Chapter Twelve: My True Strength
Back at the palace, the first pair to make it back was Knuckles and Tikal.
"I ensure you, Knuckles, and Tikal. Amber is perfectly alright. She has been a good baby all afternoon. No crying, playful, and laughing. She is in her crib right now, sound asleep." Radger explained.
"Well, thank you for looking after her, Radger." Tikal smiled.
"Your duty is over for today. Take the night off, and have a good rest. You have earned it." Knuckles told him.
"Thank you both so much. Anything to help the King, and Queen of Angel Island." Radger thanked.
After that was all said and done, Radger made his way to bed, and then Knuckles and Tikal were waiting to see if the other pair would return with their elements. Even though they didn't know that Shadow was with Rouge.
"Do you reckon they found their elements, Tikal?" Knuckles wondered.
"I sure hope so. Sooner they prove Sonic is innocent, the better." Tikal replied.
Suddenly, they see two figures flying in the sky, and they then made their way towards Knuckles and Tikal. It was of course Tails and Cream.
"Tails, Cream! You're back!" Tikal exclaimed excitedly.
"Great to see you back here. Me and Tikal gathered enough molten rock for the lie detector. Any luck with you two, and the dirt?" Knuckles asked.
"More than enough, Knuckles. Right here." Tails stated, as he shows the bag full of them.
"It was a rough job, but we got there. I think I'll head off for a shower, and head off to bed. I might just spend the night here, if that's OK with you two?" Cream wondered.
"You're more than welcome to spend the night, Cream. It's pretty late anyway." Tikal smiled.
"I'll catch you in a bit, Cream. I'm just waiting for Sonic, Amy, and Shadow to come back, so I can work on the lie detector." Tails mentioned.
"OK, I'll see you then. Goodnight, Tails. I love you." Cream mentioned.
"Love you too, Cream." Tails replied.
They are a loving kiss, and then Cream made her way to the spare room that Tails was in, went for a shower, and went to bed. Knuckles was chuckling at Tails.
"Now, what have you two lovebirds been up to, while gathering dirt?" Knuckles teased.
"Uh, nothing much." Tails replied, shyly.
Then they all heard a motorcycle making its way towards them. They all looked in the direction of the source of the sound, and there was Shadow. And to their surprise, they saw Rouge was with him, as well. Shadow and Rouge both got off the motorcycle, and Shadow waved the back full of sand.
"Well, here we go, Tails. There's your sand for the lie detector Sonic mentioned to me." Shadow mentioned. Tails then took the bag.
"Thank you, Shadow. And what a surprise as well. Sonic never mentioned Rouge was here too." Tails stated.
"Yeah, well, Baby-Blue didn't know I was here. Then again, neither did Shadow." Rouge teased.
"Well, whatever the case was, you two did great gathering the elements." Knuckles stated.
"And while you two are here. You sure you two don't want to spend the night here? We have a lot of spare rooms you can use, and it's quite late. And you two would be very tired, working through the hot desert, gathering sand." Tikal asked.
"Well, now you put it like that, I think me and Black Stallion can spend the night here." Rouge replied, as she winks at Shadow.
"Uh, yeah. I can't be bothered driving all the way home, anyway." Shadow added.
"Can you not use Chaos Control?" Knuckles wondered.
"No. I don't have a Chaos Emerald with me, so me using Chaos Control is out of the question." Shadow responded.
"Oh. Well, no problem. You two can use any spare room you like. Just not the ones that say used, because that will be either Sonic's room, or Tails and Cream's room." Knuckles explained.
"Right, guess it's shower, then bed for us then, Shadow." Rouge teased again.
"I suppose." Shadow replied, trying not to make it obvious that he was shy.
Shadow and Rouge made their way inside the palace, and made their way towards one of the spare rooms. To Tails, Knuckles, and Tikal's surprise, they both entered the same room.
"And now I will show you what you can do with the big boy down there, Shadow." Rouge flirted.
"OK, but Jesus Christ, Rouge, keep the fucking noise down! Everybody is gonna hear this!" Shadow stated, sternly, but playfully.
"You reckon those two are an item?" Tikal wondered.
"Looks like it to me." Knuckles replied.
"Well, guess it's just Sonic and Amy then." Tails replied.
And Sonic and Amy appeared in front of Tails out of nowhere, in a blink of an eye. And this startled Tails.
"Sorry for scaring you, little buddy. But yes, me and Amy have got the mushrooms. How did everyone else do?" Sonic wondered.
"Well, yes, everyone else is back, and they do have their elements." Tails smiled.
"You know, for someone who is known as the fastest thing alive, you were actually the last pair here." Knuckles wondered.
"Was everything alright?" Tikal asked.
"Yeah, everything was great. Just had a long thought, because we weren't sure how much we needed." Amy mentioned.
"And also, I have a confession." Sonic added.
Everyone was curious, especially Amy. They all turned their attention to Sonic.
"A confession?" Knuckles wondered.
"What do you mean, Sonic?" Tails added.
"You feeling alright, Sonic?" Tikal asked with worry.
"Sonic?" Amy thought.
"The other reason it took me and Amy so long, was because we did have a little moment with each other. We're not getting any younger, and I needed to get some stuff off my chest with Amy, before I'd regret it for the rest of my life." Sonic mentioned.
Sonic then turns around, and he looks at the edge of the cliff, and stares at the moon reflecting in the ocean. Everyone was growing concerned, especially Amy.
