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.
Chapter 4: Commitment
It had been almost four long hours since Sonic left Amy's apartment. In the past he would never feel any kind of regret about leaving her behind, but things had changed over time. In Sonic's younger days, it was not uncommon for him to run away from the pink hedgehog. Amy was a the annoying thorn in his side that would never stop bothering him no matter how hard he tried to get away from her. Back then it was always a pain in the ass to constantly save her from danger, it just seemed that she purposely did it for attention. But who could ever ignore her, she was always in his face.
No matter where he went she was there right behind him, and that really irked him…a lot. There was never a time back then where he could have at least a minute to himself without her nonstop question about a going on a date or even getting married. Dating was one thing, but asking him to marry her at that age was just plain ludicrous. There were so many times back then when he would yell at her for following him around. He never did like yelling at anyone, including Amy. But image and safety was always a big issue for Sonic, and he knew that Amy would be nothing more than extra baggage on missions. She knew that his life was in constant danger, but somehow that thought never once fazed her. She was sure one stubborn hedgehog, even more stubborn than he was. But she becoming way too dependent on him saving her from the dangerous situations she placed herself in. Sonic knew that life was unpredictable, something that he stated time and again to her whenever she showed him the fate card from her tarot deck.
Amy wanted to be with him no matter the price, but it was always hard to prove that she could help like the others could. Sonic knew this fact all to well, but there was something inside of him that just would not allow it. In many ways it was almost hypocritical. Tails was younger than Amy, and had always accompanied him on adventures as far back as anyone could remember. Though Cream was younger than Tails, she always knew when to stay out of harms way, but she was always well protected by he ever faithful chao, Cheese. Then there was Aeris. She was a few years older than both Sonic and Amy. She was twenty-six years old to be exact and a third year resident at the hospital. Normally differences in age would be a legal problem in some parts of the world, but in Station Square the age of consent for males was entirely different. For anyone at Sonic's age could be legally declared as an adult and still be entitled to all the perks of being an adult. Females on the other hand would have to wait until their nineteenth birthday to be given that titled. Aeris was in no way capable of defending herself like Amy was, but she still provided on site medical care. It was truly a double standard.
Sonic's relationship with Amy and Aeris was truly a double standard. There was never a moment that Sonic did not think about Aeris while with Amy and vice versa. Sometimes he wished that he could have them both as his lovers, but he knew that it would not be fair to either one of them. Perhaps it would be easier to choose if one of them dies. As morbid as it sounds it just seemed as the only way for Sonic to truly decide. As if God was making the choice for him. He definitely knew that Lucifer or any daemon would never deal in any matters of the heart unless a deal was to be made. Sonic was not the type of person to place his own or anyone else's soul on the line for something as trivial as that. But there would always be that feeling of wondering what life would have been like with the other.
There was a small part of Sonic that felt that he should have stayed with Amy, but he had already made so many promises to his friends that he just could not break. Sonic had a reputation of keeping his promises to his friends and being there for complete strangers. He always seemed to martyr himself for anyone who needed him, no matter the size of the problem. If only there were more of him, because as of now he felt like he was being pulled into too many directions at once. This was making the blue hedgehog coming close to a state of exhaustion, and he was not at his best in that condition. He knew exhaustion was not healthy for anyone, especially him. But his friends needed him, especially Amy. Seeing her like that always made Sonic's heart ache. If only he could go beyond the confines of a mortal hero and transcend into something better.
Sonic was not God and nor did he want to be one, but if he was then he would use his powers to move the heavens and the earth just to make her better with only a thought. There would be so much he could do with powers like that. He could stop hunger and wipe out all disease, and wars would be nothing more than a forgotten memory. His world would be truly an Eden of wonder, a true Neo Golden Age and his friends would be a fixture within his perfect menagerie. They would be always loved and protected, never left behind and forgotten. In the past he had done that to get away and relax, but every time someone would need him back home. Most of the time it was always Amy who needed him even though his mind kept on telling him to back off and forget about her. But there was always a stronger force that stemmed from his heart and his soul that gave him drive to return back to her. As if they were some how bonded to the other.
