Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic characters (had you fooled, though, didn't I ?)

… in love

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite."

- Romeo and Juliet

She rose to her feet and walked to the shore. The setting sun turned the flying foam of the small waves into pale gold, fake gold, fools' gold. They washed quietly over the shallows and stretched towards her feet. A tear on her cheek caught the warm rays, glittering for a second before travelling further down her face and ending its short existence as a microscopic damp spot in the sand – a gold spot on a fresh, pink cheek. Amy shuddered; a foreboding? The universe's idea of poetry? Of irony? A joke?

It was high summer – she would welcome the chill of night. She paced the length of the beach, from one stone pier to the other. Distracted, not wanting to dwell on the present, she wondered for a moment what her friends were doing. Her mind came to a rest on Cream; happy. Smiling, innocent Cream. She sighed – oh how she missed childhood when an hour seemed a month and life would last forever. Back then, the world had seemed a forest of legs, and like an explorer in the Amazon, she had sought the company of those like her…

Panic seared through her lungs, making her gasp for breath. Was that a sound, just now? Had she waited too long? With a sudden jolt, she turned around, ready to run, so used to seeing him flee. But this time, he was there. Exactly where she had left him.

She cocked her head, looking at him from afar. With the golden sand beneath him and the golden sunlight around him, it almost looked like he was floating. She tried to smile, but only an empty grimace surfaced on her face. The love of her life was deep asleep, his breath creating a small dune on the sandy beach.

Amy walked over to Sonic and stood for a moment just looking at him, carefully committing his features to her memory. If she was not to have a picture of his smile on her retina, then this would have to do; Sonic in peace, quiet, still.

She had never before had the chance to watch him sleep. She rather liked it. No jokes, no denials, no objections. She sat down beside him and stroke his face, trailing her hand over his brow, down his cheek, along his chin. His warm, heavy breath fluttered softly over her palm through slightly parted lips.

- I love you…

She spoke those words like never before, infusing them with all her sadness. Heartache from years ago up to today flowed into her voice, making it tremble under the load of sorrow, hope, hurt and longing from since before she knew the words to fit her feelings. She almost thought he smiled.

He had smiled to, when she invited him to go to the beach with her. "He probably hoped to ditch me out here," she thought with an almost childish frown. Luckily the weather had kept, making it the hottest day in years and years, so that when she offered him a drink, "homemade," she giggled but wanted to scream, he had downed it in a single gulp.

Soon, he had started to sway slightly, and had turned towards her with an odd, surprised look on his face. He had tried to say something, but could do nothing but stand there, opening and closing his mouth, soundlessly. The waves, on the other hand, had almost seemed to scream, filling the entire universe with their rushing murmurs. He had fallen to his knees before her, gasping for breath for a few horrible moments… He had looked so accusing, but at the same time so imploring, as though he knew what was going to happen.

He had collapsed on the beach, face down, only a second or two later. Amy hadn't noticed till then that she was pressing her hands over her ears, trying to block out the whispering waves. Sonic was lying on the beach, sleeping. The drugs had been fast. All of a sudden the world seemed very quiet. She had watched over him ever since.

And, now, with the tide drawing in, the waves slowly biting into the warm, delicious sand, she felt oddly weak. Her arms were heavy and cold, as though dead – it almost seemed like they objected to the task ahead.

"Pull yourself together now! Not long now… not long…"

The waves were washing ever higher over the shore, murmuring on the shallows, erasing her footprints. The evidence of several hours' of life, erased in one quick stroke. Absent-mindedly her hand flew to her cheek, to where a river of tears had long ago dried up.

The sun gave off one last, long flutter of light, before settling on the horizon. Immediately, dusk wrapped the beach in her enchanted grey mantle, scattering stars of unreal brightness over the high heavens. It seemed like another universe, a completely different world. Perhaps she could make herself believe that she, too, was another Amy, that she had taken her boyfriend to the beach, and that they would be going home soon. She smiled, the stars reflecting in her eyes. Yes, they would be going home soon.

The time had come. She bend over Sonic and kissed him, quickly, fleetingly, not daring to hold on to the touch. A frown ran across his face, bringing tears to her eyes. Not so much because she knew he didn't, and would never, love her, but because she was now certain. Certain that she had made the right decision. Had he smiled, she would perhaps have allowed him to sleep it off. Had he smiled she would have had some, however little, hope.

She sighed and lifted him up in her arms. He was so very light, "Hardly a burden at all." She wished for a moment that he would wake up, wake up and ruin everything. Tears fell from her cheek to his, making her believe for an instant that somehow they were both crying. She held him close, not wanting to look at his face, hoping against hope to find the necessary courage. She was trembling, but not from the evening chill.

She turned towards the sea and faced the horizon as she would an opponent. In her arms, Sonic mumbled faintly. He would wake up soon. She had to hurry.

The first step was the hardest. It wasn't until the third she felt the sea-water seep through her shoes. Six more had the waves dancing around her knees. At the tenth step, the sea-bottom suddenly sloped downwards, and she found herself half immersed. The cold water hit her chest with almost physical force. She walked on, concentrating, focusing on keeping her footing on the loose pepples and slippery rocks. The current tugged at her dress. When the water reached her shoulders, she stopped for just a moment, tipping Sonic's head slightly, letting it come to a rest against her cheek.

His sleeping breath on her skin sent warmth spreading through her body, and she almost wished that moment could last forever.

- Not long now, my love…

Sonic shuddered in his sleep, probably chilled by the clammy waters. "I wonder what you are dreaming…" Amy thought, as she took yet another step. She so wished she had had the chance to reach him, if only once. Had prayed for even the slightest connection – something, anything. But the pain of being so completely isolated from the one she loved was nothing. In the landscape of grief which encased her heart, it was just part of the scenery.

The waters reached her chin, and a small wave of salt ocean had her gagging for one, red, panic-filled second.

She didn't want to drown. Didn't want to die. She was afraid of the cold, crushing embrace of the sea. But this wasn't her own choice. When it came to Sonic, she never seemed to have a choice.

She was shivering from cold and fright now. She knew she would have to end it soon; soon or not at all.

Amy looked over her own shoulder, back at the beach. It was nothing but a dimly shimmering white outline, almost invisible in the creeping night. There was no way she would be able to make it back, even if she wanted to. Waiting like this, the cold water slowly making her legs go numb, the wind drying out her lips, making them salt and stretched, she was only delaying the inevitable.

Yet she couldn't let go of this her final moment.

She looked her last at the stars, the horizon, the waves, and the face she loved. Amy closed her eyes, exhaled, and, holding Sonic close against her breast, dragged them both into a darkness deeper then the one beneath them.

The waves danced on, and soon not even the cluster of small bubbles remained.