"Man, guarding the Master Emerald is hard these days." Knuckles muttered to himself. The red echidna was guarding the big gemstone keeping Angel Island afloat in the sky as usual like almost every other day. A few days had passed since the Xorda tried to destroy Mobius and Sonic sacrificed himself to stop them and nothing had happened much.

The red echidna felt that he needed some alone time with his girlfriend Julie Su the Echidna. They had started dating right before the arrival of Doctor Eggman, the alternate dimension equivalent of the original Robotnik who met his demise via the Ultimate Annihilator.

"If I go spend some time with Julie Su, who's going to guard the Master Emerald for me?" Knuckles asked himself. "Knuckles, do not worry about the Master Emerald." Tikal's voice spoke, surprising Knuckles, there is no one who can even touch it at the moment, save for the Dark Legion but they are someplace else on the island."

"Are you saying the emerald will be okay?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes, the Master Emerald will be okay. You can go spend some time with Julie Su. She is at her apartment in Echidnaoplis waiting for you, I may be a spirit but I will help guard the Master Emerald for you. Go spend some time with Julie Su if you like, I promise we will be fine."

"Thank you, Tikal, thank you."

"The best I can do."

That was that, Knuckles took to the air and flew over the island until he was above Echidnaoplis over where Julie Su's place was. He began his descent slowly until he was on Julie Su's balcony near her room, the air smelled fresh here just like always on the island except in the Sandoplis Zone due to it being all hot and stuff.

Rad Red rapped on the door and Julie Su's voice replied, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Knuckles." Knuckles answered.

"I thought you were guarding the Master Emerald."

"I was, but I wanted to be with you. Sometimes doing my job is a bit boring."

"Who's helping you guard it?"

"Tikal."

"She volunteered."

"Yeah. But that's not the point, may I come in?"

"I guess so. You could use some rest and some alone time with me, by the way, the doors already unlocked and you don't have to worry. Come on in, Knuckles."

"Coming, JS."

Knuckles pushed the glass door opened and made his way through the shades until he was in Julie Su's room. It looked pretty cool, the wall and ceiling were pink-lavender with a few hearts on them. An emerald looking lamp stood on a nearby drawer and there was a table where this year's Echidna playboy magazine lay along with a video game comic book.

There was also a bookshelf with lots of books from the distant past.

The bed looked extremely nice, its sheets were white and the covers were purple, the color of Knuckles' and Julie Su's eyes. And speaking of his girlfriend, there she was with her hair tied back in a ponytail, sitting on the bed and wearing nothing but a turquoise bra and white-blue g-string panties.

Her belt, shorts, crop top, boots and gloves lay on the ground nearby.

Knuckles found himself holding back his urge to drool as he drank in the sight. Rouge the Bat looked amazing but Julie Su was way nicer and more gorgeous and not as voluptuous as the white bat was. "Good to see you, Knuckles." Julie-Su said in a sweet, lovely voice. "Come, relax, you need it." JS patted the spot next to her, gesturing for Knuckles to be with her.

"Okay." Knuckles came over and climbed up on the bed next to his girlfriend and then sat next to her as they started to hold each other's hands and locked eyes.

"Relax and sit quietly, my sweet red echidna." Julie Su whispered in Knuckles' ear, "Listen to the sounds of birds outside and breath in the nice fresh air."

"Yeah, feels pretty peaceful here." Knuckles said, he sounded a little tired. Julie Su sat up on her knees behind him and began massaging his shoulders, "You feel tense, the daily job of guarding the Master Emerald must be hard. But don't worry, I'm here to ease your stress."

"Yeah." Knuckles said. Very soon he was laying down cuddling with Julie Su, he was now acting as if there was no Master Emerald at all for the moment. This felt like one romantic moment, he and his girl kissed romantically right there on the bed.

"Did you like the massage, Knuckles?" Julie Su asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I loved it, I sure as heck need relaxation more often."

"You know, handsome, you look like somebody who could be great at massages too."

"I don't know about that, would you like me to give you a massage then?"

"Yes, why not?"

Julie Su lay down on her stomach and undid the back of her bra as Knuckles got up on his knees atop Julie Su, then very gently, he began to knead and massage her back. JS sighed happily and lay still, feeling Knuckles' hands go up and down her spine.

"Just lay still, Julie Su." Knuckles said in a soothing voice. "Forget about forget everything bad that's happened. Let your boyfriend help relieve the stress, loosen up and forget your worries."

"That's so sweet of you, Knux." Julie Su's voice sounded relaxed and a little sleepy.

Knuckles rubbed the area right between the shoulder blades and Julie Su's neck, soon as he did so, Knuckles started to feel a small bump in that area.

"There's the spot." Knuckles did that soothing voice again, "Your boyfriend is getting that. He's doing a nice job." Julie Su smiled, "Yes, you are."

The pink echidna sat up and let Knuckles massage her shoulders the way she had massaged his. The massage went on for a few more minutes until Knuckles was finished.

"How was that?" Knuckles asked. His girlfriend kissed him, "That was so nice." She said.

Both echidnas lay down upon the bed, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes. "So, when are you going to get back to the Master Emerald?" Julie Su asked.

Knuckles shrugged, "I could use a day off, Julie Su. Why don't we take a nap together?"

"Nice idea, I'm falling asleep myself. I love you too, Knuckles."

Knuckles pulled back the covers over himself before putting his arm around Julie Su, who placed a hand on his torso as she rested her body against the red echidna's, both soulmates cuddling together as they fell asleep into the land of Mobian Naptime, hardly aware of the future that lay ahead of them, not caring about what would happen down the line. Knuckles knew that as long as he had Julie Su, nothing else would matter

The End