Chapter 7: Reunion

Author's Note: Well, fanfic, it looks like this is our final chapter. Ha ha! Anyway, since I was to make the ending to this as dramatic as possible, I'm adding all my final words here.

First, I'd like to thank all of my wonderful reviewers for giving their support and critique. You guys are what make me feel... accepted. But I'd also like to especially thank Kal0 and Summer for their thoughtful and humorous reviews, and for always being there. Hugs for you! I'd also like to thank ShadowStalkr for his effortful, and definitely helpful review. And, I'd like to thank you, whomever you may be, for reading this. Thank you very much.

Second, I'm very, deeply sorry that Knuckles and Rouge aren't really in character... it's very difficult to do this scene... I apologize ahead of time.

Third, since I won't have a message at the end of this, I want to request that reviewers give me a rating from 1-20 (A one being absolute rubbish, and a twenty being a perfect story) for the story as a whole. Thanks!

So enjoy the last installment of which SH has to offer. It's very long, and you won't be disappointed.

-Sonic Hero

Twenty-one lonesome months and six days forlorn passed since the incident.

The first two weeks Knuckles had spent in the hospital. After running numerous tests on him, the doctors were taken aback by how little Knuckles was hurt. With only two small cuts, a sore back, and a one really large headache, Knuckles was still in one piece.

Even though he hadn't mentioned it to anyone, Knuckles had a feeling the Master Emerald, or perhaps even Tikal, was involved with this. Having helped protect him at Rouge's night club, the power of the Master Emerald may have helped heal him after his fall. It seemed like the most convincing reason to him.

But the only one who would know whether or not this was true was Tikal. Over and over, Knuckles tried to get Tikal to talk to him, but he couldn't figure out how he could get the emerald to glow as it did when she first spoke to him. Thus, he could never contact her, and gave up a few days after coming back to the altar from the hospital.

Tikal wasn't the only one he wasn't able to talk to. His companion, Sonic, and cohort, Rouge, had not visited him one time since then. Sonic wouldn't come to chat with him or tease him. Rouge wouldn't come to flirt with him or steal his emerald. At least if they'd even annoy him, it wouldn't be as quiet and boring.

That night felt to Knuckles like every other boring one. Knuckles began to doze off a bit earlier than normal. The sun setting in the mountains ahead, the light winds breezing by slowly, Knuckles nodded off, sitting on the altar, his head propped against the emerald. Tomorrow would be another boring day.

Then a vaguely familiar voice woke him minutes later. "Hey, Knuckles! Did ya miss me?"

Knuckles half-opened his eyes. "Rouge?" He rubbed his eyes and propped himself up. He eyed the person looming over him from head to toe.

Crud, he thought, it's Sonic. His guess was wrong, but he couldn't help but smile at his new company.

Sonic laughed at his friend's response. "No, I'm not your bat friend." He grabbed Knuckles by the wrist and helped him to his feet. "How have you been, buddy?"

Knuckles scratched his head. "Bored, tired, and lonely..." he quickly remembered what he had wanted to ask. "Where have you been?"

Sonic looked past Knuckles. "Well..." He shook his head. "Forget it. You'll find out later. But the reason why-"

"No, come on, tell me!" Knuckles urged on, politely. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"Look, I don't want to..." Sonic stated as calmly as he could "You'll find out later, 'kay?"

Knuckles stamped his foot. "What are you hiding from me?"

Sonic jumped back. "Whoa, chill, Knux!" Knuckles growled at him, but Sonic continued. "Don't you want to hear what I came here for?"

Knuckles tried to calm down. Maybe it had been too long. "Right... sorry. Why'd you drop by?" Sonic handed him a small white card folded in half with two hearts on the front. A rushed handwritten "Knuckles" was written in the center. Knuckles gave a puzzled stare to Sonic. "From Amy?"

"From Rouge," Sonic said with a smile and a wink.

