeared over its head, perfectly describing Amy's own emotions at the time. As Sonic, now embarrassed, averted his gaze from the pink hedgehog, he began to take in the details of her home. The living room was painted a warm lilac, with white curtains on the bright windows, and a love-seat that was the same shade of white. In the corner sat a pot of violets.

'Much more mellow than I thought,' he thought, making a mental note of it. When thinking of Amy, the first thing that seemed to come to mind were bright pinks and fiery reds, not light purples and warm whites.

"Mobius to Sonic!" Amy snapped in front of Sonic's face and stamped her foot, seeming annoyed that each time she tried to get to the point, he would drift off into a daydream. Sonic snapped back to reality, now giving her his undivided attention.

"Yesss, Miss Rose?" Now acting as Amy had, Sonic began tapping his foot and shot her an over-dramatic glare. "Don't keep me waiting here," he interrupted her before she could get a word in, "I definitely am not in my own house, and I can't be in it all day!"

"Oh shut up," Amy said as she punched Sonic in the arm lightly. "Anyway, I've been trying to tell you that I was just about to head out and try to find the owners of this little guy...but I really don't know how to start." The pink hedgehog suddenly turned her body a little bit away from Sonic, and fiddled with her bangs.

"I was just wondering...if you would..."

"Sure I'll help find this little guy's owner!"

Sonic's eager and immediate response came as a shock to them both; to Sonic because his mouth had reacted on its own, and to Amy because Sonic had not only come into her house on his own, but now he didn't even run from her? And agreed to do her a favor that would prevent him from going faster than a walking speed?

"There must be something in the air today," she muttered as a shy smile formed on her red blushing face. Sonic rolled his eyes and held open the door for her, signaling that it was time for their search to commence.

Having been a long time since Sonic had last strolled quite so leisurely, the environment appeared to be foreign to the speedy hedgehog. It was as if each tree, each flower, and each home were never there in the first place, and had only been erected moments before Sonic had set foot outside Amy's house. Emerald eyes gazed at the equally green leaves of the trees, and the flowers that matched his radiant fur.

"It sure is nice out," Sonic began, attempting to converse with the pink hedgehog. The start of their stroll was rather quiet, awkward, and completely uncomfortable; it was the exact opposite of the environment that Sonic was pleased with. He could only wonder what was on Amy's mind as she walked absentmindedly, ignoring the fresh scent of nature that wafted from the trees and flowers surrounding the two hedgehogs.

"The trees are so-"

"Chao!"

A single cry suddenly caused two pairs of green eyes to meet at a single point; the small creature in Amy's arms, now wriggling about unhappily within her grip. It took Amy a moment to figure out that the chao wanted to be released, and once she finally did, the chao was out of her strong arms and fluttered happily next to Sonic.

"Hey there..." Sonic mumbled, a small smile appearing on his face. As he began to pet the chao, Amy couldn't help but admire just how naturally heroic and kind Sonic was: his touch was so tender as he ran his gloved hand down the side of his "smaller self's" head.

"Do you like chao?" Amy blurted out, her face appearing strained.

"I love them," Sonic smiled at the pink hedgehog growing nervous about speaking to him. 'Here I thought she was suddenly angry or something...'

Further eying Amy's blushing cheeks as she averted her gaze to the ground, Sonic suddenly felt heat rise to his own cheeks as he couldn't help but admire her features. 'She's pretty...why didn't I notice it before?'

'Snap out of it, Sonic.'

Shaking off the conflicting, confusing thoughts, the blue hedgehog could feel his reddened cheeks paling as he finally put his mind back onto the task at hand. Silly thoughts were just that: silly.

"Do you recognize this chao?"

"Sonic, your narcissism can only go so far..."

"It's not mine," Sonic retorted quickly to his best friend Tails, whom Sonic and Amy had decided would be the perfect person to start with. "Amy found it, and now we-"

"Him, Sonic, not it." Amy glared at Sonic as the small creature floating beside her stared into Sonic's eyes, the chao's own eyes growing wide and unsettled. The pink hedgehog pouted and turned her head away from Sonic with a firm "hmph!"

