Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Sonic the Hedgehog characters or anything else


Knuckles finally figured it out. He knew what Rouge wanted out of him. This crimson echidna knew how to prove to the snow colored bat that he loved her, so why was he hesitating. The reason is because of what he had to do. "In order to show Rouge that I love her… I have to give up everything I am." Knuckles reminded himself.

"Well, Knuckles?" Rouge requested. "What are you going to do for your last try? Now remember, if you miss this chance, I'll leave you forever." Knuckles felt sick to his stomach when she mentioned that.

"I…" Knuckles stuttered.

He was nervous about what he was about to do. Knuckles really didn't want to do it, but then he thought about his life without Rouge. He couldn't picture himself without Rouge, whether she was visiting him or not. He always wanted her to be with him. He hadn't noticed it before, but his spirit was always lifted when Rouge came to see him. He loved the way Rouge's eyes sparkled in the moonlight when she visited him at night. He loved every minute that Rouge was with him, whether they were fighting or just enjoying each other's company. Knuckles finally realized that he truly loved Rouge and he would give anything to be with her. He decided to do the right thing so he took a deep breath and said the toughest thing he could ever say (for now anyway).

"Rouge!" Knuckles announced with pride. "I, Knuckles the echidna, WILL relinquish my duty as protector of the Master Emerald. I will do this so I can devote my life and time to nothing and no one but you." While saying this, Knuckles always looked into Rouge's shimmering sapphire eyes with passion. As for everyone else, they were all speechless, except for Shadow, who knew the situation would come to this. Rouge just stood there overwhelmed by Knuckles' use of his last chance. Little did she know, there was more to Knuckles' last attempt.

"To prove that I am very serious, I will relinquish my duty now. It shall be done in front of you and all of our closest friends." Knuckles declared. With that, Knuckles turned to the Master Emerald and planted his hands against it.

"Master Emerald, hear my call."

At that moment, the Master Emerald started to give off a dazzling jade light. "Master Emerald…" Knuckles chanted. "I, Knuckles the echidna, relinquish my duty as your protector… for there is someone else in my life that I must protect. This someone is a person I love with all of my heart. I will devote the rest of my life to her… and that person is Rouge the bat. I love her more than anything and to make sure that I can be with her, I declare that I am no longer your guardian.

Everyone's jaw had dropped. Shadow was the only one who remained cool. He actually had a smile on his face. They all jumped when they heard a voice coming from the Master Emerald. Suddenly, a projection of someone appeared in front of them. It was Tikal.

"Knuckles the echidna" Tikal spoke with a soft tone. "I admire your commitment to the one you love. However, the Master Emerald needs to be protected by an echidna." Knuckles pulled Rouge close to him, looked deep into her aqua eyes, and held her hand. "That is none of my concern anymore. Rouge is all I care about." Knuckles said proudly,

"I understand, but who shall be the next guardian"

"I guess that's where I come in." A mysterious voice called out.

Everyone turned to see a beige echidna appear. "Shade, what are you doing here?" Sonic questioned. "Actually." Shadow started. "I invited her over here. I knew the whole time that Knuckles would have to give up being guardian of the Master Emerald." Everyone looked at Shadow baffled. "How did you know and how did you get Shade down here?" Tails asked. "I have my ways." Shadow replied with a smirk. "You sure do." Shade comment, winking at Shadow.

Everyone looked at each other puzzled, then focused back on Shade. "Anyway." Shade continued. "I, Shade the echidna, will become the new guardian."

"Ok, so it is settled." Tikal announced. "Shade shall be the new guardian. The Master Emerald is under your protection. Goodbye Knuckles, it was always fun when you guarded the Master Emerald. I'll miss you and please come to visit." Knuckles smirked. "Don't worry, I will." The bright light and the image of Tikal disappeared as she was waving goodbye to everyone.

Knuckles turned to Rouge, who had remained quiet so she could absorb everything that was going on. "Rouge." Knuckles began. "I love you with of my heart and I'm sorry for hurting you. Will you please forgive me?" All eyes were fixed on Rouge now. Rouge remained silent. She was trying to hold back her tears back, but it didn't work. Tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Yes… yes, I will. That was all I wanted Knuckles. I wanted you to concentrate on me only, so that we could start a new life together."

"Well, now we can and I'm glad that we can be together."

"Me too" Rouge exclaimed excitedly. She wrapped her arms around Knuckles' neck, leaned in, and gave Knuckles a passionate kiss on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Cream had an "awww" facial expression. Shadow and Shade just stood by each other smirking and giving the couple a thumbs up.

"Congratulations you two. I'm so happy for you guys." Amy cheered. "Yea, good job Knux. I knew you'd pull through." Sonic congratulated. When the two broke the kiss, they were still blushing and started holding hands.

"Thanks, you guys" Knuckles and Rouge replied.

"Ok, let's give these guys some space." Shadow said, knowing what was going on in their mind. "That's a good idea Shadow." Shade said, giving him a seductive look. "Since Knuckles doesn't need it, how about you come over to Knuckles' old hut… and help me redecorate my new house." She winked at Shadow. "Sounds like a plan." Shadow replied, giving her a smirk. "Go Shadow" Rouge cheered. "Knuckie, we should go. We have…things to do."

"Alright." Rouge took Knuckles' hand and led him away from the Master Emerald shrine. Everyone else started to leave so they could do their own business. Sonic picked up Amy bridal style and ran off to go on a date. Tails and Cream flew off to Twinkle Park, hand-in-hand. Shadow and Shade were walking off to Knuckles' old hut so that they could redecorate it. They both looked back at Knuckles and Rouge walking and smiled.

"It's about they finally got together" Shadow exclaimed

"Yea, they look cute together. They're not as cute as us though." Shade said as she kissed Shadow on his lips. Shadow smiled and returned the kiss. "What do you say if we hurry up inside." Shadow smirked. He picked up Shade bridal style and took inside the hut. "O, big and strong." Shade exclaimed as the door closed, so they could "redecorate."

-Knuckles and Rouge-

"Sooo." Knuckles started. "Since I'm not guardian anymore and you don't work for G.U.N., what do you want to do?"

"How about we go see a movie? Later on, we can go out to eat." Rouge answered.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Maybe you can even sleep over with me, considering you don't have a place to stay." Rouge winked at him.

"Yea, I think I will. I'm not sleeping on the couch or the floor though. That means we have to share the bed" Knuckles grinned.

"I don't mind that, Knuckie." Rouge whispered in his hidden ear, with a seductive voice.

Rouge leaned in and kissed Knuckles passionately and he returned the kiss. They wrapped their arms around each other lovingly. After a couple of minutes of locking lips, they stopped to catch their breath. They stared into each others shimmering eyes.

"I love you, Knuckles the echidna." Rouge cooed affectionately. "I love you too, Rouge the bat." Knuckles replied in a comforting tone. With that, the couple kissed again and walked off hand-in-hand. They were both happy that they ended up with the person they wanted…each other.


Well, that's the last chapter. This is my first story so please review and tell me what you think