Chapter 18: Dance
Amy stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, turning from side to side. She had been there really quite a bit longer than was necessary, and she knew that, at any moment, Tails would be outside to pick her up: but that moment, standing in her dream dress, in the sanctity of her own bedroom, felt like it might be the only peaceful and enjoyable moment of the night, and so she determined to extend it as long as possible. She was also still slightly amazed to see herself in that dress. She had walked past the shop window it had been displayed in many times, and had always paused to sigh up at it admiringly, never once thinking there was even the slightest chance she would even get to try it on, far less own it. It was called a fairy dress – which seemed ironic, in light of Rouge agreeing on Amy's behalf that she would design and build a fairy garden at city hall – in a rich shade of turquoise blue. It was sleeveless and fell only to her knees, but the skirt was made up of a series of sheer petal shapes of material, layered over each other like an actual flower. It was fitted around her body and adorned with small crystals that sparkled like the chandelier in city hall. It was so pretty and so perfect, Amy could only hope that the evening ahead of her would be equally perfect.
When she heard glass breaking somewhere else in the house she snapped out of her reverie and hurried through to the living room, where she found Metal standing in the middle of the room, dressed for the evening and with a suspiciously blank look on his face. Amy hesitated as she considered that, when he first came to live with her, she would have thought nothing of seeing a blank look on Metal's face, but, just recently, as he had started to express himself more and more, she felt it odd that he was so po-faced in that moment.
"I heard something break," Amy said.
Metal blinked. Amy narrowed her eyes. He pointed at her and mouthed out the words "you look beautiful" and her suspicion vanished instantly.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "You look very..."
She held out a hand towards him, but suddenly found herself losing the nerve to finish her thought. His eyebrows lowered a little, and, driven by a sense of guilt, she forced herself to finish her sentence.
"Handsome," she said. "You look very handsome."
He adopted that small smile she was becoming very familiar with: though she was initially surprised to see it be his reaction to her compliment. But, when she heard the muffled sound of Sonic shouting from outside her house, she was reminded that Metal had started out as a copy of Sonic, and he did more often than not display that he shared Sonic's self-confidence.
"Let's go!" Sonic's muffled voice shouted. "I'm waiting!"
Amy rolled her eyes.
"Shall we?" she asked Metal.
He nodded his head and she turned around, leading him out of the house. She groaned a little when she found the limousine – clearly made from panels off of several different vehicles – parked outside her house, with Sonic looking out at her through the sunroof. He was slouched there, his elbows resting on the roof.
"Hurry up, come on!" he called out to them. "Hey Metal, we all know I'm always faster than you, but even you can move faster than that!"
Metal marched up to the limousine, one fist clenched in front of him.
"I just got finished restitching those!" Amy cried, hurrying over to his side, her hands hovering over his clenched fist.
Metal softened instantly, opening his hand and letting it fall to his side.
"Thank you," she said to him.
"You've got him well domesticated, huh Ames?" Sonic called down to her.
"Stop being a jerk, Sonic," Amy growled, glaring up at him.
"Ooh, and he's been teaching you how to give a death glare!" Sonic replied, his grin widening. "Scary!"
Amy groaned.
"Come on, Metal," she said, opening the door.
She stepped inside to find herself looking at the lower half of Sonic's body and Knuckles angrily glaring up at him.
"I want a turn looking out there!" Knuckles complained.
Amy sighed and sat onto the seats opposite Knuckles, shuffling along to make room for Metal as he moved in to join her. As Metal pulled the door closed, Sonic slapped his hands on the roof.
"Let's go, Tails!" he called out, before dropping back down into the back of the limousine.
He smiled and made to move towards Amy and Metal, but she quickly put up a hand.
"Sit over there with Knuckles!" she snapped at him.
He held up his hands and dropped down onto the seat next to Knuckles.
"Sorry, Ames," he said, leaning back in his seat and stretching out his legs until his feet were almost touching Metal's. "Didn't realise you two wanted some alone time over there."
"Sonic, stop it!" Amy growled. "This is a nice night – we are going to have a nice night – and you are going to behave yourself!"
Metal kicked Sonic's feet to one side, the force off-setting his balance and sending him sliding from his seat. As his rear end hit the floor, Amy rounded on Metal.
"Both of you!" she snapped at him. "Both of you are going to behave yourselves tonight, so help me!"
"You better do what she says, you guys," Knuckles warned in a quiet voice as he helped Sonic back up into his seat.
Amy gave Knuckles a stern glare, but he avoided her gaze like a scolded dog. She sighed and turned her attention to the interior of the limousine, which, without Sonic making her feel uncomfortable like he had earlier that day, she was better able to appreciate.