"Anyway Tails, Amy found him," Sonic rolled his eyes, "and now we're looking for his owner. So have you ever seen the little guy?" Now tapping his foot, Sonic was clearly beginning to grow impatient with their predicament; something in his mind had given him the strange idea that spending time with Amy like this may actually be fun, but waiting around for people to give him an answer was not something the blue speedster was accommodated to.

"Sorry Sonic, but I don't think I have ever seen him..." Tails stole a glance at the two hedgehogs and placed a hand on his face, pinching the area above his nose. He always did this when he was puzzled. "Is this really the best way for you guys to find his owner though? I mean I feel like this would take too long..."

"But we have to!" Amy spoke up, now looking more determined than ever.

One hand on her hip and another balled up in a tight fist, Amy Rose was the picture of stubborn; but it seemed like something else was beneath that. Sonic couldn't help but watch her carefully, amazed as she explained to Tails that she felt she had to get the chao home as soon as possible. The blue hedgehog's eyes tacitly examined her, surprised to see that she seemed so much different from usual today. Her eyes held a warmth that seemed to always be hidden behind her peppy and angry rouse; it was apparent now that she truly did care for the creature she had only just met, and could sympathize very well with him.

"Don't you agree, Sonic?" Amy looked over to her crush, clearly expecting an answer from him.

'Oh no...I wasn't listening.' "Of course I do, Amy." Sonic smiled, giving Amy a thumbs up. "I'm in this with you, and we'll do it together..."

"Pfffft!"

Tails slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the laughter as Amy suddenly began to approach Sonic, hearts practically in her eyes as she smiled dreamily.

"So you mean you agree that this chao coming to me really does mean we were meant to be? Oh Sonic!" Her last words were practically deafening as she squealed and grabbed poor Sonic, now confused and disoriented. 'What the heck had she been talking about?'

"Sonic, you moron..." Tails offered the sight of the tangled up hedgehogs a small smile. "Maybe soon he'll realize his feelings," he whispered to no one in particular, unheard by both the infatuated pink hedgehog and the confused blue one.

Fed up with her pouncing, a very disoriented Sonic finally managed to get her to stand still in front of him. "Alright, alright Amy!" He sighed, putting one of his gloved hands over his head. "I spaced out a little...don't go assuming things." From his words, Amy visibly deflated, the excitement that had grown inside of her all flooding away at once like a popped balloon. Sonic cringed; it almost made him feel bad seeing the girl so disappointed.

"Hmph! You should listen to me more; it isn't right to play with a girl's heart like that!" Amy replied with an attempt to seem more annoyed than upset. Unfortunately, a tear slipped down her face, which was then accompanied by the comfort of the little Sonic chao, who had been watching up until this point. A small heart grew over its head as the chao hugged her slender arm, the only thing his stubby hands could fully grasp.

"Sonicc..." Tails complained, annoyed at his best friend's behavior. Sonic simply stood there watching as the silent tears fell down Amy's now ashen face, not frowning nor smiling. "Go comfort her. This is your fault," Tails sighed, now walking out of the room of his workshop. "Comfort her, okay?"

"What'd I even do?" Sonic muttered, partially annoyed but more apologetic. Without his usual swing in his stride, the blue hedgehog crept over to face Amy, who had turned to face the wall. "I'm sorry, alright? I was thinking about how I'd never seen you act so...I don't know, caring?" Sonic, while still facing her, averted his eyes to the very right side of his face, and began rubbing one of his ears.

"So...you were thinking about me?"

The faint blush across Sonic's cheeks did not go unseen by Amy, and as soon as it appeared her tears stopped flowing and were instantly replaced with a beaming smile. "Oh Sonic, you're so sweet! I didn't know you would notice something like that..."

