A/N:

I had a REALLY hard time writing this chapter; from Silver not wanting to get in the middle of things to writing the ending itself. Three week writer's block aside, I hope it's up to everyone's expectations- I'm not doing do-overs with this ending darn it!

And so, for the very last time:

Enjoy!

When Sonic and Winnie came back to Resistance HQ, everything was dead silent.

"Huh," Sonic mused as he looked over the dispatch monitor, "You think everyone's out? It's way too quiet in here for anyone to be doing anything useful."

Winnie didn't seem to acknowledge him as she idly looked though some papers Amy had left out. The kiss she and Sonic had shared a mere hour before still hung on her lips- its reminder only served to make her want more. But that was absurd; Sonic only kissed her as a means to an end. It didn't mean that he really liked her. Did it? What did she know anyway? Her brain had been reduced to mush once Sonic kissed her, and she was sure she hadn't recovered since.

"Well, according to this everyone should be here," Sonic announced to no one in particular, "But where are they if they're not here?"

Although he didn't see it, Winnie had given a small raise and lower of her shoulder. Her mind trying to focus on whatever notes Amy had left behind. Eventually, something in the notes caught Winnie's eye; curious, she picked up a familiar looking photo and inspected it a bit closer. Once she recognized what the photo was, Winnie let out a squeak of surprise as she dropped it.

"What happened?" Sonic immediately asked as he came over to her. Winnie didn't say or do anything besides stare at the photo she dropped- Sonic looked at her before noticing what she was looking at. When he saw the photo, a conflicted expression crossed his face.

"Well… I guess that explains something."

There on the table was a photo, clear as day, of Sonic and Winnie's kiss back in Soleanna. The question now stood; who took it?

Interrupting their thoughts and speculation, the door of Resistance HQ opened. Sonic and Winnie watched as Silver entered the room- the young hedgehog carrying one crate of something into the room and using his telekinesis to carry four others behind him. Silver was humming some song he knew while he walked to the back of the room.

"Hey Silver." Sonic spoke up. Thoroughly surprised, Silver almost lost his concentration as he whipped around to see the other two.

"Oh, you're back!" Silver remarked. He tried to mask his surprise, but it was a futile effort at best. The young hedgehog turned his attention back to his own business- placing the box he was holding on the ground then setting the other boxes down individually with his powers. Sonic snorted in realizing that Silver was trying to draw out time. For what was something that he planned on learning.

"Seems kinda dead around here," Sonic then pointed out, "I assume the Resistance is still having some peace before heading into the next storm?"

Silver gave a small, almost relieved, chuckle. "Something like that." he admitted. "Did you two enjoy your trip?"

"Who said we went on a trip?" Sonic then asked with a teasing grin growing on his lips.

Silver flinched. He then made do with busywork as he put one box down, decided he didn't like where it was, then moved it somewhere else. "Wasn't it up on the dispatch monitor?"

"Nope. Winnie and I aren't even up there chief. We ditched the Resistance after the war, remember?"

"Really?!" came the shocked answer. Silver then shrunk a bit as he placed his last box down. "I… I didn't know that."

Sonic gave a knowing smirk before running over to Silver- placing himself close enough to the younger hedgehog that he couldn't easily leave.

"Silver, I'm not trying to harass you," he then said, "Well, not intentionally (you're kinda easy fodder at this point), but I would really like to talk to Knuckles or Amy 'bout something. Where. Are. They?"

Silver gave Sonic a look to illustrate that he suddenly wished he had the power to shrink or become invisible.

"Amy called everyone to a meeting," the hedgehog caved. "Something about inter-Resistance relationships or something."

Sonic folded his arms as he gave Winnie a serious side glance. He turned his attention back to Silver to question, "Where?"

"I… I don't know."

"Ri-ight, and I'm a mongoose. Silver, I know Amy told you to move those boxes for her; it says 'Inventory Only' on the side. Ames is in charge of inventory. She wanted you to tell them when we would be back- a poor choice on her part, honestly. So, I'm going to ask this one last time Sil, where are they?"

An odd tension filled the air between them. Silver's face twisted into multiple expressions of debate before he finally gave in. "They're in storage room seven. The one where we keep the spare Wispons."

