A/N: Well, this is my sequel to Trust, for those who are familiar (if you're not, you might wanna read that first seeing as stuff from that story plays into this one). So you saw something in the summary about different pairings...yeah, about that...

Chapter 1: Abduction

The sunset of Angel Island was stunning that night. Lying there in the tall grass, Knuckles was looking up into the orange void above him. There was nothing but the sound of the wind gently passing through the nearby trees, slowly shaking the flimsy leaves back and forth on the limbs. The daytime animals of the forest had retreated to their nests for the night, and the nocturnal dwellers had not yet surfaced. Up there on that hill, Knuckles slowly breathed in and then out. For the first time in three years, he felt like he could truly relax.

Tearing his gaze away from the orange sky, Knuckles rolled over and let his eyes lose themselves in the other orange void lying beside him. He had no trouble looking through the thin blades of grass to find those familiar locks of orange hair resting in the comfort of the nature around it. They drew his eyes like powerful magnets, and he dared not fight himself. They were beautiful and peaceful like the sunset above him, and he could think of nothing more precious than those very strands of hair—save for his own flesh and blood.

Suddenly, the peace of the scene was disturbed as the orange hair stirred next to Knuckles. He felt in his heart the form roll nearer to him, and he could not help but shiver as the aura around it passed over him, and his rough red fur brushed against the delicate orange fur. He let his eyes follow that beauty as it took the place of the orange sky above it. Knuckles smiled and closed his eyes.

Tikal bent down over his face and gently kissed his lips. She let herself rest on him as they lie there together under the setting sun. The gentle breeze began to pick up slowly, so she sank further into him and shared in everything that he had inside of him.

She picked her head up after a moment. "You're quiet," she whispered. "Is there something wrong?"

Knuckles opened his eyes. He wanted to just keep staring into her beautiful blue eyes for the rest of the night. But he could not ignore the small but powerful sound of her voice.

He dodged the question. "I'm just at peace."

He smiled as he tried to pull her in again, but she resisted. "Something's bothering you. I can feel it."

Knuckles relaxed his smile. His eyes shifted, trying to capture the words flying around inside his head. He was trying to make sense of his feelings, and he felt like he had been doing this for too long now, and he had to stop of he ever wanted a peaceful life.

"You know you can tell me anything," Tikal reminded him.

Knuckles shifted, and Tikal rolled back to her position beside him on the grass. Knuckles sighed before opening his mouth to speak.

"It's…I don't know. It's just…my life has been a living Hell these past few years. You know everything that's happened. You know what I did. I just feel like I'm never going to be able to get over it all and forgive myself."

Tikal never let her gaze wander from his purple eyes. "You're an amazing person Knuckles. I've known you for many years. You'll get through all of it. I know you will. I love you."

Knuckles smiled again and rolled over to be on top of her. He never felt so comfortable. "And I love you," he said as he bent down to kiss her again. His hand brushed her orange locks and swept the side of her face. "And if there's one thing I've done right these past few years … no, in my whole life, it's you. If I didn't have you, I would have been lost forever. You are my everything."

He kissed her again before finally rising to his feet. He lent his hand down to her, and she reached for it as he pulled her up to stand with him. With their hands still clasped, they turned to look out over the hill and down across the horizon. Their thoughts wandered for a few minutes before returning to Earth. They turned around and started walking back down the hill and down the path through the jungle beneath them. They let their hands go as they walked side by side, completely in step with each other.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Tikal said to him after a moment.

Knuckles hesitated before answering. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said flatly. "It's in the past."

"The past makes us who we are in the present and future," she replied. "It's those experiences that define us. They shape our lives forever."

"It's not just Rouge that I'm talking about."

"I know," said Tikal. "What happened to Tails and Cream … has touched us all. If anything, it brought us all together, if only briefly."

Now Knuckles' eyes fell to the ground. He did not want to get on this subject. He had already dealt with this.

"I'll never forget Tails or Cream," he said, swallowing his emotions. "But I'm trying to move on. I have you now, and that's all I want to think about."

"What about Cuticla?" Tikal answered immediately.

"I will always love her," he said defensively. "But I won't always have her."

"Yes you will!" Tikal insisted. "No one can take her away from you. Not even her mother."

"She already has," Knuckles grumbled. "And she's even given her a new father."

Tikal stopped, which caused Knuckles to stop himself and look up at her. "You will always be her father," she told him. "You're the best father that Cuticla could ever ask for. No one, not even—"

"OK, I get it," Knuckles barked at her. Tikal took a step back, stunned.

"I'm … I'm sorry," said Knuckles, and this time he couldn't swallow his tears. "I just … I don't know what went wrong! What did I do to deserve all this? Why did I lose all but one of my friends? Why did I lose my daughter? Why did I lose everything?!"

He quickly brought his glove up and covered his face. He would not let Tikal see him like this. He wanted to be strong and he wanted to show her that he was getting through all of this.

But Tikal stepped forward again and moved in front of him. Her hand came up to touch his cheek. Even through her glove, she could feel the tear soak through it, and she instantly felt a sting of his pain.

"And why can't I stay strong?" added Knuckles, who tried with all of his strength to kill his pain. But he just couldn't find the strength to crush that boulder.

"You are strong," said Tikal as she brushed his face. "You are the strongest person I know. And that's why I love you. With everything that you've been through, you're still Knuckles the Echidna. You continue to fight when most would have given up. You don't give up. And you never will. And you will always have me. You know that."

Knuckles stifled his last tears and tried to smile down at her. "We'll always have each other," he added, reaching out again for her hand. She took it gladly and met his lips for another kiss.

But their solitude was suddenly shattered. Out of thin air, a small group of robots materialized. One had the distinct appearance of some sort of jellyfish, while the others looked all too familiar to the echidnas. The Egg Bots assembled and marched forward at Knuckles and Tikal, who quickly spread apart in an effort to divide the group of mechanical monsters. But before either echidna could make a move, another bright light flashed too reveal a massive, hammer-wielding machine. Knuckles and Tikal exchanged a quick glance. This was not going to be easy.

"Surrender now, or prepare to be subdued," commanded the head Egg Bot in its mechanical monotone.

"Over my dead body," taunted Knuckles, and he flew at the nearest Egg Bot. He made short work of it, but had to quickly roll out of the way of the enormous hammer in front of him. He stood up, ready to fight, but only to find himself encased in an aura that lifted him off the ground and under…the jellyfish robot! He was trapped and being captured. "Damn it!" he cursed out loud. As he spun freely inside the anti-gravity beam, he looked around for Tikal, who was wrapped up in taking care of herself. All of the other bots had swarmed around her and began combining their attacks in order to bring her down.

From his lop-sided view, Knuckles could barely make out Tikal struggling against the group of robots that had now just surrounded her. He tried in vain to break out of this hold, as the beam proved impenetrable against his rock-hard fists. He called out to Tikal, but that didn't do much to make her go any faster. After a moment, Knuckles began to panic. The large robot had charged into the fray and further distracted Tikal. It was looking like Knuckles wasn't going to make it out of this. He continued to fight, but his hope could not keep that same pace.

It was then that Knuckles finally began to lose sight of the world around him. The scene of the jungle on Angel Island faded as he heard the last words from the robots.

"Forget the girl!" one said. "We have the one the Master wants. We must go!"

Knuckles cried out again as the last remnants of his home disappeared, and the gloom of a metal room slowly became his new view.

A/N: To all the KnuxRouge fans, please don't kill me. But please review ;-) .