Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, Knuckles, Robotnik and all the rest. The plot of Sonic Adventure is also property of Sega. I only own the original characters, original locations, and original plots within this fanfiction. Yay!

Cue Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: "Change The World" by ARTIST Dream


CHAPTER 10: Reuniting with Friends, Part 1

STATION SQUARE / Shopping District / 10:38 AM

It came out of the clouds like a primed missile, coated in demonic crimson and bearing the familiar egg shaped insignia and whilst it didn't grind the city to a halt as such, it still rendered it in awed silence [for they had never heard of Robotnik before this far away from South Island].

Of course for Amy Rose it was like an impending nightmare and her shopping now littered her feet, her hands shaking as she was still rooted to the spot.

Doctor Robotnik?! What is he doing all the way out here?

And if he's here then are the others here too, like Sonic and Tails…?

"Hmm? What's that blue… blur… coming from the sky…? Oh no please don't hurt me!" the young rosette began in quiet wonder before increasing in tone to that of a heightened shriek as a small blue blur fall from the sky like a shooting star.

Before she knew it however [or could raise her hands up in mild defence] the blurred object collided with her head and knocked her down to the ground like a decent thrown tennis ball would if it'd hit you in the noggin.

"Ohh… What happened?" she spoke drearily, rubbing at the ache now developing in her forehead.

With eyes now open and focused it was then that she saw what had fallen into her sprawled out on the ground ahead of her and she let out a gasp, forgetting her mild pains immediately as she hastily picked it up into her arms.

The blue blur turned out to be a light blue coloured Flicky bird, which had golden yellow legs and beck and a peculiar rectangular lime locket around its neck.

It didn't seem to want to be cradled like so however as mere moments later the tiny bird began to flap his wings repeatedly as if expecting that he would just rise into the air and then looking disappointed when that didn't work.

"Hey, hey… It's ok little guy, I won't hurt you… but your wings were probably bruised and hurt from your fall." Amy began saying to reassure the struggling bird, and was pleasantly surprised when said bird actually began to not only stop fidgeting but cooing sweet bird sounds as it was held, which only caused her to smile warmly.

Silent moments pasted as the pink hedgehog let the Flicky get used to her touch before walking slowly down the street, her ground spread shopping completely gone from mind.

"Hey wait a minute…" she said absent mindly, pausing in mid stride and turning to the blue Flicky in question, as she began remembering a lingering supplant of information that she'd heard Tails drone on about once after an adventure.

"… Don't Flickies such as you all come from Flickies Island? If so… then why are you so far out from home little guy-"

*BANG, trod, BANG, trod…*

"Oh no, it's one of Robotnik's robots!" Amy screamed in panic, running as fast as she could away from the green boxed shaped behemoth with red eyes that'd landed right before her and the Flicky, and down the half deserted street.

"Sorry… Excuse me… Let me pass, please… I'm in a hurry!" she said somewhat impatiently but in as much politeness as she felt she could muster currently, as she pushed and squeezed past people on the street, which was a very different ballgame as to what Zero, the Robotnik creation that was pursuing them was doing, as he tossed people aside and caused a small panicked stampede to ensure.

She looked behind her and saw that the robot was gaining distance; they couldn't outrun him forever, so they needed to come up with a plan of some mind.

Where to go, where to hide… somewhere local…

Dammit Amy, think wisely for a change!

"Let's go little guy, I know just where to go," she said reassuringly to calm the frightened curled up bird in her arms, I just hope it's not busy today… she thought nervously, as she bit gently down on her lip.

And sprinting as hard as she could, thinking to herself that if she imagined him to be at where they were going that her legs would move faster and faster because of it, it didn't help too much though however due to her fairly relaxed city lifestyle [casual exercising was just not the same as going out on Freedom Fighter missions…], but they managed to reach their destination in a good enough time nevertheless.

The robot had vanished for the time being at least, which allowed Amy to take in a deep breath and walk casually in, the bird still cradled in her arms like a small child.

AMBER'S RESTAURANT / Downtown / Southern Sector / Station Square / 10:47 AM

The décor floor of the small but clean restaurant was covered in white and cream triangular tiles, with its moderately sized tables and chairs made of light golden pinewood and had a warm homely smell about it from all the cooking going on in the kitchen out back.

As Amy had hoped it wasn't at all busy today, probably due to the commotion Robotnik's ship caused earlier, she thought abit glumly as she and the Flicky bird sat down to an empty table and seat.

"That was a close one eh?" she said, before realising that a name would be far better to call the bird rather than an 'it' etc.

"Say do you have a name little guy?" she said to the Flicky whom was no walking slowly about on the table face, and getting used to moving again.

*Tweet, tweet, tweet!*

"Never mind that then…" she said, laughing, not knowing the language of 'tweet'.

After a few moments thought a light bulb blinked in her head.

"I know! I'll call you Crystal, is that okay with you?" the rosette hedgehog said calmly and gently to the light blue mist coloured Flicky.

*Tweet, tweet, tweet!*

And you didn't need to know the language of birds to tell that this Flicky was happy with its new deemed 'name', with its eyes wide and glistening, and its happy sounding tweets.

