A/N: Wow, it's been a long time since I've last updated! But OMG! What is this! It looks like chapter 7! I am so proud of myself for getting this far in my story! I'm sorry about the long wait but I've been working on a new story plus the amount of homework I'm given is unbelievable. I have two essays due Friday and I haven't even begun one of them. Plus, I have work in other classes to work on because all my teachers hate me but oh well. Yes, I'm a procrastinator and I'll be up late working on both of my essays and extra homework but I'm lazy and I want to update this story first. Anyways, this next chapter is where the real romance comes in! Once again, there is no fighting in this chapter. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. It's one of my favorites to write. Well, I'll get started now. Disclaimer: I wish I owned Knuckles and Shadow but, I only own Orange.

Chapter 7: True Love

Angel Island- 3:00 p.m.

It was two weeks after Orange and Tails had been first hospitalized. They were actually only there for about a week. They spent a lot of their time resting after that. Orange stayed at Tails' house while he spent most of his time in his workshop. Tikal had gone back to her own time for rest. Knuckles had went back to watching the M.E. but still went to visit Orange every day. Shadow was staying with Sonic.

One day, when Orange was feeling bored from being in bed for so long, she decided to go visit Knuckles. She ran about half of the way to the shrine of the M.E. before she had to rest. She was still in a bit of pain from the two gun shots and, she had to slow her pace down to a walk for the rest of the way there. It was not too long before she had reached the shrine of the M.E. The shrine was round so she could walk around it. Knuckles had not noticed her first arrival. He seemed to be falling asleep. He sat at the bottom step of the shrine with his elbow on his knee and his head resting in his hand. His eyes were staring down at the ground, almost in a daze, and only half open. That's when Orange began to formulate a plan in her mind. She sneaked around the shrine and climbed up the top. She then began her way down the steps, approaching Knuckles form behind. When she reached a good position, she pounced at him, yelling out, " KNUCKLES!" His eyes suddenly snapped open and, he turned just in time to see Orange jumping at him. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground with a sharp pain in his head. Orange was sitting on top of him, laughing a bit. He gave her a compassionate smile and thought to himself. He liked the outfit she was wearing. He thought it looked cute on her. She had on a light purple shirt and some light blue overalls. She also wore a pair of blue shoes with a white stripe going up them and some white socks underneath. However, the only thing he could think to say at that moment was, " Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" Orange got off of him to let him sit up and sat next to him with a simple response. " I'll be just fine. I've been in bed for so long, I can't even remember the last time I was able to get out and enjoy nature."

She leaned against Knuckles and embraced him in a small hug. " I want to see the stars again. Just like that first night we were together. Do you remember? It would be really nice, don't you think?" He suddenly stood up and said, " Follow me." She looked up at him a little confused. " Knuckles? Where are you going?" He just bent over, grabbed her hands, and helped her to her feet. " I just want you to follow me." he said, smiling at her. " But, Knuckles, where are we going?" she asked, as he pulled her along. He didn't answer but just continued pulling her faster. She began to get scared as they wandered into unfamiliar parts of the island. She began to panic a bit and say in a worried voice, " Knuckles, please tell me where you're taking me! I don't like it here!" He looked back at her and said calmly, " We're almost there." " Where!" she asked, starting to get a little pissed off. " I want to know where you're taking me! And why are you pulling me so hard! It hurts! Please, stop! I really don't want to go much further! I'm still in pain from those bullet wounds! Can't we rest or at least go slower! I'm having trouble breathing!" It wasn't until Orange held her hand against the wound in her side and almost lost her footing running, that Knuckles allowed her to catch her breath. As soon as they stopped, she pulled her wrist from his grip and began to rub it. " I'm sorry, Orange. But we should get going now!" he said, scooping her up in his arms and continuing to run. At that, she started yelling and struggling to get away from him. " Knuckles! Why are you being such a jerk! I liked you better before! Why can't you just go back to normal!" However, the only thing he noticed at the time was the sun beginning to set.

About five minutes later, they finally reached their destination. He put Orange, who was still struggling, on the ground. She ran a few feet away from him before falling to her knees and crying. "Why did you do that, Knuckles?" she managed to whimper out before falling silent from seeing the surrounding area. They were in an open area with lots of soft grass. There was a cliff next to a small lake with a waterfall emptying into it. She stood up and looked in amazement at the shimmering water that the last rays of sun light left behind. The water was crystal clear and a soft, warm breeze blew a gentle spray from the waterfall into her face. It seemed cool and refreshing. She looked over at Knuckles, who just smiled over at her warmly. "I come here to think sometimes. I only just realized that this is one of the best spots on the whole island to see the stars." With that said, he walked over to an area in the grass that had a small campfire set up. He lit it and sat down on a log in front of the fire. Orange walked over and sat down next to him. " It's beautiful here." " I thought you would like it here. Nobody else knows about this place. Well…actually…now you know too."

