A/N: I'm back with another chapter! This chapter is a bit longer than my first two so I'm just going to begin now. Disclaimer: I only own Orange, but I wish I owned Knuckles.
Chapter 3: A Night to Remember
Angel Island- 7:30p.m.
Everybody, with the exception of Tikal and Orange, sat in Knuckles' kitchen talking and waiting for Orange to enter the room. She had spent the rest of the day in Knuckles' room, watching over Tikal, who was resting in his bed. Tails sat at a table rubbing a creamy substance on Knuckles' leg. "Ouch! That hurts!" Knuckles said, a bit irritated by the sting that the cream left. Tails looked up. "Sorry, Knuckles but I got to put this stuff on your leg. It will make you feel better. You're lucky that it was only caught in that laser for a few moments otherwise you might not have been able to walk for at least a couple of weeks." Knuckles looked over at him, a bit relieved. " You mean I'll be able to walk as soon as we're done here?" Tails answered, with some concern on his face, "Well,yes, but you might be better off resting it for a few days." Sonic looked up from the book he was reading. "Yeah so stop acting like a big baby already!" Knuckles then yelled at him, "What! Shut up, you little bast-" Before he could finish, Orange walked in and saw Knuckles about to slam the book over Sonic's head. "Um...What are you guys doing?" Knuckles stopped instantly and said, annoyed, "Oh, I was just offering my good FRIEND, Sonic, a book to read." She smiled as he handed Sonic the book. "Oh! That's so sweet!" She then left the room for a second and Sonic burst out laughing. "HA! I think you like her!" Knuckles' mouth hung open, "What the hell are you talking about! I do not!" Sonic just smirked, " Sure, Knuckles, sure."
Orange walked into the room a few moments later. "Tikal should be fine in a few days." Knuckles looked up at her Time Crystal. "Wow. That crystal seems powerful. How did you do that...that time warp thing?" Orange looked down at it. "Oh! Well, actually, it isn't as powerful as you think. There are five crystals and all have different abilities. Two are very powerful but the other three have limited power. Mine is one of the three weaker ones. The two powerful ones can allow someone to travel forward or backward in time. You saw what mine does, although it only takes me a few feet. The other two can control a person's age and stop time but only for a limited amount of time. Together, however, they could be deadly." Knuckles stared at her in amazement. "Wow. I can see why you ran away to this island. It's a lot of responsibility watching something like that." She nodded. He looked over at Sonic, who continued to smile evily at him. He quickly looked away blushing, more from anger than anything else.
Within the next instant, he slammed his hands on the table and stood up. He wobbled a little at first but managed to walk. With his back turned to the others he said calmly, "Since Tikal usually watches the M.E. at night, I'll be watching it tonight while she's resting. I'm leaving now." Orange watched him walk out the door and down a path to the M.E. "Is he okay? He seemed kind of upset." Sonic layed back, "Don't worry. He gets like this sometimes." She replied, "Oh. Maybe I should go check on him...you know...just to make sure he's okay and give him some company." She stood up. Sonic smiled. "You do that, Orange." She then left to follow him.
Knuckles walked down the path thinking to himself, "Hmph! Sonic! Sometimes he's just a little bastard! What the hell did he mean, 'I like Orange!' He's crazy! I don't have some kind of crush on her or anything! Although, there is something mysterious about her that I like. But still! We're only friends and nothing more!" He reached the shrine right as the sun was beginning to set. Orange arrived shortly after and walked up behind Knuckles. "Knuckles?" He looked back a bit surprised. "Orange! What are you doing here!" She looked up at him. " I came to keep you company, if you don't mind." He smiled, " Sure...I could use some company." Orange sat down next to him and looked at the sky. The last rays of sunshine hit her face and she seemed almost like a goddess. Before long, it had grown dark and the sky was filled with stars. She stared in amazement. "Wow! The stars are so bright and close here. It never gets this way in the city. There are too many lights."
Just then something amazing happened. Orange's Time Crystal reacted to the M.E. and the Chaos Emeralds. It glowed a bright green and floated up in the air. It positioned itself above the M.E. and began to spin. Then the M.E. and Chaos Emeralds also began to glow, producing many bright colors. The Chaos Emeralds also floated and formed a circle around the M.E. and started floating around it. Orange and Knuckles watched in amazement at this sight. Knuckles asked, "What's going on!" Orange responded, "I don't know but it sure is beautiful!" All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a group of chao appeared. They seemed to dance in the air and sing, "Chaooo...Chaooo..." very softly. It almost seemed as though they were worshiping this extrordinary phenomenon. Orange smiled as the lights reflected off her face. Seeing as how this occurance created no trouble, Knuckles relaxed again and let his eyes wander. His eyes caught sight of Orange's shining face and he thought to himself, "Right now...I'm getting that mysterious feeling I had earlier when I was with her...and yet, strangely enough, it's a comfortable feeling too." Orange watched, thinking to herself also, "Wow. He sure did grow quiet all of a sudden. I wonder what he's thinking. It's weird...I've never been able to trust another male, other than my brother, ever since those evil men killed my parents...but...for some strange reason...I actually think I can fully trust him." All this went through their heads as they relaxed.
About half an hour later, Orange had begun to grow tired. She was half asleep and eventually became unaware of everything going on around her. She began to tilt to the side and she finally blacked out, letting her head fall on Knuckles' shoulder. She relaxed in her sleep and nuzzled her head against his chest. He looked down at her and, instead of waking her up to bring her home to go to bed, he just let her sleep where she was. Before long, he too began to become weary. He looked around a few more times before his vision went from being blury to dark. He, too, tilted to the side and fell asleep with Orange still resting on him.
Author: Well, that was chapter three for you. I hope you all enjoyed that.I don't have much more to say so I'm going back to bed. Please review and I'll have the next chapter up soon. Chapter 4: True Power-Part I-Hidden Power. Cya!