Crystal had instinctively started flapping her wings, causing Amy to cry out quietly in concerned alarm and grasp the little bird, eyes closed.

"Don't overexert yourself Crystal or you'll make the pains worse!" she said, trying to gently to hold her down.

Suddenly Crystal stopped flapping and instead stared down Amy right in her eyes, and in those avian eyes looked to be that of a silent plea, in that it wanted to try to fly again, with or without even this new friends permission.

An echo of the memories of the day she left Knothole caused her to nod and let go, for she in that moment was restricting and holding someone else back just as she'd felt that the other Freedom Fighters had been with her…

So to push back those conflicted she focused back on the situation at hand, "Don't flap as deeply…and pull back your legs," she kindly advised in a soft tone as the newly deemed 'Crystal' tried once again to fly.

The light blue Flicky starred at her, taking in what it could understand before nodding happily, levelling out her wings more and giving shorter, more frequent thrusts. She dropped to the ground once more and Amy was about to catch her, but this time when Crystal next pushed off, she was solidly airborne.

Crystal the Flicky looked elated, and Amy couldn't help but be too and with her arms out stretched she gently held onto Crystal's feet and they spun around slowly, laughing and chirping happily all the while.

"Hmm, someone looks like they're having a good time… who's your new bird-friend Amy?" a kind and teasing voice came from behind them, causing the frolicking to cease.

"Oh Amber, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there…" Amy spoke rapidly, tumbling over her words and brushing down her skirt absent mindly. "Me and Crystal here were just hiding you see…" she continued on, in a slower and more composed voice, trying all the while to make the recapped story not sound as farfetched as it'd probably sound to most.

"Hiding you say, but from whatever what Amy honey?" the long auburn haired, green eyed and mid twenties human female enquired, raising an amused eyebrow.

"We were being chased by a robot that came down from-"

*BANG, trod, BANG, trod…*

"Oh no… Amber, Crystal duck!" she exclaimed quickly, little above a whisper as she too ducked down under the table, looking out at the see through glass panels that made most of the entrance door.

It was as the robot [that we all know as Zero], looked inside the restaurant briefly before then waltzing on past that she really took his details in;

It was a great, lumbering and blocky robot, of a dark lime green variety, which stood at just over double Amy's height. It had giant like black hands, a shiny silver chest plate and strips of red at its wrists, upper chest and at the bottom of its tall, cylindrical head.

At the centre of the aforementioned head was a golden, clear hexagonal shape, which held both the offensive and defensive capabilities, Amy figured. It was either that or the blue, circular scope with silver lining that hand on its right, black shoulder pipe. Dark, pinkish red eyes were surrounded by a yellowish gold pipe lining, giving it a creepy, nostalgic pinball like appearance, for some reason Amy [and my author's mind] couldn't fathom right now.

When the coast was clear, Amy and Crystal clambered out from under the table, ruffling off any cluster of dust accumulated down there, in their respective fashions.

"Good golly, just what was that Amy?" the startled voice of Amber came from behind them.

Turning around and gazing into her friends wide, green eyes not only confirmed the fear that'd resided in her voice for her own safety, but for Amy herself as well. It gave the rosette hedgehog the uncomfortable, guilty knot-tied feeling one gets when they feel bad about involving a loved one in complicated, awkward or otherwise downright dangerous situations, that were of their own fault.

Still, she had given her a place to stay and she'd been about to tell her all about Robotnik's ship in the sky and the obvious robot chase-master it'd left behind, before the aforementioned interrupted anyway so she put on a reassuring smile and spoke her mind.

"Well… As I was gonna say before tin-head flew past, I'm definitely sure that he's one of Robotnik's cronies, he looks like a bigger Badnik. You know the ones the mad egghead I told you and the others about before created?"

Amber didn't reply, just nodded, prompting her to go on forth for she knew all of the wickedness Amy's cherished one fought against, way over the ocean… The red head had never heard of such despicableness, except for whatever foul man had worked her parents to their early graves… Though the fact that he most likely was in and around Station Square was unnerving, just what could a mad man be seeking here of all places?

Unbeknown to Amy [or anyone else on the hero side for that matter], this robot was one of Robotnik's newest guard robots and the first robot of its kind, deemed E-100 'alpha' of the new E-Series line of robots. But its proper title was ZERO.

"So after the ship overflew the city awhile ago this little cutie comes right on down out of nowhere and SMACK!" Amy continued, pointing to Crystal. "It was like getting pummelled in a handbag grabbing war down in the city centres during a big sale, just not as hard thankfully!" she chuckled, petting Crystal who was now happily perched on her right shoulder.

"Hehe, I see, well I'll tell you one thing…" Amber began sternly.

"If that lumbering mass of nuts and bolts had come in here for you two then I'd of let him have it with my broom, my pans of boiling water and the rest!" she exclaimed with passionate pride, rising up from her tabletop sit.

"Well, at least you two aren't hurt but hey, business calls," Amber said with a little sigh, noting the dozen or so customers that'd come in the last minute or so, or had they been there before she'd seen Amy and Crystal? She couldn't remember.