"It's not in a weird way!" Sonic defended instantly, pupils now searching for any place to look at but her. Her eyes seemed to move with his, catching his glance no matter what. It was unbelievable how Amy could snap into different moods so quickly; one moment she was about to bawl her eyes out, the next she was hopelessly in love yet again...

"Whatever," a pair of emerald eyes rolled, now turning away to face the door. "I say we get a move on already...the poor guy's been waiting all this time for us anyway." Sonic chuckled, noticing the chao perk up at being mentioned. "That's right little buddy," he bent over to pet the chao, "we're gonna find your family!"

"Let's go Amy!"

But before she went, Amy couldn't help but lag behind for a moment; watching Sonic interact with the chao seemed so...natural. Like Sonic wanted nothing more but to care for other beings. A genuine smile covered Amy's face.

"Coming!"

"This is taking foreverrr!"

"Oh man up, blue boy."

Now sitting on a park bench, the two hedgehogs had ice cream cones of contrasting flavors: Amy eating strawberry, and Sonic eating chocolate. The chao, meanwhile, nibbled at a large cookie, a heart shaped orb floating above its head.

"Where do we even go from here? No one's seen this chao or knows anything about it- him. We can't just knock on every house around, you know Amy?"

"I think we'll find them soon," Amy whispered, smiling at the small chao. "After all, anyone who could raise such a sweet chao must be really worried about him." The chao continued to happily eat his cookie, but now seemed a bit down at the mention of his family.

"So Sonic," Amy began, trying to change the subject, "Why would you pick chocolate ice cream? I mean it's basically the ickiest and worst flavor..." Amy took a long lick of her cone, staring Sonic in the face.

"The worst? More like the greatest in the universe!" Sonic took an even longer lick of his cone, now focused on beating Amy's argument. "What about you? I mean, strawberry is hardly even a popular flavor...besides, have you ever even tried chocolate ice cream?"

With a little hesitation, Amy answered his question with a solemn "no" as she shrunk back, feeling defeated. A pout formed on her face at losing to the blue hedgehog; his cocky nature always made you want to best him at every point he made, and when you couldn't, it felt like you had been swindled. Her pout put a playful smile on Sonic's face and sealed his choice to have some fun with her.

To her surprise, Sonic suddenly shoved his cone in her face, smirking at her bewildered expression. "Try it."

Upon hearing his words, Amy's entire face seemed to blend in with the rest of her fur. 'But if I try it...won't it be like a...' The scene of Sonic licking his ice cream just a moment ago replayed in her mind, and the nervous pink hedgehog found her muzzle changing from pink to a deeper red. Despite her embarrassment, Amy leaned forward to taste his frozen treat.

But before she could, Sonic quickly moved his cone, instead only getting a dollop of ice cream on Amy's small, button-like nose. "Sonic," she growled, emphasizing the last syllable of his name to express her annoyance. Sonic, on the other hand, was trying as hard as he could to stifle his own laughter, along with his mini-self. The little chao giggled like a child, cutely and innocently at the new color of Amy's nose.

Poor Amy's nose looked like a big, ugly, brown, mutated dot. And while she did not find anything about the situation funny, especially after preparing herself for an indirect kiss with her crush, Sonic couldn't get over himself. He even laughed as Amy got her revenge on him.

In an instant, Amy had smashed her strawberry ice cream on each side of Sonic's face, who was distracted by his own laughter. The pink coated Sonic's cheeks, giving him the appearance of a girl with too much blush on her cheeks. Before Sonic could process the situation, Amy was doubled over in laughter.

"Oh Sonic!" She cried out, "you look...you look ridiculous!" Even the chao was giggling madly at Sonic's pink cheeks, and this caused the poor hero's cheeks to blush an even deeper shade of red. "Oh now she's asked for it..."

Two hedgehogs made eye contact, and lunged at the other to attack with their ice cream cones. Pink melded with chocolate brown, flavors combining and turning a neutral color as it painted both the once contrasting pigmented hedgehogs the same color.

