A small ray of light broke into the darkness of the cave, causing Amy to stir from her slumber. The beam of sunlight softly shone on her face, prompting her to slowly open her eyes from the gentle disturbance. As she did she could hear water dripping gradually into puddles – it was a huge difference from the absolute downpour her ears had gotten used to.
The storm must finally be over.
She then heard a soft snore directly in her left ear. Fully opening her eyes, she realized she was still essentially laying on Sonic – she must had fallen asleep on his chest. Amy glanced up to see he was still sitting upright, arms around her with his back leaning against the wall, head tilted slightly to the side. Despite everything, she couldn't help but smile, a tiny blush forming on her cheeks. They must have both fallen asleep like this.
To think he cradled her in his arms the entire night…
The more awake she became the more it set in just how sore her eyes were; probably from all the crying. Amy couldn't help but feel guilty for dumping her feelings onto Sonic like that. If anything, he should have been the one to lean on her, to express his feelings about everything. But once she started to recall the events she had gone through, despite trying her hardest to remain composed, she just couldn't stop. Her emotions came out too fast for her mind to keep up as she relived it all and became a blubbering mess.
Amy supposed that was one of the downfalls of always wearing her heart on her sleeve...
Besides, as if he would have opened up anyway. He was about to leave and do God-knows-what before Amy had stopped him. But even with the whirlwind of events that had just happened, she did feel a bit better; being in his arms like this, hearing him snoring peacefully so close to her. She laid there for a bit longer, not wanting to leave his warmth, trying to will herself back asleep. But eventually she couldn't ignore how her leg was throbbing. She needed to readjust herself.
Amy gently began to move off of Sonic, doing her best to let the hedgehog continue to snore. But as she shifted her weight on him, he suddenly jolted up hissing in pain, his hand immediately going toward his side.
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- are you okay?!" Amy looked at him worriedly.
He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes as he breathed heavily for a few seconds, tolerating the pain that just snapped him awake. Sonic then opened his eyes halfway and looked to her with a weak smile, "S'all good. Don't worry about it."
Amy studied him, still confused and concerned.
"But wait… you went Super…" at the look he gave her she corrected herself, "Well, a Super form of some kind anyway... Why are you so injured still…?"
"Beats me." he replied curtly, turning his attention to her own injury, "How's your foot doing?"
Amy stared at him, irritated at his deflection. She glanced down at her foot after a long moment of silence.
"It hurts." She replied, matching the tone of his own short answer. Sonic stood up, brushing past the attitude she was giving.
"Well then let's get you outta here."
She watched him, frustrated.
"I'm sorry about last night!" Amy blurted out loudly- she wasn't going to waste anytime beating around the bush.
He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I was a mess, when really you should have had the floor to talk. It was selfish of me."
Sonic furrowed his brow, "Don't ever apologize for that. And you're the furthest possible thing from selfish, Amy."
In a few steps he was at the back of the cave, Amy's determined glare never leaving him. She noticed that as his arm extended out there was a jerky movement of hesitation before he grabbed the sack of emeralds.
He slung the bag over his shoulder, a look of clear reluctance on his face – he looked almost uncomfortable.
It was hard to ignore the tugging feeling the gems were producing, it felt like they were reaching out, trying to pull him back in. As if they were not done with him just yet.
Sonic did not like it.
When he walked back to Amy he crouched down, inspecting her foot again, a tight frown on his lips. She moved her leg slightly away from him, which caused him to look at her directly.
"Well, I am apologizing. And I'm letting you know that the floor is now yours. I'm all ears."
Sonic let out a frustrated sigh, "Amy... We don't have time for this." What is her deal! Always with the therapy sessions!
"Say's who?!"
His frustration was clear now in both his face and tone, "Says me."
Amy's eyes narrowed, "Just because you don't think it's important, doesn't mean it's not!"
Sonic clenched his jaw, trying his best to bite back a snarky reply "We can talk about this another time. Let's go."
She felt her temper begin to flare - she has had enough of this charade.
"Oh yeah!? And when will that be!?"
"I don't know, maybe when we're not in a cave in the middle of nowhere?!" Sonic began to bring his hands towards her in an attempt to help stand her up, "C'mon, let's just-"
Amy pushed his advances away roughly, "No! There will never be a good enough time with you! You always brush it off! So now is as good of a time as any!"
