Huge, HUGE thank yous go out to: Comrade Athelwine, Super-Shadow1248, Skyelara, IHeartSonAmy, Juliix, hot pink123, SmileRen, SilverDawn, Driane, sonicathehedgehog, Kaikai Kitsune (I spelt it right this time :P), Mi123, Lightning Eyes, ChillyNight, hollie the hedgehog, IOwnSonicX, BlueyO, Resplandent, Romantic Person, Alexandra the Leopard, Shadamy rles, Terranaut, Miss Topaz, ShadAmy4Eva, November Ember, shirinuigoddeviantart and RaeRaethehedgehog. ...
I actually cannot believe how many of you there are. Jeez I LOVE YOU GUYS! :'D Thank you so much, it means a lot to me, it really does. It makes me smile so much when I see people enjoying what I write. Sorry about how long this A/N is but I'm actually amazed at how lucky I am. I forgot how many people read this!
Anyway, thank you. Thank you thank you thank you :') Oh and one more thing - you all seemed to be looking into the ending of chapter 13, which is exactly the response I was hoping for, but now I'm kinda worried that it won't be what you think it is. It's not exactly a massive secret, it was just a sort of a hint. A hint of... things to consider, let's say. ;) You'll see. Right, I'll let you go now ^^' Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 14 - Temptation
The spring sunshine was at its peak, and Amy was glad of the shade from the tree beside her. The silence was calming. Seeing as Silver Valley was a fairly desolate place, it was always peaceful. She closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of the grass, smiling contentedly. Already, she was anticipating the rush of wind that would announce Sonic's arrival. Her smile grew as she pictured the day ahead, all of it being spent with Sonic. Being with him was intoxicating; she was excited to see his face even for a minute. Not to mention that she'd improve her battle skills, and then she'd really impress him.
.
She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw Amy Rose fight like a pro, even without her hammer. Though of course, that would be when she decided to drop her façade. She could already sense the rush of adrenaline that would come from fighting Eggman's robots, the power she'd feel when she would destroy each one with a single blow…
Suddenly she wheeled on the tree behind her, hopping from foot to foot in a fighting stance. She imagined glowing eyes beaming from the middle of the bark, and huge mechanical arms sprouting from the trunk. A pitiful excuse for an enemy for the invincible Amy. "Don't mess with me," she said, wearing a cocky grin to rival Sonic's. "Just because I don't have a weapon on me you think I can't beat you?"
.
The tree remained motionless.
"Too bad. I guess I'll have to prove you wrong!" She aimed a kick at the trunk, picturing denting mental. "Take that!" she crowed. She could imagine Eggman's shock as she would obliterate his robots effortlessly, while Sonic would watch her, awed. "You're going down!" Amy clenched her hand into a fist and brought her arm back, bracing herself. She smirked, before throwing a punch into the tree.
Ow.
Her knuckles throbbed as a searing pain raced through her arm. She jumped back, yelping. Since when where trees so hard? And why did she feel like she'd done that before? Ah yes, the robots, when she'd first tried to fight without her hammer.
That was clever. You think I'd learn from my mistakes…
.
Amy clamped her eyes shut and held her poor hand, wincing. "Stupid tree," she groaned.
"You know, from where I'm standing, it didn't look like the tree did anything to you."
Her eyes flew open at the voice. Of course, as fate was always so cruel to her, there was Sonic the Hedgehog, looking very amused. The burning pain in her arm was instantly forgotten as embarrassment left heat flaring in her cheeks instead. His eyes were laughing even though he was managing to hold it in, but Amy was reassured by the gentleness in his gaze that it wasn't unkind. Instead his expression held a knowing look, with a hint of something else that immediately relaxed her.
.
She quickly let go of her hand, readjusting her sunglasses and trying to act like it had never happened. "Yeah, well, you know, I was just trying to get some practice in before you got here," she babbled.
