I think he was hinting towards that… Knuckles: Why you… holds back Knuckles Ok… sweat drop On with the chapter! Oh, and by the way, when Rouge carries her she doesn't hold her lesbianishly. I know I made that word up. ;)
Knuckles turned around. The figure stepped out into the sunshine so they could see-
"Rouge!" Knuckles gasped. Stephanie's smile faded away. Uh-oh. I just revealed his secret. Stephanie mentally slapped herself. Knuckles looked at Stephanie over his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes and looked back at Rouge.
'Don't worry Knuckles. I feel the same way." Rouge blushed. Knuckles began to blush too. Stephanie looked at the two. After a moment of silence Stephanie then cleared her throat, snapping the two back into reality.
"Oh. This is Stephanie." Knuckles gestured towards Stephanie.
"Hi!" Rouge smiled and briefly closed her eyes.
"Hi! To save you the trouble your name is Rouge." Stephanie would get tired of telling everybody she already knew them. Rouge's eyes went wide.
"How does she…?" Rouge said pointing at Stephanie.
"She's from earth." Knuckles rolled his eyes. Rouge's face returned to her normal sophisticated expression.
"Oh. That explains it." Rouge said. "So where ya guys heading off to?"
"Tails' workshop, to do some tests on this." Knuckles held up the black crystal.
"Is that… an emerald?" Rouge examined it closely.
"We don't know. That's why we are going to test it." Stephanie pointed out.
"Oh well can I come along?" Rouge smiled.
"Ya sure, I guess." Knuckles looked back at Stephanie who was walking closer to them. Stephanie nodded.
"Ok. Then let's go." Rouge said and started to walk in the direction towards Tails' workshop.
Rouge grew tired off walking and started to glide over them. Soon they came into a clearing and were met by a sandy coast. It was the edge of the island. Stephanie looked down and saw an ocean at least a hundred feet below the island. She became uneasy and stepped back. She looked back at Knuckles and Rouge, who were arguing over who was gonna carry Stephanie over the ocean.
"You should because you are both female and it would be uncomfortable for me to carry her." Knuckles said.
"Ya but I just met her." Rouge argued. Stephanie felt a little hurt but healed as she thought that they were only reluctant because they barely knew her. Rouge turned to her.
" Who would you like to be carried by?" Rouge asked politely.
"It doesn't matter." Stephanie replied.
"That doesn't help, does it?" Knuckles sighed.
"I'll carry her." Rouge said, giving up. Rouge walked over to her and Stephanie turned around. She looked down as she saw Rouge wrap her arms around Stephanie's waist. Stephanie blushed. She wasn't used to being touched by other females. Stephanie felt a rush as they lifted off the ground. Stephanie looked around and saw Knuckles gliding beside them. He had a serious expression on his face, as usually. His dread locks flapped back as the air brushed past him. She than looked down and saw the calm ocean. Even though it was practically still it still frightened her.
What if Rouge loses her grip? What if she drops me? Stephanie's thoughts were interrupted by Rouge.
"Don't worry. I got you." Stephanie looked up. Rouge was looking at Stephanie's worried face. Stephanie nodded and stared forward, looking a little more relaxed.
It must have been an hour since they had left the island. Stephanie looked at Knuckles then at Rouge. Rouge looked tired and Knuckles was losing some altitude.
"Finally. Almost there" Knuckles let a sigh of relief escape his lips. They saw Mystic Ruins up ahead.
"Good, cause my wings are killing me." Rouge groaned.
"Ya and I think I have a red line around my stomach." Stephanie giggled.
"Would you rather be dropped in the ocean?" Rouge asked with a smile.
"No." Stephanie rolled her eyes. They were now gliding over land.
"Hold on this is going to be a rough landing." Rouge said. Suddenly, Stephanie became nervous.
"There's Tails' workshop." Knuckles pointed. "We can land on the X-tornadoes runway." They started to descend. Knuckles softly landed.
"I got an idea." Rouge said and glided 4 feet about the ground. "Get ready. I'm gonna drop you here."
"Ok. That doesn't sound bad." Stephanie thought it was going to be a painful landing. Rouge let go and Stephanie landed on her feet. She clenched her teeth. She was only wearing boots so her feet stung from impact. Rouge landed beside her.
"You ok?" Rouge asked.
"Ya I'm fine." Stephanie fake smiled, trying to hide her minor pain. She looked at the workshop. It was smaller than she had remembered from the TV series. Stephanie shrugged and followed Knuckles up the steps and to the door. Knuckles knocked on the door with his big-gloved hands. Stephanie nervously fiddled with her fingers. The door opened and there was a young two-tailed fox, Tails.
"Hey, Knuckles and… Rouge?" Tails raised a brow at the bat.
" If you think her being here is weird, then you'll love our new friend." Knuckles stepped out of the way, so that Tails could see Stephanie.
"Hi." Stephanie said holding her arm bashfully.
"Hi." Tails became confused. "Who are you?"
"I'm Stephanie. I'm from earth." Stephanie said, letting go of her arm.
"How did you get here?" Tails asked.
"She used this jewel." Knuckles answered holding up the "emerald". "We came here for you to do some tests on it and see if it is a chaos emerald."
"Ok. But that doesn't explain why Rouge is here." Tails teased. Rouge rolled her eyes.
"I wanted to tag along." Rouge said crossing her arms.
"That's good enough for me." Tails said and stepped aside for them to come in.