A/N: This is the last and final chapter for this story! I just want to say I big thanks to everyone who encouraged me and persuaded me to write more than one chapter. As my first Sonic fic, I really had a lot of fun with it and I am really glad you guys seemed to enjoy it! Enjoy!

-1-

Knuckles grunted and strained his muscles to push the Tornado out of Tails' shop and onto the runway. Tails sat in the cockpit, steering the plane and yelling commands back to Knuckles, who kindly ignored them.

"Faster Knuckles! You're not going to get over that little hilly part if you push like a sissy!" Tails yelled back and Knuckles narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"Watch it Prower," he growled. Tails just grinned and twisted in his seat, leaning over the side to look at the echidna who met his look with a snarl.

"I'm not afraid of you Knuckles – you wouldn't kill the mastermind behind all of our tools!" Tails whistled obnoxiously, to further irk the guardian.

"I wouldn't kill you, no – but trust me, I have no problem maiming the brains behind the operation," Tails blanched and quickly turned back to the front while Knuckles snickered. Knuckles thought he heard a muttered "You'll get what's coming to you", but ignored it like the empty threat it was. Now working in silence, Knuckles managed to get the Tornado over the "hilly part" and onto the tarmac. Tails held his thumb out the window to indicate that the position was good before propelling himself out of the cockpit and down to the ground. Knuckles leaned over, hands on knees, breathing heavily as Tails looked up at his plane.

"She's a beauty alright," the mechanic said adoringly. Knuckles rolled his eyes at the kitsune.

"You need a girl Prower," Knuckles observed.

"No thank you!" Tails replied quickly, muzzle flushing. "I've seen what you have to go through with Amy – I like my sanity thank you." Knuckles straightened quickly, startling Tails, who took a step away.

"Wait – me and Amy? As in a relationship?" Knuckles questioned. "Where did you hear that?" Tails looked at the echidna like he had grown a third head.

"I've seen you kissing. And arguing. And then kissing. And then more arguing. And then more kissing." Tails grimaced heavily as Knuckles observed the brainiac.

"Well yeah – there's arguing and there's definitely kissing," Knuckles smirked at Tails, who flushed again, not looking very impressed. "But she's not my girl or anything." Tails blinked a few times.

"Are you just pretending to be mentally stunted or is this actually the way your brain works?" Tails questioned bluntly. Growling, Knuckles tackled the kitsune trapping him in a head lock. Squealing, Tails squirmed, trying to get the upper hand but knowing that his physical stature was inept against the "ripped" guardian (Amy's words, not his).

"Want to reconsider that Prower?" Knuckles growled menacingly. Tails nodded fervently, and Knuckles shoved him away. Stumbling slightly, Tails glared at Knuckles, clearly not impressed.

"Look – all I meant is, you guys aren't seeing anyone else are you?" Knuckles just shook his head, dreadlocks flying.

"And you get her romantic gifts right?" Knuckles nodded his head, but his expression soured slightly.

"Only because she made me," he replied petulantly. Tails rolled his eyes in response.

"As I recall, you got her a pen with a clock on it for and she got mad at the "lack of thought" you didn't put in it, so you went out and bought her that dress she'd been looking at for weeks and took her out for a romantic dinner."

"So you agree she made me do it!"

"No. You were the idiot who gave her a gift in the first place – you started the exchange with the pen, so the blame is all on you. It's not my fault that you don't know what women want and had to go overboard for getting a crappy gift the first time around." Tails held his hands up in defence, slightly afraid that the glowering guardian.

"Whatever." He replied roughly.

"Do you hold hands and kiss in public?" Knuckles nodded again, although the sour expression remained. He wasn't big on PDA – but Amy just seemed to always want to be touching him in public: especially if there were other girls around….Suddenly, everything was clicking into place for him.

"Oh sweet Mobius." Knuckles whispered, eyes wide. Tails almost laughed out loud at his friend when he saw that the pieces had all fallen into place (finally). He was afraid enough of Knuckles to hold it in to a nearly silent snicker.

"She's your girl." Tails supplied helpfully, turning around and walking towards the shop.