"Alright, alright," Sonic laughed, feeling sticky from the onslaught of ice cream. "Ugh, now my fur is sticking together...how should we get this off?" Sonic sighed, giving Amy the chance to formulate a plan.

"Well, my darling," her sugary tone made his fur stand straight up, "I know a way we can get clean...the way we usually would in the wild!"

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows skeptically. "Oh? And which way would that be?" Something didn't seem right; he definitely should've run the moment Amy took a single step towards him.

A kiss was planted on his cheek, leaving a spot on Sonic's face that had formerly been covered by ice cream bare. The brownish-pink color was now gone, instead revealing Sonic's incredibly red muzzle. He sputtered out bits of nothing, making a futile attempt to form a sentence.

Blushing as well, Amy glanced downwards, expecting Sonic to bolt away from her. His doppelganger, the little chao, watched anxiously, smiling at the two hedgehogs he was growing rather fond of. Finally, Sonic composed himself, and took Amy by surprise.

"Wild animals...t-they don't kiss each other! Ha! Nice try!"

"As if that's gonna lighten the mood," Amy grumbled, now being frank with her feelings as usual. "It's merely my way of telling you I care...and if that's too much for you, well sir, you can just leave!"

The sudden change in Amy's emotion took Sonic by surprise; he was instead expecting her to giggle and smile like an idiot at him, but instead, something seemed different...she was blushing and looking down, as if him running away was all that she ever knew.

'Maybe...just maybe...' Sonic's thoughts began to clear up, avoiding the confusing thoughts the kiss had given him. 'She's just as bad at this as I am...she's okay when I run away, but neither of us have ever stayed to see the aftermath of our own actions..."

"Um...Sorry Sonic."

Amy's low and quivering voice snatched away Sonic's musings, bringing him back to the current situation. "I...I guess I'm just as used to running as you are-"

Before the mood could depreciate any further, the little chao flew onto Amy's head, wrapping his arms around her bangs to show her that he didn't want to see them fight. He soon flew over to Sonic, wrapping his arms around Sonic's top quill.

"He's right, Amy," Sonic murmured, feeling the tacit message of the chao reach both of them. "We need to worry about finding this little guy his owners...and we need to get a little more used to each other...I guess."

"That's the umpteenth time I've seen you blush today, Sonic the Hedgehog," Amy smiled knowingly, offering her open arms to the nervous blue hedgehog. "Forgive me?"

"Of course..." he hesitantly accepted her offer, embracing her loosely for a moment before backing away to smile awkwardly. "Now let's get back to business...we need to find somewhere to wash this ice cream off of us, and we still need to find the little guy's owners!"

Amy nodded in agreement, however something else seemed to be tugging at her mind. "Don't you think maybe...we should name him? I mean I know we're not going to keep him but..." Amy bit her lip. "I feel like it's kind of mean to keep calling him 'little guy' or 'the chao'."

"Well why don't w-"

"Cha Cha!"

"Huh?" The hedgehog pair turned to face the now vocal chao as it continued to should the one syllable sound repeatedly.

"Cha Cha! Cha!"

Realizing the chao's intentions, Amy smiled. "How about we call you Chacha?" The orb floating above Chacha's head turned to a heart as he began to hug Amy's leg, excited to hear his new name. Sonic and Amy giggled as the little chao flew around giddily.

"Now as per the ice cream issue-"

As if on cue, Chacha tugged at Amy's dress, urging her to follow him. Offering a knowing look to the chao, Amy turned to Sonic. "I think Chacha knows where we can go...let's go, Sonic!" She happily took a hold of his arm as the two followed the excited blue chao.

Finally reaching their destination, the hedgehogs shared a knowing glance as they smiled at Chacha. They had made it to a nearby chao garden, where many chao would come with their owners to play with each other, as well as to mate. It wasn't strange that Chacha would have known where this place is.

