01sonamy01, MyLoveForYou, PastaxRocks, Alyssacookie, Tornad0Watch, enustikehtelkcaJ, Mana the Cat Magician, Mist Valley Apex Avian, Novus Umbra, CherrletheChicken, SugarhogRose, Writer's Freedom, IHeartSonAmy: Good to see you all hanging in there! This chapter should be more to your liking, I hope...

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

Chapter 4: Split In Two

...ooo...xxx...ooo...

A gentle breeze stirred two pale yellow curtains that were framing the corners of a stone window. The sun was rising in the sky, casting its rays through said window, though the early colors of dawn had already blended into a lovely baby blue color, signaling a new day.

Blaze awoke from a rather distressed, disturbed sleep, her golden eyes making an appearance to study the ceiling. After a few seconds of scattered, still-sleepy thoughts, the light purple cat slipped out of bed and quickly got dressed before heading over to the window, her bare feet shivering as they made their way across the cold stone floor.

It was times like these, as she looked down at the bustling castle life below her, that Blaze wondered if she'd made the right choice to come back to the castle she'd been born in.

When she'd been named Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, Blaze had been told she was destined for a life of hardship and solitude, guarding the precious, powerful gems as her duty. It was quite a job for a thirteen year old, placing the entire kingdom on her under-developed shoulders. But Blaze had managed well enough, with just her flames for company. All other people had called her a freak.

Oh, but it was better that she was born this way, with her pyrokinesis. Blaze knew that. Better her guardianship than being a typical princess, who would only eventually end up being a political pawn to be married off. As she grew up through her early teen years, Blaze had come to accept her isolated life of duty. And now, at sixteen years old, after she had come back to her world after meeting Sonic and his friends, she had patched things up between herself and her royal family. They had accepted her warmly, glad that she was back, and insisted that she live in the castle, as a true princess would. Blaze didn't mind either way; she only came to the castle to sleep and eat.

She sighed as she remembered what today would likely hold for her. Sonic had told her last night that he'd be along in the morning to pick her up to go on a date.

Sonic. The name was so... uncomfortable to her. Honestly, Blaze wasn't really looking forward to seeing him this morning, and was glad that he was running a little late. It gave her time to think and consider what was she was feeling about this whole... relationship.

Her ungloved hands absentmindedly started fiddling with the lemon hued curtains, caressing the soft fabric as her stomach did a nervous flip flop.

Uneasy.

That's what she was feeling. Just... nervous, unsettled, and awkward. She had felt nothing when Sonic had kissed her, nothing when he'd cuddled with her under the stars, nothing when he'd given her all those tender looks. Blaze just didn't have any feelings for Sonic, plain and simple. She certainly wasn't feeling whatever it was that Sonic felt that made him do all those things. Surely, she couldn't be, otherwise she wouldn't be almost dreading seeing him today.

Did I make a mistake by telling Sonic that I would date him? Blaze wondered as she let go of the curtain. Did I not think things out well enough? I really didn't want to turn him down or know how to, but... I don't believe that I'm ready for this yet. He always likes to rush into things... but I'd rather take it slow and think it through. Yesterday... it was like he was going too fast and pressuring me... and I didn't even have time to develop any feelings. I don't want to open up to him just yet. I'll have to tell him that later today... I just hope that he understands.

The reason Blaze hadn't told Sonic yesterday about her feelings (or lack thereof) was because she wanted to sleep on it, seeing if perhaps she was just being weird about this whole dating thing, seeing how inexperienced she was. But the night time had revealed nothing to her besides the fact that perhaps, after all, she really didn't have any romantic attraction to Sonic.

The hard part would be telling him that she'd made a mistake. But Blaze knew she'd have to - for she couldn't keep fooling and pretending that she loved him, if all she felt was a void. She would have to be firm and tell the truth.

Just when she was about to turn away from her window to finish getting ready, a streak of teal light caught her eye, giving the cat pause. A familiar figure flew into view, floating just a few feet from her window.

"Silver," she breathed, and found herself smiling before she could even think about it.

"Hi Blaze," the shiny-gray hedgehog called in response, his cheeks turning pink at seeing the princess standing at her window, looking quite stunning.

"Are you going to come in?" Blaze asked somewhat hopefully, stepping backwards a little to signal the hedgehog he could enter.

"Err... if you don't mind..." he said awkwardly, blushing lightly.

"No, come in," Blaze offered, still smiling as a weird sensation turned over in her heart.

Silver, a castle guard, was one of the few people Blaze enjoyed talking to. He didn't rush her, didn't pressure her to be someone she wasn't, didn't fight with her, ever. In fact, most of the time he was almost afraid of disagreeing with her, of upsetting her. He was just... refreshing, in a castle filled with politics. She considered him, along with the short list of Sonic and Cream, a true friend.