"What am I supposed to do about this?" a frantic Knuckles questioned from behind him. Tails turned around thoughtfully, facing his friend.

"Continue life as normal? And maybe talk to Sonic about this." Turning around again, he resumed walking towards the shop.

"Wait – what? Sonic? Why the hell would I do that?" The last time Knuckles had seen Sonic hadn't been the best of circumstances. He remembered holding the hedgehog down firmly whilst Amy knocked him out with her hammer, put make-up and one of her dresses on him and helped her parade him around downtown Station Square. The hedgehog has not been a happy camper when he had waken to millions of people taking his picture – nor had he been happy the next morning, when his make-up caked face had been printed on the front page of the newspaper. Tails turned his head slightly, not halting in his walking.

"Because Amy was his girl first – in some capacity that only he is capable of, he cared for her. If you guys are friends, you should talk to him." With a whistle and a wave, Tails disappeared into his shop, leaving Knuckles alone with his thoughts on the tarmac.

-2-

Knuckles groaned slightly as he looked up at the house in front of him. He didn't want to be here, but he knew that Vector was more than likely inside the house in front of him. As irritating as his friend could be, Knuckles knew he would have invaluable advice and had therefore sought him out. Dragging his feet up the front steps, he raised his hand and knocked heavily on the door. The door suddenly swung open, revealing a small rabbit wearing an orange A-line skirt with a bright yellow t-shirt, a blue Chao hovering at her shoulder.

"Well hello Mr. Knuckles! I wasn't expecting to see you!" Cream chimed happily, Chao chaoing happily at her side. Knuckles almost rolled his eyes – he swore Cream sweat sunshine and rainbows.

"Right. Nice to see you too kid. Is Vector here?" Knuckles inquired roughly, looking over her and into the house.

"No, I'm very sorry Mr. Knuckles, but he and my Mother have gone to see a movie. Would you like to come in for some hot chocolate and wait for him, or is there something I can help you with?" she smiled grandly up at him, and this time Knuckles did roll his eyes.

"No thanks, I was just looking to talk." The echidna was turning away as if to go when Cream stopped him.

"Is this about Amy, Mr. Knuckles?" she inquired, far too knowingly for Knuckles' liking. He turned to face her warily.

"Maybe." He said roughly. She smiled again, waiting for him to say something else. Looking skyward, Knuckles sent a little prayer for patience and looked back at her. "Tails-uh….Tails seems to think that I should talk to Sonic, you know…about Amy being my girl…" Never had the guardian been so uncomfortable in his life. He was talking to a child about his relationship, which he had only just realized was a legitimate relationship a couple of hours ago.

"Well, Mr. Sonic is your very good friend." Cream appeared thoughtful, and Knuckles shifted uncomfortably. "And he and Amy have a very strong bond." Jealousy coursed through him immediately, which Cream apparently noticed because she was quick to continue. "Nothing like that Mr. Knuckles – Sonic and Amy have a sibling bond. They love each other like brother and sister. I think it goes back to Sonic saving Amy, her looking up to him and the subsequent training Sonic helped her with so that she could become a confident, capable woman." Knuckles just stared at the small rabbit. Where had this girl learnt those words? He barely knew what they all meant!

"What I mean to say is," she continued. "Is that Sonic probably would like it very much if you spoke to him about your intentions with Amy-" Knuckles briefly thought that that might be going a bit too far for his liking. "-because he would feel like he was looking out for her best interests in an older-brother sort of way!" Knuckles was so busy contemplating this that he missed the slight gleam in Cream's eye.

"You know, I think you might be right kid. As much as it pains me to admit it." Cream just smiled up at him, eyes crinkling in happiness. "Thanks."

"Not a problem Mr. Knuckles, any time at all!" Chao cooed softly at her side as they both waved goodbye to the retreating echidna.

"Wait Mr. Knuckles! Did you want me to tell Vector you stopped by?" Knuckles turned back and shook his head softly, dreadlocks flying around.

"Nah- best maybe not to mention this little talk, if that's alright with you?" Cream just nodded and watched the guardian walk down the street. Humming happily she turned around and walked into the house, bypassing the kitchen where her Mother was making pie to the living room, where Vector was completely engrossed in some movie on TV.