His smile widened. "On a tree?" Seeing her glare, he softened his expression. "Seriously, though - is your hand okay?"
"Of course it is," she said, folding her arms. "It doesn't hurt at all. My hands may as well be made of steel."
"Okay then, let's put your fists of steel to the test," he grinned, poising on his toes in front of her, holding his arms, ready for her to make an attack.
"Wait, what am I supposed to do?" she asked, taken by surprise at the sudden start to their session but smiling at his spontaneity. She was feeling more cheerful by the second; just happy with being near Sonic.
.
"Punch me," he said, shifting his weight between his toes, looking confident.
"What?"
"Punch me. I need to test your strength."
"But… I can't hurt you!" she protested, horrified at the thought. She may have used her hammer in times of anger but she'd never really tried to hurt him. It was unthinkable.
He raised an eyebrow, confused. He was looking at her as if she was insane. Amy bit her lip.
.
Of course. She'd forgotten that boys didn't mind attacking each other. She'd seen Sonic and Knuckles fight all the time but she'd never considered it herself. "I mean… Fine, if you think you can take me," she said, forcing a feeble smirk. "I wouldn't want you to lose an arm or something."
"I'm sure I won't die," Sonic laughed. "Go on."
Amy held her breath. Stepping towards him, she tried to look fierce, and gently tapped his arm with her fist.
Sonic blinked. "Seriously?" he said. "That was it? Come on, Andy, harder. Punch me as hard as you can."
"Are you sure?" Amy asked, trying not to sound too concerned. Oh, the thought of inflicting pain on her hero…
"Yes. A hundred per cent sure. Give it all you've got."
"Okay," she murmured hesitantly.
.
Mustering all of her strength and digging her feet into the ground for balance, Amy smashed her fist into his arm. She felt her knuckles make solid contact with his body as a fairly loud thump was heard. Sonic briefly staggered backwards, surprised at her power.
"Whoa!" he cried. A smile pulled at his lips. "That's more like it! Jeez, you're pretty strong!"
She jumped back, relieved at his smile and glowing from his praise but feeling guilty nonetheless. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"No, it's fine. I asked you to punch me." He chuckled. "You're stronger than I thought, but I can see why you think you're out of practice. When you punch, you end up hurting yourself in the process, right?"
.
Amy nodded, embarrassed.
"That's probably because you're not keeping your wrist straight," he told her. "Here, let me show you how to do it properly." He stood beside her and took hold of her arm.
Her heart pounded at his touch and she felt her face gain heat again, knowing that Sonic would never get so close to the real her. She could feel his body warmth merging with hers, embracing her, putting her at ease and making her nervous at the same time.
.
"All right," he said. "Clench your fist, but not too hard; that just stiffens your arm."
She did as he said, trying not to feel dizzy from the small distance between them.
"Now thrust it forward, keeping your wrist straight," he instructed, moving with her. "And don't completely straighten your arm - that would hurt in a forceful punch." He guided her arm into a punching motion, repeating the movement a few times. "Like this, see?"
She nodded, ignoring a flicker of disappoint as he released her, and continued to practise the motion. She could feel his eyes on her, assessing her movements carefully, and she knew that it was making her blush. She just hoped that he couldn't see that.
.
After a while Sonic asked, "Hey, are you okay? You look kind of red. Is it too hot out here?"
His comment only made Amy feel more flustered. She willed her cheeks to cool down, while thanking her lucky stars that Sonic hadn't taken her reddened cheeks in another way. "Oh… Erm… a little, yeah," she mumbled. "But it's okay, I'll be all right in a minute."
"All righty then!" he said cheerfully. "Let's try another type now."
.
Sonic went on to teach Amy a number of different, basic punching moves, and she picked them up fairly well. She was enjoying herself immensely, ecstatic in his company, and though it might have been her imagination she was sure he looked just as happy. The purpose of the exercise was to become a better fighter but Amy had almost forgotten that. It was all coming to her naturally out of her simply spending time with her hero, and he was being so lovely and helpful – how could she not enjoy herself?