Sonic shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was trying not to lose his temper with her but she was making it extremely difficult. The gems continued to invisibly gnaw at him.
"Amy…." He said in a warning tone, his patience running thin. When he opened his eyes again, he saw her arms crossed defiantly across her chest, a stubborn glint in her eyes. She wasn't budging.
"We just went through something insane – you literally transformed into something we have never seen before and you're seriously trying to tell me that you have nothing to say!? You have no thoughts towards it!? No feelings!? Nothing?!"
Sonic stood up abruptly, his composure taking a drastic turn.
"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED AMY! NONE! And it scares the living shit out of me! Is that what you want to hear!?"
Amy jumped a little at his sudden reaction, her face flinching only slightly.
He took a few steps away as he continued, the words just spewing out, his voice still raised "It was like I wasn't in control of myself but at the same time I was. You would think I was POSSESSED by something but no, it was me alright. What the hell was wrong with me?! It feels like it was just a bad dream o-or that I was drugged or something! I had no control whatsoever, I still can't remember everything that I did and it's freaking me OUT!"
As he stopped, he turned to look back at Amy, a look of surprise and caution on his features. He wasn't expecting those thoughts to all come out like that, and he wasn't sure how she was going to react to it. Hell, even he didn't know how to react to it.
Amy uncrossed her arms, hands falling softly to her lap, her stance relaxing. Finally they were getting somewhere.
"Of course it's freaking you out… That would freak anyone out."
His eyes searched hers for a moment before he turned away from her. She assumed it was to compose himself from that surprised outburst, but that's just it! He didn't need to compose himself! It was good that he let that out! And Amy wasn't going to continue this breakthrough conversation with his back turned to her.
She began to attempt to stand up, doing her best to use the wall behind her as some sort of leverage. Her palm slipped, causing some of her weight to shift to her bad leg, making her whimper loudly at the pain. Within an instant, Sonic was there to help, his hands holding onto her.
Amy met his hesitant eyes – she could tell he was uncomfortable with his confession. She placed her hand on his cheek,
"Sonic… We're going to get through this and figure this out together. It is all going to work out."
She spoke with such confidence – her sentence wasn't a reassurance but more of a matter-of-fact statement. He shied away from her palm, his face expressing disagreement. Sonic would normally second that positivity but…
She doesn't know what it was like… She doesn't understand. He looked to the mouth of the cave, avoiding her stare.
A sad feeling tugged inside of her at his lack of acknowledgement of hope. It felt strange to be boosting Sonic's morale, he usually was the one doing that for everyone. It felt even stranger that he was being pessimistic about it all. This is actually the first time he's ever shown anything other than positivity and hope that she could recall.
"Sonic…" she placed her hand on his cheek once more, gently guiding his face so he was looking at her again. She then brought up her other hand, cupping his other cheek. She searched his eyes, desperately trying to find a way in. "You have overcome so much. This is just another hurdle that you will surpass. And I will be there for you, every step of the way. You aren't alone."
He stared back, the intensity of her eyes conveying more than her words ever could. With her back against the wall, Sonic's hands holding her body and her hands cradling his face, they suddenly found themselves in a very intimate embrace. Strangely, he didn't care. He felt no nerves, his subconscious wasn't overthinking anything; he just felt extreme comfort. And another passionate feeling coursed through him, one that he wasn't quite sure of.
She felt his grip on her tighten, his fingers applying a slight pressure in a way that made her heart skip a beat. Amy's hands slide back a bit, her fingertips gracing the sides of his neck delicately, causing Sonic to let out a shaky breath. He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward, making their foreheads touch.
"Thanks, Ames…" his one hand drifted down near her hip and his grip once more tightened, the extra little squeeze accentuating his appreciation for her. She could feel the heat quickly rising to her cheeks.
Sonic then let go, taking a step back, begrudgingly ending the embrace. Once more he looked to the mouth of the cave, thankfully not noticing how red Amy was.
Her words of encouragement were a nice reassurance but he had a million things on his mind and didn't have the time to delve into anything deeper. First things first, he needed to get her back to safety.
"It's dangerous to stay here any longer than we have. Let's get going."
Amy nodded, taking a little breath to readjust herself. It seemed she got through to him, and she now had a gist of how he was feeling. But it wasn't enough. She knew it wasn't even scratching the surface.
