LA's A/N: Hello, sunshines! Welcome to our homely little collab. If you'd like to meet Midnight Lullabye, scroll down to the end of the chapter for her Author's Note :D. Isn't she just charming?
Okay! Down to business. First thing's first: it's time for an anatomy lesson. Keep your pants on, boys, not that kind of anatomy. Literary anatomy :). HOT. Okay. So here's how thing's are going to roll: this is a collab, but we've mostly just taken turns writing until about chapter five, when we start to share C:. For anyone who knows me from previous stories or whatnot, you will be shocked to hear that we've actually got everything up to chapter five finished. Coming from me – who has to upload a piece of writing the MOMENT it finish it – it's a big step :D.
So anyways, I wrote this chapter all by my lonesome.
Here's how review replies are going to work. Both of us are adamant about replying to reviews… so if you review, you're sure to get a DELIGHTFUL reply :). Hint-hint. The problem is that MiLls and I have a five hour time zone difference between, which, as you could imagine, makes things difficult at times XD. I say "good morning!" and she's like… "Shut up, it's supper time."… but she wouldn't actually say it like that :). We're buds. We've decided that we're each going to write a reply to every review, but that means that we need to communicate… which is trouble sometimes. So if your review reply doesn't come right away, don't fret – it's on its way :).
OH! Also, I feel that I'm obliged to warn you, there's one spot in this chapter that is the most typical, overused scenario in existence, but it was necessary for our plot XD. You're going to be tempted to just exit then and there, but please don't :P. I promise it'll be explained… I mean, I HATE Shadow! Why on earth would I-
Yeah. Just read :).
Well! Thanks for checking us out… reviews fuel my LIFE, so they're good :).
Cheers!
--LA
P.S: Oh, sorry to anyone who had me on author alert, and ended up with two email alerts. I found a big mistake, and thought I'd be better off to just re-submit the story XD. Hope it wasn't too big of an inconvenience!
We don't own any of the delightful characters in our story, and SEGA owns SEGA :).
A red rose is a beautiful thing to look at.
At first glance, the long, slender stem appears smooth and pale green. But upon closer inspection, one realizes that it is not. Instead, the stalk is covered with minuscule hairs, each capped with watery pink. The stem stretches into a cup, and then into thin, delicate leaves, powdered with pallid fur and laced with crisp, green veins.
The petals are breathtaking. God himself must have slit his wrist to capture the perfect blood crimson gracefully flaunted in rose petals. They too have veins, though theirs are more subtle, and all flow straight to the wavy tips, causing a casual grain. Where light fails to land on the petals, intense, beautifully dark maroon shadows linger.
The petals dive and fold amongst each other, making a maze of swirls and wrinkles through which navigation would be futile.
Sonic sighed, investigating the single rose clutched in his right hand as he took uncharacteristically slow, deliberate steps. To be quite honest, as he made his way through the cool night air, he felt as though he was trapped somewhere inside of a giant black rose's fathomless labyrinth of petals.
The slate-gray sky hung above his head like the umbrella he wished he had. But he was without any shelter from the horizontal downpour harassing him and the delicate blossom.
So he picked up speed, jogging along the glimmering sidewalk, and leaving a sparkling wake in his path.
His green eyes scanned the twilight, unable to get a proper view of anything, the rain's powers of distortion working their wonders; he could barely see a meter in front of his face. He cursed the precipitation, wishing for the wonderful weather they'd been receiving over the past few days.
"April showers bring May flowers..." Amy, always the stubborn optimist, had said earlier that day. Sonic smiled fondly. She had such a wonderful way of doing that, cheering him up no matter the circumstances. And with the showers they were getting that day, they could expect some of the best May flowers in ages.
But now that his thoughts were on her, he couldn't seem to get them off.
She was obsessed, possessive, and often childish, but Sonic couldn't deny it any longer... he'd grown past that, to be extremely fond of the Amy underneath all juvenility. She was lovable and loyal, and much less of a damsel in distress than she seemed to be.
And the rose was for her, though he had yet to decide just how to deliver it. He was never good with feelings... they were one of the only things that could actually unnerve him. He didn't understand why things needed to be so complicated; could he not just give the thing to her and say how he felt?
But he already knew the answer to that... not a chance.
No, females were too complicated. They thought too highly of themselves to just accept a gift and a confession. Mind games, and triangles, and drama all needed to factor in if it was to be considered a successful courtship.