.
At one point Sonic had even run to Knuckles's house and back, to borrow his old target boards. He set them up in a circle around Amy, tacked onto thin wooden poles, explaining that she needed to test her newfound abilities. She stared at them in dismay, noting that they were quite small for target boards: about the size of her hand.
"How am I supposed to hit them?" she moaned. "They're tiny."
"They're big enough for you to hit, honestly," he assured her. "Just remember what I taught ya. With the right techniques, they'll smash easily. So let's see what you've got." He stepped back to watch her, folding his arms confidently.
.
Amy tried to match his confidence, hoping that she would impress him. He'd taught her a good number of different moves, all of which she could use to destroy the targets. She turned her attention the one in front of her, breathing deeply. Here goes nothing. She swung a well-aimed punch, distantly reinforcing the techniques that Sonic had shown her. A sharp crack resonated in the air, followed by a clatter. Then she spun on the balls of her feet to attack the other targets, swiftly launching her fists, hearing more and more hollow clattering. Her mind was ablaze with determination, and she heard Sonic's voice in her head, reminding her of their practices.
"Keep your wrist straight! And turn! That's it! Keep your arms slightly bent! Now swing the other way!"
.
She was moving so quickly that she barely registered what she was doing as she twisted in different directions, breaking a target then whirling around to break another. She focused on Sonic's voice in her mind, timing her punches to his instructions. It was only when she stopped to catch her breath that she realised she'd smashed them all. They lay in pieces on the grass, scattered around the clearing. She surveyed the remains, open-mouthed. She'd hit them all?
.
Sonic clapped heartily. "You got 'em! Bang on target!" he grinned, sending her a wink. "What did I tell ya?"
Amy beamed at him. "I can't believe I just did that!" she cried. "I got them all! Every one! Look!"
"I know!" he laughed as she ran over to him. He raised his hand for a high five, but she launched herself onto him.
She hugged him tightly, unable to stop her breathless giggling. His eyes shot open.
"A-Andy… what are you…?" He trailed off.
Amy didn't hear him. She just enjoyed the warmth of his body and his fresh, spicy scent. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, feeling like she fit in his arms. Surely, something that felt so right was simply… right. How could he be so intoxicating? How was his touch so exhilarating? Maybe there was such a thing as perfection…
.
Sonic patted Andy's back, starting to feel uncomfortable. The excitable hedgehog had been hugging him for a while now. Then there was the fact that no boy had ever hugged Sonic before at all, or at least not without it being a dire situation. And the way he was hugging him… It wasn't exactly your average hug. Andy was holding him rather tightly, and around his neck, of all places. "Uh… Andy?" he said.
.
Amy barely heard him, and she ignored his call, nuzzling into his chest. She didn't want the closeness to end…
"Andy," Sonic tried, speaking more firmly now. "Andy, don't ya think…"
Amy clung tighter, wanting to delay breaking the connection.
"Andy, seriously," Sonic said, blushing, trying to remove her arms from around his neck. "A-Andy. Andy! Can you just-" He tried harder, losing patience.
.
As if a switch had been turned on in her mind, Amy suddenly remembered, in the blink of an eye, that she was a boy, hugging Sonic, freaking him out. She let go of him and jumped back, turning away. "S-sorry," she stuttered. "I err… I let my excitement get the best of me sometimes."
Sonic forced a chuckle, his hand finding its way to the back of his head. "That's okay," he said, though his eyes refused to skim over her face for more than a second.
"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," she mumbled sadly, her ears lowering.
"Nah, it's cool. You're excited, I get it." He offered her yet another smile that stole her breath away. "Amy would probably do the same thing."
"Yeah, she would," Amy said, happy that he'd thought of her. "I must get it from her."
.
"I've gotta say, you two are really similar."