.
(Sonic singing)
Looking down out of the little round window
On silver wings at twenty-thousand feet
With lakes and streams and fields of green
I stop to think the most peculiar things
.
Sonic then looks up at the sky, and smiles warmly. He was staring at the stars, which was forming in the shape of himself and Amy at a wedding ceremony.
.
(Sonic singing)
Ribbon of highways, side roads and byways
People going most ways always in a hurry
Got to get there, but just where, from up here
I don't know where it's all going, or what it all means
.
Sonic then turns around, to look at Amy. His eyes were full of love, and affection. Sonic never took his eyes off her, and Amy never took her eyes off Sonic's either. Sonic slowly walked towards her, while Tails, Knuckles and Tikal were wondering what was going on here.
.
(Sonic singing)
But sometimes I'd think, it's just one simple thing
I'd close my eyes and then realize all I really need
Is the love I have, and the love I have to give
Everything else there is, is insignificant
In this tiny life
.
Sonic finally made it in front of Amy, and he softly grabs both of her hands, lovingly. Tails and Knuckles' eyes were widened with shock, but Tikal had a warm smile on her face.
"Am I seeing things here, Tails?" Knuckles wondered.
"You and me both. Never thought I'd see the day." Tails replied.
"Well, I think it's beautiful." Tikal smiled.
.
(Sonic singing)
Waves hurt the runways, some days run towards some days
And most days are better than some days
Cannot see the sky, sky scraper's too high
Thirty second day-dream at a different red light
.
I'm back near my hometown of roads where we rode down
These sights and sounds are just yesterday's love
There's deadlines and stress lines with too much on my mind
I'm getting it all, but what's this all for
.
Sonic then gently placed his head against Amy's, lovingly. Both their eyes were closed. Tikal couldn't help but smile warmly still, at this scenery. Tails and Knuckles were still stunned silent about the whole thing.
Tails even pinched Knuckles, to make sure he isn't dreaming.
.
(Sonic singing)
But sometimes I'd think, it's just one simple thing
I'd close my eyes and then realize all I really need
Is the love I had, and the love I have to give
Everything else there is, is insignificant
In this tiny life
.
Sonic opened his eyes, and so did Amy. They look into one another's eyes lovingly. Amy's eyes were flowing with happy tears.
.
(Sonic singing)
That love we make, these dreams we share
The friends we have in the short time here
It now knows God's grace, the touch of their hand
Holding the baby, calling mom and dad
.
It's now makes the most of these moments we have
And it gets to live long enough to look back
Through the years, these sweet tears of joy and laughter
That's all that really matters
Ooh, yeah, yeah
.
Sonic's eyes also started flowing with happy tears. And then he playfully lifts Amy up into the air, and swings her around. Amy chuckles, and Tikal was also shedding happy tears. Tails looked at Knuckles, and noticed he had tears in his eyes.
"Knuckles, are you OK?" Tails wondered.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Damn fly got in my eyes, and it's watering them. What about you, are you, OK? Your eyes are watering as well." Knuckles asked back.
"Yeah. I just didn't think I would see this side of Sonic. And it's making me happy, because he's happy." Tails admitted.
.
(Sonic singing)
But sometimes I'd think, it's just one simple thing
I'd close my eyes and then realize all I really need
Is the love I had, and the love I have to give
Everything else there is, is insignificant
In this tiny life
.
And then after that, Sonic and Amy share a loving passionate kiss, which really made Tikal cry uncontrollably, with happiness.
"Why are you crying, Tikal?" Knuckles wondered.
"It's just beautiful. Sonic has never looked so happy, and Amy finally got her dream come true." Tikal replied.
"You were crying too, Knuckles." Tails teased.
"I weren't crying! I had a fly in my eye!" Knuckles lied.
Sonic and Amy break their passionate kiss, and they look back at the three.
"This is my confession. I am in love with Amy. I regretted not admitting this sooner, but now that I have, this is my true strength that I needed this whole time." Sonic stated, happily. No regrets this time.
"And I love you, Sonic." Amy responded.
"Well, anyway, as beautiful as this may be, shouldn't we stop wasting so much time, so Tails can work on that lie detector, to prove you're innocent?" Knuckles asked demandingly.
"Yeah, we have all the elements here. I'll go work on it right away." Tails stated.
He then took all the bags, which was filled with the needed elements, and he made his way to his room, for a shower, then to work, making sure he didn't wake Cream up in the process.
"Well, while Tails works on that, I guess we should get some shut-eye as well." Sonic stated.
"You're not kidding. Lava Reef makes you feel exhausted with all that heat." Knuckles mentioned.
"Well, goodnight to the both of you. No doubt you'll be sharing the room with Sonic tonight, Amy." Tikal teased.
After that, Knuckles and Tikal made their way inside, and Sonic and Amy look at one another, smiling warmly.
"If you do, I have no complaints. Unless, you want to have a room to yourself?" Sonic teased.
"I don't think me having a room to myself is going to be much fun, Sonic. Being next to my blue knight would be the best way to spend the night." Amy retaliated, playfully.
Sonic then picks Amy up in bridal style.
"Well, time for bed then." Sonic smiled.
Amy smiled back, and she kissed Sonic passionately. And even then, Sonic was still able to walk inside, closed the front door, and make his way to his guest room, with Amy in his arms.
Having all the elements is one thing for Tails, now it's up to him to get it fully working, in order to prove Sonic is innocent.