Disclaimer - I do not own sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
As the rising sun beckoned another day Bunnie and Antoine quietly awoke from their sleep. Getting up and getting ready to go to the Freedom Fighters hut; they had a big mission today. Getting ready to do their morning rituals, they both forgot that they had both decided to live together just yesterday…that all the personal things they did, they would have to do in front of each other now…
Bunnie and Antoine quickly looked at each other with embarrassment blinking their eyes. Bunnie's mind ran wild hoping that they had not made too much of a hasty decision.
But Antoine stood from the bed and piped up as his brows wrinkled in worry. Antoine was so embarrassed his eyes kept darting away from hers "I'll go to the bath house…to give you a little privacy…"
Although in Bunnie's mind, she wanted him to stay so the relationship she wanted could grow. So that they could get comfortable doing such things around each other. But her words came out different; she held a weak smile "…Ok…jus this once ok?"
Antoine nodded furiously, and she continued "We need ta do stuff together from now on…"
"Agreed, next time…" Antoine said nervously making his way out of the hut with things he needed to clean himself with.
Bunnie sighed with a frown on her face whispering to herself as the door closed "…Next time…"
Bunnie scooted to the foot of the bed where she had placed her tools the previous night. She didn't like starting the day off lying; she grabbed a wrench off the floor. Though she didn't like admitting it sometimes she would be willfully ignorant. Ignoring things she didn't want to see or hear; hoping that if it was out of sight, it was out of mind. Even to her own feelings and even she knew someday that would come back to bite her in the butt. It was most certainly a dangerous behavior.
She had lied to Antoine...she was more comfortable now that he wasn't here...
With what she was about to do she never felt comfortable with anyone around. She didn't want him to stay because she was truly embarrassed. Getting comfortable could wait because she felt she still needed to get to know Antoine more.
She saw that she had grabbed the wrong wrench, and she reached over onto the foot of the bed again. With a little rummaging she found what she was looking for. Then Bunnie let her robotic arm fall limp as she used the wrench she just grabbed and placed it at the base of her shoulder. The wrench clicked, and Bunnie pulled down on it a few times. Then her robotic arm separated from her, she attempted to catch it, but it slipped onto the bed and onto the floor; making a large sounding thud.
For a few moments she stared at her metallic arm on the floor. Her face became neutral as she turned her attention to her armless shoulder; she still felt a sense of loss over her missing body parts. She didn't feel anything even when her arm was attached, so with it off right now it made no difference.
She sighed, at least with it off it was more fitting because she hadn't felt her legs or her left arm in years. Bunnie quietly picked up her arm and placed it on her lap. She had got to know more about mechanical things, mainly because she had to. She removed the main plate to take a look inside her arm.
After a little inspection she found that the servos in her arm were still in good condition. But there were a few lose wires and bolts. She had noticed a few days ago one of her fingers on her arm were loose. So Bunnie reached under the bed and grabbed a black box. She placed it on the bed and out of it she pulled out electrical tape and even smaller wrenches and screwdrivers.
First, she used her good arm to snap off a few pieces of tape with her mouth and place tape over the loose wires. Then she used a small screwdriver to tighten up the casing of her arm. And finally, she used the smaller assorted wrenches to tighten the bolts that connected various thing's inside her arm.
While she tightened her arm she thought of Antoine's shyness; she kept her stoic expression. It was cute; heck any boy's shyness was cute to her. But like she had thought before, she felt she needed to get to know him better before they moved any further this time. When they got done with this mission today she was going to ask him some questions. What were his dreams? What was he planning to do? All the obvious things because up until now, she had ignored this; they had never talked about such things. It was another obvious misstep they had made but looking to fix.
Bunnie finished fixing her arm in no time with a stoic expression; she'd been doing it for a long time now. Once she was satisfied with her work, she placed her robotic arm back on her shoulder. It clicked, and she used the wrench off the floor to firmly reattach it. Once it was back on she squeezed her robotic hand seeing that everything was back in order. Then put everything back in its place, grabbing things she needed to clean herself, and headed to the bathhouse. She decided to check her legs on another day as they felt ok as far as she could tell. She was sure to run into Antoine there; she could probably tease him a little too.