"But I don't get it," Sonic mumbled, "if Chacha knew how to get here, why doesn't he know how to get home?" Quickly, Chacha began to act out his reasoning. It made absolutely no sense to neither Sonic nor Amy, but they simply had to accept it.

"Chacha...you do like your owner, don't you?" Amy asked, worried about his true home. What if Chacha hadn't actually wanted to go home?

But her fear was refuted as the chao began to nod and tried to draw a picture of a person in the ground. The person in the picture was nearly impossible to decipher, but the large heart surrounding them told the hedgehogs just how much Chacha loved his owner.

"Well good!" Amy smiled. "Now you go off and play for a bit Chacha, while Sonic and I go to the pond to wash this ice cream off of us." Amy sighed as she took off her boots and socks, but left on her dress, which was also soiled with the melted cream.

"You coming?" She looked over to Sonic quizzically, until she saw the look of fear spread across his muzzle. The pond was nothing more than 5 inches deep, and was filled with baby chao and their owners, yet Sonic still couldn't handle it.

"It'll be alright, you know."

"Wha...What?"

"I'll be right next to you...I won't leave for a minute."

"Wha...I'm not scared!" Sonic huffed, turning away from Amy like a small child. "I just...I'm fine! I don't need to go into the water!" As he spoke, the ice cream dripped from the tip of his nose; Amy giggled, thinking to herself that he was like Pinocchio. 'Look at him, trying to lie', she couldn't help but smile at the frantic hedgehog next to her.

"It'll just be for a moment," Amy reassured him, gingerly swiping his right hand from him to lead him into the shallow water. "All that we need to do is get this goop off of ourselves. Then we'll come out and leave, alright?" Amy smiled so widely that her eyes seemed to be forced shut as she began to clean out her own quills and face.

Gulping, Sonic couldn't help but feel two strange types of fear intermingling within him: his fear of water and...something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It warmed his insides in a nice, yet nervous way as he felt his stomach begin to ache slightly. Amy's grip on his hand only caused the knot in his stomach to tighten as his blood began to feel like it was riddled with Pop Rocks that shook his entire being. His blood seemed to rise up to his cheeks, and an unfamiliar sensation filled his face, warming it up and staining his muzzle.

Sure, he had felt embarrassed before...but somehow this was different. It was as if every part of his body was shaking, a reaction Sonic would normally interpret as "run for your life", yet he felt strangely content. Not with the water of course, but...

SPLASH

"A...Amy?!" Sonic's torso was dripping in the icy substance as he turned to look his attacker in her fiery green eyes. She smirked devilishly at him before splashing him again, playfully egging him on. Chacha also watched from the side of the lake, clapping and smiling.

"Two can play at that game...last time I heard, roses need to be watered!" Swiftly as ever, Sonic delivered a large splash to a laughing Amy as he darted behind her to splash her once more from behind. Unfortunately for Amy, the shallowness of the water allowed Sonic to still move incredibly quickly, though still not his normal land speed.

But not all of the water was as shallow as Sonic had thought. Racing further into the lake while laughing, there was no indication to the blue hedgehog just when the water would drop to a much lower level than it had prior, leaving Sonic to find himself surrounded by murky, green waters that seemed to have no bottom.

"Wha-?!"

He seemed to be swallowed down into the dense freshwater as he struggled, the air being stolen from his panicking lungs. Arms and legs in a frenzied tornado, the poor blue hedgehog seemed to be consumed by the lake.

"SONIC!"

"Cha?"

"He'll...he'll be alright Chacha...I know..." Amy hiccuped and swallowed down a sob while trying to reassure the chao, "he's always alright..."

Sonic, unable to see, could only hear the conversation going on next to him. 'What happened?' This was one of the few thoughts circling through his hazy mind, and as he tried to ask Amy, he found that the words would not come to him. The only other sound Sonic could hear was the sounds of cooing and crying chao, clearly worried about him.