Sonic held out the bag to her and she took it wordlessly. He crouched down, his one arm placed around her back while the other hovered at the back of her knees.
"Ready?"
She took a deep breath in before nodding, bracing herself as he lifted her as gently as possible. She wrapped her arms tightly around Sonic's neck and pressed her face into his chest as pain immediately shot up her entire leg. Despite her best efforts another whimper escaped her lips. The sound made Sonic tense – hearing her suffering made him sick. He hated it.
"You okay?" he said softly and she just nodded into his chest. Amy was fighting back tears and didn't want him so see. She heard him mummer a small 'alright' into her ear, the sound of his low baritone giving her a comfort.
Walking out of the cave, Sonic began their journey home. Right away he noticed how much the temperature had dropped outside, the storm must have brought in a cold front. He had been thinking it would just be a quick jog home, but if simply picking Amy up caused her so much pain, there was no way he could attempt to run. It was looking to be a longer journey than he had hoped. And realistically, he was still badly injured as well, so he wasn't all that confident he would be able to safely run with her anyways.
He held her as securely as possible while also trying to avoid her weight on his broken ribs, which was proving to be almost impossible. With each step he gritted his teeth, the pain a constant reminder of the events that had just unfolded.
Why wasn't he healed? It didn't make any sense. Anytime chaos energy flowed through him that was just an automatic perk - even the tiniest bruise would disappear, unprompted. He kept mulling it over in his head, again and again.
Why did this happened? Why was everything so different this time? Why was his memory so twisted and blurry?
It wasn't helping that the constant frequency from the emeralds Amy held was putting him on edge. The energy wasn't pulsing but rather jabbing at him; taunting, pushing, provoking. It sounded stupid, but Sonic felt betrayed by them. Why were they doing this to him? Is this how it was going to be from now on? Had his relationship with the powerful jewels changed forever?
And Eggman. His eyes narrowed, a scowl forming on his face. He got away, again.
He fought the urge to growl, a flash of rage igniting inside. If Sonic hadn't pulled through, that lunatic was going to take Amy and Tails, and do Gods knows what to them...
Eggmans threatening voice echoed inside his head,
They will endure far worse things then what I put you through
Subconsciously his grip on Amy tightened a little too hard, causing her to glance up at him. His expression shocked her but he remained looking ahead, paying her no attention.
The annoying, jabbing feeling of the emeralds melted into a more alluring pull. The more he let his anger fester and build, the more the emeralds seemed to encourage it.
A dim light caught the corner of Amy's eyes and she looked down – the bag was glowing.
"Sonic?"
He ignored her, allowing his own thoughts to continue to rattle him.
"Sonic!" she spoke louder, her hand tapping his chest. He jumped at the sudden interruptance as it snapped him out of his brooding.
"What?"
"Look, the emeralds-" she looked down, the bag in her lap normal again. She starred, dumbfounded.
"What about the emeralds?" there was an unusual annoyance laced in his tone.
"I-.. Just a second ago, they were glowing-"
"So?" he snapped
Amy was quiet, the bark in his voice upsetting her. Sonic instantly regretted it - it was not her fault he was feeling so irritated.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that… I'm just-… I'm focused on getting us home safe."
Amy gave him a tiny nod, understanding but not convinced. She felt like a burden, so feeble and dependant. It was hard not to feel guilty - poor Sonic needed to carry her the entire way… It was no wonder he was on edge.
Quite a lot of time went by without either hedgehogs saying a word. She wished she could say it was a comfortable silence but the air was thick – for her anyways. Sonic seemed to not even notice, being so buried in his own thoughts. The gems would occasionally glow, reacting to something but she wasn't sure what.
She didn't bother bringing it up to him again.
After travelling for so long in the same position, Amy had finally gotten a grip on the pain in her leg. She was more or less getting used to it. In the time span that they had left, the two hedgehogs had gotten a lot farther than she thought they would. So much so that she honestly kept forgetting Sonic was hurt too. He continuously trekked forward, never slowing his pace the entire time.
Amy looked up at him, his expression hard but distant. She could tell he was in deep thought, focused. Sighing, she turned her attention ahead of them at the seemingly endless forest.
She couldn't understand why it was so hard for him to speak what was truly on his mind. Sonic was the easiest guy to talk to, anyone and everyone felt comfortable opening up to him – and he encouraged it! He must realize that it can go both ways? It was infuriating that he did not offer himself the same solace that he offered others. She wished he could at least try without it being such a battle.