An hour later at the Freedom Fighters hut, Sonic was the only one present with his old brown backpack on. This particular hut was packed to the brim with various things they used on their missions into Robotropolis. Computers and other technology like circuit boards and mechanical parts they used around the Knothole. Tools and materials they used to protect and attack; stacks of intelligence papers.
One area of the hut was specifically were Nicole made stuff from the future that she claimed she came from. On many occasions her little technological marvels had saved them so most of the time they were inclined to believe her story. There was also a round wooden table in the middle of the hut, were they planned out everything they did.
Sonic leaned his back against the wall near the entrance; staying neutral as he could. He was eager to hear what Nicole had planned; that and getting another shot at saving his father. It wasn't that he was heavily secured; he just never had time to save him while in Robotropolis; they had to stick to their plans; they were always moving his father around.
Sonic had got up early and given that he was the first one here, he felt that despite his recent gloomy mood, he was making conscious efforts to move on from the past. He briefly peeked out the hut to see if anyone was here yet; no luck. So he placed his back up against the wall again. He took a critical look at himself in the last few weeks he'd been back. So as of today he decided to drop all that hero non-sense, it had given him an overblown perspective of the world around him; there was nothing wrong with a little help. Sonic took a deep breath feeling a bit of shame in his past childish behavior. It was time to be more modest. He then crossed his arms and closed his eyes to wait. It was only a few minutes before Sally showed up.
She smiled and greeted him as she walked into the hut "Sonic? You're here early."
"I know first time, right?" he said with his eyes still closed; his face neutral.
Sally placed Nicole on the table in the middle of the room with a smirk; Sonic's renewed enthusiasm made Sally a bit more at ease "That's good…because I was wondering if you would like to hang out after today's mission."
Sonic opened his eyes looking a tad cautious "Sure, we'll talk when we get back."
Sally did not question either that was the answer she was looking for. She was happy that she might get some alone time with him and she grinned "Alright mister, I have your word."
Sonic nodded quietly just as Tails, Amy, and Rotor entered the hut. Rotor carried in many blueprints and Tails spoke excitedly running up to Sonic "Hey Sonic!"
Sonic uncrossed his arms with a weak smile "Hey, you ready to kick some butt today?"
But Tails didn't notice speaking enthusiastically "Yeah! I think I'm old enough to help you guys out now!"
Amy greeted Sonic with a hug, and Rotor greeted Sally with a nod "Hey guys." he said placing the many blueprint papers on the table in the middle of the room "Excuse me Nicole." he said picking up a paper that had fallen on her.
"You are excused." Nicole responded.
"Are those the layouts of Robotropolis?" Sonic said sounding interested, moving to the table; Amy followed.
"Yep!" Tails said with a smile following Sonic and grabbing a particular blueprint and spreading it on the table "This is the latest layout of Robotropolis, Rotor and I transcribed this with Nicole just the other day."
Sally picked up Nicole as everyone leaned over the table "Whoa; I recognize that place." Sonic said pointing to a section on the blueprints with a grin "Nice job Tails."
Tails smiled brightly, and Rotor spoke with a smirk "Work is a little bit easier with Tail's help."
"What is that circle for?" Sally asked pointing at the blueprint's with a curious look.
"If we transcribed it right, that's a new area that Eggman gave the Dark Legion. Recent intelligence tells us that there are more and more legionnaires going into Robotropolis as of late." Tails said donning a serious tone.
Rotor rubbed his chin with a frown "There's no doubt their reason for teaming up with Eggman, there a technocratic government. With Eggman robotticizing everyone he can, it would be easier for them to spread their influence across Mobious. Combined with their interest in technology, I'm not surprised they haven't done it sooner."
"If Eggman can robotticize everyone then the Legion can move in; we've seen what they can do with their technology already. They already have implanted tech in themselves. I'm not so surprised they created something to jam the robotticized citizen's bodies. They've been implanting themselves for hundreds of years. You know they probably have been controlling their own for some time now." Sally said placing Nicole on the table as her brows narrowed and she donned a serious face.