Immediately Knuckles body temperature skyrocketed, but his body stood frozen. What would Rouge want with him that involved a card with hearts on it? And in front of Sonic? Knuckles turned around and opened the folded card. In an elegant cursive style, the letter read:

Knuckles,

I'm sorry I hadn't sent to you this letter years ago when I should have. I've been so busy with work recently, and the media just won't get out of my face... but I can't thank you enough for saving my life years ago.

This is why I would like to invite you to my house tonight. Don't think of it as anything formal, just a friendly chat between the two of us. My address is on the back of this card. I'll see you there!

-Rouge the Bat

P.S.: If Sonic teases you for this, feel free to smack him around for me.

Knuckles laughed at the last line in the letter.

"Don't even think about it, Knuckles," said Sonic, as if he could read Knuckles' mind. He had apparently seen the letter beforehand.

Knuckles turned the card over. Sure enough, in the same cursive handwriting, was "306 Starlight Lane. Station Square."

"Go on ahead," Sonic walked over by his friend's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll watch your emerald."

Knuckles was hesitant. Should he really go? And could he trust that smirking blue hedgehog? Sonic had saved many lives before. Perhaps he could be trusted to guard a giant piece of rock. "All right," he finally agreed, "I'll be back in a couple hours."

He was halfway across the bridge when he heard Sonic shout from behind, "Take your time!" Knuckles felt like running back and socking him in the gut, but instead, just shook it off and continued.

When Knuckles had finally left into the cave, heading for the train station, Sonic sighed with relief. "I thought he'd never leave! Knuckles really needs to chill." He then called out, "All clear!"

From out of the shrubbery across the bridge, Amy Rose jumped out and looked around cautiously. She called out to Sonic, "He's finally gone?" Sonic gave the thumbs-up. Amy then ran across the bridge and joined Sonic by the Master Emerald. "Phew! I thought he'd never leave!"

Sonic laughed and sat down, Amy soon sitting with him. Sonic was uncomfortably silent. Amy glanced at Sonic's nervous face and quickly broke the silence. "So... now that we're alone, what do you wanna do?" She rested her head on his shoulder. "Go see a movie?" She sprawled across his lap. "Take a stroll through the park?"

Sonic chuckled and rubbed her head. "Some other day... I kinda told Knuckles I'd watch his emerald..."

Amy squirmed to sit back up, now on his other side. "That's fine," she rubbed her shoulder against his, "we can just snuggle." Sonic blushed madly, Amy laughed. "Or, we can just watch the sunset together."

Sonic smiled, more calmly now. "That seems fine to me." He pulled Amy closer to his side and Amy threw her arms around his waist. Still suspended in the sky, but only kissing the horizon, the sun slowly descended behind the mountains. A long, yet settling silence came.

"Sonic?"

"Hmm?"

"Does this mean you'll marry me?"

"One step at a time, Amy."

Guided by the street lights, Knuckles the Echidna strolled along Starlight Lane searching for the number 306 on the houses. The houses he passed seemed somewhat tall, and the overhead lights illuminating the two-way residential street seemed to ruin any sight of stars in the sky.

314... 312... 310... Knuckles looked up and saw the end of the street drawing near. Suddenly he worried about whether or not she gave the right address. Or perhaps he had taken a wrong turn somewhere? Or maybe this wasn't Starlight Lane after all!

Lost in his panic-driven thoughts, Knuckles stepped on chewed bubble gum. He took a few more steps, then stopped with an agitated groan. He tried grinding his foot along the sidewalk, which only resulted in spreading out the gum along his shoe.

He looked around uncomfortably for something rough to scrape his foot on, or something disposable to use as a tool. Knuckles noticed in front of the last house he passed a rectangular black place mat sat squarely on the front doorstep. Knuckles walked up to the mat and looked around. The lights inside were on, but the curtain to the large window to the right of the door was drawn closed.

Quickly and quietly, Knuckles shuffled his feet on the welcome mat. He looked down and smiled at the sight of the bothersome, sticky gum stretched out on the mat.