"Wait!" she blurted out suddenly as the thought occurred to her.
"What is it?" Sonic asked.
"Shouldn't Tails have picked up Rouge and Shadow first?" Amy asked. "They live further away than we do."
"Nah, Shadow'll just get there using Chaos Control," Sonic replied.
"What about Rouge?"
"She said she wouldn't been seen dead in this "contraption"," Knuckles groaned.
"I can see that," Amy quietly admitted.
A short silence passed between them all before Amy became aware that Sonic was watching her keenly. She met his eyes and frowned a little, to which he smiled and nodded his head at Metal. Amy's face dropped, but that only made Sonic's smile widen. She glanced at Metal before mouthing out "stop it" at Sonic. Sonic wiggled his eyebrows and Amy had to suppress a growl.
"What are you guys doing?" Knuckles asked, glancing back and forth between them.
"Nothing," Amy smoothly lied.
Knuckles narrowed his eyes and continued looking back and forth between Sonic and Amy, clearly not convinced by Amy's lie. As Sonic was still grinning at her and Knuckles was starting to make her sweat, Amy turned to Metal: but when she found him with his fists clenched in his lap and his glowing eyes glaring across the cab at Sonic she only felt worse.
Maybe this was the disaster the cards had foretold. Maybe it wasn't anything as severe as an actual death, an inevitable, unavoidable and terrible fate: maybe it was just that, at some point during the gala, Metal and Sonic were going to end up fighting each other, and probably do something really stupid and awful like tear down and destroy the beautiful chandelier in the ballroom in city hall.
When the car finally drew to a halt, Amy gladly opened the door and hurried out. She didn't wait for the others to join her, instead continuing inside city hall. As she queued to show her invitation to the ushers, she spotted Rouge on the other side of the velvet rope, chatting to a group of people that included the mayor and his aide. Amy waved to her and Rouge waved back, ending her conversation and hurrying over.
"Honey, what are you doing?" Rouge said, grabbing Amy's arm and hauling her out of the queue.
"I was queuing to go inside!" Amy protested as she stumbled after Rouge.
"Not like that you're not, this way."
Amy started to argue, but her voice was cut off as she was almost hit in the face with the door Rouge had just passed. Amy quickly caught it and slipped past it, finally coming to a halt when Rouge stopped in front of a row of mirrors.
"Why are we in the toilets?" Amy asked.
"Because I have work to do," Rouge replied, rummaging around in her purse.
"They have nicer toilets by the ballroom," Amy commented. "These are just the general toilets, for everyone to use. The ones by the ballroom have a selection of scented hand-washes and moisturisers."
Rouge lifted her head, her hand stilled as her eyes searched Amy's face.
"I took a little unofficial tour of this place when we delivered the centrepieces," Amy quietly confessed.
Rouge sighed and retrieved a roll of white silk from her bag.
"You can't wear those everyday gloves to an event like this," she said. "Put these on."
Amy accepted the bundle from Rouge, unfurling it to reveal a pair of elbow-length white silk gloves. She immediately removed her own gloves and donned the new ones, smiling at them admiringly, silently hoping that Rouge might forget she had them and she could keep them.
"And this..." Rouge said, moving around the back of Amy.
Amy frowned at her reflection, watching as Rouge reached up over her head. When she saw that she was positioning a sparkling diamond necklace around her neck she gasped, her eyes alighting even more than the jewels.
"And put this on."
Amy, still gawking at her reflection, held out her hand as Rouge put something into the centre of her palm.
"This is all so beautiful..." Amy cooed.
"Fine, I'll do it," Rouge muttered.
Amy's eyes were still on the necklace she was wearing, but they shortly shifted to the reflection of Rouge slipping a ring onto her finger. Amy turned to face Rouge directly, finding her wearing that smile that always unsettled Amy. Amy then lowered her eyes to her hand, holding it up, her fingers splayed.
"Why am I wearing an engagement ring, Rouge?" she asked, her eyes on the ring on her finger.
"Because a ring as beautiful as that shouldn't be hidden away beneath your gloves," Rouge replied. "You should wear it over your gloves, like this, so that everyone can see it."
"That's not the question I asked you..." Amy muttered.
"Do you remember what I told you about being your own brand?"
Amy's face fell.
"Do you?" Rouge pressed.
"Rouge, why did you tell the mayor I was engaged?" Amy flatly asked her.
"I didn't tell the mayor you were engaged!" Rouge defensively shot back.
"Oh," Amy said, deflating a little.
"I told the mayor's aide that you're engaged."
"You did what?"