I really do need to train my brain memory up to above average levels one of these days, even if I have to burrow one of Zack's gaming machines to do it, she thought diligently.

"… Would you love the usual, strawberry milkshake?" she mused to Amy from behind the nearby counter. "And a separate bowl for Crystal…?" she added thereafter,

"I'd love one, thanks!" Amy said excitedly, her body having de-stressed itself out from talking to Amber, but then that was always the case with her.

I guess losing your loved ones, especially your parents; can sometimes make wonderful people even more wonderful with healing time. [It's amazing how she can remain so positive and strong through all that's happened to her family…] I wish I could say the same, ending her thought on a sad note and instead of thinking anymore of it she diverted her attention to Crystal, namely to the golden locket hung around her neck.

"Hey there Crystal, what's that you've got there around your neck? Am I allowed to have a look…?" she said in a friendly tone, pointing to the object in question.

Crystal nodded her small, feathered head downward with a pleasant resounding chirp, allowing Amy to carefully take the locket off and into the palm of her hand.

It was surprisingly light for such a big object [in comparison to Crystal], which surprised Amy somewhat and also the glimmer brought back older, more pleasant memories as she held it.

Its surface is so shiny, such a rich gold… It also reminds me of all the mobian Rings that are scattered all across the planet that Sonic, Tails and everyone collects as a clean energy source.

Could someone [or something] have melted some down and crafted it into this?

It was an interesting thought, but she knew it was something she'd never find out, so whilst lightly trailing a lone finger above the lockets opening seal, she then silently mouthed if she could open it, using her batting eyes to direct Crystal to it.

A polite nod and curious azure eyes watched Amy as she opened her birdie friends' prized possession, and inside it was a golden lined, framed photograph of three Flicky birds, a dark pink ones, Crystal, and a lime green one respectively. They all looked very happy together, that much was obvious.

But then just what happened to them both…? Amy thought in concern, praying deeply that Crystal wasn't also another outcast orphan like she and the Worthington's were.

I won't stand for it! And neither should Crystal…

Although… Since she escaped from that ship of Robotnik's, perhaps they could still be held captive there...?

"We might still be able to save your family from roboticization or becoming a Badnik yet Crystal!" she exclaimed with proud determination, an adventurer's heart awakening within her for the first time in over a year.

A determined chirp from her sealed the deal, and after telling Amber of their plans and saying goodbye, the duo left the bustling restaurant and deeper into the city to look for some clues.

STATION SQUARE / Central Sector / 11:38 AM

Not having much to go on in regards to the location of Robotnik's new airship, the rosette hedgehog had sat down on a park bench next to a water fountain [the very same that Knuckles himself had been in not long ago], and consulted her tarot cards.

She'd got them long ago from a special stranger back in her home city of Mercia [before Robotnik's coup of the planet], and whilst she wasn't psychic herself she had an uncanny talent with reading them. It was also for her own good that she'd sternly promised herself to never use them irresponsibly and to use them only if all else fails [just think how tempting a certain question about a blue hero would've been?]

But still she needed some guidance, however little, and so she took them out, closing her mind from everyone around her except for Crystal, who was surprisingly quiet and intrigued by her actions.

The cards themselves were your typical rectangular shaped ones, albeit taller than regular old playing cards and more vibrant in colour and designs. She'd been given them by a woolly mystic a few years ago who'd deemed her 'worthy' of having them, the pack consisted of:

0 - The Fool
1 - The Magician
2 - The High Priestess
3 - The Empress
4 - The Emperor
5 - The Hierophant / Pope
6 - The Lovers
7 - The Chariot
8 - Strength
9 - The Hermit
10 - Wheel of Fortune
11 - Justice
12 - The Hanged Man
13 - Death
14 - Temperance
15 - The Devil
16 - The Tower
17 - The Star
18 - The Moon
19 - The Sun
20 - Judgement
21 - The World / Universe

Closing her eyes and letting her mind [and hands] wander, and after a brief hazy, blue memory of her first usage of them passed through her mind, she eventually picked out three cards by her innate 'spiritual guidance'.

The first card she turned over was 'The Fool', which Amy quickly deduced as an insult to her being, before realising that was a childish reaction and thought it through some more.

She figured it meant that firstly, it represented her, but in that the personal depiction was to show that she was a spirit who was still in search of life experience [which was true, it'd been one reason she'd come to Station Square in the first place after all]. Other possible meanings included; that it foreshadowed a 'leap of faith' into the unknown or that significant change was imminent.

'The Priestess' was the second card of the trio, who was said to bestow great wisdom upon thy novices so that they can grow and develop, either into a greater understanding of the self [and the realm around them] or into madness… A deeper of something could thus be coming soon.

And finally, the last card was 'The Hanged Man', much to Amy's dismay, who'd secretly yearned for 'The Lovers'. But alias… the relevance of this card was a mystery, a very enigmatic and troubling mystery. It was collectively associated with life and sacrifice, be it for the greater good or greater gain. Serenely dangling upside-down, the Hanged Man has let go of worldly attachments. He has sacrificed a desire for control over his circumstances in order to gain an understanding of, and communion with, creative energies far greater than his individual self. He is the initiate into mysteries as he understands the Truth because he sees it from a different angle.