"Atta boy." Sonic grinned as he gave Silver a friendly pat on the shoulder. The blue hedgehog then motioned for Winnie to follow him; she didn't need to be told twice, despite feeling rather bad for Silver.

. . .

"He can't do this!" Amy thundered as she slammed her hands down on a crate.

"Amy," Knuckles tried to mediate, "We don't know the context of the picture. There a hundred reasons why Sonic could have kissed..."

"And how many of them mean he doesn't love her?!" demanded Amy, interrupting the poor echidna before he could finish. "How could he fall in love with someone he met during a war?! They barely know each other!"

"You don't really know him either, Amy." Knuckles pointed out. "Sure, you might have known him longer, but…. Tails, help me out here."

The young fox gave a shocked look as he pointed to himself. "Me?" he questioned. "I… I don't know. I mean, I'm no expert in the matter, but have you thought about what Sonic actually wanted? Instead of what you wanted for him?"

Amy gave Tails a glare so dark and ugly that the young fox took three steps backward. Slamming her fists down again, Amy all but screamed, "He doesn't know what he wants, I do!"

"Oh really? Then pray tell, dear Amy Rose, what do I want?"

Everyone whipped their heads to the door; there stood Sonic with an ambiguous expression and his arms folded. Behind him was Winnie, almost wishing that she was anywhere but there. Amy refused to move as Sonic came forward. He placed his hands firmly on the same crate Amy had been abusing, and looked her dead in the eye.

"If you have a problem, I would appreciate it if you said it to my face." Sonic darkly told her.

Amy let out an angered scoff before she headed out the door in fury. Everyone but Sonic flinched when the pink hedgehog slammed the door behind her- after that, the air in the room grew still.

Sonic looked at Knuckles and Tails before saying, "Any others?"

"I have a few questions." Tails spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Fire away, buddy."

As Tails cleared his throat to get his thoughts out there, Winnie slipped out of the room in hope of catching up with Amy. It didn't take too long- all she had to do was follow the sound of frustrated sobbing. Winnie held her breath as she entered the room. Amy didn't notice that she had come in until the other Mobian placed a small hand on the hedgehog's shoulder.

"What?!" Amy snapped without knowing who was there. Winnie recoiled slightly, but she didn't run like her instincts told her to. Instead, she allowed her communication screen to speak for her.

'Are you mad at me?'

Seeing this, and how utterly terrified Winnie was, Amy immediately defused. With some hesitation she admitted, "No. No, I'm not mad at you. I think… I think I'm more mad at myself, honestly."

The shock on Winnie's face was enough to speak for her. But her screen still read 'Why?' in confusion.

Amy gave a small, sullen laugh to herself before answering. "I always wanted to slow Sonic down. I wanted him to think about the future, and getting married, and having kids- something I know he doesn't want right now. But you? You ran with him. You didn't tell him to change. You didn't tell him to slow down. You ran together, and that's more than I ever could."

Good Gaia, what have I done?

Giving a small sigh, Amy then started to smile. A small, almost broken smile, but a part of it was… melancholy. Or maybe even defeated admiration.

"Make him really, really happy for me. Okay?"

'Amy…'

But the pink hedgehog did not look back as she left the room. Winnie remained where she was, not sure if she was allowed to move or not. Eventually, she started to leave and back out to the hallway feeling worse than when she was still looking for Amy.

"So you talked with Amy, huh?"

Startled at the sudden voice, Winnie turned to see Sonic there, coming out of his talk with Knuckles and Tails. Winnie gave him a small nod.

"I wish I knew what to do to make her feel better. Besides dropping on a knee and proposing, of course. Which… would probably be a bad idea at this point?" The blue blur gave a hardened sigh. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore." he admitted. He then gave her a smile. "So if I do something really dumb, like not even excusable even in context of saving the world, then please feel free to dump me."

Winnie gave a nod of agreement. 'Ditto.'

Sonic looked back up at gave a fond smile. "We're going to make a great team Winnie." he said to her, moving just a bit closer. "I love you."

The other Mobian could not hide her faint blush as the two gave each other a fond forehead press. There was no looking back anymore. Now that they were together, there was nothing they couldn't do.