Meeting At The Sunset

Chapter 2: KnuxTikal

Flashback:

Tikal stood at the foot of the altar of the Master Emerald. She was waiting for Knuckles to return to Angel Island. Super Sonic had only just defeated Perfect Chaos.

She waited for a week, before a small red dot appeared near the edge of the Island. She watched as it made its way towards her, at a good speed, nearly that of Sonic himself. After a few minutes, Knuckles appeared in front of her.

"Hey Tikal." He said, not noticing her facial expression, which was somewhat very angry.

She didn't reply, and instead turned around and walked up the stairs to the Master Emerald. Knuckles watched her, confused. He decided to follow her.

He reached the top of the altar, and found her staring at the Master Emerald, tears starting to pour from her eyes.

"Tikal, what's wrong?" He asked her. Big mistake.

She turned to him, with her face angry once again. Tears were now openly streaming down her face.

"Why?" She said softly, the tears dampening and staining her orangey fur. "You're supposed to be the guardian of this Island and the Master Emerald, and you spend a week off the Island and don't even think that Chaos could be unleashed again? What sort of guardian are you?"

Knuckles stared at her blankly for a minute. He was quite shocked at this.

"I needed a bit of time with my friends." He replied. "Do you have any idea how lonely it is up here on the Island?" He asked back.

"Why lonely?" She replied. "There's two of us on it now. Don't you care?"

"I do care, but I've spent my whole life on this Island, isolated from people I could be happy and friends with." Knuckles replied, not caring where this was going.

"So what are you saying?" Tikal asked rhetorically. "You'd give up the Master Emerald so you can be with your friends, and destroy the world?"

Knuckles stared at her, before answering.

"No." Knuckles replied dryly. "I'll take the Master Emerald with me."

Tikal stood on the spot, completely shocked at what he had just said. More tears formed in her eyes. She turned her back on Knuckles and the giant Emerald.

"Go." She said, with a shaken voice. She closed her eyes and brought her hands close to her face in a praying position.

Knuckles didn't hesitate. He walked up to the Master Emerald and commanded it to decrease it's size. He picked up the now small Emerald and glided off towards the Mystic Ruins, where Sonic and Tails would be.

Tikal felt the Island shake and fall from the sky. When it eventually reached the ocean, she fell to her hands and knees. She then burst into a flood of tears.

"Kn-Knuckles…I didn't mean it…come back please…" She whispered to herself, being the only one left on Angel Island. "I d-didn't mean it…I l-l-love y-y-you...c-c-come b-back p-p-please?…"

Now (Station Square):

Three years have passed, and Sonic and Amy have just become a couple. Knuckles, Tails, Cream, Shadow and Rouge were shocked with the news. Everyone was living their own separate lives in Station Square. Tails became a mechanic-scientist. Rouge became an antiques expert at the Museum. Amy got a job as a fashion expert.

Shadow and Knuckles became personal bodyguards for the Mayor. Cream became a child carer. Sonic didn't have a job. He was known world over as a hero so he had an apartment for free.

Tikal, on the other hand, wasn't doing quite as well as the others. She was still upset at the argument she had with Knuckles which finished in him leaving and causing Angel Island to fall. She prayed every night for his return, but everyday to her was the same. She stood at the old ruins of the Altar, looking out to the ocean, expecting his return. But he never came.

Knuckles also had a similar problem. Every day he would wake up to protect the mayor. Then after five PM, he would return to his apartment where the miniscule Master Emerald and two of the Chaos Emeralds were held. He often thought about how Tikal was doing, sometimes with tears in his eyes. He couldn't quite understand his feelings for her. Was it Love? Or was it something else?

Then, a day came when it was Knuckles' birthday. Sonic and the others had planned a surprise birthday party for him. It was the third party he had, because no-one really knew much about him until he arrived at Station Square. Knuckles finished his routine job, and came back to his apartment. With it being a surprise party, he nearly had a heart attack when he opened the door. He then realised that Sonic and Shadow could Chaos Control anywhere at anytime, and that Shadow wasn't at work that day. He chased them out of the apartment and half-way across the city before the party could actually start.

After two hours of loud music, complaining neighbours and passed out psycho-drunk blue Hedgehogs, Knuckles walked out onto his balcony, looking up at the stars. Inside, Tails, Amy and Cream had noticed that he had disappeared, as Rouge and Shadow had just passed out their selves. They eventually found him on the balcony.

"Knuckles?" Amy asked the red Echidna.

"Huh? Oh hi guys." Knuckles replied quietly. "What brings you outside?"

"What are you doing outside Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked politely.

"I wish I knew." Knuckles said, dispirited. Tears started to form in his eyes.

"Knuckles? What's wrong?" Amy asked. Tails, Cream and Amy could tell something was definitely wrong with Knuckles.

"I don't know…something's being missing ever since I left Angel Island." Knuckles replied slowly. He looked up at the stars again.

"It's Tikal isn't it?" Tails asked. Knuckles just looked at him, then looked down.

"I don't know." Knuckles replied. He raised one of his spiked fists and punched the wall. He left a crack in it.

"We know its Tikal, Knuckles." Amy said, taking a step towards the Echidna. "You don't have to lie to us. Just tell us what really happened on Angel Island."

"We promise we won't tell anyone." Cream said, with her polite voice.

"Yeah, you can trust us three." Tails added. Amy elbowed him in the ribcage because he was trying to get Knuckles to talk.

Knuckles looked at Cream, then Tails, then Amy. He sighed, and agreed.

"Amy, Tails, remember when Super Sonic defeated Chaos? After that week long vacation, when I got back to Angel Island, Tikal was there." Knuckles started.

"What happened?" Amy asked, as Knuckles sat down.

