Sonic the Hedgehog, as his name had been revealed to be, ran across the meadow. He jumped the same rocks and ducked the same branches, then finally came to the village. He ran through it, not caring that the townspeople thought he was crazy, and reached the castle. He tried to push the large doors open, but they were locked.

"Damn it!" he said as he pounded on the doors.

He immediately ran around and tried to find another way in. He had no idea when the potion would wear off, and he wanted to hold the princess so badly, and explain everything he knew to the king. He desperately searched for another door, a window, a secret passageway, something that would allow him entry into the castle.

He entered the garden and searched for a way there. He came to a hedge and looked above it, and saw—a window! He could climb up the hedge and enter through the window. Though he knew not which room he would end up in, he was determined to reach his true love. So he started up the hedge, carefully stepping on the branches that stuck out. He finally reached his destination and tugged on the window; but it was locked!

"The king must have known I was coming and locked all the entrances," he said to himself. "So how do I get in without making a scene?"

Inside, the Princess lay on her bed, thinking about the hedgehog that she had met. Her eyes were growing heavy and she struggled to stay awake, for she knew that her love was coming for her. Surely anyone who has fallen in love with a princess could not stay away from them for more than an hour. She was so madly in love with the hedgehog, and could not stop thinking about him. And she knew that if she were to fall asleep, she would dream of him.

'What sweet dreams those would be,' she though, grinning prettily.

Eventually she gave up the battle the stay awake and fell asleep, dreaming of seeing the handsome hedgehog again.

Outside, Sonic was thinking of a way to get inside. He had thought of everything. He gave up thinking for a while and looked down—and saw a large rock. He picked it up and rolled it around in his hand. He looked up at the window.

"Man, I really don't want to have to break one of the castle's windows," he said, "but people will do crazy things when they're in love."

He got up onto the hedge and chucked the rock at the window and broke it.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, and climbed through the window.

Two halls down, the Princess heard the smash of the window and sat up-right. She got out of her bed and ran down the halls. The restroom door was open, so she looked inside; and was amazed by what she saw. The rock that the hedgehog had thrown was lying on the floor, surrounded by glass, and the blue hedgehog was climbing through the window. Tears came to her eyes and a smile appeared on her face. He had come back for her!

"I knew you would return!" She rejoiced and hugged the hedgehog.

"Of course I returned," he said softly as he hugged her. "I love you."

Princess Rose let go of her love and looked him in the eyes, a troubled look on her face.

"I love you, too," she said, "but you must go. My father will be very angry."

"Don't worry, Amy," he said to her, his gleaming smile appearing on his face again. "I'm invulnerable. No one can touch me."

"But…" she started, "…if you are invulnerable, then why did you not just break the window with your fist?"

"Uh…th-that's not important," he said, embarrassed. He realized now the he could have broken the window with his fist.

"Well, I'd rather not take any chances of someone getting hurt," Amy told him, and pushed him towards the window. "Please, you must leave before something bad happens!"

"All right, Princess," Sonic said back. "I love you enough to know that you shouldn't be endangered in any way. I will leave."

He turned around to climb back out of the window and felt a light tug on his shoulder.

"Wait," she said, and Sonic faced her again. "Before you go…"

She leaned in close to him, and Sonic knew that she was going to kiss him.

The beautiful sorceress was in her hut, watching the crystal ball. The image was Sonic and Amy leaning towards each other. She laughed, this one much more attractive than her fortune teller laugh.

"Yes, yes, the time draws near," she said. "Kiss her, Sonic, and you will finally be mine. Die, Princess!"

Sonic and Amy were just a couple of inches away from each other, when the Princess chickened out and hugged him instead. Sonic was surprised; why hadn't she kissed him? Instead of asking her the reason for the hug, he hugged her back. A few moments later they broke free of each other.

"Well, I guess I must get going," he said to her.

"Yes," she said sadly.

Sonic turned around and started climbing through the window. He was halfway out when Princess Rose remembered something.

"Wait!" she cried, and Sonic stopped immediately.

"I never got your name," she then said calmly.

"Oh, it's Sonic," he told her.

'Sonic,' she thought and smiled.

The hedgehog smiled back and then climbed the rest of the way out of the window. Amy watched him run off into the village. Suddenly, she heard footsteps in the hallway.

"Amy?" It was the king!

