I cannot apologise enough for the stupidly long update. All I will say is that something came up and I had a lot to deal with, but with the Christmas break updates should be a bit quicker (thought I can't promise). This is definitely the most difficult story I've ever written, mostly because it's not properly planned, so I'll have to work on that.
A huge thank you to Skyelara, Super-Shadow1248, ChillyNight, awesomesauce, Mi, doctorcookiemonster, Romantic Person, IOwnSonicX, Lightning Eyes, hot pink123, Juyune, Kaikai Kitsune, November Ember, SmileRen, Hollie the hedgehog, sonamyrox, Miss Topaz, Zebra, Bluey, sonamy1, Hazel the Rabbit, Alexandra the leopard, Code1295, ALPHA116, Self-Appointed Critic, IHeartSonAmy and Danielle Fenton. Wow. Just... wow. 27 reviews? 27! Thank you guys so much! I had no idea until now how many people are actually reading this, and I know that I'm not great at updating, so it means a lot to me. :) I cannot believe that! You guys are seriously awesome! THANK YOU!
Somehow I doubt this was worth a month's wait but I'll leave that to your judgement... (I'm still reeling from the number of reviews :D Did I say thank you?)
Chapter 12 – The Search Begins
Amy slid the window up as far as it would go and climbed onto the ledge, ignoring the night-time air that chilled her breath. The tree was right in front of her. She crouched, and placing her arms behind her for leverage, launched herself onto the tree, frantically grabbing at branches to keep herself from falling. Stray twigs scratched her arms as she clambered to the other side of the tree, mentally congratulating herself for learning how to climb it when she was younger. She instinctively reached for branches that she knew the positions of, making her way down and landing nimbly on the ground.
.
The lights of her house were switched on in almost every room; Sonic had quickly checked each one for the so-called trespasser. Amy ran into the cover of bushes that formed the borderline between her garden and the forest, straining her eyes in effort to catch a glimpse of the blue blur racing through her home. He must have reached her bedroom already, as the lights snapped on the second she came to a halt.
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His silhouette could be seen quickly moving around the room as he searched. Suddenly, he moved to the window and Amy winced. How could she have even hoped that he wouldn't notice that? It was wide open and the curtains were ruffling by the breeze. The male hedgehog was now leaning out and surveying the surroundings. Amy impulsively moved deeper into the bushes, trying to avoid his gaze as if it were a laser beam. She was really beginning to wish that she'd been more careful.
.
The unwavering determination and anger in Sonic's eyes would have attracted Amy in any other situation; usually it would be aimed at Eggman for hurting someone or threatening the town, and it would make her swoon. But as it was, with the force of his glare meant for her, it was intimidating. Needless to say that part of her was also outraged that he'd broken into her home and ruined her door. Where was she supposed to sleep now? Obviously he would know if she tried to fix it and now that he was suspicious she couldn't afford to take any more chances. And now that she thought about it, if Sonic thought there was a burglar, wouldn't he be trying to give chase by now?
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As if on cue, a thump resounded from the ground as Sonic jumped from the window and landed deftly on the soil below. For once Amy didn't even wait to see what he'd do next; she had enough sense not to stay in one place. Without wasting another second, she ran. She bolted through the bushes, throwing herself into the thick and springy branches and stumbling out onto the path on the other side. It was times like these when she cursed Sonic's speed, as she was forced to think on her feet: something that had never been her strong point. It would be pointless to carry on running; he would find her easily and then she'd have some explaining to do, but it would be risky to try and pretend that she was there for another reason.
.
Before she'd had a chance to think about it, a rustle of leaves and a burst of subconscious influence made her hurry as far down the path as she dared, nearly losing her balance as she stopped abruptly. She turned to face the way she'd come, glancing towards her house and trying to iron out the worry from her expression. This was it. It was all or nothing. Just as she'd anticipated, Sonic raced through the bushes and onto the path, skidding to a halt when he saw her, surprise plastered onto his expression. She made herself pause exaggeratedly, as if she'd just noticed him.
.
"Andy?" Sonic said. "What are you doing here?"
"I walk this way to get home and I thought I might find some clues on Amy's whereabouts," she answered, staying as close the truth as possible. "You?"
"I was running through here when I heard a crash inside her house." He got straight to the point, as always. "I'm pretty sure it was a robber but when I went inside to catch him he must have jumped out of the window," he said, his fists clenching slightly. "Did you see anything?"
Amy carefully crafted her expression into shock, ignoring the fact that Sonic hadn't been completely truthful himself. He hadn't been running. In fact, he'd been standing there staring at her house, let alone running. "Someone was in her house? That's awful!" she cried. "I heard some rustling in the leaves but I didn't think anything of it. He probably got away."
.
Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well I'll see about that," he growled, preparing to run.
Amy blocked his path, almost smiling in relief that he didn't suspect her. "Just leave it. I doubt he got a chance to steal anything anyway."
The male hedgehog relaxed, but the frown remained on his face. "He probably didn't," he agreed. He glanced back at Amy's house. "I guess I'd better find a way to fix the door. It's just a pile of wood since I busted it and I don't think Amy would be very happy to see it like that."
