After the rocky run in with Rouge at the start of her stay, Amy was surprised to have the next few days all to her lonesome. She knew she would probably not see much of Knuckles, as he was busy guarding the Master Emerald, but knowing that Rouge was also somewhere on Angel Island put her on edge. Something about that batty burglar just irked her but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Deciding that no one—not even the world famous jewel thief herself—would bully her into staying in bed, moping and worrying, for the entirety of her visit, Amy began to take daily walks. At first, she was worried about getting herself lost as she had only been to Angel Island on a handful of missions—even then, she had always been escorted around by someone that knew the terrain.

A few excursions later, however, Amy began to get a little more confident and her walks gradually became longer as she headed further inland from the Chaotix HQ. The change of scenery and the exercise helped lift her spirits, and the more she discovered on her own filled her with an odd sense of accomplishment she readily embraced. It certainly felt better than the regret and anxiety she had been feeling up until then.

Amy had discovered that not too far from the Chaotix base was a sprawling field of wild strawberry bushes. When she first stumbled upon it, she recalled Charmy Bee having mentioned something about the home he had found on Angel Island— he had called it Strawberry Fields. Something about finally getting to see what her friend had described amused her, and she returned the next day with a basket and blanket she had found in the base, ready to pick some fresh fruit and enjoy the sunshine.

She lost herself in her task for hours in the fruit filled field, only stopping when she had filled her basket entirely. She set out the blanket on the grass and sat down to bask in the remaining hours of the bright, warm day. She sprawled herself out with a contented sigh and closed her eyes as a warm breeze gently began rolling through the strawberry covered field. The breeze brought the sweet smell of ripened fruit to her. She lounged in the sunshine and let her mind wander to thoughts of home—and Sally.

As relaxed as she was, Amy didn't face her problem with the same fear she would have a few days earlier. Instead, she only met it with an exhausted sense of unease. Her pain had numbed from a sharp sting to only a gentler throbbing pang. Despite this development, she still was unsure of how to approach the topic. Everything she had tried to piece together fell apart as she tried to expand upon it.

Amy knew she couldn't take back to what she had told Sally, and she had come to peace with that, for the most part. But how was she going to move forward, into this new and frightening future she had created?

Every passing day away from Knothole, away from Sally, made it more difficult for her to think of returning. She had no idea what she would be returning to anymore—her old life was gone. When she returned, Amy would be met with a new life; one where she explore her true self, homosexuality and all. When she returned, she might have to lose the ones she cared for more than anything in the world—Sally, Sonic, all her friends. She would have to expose them to this new side of her—she couldn't just ignore it or hide it anymore, not after telling Sally how she felt. She would have to show them her true self and they might decide that they didn't like what they saw.

If she stayed on Angel Island, she would never have to face that.

Amy opened her eyes and watched the clouds overhead drift by, lazily carried by another breeze that blew through the open field. Among the soft rustle of the foliage, she could hear the unmistakable flutter of leathery wings growing closer to her. She sat up and quickly turned to face the sound, frowning as her suspicions were confirmed.

Rouge landed a few paces away just as Amy caught sight of her. The bat saw her and gave her a casual wave as she sauntered over. Amy huffed quietly to herself as she turned her back on her, more than ready to ignore her. That was when some small part of her reminded her of her promise to apologize for their earlier run in.

Ugh, I forgot… What do I even say? "Sorry I'm a huge crybaby"? She rolled her eyes and shook her head, glancing up to see Rouge helping herself to a seat on the blanket.

The bat said nothing to Amy as she crossed her legs, nonchalantly making herself comfortable as she intruded on the pink hedgehog's alone time. Amy shrank away from her and pulled her knees to her chest as she looked out at the scenery around them.

"You're awfully good at hiding, Amy Rose," Rouge chuckled, glancing over at her with a playful smirk. "I guess that's the one good thing Freedom Fighters are good at, hm?" Amy could feel herself already starting to prickle in annoyance, turning back to her and smacking a hand down on the ground between them.