Knuckles began to walk away, but slowed to a stop when he sensed a bizarre feeling about the house. He turned around and briefly studied it – a purplish-pink exterior, a few drawn windows, and a simple garage – when he finally saw the number by the door: 306.

Relieved, he ran to the door as quickly as possible and knocked on the door. Nervousness suddenly gripped him. What if Rouge wasn't home? Where would he go? Or worse, what if she was home?

"Coming!" he heard her voice call from inside. Just hearing her voice again brought back memories.

Then Knuckles broke out into sweating. What if she didn't recognize him? What if she forgot about him coming? What if she forgot who he was completely?

When the door had opened, quickly and startlingly, Knuckles caught a full glimpse of Rouge the Bat – all of his nervousness immediately vanished. She wore the same black and pink suit she had worn the night on the balcony. Her mouth was slightly opened in wonder, Knuckles smiled, somewhat embarrassed.

"Knuckles..." said Rouge, in the gentle, compassionate tone that caressed Knuckles' ears. She walked slowly onto her doorstep, nose to nose with him. She felt Knuckles' warm, tightened breath on her face. Knuckles' eyes were open in surprise, Rouge's eyes were narrowed.

Slowly, Rouge curled her arms around Knuckles and softly embraced him. She rested her head on his shoulder and gave a gentle smile. "I missed you." Knuckles' breath caught short. Hesitantly, he smiled and hugged her back. "I... missed you too."

Almost immediately, Rouge jumped back from him. For the first time in nearly two years, Knuckles saw her blush. "Oh, umm, please come in!" She opened the door and let Knuckles in.

Rouge's house was surprisingly ordinary - a plain, royal blue sofa, a television of moderate size, and a white-tiled kitchen connected. Maybe because she works at a high-tech club, Knuckles thought, she lives here? It seems so ordinary.

Rouge took his wrist and tugged his arm. "Follow me. I want to show you my favorite part of the house."

Knuckles closely followed Rouge up the stairs and to the second door on the right of a long hallway. Knuckles waited anxiously for her to open the door to her "favorite part of the house," but Rouge only set her hand on the doorknob, as if waiting for something.

"Is this the room?" Knuckles asked, as politely as possible.

"This part of the house..." she smiled sweetly, "was not part of the house when I moved here." Finally, she turned the knob and pushed the door open, revealing behind it a narrow, dark staircase. She motioned with her hand to follow her, as she walked up into the darkness. "I had this made a few days after I got back home from the skyscraper incident." Knuckles hurriedly followed her until he met her at the door at the top.

As Rouge slowly opened the door at the top, Knuckles looked on, his mouth halfway opened, in astonishment. Rouge had just led him to a large, white balcony, overlooking the other houses. The view was extraordinary; Knuckles could see for nearly a mile in almost every direction. The mountains, in the distance, could be easily seen. If he looked closely enough, he might just spot his emerald shrine.

But what really made the sight something to behold were the stars. With the street lights far below them, almost all of the stars were visible. Almost every constellation Knuckles could remember was evident. The sky itself had been filled a dark indigo, just settling into the nighttime scene. More memories of the hotel came back to Knuckles.

Rouge led Knuckles to the end of the balcony. The cold night air breezed by Knuckles as he leaned on the white stone railing. Rouge did the same to his left. "Nice night."

Knuckles stared into the night sky. "Yeah..." he glanced at Rouge, who seemed to be watching the sky as well. Knuckles sighed and looked down to the streets. Knuckles guessed they were three stories high. "So... you wanted to chat?"

Rouge looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?" Her eyes shot open. "Oh, right! My letter!" She looked to the stars again. "Well... I thought we could talk with each other again. It's been a while..."

A question immediately came to Knuckles mind. "What have you been up to?" he asked, a bit rushed. "I mean... since I haven't seen you for a while..."