After a particularly steep hill, Sonic's rhythm began to falter. Amy noticed his breath was becoming laboured, his chest heaving heavily against her body.
"Hey, why don't we take a break and stop for a bit?"
Sonic glanced down at her with an uncertain expression, "We should keep moving…."
Amy placed a hand on his chest, "Sonic you're going to wear yourself thin if you keep going. We don't have to stop for long, just enough for you to take a breather."
He kept walking, debating what to do in his head. He knew he was slowing down but he felt like he couldn't afford to stop.
He had to keep going, had to keep moving, had to keep barreling forward at any cost.
Amy frowned at his resistance, "If the roles were reversed, you know full well you would make me or Tails rest."
At Tails' name a pain surged through his heart, making him halt in his tracks. The antagonizing question of his little brother's wellbeing hadn't stopped circling around in his head this entire time but he had been pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, choosing to focus on why's and not the what's.
He purposefully had been doing this, knowing he would not be able to handle thinking about what could have happened right now. This is a tactic he did often, pushing things down – thoughts, feelings, doubts.
Push them down and keep moving; if you keep moving the past can't catch up.
Amy did not pick up on Sonic's internal struggle and instead saw him stopping as a good sign that he was listening to her advice.
"And even though he's only slightly more hard headed than you, I know Knuckles would be telling you to rest too."
Knuckles…
Damnit!
With his limbs not moving and his mind not preoccupied, the emotional weight of his past actions came crashing down in an unbearable wave. Sonic's body felt like it was going limp, his arms and legs no longer solid. There was a crushing weight on his chest and it felt like there was suddenly not enough oxygen in his lungs; is this what a panic attack feels like?
With the combination of his physical exhaustion, the sensation was overwhelming; he was going to pass out.
Sonic desperately scanned the area and saw some knocked over trees a few steps away. He set Amy down on a tree stump before he collapsed onto his hands and knees, causing Amy to exclaim his name.
"Oh my God- Are you okay?!"
She rose as best she could onto her good leg and crouched down scared, putting her hands on his back helplessly.
"I'm so sorry, you shouldn't have to be carrying me this whole way! I can't believe I managed to hurt myself like this, I'm so sorry! Ugh, I should have made you stop hours ago!"
Sonic shook his head, "No…."
"What?"
His head hung low so she couldn't see his face but she could feel his body tremoring under her touch.
"This is all my fault. Everything is all my fault." He spoke so quietly she could barely hear him.
"Sonic-"
"I-I hurt you... I hurt Knuckles… Tails…"
He sounded so defeated; it was something Amy had never witnessed with him. She managed to get down on her good knee, leaving her hurt food out extended. It throbbed from being in such an awkward position but she ignored it, focusing on the crumpling hero in front of her. She rubbed his back, attempting to provide any sort of comfort. Amy's hand glided over thick protrusions - the scars littered about under his fur. Even though she knew about them it was still a crushing reminder; it made her stomach flip every time she thought of how they all got there...
"No, don't say that! You didn't hurt me, the tree did! And I told you, Tails left the battlefield in perfect condition! He's okay!"
His head shifted upward, just enough to shoot her a side glare, "I almost killed you." He growled.
It caused her to draw her hand away from him slightly.
Amy swallowed thickly. She knew he was angry with himself more so than her but his tone was so viciously loathsome that it took her back. As quickly as she saw his piercing eye, it disappeared again, his head hanging down low, face hidden once more.
"And who knows what I did to Tails… I-I can't remember…."
Amy carefully placed her hand on his back again, internally scolding herself for being nervous about the gesture.
"W-Well… Even if some sort of exchange did happen, I can confidently say he was in one piece when he left."
"You can't say the same for Knuckles…" he collapsed further forward onto his elbows, hands sliding toward the back of his head, cradling it, "I put you all in danger!" his otherwise strong voice cracked; it broke Amy's heart.
"Oh Sonic…" she leaned forward, hugging the back of him. "We're all used to being in danger. We know things can change on a drop of a dime, we know what the stakes are doing what we do…"
"But the danger was ME!" he shouted, "I was the one inflicting it!" Squeezing his eyes tight to fight the tears his fingers dug deep into his quills, holding onto the back of his head in a sort of desperation.