As his boots came to rest on the stone floor of Blaze's room, Silver retracted his psychic energy and let a lopsided smile come over his muzzle as he admired the lavender cat. Silver had come to know her slowly over the past month, since the guardian had agreed to come back to the castle. Being a castle guard, the two of them had crossed paths quite often, sometimes even working together to stop Eggman Nega. She truly was his best friend, as Silver didn't take to the other guards, and Blaze was often at odds with her own siblings. Why, Silver had even stuck up for her when the other princesses had teased Blaze about her flames. Silver hated injustice, and understood Blaze, for he had been born with powers, too.

"Well?"

Silver blushed deeper when he realized he'd just been staring. "Oh, I just came to say sorry that I wasn't at the party yesterday. I had night duty."

Blaze smiled. "Yet you're still up early. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. I didn't stay long either."

"Oh, okay, and uh, I wanted to ask you something."

The cat watched him stumble over his words. Silver had never exuded complete confidence like Sonic did, nor was he nearly as easygoing as the blue hedgehog. He was quieter, more serious, more thoughtful...

The silver hedgehog turned away for a moment, his oddly-shaped quills ruffled in a breeze just like the curtains had been. Blaze tilted her head and found her eyes drifting over his body unconsciously -

"Blaze! Sorry I'm late!" A rushed, deep voice interrupted her thoughts, and Blaze reluctantly turned her back on Silver to look at her boyfriend.

Sonic continued, talking quickly, "Tails decided to play a practical joke on me, but anyway, I picked you some-"

He froze, just now noticing a male hedgehog standing right behind her. All the blood drained from Sonic's face. What... what was he doing in here?

"Blaze, who is this guy?" Silver asked curiously, and for once, Sonic was beaten to the question, for he was too stunned for words.

"Silver, this is Sonic," Blaze said, but couldn't bring herself to say, 'my boyfriend.'

"Hey, I'm Silver," the hedgehog said, walking around Blaze to extend his hand to Sonic, ignorant of the situation.

His mouth in an "O" shape, Sonic's eyes merely traced the teal circles decorating Silver's extended glove. Who was this guy, anyway? Silver? He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and then transferred the yellow hyacinths and daffodils he'd picked on the way here to his left hand so he could shake.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," he deadpanned, and his green eyes shifted over to Blaze, who was awkwardly avoiding his gaze. "And what exactly are you doing in my girlfriend's room?"

Silver froze. "Girlfriend? Blaze, is this..." he echoed, then looked back at the cat.

Blaze met his eyes. "Yes, Silver. That's what I was about to tell you. Sonic and I are in a relationship." An odd, awkward relationship... "And don't worry Sonic, Silver just came to visit me."

Silver looked like he'd been shot.

"Well, nice to meet you, Silver," Sonic said in a genuinely friendly voice, his hostility instantly dropped at hearing Blaze's confirmation. She made him that happy. He let go of the other hedgehog's hand. "Are you a friend of Blaze's?"

Silver could barely bring himself to nod, not sure why the news of Blaze having a boyfriend... bothered him so very much.

"Well, a friend of Blaze's is a friend of mine." The cat internally winced at Sonic's words, though she wasn't sure why...

Sonic then turned to his girl, allowing a smile to spread over his muzzle. "Blaze, you look beautiful, as always. I picked you some flowers this morning." He extended the rather humble bouquet towards the cat.

Blaze blinked at the posies, but accepted them, trying not to touch Sonic's hand during the transfer... but the hedgehog wrapped his larger ones around hers anyway.

"Do ya like them?" Sonic asked tenderly, bringing himself closer to her.

"Yeah, they're nice..." she said, telling a little white lie (as she'd never been a big fan of flowers), trying not to back off completely, though how close Sonic was made her so uncomfortable...

Without wasting any time, Sonic went for a quick but deep kiss, his heart skipping around his chest as he felt the softness of Blaze's lips. Man, how did he get to be so lucky? Though... why did she always feel so tense in his arms? He knew that Blaze wasn't used to contact, but still... she loved him, right? She had to...

Pulling back from her lips to study her lovely face, Sonic found himself smiling regardless. Blaze made him feel good anyhow. "Hey, I got an idea for today. Would ya like to do some exploring? I'd love for you to show me around your world," he said, letting one of his hands caress the velvety fur on her face.

Blaze nodded. "That sounds fine to me, Sonic. I would like to have a word with you later, though."

Sonic shrugged. "Alright. You ready now?"

Blaze nodded again, but wiggled out of Sonic's arms. "Just let me get my shoes."