"She only works as the mayor's aide part-time, her other job is as a wedding planner. Do you have any idea how much business we could both get out of a wedding planner?"
"In exchange for what?"
"In exchange for using her services as your wedding planner."
"Rouge! I'm not getting married!"
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not! Gees, are you so deep into this, you're starting to believe your own lies?"
Rouge sighed and narrowed her eyes.
"Are you?" Amy pressed.
"Amy, obviously there won't actually be a wedding, but before then, we just use the mayor's aide to plan the wedding," Rouge replied.
"That's horrible!" Amy argued. "It's lying, it's disgusting, it's immoral, and I don't want anything to do with it!"
Amy began trying to wrestle the ring off of her finger, breaking out in a sweat when she realised that it was stuck fast.
"That's not funny, Amy," Rouge said in a low voice.
"It's really not, no," Amy agreed. "This is stuck!"
"Are you serious?" Rouge echoed.
"Yes!" Amy cried.
"I need to get that back before the shop opens tomorrow morning!"
Amy froze.
"What did you just say?" she asked, slowly narrowing her eyes.
"I said I need to give that back before the shop opens tomorrow morning," Rouge replied.
"You said "get" the first time, not "give"!" Amy pointed out.
"Did I?" Rouge said, feigning ignorance. "I meant to say "give"."
Amy drew in a slow, long gasp.
"You stole this!" she snarled.
"I borrowed it," Rouge corrected her, holding up one finger.
"You stole it!" Amy snapped.
"It's only theft if someone notices it's missing!"
Amy felt her stomach churn.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," she said faintly.
"Why?" Rouge asked.
"Because I'm wearing a stolen diamond ring, why do you think?" Amy raged.
"You need to calm down."
"It's hard to stay calm when I've just been forcibly made an accessory to a crime!"
"No, honey, you're getting all hot and bothered, and the heat will only make your fingers swell up more. Calm down, cool down, and the ring should slide right off."
Amy breathed heavily for a few moments before nodding her head.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense," she conceded.
Rouge nodded and put her hands on Amy's shoulders, turning her around and pushing her towards the door.
"Wait, I'm not cool yet," Amy protested as she was forced to put her hands out to open the door ahead of herself.
"The ring's on now, you might as well just wear it," Rouge replied, as they moved back into the entranceway. "I don't need it back until... Well, any time before eight tomorrow morning."
"Oh Rouge, you really stole this thing?"
"Borrowed, honey, I borrowed it."
"I know you love the fact that you're an expert jewel thief."
"Happy faces, Amy."
Amy pouted, but, when the mayor and his aide turned to greet her, she found herself forcing a smile. She smiled politely and shook hands with the mayor's aide, but faltered a little when she noticed that Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Metal were standing close by.
"So, Rouge was telling me you're getting married soon, Amy," the mayor's aide said.
Amy tried to nod her head, but found it more moving in a circle as she fought the urge to shake it.
"What a lovely engagement ring you have!"
Amy let out a short, nervous laugh as the mayor's aide took a hold of her hand and leaned over to inspect the ring on her finger.
"This looks just like the ring the jeweller on Chapel Road had on display in their front window!"
Amy stopped breathing, and was glad when even Rouge was ruffled by that last remark.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Rouge hurriedly said. "We really should talk business with you, we would love for you to plan our wedding, but not tonight, we just want to enjoy the gala tonight."
"Oh, of course! Have fun, you two!"
Rouge pulled Amy's hand from the mayor's aide and once more put her hands on Amy's shoulders, pushing her over to join their friends.
"Wait, you told her I was marrying you?" Amy said, as the realisation struck her.
"You should be flattered," Rouge coldly answered her. "I'm clearly out of your league."
Amy growled but Rouge merely smiled at her.
"It's all for a good cause," she said. "Now come along."
"Okay," Amy said with a sigh.
She let Rouge take her hand and guide her into the ballroom, only realising what she was doing when Rouge pulled out her chair for her.
"I'm not going to pretend to be your fiancée all night!" she complained as she sat down.
Rouge sat down next to her and Cream hurried over to sit on her other side. The others all sat around the table, Metal sitting next to Cream. Sonic made to sit next to Metal, but Tails scowled at him and took the seat.
"Come on you guys, this is supposed to be a party!" Sonic commented as he sat down next to Tails.
"Yes, let's all have a toast for the happy couple," Shadow sarcastically added as he sat down next to Rouge.
"Who's that?" Knuckles asked, picking up his empty glass.
"It's nothing," Amy told him.
"Oh," he said, lowering his glass with a look of disappointment.