"Hey Cream. Who was at the door?" Cream just smiled innocently, and shrugged, settling herself down next to him, Chao nestled in her lap.

"Just a salesman." Vector shook his head and grinned down at her.

"You're too nice Creamy – you should just tell them to get lost instead of listening to their problems all day." Cream just giggled.

"I don't mind Vector – honest!" the two smiled at each other, as Vanilla came out of the kitchen with the finished product for taste-testing.

-3-

Knuckles walked thoughtfully along the sidewalk. He knew what he would have to do now, Tails and Cream had made that clear enough. But where to find Sonic? The blue blur had been avoiding him since their last encounter, and wasn't likely to be very happy if he did find him.

"Don't think too hard Knuckie – looks like it hurts," a voice purred behind him. Growling Knuckles turned to find that Rouge had been stalking him down the street for at least a block. The bat winked at him, sidling up to his side.

"What do you want, thief?" he questioned, although his voice lacked the menace it usually held. Rouge practically purred at the question.

"I think you know what I want, handsome." Knuckles rolled his eyes and shoved her away lightly.

"Get over yourself." Knuckles sneered and Rouge sneered back.

"Sorry, forgot you were tied to that little Pink pipsqueak. Here I was thinking you knew how to have a good time." Knuckles glowered slightly in annoyance.

"Firstly, she's not a pipsqueak, secondly I do know how to have a good time and thirdly, Amy is my girl and if you insult her again I will not hesitate to injure you. You should be thankful to her: the only reason I haven't injured you already is because Amy thinks you're some sort of friend." Although Rouge was a notorious hard-ass, Knuckles could see her eyes soften slightly at this. While there was no love lost between the two of them, Knuckles knew for a fact that Rouge and Amy were good friends often shopping and going out together.

"Whatever." The bat sniffed. "I'm always telling her she should get better taste."

"Yeah, yeah. For once, I don't have time to crush you verbally Rouge, so if you'll excuse me…" turning around, Knuckles attempted to walk away.

"Looking for someone in particular Knuckle-head?" the bat questioned slyly. Tensing, Knuckles turned to face her suspiciously.

"How did you know?" he questioned. She shrugged innocently.

"Sonic's down running laps at the field house." She supplied, staring him down with a smirk. He glowered at her.

"How do you know I'm looking for Sonic?"

"Word on the street is that your head finally caught up with your libido and realized that you've probably unintentionally made Amy your girl. Obviously, what comes next is asking permission from Papa Sonic." Knuckles grimaced at her sneering voice.

"I don't need permission to be with Amy." Knuckles growled. Rouge shrugged a shoulder again, smirk still very apparent.

"Apparently you do, or you wouldn't be looking for Sonic, now would you?" Knuckles eyed the bat suspiciously.

"Why are you telling me where Sonic is Bat? You don't do anything nice for free." Rouge shrugged a third time.

"Consider it my gift to Amy- I'm helping her by helping you." Considering this still slightly suspicious, but plausible, Knuckles set off for the field house, throwing a rough "Thanks" over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, he missed the glimmer of success in Rouge's eye as she took to the air singing "Diamonds are forever…".

-4-

Knuckles could see the cloud of dust Sonic had made before he could see Sonic. Making his way down to the track, he waited patiently for Sonic to come to a stop knowing that with his extraordinary skills, the hedgehog had surely seen him. Sure enough, three laps later, the blur began to slow, coming to a halt in front of him. Sonic was panting lightly, glaring at Knuckles.

"What do you want?" Sonic asked snidely.

"To talk," Knuckles responded gruffly, slightly hesitant.

"About?" Sonic inquired, one eyebrow raised.

"About Amy." Knuckles deflated slightly, realizing that he was going to have to be nice to Sonic. "Look, I like Amy. And I've been spending a lot of time with her and I like spending time with her but if you're not okay with that, then I…" Knuckles trailed off. As good friends as he was with Sonic, he knew that he couldn't give up Amy if Sonic said no. "I just don't want to piss you off." He finished lamely.