Amy tensed. "We are?" she asked cautiously.
"Yeah, it's like your twins," he replied. "Then again..." A smirk caught his lips. "There are definitely some differences there, starting with the walk."
Amy laughed, secretly proud of her performance-work, and casually flexed her arms. "I'm just so macho, I guess."
Sonic shook his head, sniggering. "Obviously," he said.
.
"It's true," she insisted. "You've seen first-hand my effect on the ladies. I bet even Amy can't resist me."
Sonic didn't seem to have a comment on that. He shrugged slightly, suddenly very interested in the scenery.
"Sonic?"
"Hm?" He raised his eyebrows, as if suddenly noticing her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?" But before she could answer he said, "Come on, let's get in some more practice before it gets dark."
"Okay," she said, slowly nodding, feeling like she'd upset him for some reason.
.
Thankfully that feeling soon wore off as they got back to practicing, as she could focus on her battle techniques. She'd learnt so much now that Sonic felt it was time to test her abilities with mock-fighting. They tried out different punches and evasive manoeuvres, wrestling their way through the field, slowly building up Amy's skill as well as their relationship. The sun was already beginning to set and the sky spilled over with orange, but neither of them noticed it. They didn't even realise that they both had stupid grins on their faces the entire time. Amy's cheeks were almost hurting from smiling and laughing so much but it barely crossed her mind. She was floating on a cloud of dizzy happiness where only she and Sonic existed, drifting through the skies together, never to return to reality.
But something had to snap her out of it; it always did.
.
They were wrestling, staggering around in the grass, trying to force each other off of their feet. Sonic had won over Andy several times but now that the student was getting the hang of it the teacher found himself with a lot more competition that he had expected. It was a given that Sonic had gone easy on him; after all, at his own skill level he was accustomed to fighting enormous robots with enough power to destroy a city. But he found himself having to hold back less and less as time went on. Andy was proving to be a very admirable fighter and a tough opponent. Sonic's eyes held a challenging spark as he tried to force his rival backwards but Andy forced him right back, smirking.
.
"I bet you wish you'd never trained me now," Amy said in between breaths, trying to ignore the force of Sonic's strong arms braced against hers. She was trying her very hardest, using all of her power and yet he didn't seem to be even breaking a sweat.
"You think you're trained?" Sonic grinned, moving so that they were forced to rotate, their arms locked in equal force. "Pfft. This is like kindergarten."
"If you say so… novice." She injected a little more energy into her arms, pushing him slightly.
"I'm the novice?" he laughed. "What about you?" He countered her strength, slowly dominating the struggle.
"I'm the champion," she announced. In one move she lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of him. Pinning him down, she smirked and said, "And you just got owned."
.
It was at that moment that Amy's sunglasses slipped off her nose and onto the grass, revealing her bright jungle-coloured eyes. The second that Sonic saw them his own eyes snapped open in surprise. He stared at her. Amy's heart was jittering as panic shot through her system. He wasn't supposed to see her eyes! He just couldn't! It could put everything at stake! And yet she could do nothing but stare back at him, frozen, hardly breathing. She was very aware of his chest rising and falling beneath her as his wide eyes searched hers. It was as if he'd left his body; his gaze was so distant, yet so fixated… on her.
.
She could feel his breath tickling her mouth as his stare somehow intensified, giving her the strangest urge to lean closer to his face. Neither of them said a word for what felt like hours. All that Amy could hear was the rhythm of Sonic's heavy breathing and her own heartbeat pulsating in her ears. His eyes left hers for the briefest of seconds, to flicker downwards to her lips. When their gazes re-connected, the alarm bells that had been ringing in her mind were finally heard and she jumped off of him.
.
She scrambled away from him, almost panting. For the first time in her life she saw Sonic's cheeks taking on a tint of red as he gripped the grass, his chest heaving.
"S-sorry about that," she babbled, extremely flustered. She grabbed her sunglasses and set them firmly back over her eyes.