Hopefully I don't have to wait too long to find out what this one means, she thought, trying to focus her will on the final readings to a happy conclusion, so that she and Crystal could get going.

After a few minutes had passed, from her silent mediation she aroused and she' deduced that the chosen cards had told her, pretty much, to head towards the beach for a pleasant 'surprise', which sounded abit like those silly Horoscopes that were scarcely ever right she had to admit, but since when was there a time that the cards were ever wrong?

STATION SQUARE / Central Sector / 11:56 AM

It was high noon in central Station Square and it was bustling with life, the joyful cries of nearby school children, the idle chatter of work colleagues and friends on their lunch breaks and the annoying flares of cellular phone calls rang through the air, which was something Amy was far too used to it now to really differentiate it from any normal day.

For her however, this day was far from normal, and the rolls of normality were going to remain prohibited for a while longer yet. So today she noticed it all, really took it in, and it was a trifle deafening. Even Crystal seemed to agree by the way she covered her bird ears, so the rosette hedgehog decided to make way towards the beach and gather her thoughts.

The blue Flicky whirled playfully around her head and Amy was playing chase and her momentum flung her in the direction of the beach hotel. Her eyes were closed, her smile joyous as she ran carefree, just for a bit, and it was then that she it, heard them.

She abruptly skidded to a halt, and bit uneasily on her lower lip and tuned in, hugging the train station's wall to a cornerstone, simply paranoid about peeking round the corner….

A soft yet valiant voice fluttered in the breeze, followed by a bubbly southern one, a posh foreign one, a coarse and soft one, a youthful one and… Everything seemed to be getting louder all of a sudden. Who's making all that racket, can't you see I'm trying to listen in here and deduce whether I'm a crazy or not, she thought. She sighed in frustration. The voices were becoming muddled now, and someone else was speaking now. That warm, lovable yet cocky tone… it couldn't be. It just couldn't be. Could it?

The hedgehog collapsed onto the ground, a valiant Crystal tweeting at her, worriedly, but Amy couldn't hear. All she could her was the drumming sound, which was none other than the increased pumping of blood within her she'd realised, which in turn was making her head spin.

The how's, the whys and what ifs rattled through her until she couldn't stand it anymore, so absent mindly she brought Crystal close to her in a hug, stroked her head feathers reassuringly, took a deep breath and trailed her eyes around the cornerstone.

There, outside the Beach Hotel, there they all were. Simply be, as though it was a normal occurrence. Waves of nostalgia filled my head, and I felt slight trace of a grin light my face.

They were here.

Her insides churned. Were they here to find me? No… It's been over a year now. A few months since they last sent any mail to me… They couldn't care less about me, and I don't blame them for running out on them like that. No, they're here for something else, but what?

I should just go over and see how they are, what could it hurt…? she thought, before voicing this to Crystal. As if she had exceptional gifts of empathy, the Flicky gave its best nodding action and pointed over to where the Freedom Fighter gang were still standing.

Coming back to reality, and with Crystal in tow and a smile on her face, she began a slow and unsteady walk over, trying not to rush on over or sneak too slowly up to them and scare them before she was seen-

"Amy? Hey, AMY!"

Drat… Amy stopped in mid-stride. Should've figured he'd see me first, he always did have the best hearing out of us all, I swear. The huge smile did not betray how nervous she was or how much she wanted to tug on Tails ear and shout at him somewhere private for ruining her entrance. And the fox was running toward her now. They'd be no stopping him. And she didn't want to, as she'd missed the little geek too.

"It iz her, zay iz no mistaking such a pink hedgehog. Amy, mademoiselle, over here!"

Milliseconds later, a few pounds of fox-boy ploughed into her, hugging her rather awkwardly just above the waist. [She was more woman than girl since they'd last since each other by now after all]. Thankfully, it didn't last too long as he'd already began spewing off questions to her, such as why she moved to this city and what's she been doing here this whole time. Oddly enough, he was asking all the questions apart from one.

Why did you run away from us for no reason at all?

Everyone else had noticed now and whilst walking slowly on over to them, Amy begin taking in their reactions more clearly.

Bunnie, the ever optimist and good laugh, was just behind Antoine and hollering a hearty greeting whilst smiling that infectious smile. She looks happy to see me, even Antoine, and we hardly ever spoke back then. Did I fit a niche in this group after all? [And if so, can they tell me what it was…?]

She was shaking Antoine's overzealous hand whilst also being pinned close to Bunnie's chest when she heard another familiar voice.

"It's been a long time, Amy. How are you doing?"

Give or take a year ago and she'd have sprung into a bickering match with the owner of the regal voice, but today, the loss feelings in her legs and the soaring excitement in her heart just made her want to run over and hug Sally, despite the fact that she is [was?] competition for Sonic. The auburn haired Princess didn't look an ounce pompous [as she imagined she'd be, had they'd met again like this], her azure eyes only gave away a resonance of curiosity, which was good enough for Amy, for the time being.

Hopefully we won't butt heads today, she inwardly groaned, like we usually do when it comes to-

"Amy…?"

-Sonic…?