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I'm not very happy about it at all, Amy thought bitterly, suddenly wanting to see what state he'd left her house in. She fought to staunch the flow of images that rushed to mind of her door as a mound of rubble. "Maybe you could board it up?" she suggested, though her mind strongly protested at her poor house looking like a building site.
"Maybe," he said. "I'll figure something out. We're still on for tomorrow, right?"
She nodded. "The park at ten."
"Right. See ya tomorrow, buddy." Then he was gone in a rush of blue.
.
Amy moved her hand under her sunglasses to massage the sides of her head, sighing deeply. This was getting ridiculous. Pretending to be somebody of a different gender was hard enough, but she'd made deals that she needed to uphold, she was going to spend the next day searching for herself, she'd been run out of her own home and now she couldn't even go back and sleep in it. Her plan hadn't exactly been simple but she'd never considered even for a second that it would get so complicated.
.
The only thing that gave her a small piece of mind was that Sonic had just called her 'buddy'. That was some progress, at least. She folded her arms, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do next. She could go and stay with Tails; he knew 'Andy' well enough, but it would be risky, seeing as he was so close with Sonic. In any normal situation she would turn to Cream, but of course that was out of the question. And as for Knuckles, did he even have a house?
.
So that left Rouge. Amy knew roughly where the ivory bat lived; her apartment was somewhere on the outskirts of Mobius. The cerise hedgehog chewed the corner of her lip, mentally planning the route to her friend. It wasn't too far, and although it was dark, her male persona boosted her confidence. Thankfully, she'd been right, and after ten minutes of walking she was outside Rouge's door, knocking hesitantly. There was no sound from inside the apartment, and for a moment Amy considered whether or not Rouge was asleep. It was fairly late but Rouge was known for her love of the nightlife. She went to knock again when the door swung open, and Amy was reminded that Rouge took her own sweet time doing things.
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The pearly-white bat stood leaning against the doorframe, fully awake, but looking surprised at Amy's arrival none-the-less. "Pinky," she said. "I didn't know you were a night-time kind of girl."
Amy almost laughed. "I'm not," she replied tiredly. "But Sonic destroyed my front door so I can't stay at my house anymore."
Rouge's eyes widened as she allowed the hedgehog to enter, closing the door behind her. "And this happened how?"
They moved into the living room, Amy quietly observing the modern furnishings and stylish wallpaper. A display cabinet was in the corner of the room, exhibiting the latest addition of Rouge's jewel collection, no doubt stolen. "He heard me inside my house and thought I was a burglar, so he broke in."
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There was a pause, and eventually Rouge smirked. "Well, you can't say it doesn't get interesting," she remarked.
As Amy continued to explain the events of the night, Rouge listened attentively, making the occasional comment. Even as Amy was speaking, she was distantly marvelling at Rouge's patience, as she had only recently seen this side to the older girl. When she'd finished her story, Rouge sat back in her seat, with that same amused spark in her eyes.
"My, my, the things you get up to, Pinky," she said. "Seeing as you're pretty much homeless now, I'm guessing you want to stay with me?"
"Only if I can," Amy answered. "But I can't exactly go anywhere else."
Rouge nodded, her eyes closed. "True. I suppose there is some room in the bath. It's either that or the hallway-"
"Rouge!"
"Calm down, Amy, I was joking. There's a spare room next to mine," she said, clearly enjoying teasing her friend.
"Thank you," Amy replied stiffly.
.
Rouge chuckled, getting up to show Amy around. She led her through the apartment, mostly pointing out gems and making it clear that they were out of bounds. Amy had always known that Rouge was a jewel thief but she had no idea just how much the bat had stolen. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds; Rouge had them all, hidden away in every compartment possible. Amy shook her head in wonder. It amazed her that Rouge had never been caught.
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The two of them stayed up for a few more hours, mostly chatting, before deciding to call it a night. Amy paused in the doorway to her room, smiling at her friend. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Rouge," she said warmly. "I don't know where else I could have gone."
"No problem." Once again Rouge wore a genuine smile, and she gave a gentle wave before retiring to bed.
.***
Amy reached the park ten minutes early the next morning, and she was surprised to see Sonic already there. He was leaning against a tree, looking thoughtful. She sauntered over to him, quickly adjusting her baseball cap.
"Yo," she said.
He grinned. "Hey."
"You're early."
"So are you."
She giggled, before quickly covering it with a cough and forcing a deeper, more masculine laugh. "Yeah, so, erm… where do we start?"
.
Sonic scratched his ear awkwardly. "Well, that was kind of why I asked you to help me," he said. "Where would you look for Amy?"
She considered. Where would she usually be found? "At the mall?" she suggested.
"I checked there, loads of times. We need to try somewhere else. What's her favourite place?"
Now there was an interesting question. "I guess," she said slowly, "it's Emerald Coast. But we were there yesterday. And you do realise that she could have gone to another country, right? I mean, if she really wanted a time out…"
.