Knuckles stared at the ground. "We had an argument, I brought Sonic and you two into it by mistake." He said, with more tears streaming down his face. Tails and Amy looked at each other.

"So what happened after?" Cream asked politely again.

"She asked me if I would be better off leaving the Master Emerald unguarded so I could be with you guys." Knuckles answered the rabbit's question. "I told her I'll bring it with me so nothing could happen in my absence."

Amy stared at him, completely shocked. Tails and Cream stared between her and Knuckles.

"You left her all alone on the Island?" Amy asked. The Echidna merely nodded his head.

"I know I shouldn't have, but she said if I wanted to be with you guys, then I go. I did." Knuckles cried.

Amy walked to him and knelt in front of him. She picked up his right hand and held it in hers.

"Knuckles, go back to Angel Island." Amy said, looking down at the weeping Echidna. "Go see if she's OK."

He looked up at her. She smiled weakly, let go of his hand and stood up.

"We know you have feelings for her." Amy said. Knuckles looked up at her, his facial expression looking like he had just been used.

"Tell her how you feel." Tails said. "Tell her you're sorry. Look at Sonic and Amy, look how they pulled through." He added.

"Tails is right, Knuckles." Amy said. "It's never too late to make up with someone."

Knuckles stood up, and wiped his tears away. "You're right." He said weakly. "Thanks guys." He gave them a thumbs up, then jumped off the balcony and glided onto the street, before running off towards Angel Island.

"Oh no." Amy said, remembering Sonic, Shadow, Rouge and what was the party. "We got to clean this place up!"

Angel Island:

Tikal looked out towards the ocean from the Altar once again. Her clothes were fairly torn, dirtied and faded, her gold tiara was scratched, and her quills were messed. Her fur was dirty. Under her eyes were purple-nearly black semi-circles. She didn't get much sleep at nights.

Behind Tikal was a sort of hut which she had constructed herself. Inside the hut wasn't much, a bed, a small table, a few hunting weapons, but it kept her satisfied. Every day was the same for her: Wake up, hunt for food, return home, eat, then look out to the ocean in case Knuckles returned before going to sleep. She wondered if he was okay and how he was doing. Often she remembered the argument she had with Knuckles, and the end results. She cried heavily at those times.

"Knuckles…pl-please come b-back...I'm s-sorry…" She whispered to herself, tears forming in her eyes again, as she remembered the argument once more. "I love y-you…c-c-c-come b-back please?" She finished in a high-pitched wail.

She knelt on the floor, crying for hours, until the sun started to set. She stood up at this point, and turned towards her hut. She entered it, set up a night-torch, and sat on her bed. She continued to cry, her hands over her eyes. After about two hours, she brought her eyes out from under her hands and looked at her hunting weapons. She walked across to them, and picked up the knife. She went back over to her bed, and stared at the knife. A few more tears came from her eyes.

"He isn't coming back." She whispered softly to herself. "I shouldn't wait anymore." She openly cried again. "Knuckles…" She said, as she rose her knife-free arm towards the knife.

Just then, a knock came at her door. She put the knife down onto the table, which luckily didn't touch her skin. She walked across to the door, tears still leaking from her eyes. She undid the wooden dead-bolt, and opened the door. She saw a tall, red coloured Echidna standing in front of her, a look of relief on his face.

"Kn-Knuckles?" Tikal squeaked, her eyes transfixed on the red Echidna. He looked down at her, his relieved look turning into a look of horror, as he noticed the difference between the current Tikal and the Tikal he left three years ago. He quickly brought himself back to the situation at hand.

"Yes, it's me Tikal." He said shakily.

Both stared at each other for minutes, before Tikal said anything.

"Come in." She said weakly.

Knuckles entered the torch-lit hut, and looked around the inside.

"Nice place." He commented, as he turned to the down-trodden female Echidna.

"Y-Y-Y-Yo-You're h-h-here?" Tikal said weakly, tears streaming down her face. "I thought you'll n-n-n-never r-re-re-return!" She managed to say despite breaking into another high-pitched wail.

"I'm here now." Knuckles said, tears beginning to fall down his face. He walked over to her and had her sit down on the bed. He then proceeded to sit down beside her.

"W-wh-wh-wh-why did you return?" Tikal asked the male Echidna, as she just managed to see his face through all the tears.

He looked at her, despite having tears in his eyes, before answering.

"I realised something." He answered. She looked at him confused.

"Wh-what d-d-d-d-did y-you r-realise?" Tikal asked as weak as ever. Knuckles put a hand onto her knee.

"That I have feelings for you." Knuckles said slowly.

Tikal stared at him, the entire world around her disappearing until only he was left in her vision. "What did he mean?" She thought. She stared at him, because she couldn't see anything else.

She continued to stare at him, before eventually looking down at her feet. A silence took dominance in the room, and she looked back up at Knuckles. Tikal saw tears rolling down his face.

"Knuckles…what do you mean you have feelings for me?" She asked trying to keep her voice her normal as possible.

"I mean I…I think I love you." Knuckles said carefully and slowly. Tikal looked at him wide-eyed, with more tears welling from here eyes. She then looked at her feet.

"I guess…I love you too." She replied, before placing a hand on his. She brought her head close to his. Knuckles then put his other hand round her and slowly brought his head to hers. They locked in a kiss, which seemed to last all eternity for the two.

After a while, they brought their heads away from each other, Tikal's eyes full of tears whereas Knuckles' had relatively few. Both weakly smiled at each other.

"I'll never leave you again." Knuckles whispered.

"I'll never make you go again." Tikal replied in a whisper, keeping her smile.

Both moved in for another kiss. Afterwards, Knuckles took her hand into his and took her from the Island. She lived with him in Station Square after that.