The first few months had been hard for he'd been ever-present in her dreams, but sometime thereafter it had [surprisingly to her] gotten easier with Amber, Zack and Lisa's continued help and presence in her new lease of life, and he'd become mired by fog in her dreams. Not that she'd forgotten him, I mean who could if you'd had the luck to have met him? But he wasn't hadn't been constantly on her mind, which had probably been for the best, she reluctantly figured. It's not like they were ever going to meet up again anytime soon. Or so she'd also assumed.

And whilst she'd changed and matured, he still looked the same [not that that was a bad thing].

Cool streaks of light blue caught in-between his dark cerulean streamlined [and ever groomed] spines in the rays of the afternoon sun, giving him a radiating roguish angel-like appearance. To her he'd always been like that, daring, cocky and yet supremely heroic, and always skating the fine line between angelic and devilish actions [as deemed by general society]. Sonic was a knight of the wind, and no one controlled the wind…

He also wasn't one for dressing up in regular clothing [bar his trademark sneakers and gloves], but it wasn't something that bothered her or those who knew him. Amy never had figured out the exact Mobian civil standards on those who wore clothes and those that didn't, even back from her young days in Mercia. I guess that's just another stray difference between Mobians and Humans, and one that doesn't need explanation, she inwardly shrugged off.

A cosmetic blend of crisp red and white made up the bulk of the aforementioned shoes, but there was also something different about them this time from a year previous… In that they now sported a little gold buckle at the side. How 'kawaii' as Lisa liked to put cute things.

He must've bought some nice ones and [finally] worn the other ones out, or something. I'll have to ask him about it later [if I can ever get some words out].

Sonic the hedgehog was looking at her now with mild concern, his eyes struggling to not remain downcast.

Oh, no. I've embarrassed him. Probably embarrassed them all… Do I look no better to them than I was before?

If so, did we have to run into each other now? Why not later when I'm better prepared [to say sorry]?


Eventually their eyes met. One pair sapphire, another shining emerald, and then…

"Hey, Amy… How's it goin'…?"

The words coursed around the rosette hedgehog's space, as luxurious as the finest silk. It'd been so long since she'd been able to hear it, the cobalt blue hedgehog standing eagerly in front of her for an answer having stopped his nightly visits, flexing his hands through those gloves he never took off.

It could be just like old times… just speak up Amy. Just speak up and be heard!

And so she did, albeit with a stance that portrayed unresolved awkwardness. A nervous shiver running along her back as uttered her response.

"I… I am good. Great, actually!" she exclaimed, smiling really wide before then trying to make it look as if she hadn't been that happy to not be in their lives anymore. It took a few moments of silence, in which time Antoine was fidgeting with a button on his coat [to avoid said silence], before Amy spoke again, in a more general and calm tone.

"Oh, and this is Crystal… by the way," pointing out the Flicky whom was fluttering in the air by her side. Tails and Bunnie thought she looked cute, but didn't think of prying into where she'd gotten her hands on a bird as rare as a Flicky from.

"So much has happened since… I…" Amy whispered slowly.

Luckily, her trailed off statement would be saved for a later time as Sally casually stepped forward, noting that the usually bright, chirpy and at times, neck-wringing obnoxious, Amy probably wasn't going to resurface anytime soon. The awkward tensions between them all wasn't subsiding just yet [which was understandable].

"Is there anywhere that we can go and catch up, Amy?" Sally said with an even smile, lightly tapping the pink hedgehog on the shoulder as she did so.

Resisting the natural urge to flinch at the unusual physical contact with the forest princess, she nodded, grateful for the save. "Yeah… I do. Follow… me!"

And after that, the hedgehog slowly but surely started to become her rosy and talkative self again, murmuring a silent 'thank you' Sally's way as she began explaining the directions to her current abode and whom she shared it with etcetera, as they walked under the beaming summer sky.

Perhaps the cards weren't a warning of bad omen after all, but the start of something good, my own tabula rasa...


THE WORTHINGTON FLAT / Downtown / Southern Sector / Station Square /

12:25 PM

The journey there had quietened after Amy had explained titbits about her journey to the city, what happened when she got here and the brief details about her living and life arrangements.

Needless to say, the gang had been pleasantly surprised to find out that she was living in a shared, let alone that she worked as a waitress in the nearby restaurant owned by the eldest of said flatmates. Antoine's snigger at her job role didn't go unheard by Bunnie or Amy though, as the latter's glare sharply explained, yapping the coyote into silence.

Hmm, maybe he didn't miss me that much. What a childish man… Amy thought. Though, I guess I'm not one to accuse-

"Good on ya gal!" Bunnie hollered excitedly, hugging her, and sub frequently shattering her 'thinking-space'. "We all needa work for a living eventually rosy doll; you're just one step ahead of us!"

Amy blushed at the compliment as she turned the key to 815, the household number for the Worthington Flat out of all those registered in Station Square, turned the golden brass handle and entered. After some hope-filled glances at each other, the gathered then stepped through the white oak door and into the room beyond.