"I was out of control! I could have killed all of you!" His voice grew raw and quiet, "And I don't know why… I don't know why, it doesn't make any sense… I don't understand…."
Amy kept hugging his back, squeezing him as gently as she could due to his injured side, but never once easing up. She knew this was good, it was a step in the right direction but it still hurt her to see him like this. She had no idea saying what she innocently said would trigger him so badly, it wasn't her intention at all. She knew Sonic wasn't one particularly for words, so she just held him, physically letting him know she was there for him and was not going anywhere.
At first Sonic was numb to her touch, he was too busy reluctantly dealing with these unwanted feelings. Then, his first instinct was to reject it – he felt far too vulnerable, far too exposed. Her body on his was suffocating; she shouldn't be here for this, she shouldn't be witnessing this! He didn't even want to be experiencing it! He felt ashamed, pathetic. Sonic wanted to just get away from her as fast as possible and deal with this by himself as he's always done. But his body would not allow him to move, his nervous system was completely shot.
So being left with no choice, he stayed how he was, chest heaving, body quivering. And she remained embracing him, patiently rubbing his back for however long it took.
Sonic wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but as he gave up, realizing he was stuck like this, it slowly hit him that this actually felt… Nice, not being alone. Her presence strangely changed from one that was unwanted to one that was welcomed; her body against his now acting like a warm weighted blanket, providing a level of comfort above anything he's ever had before.
Amy could feel him relaxing and saw his fingers loosen their hold on the back of his head. Taking this as a signal, she loosened her own hold (much to his dismay) and began to gently pluck his hands away from his cradled head. She held his hands in hers and as she squeezed them gently, he turned to look at her.
"We know that wasn't the real you, Sonic. We know who you really are."
Sonic, suddenly feeling touch starved, brought her into a tight hug, holding her as closely as possible despite his cracked ribs protesting against it. She hugged him back, fighting tears at how emotional this was. His embrace around her was almost crushing – it was so tight she could feel his despair through it. He was clinging onto her like she was his only lifeline and in a way, she was.
They remained like this for a long while, unmoving and silent. Amy was going to let him hug her for as long as he needed it. She began to rub his back again which made Sonic squeeze her a little tighter in response, grateful for any comfort she provided. It was difficult seeing how damaged Sonic really was, how deeply he was hurting. She obviously had her assumptions but she didn't realize it was this bad.
A gust of wind blew, causing Amy to involuntarily shiver. Her clothes were still extremely damp from the storm and the cold clung to her skin, refusing to leave. Sonic eased up from the hug, pulling away but his hands remained on her shivering arms.
"You alright?"
Amy gave him an incredulous look, "I should be asking you that."
Sonic gave her a small smile, causing her to give him one back in return. The frigid winds shifted, picking up strength and blowing aggressively past them in the other direction. Sonic looked up, watching how the tree branches swayed. He rubbed her arm with his one hand, eyes still focused at the weather above.
"I hate to say it but maybe we should take a small break, find some shelter. Get warm." His gaze fell back onto her – he could see how visibly cold she was. "These winds are going to shoot right through you."
Amy nodded, thankful he suggested this. Sonic wanted to keep moving but not at the cost of her wellbeing. And so he picked her up once more and began to look for a spot to crash, even for just a little while. Luckily it didn't take him long to find another cave this time – the area they were in was littered with them. Sonic placed Amy down and left, beginning another search for firewood.
Alone, she shivered to herself – she was getting so cold that her teeth began to start clattering. As a distraction, she opened the sack that held the emeralds in it, peering down at the glowing gems. She picked one up, studying it. Their hue was still off, not anywhere near as dark as before but still it seemed like something was clouding it.
Just what was going on? Hopefully Tails would have some answers for them. Or Knuckles.
She placed the gem back down, frowning. Gods, she hoped Knuckles was doing okay. She had been trying her best not to worry about the echidna but her attempts were futile. He had been in such rough shape and Amy wasn't there to help.
What if it was now too late to help?
Tightening the bag, she held it in her lap, hugging it against her chest as she starred at the ground, deep in thought. If things took a turn for the worse, even in the slightest, Knuckles was in too critical of a condition to fight off any infection or….
Squeezing her eyes tightly she shook her head, as if the action would erase the thought entirely.
No. She had to be positive. She had to be strong.
