A/N: Sorry if it seems like this chapter is short.

"One week," Amy muttered to herself as she tried on the veil. "One week, and everything changes."

A sudden knock at the door made her jump.

"Yes?" She called.

"Amy," Scourge's voice made her scramble to take off the veil and hastily shove it back into her wardrobe. "I need to talk to you."

"Y-You can come in," her voice grew quieter towards the end of the sentence, but he must've heard her anyway, because the door opened slowly.

"Huh, the room looks better than I remember." He hummed to himself, taking in the decor. "Still a little old-fashioned, but it works."

"Big surprise that you're visiting me yourself," she remarked calmly, turning fully to face him. "What's on your mind?"

He nodded and shut the door behind himself. "I needed to tell you something important."

"Well, what is it?" She asked.

"You see, I don't know if Miles has told you already, but-" he scratched the back of his neck, "- the girl who shouldn't be named is back, and she wants to kill me again."

"Ohhh, yeah, he did tell me a few days ago." She nodded, raising an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"I was thinking that, maybe, we could... invite your friends to the wedding?" He forced out. Sonic's face flashed across his mind, and it took some self-control not to grimace at the fact that he was asking for help.

"You mean, as bodyguards?" She deadpanned.

"Yes, exactly."

She hummed in thought. While she didn't approve of throwing them into it - Chao knows how Sonic would react - she did admit that this made her plan a little easier.

She watched his face. The nervousness looked... genuine. Still, this was Scourge, or rather, Anti-Sonic, and she had to be on-guard around him even now.

"Sure," she finally shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind. At least then, I'll be able to say my goodbyes."

He felt a little uneasy at that statement, but forced a smile anyway. "Great. I'll have invitations sent out immediately and Miles will cross to their world and pick them up the night before the wedding."

She tried to match his expression, but dark thoughts were swirling around in her brain. She knew she'd affected him with that ambiguous statement, and while a tiny piece of her was aglow in the fact that she made him nervous, a bigger part was worried.

What if... that is my goodbye? She thought miserably. After my mission is over with, I may be trapped here forever... if Shadow doesn't continue to check. And if I get locked in prison for assassination...

That night, she just couldn't sleep.

Although Shadow had told her - quite firmly, in fact - that he wouldn't visit her that night because she 'needed sleep', she yearned for his presence. It was a small comfort in this big, lonely place.

As she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, she heard the softest of knocks.

She sat up, trying to control her wily quills, and called out softly, "Come in."

A moment passed before the door opened, revealing Miles with a lamp in one hand.

"Oh, Miles." She greeted, confusion clouding her muddled mind. Why was he here?

"Sorry to disturb you so late, Amy," he began to speak as he shut the door, "but I felt the need to speak to you."

"Don't worry, you didn't wake me up." She shook her head with a tiny smile. "If anything, you'd be repulsed at how ugly I get in the morning."

A ghost of a smile went across his lips for a moment. "I'll have to make a note of that and send it to the king."

"You wouldn't!" She mock-gasped. She patted the end of her bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

He paused, his frown deepening. "It's about the king."

"Oh." She relaxed a little as he sat down, setting the lamp on the floor. "Huh. Seems to be a hot topic lately, eh?"

"You could say that, I suppose." He shook his head. "But regardless of what you might think, this affects more than just Mobius."

"Oh, is this about-"

"Yes, about her." He nodded quickly. "I apologize for interrupting you, but her name... every time someone's said her name out loud, she appears. At this moment, it would be stupid to accidentally 'summon' her here."

"Nothing happened when you told me the other day..." She rose an eyebrow.

"I used the name you know her as." He explained. "Nothing happens if you say Anti-Amy."

"Huh. Did Kintobor curse her or something?" She muttered. "Nah, he wouldn't have. He's too soft."

"Anyway," he continued, "I assume you're thinking that I'm going to tell you I know of your secrets."

"Secrets?" Her heart dropped for a moment. "I don't have any."

He hummed in thought, eyes lingering on her for a moment more than made her comfortable.

"What I'm actually going to tell you, however, is more important than your counterpart."

"What is it?" She pressed. "I'm dying of anticipation."

He chuckled mirthlessly at her tone. "I've been thinking about this for a while, and I feel that now is the right time to tell you. I've felt my preferences slipping for quite some time now, and I want you to know that whatever you do..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, what?" She rose her eyebrows. "What do you mean 'preferences'? You mean...?"

"My allegiance has begun to shift rapidly," he explained quietly. "I am no longer strictly loyal to the king."

"And..." her voice softened to match his volume, "you'd be willing to... to trust me?"

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?" His pointed look made her shake her head rapidly.

"No, no, I'm not insinuating anything like that. It's just..." She exhaled slowly. "You trust me. Out of everyone, you trust me."

"I see no other person here fit to earn my trust, Rose." He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile. "Whatever you have to do, I support you."

Gee, this seems familiar, a voice snarked in her head when she felt something akin to a tightening of her throat.

"That's... really sweet. Thank you." She tried to smile at him.

"Changing topic," he cleared his throat into his fist. "It's come to our attention that she's growing more violent. She'll be here any day, although one should assume that she'll arrive the day of the wedding."

"That makes a ton of sense." She nodded seriously. "I mean, what better day to try and 'squish' the person who made you go crazy in the first place than the day when he's getting married? It's practically taking candy from a baby."

"Exactly." He nodded. "While everyone will be on-edge that day, I'll especially need your help in staving her off."

"What do you mean?" She rose an eyebrow. "I mean, I brought my hammer, but that was for self-defense-"

"Use that." He instructed. "Last time... she was able to break it, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she did." Amy nodded. "It took me weeks to build another one, and that's not even mentioning the parts I had to cajole Tails into getting."

"In case that happens, take this." He handed something small, a box of some sort, to her, and she studied it for a few moments before placing it on the nightstand. "It may look useless now, but there's a button you can press and it turns into what could be described as a taser hammer with a sword inside, I suppose."

"A tammer sword..." She hummed. "Er, no, wait. A Hay-serd! Nah, that sounds stupid too."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to use it." His eyes seemed to smile. "Might I suggest Hazard?"

"That's perfect!" She grinned at the little box. "Hazard, mk 1. I like it!"

"I could give you the blueprints we used to create it, if you wish. Perhaps as a wedding present?"

"I'd love that, thanks." She reached forward, as if to hug him, but suddenly pulled back.

He stood, patting off his legs, before turning. "Our time is short. I have to go."

"It's been nice talking to you, Miles," her voice came out softer than she'd wanted, but it was enough to make him turn his head to look back at her.

Something akin to a smile tugged at his lips. "It's been a pleasure talking to you too."

A/N: Another chapter out of the way! I promise, next chapter, things will begin to pick up more.

Please tell me what you thought, feel free to speculate on what will happen next, and I'll see you guys in chapter 11!