OH MY GOD! I just had the most amazing rush of inspiration for this! And now I know exactly what I'm going to do with it! Before I just had a general idea, but this is way better! Because of this, I'm going to change the title and probably summary of the story. Now read on with what I wil henceforth call, Family Ties.

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"So," Knuckles said from his position on the couch. "Now what?"

"What do you mean?" Rouge was walking back down the hall from her room, where she had just changed out of her wet clothes and into clean ones.

"Well, Sonic's going to tell everyone we know." Knuckles stated bluntly.

"So?" Rouge flopped next to him on the couch.

"So what do we do from here? Do we ignore it and wait for the inevitable stream of our friends coming to ask if it's true or is there something else we should do about it?"

"What else are we supposed to do? They had to find out sometime, and this way we don't have to hunt them down and tell them ourselves."

"True."

"Besides," she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Does it really matter? Who cares who knows, or how they find out? I'm just happy to be with you."

Knuckles smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him so he could feel her warmth. "You're right." he mumbled gently into her ear as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

She smiled and snuggled deeper into his fur. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Rouge started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Knuckles asked, arching an eyebrow at her sudden outburst.

"Sorry." She giggled. "It's just that… all my life I've been putting up this tough façade to protect myself from the dangers of the world. Everything about my life, the lack of friends and family, my jobs, they require me to keep that show up, or I'll put myself in danger. But when I'm with you, I don't have to act." She turned and looked directly into his deep violet eyes. "When I'm with you, I can be myself. The real me. A normal person, just like everyone else. If the people I work with, or my enemies, ever saw me as vulnerable as I am with you, it'd probably cost my life. But it doesn't matter here. The only things that matter, are you and me."

Knuckles smiled. "So you were laughing because of how absurd the situation is in comparison to the rest of your life?"

"Exactly." She smiled.

They were quiet again. Then Knuckles suddenly looked confused. "Wait, you don't have a family either?"

Rouge turned slightly red, but didn't hesitate to answer. "No. I used to. It was just me and my mom. She died when I was 14. Hit by a car. I never knew my dad. Mom left him when I was two. He hurt her, and she didn't want me to be in danger from him too." She was quiet for a moment ,staring at her lap. Then she let out a small laugh. "It's funny to bring her up now actually. She always used to tell me that we didn't need men in our lives, that as long as we had each other, we didn't need anything else. She said no matter what, I should always stand up for myself, no matter how strong or scary the person I faced was, because you have to take care of yourself and the people you love. If you don't, then what's the point in living. After she died, I really took what she said to heart. To the point where I took care of myself and no one else. Because of how I grew up, I really distrusted men for a while. I thought the only way to keep myself safe from men, was to manipulate them. That's probably why I distrusted you at first, you're untamable."

Knuckles didn't know what to say. Rouge had just completely opened up to him. He felt warm inside, knowing that she trusted him enough to speak so openly, especially about something so personal. He responded the only way that seemed right, by telling her about his family. "I never knew either of my parents. As far back as I can remember I've been alone on this island, protecting the master Emerald. I'm not sure how I knew I had to, it was just something that was ingrained into me. For a while that was all I did. But I also learned everything I could about my home. Explored every tree, every rock, every stream. That's how I learned what I do know about my tribe. From the ruins and secrets on the island. Once Sonic showed up I learned more about the rest of the world. Couldn't really stay here forever with Sonic on my back."

They were silent again. After all that, what more could they say? Knuckles reached over and held Rouge's hand in his own. She squeezed his lightly.

"You know," she said quietly. "Since neither of us really has a family, I guess that kind of makes us one, huh?" She gave him a warm smile and looked him directly in the eyes again.

"Yeah." He said, getting lost in the oceanic depths of her eyes. "I guess it does." Knuckles leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, conveying through it the importance this realization meant to him that words could not express. He broke away and placed his forehead against hers. "I love you Rouge."

"I love you too." Nothing else needed to be said or done. As a couple, they had just reached a point that showed how deeply they really cared for one another. What else could they say?

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What do you think? Let me know in a REVIEW! Reviews make me happy. I'm gonna go eat now. *skips merrily into the distance on a writers high*

(The writers high is from being so happy with myself about this story)