IT'S NO USE I'M OUTTA USE, Samantha27, SpeedsMyGame:
Thanks for the reviews! You guys keep me motivated. :D Yay for more romance in this chapter! I feel like this story is kinda two SonAmy's for the price of one, so it's pretty fun to write. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Confidants
"I don't like not being me, and today I didn't feel like me. And I'm thinking Amy might be part of that."
Amy couldn't help but reach to grab his hand. "Sonic, I'd never want to change anything about you… other than how you felt about me. All I've ever wanted was just to be with you, for you to give me the time of day once in a while. Nothing else."
He met her eyes, enjoying their touch. "That sounds just like something she'd say…"
"Well, it's true. I want my Sonic to be Sonic, I love him just the way he is… just, with a bit more romance and less rudeness," she clarified with emphasis.
Original Dimension - Alternate Sonic, Original Amy
Amy Rose couldn't take her eyes off the hedgehog sitting across the table from her. Sonic had already finished eating, of course, but he was in a rare pose of sitting completely still and studying her with his impossibly green eyes. He still avoided eye contact with her, but she could feel his eyes on the rest of her face and body. Amy found herself, once again, perplexed with Sonic the Hedgehog. Her own Sonic didn't seem to make much sense, and this one was no different. Amy could feel his persona, the outward cocky hero, was still there, but behind that mask was a mystery, a confusing swirl of emotions. Perhaps even a mystery Sonic himself couldn't figure out.
He was silent, tapping his foot as always and trying to make light conversation. She knew he was only here because he felt bad for her, but there were so many things she wanted to ask him. Amy had always wanted to go out and just talk with Sonic, and while this may not be the real one, she still had to seize this opportunity. This version of her hero was in love with her counterpart… and that gave her some hope. So she wanted to pick his brain and figure out why he loved his Amy, then she'd have some ideas to use on her own crush. Amy would do anything to get Sonic to love her… especially now that she realized he didn't. But this Sonic had proved winning his heart wasn't impossible. There was no way she was giving up.
It still begged the question though: how was she going to get him to open up?
"Sonic, can I ask you something?" she began after swallowing a few bites of her meal.
"What's up?" He finally made eye contact with her.
Amy tilted her head. "How are you feeling? You seem confused, like you're trying to figure something out."
"Nah…" he dismissed, pushing his empty plate even further away.
"I can tell."
Sonic raised his shoulders up and lowered them. "I've… never been good at this feeling stuff. Amy was always the one who took care of that for both of us."
Amy took a sip of her drink. "Can you tell me how you and your Amy got together?"
Sonic let out a breath. "Well, she can tell it better than I can… but, she basically kinda backed off a bit, and stopped begging me to marry her. She stopped following me around everywhere and grew up a bit, I guess. And I started to take notice of her, wondering why she wasn't after me anymore."
"Oh… so, you didn't like that she was always after you…?"
"Well, she was kinda annoying. I mean, part of me liked that she always chased me, but the other part dreaded seeing her come at me with that hammer… she just made me feel weird and not in control and I didn't like it. I was never mean to her, 'course, but I kept my distance."
Amy looked down. Could that be how her Sonic felt about her as well? Was the answer just to stop chasing him? But that didn't make sense - Amy couldn't just stop chasing Sonic. She wouldn't be able to win his heart by being passive and waiting for him. He didn't notice her as it was, there was no way she was going to start seeing even less of him! There had to be something else, some other secret in Sonic's heart that she could unlock.
"But you finally got with her somehow, right?"
A small smile formed on his face. "Yeah, one day I just said, why not, and asked her out - "
"Oh my gosh, what did she do? Say?" Amy asked, her own lips smiling and her eyes huge. She always imagined Sonic asking her out...
Sonic chuckled. "Heh, she was pretty excited. I'll never forget, she hugged me really tight, then grabbed my hand and ran as fast as I've ever seen her run to pull me to our first date."
