Chapter 6

"Hi," Amy replied uneasily, trying not to look at him.

"What are you- I mean, you look- how did you-" Sonic stuttered, the color drained from his face.

"Um, GUN placed me here on assignment. I have to stay around until we finish, but I'll try to make myself scarce," Amy explained. "We don't have to see each other."

"Why wouldn't I-"

"I have to go, actually," she shook her head, backing up in the direction of the dirt path towards town. "Have to go buy a toothbrush, I forgot to bring one." With that, she spun quickly and took off. Sonic stared after her, sitting down slowly on her front porch steps.

The way she looked now- wow. She was still the old Amy, but she had grown up now, taller and more sure of herself than ever before. Her hair had grown out slightly. She certainly looked intimidating, a force to be reckoned with, but all Sonic could think of was she's back, she's really back.

He had been so stupid to ever let her go in the first place.

Amy didn't cry.

The last time she had cried was when that laser had sliced through her leg, and that was only because she was ninety-nine percent sure she was going to die. She'd held out until they got to the operating room, and then one of the nurses had leaned down to her and whispered "It's okay to be scared, love," and Amy had burst into loud, embarrassing tears in the middle of the operating theatre.

She didn't cry now, either, but she could feel her cheeks heating up and her breath coming faster, a sure sign that she was upset.

She finally approached the end of the path, where there were one or two stores betraying the fact that the town wasn't completely empty. She ducked into the nearest convenience store, where a kindly old duck greeted her behind the counter. She nodded politely and took a basket.

The toothbrush was first, that was necessary. Then she got a couple of pieces of fruit, for tomorrow's breakfast, and an extra pack of hairbands to keep her hair out of her face while she was training. She had given her last one to Sticks yesterday.

The duck at the front counter checked her out, and she handed him a few dollar bills to pay for her purchases.

Blaze didn't cry.

But Mobius, her entire body hurt. She could actually feel Iblis pushing at the boundaries of her very being.

She rolled over slightly on the windowsill, letting out a slight whimper of pain. Her vision darkened slightly and she thought she might lose consciousness like last time, but after a few minutes the pain began to ebb and subside. She could have cried with relief, feeling her body finally relax a bit.

"You're tough to find," she heard a voice from the ceiling say.

She startled and went to launch herself under the couch, but she overestimated the strength she currently had and went down after two steps.

"Crap," Silver hissed, no longer using his telekinesis to float near the rafters, but dropping down quickly and pulling Blaze up with an arm around her slight waist. "I didn't mean for you to kill yourself, geez."

"You shouldn't be here," Blaze gasped, leaning on her best friend with all of her weight.

"Oh, great, because I have a bowling tournament back home tonight…" Silver replied sarcastically. "Come on, Blaze."

"You shouldn't have come," she whispered as Silver gently set her down on the couch. Her body was too exhausted to protest. "There's nothing you can do for me, anyway."

"GUN begs to differ," Silver began, knowing she wasn't going to react well to what he said next. "And… as their newest recruit… so do I."

Blaze looked at him with horror written across her face. "You didn't…"

"I got sick of being useless," Silver shrugged.

"Silver, you can't," she begged, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You're just a-"

"Just a kid? Honestly, Blaze, you have to stop saying that," Silver chuckled, sitting down beside her and taking her hand. "I'm 21 years old."

"I won't let you," Blaze continued tearfully. "It's dangerous, you could get hurt-"

"They trained me-"

"You have no idea what you're up against-"

"I have a bunch of people helping me-"

"I can't lose you!" Blaze yelled, her tears finally spilling over. She buried her face in her hands and her entire thin frame shook with her sobs.

Silver was taken aback. "W-what are you talking about?"

Blaze looked up, her face a mess of tears. "I've lost so many people in my life, Silver. And… eventually… I've moved on from all of those deaths. But you… you are the one I can never lose."

Silver put his arms around her without hesitation and held her tightly. "Blaze, you couldn't lose me if you tried. I love you too much to ever leave you."

"You love me?" she asked incredulously, looking up into his eyes.

He chuckled. "More than I care to admit sometimes."

"Promise you'll come back," Blaze whispered. "Always. You have to promise me."

Silver quickly pressed his lips against hers, feeling her melt beneath him, before responding. "I promise you that I will always come back to you. No matter what."