Amy then shifted her eyes to Tails, who was already staring at her. She mouthed out "what" and he started to sign a message to her before seeming to remember that she wouldn't understand it.
"He asked if you told the mayor you're dating Metal," Cream whispered to Amy.
Amy shook her head and Tails frowned. Amy sighed and leaned closer to Cream again.
"Rouge told the mayor's aide that she and I are getting married," she whispered.
"You're getting married to Rouge?" Cream repeated loudly.
Amy buried her face into her hands.
"It's a scheme," Shadow announced as Sonic started to laugh.
"Isn't it always?" Knuckles muttered.
"Now, Knuckles," Rouge said with a sigh. "Don't be jealous just because I didn't put a ring on your finger."
"That's not..." Knuckles responded. "I'm not... I didn't..."
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stop now," Shadow warned him.
Amy peeked out between her fingers and saw that, although he still looked flustered, Knuckles appeared to be taking Shadow's advice. Amy's hands fell from her face when Rouge lifted a martini from the tray of a passing waiter, plucking out the cocktail stick and slowly and purposefully sliding the olive from it with her tongue, all the while smiling slyly at Knuckles.
"Don't be mean, Rouge," Amy muttered.
Rouge stopped her act, but not before winking at Knuckles, who sneered across the table at her. Amy was glad when waiting staff then moved around the table offering them all drinks and plates of food, as she hoped that everyone would at least behave themselves when they ate: or at least, with their mouths full of food, they would have less ability to say embarrassing things. She took a salad and lifted up a fork to start eating, but paused when she noticed something from the corner of her eyes.
"Use a spoon to eat your soup, Metal, this is a fancy event, you can't behave like a beast here!" she snapped.
The blue hedgehog opposite her slowly lowered the bowl he had been pouring into his mouth, swallowing carefully, a splat of soup landing on his shirt. As a pair of green eyes blinked at her wordlessly, Amy realised her mistake. She turned her head to her left and saw that Metal was watching her, a spoonful of soup poised by his partially open mouth.
"Oh..." she said quietly. "S-sorry Metal."
He sighed and continued to eat his spoonful of soup. Amy turned back to Sonic, her face falling when he shrugged and carried on drinking his soup direct from the bowl. She noticed Tails signing something and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but when Metal sneered at whatever it was and Cream leaned in to translate it to Amy, she relaxed her ire.
"Tails said Metal was originally programmed with an algorithm based on Sonic's personality, so you shouldn't be surprised that they have similar mannerisms," the rabbit whispered.
"Except one of them seems better able to learn," Amy muttered.
Metal turned to her with a look of slight surprise, but Sonic simply wiped his hand across his mouth and asked Knuckles if he thought they might serve chilli dogs for the main course. As Amy ate her salad, she started to really think about what she had just said, and she realised then that Metal, despite having only lived with her a short time, had in fact learned and changed quite a bit. He had helped her with her work with no expectation of any reward, he was trying to be more polite and considerate – though she suspected he would never exactly be humble – and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, he was sitting at a table with Sonic and he wasn't trying to kill him.
As they all ate their meals, Amy noticed that Metal resisted the urge to eat with his hands or lick his plate clean, and while Sonic and Shadow tormented each other, Rouge flirted with Knuckles just to make him squirm, and Tails and Metal communicated to each other in sign language, Cream told Amy how excited she was about the upcoming fairy garden project. The atmosphere during the meal felt the same as it had the year before, and it was almost impossible to believe that someone who had been their enemy the year before was sitting with them. And, thinking that way, Amy began to wonder where Metal had been during the last gala, what he had been doing. She wondered what he had done generally any time she had not seen him. But during the last gala, had he been the fully robotic Metal Sonic she knew back from Little Planet, or had he started to change by then? Over what length of time had he been changing? Tails had mentioned first meeting Metal when he had broken his leg, and he had described him as being still "mostly robotic" then: but exactly how much of him had changed and exactly when had that been?
Amy wished that Metal could talk. But at the same time, she wasn't sure that he would answer every question she had even if he could. If he did gain the ability to talk and he suddenly became very talkative, it would seem weird. She often quite enjoyed the fact that he didn't talk at all, as it was quite nice to sit in silence with him. As someone who had always enjoyed talking herself, she was surprised to find that she felt that way, but she couldn't deny that the time she had spent lately working alongside Metal in silence had been oddly soothing. The pressure she sometimes felt when she worked that often robbed her of the joy she got out of the work she did was gone with him there, and not just because he worked so quickly and effectively.
As the waiting staff cleared away the last of their plates, the thought occurred to Amy that she wanted Metal to stay with her, and not just for the short term.