"Aw! Where did you guys go?"
"Twinkle Park, of course. That's where she's wanted to go forever. We had an awesome time." Sonic smiled as he looked away in nostalgia. "She was so happy, and I knew that I'd made the right choice. And I haven't regretted it since. Until…" His last word managed to slip out.
Amy leaned forward, confused. "Until what?"
"Ah, nothin', Ames, don't worry about it." His familiar grin and relaxed attitude returned. "I'm just not good at this feelin' stuff like I said. Dealing with Amy has always been the most confusing part of my life. Give me a world to run in and chili dogs and I'm good. And while Amy has made my life better in a lot of ways, there are some things I just - don't know. Today's been confusin'. Learning there's another me, and that he's different… and how he's treated you..." He waved his hand around in a circle. "Too many things I don't wanna think about to be honest."
Hearing this from Sonic was disappointing Amy. She'd been hoping to hear about how to win Sonic over, but now he sounded as if he didn't actually like her. Why was even this nice version of Sonic so confusing? He was giving her just enough hope to latch onto, but not enough to satisfy her.
"But…you said you kinda regretted asking her out," Amy said. "You should ask yourself, how do you feel about her?"
"I mean, I love her, I guess. She's amazing. I like spending time with her. But, I've got to thinking, and today, I've just been so focused on her, on you, that I almost didn't fight Egghead with Tails. I turned down something I've always done, for her. And that… that bothers me, I dunno why."
"Oh, I see…" Amy bit on her bottom lip.
"I don't like not being me, and today I didn't feel like me. And I'm thinking Amy might be part of that."
Amy couldn't help but reach to grab his hand. "Sonic, I'd never want to change anything about you… other than how you felt about me. All I've ever wanted was just to be with you, for you to give me the time of day once in a while. Nothing else."
He met her eyes, enjoying their touch. "That sounds just like something she'd say…"
"Well, it's true. I want my Sonic to be Sonic, I love him just the way he is… just, with a bit more romance and less rudeness," she clarified with emphasis.
"Heh, well, I guess I just need to figure out what's important to me. And as important Amy is, stuff like adventuring has always been who I am. Gah, this stuff is so deep. I just wish it were simple."
He pouted a bit, tapping his foot. He'd been sitting in this restaurant seat long enough. He'd gotten more used to being on 'normal' dates thanks to Amy, but his confusing thoughts exacerbated his discomfort.
Sonic didn't like the thought of not being with Amy anymore, but he had to admit it'd crossed his mind in the past few minutes. He normally wasn't one to think things through, but since his Amy was far away, and this one had wanted to talk, here he was, forced to think through options and possibilities. It was foreign to him. He just wanted to go see Amy and tell her that he needed a break. He still cared about her, of course, but she'd gotten in the way of something important to him, and it was bothering him more than it should have.
Yes, he should have immediately investigated the odd things he'd noticed in this dimension. He should have immediately went to Tails. He should have immediately sought out Eggman to stop him. Because he hadn't, they were now at a disadvantage against the doctor, as Sonic couldn't even fight him, and Tails had stuff to figure out. He wanted some action again, something to do to get his mind off of this.
Although… he snuck a glance at the pink hedgehog across the way. She was gorgeous, just as pretty as his Amy, but his heart slumped as he looked at her. Part of the reason he'd always rejected his Amy in the past is because he'd been afraid of what being with her would mean, and if he'd have to give up a part of himself. It seemed that his worst fear had come had changed him, and in ways he didn't like. Sonic's ego revolved around him being that confident, cocky badass speedster he'd always been… and had Amy taken some of that from him? Today he'd been less than himself. Look at him, sitting around here brooding like Faker did! He didn't like it.
Sonic looked away from Amy, his mind made up. As much as this would hurt him, and her, he'd have to break it off when he got home. At least for a little while, until he could feel like himself again.