"Were sitting ducks right now…" Amy said as her lips pinched into a frown.
Everyone silently nodded in agreement, and Sally spoke again "Nicole has a plan. That's why these next couple of missions will be so important and dangerous. We need a new place to live and thanks to Nicole we have an option, but she needs our help." Sally said with a serious face as she looked at everyone; they all held serious faces as well.
"If we stay in the Knothole much longer Eggman, and The Dark Legion will most definitely attack." Rotor said seriously.
"Eggman will still try to turn us into robots, doesn't that mean we'd be legionized?" Tails said with a curious face.
Tails's question made everyone frown, and Sonic spoke with a frown "For sure."
"We can discuss Nicole's plan as soon as everyone is present…" Sally said a bit annoyed as she looked to the entrance of the hut "Where are Bunnie and Antoine?"
Rotor shrugged and Sonic spoke sarcastically "What do you think?"
Sally playfully responded "I'm sure they are getting more acquainted now that they're back together."
Tails was slightly confused about what they were talking about and seeing they had used slightly inappropriate language around Tails, Sonic tickled him and he couldn't escape electing laughter from Sally, Amy, and Rotor. They all hoped what they were seeing was the return of the Sonic they knew. Though they did not know he had not returned to his old ways; he was just more somber now. But soon Bunnie and Antoine walked into the Freedom Fighters Hut with goofy faces.
"We were just talking about you two; we're about to discuss our next trip into Robotropolis." Sally said looking serious again.
Bunnie and Antoine grinned as everyone greeted them. They joined everyone around the table but as Sally talked a bit more about the blueprints in front of them. Bunnie briefly glanced at Sonic seeing he didn't look as down as he had been looking these last few days. Sally's words were drowned out by her own inner turmoil; she hoped her parading around with Antoine in front of him did not add to his distrust of her after Scourge. It was such a smack in the face to carry on like nothing ever happened; for everything that had happened; and everyone played along too. After he saved her from being robotticized and everyone turning on him. Sally slapping him…
She only hoped…because seeing that he might make a return to himself felt she no longer needed to worry about him. Right now she only cared about making things right with Antoine, so she would never have to be alone again. After things were just right with Antoine her life would improve…she was sure it would….
Sonic…he would be fine…
Bunnie snapped back to reality blinking her eyes hearing Sally in full focus again "So after we get those parts we'll rendezvous back were we started."
Sally said with a stern face as Nicole spoke in her hand and Sally held her up so everyone could hear her "These parts will be used to create a machine to create nanites."
"What are these robots going to do?" Tails asked Nicole curiously.
Everyone listened closely as Nicole spoke "These microscopic robots can restructure themselves into various forms with my input, making them extremely useful. I would not use this technology under any circumstance as I am not supposed to, but if I do not use it we will not make it." Nicole paused and everyone silently nodded; it was obvious that Eggman would destroy them if they did not find a new home soon "So because of our current situation, and so I can continue to help you, I will use the nanites to help us in our current predicament."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Antoine asked in a skeptical tone raising an eyebrow.
"I cannot process individual's thoughts. The nanites can transmute into many forms with a high rate of density. My point being...I can form them into the structure for a city…" Nicole stated.
Everyone's skepticism was washed off their faces with the prospect of having a new home to protect them. Nicole went on to explain more about what the nanites could do for them before they began to get ready. Tonight they would make their first trip into Robotropolis, to take one step towards their new goal. Their new home, a whole city, which they already dubbed…New Mobotropolis...
Later that evening as the sun set and darkness covered the sky, the Freedom Fighters set out on their first mission. Not before informing the people of the Knothole of their plans; to which they were cheered on as they left. They still did not let Tails go into Robotropolis, fearing his safety, but now he was helping them. Rotor and he monitored their communications back at the Knothole. Rotor and Tails made sure Nicole's communication channel with them was encrypted while in the city. And Amy understood for the sake of the first mission that she needed to stay behind. They needed to keep it small so Eggman wouldn't notice, though it didn't make her feel any better. Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine made their way to the outskirts of Robotropolis in forty minutes; stopping and hiding just behind a few boulders obscuring them from view near the city.