It really didn't bother Sonic much when he left her behind long ago, but now he felt ashamed whenever he left her alone in her current condition. It always made him feel helpless. He hated feeling helpless, but there was nothing else he could do for her, and besides she was getting the best medical care possible from his girlfriend. But something in his bones kept on telling him that there was something wrong, but in his line of work there was always something wrong. There were even times when Sonic wished he had some kind of medical background, other than the basics. He wanted to help take care of Amy, so that he could see her smile warmly at him as he properly examined her.
This made Sonic smirk a bit. Amy had always been the only person craziest enough to take care of him when he was sick or even injured. It was nothing more than a miracle that she could tolerate his constant whining and whimpering about how he rather be someplace else than in her care. Back then he had secretly wished that Amy would stop fussing over him. It always made him feel like a helpless child, but she was the only person in the world who could put up with him when he was in that condition. Most of their friends had already considered her a saint by just putting up with the irritating blue wonder. Sonic would have definitely been gutted by now by most people for acting like such a child. Amy was different, and there was something about her he just could not explain. Everyone knew she loved him that is everyone except Sonic. He was so clueless when it came to love, even if it was staring him in the face. Sure he loved getting attention but he was just not used to getting it from one person, even if she was a girl.
What would have been a blur in the blue speed demon's mind, lingered on for hours as he zigged and zagged throughout the never ending city of Station Square. Everything in Sonic's life was changing that even he could not keep up with it. Just a year ago, he would never consider about having a girlfriend let alone go out on date, even if it was with Amy. That just was not his style back then. Though he had friends, he just could not see putting the one he cherished the most placed in harms way. It was one of the reasons why he turned Amy down so many times, but at the time the only feelings of love he knew he had for her were just platonic. Now he was not sure about his feelings for her. Was it because of the time they spent together before the holiday season or was it because he was a sucker for the damsel in distress?
Sonic hanged his head low as his ears went flat against his head. Sure he loved Amy, but it was not in the same way he loved Aeris. There were even times in which Sonic thought about not seeing Amy for while she was ill, but she needed him. He was her hero and friend after all. What kind of creature would he be if he feed her to the wolves? Even now a part of him kind of felt bad about the way he treated her during the fall and winter months.
Everyone believed that he was leading Amy on by not telling her the about Aeris, and that what he was doing was nothing more than cruel. But how on earth was he going to tell Amy that he was finally ready to date, and that it was not going to be her. Sonic wanted to be honest with her from the very start of his relationship with Aeris, but he was clueless in these matters that he decided to follow Aeris' advice the moment he mentioned his connection to Amy. Not once did he think Aeris' advice was at all cruel or if there could be any repercussions from taking it. Sonic assumed that since she was older and more experienced that she knew best what was best for the younger hedgehogs.
The bonds of trust and friendship meant everything to the teenaged blue hedgehog. It was hard for Sonic to imagine a world in which his friends did no longer existed, but eventually the time that would soon happen. Sonic would not be who he was without them, and in his heart he thanked them for giving him the strength to go on. They were the courage and motivation he needed to do anything, no matter how simple or challenging the problem was. He was also proud to have a new friend in Aeris. It was not every day that a person like her came around. As far as Sonic knew, Aeris was a sweet and kind person. In Sonic's eyes she was quite beautiful, and her voice was so soothing that he thought she was an angel sent from above to be with him. There were even times where he would fall asleep in her lap as she sang softly to him, while stroking his long blue quills as they sat in the shade of the old oak tree behind her town house. But why did it feel so wrong? To his knowledge, Sonic was not betraying anyone and Amy seemed to be okay with the situation. At least he thought she was okay with the situation. It was not like Amy to keep things bottled up inside no matter how bad it bothered her. If only Sonic knew what was bothering him, then by chance he could make it go away.
It was not uncommon for Sonic to feel some kind of regret, but it was rare, after all he was mortal. Sonic was not perfect. But in everyone's eyes, including Amy and Tails, he was without any flaws other than his weakness of water as well as bring impatient. But it was more like him to live in the moment, and forget about what bad things happened in the past.