"Okay, now time for me to ask you a question," Sonic said, wanting to change the conversation. Amy still had a lot of food left to eat.
"Sure, anything."
"Your Sonic, what's he like?"
Amy immediately blushed, and then grinned. "He's so great… he's handsome, and fast, and dreamy, and cute, and heroic, and nice, and kind, and so strong, and amazing, and his smile makes me melt, and I just wanna hug him and kiss him and marry him…"
"Uh-huh…" Sonic felt sweatdrops forming near his ears. He'd been hoping for some different adjectives; this Amy sure was a handful. "But you said he was rude to you."
Amy looked down again, and Sonic almost regretted asking. He hated to see the girl sad. "Yeah, he never seems to want to go on a date with me. For the longest time, I thought he was just shy, or something, but… today I realized that he doesn't love me." She sniffled a bit, and brought a napkin to wipe at her eyes.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because… spending time with you, I realized all he could be doing. You were so nice and sweet and romantic with me, and he's never done anything like that ever."
"Well, it took me some time to get used to stuff like that... It's not natural for me. I can't speak for him, but lemme give ya a bit of advice." Amy immediately looked up to him. "Don't forget what Sonic thinks is important - helping his friends, being free, and adventures. I was really impressed with my Amy when I realized how strong, independent, and caring she really was."
There it was! The secret Amy had been waiting for. Strong… independent… caring… she'd have to do all those things when Sonic was around to get him to notice her. And stop being so fangirlish around him. That last one would be hard, as she couldn't help but squeal everytime she saw him. But Amy always told herself she'd do anything to win Sonic's heart, and if this was what it took, she'd do it.
"Wait… - is that Tails?" Sonic suddenly pointed at the TV monitor behind Amy, and the girl whipped her head around.
Sure enough, the TV was suddenly playing a feed - and it looked like Tails workshop. Amy gasped when she looked more closely. It was Tails, and standing next to him was none other than Doctor Eggman, grinning and holding a gun to the poor foxes head.
"We gotta go," Sonic immediately pulled Amy into his arms and rushed out the door. If his little brother was in trouble, he would move heaven and earth to save him.
Alternate Dimension - Original Sonic, Alternate Amy, Alternate Knuckles
Sonic landed on his feet in near total darkness. The only light sources that allowed him to squint and make out vague shapes were the lights of several broken robots scattered around. Their metal exteriors had probably broken from the fall. The hole created by those microbots was gigantic, and the floor was still scattered with the broken pieces of the huge drill. Looking around, he saw a series of cave mouths that beckoned him to explore and search, just to see how far down these labyrinths went. Looking up, the ground he'd been standing on just seconds ago looked so high up. He'd probably be able to run up the sides to get out, but what about Amy and Knuckles?
He called out their names.
"Yeah, I'm here," Knuckles responded.
"I'm okay," Amy shouted.
Sonic ran towards the sounds of their voices, and then suddenly noticed a bright light. He could make out Amy's face far to his left.
"The energy scanner can give us some light," she called out.
The three of them moved to her location. But as they were running, Eggman's voice interrupted.
"Oh yes, it worked! Finally! EggHounds, get me that Egg Stone!"
The heroes watched in horror as dozens of dog-like robots jumped down to their level of the low ground, and spread out, each of them rushing to explore one of the many tunnels around them. On the heels of the EggHounds was another round of flying badniks, obviously meant to slow them down.
"Egg Stone?" Knuckles echoed.
"He must mean the power source," Amy showed the scanner. "It's gotta be through one of those tunnels, we have to find it before they do."
"Let me take the scanner - I'll find the power source in no time, and then we'll get out of here." Sonic extended his hand, and got his feet ready to take off.
Amy shook her head. "No. I'm not letting you run off with our only hope of finding it."
Sonic's jaw dropped. "Seriously Amy? You still don't trust me?"
"No. I'm keeping the scanner and finding it myself."