They all gathered around Sally with serious expressions; Sally held Nicole up so they could listen "There are five crucial parts I need to create a machine to create nanites. The rest we already have at the Knothole."
"Are there any hard to get parts?" Sonic asked her curiously.
"There is a part just in the middle of Robotropolis; it is the farthest from where we currently are." Nicole responded.
"Then that's the one we'll go after first." Sonic looked to them all.
"Get the hard one out of the way first, good idea Sonic. We'll take Nicole and go find that one first. Bunnie and Antoine you go to the scrap yard and find the micro motors." Sally commanded them with a serious face.
The pair nodded with their brows narrowed in serious expressions "Got it!" they said simultaneously.
"Once we've got the part we'll meet you at the scrap yard, then Sonic will go get Jules if we have time. Then Bunnie, Antoine, and I will find more things we could use. Don't take too long Sonic." Sally said in a stern tone.
"Actually, I could use some help; you don't mind do you Bunnie?" Sonic inquired curiously at Bunnie.
Antoine, Bunnie, and Sally where stunned blinking their widened eyes. Sonic asking for help? He really had changed; Bunnie nodded as their expressions became serious again "Sho nuf, I got yiah back."
"Cool, I'm ready then." he said seriously as everyone stood.
Giving each other silent nods, staring into each other's eyes, putting their differences aside while they were here. They hoped no one got hurt while they were behind enemy lines. They all knew Bunnie was in the most serious danger with the Legion here. Sonic scooped Sally up into his arms, and they dashed from behind the rocks, from the left, and into Robotropolis. Bunnie and Antoine moved in the opposite direction to the right. Bunnie led because she saw that Antoine was already becoming increasingly nervous; he always did when they came here. Bunnie and Antoine moved a little further and hid behind a giant metal pole.
At this point they were in Robotropolis because the ground was made of metal; just a few feet behind the ground was earth. Bunnie peeked her head around the giant pole taking in her surroundings. In the distance, was a huge control tower that loomed over the entire city; Eggman's control center. There were tall metal buildings and so many factory buildings made of metal she couldn't count. Dim orange tinted lights illuminated the city, hanging from sides of buildings; pole lights were lined up and down the metal streets, and anywhere lights could possibly hang. Luckily for them Eggman did have to go to sleep; Robotnik never did. Then her eyes spotted their destination just a few factory buildings over. She could see two large yellow search lights hanging just over the scrap yard. There were no Swatbots or Legionnaires in her sight so she signaled Antoine to follow. He did and Bunnie made sure to walk lightly; her feet made a lot of noise on the metal ground.
They moved pass the few factory buildings effortlessly and soon had made their way near the entrance of the scrap yard. Their backs were pressed firmly against the tall walls that engulfed the area. Bunnie was becoming more nervous now herself; it was a little too quiet for her own comfort. She glanced over at Antoine who was keeping his eyes peeled. She turned her head back around as they reached the end of the wall they were standing next to. She quickly noticed two Legionnaires; they were exiting the scrap yard.
She watched them intently getting ready to move again when Antoine tapped her shoulder, "Swatbots at ten o clock." he said picking up a nearby rock and chucking it near the two robots.
"What are yiah doing! Wait a sec…" Bunnie said slightly panicked as her eyes widened whispering with her eyes widened in shock.
He grabbed her hand as he watched the Swatbots go towards the sound. She quickly turned back to check on the Legionnaires; to her relief they were gone. Antoine then pulled her and they moved pass the wall and out of the sight of the Swatbots. Bunnie did halt him as they were out of their line of sight. She quickly looked around as he did; there was no one in the scrap yard area. But as they began running into the area, Bunnies eyes caught sight of a camera turning towards her and Antoine just as they entered the scrap yard. Adrenaline ran through her body hoping no one had just saw them. They quickly jogged behind a huge pile of scrap.