"Sonic...there's one last thing I can try...I'm sorry...you might hate me for this..."

Sure he couldn't speak, see, or think very clearly, but gosh could Sonic feel. And when a pair of lips were on his, it was as if all of himself came back to life in an instant, fueled by the loving undulation of breaths that Amy pumped into him to softly refill his lungs with oxygen.

"A...Amy..."

Lifting his back off of the ground, Sonic began to cough out the excess water from within himself, then rubbed his eyes, vision and thoughts cleared up from his intake of air. Tears poured even more profusely down Amy's face as she released her wails to grab for Sonic, hugging him tightly and desperately. He smiled, and hugged his savior equally as hard in thanks. The group of chao cheered and flew all around the pair, rejoicing at his awakening.

"Son...ic...I thought...you..."

"Sh..." Sonic put a finger over her mouth. "I'm fine now...thanks to yo-"

"It's not thanks to me. This is my fault." Amy turned away from him and released her grip, tears still rolling down her face but she was no longer sobbing. "I...I decided to be so stupid...and I splashed you...and I didn't know you didn't see how deep the water was..."

"Amy..."

Everything seemed to hit Sonic like a pile of bricks: their little game, his stupid mistake, her mouth-to-mouth that he found himself liking a little too much...

'You were half dead,' he reminded himself about the last remark.

But something emerged that Sonic had never realized before: the extent of Amy's feelings. He hadn't been pulled out of the bottom of that lake by magic, so it must have been her...diving so deep down, to a place where she herself could have probably been killed, just for him. Because she loved him, and no matter how he felt about her, she'd always be there to sacrifice her entire being.

And now, watching her cry and hate herself over his own dumb and cowardly fears left him speechless. She had pulled him out of the bottom of a lake, given him mouth-to-mouth, and now thought it was her own fault?

Pulling himself from his thoughts from a moment, Sonic gazed at the crying hedgehog in front of him. Her eyes were puffy and red, her nose dripping with phlegm and her entire body soaked and covered in seaweed and other rubbish from the pond. On her shoulder was Chacha, confused at why she was crying after Sonic had woken up.

Sonic gestured to Chacha with a smile to go off and play in the chao garden, to which the chao happily accepted. The rest of the chao seemed to disperse with Chacha.

'She really does love me...and this feeling I have right now...maybe...'

"Thank you, Amy."

"Wha...wh..." To no avail, Amy tried to cease her sniffling, but could only stare up at him with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights. Sonic, surprising her, wrapped his arms around Amy warmly and smiled as genuinely as he could, still unsure of how to approach her feelings. He was never good with girls crying, especially when it came to Amy. Something just tugged at his heart and left him speechless whenever the girl would get even the slightest bit upset.

Fighting the urge to run from his strange feelings, Sonic continued: "Thanks for everything...for going in after me...and even for that thing after." Sonic found himself once more turning that deep red color that his face was so unaccustomed to. The only other times he had felt his face be this warm was when Eggman had hung him in an upside-down cell...

"Sonic...but if it wasn't for me-"

"I wouldn't be here right now." Sonic smiled at her, wiping away a tear that threatened to further defile her fair complexion. "So thank you. And don't you dare try to apologize to me again," he smirked and playfully jabbed her in the shoulder, now releasing Amy from one of the first hugs that he himself had initiated with the girl.

"Thanks, Sonic..." Amy sniffled, wiping at her face with her elbow. "Are you really okay? I mean it's late and all, so what should we do?"

Noticing that the sun was setting, Sonic frowned and looked to Chacha, who was across the garden playing with a pink chao. "I mean it's so late...shouldn't we just give up for the day? I'll help you look tomorrow too, but I think Chacha should go to sleep..."

"I think you're right," Amy sighed, walking over to scoop up a very indignant Chacha. "What's the matter? Why are you..." Amy stopped dead in her tracks, releasing the Sonic-like chao and letting him run back to his companion before erupting into a fit of giggles.