Sonic spread his arms out. "But I'm a million times faster! We don't have much time."
"I still don't trust you."
Sonic crossed his arms and exhaled heavily. Even over here, Amy was insufferable. "Fine. Knux, you stay here. And deal with these bots."
And with that, Sonic quickly picked up Amy bridal style and rushed deeper into the tunnels.
"Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!" Amy demanded, struggling against his grasp.
Sonic only held her tighter, and grinned in spite of himself. "Nope, this is what you wanted, right? If yer gonna be so stubborn, we'll search for this together."
Amy reluctantly held onto Sonic's torso. "Grrr! I'm so gonna tell Sonic about this."
"I'm right here, ya know," Sonic said as he zipped through miles and miles of the dark cavern. The only light source they had was the energy scanner, and it illuminated countless ancient rock formations that they zoomed past.
"No, I mean the real Sonic. My boyfriend."
"Uh-huh." The male hedgehog suddenly grinned. "You're enjoying this, c'mon? Yer gonna tell me you've never dreamed of being 'held by Sonic' before?" he gagged the words out in falsetto.
She rolled her eyes. "Please. I don't have to dream. He takes me out on dates all the time. We've been to rock caverns much more gorgeous than this."
He raised his eyebrows. "Right…"
"In fact, Sonic has kissed me in caves just like this."
He didn't even blink.
"On the lips."
He kept his eyes trained forward. "If you're trying to get me to drop you, it's not gonna work."
"He tasted amazing. And he's such a good kisser."
She was breaking him, she could tell. This Sonic may not know it, but Amy had become good at reading him and his veiled emotions. Subtle things, like his mouth slightly twitching, his grip on her tightening, and his ears flattening.
"In fact, I bet he's really good in - "
"Whoa!" Sonic skidded to a sudden halt, and Amy was on her own two feet again. She grinned in triumph.
"No, we are not having that conversation! Keep that to yourself, Amy!" His face had turned bright red, and he couldn't even look at her right now.
"Finally," Amy brushed off her skirt. "Now, let's go find the power source - this thing is beeping like crazy!"
The energy scanner wasn't the only thing making noise; Sonic's heart was thumping like crazy. Just thinking about being with Amy romantically, kissing her, and - He shook the thoughts out of his mind. Best to find this cursed thing before Amy drove him even more up the wall.
There seemed to be miles and miles of tunnels they still had to get through. While they were still way ahead of Eggman's bots, he could still have an ambush ready for them when they resurfaced. Tails and Knuckles could handle it for now, but Sonic didn't like their chances of holding them off forever.
Amy suddenly started running, and Sonic followed close behind, catching up to her in an instant.
"Not bad, Ames, I see you've been practicing," he grinned at her.
"I already have a boyfriend, Sonic, so stop flirting with me. Save that for your world's Amy," she rolled her eyes and kept running.
"Wah?" Sonic almost tripped for one of the first times in his life. He was really starting to get irritated with this Amy. No matter what he did, he couldn't get her to even be pleasant with him. He was totally not used to Amy being anything other than obsessed with him. Who was this girl who wasn't afraid to be sassy with him, who wasn't so needy, who seemed to be her own person?
"Oh please, it's obvious you love her. I mean, you have to, because my Sonic loves me."
Sonic made a face. "Of course I don't like her - "
"Then why do you keep staring at me, hmm?"
"I don't! You know what, I give up, let's just drop it." Taking with this girl was the only battle Sonic felt he could never win.
It was Amy's turn to grin. "You're giving up because you know I'm right."
"You're not right. The Sonic here might have feelings for you, but I don't. Trust me."
Amy turned to look at the rocks they were passing by as the scanner guided them further underground. "Why are you denying your heart so much?"
"I'm not denying anything, look, you're cool, but my Amy - I mean, the one from my world, isn't. She's kinda overwhelming, asking me to marry her, following me everywhere…"
"Well, if you treat her like you treated me earlier today, it's no wonder she acts like that."