Sonic coughed nervously. "Me too. It's just that… Y-you have the exact same eye colour as Amy a-and it kind of freaked me out," he confessed. He was forcing his eyes onto the grass, still blushing like crazy. "That's why I went all… 'trancey'."
.
Amy looked up at that statement and her embarrassment was briefly forgotten. "You know her eye colour?"
"Wha… N-no…" he said slowly. "No, but, I mean, well yeah, I knew it was green, but… No. It's not like I take any special notice if that's what you're saying."
"Oh…" she murmured, adjusting her sunglasses, trying to make sure that they would not fall off again. She hadn't expected him to let her get so close to his face. Her mind was still reeling from it. Why didn't he stop her?
.
"Hey, how come you never take off your sunglasses?" Sonic asked, either to relive the tension or to simply make her job difficult.
"How come you never wear clothes?" she retorted.
Finally, a comfortable smile settled upon his face. "Touché," he laughed. "Is it just to 'keep up the cool'?"
She couldn't stop the grin from pulling at her lips. "You know it, bro."
.
Another airy laugh was shared between them and the tense atmosphere was immediately gone, leaving Amy to once again wonder how on earth he did it. She'd never understand the way that Sonic the Hedgehog could make her so flustered in one moment and so calm and happy in another. He seemed to have a gift for making anyone feel comfortable, and making Amy feel liked she was on cloud nine. How did he do that? How did he hold such power over her? And the still the question plagued her mind: why did he let her get so close?
.
They got to their feet, brushing the grass from their bodies. "Thanks, Sonic," she said, unable to contain her smile. "I learnt a lot today." A whole lot.
He chuckled, flicking grass off his ear. "No problem. It was fun," he said. "Back to searching tomorrow?"
Amy stared at him, feeling exhaustion tug at her muscles. She felt tired and heavy, and desperately needed a lie-in, and yet she couldn't contain her smile. He wanted to spend time with her again? That would make three days in a row! "Sure." The word left her mouth before she'd even had a chance to think about it. Oh, but did she really need to think twice about spending time with Sonic? Extra sleep would just have to wait.
.
"Awesome," Sonic said. "Same place, same time?"
She nodded.
"See ya tomorrow, buddy!" he called, and then he was gone.
Amy felt a rush of happiness explode out of her in a sudden bout of giggles. She let herself fall into the grass, spreading out her arms, releasing all of her excitement. 'Same time, same place'? They had their own time and place now? That had to mean something, surely! Sonic really liked her! She'd hardly acted that different at all and he still liked her! Maybe her being a girl really did make him feel nervous. She closed her eyes, beaming from ear to ear. Sonic really did seem to like her. And that moment, when they'd been wrestling… It was like magic.
.
Suddenly she sat up, alert. She kept forgetting: she wasn't a girl anymore, or at least not to Sonic. And he'd still let her get so close… Why didn't he say anything? He'd just stared at her. Maybe it was because he recognised her eyes but even so, she just couldn't imagine Sonic letting another boy get so close to his face. If it was anyone else, wouldn't he have pushed them off, told them it was weird or even run away? But he didn't do any of those things. And for a second she could have sworn that he was going to…
.
No. No, that was ridiculous. It must have been the angle that she was looking at him in. It was probably her eyes playing tricks on her. They were so close; it would have been entirely possible that she imagined him looking at her lips. Yes, that was it. She sighed. "I really need to stop getting so carried away."
.
But the fact remained: he hadn't stopped her. He hadn't pushed her off or run away. He'd let her get so close to him that she'd almost kissed him right then and there. And that little detail circled her mind until the second she fell asleep.
I hope you all enjoyed that. I enjoyed writing it ^_^
It's kinda confusing to write different POVs with Amy gender change. :S Hopefully you guys aren't confused when you read it.. Anyway thanks again, everyone. I love hearing what you think :)