About twenty minutes into Amy's guided tour of the flat in question, they returned to the main living room, which covered a fair ground with its beige carpet and had a number of unfamiliar family photos hanging up on the wall. Sonic, bristled with raising boredom and a general edgy-ness, immediately hopped onto and stretched his athletic form across the medium sized sofa in front of the average sized TV.

"Sonic, you know I'd quite like to sit down if that doesn't bother you too much," Sally stressed with mild annoyance at his man piggish ways [or should that be pighog-ish ways?], taking a leaf from his book and doing his impatient foot tapping mantra. Amy had been about to raise the same point, even though she was still feeling terribly awkward around the hedgehog in particular as he was the last one she saw before she left…

"You tell that foeel what for mi princess, how ungentle-manly - not offering you mademoiselles the first seat!" Antoine commented agitatedly, shooing the hedgehog along the black, leather sofa with the motion of his flailing arms.

"Okie, okie, I'm sorry, I thought you guys were still on tour 101. Now… what say we get some lunch on the-" the hedgehog began, rubbing his palms together in gleeful expectation as he shifted smoothly along to make room for the others.

Another turn of a key then sounded from the door.

"-go?" Sonic finished, a little bit startled [but only a little].

The interruption however jolted Amy – whom was the only one still standing [due to not enough sofa space for them all] – into remembering that lunch recess was still on and that her two younger flatmates were either back or soon would be.

It turned out the former was correct as two figures – having been running – now stood gasping in the doorway at the scene before them with a bag of lunch-ables in their hands.

"Wow… You never told us you were having friends over Amy!" the young female teen, known by Amy as Lisa – exclaimed excitedly – running into the centre of the room so she could get a better look at them all.

"Yeah, it was a surprise to me too…" Amy began dumbfoundly.

"Hi there, my name is Lisa. What is yours?" the black haired, creamy mocha skinned 11 year old girl said impulsively, shaking the hand of the nearest [and coolest] person she could reach fairly zealously.

Bunnie was getting used to attention, from the stares the general populace had given her when they'd first entered this city, but not this kind of attention. The human girl was still shaking her normal hand and had yet to say anything about her metallic limbs. Yet being the key word, as she knew it'd be brought up eventually [it always did], but still, the initial vibes she were getting were nice all the same.

"Mah name's Bunnie darling, pleased to meet yah Lisa," she replied softly before nodding and going off to greet whom she suspected was her younger sibling, the short black haired, studious looking boy with glasses still in the doorway.

He must be shocked to see so many of us outta of the blue in one room, the poor little guy.

And being a good judge of character, Bunnie had been right on the money. The boy, who after a quiet pause had introduced himself as Zack, had done so in a fairly low tone of voice and didn't look especially comfortable for some reason or the other.

Lisa managed to get round to everyone in about thirty second's flat, receiving perplexed but amused looks and answers in return.

Antoine's eyes had looked as though they'd fall out of their sockets at the erratic headshake he received, but felt prouder [and relieved] when Lisa had made a positive comment about his 'blonde curls'.

Whereas Tails' twin tails had gotten a spin after Lisa kindly asked if he could demonstrate his flying ability for her, having been fascinated by the sound of it [and the fox boy himself] when Amy had first discovered him to her months back.

Sonic had been an interesting case, for Lisa had began throwing out an excited flurry of interrogating questions like: what's your favourite movie, favourite dessert, food, where's your hometown, how fast can you go etcetera. Amy had cringed, shrivelling herself up in the corner of the room as bad she could. I've created a monster… Or to be more precise, just another Sonic fan-girl... [Am I that bad?] it made her think on.

For the true blue hedgehog himself though, he'd coolly answered and shrugged off the questions, and seemed notably enjoyed at the attention, Amy curiously deduced.

Sally, thereafter, had been amused at the 'Forest Princess' nickname she'd given her, which must of come from Amy, she figured [though she unknowably was wrong on that point].

Taking a deep breath and settling down from her frenzy, Lisa went over and hugged Amy, whispering something in her ear as she did so. The rosette hedgehog then recalled that Sonic at least was kinda hungry, and so was she was thinking about it for a few seconds. Before she could set about doing it herself however, Lisa swiftly went off to make some lunch for Amy and her guests – at her own behest – in the connecting kitchen area, and Zack quietly snuck off to his room complaining of a headache.

Figures that Amber's art of reading someone would rub off on her eventually… Amy thought, smiling a small humoured smile as she remembered how the elder female had read her the first night she'd arrived in Station Square. [Hopefully it'll rub off on me too someday soon…]

And so the gang were alone again, and it was then that the tension-filled water barriers finally opened.

An awkward cough came from the vicinity of the black sofa, re-routing her back to reality. Now was the inevitable question time.

Unsurprisingly it was Sonic who'd initiated it, and looking at him now she was having trouble remembering a time where she'd seen her look so serious and visibly upset. Sure he'd have his moments of serious-time, when he needed to have them, but he for the most part never let his emotions get the better of him. He's strong like that, she thought. But then, I guess we all have our weaknesses [?] at times…

Before she could delve into it all anymore the hedgehog finally uttered the question she'd avoided answering in her returning letters since she'd left, in an alien-sounding whisper of what she knew as his unique voice.

