Chapter Fourteen: She loves me?

After the initial encounter with Rouge, Sonic decided to head down into the cargo hold to talk to Blaze. She had to have been pretty shaken up by this whole experience, and he wanted to know if she was still alright with this decision. He swung in, and Chaos said, "I'll be heading out, then. I would like to help Tails guide us to a place that would be very good for us to set down for now."

Sonic watched him swing out, and he wondered how a creature made purely out of water was even possible. Then, he spotted Blaze over in a corner, shivering as if she was extremely cold. Sonic felt that it was really cold in the cargo bay, and even he felt like he was going to start shivering. He walked over to her and asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

Blaze looked up at him and said, "I'm fine...I'm just cold."

Sonic said, "Yeah, I know. I wish that Tails had bothered to install a heater."

He sat beside her, and she snuggled up against him for warmth. Sonic didn't even think too much about it, feeling that it was almost natural. No one else seemed to notice, as they were talking with their friends, but Shadow noticed. However, instead of commenting on it, he just smiled and walked over to talk with Silver and Amy. Blaze asked, "Do you know where we're headed."

Sonic shook his head and replied, "Tails was somewhat vague on the details."

Blaze sighed and said, "I wish that I didn't have to put up with having to run, and be trapped inside this cargo hold. It was meant for supplies, not people!"

Sonic said, "It was the first thing that Tails could think of, and probably the only thing that would have worked. Hey, I'm glad that you and I are still alive."

Blaze smiled, and then pressed closer to Sonic, watching everyone else. She said, "You're cold."

Sonic put his arms on her and began lightly rubbing her back, saying, "I think everyone here is, Blaze. There is no heater, and we're in the air at night. That will make anyone cold."

Blaze's tension visibly left her as her body relaxed as they quietly snuggled, not even caring that people noticed them. Blaze began softly purring as Sonic calmly rubbed her back, trying to heat her up and comfort her, and Sonic just felt happy. There was something said there that words could never say, a secret that they shared that could only be explained in feelings and motions. Actions always speak louder than words. I've noticed this many times...but I've never said that I love her in this way, he thought.

Now, as he looked down at her, her eyes shut, he whispered, "I won't ever leave you, Blaze. I'll be with you..."

Blaze looked up at him, and asked, "What was that?"

Sonic shook his head, and replied, "Nothing. Just...muttering to myself."

Blaze smiled, and then started going back to sleep. Shadow then walked over, and just smiled again. He asked, "Keeping her warm?"

Sonic looked up Shadow and asked, "What was that all about? I mean, if you knew the Xeneth was there, and that it was a trap, why did you take us there? We could have avoided a world of pain."

Shadow replied, "Sonic, you now understand something about G.U.N that you didn't before. If I hadn't shown you that when I did, eventually, G.U.N would have taken you out. I found out that you were nearing the top of their hit list."

Sonic said, "That's messed up right there..."

Blaze looked at Shadow and said, "Shadow, I thank you for what you did. I knew about this project, but I never would have had the heart to admit it."

Sonic looked at her in surprise, and asked, "You knew?"

Blaze sighed and sat up. As she did, the warmth that he was sharing with her vanished instantly, causing Sonic to shiver almost immediately. He kept himself from moving to much, but Shadow noticed it. He asked, "You're really that cold?"

Sonic admitted, "Yeah, I am."

Blaze looked at him, and said, "Sonic..."

Silver walked over and asked, "Sonic, how did you know about the Xeneth?"

Sonic looked up in surprise and replied, "I don't really remember where I learned about them. Why do you ask?"

Silver replied, "Sonic, I don't want to let you know this, but from where I come from, you weren't supposed to know a thing about the Xeneth. Your knowledge worries me, and is making me suspicious about you."

Sonic seemed confused and asked, "What reason do you have to be suspicious of me?"

Silver said, "I'm sorry, Sonic..."

He sighed as he continued, "I'm just tired is all, sorry about what I'm saying. You're right, there's no reason to suspect you for anything."

He walked back, blinking his eyes tiredly. Sonic watched him, and then Shadow said, "Sonic, you'd best to go to sleep, and if you want to keep warm, I suggest doing what you were doing before. I don't think you minded that, did you?"

Sonic looked down at Blaze, who hadn't been paying as much attention to the conversation as she had on warming herself up. Sonic just smiled at her, and then Shadow walked off. He said, "Also, remember this. You're more than meets the ordinary eye."

Sonic sighed. Too many riddles in one day for him to solve effectively bothered him. He never liked mysteries, and if he ever had to solve one, he preferred to do it as fast as possible. He had a strange feeling that there were stranger mysteries yet to come. He sighed and just leaned back against the wall. Blaze asked, "What did he say to you about staying warm?"

Sonic shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure that you want to know. I'm not sure how you feel about it now."

Blaze realized what he meant, and then, to Sonic's surprise, she snuggled up against him again. She said, "Sonic, I love you. Just thought I'd let you know."

This surprised Sonic even more than her sudden action. She loves me? Really? he thought. Then, she fell asleep on him as he began rubbing her back again, purring while she was asleep. Sonic couldn't help it. He felt himself lulling off to sleep, the sound of her purring soothing his scattered thoughts. He let the rhythm of her soft purring lull him closer and closer to the edge of sleep, and his last words before he fell asleep were, "I guess...I love you...too."

I hope none of you think I did this too early. Well, tell me what you thought about it, and I'm sorry, but I'm only really able to do one chapter at a time on week days due to high school. Well, let me know your feedback!