"What's your problem?" She snapped and scrambled to get up on her feet, bringing her hands up in an angry shrug. "Do you just like being rude or something?"

Rouge let out a lilting laugh and brought a gloved hand up to her mouth, taking Amy by surprise. The bat sighed and waved a hand dismissively at her.

"Calm down, I didn't come to fight," she chuckled and pointed a finger at her, her playful demeanor suddenly changing into something more serious. "I just came to find out why you're vacationing here."

Amy blinked at her and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. She knew she had to be careful at what she said around Rouge—past experiences had told her that. The bat may be able to keep a secret, but only if she wanted to, and Amy didn't like how flippant the thief was.

"I'm just holding down the fort for the Chaotix," Amy eventually replied, turning away from her so the bat couldn't read her face. "Vector asked me to make sure people like you weren't messing with their HQ." There was a pause as she let the lie hang in the air for a moment before she dared to glance back over her shoulder. Rouge was staring back at her, clearly unimpressed. She sighed and looked at her nails, her wings fluttering ever so slightly behind her.

"Amy, how stupid do you think I am?" She asked rather curtly, glancing up at her with an icy gaze. "My mama didn't raise a fool. I've never seen you cry like that before, so whatever is really going on has to be something big. So spill it."

Amy flinched at the mention of her earlier breakdown, rubbing at her arm in embarrassment. Rouge's aggressive insistence nagged at her, and against her better judgement, she decided to let her guard down to tell her the truth. She took a deep breath and spun to face her, looking the bat directly in the eye.

"You wanna know? Fine. I told Sally Acorn I loved her and I got rejected," she said slowly, frowning at how bitter the truth tasted in her mouth. This was the first time she had said the words aloud. She turned her head and looked out across the field, steadily keeping her gaze away from Rouge. Silence fell upon the two of them, but only for a moment before a strong gust of wind picked up and carried it away across the field.

"Is that all?" Rouge asked with an incredulous snort. Amy balled her hands into fists and glared at her out of the corner of her eye, feeling a strange wash of betrayal come over her.

"'Is that all'? Seriously?!" She suddenly burst out, unable to control herself. She held her arms out to her sides, shaking them in frustration. "Is that why you wanted to know? To just—just kick me when I'm down?" Her vision got foggy as tears began to form in her eyes. She couldn't see Rouge's reaction through them but it hardly mattered—her silence spoke volumes, and Amy's thoughts began swarming to fill in the gaps for her.

Why did I think she'd understand? Of course she wouldn't! No one would reject her looking like… Like that! Amy bitterly thought, shutting her eyes tightly as she worked herself up into a frenzy.

"Just because you can't even fathom rejection doesn't mean you get to laugh at me for it!" She suddenly shouted, her voice echoing in the open air as she jabbed a finger in the bat's direction.

Amy had only just opened her eyes when she saw Rouge stand and make a step wordlessly towards her, grabbing Amy by the wrist. The touch was like an electric shock through her body. She quickly pulled her arm back, balling her hand into a fist ready to lash out at her. As she looked up, Amy's eyes met Rouge's, and she paused.

There was sympathy swimming within Rouge's aqua hues—a sadness Amy could recognize. She slowly lowered her hand back to her side and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She looked away and Rouge put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Amy glanced up in surprise at her. Rouge met her gaze with a sad smile. The anger that had built itself up began to slowly wash away; Amy had realized her misjudgment. "I didn't mean to sound so callous." She pulled away and looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set at the far edge of the field; long, orange and purple stripes were cast across the sky in the day's last display of brilliance. Rouge put her hands on her hips and sighed, turning to scoop up the blanket to begin folding it.

"We should get going before it gets too dark," she said, her voice once again cheerfully playful. Amy blinked and gave a her weak smile, nodding as she grabbed her basket full of fruit. Without another word and their backs to the setting sun, they walked together back towards the Chaotix base.