A/N: Hope I get lots of reviews on this one. :)

Chapter 5

Rouge lay with her face against the ground. She had been there unconscious for a while. She had only just cracked her eyes open. "Lilly..." She mumbled in a voice barely audible. She felt pain serge through her body. Her wing was hurt pretty badly. She couldn't see the injury, but it was a deep whole in her left wing and her body was pretty beat up from the crash landing. She could barely stay awake due to the loss of blood from her wing. "So this is how I'm going out huh..." She had a half hearted smile on her face. "uh" She winched "I always thought it'd be flashier than this..." She twitched her ears as she heard something coming towards here. She looked across the ground as her vision began to blur. Just before she pasted out she saw two figures coming toward her, but that was all.

"We found her! We found her!" Lilly was running toward Rouge.

Knuckles followed behind her, but he suddenly skidded to a halt when he caught sight of who Lilly was running too. "Lilly, are you telling me that 'she's' your mother?" He said in a disbelieving tone.

"Oh no!" Lilly was looking at Rouge's wing. "She's hurt really bad." She turned to Knuckles. "You have to help her!"

"But..." Knuckles looked at the bat laying there.

"Please Knuckles please!" She cried as she looked up from Rouge. "Please help her!"

Knuckles finally sighed and walked over to them. "Okay, but only because you asked." He said picking up Rouge in such a gentle fashion it was hard to believe his uncaring attitude.

"Thank you Knuckles thank you!" Lilly followed at his side.

Knuckles took them back to the master emerald. "Stay here. I'll be right back." Knuckles jumped from the altar and vanished into the forest. Lilly looked at Rouge and rested her to small hands a top one of hers. She was so scared for Rouge. In a heart be Knuckles was back. "Okay let's see what I can do." Knuckles leaned the injured bat against the large green jewel . He had brought back water in a wooden bowl, some form of leaves and bandaging. He handed the leaves to Lilly. "Gently rip these open so I can use the gel inside to drive off infection." He took the water first and cleaned Rouge's wounds. Once Lilly had ripped open the leaves he squeezed out the gel onto the gash. "It looks better already." He applied some of the precious juice to the other cuts on her body and then carefully began to bandage her major wound. "Now she just needs to rest." Knuckles reassured Lilly that Rouge just need to sleep and then persuaded her to go play. Lilly was exhausted herself. She was picking tiny flowers in the meadow now. She looked down at the swaying grass and gently laid down. In but a few seconds she was asleep. Knuckles sat beside Rouge resting his arm across his arched leg. He looked at the white bat. "So how did you come across her...?" He questioned to the sleeping bat. "What are you up too?" He leaned closer to make sure her shallow breathing was still regular. "Sounds decent." He mumbled.

"Um..." Rouge winced in her sleep and fell into him.

"H-Hey..." Knuckles said softly with a grunt. "If you weren't asleep..." He grumbled as he looked down at her. Even in her battered state Knuckles had to admit that she still appeared beautiful, of course he'd never admit that to her or to anyone else. Her skin was soft against his red fur as he held her close to him so she wouldn't fall over. He blushed as her face rested softly in the curve of his neck. "If anyone saw this..." He sighed as he glanced down at her. Her lips were soft and pink looking. He noticed them as he checked her breathing again. "Um..." He grunted trying not to notice. "Why does an enemy have to be so nice looking?" He grunted as he turned his face away.

"Kn-Knuckles..." Rouge's eyes were open slightly. Knuckles blushed when he realized that she was awake and still leaning into his body. When Rouge was sure it was him she sighed in relief. "I guess I crashed on Angel Island after all." She said letting herself rest easy. She knew that even though Knuckles was protective of his home, he wouldn't cause a stir under the current circumstances. Suddenly it hit her. Lilly. Rouge tried to spring up but the pain from her injured wing surged through her body. "UHhh." She growled in pain.

"Stop moving you'll reopened that wound." Knuckles tried to restrain a blush as he pulled her into him to keep her from moving.

"Knuckles you don't under-"

"Lilly's safe." Knuckles reassured. "She's asleep right now." He promised.

"You found her." Rouge felt a rush of relief. "Knuckles I owe you one." She leaned back into him not even caring how close she was as she closed her eyes and laid into his neck again.

Knuckles eyes were looking upward as he blushed. "No one ever learns of this got it." He said in a gruff tone.

She let a weak smile form on her lips. "Okay Knuckles." She fell asleep at last.