All around them were towering piles of scrap electronics, mechanical things, and assorted metal. Antoine let go of her hand with a smug face "Not bad eh?"
Bunnie had a halfhearted smile. He was lucky Eggman had such little activity at night, they would have run straight into those Legionnaires, and spoke sympathetically "Not bad, but next time let me know what yeur plannen. Things could go bad quick here."
Antoine was pleased by her praise "Right!" he smiled brightly "Now let's find zis mic…ro…parts..." he mispronounced.
Bunnie and Antoine quickly started digging into the pile of scrap in front of them making sure to discard what they found quietly. They had luck finding one micro motor inside the head of a dismantled Swatbot, but as they searched the other scrap piles they had no luck. They were frustrated by the time Sonic and Sally had showed up and scared them. Coming up behind them and making them trip over themselves.
Antoine had yelped in a somewhat loud fashion, and Bunnie's heart stopped for a moment, and she spoke with a sympathetic face picking herself off the ground "Y'all almost made me jump out of my fur."
"You should give a better warning next time!" Antoine said glaring at Sonic.
Sonic placed Sally down and shrugged, not really caring "Let's go Bunnie."
Sally handed Nicole to Sonic "We found the part. Nicole made us a really nice distraction so we could sneak in. But I think the alert level may have risen; how about you two?" Sally asked Antoine with a curious face.
Antoine spoke proudly tossing it to Sonic who put it into his back pack "We have secured a part, but we haven't found any more."
"Where is it at?" Bunnie asked Sonic. He pointed just behind her; she turned to see a medium sized factory like building near where they were.
The building had many glass windows; it didn't look as secure as other places. Bunnie nodded donning a serious look as Sonic began jogging towards the exit of the junkyard. Bunnie followed and Sally spoke after them with a frown "Antoine and I will see if we can find any more parts, so be at the rendezvous on time. Hurry, I'm starting my watch now. You have five minutes." Sally said as she began helping Antoine who was already searching again.
Bunnie and Sonic hastily made their way out of the scrap yard, keeping themselves hidden from cameras, and moving swiftly to the factory like building next to the scrap yard. Hiding behind two large rubber tires right on the corner of the building. There were no cameras but unfortunately the entrance was being guarded by two Swatbots.
Sonic frowned holding Nicole up "ETA Nicole."
"Four minutes and twenty seconds." Nicole responded.
Bunnie peeked her head from behind Sonic "We gotta get moving."
Sonic sighed placing Nicole in his brown back pack "Let's do this."
"Righ behind yiah." Bunnie said with a determined face.
Sonic jumped out first getting the Swatbots attention, charging towards them as they shot lasers at him. Bunnie then jumped out and charged at them just as Sonic attacked one swatbot curling into a spindash and loping off its head.
As Bunnie neared the other Swatbot, it turned its attention to her, and its red eyes quickly shot out a red scan over her body. Bunnie and Sonic instantly had a bad feeling.
"Robotics detected." the Swatbot said as it raised one of its arms and instead of firing lasers; it carefully aimed at Bunnie, getting ready to fire a jamming device; the very same used by the Legionnaires.
Bunnie's body was betrayed by her thoughts; she froze up as the Swatbot readied to fire. Sonic moved quickly from where he was and shoved the Swatbot before it could, and it fired straight into the air. Then the Swatbot backhanded Sonic knocking him a few feet away. Seeing Sonic hurt made Bunnie un-freeze, taking the opening the Swatbot had left its self in after attacking Sonic. She closed the remaining distance and punched its leg with a slightly angered face. Breaking the Swatbots leg, it fell to the ground with its shattered leg and tried to aim at her again. But before it could do anything else Bunnie's foot came crashing down onto its face.
The look of anger on her face subsided as the Swatbot shut down. Sonic got off the ground, and he came back over. Before they could run inside the jamming device that it had fired, fell to the ground near them.
They both stared at it for a moment before narrowing their brows with serious faces, and Bunnie picked it up and handed it to Sonic seriously "Maybe we should keep this one."