Confused, Sonic sped over to see what the commotion was, but when he did, found himself with his hand on his face, embarrassed at the coincidence.

Chacha stood next to a chao that resembled Amy quite well, and the two cuddled together, seeming happy. Amy giggled looking at the two, until a sight she knew quite well appeared.

"S...Sonic...look!"

Before looking at the chao, Sonic noticed that even Amy was incredibly embarrassed, and upon turning to the two, poor Sonic nearly had a heart attack.

Both chao had hearts floating above their heads and a ring of flowers surrounding them.

"N...NO!" Sonic whisked Chacha off the ground in an instant, unwilling to let the act continue any further. "No babies! I can't return you to your owner with babies! Let's go, Amy!"

And so, Sonic and Amy fled the scene with Chacha between them as they restrained the chao who was desperately reaching for his new found crush. He even went so far as to bite Sonic's arm in defiance as he cried and pleaded with Amy to go back.

"Sonic...how could we separate true love!"

"True love? You call that love? They only just met!"

"Well..." Amy blushed, turning her face away as she came to a stop, subsequently stopping Sonic in his tracks as well. "I...I knew I loved you when I met you..."

Sonic was dumbfounded. He had heard it a million times before, Amy's pleas for his love and her claims of it as well, yet for her to say it quite so...honestly, and like most people would do it- being embarrassed instead of open and proud -it was humbling. To know that she had loved him since the moment that she met him.

"Amy..." he breathed, her name rolling off of his tongue like poetry. In the sunset, her red cheeks, dress and pink quills seemed to become part of the sky, beautifully complimenting all of the colors of the atmosphere.

Before the conversation could continue, Chacha flew out of their arms swiftly down the street. The hedgehogs glanced at each other before Sonic and Amy chased after the quick blue chao. "Where are you going, Chacha?" Amy shouted, noticing that they were traveling closer to her home. Could he have just wanted to get back to her house as quickly as possible?

It was then that the sign came into their view...as well as Amy's house. A "Missing Chao" sign was nailed onto a tree right in front of Amy's house, with a big picture of Chacha on it.

"You're joking, right?" Sonic sighed, realizing how pointless their long search was. "There was a sign with the owner's address...right outside of your house?"

"I guess things really do appear where you least expect them?" Smiling sheepishly and feeling a bit sorry for Sonic, the pink hedgehog scooped up Chacha into her arms, then read the address on the poster.

"Hey Sonic...this address isn't too far!" Amy smiled. "It's only a couple miles from here, right near the entrance to Station Square!"

"Perfect," Sonic smirked. "And we've got just enough time before dark! I'll speed us over there!"

And so, with Amy giving Sonic directions, the threesome soon made their way over to a narrow, attached house in Station Square. It was quite close to the chao garden they had been at just recently.

Chacha, having forgotten about being torn away from his mate, cooed with happiness at the familiarity of the area. He flew around Sonic's face, cooing and chirping with joy.

"Alright little guy!" Sonic chuckled, "don't worry buddy! We'll have you with your owner in a Sonic second!" He winked at his doppelganger, and nodded to Amy to knock on the door. She smiled and gingerly hit her knuckle against the wooden door three times before backing up a little bit. Sonic stepped in front of her, holding Chacha in his arms.

"Yes?" The dark voice was heard before the owner of the word was heard. But they didn't need to see him: Amy and Sonic knew his voice all too well.

"Sh...Shadow?" Amy stammered, confused and disoriented.

"Ah, sorry Shadow." Sonic began. "I guess we got the wrong house. But-"

"Cha!" An overjoyed blue chao flew past Sonic and Amy and into Shadow's arms as he turned to the side, slightly mortified.

"Hmph. This is not the wrong house. I'm shutting the door." The door began to swing shut abruptly, but it stopped just before fully shutting. "Thank you."