Something in Sonic's aura grew dim. "Do you really think she would have gone that far?" he asked, his ears lowered slightly.
Amy felt her herself fidget with the zip on her trouser pocket. "I… Maybe not. No, that was a silly thing to say. Forget that."
Suddenly he straightened again. "Don't get me wrong, if you think that she's gone far away then I'm more than willing to search harder," he said fervently. "I'll search the whole planet if that's what it takes. We've got to find her, Andy."
.
Amy's eyes widened. "You… you really want to find her, don't you?" she breathed.
His cheeks became tinged with red and he looked away. "I just want to find out what this is all about, for everyone's sake. Cream's really worried."
But are you? Amy wondered, wishing with all of her heart that the answer was yes.
"Anyway," he said, "where should we look first? And I won't run while we're looking. It'll be a proper search."
Amy smiled. "We'll see how long that lasts. I think we should just look around Mobius in general, first of all. The park, the town centre, the beach, the nature reserves: all those places."
Sonic nodded, his mood significantly lifting. "Okay," he grinned. "Let's go!"
.
The two hedgehogs spent the next few hours scouring the park and the beach for clues, or at least Sonic was while Amy pretended. He seemed much more cheerful than he had been before and he was back to his usual self: making witty comments and messing around with a smile on his face. The town centre took a lot longer to search than the other places, and to Amy's relief, he took it as an opportunity to chat rather than to become negative. They'd even got into a game of 'Would You Rather?', and Sonic always had the most interesting questions.
.
"Would you rather," he asked, "take out your own eye with a cocktail stick or spend the day with Eggman?"
Amy laughed. "What does the day with Eggman involve?"
"You have to help him pick out an outfit for every day of the year and watch him try them all on and you've got to successfully act as if you like them all!" He flashed her an evil grin.
"Ew! The cocktail stick, by far!" she cried, unable to stop herself from giggling. "Now you've got the image of Eggman in a dress stuck in my head!"
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"Aw, don't be so mean," Sonic teased. "I bet he looks…" He shuddered. "Ugh, I was gonna say 'gorgeous' but I couldn't bring myself to do it!"
They collapsed into a fit of laughter, attracting the attention of several passers-by. Amy held a hand over her mouth to muffle her helpless giggles while Sonic had no shame and clutched his sides, sniggering. A trace of apprehension reminded her that she wasn't being very masculine and she struggled to control her laughter. At least Sonic didn't seem to have noticed; he'd only just calmed down himself.
.
"Ah, Sonic," she chuckled, finally regaining her persona, "I didn't know you were so funny, dude!"
"Amy never told you about my astounding wit and overall brilliance?" he said, smirking.
"It must have slipped her mind."
They shared a smile, but something in Sonic's expression let slip that he had something on his mind. There was a brief moment of quiet, and Amy sensed awkwardness resurfacing before Sonic broke it.
"What else did Amy tell you about me?" he asked, his voice slightly quieter.
"A lot of things," she said nonchalantly.
.
He released a nervous chuckle. "Good or bad?"
"Good… Well, mostly good."
"Did she mentioned my, erm, tendency to… you know…" He shifted uneasily.
Amy folded her arms, immediately knowing what he meant. "Ditch her?" she said tersely.
He deflated at that. "I think 'ditch' is a pretty strong word," he protested.
A burning rush of bitter comments emerged in Amy's mind. "Don't you think leaving someone in your dust is ditching them?" she demanded. "Abandoning them time after time? What about breaking promises?"
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"Hey," he warned, his eyes narrowing. "That's not fair. You've only ever heard her side of the story. And it's not like I don't feel guilty about it."
The atmosphere was slowly turning sour. Amy frowned, feeling guilty herself. She hadn't wanted to upset him; she just needed him to understand what she felt. That was, after all, the purpose of this whole plan, wasn't it? "Sorry," she said. "You're right, that wasn't fair. It's just that I'm Amy's friend and, you know, I hear about stuff."
Sonic looked down. His ears lowered but his fists were still clenched. "It's okay," he said after a while. "After what Amy's told you it's no wonder you think that."
.
Amy wanted to kick herself. One minute they'd been chatting and laughing and she'd ruined it the next with her childish comments. It didn't matter to her if Sonic said that it was 'okay' because there was no way of knowing if he meant it. "Sonic, I really am sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have said that. Amy hasn't really been telling me anything bad about you."
"Don't worry about it. It is true that I'm not exactly open-armed towards her, and if she was here she'd probably smack me 'round the head with her hammer." His gaze fell to his hands as a small smile graced his lips, and Amy felt relief flood her body.
"So… we're cool?" she asked cautiously.
He looked at her, the smile lingering on his face. "We're cool."
Ooh Sonic got annoyed for a moment there.. Does anyone else kinda love it when he's angry? xD
Anyway, thanks again to everyone reading this story. I do appreciate it and I wish it wasn't taking so long but just remember that I NEVER forget about it, I am working on it.
Thank you for your lovely reviews. I love hearing your feedback :)