When Sonic came back it didn't take long for him to get the fire going, flames reaching high into the air. He made the fire pit larger than before, feeding way more logs into it. He wanted to make it as big as he could to heat up the cave as quickly as possible. Amy shuffled closer to the fire, holding her shaky hands out towards its warmth.
"We can't stay long so enjoy it while you can." Sonic said with a small smile, settling down on the other side of the pit.
Amy nodded, scooting even closer. She would have argued to stay longer so Sonic could rest but after thinking about Knuckles… No, they had to keep moving. They needed to get back ASAP. Sonic was right.
Despite being dangerously close to the flames, she still couldn't get herself warm. Her body shivered and she clenched her jaw in an attempt to keep her teeth from clattering.
Sonic watched her, seeing right away how she was struggling to keep warm even with the fire. As he watched, he noticed the bag in Amy's lap and it gave him an idea. Walking over to her, Sonic picked up the bag.
"What're you-"
The hedgehog emptied the contents out carefully, gems falling to the ground in a shimmering pile. Amy curiously starred as he untied the sack completely, now holding the piece of material out towards her.
"Here."
She took it, confused as ever. Sonic continued,
"Your clothes are soaked. It's too cold out for them to dry against your body like that. There never going to dry and you're never going to get warm."
He disappeared for a minute, coming back with a medium sized boulder in his arms. Dropping it roughly onto the ground with a loud thud, he then bent over to push it closer to the fire, grunting against the strain it caused on his injuries.
"You can hang your clothes here and until they dry, that material can cover you like a towel." He walked over, holding out his hand to help her stand up.
Amy stared at him for a long moment, her mind trying to calculate how exactly this would work. She glanced down at the material in her hands, holding it up in front of her face. It was a little small and there was tears everywhere on it… but she supposed it would do the job. And honestly, she would do anything to feel warm again.
Amy grabbed his hand and stood up. Sonic began to bend over to pick her up but she stopped him. He had been forced to carry her for hours on end and she was refusing to allow it right now. At the very least she could handle maneuvering around the cave. She took a deep breath, preparing for the pain before she began to hop on her good foot. As Sonic guided her towards the boulder she clung to his arm tightly, using his body as a crutch.
"There you go, almost there…" he encouraged softly.
As they got to the boulder she remained clutching onto him, not making any moves to let go. He stayed standing there with her for a few moments but when it dragged on longer than expected, he thought of what the next steps would be. He studied her - was Amy silently implying for him to help her undress?
"Uh… Did you.. Did you need me to… Um, help you? At all?"
Amy looked up at Sonic, his eyes shifting bashfully to the side. It dawned on her how much she was still clinging onto him. She blushed at the realization that that's what he thought she wanted and loosened her hold. Awkwardly turning her face away, she hid her flustered expression.
"N-nope! I got it, I'm good, thanks."
Feeling her let go, Sonic hovered for a minute to make sure she still had her balance. Once he saw she was fine, he turned away, walking towards the fire, his back facing her.
"Alright, if you need anything I'll just uh… Be over here."
It took Amy a long time to get undressed. It was hard to strip herself of the wet clothing while trying not to inflict any more pain while also trying not to fall over. She tried her best to keep quiet but the odd whimper or yelp escaped her lips during her struggles.
Sonic kept calling over his shoulder to make sure she was okay but his eyes never left the sights in front of him. Amy would occasionally glance over to look at him – not that she would ever think he would peek or betray her trust, but it was hard not to look at the only other person in the room as you when you're peeling off your clothes.
But any time she would glance, his back was always facing her, hands on his hips with one foot tapping excessively. She could tell he was antsy that he couldn't help her - every time she let out a whine his foot tapping would get more aggressive.
Eventually, she managed to get everything off and although it did feel good to rid her skin of the wet clothing, she was now ten times colder. It's not like the cave was a sauna – the air was still frigid and she had been slowly getting completely naked for a long time. If she wasn't injured the whole process would have been quick but the longer she took, the faster her body temperature dropped.
Amy's arms shook while she wrapped the tiny piece of material around her body. It just barely covered everything - one bad move and she would be exposed from any angle. If this was any other situation, she would be feeling extremely embarrassed about it. But at the moment she didn't care – she was hurt, she was hungry and she was freezing.
She suddenly felt a panic at how cold she was; her muscles were tensing uncontrollably, her fingers were numb and her breathing felt shallow.
"S-S-S-Sonic…!"