Sonic nodded quietly, tossing it into his backpack as they ran straight into the building. There were no lights and only the faint glow of the moon that bled through the cracks of the old roof. To their shock, there were many robotticized Mobians laying on hundreds of operating tables and next to them were operating trays; on them were unfamiliar looking parts.
Sonic frowned as they walked looking around himself, and he whispered down at Nicole "ETA Nicole."
"Three minutes and thirty seconds remaining Sonic." Nicole responded.
"Where is my father Nicole?" Sonic asked Nicole as Bunnie, and he continued walking through the creepy building.
"I have traced Jules to this area, and I am creating a reticle for you to follow." Nicole said as an arrow popped up on her screen.
Sonic sped up his pace and so did Bunnie as she looked around horrified "We can't save uhm all…I wonder what thar're planning here?"
"Those are implants on those trays…Sally and I just saw something like that a minute ago." Sonic said in a focused tone as he looked around.
"Thar're going to legionize…" Bunnie said with an upset face.
"I don't want to know what other craziness Eggman has going on around here…." Sonic said in a low tone as his focused eyes scanned the area.
Bunnie remained in her thoughts for a few moments, thinking of the horrors orchestrated by Eggman in the buildings around them when Sonic suddenly stopped, "Nice work Nicole." he said with a smirk quickly moving to his father's side.
All the people in here were restrained by metal clamps on their wrist and ankles, and Bunnie spoke pulling off each clamp one by one, each one pulled off made a sound of bending metal "Let me tak care of thet."
"I'm glad you came along." Sonic said still looking over his father.
Bunnie was about to smile, but Sonic remained neutral and focused on his father. It was still too soon to expect him to be back to normal, and Bunnie responded with a slight frown "No problem sugah hog…"
Jules was offline so Sonic opened a flap on the back of his head and plugged Nicole into him "Decrypting…."
Bunnie and Sonic waited impatiently as Nicole attempted to restore Jules's free will, not by simply overwriting Eggman's programming, but replacing it. They both knew they were running out of time, but Nicole finished in a timely fashion; successful no less. Jules's body sprang to life. Completely confused as he awoke his red eye lenses lit up. He sat up as Sonic disconnected from him.
There was a long pause before he spoke "….Sonic? What's going on?"
"No time to chat Mr. Hedgehog, we gotta keep moven." Bunnie said helping him up as her serious face returned.
"Can you walk?" Bunnie asked him with a frown.
"I believe so…since the last time I can remember…" he said unsure, though he could walk; he took a few steps to make sure.
"Nicole ETA." Sonic asked Nicole as they began jogging back to the entrance.
"One minute." Nicole responded.
Sonic gritted his teeth; missing the rendezvous put Sally and Antoine in danger. But Jules was keeping up with them so they carried on racing back to the entrance. When they reached the entrance, to their right, they were greeted by the unpleasant sight of a few Swatbots, a few Legionnaires, and Lien-Da; the newest grand Master from their intelligence. They were just down the way and had not seen them yet. The trio quickly went back and hid behind the two big tires near the corner of the building. Sonic and Bunnie had no idea why Lien-Da was out strolling in the night, but they could not be spotted by her. They were running out of time too, a quick look at Nicole's screen revealed that they had just seconds left.
Sonic sweated along with Bunnie; they looked at each other for ideas but came up with none. So Sonic peeked out of cover to see where they were going. They were still headed in their direction, but they entered a nearby building instead; now out of sight.
"Let's go." Sonic said without another word.
Bunnie nodded and so did Jules as they ran from their hiding spot and towards the direction of the scrap yard. They made their way off of the metal ground of Robotropolis and onto regular ground, dirt and all. Their rendezvous with Sally and Antoine was a little off, but they were waiting not too far away from where they entered Robotropolis. Together they all traveled back to the Knothole in the night; feeling a sense of victory because their first mission towards a new home was successful with only a few bumps along the way.