When she noticed other guests at other tables were moving towards the dance-floor and the chandelier was illuminated, she awoke from her reverie and redirected her attention.
"Come on you, let's dance."
Amy turned her head as Sonic and Tails started laughing and even Shadow smiled, watching Rouge drag Knuckles towards the dance-floor. Cream then approached Tails, who joined her, following after Rouge and Knuckles. Amy turned her attention to Sonic, who shook his head.
"Shadow and I are too cool for boring ballroom dancing, Ames, you know that," he said, reusing the same line he had dismissed her with the year before.
"You just don't know how," Shadow muttered.
"But Metal says he does, dance with him, Amy!" Sonic responded, pointing at Metal.
Amy sighed and prepared herself to admonish him for trying to aggravate Metal: but she stopped short when Metal turned to her and held out an upturned hand towards her. She tilted her head slightly, but when he bowed a little and then took a step closer to her, she found herself putting her hand in his.
"Alright Amy!" Sonic said as Metal led her past him.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" Shadow groaned.
"Haha, you love it!" Sonic answered him.
Shadow may or may not have responded, but Amy was too far away to hear. She walked numbly onto the dance-floor, turning to Metal as he turned to her.
"You don't have to do this, you know," she told him. "Don't let Sonic talk you into something you don't want to do."
He said nothing and so Amy tried again to tell him it was alright, but she fell silent when Metal pulled her closer to him and placed a hand on her waist. She adjusted her hand in his and put a hand on his shoulder, unable to hide the interest from her face.
"You have pretty good form," she commented. "Oh, now I get what Rouge meant about rigid but fluid... Whoa!"
Amy stumbled the first couple of steps as Metal began to move, his firm grip on her hand and waist forcing her along with him. She struggled to keep up with him, and, as he moved flawlessly around, she was left with the sickening realisation that the former robot was, in fact, a much better dancer than she was.
"You're really good at this," she admitted meekly a second before she accidentally stood on his foot. "Sorry."
He was wearing that small smile, and appeared not to mind when she accidentally stood on his foot, pulled in the wrong direction or turned a little too late. The only thing that stopped Amy from feeling completely pathetic was the occasional sighting she caught of a blushing and foaming Knuckles, as Rouge hauled him around the floor, smiling at him the entire time. When the music finally stopped, Amy stepped back from Metal and smiled, but he kept a hold of her.
"Do you want to dance to the next one too?" she asked him.
He nodded his head, looking a little too pleased with himself. She hoped that he was just smug because he was actually good and not because he was so much better than her. She moved in closer to him again, but, when the music started and it was a noticeably slower pace, he pulled her in closer still. She started to try to make an excuse so that he wouldn't have to dance with her, but when she realised that slow dancing was a little easier, her mistakes could be corrected before she stepped on his feet, she decided to just go with it.
"I, uh, honestly don't know how it's possible that someone who started life as a robot programmed to be the ultimate hedgehog-killing weapon is such a good ballroom dancer," she said. "I'm going to need you to explain that one to me later on."
Metal's smile grew a little bigger and Amy tensed.
"I hope you're smiling because the story of you being a good dancer is a funny one and not because, actually, you're not that good, it's just that I'm so terrible you look good by comparison," she said carefully.
When he nodded his head from side to side and looked up as though thinking about her words she sighed.
"A little of both?" she asked. "Is that what you're saying."
He nodded and she wilted.
"Still," she said. "This is really nice. I love the gala, and usually I only get to dance with one person when I'm here, and usually that person only dances with me for a specific reason."
Metal narrowed his eyes slightly before mouthing out "Rouge".
"How did you know?" Amy responded, smiling. "She'll probably want to dance with me tonight at some point, seeing as we're apparently getting married."
Metal got a slightly strange, slightly melancholy look on his face, and, just as Amy was about to ask him what was wrong, she noticed that he was watching something on the other side of the room. She turned her head to see what he was looking at, finding herself looking at the bar, which literally only had two people at it: Sonic and Shadow. She turned back to Metal and found he was still looking over that way with that strange look on his face. She wasn't really sure what had inspired it, but assumed he must have noticed Sonic pulling faces at him or something.
"Don't mind them," she told him. "Sonic thinks he's too cool to dance here and Shadow thinks he's too cool to be people."
Metal met her eyes again, and looked thoughtful, and, for the first time, Amy found herself feeling really frustrated that he couldn't just tell her what he was thinking. She started to think that she needed to learn sign language, but in the mean time thought that maybe if she pried long enough, she could guess what was on his mind. She opened her mouth to start asking him questions, but noticed that his eyes had moved from her again.
"Are you okay?" she asked him instead.