And Sonic could've sworn that out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small pink chao hiding behind Shadow's leg.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Amy could hardly contain her laughter after they had gotten far enough away from Shadow's home, Sonic joining her, but his laughter was more short lived than Amy's. Something about Shadow owning a chao that looked just like him didn't sit right with Sonic...especially the fact that the chao seemed...like the opposite of Shadow.

"Shadow...ha...with a Sonic chao!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic couldn't help but smile at Amy's laughter: her laugh sounded like bells ringing.

"Hey Sonic?"

"Yeah?" Sonic turned to face Amy due to her abrupt stopping of her laughter, as well as the sudden question. "What's up Amy?"

The pair had just arrived at Amy's home, ending the day with a conversation in the same place Sonic stood this morning when he had gotten himself involved in the antics of the day.

"Well," Amy fidgeted as she walked, her stance stiffening and her shoulders shrugged. "I just wanted to, you know, say thanks." Amy looked up at Sonic with a sweet smile covering her muzzle while she fought the urge to envelop her crush in a hug. "For helping me look for his owner..."

"No...I had fun being with you," Sonic admitted quietly, matching the expression on his pink admirer's face. "I never knew how much fun you were, and to be honest, I mean..." Sonic stopped for a moment to place his hand on Amy's softly, not quite grasping it, but covering it in warmth. However small, the action sent a shiver up the pink hedgehog's spine.

"I mean...that thing you said about love at first sight," Sonic's voice was a bit awkward as he tried to verbalize his opinions, but regardless, Amy's eyes widened in anticipation. "I...I may not believe in stuff like that myself but..."

"I do think people can learn to love each other...and you and me are no excep-"

"Oh Sonic!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Amy was on top of him, hysterically crying and hugging Sonic as tightly and lovingly as she could. "Are you saying what I think you are? Please tell me you are! Oh, what if you aren't? Oh my goodness I just assumed and I'm so sorry what if you weren't even going to say-"

A pair of lips crushed themselves against hers, sealing away Amy's doubts.

For the second time that day, the two hedgehogs' lips were caressing each other, although this time the kiss was not an obligatory action surrounded by fear. Instead of the pattern of breaths from earlier that Amy had given Sonic, the kiss was frenzied and furious with passion. It was as if they had been waiting their entire lives just for this moment.

Sonic grabbed at Amy's face, pulling her in as closely to him as possible without hurting the fragile girl. His heart rate was increasing at an acceleration that worried even the fastest thing alive as he suddenly experienced those feelings that had made the blue hedgehog want to run away so many times.

But instead of running, the unbearable jitters that had plagued his heart all of this time seeped through the kiss and into Amy, filling her with understanding. His feelings had been so strong that they sent him for a tailspin, unsure of how to address the unknown butterflies that swarmed his stomach. Instead of fear, Sonic welcomed the love in his heart with open arms, realizing that his heart would only beat this quickly for Amy, and Amy alone.

Finally breaking apart to take a breath, the pink and blue pair stared at one another, baffled as to what to say to the other next. Their muzzles glowed a faint red, illuminated by the moon that had just risen into the darkening sky.

"I...was going to say what you were hoping for." A sheepish grin appeared on Sonic's unusually shy face. Amy was speechless as she listened to the rest of what he had to say, her face showing a dreamy expression.

"I can't get you off my mind anymore, Amy, and, um," Sonic stopped for a moment to scratch behind his head, nervousness reaching an all time high. "I think...I'd like for us to try...to...well I guess what I'm sayin' is...you took my heart, Amy..."

"And I'd like you to keep it."

I took way too long to finish this.

I've been working on this rewrite for a while, and I hope you enjoy it. :) I always loved "Amy the Beloved Thief" but unfortunately I just really was terrible at writing when I did it. =( I might edit this story later on, you can think of this as my rough draft...:P

I hope you all like this! Please review and thank you for reading! I promise, new chapters of Fierce soon, but "Ten Years to You" might be next...;)