Hello again, everyone!

Here we are! Chapter 4! I'm so glad you're enjoying this so far! Be sure to continue reading and reviewing, all feedback is appreciated! Enjoy!

Ciao! x

The sun had long gone now. The stars twinkling in all their glory, the moon replacing the sun with its glowing light that beamed down on the gang's faces. The only sound that echoed through the field was the crackling of the fire that Silver prodded and poked at with a long twig. Blaze played with the fire, sculpting it with her powers, all the while being careful not to let it get out of control, while Manic and Sonia sat around and watched in silence.

Rouge had found a huge, tall oak tree nearby that she flew to the top of, getting a look over all the land they'd covered since leaving home. Had the city still been standing, she'd be able to see the tiniest bit of its glowing lights in the far distance. Alas, this was not the case. Knuckles sat beneath the tree, trying to calm himself down by falling into a deep sleep, but it was nothing more than sporadic periods of restless snoozing as he waited for Rouge to come down and probably join him.

Shadow found Cream playing with her few choice weapons, making him anxious yet again before deciding they were past the point of trying to stop her, so he decided he may as well show her a few important tricks of the trade. He only prayed that when all of this was over, she wouldn't need to pick up a gun ever again. Cosmo and Tikal were looking over the gadgets Tails had given them, making an attempt to teach themselves at least the important parts until the twin-tailed kitsune joined them to help. Sally had fallen asleep not far away from the fire, determined to block out the night and start again in the morning.

Amy had been sitting next to the brunette chipmunk, staring up at the sky, counting the stars before having to start over again after losing her place. Eventually she gave up after realising Sonic had returned from a run and taken a seat undera nearby tree. She let her eyes rest on him a second longer before turning her attention down to a snoozing Sally. She thought to herself that, if Sally was awake, she'd tell her to go over there, and she'd probably be right.

The bubble gum heroine looked back at him briefly before quietly and cautiously getting to her feet and strolling on over towards him. His eyes were rested, his hands behind his head, propping it up as he rest against the trunk of the tree. A position he had taken many times before, and Amy couldn't work out why but suddenly he looked different. She sat down next to him but he didn't move any more than over enough to make room against the trunk for her.

He didn't need to open his eyes to know it was her. Her cherry blossom and rose perfumes filled his nose the closer she got to him, and he couldn't help but hope that she managed to throw that perfume into her bag when they had left. They sat in silence for a minute or two, Sonic still in the same position while Amy watched the moon illuminate her friends figures along with the glowing light from the fire. The royal blue hedgehog took in a deep breath as he opened his eyes, her scent filling his senses again as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

'Ever think we'd end up here, Ames?' Sonic smirked as he looked out at their friends.

'Not in a million years.' She chuckled, 'Makes me think maybe it's all a dream.'

'More like a nightmare.' Sonic rolled his eyes, anger and frustration filling his voice fast.

Amy turned to face him, watching him intently as his chest rose and fell with the deep breaths he took in an attempt to calm himself. She knew that he was blaming himself for having to flee the scene, for not being able to save the citizens, for sending away the emeralds and probably so much more. Her hand reached out to touch his before she even noticed, but she retracted it quickly. She let out a frustrated sigh she didn't even know she was holding.

'You're blaming yourself, I can see it. You're so stubborn, Sonic the Hedgehog.' Amy shook her head.

'Why shouldn't I be? I let thousands of people die and I let Scourge scare me into throwing away our most prized possessions before forcing us to run away. How pathetic does the 'Hero of Mobius' look now?' Sonic said mockingly, turning his face away from her as he felt frustrated tears brim his eyes.

'Come here.' Amy insisted, not holding back this time.

Sonic looked up at her, a little embarrassed before she wrapped her tiny arm around his masculine shoulders, pulling his head into her chest. His hands rested on her thighs, one of hers holding them while the others stroked his quills gently. She knew he thought she couldn't tell, but she could feel his tears fall onto her chest, the fear, the anger, the frustration and all in between finally coming out. She loved that he would allow himself to feel it, especially with her. Maybe he finally knew he had to.

'The emeralds are not our most prized possessions, Sonic,' Amy whispered, still running her fingers through his quills before looking out at their friends, 'they are.'

'You're right, I'm sorry.' Sonic apologised, tightening his grip on her hand and thigh, 'I just don't know what to do. I'd never planned for this.'

'In your defence, when have you ever planned for anything?' Amy shrugged, causing him to look up at her before they both started laughing.

'You know what I mean,' he said as he rest his head back on her shoulder. 'Before anything else we need to find these emeralds but, where do we start?'