"Why…why did you leave us Amy?"

His green eyes were locked again with hers, burring into hers, searching for an answer – an absolute truth.

I have to come clean, her inner conscience primed. They all deserve to know the truth and it's time how prove how mature I've grown in our time apart. How I'm not the same little girl anymore.

Still, the words echoed around in her head, making it hard to focus on exactly what she wanted to say, what she had to say. And she was aware that they were looking at her, and could see that she was frozen to the spot. The words themselves didn't hurt and cause the fastened beating of her heart, but moreover on how selfish and childish she'd been.

A few moments were all I needed. But as I got brought visually the words together in my mind's eye, I almost forgot to breathe, and I probably wouldn't have had a voice at the back of my head not reminded me of this core fact of living. Breathe in, breathe out… I slowly repeated in my head. Everyone else continued to stand ahead of me, holding their gazes in a deafening silence and waiting expectantly, blissfully aware of the small mental battle I was fighting within my head.

It felt like it'd been a couple of minutes but gazing at the wall clock it'd only been about thirty seconds.

Reflecting back on it all had brought back the feelings I'd felt that day, and they swiftly swirled about inside my head as if it were a tornado. I could barely hold myself up as a wave of nausea swept over me, but before I knew it, I knew exactly what to say.

I was finally ready, to begin anew.

And in an even calm tone, with shining determination in her eyes she spoke the verses from her heart, honestly and true.

"I… I left Knothole, you guys because… because I didn't feel that I was needed. You all have your own niche to fill as Freedom Fighters, but what was mine? Those last few missions and that day especially… I was just getting in the way so I felt like I was the one who'd always be left behind. It was rash, I know, but I knew that I just had to get away so I could have the time I needed to mature some more. I hope you don't all hate me for what I said and did…"

I breathed in and out, my eyes too blurred by tears now, despite my initial hard resolve not to, to see their reactions, but I croaked out the last precious words nevertheless.

"I'm so sorry."

I never even heard them move. Quickly I went to wipe my eyes with my arms but a warm and comforting hand grabbed my own, placed a bundle of tissues in them and closed my hand inwards gently.

I felt myself smiling at the figure kneeling down to me on the floor now, and so I wiped my eyes down and the haze cleared.

There they were, all kneeled down and surrounding me. Bunnie was by my side, having been the one to have given me the tissues, whereas Tails was hugging me now, telling me it'd be alright and that I had nothing to be sorry for. 'You'll always be one of us' came happily to mind from what I could make out from his now muffled musings.

Antoine, always the awkward one was knelt down at my right side – near but not too close – his eyes sombre. He doesn't know what to say, typical Antoine, I thought, sparing a glance between him and Bunnie. Sally however was right in front of me, with Sonic bringing up the rear, looking as sad as I'd ever seen him and lost for words…

Her eyes were brazen blue, steely but warm, but there was something else there, deeper back, a speck of something… Is it familiarity? But how? What could she know…? I wondered.

"Amy…" she began, slowly, softy. "I know how pretentious this will probably sound, but we never hated you or thought you were of no value to us. Sure your antics with Sonic could be rather childish at times…" she said sternly. It stung badly, but then the truth always does, right? "-but you're our friend, and when you actually put your mind to things you could be quite creative – remember back in the Mystic Cave Zone with Captain Plunder?"

Of course I remembered that, it'd be rather hard not to remember that crazy captain and his motley crew! They reeked for one… And it brought a wider smile back to my face that she of all them still remembered that, especially considering how bratty I was with her in the beginning, and at the end…

"Yeah, of course I do. Who couldn't?" I smirked. And if I wasn't mistaken, I think I could see the beginnings of a smirk creep onto hers too. Ah, there it is! She looks nice when she smiles. She should do it more often… "I managed to prevent an all out brawl between you and his crew by having us give him details on Robotnik's luxurious airships for him to plunder. No pun intended," I chuckled.

"See? You are of value, you just need to train yourself and realise it. We're not superheroes you know, we all started somewhere," Sally praised me, her hand gently squeezing my right shoulder as she did so. I wasn't so sure about the non-superheroes part, especially when it came to Sonic, who had been born with supersonic speed. But the rest he mustered on his own; she was right on that front. I guess I just need to train myself more like she says…

Wait, does that mean… that they might allow me to come back?

Flashes of mop[s] of gorgeous ginger, medium-length black and short black hair appeared in my mind eye. Amber… Lisa… Zack… Could I even bring myself to leave them now?

"Thank you guys, thank you…" I whispered lamely over and over, if just to get it out of my system as soon as possible.

It was then that I noticed that Sonic was lingering a few short strides ahead of me, his pose very awkward. My heart thought it was cute, him being all shy, but my head was beginning to race with anxiety. Why hadn't he spoken yet? Even Antoine had made an effort to say he was sorry, even if it was versed through his actions than words.

Did he even want to speak to me now?

Taking on board the beacon of hope that Sally and the others had nursed into me, I decided to take a deep breath and wait it out. Whatever happens, happens…


He hesitated for a few moments before speaking. His eyes travelled briefly to the small, black wooden tea table in front of the TV, which had various animal engravings on its face.