At the sound of his name he spun around, instantly concerned seeing her pale face. Quickly he was at her side and without another word, delicately picked her up, not allowing Amy to refute it. Her body was icy cold, which was expected but admittedly he wasn't expecting her to be this bad.
"It's okay, it's okay, I got you."
He placed her down in front of the raging fire, sitting directly behind her. Pulling Amy in close to him so she was essentially on his lap, he wrapped his arms around her, encasing her shivering body into his.
"You'll warm up in no time, I promise. Just try to relax Ames."
He made sure his back was facing the mouth of the cave, so that any breeze that found its way in, his body blocked it from reaching her. Amy pushed herself as much as she could into Sonic, his body heat already feeling like heaven against her skin. His arms were crisscrossed over her torso so his hands were resting on either side of her arms. He rubbed them, creating some friction to help provide more heat.
Feeling Amy's tiny frame shiver so violently in his hold was alarming, but slowly her body temperature began to rise, making her muscles start to relax. As he held her tightly, all he could feel was her skin; if he wasn't so concerned, it would have been a very distracting detail. He also couldn't help but notice there was a large rip in the material that went almost all the way down to her tail, leaving her back exposed.
After a while, the blazing hot fire and his body heat did the job and he could feel her gradually calm down. Sonic silently let out a grateful sigh, thankful that his bright idea to dry her wet clothing wasn't a mistake.
Amy turned her body so the side of her face was buried in the crook of Sonic's neck. He rested his chin on the top of her head, cradling her closely. Sonic could hear her breathing go back to a normal pace.
"Feeling better?" he murmured in her ear
A small chill went down her spine but it wasn't from the cold this time. Being held like this, feeling his hot breath against her ear… She could only nod her head in response.
"Good."
Sonic watched the fire dance in front of them. He was reflecting long and hard about his abrupt breakdown, how it happened, how it felt. How it felt with her being there with him… He tilted his face so now his cheek was resting on her head – he unconsciously nuzzled her slightly.
"Listen Ames… I know I'm not good at the whole 'emotions' stuff but… Thank you for being there… Despite how difficult I can be sometimes..."
Amy went to pry herself up in order to see him face to face, but his strong arms continued to hold her against him, his embrace never letting up. Maybe it was easier for him to express certain things without the eye contact…
She instead brought her hand up to his chest and patted it affectionately,
"You're welcome… I will always be there for you, Sonic. Always."
Sonic absentmindedly stroked his fingers back and forth across her bare back, sending another pleasurable shiver through her body. Amy's heart fluttered at his touch.
"…Do you think Eggman had anything to do with the emeralds?" she asked softly.
His hand halted for a second at her question, making her hold her breath slightly.
"…No."
His fingers began to trace along her skin once more, making her melt like a puddle back into him. He stared into the fire thoughtfully.
"It's hard to explain but… The feeling I get from the emeralds - I just know it has nothing to do with him."
"I see.." Amy replied quietly.
Sonic's eyes shifted to the gems in the corner.
"Somethings definitely off though. Even now it's like the energy is just constantly provoking me."
Amy furrowed her brow in confusion, "Provoking you? To do what?"
Sonic sighed, "I don't know. Normally all I would feel is like, a warm buzz? A soft, electric kinda feeling? Subtly tingly? But now the energy coming off of them is just sharp and aggravating and…" he paused before letting out a small chuckle. "I probably sound insane to you, don't I?"
Amy shook her head against his chest, curling up to him even further. "You absolutely do not. Even when I hold the gems I feel the slightest buzz, and I can't utilize chaos energy at all. It makes sense that the energy would reach out to you in strong, inexplicable ways."
Sonic hummed in response, smiling softly to himself at both her answer and body language.
"You can feel a slight buzz, eh? Maybe I finally pissed them off and you're the next 'chosen one'."
Amy giggled, "Oh stop, everyone can feel a little power from the emeralds. Feeling is different than utilizing."
"I donno! Oh wait, I think I hear something-" he placed his hand on his ear, leaning towards the gems, "Whats that, emeralds? You're gunning for Ames now?"
Amy sat up, giving Sonic an amused look, "Oh, and now you can talk to them?" she said sarcastically.
Sonic paused, pretending to listen intently. He then nodded in understanding, "Ah yes, I see. She has too much attitude for you to put up with? Yeahh, I don't blame you."