"But, you're so much easier to talk to then she is!" Sonic protested, scowling in the darkness.
"Perhaps because you have a crush on her?"
"No! Don't you think I'd know if I did?"
"No. Boys are pretty dumb when it comes to what's in their hearts."
"Well, I definitely know what's not in my heart. And that's any feelings for Amy."
"Hmmm… it sounds like you really care about this, because otherwise you wouldn't deny it so much!"
He just couldn't win. She was too stubborn, and he was beyond impatient with her. "Let's just find this power source, okay? Do we even know what it looks like?"
Amy shook her head. "No idea. But Tails said scanner will glow with a green light when we're close enough."
The pair kept running through the caves, taking the time to check through each tunnel. It almost seemed like they were running in circles as they tried to make sense of the scanner's signals. They ran into a few of the EggHounds along the way, but it was easy enough for them to defeat the bots. Although they were running much slower than Sonic would have liked, the light on the scanner finally turned green.
"We're close!" Amy said.
"I don't see anything… - oh, there!" Sonic pointed up ahead, and they finally came to what seemed like the very end of the tunnels.
Nestled in between a stalagmite and stalactite, a bright pink gem emitted an unmistakable glow and pulses of energy. Amy found herself captivated by it, unable to look away. She could almost feel it calling to her, wanting her to pick it up. She'd seen and held a Chaos Emerald before, but had felt no such power. But this gem, it had to have been down here forever, and somehow had the ability to travel between dimensions. Amy wanted to hold it in her hands -
But before she could, Sonic had grabbed the gem from right in front of her and had her cradled in his arms again as he took off for the surface. She pouted a bit, but didn't complain this time. She missed her Sonic, and while this one was a poor imitation, he'd do for now.
Perhaps she'd been a bit too harsh on him, not trusting him with the scanner. The truth was, she didn't want to trust him. This hedgehog holding her had made some old and painful memories of how her Sonic used to be resurface in her memory. She had memories going back to when she was 8 of Sonic running from her, leaving her in the dust without a care in the world. He'd been so rude, not giving her even a second glance for years, breaking her heart over and over again. When they'd gotten together, he'd apologized to her, but Amy felt deep in her heart she still resented him. She'd said she'd forgiven him, but had she really? Sonic was always so carefree, not letting much bother him, while she was always a bundle of emotions that he could never deal with. Yes, their dates were fun and he treated her well now, but how could she reconcile the old Sonic to the one she'd come to know?
He'd had an abrupt personality change one day, deciding to ask her out on a whim. She recalled it so clearly. One day not a care in the world, and then the next day he suddenly wanted to get to know everything about her. She had to admit that as nice as he was, as much as they'd kissed, he'd never really shown her or told her how he felt, or how much she meant to him. It hadn't exactly happened like she'd dreamed it would.
Amy hadn't thought about this in so long. She thought her heart had gotten over her earlier doubts about Sonic's feeling for her. But seeing this Sonic had brought it all back. Their exchange from earlier had been her trying to convince herself as much as him. And hearing his denials over and over? It had hurt her deeply. More than she could ever show him. Not that he would care anyway.
She held onto him a little closer, letting herself snuggle him a little as he ran at supersonic speeds. Not her Sonic, she reminded herself, but as she felt his heartbeat against her chest, she couldn't help but wonder what was really inside.
Lots of dialogue in this chapter because I really wanted to explore each version of the characters with each other, and have them each come to realize something about themselves. Character development for each of them!
AltSonic is worried he may have lost part of himself to Amy, while OrSonic is discovering and denying his feelings. AltAmy is struggling with doubts about Sonic's true feelings, while OrAmy is learning how to better attract him. I wonder what's gonna happen when they reunite…?
And I know, I know… you guys are dying to know the fate of Tails! Don't worry, that's coming next chapter!