A/N: This is azngirlchibi with nothing to say but this: READ THE UBER AWESOME CHAPTER BY THE QUEEN OF ACES NOW!
I'm also a slight bit pissed at fanfiction dot net right now because they keep on screwing up the formatting... well, you'll know what I mean when you start reading.
Oh, and enjoy the chapter:)
Dedicated to Marianne
"Mama, we're all full of lies
Mama, we're meant for the flies
And right now their bulding
A coffin your size
Mama, we're all full of lies."
-Mama
My Chemical Romance
Amy wanted so much to say something. Anything.
But as she pulled away, she was forced to breathe as the blue hedgehog stared at her. Her lips begame stuck together, as her whole body began to shake. Her mouth was not working, and her body was no longer functional. The air turbulence was the only sound between them. Twisting her hands in the fabric of her dress, she could hear her mind, different emotions and commands fighting for control.
But her mouth was a cage, and she was trapped inside.
She thought of all the things she knew she wanted to say. She thought of what she was supposed to say. She thought of what she shouldn't say. And she thought of what he might want her to say. Which one was she supposed to follow? Amy began to breathe in, because suddenly her throat was too swollen and she couldn't breathe. Keeping her face still, she refused to let him see that inside she was failing. That her lungs were collapsing and that her stomach was going to explode. She felt sick, but light, and weightless.
Sonic was still staring, eyes awaiting. Amy could not read his face.
'If only I could,' she thought. 'If only I could, it would make my choice so much easier.'
Finally, the words she finally managed, were nothing that she could have stopped.
"What're you thinking?" Amy asked, pressing her open palm agianst her chest and trying
to slow down her heart. Her voice was raw, damaged, hurt.
As she turned to the plane, she punched the autopilot off, before diving onto the ground and managing to land without killing them all. She tried to find the button to open the cockpit, but her whole world was going black. She was hyperventalating, she was seeing spots, she was dying. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, sporting a hand covered in shards of glass. The punch she had made leaving the whole glass shattering away.
Stumbling to her feet, she started to walk away. Amy felt Sonic's hand on her shoulder, spinning her around. "Amy..." Sonic searched for words. "Listen. About the kiss..."
But she did not want to hear it. Turning sharply away from him, she began to object. "Can we just forget about it?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Forget?" His voice was high, shrill. Amy growled.
"Yes." she spun to face him, her quills flying. Throwing her arms into the air, she glared at him. "What in the world are you thinking? Have you gone absolutely insane?"
Sonic stopped. And she could see his utter loss and confusion. "I don't know." he replied. Watching her, his face dropped. "Have I?"
Amy came closer to him, close enough for him to smell her. "Look." She whispered low. "We almost lost Naomi. Our other child is probably scarred for life, and we're still being hunted down." she was still breathing heavily. "To say that we're both super messed up is the understatement of the year." her face was now red, as if she discovered how close they were.
Pulling away, Amy swallowed. "I can't deal with this right now." Her eyes found his. "You were just caught up in the moment...or...or maybe you were just seeking comfort...maybe you're on crack...I don't know!" Amy jerked away. "But it was a mistake." her voice was low, eyes pleading that he agree. "Right?"
Suddenly Sonic understood. He nodded. "Right." he forced himself to say the words. "A mistake."
Amy visibly relaxed, looking relieved to the point of tears. Sonic began to bandage her hand, wondering how they could manage to fix the glass. Amy was staring at him, but he could not meet her eyes. 'Once agian,' he thought bitterly, 'she has managed to catch me lacking.'
"Mommy, look!" Nathaniel's voice was excited, despite the awful day they had experianced. As Amy put his night shirt over his head, he exclaimed in a wild voice. "Look what I can do." Bouncing on the bed, he managed to do a complete front-flip, only he slid and landed right on his knees. But he was practically glowing, unaware that his mother was not in the mood. Smiling, he gestured. "Pretty cool, huh?" when she didn't respond, he kept asking. "Right, Mommy?"
Snapping her head towards him, Amy suddenly glared. "My name is Amy." She paused, breathing hard. But it did nothing to calm her down. She was faintly aware that Sonic was watching. Amy pointed towards herself and spoke clearly. "I am not your mother." she told him. "Please don't call me mommy."
Despite her surprising outburst, the little boy only frowned. "Okay, then, Amy." Rolling to his feet, he crawled towards the spot next to his sister, who was already sleeping. Sighing, Amy came to him and tucked him in. Whispering her apology, his face brightened once more. "It's okay." he simply responded. "I'm cranky, too."
Amy managed a chuckle as she kissed his forehead, before doing the same to his sister. "Be well, my sweet baby." she whispered to the little girl. "Be well."