Princess Rose quickly covered the window with the curtains. She picked up the rock and hid it behind the door. Hopefully her father would mistake it for a doorstop. The kind stood in the doorway a few moments later; the princess was washing her hands.

"Daughter, what are you doing in here?" he asked.

"Oh, just washing my hands," she answered. "Like you said, 'clean hands are happy hands'."

She smiled big and hoped that her father wouldn't see through her little lie.

"All right," he said, and smiled back at her. Then he turned around and left.

Amy turned the water off and dried her hands. Then she went to her bedroom and lied on the bed. 'Oh, Sir Sonic, if only you knew the real reason I could not kiss you…'

"AUGGH! NO!" the sorceress screamed as she pulled her hair. She grabbed the crystal ball. "Why have you not shown me the event that should have occurred?" she whispered anxiously to it. "The princess was supposed to die! I am not pleased with you."

She went into the back room and started to look for something that would help her, but just then heard three knocks at the door. She quickly transformed herself back into the old woman whom Sonic knew as the fortune teller and appeared from the curtain. She sat in the chair.

"Hello, fortune teller," he greeted. He seemed rather sad.

"Hello—" she said in her sorceress voice, and quickly covered her mouth.

Sonic looked up when he heard the unfamiliar voice. The sorceress smiled and disguised her voice again.

"Ahem, uh, hello Sonic," she then said in her fortune teller's voice. "What is the matter? You seem to be a little blue."

"It's about the Princess," Sonic answered, ignoring the bad pun.

The fortune teller leaned forward and pretended to be interested. "Yes, what is it?"

"Well, she didn't kiss me. I thought she was going to, but she didn't," he replied. "We were so close to each other. But she hugged me instead."

"Oh, yes, I saw it in my crystal ball," she said to him. "That princess is so arrogant. Tsk tsk."

"You saw it?" he said, but calmed down soon after. "Oh yeah, that's right; your crystal ball can show pictures."

The fortune teller placed her wrinkly hand on his cheek—he did not jump.

"You are confused," she said. "I think I have something for that."

Sonic once again followed her behind the curtain, though he did so without much thought. She repeated what she had done the last time, except this time she stopped on a bottle with yellow liquid in it. She popped the top off and handed it to him like she had done with the invulnerability potion.

"This will give you the gift of flight," she told him, and he took the bottle and drank all of what was inside.

'True, my body feels lighter,' he thought to himself, 'but my heart is heavy with loneliness. How can one care to fly when the love of his life won't even kiss him?'

"Thank you," the hedgehog said to her, and walked out the door.

The fortune teller once again transformed back into a sorceress and tossled her long, wavy black hair. She sighed and again smiled.

"Finally," she said to herself. "I couldn't wait to get back in my original form. Oh, how I despise that old woman form. And I still don't understand why the princess never kissed him."

She filled the bottle with more yellow liquid and placed it back in its spot. "But this time will be different. Sonic will go to the Princess, and his spirits will most likely be lifted upon seeing her face. He will show her his ability and she will give him her hand so that they can fly together. But once she touches his hand, her hear will stop, and she will fall dead."

She smiled at her own cunningness and knew that the plan would work this time. There was no way Princess Rose could resist flying with Sonic—that is, if he really was her true love. And although the thought of Amy and Sonic in love made the sorceress sick to her stomach, she had to make it happen if she ever wanted to be Sonic's love.

"This time, it will work," she said to herself.

Across the meadow, and although he was flying 4 feet off of the ground, Sonic moved his feet as if he were walking. And although he had doubt, he hoped that the Princess would fly with him above the town. If she refused, he would be deeply depressed.

So he went to the castle and found Princess Rose on her balcony, looking out at the village. It was now dark, and the light of the moon illuminated her pretty face. The gentle, cool breeze blew softly and slowly through her hair. She was even more beautiful at night.

Surrounded by fireflies, her attention was directed away from Sonic; she did not notice her love floating in the sky by the castle.

'I know, I'll surprise her,' Sonic thought, a smile appearing on his face. He floated down to the ground and walked until he was underneath the balcony. 'If she sees me fly, she'll be more excited than ever.'

"Princess!" he called. "I have come back for you!"

Amy looked down, a bit startles, and grinned when she saw her love. "Sir Sonic! I knew you would return!"