A few hours later back at the Knothole, instead of celebrating like they had planned everyone headed off to bed. Tomorrow would be time for that as they were tired after their tension filled mission. Bunnie and Antoine retired to their bed and laid on their backs; candlelight illuminated their room. They both stared at the ceiling not just ready yet to go to bed. Bunnie wasn't sure what he was thinking, but her mind was on their relationship. Antoine and she had got along real well this morning; she had teased him at the bathhouse, and they flirted. It was an overall good time, but now it was time to get to know him more. She never got the chance before he was kidnapped because their relationship was more on and off in the past. They were seriously making an attempt to be serious about it this time.
She wondered how great things would go for them once things slowed down, then they could really see each other for how they really were. Not just moments of temporary happiness, like when they fooled around or said sweet words to each other. She wanted to see his real self, his ideas, and his plans. To see if he was down for her…
She spoke breaking the silence with a smile "What do yiah see yeurself doing in a few years?"
He immediately answered with a dreamy look on his face "I hope to be a high ranking military official, a symbol for the people." he smiled almost as if he were daydreaming "A hero if you will."
Bunnie hoped they weren't treading that territory again, jealousy was not his strong point. That or she didn't know him like she thought she did, and she smiled turning onto her side towards him "Well what about me?"
"I was thinking…" he turned on his side towards her smiling as well. He spoke looking suave raising an eyebrow "We are living together prematurely…I must make it proper. Would you think of marriage?"
Bunnie burst into a bigger smile "Of course!" she said wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug before excitedly releasing him "Of course! Of course, I want to get married!"
Antoine grinned "It is nothing my sweet, I want nothing but to be closer to you."
"Well thet's jus great news!" Bunnie was genial…she sure did look delighted, but she didn't feel the strong emotion of love she kept claiming from his proposals.
She was waiting, but she still didn't feel anything. She stared deeply into his eyes, and she felt an empty void within herself. The same void that had been with her before she even met Antoine…was it just infatuation?
"When do yiah think we can get married?" Bunnie said laying on her back again with her big smile.
"As soon as possible, there is no need to be separate anymore." Antoine said lying on his back again with a smug look.
"I hope to start anotha farm one day; Robotnik completely wrecked mine. Jus sittin on the porch and listenen to tha crickets at night…" she reminisced with a smile.
"I want to become a general just like my father always wanted me to be. As a high ranking officer my prestige will be restored, and people will respect me; everyone must show me some sign of respect. I'll be up with zis greats…I would finally be on equal footing…" Antoine said aloud, daydreaming still.
Bunnie's lips then curled down looking slightly worried "But yiah would be very busy…"
"I will always make time for you." Antoine said with confidence.
And they fell silent again; Bunnie retreated into her own thoughts again. It was bad enough that she felt nothing but now his plans were conflicting. He couldn't possibly think that he would be able to run a military and be by her side like she wanted him to…with him at her side she would be happy…
So their love would blossom…
She yawned and so did he, fully lying down, and he turned on his side and blew out the candle next to their bed "Goodnight."
"Night." she said, but she didn't close her eyes just yet.
Her eyes remained wide and she felt an uneasiness bubble in her stomach in the dark. There was now a hard realization that there were many differences starting to show up between them. Unsettled ones and fundamental ones that she just did not agree with; it was making her rethink her recent thoughts. Antoine was still stubborn, and he still would not admit his jealously of Sonic and his overblown pride. Her physical attraction for him had been gone for a while now. She just wanted to rekindle the feelings, that high feeling she had when they first started.
But she was starting to see that his goals were radically different from hers. She already lost the attraction, and she did not like the lifestyle that he was considering. She even still didn't exactly know what she wanted to do with her own life, but she didn't like the sound of having the military a part of it. Then in a moment of zen a thought of full understanding hit her…she was changing…
Her ideals had changed and still were changing, and his were not matching with hers anymore. She was starting to think that her feelings for Antoine were fleeting because whatever she had felt, had long since simmered down. That or they had never matched in the first place….
Story is progressing nicely, Sonic is grappling with his depression and Bunnie continues to see changes in her life and the Freedom Fighters are looking for a new home. I comfortable with how this chapter was written, so lets us hope I can keep this smooth progression.