He shook his head, which was not the response she had been expecting, and so she turned towards the bar to see if the problem was just Sonic pulling faces at them: but when she looked over, she could only see Shadow there. She looked about herself, but couldn't see any trace of Sonic. After a couple of unsuccessful surveys of the room, she turned her attention back to Metal, and found him frowning at her.
"I was looking for Sonic," she explained.
His face went blank, and, although that would have seemed normal, his use of a more diverse range of facial expressions lately made it stand out. She tilted her head and he sighed.
"I just wanted to make sure he wasn't tormenting you," she explained. "Or that he was about to do something stupid that he would think is funny."
Metal softened a little then, his small smile returning.
"Because this is a nice moment, and I'd like it to stay that way," Amy added.
Metal's smile widened a little and Amy returned his gesture, before moving a little closer to him, until their noses were almost touching. At such a close range, looking into his eyes, she noticed something she never had before: Tails had told her that Metal's eyes were still partially robotic, and, up close, she could see that there were lenses over his eyes. She wanted to ask him if they hurt, if he could take them out, if he wanted to take them out: but again, she found herself up against the fact that he couldn't talk. She sighed involuntarily and as she did so, she saw Metal frown slightly and she felt his hold of her tighten a little. Was he offering her reassurance because he could sense her frustration? Amy believed herself to be an empath and highly intuitive, and she wanted to believe that maybe Metal was the same way: but empathy and intuition were traits of a sentient, biological, living, breathing creature, not a robot. If Metal was at all empathetic and intuitive, those were traits he must have developed as he transitioned into a more biological life form.
As Amy looked into Metal's eyes, his red, red eyes, she couldn't help but remember his race against Sonic, all the way back on Little Planet, when he had been entirely robotic, and only been in existence for a matter of days: and yet, even back then, he had understood what she had told him about her tarot cards, and he had believed and acted on what she told him about seeking out good fortune and a good heart.
The music stopped and they stopped moving.
"Metal?" Amy asked softly, his closeness negating the need for her to talk at any volume above a whisper. "When I met you back on Little Planet, I said you didn't have the capacity to understand, feel or receive love. Do you remember that?"
Metal's face became solemn and he nodded his head.
"I shouldn't have said that," she continued. "Because I think you–"
"I think this is usually the time you're supposed to kiss the girl, buddy."
Amy made to snap at Sonic for interrupting her, but before she could, he thrust his hands into the small of Metal's back, presumably intending to push him up against Amy: but he had underestimated both Metal's weight and his strength as he did not so much as flinch. He did, however, turn his head to glare back over his shoulder at Sonic.
"I said kiss the girl, not me," Sonic smugly said to him.
Metal turned fully towards him and squared up to him. Amy started to move to stand between them, but stopped short when someone grabbed her arm.
"Smile for the camera with me, sweetheart."
Amy turned around and looked at Rouge incredulously, flinching and closing her eyes as a blinding light flashed in her face.
"Oh, that one was no good, Amelia blinked!" the mayor said.
Rouge smiled and put and arm around Amy.
"Try to look a little happier to be here with your future wife," she said quietly.
Amy glowered at her before putting an arm around her waist and turning to smile at the camera.
"Oh, lovely!" the mayor cheered. "Now kiss."
"Do what?" Amy asked.
Before she could process what was happening, Rouge had grabbed her face and leaned in on her. Amy didn't even bother trying to resist, though she made little effort to return Rouge's kiss. As soon as the camera had flashed again, she pulled Rouge's hands from her face and turned to the mayor.
"We're done here," she said, smiling as sweetly as she could manage.
She then turned to see Sonic still goading Metal, who was still standing poised before him.
"Oh no!" Cream said sadly.
"What is it, Cream?" Amy asked her, her eyes still on Sonic and Metal.
"Miss Rouge took your first kiss!"
Rouge snorted and walked away and Amy sighed.
"That wasn't my first kiss, Cream," Amy explained, turning to her friend.
"It wasn't?" Cream asked.
Amy shook her head.
"Then who was your first kiss?" Cream asked.
Amy sighed again.
"Rouge," she admitted.
Cream looked a little surprised, though Amy felt she really ought not to be. She turned her attention back to Sonic and Metal again, her eyes growing wide as Metal slowly raised a clenched fist towards Sonic's face. She reached out her hands towards them and started to beg to them to stop, but her voice was drowned out by the voice of the mayor's aide over the speaker system.
"Good evening everyone, I hope you're all having a fantastic night!"
Amy let out a small noise in spite of herself as she considered that statement ironic, since her night had been both fantastic and terrible.