Rouge lowered her head. Knuckles looked at her with curiosity and sympathy. Her sparkling green jewel eyes, for a second, hinted two lonely years. "I've been busy with work. This balcony required a large sum of money." With the same eyes, she gazed at Knuckles. "Knuckles, I'm sorry I haven't talked to you recently. We both have our jobs..."

Knuckles smiled, hoping it would cheer Rouge up. "It's okay, Rouge. We're both here... together again." Rouge stepped closer, but Knuckles went on. "Maybe we can hang out again sometime! Maybe walk through the park, or have dinner?" Rouge stepped closer. Her eyes were almost all the way open, but her mouth showed no emotion. Slowly, Knuckles tried to step back, but it didn't seem to help. "Just... the two of us..."

The world fell silent. Rouge looked upon Knuckles, with less grief and misery, their noses almost touching. Knuckles could feel her warm breath on his face. He could very clearly feel his racing heart beat.

Finally, Rouge curled her arms around his waist and embraced him tightly. She rested her head softly on his shoulder, as she did earlier.

Bewildered Knuckles stared at her. True, it had been two years since he had last seen Rouge... but a hug? His stomach felt empty, even though he had eaten on the way. His heart felt empty, in a way it hadn't before. Millions and billions of thoughts and assumptions spun around his mind.

With one long sigh, Knuckles put his arms around her. A sudden numbness came to him. His heart stopped racing, his stomach no longer bothered him, and all the thoughts and problems clouding his mind vanished. Knuckles smiled. He was at peace. He tightened his grip on Rouge. "I missed you, too, Rouge."

Rouge smiled and rubbed her head against him. "How about tomorrow? At Twinkle Park?"

"Hmm?" he asked, still smiling.

"Tinkle Park," she repeated. "You wanted to do something together. I've never really been to there before... but I've heard Amy likes it."

Knuckles searched his memories. Twinkle Park... the cutesy, yet techno amusement park near the beach at Station Square. Knuckles' eyes shot open. "You mean that amusement park designed for young couples?"

Rouge finally pulled away, but still stood close to Knuckles. Although she wouldn't blush, Knuckles could tell Rouge was a bit embarrassed. "Yeah..." she looked away from him. "They allow couples to get in for free. I... kinda need someone to come with me..."

"You mean... like a date?" Knuckles asked, although he knew what she meant.

Rouge shook her head and began to walk away. "Never mind, it's... it was a dumb idea anyway."

She felt Knuckles' hand gently take hers. She stopped and slowly turned around. Knuckles smiled calmly and sweetly, a smile she had not seen for a long time. "I'll be your date, Rouge." Rouge stepped nearer to him and smiled, as well. Continued Knuckles, "I've just... never really seen why people think so fondly of young couples, though."

Rouge laughed, still holding his hand. "Because it's... cute, I guess."

"What is?"

With little hesitation, Rouge arched her arms around Knuckles' neck, and kissed him. Her sudden act stunned Knuckles, but only momentarily. Hesitantly, but confidently, he, too, put his arms around her and kissed her back.

Seconds melted away into minutes. Rouge absorbed as much as she could from her kiss, as did Knuckles. Time stood still, as did the two. His back firmly pressed against the wall, Knuckles had then been sandwiched between the cold, hard wall and Rouge's soft, warm body.

Finally, Rouge parted from him, with both yearning for more. "That," she said at last, with a smile and a wink, "is love."

Knuckles blushed, but immediately took Rouge by the hands. "I'll gladly go with you, under one condition."

:"...which is?" she asked, still smiling.

"That you promise that we meet like this every day. No interruptions, no duties, nothing standing in between us."

She put her arms around him, like she had before. "Of course, Knuckles... I love you."

Knuckles smiled and held her. "And I love you, too, Rouge."

They kissed again, now without worries or doubts. The world as they knew it faded away from them. There was no yesterday. There was no tomorrow. All there was, and ever will be, is Knuckles and Rouge.

The End

(Thank you for reading!)