Disclaimer: All of the Sonicverse characters and places inserted into this story are owned by SEGA, and used without permission. All other characters and places mentioned belong to me. Ideas used in this story are not canon.
Chapter 3: Awakening
Time seemed to slip away more slowly than before for Amy as she lay wide awake in her warm and comfortable bed. Falling asleep seemed entirely impossible for her when it seemed to come so naturally for her overbearing and now annoying blue companion slumbering peacefully in the corner of the room. She never had a problem falling asleep as a child and even if she did have problem as a child, her mother would always be there for her with a warm glass of milk. Amy truly missed those moments she had with her. Though her family was long gone from this world, she knew that they were always watching over her, nurturing her and in some ways protecting her from certain dangers.
If only she could get some sleep. Amy was not a child anymore. The old remedies that had once worked on her as a child had no effect on her as an adult. She did not know if it was because of her cold or the pent up amount of stress that had been screwing with her that had caused her new sleeping patterns. All that she could think about right now was how dark her room had gotten and the loud, almost annoying, snores of Sonic the Hedgehog. The lucky bastard he was. Hardly getting injured and never getting a cold, it just seemed unfair especially now that he could find comfort in sleeping.
As a child bedtime was always the best time of the day for Amy. Back then she felt that dreams were a glimpse into one's own future. It was something that her mother had told her as a child a very long time ago. She remembered how her mother would give her a dreamy look, a loving smile and sigh before telling her that dreams were the reality one always desired. For most of her life she believed what her mother had told her as child and each night since she had met Sonic, Amy had dreamed about him. But when she woke up and returned to reality, she had to deal with all it harsh truths and pains of living in that world. There was a moment, when she believed that dreams did come true. That dream was shattered last year, and now it no longer seemed like that. Amy Rose was slowly losing faith in the two people she truly ever loved with all her heart and soul, her and Sonic. Both of them had broken her heart and destroyed all the innocence she had left. All Amy could do now was embrace and accept the cold harsh reality that awaited her.
Sonic was in love with someone else and she had to accept that no matter how much she hated it. She knew in the deepest part of her heart that she may never get over the pain but she still had to try or else she would never be able to move on with her life. Amy knew that getting over Sonic would be tough and most likely the hardest thing she would ever have to do in her life. A part of her felt as if her mother had lied to her, while her entire heart felt completely lied to by Sonic. She should have known better then to let her feelings for him cloud her judgment. Sonic probably never had any attraction to her to begin with, even as a friend. Maybe the rumors were true, and maybe she was so naïve to believe them. She had always assumed that the reason Sonic had always saved her was because he had actually loved her. Never could she ever expect that it was in fact that she made him look good in front of the world population. Amy shook her head trying to get those silly thoughts out of her head. Sonic was not the type to play on one's emotions. He was not that cold and calculating or even vindictive. That was not the Sonic the Hedgehog she knew or at least she thought she knew.
Sonic was always there for her growing up. They were always there for each other, and for Amy those were her fondest memories of him. There were indeed many times where he had let her down, but he would always make it up to her some how by making her feel special. Those days were now long gone now. She missed the lazy days that she and Sonic had spent together, but now most of his time was spent with Aeris and the others. She somehow felt lost within the mix and sometimes felt a bit forgotten. It was not until she became sick that Sonic started spending time with her again. She hated the fact that something like a cold had to bring him back to her when he could have done it without her cold as an excuse.
Amy let out a small depressed sigh as she noticed the sun now starting to rise outside. In a few hours Sonic would wake up and be gone leaving her all alone again. Sure Sonic would visit her twice everyday, but he would only stay no longer than twenty minutes each time he visited her. This was probably the longest time Sonic had spent with her alone since the day before the Christmas party. Remembering that day at the party had only brought bitter tears to her eyes. Sonic had hurt her terribly that night without even thinking how it might have hurt her. There was probably not even a word or a group of words that could explain how betrayed she felt.
It was two months ago when Sonic had spent an endless amount of time with her. Never in all the time that they knew each other did he spend this much time. At times she felt lucky and spoiled by him, but it soon became awkward as if he was hiding something from her. She had really believed that Sonic was finally ready to admit that he loved her, just like she had always dreamed he did. But that dream was soon demolished at the Christmas party. She felt as if the one creature that she had loved as well as completely trusted with all her heart and soul had spent all this time lying to her as well as making fun of her. To this very day a small part of her felt he was still lying to her. A part of her even felt that he truly did not want to be here with her, that he was probably forced to be here by their friends to check-up on her. Some friends they were. They never even came to visit her. If they did stop by it was probably to get him for something heroic. It would be just better if he left and never came back. It would be for the best.
How she wanted to hit him with one of her pillows right now, or even try to smoother him to make him pay for the pain he had caused her, but that was not in her nature. She was always the kind and sweet person that she always had been, ever since she was a little girl. She always wondered what it felt like to be bad, but she never dared venture into that direction. Thought had always frightened her. Sometimes she wondered if she did become cold and heartless, if there was any way of going back.