When she moved on to her bed, she said nothing. Sonic was staring, and she could feel his eyes burning holes through her. Amy just closed her eyes and tried her best to sound like she was sleeping. While the world quieted down around her, Amy waited for the blue hedgehog to fall asleep.
Her signal to escape.
Once she started running, she couldn't stop.
Her red boots were hitting the ground forcefully as she pushed her body forward. She ran past the hotel lobby, past the plane that was cloaked to match the trees, and began to run into the forest. Barely dodging the pine trees, she simply ran, as if it was the only thing her body knew how to do. She could not feel the pain in her side, or the way her lungs were dying for a breath of air, she just kept going. Amy pumped her arms faster, breathing hard and keeping her eyes on whatever lay ahead of her. 'This isn't right,' she thought as she listened to the pounding of her feet, 'I can't just leave.' But she made no move to stop running or to turn around.
Tears began to blur her vision, but she did not slow down. They were lost among the wind as she tried to see the path in front of her. Her eyes were burning, and she managed to cry out past the splitting pain in her sides. "I'm sorry." she whispered, crying. "I'm so sorry."
What would he say, when he woke up and found that she was gone? Would he search for her? Would he tell the twins? What about Nathaniel? Amy thought of what the little boy had said to her, and the conviction in his voice that had terrified her. 'Mommy, please give Naomi to Daddy.' Suddenly, she coasted to a stop. Breathing in, she stared at the road ahead of her for the longest time. When she could breathe agian, she turned to look behind her. Somewhere back there, the twins were sleeping. Thinking of Nathaniel, she let the wind carry away her tears, as she bit her lip.
"I'm sorry Nathaniel." she whispered agian. "But I'm not your mother." She looked at the sky, at the night that made the clouds an assortment of different dark shades. In the moon, she found his face, imagining his wicked grin and the words meant only for her. "I'm only fifteen." she managed, her voice hurt and desperate. "I'm still a kid myself." shoulders shaking, Amy held her face in her hands. "And he kissed me. And I don't know how to feel about that, either." Amy looked up at the moon, her eyes glittering pools of jade. "I can't be with him like this." she spoke whole-heartidly. "I just can't. It's wrong."
Swallowing what was left of her pride, she admitted. "But I do love you." The words were tender and bruised, and she realized that she had reffered to both of them with this one simple confession. Both the twins, and Sonic. Amy wiped her eyes. "I'll be back for you." she spoke to the moon. "But I have something I need to do, first." touching her heart, she pleaded. "Forgive me."
And with that, she turned and continued to run.
"And then I left." Cream whispered. Tails nodded and watched the little rabbit draw her knees up to her chest, breathing unevenly.
Tails paused. "You know, I'm worried." he frowned. "It's a wonder you haven't gone into shock."
Cream sniffled and gave a small smile when the fox scooted closer to her. Resting her head in his shoulder, her whiskey eyes began to fill with tears once more. "It's just so hard." Cream managed. Then, turning her head, she smiled. "Thank you, Tails." she whispered, and lay her head down and instantly fell asleep.
Tails listened to her breathing for the longest time. She was so tired, and hurt. His heart was nearly bursting at the sympathy he felt for her.
With a purpose, the fox grabbed her hand. He told himself that he wanted to check her pulse, but he knew it was just a lie. That he just wanted to hold her hand.
As he squeezed her hand, he tilted his head and lay a kiss on the crown of her hair. He wanted to know everything would be okay. He wanted to know that he would not be responsible for any deaths. He wanted to go back in time, back to when life was simple.
But more than anything, Tails just wanted to take away her pain.
Sonic awoke to the sound of a small voice. As he opened his eyes, he could see both children staring at him.
Naomi had gotten some color back into her cheeks, and she seemed to be feeling a lot better. Nathaniel was beside her, only an inch taller, but way more tan and muscular. His eager and sly smile was not present, and Sonic wondered what could the little boy be so down about. But as he came around, it was clear that the other side of the bed was completely empty.
Turning around, Sonic looked to see that there was a small note on her pillow. Sitting up and snatching it, he began to read immediantly.
Dear Sonic,
By now I'm sure you've noticed I'm missing. Don't worry. I have not been captured, and I have not been taken hostage. I don't know exactly what to tell you, seeing as this was a decision that really could not be avoided. But I will tell you what I know to be true. It's the least I can do.
This isn't about the kiss. Well, not really.
It's really more about me. I'm confused, but not about anything you can help me with. I've sort of lost myself, somewhere along the road. You should understand, how much I need to know. Because I thought I did. I thought I was a chipper and clingy girl who fought agianst evil and was a whiz at making your favorite meals. But I've become someone different, if you haven't noticed. Someone who freezes at the site of danger and who causes an argument with you everytime we get the chance. Not fun.