They stayed quiet for a long time, until the stars came out. First, there was one, then ten, and soon, hundreds had filled the sky. The reflection of the stars in the water comforted her. She thanked Knuckles for taking her there. She didn't want the night to end. She leaned against Knuckles and relaxed. Knuckles was still thinking to himself. "I have that mysterious feeling again. I didn't want to admit it at first, but I think Sonic was right. I think I do love Orange. And I think Orange feels the same way about me as I feel about her." Orange's thoughts were close to the same as his. " I wonder why he always grows so quiet when he's alone with me. Maybe he's figured out how I feel about him! And yet, strangely enough, I get the feeling he likes me just as much as I like him."

At about 10:00 p.m., it was pitch black out with the only light being that from the stars and campfire, but even the fire was beginning to fail. All Orange could think about was that she didn't want the moment to end. She wanted to make the most of her time with Knuckles but was discouraged when she discovered that he was once again beginning to fall asleep. Probably because of all the long nights he spent watching the M. E. while Tikal was gone. This time, however, she didn't want to allow sleep to ruin the moment. She did the first thing that came to mind that would keep him awake. She quickly grabbed Knuckles and pushed his off the log onto his back and sat on him. At the moment, she didn't care what the consequences were. This action did wake him up quickly. He looked up at Orange in confusion, thinking she was just playing and would get off him soon. However, she just continued to lean in toward him. His dark, purple eyes made contact with her emerald green eyes as she approached slowly. The next thing he knew, her lips were pushed up against his own. He was a little surprised at first, but soon he just went with it. He began to kiss her back as he felt her soft hands beginning to slowly rub his body. She broke off the kiss and started to set a trail of soft kisses over his face and down his neck. Knuckles also began to let his hands wander across her body. He didn't want to do anything too inappropriate at first so he just felt along the curves of her body. She cooed in delight at first and tried to encourage him to touch him to touch her in a few different spots. She let her own delicate fingers drag lower along his body. He went ahead and began to kiss her neck roughly. She threw her head back just a bit and grabbed his hand and led them to where she wanted him to touch. First, she sat up and unhooked her overalls and let the top half fall off. She pushed his hands up the back of her shirt to where her bra was and whispered to him, " Unhook it." He did as he was told and Orange sat up again to pull her shirt off. Once her top half was exposed, something unexpected happened. A set of new wings appeared only this time they were different. They left no cuts along her back; there wasn't a drop of blood on them, and instead of being feathery they were just fluffy. They were almost transparent in appearance. However, the two lovers were too involved in each other to ask any questions. Knuckles quickly flipped Orange onto her back and he continued in undressing her. He pulled her shoes off and slid her overalls all the way off. He lay on top of her for mostly the rest of the night without changing positions much in the night. After many hours of this they finally fell asleep in the grass, with the lit up sky above them, and the only covering they had being her wings which she wrapped around them when it began to get cold.

The next morning, sunlight came pouring in on them. Orange was the first to wake up and seeing that Knuckles was still asleep next to her, she took the opportunity to take a quick bath in the water. She walked into the refreshing water slowly until it was up to her waist. It was at that moment that she heard a voice behind her. "How you can stand that cold water, I can not understand." Orange turned around in complete embarrassment and her face turned a dark red. Knuckles was sitting up staring at her. Orange quickly took up a handful of rocks and began pelting them at him and yelling. "Knuckles, you pervert! I never said you could look at me when I'm bathing! I can't believe you, you jerk!" Knuckles quickly ducked and covered as it began to rain rocks down on his head. "Alright! Alright! I'm sorry! I won't look up again!"

Shortly after Orange had finished her bath and gotten dressed, she and Knuckles walked slowly back to the shrine. After they were back, Orange decided to head back to Tails' house so he wouldn't worry too much. Before she could leave though, Knuckles grabbed Orange and gave her a quick kiss. She blushed as he said, " I love you." She then responded, "I love you, too."

A/N: I have an announcement about this last chapter! I'm really sorry for anybody that wants me to continue but this last chapter was a condensed version of what I'm going to do! The next chapter will be another version of this only in lemon form! This is so all the lemon lovers can enjoy this story too! I'm sorry for those who hate lemons but want to keep on reading! You'll have to wait for chapter 9 to continue. However, for those who love lemons, enjoy chapter 8! I'll have it up soon. Chapter 8:Lemon! p.s.- I haven't written a lemon in a long time so it may suck but I'll do my best! Please review soon and maybe I'll even put up a lemon story for all you lemon lovers. It will just be about different characters having sex! Well, I'll see you all later! Bye!