Amy slowly got out of bed, making sure that she did not wake up the blue bomber. Never once in Amy's wildest dreams did she think that something as easy as getting out of bed would be so difficult. She felt as if she was a decrepit million year old woman from how she got out of bed. Walking around was a bit difficult for her. Each step she took turned out to be a painful shuffle. At times it felt like as if she was pulling an extreme amount of weight that was preventing her from getting to where she needed to go. While most of the time it felt as if she was walking on sharp pieces of broken glass and a series of sharp nails and needles. She never once told Sonic about this, nor did he know what she was feeling. Every time she attempted to go somewhere in her apartment, whether it was to the bathroom or to the kitchen, Sonic would either fetch the item or carrying her to where she needed to be.
It just did not feel as natural as she thought it might be. Amy had dreamed many times fro Sonic to sweep her off her feet and carry her away into the horizon. It was not as she had imagined it now. Her past experiences had slowly soured any hope that she had taken with Sonic's comfort and kindness. If she could close her eyes now, then Amy would be able to recollect on their past together. It was in the past when Sonic would get irritated doing things like this for her when they were kids. It was as if he had some place better to be back then, but now as they reached young adulthood he was willing to be here and with a smile no doubt. Sometimes it just amazed her at how much everyone had changed over the course of time. She never expected to be as close to Sonic as she was now. She had always assumed that by some cruel chance he would have done something so vicious to her and vile to her in order to get her to leave him alone.
Amy continued in her slow pace towards the kitchen. For the first time she could feel the pangs of hunger inside of her. She had not eaten a single morsel in quite a long time. It was not because did not want any food, it was more like her body was not hungry at all. Normally it would not be unheard of to go for a few days without food, but in Amy's case she had not eaten a thing in over a week and half. It was something she neglected to mention to Sonic for certain reasons, but when she finally reached the kitchen she discovered a brown paper bag sitting on the counter with her name on it written in red pen ink and in script. She smirked at the color of her name on the bag. It was as if someone had signed her name in blood, as if someone wanted her to die. She shook her head at the thought. Sonic had brought this for her since he was the only one who came to her place and knowing him he had probably bought it for her from the deli down the block. And besides Sonic was the one saving her from danger, not inflicting it on her. It was one of the reasons why she never lost faith or trust in him, but she could feel those things slowly slipping away from her as she opened the bag. It was obvious by now that whatever Sonic had brought for her was already cold, but that did not stop Amy from peaking inside the container. She let out a soft smile as she saw that Sonic had brought her a large container full of broccoli and cheese soup. It was one of her favorite soups, and since it was a high calorie soup it was just what her body needed to replenish itself. The odd thing was that she never told that this was her favorite soup, but Amy just shrugged it off like many things and placed the large container into the microwave that hanged from atop the stove. It was probably nothing more than a sheer coincidence that he bought it for her, but then again it was the only thing he ever bought her on his own accord.
The soup smelled simply divine as it slowly revolved inside the microwave. Amy kept on watching it as the scent filled the room. She hoped that neither the sound from the microwave or the smell would wake up the blue hero, but she was wrong when she felt her dainty waist enclosed into a very loving embrace as her back was pressed up against his young muscular chest. She froze their for a few seconds before turning around to see Sonic, half awake with a devilish smile forming at him muzzle.
"So you finally decided to wake up, eh?" Amy could feel his warm breath against her neck that it sent shivers throughout her body. She even wanted to release a soft sexual moan, but she ended up biting her lower lip instead. It just was not right. Sonic should not be doing things like this when he had a girlfriend, especially to her. Amy remained silent for a bit until the silence was broken by the microwave's ding.
Amy wanted to say something, but she just could not find the right words or even know where to begin. There was so much to tell him, but she could not tell him her feelings about him again. It was different this time. Never in her wildest dreams could she ever imagine that Sonic would love another female, but here in reality he did just that. She had always assumed that if Sonic could never love her back that it was because he was not able to fall in love with anyone out of fear of them getting hurt, she was proven wrong when Aeris came into their lives. Aeris the only person other than Eggman that she truly hated, and it was not just because she had Sonic it was something more. Amy closed her eyes and sighed while opening the microwave as Sonic held her tighter in his arms as he blew warm air onto her neck all the while waiting for response.
"Who does he think he is?" thought Amy as she took the hot container out of the microwave. As far as she could recall, this was definitely the first time ever that Sonic held her like this. He never did something like this when she assumed they were dating last year. From what she could remember from those fading days and up till now was that her blue hero was mentally always somewhere she could
Sonic certainly had some major galls as to pull a stunt like this off. What was he trying to prove anyway, that he still had the power to play with her heart? The bastard already had a girlfriend and yet he was flirting with her from what she could gather. She turned around and looked at him as her once vibrant and lively green eyes were growing dull and stale as if death was slowly sneaking its way into the pink hedgehog. For Sonic, it was as if he was looking into the eyes of a cadaver. Seeing the changes in her eyes spooked Sonic a bit that he let go of her rather roughly that she backed into the wooden counter causing the hot soup to splash against her chest as it left a bright red burn mark. The soup was extremely hot, and yet Amy did not scream like most people did or even do anything to clean the burn. Tears were the only thing that fell allowing Sonic to see she was in pain, that he held her close to him as he kissed her head. It seemed that the blue hedgehog had a way of causing her pain. It was something he hated doing to her, but there was just no way for him to know when he would do it. Not even Amy or her premonition could tell. There were times now where Amy believed that Sonic enjoyed seeing and causing her pain.