After this retrieval, Blaze took Sonic's hand, but before they left, she couldn't help but glance backwards at a disconsolate Silver, almost wishing that she was going to spend the day with him instead. Because for whatever reason, unlike Sonic, Silver had given her an indescribable feeling.

...xxx...

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

So went the sound of Amy's fork as she pushed it across her plate, rolling her blueberry pancakes through more and more syrup. So far not even one little piece of the pancake had made their way into her mouth; the only thing feasting on them was Amy's dull, lifeless eyes.

Vanilla the Rabbit looked across the table at her quasi adopted daughter, her heart emphasizing with the young, brokenhearted teen. The rabbit had always had a soft spot for Amy, and since the girl was an orphan, Vanilla viewed her as a daughter by all but blood. A while back she'd even tried to get the girl to come and live with her and Cream, but Amy had been insistent that she could take care of herself, as long as... Sonic was still around. It was always about Sonic with this one.

Oh, but Vanilla understood. In fact, Amy reminded her of a younger version of herself. For once upon a time, she had been thirteen, and had what now seemed like a silly crush on a boy, though at the time, when he'd broken her heart, it had seemed much more important. A lot had happened since then, more men, eventually leading up to her deceased husband... Vanilla smiled in nostalgia. One day, Amy will be looking back on this, and telling her children about how when she was thirteen, a boy broke her heart. One day, Amy would move on, and find someone to love her in return. Vanilla was sure of it; she'd seen a lot in her 20-something (nearly 30-something) years.

Still, while she had been waiting for Amy to start the conversation, Vanilla figured she might have to jump start it.

"Amy, dear... how do you like the pancakes?"

Her fork stopped scraping, and Amy pushed the full, messy plate to the middle of the table.

"I know what you're going to tell me," the pink hedgehog muttered before lifting her dark green eyes up to face the older rabbit. "That I should move on. That Sonic isn't worth it. That he's just a big jerk and he doesn't deserve me and I can do much, much better than him. Right?"

Her pitch was soft, but there was no mistaking the bitterness and emotion behind those words.

"Well, Ms. Vanilla, if that's what you're going to say... you're wrong."

Vanilla smiled once again. She'd seen this coming, but decided to hear Amy out.

"Because," she choked on an unexpected sob, "Sonic... he's... I'm not giving up on him. He's really not a jerk, Ms. Vanilla. He's not. He's good and kind and heroic... and... I plan on waiting for him. He's worth it, to me. He's worth everything to me."

Her green eyes were filled to the brim with tears, and even a slight disturbance would cause them to overflow. Both gloved hands were clenched into fists, and her mouth was set in a stubborn, determined line. Amy had never been one to give up easily.

Vanilla took a sip of tea. "How long are you going to wait on that boy, Amy?"

"As long as it takes," she said gently but stubbornly.

Vanilla sighed. Once again, she'd seen this coming a mile away... but that didn't mean Amy was right.

"Amy," Vanilla reached across the table to place her hand on top of the distressed girl's. "You're only thirteen, honey. You have a long, long life ahead of you. There will be other boys-"

"Who?" Amy demanded, her temper flaring up without warning. "I don't see anyone else I want. I never will. I made up my mind a long time ago, that no matter what... Sonic would have a place in my heart. Forever. That I would always love him. I would choose him over the world. I decided that I would wait for him, even if it took the rest of my life..."

"Oh dear," Vanilla muttered, deep in thought. She hadn't expected this to be easy, but she thought that Amy would be just upset, and wanting to get over him. Vanilla had been prepared to nurse a broken heart, but this... this might be harder than she thought. She took another sip of tea to finish it, and set the empty cup down.

"Are you going to eat those pancakes?" Vanilla asked.

Amy shook her head and repeated, "I'm not hungry."

"Alright, then, how about we go on a walk? Marine has told me that this island really is beautiful..."

The brokenhearted girl's eyes wandered over to the open window, and studied the rhythmic pattern of the dark blue waves crashing down on the nearby beach. A few koalas and other people were outside, surfing, sunbathing, and playing in the sand, continuing their lives as if nothing had changed, nothing was different. But to Amy... everything had changed. Her whole hope and reason to get out of bed each day... had been taken from her, stolen by the graceful beauty of a princess she couldn't even hope to measure up to.

Amy scratched her head. Oh... what was she going to do now? She just felt so... lost. For five long, fruitless years, which really was as far back as she could remember, Amy had fallen head over heels for Sonic and chased him, helped him on his adventures, said she'd always be there for him. And now, after all that, what had Amy gotten in return from Sonic?

Nothing.

And every time, every time, he'd ran from her, turning away in disgust, or just ignoring her. Every flipping time, he'd given her nothing. And yet she'd kept on. Why? Amy didn't know. But what she'd felt for Sonic hadn't died down at all. He'd just stolen her heart long ago, and still held the vital organ in his careless hands, and no matter what he did with it, Amy still loved him.