Amy was the complete opposite to Sonic's philosophy. As far back as he could remember, Amy has always been an emotional person. She was always quick to cry, but lived through her emotion making her the perfect friend. She was so very different from the secretive and seductive Rouge and she was even more different from the shy and naive Cream. Even though Amy could be as seductive and naïve as the others were, she still had a good head on her shoulders. But there were times in the past where she lost her head whenever she would chase him around the planet for a date or marriage.
It had been a long time since Amy had asked him for a date, and it seemed even longer since the last time she asked him to marry her. For some strange reason, Sonic missed that old cat and mouse routine that he and Amy had. It sort of defined who they were in the eyes of the global population. It just seemed that without her and her quirks, he would be an entirely different Sonic. Perhaps even something darker, something similar to what Shadow had become after losing Maria.
Sonic reduced his speed before stopping completely in front one Station Square's oldest cathedral. Normally things of religious significance were of no concern to the blue speed demon, but this particular holy ground was important to him and to Amy. It was no more than two years ago that they both noticed the cathedral during one of their many chases. It was normal back then for him to increase his speed to get away from her, but before he could he noticed that she had stopped. It was not because she was out of breath or tired, but some how the building had caught her attention. This made Sonic curious enough to walk and stand next to her gazing upon the relic. Normally Amy was a one track, unless something caught her eye, whether it was him or shopping. But this was a new one for her, especially since it was not him or something she could buy.
Though it was old, this cathedral was quite different from any other that the two had seen. Its design was quite different from a traditional cathedral. It had more statues of angels and gargoyles that were hanging from the terraces, a strong indication that this congregation was bent on preventing evil from entering their sacred ground. But what caught Amy's eyes were the stained glass windows. Unlike normal stained glass windows one might find in any church or cathedral, these did not have religious icons on them. Instead they were filled with images of love and romance. Images of roses, butterflies, and fairies littered the unusual stained glass that even Sonic himself was taken aback by its beauty. He remembered how Amy sighed that day, as if she was living their wedding day in her mind. Sonic also remembered how he rolled his eyes that day when she mentioned how nice it would be to get married in a place like this. The cathedral was certainly indeed a place of good luck for lovers and those walking down the aisle. But Sonic was young and brash back then. Romance, love, and marriage had no impact on him back then, but now it did. Even though he did not care about those things back then, he still made a promise to Amy that day. He promised her that no matter what, the two of them would always be together and that their bond could never be broken by anyone or anything. But time has a way of changing these things, even breaking the memories and promises that mean everything in someone's life. Though it did not seem like it to Sonic, it was happening to him. And for the first time in all his days alive on this planet, he was losing a battle unknown to him.
Sonic's ears perked up as he heard the wind blowing through the cathedral's gothic stone rain gutters. The sound had startled him for a moment, but he soon relaxed himself as focused on the hand carved wooden door of the church. For a brief second the male hedgehog could have sworn he heard voices softly talking around him. These were voices from the past. It was not any voice, but that of his and Amy's from two years ago. He knew it was theirs, but as to what they saying he did not know. To him, it was nothing more than a gentle whisper of things said a long time ago. But for some strange reason Sonic felt that something terrible was going to happen.
The whispers felt as if they trying to warn him, but not a single one of his friends were in any danger, and Amy looked as if she was getting better from what he could he could see with his own emerald green eyes. But Sonic knew Amy or at least he thought he did. Amy had never kept any secrets from him before, even if it was personal. The idea of her keeping secrets and lying to him was something that the blue bomber could not even imagine her doing. It was so out of character for her to lie to either him or their friends. Just like how it was out of character for him to be dating. If only things could go back to the way they used to be, then perhaps everything would be better. But Sonic was in no way willing to give up Aeris just to go back to the way things were. Not only would he lose Aeris, but he would have to endure Amy constantly chasing him and her deadly vice grip hugs. And frankly, Sonic was not quite sure if he wanted to go through that again, but if it meant that Amy would be well again then he would gladly make the trade just to see her out in the sunlight again. He was her hero after all.