'Let's not worry about it tonight.' Amy sighed, 'I think everyone needs tonight to finish processing. Tomorrow morning, we can get going.'

Sonic nodded, staying silent and allowing Amy to continue running her fingers through his thick, cerulean quills. It suddenly dawned on him at how close they were, and for the first time, it didn't scare him. He didn't feel the urge to run away or jump out of his skin but quite the opposite. He needed this, maybe he needed her. She felt herself brush her lips lightly against his forehead, sending tingles up his spines and his stomach turn. It was weird, and he couldn't make it stop, but he wasn't afraid of it anymore.

He sat up a little, now his face looking over hers. Her fingers were still intertwined throughout his quills, one of his hands having moved subconsciously to her waist while the other stayed on her thigh. They both stayed silent as they scanned each other's faces closely, their close proximity allowing their hot breath to hit each other. The scent of all that nature could bring, flowers, the beach, the snow and everything in between all combined into one to make a blissful smell that made up Sonic, filling Amy's nostrils and making her shudder. Her signature, scented perfume continued to fill his, making his cheeks heat up in a way they never had before.

It suddenly hit Amy how bad the timing of this was. She trusted him, regardless, but she needed to know all of this sudden affection wasn't just because all that was happening around them. Not just that, it was the last thing they needed to focus on right now - as much as it killed her to admit to that, now that she finally had this right in her hands. Literally. She let out a small smile, wanting more than she could have before reluctantly turning his face to the side a little, gently but intentionally before placing a kiss on his cheek.

'When all of this is over, and things go back to the way they should be…' She trailed off.

'I know. I promise.' Sonic nodded, resting his forehead against hers.

'Really?'

'Really, really.'

The sun's rays had barely peaked over the horizon before a certain ebony and crimson hedgehog was waking the gang up, impressing on them all how imperative it was for them to start moving. They'd already spent a full day in the one spot which was dangerous enough, especially if Scourge had sent out some sort of search party for them. As everyone groggily got to their feet, they packed up all their belongings, the food they had gathered and made sure there was no sign of a fire before they set out.

'Why would he even bother with us now?' Cosmo questioned.

'Hasn't he made it blatantly obvious over the past year or so?' Knuckles yawned, any time before 5am being unspeakable.

'She has a point,' Manic backed the seedrian girl up, 'he knows we don't have so much as few fresh bottles of waters. What do we have now that he wants?'

'A few years ago he probably would've seen it that way,' Cream stepped in, startling everyone with the first words she'd spoken that morning, 'thinking we weren't good for anything without those emeralds. Now, though, he knows what we're capable of. Or what we were…'

'What we still are.' Silver told her firmly, almost scolding her.

'I agree we are still as capable as we've always been. It's not us that have changed, however,' Blaze spoke with that soothing, princess-like voice she possessed when she allowed it, 'it's him. His actions could go either way really – he could be thinking what he truly knows, that at the end of the day, we can take him on, regardless of the circumstances. Send out some sort of search party in an attempt to take us down before we find him.'

'Or he won't even bother,' Tikal added on, 'thinking his new found powers are enough. Assuming we'll wait it out on our own out here, waiting for death.'

'If it's the latter, clearly he doesn't know us well enough yet.' Sonic chuckled, that flash of cocky demeanour returning for just a second. Enough to brighten even Shadow's eyes a little.

Everyone remained silent for a small while as they trekked along, all sub-consciously following Tails and Cosmo who were walking at the front of the gang. Sonic's last comment left smile's on all their faces for a few minutes, enough to exchange a chuckle or two between each other before they returned to reality, staring down at their shoes as they walked. They continued walking, far enough to be a decent distance away from the field they had spent their first day and night in before stopping again to come up with… something anything.

'Well, first thing's first. We need to find the emeralds.' Sonia nodded matter-of-factly.

'I did actually think about this part when I sent them away, you know,' Sonic stated, his arms folded as he rolled his eyes, 'sending them away with the Master Emerald did more good than just hiding all emeralds.'

'He's right,' Tails stepped in, 'it's like Sonic said last night, if they're somewhere with the Master Emerald, then they're all together. We just have to work out where.'

'Rumour has it that very place can be the place you were thinking of when you sent them away, you know.' Rouge smiled.

'Of course you'd know that, Bat.' Shadow rolled his eyes, wiping the smile off the ivory bat's face.

'Oh, shove it up your-'

'Are you going to tell us where you were thinking of at the time, Sonic?' Sally cut her off quickly.

'I wasn't thinking of anywhere? All I was thinking of was getting them far away from the- oh, shit…'

'The city.' Amy reluctantly finished for him.