Sonic smiled warmly as he picked up Amy and carried her in his arms to the living. He was taken a back a bit when she did not wrap her arms around him like she normally had done in the past. She was always healthy and vibrant, but now it was as if she was an entirely different person. He had just assumed that she had finally gotten over her schoolgirl crush, but when he laid her on the sofa she showed no emotion for their friendship or kindness towards him. It was as if she was an entirely different person. Sonic knew very well that she loved him, yet he also did everything in his power to run away from her even if she was simply wishing him a simple "Good Morning". If only things were different, this whole situation would have never happened. She would have been well and not spiraling down into a secret deep and dark sadness that she was slowly blaming him for.
It seemed that everything was changing now that he had a girlfriend, but there were so many things he wished everyday would never change. Amy's friendship was one of his many wishes along with wishing for her to get well again. Still it just seemed so unnatural for Amy to be sick this long or even be sick in general.
Sonic sighed as he went to the bathroom. This was probably the only place in the entire apartment that had not been touched by time. It was always the same, and just by staring at it he wished that Amy remained unchanged by time, but nothing lasts forever. Sonic had to accept the fact that no matter how much he hated it Amy was growing up and out of his reach. It would only be a matter of time he would lose her completely, probably to another male hedgehog. This entire thought depressed Sonic as he search for Amy's first aid bag. The thought of losing a friend, even his childhood was devastating to think about. Sometimes he even wondered why he and Amy remained so close after all the times he had treated her badly. She must have definitely seen something in him that was now slowly fading away. Too bad he did not know what it was perhaps it would have made things a bit better for him.
It did not take long for Sonic to return back to Amy with her oversized orange paramedic style first aid kit. Many people would have thought of it as being a bit excessive as well as odd for some ordinary person to have something of this magnitude, but for Amy it was a practical thing for her to have considering how many times he and the others had been injured. There were even times in which Sonic was amazed by her bedside manner that he thought of her at times as his own personal doctor, but now it was his turn to take care of her. Whether it was because of their close friendship or the fact that he owed it to her, it never once crossed his mind that he could ever have consider her as the most important thing in his life. It just came naturally for Sonic to take care of her, and truth be told, Sonic had learned so much from Amy than from anybody else about healing. Amy on the other hand would have rather seen him covered in painful sores or in some kind of horrid pain before allowing him to touch her or take care of her.
Amy watched as Sonic opened the medical bag looking for the remainder of the burn ointment she had used on him long ago. It felt like another lifetime ago when she last used any of the contents inside of the bag, that Sonic had to double as well as tripled check to make sure that nothing had expired inside. Sonic let out a sigh of relief when he finally found the burn ointment. It had been a long time since he had used this burn ointment. It happened to be one in particular that he was not very fond of because of the horrendous smell it gave once it was applied to the skin, but when Amy rubbed it all over his body he could not help but forget about the smell and surrender to her touch. Not once could Sonic imagine Amy's touch being that powerful and satisfying. If it was under any other circumstance Amy would have allowed him to touch every nook and cranny of her delicate body without a second thought, but it was different this time. She could no longer chase after him or even give him subtle hints, whether sexual or not, that she wanted him.
There was no way for Sonic to describe how her touch made him feel back then, nor could he explain it now. Even thinking about it now would not be the wisest of ideas considering he had a girlfriend, especially one that he was deeply in love with. There were once times long ago when Sonic wanted to moan, but he just could not muster the courage to do it in front of her. It was not because he was afraid of her reaction, but that of his very own. Back then, it was as if some unknown inner force was willing him to take care of her as well as protect her. Now it was different, very different. Everything that Sonic did for Amy came so naturally and freely to him unlike the many times before where he felt forced to do things such as this for her.
Amy knew by now that Sonic had some kind of idea about how to take care of himself as well as the others, even if she was not around anymore to help. Aeris most likely had given a few medical pointers and he in return gave her his heart…something she was fooled into thinking she had. Even if his heart was in the right place she would rather have had someone else take care of her…and touch her. For Sonic to even touch her now felt as if he was over stepping whatever boundaries were left of their friendship, and from her perspective it felt like it would soon be over. It was not something she wanted to happen, but Amy knew about fate as well as destiny and hers was one where she would lose Sonic forever. Even if she did not want it to happen, Amy knew very well that certain things were already set in stone long before anyone's birth. That is just how the entire grand design was, like life it too could be a total bitch.
It was not something she could confirm without the use of her tarot cards or any other playing cards to be exact. Every one of her decks had some how mysteriously vanished a few months ago from her apartment. It really did not bother her at first that they were missing, but now she sure wish she had them. Perhaps she placed them in a box somewhere when she was cleaning for the New Year; it was the only possible answer that she could think of at the moment. The only thing Amy could do now was trust her instincts and her faith in Sonic as she watched him take care of her as she slowly yearned for this entire situation to be nothing more than a bad dream.