a/n: Thinking.

A new day.

The city was aglow as evening fell. Lights flickered on in the tall buildings and over the still busy streets. There was the steady hum of traffic and people walking about, dining and drinking on outdoor patios.

The night was a rare night. One over the past few months where she could remember everything vividly from that day. A very easy familiarity to it, even, like she was there again but looking through a partition. She remembered the events on the outside, but everything within wasn't there.

She carried the conversations and the sensations from that all-consuming world. But her mind's eye had no recordings.

She pulled one leg up into the soft patio chair and folded it under the other, drumming her fingers on it. Rouge sat across from her, occupied as she had her leg in the same position.

"What do you think, Rouge?"

The bat peeled her eyes from the screen of her phone. A thin blouse veiled the pink bikini top that Amy had suggested for their beach trip a while earlier. She thought the pink lace ribbons were silly when she first looked at it. They were still silly now, but endearing as well.

She understood the question, that it was a leading one. Amy liked to gather herself.

"About what, hon?" Her answer was reflexive, welcoming.

"What happened all that time ago."

"How long's it been again?"

"Almost a year."

"That long, huh."

"Yeah."

"It comes up from time to time. We didn't take any pictures."

"No. It didn't seem right at the time. Maybe we should have."

"Maybe. But the memories are enough, I think."

"Do you remember that place?"

"No. You don't either, do you? You're struggling with it."

"Yeah," Amy said. "Do you think Sonic remembers?"

"He lives with it. That's what it seems like."

Amy tilted her head - with the gently disheveled hair - downwards. "I don't really want that for him. But he chose it."

"Yeah. It'll be okay, hon. That's your man, after all."

"That's true. He's survived a lot," Amy said with a smile. She raised her head again. "What about you?"

"Mm?"

"Shadow. Or Knuckles. Either one."

Rouge shrugged and stirred her drink with the straw in the glass. "One's out of reach. The other is...pretty literally out of reach. I'm sure they'll both be fine. Shadow's staying with me, anyways."

"Do you and him...I dunno, connect? Like you and I do."

"No, nothing like that. It's not the same. Shadow is...comforting when he wants to be. He's never really cold. But he has his ways of existing."

Amy brought her foot down from the chair. "And Knuckles?"

"Knuckles is Knuckles. To be perfectly honest...too many concessions right now with him. I haven't even considered it for the past while. He was a good chase, though."

"I understand what you mean by concessions."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hm. Aside from being his stubborn self, there's a lot that comes with that kind of relationship. I think...the world would have to come tumbling down. His position would have to change."

"You probably think I'm terrible...I like you because you're easier than him."

"I understand that, too. That's not such a bad thing," Amy said.

"Trying to soothe my wounded ego?"

"Not really. I like rubbing it in from time to time."

"Entirely too clever, Amy Rose."

"Heh."

"We were talking about...that place. That moment in history."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to remember?"

"I might. It's...like a fragrance sometimes. An essence, I mean. That's more what I meant, an essence. But if I lose it...it won't matter. I won't be sad."

"You shouldn't be."

"Do you love me?"

Rouge smiled. "Yeah. I do."

"Are you in love with me?"

"I might be. You mean infatuated?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think so. I think you're cute. I mean, you're also deliciously attractive, but you just have more cute than anything else. The feeling doesn't just turn on and off or spike about, you know?"

"I think I get it."

"What about me?"

"I really love you, Rouge. I...really gravitate to you. I realize that now. I think we should be together for as long as we can be."

"What makes you feel that way?"

"We're just joined together, is all. After that experience, the one thing I remember vividly is that super warm feeling when we were together the first time. And I always feel that feeling. And more than that...he wanted it that way. He knew that if...I had to save you, like I did that day, that we might never be able to be apart again."

"So-"

"Don't get the wrong idea, you know. It's not a matter of condition. Spending this time with you...has made me realize the woman I am. And the one that I want to become."

"I see."

"I didn't mean to make you think that...I was obligated."

"I was going to bring that up."

"Yeah. All of it...this, that, and the other. It was from the soul."

"Amy...thanks. I think I just wanted to hear it again."

"I'll say it as many times as you want, Rouge."

"Will you, really? I think I love you more, then," she said with a smile. "But...whenever you want to forget. You know. Even if it's just for a while, I can help you erase it...though my methods are crude, as you know."

"You help me forget a lot."

"And the important things?"

"They carry their own scents," Amy said confidently. "Those reach the insides of my memories and draw them out. Those alone. When it comes to those things, I don't have a way of forgetting."

"Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes. I know it hurts you."

"It does."

"I'll take away your pain too. That's part of it...being together."

"You should-"

"Rouge. I can't."

"You should hold onto it for a bit longer."

"It's not worth your tears. I can say goodbye to that last wisp of innocence. I won't be sad when it goes. Remember? I'm in your world now."

"Amy..." She sighed. "God, I'm awful."

"But you're good to me. That's what matters."

Rouge felt the waver in her heart disappear with Amy's smile.