"We're pleased to announce that it's that special time of night when we present the awards!"
Amy wilted when Sonic leaned in closer to Metal.
"Step aside, that's my cue," he said.
Metal looked confused by the remark and so did not respond when Sonic moved around him. Amy, however, knew exactly what Sonic meant: every year at the gala, four awards were given out, and one of them was always, inevitably, given to Sonic. Two of the awards were for contributions to the community, and two were fun awards based events of the gala itself. Sonic always took one of the awards for contribution to the community, and, in fact, the previous year, he had taken both awards for contribution to the community. It later turned out that one of the awards had been meant for Shadow after he had rescued a group of children from a burning building, but because he had fled to avoid the praise from those who witnessed it, people simply reported the incident as a rescue performed by a "heroic hedgehog", and it was credited to Sonic.
"First of all tonight, we have our awards for contributions to the community!"
Sonic grinned and smoothed his hands over the lapels of his dinner jacket.
"Our first award goes to someone without whom, tonight would not have been possible."
Sonic took a deep breath and started to walk towards the stage.
"For tirelessly working for this community, as a hero keeping the evil Eggman at bay, and as an artist, bringing beauty and wonder to our gala tonight, and, very soon, to city hall's own gardens. Everyone please welcome to the stage, Miss Amelia Rose!"
"What?" Amy grunted.
"Oh my gosh, Amy, it's you!" Cream gushed.
Amy hesitated, but shortly found herself being pushed forwards.
"Smile for the camera, make an acceptance speech, mention Club Rouge, mention the garden project and talk about our upcoming marriage," Rouge whispered into her ear as she pushed Amy all the way to the bottom of the steps up onto the stage.
As she climbed the steps, Amy became aware of three things, that all seemed to hit her at once: the entire ballroom was loudly applauding, there was a very bright spotlight shining onto the stage and, for the first time in her life, she was receiving the medal that usually only Sonic was honoured with. The mayor's aide reached out to pin the medal onto her dress and, despite being overwhelmed by the moment, Amy had the presence of mind to shirk back before the pin punctured her precious dress. She smiled and took the medal from the mayor's aide's hand, holding it up and nodding and curtseying to the audience. A stage hand tried to present her with a microphone, but she shook her head and took a step back, even though she could almost feel Rouge's rage at her choice to shun the chance to promote her business.
"Our next award for contribution to the community goes to someone you all know," the mayor's aide continued. "Someone who has saved our city countless times from countless problems, a tireless hero who has contributed so much to not only our community but every other community, a hero who is brave, strong, charming, and, if do I say so myself, devilishly handsome."
"Oh gees..." Amy groaned.
"Everyone please welcome to the stage, Mister Sonic the Hedgehog!"
Thanks to the glare of the spotlight, Amy could only see Sonic's silhouette as he stepped up onto the stage. Unlike Amy, he gladly let the mayor's aide pin his medal onto his jacket, but, just like Amy, he too refused the offer to make an acceptance speech. Instead, he waved to the audience and offered a nervous smile to the mayor's aide when she stuffed a slip of paper into the top pocket of his jacket and mouthed out the words "call me". Amy rolled her eyes but forced a smile as Sonic joined her at the back of the stage.
"Congratulations," he said to her. "You deserve some recognition, I'm happy for you, Ames."
"Oh, thank you Sonic!" she said, her smile becoming genuine. "And congratulations to you too. You deserve it – and just because you win it every year, doesn't mean it has any less significance, you always more than earn it."
"I dunno, Ames," Sonic said, looking suddenly serious.
"What do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Well, last year I won two medals, and this year I only won one, so... I think I let my standards slip."
Amy giggled and he smiled back at her in that warm way he did sometimes, that smile she felt was only for her: but, for the first time ever, she simply smiled in reply. Usually, seeing him look at her that way would make her go weak at the knees and blush, but strangely she just felt happy to have his company in a pleasant setting.
"Our next awards are a little something special the mayor and I do every year, based on the events of this evening," the mayor's aide continued. "Our first award is for our most stylish guest here this evening!"
Amy frowned as Sonic leaned in closer to her.
"I was wrong," he whispered. "I am winning two awards again tonight."
Amy giggled again.
"For always being a style icon, but for especially looking fabulous tonight, I would like to present this tiara to Rouge the Bat!"
"Tiara?" Amy echoed.
Rouge stepped up onto the stage and, as she moved across the accept her award, Amy only really noticed then that Rouge was in fact wearing a pants suit rather than a dress. She further realised that she had never actually seen Rouge in a skirt or a dress of any kind, but she always looked so amazing in the outfits she did wear, it hardly mattered. She crouched down and allowed the mayor's aide to place the tiara on her head before standing and waving and bowing to the audience. Then, to Amy's surprise, she shunned the offer to make a speech.