Sonic sighed when he reached her house, feeling horribly like the whole situation was too planned. He hated things that were scheduled and perfectly organized... it took the fun and surprise out of everything. He would much prefer to improvise and go with the flow.
Sonic didn't particularly like Amy's style of home décor. In his opinion, it was quite an overkill on the frilly pink. However, her home was cozy and always warm, scented with delicious baked goods and sweets.
But he didn't have the smell in mind as he knocked on the door.
"Amy?" He called, tapping lightly on the door with his free hand. He paused a moment, wondering if she might already be in bed. It was fairly late in the evening, after all. "You there?"
When there was no answer, he opened the door softly, sliding inside. He didn't worry about intruding; if anything, Amy would be delighted to wake up and find him in her living room.
"Amy?" he repeated in a stage whisper, glancing around the entrance way.
It wasn't until then that he began to feel anxious. How was he supposed to explain himself, anyways?
"Hey, Ames... I was just in the neighborhood..." ...in the middle of a gale force wind rainstorm. Smooth.
He blinked, suddenly disgusted with himself. Sonic the Hedgehog… the Sonic the Hedgehog… rehearsing lines for a girl everyone knew was head-over-heels for him. He felt like a bad character from a B-list teenage movie. And yet, despite the disapproval, his mind set frantically back to work, trying to plan the most charming, witty greeting it could.
But once he thought about it a moment, he calmed down. This was Amy, after all. She was crazy about him, stuttering idiot or not. And the fact that he wasn't exactly unfortunate-looking didn't exactly hurt his chances, he thought, grinning at the mirror. Feeling more confident, he stepped into the living room and peered around.
He furrowed his brow, noticing a pink ear poking over the back of the couch.
"Amy?"
That was unusual... she'd be crazy to sleep on the couch when her plush bed was available.
Sonic smiled, thinking that she probably hadn't been able to climb over all those throw pillows. Grin still on his face, he tiptoed over, and leaned over the couch.
He jumped back just as quickly.
Shadow? Both were fast asleep on the cushions, Amy resting her head on his waist.
For a moment Sonic's mind was clogged with a dozen emotions, and he was unsure on which to act first.
Anger won the race. He threw the rose down onto Amy's lap, and turned on his heel to leave.
He picked up speed, zooming faster and faster down the street until he could see nothing of his surroundings but dark blurs. The pouring rain stung like bullets as he sprinted against the wind.
Eyes closed, he had no idea where he was running, but it was like therapy. Running let him empty his emotional tank, holding the plug so that his fury could flow out. If he stopped moving, he felt certain that that plug would close, and, without anywhere to empty his feelings, he might implode.
So he continued to speed forward, suddenly feeling the springy softness of grass beneath his feet.
As he reached top speed, a sonic boom echoed behind him, but he was moving too quickly to hear it. His ears felt muffled and mute, and he couldn't hear his own lightning-fast footfalls.
Faster. He pushed his limit, every mile-per-hour making a larger hole in that emotional storage tank. Finally, he'd drained all his anger, and was running solely for sadness and jealousy.
Suddenly, the winds changed. No longer did he have to fight them; they helped push him forward.
And then things were different suddenly. Nothing like anything he'd ever experienced while running. He opened his eyes a sliver. Everything was blindingly bleach white, and yet he felt blind... as if someone was holding a blindfold over his eyes.
It took him a moment to feel the effect of moving at such a high speed. His legs soon began to burn with fatigue, and he felt out of breath.
He was unable to keep up the speed, and his legs were like lead.
Letting his exhaustion take over, he shut his eyes again, and slowed to a gradual halt. When he finally stopped, he was too drained to stay on his feet.
But when he collapsed, it wasn't the pleasant spring of fresh grass that met his worn-out body, but hard stone. And the rain seemed to have been replaced with sweltering heat.
He, however, was too exhausted to pay the environmental changes any heed, and let himself slip into a bittersweet sleep.
MilLy's A/N: Hey Guys! Midnight Lullabye here, or MiLly, if you go by what LA calls me! :)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, but there is a lot more come, I mean a lot! We're only just getting started baby! ;) But I just want you guys to know, LA works like a trooper, and she's an amazing writer. I'm trying my best to keep up, but she's really talented! :) So, I think, that for her, she deserves some reviews, from you guys! :D So...Review like crazy! And we'll update soon, thanks for reading the chapter guys. :]
--LA
M,.*'Lullabye