'She sure likes to say that when I come back,' Sonic thought, a bit annoyed. "Princess, I am coming up to you!"

"But Sir, how will you ever get up here?" she asked. "There are no trees or vines!"

"Like this, my love!" With that, Sonic lifted himself off of the ground and flew to her, above the balcony.

"Oh, Sir Sonic! What a miracle!" the princess exclaimed. "You are flying!"

Sonic held his hand out to her. "Come on, fly with me."

She went to touch his hand, slowly; their hands were getting closer and closer, almost touching, then…

She pulled her hand back.

Sonic was shocked. "W-what…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't," she told him.

"Why not, Amy?" Sonic asked desperately. "You bailed out on our kiss and now you're bailing out on a trip through the skies?"

"It…it's not what you think," she told him.

"Come on, Amy," Sonic pleaded, and held out his hand again. "I love you. Don't you love me?"

"Well…" Princess Rose hesitated, "…Sonic…"

She began to move her hand forward again—slowly. Once again, their hands were incredibly close to each other. But, like before, it was interrupted. But this time, it wasn't Princess Rose's fault—it was her father's.

He stood there, looking at them, a shocked look on his face. Amy knew that he was there and turned around, her hand sliding away from Sonic's. The flying Sir was also shocked, his reason opposite from the princess' father. They all stared at each other, the king's eyes going back and forth from Amy to Sonic, Amy and Sonic's eyes fixed on the king.

Then the king stamped his gaze on his daughter. Lip trembling, he uttered, "What is this?"

Amy fumbled with her words. "Um…Father…I, um…"

The king rushed over and clutched Princess Rose's arm tightly, then pulled her away from the balcony and to the entrance. He held her firmly in place and glared at the stranger standing on their balcony ledge.

"Who do you think you are? Coming to my castle and persuading my daughter to go with you!" he yelled. "I haven't the slightest clue where you expected to go with her, and what you expected to do with her, I don't even wantto think of!"

"Your Majesty, if you let me explain—"

"I don't want to hear any excuses!" the king again yelled. "Get off of my palace, out of my village, even out of my kingdom if you're smart!"

Then he pulled his daughter inside and said, "Go to your room."

The princess obeyed, with one last glance at Sonic, and when she was gone, the king said to Sonic, "Leave now. And if you ever come back, I'll kill you."

With that he went inside and closed the entrance's curtains and doors, and Sonic was left alone once again.

"I can't believe this," the sorceress muttered, her forehead buried in her right hand. "Nothing I do is working. How can this be?"

Then she slammed her fist angrily on the tabletop. "Why is she not giving in to him?"

There were three knocks and in an instant the sorceress was a fortune teller again. Sonic walked in and to the table.

He got right to the point. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong, fortune teller. I've tried so hard, but she just won't come with me anywhere. I guess she just doesn't love me…"

"Of course she does, Sonic," the fortune teller told him. "She loved you with all her heart. Now go, try once more."

"Why are you so determined to get me and the Princess together?" he asked, becoming suspicious.

"Because, my dear Sonic, I only wish for your happiness," she answered. "I want to help you achieve your goals."

"Hm, well, I guess that's a good reason," Sonic commented, oblivious to the fact that she was lying.

"Would you like to try another potion?"

"Nah, that's ok," he answered. "The Princess obviously doesn't love me. I'll just go back to my kingdom."

"Are you sure you don't want to try just once more?" she asked, an edge of panic in her voice. "Surely the princess could not deny you a third time."

"I'd rather not take the risk," Sonic replied. "Besides, the king said that if he ever saw me again he's kill me."

The sorceress gasped to herself. There was no way she was going to send him back now—She would never risk her beloved's life like that!

"Well, see ya," Sonic said to her, and headed for the door.

But before he left, he turned to her one last time and said, "Goodbye fortune teller. And thanks…for everything."

With that he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. For the first time in her life, tears came to the sorceress' eyes. The one she cherished so had walked out of her life. And although they had never been a couple, she felt as if Sonic had just broken up with her.

She wiped her eyes and transformed back into her true form. She whirled her hands around the crystal ball and the image of Sonic walking sadly along appeared. He was truly depressed about Princess Rose's false love for him. But it wasn't false love. She really did love him with all of her heart.

"I cannot let my darling go on depressed like this," the sorceress said. "I must fix him—before it's too late…"