She laughed, shoving him lightly. "That's rich coming from you!"
Sonic let out a laugh along with her, wrapping his arms around her again before she could retaliate any further. She settled against his chest again with a small smile on her face. Amy was more than warmed up now and she was positive Sonic would be able to tell that just by touching her - and yet there he was, still embracing her without hesitation.
It felt so good to be in his arms.
The cave fell to a comfortable silence, exhaustion taking over both hedgehogs while they enjoyed their warm embrace in front of the fire. Eventually though, the giant flames began to dwindle down, signaling it was time to move on. Amy's eyes were half closed, fighting a comfortable sleep that was looming over her consciousness, when she felt Sonic's body shift.
"Alright, I'm sure your clothes are nice and toasty now. Time to hit the road."
She let out a whine, not wanting to leave just yet – despite being in a damp and hard cave with a hurt foot, she was so unbelievably comfortable... More comfortable than she had ever been.
Sonic chuckled at her childish protest, "I know, I know." He stood up first before carefully helping her stand as well. "Get dressed, I'll scoop the emeralds and then we'll be back before you know it."
After a few hours of travelling, dusk was quickly approaching. They had spent a lot longer in the cave than Sonic had wanted but it was needed, Amy wouldn't have lasted long in the state she was in. But he was determined to keep moving, he was not going to stop simply because the sun was setting. He knew he would be able to navigate well enough in the dark, nothing he hasn't done before.
Amy could see the strain on Sonics face and it bothered her deeply. If she had two good feet, she would kick herself for getting injured. This wasn't fair to Sonic in the slightest, she felt like useless dead weight. This wasn't fair to Knuckles or Tails, waiting longer than they should have to. She was sure they were equally as worried.
Now that their small break from reality in the cave was over, the heaviness of everything hit her again. It was her fault they wasted time stopping in that stupid cave to begin with. A huge wave of guilt washed over her. Feeling frustrated, she scanned the ground and waited until she spotted something she could use.
"Sonic? Can you put me down please?"
Sonic of course obliged, thinking she just needed to stretch. But much to his surprise she immediately bent down and picked up a large stick. She studied it for a moment before concluding it could hold her weight and proceeded to limp forward, using the stick as a makeshift crutch.
"Amy, what are you doing?"
"I'm not going to have you carry me the entire way! I'm fine."
Sonic stared at her in disbelief, "Ames. You cannot be serious."
Amy ignored him and continued to limp forward.
It took him only two steps to catch up to her struggling hops, "You're hurt, it's okay. Just let me carry you."
She kept pushing forward, trying to prove that this was a good option.
"…You're also moving at a snail's pace." He pointed out.
Amy stopped and turned to him - no anger in her voice but only sincerity "Go ahead without me. You can run, everyone needs you. I'll catch up!" she smiled "Don't worry about me! Seriously!"
Sonic gave her a deadpanned look, "You must be high if you think I'd leave you out here alone, barely able to walk." He placed the back of his hand on her forehead, checking for a fever.
Amy smacked his hand away lightly, "I'm not high or delirious or sick, I'm just being reasonable. This is the best way, the faster way."
"Amy-"
"What if Tails needs the emeralds power to defend the village? Or to help Knuckles in some way? We have six out of seven with us! You can get it to him faster without me!"
Sonic stopped and stared at her, contemplating for only a moment. She did make some good points… If Amy hid back in the cave, he could hopefully run to deliver the gems. Not at full speed but it would be faster than walking. And then he could immediately run back for her…
But it didn't feel right to leave her here. His gut feeling was telling him it was a bad idea.
"No, I don't-"
"Sonic! Just listen to me-"
Sonic's ear twitched and suddenly he grabbed her roughly, twirling so his back was against a nearby tree, his one hand placed firmly over her mouth while his other arm wrapped around her body tightly. Amy's initial reaction was absolute outrage and she was about to bite his finger when she heard a quick and sharp 'SHH' in her ear.
She could feel Sonic was tense.
And then she could hear a familiar voice boom in the distance.
Her outrage transformed into anxiety when she realized whose voice it was.
Eggman.
A/N: Hiya guys! To be honest I'm not that happy with this chapter, I kinda wanted to do more with it / I also feel like I couldn't really get the flow right... so, I hope it reads well and it isn't too like, repetitive? lol anyways, I really hope you can enjoy!