Still.

No matter what.

Oh Sonic, you have no idea how much that hurts... to completely give yourself to someone and have them just ignore you. You have no idea... You've just been able to get whatever you want... you don't know... what it feels like to love someone, and have them just constantly break your heart... and yet still love them, no matter what they do to you. You don't know, Sonic... how I feel... and you won't even take a moment to hear me out...

The wooden chair screeched across the floor as Amy stood up abruptly, signaling she'd like to go on that walk, if only to delay another round of tears. Vanilla smiled and stood up as well.

The first few minutes were spent in complete silence between the rabbit and hedgehog strolled around the island, taking in the beach, the meadow, the hills... if Amy had been any more cheery, she'd have enjoyed it and gushed about how romantic the whole island was. But now... she could only think about how Sonic and his girlfriend were enjoying it together. Without her. Sonic was always, always happy without her.

Seeing Amy's eyes well up, Vanilla stopped and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"You need to let him go, Amy. If Blaze really isn't the girl for him, then both of them will find out soon enough. But you, Amy... there are so many other things you should be doing than aching over that one boy. Life is too short to keep crying. There are plenty of more fish in the sea. Maybe Sonic-"

"You don't understand," Amy said sadly, her feet shuffling, kicking up dirt. "I can't let him go... don't you see that? I can't just stop liking him! These feelings aren't things you can just turn on and off... Sonic has my heart. He always has, and he always will. I can't turn off my feelings for him. I wish I could. I wish I wasn't so... annoying about it. But I can't help it. I love him."

"Are you happy for him?"

Amy didn't respond, and dug her little fangs into her lower lip. Was she happy for Sonic? Amy didn't know, she was just downright heartbroken.

"Have you thought about him, Amy? Sonic has feelings, too. Do you care about how he feels, and what he wants? Right now, he has feelings for Blaze. And if you truly loved him, you'd want him to be happy. If he's happy with Blaze, then you have to be happy for him. That's love, Amy. When you care more about the other person than yourself. When his happiness matters more than your happiness. That's how you know you love him, and it's not just a crush."

She sniffed as her eyes were overwhelmed by yet another flood of tears. Her eyes were trained solely onto her boots and her lip officially hurt. Amy was about to respond to Vanilla, but another voice beat her to it. A voice that she loved much, much, much too much. And another voice that she'd come to envy.

The famous blue hedgehog and lavender cat came into view, just a few feet below the hill that Amy and Vanilla were on, their hands linked. Sonic was laughing about something, sounding so adorable that Amy's heart hurt to hear him.

Jealousy flooded her veins as she eyed Blaze, wondering if there was way to get as skinny and tall and pretty and shapely as the cat was. Oh, what was it about her that made Sonic take notice? Was it the flames that turned him on?

As Amy eyed the couple, she felt nothing but envy and anger, her blood boiling, and she wanted nothing more than to storm right up to Sonic and pull her hammer on him and Blaze, screaming that Blaze could never love him like she did...

Sonic laughed again, though Blaze remained silent. As Amy saw all the joy and love on Sonic's face, it was like last night all over again, and she couldn't stop the sudden rush of tears. He was so happy with her.

Not wanting to see any more, knowing she couldn't take it, Amy turned on her heel to leave, her heart still painfully split in two.

One half that belonged to Sonic and wanted him to be happy... the other half that was selfish and just wanted Sonic on her own terms.

Little did the pink hedgehog know, that if she would've stayed for one more moment, she would've heard Blaze say, "Listen, Sonic... I'm sorry, but this... isn't really what I expected. I don't think this is going to work out."

...xxx... A/N ...xxx...

Yeah, a bit of a cliffhanger, sorry. I know, I know, you all are heartbroken that Blaze just broke up with Sonic.

Well... I know at least one person is happy to see Silver in this story. ^_^ There will actually be some Silvaze in this story, along with the main, [eventual] SonAmy pairing. Hopefully I don't have a bunch of people saying, "b-b-but that's not canon!" Psh, technically Sonic 06 never happened, so you could say Silver ended up in Blaze's dimension if you'd like to.

I didn't think Sonic would be a jerk to Silver... he might be suspicious at first, but I don't think he'd be a jerk, especially since he's one of Blaze's friends. By the way, yellow hyacinths mean "jealousy" and daffodils can mean "unrequited love." Appropriate, no?

And big surprise, Amy isn't giving up on Sonic. I had a lot of fun with the Vanilla talk... that's something we all want to tell Amy... but the girl just. won't. give. up. Though I do think it's sweet that she won't give up on him. =D

That's all for this chapter. There's a lot more coming. I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it... :D