I want to be with you. But I can't, mostly because I'm not sure that kiss was intentional or not. I don't want to be with you like this. I can't explain, but somehow I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. I shouldn't be gone long. I only have one place I need to go. Feel free to search, but you won't find me. It's a place I haven't told anyone. I'll call you, often. Please don't be angry, but I will be right back. Be sure to change Naomi's bandages, and don't let Nathaniel blow anything up.
Tell them that I love them. Will you?
Don't stay there waiting for me. Keep running. I'll catch up with you later. I promise.
Love,
Amy Rose
He searched his heart. But the only word he found, was engraved in the eyes of the twins.
Empty.
The child was not a mixture of the two parents. She was her own separate thing, alive.
"Ruby." Rouge spoke up as she held onto her new daughter tight. "Her name is Ruby. Ruby Ashley."
The girl was an echidna, with red locks of hair just like her father. But the eyes were unmistakably the same aqua color as her own. She had the smallest hands, as Rouge gave her a finger to grasp, she noted that the girl was smiling at her. After hours and hours of pain, all she recieved was a smile, before the child fell into a deep sleep. Rouge traced the line of her jaw, running her finger over the girl's small nose.
Knuckles stood over them, beaming proudly. His purple eyes were watching the girl with love and awe. "She's so tiny." he mused, as Rouge nodded.
But inside, her heart was empty. She looked at her new daughter, who had been alive for three hours, and who had already captured her heart. Was this what Amy felt for those twins? This kind of love that nearly scared the bat to death? Rouge forced herself to answer the question. If Ruby ended up harboring powers that would surely destroy the universe, would Rouge be able to kill her? Would she trade her daughter for everything and everyone she had come to know and love?
The answer was instant. A dark and stubborn, no.
Rouge jumped. She could not afford to think like this! She panicked. She had chosen her side!
Knuckles piped up, unaware. "Mind if I hold her?"
Rouge thrust the baby towards him as if she were being burned.
Amy walked along the path that had always been marked for her.
She took notice of the sign with the multiple bullet holes shot through, and remembered how they got to be there. As she came closer, she started to remember the trees. Like the one bent so bad that it touched the bottom of the forest floor, and the one that twisted over itself so much, that it was the easiest tree to climb. She started to remember the smells. Like the smell of smoke, and of fresh pine and harnessed dew.
As she approached the house, she saw that the place had not changed. The random lawn furniture in the backyard was exactly as she left them, and the front door was still painted the darkest of blues, it was as if she never left. Amy paced herself, going to the door with extreme caution. Feelings were flooding her, ones of regret, of anger, of sadness, and of longing. Amy refused to cry, because she had not come here to cry.
As she knocked on the door, she was instantly brought back to a time when she was seven. Where she kissed boys on the cheek behind picket fences and made them swear not to tell. Where she had gone to the carnival and eaten cotton candy until her stomach nearly exploded. And when she was eight, where she walked out of this door, this time permanantly. Amy listened to the doorknob turn, and she faced herself for what she might see.
When the door opened, Amy looked to see a very pretty but old woman. She was her height, with long braided dark hair that was on the verge of turning a smoky silver. Her eyes were large, the same black as her quills. Her skin was tan and slick, her face round and cheeks pink, with shaking hands and the softest of smiles. Amy ducked her head as she looked up, making sure the woman could not see her face.
The woman paused. "How may I help you?" she asked tenderly, a strand of hair from her braid breaking free and falling over her shoulder. Amy lifted her eyes, before finally resting them on the old woman. Her eyes were desperate for the words she needed to hear, and as Amy nervously grabbed a lock of pink hair, she began to twist it around. The old woman took one look at her face, and her eyes became saucers. She gasped, hands flying over her mouth, her whole body shaking now. "Amy?" she whispered, as if she could be an illusion. "Is that really you?"
Amy only offered a smile. "Is the door still open?" she asked.
But she never got an answer. Suddenly, the old woman was clutching her tight. Her dark hair settled over Amy's shoulder, as she hugged the woman back with just as much force. She was waiting for what the woman would say. Had she heard what she had done? With the twins? Amy breathed in the smell of herbs and oak. Tears were suddenly pricking her eyes, as she tried so hard to keep them at bay. But they were taking over her whole vision, and blocking her throat.
Finally, Amy swallowed. "I missed you, Rose." she admitted. Before she broke down and let the tears fall freely. Soon she was crying hysterically, wishing she could stay in the arms of her grandmother forever.
A/N (about the chapter): Before you say anything! I tried to make Amy's reaction as sensable as possible. So I asked all of my chick friends and asked them:
If you almost lost your child, and you were dealing with a whole lot of absolutely devastating issues, and your best friend kissed you, what would you do?
And almost all of them responded with: Be angry!
And then I watched my favorite episode of Degrassi, and I wrote it!