"You're not going to promote your brand?" Amy asked her as she joined her and Sonic at the back of the stage.
"When you refused to make a speech, some people said it was very classy, a real power move, and everyone agreed when Sonic did the same thing," Rouge whispered back.
"Of course," Amy said with a sigh. "And here I thought you'd learned a lesson in humility..."
"And finally our last award, this crown, is for the best dancer here this evening, Mister Thistle... Um... Mister Thistle!"
"What?" Amy and Rouge both said in unison.
"Who is Mister Thistle?" Sonic asked with a snort of amusement. "And what sort of name is – why is the mayor's aide putting a crown on Metal's head?"
Amy held her breath as she waited for something to go wrong. She was surprised that Metal had responded to the name Thistle, that he had made it onto the stage, and that he had so politely (and so smoothly) crouched down to let the mayor's aide place a crown on his head: but, when he straightened up and she saw that borderline psychotic grin that showed just about every tooth in his head, she understood why he had obeyed. He turned his back on the stage hand who offered him a microphone, moving over to Amy, pointing a finger at the crown on his head. Amy smiled and nodded.
"Of course you'd like that," she said in a low voice.
The mayor gave a final thank you to the four of them before dismissing them from the stage. Amy winced as Metal thumped across the boards and down the steps, but thanks to the music starting up again and the applause around them, nobody else heard him and nobody seemed to really notice that he lifted his knees a little too high and planted his feet a little too squarely. As they reached the floor, the others came up to congratulate them.
"Aren't you going to wear your medal, Amy?" Cream asked her.
"I don't want to ruin my dress," Amy admitted.
"Then give it to me," Rouge said, holding out an upturned hand.
"Don't, it will be in the window of the nearest pawn shop by tomorrow morning," Shadow warned Amy.
"This thing is priceless," Rouge corrected him. "I'm going to credit it to my business – Amy is one of my contractors, after all – and use it for promotional purposes."
Amy started to pass the medal over, but then snatched it back, her eyes wandering upwards to the dainty, sparkling crown on Rouge's head
"I'll swap you," she said. "You can have my medal if I can have your tiara."
"Honey, the gems on this thing are fake," Rouge flatly replied.
"Then you don't like it anyway, so hand it over," Amy returned.
"Fine by me," Rouge said, lifting the tiara from her head and placing it onto Amy's head.
Amy gladly dropped her medal into Rouge's outstretched hands and turned around with a grin. Cream grabbed one of her hands and grabbed one of Metal's hands.
"Amy, you look like a queen!" she said. "And Prince Metal Sonic has his crown now too!"
Amy smiled and looked out the side of her eye at Metal.
"Did you hear that, Metal?" she said teasingly. "Cream said I'm a queen, but you're still just a prince."
Metal slipped his hand out of Cream's and signed something to her, something that made her smile vanish. Amy glanced back and forth between the two of them, starting to worry that he had just said something to offend her.
"What did he just say, Cream?" she asked her friend.
Cream's mouth moved, but no sound came out.
"He said he doesn't mind you being a queen and he's happy to be a prince," Tails offered.
Amy narrowed her eyes at him and saw him tense and heard him gulp.
"What did he actually say?" she asked.
"I already told you," Tails replied. "Hey Cream, the fireflies are out in the garden, do you want to come watch them with me?"
Cream nodded and followed after Tails. Amy watched them angrily, but they never looked back. She sighed and turned back to Metal, finding him looking at her with a strange look on his face.
"He said you deserve to be the queen because you're really awesome, and he's happy to be the prince if it means he can learn to be more like you."
Amy's face fell.
"I don't know why Tails cut it short the way he did when he explained it!"
Amy turned to Knuckles as he shrugged.
"Thank you, Knuckles," she told him.
"No problem," he replied.
Amy turned back to Metal and smiled at him.
"And thank you, Metal," she said, reaching out and taking hold of each of his hands in each of hers. "That was a very nice thing to say."
She took a step forwards and kissed him on the cheek. When she stepped back, he looked a little surprised, but, as their eyes met, his expression became more focussed, more intense, and he took a step towards her, leaning into her.
Next Chapter: As the night draws to an end and everyone heads home, Amy finds a surprise visitor waiting for her when she gets there. She then receives a call that brings bad news with it, and she, along with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, find themselves drawn into a fight with Eggman where a lot is at stake. When the group's attack plans go a little awry, they shortly find themselves fighting to save the life of one of their friends. Chapter 19: Bargain