Sonic eyed him for a moment. "Yeah OK," the blue blur said with a shrug, clapping the echidna on the shoulder.

"Wait-ok? That's it?" Knuckles questioned, somewhat irritated.

"Yes Knuckle-head: 'just okay'" Sonic replied sarcastically. "Did I stutter?" Knuckles glowered, but said nothing. Letting out a woosh of breath, Sonic continued.

"Look, I know that I don't have any claim on her, since I turned her down so many times but the truth is that Amy has always been like a sister to me. I've looked out for her for so long; it's become second nature to me now. But you're a good guy Knuckles, and I know that. You may be a bit broody and melodramatic and angsty, but you're good to Amy and your good for her too- the past few weeks have shown that. I trust you to do the right thing with her Knuckles. Even if you can never be as good as me." Sonic smiled at his friend and held out his hand. Hesitating slightly, Knuckles stared at him. "You'll always be my friend Knuckles. Just remember that if you hurt her, I will have to kill you." This was said with such a straight face, that Knuckles did not doubt the words for a second.

"Deal." The echidna replied, shaking hands with his friend. Both smirked at each other before Knuckles turned away.

"Thanks Sonic, see you around," With a slight wave, Knuckles turned away, missing the evil grin spreading itself across Sonic's face as he curled into a tight ball and zoomed in at Knuckle's head. The last thing Knuckle's saw was the rocky ground of the track as his world went black.

-5-

Knuckles dragged his feet through the doorway and into the kitchen. Amy sat at the kitchen table, cup of tea and newspaper in front of her. She looked up when he came through the door, smirking slightly. Knuckles trudged to the chair across from her, pulled it out and sat down heavily, cradling his head in his hands. Leaning forward, Amy rested her chin in her hand, eying the guardian.

"So." Amy said finally, smirk still intact.

"Tails?" Knuckles questioned, not lifting his head.

"He promised to let Tails run some tests on him, for some sort of weird experiment." Amy supplied. Knuckles just grunted.

"Cream?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused. Amy hid a laugh with a cough.

"He promised her a date with Tails."

"Do I even need to ask?" This time Amy outright laughed.

"That one was your bad. He promised Rouge a diamond necklace. Spent a pretty penny, but I guess it was worth it." Knuckles lifted his head at that to glare at Amy. She smiled back at him, going around the table to sit in his lap.

"My poor guardian." Amy cooed, running her fingers through his dreadlocks. He sighed and tilted his head into her hands. He may not like pity, but this time, he felt he had earned it.

"I was just trying to find him to talk about you." He murmured. She stilled her hands in his dreadlocks and looked down at him.

"What about me?" she questioned quietly.

"About you being my girl." He responded, equally as quietly. She felt a warm feeling bloom within her and she leaned down to press a warm, chaste kiss to his lips.

"Sonic doesn't own me Knuckles. And neither do you." She felt like she should have been more stern while making that point, but she couldn't find the heart to be.

"I know, I know but...I didn't want things to be screwed up because we were together." Suddenly Knuckles paused, tilting his head to look into her eyes. "We are together, right?"

"Yes Knuckle-head," Amy said fondly, leaning down to kiss him a little more fiercely this time. His hands gripped her hips tightly. Pulling away she giggled slightly, but tried to hide it by turning her head to the side.

"What now?" The echidna groaned, clearly not impressed. Amy stood, with one of his hands in hers and began pulling him from his chair.

"Come on you, let's go wash of that residual eye liner – mauve is really not your colour, even if it does match your eyes." Groaning, Knuckles let Amy pull him out of the chair and towards the bathroom. "And afterwards I'll cook you a champion's breakfast, how does that sound?" With a sudden yelp, Amy was swept off her feet.

"How about we work up a bit of an appetite first?" Knuckles demanded huskily. Amy giggled and they kissed.

"I wouldn't mind that at all," she murmured in his ear. With a savage grin, Knuckles took off for Amy's bedroom, her laughing loudly the entire way. With a grimace Tails emerged into the kitchen from the other doorway. He walked over to the table and looked at the forgotten newspaper before chuckling.

"He might not want to read the newspaper this morning," Tails muttered with a smirk before snickering to himself.