"Amy…" he said softly, sombrely, kneeling to the ground to meet my level. I looked dead ahead into his emerald hues and listened intently. "I never meant to hurt you or tell you to go away…" Flashes of his contorted angry face and of me running out of his home back in Knothole crossed my mind briefly, making me wince a little. "No matter how angry or annoying each of us was being to one another, it doesn't excuse my actions that day. Please accept my apology," he said clearly and sincerely.

He extended out his hand and looked at me, really looked at me for the first time since I'd bumped into them all again. His eyes were slightly duller than usual, the sparkle gone and a sombre radiance in its place. Obviously he'd been hurt by his actions and my prompt leaving, whether it was because he saw me as a friend like the others or… [As if, Amy!]

Regardless of that slightly perplexing thought I shook it away into the recesses of my mind, allowed a great beaming smile to cross my features and gently took his right hand.

"You don't need to apologise Sonic, I was being a real nuisance," He was about to retort, but I hushed him up with a raised hand and continued. "Don't get all soppy on us now, true blue," I cheekily said. I knew he'd understand, for it was witty, somewhat like his own sense of humour.

The smirk that brightened up his face confirmed my assumption.

"Thanks Amy."

"No problem." I stood up and turned to face them all, and dusted down my skirt. "So… what are you guys doing in the city anyway? It obviously wasn't just to see me." I asked them, the question having been on my mind since I'd seen them [and knocked back a fair few recesses from shock and anxiety]. Was it something to do with that airship…?

"We have all afternoon to get to that Amy doll," Bunnie began happily, and Amy wondered for a second just what they had been doing since they'd got here, they did look more tired than usual. "So why don't yah fill us in more on what else you've been doing, apart from your job? I'm sure Lisa must be almost done with lunch."

Five minutes later, they were all, true to Bunnie's reasoning, sat down on the wooden dinner table that lay in-between the archway separating the living room and kitchen area. At the very back of the room were two sliding panes of thick glass that served as the patio, or in this case the balcony doors to the outside space. The smells of the various blooms that hung along the edges and over the balcony entrance served to provide a more natural smell and feel to the otherwise plain and constricted flat space. The balcony doors were slightly ajar to allow for some air circulation, which is why the Freedom Fighters could smell it. Even Sonic had to admit it was nice.

And at this moment the azure hedgehog and Lisa were lying sprawled out on the floor in order to allow Amy some sit down time, who was telling the rest of her Station Square tale.

"I've been taking up swimming two or three times a week down at the local swim centre, I was never very good at good at taking to water when I was younger, but I'm a lot better now I think," Amy said; now back in a bubblier mood.

"And she's been doing archery down at the local sports club too," Lisa interjected. "She's real good at it."

"Yeah, I guess I'm alright, "Amy said modestly. "It must be my Mercian blood. Oh, and I've been practising with my hammer down in the Mystic Ruins too on some of the lone trees and rocks. So let's just say, I doubt I'm well loved amongst the wildlife over there!" she joked. Everyone chuckled at that, trying to imagine just how anything could withstand the young girl's wrath.

"And just doing things that most normal girls do really, like dining out, going to the cinema…"

"And flirting with boys?" Bunnie chimed.

"Wha…? No! Not at all!" Amy blushed a peachy red in protest. She really hadn't seen any Mobians that had taken her fancy [Humans x Mobians was widely frowned upon by both species, after all]. She'd still been dealing with burying her feelings for Sonic back then…

Sally, meanwhile, felt a nagging slice of something materialise in her mind as she watched the ongoing exchanges. It had no real form but it felt prickly and reminded her of vivid greens. Greens… Envy? Am I envious of Amy? But why, why would I be jealous of her…?

Because she is free to live her life, unlike you, her subconscious muttered darkly.

She winced immediately inwardly, shrugging the thought away with haste. It couldn't be true, could it? She was more disciplined and mature than this, had been raised to be.

Still, maybe I… am a little envious. She's made a nice peaceful life here, full of freedom, that none of us can have right now. Maybe we never will. And yet she probably still carves the life we have, especially regarding me and Sonic… [Not that that means anything, at all]

If only she knew just how hard it is to keep up with the façade you must develop as a leader is.

She sighed, and resigned her thoughts and started refocusing on reality once again.

"Yah see Amy doll? You're not ah niche in our team, we don't have any long-range fighters here for one so your bow & arrows would be perfect for that position. And let's not forget your Piko-Piko Hammer… If you mastered both of those then you'd be a real beast on the field, as a close and long-ranged fighter!" Bunnie explained with an aura of pride as well as absolute sincerity, to Amy Rose.

Amy's brain jolted with a spark as the wave of information was processed, and as the pieces fell together in her mind, Amy realised that they fit perfectly. Like a spark to pierce the dark, her southern belle friend had come up thumps again.

She'd never thought of her new found hobbies [and rediscovered ones from her youth] like that before. They had been ways to pass the time in the beginning really, and to enable her less time to feel guilty and become displacement. But maybe… deep down, she'd been subconsciously training herself for the day she returned to them…?

It was an interesting thought, the rosette hedgehog mused, it was definitely that…